Temperature responses of human skin at the contact of hot surfaces

Abstract

The performance of portable electronic devices such as laptop and wearable computers is increasing rapidly nowadays. As a result, the heat generated by these devices is increasing and the surface temperature of these devices may become uncomfortable for human beings to handle and wear. It is a common experience that the comfort we as human beings feel when touching a hot surface depends on the surface temperature and the underlying materials of the surface. For the same temperature, one generally feels hotter if the surface is made of metal instead of plastics. It is the intent of this paper to examine this phenomena by measuring the temporal temperature responses of human skin at the contact of hot surfaces of various materials. Several commonly used materials for the boxes of these devices were studied and their effects on the temperature of human skin will be reported and discussed.