Kinesthetic Feedback System Research Articles

Evaluation of a Wearable Hand Kinesthetic Feedback System for Virtual Reality: Psychophysical and User Experience Evaluation

Most of the wearable hand kinesthetic (force) feedback systems have only been evaluated from a physical perspective, i.e., motion measurement, force transmission, system stability, etc. However, by taking this approach, we cannot gather sufficient data to evaluate the performance of wearable kinesthetic feedback systems as haptic devices. In this paper, we evaluated the wearable hand kinesthetic feedback system developed in our laboratory from psychophysical and user experience (UX) perspectives. We designed the experiments considering the characteristics of our wearable hand system. For psychophysical evaluation, ten subjects participated in force detection, discrimination, and identification experiments. The force detection threshold of our system was better than those of the commercialized haptic systems, and discrimination threshold was similar with the human perception threshold. In the identification experiment, the subjects could distinguish the size and shape of virtual objects over 2.5 levels. For UX evaluation, 15 subjects answered a questionnaire after conducting a task using our wearable hand system in laboratory environment. The UX results verified that the subjects were satisfied with our system by giving a score of 5.87 out of 7 points. It also concluded that our system can provide a good VR experience to users by achieving over 5.5 points in ease of use, learnability, and utilitarian value.

Collision-avoidance trajectory planning for a virtual kinesthetic feedback system

This paper proposes the collision-avoidance trajectory design and simulation of a virtual kinesthetic feedback system. The system has two sliders driven in two tracks, respectively, and produces virtual masses when the user holds and moves the system. Trajectory planning considering both the ideal and constrained scenarios in applications is carried out. A collision-avoidance trajectory is designed based on the quintic polynomial, and the influence of the time interval and the switching point is discussed. Simulations were performed to verify the function of the system. The results show that without constraints, the system can produce prescribed virtual masses. The displacements of the slider are affected by the error between the prescribed virtual mass and the real mass of the system. With the constraints of the tracks' lengths, the produced virtual masses are altered from the prescribed. Adjusting the time interval and the switching point could optimize the performance of the system when the geometric parameters of the system are set.

Role of combined tactile and kinesthetic feedback in minimally invasive surgery

Haptic feedback is of critical importance in surgical tasks. However, conventional surgical robots do not provide haptic feedback to surgeons during surgery. Thus, in this study, a combined tactile and kinesthetic feedback system was developed to provide haptic feedback to surgeons during robotic surgery. To assess haptic feasibility, the effects of two types of haptic feedback were examined empirically - kinesthetic and tactile feedback - to measure object-pulling force with a telesurgery robotics system at two desired pulling forces (1 N and 2 N). Participants answered a set of questionnaires after experiments. The experimental results reveal reductions in force error (39.1% and 40.9%) when using haptic feedback during 1 N and 2 N pulling tasks. Moreover, survey analyses show the effectiveness of the haptic feedback during teleoperation. The combined tactile and kinesthetic feedback of the master device in robotic surgery improves the surgeon's ability to control the interaction force applied to the tissue. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

1A2-E08 遭遇型指装着触覚ディスプレイによる摩擦感提示(ハプティックインタフェース(2))

Presentation of friction is a critical essence in various scenes such as support for remote operation of robot hand or haptic interaction with virtual world. In this paper, we propose a novel tactile device that can present friction by using vertical vibration and horizontal skin deformation to user's fingertip. Adding tangential skin deformation, which has been used for presenting friction in previous works, we represent counter force from surface so that we can present natural haptic interaction with friction. Furthermore, the device can present friction by cutaneous feedback system, which is able to be realized by simple implementation, while kinesthetic feedback system can be heavy and complex.

Exoskeleton with kinesthetic feedback and robotic control

A control apparatus and method for controlling a remote actuator, the control apparatus having a kinesthetic feedback system for providing a kinesthetic sensation to the operator as a physical sensation representative of the resistive forces encountered by the remote actuator. The control apparatus is configured to be releasably mounted to the hand of the operator with control modules supported at preselected joints of the hand. The control modules sense changes in the angular orientation in the respective joints and generate a control signal as a function of the change. This control signal is used to drive the corresponding actuator. Each actuator includes a sensor to sense resistive forces encountered by the actuator and generate a response signal as a function of the resistive forces. A magnetostrictive clutch mechanism on the control module is controlled by the response signal to provide a resistive force against movement of the control module thereby providing a kinesthetic sensation to the hand of the operator.

Tactile Information Processing by Human Operators in Control Systems

The response of human operators in control systems to electrocutaneous stimulation inputs was investigated. Human subjects were asked to track two-dimensional tactile inputs (applied at the waist) by means of force applied to a two-axis isometric control stick. Stimulation and force signals recorded from the experiment were used to obtain mathematical models of the subjects' input-output characteristics. Coherence analysis showed that the operators' behavior could be represented by linear models in the frequency range of 0 to 0.8 rad/s and that cross-coupling between the two axes is negligible. The implications of the results in the design of artificial kinesthetic feedback systems to aid in the rehabilitation of traumatic paraplegics are discussed.

Tactile information processing by human operators in control systems

The response of human operators in control systems to electrocutaneous stimulation inputs was investigated. Human subjects were asked to track two-dimensional tactile inputs (applied at the waist) by means of force applied to a two-axis isometric control stick. Stimulation and force signals recorded from the experiment were used to obtain mathematical models of the subjects' input-output characteristics. Coherence analysis showed that the operators' behavior could be represented by linear models in the frequency range of 0 to 0.8 rad/s and that cross-coupling between the two axes is negligible. The implications of the results in the design of artificial kinesthetic feedback systems to aid in the rehabilitation of traumatic paraplegics are discussed.