Authors:
M-C. Lepelley
;
L. Lejeune
;
F. Thullier
;
E. Faugloire
and
F. G. Lestienne
Affiliation:
ERT 2002 « Rapsodie », EA 4260 IOA, MODESCO UMS 843 CNRS, Université de Caen Basse-Normandie, France
Keyword(s):
Vibrotactile device, Tactile compass, Spatial guidance, Directional prescriptors, Pointing task.
Related
Ontology
Subjects/Areas/Topics:
Artificial Intelligence
;
Biomedical Engineering
;
Biomedical Signal Processing
;
Data Manipulation
;
Devices
;
Health Engineering and Technology Applications
;
Health Information Systems
;
Human-Computer Interaction
;
Methodologies and Methods
;
Neurocomputing
;
Neurotechnology, Electronics and Informatics
;
Pattern Recognition
;
Physiological Computing Systems
;
Sensor Networks
;
Soft Computing
;
Wearable Sensors and Systems
Abstract:
Using tactile skin receptors that are sensitive to vibrations thereby allowing the use of a “tactile compass” made up of a matrix of micro-vibrators that reproduce tactile encoding on the skin surface to orient the wearer. The tactile compass used in this study consisted in 49 microvibrators laid out in a 7x7 matrix. The 49 microvibrators contained inertial vibrators activated by micromotors. The tactile messages were provided in a dynamic way by the successive activation of each microvibrators. The present study investigated the efficiency of the tactile compass in guiding the hand in a blind pointing task when inserted into an abdominal girdle. More specifically, the performances obtained using tactile coding are compared to those obtained using verbal instructions. The participants had to point, from the central target towards one of the four other targets each corresponding to one of the six directions (upwards, downwards, left, right, backwards and forwards) located either in th
e frontal plane or in the horizontal plane. Overall, the results reveal the efficiency for gesture guidance of providing tactile messages in a dynamic way, without involving learning. In addition, they establish that tactile information transmitted via our vibrotactile device is involved in the processes of both motor control and production of movement in tridimensional space.
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