Tactile Apparent Movement as a Modality for Lower Limb Haptic Feedback

Abstract

Wearable haptic technology has been shown to be effective for motion training and rehabilitation. However, one challenge is providing multiple intuitive tactile feedback during walking and hence new feedback methods need to be explored. Experiments were conducted to explore the use of tactile apparent movement on the lower extremity and its feasibility as a feedback modality. Optimal stimulus duration and inter-stimulus onset interval (ISOI) combinations were determined. We obtained the optimal mean ISOIs at six different stimulus durations (from 100–200 ms) and then measured the subjects’ left and right perception accuracy and response times when those stimuli were presented in a randomized trial during standing and walking. This study shows that apparent movement can be an effective feedback modality during walking achieving accuracies of ~100 % and low response times of <1010 ms, given the optimal stimulus.