Natural Hand Research Articles

Mirror Neurons in Monkey Premotor Area F5 Show Tuning for Critical Features of Visual Causality Perception

Humans derive causality judgments reliably from highly abstract stimuli, such as moving discs that bump into each other [1]. This fascinating visual capability emerges gradually during human development [2], perhaps as consequence of sensorimotor experience [3]. Human functional imaging studies suggest an involvement of the "action observation network" in the processing of such stimuli [4, 5]. In addition, theoretical studies suggest a link between the computational mechanisms of action and causality perception [6, 7], consistent with the fact that both functions require an analysis of sequences of spatiotemporal relationships between interacting stimulus elements. Single-cell correlates of the perception of causality are completely unknown. In order to find such neural correlates, we investigated the responses of "mirror neurons" in macaque premotor area F5 [8, 9]. These neurons respond during the observation as well as during the execution of actions and show interesting invariances, e.g., with respect to the stimulus view [10], occlusions [11], or whether an action is really executed or suppressed [12]. We investigated the spatiotemporal properties of the visual responses of mirror neurons to naturalistic hand action stimuli and to abstract stimuli, which specified the same causal relationships. We found a high degree of generalization between these two stimulus classes. In addition, many features that strongly reduced the similarity of the response patterns coincided with the ones that also destroy the perception of causality in humans. This implies an overlap of neural structures involved in the processing of actions and the visual perception of causality at the single-cell level.

Glove-based virtual hand grasping for virtual mechanical assembly

Purpose Hand gesture-based interaction can provide far more intuitive, natural and immersive feelings for users to manipulate 3D objects for virtual assembly (VA). A mechanical assembly consists of mostly general-purpose machine elements or mechanical parts that can be defined into four types based on their geometric features and functionalities. For different types of machine elements, engineers formulate corresponding grasping gestures based on their domain knowledge or customs for ease of assembly. Therefore, this paper aims to support a virtual hand to assemble mechanical parts. Design/methodology/approach It proposes a novel glove-based virtual hand grasping approach for virtual mechanical assembly. The kinematic model of virtual hand is set up first by analyzing the hand structure and possible movements, and then four types of grasping gestures are defined with joint angles of fingers for connectors and three types of parts, respectively. The recognition of virtual hand grasping is developed based on collision detection and gesture matching. Moreover, stable grasping conditions are discussed. Findings A prototype system is designed and developed to implement the proposed approach. The case study on VA of a two-stage gear reducer demonstrates the functionality of the system. From the users’ feedback, it is found that more natural and stable hand grasping interaction for VA of mechanical parts can be achieved. Originality/value It proposes a novel glove-based virtual hand grasping approach for virtual mechanical assembly.

Serious Gaming in Augmented Reality using HMDs for Assessment of Upper Extremity Motor Dysfunctions

Abstract For a better understanding of how different disorders affect motor function, a uniform, standardized and objective evaluation is a desirable goal for the clinical community. We explore the potential of Augmented Reality (AR) combined with serious gaming and free hand tracking to facilitate objective, cost-effective and patient-friendly methods for evaluation of upper extremity motor dysfunction in different patient groups. In this paper, we describe the design process of the game and the system architecture of the AR framework to meet these requirements. Furthermore, we report our findings from two pilot studies we conducted with healthy people aged over 50. First, we present a usability study (n = 5) on three different modalities of visual feedback for natural hand interaction with AR objects (i. e., no augmented hand, partial augmented hand and a full augmented hand model). The results show that a virtual representation of the fingertips or hand improves the usability of natural hand interaction. Secondly, a study about game engagement is presented. The results of this experiment (n = 8) show that there might be potential for engagement, but usability needs to be improved before it can emerge.

Spectral analysis of the tremor motion for needle detection in curvilinear ultrasound via spatiotemporal linear sampling.

This paper presents a new approach to detect a standard handheld needle in ultrasound-guided interventions. Our proposal is to use natural hand tremor, which causes minute displacement of the needle, to detect the needle in ultrasound B-mode images. Subtle displacements arising from tremor motion have a periodic pattern which is usually imperceptible to the naked eye in the B-mode image. We use these displacement measurements in a spatiotemporal framework to detect linear structures with periodic pattern among a sequence of frames. The needle trajectory is estimated as a linear path in the image having maximum spectral correlation with the time trace of displacement due to tremor. A coarse estimation process is followed by a fine estimation step, where the motion pattern is analyzed along spatiotemporal linear paths with various angles originating from the estimated puncture site, within the trajectory channel. Spectral coherency is derived for each sample path versus the reference path, and the needle trajectory is identified as the mean of the sample paths with the maximum coherence within the tremor frequency range. To evaluate the detection accuracy, we tested the method in vivo on porcine tissue, where the needle was inserted into the biceps femoris muscle. To understand whether tremor itself affects needle position, the maximum angular change due to tremor was calculated: mean, standard deviation (SD) and root-mean-square (RMS) measurement of [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text]. The accuracy of the needle trajectory was calculated by comparing to an expert manual segmentation, averaged over the captured data and presented in mean, SD and RMS error of [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text], respectively. Results demonstrate that natural tremor motion creates minute coherent motion along the needle, which could be used to localize the needle trajectory within the acceptable accuracy. This method is suitable for standard needles used clinically.

Gesture and Voice Based PC Control Using Real Time Camera

Human Computer Interaction with hand gesture has become increasingly popular today. The physical mouse device whether it is our basic desktop mouse or laptop touch pad, it require physical contact of user to convey input. Many advanced technologies have came but they all require physical contact. Hence we need a ubiquitous interface to do this. Our method is to use a camera device and computer gesture and voice based technology, like image segmentation as well as gesture recognition, to control mouse actions such as left click, double click, right click and dragging. We can show how it can do the things that present mouse devices can do. Our project Gesture and Voice Based PC Control is a real time system capable of understanding mouse commands given by hand gestures and voice commands. The end user is able to communicate with computer with the commands given by hand gestures and voice commands. This will avoid the need of physical contact to the computer to control mouse inputs. In this way the interface becomes ubiquitous. Introduction As computer technology continues to improve, people are having smaller and smaller electronic. Devices. They want to use these devices ubiquitously. There is need of a new interfaces designed specifically for use with these electronics devices. We are increasingly recognizing the importance of HCI, and in particularly gesture based gesture recognition. Simple interfaces already exist, such as embedded keyboard, folder keyboard and mini keyboard [2] . However, these interfaces need some amount of space to use as well as can’t be used in motion. Touch screens devices are also providing a good control interface and nowadays it is used globally in many applications [3] . But the cost and other hardware limitations makes it limited. With application of gesture technology and controlling the mouse actions by natural hand gestures, we can reduce the space required. We propose a good approach that uses a camera to control the mouse actions. Problem Definition To develop a software solution to a problem, the first step is to understand the problem. Mouse is a physical device, subject to mechanical wear and tear also demands the user to make physical contact to convey his Input, which is no longer appropriate. Natural actions in human to human communication, such as speak and gesture, seem more appropriate. Interfaces based on computational perception and computer gesture should be available for accomplishing the goals of ubiquitous computing [5] . The problem here is to develop a way so that humans can interact with a computer without having any physical contact with the computer. Need for the New System Mouse is a physical device. This device is subject to mechanical wear and tear. It requires the user to make physical contact to convey his Input, which is not appropriate. Instead, natural actions in human-to-human communication, such as speak and gesture, seem more appropriate [5] . This

Pollen limitation is not the rule in nival plants: A study from the European Central Alps.

Seed output of high-mountain plants in the uppermost life zones is highly variable. One possible reason might be pollen limitation due to inadequate pollinator services. We tested this hypothesis for the insect-pollinated species Cerastium uniflorum, Ranunculus glacialis, and Saxifraga bryoides, which have their distribution center in the subnival and nival zone of the European Central Alps. We recorded insect visitors and determined their impact as pollinators. By analyzing pollination success and seed set following natural and saturating hand pollination, the magnitude of quantitative and qualitative pollen limitation was assessed. Anthomyiid and muscid flies had the highest pollination impact for R. glacialis and S. bryoides and syrphids for C. uniflorum. Natural stigma pollen load was highly variable in individual flowers of all species, but in most cases the number of conspecific pollen grains clearly exceeded the number of ovules to be fertilized. There was also a surplus in germinated pollen grains, whereas the pollen tube to ovule ratio was only sufficient in R. glacialis (2.6 on average) and S. bryoides (1.3), but not in C. uniflorum (0.6). Accordingly, seed to ovule ratio was around 0.8 in R. glacialis, 0.7 in S. bryoides but 0.4 in C. uniflorum. In C. uniflorum, saturating pollination slightly increased seed set. Regression analyses revealed that natural pollination success was more frequently limited by quality than by quantity. Our results do not support the idea of chronic, widespread pollen limitation in the subnival but rather fit into the concept of parental optimism by overinvesting in the number of ovules as an adaptation to variable resource availability.

가상현실 환경에서 3D 가상객체 조작을 위한 인터페이스와 인터랙션 비교 연구

Received 22 September 2015; received in revised form 3 December 2015; accepted 16 December 2015ABSTRACT Recently immersive virtual reality (VR) becomes popular due to the advanced development of I/O interfaces and related SWs for effectively constructing VR environments. In particular, natu-ral and intuitive manipulation of 3D virtual objects is still considered as one of the most import-ant user interaction issues. This paper presents a comparative study on the manipulation andinteraction of 3D virtual objects using different interfaces and interactions in three VR environ-ments. The comparative study includes both quantitative and qualitative aspects. Three differentexperimental setups are 1) typical desktop-based VR using mouse and keyboard, 2) hand ges-ture-supported desktop VR using a Leap Motion sensor, and 3) immersive VR by wearing anHMD with hand gesture interaction using a Leap Motion sensor. In the desktop VR with handgestures, the Leap Motion sensor is put on the desk. On the other hand, in the immersive VR,the sensor is mounted on the HMD so that the user can manipulate virtual objects in the frontof the HMD. For the quantitative analysis, a task completion time and success rate were mea-sured. Experimental tasks require complex 3D transformation such as simultaneous 3D transla-tion and 3D rotation. For the qualitative analysis, various factors relating to user experiencesuch as ease of use, natural interaction, and stressfulness were evaluated. The qualitative andquantitative analyses show that the immersive VR with the natural hand gesture provides moreintuitive and natural interactions, supports fast and effective performance on task completion,but causes stressful condition. Key Words: Virtual reality, Interface and interaction, User experience, Hand gesture, Leap Motion

In a demanding task, three-handed manipulation is preferred to two-handed manipulation.

Equipped with a third hand under their direct control, surgeons may be able to perform certain surgical interventions alone; this would reduce the need for a human assistant and related coordination difficulties. However, does human performance improve with three hands compared to two hands? To evaluate this possibility, we carried out a behavioural study on the performance of naive adults catching objects with three virtual hands controlled by their two hands and right foot. The subjects could successfully control the virtual hands in a few trials. With this control strategy, the workspace of the hands was inversely correlated with the task velocity. The comparison of performance between the three and two hands control revealed no significant difference of success in catching falling objects and in average effort during the tasks. Subjects preferred the three handed control strategy, found it easier, with less physical and mental burden. Although the coordination of the foot with the natural hands increased trial after trial, about two minutes of practice was not sufficient to develop a sense of ownership towards the third arm.

Brain asymmetries and handedness in the specimens from the Sima de los Huesos site (Atapuerca, Spain)

Abstract This study investigates handedness in a group of individuals from the Sima de los Huesos site (Atapuerca, Spain). In this research, handedness has been studied by analyzing the brain endocast asymmetries (cerebral evidence), and the results (the assignment, of the manual preference in each individual) have been compared to previous results from the determination of handedness from labial striations on the anterior dentition in the same individuals. From the dental analysis, all individuals from SH were right-handed. After combining the results of both studies, 4 individuals could be analyzed in depth. In 3 of these individuals, the assignment of probable handedness was coincident. The results did not coincide in just 1 individual (Cranium 6). In this specimen, labial striations indicated a right oblique orientation consistent with right-handedness, but this was not consistent with our results from the endocast analysis. The existence of some pathology in the natural skilled hand, learning by imitation from right-handers, or ambidextrous handedness are some of the interpretations derived from this special case.

주거 공간에서의 3차원 핸드 제스처 인터페이스에 대한 사용자 요구사항

The aim of this study is to find out the user’s needs of a 3D hand gesture interface in the smart home environment. To find out the users’ needs, we investigated which object the users want to use with a 3D hand gesture interface and why they want to use a 3D hand gesture interface. 3D hand gesture interfaces are studied to be applied to various devices in the smart environment. 3D hand gesture interfaces enable the users to control the smart environment with natural and intuitive hand gestures. With these advantages, finding out the user’s needs of a 3D hand gesture interface would improve the user experience of a product. This study was conducted using a diary method to find out the user’s needs with 20 participants. They wrote the needs of a 3D hand gesture interface during one week filling in the forms of a diary. The form of the diary is comprised of who, when, where, what and how to use a 3D hand gesture interface with each consisting of a usefulness score. A total of 322 data (209 normal data and 113 error data) were collected from users. There were some common objects which the users wanted to control with a 3D hand gesture interface and reasons why they want to use a 3D hand gesture interface. Among them, the users wanted to use a 3D hand gesture interface mostly to control the light, and to use a 3D hand gesture interface mostly to overcome hand restrictions. The results of this study would help develop effective and efficient studies of a 3D hand gesture interface giving valuable insights for the researchers and designers. In addition, this could be used for creating guidelines for 3D hand gesture interfaces. †

THE SIXTH SENSE TECHNOLOGY

“We have five senses in which we glory and which we recognise and celebrate, senses that constitute the sensible world for us. But there are other senses -- secret senses, sixth senses, if you will -- equally vital, but unrecognised, and unlauded. These senses, unconscious, automatic, had to be discovered.” ― Oliver Sacks. This paper discusses a technology which is amazing everyone worldwide in today‟s time, which is “Sixth Sense Technology”. All human beings are aware of the five basic senses i.e. Sight, Hearing, Taste, Touch, Smell. Sixth Sense technology was developed by a man named Pranav Mistry, a Ph D student. „Sixth Sense Technology‟ is used to build bridge between the digital world and the physical world, bringing impalpable, digital information out into the palpable world, and allows us to interact with this information using natural hand gestures. The paper showcases the possible applications and opportunities of Sixth Sense. Furthermore, the implementation approaches are compared and the pros and cons of each approach are explored. Most importantly, technical challenges and open issues regarding each implementation approach are brought out. Furthermore, predictions are made on which approach is expected to succeed in the coming years. Finally, solutions are discussed to improve the Sixth Sense Technology with regards to its implementation approaches to insure new and better ways of human-computer interaction.

The Dolezal affair: race, gender, and the micropolitics of identity

ABSTRACTThis article treats the pairing of “transgender” and “transracial” in the intertwined discussion of Caitlyn Jenner and Rachel Dolezal as an intellectual opportunity rather than a political provocation. I situate the Dolezal affair in the context of the massive destabilization of long taken-for-granted categorical frameworks, which has significantly enlarged the scope for choice and self-fashioning in the domains of race, ethnicity, sex, gender, and sexuality. Anxieties about opportunistic, exploitative, or fraudulent identity claims have generated efforts to “police” unorthodox claims – as well as efforts to defend such claims against policing – in the name of authentic, objective, and unchosen identities. Instead of a shift from given to chosen identities, as posited by theories of reflexive modernity, we see a sharpened tension between idioms of choice, autonomy, subjectivity, and self-fashioning on the one hand and idioms of givenness, essence, objectivity, and nature on the other.

Cobbett's Commons: Monastic Economies in A History of the Protestant “Reformation”

William Cobbett's History of the Protestant “Reformation” theorizes and historicizes medieval monasteries as an institutional model of common, shared property and resources. The monastic practice of hospitality facilitated acts of commoning that redistributed wealth across local communities and created a habitus of common rights access to property. At the same time, the monastic rule of celibacy served as a preventative check on those who would be born into the upper class, and thus transferred the burden for limiting population to those who consumed the most resources. The rule of celibacy further queers conservative Burkean intergenerational inheritance by placing it within communal, homosocial groups instead of families. Cobbett's depiction of the monastic rule of hospitality toward the lower class and rule of celibacy for the monks and nuns challenges the naturalization of private property in Malthus's Essay on Population. As opposed to Smith's invisible hand of the market or Malthus's biopolitical, punishing hand of nature, Cobbett points to the visible and hospitable hand of the monasteries in checking over-consumption and facilitating the distribution of community resources.

A bio-inspired force control for cyclic manipulation of prosthetic hands.

The human hand is considered as the highest example of dexterous system capable of interacting with different objects and adapting its manipulation abilities to them. The control of poliarticulated prosthetic hands represents one important research challenge, typically aiming at replicating the manipulation capabilities of the natural hand. For this reason, this paper wants to propose a bio-inspired learning architecture based on parallel force/position control for prosthetic hands, capable of learning cyclic manipulation capabilities. To this purpose, it is focused on the control of a commercial biomechatronic hand (the IH2 hand) including the main features of recent poliarticulated prosthetic hands. The training phase of the hand was carried out in simulation, the parallel force/position control was tested in simulation whereas preliminary tests were performed on the real IH2 hand. The results obtained in simulation and on the real hand provide an important evidence of the applicability of the bio-inspired neural control to real biomechatronic hand with the typical features of a hand prosthesis.

Control of a Supernumerary Robotic Hand by Foot: An Experimental Study in Virtual Reality.

In the operational theater, the surgical team could highly benefit from a robotic supplementary hand under the surgeon’s full control. The surgeon may so become more autonomous; this may reduce communication errors with the assistants and take over difficult tasks such as holding tools without tremor. In this paper, we therefore examine the possibility to control a third robotic hand with one foot’s movements. Three experiments in virtual reality were designed to assess the feasibility of this control strategy, the learning curve of the subjects in different tasks and the coordination of foot movements with the two natural hands. Results show that the limbs are moved simultaneously, in parallel rather than serially. Participants’ performance improved within a few minutes of practice without any specific difficulty to complete the tasks. Subjective assessment by the subjects indicated that controlling a third hand by foot has been easy and required only negligible physical and mental efforts. The sense of ownership was reported to improve through the experiments. The mental burden was not directly related to the level of motion required by a task, but depended on the type of activity and practice. The most difficult task was moving two hands and foot in opposite directions. These results suggest that a combination of practice and appropriate tasks can enhance the learning process for controlling a robotic hand by foot.

Is Robotic Surgery Unnecessary for Adrenalectomy? Weighting the Pros and Cons of the Robotic Approach

Laparoscopic adrenalectomy (LA) was first described in 1992 by Gagner et al. [1] and, since then, has progressively replaced conventional open adrenalectomy as the gold standard procedure for the treatment of benign adrenal disease [2]. While LA may be considered by laparoscopic surgeons for small or benign adrenal masses, in cases with large or malignant lesions, LA may represent an extremely challenging surgery. The current limitations of the laparoscopic approach, mainly consisting of reduced maneuverability and limited ergonomic design of instruments, natural hand fatigue, tremors, and counterintuitive movements, may further enhance the complexity of this procedure. These aspects, along with the relatively low incidence of adrenal lesions, have limited the diffusion of LA to few highvolume tertiary care centers. Learning from history, a better alternative to open access should offer the same cosmetic and postoperative advantages of LA but should be feasible for many urologists and, consequently, available to many patients. The use of a robotic platform may help achieve this purpose by combining the benefits of a shorter learning curve with low complication rates. The first experience with robot-assisted adrenalectomy (RA) was reported in 1999 by Piazza et al, who performed a right adrenalectomy in a patient with Conn’s syndrome using the ZEUS AESOP robot (Computer Motion, Inc., Santa Barbara, CA, USA) [3]. Conversely, the first RA performed with the da Vinci robot (Intuitive Surgical, Sunnyvale, CA, USA) was described by Desai et al. in 2002 [4]. From this preliminary experience, RA emerged as an extremely promising procedure, capable of overcoming the technical difficulties of LA and allowing broader diffusion of minimally invasive surgery for the treatment of adrenal masses. Specifically, the well-known advantages of the da

논에서 솔잎과 쌀겨의 혼합처리가 잡초방제 및 벼 수량에 미치는 영향

Combined applications of rice bran with pine leaves were tested to examine the inhibitory effects to paddy weeds and increased yield of rice for developing techniques of environment-friendly weed management in paddy rice fields. Weed control efficacy at 60 days after treatment was improved to 88.8% by combined application of rice bran with pine leaves, while weed control efficacy by single application of rice bran showed 67.5%. The other weed control efficacy combined with chestnut leaves and barley straws were 76.3% and 69.9% respectively. Combined application of rice bran with pine leaves was more effective to broadleaf weeds such as Monochoria vaginalis. Weed control efficacy by combined application with pine leaves was 100% until 70 days after rice transplanting and maintained weed control effect up to 90 days after transplanting. Rice yield by combined application of rice bran with pine leaves was 526 kg/10 a, which was higher yield than by combined application with barley straws, single application of rice bran, natural snail application and hand weeding.

Hand Gesture Based Control of Robotic Hand using Raspberry Pi Processor

A Novel approach has been proposed in this paper for the control of an intelligent hand which can mimic the natural movement of the human hand. Implementing such intellectual hand finds its application in humanoid as well as personal robots. In this paper vision-based interaction techniques are used to track the motion of the fingers and to extract the motion of the hand gesture accurately and promptly. Accuracy and effectiveness plays the key role for real time motion based applications. Raspberry pi processor is used to control the entire set up which has a camera module attached in it, to capture the motion. Face subtraction, skin color detections are used to characterize the hand in the video. Mean shift algorithm is used to track the motion of the finger. The mechanical structure and the ratio between number of actuators and number of Degrees Of Freedoms (DOFs) have been optimized in order to cope with the strict size and weight constraints that are typical application of artificial hands for the implication of humanoid robotics. The proposed hand has a structure similar to that of the natural hand featuring articulated fingers (every finger with 4 degree of freedom) which is controlled by DC motors.

VertVersusVerre: Vegetal Violence in Huysmans'sEn Rade

In Joris-Karl Huysmans’s 1887 novel En rade , Jacques Marles and his wife Louise, beset by financial troubles, flee Paris to find safe harbour in a dilapidated rural chateau. At first glance, this country setting seems to display all the stereotypical features of pastoral fantasy; however, Huysmans uses implicit urban rhetoric and imagery to create a wry subversion of the natural idyll. The comforts of nature are denied to the male subject as the countryside is stripped of its promise of escapism. This article examines, firstly, Huysmans’s use of signifiers of urban unrest to turn nature’s exuberance into a corollary for human, revolutionary violence. Secondly, it focuses specifically on glass and glass-breaking at the hands of an aggressive Mother Nature, evoking memories of urban destruction and Parisian civil strife. The association of nature with violence culminates in the invasion of the chateau and its looking glasses by green, the colour of nature, forcing this distressing natural world between man and his own narcissistic reflection. Huysmans reveals that the natural world is no more an ally than the unruly urban masses, and confronts the reader with the inexorable violence of vegetation.

Sixth Sense Technology

Sixth Sense technology is an interface of wearable gestures which upgrade the physical world and the digital world, bringing intangible, digital datas out into the tangible world, and make us to interact with this data through natural hand gestures. The advent of this technology over the last few decade has established a new dimension in the field of Human computer Interaction (HCI) Using gesture recognition, augmented reality, computer vision and radio frequency identification. Sixth Sense technology is implemented in WUW (wear your world)