Human thermal sense doesn't work as a thermometer

The warmness or coldness that we perceive when touching an object does not merely depend on the object temperature; it’s also affected by the visual information presented. We demonstrated that the color of an object can influence object temperature perception through the prevailing red-warm/blue-cold association. What we found is that while it takes less time for a blue object to be judged as cold than it takes for a red object, a blue object is surprisingly more likely to be judged as warm than a red object of the same temperature. As temperature information is essential for realistic simulations of material properties, our findings will contribute to the development of human interfaces aimed at providing a holistic experience in telecommunication.

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