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In-Depth Information
will return repeatedly in the chapters that follow,
assuming diverse frames of reference, from physi-
ological, physical, technological, to aesthetical.
Other faculties that are usually described as
senses include many internal and external senses:
a sense of temperature, kinesthetic sense that
gives us balance, a sense of motion, a sense of
acceleration and velocity changes (e.g., pressure
caused by the wind), proprioception that allows
sensing the relative position and movement of
parts of the body, a feel of direction, responsive-
ness to pheromones, and sensitivity to pain. We
may sense someone's feelings or mood through
the tone of their voice, body language, even from
the look in their eyes; it may happen also in one's
communication with animals. We are constantly
processing sensory information coming from
our external and internal receptors that respond
to and transmit signals about our body. Our own
feelings, for example a feeling of being tired and
exhausted, hungry, or just thirsty and dehydrated
after a vigorous physical exercise or after a long
discussion, can add or subtract the intensity of
the sensory input.
Animal senses are seen analogous, and compa-
rable to human ones but they often act differently,
as it for instance happens with worms, butterflies,
or birds. Some animals have more acute sense of
smell, some have better balance, and other have
the wider or more narrow ranges of frequencies
used for vision and hearing; some may receive
ultrasound signals. Many kinds of animals have
also other kinds of senses, such as echolocation
and different kinds of receptors such as electrically
sensitive electroreceptors found in sharks, electric
eels, catfish, and other fish (Wueringer, Squire,
Kajiura, Hart, & Collin, 2012), and thus different
ways of sensing and interpreting data from the
environment. Every now and then scientists give
a new account of animal facilities for searching
through their environment. Some aquatic animals
generate the bioelectric dipole fields created by
the opposite electromagnetic charges separated
by a small distance. Sharks and rays can detect
such fields and attack their prey. Wueringer et al.
(2012) analyzed the predatory behavior of saw-
fish. In a saw of a sawfish (all species of sawfish
are critically endangered), an elongated cranial
cartilage with teeth is covered in a dense array of
electroreceptors. The sawfish's saw is unique in
its use for both detecting and manipulating prey.
In general terms, senses provide input to an
organism due to their physiological capacities. We
examine these capacities and use this information
for theoretical, practical, and computational solu-
tions within the domains of physiology, neurosci-
ence, cognitive science, cognitive psychology,
sociology, anthropology, medicine, computer
science, but also human perception, philosophy,
and art. One may say that art media of the 21
st
century, including music, theater, new media art,
and design, is the art inspired by the input from
our senses, and incorporating the viewer's senses.
It is often aimed to visualize the unseen and give
the viewer the phenomenal, immediate experience.
Our sensory receptors receive signals from our
surroundings or our internal environment, such as
temperature, velocity changes (for instance, caused
by air changes in the pressure - wind), touch, haptic
experiences, and proprioception. Sometimes our
senses are below par with the animal senses, for
example we cannot sense from a distance the body
heat of people or animals, and cannot perceive the
signals related to the degree of water pressure or
water current. Signals become stimuli that cause
physical or physiological reflex responses, which
may be performed without our consciousness or as
intentional reactions; they also cause psychological
reactions. Some hold that humans, and maybe some
animals are experts (without training) of picking
up emotional expression in faces (Loizides, 2012).
The answers depend on the sensitivity of our senses
or our organism. However we lack senses or not
have enough sensitivity to detect many physical
or chemical qualities. We seem to lack the sense
of ultrasounds, we are unsure (in variable degree)
about our circadian rhythms (biological processes
recurring on a 24 hour cycle and influenced by the
