Amplifying shear deformation of finger pad increases tracing distances

Abstract

Human sensory inputs and motor outputs mutually affect one another. We pursue the idea that a tactile interface can influence human motor outputs by intervening in sensory–motor relationships. This study focuses on the shear deformation of a finger pad while a person traces a line or circle. During these tracing movements, the finger pads were deformed using a tactile interface. The tracing distances increased when the finger pad deformations were amplified by the tactile interface, which indicates that the intervention in the haptic sensorimotor loop affected the tracing movements. Elucidation of such interaction between the tracing movements and the shear deformations of finger pads enhances the understanding of human-assistive haptic techniques.