Rough Meanings: Cross-Sensory Correspondences Linking Surface Textures with Sound Symbolism, Colours, and Emotions

2026. Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.

Min Susan Li, Zhuzhi Fan, Tegan Roberts-Morgan, Amy Ingold & Oussama Metatla.

Image for publication Rough Meanings: Cross-Sensory Correspondences Linking Surface Textures with Sound Symbolism, Colours, and Emotions
Rough Meanings: Cross-Sensory Correspondences Linking Surface Textures with Sound Symbolism, Colours, and Emotions

Surface textures play a critical role in shaping interaction with tangible and multisensory technologies, yet little is known about how their microstructural features influence cognitive and affective responses - factors central to interface design. We investigated this through cross-sensory correspondences of textures systematically varying in roundness and size. Thirty participants explored 3D-printed textures under visuo-tactile and tactile-only conditions, rating them on visuo-linguistic association, roughness, colour, and emotion. Rounded textures were often linked with Bouba and pleasantness, whereas pointed textures were associated with Kiki, higher arousal, and warmer colours. Visual access also influenced exploratory behaviour, reflected in applied normal force and duration. These findings demonstrate how microstructural tactile cues shape cross-sensory and affective associations. We propose cross-sensory correspondences as a methodological framework for designing microstructural features of surfaces textures, which could open up new design opportunities for pseudo-haptic feedback, texture-rich tangible interfaces, and coherent multisensory experiences in VR/AR.

Full paper

https://dl.acm.org/doi/full/10.1145/3772318.3791500

Citation

Li, M. S., Fan, Z., Roberts-Morgan, T. J., Ingold, A., & Metatla, O. (2026). Rough meanings: cross-sensory correspondences linking surface textures with sound symbolism, colours, and emotions. Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1–20).

BibTeX

@inproceedings{li2026rough, title={Rough Meanings: Cross-sensory correspondences linking surface textures with sound symbolism, colours, and emotions}, author={Li, Min Susan and Fan, Zhuzhi and Roberts-Morgan, Tegan Joy and Ingold, Amy and Metatla, Oussama}, booktitle={Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems}, pages={1--20}, year={2026} }