(The title refers to the nickname that the rather overpoweringly impressive and oracular James acquired from a reverential younger generation; it should be said at the outset that Toibin's novel, with its crisp, almost tactile scene-setting, is anything but overpowering or heavy in the way many people think James's work is).
The film immerses itself in tactile scenes of the painter at work, and from the textured compositions and limpid light to the swirling, nonlinear structure, it seems to draw direct and productive inspiration from Munch's blossoming Expressionism.
To our knowledge, this is the first time the decoding performance of neurons of the somatosensory cortex are investigated using (i) reproducible spatiotemporal patterns of skin tactile afferent activation, (ii) that are delivered in multiple, richly resolvable patterns that resemble natural tactile scenes, i.e. touch of a range of objects.
Even though we tested only eight different spatiotemporal patterns of input, in the real world the range of possible natural tactile scenes implies that a huge variety of input patterns need to be resolved from this one part of the skin alone, a situation where the capacity added by the population of neurons is likely to be crucial.
The patient could then "feel" the scene through the tactile receptors in his or her skin.
The dark greens and pale yellows of the city's foliage and its sunlight have an almost tactile density, and when the scene periodically shifts to the countryside, the sudden widening of perspective and the altered quality of light produce a kind of awe.
From there it became the idea of these tactile controllers and the different scenes, rewarding people for exploring, and at the same time ensuring it's not just an A-to-B experience people have freedom to move backwards and forth.
The VR-lab concept described uses ideally most human senses (visual, tactile, auditory, olfactory) and enables interaction with the scene.
Raised buttons provide quick access to the flash, macro, self-timer and scene-specific shooting modes, with good tactile feel.
Mr. Corigliano's score, full of tactile percussive effects and sliding strings during these scenes, paints the rat battle clearly enough.
There are also scenes rooted in a sense of tactile restraint, of fingers lacing a corset or the soothing of an aching tooth.
