Characteristic analysis and simulation for polysilicon comb micro-accelerometer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Fengli; Hao, Yongping

2008-10-01

High force update rate is a key factor for achieving high performance haptic rendering, which imposes a stringent real time requirement upon the execution environment of the haptic system. This requirement confines the haptic system to simplified environment for reducing the computation cost of haptic rendering algorithms. In this paper, we present a novel "hyper-threading" architecture consisting of several threads for haptic rendering. The high force update rate is achieved with relatively large computation time interval for each haptic loop. The proposed method was testified and proved to be effective with experiments on virtual wall prototype haptic system via Delta Haptic Device.

Cranial implant design using augmented reality immersive system.

PubMed

Ai, Zhuming; Evenhouse, Ray; Leigh, Jason; Charbel, Fady; Rasmussen, Mary

2007-01-01

Software tools that utilize haptics for sculpting precise fitting cranial implants are utilized in an augmented reality immersive system to create a virtual working environment for the modelers. The virtual environment is designed to mimic the traditional working environment as closely as possible, providing more functionality for the users. The implant design process uses patient CT data of a defective area. This volumetric data is displayed in an implant modeling tele-immersive augmented reality system where the modeler can build a patient specific implant that precisely fits the defect. To mimic the traditional sculpting workspace, the implant modeling augmented reality system includes stereo vision, viewer centered perspective, sense of touch, and collaboration. To achieve optimized performance, this system includes a dual-processor PC, fast volume rendering with three-dimensional texture mapping, the fast haptic rendering algorithm, and a multi-threading architecture. The system replaces the expensive and time consuming traditional sculpting steps such as physical sculpting, mold making, and defect stereolithography. This augmented reality system is part of a comprehensive tele-immersive system that includes a conference-room-sized system for tele-immersive small group consultation and an inexpensive, easily deployable networked desktop virtual reality system for surgical consultation, evaluation and collaboration. This system has been used to design patient-specific cranial implants with precise fit.

Learning in a virtual environment using haptic systems for movement re-education: can this medium be used for remodeling other behaviors and actions?

PubMed

Merians, Alma S; Fluet, Gerard G; Qiu, Qinyin; Lafond, Ian; Adamovich, Sergei V

2011-03-01

Robotic systems that are interfaced with virtual reality gaming and task simulations are increasingly being developed to provide repetitive intensive practice to promote increased compliance and facilitate better outcomes in rehabilitation post-stroke. A major development in the use of virtual environments (VEs) has been to incorporate tactile information and interaction forces into what was previously an essentially visual experience. Robots of varying complexity are being interfaced with more traditional virtual presentations to provide haptic feedback that enriches the sensory experience and adds physical task parameters. This provides forces that produce biomechanical and neuromuscular interactions with the VE that approximate real-world movement more accurately than visual-only VEs, simulating the weight and force found in upper extremity tasks. The purpose of this article is to present an overview of several systems that are commercially available for ambulation training and for training movement of the upper extremity. We will also report on the system that we have developed (NJIT-RAVR system) that incorporates motivating and challenging haptic feedback effects into VE simulations to facilitate motor recovery of the upper extremity post-stroke. The NJIT-RAVR system trains both the upper arm and the hand. The robotic arm acts as an interface between the participants and the VEs, enabling multiplanar movements against gravity in a three-dimensional workspace. The ultimate question is whether this medium can provide a motivating, challenging, gaming experience with dramatically decreased physical difficulty levels, which would allow for participation by an obese person and facilitate greater adherence to exercise regimes. © 2011 Diabetes Technology Society.

fMRI-Compatible Electromagnetic Haptic Interface.

PubMed

Riener, R; Villgrattner, T; Kleiser, R; Nef, T; Kollias, S

2005-01-01

A new haptic interface device is suggested, which can be used for functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies. The basic component of this 1 DOF haptic device are two coils that produce a Lorentz force induced by the large static magnetic field of the MR scanner. A MR-compatible optical angular encoder and a optical force sensor enable the implementation of different control architectures for haptic interactions. The challenge was to provide a large torque, and not to affect image quality by the currents applied in the device. The haptic device was tested in a 3T MR scanner. With a current of up to 1A and a distance of 1m to the focal point of the MR-scanner it was possible to generate torques of up to 4 Nm. Within these boundaries image quality was not affected.

End-to-End Flow Control for Visual-Haptic Communication under Bandwidth Change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yashiro, Daisuke; Tian, Dapeng; Yakoh, Takahiro

This paper proposes an end-to-end flow controller for visual-haptic communication. A visual-haptic communication system transmits non-real-time packets, which contain large-size visual data, and real-time packets, which contain small-size haptic data. When the transmission rate of visual data exceeds the communication bandwidth, the visual-haptic communication system becomes unstable owing to buffer overflow. To solve this problem, an end-to-end flow controller is proposed. This controller determines the optimal transmission rate of visual data on the basis of the traffic conditions, which are estimated by the packets for haptic communication. Experimental results confirm that in the proposed method, a short packet-sending interval and a short delay are achieved under bandwidth change, and thus, high-precision visual-haptic communication is realized.

Stereoscopic visualization and haptic technology used to create a virtual environment for remote surgery - biomed 2011.

PubMed

Bornhoft, J M; Strabala, K W; Wortman, T D; Lehman, A C; Oleynikov, D; Farritor, S M

2011-01-01

The objective of this research is to study the effectiveness of using a stereoscopic visualization system for performing remote surgery. The use of stereoscopic vision has become common with the advent of the da Vinci® system (Intuitive, Sunnyvale CA). This system creates a virtual environment that consists of a 3-D display for visual feedback and haptic tactile feedback, together providing an intuitive environment for remote surgical applications. This study will use simple in vivo robotic surgical devices and compare the performance of surgeons using the stereoscopic interfacing system to the performance of surgeons using one dimensional monitors. The stereoscopic viewing system consists of two cameras, two monitors, and four mirrors. The cameras are mounted to a multi-functional miniature in vivo robot; and mimic the depth perception of the actual human eyes. This is done by placing the cameras at a calculated angle and distance apart. Live video streams from the left and right cameras are displayed on the left and right monitors, respectively. A system of angled mirrors allows the left and right eyes to see the video stream from the left and right monitor, respectively, creating the illusion of depth. The haptic interface consists of two PHANTOM Omni® (SensAble, Woburn Ma) controllers. These controllers measure the position and orientation of a pen-like end effector with three degrees of freedom. As the surgeon uses this interface, they see a 3-D image and feel force feedback for collision and workspace limits. The stereoscopic viewing system has been used in several surgical training tests and shows a potential improvement in depth perception and 3-D vision. The haptic system accurately gives force feedback that aids in surgery. Both have been used in non-survival animal surgeries, and have successfully been used in suturing and gallbladder removal. Bench top experiments using the interfacing system have also been conducted. A group of participants completed two different surgical training tasks using both a two dimensional visual system and the stereoscopic visual system. Results suggest that the stereoscopic visual system decreased the amount of time taken to complete the tasks. All participants also reported that the stereoscopic system was easier to utilize than the two dimensional system. Haptic controllers combined with stereoscopic vision provides for a more intuitive virtual environment. This system provides the surgeon with 3-D vision, depth perception, and the ability to receive feedback through forces applied in the haptic controller while performing surgery. These capabilities potentially enable the performance of more complex surgeries with a higher level of precision.

Haptic device development based on electro static force of cellulose electro active paper

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yun, Gyu-young; Kim, Sang-Youn; Jang, Sang-Dong; Kim, Dong-Gu; Kim, Jaehwan

2011-04-01

Haptic is one of well-considered device which is suitable for demanding virtual reality applications such as medical equipment, mobile devices, the online marketing and so on. Nowadays, many of concepts for haptic devices have been suggested to meet the demand of industries. Cellulose has received much attention as an emerging smart material, named as electro-active paper (EAPap). The EAPap is attractive for mobile haptic devices due to its unique characteristics in terms of low actuation power, suitability for thin devices and transparency. In this paper, we suggest a new concept of haptic actuator with the use of cellulose EAPap. Its performance is evaluated depending on various actuation conditions. As a result, cellulose electrostatic force actuator shows a large output displacement and fast response, which is suitable for mobile haptic devices.

Differential effects of non-informative vision and visual interference on haptic spatial processing

PubMed Central

van Rheede, Joram J.; Postma, Albert; Kappers, Astrid M. L.

2008-01-01

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the effects of non-informative vision and visual interference upon haptic spatial processing, which supposedly derives from an interaction between an allocentric and egocentric reference frame. To this end, a haptic parallelity task served as baseline to determine the participant-dependent biasing influence of the egocentric reference frame. As expected, large systematic participant-dependent deviations from veridicality were observed. In the second experiment we probed the effect of non-informative vision on the egocentric bias. Moreover, orienting mechanisms (gazing directions) were studied with respect to the presentation of haptic information in a specific hemispace. Non-informative vision proved to have a beneficial effect on haptic spatial processing. No effect of gazing direction or hemispace was observed. In the third experiment we investigated the effect of simultaneously presented interfering visual information on the haptic bias. Interfering visual information parametrically influenced haptic performance. The interplay of reference frames that subserves haptic spatial processing was found to be related to both the effects of non-informative vision and visual interference. These results suggest that spatial representations are influenced by direct cross-modal interactions; inter-participant differences in the haptic modality resulted in differential effects of the visual modality. PMID:18553074

Aging and the haptic perception of 3D surface shape.

PubMed

Norman, J Farley; Kappers, Astrid M L; Beers, Amanda M; Scott, A Kate; Norman, Hideko F; Koenderink, Jan J

2011-04-01

Two experiments evaluated the ability of older and younger adults to perceive the three-dimensional (3D) shape of object surfaces from active touch (haptics). The ages of the older adults ranged from 64 to 84 years, while those of the younger adults ranged from 18 to 27 years. In Experiment 1, the participants haptically judged the shape of large (20 cm diameter) surfaces with an entire hand. In contrast, in Experiment 2, the participants explored the shape of small (5 cm diameter) surfaces with a single finger. The haptic surfaces varied in shape index (Koenderink, Solid shape, 1990; Koenderink, Image and Vision Computing, 10, 557-564, 1992) from -1.0 to +1.0 in steps of 0.25. For both types of surfaces (large and small), the participants were able to judge surface shape reliably. The older participants' judgments of surface shape were just as accurate and precise as those of the younger participants. The results of the current study demonstrate that while older adults do possess reductions in tactile sensitivity and acuity, they nevertheless can effectively perceive 3D surface shape from haptic exploration.

Identification of walked-upon materials in auditory, kinesthetic, haptic, and audio-haptic conditions.

PubMed

Giordano, Bruno L; Visell, Yon; Yao, Hsin-Yun; Hayward, Vincent; Cooperstock, Jeremy R; McAdams, Stephen

2012-05-01

Locomotion generates multisensory information about walked-upon objects. How perceptual systems use such information to get to know the environment remains unexplored. The ability to identify solid (e.g., marble) and aggregate (e.g., gravel) walked-upon materials was investigated in auditory, haptic or audio-haptic conditions, and in a kinesthetic condition where tactile information was perturbed with a vibromechanical noise. Overall, identification performance was better than chance in all experimental conditions and for both solids and the better identified aggregates. Despite large mechanical differences between the response of solids and aggregates to locomotion, for both material categories discrimination was at its worst in the auditory and kinesthetic conditions and at its best in the haptic and audio-haptic conditions. An analysis of the dominance of sensory information in the audio-haptic context supported a focus on the most accurate modality, haptics, but only for the identification of solid materials. When identifying aggregates, response biases appeared to produce a focus on the least accurate modality--kinesthesia. When walking on loose materials such as gravel, individuals do not perceive surfaces by focusing on the most accurate modality, but by focusing on the modality that would most promptly signal postural instabilities.

Planning maximally smooth hand movements constrained to nonplanar workspaces.

PubMed

Liebermann, Dario G; Krasovsky, Tal; Berman, Sigal

2008-11-01

The article characterizes hand paths and speed profiles for movements performed in a nonplanar, 2-dimensional workspace (a hemisphere of constant curvature). The authors assessed endpoint kinematics (i.e., paths and speeds) under the minimum-jerk model assumptions and calculated minimal amplitude paths (geodesics) and the corresponding speed profiles. The authors also calculated hand speeds using the 2/3 power law. They then compared modeled results with the empirical observations. In all, 10 participants moved their hands forward and backward from a common starting position toward 3 targets located within a hemispheric workspace of small or large curvature. Comparisons of modeled observed differences using 2-way RM-ANOVAs showed that movement direction had no clear influence on hand kinetics (p < .05). Workspace curvature affected the hand paths, which seldom followed geodesic lines. Constraining the paths to different curvatures did not affect the hand speed profiles. Minimum-jerk speed profiles closely matched the observations and were superior to those predicted by 2/3 power law (p < .001). The authors conclude that speed and path cannot be unambiguously linked under the minimum-jerk assumption when individuals move the hand in a nonplanar 2-dimensional workspace. In such a case, the hands do not follow geodesic paths, but they preserve the speed profile, regardless of the geometric features of the workspace.

Haptic fMRI: Reliability and performance of electromagnetic haptic interfaces for motion and force neuroimaging experiments.

PubMed

Menon, Samir; Zhu, Jack; Goyal, Deeksha; Khatib, Oussama

2017-07-01

Haptic interfaces compatible with functional magnetic resonance imaging (Haptic fMRI) promise to enable rich motor neuroscience experiments that study how humans perform complex manipulation tasks. Here, we present a large-scale study (176 scans runs, 33 scan sessions) that characterizes the reliability and performance of one such electromagnetically actuated device, Haptic fMRI Interface 3 (HFI-3). We outline engineering advances that ensured HFI-3 did not interfere with fMRI measurements. Observed fMRI temporal noise levels with HFI-3 operating were at the fMRI baseline (0.8% noise to signal). We also present results from HFI-3 experiments demonstrating that high resolution fMRI can be used to study spatio-temporal patterns of fMRI blood oxygenation dependent (BOLD) activation. These experiments include motor planning, goal-directed reaching, and visually-guided force control. Observed fMRI responses are consistent with existing literature, which supports Haptic fMRI's effectiveness at studying the brain's motor regions.

Haptic spatial matching in near peripersonal space.

PubMed

Kaas, Amanda L; Mier, Hanneke I van

2006-04-01

Research has shown that haptic spatial matching at intermanual distances over 60 cm is prone to large systematic errors. The error pattern has been explained by the use of reference frames intermediate between egocentric and allocentric coding. This study investigated haptic performance in near peripersonal space, i.e. at intermanual distances of 60 cm and less. Twelve blindfolded participants (six males and six females) were presented with two turn bars at equal distances from the midsagittal plane, 30 or 60 cm apart. Different orientations (vertical/horizontal or oblique) of the left bar had to be matched by adjusting the right bar to either a mirror symmetric (/ \\) or parallel (/ /) position. The mirror symmetry task can in principle be performed accurately in both an egocentric and an allocentric reference frame, whereas the parallel task requires an allocentric representation. Results showed that parallel matching induced large systematic errors which increased with distance. Overall error was significantly smaller in the mirror task. The task difference also held for the vertical orientation at 60 cm distance, even though this orientation required the same response in both tasks, showing a marked effect of task instruction. In addition, men outperformed women on the parallel task. Finally, contrary to our expectations, systematic errors were found in the mirror task, predominantly at 30 cm distance. Based on these findings, we suggest that haptic performance in near peripersonal space might be dominated by different mechanisms than those which come into play at distances over 60 cm. Moreover, our results indicate that both inter-individual differences and task demands affect task performance in haptic spatial matching. Therefore, we conclude that the study of haptic spatial matching in near peripersonal space might reveal important additional constraints for the specification of adequate models of haptic spatial performance.

Haptics-based dynamic implicit solid modeling.

PubMed

Hua, Jing; Qin, Hong

2004-01-01

This paper systematically presents a novel, interactive solid modeling framework, Haptics-based Dynamic Implicit Solid Modeling, which is founded upon volumetric implicit functions and powerful physics-based modeling. In particular, we augment our modeling framework with a haptic mechanism in order to take advantage of additional realism associated with a 3D haptic interface. Our dynamic implicit solids are semi-algebraic sets of volumetric implicit functions and are governed by the principles of dynamics, hence responding to sculpting forces in a natural and predictable manner. In order to directly manipulate existing volumetric data sets as well as point clouds, we develop a hierarchical fitting algorithm to reconstruct and represent discrete data sets using our continuous implicit functions, which permit users to further design and edit those existing 3D models in real-time using a large variety of haptic and geometric toolkits, and visualize their interactive deformation at arbitrary resolution. The additional geometric and physical constraints afford more sophisticated control of the dynamic implicit solids. The versatility of our dynamic implicit modeling enables the user to easily modify both the geometry and the topology of modeled objects, while the inherent physical properties can offer an intuitive haptic interface for direct manipulation with force feedback.

The impact of physical navigation on spatial organization for sensemaking.

PubMed

Andrews, Christopher; North, Chris

2013-12-01

Spatial organization has been proposed as a compelling approach to externalizing the sensemaking process. However, there are two ways in which space can be provided to the user: by creating a physical workspace that the user can interact with directly, such as can be provided by a large, high-resolution display, or through the use of a virtual workspace that the user navigates using virtual navigation techniques such as zoom and pan. In this study we explicitly examined the use of spatial sensemaking techniques within these two environments. The results demonstrate that these two approaches to providing sensemaking space are not equivalent, and that the greater embodiment afforded by the physical workspace changes how the space is perceived and used, leading to increased externalization of the sensemaking process.

Development of Personalized Radiant Cooling System for an Office Room

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Khare, Vaibhav; Sharma, Anuj; Mathur, Jyotirmay

2015-01-01

The building industry nowadays is facing two major challenges increased concern for energy reduction and growing need for thermal comfort. These challenges have led many researchers to develop Radiant Cooling Systems that show a large potential for energy savings. This study aims to develop a personalized cooling system using the principle of radiant cooling integrated with conventional all-air system to achieve better thermal environment at the workspace. Personalized conditioning aims to create a microclimatic zone around a single workspace. In this way, the energy is deployed only where it is actually needed, and the individual s needs for thermal comfortmore » are fulfilled. To study the effect of air temperature along with air temperature distribution for workspace, air temperature near the vicinity of the occupant has been obtained as a result of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation using FLUENT. The analysis showed that personalized radiant system improves thermal environment near the workspace and allows all-air systems to work at higher thermostat temperature without compromising the thermal comfort, which in turn reduces its energy consumption.« less

Researching Haptics in Higher Education: The Complexity of Developing Haptics Virtual Learning Systems and Evaluating Its Impact on Students' Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

San Diego, Jonathan P.; Cox, Margaret J.; Quinn, Barry F. A.; Newton, Jonathan Tim; Banerjee, Avijit; Woolford, Mark

2012-01-01

hapTEL, an interdisciplinary project funded by two UK research councils from 2007 to 2011, involves a large interdisciplinary team (with undergraduate and post-graduate student participants) which has been developing and evaluating a virtual learning system within an HE healthcare education setting, working on three overlapping strands. Strand 1…

Early visual experience and the recognition of basic facial expressions: involvement of the middle temporal and inferior frontal gyri during haptic identification by the early blind

PubMed Central

Kitada, Ryo; Okamoto, Yuko; Sasaki, Akihiro T.; Kochiyama, Takanori; Miyahara, Motohide; Lederman, Susan J.; Sadato, Norihiro

2012-01-01

Face perception is critical for social communication. Given its fundamental importance in the course of evolution, the innate neural mechanisms can anticipate the computations necessary for representing faces. However, the effect of visual deprivation on the formation of neural mechanisms that underlie face perception is largely unknown. We previously showed that sighted individuals can recognize basic facial expressions by haptics surprisingly well. Moreover, the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS) in the sighted subjects are involved in haptic and visual recognition of facial expressions. Here, we conducted both psychophysical and functional magnetic-resonance imaging (fMRI) experiments to determine the nature of the neural representation that subserves the recognition of basic facial expressions in early blind individuals. In a psychophysical experiment, both early blind and sighted subjects haptically identified basic facial expressions at levels well above chance. In the subsequent fMRI experiment, both groups haptically identified facial expressions and shoe types (control). The sighted subjects then completed the same task visually. Within brain regions activated by the visual and haptic identification of facial expressions (relative to that of shoes) in the sighted group, corresponding haptic identification in the early blind activated regions in the inferior frontal and middle temporal gyri. These results suggest that the neural system that underlies the recognition of basic facial expressions develops supramodally even in the absence of early visual experience. PMID:23372547

Early visual experience and the recognition of basic facial expressions: involvement of the middle temporal and inferior frontal gyri during haptic identification by the early blind.

PubMed

Kitada, Ryo; Okamoto, Yuko; Sasaki, Akihiro T; Kochiyama, Takanori; Miyahara, Motohide; Lederman, Susan J; Sadato, Norihiro

2013-01-01

Face perception is critical for social communication. Given its fundamental importance in the course of evolution, the innate neural mechanisms can anticipate the computations necessary for representing faces. However, the effect of visual deprivation on the formation of neural mechanisms that underlie face perception is largely unknown. We previously showed that sighted individuals can recognize basic facial expressions by haptics surprisingly well. Moreover, the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS) in the sighted subjects are involved in haptic and visual recognition of facial expressions. Here, we conducted both psychophysical and functional magnetic-resonance imaging (fMRI) experiments to determine the nature of the neural representation that subserves the recognition of basic facial expressions in early blind individuals. In a psychophysical experiment, both early blind and sighted subjects haptically identified basic facial expressions at levels well above chance. In the subsequent fMRI experiment, both groups haptically identified facial expressions and shoe types (control). The sighted subjects then completed the same task visually. Within brain regions activated by the visual and haptic identification of facial expressions (relative to that of shoes) in the sighted group, corresponding haptic identification in the early blind activated regions in the inferior frontal and middle temporal gyri. These results suggest that the neural system that underlies the recognition of basic facial expressions develops supramodally even in the absence of early visual experience.

Design of a Teleoperated Needle Steering System for MRI-guided Prostate Interventions

PubMed Central

Seifabadi, Reza; Iordachita, Iulian; Fichtinger, Gabor

2013-01-01

Accurate needle placement plays a key role in success of prostate biopsy and brachytherapy. During percutaneous interventions, the prostate gland rotates and deforms which may cause significant target displacement. In these cases straight needle trajectory is not sufficient for precise targeting. Although needle spinning and fast insertion may be helpful, they do not entirely resolve the issue. We propose robot-assisted bevel-tip needle steering under MRI guidance as a potential solution to compensate for the target displacement. MRI is chosen for its superior soft tissue contrast in prostate imaging. Due to the confined workspace of the MRI scanner and the requirement for the clinician to be present inside the MRI room during the procedure, we designed a MRI-compatible 2-DOF haptic device to command the needle steering slave robot which operates inside the scanner. The needle steering slave robot was designed to be integrated with a previously developed pneumatically actuated transperineal robot for MRI-guided prostate needle placement. We describe design challenges and present the conceptual design of the master and slave robots and the associated controller. PMID:24649480

Control and applications of cooperating disparate robotic manipulators relevant to nuclear waste management

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lew, Jae Young; Book, Wayne J.

1991-01-01

Remote handling in nuclear waste management requires a robotic system with precise motion as well as a large workspace. The concept of a small arm mounted on the end of a large arm may satisfy such needs. However, the performance of such a serial configuration lacks payload capacity which is a crucial factor for handling a massive object. Also, this configuration induces more flexibility on the structure. To overcome these problems, the topology of bracing the tip of the small arm (not the large arm) and having an end effector in the middle of the chain is proposed in this paper. Also, control of these cooperating disparate manipulators is accomplished in computer simulations. Thus, this robotic system can have the accuracy of the small arm, and at the same time, it can have the payload capacity and large workspace of the large arm.

NASA's MERBoard: An Interactive Collaborative Workspace Platform. Chapter 4

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Trimble, Jay; Wales, Roxana; Gossweiler, Rich

2003-01-01

This chapter describes the ongoing process by which a multidisciplinary group at NASA's Ames Research Center is designing and implementing a large interactive work surface called the MERBoard Collaborative Workspace. A MERBoard system involves several distributed, large, touch-enabled, plasma display systems with custom MERBoard software. A centralized server and database back the system. We are continually tuning MERBoard to support over two hundred scientists and engineers during the surface operations of the Mars Exploration Rover Missions. These scientists and engineers come from various disciplines and are working both in small and large groups over a span of space and time. We describe the multidisciplinary, human-centered process by which this h4ERBoard system is being designed, the usage patterns and social interactions that we have observed, and issues we are currently facing.

Research in Presistent Simulation: Development of the Persistent ModSim Object-Oriented Programming Language

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-07-01

version tree is formed that permits users to go back to any previous version. There are methods for traversing the version tree of a particular...workspace. Workspace objects are linked (or nested) hierarchically into a workspace tree . Applications can set the access privileges to parts of this...workspace tree to control access (and hence change). There must be a default global workspace. Workspace objects are then allocated within the context

Experimental evaluation of a miniature MR device for a wide range of human perceivable haptic sensations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Tae-Heon; Koo, Jeong-Hoi

2017-12-01

Humans can experience a realistic and vivid haptic sensations by the sense of touch. In order to have a fully immersive haptic experience, both kinaesthetic and vibrotactile information must be presented to human users. Currently, little haptic research has been performed on small haptic actuators that can covey both vibrotactile feedback based on the frequency of vibrations up to the human-perceivable limit and multiple levels of kinaesthetic feedback rapidly. Therefore, this study intends to design a miniature haptic device based on MR fluid and experimentally evaluate its ability to convey vibrotactile feedback up to 300 Hz along with kinaesthetic feedback. After constructing a prototype device, a series of testing was performed to evaluate its performance of the prototype using an experimental setup, consisting of a precision dynamic mechanical analyzer and an accelerometer. The kinaesthetic testing results show that the prototype device can provide the force rate up to 89% at 5 V (360 mA), which can be discretized into multiple levels of ‘just noticeable difference’ force rate, indicating that the device can convey a wide range of kinaesthetic sensations. To evaluate the high frequency vibrotactile feedback performance of the device, its acceleration responses were measured and processed using the FFT analysis. The results indicate that the device can convey high frequency vibrotactile sensations up to 300 Hz with the sufficiently large intensity of accelerations that human can feel.

Reducing Actuator Requirements in Continuum Robots Through Optimized Cable Routing.

PubMed

Case, Jennifer C; White, Edward L; SunSpiral, Vytas; Kramer-Bottiglio, Rebecca

2018-02-01

Continuum manipulators offer many advantages compared to their rigid-linked counterparts, such as increased degrees of freedom and workspace volume. Inspired by biological systems, such as elephant trunks and octopus tentacles, many continuum manipulators are made of multiple segments that allow large-scale deformations to be distributed throughout the body. Most continuum manipulators currently control each segment individually. For example, a planar cable-driven system is typically controlled by a pair of cables for each segment, which implies two actuators per segment. In this article, we demonstrate how highly coupled crossing cable configurations can reduce both actuator count and actuator torque requirements in a planar continuum manipulator, while maintaining workspace reachability and manipulability. We achieve highly coupled actuation by allowing cables to cross through the manipulator to create new cable configurations. We further derive an analytical model to predict the underactuated manipulator workspace and experimentally verify the model accuracy with a physical system. We use this model to compare crossing cable configurations to the traditional cable configuration using workspace performance metrics. Our work here focuses on a simplified planar robot, both in simulation and in hardware, with the goal of extending this to spiraling-cable configurations on full 3D continuum robots in future work.

Should drivers be operating within an automation-free bandwidth? Evaluating haptic steering support systems with different levels of authority.

PubMed

Petermeijer, Sebastiaan M; Abbink, David A; de Winter, Joost C F

2015-02-01

The aim of this study was to compare continuous versus bandwidth haptic steering guidance in terms of lane-keeping behavior, aftereffects, and satisfaction. An important human factors question is whether operators should be supported continuously or only when tolerance limits are exceeded. We aimed to clarify this issue for haptic steering guidance by investigating costs and benefits of both approaches in a driving simulator. Thirty-two participants drove five trials, each with a different level of haptic support: no guidance (Manual); guidance outside a 0.5-m bandwidth (Band1); a hysteresis version of Band1, which guided back to the lane center once triggered (Band2); continuous guidance (Cont); and Cont with double feedback gain (ContS). Participants performed a reaction time task while driving. Toward the end of each trial, the guidance was unexpectedly disabled to investigate aftereffects. All four guidance systems prevented large lateral errors (>0.7 m). Cont and especially ContS yielded smaller lateral errors and higher time to line crossing than Manual, Band1, and Band2. Cont and ContS yielded short-lasting aftereffects, whereas Band1 and Band2 did not. Cont yielded higher self-reported satisfaction and faster reaction times than Band1. Continuous and bandwidth guidance both prevent large driver errors. Continuous guidance yields improved performance and satisfaction over bandwidth guidance at the cost of aftereffects and variability in driver torque (indicating human-automation conflicts). The presented results are useful for designers of haptic guidance systems and support critical thinking about the costs and benefits of automation support systems.

Design and Evaluation of a Cable-Driven fMRI-Compatible Haptic Interface to Investigate Precision Grip Control

PubMed Central

Vigaru, Bogdan; Sulzer, James; Gassert, Roger

2016-01-01

Our hands and fingers are involved in almost all activities of daily living and, as such, have a disproportionately large neural representation. Functional magnetic resonance imaging investigations into the neural control of the hand have revealed great advances, but the harsh MRI environment has proven to be a challenge to devices capable of delivering a large variety of stimuli necessary for well-controlled studies. This paper presents a fMRI-compatible haptic interface to investigate the neural mechanisms underlying precision grasp control. The interface, located at the scanner bore, is controlled remotely through a shielded electromagnetic actuation system positioned at the end of the scanner bed and then through a high stiffness, low inertia cable transmission. We present the system design, taking into account requirements defined by the biomechanics and dynamics of the human hand, as well as the fMRI environment. Performance evaluation revealed a structural stiffness of 3.3 N/mm, renderable forces up to 94 N, and a position control bandwidth of at least 19 Hz. MRI-compatibility tests showed no degradation in the operation of the haptic interface or the image quality. A preliminary fMRI experiment during a pilot study validated the usability of the haptic interface, illustrating the possibilities offered by this device. PMID:26441454

Describing a Robot's Workspace Using a Sequence of Views from a Moving Camera.

PubMed

Hong, T H; Shneier, M O

1985-06-01

This correspondence describes a method of building and maintaining a spatial respresentation for the workspace of a robot, using a sensor that moves about in the world. From the known camera position at which an image is obtained, and two-dimensional silhouettes of the image, a series of cones is projected to describe the possible positions of the objects in the space. When an object is seen from several viewpoints, the intersections of the cones constrain the position and size of the object. After several views have been processed, the representation of the object begins to resemble its true shape. At all times, the spatial representation contains the best guess at the true situation in the world with uncertainties in position and shape explicitly represented. An octree is used as the data structure for the representation. It not only provides a relatively compact representation, but also allows fast access to information and enables large parts of the workspace to be ignored. The purpose of constructing this representation is not so much to recognize objects as to describe the volumes in the workspace that are occupied and those that are empty. This enables trajectory planning to be carried out, and also provides a means of spatially indexing objects without needing to represent the objects at an extremely fine resolution. The spatial representation is one part of a more complex representation of the workspace used by the sensory system of a robot manipulator in understanding its environment.

Subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation improves somatosensory function in Parkinson's disease.

PubMed

Aman, Joshua E; Abosch, Aviva; Bebler, Maggie; Lu, Chia-Hao; Konczak, Jürgen

2014-02-01

An established treatment for the motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD) is deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN). Mounting evidence suggests that PD is also associated with somatosensory deficits, yet the effect of STN-DBS on somatosensory processing is largely unknown. This study investigated whether STN-DBS affects somatosensory processing, specifically the processing of tactile and proprioceptive cues, by systematically examining the accuracy of haptic perception of object size. (Haptic perception refers to one's ability to extract object features such as shape and size by active touch.) Without vision, 13 PD patients with implanted STN-DBS and 13 healthy controls haptically explored the heights of 2 successively presented 3-dimensional (3D) blocks using a precision grip. Participants verbally indicated which block was taller and then used their nonprobing hand to motorically match the perceived size of the comparison block. Patients were tested during ON and OFF stimulation, following a 12-hour medication washout period. First, when compared to controls, the PD group's haptic discrimination threshold during OFF stimulation was elevated by 192% and mean hand aperture error was increased by 105%. Second, DBS lowered the haptic discrimination threshold by 26% and aperture error decreased by 20%. Third, during DBS ON, probing with the motorically more affected hand decreased haptic precision compared to probing with the less affected hand. This study offers the first evidence that STN-DBS improves haptic precision, further indicating that somatosensory function is improved by STN-DBS. We conclude that DBS-related improvements are not explained by improvements in motor function alone, but rather by enhanced somatosensory processing. © 2013 Movement Disorder Society.

Neodymium:YAG laser cutting of intraocular lens haptics in vitro and in vivo.

PubMed

Feder, J M; Rosenberg, M A; Farber, M D

1989-09-01

Various complications following intraocular lens (IOL) surgery result in explantation of the lenses. Haptic fibrosis may necessitate cutting the IOL haptics prior to removal. In this study we used the neodymium: YAG (Nd:YAG) laser to cut polypropylene and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) haptics in vitro and in rabbit eyes. In vitro we were able to cut 100% of both haptic types successfully (28 PMMA and 30 polypropylene haptics). In rabbit eyes we were able to cut 50% of the PMMA haptics and 43% of the polypropylene haptics. Poly(methyl methacrylate) haptics were easier to cut in vitro and in vivo than polypropylene haptics, requiring fewer shots for transection. Complications of Nd:YAG laser use frequently interfered with haptic transections in rabbit eyes. Haptic transection may be more easily accomplished in human eyes.

Haptic Cues for Balance: Use of a Cane Provides Immediate Body Stabilization

PubMed Central

Sozzi, Stefania; Crisafulli, Oscar; Schieppati, Marco

2017-01-01

Haptic cues are important for balance. Knowledge of the temporal features of their effect may be crucial for the design of neural prostheses. Touching a stable surface with a fingertip reduces body sway in standing subjects eyes closed (EC), and removal of haptic cue reinstates a large sway pattern. Changes in sway occur rapidly on changing haptic conditions. Here, we describe the effects and time-course of stabilization produced by a haptic cue derived from a walking cane. We intended to confirm that cane use reduces body sway, to evaluate the effect of vision on stabilization by a cane, and to estimate the delay of the changes in body sway after addition and withdrawal of haptic input. Seventeen healthy young subjects stood in tandem position on a force platform, with eyes closed or open (EO). They gently lowered the cane onto and lifted it from a second force platform. Sixty trials per direction of haptic shift (Touch → NoTouch, T-NT; NoTouch → Touch, NT-T) and visual condition (EC-EO) were acquired. Traces of Center of foot Pressure (CoP) and the force exerted by cane were filtered, rectified, and averaged. The position in space of a reflective marker positioned on the cane tip was also acquired by an optoelectronic device. Cross-correlation (CC) analysis was performed between traces of cane tip and CoP displacement. Latencies of changes in CoP oscillation in the frontal plane EC following the T-NT and NT-T haptic shift were statistically estimated. The CoP oscillations were larger in EC than EO under both T and NT (p < 0.001) and larger during NT than T conditions (p < 0.001). Haptic-induced effect under EC (Romberg quotient NT/T ~ 1.2) was less effective than that of vision under NT condition (EC/EO ~ 1.5) (p < 0.001). With EO cane had little effect. Cane displacement lagged CoP displacement under both EC and EO. Latencies to changes in CoP oscillations were longer after addition (NT-T, about 1.6 s) than withdrawal (T-NT, about 0.9 s) of haptic input (p < 0.001). These latencies were similar to those occurring on fingertip touch, as previously shown. Overall, data speak in favor of substantial equivalence of the haptic information derived from both “direct” fingertip contact and “indirect” contact with the floor mediated by the cane. Cane, finger and visual inputs would be similarly integrated in the same neural centers for balance control. Haptic input from a walking aid and its processing time should be considered when designing prostheses for locomotion. PMID:29311785

Investigations into haptic space and haptic perception of shape for active touch

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sanders, A. F. J.

2008-12-01

This thesis presents a number of psychophysical investigations into haptic space and haptic perception of shape. Haptic perception is understood to include the two subsystems of the cutaneous sense and kinesthesis. Chapter 2 provides an extensive quantitative study into haptic perception of curvature. I investigated bimanual curvature discrimination of cylindrically curved, hand-sized surfaces. I found that discrimination thresholds were in the same range as unimanual thresholds reported in previous studies. Moreover, the distance between the surfaces or the position of the setup with respect to the observer had no effect on thresholds. Finally, I found idiosyncratic biases: A number of observers judged two surfaces that had different radii as equally curved. Biases were of the same order of magnitude as thresholds. In Chapter 3, I investigated haptic space. Here, haptic space is understood to be (1) the set of observer’s judgments of spatial relations in physical space, and (2) a set of constraints by which these judgments are internally consistent. I asked blindfolded observers to construct straight lines in a number of different tasks. I show that the shape of the haptically straight line depends on the task used to produce it. I therefore conclude that there is no unique definition of the haptically straight line and that doubts are cast on the usefulness of the concept of haptic space. In Chapter 4, I present a new experiment into haptic length perception. I show that when observers trace curved pathways with their index finger and judge distance traversed, their distance estimates depend on the geometry of the paths: Lengths of convex, cylindrically curved pathways were overestimated and lengths of concave pathways were underestimated. In addition, I show that a kinematic mechanism must underlie this interaction: (1) the geometry of the path traced by the finger affects movement speed and consequently movement time, and (2) movement time is taken as a measure of traversed length. The study presented in Chapter 5 addresses the question of how kinematic properties of exploratory movements affect perceived shape. I identify a kinematic invariant for the case of a single finger moving across cylindrically curved strips under conditions of slip. I found that the rotation angle of the finger increased linearly with the curvature of the stimulus. In addition, I show that observers took rotation angle as their primary measure of perceived curvature: Observers rotated their finger less on a concave curvature by a constant amount, and consequently, they overestimated the radius of the concave strips compared to the convex ones. Finally, in Chapter 6, I investigated the haptic filled-space illusion for dynamic touch: Observers move their fingertip across an unfilled extent or an extent filled with intermediate stimulations. Previous researchers have reported lengths of filled extents to be overestimated, but the parameters affecting the strength of the illusion are still largely unknown. Factors investigated in this chapter include end point effects, filler density and overall average movement speed.

A predictive bone drilling force model for haptic rendering with experimental validation using fresh cadaveric bone.

PubMed

Lin, Yanping; Chen, Huajiang; Yu, Dedong; Zhang, Ying; Yuan, Wen

2017-01-01

Bone drilling simulators with virtual and haptic feedback provide a safe, cost-effective and repeatable alternative to traditional surgical training methods. To develop such a simulator, accurate haptic rendering based on a force model is required to feedback bone drilling forces based on user input. Current predictive bone drilling force models based on bovine bones with various drilling conditions and parameters are not representative of the bone drilling process in bone surgery. The objective of this study was to provide a bone drilling force model for haptic rendering based on calibration and validation experiments in fresh cadaveric bones with different bone densities. Using a commonly used drill bit geometry (2 mm diameter), feed rates (20-60 mm/min) and spindle speeds (4000-6000 rpm) in orthognathic surgeries, the bone drilling forces of specimens from two groups were measured and the calibration coefficients of the specific normal and frictional pressures were determined. The comparison of the predicted forces and the measured forces from validation experiments with a large range of feed rates and spindle speeds demonstrates that the proposed bone drilling forces can predict the trends and average forces well. The presented bone drilling force model can be used for haptic rendering in surgical simulators.

Importance of Matching Physical Friction, Hardness, and Texture in Creating Realistic Haptic Virtual Surfaces.

PubMed

Culbertson, Heather; Kuchenbecker, Katherine J

2017-01-01

Interacting with physical objects through a tool elicits tactile and kinesthetic sensations that comprise your haptic impression of the object. These cues, however, are largely missing from interactions with virtual objects, yielding an unrealistic user experience. This article evaluates the realism of virtual surfaces rendered using haptic models constructed from data recorded during interactions with real surfaces. The models include three components: surface friction, tapping transients, and texture vibrations. We render the virtual surfaces on a SensAble Phantom Omni haptic interface augmented with a Tactile Labs Haptuator for vibration output. We conducted a human-subject study to assess the realism of these virtual surfaces and the importance of the three model components. Following a perceptual discrepancy paradigm, subjects compared each of 15 real surfaces to a full rendering of the same surface plus versions missing each model component. The realism improvement achieved by including friction, tapping, or texture in the rendering was found to directly relate to the intensity of the surface's property in that domain (slipperiness, hardness, or roughness). A subsequent analysis of forces and vibrations measured during interactions with virtual surfaces indicated that the Omni's inherent mechanical properties corrupted the user's haptic experience, decreasing realism of the virtual surface.

Transition of the functional brain network related to increasing cognitive demands.

PubMed

Finc, Karolina; Bonna, Kamil; Lewandowska, Monika; Wolak, Tomasz; Nikadon, Jan; Dreszer, Joanna; Duch, Włodzisław; Kühn, Simone

2017-04-22

Network neuroscience provides tools that can easily be used to verify main assumptions of the global workspace theory (GWT), such as the existence of highly segregated information processing during effortless tasks performance, engagement of multiple distributed networks during effortful tasks and the critical role of long-range connections in workspace formation. A number of studies support the assumptions of GWT by showing the reorganization of the whole-brain functional network during cognitive task performance; however, the involvement of specific large scale networks in the formation of workspace is still not well-understood. (1) to examine changes in the whole-brain functional network under increased cognitive demands of working memory during an n-back task, and their relationship with behavioral outcomes; and (2) to provide a comprehensive description of local changes that may be involved in the formation of the global workspace, using hub detection and network-based statistic. Our results show that network modularity decreased with increasing cognitive demands, and this change allowed us to predict behavioral performance. The number of connector hubs increased, whereas the number of provincial hubs decreased when the task became more demanding. We also found that the default mode network (DMN) increased its connectivity to other networks while decreasing connectivity between its own regions. These results, apart from replicating previous findings, provide a valuable insight into the mechanisms of the formation of the global workspace, highlighting the role of the DMN in the processes of network integration. Hum Brain Mapp, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

A role for the anterior insular cortex in the global neuronal workspace model of consciousness.

PubMed

Michel, Matthias

2017-03-01

According to the global neuronal workspace model of consciousness, consciousness results from the global broadcast of information throughout the brain. The global neuronal workspace is mainly constituted by a fronto-parietal network. The anterior insular cortex is part of this global neuronal workspace, but the function of this region has not yet been defined within the global neuronal workspace model of consciousness. In this review, I hypothesize that the anterior insular cortex implements a cross-modal priority map, the function of which is to determine priorities for the processing of information and subsequent entrance in the global neuronal workspace. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Human image tracking technique applied to remote collaborative environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nagashima, Yoshio; Suzuki, Gen

1993-10-01

To support various kinds of collaborations over long distances by using visual telecommunication, it is necessary to transmit visual information related to the participants and topical materials. When people collaborate in the same workspace, they use visual cues such as facial expressions and eye movement. The realization of coexistence in a collaborative workspace requires the support of these visual cues. Therefore, it is important that the facial images be large enough to be useful. During collaborations, especially dynamic collaborative activities such as equipment operation or lectures, the participants often move within the workspace. When the people move frequently or over a wide area, the necessity for automatic human tracking increases. Using the movement area of the human being or the resolution of the extracted area, we have developed a memory tracking method and a camera tracking method for automatic human tracking. Experimental results using a real-time tracking system show that the extracted area fairly moves according to the movement of the human head.

Teaching bovine abdominal anatomy: use of a haptic simulator.

PubMed

Kinnison, Tierney; Forrest, Neil David; Frean, Stephen Philip; Baillie, Sarah

2009-01-01

Traditional methods of teaching anatomy to undergraduate medical and veterinary students are being challenged and need to adapt to modern concerns and requirements. There is a move away from the use of cadavers to new technologies as a way of complementing the traditional approaches and addressing resource and ethical problems. Haptic (touch) technology, which allows the student to feel a 3D computer-generated virtual environment, provides a novel way to address some of these challenges. To evaluate the practicalities and usefulness of a haptic simulator, first year veterinary students at the Royal Veterinary College, University of London, were taught basic bovine abdominal anatomy using a rectal palpation simulator: "The Haptic Cow." Over two days, 186 students were taught in small groups and 184 provided feedback via a questionnaire. The results were positive; the majority of students considered that the simulator had been useful for appreciating both the feel and location of key internal anatomical structures, had helped with their understanding of bovine abdominal anatomy and 3D visualization, and the tutorial had been enjoyable. The students were mostly in favor of the small group tutorial format, but some requested more time on the simulator. The findings indicate that the haptic simulator is an engaging way of teaching bovine abdominal anatomy to a large number of students in an efficient manner without using cadavers, thereby addressing some of the current challenges in anatomy teaching.

The role of visuohaptic experience in visually perceived depth.

PubMed

Ho, Yun-Xian; Serwe, Sascha; Trommershäuser, Julia; Maloney, Laurence T; Landy, Michael S

2009-06-01

Berkeley suggested that "touch educates vision," that is, haptic input may be used to calibrate visual cues to improve visual estimation of properties of the world. Here, we test whether haptic input may be used to "miseducate" vision, causing observers to rely more heavily on misleading visual cues. Human subjects compared the depth of two cylindrical bumps illuminated by light sources located at different positions relative to the surface. As in previous work using judgments of surface roughness, we find that observers judge bumps to have greater depth when the light source is located eccentric to the surface normal (i.e., when shadows are more salient). Following several sessions of visual judgments of depth, subjects then underwent visuohaptic training in which haptic feedback was artificially correlated with the "pseudocue" of shadow size and artificially decorrelated with disparity and texture. Although there were large individual differences, almost all observers demonstrated integration of haptic cues during visuohaptic training. For some observers, subsequent visual judgments of bump depth were unaffected by the training. However, for 5 of 12 observers, training significantly increased the weight given to pseudocues, causing subsequent visual estimates of shape to be less veridical. We conclude that haptic information can be used to reweight visual cues, putting more weight on misleading pseudocues, even when more trustworthy visual cues are available in the scene.

Perception of force and stiffness in the presence of low-frequency haptic noise

PubMed Central

Gurari, Netta; Okamura, Allison M.; Kuchenbecker, Katherine J.

2017-01-01

Objective This work lays the foundation for future research on quantitative modeling of human stiffness perception. Our goal was to develop a method by which a human’s ability to perceive suprathreshold haptic force stimuli and haptic stiffness stimuli can be affected by adding haptic noise. Methods Five human participants performed a same-different task with a one-degree-of-freedom force-feedback device. Participants used the right index finger to actively interact with variations of force (∼5 and ∼8 N) and stiffness (∼290 N/m) stimuli that included one of four scaled amounts of haptically rendered noise (None, Low, Medium, High). The haptic noise was zero-mean Gaussian white noise that was low-pass filtered with a 2 Hz cut-off frequency; the resulting low-frequency signal was added to the force rendered while the participant interacted with the force and stiffness stimuli. Results We found that the precision with which participants could identify the magnitude of both the force and stiffness stimuli was affected by the magnitude of the low-frequency haptically rendered noise added to the haptic stimulus, as well as the magnitude of the haptic stimulus itself. The Weber fraction strongly correlated with the standard deviation of the low-frequency haptic noise with a Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient of ρ > 0.83. The mean standard deviation of the low-frequency haptic noise in the haptic stimuli ranged from 0.184 N to 1.111 N across the four haptically rendered noise levels, and the corresponding mean Weber fractions spanned between 0.042 and 0.101. Conclusions The human ability to perceive both suprathreshold haptic force and stiffness stimuli degrades in the presence of added low-frequency haptic noise. Future work can use the reported methods to investigate how force perception and stiffness perception may relate, with possible applications in haptic watermarking and in the assessment of the functionality of peripheral pathways in individuals with haptic impairments. PMID:28575068

The effects of perceptual priming on 4-year-olds' haptic-to-visual cross-modal transfer.

PubMed

Kalagher, Hilary

2013-01-01

Four-year-old children often have difficulty visually recognizing objects that were previously experienced only haptically. This experiment attempts to improve their performance in these haptic-to-visual transfer tasks. Sixty-two 4-year-old children participated in priming trials in which they explored eight unfamiliar objects visually, haptically, or visually and haptically together. Subsequently, all children participated in the same haptic-to-visual cross-modal transfer task. In this task, children haptically explored the objects that were presented in the priming phase and then visually identified a match from among three test objects, each matching the object on only one dimension (shape, texture, or color). Children in all priming conditions predominantly made shape-based matches; however, the most shape-based matches were made in the Visual and Haptic condition. All kinds of priming provided the necessary memory traces upon which subsequent haptic exploration could build a strong enough representation to enable subsequent visual recognition. Haptic exploration patterns during the cross-modal transfer task are discussed and the detailed analyses provide a unique contribution to our understanding of the development of haptic exploratory procedures.

Effects of visual information regarding allocentric processing in haptic parallelity matching.

PubMed

Van Mier, Hanneke I

2013-10-01

Research has revealed that haptic perception of parallelity deviates from physical reality. Large and systematic deviations have been found in haptic parallelity matching most likely due to the influence of the hand-centered egocentric reference frame. Providing information that increases the influence of allocentric processing has been shown to improve performance on haptic matching. In this study allocentric processing was stimulated by providing informative vision in haptic matching tasks that were performed using hand- and arm-centered reference frames. Twenty blindfolded participants (ten men, ten women) explored the orientation of a reference bar with the non-dominant hand and subsequently matched (task HP) or mirrored (task HM) its orientation on a test bar with the dominant hand. Visual information was provided by means of informative vision with participants having full view of the test bar, while the reference bar was blocked from their view (task VHP). To decrease the egocentric bias of the hands, participants also performed a visual haptic parallelity drawing task (task VHPD) using an arm-centered reference frame, by drawing the orientation of the reference bar. In all tasks, the distance between and orientation of the bars were manipulated. A significant effect of task was found; performance improved from task HP, to VHP to VHPD, and HM. Significant effects of distance were found in the first three tasks, whereas orientation and gender effects were only significant in tasks HP and VHP. The results showed that stimulating allocentric processing by means of informative vision and reducing the egocentric bias by using an arm-centered reference frame led to most accurate performance on parallelity matching. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Clinical and optical intraocular performance of rotationally asymmetric multifocal IOL plate-haptic design versus C-loop haptic design.

PubMed

Alió, Jorge L; Plaza-Puche, Ana B; Javaloy, Jaime; Ayala, María José; Vega-Estrada, Alfredo

2013-04-01

To compare the visual and intraocular optical quality outcomes with different designs of the refractive rotationally asymmetric multifocal intraocular lens (MFIOL) (Lentis Mplus; Oculentis GmbH, Berlin, Germany) with or without capsular tension ring (CTR) implantation. One hundred thirty-five consecutive eyes of 78 patients with cataract (ages 36 to 82 years) were divided into three groups: 43 eyes implanted with the C-Loop haptic design without CTR (C-Loop haptic only group); 47 eyes implanted with the C-Loop haptic design with CTR (C-Loop haptic with CTR group); and 45 eyes implanted with the plate-haptic design (plate-haptic group). Visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, defocus curve, and ocular and intraocular optical quality were evaluated at 3 months postoperatively. Significant differences in the postoperative sphere were found (P = .01), with a more myopic postoperative refraction for the C-Loop haptic only group. No significant differences were detected in photopic and scotopic contrast sensitivity among groups (P ⩾ .05). Significantly better visual acuities were present in the C-Loop haptic with CTR group for the defocus levels of -2.0, -1.5, -1.0, and -0.50 D (P ⩽.03). Statistically significant differences among groups were found in total intraocular root mean square (RMS), high-order intraocular RMS, and intraocular coma-like RMS aberrations (P ⩽.04), with lower values from the plate-haptic group. The plate-haptic design and the C-Loop haptic design with CTR implantation both allow good visual rehabilitation. However, better refractive predictability and intraocular optical quality was obtained with the plate-haptic design without CTR implantation. The plate-haptic design seems to be a better design to support rotational asymmetric MFIOL optics. Copyright 2013, SLACK Incorporated.

Limited value of haptics in virtual reality laparoscopic cholecystectomy training.

PubMed

Thompson, Jonathan R; Leonard, Anthony C; Doarn, Charles R; Roesch, Matt J; Broderick, Timothy J

2011-04-01

Haptics is an expensive addition to virtual reality (VR) simulators, and the added value to training has not been proven. This study evaluated the benefit of haptics in VR laparoscopic surgery training for novices. The Simbionix LapMentor II haptic VR simulator was used in the study. Randomly, 33 laparoscopic novice students were placed in one of three groups: control, haptics-trained, or nonhaptics-trained group. The control group performed nine basic laparoscopy tasks and four cholecystectomy procedural tasks one time with haptics engaged at the default setting. The haptics group was trained to proficiency in the basic tasks and then performed each of the procedural tasks one time with haptics engaged. The nonhaptics group used the same training protocol except that haptics was disengaged. The proficiency values used were previously published expert values. Each group was assessed in the performance of 10 laparoscopic cholecystectomies (alternating with and without haptics). Performance was measured via automatically collected simulator data. The three groups exhibited no differences in terms of sex, education level, hand dominance, video game experience, surgical experience, and nonsurgical simulator experience. The number of attempts required to reach proficiency did not differ between the haptics- and nonhaptics-training groups. The haptics and nonhaptics groups exhibited no difference in performance. Both training groups outperformed the control group in number of movements as well as path length of the left instrument. In addition, the nonhaptics group outperformed the control group in total time. Haptics does not improve the efficiency or effectiveness of LapMentor II VR laparoscopic surgery training. The limited benefit and the significant cost of haptics suggest that haptics should not be included routinely in VR laparoscopic surgery training.

Self-Control of Haptic Assistance for Motor Learning: Influences of Frequency and Opinion of Utility

PubMed Central

Williams, Camille K.; Tseung, Victrine; Carnahan, Heather

2017-01-01

Studies of self-controlled practice have shown benefits when learners controlled feedback schedule, use of assistive devices and task difficulty, with benefits attributed to information processing and motivational advantages of self-control. Although haptic assistance serves as feedback, aids task performance and modifies task difficulty, researchers have yet to explore whether self-control over haptic assistance could be beneficial for learning. We explored whether self-control of haptic assistance would be beneficial for learning a tracing task. Self-controlled participants selected practice blocks on which they would receive haptic assistance, while participants in a yoked group received haptic assistance on blocks determined by a matched self-controlled participant. We inferred learning from performance on retention tests without haptic assistance. From qualitative analysis of open-ended questions related to rationales for/experiences of the haptic assistance that was chosen/provided, themes emerged regarding participants’ views of the utility of haptic assistance for performance and learning. Results showed that learning was directly impacted by the frequency of haptic assistance for self-controlled participants only and view of haptic assistance. Furthermore, self-controlled participants’ views were significantly associated with their requested haptic assistance frequency. We discuss these findings as further support for the beneficial role of self-controlled practice for motor learning. PMID:29255438

[Postoperative ultrasound biomicroscopic evaluation of the tangible position of black diaphragm posterior chamber lenses in congenital and traumatic aniridia in comparison with gonioscopy].

PubMed

Schweykart, N; Reinhard, T; Engelhardt, S; Sundmacher, R

1999-06-01

Ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM) allows to determine the haptic position of posterior chamber lenses (PCL) in relation to adjacent structures. In transsclerally sutured PCLs, the comparison between intraoperatively endoscopically and postoperatively localized haptic positions via UBM showed a correspondence of only 81%. The different localisation of 19% of the examined haptic positions was explained with postoperative dislocation without any proof for this assumption. The purpose of this study therefore was the correlation of UBM results with simultaneously determined haptic positions via gonioscopy in aniridia after black diaphragm PCL implantation. The haptic positions of black diaphragm PCL implants in 20 patients with congenital and 13 patients with traumatic aniridia were determined via UBM (50-MHz-probe) and gonioscopy 44.4 (6-75) months postoperatively. 39/66 haptic positions could be localized in gonioscopy as well as in UBM. 38 haptics (97.4%) showed the same position in both examination techniques. Determination of the haptic position through one of the two examination techniques was impossible in 27/66 haptics (11 haptics in gonioscopy, 16 haptics in UBM). Reasons for this were primarily haptic position behind iris remnants and corneal opacities in gonioscopy and scarring of the ciliary body in UBM. The validity of UBM in localization of PCLs was confirmed gonioscopically, which also confirms our prior assumption of postoperative displacement of IOL-haptics after transscleral suturing in about 20% of cases. Scarring of the ciliary body was the most important obstacle in the determination of PCL haptic positions in relation to adjacent structures.

Haptic device for colonoscopy training simulator.

PubMed

Kwon, Jun Yong; Woo, Hyun Soo; Lee, Doo Yong

2005-01-01

A new 2-DOF haptic device for colonoscopy training simulator employing flexible endoscopes, is developed. The user operates the device in translational and roll directions. The developed folding guides of the device keep the endoscope tube straight. This helps transmit large decoupled forces of the colonoscopy simulation to the user. The device also includes a mechanism to detect jiggling motion of the scopes to allow users to practice this important skill of the colonoscopy. The device includes PD controller to compensate the inertia and friction effects. This provides the users with better transparent sensation of the simulation.

[Visual cuing effect for haptic angle judgment].

PubMed

Era, Ataru; Yokosawa, Kazuhiko

2009-08-01

We investigated whether visual cues are useful for judging haptic angles. Participants explored three-dimensional angles with a virtual haptic feedback device. For visual cues, we use a location cue, which synchronizes haptic exploration, and a space cue, which specifies the haptic space. In Experiment 1, angles were judged more correctly with both cues, but were overestimated with a location cue only. In Experiment 2, the visual cues emphasized depth, and overestimation with location cues occurred, but space cues had no influence. The results showed that (a) when both cues are presented, haptic angles are judged more correctly. (b) Location cues facilitate only motion information, and not depth information. (c) Haptic angles are apt to be overestimated when there is both haptic and visual information.

Touch influences perceived gloss

PubMed Central

Adams, Wendy J.; Kerrigan, Iona S.; Graf, Erich W.

2016-01-01

Identifying an object’s material properties supports recognition and action planning: we grasp objects according to how heavy, hard or slippery we expect them to be. Visual cues to material qualities such as gloss have recently received attention, but how they interact with haptic (touch) information has been largely overlooked. Here, we show that touch modulates gloss perception: objects that feel slippery are perceived as glossier (more shiny).Participants explored virtual objects that varied in look and feel. A discrimination paradigm (Experiment 1) revealed that observers integrate visual gloss with haptic information. Observers could easily detect an increase in glossiness when it was paired with a decrease in friction. In contrast, increased glossiness coupled with decreased slipperiness produced a small perceptual change: the visual and haptic changes counteracted each other. Subjective ratings (Experiment 2) reflected a similar interaction – slippery objects were rated as glossier and vice versa. The sensory system treats visual gloss and haptic friction as correlated cues to surface material. Although friction is not a perfect predictor of gloss, the visual system appears to know and use a probabilistic relationship between these variables to bias perception – a sensible strategy given the ambiguity of visual clues to gloss. PMID:26915492

Human-Centered Design and Evaluation of Haptic Cueing for Teleoperation of Multiple Mobile Robots.

PubMed

Son, Hyoung Il; Franchi, Antonio; Chuang, Lewis L; Kim, Junsuk; Bulthoff, Heinrich H; Giordano, Paolo Robuffo

2013-04-01

In this paper, we investigate the effect of haptic cueing on a human operator's performance in the field of bilateral teleoperation of multiple mobile robots, particularly multiple unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Two aspects of human performance are deemed important in this area, namely, the maneuverability of mobile robots and the perceptual sensitivity of the remote environment. We introduce metrics that allow us to address these aspects in two psychophysical studies, which are reported here. Three fundamental haptic cue types were evaluated. The Force cue conveys information on the proximity of the commanded trajectory to obstacles in the remote environment. The Velocity cue represents the mismatch between the commanded and actual velocities of the UAVs and can implicitly provide a rich amount of information regarding the actual behavior of the UAVs. Finally, the Velocity+Force cue is a linear combination of the two. Our experimental results show that, while maneuverability is best supported by the Force cue feedback, perceptual sensitivity is best served by the Velocity cue feedback. In addition, we show that large gains in the haptic feedbacks do not always guarantee an enhancement in the teleoperator's performance.

A neuronal model of a global workspace in effortful cognitive tasks.

PubMed

Dehaene, S; Kerszberg, M; Changeux, J P

1998-11-24

A minimal hypothesis is proposed concerning the brain processes underlying effortful tasks. It distinguishes two main computational spaces: a unique global workspace composed of distributed and heavily interconnected neurons with long-range axons, and a set of specialized and modular perceptual, motor, memory, evaluative, and attentional processors. Workspace neurons are mobilized in effortful tasks for which the specialized processors do not suffice. They selectively mobilize or suppress, through descending connections, the contribution of specific processor neurons. In the course of task performance, workspace neurons become spontaneously coactivated, forming discrete though variable spatio-temporal patterns subject to modulation by vigilance signals and to selection by reward signals. A computer simulation of the Stroop task shows workspace activation to increase during acquisition of a novel task, effortful execution, and after errors. We outline predictions for spatio-temporal activation patterns during brain imaging, particularly about the contribution of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate to the workspace.

Optimal haptic feedback control of artificial muscles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Daniel; Besier, Thor; Anderson, Iain; McKay, Thomas

2014-03-01

As our population ages, and trends in obesity continue to grow, joint degenerative diseases like osteoarthritis (OA) are becoming increasingly prevalent. With no cure currently in sight, the only effective treatments for OA are orthopaedic surgery and prolonged rehabilitation, neither of which is guaranteed to succeed. Gait retraining has tremendous potential to alter the contact forces in the joints due to walking, reducing the risk of one developing hip and knee OA. Dielectric Elastomer Actuators (DEAs) are being explored as a potential way of applying intuitive haptic feedback to alter a patient's walking gait. The main challenge with the use of DEAs in this application is producing large enough forces and strains to induce sensation when coupled to a patient's skin. A novel controller has been proposed to solve this issue. The controller uses simultaneous capacitive self-sensing and actuation which will optimally apply a haptic sensation to the patient's skin independent of variability in DEAs and patient geometries.

An efficient approach for inverse kinematics and redundancy resolution scheme of hyper-redundant manipulators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chembuly, V. V. M. J. Satish; Voruganti, Hari Kumar

2018-04-01

Hyper redundant manipulators have a large number of degrees of freedom (DOF) than the required to perform a given task. Additional DOF of manipulators provide the flexibility to work in highly cluttered environment and in constrained workspaces. Inverse kinematics (IK) of hyper-redundant manipulators is complicated due to large number of DOF and these manipulators have multiple IK solutions. The redundancy gives a choice of selecting best solution out of multiple solutions based on certain criteria such as obstacle avoidance, singularity avoidance, joint limit avoidance and joint torque minimization. This paper focuses on IK solution and redundancy resolution of hyper-redundant manipulator using classical optimization approach. Joint positions are computed by optimizing various criteria for a serial hyper redundant manipulators while traversing different paths in the workspace. Several cases are addressed using this scheme to obtain the inverse kinematic solution while optimizing the criteria like obstacle avoidance, joint limit avoidance.

Reducing the motor response in haptic parallel matching eliminates the typically observed gender difference.

PubMed

van Mier, Hanneke I

2016-01-01

When making two bars haptically parallel to each other, large deviations have been observed, most likely caused by the bias of a hand-centered egocentric reference frame. A consistent finding is that women show significantly larger deviations than men when performing this task. It has been suggested that this difference might be due to the fact that women are more egocentrically oriented than men or are less efficient in overcoming the egocentric bias of the hand. If this is indeed the case, reducing the bias of the egocentric reference frame should eliminate the above-mentioned gender difference. This was investigated in the current study. Sixty participants (30 men, 30 women) were instructed to haptically match (task HP) the orientation of a test bar with the dominant hand to the orientation of a reference bar that was perceived with the non-dominant hand. In a haptic visual task (task HV), in which only the reference bar and exploring hand were out of view, no motor response was required, but participants had to "match" the perceived orientation by verbally naming the parallel orientation that was read out on a test protractor. Both females and males performed better in the HV task than in the HP task. Significant gender effects were only found in the haptic parallelity task (HP), corroborating the idea that women perform at the same level as men when the egocentric bias of the hand is reduced.

Perception of synchronization errors in haptic and visual communications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kameyama, Seiji; Ishibashi, Yutaka

2006-10-01

This paper deals with a system which conveys the haptic sensation experimented by a user to a remote user. In the system, the user controls a haptic interface device with another remote haptic interface device while watching video. Haptic media and video of a real object which the user is touching are transmitted to another user. By subjective assessment, we investigate the allowable range and imperceptible range of synchronization error between haptic media and video. We employ four real objects and ask each subject whether the synchronization error is perceived or not for each object in the assessment. Assessment results show that we can more easily perceive the synchronization error in the case of haptic media ahead of video than in the case of the haptic media behind the video.

Active skin as new haptic interface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vuong, Nguyen Huu Lam; Kwon, Hyeok Yong; Chuc, Nguyen Huu; Kim, Duksang; An, Kuangjun; Phuc, Vuong Hong; Moon, Hyungpil; Koo, Jachoon; Lee, Youngkwan; Nam, Jae-Do; Choi, Hyouk Ryeol

2010-04-01

In this paper, we present a new haptic interface, called "active skin", which is configured with a tactile sensor and a tactile stimulator in single haptic cell, and multiple haptic cells are embedded in a dielectric elastomer. The active skin generates a wide variety of haptic feel in response to the touch by synchronizing the sensor and the stimulator. In this paper, the design of the haptic cell is derived via iterative analysis and design procedures. A fabrication method dedicated to the proposed device is investigated and a controller to drive multiple haptic cells is developed. In addition, several experiments are performed to evaluate the performance of the active skin.

EPA Grants.gov Workspace Training for Grant Applicants and Recipients

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Beginning January 1, 2018 all grant applicants must use Workspace to submit applications through Grants.gov. EPA’s Office of Grants and Debarment is hosting a Grants.gov-led session that will provide training and a demonstration on Workspace.

A comparison of haptic material perception in blind and sighted individuals.

PubMed

Baumgartner, Elisabeth; Wiebel, Christiane B; Gegenfurtner, Karl R

2015-10-01

We investigated material perception in blind participants to explore the influence of visual experience on material representations and the relationship between visual and haptic material perception. In a previous study with sighted participants, we had found participants' visual and haptic judgments of material properties to be very similar (Baumgartner, Wiebel, & Gegenfurtner, 2013). In a categorization task, however, visual exploration had led to higher categorization accuracy than haptic exploration. Here, we asked congenitally blind participants to explore different materials haptically and rate several material properties in order to assess the role of the visual sense for the emergence of haptic material perception. Principal components analyses combined with a procrustes superimposition showed that the material representations of blind and blindfolded sighted participants were highly similar. We also measured haptic categorization performance, which was equal for the two groups. We conclude that haptic material representations can emerge independently of visual experience, and that there are no advantages for either group of observers in haptic categorization. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An Assessment of the U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center’s Utilization of the Processes, and Availability of Tools and Physical Environments that Promote Innovation

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-04-02

workspaces Proximity H13 : TARDEC associates do not sit near other associates with different functional expertise Objective The objective of...Physical Environment Collaborative Workspace H12: TARDEC does not have available innovation best practice collaborative workspaces Proximity H13 ...does not have available innovation best practice collaborative workspaces Proximity H13 : TARDEC associates do not sit near other associates with

Haptics – Touchfeedback Technology Widening the Horizon of Medicine

PubMed Central

Kapoor, Shalini; Arora, Pallak; Kapoor, Vikas; Jayachandran, Mahesh; Tiwari, Manish

2014-01-01

Haptics, or touchsense haptic technology is a major breakthrough in medical and dental interventions. Haptic perception is the process of recognizing objects through touch. Haptic sensations are created by actuators or motors which generate vibrations to the users and are controlled by embedded software which is integrated into the device. It takes the advantage of a combination of somatosensory pattern of skin and proprioception of hand position. Anatomical and diagnostic knowledge, when it is combined with this touch sense technology, has revolutionized medical education. This amalgamation of the worlds of diagnosis and surgical intervention adds precise robotic touch to the skill of the surgeon. A systematic literature review was done by using MEDLINE, GOOGLE SEARCH AND PubMed. The aim of this article was to introduce the fundamentals of haptic technology, its current applications in medical training and robotic surgeries, limitations of haptics and future aspects of haptics in medicine. PMID:24783164

Saving and Reproduction of Human Motion Data by Using Haptic Devices with Different Configurations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsunashima, Noboru; Yokokura, Yuki; Katsura, Seiichiro

Recently, there has been increased focus on “haptic recording” development of a motion-copying system is an efficient method for the realization of haptic recording. Haptic recording involves saving and reproduction of human motion data on the basis of haptic information. To increase the number of applications of the motion-copying system in various fields, it is necessary to reproduce human motion data by using haptic devices with different configurations. In this study, a method for the above-mentioned haptic recording is developed. In this method, human motion data are saved and reproduced on the basis of work space information, which is obtained by coordinate transformation of motor space information. The validity of the proposed method is demonstrated by experiments. With the proposed method, saving and reproduction of human motion data by using various devices is achieved. Furthermore, it is also possible to use haptic recording in various fields.

Software for Collaborative Use of Large Interactive Displays

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Trimble, Jay; Shab, Thodore; Wales, Roxana; Vera, Alonso; Tollinger, Irene; McCurdy, Michael; Lyubimov, Dmitriy

2006-01-01

The MERBoard Collaborative Workspace, which is currently being deployed to support the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) Missions, is the first instantiation of a new computing architecture designed to support collaborative and group computing using computing devices situated in NASA mission operations room. It is a software system for generation of large-screen interactive displays by multiple users

Training haptic stiffness discrimination: time course of learning with or without visual information and knowledge of results.

PubMed

Teodorescu, Kinneret; Bouchigny, Sylvain; Korman, Maria

2013-08-01

In this study, we explored the time course of haptic stiffness discrimination learning and how it was affected by two experimental factors, the addition of visual information and/or knowledge of results (KR) during training. Stiffness perception may integrate both haptic and visual modalities. However, in many tasks, the visual field is typically occluded, forcing stiffness perception to be dependent exclusively on haptic information. No studies to date addressed the time course of haptic stiffness perceptual learning. Using a virtual environment (VE) haptic interface and a two-alternative forced-choice discrimination task, the haptic stiffness discrimination ability of 48 participants was tested across 2 days. Each day included two haptic test blocks separated by a training block Additional visual information and/or KR were manipulated between participants during training blocks. Practice repetitions alone induced significant improvement in haptic stiffness discrimination. Between days, accuracy was slightly improved, but decision time performance was deteriorated. The addition of visual information and/or KR had only temporary effects on decision time, without affecting the time course of haptic discrimination learning. Learning in haptic stiffness discrimination appears to evolve through at least two distinctive phases: A single training session resulted in both immediate and latent learning. This learning was not affected by the training manipulations inspected. Training skills in VE in spaced sessions can be beneficial for tasks in which haptic perception is critical, such as surgery procedures, when the visual field is occluded. However, training protocols for such tasks should account for low impact of multisensory information and KR.

A kinesthetic washout filter for force-feedback rendering.

PubMed

Danieau, Fabien; Lecuyer, Anatole; Guillotel, Philippe; Fleureau, Julien; Mollet, Nicolas; Christie, Marc

2015-01-01

Today haptic feedback can be designed and associated to audiovisual content (haptic-audiovisuals or HAV). Although there are multiple means to create individual haptic effects, the issue of how to properly adapt such effects on force-feedback devices has not been addressed and is mostly a manual endeavor. We propose a new approach for the haptic rendering of HAV, based on a washout filter for force-feedback devices. A body model and an inverse kinematics algorithm simulate the user's kinesthetic perception. Then, the haptic rendering is adapted in order to handle transitions between haptic effects and to optimize the amplitude of effects regarding the device capabilities. Results of a user study show that this new haptic rendering can successfully improve the HAV experience.

Algorithms for Haptic Rendering of 3D Objects

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Basdogan, Cagatay; Ho, Chih-Hao; Srinavasan, Mandayam

2003-01-01

Algorithms have been developed to provide haptic rendering of three-dimensional (3D) objects in virtual (that is, computationally simulated) environments. The goal of haptic rendering is to generate tactual displays of the shapes, hardnesses, surface textures, and frictional properties of 3D objects in real time. Haptic rendering is a major element of the emerging field of computer haptics, which invites comparison with computer graphics. We have already seen various applications of computer haptics in the areas of medicine (surgical simulation, telemedicine, haptic user interfaces for blind people, and rehabilitation of patients with neurological disorders), entertainment (3D painting, character animation, morphing, and sculpting), mechanical design (path planning and assembly sequencing), and scientific visualization (geophysical data analysis and molecular manipulation).

Structural impact detection with vibro-haptic interfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jung, Hwee-Kwon; Park, Gyuhae; Todd, Michael D.

2016-07-01

This paper presents a new sensing paradigm for structural impact detection using vibro-haptic interfaces. The goal of this study is to allow humans to ‘feel’ structural responses (impact, shape changes, and damage) and eventually determine health conditions of a structure. The target applications for this study are aerospace structures, in particular, airplane wings. Both hardware and software components are developed to realize the vibro-haptic-based impact detection system. First, L-shape piezoelectric sensor arrays are deployed to measure the acoustic emission data generated by impacts on a wing. Unique haptic signals are then generated by processing the measured acoustic emission data. These haptic signals are wirelessly transmitted to human arms, and with vibro-haptic interface, human pilots could identify impact location, intensity and possibility of subsequent damage initiation. With the haptic interface, the experimental results demonstrate that human could correctly identify such events, while reducing false indications on structural conditions by capitalizing on human’s classification capability. Several important aspects of this study, including development of haptic interfaces, design of optimal human training strategies, and extension of the haptic capability into structural impact detection are summarized in this paper.

Haptic wearables as sensory replacement, sensory augmentation and trainer - a review.

PubMed

Shull, Peter B; Damian, Dana D

2015-07-20

Sensory impairments decrease quality of life and can slow or hinder rehabilitation. Small, computationally powerful electronics have enabled the recent development of wearable systems aimed to improve function for individuals with sensory impairments. The purpose of this review is to synthesize current haptic wearable research for clinical applications involving sensory impairments. We define haptic wearables as untethered, ungrounded body worn devices that interact with skin directly or through clothing and can be used in natural environments outside a laboratory. Results of this review are categorized by degree of sensory impairment. Total impairment, such as in an amputee, blind, or deaf individual, involves haptics acting as sensory replacement; partial impairment, as is common in rehabilitation, involves haptics as sensory augmentation; and no impairment involves haptics as trainer. This review found that wearable haptic devices improved function for a variety of clinical applications including: rehabilitation, prosthetics, vestibular loss, osteoarthritis, vision loss and hearing loss. Future haptic wearables development should focus on clinical needs, intuitive and multimodal haptic displays, low energy demands, and biomechanical compliance for long-term usage.

Robot-Aided Mapping of Wrist Proprioceptive Acuity across a 3D Workspace

PubMed Central

Marini, Francesca; Squeri, Valentina; Morasso, Pietro; Konczak, Jürgen; Masia, Lorenzo

2016-01-01

Proprioceptive signals from peripheral mechanoreceptors form the basis for bodily perception and are known to be essential for motor control. However we still have an incomplete understanding of how proprioception differs between joints, whether it differs among the various degrees-of-freedom (DoFs) within a particular joint, and how such differences affect motor control and learning. We here introduce a robot-aided method to objectively measure proprioceptive function: specifically, we systematically mapped wrist proprioceptive acuity across the three DoFs of the wrist/hand complex with the aim to characterize the wrist position sense. Thirty healthy young adults performed an ipsilateral active joint position matching task with their dominant wrist using a haptic robotic exoskeleton. Our results indicate that the active wrist position sense acuity is anisotropic across the joint, with the abduction/adduction DoF having the highest acuity (the error of acuity for flexion/extension is 4.64 ± 0.24°; abduction/adduction: 3.68 ± 0.32°; supination/pronation: 5.15 ± 0.37°) and they also revealed that proprioceptive acuity decreases for smaller joint displacements. We believe this knowledge is imperative in a clinical scenario when assessing proprioceptive deficits and for understanding how such sensory deficits relate to observable motor impairments. PMID:27536882

Online Workspace to Connect Scientists with NASA's Science E/PO Efforts and Practitioners

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shipp, Stephanie; Bartolone , Lindsay; Peticolas, Laura; Woroner, Morgan; Dalton, Heather; Schwerin, Theresa; Smith, Denise

2014-11-01

There is a growing awareness of the need for a scientifically literate public in light of challenges facing society today, and also a growing concern about the preparedness of our future workforce to meet those challenges. Federal priorities for science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education call for improvement of teacher training, increased youth and public engagement, greater involvement of underrepresented populations, and investment in undergraduate and graduate education. How can planetary scientists contribute to these priorities? How can they “make their work and findings comprehensible, appealing, and available to the public” as called for in the Planetary Decadal Survey?NASA’s Science Mission Directorate (SMD) Education and Public Outreach (E/PO) workspace provides the SMD E/PO community of practice - scientists and educators funded to conduct SMD E/PO or those using NASA’s science discoveries in E/PO endeavors - with an online environment in which to communicate, collaborate, and coordinate activities, thus helping to increase effectiveness of E/PO efforts. The workspace offers interested scientists avenues to partner with SMD E/PO practitioners and learn about E/PO projects and impacts, as well as to advertise their own efforts to reach a broader audience. Through the workspace, scientists can become aware of opportunities for involvement and explore resources to improve professional practice, including literature reviews of best practices for program impact, mechanisms for engaging diverse audiences, and large- and small-scale program evaluation. Scientists will find “how to” manuals for getting started and increasing impact with public presentations, classroom visits, and other audiences, as well as primers with activity ideas and resources that can augment E/PO interactions with different audiences. The poster will introduce the workspace to interested scientists and highlight pathways to resources of interest that can help scientists more effectively contribute to national STEM education priorities. Visitors are encouraged to explore the growing collection of resources at http://smdepo.org.

A User Assessment of Workspaces in Selected Music Education Computer Laboratories.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Badolato, Michael Jeremy

A study of 120 students selected from the user populations of four music education computer laboratories was conducted to determine the applicability of current ergonomic and environmental design guidelines in satisfying the needs of users of educational computing workspaces. Eleven categories of workspace factors were organized into a…

Modeling and test of a kinaesthetic actuator based on MR fluid for haptic applications.

PubMed

Yang, Tae-Heon; Koo, Jeong-Hoi; Kim, Sang-Youn; Kwon, Dong-Soo

2017-03-01

Haptic display units have been widely used for conveying button sensations to users, primarily employing vibrotactile actuators. However, the human feeling for pressing buttons mainly relies on kinaesthetic sensations (rather than vibrotactile sensations), and little studies exist on small-scale kinaesthetic haptic units. Thus, the primary goals of this paper are to design a miniature kinaesthetic actuator based on Magneto-Rheological (MR) fluid that can convey various button-clicking sensations and to experimentally evaluate its haptic performance. The design focuses of the proposed actuator were to produce sufficiently large actuation forces (resistive forces) for human users in a given size constraint and to offer a wide range of actuation forces for conveying vivid haptic sensations to users. To this end, this study first performed a series of parametric studies using mathematical force models for multiple operating modes of MR fluid in conjunction with finite element electromagnetism analysis. After selecting design parameters based on parametric studies, a prototype actuator was constructed, and its performance was evaluated using a dynamic mechanical analyzer. It measured the actuator's resistive force with a varying stroke (pressed depth) up to 1 mm and a varying input current from 0 A to 200 mA. The results show that the proposed actuator creates a wide range of resistive forces from around 2 N (off-state) to over 9.5 N at 200 mA. In order to assess the prototype's performance in the terms of the haptic application prospective, a maximum force rate was calculated to determine just noticeable difference in force changes for the 1 mm stoke of the actuator. The results show that the force rate is sufficient to mimic various levels of button sensations, indicating that the proposed kinaesthetic actuator can offer a wide range of resistive force changes that can be conveyed to human operators.

Preserved Haptic Shape Processing after Bilateral LOC Lesions.

PubMed

Snow, Jacqueline C; Goodale, Melvyn A; Culham, Jody C

2015-10-07

The visual and haptic perceptual systems are understood to share a common neural representation of object shape. A region thought to be critical for recognizing visual and haptic shape information is the lateral occipital complex (LOC). We investigated whether LOC is essential for haptic shape recognition in humans by studying behavioral responses and brain activation for haptically explored objects in a patient (M.C.) with bilateral lesions of the occipitotemporal cortex, including LOC. Despite severe deficits in recognizing objects using vision, M.C. was able to accurately recognize objects via touch. M.C.'s psychophysical response profile to haptically explored shapes was also indistinguishable from controls. Using fMRI, M.C. showed no object-selective visual or haptic responses in LOC, but her pattern of haptic activation in other brain regions was remarkably similar to healthy controls. Although LOC is routinely active during visual and haptic shape recognition tasks, it is not essential for haptic recognition of object shape. The lateral occipital complex (LOC) is a brain region regarded to be critical for recognizing object shape, both in vision and in touch. However, causal evidence linking LOC with haptic shape processing is lacking. We studied recognition performance, psychophysical sensitivity, and brain response to touched objects, in a patient (M.C.) with extensive lesions involving LOC bilaterally. Despite being severely impaired in visual shape recognition, M.C. was able to identify objects via touch and she showed normal sensitivity to a haptic shape illusion. M.C.'s brain response to touched objects in areas of undamaged cortex was also very similar to that observed in neurologically healthy controls. These results demonstrate that LOC is not necessary for recognizing objects via touch. Copyright © 2015 the authors 0270-6474/15/3513745-16$15.00/0.

Haptic augmentation of science instruction: Does touch matter?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jones, M. Gail; Minogue, James; Tretter, Thomas R.; Negishi, Atsuko; Taylor, Russell

2006-01-01

This study investigated the impact of haptic augmentation of a science inquiry program on students' learning about viruses and nanoscale science. The study assessed how the addition of different types of haptic feedback (active touch and kinesthetic feedback) combined with computer visualizations influenced middle and high school students' experiences. The influences of a PHANToM (a sophisticated haptic desktop device), a Sidewinder (a haptic gaming joystick), and a mouse (no haptic feedback) interface were compared. The levels of engagement in the instruction and students' attitudes about the instructional program were assessed using a combination of constructed response and Likert scale items. Potential cognitive differences were examined through an analysis of spontaneously generated analogies that appeared during student discourse. Results showed that the addition of haptic feedback from the haptic-gaming joystick and the PHANToM provided a more immersive learning environment that not only made the instruction more engaging but may also influence the way in which the students construct their understandings about abstract science concepts.

Seeing a haptically explored face: visual facial-expression aftereffect from haptic adaptation to a face.

PubMed

Matsumiya, Kazumichi

2013-10-01

Current views on face perception assume that the visual system receives only visual facial signals. However, I show that the visual perception of faces is systematically biased by adaptation to a haptically explored face. Recently, face aftereffects (FAEs; the altered perception of faces after adaptation to a face) have been demonstrated not only in visual perception but also in haptic perception; therefore, I combined the two FAEs to examine whether the visual system receives face-related signals from the haptic modality. I found that adaptation to a haptically explored facial expression on a face mask produced a visual FAE for facial expression. This cross-modal FAE was not due to explicitly imaging a face, response bias, or adaptation to local features. Furthermore, FAEs transferred from vision to haptics. These results indicate that visual face processing depends on substrates adapted by haptic faces, which suggests that face processing relies on shared representation underlying cross-modal interactions.

A magnetorheological haptic cue accelerator for manual transmission vehicles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Han, Young-Min; Noh, Kyung-Wook; Lee, Yang-Sub; Choi, Seung-Bok

2010-07-01

This paper proposes a new haptic cue function for manual transmission vehicles to achieve optimal gear shifting. This function is implemented on the accelerator pedal by utilizing a magnetorheological (MR) brake mechanism. By combining the haptic cue function with the accelerator pedal, the proposed haptic cue device can transmit the optimal moment of gear shifting for manual transmission to a driver without requiring the driver's visual attention. As a first step to achieve this goal, a MR fluid-based haptic device is devised to enable rotary motion of the accelerator pedal. Taking into account spatial limitations, the design parameters are optimally determined using finite element analysis to maximize the relative control torque. The proposed haptic cue device is then manufactured and its field-dependent torque and time response are experimentally evaluated. Then the manufactured MR haptic cue device is integrated with the accelerator pedal. A simple virtual vehicle emulating the operation of the engine of a passenger vehicle is constructed and put into communication with the haptic cue device. A feed-forward torque control algorithm for the haptic cue is formulated and control performances are experimentally evaluated and presented in the time domain.

[Fabrication and Performance Study of Polydimethylsiloxane Intraocular Lens].

PubMed

Du, Qiuyue; Yu, Yueqing

2016-10-01

To simplify the production process of intraocular lens(IOL)and to solve the problem of lacking adjustable ability,we proposed a novel soft IOL with large-scale adjustable ability and rigid haptics based on heat-assisted method,and gravity-assisted method.Polydimethylsiloxane(PDMS)and rigid material--polymethyl methacrylate(PMMA)were used as the materials for fabricating optical lens(PDMS)and haptics(PDMS and PMMA)through changing the weight ratio of the solution.A lens-smartphone microscopy system was established to replace the traditional digital microscopy to measure the tiny displacements and shape changes.The PDMS lens has excellent optical property through an experiment in which the maximum optical power was around 273.2D.Experimental results indicated that the maximum optical power of PMMA IOL was 129.3D,and that in PDMS IOL,however,was only 56.0D.Thus,the rigid PMMA-IOL has a larger adjustable range.The production process of PDMS was mold-free,rapid,real-time,and highly repeatable and there was no need for a rigorous experimental environment either.This creative processing technology reduced the manufacturing steps from which an optical lens with high transmittance and high resolution,as well as hatics with accurate dimensions,were obtained.The rigidity of haptics affected more intensely than other factors did for improving the pre-displacement and changing the appearance of PDMS lens.Even though the rigidity of PMMA haptics is large enough for accommodating,there are many drawbacks during manufacturing.It is unavailable to rapid fabricate IOL using PMMA.Thus,further work will be required to alter the weight ratio of PDMS material,increase the rigidity,and enhance the adjustable ability of PDMS IOL.

Collaborative Inquiry and the Shared Workspace of Professional Learning Communities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carpenter, Daniel

2017-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore educator collaborative inquiry in the shared workspace in professional learning communities (PLCs). Specifically, this investigation was part of an ongoing investigation of well-established PLC collaborative interactions and self-directed learning of educators as part of the shared workspace as a…

CPG-inspired workspace trajectory generation and adaptive locomotion control for quadruped robots.

PubMed

Liu, Chengju; Chen, Qijun; Wang, Danwei

2011-06-01

This paper deals with the locomotion control of quadruped robots inspired by the biological concept of central pattern generator (CPG). A control architecture is proposed with a 3-D workspace trajectory generator and a motion engine. The workspace trajectory generator generates adaptive workspace trajectories based on CPGs, and the motion engine realizes joint motion imputes. The proposed architecture is able to generate adaptive workspace trajectories online by tuning the parameters of the CPG network to adapt to various terrains. With feedback information, a quadruped robot can walk through various terrains with adaptive joint control signals. A quadruped platform AIBO is used to validate the proposed locomotion control system. The experimental results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed control architecture. A comparison by experiments shows the superiority of the proposed method against the traditional CPG-joint-space control method.

Design of a haptic device with grasp and push-pull force feedback for a master-slave surgical robot.

PubMed

Hu, Zhenkai; Yoon, Chae-Hyun; Park, Samuel Byeongjun; Jo, Yung-Ho

2016-07-01

We propose a portable haptic device providing grasp (kinesthetic) and push-pull (cutaneous) sensations for optical-motion-capture master interfaces. Although optical-motion-capture master interfaces for surgical robot systems can overcome the stiffness, friction, and coupling problems of mechanical master interfaces, it is difficult to add haptic feedback to an optical-motion-capture master interface without constraining the free motion of the operator's hands. Therefore, we utilized a Bowden cable-driven mechanism to provide the grasp and push-pull sensation while retaining the free hand motion of the optical-motion capture master interface. To evaluate the haptic device, we construct a 2-DOF force sensing/force feedback system. We compare the sensed force and the reproduced force of the haptic device. Finally, a needle insertion test was done to evaluate the performance of the haptic interface in the master-slave system. The results demonstrate that both the grasp force feedback and the push-pull force feedback provided by the haptic interface closely matched with the sensed forces of the slave robot. We successfully apply our haptic interface in the optical-motion-capture master-slave system. The results of the needle insertion test showed that our haptic feedback can provide more safety than merely visual observation. We develop a suitable haptic device to produce both kinesthetic grasp force feedback and cutaneous push-pull force feedback. Our future research will include further objective performance evaluations of the optical-motion-capture master-slave robot system with our haptic interface in surgical scenarios.

Input and output for surgical simulation: devices to measure tissue properties in vivo and a haptic interface for laparoscopy simulators.

PubMed

Ottensmeyer, M P; Ben-Ur, E; Salisbury, J K

2000-01-01

Current efforts in surgical simulation very often focus on creating realistic graphical feedback, but neglect some or all tactile and force (haptic) feedback that a surgeon would normally receive. Simulations that do include haptic feedback do not typically use real tissue compliance properties, favoring estimates and user feedback to determine realism. When tissue compliance data are used, there are virtually no in vivo property measurements to draw upon. Together with the Center for Innovative Minimally Invasive Therapy at the Massachusetts General Hospital, the Haptics Group is developing tools to introduce more comprehensive haptic feedback in laparoscopy simulators and to provide biological tissue material property data for our software simulation. The platform for providing haptic feedback is a PHANToM Haptic Interface, produced by SensAble Technologies, Inc. Our devices supplement the PHANToM to provide for grasping and optionally, for the roll axis of the tool. Together with feedback from the PHANToM, which provides the pitch, yaw and thrust axes of a typical laparoscopy tool, we can recreate all of the haptic sensations experienced during laparoscopy. The devices integrate real laparoscopy toolhandles and a compliant torso model to complete the set of visual and tactile sensations. Biological tissues are known to exhibit non-linear mechanical properties, and change their properties dramatically when removed from a living organism. To measure the properties in vivo, two devices are being developed. The first is a small displacement, 1-D indenter. It will measure the linear tissue compliance (stiffness and damping) over a wide range of frequencies. These data will be used as inputs to a finite element or other model. The second device will be able to deflect tissues in 3-D over a larger range, so that the non-linearities due to changes in the tissue geometry will be measured. This will allow us to validate the performance of the model on large tissue deformations. Both devices are designed to pass through standard 12 mm laparoscopy trocars, and will be suitable for use during open or minimally invasive procedures. We plan to acquire data from pigs used by surgeons for training purposes, but conceivably, the tools could be refined for use on humans undergoing surgery. Our work will provide the necessary data input for surgical simulations to accurately model the force interactions that a surgeon would have with tissue, and will provide the force output to create a truly realistic simulation of minimally invasive surgery.

The Efficacy of Surface Haptics and Force Feedback in Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gorlewicz, Jenna Lynn

2013-01-01

This dissertation bridges the fields of haptics, engineering, and education to realize some of the potential benefits haptic devices may have in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education. Specifically, this dissertation demonstrates the development, implementation, and assessment of two haptic devices in engineering and math…

Incorporating Haptic Feedback in Simulation for Learning Physics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Han, Insook; Black, John B.

2011-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of a haptic augmented simulation in learning physics. The results indicate that haptic augmented simulations, both the force and kinesthetic and the purely kinesthetic simulations, were more effective than the equivalent non-haptic simulation in providing perceptual experiences and…

Haptic Distal Spatial Perception Mediated by Strings: Haptic "Looming"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cabe, Patrick A.

2011-01-01

Five experiments tested a haptic analog of optical looming, demonstrating string-mediated haptic distal spatial perception. Horizontally collinear hooks supported a weighted string held taut by a blindfolded participant's finger midway between the hooks. At the finger, the angle between string segments increased as the finger approached…

Haptic Classification of Common Objects: Knowledge-Driven Exploration.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lederman, Susan J.; Klatzky, Roberta L.

1990-01-01

Theoretical and empirical issues relating to haptic exploration and the representation of common objects during haptic classification were investigated in 3 experiments involving a total of 112 college students. Results are discussed in terms of a computational model of human haptic object classification with implications for dextrous robot…

Higher-order continuation for the determination of robot workspace boundaries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hentz, Gauthier; Charpentier, Isabelle; Renaud, Pierre

2016-02-01

In the medical and surgical fields, robotics may be of great interest for safer and more accurate procedures. Space constraints for a robotic assistant are however strict. Therefore, roboticists study non-conventional mechanisms with advantageous size/workspace ratios. The determination of mechanism workspace, and primarily its boundaries, is thus of major importance. This Note builds on boundary equation definition, continuation and automatic differentiation to propose a general, accurate, fast and automated method for the determination of mechanism workspace. The method is illustrated with a planar RRR mechanism and a three-dimensional Orthoglide parallel mechanism.

Large displacement haptic stimulus actuator using piezoelectric pump for wearable devices.

PubMed

Kodama, Taisuke; Izumi, Shintaro; Masaki, Kana; Kawaguchi, Hiroshi; Maenaka, Kazusuke; Yoshimoto, Masahiko

2015-08-01

Recently, given Japan's aging society background, wearable healthcare devices have increasingly attracted attention. Many devices have been developed, but most devices have only a sensing function. To expand the application area of wearable healthcare devices, an interactive communication function with the human body is required using an actuator. For example, a device must be useful for medication assistance, predictive alerts of a disease such as arrhythmia, and exercise. In this work, a haptic stimulus actuator using a piezoelectric pump is proposed to realize a large displacement in wearable devices. The proposed actuator drives tactile sensation of the human body. The measurement results obtained using a sensory examination demonstrate that the proposed actuator can generate sufficient stimuli even if adhered to the chest, which has fewer tactile receptors than either the fingertip or wrist.

Perceptualization of geometry using intelligent haptic and visual sensing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weng, Jianguang; Zhang, Hui

2013-01-01

We present a set of paradigms for investigating geometric structures using haptic and visual sensing. Our principal test cases include smoothly embedded geometry shapes such as knotted curves embedded in 3D and knotted surfaces in 4D, that contain massive intersections when projected to one lower dimension. One can exploit a touch-responsive 3D interactive probe to haptically override this conflicting evidence in the rendered images, by forcing continuity in the haptic representation to emphasize the true topology. In our work, we exploited a predictive haptic guidance, a "computer-simulated hand" with supplementary force suggestion, to support intelligent exploration of geometry shapes that will smooth and maximize the probability of recognition. The cognitive load can be reduced further when enabling an attention-driven visual sensing during the haptic exploration. Our methods combine to reveal the full richness of the haptic exploration of geometric structures, and to overcome the limitations of traditional 4D visualization.

Exploring Relationships between Students' Interaction and Learning with a Haptic Virtual Biomolecular Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schonborn, Konrad J.; Bivall, Petter; Tibell, Lena A. E.

2011-01-01

This study explores tertiary students' interaction with a haptic virtual model representing the specific binding of two biomolecules, a core concept in molecular life science education. Twenty students assigned to a "haptics" (experimental) or "no-haptics" (control) condition performed a "docking" task where users sought the most favourable…

Quantitative relationships between occupant satisfaction and satisfaction aspects of indoor environmental quality and building design.

PubMed

Frontczak, M; Schiavon, S; Goins, J; Arens, E; Zhang, H; Wargocki, P

2012-04-01

The article examines which subjectively evaluated indoor environmental parameters and building features mostly affect occupants' satisfaction in mainly US office buildings. The study analyzed data from a web-based survey administered to 52,980 occupants in 351 office buildings over 10 years by the Center for the Built Environment. The survey uses 7-point ordered scale questions pertaining to satisfaction with indoor environmental parameters, workspace, and building features. The average building occupant was satisfied with his/her workspace and building. Proportional odds ordinal logistic regression shows that satisfaction with all 15 parameters listed in the survey contributed significantly to overall workspace satisfaction. The most important parameters were satisfaction with amount of space (odds ratio OR 1.57, 95% CI: 1.55-1.59), noise level (OR 1.27, 95% CI: 1.25-1.29), and visual privacy (OR 1.26, 95% CI: 1.24-1.28). Satisfaction with amount of space was ranked to be most important for workspace satisfaction, regardless of age group (below 30, 31-50 or over 50 years old), gender, type of office (single or shared offices, or cubicles), distance of workspace from a window (within 4.6 m or further), or satisfaction level with workspace (satisfied or dissatisfied). Satisfaction with amount of space was not related to the gross amount of space available per person. To maximize workspace satisfaction, designer should invest in aspects that increase satisfaction with amount of space and storage, noise level, and visual privacy. Office workers will be most satisfied with their workspace and building when located close to a window in a private office. This may affect job satisfaction, work performance, and personal and company productivity. © 2011 John Wiley & Sons A/S.

Precise Haptic Device Co-Location for Visuo-Haptic Augmented Reality.

PubMed

Eck, Ulrich; Pankratz, Frieder; Sandor, Christian; Klinker, Gudrun; Laga, Hamid

2015-12-01

Visuo-haptic augmented reality systems enable users to see and touch digital information that is embedded in the real world. PHANToM haptic devices are often employed to provide haptic feedback. Precise co-location of computer-generated graphics and the haptic stylus is necessary to provide a realistic user experience. Previous work has focused on calibration procedures that compensate the non-linear position error caused by inaccuracies in the joint angle sensors. In this article we present a more complete procedure that additionally compensates for errors in the gimbal sensors and improves position calibration. The proposed procedure further includes software-based temporal alignment of sensor data and a method for the estimation of a reference for position calibration, resulting in increased robustness against haptic device initialization and external tracker noise. We designed our procedure to require minimal user input to maximize usability. We conducted an extensive evaluation with two different PHANToMs, two different optical trackers, and a mechanical tracker. Compared to state-of-the-art calibration procedures, our approach significantly improves the co-location of the haptic stylus. This results in higher fidelity visual and haptic augmentations, which are crucial for fine-motor tasks in areas such as medical training simulators, assembly planning tools, or rapid prototyping applications.

Telerobotic Haptic Exploration in Art Galleries and Museums for Individuals with Visual Impairments.

PubMed

Park, Chung Hyuk; Ryu, Eun-Seok; Howard, Ayanna M

2015-01-01

This paper presents a haptic telepresence system that enables visually impaired users to explore locations with rich visual observation such as art galleries and museums by using a telepresence robot, a RGB-D sensor (color and depth camera), and a haptic interface. The recent improvement on RGB-D sensors has enabled real-time access to 3D spatial information in the form of point clouds. However, the real-time representation of this data in the form of tangible haptic experience has not been challenged enough, especially in the case of telepresence for individuals with visual impairments. Thus, the proposed system addresses the real-time haptic exploration of remote 3D information through video encoding and real-time 3D haptic rendering of the remote real-world environment. This paper investigates two scenarios in haptic telepresence, i.e., mobile navigation and object exploration in a remote environment. Participants with and without visual impairments participated in our experiments based on the two scenarios, and the system performance was validated. In conclusion, the proposed framework provides a new methodology of haptic telepresence for individuals with visual impairments by providing an enhanced interactive experience where they can remotely access public places (art galleries and museums) with the aid of haptic modality and robotic telepresence.

Size-Sensitive Perceptual Representations Underlie Visual and Haptic Object Recognition

PubMed Central

Craddock, Matt; Lawson, Rebecca

2009-01-01

A variety of similarities between visual and haptic object recognition suggests that the two modalities may share common representations. However, it is unclear whether such common representations preserve low-level perceptual features or whether transfer between vision and haptics is mediated by high-level, abstract representations. Two experiments used a sequential shape-matching task to examine the effects of size changes on unimodal and crossmodal visual and haptic object recognition. Participants felt or saw 3D plastic models of familiar objects. The two objects presented on a trial were either the same size or different sizes and were the same shape or different but similar shapes. Participants were told to ignore size changes and to match on shape alone. In Experiment 1, size changes on same-shape trials impaired performance similarly for both visual-to-visual and haptic-to-haptic shape matching. In Experiment 2, size changes impaired performance on both visual-to-haptic and haptic-to-visual shape matching and there was no interaction between the cost of size changes and direction of transfer. Together the unimodal and crossmodal matching results suggest that the same, size-specific perceptual representations underlie both visual and haptic object recognition, and indicate that crossmodal memory for objects must be at least partly based on common perceptual representations. PMID:19956685

Learning of Temporal and Spatial Movement Aspects: A Comparison of Four Types of Haptic Control and Concurrent Visual Feedback.

PubMed

Rauter, Georg; Sigrist, Roland; Riener, Robert; Wolf, Peter

2015-01-01

In literature, the effectiveness of haptics for motor learning is controversially discussed. Haptics is believed to be effective for motor learning in general; however, different types of haptic control enhance different movement aspects. Thus, in dependence on the movement aspects of interest, one type of haptic control may be effective whereas another one is not. Therefore, in the current work, it was investigated if and how different types of haptic controllers affect learning of spatial and temporal movement aspects. In particular, haptic controllers that enforce active participation of the participants were expected to improve spatial aspects. Only haptic controllers that provide feedback about the task's velocity profile were expected to improve temporal aspects. In a study on learning a complex trunk-arm rowing task, the effect of training with four different types of haptic control was investigated: position control, path control, adaptive path control, and reactive path control. A fifth group (control) trained with visual concurrent augmented feedback. As hypothesized, the position controller was most effective for learning of temporal movement aspects, while the path controller was most effective in teaching spatial movement aspects of the rowing task. Visual feedback was also effective for learning temporal and spatial movement aspects.

Prevailing Trends in Haptic Feedback Simulation for Minimally Invasive Surgery.

PubMed

Pinzon, David; Byrns, Simon; Zheng, Bin

2016-08-01

Background The amount of direct hand-tool-tissue interaction and feedback in minimally invasive surgery varies from being attenuated in laparoscopy to being completely absent in robotic minimally invasive surgery. The role of haptic feedback during surgical skill acquisition and its emphasis in training have been a constant source of controversy. This review discusses the major developments in haptic simulation as they relate to surgical performance and the current research questions that remain unanswered. Search Strategy An in-depth review of the literature was performed using PubMed. Results A total of 198 abstracts were returned based on our search criteria. Three major areas of research were identified, including advancements in 1 of the 4 components of haptic systems, evaluating the effectiveness of haptic integration in simulators, and improvements to haptic feedback in robotic surgery. Conclusions Force feedback is the best method for tissue identification in minimally invasive surgery and haptic feedback provides the greatest benefit to surgical novices in the early stages of their training. New technology has improved our ability to capture, playback and enhance to utility of haptic cues in simulated surgery. Future research should focus on deciphering how haptic training in surgical education can increase performance, safety, and improve training efficiency. © The Author(s) 2016.

Haptic Foot Pedal: Influence of Shoe Type, Age, and Gender on Subjective Pulse Perception.

PubMed

Geitner, Claudia; Birrell, Stewart; Krehl, Claudia; Jennings, Paul

2018-06-01

This study investigates the influence of shoe type (sneakers and safety boots), age, and gender on the perception of haptic pulse feedback provided by a prototype accelerator pedal in a running stationary vehicle. Haptic feedback can be a less distracting alternative to traditionally visual and auditory in-vehicle feedback. However, to be effective, the device delivering the haptic feedback needs to be in contact with the person. Factors such as shoe type vary naturally over the season and could render feedback that is perceived well in one situation, unnoticeable in another. In this study, we evaluate factors that can influence the subjective perception of haptic feedback in a stationary but running car: shoe type, age, and gender. Thirty-six drivers within three age groups (≤39, 40-59, and ≥60) took part. For each haptic feedback, participants rated intensity, urgency, and comfort via a questionnaire. The perception of the haptic feedback is significantly influenced by the interaction between the pulse's duration and force amplitude and the participant's age and gender but not shoe type. The results indicate that it is important to consider different age groups and gender in the evaluation of haptic feedback. Future research might also look into approaches to adapt haptic feedback to the individual driver's preferences. Findings from this study can be applied to the design of an accelerator pedal in a car, for example, for a nonvisual in-vehicle warning, but also to plan user studies with a haptic pedal in general.

KinoHaptics: An Automated, Wearable, Haptic Assisted, Physio-therapeutic System for Post-surgery Rehabilitation and Self-care.

PubMed

Rajanna, Vijay; Vo, Patrick; Barth, Jerry; Mjelde, Matthew; Grey, Trevor; Oduola, Cassandra; Hammond, Tracy

2016-03-01

A carefully planned, structured, and supervised physiotherapy program, following a surgery, is crucial for the successful diagnosis of physical injuries. Nearly 50 % of the surgeries fail due to unsupervised, and erroneous physiotherapy. The demand for a physiotherapist for an extended period is expensive to afford, and sometimes inaccessible. Researchers have tried to leverage the advancements in wearable sensors and motion tracking by building affordable, automated, physio-therapeutic systems that direct a physiotherapy session by providing audio-visual feedback on patient's performance. There are many aspects of automated physiotherapy program which are yet to be addressed by the existing systems: a wide classification of patients' physiological conditions to be diagnosed, multiple demographics of the patients (blind, deaf, etc.), and the need to pursue patients to adopt the system for an extended period for self-care. In our research, we have tried to address these aspects by building a health behavior change support system called KinoHaptics, for post-surgery rehabilitation. KinoHaptics is an automated, wearable, haptic assisted, physio-therapeutic system that can be used by a wide variety of demographics and for various physiological conditions of the patients. The system provides rich and accurate vibro-haptic feedback that can be felt by the user, irrespective of the physiological limitations. KinoHaptics is built to ensure that no injuries are induced during the rehabilitation period. The persuasive nature of the system allows for personal goal-setting, progress tracking, and most importantly life-style compatibility. The system was evaluated under laboratory conditions, involving 14 users. Results show that KinoHaptics is highly convenient to use, and the vibro-haptic feedback is intuitive, accurate, and has shown to prevent accidental injuries. Also, results show that KinoHaptics is persuasive in nature as it supports behavior change and habit building. The successful acceptance of KinoHaptics, an automated, wearable, haptic assisted, physio-therapeutic system proves the need and future-scope of automated physio-therapeutic systems for self-care and behavior change. It also proves that such systems incorporated with vibro-haptic feedback encourage strong adherence to the physiotherapy program; can have profound impact on the physiotherapy experience resulting in higher acceptance rate.

Haptically Guided Grasping. fMRI Shows Right-Hemisphere Parietal Stimulus Encoding, and Bilateral Dorso-Ventral Parietal Gradients of Object- and Action-Related Processing during Grasp Execution

PubMed Central

Marangon, Mattia; Kubiak, Agnieszka; Króliczak, Gregory

2016-01-01

The neural bases of haptically-guided grasp planning and execution are largely unknown, especially for stimuli having no visual representations. Therefore, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to monitor brain activity during haptic exploration of novel 3D complex objects, subsequent grasp planning, and the execution of the pre-planned grasps. Haptic object exploration, involving extraction of shape, orientation, and length of the to-be-grasped targets, was associated with the fronto-parietal, temporo-occipital, and insular cortex activity. Yet, only the anterior divisions of the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) of the right hemisphere were significantly more engaged in exploration of complex objects (vs. simple control disks). None of these regions were re-recruited during the planning phase. Even more surprisingly, the left-hemisphere intraparietal, temporal, and occipital areas that were significantly invoked for grasp planning did not show sensitivity to object features. Finally, grasp execution, involving the re-recruitment of the critical right-hemisphere PPC clusters, was also significantly associated with two kinds of bilateral parieto-frontal processes. The first represents transformations of grasp-relevant target features and is linked to the dorso-dorsal (lateral and medial) parieto-frontal networks. The second monitors grasp kinematics and belongs to the ventro-dorsal networks. Indeed, signal modulations associated with these distinct functions follow dorso-ventral gradients, with left aIPS showing significant sensitivity to both target features and the characteristics of the required grasp. Thus, our results from the haptic domain are consistent with the notion that the parietal processing for action guidance reflects primarily transformations from object-related to effector-related coding, and these mechanisms are rather independent of sensory input modality. PMID:26779002

Haptically Guided Grasping. fMRI Shows Right-Hemisphere Parietal Stimulus Encoding, and Bilateral Dorso-Ventral Parietal Gradients of Object- and Action-Related Processing during Grasp Execution.

PubMed

Marangon, Mattia; Kubiak, Agnieszka; Króliczak, Gregory

2015-01-01

The neural bases of haptically-guided grasp planning and execution are largely unknown, especially for stimuli having no visual representations. Therefore, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to monitor brain activity during haptic exploration of novel 3D complex objects, subsequent grasp planning, and the execution of the pre-planned grasps. Haptic object exploration, involving extraction of shape, orientation, and length of the to-be-grasped targets, was associated with the fronto-parietal, temporo-occipital, and insular cortex activity. Yet, only the anterior divisions of the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) of the right hemisphere were significantly more engaged in exploration of complex objects (vs. simple control disks). None of these regions were re-recruited during the planning phase. Even more surprisingly, the left-hemisphere intraparietal, temporal, and occipital areas that were significantly invoked for grasp planning did not show sensitivity to object features. Finally, grasp execution, involving the re-recruitment of the critical right-hemisphere PPC clusters, was also significantly associated with two kinds of bilateral parieto-frontal processes. The first represents transformations of grasp-relevant target features and is linked to the dorso-dorsal (lateral and medial) parieto-frontal networks. The second monitors grasp kinematics and belongs to the ventro-dorsal networks. Indeed, signal modulations associated with these distinct functions follow dorso-ventral gradients, with left aIPS showing significant sensitivity to both target features and the characteristics of the required grasp. Thus, our results from the haptic domain are consistent with the notion that the parietal processing for action guidance reflects primarily transformations from object-related to effector-related coding, and these mechanisms are rather independent of sensory input modality.

Shadow netWorkspace: An Open Source Intranet for Learning Communities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Laffey, James M.; Musser, Dale

2006-01-01

Shadow netWorkspace (SNS) is a web application system that allows a school or any type of community to establish an intranet with network workspaces for all members and groups. The goal of SNS has been to make it easy for schools and other educational organizations to provide network services in support of implementing a learning community. SNS is…

[The relation of workspace and installation space of epicyclic kinematics with six degrees of freedom].

PubMed

Pott, Peter P; Schwarz, Markus L R

2007-10-01

The kinematics of a robotic device significantly determines its installation space when it comes to technical realisation. With regard to the deployment of robotic manipulators in surgery, manipulators with a preferably small installation space are needed. This study describes six versions of novel epicyclic kinematics with six degrees of freedom (DOF). At first, the kinematics functionality was analysed using Gruebler's formula. Subsequently, the quantitative determination of the relation of workspace and installation space was performed using Matlab algorithms. To qualitatively describe the shape of the workspace, the Matlab visualisation features were utilised. For comparison, the well-known Hexapod was used. The assessed kinematics had 6-DOF-functionality. It became apparent that one version of the epicyclic kinematics having two 3-DOF disk systems mounted in a parallel way featured a particularly good relation of workspace and installation space. Compared to the Hexapod, this is approximately four times better. The shape of the workspaces of all epicyclic kinematics assessed was convex and compact. It could be shown that a novel epicyclic kinematics has a notably advantageous relation of workspace and installation space. Apparently, it seems to be well suited for the deployment in robotic machines for surgical procedures.

A one degree of freedom haptic system to investigate issues in human perception with particular application to probing tissue.

PubMed

Dibble, Edward; Zivanovic, Aleksandar; Davies, Brian

2004-01-01

This paper presents the results of several early studies relating to human haptic perception sensitivity when probing a virtual object. A 1 degree of freedom (DoF) rotary haptic system, that was designed and built for this purpose, is also presented. The experiments were to assess the maximum forces applied in a minimally invasive surgery (MIS) procedure, quantify the compliance sensitivity threshold when probing virtual tissue and identify the haptic system loop rate necessary for haptic feedback to feel realistic.

G2H--graphics-to-haptic virtual environment development tool for PC's.

PubMed

Acosta, E; Temkin, B; Krummel, T M; Heinrichs, W L

2000-01-01

For surgical training and preparations, the existing surgical virtual environments have shown great improvement. However, these improvements are more in the visual aspect. The incorporation of haptics into virtual reality base surgical simulations would enhance the sense of realism greatly. To aid in the development of the haptic surgical virtual environment we have created a graphics to haptic, G2H, virtual environment developer tool. G2H transforms graphical virtual environments (created or imported) to haptic virtual environments without programming. The G2H capability has been demonstrated using the complex 3D pelvic model of Lucy 2.0, the Stanford Visible Female. The pelvis was made haptic using G2H without any further programming effort.

Graphic and haptic simulation system for virtual laparoscopic rectum surgery.

PubMed

Pan, Jun J; Chang, Jian; Yang, Xiaosong; Zhang, Jian J; Qureshi, Tahseen; Howell, Robert; Hickish, Tamas

2011-09-01

Medical simulators with vision and haptic feedback techniques offer a cost-effective and efficient alternative to the traditional medical trainings. They have been used to train doctors in many specialties of medicine, allowing tasks to be practised in a safe and repetitive manner. This paper describes a virtual-reality (VR) system which will help to influence surgeons' learning curves in the technically challenging field of laparoscopic surgery of the rectum. Data from MRI of the rectum and real operation videos are used to construct the virtual models. A haptic force filter based on radial basis functions is designed to offer realistic and smooth force feedback. To handle collision detection efficiently, a hybrid model is presented to compute the deformation of intestines. Finally, a real-time cutting technique based on mesh is employed to represent the incision operation. Despite numerous research efforts, fast and realistic solutions of soft tissues with large deformation, such as intestines, prove extremely challenging. This paper introduces our latest contribution to this endeavour. With this system, the user can haptically operate with the virtual rectum and simultaneously watch the soft tissue deformation. Our system has been tested by colorectal surgeons who believe that the simulated tactile and visual feedbacks are realistic. It could replace the traditional training process and effectively transfer surgical skills to novices. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

A new visual feedback-based magnetorheological haptic master for robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Choi, Seung-Hyun; Kim, Soomin; Kim, Pyunghwa; Park, Jinhyuk; Choi, Seung-Bok

2015-06-01

In this study, we developed a novel four-degrees-of-freedom haptic master using controllable magnetorheological (MR) fluid. We also integrated the haptic master with a vision device with image processing for robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery (RMIS). The proposed master can be used in RMIS as a haptic interface to provide the surgeon with a sense of touch by using both kinetic and kinesthetic information. The slave robot, which is manipulated with a proportional-integrative-derivative controller, uses a force sensor to obtain the desired forces from tissue contact, and these desired repulsive forces are then embodied through the MR haptic master. To verify the effectiveness of the haptic master, the desired force and actual force are compared in the time domain. In addition, a visual feedback system is implemented in the RMIS experiment to distinguish between the tumor and organ more clearly and provide better visibility to the operator. The hue-saturation-value color space is adopted for the image processing since it is often more intuitive than other color spaces. The image processing and haptic feedback are realized on surgery performance. In this work, tumor-cutting experiments are conducted under four different operating conditions: haptic feedback on, haptic feedback off, image processing on, and image processing off. The experimental realization shows that the performance index, which is a function of pixels, is different in the four operating conditions.

Aging and solid shape recognition: Vision and haptics.

PubMed

Norman, J Farley; Cheeseman, Jacob R; Adkins, Olivia C; Cox, Andrea G; Rogers, Connor E; Dowell, Catherine J; Baxter, Michael W; Norman, Hideko F; Reyes, Cecia M

2015-10-01

The ability of 114 younger and older adults to recognize naturally-shaped objects was evaluated in three experiments. The participants viewed or haptically explored six randomly-chosen bell peppers (Capsicum annuum) in a study session and were later required to judge whether each of twelve bell peppers was "old" (previously presented during the study session) or "new" (not presented during the study session). When recognition memory was tested immediately after study, the younger adults' (Experiment 1) performance for vision and haptics was identical when the individual study objects were presented once. Vision became superior to haptics, however, when the individual study objects were presented multiple times. When 10- and 20-min delays (Experiment 2) were inserted in between study and test sessions, no significant differences occurred between vision and haptics: recognition performance in both modalities was comparable. When the recognition performance of older adults was evaluated (Experiment 3), a negative effect of age was found for visual shape recognition (younger adults' overall recognition performance was 60% higher). There was no age effect, however, for haptic shape recognition. The results of the present experiments indicate that the visual recognition of natural object shape is different from haptic recognition in multiple ways: visual shape recognition can be superior to that of haptics and is affected by aging, while haptic shape recognition is less accurate and unaffected by aging. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Haptic Paddle Enhancements and a Formal Assessment of Student Learning in System Dynamics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gorlewicz, Jenna L.; Kratchman, Louis B.; Webster, Robert J., III

2014-01-01

The haptic paddle is a force-feedback joystick used at several universities in teaching System Dynamics, a core mechanical engineering undergraduate course where students learn to model dynamic systems in several domains. A second goal of the haptic paddle is to increase the accessibility of robotics and haptics by providing a low-cost device for…

Review of Designs for Haptic Data Visualization.

PubMed

Paneels, Sabrina; Roberts, Jonathan C

2010-01-01

There are many different uses for haptics, such as training medical practitioners, teleoperation, or navigation of virtual environments. This review focuses on haptic methods that display data. The hypothesis is that haptic devices can be used to present information, and consequently, the user gains quantitative, qualitative, or holistic knowledge about the presented data. Not only is this useful for users who are blind or partially sighted (who can feel line graphs, for instance), but also the haptic modality can be used alongside other modalities, to increase the amount of variables being presented, or to duplicate some variables to reinforce the presentation. Over the last 20 years, a significant amount of research has been done in haptic data presentation; e.g., researchers have developed force feedback line graphs, bar charts, and other forms of haptic representations. However, previous research is published in different conferences and journals, with different application emphases. This paper gathers and collates these various designs to provide a comprehensive review of designs for haptic data visualization. The designs are classified by their representation: Charts, Maps, Signs, Networks, Diagrams, Images, and Tables. This review provides a comprehensive reference for researchers and learners, and highlights areas for further research.

Role of combined tactile and kinesthetic feedback in minimally invasive surgery.

PubMed

Lim, Soo-Chul; Lee, Hyung-Kew; Park, Joonah

2014-10-18

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. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Study on development of active-passive rehabilitation system for upper limbs: Hybrid-PLEMO

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kikuchi, T.; Jin, Y.; Fukushima, K.; Akai, H.; Furusho, J.

2009-02-01

In recent years, many researchers have studied the potential of using robotics technology to assist and quantify the motor functions for neuron-rehabilitation. Some kinds of haptic devices have been developed and evaluated its efficiency with clinical tests, for example, upper limb training for patients with spasticity after stroke. Active-type (motor-driven) haptic devices can realize a lot of varieties of haptics. But they basically require high-cost safety system. On the other hand, passive-type (brake-based) haptic devices have inherent safety. However, the passive robot system has strong limitation on varieties of haptics. There are not sufficient evidences to clarify how the passive/active haptics effect to the rehabilitation of motor skills. In this paper, we developed an active-passive-switchable rehabilitation system with ER clutch/brake device named "Hybrid-PLEMO" in order to address these problems. In this paper, basic structures and haptic control methods of the Hybrid-PLEMO are described.

Manipulation strategies for massive space payloads

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Book, Wayne J.

1991-01-01

The industrial and environmental applications for robots with a relatively large workspace has increased significantly in the last few years. To accommodate the demands, the manipulator is usually designed with long, lightweight links that are inherently flexible. Ongoing research at Georgia Tech into the behavior and design of these flexible links is discussed.

Using haptic feedback to increase seat belt use : traffic tech.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2011-07-01

The legacy of research on increasing seat belt use has : focused on enactment of seat belt legislation, public education, : high-visibility police enforcement, and seat belt : reminder systems. Several behavioral programs have : produced large, susta...

Grounded Learning Experience: Helping Students Learn Physics through Visuo-Haptic Priming and Instruction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Shih-Chieh Douglas

In this dissertation, I investigate the effects of a grounded learning experience on college students' mental models of physics systems. The grounded learning experience consisted of a priming stage and an instruction stage, and within each stage, one of two different types of visuo-haptic representation was applied: visuo-gestural simulation (visual modality and gestures) and visuo-haptic simulation (visual modality, gestures, and somatosensory information). A pilot study involving N = 23 college students examined how using different types of visuo-haptic representation in instruction affected people's mental model construction for physics systems. Participants' abilities to construct mental models were operationalized through their pretest-to-posttest gain scores for a basic physics system and their performance on a transfer task involving an advanced physics system. Findings from this pilot study revealed that, while both simulations significantly improved participants' mental modal construction for physics systems, visuo-haptic simulation was significantly better than visuo-gestural simulation. In addition, clinical interviews suggested that participants' mental model construction for physics systems benefited from receiving visuo-haptic simulation in a tutorial prior to the instruction stage. A dissertation study involving N = 96 college students examined how types of visuo-haptic representation in different applications support participants' mental model construction for physics systems. Participant's abilities to construct mental models were again operationalized through their pretest-to-posttest gain scores for a basic physics system and their performance on a transfer task involving an advanced physics system. Participants' physics misconceptions were also measured before and after the grounded learning experience. Findings from this dissertation study not only revealed that visuo-haptic simulation was significantly more effective in promoting mental model construction and remedying participants' physics misconceptions than visuo-gestural simulation, they also revealed that visuo-haptic simulation was more effective during the priming stage than during the instruction stage. Interestingly, the effects of visuo-haptic simulation in priming and visuo-haptic simulation in instruction on participants' pretest-to-posttest gain scores for a basic physics system appeared additive. These results suggested that visuo-haptic simulation is effective in physics learning, especially when it is used during the priming stage.

Visual-haptic integration with pliers and tongs: signal “weights” take account of changes in haptic sensitivity caused by different tools

PubMed Central

Takahashi, Chie; Watt, Simon J.

2014-01-01

When we hold an object while looking at it, estimates from visual and haptic cues to size are combined in a statistically optimal fashion, whereby the “weight” given to each signal reflects their relative reliabilities. This allows object properties to be estimated more precisely than would otherwise be possible. Tools such as pliers and tongs systematically perturb the mapping between object size and the hand opening. This could complicate visual-haptic integration because it may alter the reliability of the haptic signal, thereby disrupting the determination of appropriate signal weights. To investigate this we first measured the reliability of haptic size estimates made with virtual pliers-like tools (created using a stereoscopic display and force-feedback robots) with different “gains” between hand opening and object size. Haptic reliability in tool use was straightforwardly determined by a combination of sensitivity to changes in hand opening and the effects of tool geometry. The precise pattern of sensitivity to hand opening, which violated Weber's law, meant that haptic reliability changed with tool gain. We then examined whether the visuo-motor system accounts for these reliability changes. We measured the weight given to visual and haptic stimuli when both were available, again with different tool gains, by measuring the perceived size of stimuli in which visual and haptic sizes were varied independently. The weight given to each sensory cue changed with tool gain in a manner that closely resembled the predictions of optimal sensory integration. The results are consistent with the idea that different tool geometries are modeled by the brain, allowing it to calculate not only the distal properties of objects felt with tools, but also the certainty with which those properties are known. These findings highlight the flexibility of human sensory integration and tool-use, and potentially provide an approach for optimizing the design of visual-haptic devices. PMID:24592245

The value of haptic feedback in conventional and robot-assisted minimal invasive surgery and virtual reality training: a current review.

PubMed

van der Meijden, O A J; Schijven, M P

2009-06-01

Virtual reality (VR) as surgical training tool has become a state-of-the-art technique in training and teaching skills for minimally invasive surgery (MIS). Although intuitively appealing, the true benefits of haptic (VR training) platforms are unknown. Many questions about haptic feedback in the different areas of surgical skills (training) need to be answered before adding costly haptic feedback in VR simulation for MIS training. This study was designed to review the current status and value of haptic feedback in conventional and robot-assisted MIS and training by using virtual reality simulation. A systematic review of the literature was undertaken using PubMed and MEDLINE. The following search terms were used: Haptic feedback OR Haptics OR Force feedback AND/OR Minimal Invasive Surgery AND/OR Minimal Access Surgery AND/OR Robotics AND/OR Robotic Surgery AND/OR Endoscopic Surgery AND/OR Virtual Reality AND/OR Simulation OR Surgical Training/Education. The results were assessed according to level of evidence as reflected by the Oxford Centre of Evidence-based Medicine Levels of Evidence. In the current literature, no firm consensus exists on the importance of haptic feedback in performing minimally invasive surgery. Although the majority of the results show positive assessment of the benefits of force feedback, results are ambivalent and not unanimous on the subject. Benefits are least disputed when related to surgery using robotics, because there is no haptic feedback in currently used robotics. The addition of haptics is believed to reduce surgical errors resulting from a lack of it, especially in knot tying. Little research has been performed in the area of robot-assisted endoscopic surgical training, but results seem promising. Concerning VR training, results indicate that haptic feedback is important during the early phase of psychomotor skill acquisition.

BAMS2 Workspace: a comprehensive and versatile neuroinformatic platform for collating and processing neuroanatomical connections

PubMed Central

Bota, Mihail; Talpalaru, Ştefan; Hintiryan, Houri; Dong, Hong-Wei; Swanson, Larry W.

2014-01-01

We present in this paper a novel neuroinformatic platform, the BAMS2 Workspace (http://brancusi1.usc.edu), designed for storing and processing information about gray matter region axonal connections. This de novo constructed module allows registered users to directly collate their data by using a simple and versatile visual interface. It also allows construction and analysis of sets of connections associated with gray matter region nomenclatures from any designated species. The Workspace includes a set of tools allowing the display of data in matrix and networks formats, and the uploading of processed information in visual, PDF, CSV, and Excel formats. Finally, the Workspace can be accessed anonymously by third party systems to create individualized connectivity networks. All features of the BAMS2 Workspace are described in detail, and are demonstrated with connectivity reports collated in BAMS and associated with the rat sensory-motor cortex, medial frontal cortex, and amygdalar regions. PMID:24668342

Different haptic tools reduce trunk velocity in the frontal plane during walking, but haptic anchors have advantages over lightly touching a railing.

PubMed

Hedayat, Isabel; Moraes, Renato; Lanovaz, Joel L; Oates, Alison R

2017-06-01

There are different ways to add haptic input during walking which may affect walking balance. This study compared the use of two different haptic tools (rigid railing and haptic anchors) and investigated whether any effects on walking were the result of the added sensory input and/or the posture generated when using those tools. Data from 28 young healthy adults were collected using the Mobility Lab inertial sensor system (APDM, Oregon, USA). Participants walked with and without both haptic tools and while pretending to use both haptic tools (placebo trials), with eyes opened and eyes closed. Using the tools or pretending to use both tools decreased normalized stride velocity (p < .001-0.008) and peak medial-lateral (ML) trunk velocity (p < .001-0.001). Normalized stride velocity was slower when actually using the railing compared to placebo railing trials (p = .006). Using the anchors resulted in lower peak ML trunk velocity than the railing (p = .002). The anchors had lower peak ML trunk velocity than placebo anchors (p < .001), but there was no difference between railing and placebo railing (p > .999). These findings highlight a difference in the type of tool used to add haptic input and suggest that changes in balance control strategy resulting from using the railing are based on arm placement, where it is the posture combined with added sensory input that affects balance control strategies with the haptic anchors. These findings provide a strong framework for additional research to be conducted on the effects of haptic input on walking in populations known to have decreased walking balance.

Detection thresholds for small haptic effects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dosher, Jesse A.; Hannaford, Blake

2002-02-01

We are interested in finding out whether or not haptic interfaces will be useful in portable and hand held devices. Such systems will have severe constraints on force output. Our first step is to investigate the lower limits at which haptic effects can be perceived. In this paper we report on experiments studying the effects of varying the amplitude, size, shape, and pulse-duration of a haptic feature. Using a specific haptic device we measure the smallest detectable haptics effects, with active exploration of saw-tooth shaped icons sized 3, 4 and 5 mm, a sine-shaped icon 5 mm wide, and static pulses 50, 100, and 150 ms in width. Smooth shaped icons resulted in a detection threshold of approximately 55 mN, almost twice that of saw-tooth shaped icons which had a threshold of 31 mN.

Enhancing audiovisual experience with haptic feedback: a survey on HAV.

PubMed

Danieau, F; Lecuyer, A; Guillotel, P; Fleureau, J; Mollet, N; Christie, M

2013-01-01

Haptic technology has been widely employed in applications ranging from teleoperation and medical simulation to art and design, including entertainment, flight simulation, and virtual reality. Today there is a growing interest among researchers in integrating haptic feedback into audiovisual systems. A new medium emerges from this effort: haptic-audiovisual (HAV) content. This paper presents the techniques, formalisms, and key results pertinent to this medium. We first review the three main stages of the HAV workflow: the production, distribution, and rendering of haptic effects. We then highlight the pressing necessity for evaluation techniques in this context and discuss the key challenges in the field. By building on existing technologies and tackling the specific challenges of the enhancement of audiovisual experience with haptics, we believe the field presents exciting research perspectives whose financial and societal stakes are significant.

Haptic interface of web-based training system for interventional radiology procedures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, Xin; Lu, Yiping; Loe, KiaFock; Nowinski, Wieslaw L.

2004-05-01

The existing web-based medical training systems and surgical simulators can provide affordable and accessible medical training curriculum, but they seldom offer the trainee realistic and affordable haptic feedback. Therefore, they cannot offer the trainee a suitable practicing environment. In this paper, a haptic solution for interventional radiology (IR) procedures is proposed. System architecture of a web-based training system for IR procedures is briefly presented first. Then, the mechanical structure, the working principle and the application of a haptic device are discussed in detail. The haptic device works as an interface between the training environment and the trainees and is placed at the end user side. With the system, the user can be trained on the interventional radiology procedures - navigating catheters, inflating balloons, deploying coils and placing stents on the web and get surgical haptic feedback in real time.

Investigating Students' Ideas About Buoyancy and the Influence of Haptic Feedback

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Minogue, James; Borland, David

2016-04-01

While haptics (simulated touch) represents a potential breakthrough technology for science teaching and learning, there is relatively little research into its differential impact in the context of teaching and learning. This paper describes the testing of a haptically enhanced simulation (HES) for learning about buoyancy. Despite a lifetime of everyday experiences, a scientifically sound explanation of buoyancy remains difficult to construct for many. It requires the integration of domain-specific knowledge regarding density, fluid, force, gravity, mass, weight, and buoyancy. Prior studies suggest that novices often focus on only one dimension of the sinking and floating phenomenon. Our HES was designed to promote the integration of the subconcepts of density and buoyant forces and stresses the relationship between the object itself and the surrounding fluid. The study employed a randomized pretest-posttest control group research design and a suite of measures including an open-ended prompt and objective content questions to provide insights into the influence of haptic feedback on undergraduate students' thinking about buoyancy. A convenience sample (n = 40) was drawn from a university's population of undergraduate elementary education majors. Two groups were formed from haptic feedback (n = 22) and no haptic feedback (n = 18). Through content analysis, discernible differences were seen in the posttest explanations sinking and floating across treatment groups. Learners that experienced the haptic feedback made more frequent use of "haptically grounded" terms (e.g., mass, gravity, buoyant force, pushing), leading us to begin to build a local theory of language-mediated haptic cognition.

Development of visuo-haptic transfer for object recognition in typical preschool and school-aged children.

PubMed

Purpura, Giulia; Cioni, Giovanni; Tinelli, Francesca

2018-07-01

Object recognition is a long and complex adaptive process and its full maturation requires combination of many different sensory experiences as well as cognitive abilities to manipulate previous experiences in order to develop new percepts and subsequently to learn from the environment. It is well recognized that the transfer of visual and haptic information facilitates object recognition in adults, but less is known about development of this ability. In this study, we explored the developmental course of object recognition capacity in children using unimodal visual information, unimodal haptic information, and visuo-haptic information transfer in children from 4 years to 10 years and 11 months of age. Participants were tested through a clinical protocol, involving visual exploration of black-and-white photographs of common objects, haptic exploration of real objects, and visuo-haptic transfer of these two types of information. Results show an age-dependent development of object recognition abilities for visual, haptic, and visuo-haptic modalities. A significant effect of time on development of unimodal and crossmodal recognition skills was found. Moreover, our data suggest that multisensory processes for common object recognition are active at 4 years of age. They facilitate recognition of common objects, and, although not fully mature, are significant in adaptive behavior from the first years of age. The study of typical development of visuo-haptic processes in childhood is a starting point for future studies regarding object recognition in impaired populations.

Visual and Haptic Shape Processing in the Human Brain: Unisensory Processing, Multisensory Convergence, and Top-Down Influences.

PubMed

Lee Masson, Haemy; Bulthé, Jessica; Op de Beeck, Hans P; Wallraven, Christian

2016-08-01

Humans are highly adept at multisensory processing of object shape in both vision and touch. Previous studies have mostly focused on where visually perceived object-shape information can be decoded, with haptic shape processing receiving less attention. Here, we investigate visuo-haptic shape processing in the human brain using multivoxel correlation analyses. Importantly, we use tangible, parametrically defined novel objects as stimuli. Two groups of participants first performed either a visual or haptic similarity-judgment task. The resulting perceptual object-shape spaces were highly similar and matched the physical parameter space. In a subsequent fMRI experiment, objects were first compared within the learned modality and then in the other modality in a one-back task. When correlating neural similarity spaces with perceptual spaces, visually perceived shape was decoded well in the occipital lobe along with the ventral pathway, whereas haptically perceived shape information was mainly found in the parietal lobe, including frontal cortex. Interestingly, ventrolateral occipito-temporal cortex decoded shape in both modalities, highlighting this as an area capable of detailed visuo-haptic shape processing. Finally, we found haptic shape representations in early visual cortex (in the absence of visual input), when participants switched from visual to haptic exploration, suggesting top-down involvement of visual imagery on haptic shape processing. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Redundantly piezo-actuated XYθ z compliant mechanism for nano-positioning featuring simple kinematics, bi-directional motion and enlarged workspace

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Wu-Le; Zhu, Zhiwei; To, Suet; Liu, Qiang; Ju, Bing-Feng; Zhou, Xiaoqin

2016-12-01

This paper presents a novel redundantly piezo-actuated three-degree-of-freedom XYθ z compliant mechanism for nano-positioning, driven by four mirror-symmetrically configured piezoelectric actuators (PEAs). By means of differential motion principle, linearized kinematics and physically bi-directional motions in all the three directions are achieved. Meanwhile, the decoupled delivering of three-directional independent motions at the output end is accessible, and the essential parallel and mirror symmetric configuration guarantees large output stiffness, high natural frequencies, high accuracy as well as high structural compactness of the mechanism. Accurate kinematics analysis with consideration of input coupling indicates that the proposed redundantly actuated compliant mechanism can generate three-dimensional (3D) symmetric polyhedral workspace envelope with enlarged reachable workspace, as compared with the most common parallel XYθ z mechanism driven by three PEAs. Keeping a high consistence with both analytical and numerical models, the experimental results show the working ranges of ±6.21 μm and ±12.41 μm in X- and Y-directions, and that of ±873.2 μrad in θ z-direction with nano-positioning capability can be realized. The superior performances and easily achievable structure well facilitate practical applications of the proposed XYθ z compliant mechanism in nano-positioning systems.

Design of a biologically inspired lower limb exoskeleton for human gait rehabilitation.

PubMed

Lyu, Mingxing; Chen, Weihai; Ding, Xilun; Wang, Jianhua; Bai, Shaoping; Ren, Huichao

2016-10-01

This paper proposes a novel bionic model of the human leg according to the theory of physiology. Based on this model, we present a biologically inspired 3-degree of freedom (DOF) lower limb exoskeleton for human gait rehabilitation, showing that the lower limb exoskeleton is fully compatible with the human knee joint. The exoskeleton has a hybrid serial-parallel kinematic structure consisting of a 1-DOF hip joint module and a 2-DOF knee joint module in the sagittal plane. A planar 2-DOF parallel mechanism is introduced in the design to fully accommodate the motion of the human knee joint, which features not only rotation but also relative sliding. Therefore, the design is consistent with the requirements of bionics. The forward and inverse kinematic analysis is studied and the workspace of the exoskeleton is analyzed. The structural parameters are optimized to obtain a larger workspace. The results using MATLAB-ADAMS co-simulation are shown in this paper to demonstrate the feasibility of our design. A prototype of the exoskeleton is also developed and an experiment performed to verify the kinematic analysis. Compared with existing lower limb exoskeletons, the designed mechanism has a large workspace, while allowing knee joint rotation and small amount of sliding.

Design of a biologically inspired lower limb exoskeleton for human gait rehabilitation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lyu, Mingxing; Chen, Weihai; Ding, Xilun; Wang, Jianhua; Bai, Shaoping; Ren, Huichao

2016-10-01

This paper proposes a novel bionic model of the human leg according to the theory of physiology. Based on this model, we present a biologically inspired 3-degree of freedom (DOF) lower limb exoskeleton for human gait rehabilitation, showing that the lower limb exoskeleton is fully compatible with the human knee joint. The exoskeleton has a hybrid serial-parallel kinematic structure consisting of a 1-DOF hip joint module and a 2-DOF knee joint module in the sagittal plane. A planar 2-DOF parallel mechanism is introduced in the design to fully accommodate the motion of the human knee joint, which features not only rotation but also relative sliding. Therefore, the design is consistent with the requirements of bionics. The forward and inverse kinematic analysis is studied and the workspace of the exoskeleton is analyzed. The structural parameters are optimized to obtain a larger workspace. The results using MATLAB-ADAMS co-simulation are shown in this paper to demonstrate the feasibility of our design. A prototype of the exoskeleton is also developed and an experiment performed to verify the kinematic analysis. Compared with existing lower limb exoskeletons, the designed mechanism has a large workspace, while allowing knee joint rotation and small amount of sliding.

Haptic Exploration in Humans and Machines: Attribute Integration and Machine Recognition/Implementation.

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-04-30

side it necessary and Identify’ by’ block n~nmbot) haptic hand, touch , vision, robot, object recognition, categorization 20. AGSTRPACT (Continue an...established that the haptic system has remarkable capabilities for object recognition. We define haptics as purposive touch . The basic tactual system...gathered ratings of the importance of dimensions for categorizing common objects by touch . Texture and hardness ratings strongly co-vary, which is

Shifty: A Weight-Shifting Dynamic Passive Haptic Proxy to Enhance Object Perception in Virtual Reality.

PubMed

Zenner, Andre; Kruger, Antonio

2017-04-01

We define the concept of Dynamic Passive Haptic Feedback (DPHF) for virtual reality by introducing the weight-shifting physical DPHF proxy object Shifty. This concept combines actuators known from active haptics and physical proxies known from passive haptics to construct proxies that automatically adapt their passive haptic feedback. We describe the concept behind our ungrounded weight-shifting DPHF proxy Shifty and the implementation of our prototype. We then investigate how Shifty can, by automatically changing its internal weight distribution, enhance the user's perception of virtual objects interacted with in two experiments. In a first experiment, we show that Shifty can enhance the perception of virtual objects changing in shape, especially in length and thickness. Here, Shifty was shown to increase the user's fun and perceived realism significantly, compared to an equivalent passive haptic proxy. In a second experiment, Shifty is used to pick up virtual objects of different virtual weights. The results show that Shifty enhances the perception of weight and thus the perceived realism by adapting its kinesthetic feedback to the picked-up virtual object. In the same experiment, we additionally show that specific combinations of haptic, visual and auditory feedback during the pick-up interaction help to compensate for visual-haptic mismatch perceived during the shifting process.

Virtual wall-based haptic-guided teleoperated surgical robotic system for single-port brain tumor removal surgery.

PubMed

Seung, Sungmin; Choi, Hongseok; Jang, Jongseong; Kim, Young Soo; Park, Jong-Oh; Park, Sukho; Ko, Seong Young

2017-01-01

This article presents a haptic-guided teleoperation for a tumor removal surgical robotic system, so-called a SIROMAN system. The system was developed in our previous work to make it possible to access tumor tissue, even those that seat deeply inside the brain, and to remove the tissue with full maneuverability. For a safe and accurate operation to remove only tumor tissue completely while minimizing damage to the normal tissue, a virtual wall-based haptic guidance together with a medical image-guided control is proposed and developed. The virtual wall is extracted from preoperative medical images, and the robot is controlled to restrict its motion within the virtual wall using haptic feedback. Coordinate transformation between sub-systems, a collision detection algorithm, and a haptic-guided teleoperation using a virtual wall are described in the context of using SIROMAN. A series of experiments using a simplified virtual wall are performed to evaluate the performance of virtual wall-based haptic-guided teleoperation. With haptic guidance, the accuracy of the robotic manipulator's trajectory is improved by 57% compared to one without. The tissue removal performance is also improved by 21% ( p < 0.05). The experiments show that virtual wall-based haptic guidance provides safer and more accurate tissue removal for single-port brain surgery.

Haptograph Representation of Real-World Haptic Information by Wideband Force Control

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Katsura, Seiichiro; Irie, Kouhei; Ohishi, Kiyoshi

Artificial acquisition and reproduction of human sensations are basic technologies of communication engineering. For example, auditory information is obtained by a microphone, and a speaker reproduces it by artificial means. Furthermore, a video camera and a television make it possible to transmit visual sensation by broadcasting. On the contrary, since tactile or haptic information is subject to the Newton's “law of action and reaction” in the real world, a device which acquires, transmits, and reproduces the information has not been established. From the point of view, real-world haptics is the key technology for future haptic communication engineering. This paper proposes a novel acquisition method of haptic information named “haptograph”. The haptograph visualizes the haptic information like photograph. The proposed haptograph is applied to haptic recognition of the contact environment. A linear motor contacts to the surface of the environment and its reaction force is used to make a haptograph. A robust contact motion and sensor-less sensing of the reaction force are attained by using a disturbance observer. As a result, an encyclopedia of contact environment is attained. Since temporal and spatial analyses are conducted to represent haptic information as the haptograph, it is possible to be recognized and to be evaluated intuitively.

Visuo-Haptic Mixed Reality with Unobstructed Tool-Hand Integration.

PubMed

Cosco, Francesco; Garre, Carlos; Bruno, Fabio; Muzzupappa, Maurizio; Otaduy, Miguel A

2013-01-01

Visuo-haptic mixed reality consists of adding to a real scene the ability to see and touch virtual objects. It requires the use of see-through display technology for visually mixing real and virtual objects, and haptic devices for adding haptic interaction with the virtual objects. Unfortunately, the use of commodity haptic devices poses obstruction and misalignment issues that complicate the correct integration of a virtual tool and the user's real hand in the mixed reality scene. In this work, we propose a novel mixed reality paradigm where it is possible to touch and see virtual objects in combination with a real scene, using commodity haptic devices, and with a visually consistent integration of the user's hand and the virtual tool. We discuss the visual obstruction and misalignment issues introduced by commodity haptic devices, and then propose a solution that relies on four simple technical steps: color-based segmentation of the hand, tracking-based segmentation of the haptic device, background repainting using image-based models, and misalignment-free compositing of the user's hand. We have developed a successful proof-of-concept implementation, where a user can touch virtual objects and interact with them in the context of a real scene, and we have evaluated the impact on user performance of obstruction and misalignment correction.

Visual and haptic integration in the estimation of softness of deformable objects

PubMed Central

Cellini, Cristiano; Kaim, Lukas; Drewing, Knut

2013-01-01

Softness perception intrinsically relies on haptic information. However, through everyday experiences we learn correspondences between felt softness and the visual effects of exploratory movements that are executed to feel softness. Here, we studied how visual and haptic information is integrated to assess the softness of deformable objects. Participants discriminated between the softness of two softer or two harder objects using only-visual, only-haptic or both visual and haptic information. We assessed the reliabilities of the softness judgments using the method of constant stimuli. In visuo-haptic trials, discrepancies between the two senses' information allowed us to measure the contribution of the individual senses to the judgments. Visual information (finger movement and object deformation) was simulated using computer graphics; input in visual trials was taken from previous visuo-haptic trials. Participants were able to infer softness from vision alone, and vision considerably contributed to bisensory judgments (∼35%). The visual contribution was higher than predicted from models of optimal integration (senses are weighted according to their reliabilities). Bisensory judgments were less reliable than predicted from optimal integration. We conclude that the visuo-haptic integration of softness information is biased toward vision, rather than being optimal, and might even be guided by a fixed weighting scheme. PMID:25165510

Development of a StandAlone Surgical Haptic Arm.

PubMed

Jones, Daniel; Lewis, Andrew; Fischer, Gregory S

2011-01-01

When performing telesurgery with current commercially available Minimally Invasive Robotic Surgery (MIRS) systems, a surgeon cannot feel the tool interactions that are inherent in traditional laparoscopy. It is proposed that haptic feedback in the control of MIRS systems could improve the speed, safety and learning curve of robotic surgery. To test this hypothesis, a standalone surgical haptic arm (SASHA) capable of manipulating da Vinci tools has been designed and fabricated with the additional ability of providing information for haptic feedback. This arm was developed as a research platform for developing and evaluating approaches to telesurgery, including various haptic mappings between master and slave and evaluating the effects of latency.

Comparative study on collaborative interaction in non-immersive and immersive systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shahab, Qonita M.; Kwon, Yong-Moo; Ko, Heedong; Mayangsari, Maria N.; Yamasaki, Shoko; Nishino, Hiroaki

2007-09-01

This research studies the Virtual Reality simulation for collaborative interaction so that different people from different places can interact with one object concurrently. Our focus is the real-time handling of inputs from multiple users, where object's behavior is determined by the combination of the multiple inputs. Issues addressed in this research are: 1) The effects of using haptics on a collaborative interaction, 2) The possibilities of collaboration between users from different environments. We conducted user tests on our system in several cases: 1) Comparison between non-haptics and haptics collaborative interaction over LAN, 2) Comparison between non-haptics and haptics collaborative interaction over Internet, and 3) Analysis of collaborative interaction between non-immersive and immersive display environments. The case studies are the interaction of users in two cases: collaborative authoring of a 3D model by two users, and collaborative haptic interaction by multiple users. In Virtual Dollhouse, users can observe physics law while constructing a dollhouse using existing building blocks, under gravity effects. In Virtual Stretcher, multiple users can collaborate on moving a stretcher together while feeling each other's haptic motions.

Palpation simulator with stable haptic feedback.

PubMed

Kim, Sang-Youn; Ryu, Jee-Hwan; Lee, WooJeong

2015-01-01

The main difficulty in constructing palpation simulators is to compute and to generate stable and realistic haptic feedback without vibration. When a user haptically interacts with highly non-homogeneous soft tissues through a palpation simulator, a sudden change of stiffness in target tissues causes unstable interaction with the object. We propose a model consisting of a virtual adjustable damper and an energy measuring element. The energy measuring element gauges energy which is stored in a palpation simulator and the virtual adjustable damper dissipates the energy to achieve stable haptic interaction. To investigate the haptic behavior of the proposed method, impulse and continuous inputs are provided to target tissues. If a haptic interface point meets with the hardest portion in the target tissues modeled with a conventional method, we observe unstable motion and feedback force. However, when the target tissues are modeled with the proposed method, a palpation simulator provides stable interaction without vibration. The proposed method overcomes a problem in conventional haptic palpation simulators where unstable force or vibration can be generated if there is a big discrepancy in material property between an element and its neighboring elements in target tissues.

Functional specialization and convergence in the occipito-temporal cortex supporting haptic and visual identification of human faces and body parts: an fMRI study.

PubMed

Kitada, Ryo; Johnsrude, Ingrid S; Kochiyama, Takanori; Lederman, Susan J

2009-10-01

Humans can recognize common objects by touch extremely well whenever vision is unavailable. Despite its importance to a thorough understanding of human object recognition, the neuroscientific study of this topic has been relatively neglected. To date, the few published studies have addressed the haptic recognition of nonbiological objects. We now focus on haptic recognition of the human body, a particularly salient object category for touch. Neuroimaging studies demonstrate that regions of the occipito-temporal cortex are specialized for visual perception of faces (fusiform face area, FFA) and other body parts (extrastriate body area, EBA). Are the same category-sensitive regions activated when these components of the body are recognized haptically? Here, we use fMRI to compare brain organization for haptic and visual recognition of human body parts. Sixteen subjects identified exemplars of faces, hands, feet, and nonbiological control objects using vision and haptics separately. We identified two discrete regions within the fusiform gyrus (FFA and the haptic face region) that were each sensitive to both haptically and visually presented faces; however, these two regions differed significantly in their response patterns. Similarly, two regions within the lateral occipito-temporal area (EBA and the haptic body region) were each sensitive to body parts in both modalities, although the response patterns differed. Thus, although the fusiform gyrus and the lateral occipito-temporal cortex appear to exhibit modality-independent, category-sensitive activity, our results also indicate a degree of functional specialization related to sensory modality within these structures.

Solid shape discrimination from vision and haptics: natural objects (Capsicum annuum) and Gibson's "feelies".

PubMed

Norman, J Farley; Phillips, Flip; Holmin, Jessica S; Norman, Hideko F; Beers, Amanda M; Boswell, Alexandria M; Cheeseman, Jacob R; Stethen, Angela G; Ronning, Cecilia

2012-10-01

A set of three experiments evaluated 96 participants' ability to visually and haptically discriminate solid object shape. In the past, some researchers have found haptic shape discrimination to be substantially inferior to visual shape discrimination, while other researchers have found haptics and vision to be essentially equivalent. A primary goal of the present study was to understand these discrepant past findings and to determine the true capabilities of the haptic system. All experiments used the same task (same vs. different shape discrimination) and stimulus objects (James Gibson's "feelies" and a set of naturally shaped objects--bell peppers). However, the methodology varied across experiments. Experiment 1 used random 3-dimensional (3-D) orientations of the stimulus objects, and the conditions were full-cue (active manipulation of objects and rotation of the visual objects in depth). Experiment 2 restricted the 3-D orientations of the stimulus objects and limited the haptic and visual information available to the participants. Experiment 3 compared restricted and full-cue conditions using random 3-D orientations. We replicated both previous findings in the current study. When we restricted visual and haptic information (and placed the stimulus objects in the same orientation on every trial), the participants' visual performance was superior to that obtained for haptics (replicating the earlier findings of Davidson et al. in Percept Psychophys 15(3):539-543, 1974). When the circumstances resembled those of ordinary life (e.g., participants able to actively manipulate objects and see them from a variety of perspectives), we found no significant difference between visual and haptic solid shape discrimination.

A study on haptic collaborative game in shared virtual environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, Keke; Liu, Guanyang; Liu, Lingzhi

2013-03-01

A study on collaborative game in shared virtual environment with haptic feedback over computer networks is introduced in this paper. A collaborative task was used where the players located at remote sites and played the game together. The player can feel visual and haptic feedback in virtual environment compared to traditional networked multiplayer games. The experiment was desired in two conditions: visual feedback only and visual-haptic feedback. The goal of the experiment is to assess the impact of force feedback on collaborative task performance. Results indicate that haptic feedback is beneficial for performance enhancement for collaborative game in shared virtual environment. The outcomes of this research can have a powerful impact on the networked computer games.

Study on Collaborative Object Manipulation in Virtual Environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mayangsari, Maria Niken; Yong-Moo, Kwon

This paper presents comparative study on network collaboration performance in different immersion. Especially, the relationship between user collaboration performance and degree of immersion provided by the system is addressed and compared based on several experiments. The user tests on our system include several cases: 1) Comparison between non-haptics and haptics collaborative interaction over LAN, 2) Comparison between non-haptics and haptics collaborative interaction over Internet, and 3) Analysis of collaborative interaction between non-immersive and immersive display environments.

A “virtually minimal” visuo-haptic training of attention in severe traumatic brain injury

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Although common during the early stages of recovery from severe traumatic brain injury (TBI), attention deficits have been scarcely investigated. Encouraging evidence suggests beneficial effects of attention training in more chronic and higher functioning patients. Interactive technology may provide new opportunities for rehabilitation in inpatients who are earlier in their recovery. Methods We designed a “virtually minimal” approach using robot-rendered haptics in a virtual environment to train severely injured inpatients in the early stages of recovery to sustain attention to a visuo-motor task. 21 inpatients with severe TBI completed repetitive reaching toward targets that were both seen and felt. Patients were tested over two consecutive days, experiencing 3 conditions (no haptic feedback, a break-through force, and haptic nudge) in 12 successive, 4-minute blocks. Results The interactive visuo-haptic environments were well-tolerated and engaging. Patients typically remained attentive to the task. However, patients exhibited attention loss both before (prolonged initiation) and during (pauses during motion) a movement. Compared to no haptic feedback, patients benefited from haptic nudge cues but not break-through forces. As training progressed, patients increased the number of targets acquired and spontaneously improved from one day to the next. Conclusions Interactive visuo-haptic environments could be beneficial for attention training for severe TBI patients in the early stages of recovery and warrants further and more prolonged clinical testing. PMID:23938101

A "virtually minimal" visuo-haptic training of attention in severe traumatic brain injury.

PubMed

Dvorkin, Assaf Y; Ramaiya, Milan; Larson, Eric B; Zollman, Felise S; Hsu, Nancy; Pacini, Sonia; Shah, Amit; Patton, James L

2013-08-09

Although common during the early stages of recovery from severe traumatic brain injury (TBI), attention deficits have been scarcely investigated. Encouraging evidence suggests beneficial effects of attention training in more chronic and higher functioning patients. Interactive technology may provide new opportunities for rehabilitation in inpatients who are earlier in their recovery. We designed a "virtually minimal" approach using robot-rendered haptics in a virtual environment to train severely injured inpatients in the early stages of recovery to sustain attention to a visuo-motor task. 21 inpatients with severe TBI completed repetitive reaching toward targets that were both seen and felt. Patients were tested over two consecutive days, experiencing 3 conditions (no haptic feedback, a break-through force, and haptic nudge) in 12 successive, 4-minute blocks. The interactive visuo-haptic environments were well-tolerated and engaging. Patients typically remained attentive to the task. However, patients exhibited attention loss both before (prolonged initiation) and during (pauses during motion) a movement. Compared to no haptic feedback, patients benefited from haptic nudge cues but not break-through forces. As training progressed, patients increased the number of targets acquired and spontaneously improved from one day to the next. Interactive visuo-haptic environments could be beneficial for attention training for severe TBI patients in the early stages of recovery and warrants further and more prolonged clinical testing.

Development of Velocity Guidance Assistance System by Haptic Accelerator Pedal Reaction Force Control

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yin, Feilong; Hayashi, Ryuzo; Raksincharoensak, Pongsathorn; Nagai, Masao

This research proposes a haptic velocity guidance assistance system for realizing eco-driving as well as enhancing traffic capacity by cooperating with ITS (Intelligent Transportation Systems). The proposed guidance system generates the desired accelerator pedal (abbreviated as pedal) stroke with respect to the desired velocity obtained from ITS considering vehicle dynamics, and provides the desired pedal stroke to the driver via a haptic pedal whose reaction force is controllable and guides the driver in order to trace the desired velocity in real time. The main purpose of this paper is to discuss the feasibility of the haptic velocity guidance. A haptic velocity guidance system for research is developed on the Driving Simulator of TUAT (DS), by attaching a low-inertia, low-friction motor to the pedal, which does not change the original characteristics of the original pedal when it is not operated, implementing an algorithm regarding the desired pedal stroke calculation and the reaction force controller. The haptic guidance maneuver is designed based on human pedal stepping experiments. A simple velocity profile with acceleration, deceleration and cruising is synthesized according to naturalistic driving for testing the proposed system. The experiment result of 9 drivers shows that the haptic guidance provides high accuracy and quick response in velocity tracking. These results prove that the haptic guidance is a promising velocity guidance method from the viewpoint of HMI (Human Machine Interface).

Haptic perception accuracy depending on self-produced movement.

PubMed

Park, Chulwook; Kim, Seonjin

2014-01-01

This study measured whether self-produced movement influences haptic perception ability (experiment 1) as well as the factors associated with levels of influence (experiment 2) in racket sports. For experiment 1, the haptic perception accuracy levels of five male table tennis experts and five male novices were examined under two different conditions (no movement vs. movement). For experiment 2, the haptic afferent subsystems of five male table tennis experts and five male novices were investigated in only the self-produced movement-coupled condition. Inferential statistics (ANOVA, t-test) and custom-made devices (shock & vibration sensor, Qualisys Track Manager) of the data were used to determine the haptic perception accuracy (experiment 1, experiment 2) and its association with expertise. The results of this research show that expert-level players acquire higher accuracy with less variability (racket vibration and angle) than novice-level players, especially in their self-produced movement coupled performances. The important finding from this result is that, in terms of accuracy, the skill-associated differences were enlarged during self-produced movement. To explain the origin of this difference between experts and novices, the functional variability of haptic afferent subsystems can serve as a reference. These two factors (self-produced accuracy and the variability of haptic features) as investigated in this study would be useful criteria for educators in racket sports and suggest a broader hypothesis for further research into the effects of the haptic accuracy related to variability.

Mechatronic design of haptic forceps for robotic surgery.

PubMed

Rizun, P; Gunn, D; Cox, B; Sutherland, G

2006-12-01

Haptic feedback increases operator performance and comfort during telerobotic manipulation. Feedback of grasping pressure is critical in many microsurgical tasks, yet no haptic interface for surgical tools is commercially available. Literature on the psychophysics of touch was reviewed to define the spectrum of human touch perception and the fidelity requirements of an ideal haptic interface. Mechanical design and control literature was reviewed to translate the psychophysical requirements to engineering specification. High-fidelity haptic forceps were then developed through an iterative process between engineering and surgery. The forceps are a modular device that integrate with a haptic hand controller to add force feedback for tool actuation in telerobotic or virtual surgery. Their overall length is 153 mm and their mass is 125 g. A contact-free voice coil actuator generates force feedback at frequencies up to 800 Hz. Maximum force output is 6 N (2N continuous) and the force resolution is 4 mN. The forceps employ a contact-free magnetic position sensor as well as micro-machined accelerometers to measure opening/closing acceleration. Position resolution is 0.6 microm with 1.3 microm RMS noise. The forceps can simulate stiffness greater than 20N/mm or impedances smaller than 15 g with no noticeable haptic artifacts or friction. As telerobotic surgery evolves, haptics will play an increasingly important role. Copyright 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Effects of kinesthetic haptic feedback on standing stability of young healthy subjects and stroke patients.

PubMed

Afzal, Muhammad Raheel; Byun, Ha-Young; Oh, Min-Kyun; Yoon, Jungwon

2015-03-13

Haptic control is a useful therapeutic option in rehabilitation featuring virtual reality interaction. As with visual and vibrotactile biofeedback, kinesthetic haptic feedback may assist in postural control, and can achieve balance control. Kinesthetic haptic feedback in terms of body sway can be delivered via a commercially available haptic device and can enhance the balance stability of both young healthy subjects and stroke patients. Our system features a waist-attached smartphone, software running on a computer (PC), and a dedicated Phantom Omni® device. Young healthy participants performed balance tasks after assumption of each of four distinct postures for 30 s (one foot on the ground; the Tandem Romberg stance; one foot on foam; and the Tandem Romberg stance on foam) with eyes closed. Patient eyes were not closed and assumption of the Romberg stance (only) was tested during a balance task 25 s in duration. An Android application running continuously on the smartphone sent mediolateral (ML) and anteroposterior (AP) tilt angles to a PC, which generated kinesthetic haptic feedback via Phantom Omni®. A total of 16 subjects, 8 of whom were young healthy and 8 of whom had suffered stroke, participated in the study. Post-experiment data analysis was performed using MATLAB®. Mean Velocity Displacement (MVD), Planar Deviation (PD), Mediolateral Trajectory (MLT) and Anteroposterior Trajectory (APT) parameters were analyzed to measure reduction in body sway. Our kinesthetic haptic feedback system was effective to reduce postural sway in young healthy subjects regardless of posture and the condition of the substrate (the ground) and to improve MVD and PD in stroke patients who assumed the Romberg stance. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) revealed that kinesthetic haptic feedback significantly reduced body sway in both categories of subjects. Kinesthetic haptic feedback can be implemented using a commercial haptic device and a smartphone. Intuitive balance cues were created using the handle of a haptic device, rendering the approach very simple yet efficient in practice. This novel form of biofeedback will be a useful rehabilitation tool improving the balance of stroke patients.

Workspace Program for Complex-Number Arithmetic

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Patrick, M. C.; Howell, Leonard W., Jr.

1986-01-01

COMPLEX is workspace program designed to empower APL with complexnumber capabilities. Complex-variable methods provide analytical tools invaluable for applications in mathematics, science, and engineering. COMPLEX written in APL.

What you can't feel won't hurt you: Evaluating haptic hardware using a haptic contrast sensitivity function.

PubMed

Salisbury, C M; Gillespie, R B; Tan, H Z; Barbagli, F; Salisbury, J K

2011-01-01

In this paper, we extend the concept of the contrast sensitivity function - used to evaluate video projectors - to the evaluation of haptic devices. We propose using human observers to determine if vibrations rendered using a given haptic device are accompanied by artifacts detectable to humans. This determination produces a performance measure that carries particular relevance to applications involving texture rendering. For cases in which a device produces detectable artifacts, we have developed a protocol that localizes deficiencies in device design and/or hardware implementation. In this paper, we present results from human vibration detection experiments carried out using three commercial haptic devices and one high performance voice coil motor. We found that all three commercial devices produced perceptible artifacts when rendering vibrations near human detection thresholds. Our protocol allowed us to pinpoint the deficiencies, however, and we were able to show that minor modifications to the haptic hardware were sufficient to make these devices well suited for rendering vibrations, and by extension, the vibratory components of textures. We generalize our findings to provide quantitative design guidelines that ensure the ability of haptic devices to proficiently render the vibratory components of textures.

Haptic Feedback in Robot-Assisted Minimally Invasive Surgery

PubMed Central

Okamura, Allison M.

2009-01-01

Purpose of Review Robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery (RMIS) holds great promise for improving the accuracy and dexterity of a surgeon while minimizing trauma to the patient. However, widespread clinical success with RMIS has been marginal. It is hypothesized that the lack of haptic (force and tactile) feedback presented to the surgeon is a limiting factor. This review explains the technical challenges of creating haptic feedback for robot-assisted surgery and provides recent results that evaluate the effectiveness of haptic feedback in mock surgical tasks. Recent Findings Haptic feedback systems for RMIS are still under development and evaluation. Most provide only force feedback, with limited fidelity. The major challenge at this time is sensing forces applied to the patient. A few tactile feedback systems for RMIS have been created, but their practicality for clinical implementation needs to be shown. It is particularly difficult to sense and display spatially distributed tactile information. The cost-benefit ratio for haptic feedback in RMIS has not been established. Summary The designs of existing commercial RMIS systems are not conducive for force feedback, and creative solutions are needed to create compelling tactile feedback systems. Surgeons, engineers, and neuroscientists should work together to develop effective solutions for haptic feedback in RMIS. PMID:19057225

Learning, retention, and generalization of haptic categories

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Do, Phuong T.

This dissertation explored how haptic concepts are learned, retained, and generalized to the same or different modality. Participants learned to classify objects into three categories either visually or haptically via different training procedures, followed by an immediate or delayed transfer test. Experiment I involved visual versus haptic learning and transfer. Intermodal matching between vision and haptics was investigated in Experiment II. Experiments III and IV examined intersensory conflict in within- and between-category bimodal situations to determine the degree of perceptual dominance between sight and touch. Experiment V explored the intramodal relationship between similarity and categorization in a psychological space, as revealed by MDS analysis of similarity judgments. Major findings were: (1) visual examination resulted in relatively higher performance accuracy than haptic learning; (2) systematic training produced better category learning of haptic concepts across all modality conditions; (3) the category prototypes were rated newer than any transfer stimulus followed learning both immediately and after a week delay; and, (4) although they converged at the apex of two transformational trajectories, the category prototypes became more central to their respective categories and increasingly structured as a function of learning. Implications for theories of multimodal similarity and categorization behavior are discussed in terms of discrimination learning, sensory integration, and dominance relation.

A Multi-Finger Interface with MR Actuators for Haptic Applications.

PubMed

Qin, Huanhuan; Song, Aiguo; Gao, Zhan; Liu, Yuqing; Jiang, Guohua

2018-01-01

Haptic devices with multi-finger input are highly desirable in providing realistic and natural feelings when interacting with the remote or virtual environment. Compared with the conventional actuators, MR (Magneto-rheological) actuators are preferable options in haptics because of larger passive torque and torque-volume ratios. Among the existing haptic MR actuators, most of them are still bulky and heavy. If they were smaller and lighter, they would become more suitable for haptics. In this paper, a small-scale yet powerful MR actuator was designed to build a multi-finger interface for the 6 DOF haptic device. The compact structure was achieved by adopting the multi-disc configuration. Based on this configuration, the MR actuator can generate the maximum torque of 480 N.mm with dimensions of only 36 mm diameter and 18 mm height. Performance evaluation showed that it can exhibit a relatively high dynamic range and good response characteristics when compared with some other haptic MR actuators. The multi-finger interface is equipped with three MR actuators and can provide up to 8 N passive force to the thumb, index and middle fingers, respectively. An application example was used to demonstrate the effectiveness and potential of this new MR actuator based interface.

Haptic augmented skin surface generation toward telepalpation from a mobile skin image.

PubMed

Kim, K

2018-05-01

Very little is known about the methods of integrating palpation techniques to existing mobile teleskin imaging that delivers low quality tactile information (roughness) for telepalpation. However, no study has been reported yet regarding telehaptic palpation using mobile phone images for teledermatology or teleconsultations of skincare. This study is therefore aimed at introducing a new algorithm accurately reconstructing a haptic augmented skin surface for telehaptic palpation using a low-cost clip-on microscope simply attached to a mobile phone. Multiple algorithms such as gradient-based image enhancement, roughness-adaptive tactile mask generation, roughness-enhanced 3D tactile map building, and visual and haptic rendering with a three-degrees-of-freedom (DOF) haptic device were developed and integrated as one system. Evaluation experiments have been conducted to test the performance of 3D roughness reconstruction with/without the tactile mask. The results confirm that reconstructed haptic roughness with the tactile mask is superior to the reconstructed haptic roughness without the tactile mask. Additional experiments demonstrate that the proposed algorithm is robust against varying lighting conditions and blurring. In last, a user study has been designed to see the effect of the haptic modality to the existing visual only interface and the results attest that the haptic skin palpation can significantly improve the skin exam performance. Mobile image-based telehaptic palpation technology was proposed, and an initial version was developed. The developed technology was tested with several skin images and the experimental results showed the superiority of the proposed scheme in terms of the performance of haptic augmentation of real skin images. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

The contributions of vision and haptics to reaching and grasping

PubMed Central

Stone, Kayla D.; Gonzalez, Claudia L. R.

2015-01-01

This review aims to provide a comprehensive outlook on the sensory (visual and haptic) contributions to reaching and grasping. The focus is on studies in developing children, normal, and neuropsychological populations, and in sensory-deprived individuals. Studies have suggested a right-hand/left-hemisphere specialization for visually guided grasping and a left-hand/right-hemisphere specialization for haptically guided object recognition. This poses the interesting possibility that when vision is not available and grasping relies heavily on the haptic system, there is an advantage to use the left hand. We review the evidence for this possibility and dissect the unique contributions of the visual and haptic systems to grasping. We ultimately discuss how the integration of these two sensory modalities shape hand preference. PMID:26441777

Robotic guidance benefits the learning of dynamic, but not of spatial movement characteristics.

PubMed

Lüttgen, Jenna; Heuer, Herbert

2012-10-01

Robotic guidance is an engineered form of haptic-guidance training and intended to enhance motor learning in rehabilitation, surgery, and sports. However, its benefits (and pitfalls) are still debated. Here, we investigate the effects of different presentation modes on the reproduction of a spatiotemporal movement pattern. In three different groups of participants, the movement was demonstrated in three different modalities, namely visual, haptic, and visuo-haptic. After demonstration, participants had to reproduce the movement in two alternating recall conditions: haptic and visuo-haptic. Performance of the three groups during recall was compared with regard to spatial and dynamic movement characteristics. After haptic presentation, participants showed superior dynamic accuracy, whereas after visual presentation, participants performed better with regard to spatial accuracy. Added visual feedback during recall always led to enhanced performance, independent of the movement characteristic and the presentation modality. These findings substantiate the different benefits of different presentation modes for different movement characteristics. In particular, robotic guidance is beneficial for the learning of dynamic, but not of spatial movement characteristics.

Haptic feedback in OP:Sense - augmented reality in telemanipulated robotic surgery.

PubMed

Beyl, T; Nicolai, P; Mönnich, H; Raczkowksy, J; Wörn, H

2012-01-01

In current research, haptic feedback in robot assisted interventions plays an important role. However most approaches to haptic feedback only regard the mapping of the current forces at the surgical instrument to the haptic input devices, whereas surgeons demand a combination of medical imaging and telemanipulated robotic setups. In this paper we describe how this feature is integrated in our robotic research platform OP:Sense. The proposed method allows the automatic transfer of segmented imaging data to the haptic renderer and therefore allows enriching the haptic feedback with virtual fixtures based on imaging data. Anatomical structures are extracted from pre-operative generated medical images or virtual walls are defined by the surgeon inside the imaging data. Combining real forces with virtual fixtures can guide the surgeon to the regions of interest as well as helps to prevent the risk of damage to critical structures inside the patient. We believe that the combination of medical imaging and telemanipulation is a crucial step for the next generation of MIRS-systems.

Design of a 7-DOF haptic master using a magneto-rheological devices for robot surgery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kang, Seok-Rae; Choi, Seung-Bok; Hwang, Yong-Hoon; Cha, Seung-Woo

2017-04-01

This paper presents a 7 degrees-of-freedom (7-DOF) haptic master which is applicable to the robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery (RMIS). By utilizing a controllable magneto-rheological (MR) fluid, the haptic master can provide force information to the surgeon during surgery. The proposed haptic master consists of three degrees motions of X, Y, Z and four degrees motions of the pitch, yaw, roll and grasping. All of them have force feedback capability. The proposed haptic master can generate the repulsive forces or torques by activating MR clutch and MR brake. Both MR clutch and MR brake are designed and manufactured with consideration of the size and output torque which is usable to the robotic surgery. A proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller is then designed and implemented to achieve torque/force tracking trajectories. It is verified that the proposed haptic master can track well the desired torque and force occurred in the surgical place by controlling the input current applied to MR clutch and brake.

Random forest classification of large volume structures for visuo-haptic rendering in CT images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mastmeyer, Andre; Fortmeier, Dirk; Handels, Heinz

2016-03-01

For patient-specific voxel-based visuo-haptic rendering of CT scans of the liver area, the fully automatic segmentation of large volume structures such as skin, soft tissue, lungs and intestine (risk structures) is important. Using a machine learning based approach, several existing segmentations from 10 segmented gold-standard patients are learned by random decision forests individually and collectively. The core of this paper is feature selection and the application of the learned classifiers to a new patient data set. In a leave-some-out cross-validation, the obtained full volume segmentations are compared to the gold-standard segmentations of the untrained patients. The proposed classifiers use a multi-dimensional feature space to estimate the hidden truth, instead of relying on clinical standard threshold and connectivity based methods. The result of our efficient whole-body section classification are multi-label maps with the considered tissues. For visuo-haptic simulation, other small volume structures would have to be segmented additionally. We also take a look into these structures (liver vessels). For an experimental leave-some-out study consisting of 10 patients, the proposed method performs much more efficiently compared to state of the art methods. In two variants of leave-some-out experiments we obtain best mean DICE ratios of 0.79, 0.97, 0.63 and 0.83 for skin, soft tissue, hard bone and risk structures. Liver structures are segmented with DICE 0.93 for the liver, 0.43 for blood vessels and 0.39 for bile vessels.

User questionnaire to evaluate the radiological workspace.

PubMed

van Ooijen, Peter M A; Koesoema, Allya P; Oudkerk, Matthijs

2006-01-01

Over the past few years, an increase in digitalization of radiology departments can be seen, which has a large impact on the work of the radiologists. This impact is not only demonstrated by the increased use of digital images but also by changing demands on the whole reading environment. In this study, we evaluated the satisfaction of our radiologists with our digital Picture Archival and Communication System environment and their workspace. This evaluation was performed by distribution of a questionnaire consisting of a score sheet and some open questions to all radiologists and residents. Out of 25 questionnaires, 12 were adequately answered and returned. Results clearly showed that most problems were present in the area of reading room design and layout and comfort and ergonomics. Based on the results from this study, adaptations were made and the results were also used in the planning of the redesign of the entire department of radiology.

Effects of Motion and Figural Goodness on Haptic Object Perception in Infancy.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Streri, Arlette; Spelke, Elizabeth S.

1989-01-01

After haptic habituation to a ring display, infants perceived the rings in two experiments as parts of one connected object. In both haptic and visual modes, infants appeared to perceive object unity by analyzing motion but not by analyzing figural goodness. (RH)

Teaching Classical Mechanics Concepts Using Visuo-Haptic Simulators

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Neri, Luis; Noguez, Julieta; Robledo-Rella, Victor; Escobar-Castillejos, David; Gonzalez-Nucamendi, Andres

2018-01-01

In this work, the design and implementation of several physics scenarios using haptic devices are presented and discussed. Four visuo-haptic applications were developed for an undergraduate engineering physics course. Experiments with experimental and control groups were designed and implemented. Activities and exercises related to classical…

Innovative Learning Solutions in New Communities: Opportunities and Challenges to Teachers' Conceptions of Workspace

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Costley, Debra

2007-01-01

This article explores the possibilities and opportunities created by large-scale property developers for new ways of learning and working in master-planned communities. The discussion is based on the findings from research of one developer's innovative solutions to learning in newly developed communities and specifically draws on data from one…

Equilibrium-Based Movement Endpoints Elicited from Primary Motor Cortex Using Repetitive Microstimulation

PubMed Central

Van Acker, Gustaf M.; Amundsen, Sommer L.; Messamore, William G.; Zhang, Hongyu Y.; Luchies, Carl W.

2014-01-01

High-frequency, long-duration intracortical microstimulation (HFLD-ICMS) is increasingly being used to deduce how the brain encodes coordinated muscle activity and movement. However, the full movement repertoire that can be elicited from the forelimb representation of primary motor cortex (M1) using this method has not been systematically determined. Our goal was to acquire a comprehensive M1 forelimb representational map of movement endpoints elicited with HFLD-ICMS, using stimulus parameters optimal for evoking stable forelimb spatial endpoints. The data reveal a 3D forelimb movement endpoint workspace that is represented in a patchwork fashion on the 2D M1 cortical surface. Although cortical maps of movement endpoints appear quite disorderly with respect to movement space, we show that the endpoint locations in the workspace evoked with HFLD-ICMS of two adjacent cortical points are closer together than would be expected if the organization were random. Although there were few obvious consistencies in the endpoint maps across the two monkeys tested, one notable exception was endpoints bringing the hand to the mouth, which was located at the boundary between the hand and face representation. Endpoints at the extremes of the monkey's workspace and locations above the head were largely absent. Our movement endpoints are best explained as resulting from coactivation of agonist and antagonist muscles driving the joints toward equilibrium positions determined by the length–tension relationships of the muscles. PMID:25411500

Operator dynamics for stability condition in haptic and teleoperation system: A survey.

PubMed

Li, Hongbing; Zhang, Lei; Kawashima, Kenji

2018-04-01

Currently, haptic systems ignore the varying impedance of the human hand with its countless configurations and thus cannot recreate the complex haptic interactions. The literature does not reveal a comprehensive survey on the methods proposed and this study is an attempt to bridge this gap. The paper includes an extensive review of human arm impedance modeling and control deployed to address inherent stability and transparency issues in haptic interaction and teleoperation systems. Detailed classification and comparative study of various contributions in human arm modeling are presented and summarized in tables and diagrams. The main challenges in modeling human arm impedance for haptic robotic applications are identified. The possible future research directions are outlined based on the gaps identified in the survey. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

A Haptic-Enhanced System for Molecular Sensing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Comai, Sara; Mazza, Davide

The science of haptics has received an enormous attention in the last decade. One of the major application trends of haptics technology is data visualization and training. In this paper, we present a haptically-enhanced system for manipulation and tactile exploration of molecules.The geometrical models of molecules is extracted either from theoretical or empirical data using file formats widely adopted in chemical and biological fields. The addition of information computed with computational chemistry tools, allows users to feel the interaction forces between an explored molecule and a charge associated to the haptic device, and to visualize a huge amount of numerical data in a more comprehensible way. The developed tool can be used either for teaching or research purposes due to its high reliance on both theoretical and experimental data.

A Haptics Symposium Retrospective: 20 Years

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Colgate, J. Edward; Adelstein, Bernard

2012-01-01

The very first "Haptics Symposium" actually went by the name "Issues in the Development of Kinesthetic Displays of Teleoperation and Virtual environments." The word "Haptic" didn't make it into the name until the next year. Not only was the most important word absent but so were RFPs, journals and commercial markets. And yet, as we prepare for the 2012 symposium, haptics is a thriving and amazingly diverse field of endeavor. In this talk we'll reflect on the origins of this field and on its evolution over the past twenty years, as well as the evolution of the Haptics Symposium itself. We hope to share with you some of the excitement we've felt along the way, and that we continue to feel as we look toward the future of our field.

Haptic interfaces: Hardware, software and human performance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Srinivasan, Mandayam A.

1995-01-01

Virtual environments are computer-generated synthetic environments with which a human user can interact to perform a wide variety of perceptual and motor tasks. At present, most of the virtual environment systems engage only the visual and auditory senses, and not the haptic sensorimotor system that conveys the sense of touch and feel of objects in the environment. Computer keyboards, mice, and trackballs constitute relatively simple haptic interfaces. Gloves and exoskeletons that track hand postures have more interaction capabilities and are available in the market. Although desktop and wearable force-reflecting devices have been built and implemented in research laboratories, the current capabilities of such devices are quite limited. To realize the full promise of virtual environments and teleoperation of remote systems, further developments of haptic interfaces are critical. In this paper, the status and research needs in human haptics, technology development and interactions between the two are described. In particular, the excellent performance characteristics of Phantom, a haptic interface recently developed at MIT, are highlighted. Realistic sensations of single point of contact interactions with objects of variable geometry (e.g., smooth, textured, polyhedral) and material properties (e.g., friction, impedance) in the context of a variety of tasks (e.g., needle biopsy, switch panels) achieved through this device are described and the associated issues in haptic rendering are discussed.

Invited Article: A review of haptic optical tweezers for an interactive microworld exploration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pacoret, Cécile; Régnier, Stéphane

2013-08-01

This paper is the first review of haptic optical tweezers, a new technique which associates force feedback teleoperation with optical tweezers. This technique allows users to explore the microworld by sensing and exerting picoNewton-scale forces with trapped microspheres. Haptic optical tweezers also allow improved dexterity of micromanipulation and micro-assembly. One of the challenges of this technique is to sense and magnify picoNewton-scale forces by a factor of 1012 to enable human operators to perceive interactions that they have never experienced before, such as adhesion phenomena, extremely low inertia, and high frequency dynamics of extremely small objects. The design of optical tweezers for high quality haptic feedback is challenging, given the requirements for very high sensitivity and dynamic stability. The concept, design process, and specification of optical tweezers reviewed here are focused on those intended for haptic teleoperation. In this paper, two new specific designs as well as the current state-of-the-art are presented. Moreover, the remaining important issues are identified for further developments. The initial results obtained are promising and demonstrate that optical tweezers have a significant potential for haptic exploration of the microworld. Haptic optical tweezers will become an invaluable tool for force feedback micromanipulation of biological samples and nano- and micro-assembly parts.

Direct Visuo-Haptic 4D Volume Rendering Using Respiratory Motion Models.

PubMed

Fortmeier, Dirk; Wilms, Matthias; Mastmeyer, Andre; Handels, Heinz

2015-01-01

This article presents methods for direct visuo-haptic 4D volume rendering of virtual patient models under respiratory motion. Breathing models are computed based on patient-specific 4D CT image data sequences. Virtual patient models are visualized in real-time by ray casting based rendering of a reference CT image warped by a time-variant displacement field, which is computed using the motion models at run-time. Furthermore, haptic interaction with the animated virtual patient models is provided by using the displacements computed at high rendering rates to translate the position of the haptic device into the space of the reference CT image. This concept is applied to virtual palpation and the haptic simulation of insertion of a virtual bendable needle. To this aim, different motion models that are applicable in real-time are presented and the methods are integrated into a needle puncture training simulation framework, which can be used for simulated biopsy or vessel puncture in the liver. To confirm real-time applicability, a performance analysis of the resulting framework is given. It is shown that the presented methods achieve mean update rates around 2,000 Hz for haptic simulation and interactive frame rates for volume rendering and thus are well suited for visuo-haptic rendering of virtual patients under respiratory motion.

Nurse managers don't get the corner office.

PubMed

Paliadelis, Penny

2013-03-01

To provide an original perspective on the power and status of first-line nurse managers by observing their working environment. The role of first-line nurse managers includes clinical, administrative and managerial components, with their responsibilities not always reflected in their level of organizational power. The business literature suggests that an appropriately resourced workspace is not merely functional, it also confers power and status. Twenty Australian rural nurse managers' workspaces were observed, as part of a larger qualitative study that explored their role and organizational power using semi-structured interviews. The observational data consisted of detailed researcher notes that were analysed thematically. The nurse managers' workspaces were suboptimal and did not provide sufficient physical space or resources for the participants' to manage tasks effectively. These results were considered using Kanter's theory of organizational power. The findings support those reported in the business literature that inadequate physical workspaces are counterproductive in terms of both functionality and organizational power. Suggestions are made regarding the workspace needs of first-line nurse managers, based on a closer alignment between the work environment and their role responsibilities. These findings have implications for decisions regarding organizational support of first-line nurse managers. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Haptic fMRI: using classification to quantify task-correlated noise during goal-directed reaching motions.

PubMed

Menon, Samir; Quigley, Paul; Yu, Michelle; Khatib, Oussama

2014-01-01

Neuroimaging artifacts in haptic functional magnetic resonance imaging (Haptic fMRI) experiments have the potential to induce spurious fMRI activation where there is none, or to make neural activation measurements appear correlated across brain regions when they are actually not. Here, we demonstrate that performing three-dimensional goal-directed reaching motions while operating Haptic fMRI Interface (HFI) does not create confounding motion artifacts. To test for artifacts, we simultaneously scanned a subject's brain with a customized soft phantom placed a few centimeters away from the subject's left motor cortex. The phantom captured task-related motion and haptic noise, but did not contain associated neural activation measurements. We quantified the task-related information present in fMRI measurements taken from the brain and the phantom by using a linear max-margin classifier to predict whether raw time series data could differentiate between motion planning or reaching. fMRI measurements in the phantom were uninformative (2σ, 45-73%; chance=50%), while those in primary motor, visual, and somatosensory cortex accurately classified task-conditions (2σ, 90-96%). We also localized artifacts due to the haptic interface alone by scanning a stand-alone fBIRN phantom, while an operator performed haptic tasks outside the scanner's bore with the interface at the same location. The stand-alone phantom had lower temporal noise and had similar mean classification but a tighter distribution (bootstrap Gaussian fit) than the brain phantom. Our results suggest that any fMRI measurement artifacts for Haptic fMRI reaching experiments are dominated by actual neural responses.

Evaluation of Motor Control Using Haptic Device

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nuruki, Atsuo; Kawabata, Takuro; Shimozono, Tomoyuki; Yamada, Masafumi; Yunokuchi, Kazutomo

When the kinesthesia and the touch act at the same time, such perception is called haptic perception. This sense has the key role in motor information on the force and position control. The haptic perception is important in the field where the evaluation of the motor control is needed. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the motor control, perception of heaviness and distance in normal and fatigue conditions using psychophysical experiment. We used a haptic device in order to generate precise force and distance, but the precedent of the evaluation system with the haptic device has been few. Therefore, it is another purpose to examine whether the haptic device is useful as evaluation system for the motor control. The psychophysical quantity of force and distance was measured by two kinds of experiments. Eight healthy subjects participated in this study. The stimulation was presented by haptic device [PHANTOM Omni: SensAble Company]. The subjects compared between standard and test stimulation, and answered it had felt which stimulation was strong. In the result of the psychophysical quantity of force, just noticeable difference (JND) had a significant difference, and point of subjective equality (PSE) was not different between normal and muscle fatigue. On the other hand, in the result of the psychophysical quantity of distance, JND and PSE were not difference between normal and muscle fatigue. These results show that control of force was influenced, but control of distance was not influenced in muscle fatigue. Moreover, these results suggested that the haptic device is useful as the evaluation system for the motor control.

Mental rotation of tactile stimuli: using directional haptic cues in mobile devices.

PubMed

Gleeson, Brian T; Provancher, William R

2013-01-01

Haptic interfaces have the potential to enrich users' interactions with mobile devices and convey information without burdening the user's visual or auditory attention. Haptic stimuli with directional content, for example, navigational cues, may be difficult to use in handheld applications; the user's hand, where the cues are delivered, may not be aligned with the world, where the cues are to be interpreted. In such a case, the user would be required to mentally transform the stimuli between different reference frames. We examine the mental rotation of directional haptic stimuli in three experiments, investigating: 1) users' intuitive interpretation of rotated stimuli, 2) mental rotation of haptic stimuli about a single axis, and 3) rotation about multiple axes and the effects of specific hand poses and joint rotations. We conclude that directional haptic stimuli are suitable for use in mobile applications, although users do not naturally interpret rotated stimuli in any one universal way. We find evidence of cognitive processes involving the rotation of analog, spatial representations and discuss how our results fit into the larger body of mental rotation research. For small angles (e.g., less than 40 degree), these mental rotations come at little cost, but rotations with larger misalignment angles impact user performance. When considering the design of a handheld haptic device, our results indicate that hand pose must be carefully considered, as certain poses increase the difficulty of stimulus interpretation. Generally, all tested joint rotations impact task difficulty, but finger flexion and wrist rotation interact to greatly increase the cost of stimulus interpretation; such hand poses should be avoided when designing a haptic interface.

Haptic-2D: A new haptic test battery assessing the tactual abilities of sighted and visually impaired children and adolescents with two-dimensional raised materials.

PubMed

Mazella, Anaïs; Albaret, Jean-Michel; Picard, Delphine

2016-01-01

To fill an important gap in the psychometric assessment of children and adolescents with impaired vision, we designed a new battery of haptic tests, called Haptic-2D, for visually impaired and sighted individuals aged five to 18 years. Unlike existing batteries, ours uses only two-dimensional raised materials that participants explore using active touch. It is composed of 11 haptic tests, measuring scanning skills, tactile discrimination skills, spatial comprehension skills, short-term tactile memory, and comprehension of tactile pictures. We administered this battery to 138 participants, half of whom were sighted (n=69), and half visually impaired (blind, n=16; low vision, n=53). Results indicated a significant main effect of age on haptic scores, but no main effect of vision or Age × Vision interaction effect. Reliability of test items was satisfactory (Cronbach's alpha, α=0.51-0.84). Convergent validity was good, as shown by a significant correlation (age partialled out) between total haptic scores and scores on the B101 test (rp=0.51, n=47). Discriminant validity was also satisfactory, as attested by a lower but still significant partial correlation between total haptic scores and the raw score on the verbal WISC (rp=0.43, n=62). Finally, test-retest reliability was good (rs=0.93, n=12; interval of one to two months). This new psychometric tool should prove useful to practitioners working with young people with impaired vision. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Performance evaluation of a robot-assisted catheter operating system with haptic feedback.

PubMed

Song, Yu; Guo, Shuxiang; Yin, Xuanchun; Zhang, Linshuai; Hirata, Hideyuki; Ishihara, Hidenori; Tamiya, Takashi

2018-06-20

In this paper, a novel robot-assisted catheter operating system (RCOS) has been proposed as a method to reduce physical stress and X-ray exposure time to physicians during endovascular procedures. The unique design of this system allows the physician to apply conventional bedside catheterization skills (advance, retreat and rotate) to an input catheter, which is placed at the master side to control another patient catheter placed at the slave side. For this purpose, a magnetorheological (MR) fluids-based master haptic interface has been developed to measure the axial and radial motions of an input catheter, as well as to provide the haptic feedback to the physician during the operation. In order to achieve a quick response of the haptic force in the master haptic interface, a hall sensor-based closed-loop control strategy is employed. In slave side, a catheter manipulator is presented to deliver the patient catheter, according to position commands received from the master haptic interface. The contact forces between the patient catheter and blood vessel system can be measured by designed force sensor unit of catheter manipulator. Four levels of haptic force are provided to make the operator aware of the resistance encountered by the patient catheter during the insertion procedure. The catheter manipulator was evaluated for precision positioning. The time lag from the sensed motion to replicated motion is tested. To verify the efficacy of the proposed haptic feedback method, the evaluation experiments in vitro are carried out. The results demonstrate that the proposed system has the ability to enable decreasing the contact forces between the catheter and vasculature.

Haptic Glove Technology: Skill Development through Video Game Play

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bargerhuff, Mary Ellen; Cowan, Heidi; Oliveira, Francisco; Quek, Francis; Fang, Bing

2010-01-01

This article introduces a recently developed haptic glove system and describes how the participants used a video game that was purposely designed to train them in skills that are needed for the efficient use of the haptic glove. Assessed skills included speed, efficiency, embodied skill, and engagement. The findings and implications for future…

The Role of Visual Experience on the Representation and Updating of Novel Haptic Scenes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pasqualotto, Achille; Newell, Fiona N.

2007-01-01

We investigated the role of visual experience on the spatial representation and updating of haptic scenes by comparing recognition performance across sighted, congenitally and late blind participants. We first established that spatial updating occurs in sighted individuals to haptic scenes of novel objects. All participants were required to…

Effect of Auditory Interference on Memory of Haptic Perceptions.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anater, Paul F.

1980-01-01

The effect of auditory interference on the processing of haptic information by 61 visually impaired students (8 to 20 years old) was the focus of the research described in this article. It was assumed that as the auditory interference approximated the verbalized activity of the haptic task, accuracy of recall would decline. (Author)

Investigating Students' Ideas about Buoyancy and the Influence of Haptic Feedback

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Minogue, James; Borland, David

2016-01-01

While haptics (simulated touch) represents a potential breakthrough technology for science teaching and learning, there is relatively little research into its differential impact in the context of teaching and learning. This paper describes the testing of a haptically enhanced simulation (HES) for learning about buoyancy. Despite a lifetime of…

Superior haptic-to-visual shape matching in autism spectrum disorders.

PubMed

Nakano, Tamami; Kato, Nobumasa; Kitazawa, Shigeru

2012-04-01

A weak central coherence theory in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) proposes that a cognitive bias toward local processing in ASD derives from a weakness in integrating local elements into a coherent whole. Using this theory, we hypothesized that shape perception through active touch, which requires sequential integration of sensorimotor traces of exploratory finger movements into a shape representation, would be impaired in ASD. Contrary to our expectation, adults with ASD showed superior performance in a haptic-to-visual delayed shape-matching task compared to adults without ASD. Accuracy in discriminating haptic lengths or haptic orientations, which lies within the somatosensory modality, did not differ between adults with ASD and adults without ASD. Moreover, this superior ability in inter-modal haptic-to-visual shape matching was not explained by the score in a unimodal visuospatial rotation task. These results suggest that individuals with ASD are not impaired in integrating sensorimotor traces into a global visual shape and that their multimodal shape representations and haptic-to-visual information transfer are more accurate than those of individuals without ASD. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Haptic Recreation of Elbow Spasticity

PubMed Central

Kim, Jonghyun; Damiano, Diane L.

2013-01-01

The aim of this paper is to develop a haptic device capable of presenting standardized recreation of elbow spasticity. Using the haptic device, clinicians will be able to repeatedly practice the assessment of spasticity without requiring patient involvement, and these practice opportunities will help improve accuracy and reliability of the assessment itself. Haptic elbow spasticity simulator (HESS) was designed and prototyped according to mechanical requirements to recreate the feel of elbow spasticity. Based on the data collected from subjects with elbow spasticity, a mathematical model representing elbow spasticity is proposed. As an attempt to differentiate the feel of each score in Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS), parameters of the model were obtained respectively for three different MAS scores 1, 1+, and 2. The implemented haptic recreation was evaluated by experienced clinicians who were asked to give MAS scores by manipulating the haptic device. The clinicians who participated in the study were blinded to each other’s scores and to the given models. They distinguished the three models and the MAS scores given to the recreated models matched 100% with the original MAS scores from the patients. PMID:22275660

Control of a haptic gear shifting assistance device utilizing a magnetorheological clutch

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Han, Young-Min; Choi, Seung-Bok

2014-10-01

This paper proposes a haptic clutch driven gear shifting assistance device that can help when the driver shifts the gear of a transmission system. In order to achieve this goal, a magnetorheological (MR) fluid-based clutch is devised to be capable of the rotary motion of an accelerator pedal to which the MR clutch is integrated. The proposed MR clutch is then manufactured, and its transmission torque is experimentally evaluated according to the magnetic field intensity. The manufactured MR clutch is integrated with the accelerator pedal to transmit a haptic cue signal to the driver. The impending control issue is to cue the driver to shift the gear via the haptic force. Therefore, a gear-shifting decision algorithm is constructed by considering the vehicle engine speed concerned with engine combustion dynamics, vehicle dynamics and driving resistance. Then, the algorithm is integrated with a compensation strategy for attaining the desired haptic force. In this work, the compensator is also developed and implemented through the discrete version of the inverse hysteretic model. The control performances, such as the haptic force tracking responses and fuel consumption, are experimentally evaluated.

Torque Measurement of 3-DOF Haptic Master Operated by Controllable Electrorheological Fluid

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oh, Jong-Seok; Choi, Seung-Bok; Lee, Yang-Sub

2015-02-01

This work presents a torque measurement method of 3-degree-of-freedom (3-DOF) haptic master featuring controllable electrorheological (ER) fluid. In order to reflect the sense of an organ for a surgeon, the ER haptic master which can generate the repulsive torque of an organ is utilized as a remote controller for a surgery robot. Since accurate representation of organ feeling is essential for the success of the robot-assisted surgery, it is indispensable to develop a proper torque measurement method of 3-DOF ER haptic master. After describing the structural configuration of the haptic master, the torque models of ER spherical joint are mathematically derived based on the Bingham model of ER fluid. A new type of haptic device which has pitching, rolling, and yawing motions is then designed and manufactured using a spherical joint mechanism. Subsequently, the field-dependent parameters of the Bingham model are identified and generating repulsive torque according to applied electric field is measured. In addition, in order to verify the effectiveness of the proposed torque model, a comparative work between simulated and measured torques is undertaken.

Development of kinematic equations and determination of workspace of a 6 DOF end-effector with closed-kinematic chain mechanism

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nguyen, Charles C.; Pooran, Farhad J.

1989-01-01

This report presents results from the research grant entitled Active Control of Robot Manipulators, funded by the Goddard Space Flight Center, under Grant NAG5-780, for the period July 1, 1988 to January 1, 1989. An analysis is presented of a 6 degree-of-freedom robot end-effector built to study telerobotic assembly of NASA hardware in space. Since the end-effector is required to perform high precision motion in a limited workspace, closed-kinematic mechanisms are chosen for its design. A closed-form solution is obtained for the inverse kinematic problem and an iterative procedure employing Newton-Raphson method is proposed to solve the forward kinematic problem. A study of the end-effector workspace results in a general procedure for the workspace determination based on link constraints. Computer simulation results are presented.

Phoenix Robotic Arm's Workspace After 90 Sols

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2008-01-01

During the first 90 Martian days, or sols, after its May 25, 2008, landing on an arctic plain of Mars, NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander dug several trenches in the workspace reachable with the lander's robotic arm.

The lander's Surface Stereo Imager camera recorded this view of the workspace on Sol 90, early afternoon local Mars time (overnight Aug. 25 to Aug. 26, 2008). The shadow of the the camera itself, atop its mast, is just left of the center of the image and roughly a third of a meter (one foot) wide.

The workspace is on the north side of the lander. The trench just to the right of center is called 'Neverland.'

The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.

Selective interference with image retention and generation: evidence for the workspace model.

PubMed

van der Meulen, Marian; Logie, Robert H; Della Sala, Sergio

2009-08-01

We address three types of model of the relationship between working memory (WM) and long-term memory (LTM): (a) the gateway model, in which WM acts as a gateway between perceptual input and LTM; (b) the unitary model, in which WM is seen as the currently activated areas of LTM; and (c) the workspace model, in which perceptual input activates LTM, and WM acts as a separate workspace for processing and temporary retention of these activated traces. Predictions of these models were tested, focusing on visuospatial working memory and using dual-task methodology to combine two main tasks (visual short-term retention and image generation) with two interference tasks (irrelevant pictures and spatial tapping). The pictures selectively disrupted performance on the generation task, whereas the tapping selectively interfered with the retention task. Results are consistent with the predictions of the workspace model.

Workspace Safe Operation of a Force- or Impedance-Controlled Robot

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Abdallah, Muhammad E. (Inventor); Hargrave, Brian (Inventor); Strawser, Philip A. (Inventor); Yamokoski, John D. (Inventor)

2013-01-01

A method of controlling a robotic manipulator of a force- or impedance-controlled robot within an unstructured workspace includes imposing a saturation limit on a static force applied by the manipulator to its surrounding environment, and may include determining a contact force between the manipulator and an object in the unstructured workspace, and executing a dynamic reflex when the contact force exceeds a threshold to thereby alleviate an inertial impulse not addressed by the saturation limited static force. The method may include calculating a required reflex torque to be imparted by a joint actuator to a robotic joint. A robotic system includes a robotic manipulator having an unstructured workspace and a controller that is electrically connected to the manipulator, and which controls the manipulator using force- or impedance-based commands. The controller, which is also disclosed herein, automatically imposes the saturation limit and may execute the dynamic reflex noted above.

Dynamics modeling for parallel haptic interfaces with force sensing and control.

PubMed

Bernstein, Nicholas; Lawrence, Dale; Pao, Lucy

2013-01-01

Closed-loop force control can be used on haptic interfaces (HIs) to mitigate the effects of mechanism dynamics. A single multidimensional force-torque sensor is often employed to measure the interaction force between the haptic device and the user's hand. The parallel haptic interface at the University of Colorado (CU) instead employs smaller 1D force sensors oriented along each of the five actuating rods to build up a 5D force vector. This paper shows that a particular manipulandum/hand partition in the system dynamics is induced by the placement and type of force sensing, and discusses the implications on force and impedance control for parallel haptic interfaces. The details of a "squaring down" process are also discussed, showing how to obtain reduced degree-of-freedom models from the general six degree-of-freedom dynamics formulation.

Development of haptic system for surgical robot

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gang, Han Gyeol; Park, Jiong Min; Choi, Seung-Bok; Sohn, Jung Woo

2017-04-01

In this paper, a new type of haptic system for surgical robot application is proposed and its performances are evaluated experimentally. The proposed haptic system consists of an effective master device and a precision slave robot. The master device has 3-DOF rotational motion as same as human wrist motion. It has lightweight structure with a gyro sensor and three small-sized MR brakes for position measurement and repulsive torque generation, respectively. The slave robot has 3-DOF rotational motion using servomotors, five bar linkage and a torque sensor is used to measure resistive torque. It has been experimentally demonstrated that the proposed haptic system has good performances on tracking control of desired position and repulsive torque. It can be concluded that the proposed haptic system can be effectively applied to the surgical robot system in real field.

Assessment of Haptic Interaction for Home-Based Physical Tele-Therapy using Wearable Devices and Depth Sensors.

PubMed

Barmpoutis, Angelos; Alzate, Jose; Beekhuizen, Samantha; Delgado, Horacio; Donaldson, Preston; Hall, Andrew; Lago, Charlie; Vidal, Kevin; Fox, Emily J

2016-01-01

In this paper a prototype system is presented for home-based physical tele-therapy using a wearable device for haptic feedback. The haptic feedback is generated as a sequence of vibratory cues from 8 vibrator motors equally spaced along an elastic wearable band. The motors guide the patients' movement as they perform a prescribed exercise routine in a way that replaces the physical therapists' haptic guidance in an unsupervised or remotely supervised home-based therapy session. A pilot study of 25 human subjects was performed that focused on: a) testing the capability of the system to guide the users in arbitrary motion paths in the space and b) comparing the motion of the users during typical physical therapy exercises with and without haptic-based guidance. The results demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed system.

Evaluation of Pseudo-Haptic Interactions with Soft Objects in Virtual Environments.

PubMed

Li, Min; Sareh, Sina; Xu, Guanghua; Ridzuan, Maisarah Binti; Luo, Shan; Xie, Jun; Wurdemann, Helge; Althoefer, Kaspar

2016-01-01

This paper proposes a pseudo-haptic feedback method conveying simulated soft surface stiffness information through a visual interface. The method exploits a combination of two feedback techniques, namely visual feedback of soft surface deformation and control of the indenter avatar speed, to convey stiffness information of a simulated surface of a soft object in virtual environments. The proposed method was effective in distinguishing different sizes of virtual hard nodules integrated into the simulated soft bodies. To further improve the interactive experience, the approach was extended creating a multi-point pseudo-haptic feedback system. A comparison with regards to (a) nodule detection sensitivity and (b) elapsed time as performance indicators in hard nodule detection experiments to a tablet computer incorporating vibration feedback was conducted. The multi-point pseudo-haptic interaction is shown to be more time-efficient than the single-point pseudo-haptic interaction. It is noted that multi-point pseudo-haptic feedback performs similarly well when compared to a vibration-based feedback method based on both performance measures elapsed time and nodule detection sensitivity. This proves that the proposed method can be used to convey detailed haptic information for virtual environmental tasks, even subtle ones, using either a computer mouse or a pressure sensitive device as an input device. This pseudo-haptic feedback method provides an opportunity for low-cost simulation of objects with soft surfaces and hard inclusions, as, for example, occurring in ever more realistic video games with increasing emphasis on interaction with the physical environment and minimally invasive surgery in the form of soft tissue organs with embedded cancer nodules. Hence, the method can be used in many low-budget applications where haptic sensation is required, such as surgeon training or video games, either using desktop computers or portable devices, showing reasonably high fidelity in conveying stiffness perception to the user.

The effect of haptic guidance and visual feedback on learning a complex tennis task.

PubMed

Marchal-Crespo, Laura; van Raai, Mark; Rauter, Georg; Wolf, Peter; Riener, Robert

2013-11-01

While haptic guidance can improve ongoing performance of a motor task, several studies have found that it ultimately impairs motor learning. However, some recent studies suggest that the haptic demonstration of optimal timing, rather than movement magnitude, enhances learning in subjects trained with haptic guidance. Timing of an action plays a crucial role in the proper accomplishment of many motor skills, such as hitting a moving object (discrete timing task) or learning a velocity profile (time-critical tracking task). The aim of the present study is to evaluate which feedback conditions-visual or haptic guidance-optimize learning of the discrete and continuous elements of a timing task. The experiment consisted in performing a fast tennis forehand stroke in a virtual environment. A tendon-based parallel robot connected to the end of a racket was used to apply haptic guidance during training. In two different experiments, we evaluated which feedback condition was more adequate for learning: (1) a time-dependent discrete task-learning to start a tennis stroke and (2) a tracking task-learning to follow a velocity profile. The effect that the task difficulty and subject's initial skill level have on the selection of the optimal training condition was further evaluated. Results showed that the training condition that maximizes learning of the discrete time-dependent motor task depends on the subjects' initial skill level. Haptic guidance was especially suitable for less-skilled subjects and in especially difficult discrete tasks, while visual feedback seems to benefit more skilled subjects. Additionally, haptic guidance seemed to promote learning in a time-critical tracking task, while visual feedback tended to deteriorate the performance independently of the task difficulty and subjects' initial skill level. Haptic guidance outperformed visual feedback, although additional studies are needed to further analyze the effect of other types of feedback visualization on motor learning of time-critical tasks.

Multiple reference frames in haptic spatial processing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Volčič, R.

2008-08-01

The present thesis focused on haptic spatial processing. In particular, our interest was directed to the perception of spatial relations with the main focus on the perception of orientation. To this end, we studied haptic perception in different tasks, either in isolation or in combination with vision. The parallelity task, where participants have to match the orientations of two spatially separated bars, was used in its two-dimensional and three-dimensional versions in Chapter 2 and Chapter 3, respectively. The influence of non-informative vision and visual interference on performance in the parallelity task was studied in Chapter 4. A different task, the mental rotation task, was introduced in a purely haptic study in Chapter 5 and in a visuo-haptic cross-modal study in Chapter 6. The interaction of multiple reference frames and their influence on haptic spatial processing were the common denominators of these studies. In this thesis we approached the problems of which reference frames play the major role in haptic spatial processing and how the relative roles of distinct reference frames change depending on the available information and the constraints imposed by different tasks. We found that the influence of a reference frame centered on the hand was the major cause of the deviations from veridicality observed in both the two-dimensional and three-dimensional studies. The results were described by a weighted average model, in which the hand-centered egocentric reference frame is supposed to have a biasing influence on the allocentric reference frame. Performance in haptic spatial processing has been shown to depend also on sources of information or processing that are not strictly connected to the task at hand. When non-informative vision was provided, a beneficial effect was observed in the haptic performance. This improvement was interpreted as a shift from the egocentric to the allocentric reference frame. Moreover, interfering visual information presented in the vicinity of the haptic stimuli parametrically modulated the magnitude of the deviations. The influence of the hand-centered reference frame was shown also in the haptic mental rotation task where participants were quicker in judging the parity of objects when these were aligned with respect to the hands than when they were physically aligned. Similarly, in the visuo-haptic cross-modal mental rotation task the parity judgments were influenced by the orientation of the exploring hand with respect to the viewing direction. This effect was shown to be modulated also by an intervening temporal delay that supposedly counteracts the influence of the hand-centered reference frame. We suggest that the hand-centered reference frame is embedded in a hierarchical structure of reference frames where some of these emerge depending on the demands and the circumstances of the surrounding environment and the needs of an active perceiver.

A Study on Immersion and Presence of a Portable Hand Haptic System for Immersive Virtual Reality

PubMed Central

Kim, Mingyu; Jeon, Changyu; Kim, Jinmo

2017-01-01

This paper proposes a portable hand haptic system using Leap Motion as a haptic interface that can be used in various virtual reality (VR) applications. The proposed hand haptic system was designed as an Arduino-based sensor architecture to enable a variety of tactile senses at low cost, and is also equipped with a portable wristband. As a haptic system designed for tactile feedback, the proposed system first identifies the left and right hands and then sends tactile senses (vibration and heat) to each fingertip (thumb and index finger). It is incorporated into a wearable band-type system, making its use easy and convenient. Next, hand motion is accurately captured using the sensor of the hand tracking system and is used for virtual object control, thus achieving interaction that enhances immersion. A VR application was designed with the purpose of testing the immersion and presence aspects of the proposed system. Lastly, technical and statistical tests were carried out to assess whether the proposed haptic system can provide a new immersive presence to users. According to the results of the presence questionnaire and the simulator sickness questionnaire, we confirmed that the proposed hand haptic system, in comparison to the existing interaction that uses only the hand tracking system, provided greater presence and a more immersive environment in the virtual reality. PMID:28513545

Design of a 4-DOF MR haptic master for application to robot surgery: virtual environment work

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oh, Jong-Seok; Choi, Seung-Hyun; Choi, Seung-Bok

2014-09-01

This paper presents the design and control performance of a novel type of 4-degrees-of-freedom (4-DOF) haptic master in cyberspace for a robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery (RMIS) application. By using a controllable magnetorheological (MR) fluid, the proposed haptic master can have a feedback function for a surgical robot. Due to the difficulty in utilizing real human organs in the experiment, the cyberspace that features the virtual object is constructed to evaluate the performance of the haptic master. In order to realize the cyberspace, a volumetric deformable object is represented by a shape-retaining chain-linked (S-chain) model, which is a fast volumetric model and is suitable for real-time applications. In the haptic architecture for an RMIS application, the desired torque and position induced from the virtual object of the cyberspace and the haptic master of real space are transferred to each other. In order to validate the superiority of the proposed master and volumetric model, a tracking control experiment is implemented with a nonhomogenous volumetric cubic object to demonstrate that the proposed model can be utilized in real-time haptic rendering architecture. A proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller is then designed and empirically implemented to accomplish the desired torque trajectories. It has been verified from the experiment that tracking the control performance for torque trajectories from a virtual slave can be successfully achieved.

A Study on Immersion and Presence of a Portable Hand Haptic System for Immersive Virtual Reality.

PubMed

Kim, Mingyu; Jeon, Changyu; Kim, Jinmo

2017-05-17

This paper proposes a portable hand haptic system using Leap Motion as a haptic interface that can be used in various virtual reality (VR) applications. The proposed hand haptic system was designed as an Arduino-based sensor architecture to enable a variety of tactile senses at low cost, and is also equipped with a portable wristband. As a haptic system designed for tactile feedback, the proposed system first identifies the left and right hands and then sends tactile senses (vibration and heat) to each fingertip (thumb and index finger). It is incorporated into a wearable band-type system, making its use easy and convenient. Next, hand motion is accurately captured using the sensor of the hand tracking system and is used for virtual object control, thus achieving interaction that enhances immersion. A VR application was designed with the purpose of testing the immersion and presence aspects of the proposed system. Lastly, technical and statistical tests were carried out to assess whether the proposed haptic system can provide a new immersive presence to users. According to the results of the presence questionnaire and the simulator sickness questionnaire, we confirmed that the proposed hand haptic system, in comparison to the existing interaction that uses only the hand tracking system, provided greater presence and a more immersive environment in the virtual reality.

Traditional Project Management and the Visual Workplace Environment to Improve Project Success

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fichera, Christopher E.

2016-01-01

A majority of large IT projects fail to meet scheduled deadlines, are over budget and do not satisfy the end user. Many projects fail in spite of utilizing traditional project management techniques. Research of project management has not identified the use of a visual workspace as a feature affecting or influencing the success of a project during…

Perceptual Grouping in Haptic Search: The Influence of Proximity, Similarity, and Good Continuation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Overvliet, Krista E.; Krampe, Ralf Th.; Wagemans, Johan

2012-01-01

We conducted a haptic search experiment to investigate the influence of the Gestalt principles of proximity, similarity, and good continuation. We expected faster search when the distractors could be grouped. We chose edges at different orientations as stimuli because they are processed similarly in the haptic and visual modality. We therefore…

Immediate Memory for Haptically-Examined Braille Symbols by Blind and Sighted Subjects.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Newman, Slater E.; And Others

The paper reports on two experiments in Braille learning which compared blind and sighted subjects on the immediate recall of haptically-examined Braille symbols. In the first study, sighted subjects (N=64) haptically examined each of a set of Braille symbols with their preferred or nonpreferred hand and immediately recalled the symbol by drawing…

Haptic Cues Used for Outdoor Wayfinding by Individuals with Visual Impairments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Koutsoklenis, Athanasios; Papadopoulos, Konstantinos

2014-01-01

Introduction: The study presented here examines which haptic cues individuals with visual impairments use more frequently and determines which of these cues are deemed by these individuals to be the most important for way-finding in urban environments. It also investigates the ways in which these haptic cues are used by individuals with visual…

Cortical Activation Patterns during Long-Term Memory Retrieval of Visually or Haptically Encoded Objects and Locations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stock, Oliver; Roder, Brigitte; Burke, Michael; Bien, Siegfried; Rosler, Frank

2009-01-01

The present study used functional magnetic resonance imaging to delineate cortical networks that are activated when objects or spatial locations encoded either visually (visual encoding group, n = 10) or haptically (haptic encoding group, n = 10) had to be retrieved from long-term memory. Participants learned associations between auditorily…

Physical Student-Robot Interaction with the ETHZ Haptic Paddle

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gassert, R.; Metzger, J.; Leuenberger, K.; Popp, W. L.; Tucker, M. R.; Vigaru, B.; Zimmermann, R.; Lambercy, O.

2013-01-01

Haptic paddles--low-cost one-degree-of-freedom force feedback devices--have been used with great success at several universities throughout the US to teach the basic concepts of dynamic systems and physical human-robot interaction (pHRI) to students. The ETHZ haptic paddle was developed for a new pHRI course offered in the undergraduate…

Haptic perception and body representation in lateral and medial occipito-temporal cortices.

PubMed

Costantini, Marcello; Urgesi, Cosimo; Galati, Gaspare; Romani, Gian Luca; Aglioti, Salvatore M

2011-04-01

Although vision is the primary sensory modality that humans and other primates use to identify objects in the environment, we can recognize crucial object features (e.g., shape, size) using the somatic modality. Previous studies have shown that the occipito-temporal areas dedicated to the visual processing of object forms, faces and bodies also show category-selective responses when the preferred stimuli are haptically explored out of view. Visual processing of human bodies engages specific areas in lateral (extrastriate body area, EBA) and medial (fusiform body area, FBA) occipito-temporal cortex. This study aimed at exploring the relative involvement of EBA and FBA in the haptic exploration of body parts. During fMRI scanning, participants were asked to haptically explore either real-size fake body parts or objects. We found a selective activation of right and left EBA, but not of right FBA, while participants haptically explored body parts as compared to real objects. This suggests that EBA may integrate visual body representations with somatosensory information regarding body parts and form a multimodal representation of the body. Furthermore, both left and right EBA showed a comparable level of body selectivity during haptic perception and visual imagery. However, right but not left EBA was more activated during haptic exploration than visual imagery of body parts, ruling out that the response to haptic body exploration was entirely due to the use of visual imagery. Overall, the results point to the existence of different multimodal body representations in the occipito-temporal cortex which are activated during perception and imagery of human body parts. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Perceptual grouping determines haptic contextual modulation.

PubMed

Overvliet, K E; Sayim, B

2016-09-01

Since the early phenomenological demonstrations of Gestalt principles, one of the major challenges of Gestalt psychology has been to quantify these principles. Here, we show that contextual modulation, i.e. the influence of context on target perception, can be used as a tool to quantify perceptual grouping in the haptic domain, similar to the visual domain. We investigated the influence of target-flanker grouping on performance in haptic vernier offset discrimination. We hypothesized that when, despite the apparent differences between vision and haptics, similar grouping principles are operational, a similar pattern of flanker interference would be observed in the haptic as in the visual domain. Participants discriminated the offset of a haptic vernier. The vernier was flanked by different flanker configurations: no flankers, single flanking lines, 10 flanking lines, rectangles and single perpendicular lines, varying the degree to which the vernier grouped with the flankers. Additionally, we used two different flanker widths (same width as and narrower than the target), again to vary target-flanker grouping. Our results show a clear effect of flankers: performance was much better when the vernier was presented alone compared to when it was presented with flankers. In the majority of flanker configurations, grouping between the target and the flankers determined the strength of interference, similar to the visual domain. However, in the same width rectangular flanker condition we found aberrant results. We discuss the results of our study in light of similarities and differences between vision and haptics and the interaction between different grouping principles. We conclude that in haptics, similar organization principles apply as in visual perception and argue that grouping and Gestalt are key organization principles not only of vision, but of the perceptual system in general. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Haptic biofeedback for improving compliance with lower-extremity partial weight bearing.

PubMed

Fu, Michael C; DeLuke, Levi; Buerba, Rafael A; Fan, Richard E; Zheng, Ying Jean; Leslie, Michael P; Baumgaertner, Michael R; Grauer, Jonathan N

2014-11-01

After lower-extremity orthopedic trauma and surgery, patients are often advised to restrict weight bearing on the affected limb. Conventional training methods are not effective at enabling patients to comply with recommendations for partial weight bearing. The current study assessed a novel method of using real-time haptic (vibratory/vibrotactile) biofeedback to improve compliance with instructions for partial weight bearing. Thirty healthy, asymptomatic participants were randomized into 1 of 3 groups: verbal instruction, bathroom scale training, and haptic biofeedback. Participants were instructed to restrict lower-extremity weight bearing in a walking boot with crutches to 25 lb, with an acceptable range of 15 to 35 lb. A custom weight bearing sensor and biofeedback system was attached to all participants, but only those in the haptic biofeedback group were given a vibrotactile signal if they exceeded the acceptable range. Weight bearing in all groups was measured with a separate validated commercial system. The verbal instruction group bore an average of 60.3±30.5 lb (mean±standard deviation). The bathroom scale group averaged 43.8±17.2 lb, whereas the haptic biofeedback group averaged 22.4±9.1 lb (P<.05). As a percentage of body weight, the verbal instruction group averaged 40.2±19.3%, the bathroom scale group averaged 32.5±16.9%, and the haptic biofeedback group averaged 14.5±6.3% (P<.05). In this initial evaluation of the use of haptic biofeedback to improve compliance with lower-extremity partial weight bearing, haptic biofeedback was superior to conventional physical therapy methods. Further studies in patients with clinical orthopedic trauma are warranted. Copyright 2014, SLACK Incorporated.

Enhanced operator perception through 3D vision and haptic feedback

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Edmondson, Richard; Light, Kenneth; Bodenhamer, Andrew; Bosscher, Paul; Wilkinson, Loren

2012-06-01

Polaris Sensor Technologies (PST) has developed a stereo vision upgrade kit for TALON® robot systems comprised of a replacement gripper camera and a replacement mast zoom camera on the robot, and a replacement display in the Operator Control Unit (OCU). Harris Corporation has developed a haptic manipulation upgrade for TALON® robot systems comprised of a replacement arm and gripper and an OCU that provides haptic (force) feedback. PST and Harris have recently collaborated to integrate the 3D vision system with the haptic manipulation system. In multiple studies done at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri it has been shown that 3D vision and haptics provide more intuitive perception of complicated scenery and improved robot arm control, allowing for improved mission performance and the potential for reduced time on target. This paper discusses the potential benefits of these enhancements to robotic systems used for the domestic homeland security mission.

[Haptic tracking control for minimally invasive robotic surgery].

PubMed

Xu, Zhaohong; Song, Chengli; Wu, Wenwu

2012-06-01

Haptic feedback plays a significant role in minimally invasive robotic surgery (MIRS). A major deficiency of the current MIRS is the lack of haptic perception for the surgeon, including the commercially available robot da Vinci surgical system. In this paper, a dynamics model of a haptic robot is established based on Newton-Euler method. Because it took some period of time in exact dynamics solution, we used a digital PID arithmetic dependent on robot dynamics to ensure real-time bilateral control, and it could improve tracking precision and real-time control efficiency. To prove the proposed method, an experimental system in which two Novint Falcon haptic devices acting as master-slave system has been developed. Simulations and experiments showed proposed methods could give instrument force feedbacks to operator, and bilateral control strategy is an effective method to master-slave MIRS. The proposed methods could be used to tele-robotic system.

Human-computer interface including haptically controlled interactions

DOEpatents

Anderson, Thomas G.

2005-10-11

The present invention provides a method of human-computer interfacing that provides haptic feedback to control interface interactions such as scrolling or zooming within an application. Haptic feedback in the present method allows the user more intuitive control of the interface interactions, and allows the user's visual focus to remain on the application. The method comprises providing a control domain within which the user can control interactions. For example, a haptic boundary can be provided corresponding to scrollable or scalable portions of the application domain. The user can position a cursor near such a boundary, feeling its presence haptically (reducing the requirement for visual attention for control of scrolling of the display). The user can then apply force relative to the boundary, causing the interface to scroll the domain. The rate of scrolling can be related to the magnitude of applied force, providing the user with additional intuitive, non-visual control of scrolling.

Surgical bedside master console for neurosurgical robotic system.

PubMed

Arata, Jumpei; Kenmotsu, Hajime; Takagi, Motoki; Hori, Tatsuya; Miyagi, Takahiro; Fujimoto, Hideo; Kajita, Yasukazu; Hayashi, Yuichiro; Chinzei, Kiyoyuki; Hashizume, Makoto

2013-01-01

We are currently developing a neurosurgical robotic system that facilitates access to residual tumors and improves brain tumor removal surgical outcomes. The system combines conventional and robotic surgery allowing for a quick conversion between the procedures. This concept requires a new master console that can be positioned at the surgical bedside and be sterilized. The master console was developed using new technologies, such as a parallel mechanism and pneumatic sensors. The parallel mechanism is a purely passive 5-DOF (degrees of freedom) joystick based on the author's haptic research. The parallel mechanism enables motion input of conventional brain tumor removal surgery with a compact, intuitive interface that can be used in a conventional surgical environment. In addition, the pneumatic sensors implemented on the mechanism provide an intuitive interface and electrically isolate the tool parts from the mechanism so they can be easily sterilized. The 5-DOF parallel mechanism is compact (17 cm width, 19cm depth, and 15cm height), provides a 505,050 mm and 90° workspace and is highly backdrivable (0.27N of resistance force representing the surgical motion). The evaluation tests revealed that the pneumatic sensors can properly measure the suction strength, grasping force, and hand contact. In addition, an installability test showed that the master console can be used in a conventional surgical environment. The proposed master console design was shown to be feasible for operative neurosurgery based on comprehensive testing. This master console is currently being tested for master-slave control with a surgical robotic system.

False Color Terrain Model of Phoenix Workspace

NASA Image and Video Library

2008-05-28

This is a terrain model of Phoenix Robotic Arm workspace. It has been color coded by depth with a lander model for context. The model has been derived using images from the depth perception feature from Phoenix Surface Stereo Imager SSI.

Optical Potential Field Mapping System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reid, Max B. (Inventor)

1996-01-01

The present invention relates to an optical system for creating a potential field map of a bounded two dimensional region containing a goal location and an arbitrary number of obstacles. The potential field mapping system has an imaging device and a processor. Two image writing modes are used by the imaging device, electron deposition and electron depletion. Patterns written in electron deposition mode appear black and expand. Patterns written in electron depletion mode are sharp and appear white. The generated image represents a robot's workspace. The imaging device under processor control then writes a goal location in the work-space using the electron deposition mode. The black image of the goal expands in the workspace. The processor stores the generated images, and uses them to generate a feedback pattern. The feedback pattern is written in the workspace by the imaging device in the electron deposition mode to enhance the expansion of the original goal pattern. After the feedback pattern is written, an obstacle pattern is written by the imaging device in the electron depletion mode to represent the obstacles in the robot's workspace. The processor compares a stored image to a previously stored image to determine a change therebetween. When no change occurs, the processor averages the stored images to produce the potential field map.

A design of hardware haptic interface for gastrointestinal endoscopy simulation.

PubMed

Gu, Yunjin; Lee, Doo Yong

2011-01-01

Gastrointestinal endoscopy simulations have been developed to train endoscopic procedures which require hundreds of practices to be competent in the skills. Even though realistic haptic feedback is important to provide realistic sensation to the user, most of previous simulations including commercialized simulation have mainly focused on providing realistic visual feedback. In this paper, we propose a novel design of portable haptic interface, which provides 2DOF force feedback, for the gastrointestinal endoscopy simulation. The haptic interface consists of translational and rotational force feedback mechanism which are completely decoupled, and gripping mechanism for controlling connection between the endoscope and the force feedback mechanism.

Haptic Guidance Improves the Visuo-Manual Tracking of Trajectories

PubMed Central

Bluteau, Jérémy; Coquillart, Sabine; Payan, Yohan; Gentaz, Edouard

2008-01-01

Background Learning to perform new movements is usually achieved by following visual demonstrations. Haptic guidance by a force feedback device is a recent and original technology which provides additional proprioceptive cues during visuo-motor learning tasks. The effects of two types of haptic guidances-control in position (HGP) or in force (HGF)–on visuo-manual tracking (“following”) of trajectories are still under debate. Methodology/Principals Findings Three training techniques of haptic guidance (HGP, HGF or control condition, NHG, without haptic guidance) were evaluated in two experiments. Movements produced by adults were assessed in terms of shapes (dynamic time warping) and kinematics criteria (number of velocity peaks and mean velocity) before and after the training sessions. Trajectories consisted of two Arabic and two Japanese-inspired letters in Experiment 1 and ellipses in Experiment 2. We observed that the use of HGF globally improves the fluency of the visuo-manual tracking of trajectories while no significant improvement was found for HGP or NHG. Conclusion/Significance These results show that the addition of haptic information, probably encoded in force coordinates, play a crucial role on the visuo-manual tracking of new trajectories. PMID:18335049

The effect of perceptual grouping on haptic numerosity perception.

PubMed

Verlaers, K; Wagemans, J; Overvliet, K E

2015-01-01

We used a haptic enumeration task to investigate whether enumeration can be facilitated by perceptual grouping in the haptic modality. Eight participants were asked to count tangible dots as quickly and accurately as possible, while moving their finger pad over a tactile display. In Experiment 1, we manipulated the number and organization of the dots, while keeping the total exploration area constant. The dots were either evenly distributed on a horizontal line (baseline condition) or organized into groups based on either proximity (dots placed in closer proximity to each other) or configural cues (dots placed in a geometric configuration). In Experiment 2, we varied the distance between the subsets of dots. We hypothesized that when subsets of dots can be grouped together, the enumeration time will be shorter and accuracy will be higher than in the baseline condition. The results of both experiments showed faster enumeration for the configural condition than for the baseline condition, indicating that configural grouping also facilitates haptic enumeration. In Experiment 2, faster enumeration was also observed for the proximity condition than for the baseline condition. Thus, perceptual grouping speeds up haptic enumeration by both configural and proximity cues, suggesting that similar mechanisms underlie perceptual grouping in both visual and haptic enumeration.

Acquisition and Visualization Techniques of Human Motion Using Master-Slave System and Haptograph

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Katsura, Seiichiro; Ohishi, Kiyoshi

Artificial acquisition and reproduction of human sensations are basic technologies of communication engineering. For example, auditory information is obtained by a microphone, and a speaker reproduces it by artificial means. Furthermore, a video camera and a television make it possible to transmit visual sensation by broadcasting. On the contrary, since tactile or haptic information is subject to the Newton's “law of action and reaction” in the real world, a device which acquires, transmits, and reproduces the information has not been established. From the point of view, real-world haptics is the key technology for future haptic communication engineering. This paper proposes a novel acquisition method of haptic information named “haptograph”. The haptograph visualizes the haptic information like photograph. Since temporal and spatial analyses are conducted to represent haptic information as the haptograph, it is possible to be recognized and to be evaluated intuitively. In this paper, the proposed haptograph is applied to visualization of human motion. It is possible to represent the motion characteristics, the expert's skill and the personal habit, and so on. In other words, a personal encyclopedia is attained. Once such a personal encyclopedia is stored in ubiquitous environment, the future human support technology will be developed.

Haptic Stylus and Empirical Studies on Braille, Button, and Texture Display

PubMed Central

Kyung, Ki-Uk; Lee, Jun-Young; Park, Junseok

2008-01-01

This paper presents a haptic stylus interface with a built-in compact tactile display module and an impact module as well as empirical studies on Braille, button, and texture display. We describe preliminary evaluations verifying the tactile display's performance indicating that it can satisfactorily represent Braille numbers for both the normal and the blind. In order to prove haptic feedback capability of the stylus, an experiment providing impact feedback mimicking the click of a button has been conducted. Since the developed device is small enough to be attached to a force feedback device, its applicability to combined force and tactile feedback display in a pen-held haptic device is also investigated. The handle of pen-held haptic interface was replaced by the pen-like interface to add tactile feedback capability to the device. Since the system provides combination of force, tactile and impact feedback, three haptic representation methods for texture display have been compared on surface with 3 texture groups which differ in direction, groove width, and shape. In addition, we evaluate its capacity to support touch screen operations by providing tactile sensations when a user rubs against an image displayed on a monitor. PMID:18317520

Haptic stylus and empirical studies on braille, button, and texture display.

PubMed

Kyung, Ki-Uk; Lee, Jun-Young; Park, Junseok

2008-01-01

This paper presents a haptic stylus interface with a built-in compact tactile display module and an impact module as well as empirical studies on Braille, button, and texture display. We describe preliminary evaluations verifying the tactile display's performance indicating that it can satisfactorily represent Braille numbers for both the normal and the blind. In order to prove haptic feedback capability of the stylus, an experiment providing impact feedback mimicking the click of a button has been conducted. Since the developed device is small enough to be attached to a force feedback device, its applicability to combined force and tactile feedback display in a pen-held haptic device is also investigated. The handle of pen-held haptic interface was replaced by the pen-like interface to add tactile feedback capability to the device. Since the system provides combination of force, tactile and impact feedback, three haptic representation methods for texture display have been compared on surface with 3 texture groups which differ in direction, groove width, and shape. In addition, we evaluate its capacity to support touch screen operations by providing tactile sensations when a user rubs against an image displayed on a monitor.

OzBot and haptics: remote surveillance to physical presence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mullins, James; Fielding, Mick; Nahavandi, Saeid

2009-05-01

This paper reports on robotic and haptic technologies and capabilities developed for the law enforcement and defence community within Australia by the Centre for Intelligent Systems Research (CISR). The OzBot series of small and medium surveillance robots have been designed in Australia and evaluated by law enforcement and defence personnel to determine suitability and ruggedness in a variety of environments. Using custom developed digital electronics and featuring expandable data busses including RS485, I2C, RS232, video and Ethernet, the robots can be directly connected to many off the shelf payloads such as gas sensors, x-ray sources and camera systems including thermal and night vision. Differentiating the OzBot platform from its peers is its ability to be integrated directly with haptic technology or the 'haptic bubble' developed by CISR. Haptic interfaces allow an operator to physically 'feel' remote environments through position-force control and experience realistic force feedback. By adding the capability to remotely grasp an object, feel its weight, texture and other physical properties in real-time from the remote ground control unit, an operator's situational awareness is greatly improved through Haptic augmentation in an environment where remote-system feedback is often limited.

Task-related enhancement in corticomotor excitability during haptic sensing with the contra- or ipsilateral hand in young and senior adults.

PubMed

Master, Sabah; Tremblay, François

2012-03-14

Haptic sensing with the fingers represents a unique class of manipulative actions, engaging motor, somatosensory and associative areas of the cortex while requiring only minimal forces and relatively simple movement patterns. Using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), we investigated task-related changes in motor evoked potential (MEP) amplitude associated with unimanual haptic sensing in two related experiments. In Experiment I, we contrasted changes in the excitability of the hemisphere controlling the task hand in young and old adults under two trial conditions, i.e. when participants either touched a fine grating (smooth trials) or touched a coarse grating to detect its groove orientation (grating trials). In Experiment II, the same contrast between tasks was performed but with TMS applied over the hemisphere controlling the resting hand, while also addressing hemispheric (right vs. left) and age differences. In Experiment I, a main effect of trial type on MEP amplitude was detected (p = 0.001), MEPs in the task hand being ~50% larger during grating than smooth trials. No interaction with age was detected. Similar results were found for Experiment II, trial type having a large effect on MEP amplitude in the resting hand (p < 0.001) owing to selective increase in MEP size (~2.6 times greater) for grating trials. No interactions with age or side (right vs. left) were detected. Collectively, these results indicate that adding a haptic component to a simple unilateral finger action can elicit robust corticomotor facilitation not only in the working hemisphere but also in the opposite hemisphere. The fact that this facilitation seems well preserved with age, when task difficulty is adjusted, has some potential clinical implications.

Equilibrium-based movement endpoints elicited from primary motor cortex using repetitive microstimulation.

PubMed

Van Acker, Gustaf M; Amundsen, Sommer L; Messamore, William G; Zhang, Hongyu Y; Luchies, Carl W; Cheney, Paul D

2014-11-19

High-frequency, long-duration intracortical microstimulation (HFLD-ICMS) is increasingly being used to deduce how the brain encodes coordinated muscle activity and movement. However, the full movement repertoire that can be elicited from the forelimb representation of primary motor cortex (M1) using this method has not been systematically determined. Our goal was to acquire a comprehensive M1 forelimb representational map of movement endpoints elicited with HFLD-ICMS, using stimulus parameters optimal for evoking stable forelimb spatial endpoints. The data reveal a 3D forelimb movement endpoint workspace that is represented in a patchwork fashion on the 2D M1 cortical surface. Although cortical maps of movement endpoints appear quite disorderly with respect to movement space, we show that the endpoint locations in the workspace evoked with HFLD-ICMS of two adjacent cortical points are closer together than would be expected if the organization were random. Although there were few obvious consistencies in the endpoint maps across the two monkeys tested, one notable exception was endpoints bringing the hand to the mouth, which was located at the boundary between the hand and face representation. Endpoints at the extremes of the monkey's workspace and locations above the head were largely absent. Our movement endpoints are best explained as resulting from coactivation of agonist and antagonist muscles driving the joints toward equilibrium positions determined by the length-tension relationships of the muscles. Copyright © 2014 the authors 0270-6474/14/3415722-13$15.00/0.

Sharing control with haptics: seamless driver support from manual to automatic control.

PubMed

Mulder, Mark; Abbink, David A; Boer, Erwin R

2012-10-01

Haptic shared control was investigated as a human-machine interface that can intuitively share control between drivers and an automatic controller for curve negotiation. As long as automation systems are not fully reliable, a role remains for the driver to be vigilant to the system and the environment to catch any automation errors. The conventional binary switches between supervisory and manual control has many known issues, and haptic shared control is a promising alternative. A total of 42 respondents of varying age and driving experience participated in a driving experiment in a fixed-base simulator, in which curve negotiation behavior during shared control was compared to during manual control, as well as to three haptic tunings of an automatic controller without driver intervention. Under the experimental conditions studied, the main beneficial effect of haptic shared control compared to manual control was that less control activity (16% in steering wheel reversal rate, 15% in standard deviation of steering wheel angle) was needed for realizing an improved safety performance (e.g., 11% in peak lateral error). Full automation removed the need for any human control activity and improved safety performance (e.g., 35% in peak lateral error) but put the human in a supervisory position. Haptic shared control kept the driver in the loop, with enhanced performance at reduced control activity, mitigating the known issues that plague full automation. Haptic support for vehicular control ultimately seeks to intuitively combine human intelligence and creativity with the benefits of automation systems.

Design of a 7-DOF slave robot integrated with a magneto-rheological haptic master

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hwang, Yong-Hoon; Cha, Seung-Woo; Kang, Seok-Rae; Choi, Seung-Bok

2017-04-01

In this study, a 7-DOF slave robot integrated with the haptic master is designed and its dynamic motion is controlled. The haptic master is made using a controllable magneto-rheological (MR) clutch and brake and it provides the surgeon with a sense of touch by using both kinetic and kinesthetic information. Due to the size constraint of the slave robot, a wire actuating is adopted to make the desired motion of the end-effector which has 3-DOF instead of a conventional direct-driven motor. Another motions of the link parts that have 4-DOF use direct-driven motor. In total system, for working as a haptic device, the haptic master need to receive the information of repulsive forces applied on the slave robot. Therefore, repulsive forces on the end-effector are sensed by using three uniaxial torque transducer inserted in the wire actuating system and another repulsive forces applied on link part are sensed by using 6-axis transducer that is able to sense forces and torques. Using another 6-axis transducer, verify the reliability of force information on final end of slave robot. Lastly, integrated with a MR haptic master, psycho-physical test is conducted by different operators who can feel the different repulsive force or torque generated from the haptic master which is equivalent to the force or torque occurred on the end-effector to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed system.

Haptic exploration of fingertip-sized geometric features using a multimodal tactile sensor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ponce Wong, Ruben D.; Hellman, Randall B.; Santos, Veronica J.

2014-06-01

Haptic perception remains a grand challenge for artificial hands. Dexterous manipulators could be enhanced by "haptic intelligence" that enables identification of objects and their features via touch alone. Haptic perception of local shape would be useful when vision is obstructed or when proprioceptive feedback is inadequate, as observed in this study. In this work, a robot hand outfitted with a deformable, bladder-type, multimodal tactile sensor was used to replay four human-inspired haptic "exploratory procedures" on fingertip-sized geometric features. The geometric features varied by type (bump, pit), curvature (planar, conical, spherical), and footprint dimension (1.25 - 20 mm). Tactile signals generated by active fingertip motions were used to extract key parameters for use as inputs to supervised learning models. A support vector classifier estimated order of curvature while support vector regression models estimated footprint dimension once curvature had been estimated. A distal-proximal stroke (along the long axis of the finger) enabled estimation of order of curvature with an accuracy of 97%. Best-performing, curvature-specific, support vector regression models yielded R2 values of at least 0.95. While a radial-ulnar stroke (along the short axis of the finger) was most helpful for estimating feature type and size for planar features, a rolling motion was most helpful for conical and spherical features. The ability to haptically perceive local shape could be used to advance robot autonomy and provide haptic feedback to human teleoperators of devices ranging from bomb defusal robots to neuroprostheses.

H-Man: a planar, H-shape cabled differential robotic manipulandum for experiments on human motor control.

PubMed

Campolo, Domenico; Tommasino, Paolo; Gamage, Kumudu; Klein, Julius; Hughes, Charmayne M L; Masia, Lorenzo

2014-09-30

In the last decades more robotic manipulanda have been employed to investigate the effect of haptic environments on motor learning and rehabilitation. However, implementing complex haptic renderings can be challenging from technological and control perspectives. We propose a novel robot (H-Man) characterized by a mechanical design based on cabled differential transmission providing advantages over current robotic technology. The H-Man transmission translates to extremely simplified kinematics and homogenous dynamic properties, offering the possibility to generate haptic channels by passively blocking the mechanics, and eliminating stability concerns. We report results of experiments characterizing the performance of the device (haptic bandwidth, Z-width, and perceived impedance). We also present the results of a study investigating the influence of haptic channel compliance on motor learning in healthy individuals, which highlights the effects of channel compliance in enhancing proprioceptive information. The generation of haptic channels to study motor redundancy is not easy for actual robots because of the needs of powerful actuation and complex real-time control implementation. The mechanical design of H-Man affords the possibility to promptly create haptic channels by mechanical stoppers (on one of the motors) without compromising the superior backdriveability and high isotropic manipulability. This paper presents a novel robotic device for motor control studies and robotic rehabilitation. The hardware was designed with specific emphasis on the mechanics that result in a system that is easy to control, homogeneous, and is intrinsically safe for use. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Designing, Supporting, and Sustaining an Online Community of Practice: NASA EPO Workspace as an Ongoing Exploration of the Value of Community

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Davey, B.; Davis, H. B.

2015-12-01

Increasingly, geographically diverse organizations, like NASA's Science Mission Directorate Education and Public Outreach personnel (SMD EPO), are looking for ways to facilitate group interactions in meaningful ways while limiting costs. Towards this end, of particular interest, and showing great potential are communities of practice. Communities of practice represent relationships in real-time between and among people sharing a common practice. They facilitate the sharing of information, building collective knowledge, and growing of the principles of practice. In 2010-11, SMD EPO established a website to support EPO professionals, facilitate headquarters reporting, and foster a community of practice. The purpose of this evaluation is to examine the design and use of the workspace and the value created for both individual community members and SMD EPO, the sponsoring organization. The online workspace was launched in 2010-11 for the members of NASA's SMDEPO community. The online workspace was designed to help facilitate the efficient sharing of information, be a central repository for resources, help facilitate and support knowledge creation, and ultimately lead to the development of an online community of practice. This study examines the role of the online workspace component of a community in the work of a community of practice. Much has been studied revealing the importance of communities of practice to organizations, project success, and knowledge management and some of these same successes hold true for virtual communities of practice. Additionally, we look at the outcomes of housting the online community for these past years in respect to knowledge building and personal and organizational value, the affects on professional dvelopment opportunities, how community members have benefited, and how the workspace has evolved to better serve the community.

Flexible workspace design and ergonomics training: impacts on the psychosocial work environment, musculoskeletal health, and work effectiveness among knowledge workers.

PubMed

Robertson, Michelle M; Huang, Yueng-Hsiang; O'Neill, Michael J; Schleifer, Lawrence M

2008-07-01

A macroergonomics intervention consisting of flexible workspace design and ergonomics training was conducted to examine the effects on psychosocial work environment, musculoskeletal health, and work effectiveness in a computer-based office setting. Knowledge workers were assigned to one of four conditions: flexible workspace (n=121), ergonomics training (n=92), flexible workspace+ergonomics training (n=31), and a no-intervention control (n=45). Outcome measures were collected 2 months prior to the intervention and 3 and 6 months post-intervention. Overall, the study results indicated positive, significant effects on the outcome variables for the two intervention groups compared to the control group, including work-related musculoskeletal discomfort, job control, environmental satisfaction, sense of community, ergonomic climate, communication and collaboration, and business process efficiency (time and costs). However, attrition of workers in the ergonomics training condition precluded an evaluation of the effects of this intervention. This study suggests that a macroergonomics intervention is effective among knowledge workers in office settings.

Ascending and Descending in Virtual Reality: Simple and Safe System Using Passive Haptics.

PubMed

Nagao, Ryohei; Matsumoto, Keigo; Narumi, Takuji; Tanikawa, Tomohiro; Hirose, Michitaka

2018-04-01

This paper presents a novel interactive system that provides users with virtual reality (VR) experiences, wherein users feel as if they are ascending/descending stairs through passive haptic feedback. The passive haptic stimuli are provided by small bumps under the feet of users; these stimuli are provided to represent the edges of the stairs in the virtual environment. The visual stimuli of the stairs and shoes, provided by head-mounted displays, evoke a visuo-haptic interaction that modifies a user's perception of the floor shape. Our system enables users to experience all types of stairs, such as half-turn and spiral stairs, in a VR setting. We conducted a preliminary user study and two experiments to evaluate the proposed technique. The preliminary user study investigated the effectiveness of the basic idea associated with the proposed technique for the case of a user ascending stairs. The results demonstrated that the passive haptic feedback produced by the small bumps enhanced the user's feeling of presence and sense of ascending. We subsequently performed an experiment to investigate an improved viewpoint manipulation method and the interaction of the manipulation and haptics for both the ascending and descending cases. The experimental results demonstrated that the participants had a feeling of presence and felt a steep stair gradient under the condition of haptic feedback and viewpoint manipulation based on the characteristics of actual stair walking data. However, these results also indicated that the proposed system may not be as effective in providing a sense of descending stairs without an optimization of the haptic stimuli. We then redesigned the shape of the small bumps, and evaluated the design in a second experiment. The results indicated that the best shape to present haptic stimuli is a right triangle cross section in both the ascending and descending cases. Although it is necessary to install small protrusions in the determined direction, by using this optimized shape the users feeling of presence of the stairs and the sensation of walking up and down was enhanced.

The Role of A Facilitated Online Workspace Component of A Community of Practice: Knowledge Building and Value Creation for NASA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Davey, B.

2014-12-01

This study examined the role of an online workspace component of a community in the work of a community of practice. Much has been studied revealing the importance of communities of practice to organizations, project success, and knowledge management and some of these same successes hold true for virtual communities of practice. Study participants were 75 Education and Public Outreach community members of NASA's Science Mission Directorate Earth Forum. In this mixed methods study, online workspace metrics were used to track participation and a survey completed by 21 members was used to quantify participation. For a more detailed analysis, 15 community members (5 highly active users, 5 average users, and 5 infrequent users) selected based on survey responses, were interviewed. Finally, survey data was gathered from 7 online facilitators to understand their role in the community. Data collected from these 21 community members and 5 facilitating members suggest that highly active users (logging into the workspace daily), were more likely to have transformative experiences, co-create knowledge, feel ownership of community knowledge, have extended opportunities for community exchange, and find new forms of evaluation. Average users shared some similar characteristics with both the highly active members and infrequent users, representing a group in transition as they become more engaged and active in the online workspace. Inactive users viewed the workspace as having little value, being difficult to navigate, being mainly for gaining basic information about events and community news, and as another demand on their time. Results show the online workspace component of the Earth Science Education and Outreach Forum is playing an important and emerging role for this community by supporting knowledge building and knowledge sharing, and growing in value for those that utilizing it more frequently. The evidence suggests that with increased participation or "usage" comes increased value to the participant and the organization. This research illustrates the possible change in mindset held by participating community members when it comes to the nature of co-location. Additionally, it may be of particular importance in exploring changes in the community members' feelings of connection and belonging.

TeamWATCH: Visualizing development activities using a 3-D city metaphor to improve conflict detection and team awareness

PubMed Central

Ye, Xin

2018-01-01

The awareness of others’ activities has been widely recognized as essential in facilitating coordination in a team among Computer-Supported Cooperative Work communities. Several field studies of software developers in large software companies such as Microsoft have shown that coworker and artifact awareness are the most common information needs for software developers; however, they are also two of the seven most frequently unsatisfied information needs. To address this problem, we built a workspace awareness tool named TeamWATCH to visualize developer activities using a 3-D city metaphor. In this paper, we discuss the importance of awareness in software development, review existing workspace awareness tools, present the design and implementation of TeamWATCH, and evaluate how it could help detect and resolve conflicts earlier and better maintain group awareness via a controlled experiment. The experimental results showed that the subjects using TeamWATCH performed significantly better with respect to early conflict detection and resolution. PMID:29558519

A survey of telerobotic surface finishing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Höglund, Thomas; Alander, Jarmo; Mantere, Timo

2018-05-01

This is a survey of research published on the subjects of telerobotics, haptic feedback, and mixed reality applied to surface finishing. The survey especially focuses on how visuo-haptic feedback can be used to improve a grinding process using a remote manipulator or robot. The benefits of teleoperation and reasons for using haptic feedback are presented. The use of genetic algorithms for optimizing haptic sensing is briefly discussed. Ways of augmenting the operator's vision are described. Visual feedback can be used to find defects and analyze the quality of the surface resulting from the surface finishing process. Visual cues can also be used to aid a human operator in manipulating a robot precisely and avoiding collisions.

A flexible tactile-feedback touch screen using transparent ferroelectric polymer film vibrators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ju, Woo-Eon; Moon, Yong-Ju; Park, Cheon-Ho; Choi, Seung Tae

2014-07-01

To provide tactile feedback on flexible touch screens, transparent relaxor ferroelectric polymer film vibrators were designed and fabricated in this study. The film vibrator can be integrated underneath a transparent cover film or glass, and can also produce acoustic waves that cause a tactile sensation on human fingertips. Poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene-chlorotrifluoroethylene) [P(VDF-TrFE-CTFE)] polymer was used as the relaxor ferroelectric polymer because it produces a large strain under applied electric fields, shows a fast response, and has excellent optical transparency. The natural frequency of this tactile-feedback touch screen was designed to be around 200-240 Hz, at which the haptic perception of human fingertips is the most sensitive; therefore, the resonance of the touch screen at its natural frequency provides maximum haptic sensation. A multilayered relaxor ferroelectric polymer film vibrator was also demonstrated to provide the same vibration power at reduced voltage. The flexible P(VDF-TrFE-CTFE) film vibrators developed in this study are expected to provide tactile sensation not only in large-area flat panel displays, but also in flexible displays and touch screens.

Haptic Search for Hard and Soft Spheres

PubMed Central

van Polanen, Vonne; Bergmann Tiest, Wouter M.; Kappers, Astrid M. L.

2012-01-01

In this study the saliency of hardness and softness were investigated in an active haptic search task. Two experiments were performed to explore these properties in different contexts. In Experiment 1, blindfolded participants had to grasp a bundle of spheres and determine the presence of a hard target among soft distractors or vice versa. If the difference in compliance between target and distractors was small, reaction times increased with the number of items for both features; a serial strategy was found to be used. When the difference in compliance was large, the reaction times were independent of the number of items, indicating a parallel strategy. In Experiment 2, blindfolded participants pressed their hand on a display filled with hard and soft items. In the search for a soft target, increasing reaction times with the number of items were found, but the location of target and distractors appeared to have a large influence on the search difficulty. In the search for a hard target, reaction times did not depend on the number of items. In sum, this showed that both hardness and softness are salient features. PMID:23056197

Haptic search for hard and soft spheres.

PubMed

van Polanen, Vonne; Bergmann Tiest, Wouter M; Kappers, Astrid M L

2012-01-01

In this study the saliency of hardness and softness were investigated in an active haptic search task. Two experiments were performed to explore these properties in different contexts. In Experiment 1, blindfolded participants had to grasp a bundle of spheres and determine the presence of a hard target among soft distractors or vice versa. If the difference in compliance between target and distractors was small, reaction times increased with the number of items for both features; a serial strategy was found to be used. When the difference in compliance was large, the reaction times were independent of the number of items, indicating a parallel strategy. In Experiment 2, blindfolded participants pressed their hand on a display filled with hard and soft items. In the search for a soft target, increasing reaction times with the number of items were found, but the location of target and distractors appeared to have a large influence on the search difficulty. In the search for a hard target, reaction times did not depend on the number of items. In sum, this showed that both hardness and softness are salient features.

The Canadian ISTAR Information-Centric Collaborative Workspace Concept. Paper 3: The Info-Centric Collaborative Workspace from a Systems Perspective

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-09-01

sympatico.caGuy ThériaultGeneral Dynamics Canada Ltd Charlie.jamieson@lmco.comCharlie JamiesonLockheed Martin Canada D.lacroix@oerlikon.caDenis LacroixOerlikon Contraves Inc Bill.wright@oculusinfo.comBill WrightOculus

Communities of Practice Transition Online - Lessons learned from NASA's EPO Online Workspace

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Davey, B.

2012-12-01

The Earth Forum Education and Public Outreach (EP/O) community has long interacted to better their practice as a community as well as individually. Working together to share knowledge and grow, they function as a community of practice. In 2009, NASA designed and implemented an online workspace in hopes of promoting the communities continued interactions. This study examines the role of an online workspace component of a community in the work of a community of practice. Much has been studied revealing the importance of communities of practice to organizations, project success, and knowledge management and some of these same successes hold true for virtual communities of practice. Study participants were 75 Education and Public Outreach community members of NASA's Science Mission Directorate Earth Forum. In this mixed methods study, online workspace metrics were used to track participation and a survey completed by 21 members was used to quantify participation. For a more detailed analysis, 15 community members (five highly active users, five average users, and five infrequent users) selected based on survey responses, were interviewed. Finally, survey data was gathered from seven online facilitators to understand their role in the community. Data collected from these 21 community members and five facilitating members suggest that highly active users (logging into the workspace daily), were more likely to have transformative experiences, co-create knowledge, feel ownership of community knowledge, have extended opportunities for community exchange, and find new forms of evaluation. Average users shared some similar characteristics with both the highly active members and infrequent users, representing a group in transition as they become more engaged and active in the online workspace. Inactive users viewed the workspace as having little value, being difficult to navigate, being mainly for gaining basic information about events and community news, and as another demand on their time. Results show the online workspace component of the Earth Science Education and Outreach Forum is playing an important and emerging role for this community by supporting knowledge building and knowledge sharing, and growing in value for those that utilizing it more frequently. The evidence suggests that with increased participation or "usage" comes increased value to the participant and the organization. This research illustrates the possible change in mindset held by participating community members when it comes to the nature of co-location. Additionally, it may be of particular importance in exploring changes in the community members' feelings of connection and belonging.

Differences between early-blind, late-blind, and blindfolded-sighted people in haptic spatial-configuration learning and resulting memory traces.

PubMed

Postma, Albert; Zuidhoek, Sander; Noordzij, Matthijs L; Kappers, Astrid M L

2007-01-01

The roles of visual and haptic experience in different aspects of haptic processing of objects in peripersonal space are examined. In three trials, early-blind, late-blind, and blindfolded-sighted individuals had to match ten shapes haptically to the cut-outs in a board as fast as possible. Both blind groups were much faster than the sighted in all three trials. All three groups improved considerably from trial to trial. In particular, the sighted group showed a strong improvement from the first to the second trial. While superiority of the blind remained for speeded matching after rotation of the stimulus frame, coordinate positional-memory scores in a non-speeded free-recall trial showed no significant differences between the groups. Moreover, when assessed with a verbal response, categorical spatial-memory appeared strongest in the late-blind group. The role of haptic and visual experience thus appears to depend on the task aspect tested.

Forces on intraocular lens haptics induced by capsular fibrosis. An experimental study.

PubMed

Guthoff, R; Abramo, F; Draeger, J; Chumbley, L C; Lang, G K; Neumann, W

1990-01-01

Electronic dynamometry measurements, performed upon intraocular lens (IOL) haptics of prototype one-piece three-loop silicone lenses, accurately defined the relationships between elastic force and haptic displacement. Lens implantations in the capsular bag of dogs (loop span equal to capsular bag diameter, loops underformed immediately after the operation) were evaluated macrophotographically 5-8 months postoperatively. The highly constant elastic property of silicon rubber permitted quantitative correlation of subsequent in vivo haptic displacement with the resultant force vectors responsible for tissue contraction. The lens optics were well centered in 17 (85%) and slightly offcenter in 3 (15%) of 20 implanted eyes. Of the 60 supporting loops, 28 could be visualized sufficiently well to permit reliable haptic measurement. Of these 28, 20 (71%) were clearly displaced, ranging from 0.45 mm away from to 1.4 mm towards the lens' optic center. These extremes represented resultant vector forces of 0.20 and 1.23 mN respectively. Quantitative vector analysis permits better understanding of IOL-capsular interactions.

A haptic-inspired audio approach for structural health monitoring decision-making

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mao, Zhu; Todd, Michael; Mascareñas, David

2015-03-01

Haptics is the field at the interface of human touch (tactile sensation) and classification, whereby tactile feedback is used to train and inform a decision-making process. In structural health monitoring (SHM) applications, haptic devices have been introduced and applied in a simplified laboratory scale scenario, in which nonlinearity, representing the presence of damage, was encoded into a vibratory manual interface. In this paper, the "spirit" of haptics is adopted, but here ultrasonic guided wave scattering information is transformed into audio (rather than tactile) range signals. After sufficient training, the structural damage condition, including occurrence and location, can be identified through the encoded audio waveforms. Different algorithms are employed in this paper to generate the transformed audio signals and the performance of each encoding algorithms is compared, and also compared with standard machine learning classifiers. In the long run, the haptic decision-making is aiming to detect and classify structural damages in a more rigorous environment, and approaching a baseline-free fashion with embedded temperature compensation.

Real-time dual-band haptic music player for mobile devices.

PubMed

Hwang, Inwook; Lee, Hyeseon; Choi, Seungmoon

2013-01-01

We introduce a novel dual-band haptic music player for real-time simultaneous vibrotactile playback with music in mobile devices. Our haptic music player features a new miniature dual-mode actuator that can produce vibrations consisting of two principal frequencies and a real-time vibration generation algorithm that can extract vibration commands from a music file for dual-band playback (bass and treble). The algorithm uses a "haptic equalizer" and provides plausible sound-to-touch modality conversion based on human perceptual data. In addition, we present a user study carried out to evaluate the subjective performance (precision, harmony, fun, and preference) of the haptic music player, in comparison with the current practice of bass-band-only vibrotactile playback via a single-frequency voice-coil actuator. The evaluation results indicated that the new dual-band playback outperforms the bass-only rendering, also providing several insights for further improvements. The developed system and experimental findings have implications for improving the multimedia experience with mobile devices.

Learning to perceive haptic distance-to-break in the presence of friction.

PubMed

Altenhoff, Bliss M; Pagano, Christopher C; Kil, Irfan; Burg, Timothy C

2017-02-01

Two experiments employed attunement and calibration training to investigate whether observers are able to identify material break points in compliant materials through haptic force application. The task required participants to attune to a recently identified haptic invariant, distance-to-break (DTB), rather than haptic stimulation not related to the invariant, including friction. In the first experiment participants probed simulated force-displacement relationships (materials) under 3 levels of friction with the aim of pushing as far as possible into the materials without breaking them. In a second experiment a different set of participants pulled on the materials. Results revealed that participants are sensitive to DTB for both pushing and pulling, even in the presence of varying levels of friction, and this sensitivity can be improved through training. The results suggest that the simultaneous presence of friction may assist participants in perceiving DTB. Potential applications include the development of haptic training programs for minimally invasive (laparoscopic) surgery to reduce accidental tissue damage. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Mnemonic neuronal activity in somatosensory cortex.

PubMed Central

Zhou, Y D; Fuster, J M

1996-01-01

Single-unit activity was recorded from the hand areas of the somatosensory cortex of monkeys trained to perform a haptic delayed matching to sample task with objects of identical dimensions but different surface features. During the memory retention period of the task (delay), many units showed sustained firing frequency change, either excitation or inhibition. In some cases, firing during that period was significantly higher after one sample object than after another. These observations indicate the participation of somatosensory neurons not only in the perception but in the short-term memory of tactile stimuli. Neurons most directly implicated in tactile memory are (i) those with object-selective delay activity, (ii) those with nondifferential delay activity but without activity related to preparation for movement, and (iii) those with delay activity in the haptic-haptic delayed matching task but no such activity in a control visuo-haptic delayed matching task. The results indicate that cells in early stages of cortical somatosensory processing participate in haptic short-term memory. PMID:8927629

Ergonomic evaluation of 3D plane positioning using a mouse and a haptic device.

PubMed

Paul, Laurent; Cartiaux, Olivier; Docquier, Pierre-Louis; Banse, Xavier

2009-12-01

Preoperative planning and intraoperative assistance are needed to improve accuracy in tumour surgery. To be accepted, these processes must be efficient. An experiment was conducted to compare a mouse and a haptic device, with and without force feedback, to perform plan positioning in a 3D space. Ergonomics and performance factors were investigated during the experiment. Positioning strategies were observed. The task completion time, number of 3D orientations and failure rate were analysed. A questionnaire on ergonomics was filled out by each participant. The haptic device showed a significantly lower failure rate and was quicker and more ergonomic than the mouse. The force feedback was not beneficial to the accomplishment of the task. The haptic device is intuitive, ergonomic and more efficient than the mouse for positioning a 3D plane into a 3D space. Useful observations regarding positioning strategies will improve the integration of haptic devices into medical applications. Copyright (c) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Detection of Membrane Puncture with Haptic Feedback using a Tip-Force Sensing Needle.

PubMed

Elayaperumal, Santhi; Bae, Jung Hwa; Daniel, Bruce L; Cutkosky, Mark R

2014-09-01

This paper presents calibration and user test results of a 3-D tip-force sensing needle with haptic feedback. The needle is a modified MRI-compatible biopsy needle with embedded fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors for strain detection. After calibration, the needle is interrogated at 2 kHz, and dynamic forces are displayed remotely with a voice coil actuator. The needle is tested in a single-axis master/slave system, with the voice coil haptic display at the master, and the needle at the slave end. Tissue phantoms with embedded membranes were used to determine the ability of the tip-force sensors to provide real-time haptic feedback as compared to external sensors at the needle base during needle insertion via the master/slave system. Subjects were able to determine the position of the embedded membranes with significantly better accuracy using FBG tip feedback than with base feedback using a commercial force/torque sensor (p = 0.045) or with no added haptic feedback (p = 0.0024).

Detection of Membrane Puncture with Haptic Feedback using a Tip-Force Sensing Needle

PubMed Central

Elayaperumal, Santhi; Bae, Jung Hwa; Daniel, Bruce L.; Cutkosky, Mark R.

2015-01-01

This paper presents calibration and user test results of a 3-D tip-force sensing needle with haptic feedback. The needle is a modified MRI-compatible biopsy needle with embedded fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors for strain detection. After calibration, the needle is interrogated at 2 kHz, and dynamic forces are displayed remotely with a voice coil actuator. The needle is tested in a single-axis master/slave system, with the voice coil haptic display at the master, and the needle at the slave end. Tissue phantoms with embedded membranes were used to determine the ability of the tip-force sensors to provide real-time haptic feedback as compared to external sensors at the needle base during needle insertion via the master/slave system. Subjects were able to determine the position of the embedded membranes with significantly better accuracy using FBG tip feedback than with base feedback using a commercial force/torque sensor (p = 0.045) or with no added haptic feedback (p = 0.0024). PMID:26509101

The role of haptic versus visual volume cues in the size-weight illusion.

PubMed

Ellis, R R; Lederman, S J

1993-03-01

Three experiments establish the size-weight illusion as a primarily haptic phenomenon, despite its having been more traditionally considered an example of vision influencing haptic processing. Experiment 1 documents, across a broad range of stimulus weights and volumes, the existence of a purely haptic size-weight illusion, equal in strength to the traditional illusion. Experiment 2 demonstrates that haptic volume cues are both sufficient and necessary for a full-strength illusion. In contrast, visual volume cues are merely sufficient, and produce a relatively weaker effect. Experiment 3 establishes that congenitally blind subjects experience an effect as powerful as that of blindfolded sighted observers, thus demonstrating that visual imagery is also unnecessary for a robust size-weight illusion. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for both sensory and cognitive theories of the size-weight illusion. Applications of this work to a human factors design and to sensor-based systems for robotic manipulation are also briefly considered.

Visual and visually mediated haptic illusions with Titchener's ⊥.

PubMed

Landwehr, Klaus

2014-05-01

For a replication and expansion of a previous experiment of mine, 14 newly recruited participants provided haptic and verbal estimates of the lengths of the two lines that make up Titchener's ⊥. The stimulus was presented at two different orientations (frontoparallel vs. horizontal) and rotated in steps of 45 deg around 2π. Haptically, the divided line of the ⊥ was generally underestimated, especially at a horizontal orientation. Verbal judgments also differed according to presentation condition and to which line was the target, with the overestimation of the undivided line ranging between 6.2 % and 15.3 %. The results are discussed with reference to the two-visual-systems theory of perception and action, neuroscientific accounts, and also recent historical developments (the use of handheld touchscreens, in particular), because the previously reported "haptic induction effect" (the scaling of haptic responses to the divided line of the ⊥, depending on the length of the undivided one) did not replicate.

Workspace analysis and design improvement of a carotid flow measurement system.

PubMed

Carbone, G; Nakadate, R; Solis, J; Ceccarelli, M; Takanishi, A; Minagawa, E; Sugawara, M; Niki, K

2010-11-01

Heart and cerebrovascular diseases such as arteriosclerosis and myocardial ischemia dysfunction are currently among the main causes of death in developed countries. Recently, wave intensity (WI), which is an index used to obtain the force of cardiac contraction, has been investigated as a method for early-stage diagnosis of the above-mentioned diseases. Nevertheless, experimental tests have proven that the manual measurements of WI by means of commercial ultrasonic diagnostic systems require too much time and can be affected by the operator's skills. For this purpose, the introduction of robotic-assisted technology has advantages in terms of repetitiveness and accuracy of the measurement procedure. Therefore, at Waseda University, the development of a carotid blood flow measurement system has been proposed to support doctors while using ultrasound diagnostic equipment to measure the WI. This robotic system is composed of a serial robot with a wrist having a six-degree-of-freedom (6-DOF) parallel mechanism. The main focus is to obtain a suitable workspace performance of the 6-DOF parallel mechanism wrist. In this paper, a workspace analysis is carried out on a wrist prototype built for the Waseda-Tokyo Women's Medical Aloka Blood Flow Measurement System No.1 Refined (WTA-1R). Then, mechanical design enhancements are proposed and validated to provide a suitable workspace performance both as reachable workspace and dexterity, and a refined prototype WTA-1RII has been built.

Command Recognition of Robot with Low Dimension Whole-Body Haptic Sensor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ito, Tatsuya; Tsuji, Toshiaki

The authors have developed “haptic armor”, a whole-body haptic sensor that has an ability to estimate contact position. Although it is developed for safety assurance of robots in human environment, it can also be used as an interface. This paper proposes a command recognition method based on finger trace information. This paper also discusses some technical issues for improving recognition accuracy of this system.

Persistent Neuronal Firing in Primary Somatosensory Cortex in the Absence of Working Memory of Trial-Specific Features of the Sample Stimuli in a Haptic Working Memory Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wang, Liping; Li, Xianchun; Hsiao, Steven S.; Bodner, Mark; Lenz, Fred; Zhou, Yong-Di

2012-01-01

Previous studies suggested that primary somatosensory (SI) neurons in well-trained monkeys participated in the haptic-haptic unimodal delayed matching-to-sample (DMS) task. In this study, 585 SI neurons were recorded in monkeys performing a task that was identical to that in the previous studies but without requiring discrimination and active…

Exploring laterality and memory effects in the haptic discrimination of verbal and non-verbal shapes.

PubMed

Stoycheva, Polina; Tiippana, Kaisa

2018-03-14

The brain's left hemisphere often displays advantages in processing verbal information, while the right hemisphere favours processing non-verbal information. In the haptic domain due to contra-lateral innervations, this functional lateralization is reflected in a hand advantage during certain functions. Findings regarding the hand-hemisphere advantage for haptic information remain contradictory, however. This study addressed these laterality effects and their interaction with memory retention times in the haptic modality. Participants performed haptic discrimination of letters, geometric shapes and nonsense shapes at memory retention times of 5, 15 and 30 s with the left and right hand separately, and we measured the discriminability index d'. The d' values were significantly higher for letters and geometric shapes than for nonsense shapes. This might result from dual coding (naming + spatial) or/and from a low stimulus complexity. There was no stimulus-specific laterality effect. However, we found a time-dependent laterality effect, which revealed that the performance of the left hand-right hemisphere was sustained up to 15 s, while the performance of the right-hand-left hemisphere decreased progressively throughout all retention times. This suggests that haptic memory traces are more robust to decay when they are processed by the left hand-right hemisphere.

Haptic feedback improves surgeons' user experience and fracture reduction in facial trauma simulation.

PubMed

Girod, Sabine; Schvartzman, Sara C; Gaudilliere, Dyani; Salisbury, Kenneth; Silva, Rebeka

2016-01-01

Computer-assisted surgical (CAS) planning tools are available for craniofacial surgery, but are usually based on computer-aided design (CAD) tools that lack the ability to detect the collision of virtual objects (i.e., fractured bone segments). We developed a CAS system featuring a sense of touch (haptic) that enables surgeons to physically interact with individual, patient-specific anatomy and immerse in a three-dimensional virtual environment. In this study, we evaluated initial user experience with our novel system compared to an existing CAD system. Ten surgery resident trainees received a brief verbal introduction to both the haptic and CAD systems. Users simulated mandibular fracture reduction in three clinical cases within a 15 min time limit for each system and completed a questionnaire to assess their subjective experience. We compared standard landmarks and linear and angular measurements between the simulated results and the actual surgical outcome and found that haptic simulation results were not significantly different from actual postoperative outcomes. In contrast, CAD results significantly differed from both the haptic simulation and actual postoperative results. In addition to enabling a more accurate fracture repair, the haptic system provided a better user experience than the CAD system in terms of intuitiveness and self-reported quality of repair.

Simulation and training of lumbar punctures using haptic volume rendering and a 6DOF haptic device

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Färber, Matthias; Heller, Julika; Handels, Heinz

2007-03-01

The lumbar puncture is performed by inserting a needle into the spinal chord of the patient to inject medicaments or to extract liquor. The training of this procedure is usually done on the patient guided by experienced supervisors. A virtual reality lumbar puncture simulator has been developed in order to minimize the training costs and the patient's risk. We use a haptic device with six degrees of freedom (6DOF) to feedback forces that resist needle insertion and rotation. An improved haptic volume rendering approach is used to calculate the forces. This approach makes use of label data of relevant structures like skin, bone, muscles or fat and original CT data that contributes information about image structures that can not be segmented. A real-time 3D visualization with optional stereo view shows the punctured region. 2D visualizations of orthogonal slices enable a detailed impression of the anatomical context. The input data consisting of CT and label data and surface models of relevant structures is defined in an XML file together with haptic rendering and visualization parameters. In a first evaluation the visible human male data has been used to generate a virtual training body. Several users with different medical experience tested the lumbar puncture trainer. The simulator gives a good haptic and visual impression of the needle insertion and the haptic volume rendering technique enables the feeling of unsegmented structures. Especially, the restriction of transversal needle movement together with rotation constraints enabled by the 6DOF device facilitate a realistic puncture simulation.

Force modeling for incision surgery into tissue with haptic application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Pyunghwa; Kim, Soomin; Choi, Seung-Hyun; Oh, Jong-Seok; Choi, Seung-Bok

2015-04-01

This paper presents a novel force modeling for an incision surgery into tissue and its haptic application for a surgeon. During the robot-assisted incision surgery, it is highly urgent to develop the haptic system for realizing sense of touch in the surgical area because surgeons cannot sense sensations. To achieve this goal, the force modeling related to reaction force of biological tissue is proposed in the perspective on energy. The force model describes reaction force focused on the elastic feature of tissue during the incision surgery. Furthermore, the force is realized using calculated information from the model by haptic device using magnetorheological fluid (MRF). The performance of realized force that is controlled by PID controller with open loop control is evaluated.

A Model for Steering with Haptic-Force Guidance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Xing-Dong; Irani, Pourang; Boulanger, Pierre; Bischof, Walter F.

Trajectory-based tasks are common in many applications and have been widely studied. Recently, researchers have shown that even very simple tasks, such as selecting items from cascading menus, can benefit from haptic-force guidance. Haptic guidance is also of significant value in many applications such as medical training, handwriting learning, and in applications requiring precise manipulations. There are, however, only very few guiding principles for selecting parameters that are best suited for proper force guiding. In this paper, we present a model, derived from the steering law that relates movement time to the essential components of a tunneling task in the presence of haptic-force guidance. Results of an experiment show that our model is highly accurate for predicting performance times in force-enhanced tunneling tasks.

Large-Scale Urban Localisation with a Pushbroom LIDAR

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-10-01

the sole means of gen- erating full 6-DOF poses from a previously-surveyed workspace. In this approach, Normalised Information Distance is used as the...vehicle to have good knowledge of its position at system- initialization. We now turn to an overview of the use of point-based registration methods for...combination of reference vertices, and provides a convenient representation for the intersection test . Using this parametric representation, the coordinates

Workspace definition for navigated control functional endoscopic sinus surgery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gessat, Michael; Hofer, Mathias; Audette, Michael; Dietz, Andreas; Meixensberger, Jürgen; Stauß, Gero; Burgert, Oliver

2007-03-01

For the pre-operative definition of a surgical workspace for Navigated Control ® Functional Endoscopic Sinus Surgery (FESS), we developed a semi-automatic image processing system. Based on observations of surgeons using a manual system, we implemented a workflow-based engineering process that led us to the development of a system reducing time and workload spent during the workspace definition. The system uses a feature based on local curvature to align vertices of a polygonal outline along the bone structures defining the cavities of the inner nose. An anisotropic morphologic operator was developed solve problems arising from artifacts from noise and partial volume effects. We used time measurements and NASA's TLX questionnaire to evaluate our system.

A force transmission system based on a tulip-shaped electrostatic clutch for haptic display devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sasaki, Hikaru; Shikida, Mitsuhiro; Sato, Kazuo

2006-12-01

This paper describes a novel type of force transmission system for haptic display devices. The system consists of an array of end-effecter elements, a force/displacement transmitter and a single actuator producing a large force/displacement. It has tulip-shaped electrostatic clutch devices to distribute the force/displacement from the actuator among the individual end effecters. The specifications of three components were determined to stimulate touched human fingers. The components were fabricated by using micro-electromechanical systems and conventional machining technologies, and finally they were assembled by hand. The performance of the assembled transmission system was experimentally examined and it was confirmed that each projection in the arrayed end effecters could be moved individually. The actuator in a system whose total size was only 3.0 cm × 3.0 cm × 4.0 cm produced a 600 mN force and displaced individual array elements by 18 µm.

Polymer-based actuators for virtual reality devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bolzmacher, Christian; Hafez, Moustapha; Benali Khoudja, Mohamed; Bernardoni, Paul; Dubowsky, Steven

2004-07-01

Virtual Reality (VR) is gaining more importance in our society. For many years, VR has been limited to the entertainment applications. Today, practical applications such as training and prototyping find a promising future in VR. Therefore there is an increasing demand for low-cost, lightweight haptic devices in virtual reality (VR) environment. Electroactive polymers seem to be a potential actuation technology that could satisfy these requirements. Dielectric polymers developed the past few years have shown large displacements (more than 300%). This feature makes them quite interesting for integration in haptic devices due to their muscle-like behaviour. Polymer actuators are flexible and lightweight as compared to traditional actuators. Using stacks with several layers of elatomeric film increase the force without limiting the output displacement. The paper discusses some design methods for a linear dielectric polymer actuator for VR devices. Experimental results of the actuator performance is presented.

Intellectual and Physical Shared Workspace: Professional Learning Communities and the Collaborative Culture

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carpenter, Daniel

2018-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore shared workspace and professional learning community (PLC) interactions in schools. The collaborative culture and PLCs were parts of the school culture. The collaborative culture of each school was designed to ensure teachers share intellectual and physical contributions in learning to investigate…

Investigating Uses and Perceptions of an Online Collaborative Workspace for the Dissertation Process

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rockinson-Szapkiw, Amanda J.

2012-01-01

The intent of this study was to investigate 93 doctoral candidates' perceptions and use of an online collaboration workspace and content management server, Microsoft Office SharePoint, for dissertation process. All candidates were enrolled in an Ed.D. programme in the United States. Descriptive statistics demonstrate that candidates frequently use…

Assessment of controls layout of Indian tractors.

PubMed

Kumar, Adarsh; Bhaskar, Gaikwad; Singh, J K

2009-01-01

Tractors in low-income countries are used both for farm and non-farm activities. Most of the tractors being manufactured in India are products of collaboration with other countries. The design of tractors manufactured in India has not changed much in the past five decades especially from an ergonomics point of view, because of economic considerations. This paper describes a tractor control layout assessment with respect to the Indian population and compares the location of controls with workspace envelopes and the IS12343 standard for commonly used tractors on Indian farms. Controls like steering, foot clutch, foot brake, foot accelerator are located in areas defined by IS12343 standard in some tractors but these are not placed in the workspace envelopes of the Indian population. This results in a mismatch between the workspace envelope and location of controls as defined by the standard. The controls need a complete change in their layout to be in the workspace envelopes, as this cannot be achieved by providing seat movement in the horizontal and vertical directions in the present tractor design.

Haptic over visual information in the distribution of visual attention after tool-use in near and far space.

PubMed

Park, George D; Reed, Catherine L

2015-10-01

Despite attentional prioritization for grasping space near the hands, tool-use appears to transfer attentional bias to the tool's end/functional part. The contributions of haptic and visual inputs to attentional distribution along a tool were investigated as a function of tool-use in near (Experiment 1) and far (Experiment 2) space. Visual attention was assessed with a 50/50, go/no-go, target discrimination task, while a tool was held next to targets appearing near the tool-occupied hand or tool-end. Target response times (RTs) and sensitivity (d-prime) were measured at target locations, before and after functional tool practice for three conditions: (1) open-tool: tool-end visible (visual + haptic inputs), (2) hidden-tool: tool-end visually obscured (haptic input only), and (3) short-tool: stick missing tool's length/end (control condition: hand occupied but no visual/haptic input). In near space, both open- and hidden-tool groups showed a tool-end, attentional bias (faster RTs toward tool-end) before practice; after practice, RTs near the hand improved. In far space, the open-tool group showed no bias before practice; after practice, target RTs near the tool-end improved. However, the hidden-tool group showed a consistent tool-end bias despite practice. Lack of short-tool group results suggested that hidden-tool group results were specific to haptic inputs. In conclusion, (1) allocation of visual attention along a tool due to tool practice differs in near and far space, and (2) visual attention is drawn toward the tool's end even when visually obscured, suggesting haptic input provides sufficient information for directing attention along the tool.

Mixed reality temporal bone surgical dissector: mechanical design.

PubMed

Hochman, Jordan Brent; Sepehri, Nariman; Rampersad, Vivek; Kraut, Jay; Khazraee, Milad; Pisa, Justyn; Unger, Bertram

2014-08-08

The Development of a Novel Mixed Reality (MR) Simulation. An evolving training environment emphasizes the importance of simulation. Current haptic temporal bone simulators have difficulty representing realistic contact forces and while 3D printed models convincingly represent vibrational properties of bone, they cannot reproduce soft tissue. This paper introduces a mixed reality model, where the effective elements of both simulations are combined; haptic rendering of soft tissue directly interacts with a printed bone model. This paper addresses one aspect in a series of challenges, specifically the mechanical merger of a haptic device with an otic drill. This further necessitates gravity cancelation of the work assembly gripper mechanism. In this system, the haptic end-effector is replaced by a high-speed drill and the virtual contact forces need to be repositioned to the drill tip from the mid wand. Previous publications detail generation of both the requisite printed and haptic simulations. Custom software was developed to reposition the haptic interaction point to the drill tip. A custom fitting, to hold the otic drill, was developed and its weight was offset using the haptic device. The robustness of the system to disturbances and its stable performance during drilling were tested. The experiments were performed on a mixed reality model consisting of two drillable rapid-prototyped layers separated by a free-space. Within the free-space, a linear virtual force model is applied to simulate drill contact with soft tissue. Testing illustrated the effectiveness of gravity cancellation. Additionally, the system exhibited excellent performance given random inputs and during the drill's passage between real and virtual components of the model. No issues with registration at model boundaries were encountered. These tests provide a proof of concept for the initial stages in the development of a novel mixed-reality temporal bone simulator.

Absence of modulatory action on haptic height perception with musical pitch

PubMed Central

Geronazzo, Michele; Avanzini, Federico; Grassi, Massimo

2015-01-01

Although acoustic frequency is not a spatial property of physical objects, in common language, pitch, i.e., the psychological correlated of frequency, is often labeled spatially (i.e., “high in pitch” or “low in pitch”). Pitch-height is known to modulate (and interact with) the response of participants when they are asked to judge spatial properties of non-auditory stimuli (e.g., visual) in a variety of behavioral tasks. In the current study we investigated whether the modulatory action of pitch-height extended to the haptic estimation of height of a virtual step. We implemented a HW/SW setup which is able to render virtual 3D objects (stair-steps) haptically through a PHANTOM device, and to provide real-time continuous auditory feedback depending on the user interaction with the object. The haptic exploration was associated with a sinusoidal tone whose pitch varied as a function of the interaction point's height within (i) a narrower and (ii) a wider pitch range, or (iii) a random pitch variation acting as a control audio condition. Explorations were also performed with no sound (haptic only). Participants were instructed to explore the virtual step freely, and to communicate height estimation by opening their thumb and index finger to mimic the step riser height, or verbally by reporting the height in centimeters of the step riser. We analyzed the role of musical expertise by dividing participants into non-musicians and musicians. Results showed no effects of musical pitch on high-realistic haptic feedback. Overall there is no difference between the two groups in the proposed multimodal conditions. Additionally, we observed a different haptic response distribution between musicians and non-musicians when estimations of the auditory conditions are matched with estimations in the no sound condition. PMID:26441745

In vivo biomechanical measurement and haptic simulation of portal placement procedure in shoulder arthroscopic surgery

PubMed Central

Chae, Sanghoon; Jung, Sung-Weon

2018-01-01

A survey of 67 experienced orthopedic surgeons indicated that precise portal placement was the most important skill in arthroscopic surgery. However, none of the currently available virtual reality simulators include simulation / training in portal placement, including haptic feedback of the necessary puncture force. This study aimed to: (1) measure the in vivo force and stiffness during a portal placement procedure in an actual operating room and (2) implement active haptic simulation of a portal placement procedure using the measured in vivo data. We measured the force required for port placement and the stiffness of the joint capsule during portal placement procedures performed by an experienced arthroscopic surgeon. Based on the acquired mechanical property values, we developed a cable-driven active haptic simulator designed to train the portal placement skill and evaluated the validity of the simulated haptics. Ten patients diagnosed with rotator cuff tears were enrolled in this experiment. The maximum peak force and joint capsule stiffness during posterior portal placement procedures were 66.46 (±10.76N) and 2560.82(±252.92) N/m, respectively. We then designed an active haptic simulator using the acquired data. Our cable-driven mechanism structure had a friction force of 3.763 ± 0.341 N, less than 6% of the mean puncture force. Simulator performance was evaluated by comparing the target stiffness and force with the stiffness and force reproduced by the device. R-squared values were 0.998 for puncture force replication and 0.902 for stiffness replication, indicating that the in vivo data can be used to implement a realistic haptic simulator. PMID:29494691

Sensorimotor Interactions in the Haptic Perception of Virtual Objects

DTIC Science & Technology

1997-01-01

the human user. 2 Compared to our understanding of vision and audition , our knowledge of the human haptic perception is very limited. Many basic...modalities such as vision and audition on haptic perception of viscosity or mass, for example. 116 Some preliminary work has already been done in this...string[3]; *posx="x" *forf="f’ *velv="v" * acca ="a" trial[64]; resp[64]; /* random number */ /* trial number */ /* index */ /* array holding stim

Towards open-source, low-cost haptics for surgery simulation.

PubMed

Suwelack, Stefan; Sander, Christian; Schill, Julian; Serf, Manuel; Danz, Marcel; Asfour, Tamim; Burger, Wolfgang; Dillmann, Rüdiger; Speidel, Stefanie

2014-01-01

In minimally invasive surgery (MIS), virtual reality (VR) training systems have become a promising education tool. However, the adoption of these systems in research and clinical settings is still limited by the high costs of dedicated haptics hardware for MIS. In this paper, we present ongoing research towards an open-source, low-cost haptic interface for MIS simulation. We demonstrate the basic mechanical design of the device, the sensor setup as well as its software integration.

Multimodal Virtual Environments: MAGIC Toolkit and Visual-Haptic Interaction Paradigms

DTIC Science & Technology

1998-01-01

2.7.3 Load/Save Options ..... 2.7.4 Information Display .... 2.8 Library Files. 2.9 Evaluation .............. 3 Visual-Haptic Interactions 3.1...Northwestern University[ Colgate , 1994]. It is possible for a user to touch one side of a thin object and be propelled out the opposite side, because...when there is a high correlation in motion and force between the visual and haptic realms. * Chapter 7 concludes with an evaluation of the application

Vision-Based Haptic Feedback for Remote Micromanipulation in-SEM Environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bolopion, Aude; Dahmen, Christian; Stolle, Christian; Haliyo, Sinan; Régnier, Stéphane; Fatikow, Sergej

2012-07-01

This article presents an intuitive environment for remote micromanipulation composed of both haptic feedback and virtual reconstruction of the scene. To enable nonexpert users to perform complex teleoperated micromanipulation tasks, it is of utmost importance to provide them with information about the 3-D relative positions of the objects and the tools. Haptic feedback is an intuitive way to transmit such information. Since position sensors are not available at this scale, visual feedback is used to derive information about the scene. In this work, three different techniques are implemented, evaluated, and compared to derive the object positions from scanning electron microscope images. The modified correlation matching with generated template algorithm is accurate and provides reliable detection of objects. To track the tool, a marker-based approach is chosen since fast detection is required for stable haptic feedback. Information derived from these algorithms is used to propose an intuitive remote manipulation system that enables users situated in geographically distant sites to benefit from specific equipments, such as SEMs. Stability of the haptic feedback is ensured by the minimization of the delays, the computational efficiency of vision algorithms, and the proper tuning of the haptic coupling. Virtual guides are proposed to avoid any involuntary collisions between the tool and the objects. This approach is validated by a teleoperation involving melamine microspheres with a diameter of less than 2 μ m between Paris, France and Oldenburg, Germany.

The mere exposure effect in the domain of haptics.

PubMed

Jakesch, Martina; Carbon, Claus-Christian

2012-01-01

Zajonc showed that the attitude towards stimuli that one had been previously exposed to is more positive than towards novel stimuli. This mere exposure effect (MEE) has been tested extensively using various visual stimuli. Research on the MEE is sparse, however, for other sensory modalities. We used objects of two material categories (stone and wood) and two complexity levels (simple and complex) to test the influence of exposure frequency (F0 = novel stimuli, F2 = stimuli exposed twice, F10 = stimuli exposed ten times) under two sensory modalities (haptics only and haptics & vision). Effects of exposure frequency were found for high complex stimuli with significantly increasing liking from F0 to F2 and F10, but only for the stone category. Analysis of "Need for Touch" data showed the MEE in participants with high need for touch, which suggests different sensitivity or saturation levels of MEE. This different sensitivity or saturation levels might also reflect the effects of expertise on the haptic evaluation of objects. It seems that haptic and cross-modal MEEs are influenced by factors similar to those in the visual domain indicating a common cognitive basis.

Haptic-STM: a human-in-the-loop interface to a scanning tunneling microscope.

PubMed

Perdigão, Luís M A; Saywell, Alex

2011-07-01

The operation of a haptic device interfaced with a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) is presented here. The user moves the STM tip in three dimensions by means of a stylus attached to the haptic instrument. The tunneling current measured by the STM is converted to a vertical force, applied to the stylus and felt by the user, with the user being incorporated into the feedback loop that controls the tip-surface distance. A haptic-STM interface of this nature allows the user to feel atomic features on the surface and facilitates the tactile manipulation of the adsorbate/substrate system. The operation of this device is demonstrated via the room temperature STM imaging of C(60) molecules adsorbed on an Au(111) surface in ultra-high vacuum.

Haptics-based immersive telerobotic system for improvised explosive device disposal: Are two hands better than one?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Erickson, David; Lacheray, Hervé; Lambert, Jason Michel; Mantegh, Iraj; Crymble, Derry; Daly, John; Zhao, Yan

2012-06-01

State-of-the-art robotic explosive ordnance disposal robotics have not, in general, adopted recent advances in control technology and man-machine interfaces and lag many years behind academia. This paper describes the Haptics-based Immersive Telerobotic System project investigating an immersive telepresence envrionment incorporating advanced vehicle control systems, Augmented immersive sensory feedback, dynamic 3D visual information, and haptic feedback for explosive ordnance disposal operators. The project aim is to provide operatiors a more sophisticated interface and expand sensory input to perform complex tasks to defeat improvised explosive devices successfully. The introduction of haptics and immersive teleprescence has the potential to shift the way teleprescence systems work for explosive ordnance disposal tasks or more widely for first responders scenarios involving remote unmanned ground vehicles.

Recruitment of Foveal Retinotopic Cortex During Haptic Exploration of Shapes and Actions in the Dark.

PubMed

Monaco, Simona; Gallivan, Jason P; Figley, Teresa D; Singhal, Anthony; Culham, Jody C

2017-11-29

The role of the early visual cortex and higher-order occipitotemporal cortex has been studied extensively for visual recognition and to a lesser degree for haptic recognition and visually guided actions. Using a slow event-related fMRI experiment, we investigated whether tactile and visual exploration of objects recruit the same "visual" areas (and in the case of visual cortex, the same retinotopic zones) and if these areas show reactivation during delayed actions in the dark toward haptically explored objects (and if so, whether this reactivation might be due to imagery). We examined activation during visual or haptic exploration of objects and action execution (grasping or reaching) separated by an 18 s delay. Twenty-nine human volunteers (13 females) participated in this study. Participants had their eyes open and fixated on a point in the dark. The objects were placed below the fixation point and accordingly visual exploration activated the cuneus, which processes retinotopic locations in the lower visual field. Strikingly, the occipital pole (OP), representing foveal locations, showed higher activation for tactile than visual exploration, although the stimulus was unseen and location in the visual field was peripheral. Moreover, the lateral occipital tactile-visual area (LOtv) showed comparable activation for tactile and visual exploration. Psychophysiological interaction analysis indicated that the OP showed stronger functional connectivity with anterior intraparietal sulcus and LOtv during the haptic than visual exploration of shapes in the dark. After the delay, the cuneus, OP, and LOtv showed reactivation that was independent of the sensory modality used to explore the object. These results show that haptic actions not only activate "visual" areas during object touch, but also that this information appears to be used in guiding grasping actions toward targets after a delay. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Visual presentation of an object activates shape-processing areas and retinotopic locations in early visual areas. Moreover, if the object is grasped in the dark after a delay, these areas show "reactivation." Here, we show that these areas are also activated and reactivated for haptic object exploration and haptically guided grasping. Touch-related activity occurs not only in the retinotopic location of the visual stimulus, but also at the occipital pole (OP), corresponding to the foveal representation, even though the stimulus was unseen and located peripherally. That is, the same "visual" regions are implicated in both visual and haptic exploration; however, touch also recruits high-acuity central representation within early visual areas during both haptic exploration of objects and subsequent actions toward them. Functional connectivity analysis shows that the OP is more strongly connected with ventral and dorsal stream areas when participants explore an object in the dark than when they view it. Copyright © 2017 the authors 0270-6474/17/3711572-20$15.00/0.

Haptic Technologies for MEMS Design

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Calis, Mustafa; Desmulliez, Marc P. Y.

2006-04-01

This paper presents for the first time a design methodology for MEMS/NEMS based on haptic sensing technologies. The software tool created as a result of this methodology will enable designers to model and interact in real time with their virtual prototype. One of the main advantages of haptic sensing is the ability to bring unusual microscopic forces back to the designer's world. Other significant benefits for developing such a methodology include gain productivity and the capability to include manufacturing costs within the design cycle.

Language, Space, Time: Anthropological Tools and Scientific Exploration on Mars

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wales, Roxana

2005-01-01

This viewgraph presentation reviews the importance of social science disciplines in the scientific exploration of Mars. The importance of language, workspace, and time differences are reviewed. It would appear that the social scientist perspective in developing a completely new workspace, keeping track of new vocabulary and the different time zones (i.e., terrestrial and Martian) was useful.

Investigating Learning Space for Research Workspaces in Higher Education in Malaysia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yusof, Norhafezah; Hashim, Rosna Awang; Kian, Chan Kok

2016-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate learning space for research workspaces in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Malaysia based on the evaluations by experts and university research workers on a practical model for creating an effective research learning space. It examines expert analyses of the notion of a suitable research…

Knowledge Is Something We Do: Knowing and Learning in Globally Networked Communities.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Farell, Lesley; Holkner, Bernard

Workspaces are sites of contention over what is knowledge and who can say so; work-related education has never been a neutral arbiter. In a context in which workspaces routinely bring together physical place and cyber place in communication networks, traditional struggles over knowledge and knowing are affected by communications technologies (CT)…

49. TILE PACKING AREA AND APPRENTICE WORKSPACE, SECOND FLOOR, SOUTH ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

49. TILE PACKING AREA AND APPRENTICE WORKSPACE, SECOND FLOOR, SOUTH END OF EAST WING. THE SKYLIGHT, ADDED IN 1976. COVERS A ROOF OPENING LEFT FOR THE CHIMNEY OF A POSSIBLE THIRD BISCUIT KILN. - Moravian Pottery & Tile Works, Southwest side of State Route 313 (Swamp Road), Northwest of East Court Street, Doylestown, Bucks County, PA

Development of a compact continuum tubular robotic system for nasopharyngeal biopsy.

PubMed

Wu, Liao; Song, Shuang; Wu, Keyu; Lim, Chwee Ming; Ren, Hongliang

2017-03-01

Traditional posterior nasopharyngeal biopsy using a flexible nasal endoscope has the risks of abrasion and injury to the nasal mucosa and thus causing trauma to the patient. Recently, a new class of robots known as continuum tubular robots (CTRs) provide a novel solution to the challenge with miniaturized size, curvilinear maneuverability, and capability of avoiding collision within the nasal environment. This paper presents a compact CTR which is 35 cm in total length, 10 cm in diameter, 2.15 kg in weight, and easy to be integrated with a robotic arm to perform more complicated operations. Structural design, end-effector design, and workspace analysis are described in detail. In addition, teleoperation of the CTR using a haptic input device is developed for position control in 3D space. Moreover, by integrating the robot with three electromagnetic tracking sensors, a navigation system together with a shape reconstruction algorithm is developed. Comprehensive experiments are conducted to test the functionality of the proposed prototype; experiment results show that under teleoperation, the system has an accuracy of 2.20 mm in following a linear path, an accuracy of 2.01 mm in following a circular path, and a latency time of 0.1 s. It is also found that the proposed shape reconstruction algorithm has a mean error of around 1 mm along the length of the tubes. Besides, the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed robotic system being applied to posterior nasopharyngeal biopsy are demonstrated by a cadaver experiment. The proposed robotic system holds promise to enhance clinical operation in transnasal procedures.

Accuracy Improvement of Multi-Axis Systems Based on Laser Correction of Volumetric Geometric Errors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Teleshevsky, V. I.; Sokolov, V. A.; Pimushkin, Ya I.

2018-04-01

The article describes a volumetric geometric errors correction method for CNC- controlled multi-axis systems (machine-tools, CMMs etc.). The Kalman’s concept of “Control and Observation” is used. A versatile multi-function laser interferometer is used as Observer in order to measure machine’s error functions. A systematic error map of machine’s workspace is produced based on error functions measurements. The error map results into error correction strategy. The article proposes a new method of error correction strategy forming. The method is based on error distribution within machine’s workspace and a CNC-program postprocessor. The postprocessor provides minimal error values within maximal workspace zone. The results are confirmed by error correction of precision CNC machine-tools.

Expansion of Enterprise Requirements and Acquisition Model

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-06-04

upgrades in technology that made it more lethal with a smaller force. Computer technology, GPS, and stealth are just a few examples that allowed...The facility consists of banks of networked computers , large displays all built around a centralized workspace. It can be seen in Figure 3. The...first was to meet a gap in UHF satellite communciations for the Navy. This was satisfied as a Tier-1 program by purchasing additional bandwidth

3D imaging, 3D printing and 3D virtual planning in endodontics.

PubMed

Shah, Pratik; Chong, B S

2018-03-01

The adoption and adaptation of recent advances in digital technology, such as three-dimensional (3D) printed objects and haptic simulators, in dentistry have influenced teaching and/or management of cases involving implant, craniofacial, maxillofacial, orthognathic and periodontal treatments. 3D printed models and guides may help operators plan and tackle complicated non-surgical and surgical endodontic treatment and may aid skill acquisition. Haptic simulators may assist in the development of competency in endodontic procedures through the acquisition of psycho-motor skills. This review explores and discusses the potential applications of 3D printed models and guides, and haptic simulators in the teaching and management of endodontic procedures. An understanding of the pertinent technology related to the production of 3D printed objects and the operation of haptic simulators are also presented.

A haptic device for guide wire in interventional radiology procedures.

PubMed

Moix, Thomas; Ilic, Dejan; Bleuler, Hannes; Zoethout, Jurjen

2006-01-01

Interventional Radiology (IR) is a minimally invasive procedure where thin tubular instruments, guide wires and catheters, are steered through the patient's vascular system under X-ray imaging. In order to perform these procedures, a radiologist has to be trained to master hand-eye coordination, instrument manipulation and procedure protocols. The existing simulation systems all have major drawbacks: the use of modified instruments, unrealistic insertion lengths, high inertia of the haptic device that creates a noticeably degraded dynamic behavior or excessive friction that is not properly compensated for. In this paper we propose a quality training environment dedicated to IR. The system is composed of a virtual reality (VR) simulation of the patient's anatomy linked to a robotic interface providing haptic force feedback. This paper focuses on the requirements, design and prototyping of a specific haptic interface for guide wires.

An Enhanced Soft Vibrotactile Actuator Based on ePVC Gel with Silicon Dioxide Nanoparticles.

PubMed

Park, Won-Hyeong; Shin, Eun-Jae; Yun, Sungryul; Kim, Sang-Youn

2018-01-01

In this paper, we propose a soft vibrotactile actuator made by mixing silicon dioxide nanoparticles and plasticized PVC gel. The effect of the silicon dioxide nanoparticles in the plasticized PVC gel for the haptic performance is investigated in terms of electric, dielectric, and mechanical properties. Furthermore, eight soft vibrotactile actuators are prepared as a function of the content. Experiments are conducted to examine the haptic performance of the prepared eight soft vibrotactile actuators and to find the best weight ratio of the plasticized PVC gel to the nanoparticles. The experiments should show that the plasticized PVC gel with silicon dioxide nanoparticles improves the haptic performance of the plasticized PVC gel-based vibrotactile actuator, and the proposed vibrotactile actuator can create a variety of haptic sensations in a wide frequency range.

Morphologic compatibility or intraocular lens haptics and the lens capsule.

PubMed

Nagamoto, T; Eguchi, G

1997-10-01

To evaluate the mechanical relationship between the intraocular lens (IOL) haptic and the capsular bag by quantitatively analyzing the fit of the haptic with the capsule equator and the capsular bag deformity induced by the implanted lens haptics. Division of Morphogenesis, Department of Developmental Biology, National Institute for Basic Biology, Okazaki, Japan. Following implantation of a poly(methyl methacrylate)(PMMA) ring in three excised human capsular bags with continuous curvilinear capsulorhexis (CCC), IOLs with different overall lengths or haptic designs were implanted in the bags and photographed. The straight length of the area of contact between the haptic and the capsule equator on the photographs was measured to provide a quantitative index of in-the-bag fixation and the length from the external margin of the PMMA ring to the external margin of the loop along the maximal diameter of the capsular bag, to indicate the quantitative degree of capsular deformity induced by an IOL. An IOL with modified-C loops produced better fit along the capsule equator and less deformity than an IOL with modified-J loops, and an IOL with an overall length of 12.0 or 12.5 mm produced a sufficiently good fit and less distortion of the capsular bag than an IOL with an overall length over 13.0 mm. An IOL with modified-C loops and an overall length of 12.0 or 12.5 mm is adequate for in-the-bag implantation following CCC.

Fragility of haptic memory in human full-term newborns.

PubMed

Lejeune, Fleur; Borradori Tolsa, Cristina; Gentaz, Edouard; Barisnikov, Koviljka

2018-05-31

Numerous studies have established that newborns can memorize tactile information about the specific features of an object with their hands and detect differences with another object. However, the robustness of haptic memory abilities has already been examined in preterm newborns and in full-term infants, but not yet in full-term newborns. This research is aimed to better understand the robustness of haptic memory abilities at birth by examining the effects of a change in the objects' temperature and haptic interference. Sixty-eight full-term newborns (mean postnatal age: 2.5 days) were included. The two experiments were conducted in three phases: habituation (repeated presentation of the same object, a prism or cylinder in the newborn's hand), discrimination (presentation of a novel object), and recognition (presentation of the familiar object). In Experiment 1, the change in the objects' temperature was controlled during the three phases. Results reveal that newborns can memorize specific features that differentiate prism and cylinder shapes by touch, and discriminate between them, but surprisingly they did not show evidence of recognizing them after interference. As no significant effect of the temperature condition was observed in habituation, discrimination and recognition abilities, these findings suggest that discrimination abilities in newborns may be determined by the detection of shape differences. Overall, it seems that the ontogenesis of haptic recognition memory is not linear. The developmental schedule is likely crucial for haptic development between 34 and 40 GW. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Design and implementation of visual-haptic assistive control system for virtual rehabilitation exercise and teleoperation manipulation.

PubMed

Veras, Eduardo J; De Laurentis, Kathryn J; Dubey, Rajiv

2008-01-01

This paper describes the design and implementation of a control system that integrates visual and haptic information to give assistive force feedback through a haptic controller (Omni Phantom) to the user. A sensor-based assistive function and velocity scaling program provides force feedback that helps the user complete trajectory following exercises for rehabilitation purposes. This system also incorporates a PUMA robot for teleoperation, which implements a camera and a laser range finder, controlled in real time by a PC, were implemented into the system to help the user to define the intended path to the selected target. The real-time force feedback from the remote robot to the haptic controller is made possible by using effective multithreading programming strategies in the control system design and by novel sensor integration. The sensor-based assistant function concept applied to teleoperation as well as shared control enhances the motion range and manipulation capabilities of the users executing rehabilitation exercises such as trajectory following along a sensor-based defined path. The system is modularly designed to allow for integration of different master devices and sensors. Furthermore, because this real-time system is versatile the haptic component can be used separately from the telerobotic component; in other words, one can use the haptic device for rehabilitation purposes for cases in which assistance is needed to perform tasks (e.g., stroke rehab) and also for teleoperation with force feedback and sensor assistance in either supervisory or automatic modes.

Optimal visual-haptic integration with articulated tools.

PubMed

Takahashi, Chie; Watt, Simon J

2017-05-01

When we feel and see an object, the nervous system integrates visual and haptic information optimally, exploiting the redundancy in multiple signals to estimate properties more precisely than is possible from either signal alone. We examined whether optimal integration is similarly achieved when using articulated tools. Such tools (tongs, pliers, etc) are a defining characteristic of human hand function, but complicate the classical sensory 'correspondence problem' underlying multisensory integration. Optimal integration requires establishing the relationship between signals acquired by different sensors (hand and eye) and, therefore, in fundamentally unrelated units. The system must also determine when signals refer to the same property of the world-seeing and feeling the same thing-and only integrate those that do. This could be achieved by comparing the pattern of current visual and haptic input to known statistics of their normal relationship. Articulated tools disrupt this relationship, however, by altering the geometrical relationship between object properties and hand posture (the haptic signal). We examined whether different tool configurations are taken into account in visual-haptic integration. We indexed integration by measuring the precision of size estimates, and compared our results to optimal predictions from a maximum-likelihood integrator. Integration was near optimal, independent of tool configuration/hand posture, provided that visual and haptic signals referred to the same object in the world. Thus, sensory correspondence was determined correctly (trial-by-trial), taking tool configuration into account. This reveals highly flexible multisensory integration underlying tool use, consistent with the brain constructing internal models of tools' properties.

A perspective on the role and utility of haptic feedback in laparoscopic skills training.

PubMed

Singapogu, Ravikiran; Burg, Timothy; Burg, Karen J L; Smith, Dane E; Eckenrode, Amanda H

2014-01-01

Laparoscopic surgery is a minimally invasive surgical technique with significant potential benefits to the patient, including shorter recovery time, less scarring, and decreased costs. There is a growing need to teach surgical trainees this emerging surgical technique. Simulators, ranging from simple "box" trainers to complex virtual reality (VR) trainers, have emerged as the most promising method for teaching basic laparoscopic surgical skills. Current box trainers require oversight from an expert surgeon for both training and assessing skills. VR trainers decrease the dependence on expert teachers during training by providing objective, real-time feedback and automatic skills evaluation. However, current VR trainers generally have limited credibility as a means to prepare new surgeons and have often fallen short of educators' expectations. Several researchers have speculated that the missing component in modern VR trainers is haptic feedback, which refers to the range of touch sensations encountered during surgery. These force types and ranges need to be adequately rendered by simulators for a more complete training experience. This article presents a perspective of the role and utility of haptic feedback during laparoscopic surgery and laparoscopic skills training by detailing the ranges and types of haptic sensations felt by the operating surgeon, along with quantitative studies of how this feedback is used. Further, a number of research studies that have documented human performance effects as a result of the presence of haptic feedback are critically reviewed. Finally, key research directions in using haptic feedback for laparoscopy training simulators are identified.

A Framework for a Supervisory Expert System for Robotic Manipulators with Joint-Position Limits and Joint-Rate Limits

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mutambara, Arthur G. O.; Litt, Jonathan

1998-01-01

This report addresses the problem of path planning and control of robotic manipulators which have joint-position limits and joint-rate limits. The manipulators move autonomously and carry out variable tasks in a dynamic, unstructured and cluttered environment. The issue considered is whether the robotic manipulator can achieve all its tasks, and if it cannot, the objective is to identify the closest achievable goal. This problem is formalized and systematically solved for generic manipulators by using inverse kinematics and forward kinematics. Inverse kinematics are employed to define the subspace, workspace and constrained workspace, which are then used to identify when a task is not achievable. The closest achievable goal is obtained by determining weights for an optimal control redistribution scheme. These weights are quantified by using forward kinematics. Conditions leading to joint rate limits are identified, in particular it is established that all generic manipulators have singularities at the boundary of their workspace, while some have loci of singularities inside their workspace. Once the manipulator singularity is identified the command redistribution scheme is used to compute the closest achievable Cartesian velocities. Two examples are used to illustrate the use of the algorithm: A three link planar manipulator and the Unimation Puma 560. Implementation of the derived algorithm is effected by using a supervisory expert system to check whether the desired goal lies in the constrained workspace and if not, to evoke the redistribution scheme which determines the constraint relaxation between end effector position and orientation, and then computes optimal gains.

Force Sensitive Handles and Capacitive Touch Sensor for Driving a Flexible Haptic-Based Immersive System

PubMed Central

Covarrubias, Mario; Bordegoni, Monica; Cugini, Umberto

2013-01-01

In this article, we present an approach that uses both two force sensitive handles (FSH) and a flexible capacitive touch sensor (FCTS) to drive a haptic-based immersive system. The immersive system has been developed as part of a multimodal interface for product design. The haptic interface consists of a strip that can be used by product designers to evaluate the quality of a 3D virtual shape by using touch, vision and hearing and, also, to interactively change the shape of the virtual object. Specifically, the user interacts with the FSH to move the virtual object and to appropriately position the haptic interface for retrieving the six degrees of freedom required for both manipulation and modification modalities. The FCTS allows the system to track the movement and position of the user's fingers on the strip, which is used for rendering visual and sound feedback. Two evaluation experiments are described, which involve both the evaluation and the modification of a 3D shape. Results show that the use of the haptic strip for the evaluation of aesthetic shapes is effective and supports product designers in the appreciation of the aesthetic qualities of the shape. PMID:24113680

The Mere Exposure Effect in the Domain of Haptics

PubMed Central

Jakesch, Martina; Carbon, Claus-Christian

2012-01-01

Background Zajonc showed that the attitude towards stimuli that one had been previously exposed to is more positive than towards novel stimuli. This mere exposure effect (MEE) has been tested extensively using various visual stimuli. Research on the MEE is sparse, however, for other sensory modalities. Methodology/Principal Findings We used objects of two material categories (stone and wood) and two complexity levels (simple and complex) to test the influence of exposure frequency (F0 = novel stimuli, F2 = stimuli exposed twice, F10 = stimuli exposed ten times) under two sensory modalities (haptics only and haptics & vision). Effects of exposure frequency were found for high complex stimuli with significantly increasing liking from F0 to F2 and F10, but only for the stone category. Analysis of “Need for Touch” data showed the MEE in participants with high need for touch, which suggests different sensitivity or saturation levels of MEE. Conclusions/Significance This different sensitivity or saturation levels might also reflect the effects of expertise on the haptic evaluation of objects. It seems that haptic and cross-modal MEEs are influenced by factors similar to those in the visual domain indicating a common cognitive basis. PMID:22347451

Development of a Robotic Colonoscopic Manipulation System, Using Haptic Feedback Algorithm.

PubMed

Woo, Jaehong; Choi, Jae Hyuk; Seo, Jong Tae; Kim, Tae Il; Yi, Byung Ju

2017-01-01

Colonoscopy is one of the most effective diagnostic and therapeutic tools for colorectal diseases. We aim to propose a master-slave robotic colonoscopy that is controllable in remote site using conventional colonoscopy. The master and slave robot were developed to use conventional flexible colonoscopy. The robotic colonoscopic procedure was performed using a colonoscope training model by one expert endoscopist and two unexperienced engineers. To provide the haptic sensation, the insertion force and the rotating torque were measured and sent to the master robot. A slave robot was developed to hold the colonoscopy and its knob, and perform insertion, rotation, and two tilting motions of colonoscope. A master robot was designed to teach motions of the slave robot. These measured force and torque were scaled down by one tenth to provide the operator with some reflection force and torque at the haptic device. The haptic sensation and feedback system was successful and helpful to feel the constrained force or torque in colon. The insertion time using robotic system decreased with repeated procedures. This work proposed a robotic approach for colonoscopy using haptic feedback algorithm, and this robotic device would effectively perform colonoscopy with reduced burden and comparable safety for patients in remote site.

Experimental Study on the Perception Characteristics of Haptic Texture by Multidimensional Scaling.

PubMed

Wu, Juan; Li, Na; Liu, Wei; Song, Guangming; Zhang, Jun

2015-01-01

Recent works regarding real texture perception demonstrate that physical factors such as stiffness and spatial period play a fundamental role in texture perception. This research used a multidimensional scaling (MDS) analysis to further characterize and quantify the effects of the simulation parameters on haptic texture rendering and perception. In a pilot experiment, 12 haptic texture samples were generated by using a 3-degrees-of-freedom (3-DOF) force-feedback device with varying spatial period, height, and stiffness coefficient parameter values. The subjects' perceptions of the virtual textures indicate that roughness, denseness, flatness and hardness are distinguishing characteristics of texture. In the main experiment, 19 participants rated the dissimilarities of the textures and estimated the magnitudes of their characteristics. The MDS method was used to recover the underlying perceptual space and reveal the significance of the space from the recorded data. The physical parameters and their combinations have significant effects on the perceptual characteristics. A regression model was used to quantitatively analyze the parameters and their effects on the perceptual characteristics. This paper is to illustrate that haptic texture perception based on force feedback can be modeled in two- or three-dimensional space and provide suggestions on improving perception-based haptic texture rendering.

Force sensitive handles and capacitive touch sensor for driving a flexible haptic-based immersive system.

PubMed

Covarrubias, Mario; Bordegoni, Monica; Cugini, Umberto

2013-10-09

In this article, we present an approach that uses both two force sensitive handles (FSH) and a flexible capacitive touch sensor (FCTS) to drive a haptic-based immersive system. The immersive system has been developed as part of a multimodal interface for product design. The haptic interface consists of a strip that can be used by product designers to evaluate the quality of a 3D virtual shape by using touch, vision and hearing and, also, to interactively change the shape of the virtual object. Specifically, the user interacts with the FSH to move the virtual object and to appropriately position the haptic interface for retrieving the six degrees of freedom required for both manipulation and modification modalities. The FCTS allows the system to track the movement and position of the user's fingers on the strip, which is used for rendering visual and sound feedback. Two evaluation experiments are described, which involve both the evaluation and the modification of a 3D shape. Results show that the use of the haptic strip for the evaluation of aesthetic shapes is effective and supports product designers in the appreciation of the aesthetic qualities of the shape.

Haptic shape discrimination and interhemispheric communication.

PubMed

Dowell, Catherine J; Norman, J Farley; Moment, Jackie R; Shain, Lindsey M; Norman, Hideko F; Phillips, Flip; Kappers, Astrid M L

2018-01-10

In three experiments participants haptically discriminated object shape using unimanual (single hand explored two objects) and bimanual exploration (both hands were used, but each hand, left or right, explored a separate object). Such haptic exploration (one versus two hands) requires somatosensory processing in either only one or both cerebral hemispheres; previous studies related to the perception of shape/curvature found superior performance for unimanual exploration, indicating that shape comparison is more effective when only one hemisphere is utilized. The current results, obtained for naturally shaped solid objects (bell peppers, Capsicum annuum) and simple cylindrical surfaces demonstrate otherwise: bimanual haptic exploration can be as effective as unimanual exploration, showing that there is no necessary reduction in ability when haptic shape comparison requires interhemispheric communication. We found that while successive bimanual exploration produced high shape discriminability, the participants' bimanual performance deteriorated for simultaneous shape comparisons. This outcome suggests that either interhemispheric interference or the need to attend to multiple objects simultaneously reduces shape discrimination ability. The current results also reveal a significant effect of age: older adults' shape discrimination abilities are moderately reduced relative to younger adults, regardless of how objects are manipulated (left hand only, right hand only, or bimanual exploration).

A Review of Simulators with Haptic Devices for Medical Training.

PubMed

Escobar-Castillejos, David; Noguez, Julieta; Neri, Luis; Magana, Alejandra; Benes, Bedrich

2016-04-01

Medical procedures often involve the use of the tactile sense to manipulate organs or tissues by using special tools. Doctors require extensive preparation in order to perform them successfully; for example, research shows that a minimum of 750 operations are needed to acquire sufficient experience to perform medical procedures correctly. Haptic devices have become an important training alternative and they have been considered to improve medical training because they let users interact with virtual environments by adding the sense of touch to the simulation. Previous articles in the field state that haptic devices enhance the learning of surgeons compared to current training environments used in medical schools (corpses, animals, or synthetic skin and organs). Consequently, virtual environments use haptic devices to improve realism. The goal of this paper is to provide a state of the art review of recent medical simulators that use haptic devices. In particular we focus on stitching, palpation, dental procedures, endoscopy, laparoscopy, and orthopaedics. These simulators are reviewed and compared from the viewpoint of used technology, the number of degrees of freedom, degrees of force feedback, perceived realism, immersion, and feedback provided to the user. In the conclusion, several observations per area and suggestions for future work are provided.

Differential effects of delay upon visually and haptically guided grasping and perceptual judgments.

PubMed

Pettypiece, Charles E; Culham, Jody C; Goodale, Melvyn A

2009-05-01

Experiments with visual illusions have revealed a dissociation between the systems that mediate object perception and those responsible for object-directed action. More recently, an experiment on a haptic version of the visual size-contrast illusion has provided evidence for the notion that the haptic modality shows a similar dissociation when grasping and estimating the size of objects in real-time. Here we present evidence suggesting that the similarities between the two modalities begin to break down once a delay is introduced between when people feel the target object and when they perform the grasp or estimation. In particular, when grasping after a delay in a haptic paradigm, people scale their grasps differently when the target is presented with a flanking object of a different size (although the difference does not reflect a size-contrast effect). When estimating after a delay, however, it appears that people ignore the size of the flanking objects entirely. This does not fit well with the results commonly found in visual experiments. Thus, introducing a delay reveals important differences in the way in which haptic and visual memories are stored and accessed.

Experiences with the BSCW Shared Workspace System as the Backbone of a Virtual Learning Environment for Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Appelt, Wolfgang; Mambrey, Peter

The GMD (German National Research Center for Information Technology) has developed the BSCW (Basic Support for Cooperative Work) Shared Workspace system within the last four years with the goal of transforming the Web from a primarily passive information repository to an active cooperation medium. The BSCW system is a Web-based groupware tool for…

Mathematically gifted adolescents mobilize enhanced workspace configuration of theta cortical network during deductive reasoning.

PubMed

Zhang, L; Gan, J Q; Wang, H

2015-03-19

Previous studies have established the importance of the fronto-parietal brain network in the information processing of reasoning. At the level of cortical source analysis, this eletroencepalogram (EEG) study investigates the functional reorganization of the theta-band (4-8Hz) neurocognitive network of mathematically gifted adolescents during deductive reasoning. Depending on the dense increase of long-range phase synchronizations in the reasoning process, math-gifted adolescents show more significant adaptive reorganization and enhanced "workspace" configuration in the theta network as compared with average-ability control subjects. The salient areas are mainly located in the anterior cortical vertices of the fronto-parietal network. Further correlation analyses have shown that the enhanced workspace configuration with respect to the global topological metrics of the theta network in math-gifted subjects is correlated with the intensive frontal midline theta (fm theta) response that is related to strong neural effort for cognitive events. These results suggest that by investing more cognitive resources math-gifted adolescents temporally mobilize an enhanced task-related global neuronal workspace, which is manifested as a highly integrated fronto-parietal information processing network during the reasoning process. Copyright © 2015 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Fundamentally Distributed Information Processing Integrates the Motor Network into the Mental Workspace during Mental Rotation.

PubMed

Schlegel, Alexander; Konuthula, Dedeepya; Alexander, Prescott; Blackwood, Ethan; Tse, Peter U

2016-08-01

The manipulation of mental representations in the human brain appears to share similarities with the physical manipulation of real-world objects. In particular, some neuroimaging studies have found increased activity in motor regions during mental rotation, suggesting that mental and physical operations may involve overlapping neural populations. Does the motor network contribute information processing to mental rotation? If so, does it play a similar computational role in both mental and manual rotation, and how does it communicate with the wider network of areas involved in the mental workspace? Here we used multivariate methods and fMRI to study 24 participants as they mentally rotated 3-D objects or manually rotated their hands in one of four directions. We find that information processing related to mental rotations is distributed widely among many cortical and subcortical regions, that the motor network becomes tightly integrated into a wider mental workspace network during mental rotation, and that motor network activity during mental rotation only partially resembles that involved in manual rotation. Additionally, these findings provide evidence that the mental workspace is organized as a distributed core network that dynamically recruits specialized subnetworks for specific tasks as needed.

Adaptive displays and controllers using alternative feedback.

PubMed

Repperger, D W

2004-12-01

Investigations on the design of haptic (force reflecting joystick or force display) controllers were conducted by viewing the display of force information within the context of several different paradigms. First, using analogies from electrical and mechanical systems, certain schemes of the haptic interface were hypothesized which may improve the human-machine interaction with respect to various criteria. A discussion is given on how this interaction benefits the electrical and mechanical system. To generalize this concept to the design of human-machine interfaces, three studies with haptic mechanisms were then synthesized and analyzed.

Analysis on the workspace of palletizing robot based on AutoCAD

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Jin-quan; Zhang, Rui; Guan, Qi; Cui, Fang; Chen, Kuan

2017-10-01

In this paper, a four-degree-of-freedom articulated palletizing robot is used as the object of research. Based on the analysis of the overall configuration of the robot, the kinematic mathematical model is established by D-H method to figure out the workspace of the robot. In order to meet the needs of design and analysis, using AutoCAD secondary development technology and AutoLisp language to develop AutoCAD-based 2D and 3D workspace simulation interface program of palletizing robot. At last, using AutoCAD plugin, the influence of structural parameters on the shape and position of the working space is analyzed when the structure parameters of the robot are changed separately. This study laid the foundation for the design, control and planning of palletizing robots.

Model Predictive Control Based Motion Drive Algorithm for a Driving Simulator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rehmatullah, Faizan

In this research, we develop a model predictive control based motion drive algorithm for the driving simulator at Toronto Rehabilitation Institute. Motion drive algorithms exploit the limitations of the human vestibular system to formulate a perception of motion within the constrained workspace of a simulator. In the absence of visual cues, the human perception system is unable to distinguish between acceleration and the force of gravity. The motion drive algorithm determines control inputs to displace the simulator platform, and by using the resulting inertial forces and angular rates, creates the perception of motion. By using model predictive control, we can optimize the use of simulator workspace for every maneuver while simulating the vehicle perception. With the ability to handle nonlinear constraints, the model predictive control allows us to incorporate workspace limitations.

Does haptic steering guidance instigate speeding? A driving simulator study into causes and remedies.

PubMed

Melman, T; de Winter, J C F; Abbink, D A

2017-01-01

An important issue in road traffic safety is that drivers show adverse behavioral adaptation (BA) to driver assistance systems. Haptic steering guidance is an upcoming assistance system which facilitates lane-keeping performance while keeping drivers in the loop, and which may be particularly prone to BA. Thus far, experiments on haptic steering guidance have measured driver performance while the vehicle speed was kept constant. The aim of the present driving simulator study was to examine whether haptic steering guidance causes BA in the form of speeding, and to evaluate two types of haptic steering guidance designed not to suffer from BA. Twenty-four participants drove a 1.8m wide car for 13.9km on a curved road, with cones demarcating a single 2.2m narrow lane. Participants completed four conditions in a counterbalanced design: no guidance (Manual), continuous haptic guidance (Cont), continuous guidance that linearly reduced feedback gains from full guidance at 125km/h towards manual control at 130km/h and above (ContRF), and haptic guidance provided only when the predicted lateral position was outside a lateral bandwidth (Band). Participants were familiarized with each condition prior to the experimental runs and were instructed to drive as they normally would while minimizing the number of cone hits. Compared to Manual, the Cont condition yielded a significantly higher driving speed (on average by 7km/h), whereas ContRF and Band did not. All three guidance conditions yielded better lane-keeping performance than Manual, whereas Cont and ContRF yielded lower self-reported workload than Manual. In conclusion, continuous steering guidance entices drivers to increase their speed, thereby diminishing its potential safety benefits. It is possible to prevent BA while retaining safety benefits by making a design adjustment either in lateral (Band) or in longitudinal (ContRF) direction. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Feel, imagine and learn! - Haptic augmented simulation and embodied instruction in physics learning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Han, In Sook

The purpose of this study was to investigate the potentials and effects of an embodied instructional model in abstract concept learning. This embodied instructional process included haptic augmented educational simulation as an instructional tool to provide perceptual experiences as well as further instruction to activate those previous experiences with perceptual simulation. In order to verify the effectiveness of this instructional model, haptic augmented simulation with three different haptic levels (force and kinesthetic, kinesthetic, and non-haptic) and instructional materials (narrative and expository) were developed and their effectiveness tested. 220 fifth grade students were recruited to participate in the study from three elementary schools located in lower SES neighborhoods in Bronx, New York. The study was conducted for three consecutive weeks in regular class periods. The data was analyzed using ANCOVA, ANOVA, and MANOVA. The result indicates that haptic augmented simulations, both the force and kinesthetic and the kinesthetic simulations, was more effective than the non-haptic simulation in providing perceptual experiences and helping elementary students to create multimodal representations about machines' movements. However, in most cases, force feedback was needed to construct a fully loaded multimodal representation that could be activated when the instruction with less sensory modalities was being given. In addition, the force and kinesthetic simulation was effective in providing cognitive grounding to comprehend a new learning content based on the multimodal representation created with enhanced force feedback. Regarding the instruction type, it was found that the narrative and the expository instructions did not make any difference in activating previous perceptual experiences. These findings suggest that it is important to help students to make a solid cognitive ground with perceptual anchor. Also, sequential abstraction process would deepen students' understanding by providing an opportunity to practice their mental simulation by removing sensory modalities used one by one and to gradually reach abstract level of understanding where students can imagine the machine's movements and working mechanisms with only abstract language without any perceptual supports.

Mixed reality temporal bone surgical dissector: mechanical design

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Objective The Development of a Novel Mixed Reality (MR) Simulation. An evolving training environment emphasizes the importance of simulation. Current haptic temporal bone simulators have difficulty representing realistic contact forces and while 3D printed models convincingly represent vibrational properties of bone, they cannot reproduce soft tissue. This paper introduces a mixed reality model, where the effective elements of both simulations are combined; haptic rendering of soft tissue directly interacts with a printed bone model. This paper addresses one aspect in a series of challenges, specifically the mechanical merger of a haptic device with an otic drill. This further necessitates gravity cancelation of the work assembly gripper mechanism. In this system, the haptic end-effector is replaced by a high-speed drill and the virtual contact forces need to be repositioned to the drill tip from the mid wand. Previous publications detail generation of both the requisite printed and haptic simulations. Method Custom software was developed to reposition the haptic interaction point to the drill tip. A custom fitting, to hold the otic drill, was developed and its weight was offset using the haptic device. The robustness of the system to disturbances and its stable performance during drilling were tested. The experiments were performed on a mixed reality model consisting of two drillable rapid-prototyped layers separated by a free-space. Within the free-space, a linear virtual force model is applied to simulate drill contact with soft tissue. Results Testing illustrated the effectiveness of gravity cancellation. Additionally, the system exhibited excellent performance given random inputs and during the drill’s passage between real and virtual components of the model. No issues with registration at model boundaries were encountered. Conclusion These tests provide a proof of concept for the initial stages in the development of a novel mixed-reality temporal bone simulator. PMID:25927300

Metal Sounds Stiffer than Drums for Ears, but Not Always for Hands: Low-Level Auditory Features Affect Multisensory Stiffness Perception More than High-Level Categorical Information

PubMed Central

Liu, Juan; Ando, Hiroshi

2016-01-01

Most real-world events stimulate multiple sensory modalities simultaneously. Usually, the stiffness of an object is perceived haptically. However, auditory signals also contain stiffness-related information, and people can form impressions of stiffness from the different impact sounds of metal, wood, or glass. To understand whether there is any interaction between auditory and haptic stiffness perception, and if so, whether the inferred material category is the most relevant auditory information, we conducted experiments using a force-feedback device and the modal synthesis method to present haptic stimuli and impact sound in accordance with participants’ actions, and to modulate low-level acoustic parameters, i.e., frequency and damping, without changing the inferred material categories of sound sources. We found that metal sounds consistently induced an impression of stiffer surfaces than did drum sounds in the audio-only condition, but participants haptically perceived surfaces with modulated metal sounds as significantly softer than the same surfaces with modulated drum sounds, which directly opposes the impression induced by these sounds alone. This result indicates that, although the inferred material category is strongly associated with audio-only stiffness perception, low-level acoustic parameters, especially damping, are more tightly integrated with haptic signals than the material category is. Frequency played an important role in both audio-only and audio-haptic conditions. Our study provides evidence that auditory information influences stiffness perception differently in unisensory and multisensory tasks. Furthermore, the data demonstrated that sounds with higher frequency and/or shorter decay time tended to be judged as stiffer, and contact sounds of stiff objects had no effect on the haptic perception of soft surfaces. We argue that the intrinsic physical relationship between object stiffness and acoustic parameters may be applied as prior knowledge to achieve robust estimation of stiffness in multisensory perception. PMID:27902718

A pseudo-haptic knot diagram interface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Hui; Weng, Jianguang; Hanson, Andrew J.

2011-01-01

To make progress in understanding knot theory, we will need to interact with the projected representations of mathematical knots which are of course continuous in 3D but significantly interrupted in the projective images. One way to achieve such a goal would be to design an interactive system that allows us to sketch 2D knot diagrams by taking advantage of a collision-sensing controller and explore their underlying smooth structures through a continuous motion. Recent advances of interaction techniques have been made that allow progress to be made in this direction. Pseudo-haptics that simulates haptic effects using pure visual feedback can be used to develop such an interactive system. This paper outlines one such pseudo-haptic knot diagram interface. Our interface derives from the familiar pencil-and-paper process of drawing 2D knot diagrams and provides haptic-like sensations to facilitate the creation and exploration of knot diagrams. A centerpiece of the interaction model simulates a "physically" reactive mouse cursor, which is exploited to resolve the apparent conflict between the continuous structure of the actual smooth knot and the visual discontinuities in the knot diagram representation. Another value in exploiting pseudo-haptics is that an acceleration (or deceleration) of the mouse cursor (or surface locator) can be used to indicate the slope of the curve (or surface) of whom the projective image is being explored. By exploiting these additional visual cues, we proceed to a full-featured extension to a pseudo-haptic 4D visualization system that simulates the continuous navigation on 4D objects and allows us to sense the bumps and holes in the fourth dimension. Preliminary tests of the software show that main features of the interface overcome some expected perceptual limitations in our interaction with 2D knot diagrams of 3D knots and 3D projective images of 4D mathematical objects.

Perceiving Object Shape from Specular Highlight Deformation, Boundary Contour Deformation, and Active Haptic Manipulation.

PubMed

Norman, J Farley; Phillips, Flip; Cheeseman, Jacob R; Thomason, Kelsey E; Ronning, Cecilia; Behari, Kriti; Kleinman, Kayla; Calloway, Autum B; Lamirande, Davora

2016-01-01

It is well known that motion facilitates the visual perception of solid object shape, particularly when surface texture or other identifiable features (e.g., corners) are present. Conventional models of structure-from-motion require the presence of texture or identifiable object features in order to recover 3-D structure. Is the facilitation in 3-D shape perception similar in magnitude when surface texture is absent? On any given trial in the current experiments, participants were presented with a single randomly-selected solid object (bell pepper or randomly-shaped "glaven") for 12 seconds and were required to indicate which of 12 (for bell peppers) or 8 (for glavens) simultaneously visible objects possessed the same shape. The initial single object's shape was defined either by boundary contours alone (i.e., presented as a silhouette), specular highlights alone, specular highlights combined with boundary contours, or texture. In addition, there was a haptic condition: in this condition, the participants haptically explored with both hands (but could not see) the initial single object for 12 seconds; they then performed the same shape-matching task used in the visual conditions. For both the visual and haptic conditions, motion (rotation in depth or active object manipulation) was present in half of the trials and was not present for the remaining trials. The effect of motion was quantitatively similar for all of the visual and haptic conditions-e.g., the participants' performance in Experiment 1 was 93.5 percent higher in the motion or active haptic manipulation conditions (when compared to the static conditions). The current results demonstrate that deforming specular highlights or boundary contours facilitate 3-D shape perception as much as the motion of objects that possess texture. The current results also indicate that the improvement with motion that occurs for haptics is similar in magnitude to that which occurs for vision.

Perceiving Object Shape from Specular Highlight Deformation, Boundary Contour Deformation, and Active Haptic Manipulation

PubMed Central

Cheeseman, Jacob R.; Thomason, Kelsey E.; Ronning, Cecilia; Behari, Kriti; Kleinman, Kayla; Calloway, Autum B.; Lamirande, Davora

2016-01-01

It is well known that motion facilitates the visual perception of solid object shape, particularly when surface texture or other identifiable features (e.g., corners) are present. Conventional models of structure-from-motion require the presence of texture or identifiable object features in order to recover 3-D structure. Is the facilitation in 3-D shape perception similar in magnitude when surface texture is absent? On any given trial in the current experiments, participants were presented with a single randomly-selected solid object (bell pepper or randomly-shaped “glaven”) for 12 seconds and were required to indicate which of 12 (for bell peppers) or 8 (for glavens) simultaneously visible objects possessed the same shape. The initial single object’s shape was defined either by boundary contours alone (i.e., presented as a silhouette), specular highlights alone, specular highlights combined with boundary contours, or texture. In addition, there was a haptic condition: in this condition, the participants haptically explored with both hands (but could not see) the initial single object for 12 seconds; they then performed the same shape-matching task used in the visual conditions. For both the visual and haptic conditions, motion (rotation in depth or active object manipulation) was present in half of the trials and was not present for the remaining trials. The effect of motion was quantitatively similar for all of the visual and haptic conditions–e.g., the participants’ performance in Experiment 1 was 93.5 percent higher in the motion or active haptic manipulation conditions (when compared to the static conditions). The current results demonstrate that deforming specular highlights or boundary contours facilitate 3-D shape perception as much as the motion of objects that possess texture. The current results also indicate that the improvement with motion that occurs for haptics is similar in magnitude to that which occurs for vision. PMID:26863531

Perception-based 3D tactile rendering from a single image for human skin examinations by dynamic touch.

PubMed

Kim, K; Lee, S

2015-05-01

Diagnosis of skin conditions is dependent on the assessment of skin surface properties that are represented by more tactile properties such as stiffness, roughness, and friction than visual information. Due to this reason, adding tactile feedback to existing vision based diagnosis systems can help dermatologists diagnose skin diseases or disorders more accurately. The goal of our research was therefore to develop a tactile rendering system for skin examinations by dynamic touch. Our development consists of two stages: converting a single image to a 3D haptic surface and rendering the generated haptic surface in real-time. Converting to 3D surfaces from 2D single images was implemented with concerning human perception data collected by a psychophysical experiment that measured human visual and haptic sensibility to 3D skin surface changes. For the second stage, we utilized real skin biomechanical properties found by prior studies. Our tactile rendering system is a standalone system that can be used with any single cameras and haptic feedback devices. We evaluated the performance of our system by conducting an identification experiment with three different skin images with five subjects. The participants had to identify one of the three skin surfaces by using a haptic device (Falcon) only. No visual cue was provided for the experiment. The results indicate that our system provides sufficient performance to render discernable tactile rendering with different skin surfaces. Our system uses only a single skin image and automatically generates a 3D haptic surface based on human haptic perception. Realistic skin interactions can be provided in real-time for the purpose of skin diagnosis, simulations, or training. Our system can also be used for other applications like virtual reality and cosmetic applications. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Haptics in forensics: the possibilities and advantages in using the haptic device for reconstruction approaches in forensic science.

PubMed

Buck, Ursula; Naether, Silvio; Braun, Marcel; Thali, Michael

2008-09-18

Non-invasive documentation methods such as surface scanning and radiological imaging are gaining in importance in the forensic field. These three-dimensional technologies provide digital 3D data, which are processed and handled in the computer. However, the sense of touch gets lost using the virtual approach. The haptic device enables the use of the sense of touch to handle and feel digital 3D data. The multifunctional application of a haptic device for forensic approaches is evaluated and illustrated in three different cases: the representation of bone fractures of the lower extremities, by traffic accidents, in a non-invasive manner; the comparison of bone injuries with the presumed injury-inflicting instrument; and in a gunshot case, the identification of the gun by the muzzle imprint, and the reconstruction of the holding position of the gun. The 3D models of the bones are generated from the Computed Tomography (CT) images. The 3D models of the exterior injuries, the injury-inflicting tools and the bone injuries, where a higher resolution is necessary, are created by the optical surface scan. The haptic device is used in combination with the software FreeForm Modelling Plus for touching the surface of the 3D models to feel the minute injuries and the surface of tools, to reposition displaced bone parts and to compare an injury-causing instrument with an injury. The repositioning of 3D models in a reconstruction is easier, faster and more precisely executed by means of using the sense of touch and with the user-friendly movement in the 3D space. For representation purposes, the fracture lines of bones are coloured. This work demonstrates that the haptic device is a suitable and efficient application in forensic science. The haptic device offers a new way in the handling of digital data in the virtual 3D space.

A review of haptic simulator for oral and maxillofacial surgery based on virtual reality.

PubMed

Chen, Xiaojun; Hu, Junlei

2018-06-01

Traditional medical training in oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMFS) may be limited by its low efficiency and high price due to the shortage of cadaver resources. With the combination of visual rendering and feedback force, surgery simulators become increasingly popular in hospitals and medical schools as an alternative to the traditional training. Areas covered: The major goal of this review is to provide a comprehensive reference source of current and future developments of haptic OMFS simulators based on virtual reality (VR) for relevant researchers. Expert commentary: Visual rendering, haptic rendering, tissue deformation, and evaluation are key components of haptic surgery simulator based on VR. Compared with traditional medical training, virtual and tactical fusion of virtual environment in surgery simulator enables considerably vivid sensation, and the operators have more opportunities to practice surgical skills and receive objective evaluation as reference.

Selective attention modulates visual and haptic repetition priming: effects in aging and Alzheimer's disease.

PubMed

Ballesteros, Soledad; Reales, José M; Mayas, Julia; Heller, Morton A

2008-08-01

In two experiments, we examined the effect of selective attention at encoding on repetition priming in normal aging and Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients for objects presented visually (experiment 1) or haptically (experiment 2). We used a repetition priming paradigm combined with a selective attention procedure at encoding. Reliable priming was found for both young adults and healthy older participants for visually presented pictures (experiment 1) as well as for haptically presented objects (experiment 2). However, this was only found for attended and not for unattended stimuli. The results suggest that independently of the perceptual modality, repetition priming requires attention at encoding and that perceptual facilitation is maintained in normal aging. However, AD patients did not show priming for attended stimuli, or for unattended visual or haptic objects. These findings suggest an early deficit of selective attention in AD. Results are discussed from a cognitive neuroscience approach.

Haptic interfaces using dielectric electroactive polymers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ozsecen, Muzaffer Y.; Sivak, Mark; Mavroidis, Constantinos

2010-04-01

Quality, amplitude and frequency of the interaction forces between a human and an actuator are essential traits for haptic applications. A variety of Electro-Active Polymer (EAP) based actuators can provide these characteristics simultaneously with quiet operation, low weight, high power density and fast response. This paper demonstrates a rolled Dielectric Elastomer Actuator (DEA) being used as a telepresence device in a heart beat measurement application. In the this testing, heart signals were acquired from a remote location using a wireless heart rate sensor, sent through a network and DEA was used to haptically reproduce the heart beats at the medical expert's location. A series of preliminary human subject tests were conducted that demonstrated that a) DE based haptic feeling can be used in heart beat measurement tests and b) through subjective testing the stiffness and actuator properties of the EAP can be tuned for a variety of applications.

A three-axis force sensor for dual finger haptic interfaces.

PubMed

Fontana, Marco; Marcheschi, Simone; Salsedo, Fabio; Bergamasco, Massimo

2012-10-10

In this work we present the design process, the characterization and testing of a novel three-axis mechanical force sensor. This sensor is optimized for use in closed-loop force control of haptic devices with three degrees of freedom. In particular the sensor has been conceived for integration with a dual finger haptic interface that aims at simulating forces that occur during grasping and surface exploration. The sensing spring structure has been purposely designed in order to match force and layout specifications for the application. In this paper the design of the sensor is presented, starting from an analytic model that describes the characteristic matrix of the sensor. A procedure for designing an optimal overload protection mechanism is proposed. In the last part of the paper the authors describe the experimental characterization and the integrated test on a haptic hand exoskeleton showing the improvements in the controller performances provided by the inclusion of the force sensor.

Blindness enhances tactile acuity and haptic 3-D shape discrimination.

PubMed

Norman, J Farley; Bartholomew, Ashley N

2011-10-01

This study compared the sensory and perceptual abilities of the blind and sighted. The 32 participants were required to perform two tasks: tactile grating orientation discrimination (to determine tactile acuity) and haptic three-dimensional (3-D) shape discrimination. The results indicated that the blind outperformed their sighted counterparts (individually matched for both age and sex) on both tactile tasks. The improvements in tactile acuity that accompanied blindness occurred for all blind groups (congenital, early, and late). However, the improvements in haptic 3-D shape discrimination only occurred for the early-onset and late-onset blindness groups; the performance of the congenitally blind was no better than that of the sighted controls. The results of the present study demonstrate that blindness does lead to an enhancement of tactile abilities, but they also suggest that early visual experience may play a role in facilitating haptic 3-D shape discrimination.

Verticality perception during and after galvanic vestibular stimulation.

PubMed

Volkening, Katharina; Bergmann, Jeannine; Keller, Ingo; Wuehr, Max; Müller, Friedemann; Jahn, Klaus

2014-10-03

The human brain constructs verticality perception by integrating vestibular, somatosensory, and visual information. Here we investigated whether galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS) has an effect on verticality perception both during and after application, by assessing the subjective verticals (visual, haptic and postural) in healthy subjects at those times. During stimulation the subjective visual vertical and the subjective haptic vertical shifted towards the anode, whereas this shift was reversed towards the cathode in all modalities once stimulation was turned off. Overall, the effects were strongest for the haptic modality. Additional investigation of the time course of GVS-induced changes in the haptic vertical revealed that anodal shifts persisted for the entire 20-min stimulation interval in the majority of subjects. Aftereffects exhibited different types of decay, with a preponderance for an exponential decay. The existence of such reverse effects after stimulation could have implications for GVS-based therapy. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Stability effects of singularities in force-controlled robotic assist devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luecke, Greg R.

2002-02-01

Force feedback is being used as an interface between humans and material handling equipment to provide an intuitive method to control large and bulky payloads. Powered actuation in the lift assist device compensates for the inertial characteristics of the manipulator and the payload to provide effortless control and handling of manufacturing parts, components, and assemblies. The use of these Intelligent Assist Devices (IAD) is being explored to prevent worker injury, enhance material handling performance, and increase productivity in the workplace. The IAD also provides the capability to shape and control motion in the workspace during routine operations. Virtual barriers can be developed to protect fixed objects in the workspace, and regions can be programmed that attract the work piece to a certain position and orientation. However, the robot is still under complete control of the human operator, with the trajectory being determined and commanded using the judgment of the operator to complete a given task. In many cases, the IAD is built in a configuration that may have singular points inside the workspace. These singularities can cause problems when the unstructured trajectory commands from the human cause interaction between the IAD and the virtual walls and fixtures at positions close to these singularities. The research presented here explores the stability effects of the interactions between the powered manipulator and the virtual surfaces when controlled by the operator. Because of the flexible nature of the human decisions determining the real time work piece paths, manipulator singularities that occur in conjunction with the virtual surfaces raise stability issues in the performance around these singularities. We examine these stability issues in the context of a particular IAD configuration, and present analytic results for the performance and stability of these systems in response to the real-time trajectory modification of the human operator.

Evaluation of haptic interfaces for simulation of drill vibration in virtual temporal bone surgery.

PubMed

Ghasemloonia, Ahmad; Baxandall, Shalese; Zareinia, Kourosh; Lui, Justin T; Dort, Joseph C; Sutherland, Garnette R; Chan, Sonny

2016-11-01

Surgical training is evolving from an observership model towards a new paradigm that includes virtual-reality (VR) simulation. In otolaryngology, temporal bone dissection has become intimately linked with VR simulation as the complexity of anatomy demands a high level of surgeon aptitude and confidence. While an adequate 3D visualization of the surgical site is available in current simulators, the force feedback rendered during haptic interaction does not convey vibrations. This lack of vibration rendering limits the simulation fidelity of a surgical drill such as that used in temporal bone dissection. In order to develop an immersive simulation platform capable of haptic force and vibration feedback, the efficacy of hand controllers for rendering vibration in different drilling circumstances needs to be investigated. In this study, the vibration rendering ability of four different haptic hand controllers were analyzed and compared to find the best commercial haptic hand controller. A test-rig was developed to record vibrations encountered during temporal bone dissection and a software was written to render the recorded signals without adding hardware to the system. An accelerometer mounted on the end-effector of each device recorded the rendered vibration signals. The newly recorded vibration signal was compared with the input signal in both time and frequency domains by coherence and cross correlation analyses to quantitatively measure the fidelity of these devices in terms of rendering vibrotactile drilling feedback in different drilling conditions. This method can be used to assess the vibration rendering ability in VR simulation systems and selection of ideal haptic devices. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effects of 3D virtual haptics force feedback on brand personality perception: the mediating role of physical presence in advergames.

PubMed

Jin, Seung-A Annie

2010-06-01

This study gauged the effects of force feedback in the Novint Falcon haptics system on the sensory and cognitive dimensions of a virtual test-driving experience. First, in order to explore the effects of tactile stimuli with force feedback on users' sensory experience, feelings of physical presence (the extent to which virtual physical objects are experienced as actual physical objects) were measured after participants used the haptics interface. Second, to evaluate the effects of force feedback on the cognitive dimension of consumers' virtual experience, this study investigated brand personality perception. The experiment utilized the Novint Falcon haptics controller to induce immersive virtual test-driving through tactile stimuli. The author designed a two-group (haptics stimuli with force feedback versus no force feedback) comparison experiment (N = 238) by manipulating the level of force feedback. Users in the force feedback condition were exposed to tactile stimuli involving various force feedback effects (e.g., terrain effects, acceleration, and lateral forces) while test-driving a rally car. In contrast, users in the control condition test-drove the rally car using the Novint Falcon but were not given any force feedback. Results of ANOVAs indicated that (a) users exposed to force feedback felt stronger physical presence than those in the no force feedback condition, and (b) users exposed to haptics stimuli with force feedback perceived the brand personality of the car to be more rugged than those in the control condition. Managerial implications of the study for product trial in the business world are discussed.

Patient DF's visual brain in action: Visual feedforward control in visual form agnosia.

PubMed

Whitwell, Robert L; Milner, A David; Cavina-Pratesi, Cristiana; Barat, Masihullah; Goodale, Melvyn A

2015-05-01

Patient DF, who developed visual form agnosia following ventral-stream damage, is unable to discriminate the width of objects, performing at chance, for example, when asked to open her thumb and forefinger a matching amount. Remarkably, however, DF adjusts her hand aperture to accommodate the width of objects when reaching out to pick them up (grip scaling). While this spared ability to grasp objects is presumed to be mediated by visuomotor modules in her relatively intact dorsal stream, it is possible that it may rely abnormally on online visual or haptic feedback. We report here that DF's grip scaling remained intact when her vision was completely suppressed during grasp movements, and it still dissociated sharply from her poor perceptual estimates of target size. We then tested whether providing trial-by-trial haptic feedback after making such perceptual estimates might improve DF's performance, but found that they remained significantly impaired. In a final experiment, we re-examined whether DF's grip scaling depends on receiving veridical haptic feedback during grasping. In one condition, the haptic feedback was identical to the visual targets. In a second condition, the haptic feedback was of a constant intermediate width while the visual target varied trial by trial. Despite this incongruent feedback, DF still scaled her grip aperture to the visual widths of the target blocks, showing only normal adaptation to the false haptically-experienced width. Taken together, these results strengthen the view that DF's spared grasping relies on a normal mode of dorsal-stream functioning, based chiefly on visual feedforward processing. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Advanced Maintenance Simulation by Means of Hand-Based Haptic Interfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nappi, Michele; Paolino, Luca; Ricciardi, Stefano; Sebillo, Monica; Vitiello, Giuliana

Aerospace industry has been involved in virtual simulation for design and testing since the birth of virtual reality. Today this industry is showing a growing interest in the development of haptic-based maintenance training applications, which represent the most advanced way to simulate maintenance and repair tasks within a virtual environment by means of a visual-haptic approach. The goal is to allow the trainee to experiment the service procedures not only as a workflow reproduced at a visual level but also in terms of the kinaesthetic feedback involved with the manipulation of tools and components. This study, conducted in collaboration with aerospace industry specialists, is aimed to the development of an immersive virtual capable of immerging the trainees into a virtual environment where mechanics and technicians can perform maintenance simulation or training tasks by directly manipulating 3D virtual models of aircraft parts while perceiving force feedback through the haptic interface. The proposed system is based on ViRstperson, a virtual reality engine under development at the Italian Center for Aerospace Research (CIRA) to support engineering and technical activities such as design-time maintenance procedure validation, and maintenance training. This engine has been extended to support haptic-based interaction, enabling a more complete level of interaction, also in terms of impedance control, and thus fostering the development of haptic knowledge in the user. The user’s “sense of touch” within the immersive virtual environment is simulated through an Immersion CyberForce® hand-based force-feedback device. Preliminary testing of the proposed system seems encouraging.

Motor skills, haptic perception and social abilities in children with mild speech disorders.

PubMed

Müürsepp, Iti; Aibast, Herje; Gapeyeva, Helena; Pääsuke, Mati

2012-02-01

The aim of the study was to evaluate motor skills, haptic object recognition and social interaction in 5-year-old children with mild specific expressive language impairment (expressive-SLI) and articulation disorder (AD) in comparison of age- and gender matched healthy children. Twenty nine children (23 boys and 6 girls) with expressive-SLI, 27 children (20 boys and 7 girls) with AD and 30 children (23 boys and 7 girls) with typically developing language as controls participated in our study. The children were examined for manual dexterity, ball skills, static and dynamic balance by M-ABC test, haptic object recognition and for social interaction by questionnaire completed by teachers. Children with mild expressive-SLI demonstrated significantly poorer results in all subtests of motor skills (p<0.05), in haptic object recognition and social interaction (p<0.01) compared to controls. There were no statistically significant differences (p>0.05) in measured parameters between children with AD and controls. Children with expressive-SLI performed considerably poorer compared to AD group in balance subtest (p<0.05), and in overall M-ABC test (p<0.01). In children with mild expressive-SLI the functional motor performance, haptic perception and social interaction are considerably more affected than in children with AD. Although motor difficulties in speech production are prevalent in AD, it is localised and does not involve children's general motor skills, haptic perception or social interaction. Copyright © 2011 The Japanese Society of Child Neurology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

High-fidelity bilateral teleoperation systems and the effect of multimodal haptics.

PubMed

Tavakoli, Mahdi; Aziminejad, Arash; Patel, Rajni V; Moallem, Mehrdad

2007-12-01

In master-slave teleoperation applications that deal with a delicate and sensitive environment, it is important to provide haptic feedback of slave/environment interactions to the user's hand as it improves task performance and teleoperation transparency (fidelity), which is the extent of telepresence of the remote environment available to the user through the master-slave system. For haptic teleoperation, in addition to a haptics-capable master interface, often one or more force sensors are also used, which warrant new bilateral control architectures while increasing the cost and the complexity of the teleoperation system. In this paper, we investigate the added benefits of using force sensors that measure hand/master and slave/environment interactions and of utilizing local feedback loops on the teleoperation transparency. We compare the two-channel and the four-channel bilateral control systems in terms of stability and transparency, and study the stability and performance robustness of the four-channel method against nonidealities that arise during bilateral control implementation, which include master-slave communication latency and changes in the environment dynamics. The next issue addressed in the paper deals with the case where the master interface is not haptics capable, but the slave is equipped with a force sensor. In the context of robotics-assisted soft-tissue surgical applications, we explore through human factors experiments whether slave/environment force measurements can be of any help with regard to improving task performance. The last problem we study is whether slave/environment force information, with and without haptic capability in the master interface, can help improve outcomes under degraded visual conditions.

Stereoscopic Configurations To Minimize Distortions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Diner, Daniel B.

1991-01-01

Proposed television system provides two stereoscopic displays. Two-camera, two-monitor system used in various camera configurations and with stereoscopic images on monitors magnified to various degrees. Designed to satisfy observer's need to perceive spatial relationships accurately throughout workspace or to perceive them at high resolution in small region of workspace. Potential applications include industrial, medical, and entertainment imaging and monitoring and control of telemanipulators, telerobots, and remotely piloted vehicles.

The impact of haptic feedback on students' conceptions of the cell

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Minogue, James

2005-07-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy of adding haptic (sense of touch) feedback to computer generated visualizations for use in middle school science instruction. Current technology allows for the simulation of tactile and kinesthetic sensations via haptic devices and a computer interface. This study, conducted with middle school students (n = 80), explored the cognitive and affective impacts of this innovative technology on students' conceptions of the cell and the process of passive transport. A pretest-posttest control group design was used and participants were randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups (n = 40 for each). Both groups experienced the same core computer-mediated instructional program. This Cell Exploration program engaged students in a 3-D immersive environment that allowed them to actively investigate the form and function of a typical animal cell including its major organelles. The program also engaged students in a study of the structure and function of the cell membrane as it pertains to the process of passive transport and the mechanisms behind the membrane's selective permeability. As they conducted their investigations, students in the experimental group received bi-modal visual and haptic (simulated tactile and kinesthetic) feedback whereas the control group students experienced the program with only visual stimuli. A battery of assessments, including objective and open-ended written response items as well as a haptic performance assessment, were used to gather quantitative and qualitative data regarding changes in students' understandings of the cell concepts prior to and following their completion of the instructional program. Additionally, the impact of haptics on the affective domain of students' learning was assessed using a post-experience semi-structured interview and an attitudinal survey. Results showed that students from both conditions (Visual-Only and Visual + Haptic) found the instructional program interesting and engaging. Additionally, the vast majority of the students reported that they learned a lot about and were more interested in the topic due to their participation. Moreover, students who received the bi-modal (Visual + Haptic) feedback indicated that they experienced lower levels of frustration and spatial disorientation as they conducted their investigations when compared to individuals that relied solely on vision. There were no significant differences measured across the treatment groups on the cognitive assessment items. Despite this finding, the study provided valuable insight into the theoretical and practical considerations involved in the development of multimodal instructional programs.

Reproducibility analysis of upper limbs reachable workspace, and effects of acquisition protocol, sex and hand dominancy.

PubMed

Clément, Julien; Raison, Maxime; Rouleau, Dominique M

2018-02-08

None of the physical testing, nor the goniometers currently used to assess upper limb function have a high validity, sensitivity or reliability. The reachable workspace, i.e. the area covered by the farthest points a subject can reach by hand without moving his/her body, shows promise but has yet to be validated, particularly in terms of reproducibility. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the reproducibility of the reachable workspace over a period of several weeks, and to assess the effects of two proposed acquisition protocols, as well as those of gender, and hand dominancy. Shoulder movements were recorded using a motion capture system on 10 female and 10 male healthy subjects during a random protocol, i.e. simply asking them to achieve the farthest points they could reach with their hands, and during a standardized protocol, i.e. asking them to perform predefined shoulder elevations while keeping their trunk and elbow straight. The standardized protocol was repeated 7 weeks later. Repeated measures showed no significant difference, good to excellent intraclass correlation coefficients (0.46-0.81) and small bias (0.0-1.2%). The random protocol provided significantly lower and more scattered values for the reachable workspace (80.0 ± 22.6% vs. 91.0 ± 8.1%, p = .004), whereas gender and hand-dominancy had no effect. This study showed that the reachable workspace was highly reliable over a period of 7 weeks and that both upper limbs provided similar results. It could be used to monitor various pathologies of the upper limbs and to assess treatment efficiency, using a subject's healthy limb as reference. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Strategy for the lowering and the assessment of exposure to nanoparticles at workspace - Case of study concerning the potential emission of nanoparticles of Lead in an epitaxy laboratory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Artous, Sébastien; Zimmermann, Eric; Douissard, Paul-Antoine; Locatelli, Dominique; Motellier, Sylvie; Derrough, Samir

2015-05-01

The implementation in many products of manufactured nanoparticles is growing fast and raises new questions. For this purpose, the CEA - NanoSafety Platform is developing various research topics for health and safety, environment and nanoparticles exposure in professional activities. The containment optimisation for the exposition lowering, then the exposure assessment to nanoparticles is a strategy for safety improvement at workplace and workspace. The lowering step consists in an optimisation of dynamic and static containment at workplace and/or workspace. Generally, the exposure risk due to the presence of nanoparticles substances does not allow modifying the parameters of containment at workplace and/or workspace. Therefore, gaseous or nanoparticulate tracers are used to evaluate performances of containment. Using a tracer allows to modify safely the parameters of the dynamic containment (ventilation, flow, speed) and to study several configurations of static containment. Moreover, a tracer allows simulating accidental or incidental situation. As a result, a safety procedure can be written more easily in order to manage this type of situation. The step of measurement and characterization of aerosols can therefore be used to assess the exposition at workplace and workspace. The case of study, aim of this paper, concerns the potential emission of Lead nanoparticles at the exhaust of a furnace in an epitaxy laboratory. The use of Helium tracer to evaluate the performance of containment is firstly studied. Secondly, the exposure assessment is characterised in accordance with the French guide “recommendations for characterizing potential emissions and exposure to aerosols released from nanomaterials in workplace operations”. Thirdly the aerosols are sampled, on several places, using collection membranes to try to detect traces of Lead in air.

Sharing control between humans and automation using haptic interface: primary and secondary task performance benefits.

PubMed

Griffiths, Paul G; Gillespie, R Brent

2005-01-01

This paper describes a paradigm for human/automation control sharing in which the automation acts through a motor coupled to a machine's manual control interface. The manual interface becomes a haptic display, continually informing the human about automation actions. While monitoring by feel, users may choose either to conform to the automation or override it and express their own control intentions. This paper's objective is to demonstrate that adding automation through haptic display can be used not only to improve performance on a primary task but also to reduce perceptual demands or free attention for a secondary task. Results are presented from three experiments in which 11 participants completed a lane-following task using a motorized steering wheel on a fixed-base driving simulator. The automation behaved like a copilot, assisting with lane following by applying torques to the steering wheel. Results indicate that haptic assist improves lane following by least 30%, p < .0001, while reducing visual demand by 29%, p < .0001, or improving reaction time in a secondary tone localization task by 18 ms, p = .0009. Potential applications of this research include the design of automation interfaces based on haptics that support human/automation control sharing better than traditional push-button automation interfaces.

Figure/Ground Segmentation via a Haptic Glance: Attributing Initial Finger Contacts to Objects or Their Supporting Surfaces.

PubMed

Pawluk, D; Kitada, R; Abramowicz, A; Hamilton, C; Lederman, S J

2011-01-01

The current study addresses the well-known "figure/ground" problem in human perception, a fundamental topic that has received surprisingly little attention from touch scientists to date. Our approach is grounded in, and directly guided by, current knowledge concerning the nature of haptic processing. Given inherent figure/ground ambiguity in natural scenes and limited sensory inputs from first contact (a "haptic glance"), we consider first whether people are even capable of differentiating figure from ground (Experiments 1 and 2). Participants were required to estimate the strength of their subjective impression that they were feeling an object (i.e., figure) as opposed to just the supporting structure (i.e., ground). Second, we propose a tripartite factor classification scheme to further assess the influence of kinetic, geometric (Experiments 1 and 2), and material (Experiment 2) factors on haptic figure/ground segmentation, complemented by more open-ended subjective responses obtained at the end of the experiment. Collectively, the results indicate that under certain conditions it is possible to segment figure from ground via a single haptic glance with a reasonable degree of certainty, and that all three factor classes influence the estimated likelihood that brief, spatially distributed fingertip contacts represent contact with an object and/or its background supporting structure.

Development of a Robotic Colonoscopic Manipulation System, Using Haptic Feedback Algorithm

PubMed Central

Woo, Jaehong; Choi, Jae Hyuk; Seo, Jong Tae

2017-01-01

Purpose Colonoscopy is one of the most effective diagnostic and therapeutic tools for colorectal diseases. We aim to propose a master-slave robotic colonoscopy that is controllable in remote site using conventional colonoscopy. Materials and Methods The master and slave robot were developed to use conventional flexible colonoscopy. The robotic colonoscopic procedure was performed using a colonoscope training model by one expert endoscopist and two unexperienced engineers. To provide the haptic sensation, the insertion force and the rotating torque were measured and sent to the master robot. Results A slave robot was developed to hold the colonoscopy and its knob, and perform insertion, rotation, and two tilting motions of colonoscope. A master robot was designed to teach motions of the slave robot. These measured force and torque were scaled down by one tenth to provide the operator with some reflection force and torque at the haptic device. The haptic sensation and feedback system was successful and helpful to feel the constrained force or torque in colon. The insertion time using robotic system decreased with repeated procedures. Conclusion This work proposed a robotic approach for colonoscopy using haptic feedback algorithm, and this robotic device would effectively perform colonoscopy with reduced burden and comparable safety for patients in remote site. PMID:27873506

Improved PMMA single-piece haptic materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Healy, Donald D.; Wilcox, Christopher D.

1991-12-01

During the past fifteen years, Intraocular lens (IOL) haptic preferences have shifted from a variety of multi-piece haptic materials to single-piece PMMA. This is due in part to the research of David Apple, M.D., and other who have suggested that All-PMMA implants result in reduced cell flare and better centration. Consequently, single-piece IOLs now represent 45% of all IOL implants. However, many surgeons regard single-piece IOL designs as nonflexible and more difficult to implant than multipiece IOLs. These handling characteristics have slowed the shift from multi-piece to single-piece IOLs. As a result of these handling characteristics, single-piece lenses experience relatively high breakage rates because of handling before insertion and during insertion. To improve these characteristics, manufacturers have refined single-piece IOL haptic designs by pushing the limits of PMMA's physical properties. Furthermore, IOL manufacturers have begun to alter the material itself to change its physical properties. In particular, two new PMMA materials have emerged in the marketplace: Flexeon trademark, a crosslinked polymer and CM trademark, a material with molecularly realigned PMMA. This paper examines three specific measurements of a haptic's strength and flexibility: tensile strength, plastic memory and material plasticity/elasticity. The paper compares with Flexeon trademark and CM trademark lenses to noncrosslinked one-piece lenses and standard polypropylene multi-piece lenses.

Discriminating Tissue Stiffness with a Haptic Catheter: Feeling the Inside of the Beating Heart.

PubMed

Kesner, Samuel B; Howe, Robert D

2011-01-01

Catheter devices allow physicians to access the inside of the human body easily and painlessly through natural orifices and vessels. Although catheters allow for the delivery of fluids and drugs, the deployment of devices, and the acquisition of the measurements, they do not allow clinicians to assess the physical properties of tissue inside the body due to the tissue motion and transmission limitations of the catheter devices, including compliance, friction, and backlash. The goal of this research is to increase the tactile information available to physicians during catheter procedures by providing haptic feedback during palpation procedures. To accomplish this goal, we have developed the first motion compensated actuated catheter system that enables haptic perception of fast moving tissue structures. The actuated catheter is instrumented with a distal tip force sensor and a force feedback interface that allows users to adjust the position of the catheter while experiencing the forces on the catheter tip. The efficacy of this device and interface is evaluated through a psychophyisical study comparing how accurately users can differentiate various materials attached to a cardiac motion simulator using the haptic device and a conventional manual catheter. The results demonstrate that haptics improves a user's ability to differentiate material properties and decreases the total number of errors by 50% over the manual catheter system.

Palpation imaging using a haptic system for virtual reality applications in medicine.

PubMed

Khaled, W; Reichling, S; Bruhns, O T; Boese, H; Baumann, M; Monkman, G; Egersdoerfer, S; Klein, D; Tunayar, A; Freimuth, H; Lorenz, A; Pessavento, A; Ermert, H

2004-01-01

In the field of medical diagnosis, there is a strong need to determine mechanical properties of biological tissue, which are of histological and pathological relevance. Malignant tumors are significantly stiffer than surrounding healthy tissue. One of the established diagnosis procedures is the palpation of body organs and tissue. Palpation is used to measure swelling, detect bone fracture, find and measure pulse, or to locate changes in the pathological state of tissue and organs. Current medical practice routinely uses sophisticated diagnostic tests through magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT) and ultrasound (US) imaging. However, they cannot provide direct measure of tissue elasticity. Last year we presented the concept of the first haptic sensor actuator system to visualize and reconstruct mechanical properties of tissue using ultrasonic elastography and a haptic display with electrorheological fluids. We developed a real time strain imaging system for tumor diagnosis. It allows biopsies simultaneously to conventional ultrasound B-Mode and strain imaging investigations. We deduce the relative mechanical properties by using finite element simulations and numerical solution models solving the inverse problem. Various modifications on the haptic sensor actuator system have been investigated. This haptic system has the potential of inducing real time substantial forces, using a compact lightweight mechanism which can be applied to numerous areas including intraoperative navigation, telemedicine, teaching and telecommunication.

A pervasive visual-haptic framework for virtual delivery training.

PubMed

Abate, Andrea F; Acampora, Giovanni; Loia, Vincenzo; Ricciardi, Stefano; Vasilakos, Athanasios V

2010-03-01

Thanks to the advances of voltage regulator (VR) technologies and haptic systems, virtual simulators are increasingly becoming a viable alternative to physical simulators in medicine and surgery, though many challenges still remain. In this study, a pervasive visual-haptic framework aimed to the training of obstetricians and midwives to vaginal delivery is described. The haptic feedback is provided by means of two hand-based haptic devices able to reproduce force-feedbacks on fingers and arms, thus enabling a much more realistic manipulation respect to stylus-based solutions. The interactive simulation is not solely driven by an approximated model of complex forces and physical constraints but, instead, is approached by a formal modeling of the whole labor and of the assistance/intervention procedures performed by means of a timed automata network and applied to a parametrical 3-D model of the anatomy, able to mimic a wide range of configurations. This novel methodology is able to represent not only the sequence of the main events associated to either a spontaneous or to an operative childbirth process, but also to help in validating the manual intervention as the actions performed by the user during the simulation are evaluated according to established medical guidelines. A discussion on the first results as well as on the challenges still unaddressed is included.

Personalized Learning in Medical Education: Designing a User Interface for a Dynamic Haptic Robotic Trainer for Central Venous Catheterization

PubMed Central

Yovanoff, Mary; Pepley, David; Mirkin, Katelin; Moore, Jason; Han, David; Miller, Scarlett

2017-01-01

While Virtual Reality (VR) has emerged as a viable method for training new medical residents, it has not yet reached all areas of training. One area lacking such development is surgical residency programs where there are large learning curves associated with skill development. In order to address this gap, a Dynamic Haptic Robotic Trainer (DHRT) was developed to help train surgical residents in the placement of ultrasound guided Internal Jugular Central Venous Catheters and to incorporate personalized learning. In order to accomplish this, a 2-part study was conducted to: (1) systematically analyze the feedback given to 18 third year medical students by trained professionals to identify the items necessary for a personalized learning system and (2) develop and experimentally test the usability of the personalized learning interface within the DHRT system. The results can be used to inform the design of VR and personalized learning systems within the medical community. PMID:29123361

Re-designing illumination level in printing working area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wahyuni, D.; Tambunan, M.; Panjaitan, N.; Budiman, I.

2018-02-01

This research was conducted in four printing business in Medan city. The illumination level on the research object is very low around 30 Lux far below the required value of government regulation at 200 Lux. Poor lighting has an impact on the number of defective products that pass the inspection, so we need to improve the workspace lighting to improve the quality of work. The method of determining the measuring point follows SNI 16-7062-2004, and the measuring instrument used is 4 in 1 Environment Meter. The results show that almost all workspaces under study require improved lighting, because the light bulbs used are not able to meet the lighting needs. This research recommends improving the workspace lighting using LED (Light Emitting Diode) lights because it has high energy efficiency and relatively more lifetime compared to the existing lamp.

The Role of a Facilitated Online Workspace Component of a Community of Practice: Knowledge Building and Value Creation for NASA

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davey, Bradford Thomas

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of an online workspace component of a community in the work of a community of practice. Much has been studied revealing the importance of communities of practice to organizations, project success, and knowledge management and some of these same successes hold true for virtual communities of…

Joint Command Support Through Workspace Analysis, Design and Optimization (Soutien du Commandement Interarmees au Moyen de L’Analyse, de la Conception et de L’Optimisation de L’Espace de Travail)

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-10-01

WACC ); and • Joint Task Force (Games) Joint Operations Centre (GJOC). In May 2008, DRDC Toronto initiated two studies to support the workspace...Voice-over-IP WACC Whistler Area Command Centre DRDC Toronto TR 2009-100 39 Distribution list Document No.: DRDC CR 2009-028 LIST

A method for analytically generating three-dimensional isocomfort workspace based on perceived discomfort.

PubMed

Kee, Dohyung

2002-01-01

The purpose of this study was to develop a new method for analytically generating three-dimensional isocomfort workspace for the upper extremities using the robot kinematics. Subjective perceived discomfort scores in varying postures for manipulating four types of controls were used. Fifteen healthy male subjects participated in the experiment. The subjects were asked to hold the given postures manipulating controls for 60 s in the seated position, and to rate their perceived discomfort during the following rest of 60 s using the magnitude estimation. Postures of the upper extremities set by shoulder and elbow motions, types of controls, and left right hand were selected as experimental variables, in which the L32 orthogonal array was adopted. The results showed that shoulder flexion and adduction-abduction, elbow flexion, and types of controls significantly affected perceived discomfort for postures operating controls, but hand used for operating controls did not. Depending upon the types of controls, four regression models predicting perceived discomfort were presented. Using the models, a sweeping algorithm to generate three-dimensional isocomfort workspace was developed, in which the robot kinematics was employed to describe the translational relationships between the upper arm and the lower arm/hand. It is expected that the isocomfort workspace can be used as a valuable design guideline when ergonomically designing three-dimensional workplaces.

Balancing "we" and "me".

PubMed

Congdon, Christine; Flynn, Donna; Redman, Melanie

2014-10-01

The open office is the dominant form of workspace design for good reason: It fosters collaboration, promotes learning, and nurtures strong culture. But what most companies fail to realize is that collaboration has a natural rhythm that requires both interaction and private contemplation. Companies have been trying for decades to find the balance between public and private workspace that best supports collaboration. In 1980 52% of U.S. employees lacked workspaces where they could concentrate without distraction. In response, high-walled cubicles took over the corporate landscape. By the late 1990s, the tide had turned, and only 23% of employees wanted more privacy, and 50% wanted more access to other people. Ever since, firms have been beefing up spaces that support collaboration and shrinking areas for individual work. But the pendulum seems to have swung too far: Once again, people feel a pressing need for privacy, not only to do heads-down work but to cope with the intensity of work today. To address these needs, according to the authors, we have to rethink our assumptions about privacy. Traditionally defined in physical terms, privacy is now about the individual's ability to control information and stimulation. In this article, the authors examine workspace design through the new lens of privacy and offer insights on how to foster teamwork and solitude.

Optimal Design of Cable-Driven Manipulators Using Particle Swarm Optimization.

PubMed

Bryson, Joshua T; Jin, Xin; Agrawal, Sunil K

2016-08-01

The design of cable-driven manipulators is complicated by the unidirectional nature of the cables, which results in extra actuators and limited workspaces. Furthermore, the particular arrangement of the cables and the geometry of the robot pose have a significant effect on the cable tension required to effect a desired joint torque. For a sufficiently complex robot, the identification of a satisfactory cable architecture can be difficult and can result in multiply redundant actuators and performance limitations based on workspace size and cable tensions. This work leverages previous research into the workspace analysis of cable systems combined with stochastic optimization to develop a generalized methodology for designing optimized cable routings for a given robot and desired task. A cable-driven robot leg performing a walking-gait motion is used as a motivating example to illustrate the methodology application. The components of the methodology are described, and the process is applied to the example problem. An optimal cable routing is identified, which provides the necessary controllable workspace to perform the desired task and enables the robot to perform that task with minimal cable tensions. A robot leg is constructed according to this routing and used to validate the theoretical model and to demonstrate the effectiveness of the resulting cable architecture.

77 FR 15390 - Certain Mobile Electronic Devices Incorporating Haptics; Receipt of Amended Complaint...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-03-15

... INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION [DN 2875] Certain Mobile Electronic Devices Incorporating Haptics.... International Trade Commission. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the U.S. International Trade Commission has received an amended complaint entitled Certain Mobile Electronic Devices...

Training Surgical Residents With a Haptic Robotic Central Venous Catheterization Simulator.

PubMed

Pepley, David F; Gordon, Adam B; Yovanoff, Mary A; Mirkin, Katelin A; Miller, Scarlett R; Han, David C; Moore, Jason Z

Ultrasound guided central venous catheterization (CVC) is a common surgical procedure with complication rates ranging from 5 to 21 percent. Training is typically performed using manikins that do not simulate anatomical variations such as obesity and abnormal vessel positioning. The goal of this study was to develop and validate the effectiveness of a new virtual reality and force haptic based simulation platform for CVC of the right internal jugular vein. A CVC simulation platform was developed using a haptic robotic arm, 3D position tracker, and computer visualization. The haptic robotic arm simulated needle insertion force that was based on cadaver experiments. The 3D position tracker was used as a mock ultrasound device with realistic visualization on a computer screen. Upon completion of a practice simulation, performance feedback is given to the user through a graphical user interface including scoring factors based on good CVC practice. The effectiveness of the system was evaluated by training 13 first year surgical residents using the virtual reality haptic based training system over a 3 month period. The participants' performance increased from 52% to 96% on the baseline training scenario, approaching the average score of an expert surgeon: 98%. This also resulted in improvement in positive CVC practices including a 61% decrease between final needle tip position and vein center, a decrease in mean insertion attempts from 1.92 to 1.23, and a 12% increase in time spent aspirating the syringe throughout the procedure. A virtual reality haptic robotic simulator for CVC was successfully developed. Surgical residents training on the simulation improved to near expert levels after three robotic training sessions. This suggests that this system could act as an effective training device for CVC. Copyright © 2017 Association of Program Directors in Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Robot-Assisted Proprioceptive Training with Added Vibro-Tactile Feedback Enhances Somatosensory and Motor Performance.

PubMed

Cuppone, Anna Vera; Squeri, Valentina; Semprini, Marianna; Masia, Lorenzo; Konczak, Jürgen

2016-01-01

This study examined the trainability of the proprioceptive sense and explored the relationship between proprioception and motor learning. With vision blocked, human learners had to perform goal-directed wrist movements relying solely on proprioceptive/haptic cues to reach several haptically specified targets. One group received additional somatosensory movement error feedback in form of vibro-tactile cues applied to the skin of the forearm. We used a haptic robotic device for the wrist and implemented a 3-day training regimen that required learners to make spatially precise goal-directed wrist reaching movements without vision. We assessed whether training improved the acuity of the wrist joint position sense. In addition, we checked if sensory learning generalized to the motor domain and improved spatial precision of wrist tracking movements that were not trained. The main findings of the study are: First, proprioceptive acuity of the wrist joint position sense improved after training for the group that received the combined proprioceptive/haptic and vibro-tactile feedback (VTF). Second, training had no impact on the spatial accuracy of the untrained tracking task. However, learners who had received VTF significantly reduced their reliance on haptic guidance feedback when performing the untrained motor task. That is, concurrent VTF was highly salient movement feedback and obviated the need for haptic feedback. Third, VTF can be also provided by the limb not involved in the task. Learners who received VTF to the contralateral limb equally benefitted. In conclusion, somatosensory training can significantly enhance proprioceptive acuity within days when learning is coupled with vibro-tactile sensory cues that provide feedback about movement errors. The observable sensory improvements in proprioception facilitates motor learning and such learning may generalize to the sensorimotor control of the untrained motor tasks. The implications of these findings for neurorehabilitation are discussed.

Using haptic feedback to increase seat belt use of service vehicle drivers.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2011-01-01

This study pilot-tested a new application of a technology-based intervention to increase seat belt use. The technology was based on a : contingency in which unbelted drivers experienced sustained haptic feedback to the gas pedal when they exceeded 25...

Haptic identification of objects and their depictions.

PubMed

Klatzky, R L; Loomis, J M; Lederman, S J; Wake, H; Fujita, N

1993-08-01

Haptic identification of real objects is superior to that of raised two-dimensional (2-D) depictions. Three explanations of real-object superiority were investigated: contribution of material information, contribution of 3-D shape and size, and greater potential for integration across the fingers. In Experiment 1, subjects, while wearing gloves that gently attenuated material information, haptically identified real objects that provided reduced cues to compliance, mass, and part motion. The gloves permitted exploration with free hand movement, a single outstretched finger, or five outstretched fingers. Performance decreased over these three conditions but was superior to identification of pictures of the same objects in all cases, indicating the contribution of 3-D structure and integration across the fingers. Picture performance was also better with five fingers than with one. In Experiment 2, the subjects wore open-fingered gloves, which provided them with material information. Consequently, the effect of type of exploration was substantially reduced but not eliminated. Material compensates somewhat for limited access to object structure but is not the primary basis for haptic object identification.

When vision is not an option: children's integration of auditory and haptic information is suboptimal.

PubMed

Petrini, Karin; Remark, Alicia; Smith, Louise; Nardini, Marko

2014-05-01

When visual information is available, human adults, but not children, have been shown to reduce sensory uncertainty by taking a weighted average of sensory cues. In the absence of reliable visual information (e.g. extremely dark environment, visual disorders), the use of other information is vital. Here we ask how humans combine haptic and auditory information from childhood. In the first experiment, adults and children aged 5 to 11 years judged the relative sizes of two objects in auditory, haptic, and non-conflicting bimodal conditions. In , different groups of adults and children were tested in non-conflicting and conflicting bimodal conditions. In , adults reduced sensory uncertainty by integrating the cues optimally, while children did not. In , adults and children used similar weighting strategies to solve audio-haptic conflict. These results suggest that, in the absence of visual information, optimal integration of cues for discrimination of object size develops late in childhood. © 2014 The Authors. Developmental Science Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Functional Equivalence of Spatial Images from Touch and Vision: Evidence from Spatial Updating in Blind and Sighted Individuals

PubMed Central

Giudice, Nicholas A.; Betty, Maryann R.; Loomis, Jack M.

2012-01-01

This research examines whether visual and haptic map learning yield functionally equivalent spatial images in working memory, as evidenced by similar encoding bias and updating performance. In three experiments, participants learned four-point routes either by seeing or feeling the maps. At test, blindfolded participants made spatial judgments about the maps from imagined perspectives that were either aligned or misaligned with the maps as represented in working memory. Results from Experiments 1 and 2 revealed a highly similar pattern of latencies and errors between visual and haptic conditions. These findings extend the well known alignment biases for visual map learning to haptic map learning, provide further evidence of haptic updating, and most importantly, show that learning from the two modalities yields very similar performance across all conditions. Experiment 3 found the same encoding biases and updating performance with blind individuals, demonstrating that functional equivalence cannot be due to visual recoding and is consistent with an amodal hypothesis of spatial images. PMID:21299331

A haptic pedal for surgery assistance.

PubMed

Díaz, Iñaki; Gil, Jorge Juan; Louredo, Marcos

2014-09-01

The research and development of mechatronic aids for surgery is a persistent challenge in the field of robotic surgery. This paper presents a new haptic pedal conceived to assist surgeons in the operating room by transmitting real-time surgical information through the foot. An effective human-robot interaction system for medical practice must exchange appropriate information with the operator as quickly and accurately as possible. Moreover, information must flow through the appropriate sensory modalities for a natural and simple interaction. However, users of current robotic systems might experience cognitive overload and be increasingly overwhelmed by data streams from multiple modalities. A new haptic channel is thus explored to complement and improve existing systems. A preliminary set of experiments has been carried out to evaluate the performance of the proposed system in a virtual surgical drilling task. The results of the experiments show the effectiveness of the haptic pedal in providing surgical information through the foot. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sensory subtraction in robot-assisted surgery: fingertip skin deformation feedback to ensure safety and improve transparency in bimanual haptic interaction.

PubMed

Meli, Leonardo; Pacchierotti, Claudio; Prattichizzo, Domenico

2014-04-01

This study presents a novel approach to force feedback in robot-assisted surgery. It consists of substituting haptic stimuli, composed of a kinesthetic component and a skin deformation, with cutaneous stimuli only. The force generated can then be thought as a subtraction between the complete haptic interaction, cutaneous, and kinesthetic, and the kinesthetic part of it. For this reason, we refer to this approach as sensory subtraction. Sensory subtraction aims at outperforming other nonkinesthetic feedback techniques in teleoperation (e.g., sensory substitution) while guaranteeing the stability and safety of the system. We tested the proposed approach in a challenging 7-DoF bimanual teleoperation task, similar to the Pegboard experiment of the da Vinci Skills Simulator. Sensory subtraction showed improved performance in terms of completion time, force exerted, and total displacement of the rings with respect to two popular sensory substitution techniques. Moreover, it guaranteed a stable interaction in the presence of a communication delay in the haptic loop.

Influence of surgical gloves on haptic perception thresholds.

PubMed

Hatzfeld, Christian; Dorsch, Sarah; Neupert, Carsten; Kupnik, Mario

2018-02-01

Impairment of haptic perception by surgical gloves could reduce requirements on haptic systems for surgery. While grip forces and manipulation capabilities were not impaired in previous studies, no data is available for perception thresholds. Absolute and differential thresholds (20 dB above threshold) of 24 subjects were measured for frequencies of 25 and 250 Hz with a Ψ-method. Effects of wearing a surgical glove, moisture on the contact surface and subject's experience with gloves were incorporated in a full-factorial experimental design. Absolute thresholds of 12.8 dB and -29.6 dB (means for 25 and 250 Hz, respectively) and differential thresholds of -12.6 dB and -9.5 dB agree with previous studies. A relevant effect of the frequency on absolute thresholds was found. Comparisons of glove- and no-glove-conditions did not reveal a significant mean difference. Wearing a single surgical glove does not affect absolute and differential haptic perception thresholds. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

A Three-Axis Force Sensor for Dual Finger Haptic Interfaces

PubMed Central

Fontana, Marco; Marcheschi, Simone; Salsedo, Fabio; Bergamasco, Massimo

2012-01-01

In this work we present the design process, the characterization and testing of a novel three-axis mechanical force sensor. This sensor is optimized for use in closed-loop force control of haptic devices with three degrees of freedom. In particular the sensor has been conceived for integration with a dual finger haptic interface that aims at simulating forces that occur during grasping and surface exploration. The sensing spring structure has been purposely designed in order to match force and layout specifications for the application. In this paper the design of the sensor is presented, starting from an analytic model that describes the characteristic matrix of the sensor. A procedure for designing an optimal overload protection mechanism is proposed. In the last part of the paper the authors describe the experimental characterization and the integrated test on a haptic hand exoskeleton showing the improvements in the controller performances provided by the inclusion of the force sensor. PMID:23202012

Development of a novel haptic glove for improving finger dexterity in poststroke rehabilitation.

PubMed

Lin, Chi-Ying; Tsai, Chia-Min; Shih, Pei-Cheng; Wu, Hsiao-Ching

2015-01-01

Almost all stroke patients experience a certain degree of fine motor impairment, and impeded finger movement may limit activities in daily life. Thus, to improve the quality of life of stroke patients, designing an efficient training device for fine motor rehabilitation is crucial. This study aimed to develop a novel fine motor training glove that integrates a virtual-reality based interactive environment with vibrotactile feedback for more effective post stroke hand rehabilitation. The proposed haptic rehabilitation device is equipped with small DC vibration motors for vibrotactile feedback stimulation and piezoresistive thin-film force sensors for motor function evaluation. Two virtual-reality based games ``gopher hitting'' and ``musical note hitting'' were developed as a haptic interface. According to the designed rehabilitation program, patients intuitively push and practice their fingers to improve the finger isolation function. Preliminary tests were conducted to assess the feasibility of the developed haptic rehabilitation system and to identify design concerns regarding the practical use in future clinical testing.

The Effect of Visual Experience on Perceived Haptic Verticality When Tilted in the Roll Plane

PubMed Central

Cuturi, Luigi F.; Gori, Monica

2017-01-01

The orientation of the body in space can influence perception of verticality leading sometimes to biases consistent with priors peaked at the most common head and body orientation, that is upright. In this study, we investigate haptic perception of verticality in sighted individuals and early and late blind adults when tilted counterclockwise in the roll plane. Participants were asked to perform a stimulus orientation discrimination task with their body tilted to their left ear side 90° relative to gravity. Stimuli were presented by using a motorized haptic bar. In order to test whether different reference frames relative to the head influenced perception of verticality, we varied the position of the stimulus on the body longitudinal axis. Depending on the stimulus position sighted participants tended to have biases away or toward their body tilt. Visually impaired individuals instead show a different pattern of verticality estimations. A bias toward head and body tilt (i.e., Aubert effect) was observed in late blind individuals. Interestingly, no strong biases were observed in early blind individuals. Overall, these results posit visual sensory information to be fundamental in influencing the haptic readout of proprioceptive and vestibular information about body orientation relative to gravity. The acquisition of an idiotropic vector signaling the upright might take place through vision during development. Regarding early blind individuals, independent spatial navigation experience likely enhanced by echolocation behavior might have a role in such acquisition. In the case of participants with late onset blindness, early experience of vision might lead them to anchor their visually acquired priors to the haptic modality with no disambiguation between head and body references as observed in sighted individuals (Fraser et al., 2015). With our study, we aim to investigate haptic perception of gravity direction in unusual body tilts when vision is absent due to visual impairment. Insofar, our findings throw light on the influence of proprioceptive/vestibular sensory information on haptic perceived verticality in blind individuals showing how this phenomenon is affected by visual experience. PMID:29270109

Does the Integration of Haptic and Visual Cues Reduce the Effect of a Biased Visual Reference Frame on the Subjective Head Orientation?

PubMed Central

Gueguen, Marc; Vuillerme, Nicolas; Isableu, Brice

2012-01-01

Background The selection of appropriate frames of reference (FOR) is a key factor in the elaboration of spatial perception and the production of robust interaction with our environment. The extent to which we perceive the head axis orientation (subjective head orientation, SHO) with both accuracy and precision likely contributes to the efficiency of these spatial interactions. A first goal of this study was to investigate the relative contribution of both the visual and egocentric FOR (centre-of-mass) in the SHO processing. A second goal was to investigate humans' ability to process SHO in various sensory response modalities (visual, haptic and visuo-haptic), and the way they modify the reliance to either the visual or egocentric FORs. A third goal was to question whether subjects combined visual and haptic cues optimally to increase SHO certainty and to decrease the FORs disruption effect. Methodology/Principal Findings Thirteen subjects were asked to indicate their SHO while the visual and/or egocentric FORs were deviated. Four results emerged from our study. First, visual rod settings to SHO were altered by the tilted visual frame but not by the egocentric FOR alteration, whereas no haptic settings alteration was observed whether due to the egocentric FOR alteration or the tilted visual frame. These results are modulated by individual analysis. Second, visual and egocentric FOR dependency appear to be negatively correlated. Third, the response modality enrichment appears to improve SHO. Fourth, several combination rules of the visuo-haptic cues such as the Maximum Likelihood Estimation (MLE), Winner-Take-All (WTA) or Unweighted Mean (UWM) rule seem to account for SHO improvements. However, the UWM rule seems to best account for the improvement of visuo-haptic estimates, especially in situations with high FOR incongruence. Finally, the data also indicated that FOR reliance resulted from the application of UWM rule. This was observed more particularly, in the visual dependent subject. Conclusions: Taken together, these findings emphasize the importance of identifying individual spatial FOR preferences to assess the efficiency of our interaction with the environment whilst performing spatial tasks. PMID:22509295

Haptic-assistive technologies for audition and vision sensory disabilities.

PubMed

Sorgini, Francesca; Caliò, Renato; Carrozza, Maria Chiara; Oddo, Calogero Maria

2018-05-01

The aim of this review is to analyze haptic sensory substitution technologies for deaf, blind and deaf-blind individuals. The literature search has been performed in Scopus, PubMed and Google Scholar databases using selected keywords, analyzing studies from 1960s to present. Search on databases for scientific publications has been accompanied by web search for commercial devices. Results have been classified by sensory disability and functionality, and analyzed by assistive technology. Complementary analyses have also been carried out on websites of public international agencies, such as the World Health Organization (WHO), and of associations representing sensory disabled persons. The reviewed literature provides evidences that sensory substitution aids are able to mitigate in part the deficits in language learning, communication and navigation for deaf, blind and deaf-blind individuals, and that the tactile sense can be a means of communication to provide some kind of information to sensory disabled individuals. A lack of acceptance emerged from the discussion of capabilities and limitations of haptic assistive technologies. Future researches shall go towards miniaturized, custom-designed and low-cost haptic interfaces and integration with personal devices such as smartphones for a major diffusion of sensory aids among disabled. Implications for rehabilitation Systematic review of state of the art of haptic assistive technologies for vision and audition sensory disabilities. Sensory substitution systems for visual and hearing disabilities have a central role in the transmission of information for patients with sensory impairments, enabling users to interact with the not disabled community in daily activities. Visual and auditory inputs are converted in haptic feedback via different actuation technologies. The information is presented in the form of static or dynamic stimulation of the skin. Their effectiveness and ease of use make haptic sensory substitution systems suitable for patients with different levels of disabilities. They constitute a cheaper and less invasive alternative to implantable partial sensory restitution systems. Future researches are oriented towards the optimization of the stimulation parameters together with the development of miniaturized, custom-designed and low-cost aids operating in synergy in networks, aiming to increase patients' acceptability of these technologies.

Collaborative Workspaces within Distributed Virtual Environments.

DTIC Science & Technology

1996-12-01

such as a text document, a 3D model, or a captured image using a collaborative workspace called the InPerson Whiteboard . The Whiteboard contains a...commands for editing objects drawn on the screen. Finally, when the call is completed, the Whiteboard can be saved to a file for future use . IRIS Annotator... use , and a shared whiteboard that includes a number of multimedia annotation tools. Both systems are also mindful of bandwidth limitations and can

Simulation-based intelligent robotic agent for Space Station Freedom

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Biegl, Csaba A.; Springfield, James F.; Cook, George E.; Fernandez, Kenneth R.

1990-01-01

A robot control package is described which utilizes on-line structural simulation of robot manipulators and objects in their workspace. The model-based controller is interfaced with a high level agent-independent planner, which is responsible for the task-level planning of the robot's actions. Commands received from the agent-independent planner are refined and executed in the simulated workspace, and upon successful completion, they are transferred to the real manipulators.

Development of a Pneumatic Robot for MRI-guided Transperineal Prostate Biopsy and Brachytherapy: New Approaches

PubMed Central

Song, Sang-Eun; Cho, Nathan B.; Fischer, Gregory; Hata, Nobuhito; Tempany, Clare; Fichtinger, Gabor; Iordachita, Iulian

2011-01-01

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) guided prostate biopsy and brachytherapy has been introduced in order to enhance the cancer detection and treatment. For the accurate needle positioning, a number of robotic assistants have been developed. However, problems exist due to the strong magnetic field and limited workspace. Pneumatically actuated robots have shown the minimum distraction in the environment but the confined workspace limits optimal robot design and thus controllability is often poor. To overcome the problem, a simple external damping mechanism using timing belts was sought and a 1-DOF mechanism test result indicated sufficient positioning accuracy. Based on the damping mechanism and modular system design approach, a new workspace-optimized 4-DOF parallel robot was developed for the MRI-guided prostate biopsy and brachytherapy. A preliminary evaluation of the robot was conducted using previously developed pneumatic controller and satisfying results were obtained. PMID:21399734

Learning from vision-to-touch is different than learning from touch-to-vision.

PubMed

Wismeijer, Dagmar A; Gegenfurtner, Karl R; Drewing, Knut

2012-01-01

We studied whether vision can teach touch to the same extent as touch seems to teach vision. In a 2 × 2 between-participants learning study, we artificially correlated visual gloss cues with haptic compliance cues. In two "natural" tasks, we tested whether visual gloss estimations have an influence on haptic estimations of softness and vice versa. In two "novel" tasks, in which participants were either asked to haptically judge glossiness or to visually judge softness, we investigated how perceptual estimates transfer from one sense to the other. Our results showed that vision does not teach touch as efficient as touch seems to teach vision.

Fiber optical sensor system for shape and haptics for flexible instruments in minimally invasive surgery: overview and status quo

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ledermann, Christoph; Pauer, Hendrikje; Woern, Heinz

2014-05-01

In minimally invasive surgery, exible mechatronic instruments promise to improve the overall performance of surgical interventions. However, those instruments require highly developed sensors in order to provide haptic feedback to the surgeon or to enable (semi-)autonomous tasks. Precisely, haptic sensors and a shape sensor are required. In this paper, we present our ber optical sensor system of Fiber Bragg Gratings, which consists of a shape sensor, a kinesthetic sensor and a tactile sensor. The status quo of each of the three sensors is described, as well as the concept to integrate them into one ber optical sensor system.

Sensorimotor enhancement with a mixed reality system for balance and mobility rehabilitation.

PubMed

Fung, Joyce; Perez, Claire F

2011-01-01

We have developed a mixed reality system incorporating virtual reality (VR), surface perturbations and light touch for gait rehabilitation. Haptic touch has emerged as a novel and efficient technique to improve postural control and dynamic stability. Our system combines visual display with the manipulation of physical environments and addition of haptic feedback to enhance balance and mobility post stroke. A research study involving 9 participants with stroke and 9 age-matched healthy individuals show that the haptic cue provided while walking is an effective means of improving gait stability in people post stroke, especially during challenging environmental conditions such as downslope walking.

78 FR 23593 - Certain Mobile Electronic Devices Incorporating Haptics; Termination of Investigation

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-04-19

... INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION [Investigation No. 337-TA-834] Certain Mobile Electronic Devices... this investigation may be viewed on the Commission's electronic docket (EDIS) at http://edis.usitc.gov... mobile electronic devices incorporating haptics that infringe certain claims of six Immersion patents. 77...

Introduction to haptics for neurosurgeons.

PubMed

L'Orsa, Rachael; Macnab, Chris J B; Tavakoli, Mahdi

2013-01-01

Robots are becoming increasingly relevant to neurosurgeons, extending a neurosurgeon's physical capabilities, improving navigation within the surgical landscape when combined with advanced imaging, and propelling the movement toward minimally invasive surgery. Most surgical robots, however, isolate surgeons from the full range of human senses during a procedure. This forces surgeons to rely on vision alone for guidance through the surgical corridor, which limits the capabilities of the system, requires significant operator training, and increases the surgeon's workload. Incorporating haptics into these systems, ie, enabling the surgeon to "feel" forces experienced by the tool tip of the robot, could render these limitations obsolete by making the robot feel more like an extension of the surgeon's own body. Although the use of haptics in neurosurgical robots is still mostly the domain of research, neurosurgeons who keep abreast of this emerging field will be more prepared to take advantage of it as it becomes more prevalent in operating theaters. Thus, this article serves as an introduction to the field of haptics for neurosurgeons. We not only outline the current and future benefits of haptics but also introduce concepts in the fields of robotic technology and computer control. This knowledge will allow readers to be better aware of limitations in the technology that can affect performance and surgical outcomes, and "knowing the right questions to ask" will be invaluable for surgeons who have purchasing power within their departments.

On the design of a miniature haptic ring for cutaneous force feedback using shape memory alloy actuators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hwang, Donghyun; Lee, Jaemin; Kim, Keehoon

2017-10-01

This paper proposes a miniature haptic ring that can display touch/pressure and shearing force to the user’s fingerpad. For practical use and wider application of the device, it is developed with the aim of achieving high wearability and mobility/portability as well as cutaneous force feedback functionality. A main body of the device is designed as a ring-shaped lightweight structure with a simple driving mechanism, and thin shape memory alloy (SMA) wires having high energy density are applied as actuating elements. Also, based on a band-type wireless control unit including a wireless data communication module, the whole device could be realized as a wearable mobile haptic device system. These features enable the device to take diverse advantages on functional performances and to provide users with significant usability. In this work, the proposed miniature haptic ring is systematically designed, and its working performances are experimentally evaluated with a fabricated functional prototype. The experimental results obviously demonstrate that the proposed device exhibits higher force-to-weight ratio than conventional finger-wearable haptic devices for cutaneous force feedback. Also, it is investigated that operational performances of the device are strongly influenced by electro-thermomechanical behaviors of the SMA actuator. In addition to the experiments for performance evaluation, we conduct a preliminary user test to assess practical feasibility and usability based on user’s qualitative feedback.

Vibrotactile perception assessment for a haptic interface on an antigravity suit.

PubMed

Ko, Sang Min; Lee, Kwangil; Kim, Daeho; Ji, Yong Gu

2017-01-01

Haptic technology is used in various fields to transmit information to the user with or without visual and auditory cues. This study aimed to provide preliminary data for use in developing a haptic interface for an antigravity (anti-G) suit. With the structural characteristics of the anti-G suit in mind, we determined five areas on the body (lower back, outer thighs, inner thighs, outer calves, and inner calves) on which to install ten bar-type eccentric rotating mass (ERM) motors as vibration actuators. To determine the design factors of the haptic anti-G suit, we conducted three experiments to find the absolute threshold, moderate intensity, and subjective assessments of vibrotactile stimuli. Twenty-six fighter pilots participated in the experiments, which were conducted in a fixed-based flight simulator. From the results of our study, we recommend 1) absolute thresholds of ∼11.98-15.84 Hz and 102.01-104.06 dB, 2) moderate intensities of 74.36 Hz and 126.98 dB for the lower back and 58.65 Hz and 122.37 dB for either side of the thighs and calves, and 3) subjective assessments of vibrotactile stimuli (displeasure, easy to perceive, and level of comfort). The results of this study will be useful for the design of a haptic anti-G suit. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Neurosurgery simulation using non-linear finite element modeling and haptic interaction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Huai-Ping; Audette, Michel; Joldes, Grand R.; Enquobahrie, Andinet

2012-02-01

Real-time surgical simulation is becoming an important component of surgical training. To meet the realtime requirement, however, the accuracy of the biomechancial modeling of soft tissue is often compromised due to computing resource constraints. Furthermore, haptic integration presents an additional challenge with its requirement for a high update rate. As a result, most real-time surgical simulation systems employ a linear elasticity model, simplified numerical methods such as the boundary element method or spring-particle systems, and coarse volumetric meshes. However, these systems are not clinically realistic. We present here an ongoing work aimed at developing an efficient and physically realistic neurosurgery simulator using a non-linear finite element method (FEM) with haptic interaction. Real-time finite element analysis is achieved by utilizing the total Lagrangian explicit dynamic (TLED) formulation and GPU acceleration of per-node and per-element operations. We employ a virtual coupling method for separating deformable body simulation and collision detection from haptic rendering, which needs to be updated at a much higher rate than the visual simulation. The system provides accurate biomechancial modeling of soft tissue while retaining a real-time performance with haptic interaction. However, our experiments showed that the stability of the simulator depends heavily on the material property of the tissue and the speed of colliding objects. Hence, additional efforts including dynamic relaxation are required to improve the stability of the system.

Framework for e-learning assessment in dental education: a global model for the future.

PubMed

Arevalo, Carolina R; Bayne, Stephen C; Beeley, Josie A; Brayshaw, Christine J; Cox, Margaret J; Donaldson, Nora H; Elson, Bruce S; Grayden, Sharon K; Hatzipanagos, Stylianos; Johnson, Lynn A; Reynolds, Patricia A; Schönwetter, Dieter J

2013-05-01

The framework presented in this article demonstrates strategies for a global approach to e-curricula in dental education by considering a collection of outcome assessment tools. By combining the outcomes for overall assessment, a global model for a pilot project that applies e-assessment tools to virtual learning environments (VLE), including haptics, is presented. Assessment strategies from two projects, HapTEL (Haptics in Technology Enhanced Learning) and UDENTE (Universal Dental E-learning), act as case-user studies that have helped develop the proposed global framework. They incorporate additional assessment tools and include evaluations from questionnaires and stakeholders' focus groups. These measure each of the factors affecting the classical teaching/learning theory framework as defined by Entwistle in a standardized manner. A mathematical combinatorial approach is proposed to join these results together as a global assessment. With the use of haptic-based simulation learning, exercises for tooth preparation assessing enamel and dentine were compared to plastic teeth in manikins. Equivalence for student performance for haptic versus traditional preparation methods was established, thus establishing the validity of the haptic solution for performing these exercises. Further data collected from HapTEL are still being analyzed, and pilots are being conducted to validate the proposed test measures. Initial results have been encouraging, but clearly the need persists to develop additional e-assessment methods for new learning domains.

Discriminating Tissue Stiffness with a Haptic Catheter: Feeling the Inside of the Beating Heart

PubMed Central

Kesner, Samuel B.; Howe, Robert D.

2011-01-01

Catheter devices allow physicians to access the inside of the human body easily and painlessly through natural orifices and vessels. Although catheters allow for the delivery of fluids and drugs, the deployment of devices, and the acquisition of the measurements, they do not allow clinicians to assess the physical properties of tissue inside the body due to the tissue motion and transmission limitations of the catheter devices, including compliance, friction, and backlash. The goal of this research is to increase the tactile information available to physicians during catheter procedures by providing haptic feedback during palpation procedures. To accomplish this goal, we have developed the first motion compensated actuated catheter system that enables haptic perception of fast moving tissue structures. The actuated catheter is instrumented with a distal tip force sensor and a force feedback interface that allows users to adjust the position of the catheter while experiencing the forces on the catheter tip. The efficacy of this device and interface is evaluated through a psychophyisical study comparing how accurately users can differentiate various materials attached to a cardiac motion simulator using the haptic device and a conventional manual catheter. The results demonstrate that haptics improves a user's ability to differentiate material properties and decreases the total number of errors by 50% over the manual catheter system. PMID:25285321

Assisting Movement Training and Execution With Visual and Haptic Feedback.

PubMed

Ewerton, Marco; Rother, David; Weimar, Jakob; Kollegger, Gerrit; Wiemeyer, Josef; Peters, Jan; Maeda, Guilherme

2018-01-01

In the practice of motor skills in general, errors in the execution of movements may go unnoticed when a human instructor is not available. In this case, a computer system or robotic device able to detect movement errors and propose corrections would be of great help. This paper addresses the problem of how to detect such execution errors and how to provide feedback to the human to correct his/her motor skill using a general, principled methodology based on imitation learning. The core idea is to compare the observed skill with a probabilistic model learned from expert demonstrations. The intensity of the feedback is regulated by the likelihood of the model given the observed skill. Based on demonstrations, our system can, for example, detect errors in the writing of characters with multiple strokes. Moreover, by using a haptic device, the Haption Virtuose 6D, we demonstrate a method to generate haptic feedback based on a distribution over trajectories, which could be used as an auxiliary means of communication between an instructor and an apprentice. Additionally, given a performance measurement, the haptic device can help the human discover and perform better movements to solve a given task. In this case, the human first tries a few times to solve the task without assistance. Our framework, in turn, uses a reinforcement learning algorithm to compute haptic feedback, which guides the human toward better solutions.

Control of repulsive force in a virtual environment using an electrorheological haptic master for a surgical robot application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oh, Jong-Seok; Choi, Seung-Hyun; Choi, Seung-Bok

2014-01-01

This paper presents control performances of a new type of four-degrees-of-freedom (4-DOF) haptic master that can be used for robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery (RMIS). By adopting a controllable electrorheological (ER) fluid, the function of the proposed master is realized as a haptic feedback as well as remote manipulation. In order to verify the efficacy of the proposed master and method, an experiment is conducted with deformable objects featuring human organs. Since the use of real human organs is difficult for control due to high cost and moral hazard, an excellent alternative method, the virtual reality environment, is used for control in this work. In order to embody a human organ in the virtual space, the experiment adopts a volumetric deformable object represented by a shape-retaining chain linked (S-chain) model which has salient properties such as fast and realistic deformation of elastic objects. In haptic architecture for RMIS, the desired torque/force and desired position originating from the object of the virtual slave and operator of the haptic master are transferred to each other. In order to achieve the desired torque/force trajectories, a sliding mode controller (SMC) which is known to be robust to uncertainties is designed and empirically implemented. Tracking control performances for various torque/force trajectories from the virtual slave are evaluated and presented in the time domain.

Shared control of a medical robot with haptic guidance.

PubMed

Xiong, Linfei; Chng, Chin Boon; Chui, Chee Kong; Yu, Peiwu; Li, Yao

2017-01-01

Tele-operation of robotic surgery reduces the radiation exposure during the interventional radiological operations. However, endoscope vision without force feedback on the surgical tool increases the difficulty for precise manipulation and the risk of tissue damage. The shared control of vision and force provides a novel approach of enhanced control with haptic guidance, which could lead to subtle dexterity and better maneuvrability during MIS surgery. The paper provides an innovative shared control method for robotic minimally invasive surgery system, in which vision and haptic feedback are incorporated to provide guidance cues to the clinician during surgery. The incremental potential field (IPF) method is utilized to generate a guidance path based on the anatomy of tissue and surgical tool interaction. Haptic guidance is provided at the master end to assist the clinician during tele-operative surgical robotic task. The approach has been validated with path following and virtual tumor targeting experiments. The experiment results demonstrate that comparing with vision only guidance, the shared control with vision and haptics improved the accuracy and efficiency of surgical robotic manipulation, where the tool-position error distance and execution time are reduced. The validation experiment demonstrates that the shared control approach could help the surgical robot system provide stable assistance and precise performance to execute the designated surgical task. The methodology could also be implemented with other surgical robot with different surgical tools and applications.

When Neuroscience 'Touches' Architecture: From Hapticity to a Supramodal Functioning of the Human Brain.

PubMed

Papale, Paolo; Chiesi, Leonardo; Rampinini, Alessandra C; Pietrini, Pietro; Ricciardi, Emiliano

2016-01-01

In the last decades, the rapid growth of functional brain imaging methodologies allowed cognitive neuroscience to address open questions in philosophy and social sciences. At the same time, novel insights from cognitive neuroscience research have begun to influence various disciplines, leading to a turn to cognition and emotion in the fields of planning and architectural design. Since 2003, the Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture has been supporting 'neuro-architecture' as a way to connect neuroscience and the study of behavioral responses to the built environment. Among the many topics related to multisensory perceptual integration and embodiment, the concept of hapticity was recently introduced, suggesting a pivotal role of tactile perception and haptic imagery in architectural appraisal. Arguments have thus risen in favor of the existence of shared cognitive foundations between hapticity and the supramodal functional architecture of the human brain. Precisely, supramodality refers to the functional feature of defined brain regions to process and represent specific information content in a more abstract way, independently of the sensory modality conveying such information to the brain. Here, we highlight some commonalities and differences between the concepts of hapticity and supramodality according to the distinctive perspectives of architecture and cognitive neuroscience. This comparison and connection between these two different approaches may lead to novel observations in regard to people-environment relationships, and even provide empirical foundations for a renewed evidence-based design theory.

Workspaces that move people.

PubMed

Waber, Ben; Magnolfi, Jennifer; Lindsay, Greg

2014-10-01

Few companies measure whether the design of their workspaces helps or hurts performance, but they should. The authors have collected data that capture individuals' interactions, communications, and location information. They've learned that face-to-face interactions are by far the most important activity in an office; creating chance encounters between knowledge workers, both inside and outside the organization, improves performance. The Norwegian telecom company Telenor was ahead of its time in 2003, when it incorporated "hot desking" (no assigned seats) and spaces that could easily be reconfigured for different tasks and evolving teams. The CEO credits the design of the offices with helping Telenor shift from a state-run monopoly to a competitive multinational carrier with 150 million subscribers. In another example, data collected at one pharmaceuticals company showed that when a salesperson increased interactions with coworkers on other teams by 10%, his or her sales increased by 10%. To get the sales staff running into colleagues from other departments, management shifted from one coffee machine for every six employees to one for every 120 and created a new large cafeteria for everyone. Sales rose by 20%, or $200 million, afterjust one quarter, quickly justifying the capital investment in the redesign.

The relationship among computer work, environmental design, and musculoskeletal and visual discomfort: examining the moderating role of supervisory relations and co-worker support.

PubMed

Robertson, Michelle M; Huang, Yueng-Hsiang; Larson, Nancy

2016-01-01

The prevalence of work-related upper extremity musculoskeletal disorders and visual symptoms reported in the USA has increased dramatically during the past two decades. This study examined the factors of computer use, workspace design, psychosocial factors, and organizational ergonomics resources on musculoskeletal and visual discomfort and their impact on the safety and health of computer work employees. A large-scale, cross-sectional survey was administered to a US manufacturing company to investigate these relationships (n = 1259). Associations between these study variables were tested along with moderating effects framed within a conceptual model. Significant relationships were found between computer use and psychosocial factors of co-worker support and supervisory relations with visual and musculoskeletal discomfort. Co-worker support was found to be significantly related to reports of eyestrain, headaches, and musculoskeletal discomfort. Supervisor relations partially moderated the relationship between workspace design satisfaction and visual and musculoskeletal discomfort. This study provides guidance for developing systematic, preventive measures and recommendations in designing office ergonomics interventions with the goal of reducing musculoskeletal and visual discomfort while enhancing office and computer workers' performance and safety.

77 FR 49458 - Certain Mobile Electronic Devices Incorporating Haptics; Amendment of the Complaint and Notice of...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-08-16

... INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION [Investigation No. 337-TA-834] Certain Mobile Electronic Devices.... 1337 in the importation, sale for importation, and sale within the United States after importation of certain mobile electronic devices incorporating haptics, by reason of the infringement of claims of six...

Pattern Perception and Pictures for the Blind

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heller, Morton A.; McCarthy, Melissa; Clark, Ashley

2005-01-01

This article reviews recent research on perception of tangible pictures in sighted and blind people. Haptic picture naming accuracy is dependent upon familiarity and access to semantic memory, just as in visual recognition. Performance is high when haptic picture recognition tasks do not depend upon semantic memory. Viewpoint matters for the ease…

The Use of Haptic Display Technology in Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barfield, Woodrow

2009-01-01

The experience of "virtual reality" can consist of head-tracked and stereoscopic virtual worlds, spatialized sound, haptic feedback, and to a lesser extent olfactory cues. Although virtual reality systems have been proposed for numerous applications, the field of education is one particular application that seems well-suited for virtual…

Mediating Haptic Exploratory Strategies in Children Who Have Visual Impairment and Intellectual Disabilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McLinden, M.

2012-01-01

This article provides a synthesis of literature pertaining to the development of haptic exploratory strategies in children who have visual impairment and intellectual disabilities. The information received through such strategies assumes particular significance for these children, given the restricted information available through their visual…

Do Haptic Representations Help Complex Molecular Learning?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bivall, Petter; Ainsworth, Shaaron; Tibell, Lena A. E.

2011-01-01

This study explored whether adding a haptic interface (that provides users with somatosensory information about virtual objects by force and tactile feedback) to a three-dimensional (3D) chemical model enhanced students' understanding of complex molecular interactions. Two modes of the model were compared in a between-groups pre- and posttest…

A novel scanning system using an industrial robot and the workspace measurement and positioning system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Ziyue; Zhu, Jigui; Yang, Linghui; Lin, Jiarui

2015-10-01

The present scanning system consists of an industrial robot and a line-structured laser sensor which uses the industrial robot as a position instrument to guarantee the accuracy. However, the absolute accuracy of an industrial robot is relatively poor compared with the good repeatability in the manufacturing industry. This paper proposes a novel method using the workspace measurement and positioning system (wMPS) to remedy the lack of accuracy of the industrial robot. In order to guarantee the positioning accuracy of the system, the wMPS which is a laser-based measurement technology designed for large-volume metrology applications is brought in. Benefitting from the wMPS, this system can measure different cell-areas by the line-structured laser sensor and fuse the measurement data of different cell-areas by using the wMPS accurately. The system calibration which is the procedure to acquire and optimize the structure parameters of the scanning system is also stated in detail in this paper. In order to verify the feasibility of the system for scanning the large free-form surface, an experiment is designed to scan the internal surface of the door of a car-body in white. The final results show that the measurement data of the whole measuring areas have been jointed perfectly and there is no mismatch in the figure especially in the hole measuring areas. This experiment has verified the rationality of the system scheme, the correctness and effectiveness of the relevant methods.

Technology and task parameters relating to the effectiveness of the bracing strategy

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Book, Wayne J.; Wang, J. J.

1989-01-01

The bracing strategy has been proposed in various forms as a way to improve robot performance. One version of the strategy employs independent stages of motion. The first stage, referred to as the large or bracing arm, carries the second stage of motion. After the first stage has completed its motion it is braced to provide a more rigid base of motion with a more accurate relationship to the parts to be manipulated. The hypothesis is that more rapid completion of certain tasks is possible with lighter arms using the bracing strategy. While it is easy to make conceptual arguments why this should be so, it is less easy to specify even approximately when this will be true for some reasonably generic situation. There is no relevant experience base with bracing arms to be compared to non-bracing arms. Furthermore, if one were interested in obtaining such practical experience, there would be no methodical guidance on the selection of an interesting case, one in which the unproven approach, bracing, can show its superiority. If one such case exists, only the extent of applicability of the new approach is in question. One set of interesting cases is likely to be applications in which a large workspace must be covered, but where a series of small accurate moves will remain within a smaller region of the total workspace. A prototype application with these characteristics is set up and a skeleton design of arms using the competing strategies are compared.

Optimal design of a novel remote center-of-motion mechanism for minimally invasive surgical robot

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Jingyuan; Yan, Zhiyuan; Du, Zhijiang

2017-06-01

Surgical robot with a remote center-of-motion (RCM) plays an important role in minimally invasive surgery (MIS) field. To make the mechanism has high flexibility and meet the demand of movements during processing of operation, an optimized RCM mechanism is proposed in this paper. Then, the kinematic performance and workspace are analyzed. Finally, a new optimization objective function is built by using the condition number index and the workspace index.

Small-Scale Surf Zone Geometric Roughness

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-12-01

and an image of the tie points can be seen (Figure 6). 23 Figure 6. Screen Shot of Alignment Process On the left side is the workspace which...rest of the points, producing the 3D surface. 24 Figure 7. Screen Shot of Dense Cloud Process On the left side is the workspace which...maximum 200 words) Measurements of small-scale (O(mm)) geometric roughness (kf) associated with breaking wave foam were obtained within the surf zone on

Audio Haptic Videogaming for Developing Wayfinding Skills in Learners Who are Blind

PubMed Central

Sánchez, Jaime; de Borba Campos, Marcia; Espinoza, Matías; Merabet, Lotfi B.

2014-01-01

Interactive digital technologies are currently being developed as a novel tool for education and skill development. Audiopolis is an audio and haptic based videogame designed for developing orientation and mobility (O&M) skills in people who are blind. We have evaluated the cognitive impact of videogame play on O&M skills by assessing performance on a series of behavioral tasks carried out in both indoor and outdoor virtual spaces. Our results demonstrate that the use of Audiopolis had a positive impact on the development and use of O&M skills in school-aged learners who are blind. The impact of audio and haptic information on learning is also discussed. PMID:25485312

Social Touch Technology: A Survey of Haptic Technology for Social Touch.

PubMed

Huisman, Gijs

2017-01-01

This survey provides an overview of work on haptic technology for social touch. Social touch has been studied extensively in psychology and neuroscience. With the development of new technologies, it is now possible to engage in social touch at a distance or engage in social touch with artificial social agents. Social touch research has inspired research into technology mediated social touch, and this line of research has found effects similar to actual social touch. The importance of haptic stimulus qualities, multimodal cues, and contextual factors in technology mediated social touch is discussed. This survey is concluded by reflecting on the current state of research into social touch technology, and providing suggestions for future research and applications.

Enhancing the Performance of Passive Teleoperation Systems via Cutaneous Feedback.

PubMed

Pacchierotti, Claudio; Tirmizi, Asad; Bianchini, Gianni; Prattichizzo, Domenico

2015-01-01

We introduce a novel method to improve the performance of passive teleoperation systems with force reflection. It consists of integrating kinesthetic haptic feedback provided by common grounded haptic interfaces with cutaneous haptic feedback. The proposed approach can be used on top of any time-domain control technique that ensures a stable interaction by scaling down kinesthetic feedback when this is required to satisfy stability conditions (e.g., passivity) at the expense of transparency. Performance is recovered by providing a suitable amount of cutaneous force through custom wearable cutaneous devices. The viability of the proposed approach is demonstrated through an experiment of perceived stiffness and an experiment of teleoperated needle insertion in soft tissue.

Keep an eye on your hands: on the role of visual mechanisms in processing of haptic space

PubMed Central

Zuidhoek, Sander; Noordzij, Matthijs L.; Kappers, Astrid M. L.

2008-01-01

The present paper reviews research on a haptic orientation processing. Central is a task in which a test bar has to be set parallel to a reference bar at another location. Introducing a delay between inspecting the reference bar and setting the test bar leads to a surprising improvement. Moreover, offering visual background information also elevates performance. Interestingly, (congenitally) blind individuals do not or to a weaker extent show the improvement with time, while in parallel to this, they appear to benefit less from spatial imagery processing. Together this strongly points to an important role for visual processing mechanisms in the perception of haptic inputs. PMID:18196305

Learning from vision-to-touch is different than learning from touch-to-vision

PubMed Central

Wismeijer, Dagmar A.; Gegenfurtner, Karl R.; Drewing, Knut

2012-01-01

We studied whether vision can teach touch to the same extent as touch seems to teach vision. In a 2 × 2 between-participants learning study, we artificially correlated visual gloss cues with haptic compliance cues. In two “natural” tasks, we tested whether visual gloss estimations have an influence on haptic estimations of softness and vice versa. In two “novel” tasks, in which participants were either asked to haptically judge glossiness or to visually judge softness, we investigated how perceptual estimates transfer from one sense to the other. Our results showed that vision does not teach touch as efficient as touch seems to teach vision. PMID:23181012

IMHOTEP: virtual reality framework for surgical applications.

PubMed

Pfeiffer, Micha; Kenngott, Hannes; Preukschas, Anas; Huber, Matthias; Bettscheider, Lisa; Müller-Stich, Beat; Speidel, Stefanie

2018-05-01

The data which is available to surgeons before, during and after surgery is steadily increasing in quantity as well as diversity. When planning a patient's treatment, this large amount of information can be difficult to interpret. To aid in processing the information, new methods need to be found to present multimodal patient data, ideally combining textual, imagery, temporal and 3D data in a holistic and context-aware system. We present an open-source framework which allows handling of patient data in a virtual reality (VR) environment. By using VR technology, the workspace available to the surgeon is maximized and 3D patient data is rendered in stereo, which increases depth perception. The framework organizes the data into workspaces and contains tools which allow users to control, manipulate and enhance the data. Due to the framework's modular design, it can easily be adapted and extended for various clinical applications. The framework was evaluated by clinical personnel (77 participants). The majority of the group stated that a complex surgical situation is easier to comprehend by using the framework, and that it is very well suited for education. Furthermore, the application to various clinical scenarios-including the simulation of excitation propagation in the human atrium-demonstrated the framework's adaptability. As a feasibility study, the framework was used during the planning phase of the surgical removal of a large central carcinoma from a patient's liver. The clinical evaluation showed a large potential and high acceptance for the VR environment in a medical context. The various applications confirmed that the framework is easily extended and can be used in real-time simulation as well as for the manipulation of complex anatomical structures.

Factors Influencing Undergraduate Students' Acceptance of a Haptic Interface for Learning Gross Anatomy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yeom, Soonja; Choi-Lundberg, Derek L.; Fluck, Andrew Edward; Sale, Arthur

2017-01-01

Purpose: This study aims to evaluate factors influencing undergraduate students' acceptance of a computer-aided learning resource using the Phantom Omni haptic stylus to enable rotation, touch and kinaesthetic feedback and display of names of three-dimensional (3D) human anatomical structures on a visual display. Design/methodology/approach: The…

Comparing Tactile Maps and Haptic Digital Representations of a Maritime Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Simonnet, Mathieu; Vieilledent, Steephane; Jacobson, R. Daniel; Tisseau, Jacques

2011-01-01

A map exploration and representation exercise was conducted with participants who were totally blind. Representations of maritime environments were presented either with a tactile map or with a digital haptic virtual map. We assessed the knowledge of spatial configurations using a triangulation technique. The results revealed that both types of…

77 FR 20847 - Certain Mobile Electronic Devices Incorporating Haptics; Institution of Investigation Pursuant to...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-04-06

... INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION [Investigation No. 337-TA-834] Certain Mobile Electronic Devices Incorporating Haptics; Institution of Investigation Pursuant to 19 U.S.C. 1337 AGENCY: U.S. International Trade.... International Trade Commission on February 7, 2012, and an amended complaint was filed with the U.S...

Feel, Imagine and Learn!--Haptic Augmented Simulation and Embodied Instruction in Physics Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Han, In Sook

2010-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the potentials and effects of an embodied instructional model in abstract concept learning. This embodied instructional process included haptic augmented educational simulation as an instructional tool to provide perceptual experiences as well as further instruction to activate those previous…

Let the Force Be with Us: Dyads Exploit Haptic Coupling for Coordination

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

van der Wel, Robrecht P. R. D.; Knoblich, Guenther; Sebanz, Natalie

2011-01-01

People often perform actions that involve a direct physical coupling with another person, such as when moving furniture together. Here, we examined how people successfully coordinate such actions with others. We tested the hypothesis that dyads amplify their forces to create haptic information to coordinate. Participants moved a pole (resembling a…

Haptic Tracking Permits Bimanual Independence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rosenbaum, David A.; Dawson, Amanda A.; Challis, John H.

2006-01-01

This study shows that in a novel task--bimanual haptic tracking--neurologically normal human adults can move their 2 hands independently for extended periods of time with little or no training. Participants lightly touched buttons whose positions were moved either quasi-randomly in the horizontal plane by 1 or 2 human drivers (Experiment 1), in…

Unpacking Students' Conceptualizations through Haptic Feedback

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Magana, A. J.; Balachandran, S.

2017-01-01

While it is clear that the use of computer simulations has a beneficial effect on learning when compared to instruction without computer simulations, there is still room for improvement to fully realize their benefits for learning. Haptic technologies can fulfill the educational potential of computer simulations by adding the sense of touch.…

User Acceptance of a Haptic Interface for Learning Anatomy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yeom, Soonja; Choi-Lundberg, Derek; Fluck, Andrew; Sale, Arthur

2013-01-01

Visualizing the structure and relationships in three dimensions (3D) of organs is a challenge for students of anatomy. To provide an alternative way of learning anatomy engaging multiple senses, we are developing a force-feedback (haptic) interface for manipulation of 3D virtual organs, using design research methodology, with iterations of system…

Supramodality Effects in Visual and Haptic Spatial Processes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cattaneo, Zaira; Vecchi, Tomaso

2008-01-01

In this article, the authors investigated unimodal and cross-modal processes in spatial working memory. A number of locations had to be memorized within visual or haptic matrices according to different experimental conditions known to be critical in accounting for the effects of perception on imagery. Results reveal that some characteristics of…

Teaching Bovine Abdominal Anatomy: Use of a Haptic Simulator

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kinnison, Tierney; Forrest, Neil David; Frean, Stephen Philip; Baillie, Sarah

2009-01-01

Traditional methods of teaching anatomy to undergraduate medical and veterinary students are being challenged and need to adapt to modern concerns and requirements. There is a move away from the use of cadavers to new technologies as a way of complementing the traditional approaches and addressing resource and ethical problems. Haptic (touch)…

Influence of Stimulus Symmetry and Complexity upon Haptic Scanning Strategies During Detection, Learning and Recognition Tasks.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Locher, Paul J.; Simmons, Roger W.

Two experiments were conducted to investigate the perceptual processes involved in haptic exploration of randomly generated shapes. Experiment one required subjects to detect symmetrical or asymmetrical characteristics of individually presented plastic shapes, also varying in complexity. Scanning time for both symmetrical and asymmetrical shapes…

What Aspects of Vision Facilitate Haptic Processing?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Millar, Susanna; Al-Attar, Zainab

2005-01-01

We investigate how vision affects haptic performance when task-relevant visual cues are reduced or excluded. The task was to remember the spatial location of six landmarks that were explored by touch in a tactile map. Here, we use specially designed spectacles that simulate residual peripheral vision, tunnel vision, diffuse light perception, and…

Overview Electrotactile Feedback for Enhancing Human Computer Interface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pamungkas, Daniel S.; Caesarendra, Wahyu

2018-04-01

To achieve effective interaction between a human and a computing device or machine, adequate feedback from the computing device or machine is required. Recently, haptic feedback is increasingly being utilised to improve the interactivity of the Human Computer Interface (HCI). Most existing haptic feedback enhancements aim at producing forces or vibrations to enrich the user’s interactive experience. However, these force and/or vibration actuated haptic feedback systems can be bulky and uncomfortable to wear and only capable of delivering a limited amount of information to the user which can limit both their effectiveness and the applications they can be applied to. To address this deficiency, electrotactile feedback is used. This involves delivering haptic sensations to the user by electrically stimulating nerves in the skin via electrodes placed on the surface of the skin. This paper presents a review and explores the capability of electrotactile feedback for HCI applications. In addition, a description of the sensory receptors within the skin for sensing tactile stimulus and electric currents alsoseveral factors which influenced electric signal to transmit to the brain via human skinare explained.

Design of high-fidelity haptic display for one-dimensional force reflection applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gillespie, Brent; Rosenberg, Louis B.

1995-12-01

This paper discusses the development of a virtual reality platform for the simulation of medical procedures which involve needle insertion into human tissue. The paper's focus is the hardware and software requirements for haptic display of a particular medical procedure known as epidural analgesia. To perform this delicate manual procedure, an anesthesiologist must carefully guide a needle through various layers of tissue using only haptic cues for guidance. As a simplifying aspect for the simulator design, all motions and forces involved in the task occur along a fixed line once insertion begins. To create a haptic representation of this procedure, we have explored both physical modeling and perceptual modeling techniques. A preliminary physical model was built based on CT-scan data of the operative site. A preliminary perceptual model was built based on current training techniques for the procedure provided by a skilled instructor. We compare and contrast these two modeling methods and discuss the implications of each. We select and defend the perceptual model as a superior approach for the epidural analgesia simulator.

EMG-based visual-haptic biofeedback: a tool to improve motor control in children with primary dystonia.

PubMed

Casellato, Claudia; Pedrocchi, Alessandra; Zorzi, Giovanna; Vernisse, Lea; Ferrigno, Giancarlo; Nardocci, Nardo

2013-05-01

New insights suggest that dystonic motor impairments could also involve a deficit of sensory processing. In this framework, biofeedback, making covert physiological processes more overt, could be useful. The present work proposes an innovative integrated setup which provides the user with an electromyogram (EMG)-based visual-haptic biofeedback during upper limb movements (spiral tracking tasks), to test if augmented sensory feedbacks can induce motor control improvement in patients with primary dystonia. The ad hoc developed real-time control algorithm synchronizes the haptic loop with the EMG reading; the brachioradialis EMG values were used to modify visual and haptic features of the interface: the higher was the EMG level, the higher was the virtual table friction and the background color proportionally moved from green to red. From recordings on dystonic and healthy subjects, statistical results showed that biofeedback has a significant impact, correlated with the local impairment, on the dystonic muscular control. These tests pointed out the effectiveness of biofeedback paradigms in gaining a better specific-muscle voluntary motor control. The flexible tool developed here shows promising prospects of clinical applications and sensorimotor rehabilitation.

Haptic display for the VR arthroscopy training simulator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ziegler, Rolf; Brandt, Christoph; Kunstmann, Christian; Mueller, Wolfgang; Werkhaeuser, Holger

1997-05-01

A specific desire to find new training methods arose from the new fields called 'minimal invasive surgery.' With the technical advance modern video arthroscopy became the standard procedure in the ORs. Holding the optical system with the video camera in one hand, watching the operation field on the monitor, the other hand was free to guide, e.g., a probe. As arthroscopy became a more common procedure it became obvious that some sort of special training was necessary to guarantee a certain level of qualification of the surgeons. Therefore, a hospital in Frankfurt, Germany approached the Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics to develop a training system for arthroscopy based on VR techniques. At least the main drawback of the developed simulator is the missing of haptic perception, especially of force feedback. In cooperation with the Department of Electro-Mechanical Construction at the Darmstadt Technical University we have designed and built a haptic display for the VR arthroscopy training simulator. In parallel we developed a concept for the integration of the haptic display in a configurable way.

Open Touch/Sound Maps: A system to convey street data through haptic and auditory feedback

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kaklanis, Nikolaos; Votis, Konstantinos; Tzovaras, Dimitrios

2013-08-01

The use of spatial (geographic) information is becoming ever more central and pervasive in today's internet society but the most of it is currently inaccessible to visually impaired users. However, access in visual maps is severely restricted to visually impaired and people with blindness, due to their inability to interpret graphical information. Thus, alternative ways of a map's presentation have to be explored, in order to enforce the accessibility of maps. Multiple types of sensory perception like touch and hearing may work as a substitute of vision for the exploration of maps. The use of multimodal virtual environments seems to be a promising alternative for people with visual impairments. The present paper introduces a tool for automatic multimodal map generation having haptic and audio feedback using OpenStreetMap data. For a desired map area, an elevation map is being automatically generated and can be explored by touch, using a haptic device. A sonification and a text-to-speech (TTS) mechanism provide also audio navigation information during the haptic exploration of the map.

Topographic modelling of haptic properties of tissue products

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rosen, B.-G.; Fall, A.; Rosen, S.; Farbrot, A.; Bergström, P.

2014-03-01

The way a product or material feels when touched, haptics, has been shown to be a property that plays an important role when consumers determine the quality of products For tissue products in constant touch with the skin, softness" becomes a primary quality parameter. In the present work, the relationship between topography and the feeling of the surface has been investigated for commercial tissues with varying degree of texture from the low textured crepe tissue to the highly textured embossed- and air-dried tissue products. A trained sensory panel at was used to grade perceived haptic "roughness". The technique used to characterize the topography was Digital light projection (DLP) technique, By the use of multivariate statistics, strong correlations between perceived roughness and topography were found with predictability of above 90 percent even though highly textured products were included. Characterization was made using areal ISO 25178-2 topography parameters in combination with non-contacting topography measurement. The best prediction ability was obtained when combining haptic properties with the topography parameters auto-correlation length (Sal), peak material volume (Vmp), core roughness depth (Sk) and the maximum height of the surface (Sz).

Using postural synergies to animate a low-dimensional hand avatar in haptic simulation.

PubMed

Mulatto, Sara; Formaglio, Alessandro; Malvezzi, Monica; Prattichizzo, Domenico

2013-01-01

A technique to animate a realistic hand avatar with 20 DoFs based on the biomechanics of the human hand is presented. The animation does not use any sensor glove or advanced tracker with markers. The proposed approach is based on the knowledge of a set of kinematic constraints on the model of the hand, referred to as postural synergies, which allows to represent the hand posture using a number of variables lower than the number of joints of the hand model. This low-dimensional set of parameters is estimated from direct measurement of the motion of thumb and index finger tracked using two haptic devices. A kinematic inversion algorithm has been developed, which takes synergies into account and estimates the kinematic configuration of the whole hand, i.e., also of the fingers whose end tips are not directly tracked by the two haptic devices. The hand skin is deformable and its deformation is computed using a linear vertex blending technique. The proposed synergy-based animation of the hand avatar involves only algebraic computations and is suitable for real-time implementation as required in haptics.

Inhomogeneous Point-Processes to Instantaneously Assess Affective Haptic Perception through Heartbeat Dynamics Information

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Valenza, G.; Greco, A.; Citi, L.; Bianchi, M.; Barbieri, R.; Scilingo, E. P.

2016-06-01

This study proposes the application of a comprehensive signal processing framework, based on inhomogeneous point-process models of heartbeat dynamics, to instantaneously assess affective haptic perception using electrocardiogram-derived information exclusively. The framework relies on inverse-Gaussian point-processes with Laguerre expansion of the nonlinear Wiener-Volterra kernels, accounting for the long-term information given by the past heartbeat events. Up to cubic-order nonlinearities allow for an instantaneous estimation of the dynamic spectrum and bispectrum of the considered cardiovascular dynamics, as well as for instantaneous measures of complexity, through Lyapunov exponents and entropy. Short-term caress-like stimuli were administered for 4.3-25 seconds on the forearms of 32 healthy volunteers (16 females) through a wearable haptic device, by selectively superimposing two levels of force, 2 N and 6 N, and two levels of velocity, 9.4 mm/s and 65 mm/s. Results demonstrated that our instantaneous linear and nonlinear features were able to finely characterize the affective haptic perception, with a recognition accuracy of 69.79% along the force dimension, and 81.25% along the velocity dimension.

Haptic guidance of overt visual attention.

PubMed

List, Alexandra; Iordanescu, Lucica; Grabowecky, Marcia; Suzuki, Satoru

2014-11-01

Research has shown that information accessed from one sensory modality can influence perceptual and attentional processes in another modality. Here, we demonstrated a novel crossmodal influence of haptic-shape information on visual attention. Participants visually searched for a target object (e.g., an orange) presented among distractor objects, fixating the target as quickly as possible. While searching for the target, participants held (never viewed and out of sight) an item of a specific shape in their hands. In two experiments, we demonstrated that the time for the eyes to reach a target-a measure of overt visual attention-was reduced when the shape of the held item (e.g., a sphere) was consistent with the shape of the visual target (e.g., an orange), relative to when the held shape was unrelated to the target (e.g., a hockey puck) or when no shape was held. This haptic-to-visual facilitation occurred despite the fact that the held shapes were not predictive of the visual targets' shapes, suggesting that the crossmodal influence occurred automatically, reflecting shape-specific haptic guidance of overt visual attention.

Human-arm-and-hand-dynamic model with variability analyses for a stylus-based haptic interface.

PubMed

Fu, Michael J; Cavuşoğlu, M Cenk

2012-12-01

Haptic interface research benefits from accurate human arm models for control and system design. The literature contains many human arm dynamic models but lacks detailed variability analyses. Without accurate measurements, variability is modeled in a very conservative manner, leading to less than optimal controller and system designs. This paper not only presents models for human arm dynamics but also develops inter- and intrasubject variability models for a stylus-based haptic device. Data from 15 human subjects (nine male, six female, ages 20-32) were collected using a Phantom Premium 1.5a haptic device for system identification. In this paper, grip-force-dependent models were identified for 1-3-N grip forces in the three spatial axes. Also, variability due to human subjects and grip-force variation were modeled as both structured and unstructured uncertainties. For both forms of variability, the maximum variation, 95 %, and 67 % confidence interval limits were examined. All models were in the frequency domain with force as input and position as output. The identified models enable precise controllers targeted to a subset of possible human operator dynamics.

Surgical virtual reality - highlights in developing a high performance surgical haptic device.

PubMed

Custură-Crăciun, D; Cochior, D; Constantinoiu, S; Neagu, C

2013-01-01

Just like simulators are a standard in aviation and aerospace sciences, we expect for surgical simulators to soon become a standard in medical applications. These will correctly instruct future doctors in surgical techniques without there being a need for hands on patient instruction. Using virtual reality by digitally transposing surgical procedures changes surgery in are volutionary manner by offering possibilities for implementing new, much more efficient, learning methods, by allowing the practice of new surgical techniques and by improving surgeon abilities and skills. Perfecting haptic devices has opened the door to a series of opportunities in the fields of research,industry, nuclear science and medicine. Concepts purely theoretical at first, such as telerobotics, telepresence or telerepresentation,have become a practical reality as calculus techniques, telecommunications and haptic devices evolved,virtual reality taking a new leap. In the field of surgery barrier sand controversies still remain, regarding implementation and generalization of surgical virtual simulators. These obstacles remain connected to the high costs of this yet fully sufficiently developed technology, especially in the domain of haptic devices. Celsius.

Obstacle Crossing Differences Between Blind and Blindfolded Subjects After Haptic Exploration.

PubMed

Forner-Cordero, Arturo; Garcia, Valéria D; Rodrigues, Sérgio T; Duysens, Jacques

2016-01-01

Little is known about the ability of blind people to cross obstacles after they have explored haptically their size and position. Long-term absence of vision may affect spatial cognition in the blind while their extensive experience with the use of haptic information for guidance may lead to compensation strategies. Seven blind and 7 sighted participants (with vision available and blindfolded) walked along a flat pathway and crossed an obstacle after a haptic exploration. Blind and blindfolded subjects used different strategies to cross the obstacle. After the first 20 trials the blindfolded subjects reduced the distance between the foot and the obstacle at the toe-off instant, while the blind behaved as the subjects with full vision. Blind and blindfolded participants showed larger foot clearance than participants with vision. At foot landing the hip was more behind the foot in the blindfolded condition, while there were no differences between the blind and the vision conditions. For several parameters of the obstacle crossing task, blind people were more similar to subjects with full vision indicating that the blind subjects were able to compensate for the lack of vision.

Enhanced visuo-haptic integration for the non-dominant hand.

PubMed

Yalachkov, Yavor; Kaiser, Jochen; Doehrmann, Oliver; Naumer, Marcus J

2015-07-21

Visuo-haptic integration contributes essentially to object shape recognition. Although there has been a considerable advance in elucidating the neural underpinnings of multisensory perception, it is still unclear whether seeing an object and exploring it with the dominant hand elicits the same brain response as compared to the non-dominant hand. Using fMRI to measure brain activation in right-handed participants, we found that for both left- and right-hand stimulation the left lateral occipital complex (LOC) and anterior cerebellum (aCER) were involved in visuo-haptic integration of familiar objects. These two brain regions were then further investigated in another study, where unfamiliar, novel objects were presented to a different group of right-handers. Here the left LOC and aCER were more strongly activated by bimodal than unimodal stimuli only when the left but not the right hand was used. A direct comparison indicated that the multisensory gain of the fMRI activation was significantly higher for the left than the right hand. These findings are in line with the principle of "inverse effectiveness", implying that processing of bimodally presented stimuli is particularly enhanced when the unimodal stimuli are weak. This applies also when right-handed subjects see and simultaneously touch unfamiliar objects with their non-dominant left hand. Thus, the fMRI signal in the left LOC and aCER induced by visuo-haptic stimulation is dependent on which hand was employed for haptic exploration. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Towards a Teleoperated Needle Driver Robot with Haptic Feedback for RFA of Breast Tumors under Continuous MRI1

PubMed Central

Kokes, Rebecca; Lister, Kevin; Gullapalli, Rao; Zhang, Bao; MacMillan, Alan; Richard, Howard; Desai, Jaydev P.

2009-01-01

Objective The purpose of this paper is to explore the feasibility of developing a MRI-compatible needle driver system for radiofrequency ablation (RFA) of breast tumors under continuous MRI imaging while being teleoperated by a haptic feedback device from outside the scanning room. The developed needle driver prototype was designed and tested for both tumor targeting capability as well as RFA. Methods The single degree-of-freedom (DOF) prototype was interfaced with a PHANToM haptic device controlled from outside the scanning room. Experiments were performed to demonstrate MRI-compatibility and position control accuracy with hydraulic actuation, along with an experiment to determine the PHANToM’s ability to guide the RFA tool to a tumor nodule within a phantom breast tissue model while continuously imaging within the MRI and receiving force feedback from the RFA tool. Results Hydraulic actuation is shown to be a feasible actuation technique for operation in an MRI environment. The design is MRI-compatible in all aspects except for force sensing in the directions perpendicular to the direction of motion. Experiments confirm that the user is able to detect healthy vs. cancerous tissue in a phantom model when provided with both visual (imaging) feedback and haptic feedback. Conclusion The teleoperated 1-DOF needle driver system presented in this paper demonstrates the feasibility of implementing a MRI-compatible robot for RFA of breast tumors with haptic feedback capability. PMID:19303805

Virtual reality cerebral aneurysm clipping simulation with real-time haptic feedback.

PubMed

Alaraj, Ali; Luciano, Cristian J; Bailey, Daniel P; Elsenousi, Abdussalam; Roitberg, Ben Z; Bernardo, Antonio; Banerjee, P Pat; Charbel, Fady T

2015-03-01

With the decrease in the number of cerebral aneurysms treated surgically and the increase of complexity of those treated surgically, there is a need for simulation-based tools to teach future neurosurgeons the operative techniques of aneurysm clipping. To develop and evaluate the usefulness of a new haptic-based virtual reality simulator in the training of neurosurgical residents. A real-time sensory haptic feedback virtual reality aneurysm clipping simulator was developed using the ImmersiveTouch platform. A prototype middle cerebral artery aneurysm simulation was created from a computed tomographic angiogram. Aneurysm and vessel volume deformation and haptic feedback are provided in a 3-dimensional immersive virtual reality environment. Intraoperative aneurysm rupture was also simulated. Seventeen neurosurgery residents from 3 residency programs tested the simulator and provided feedback on its usefulness and resemblance to real aneurysm clipping surgery. Residents thought that the simulation would be useful in preparing for real-life surgery. About two-thirds of the residents thought that the 3-dimensional immersive anatomic details provided a close resemblance to real operative anatomy and accurate guidance for deciding surgical approaches. They thought the simulation was useful for preoperative surgical rehearsal and neurosurgical training. A third of the residents thought that the technology in its current form provided realistic haptic feedback for aneurysm surgery. Neurosurgical residents thought that the novel immersive VR simulator is helpful in their training, especially because they do not get a chance to perform aneurysm clippings until late in their residency programs.

When Neuroscience ‘Touches’ Architecture: From Hapticity to a Supramodal Functioning of the Human Brain

PubMed Central

Papale, Paolo; Chiesi, Leonardo; Rampinini, Alessandra C.; Pietrini, Pietro; Ricciardi, Emiliano

2016-01-01

In the last decades, the rapid growth of functional brain imaging methodologies allowed cognitive neuroscience to address open questions in philosophy and social sciences. At the same time, novel insights from cognitive neuroscience research have begun to influence various disciplines, leading to a turn to cognition and emotion in the fields of planning and architectural design. Since 2003, the Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture has been supporting ‘neuro-architecture’ as a way to connect neuroscience and the study of behavioral responses to the built environment. Among the many topics related to multisensory perceptual integration and embodiment, the concept of hapticity was recently introduced, suggesting a pivotal role of tactile perception and haptic imagery in architectural appraisal. Arguments have thus risen in favor of the existence of shared cognitive foundations between hapticity and the supramodal functional architecture of the human brain. Precisely, supramodality refers to the functional feature of defined brain regions to process and represent specific information content in a more abstract way, independently of the sensory modality conveying such information to the brain. Here, we highlight some commonalities and differences between the concepts of hapticity and supramodality according to the distinctive perspectives of architecture and cognitive neuroscience. This comparison and connection between these two different approaches may lead to novel observations in regard to people–environment relationships, and even provide empirical foundations for a renewed evidence-based design theory. PMID:27375542

Blended Interaction Design: A Spatial Workspace Supporting HCI and Design Practice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Geyer, Florian

This research investigates novel methods and techniques along with tool support that result from a conceptual blend of human-computer interaction with design practice. Using blending theory with material anchors as a theoretical framework, we frame both input spaces and explore emerging structures within technical, cognitive, and social aspects. Based on our results, we will describe a framework of the emerging structures and will design and evaluate tool support within a spatial, studio-like workspace to support collaborative creativity in interaction design.

Wireless, relative-motion computer input device

DOEpatents

Holzrichter, John F.; Rosenbury, Erwin T.

2004-05-18

The present invention provides a system for controlling a computer display in a workspace using an input unit/output unit. A train of EM waves are sent out to flood the workspace. EM waves are reflected from the input unit/output unit. A relative distance moved information signal is created using the EM waves that are reflected from the input unit/output unit. Algorithms are used to convert the relative distance moved information signal to a display signal. The computer display is controlled in response to the display signal.

Human haptic perception is interrupted by explorative stops of milliseconds

PubMed Central

Grunwald, Martin; Muniyandi, Manivannan; Kim, Hyun; Kim, Jung; Krause, Frank; Mueller, Stephanie; Srinivasan, Mandayam A.

2014-01-01

Introduction: The explorative scanning movements of the hands have been compared to those of the eyes. The visual process is known to be composed of alternating phases of saccadic eye movements and fixation pauses. Descriptive results suggest that during the haptic exploration of objects short movement pauses occur as well. The goal of the present study was to detect these “explorative stops” (ES) during one-handed and two-handed haptic explorations of various objects and patterns, and to measure their duration. Additionally, the associations between the following variables were analyzed: (a) between mean exploration time and duration of ES, (b) between certain stimulus features and ES frequency, and (c) the duration of ES during the course of exploration. Methods: Five different Experiments were used. The first two Experiments were classical recognition tasks of unknown haptic stimuli (A) and of common objects (B). In Experiment C space-position information of angle legs had to be perceived and reproduced. For Experiments D and E the PHANToM haptic device was used for the exploration of virtual (D) and real (E) sunken reliefs. Results: In each Experiment we observed explorative stops of different average durations. For Experiment A: 329.50 ms, Experiment B: 67.47 ms, Experiment C: 189.92 ms, Experiment D: 186.17 ms and Experiment E: 140.02 ms. Significant correlations were observed between exploration time and the duration of the ES. Also, ES occurred more frequently, but not exclusively, at defined stimulus features like corners, curves and the endpoints of lines. However, explorative stops do not occur every time a stimulus feature is explored. Conclusions: We assume that ES are a general aspect of human haptic exploration processes. We have tried to interpret the occurrence and duration of ES with respect to the Hypotheses-Rebuild-Model and the Limited Capacity Control System theory. PMID:24782797

Identification of the source of permanent glare from a three-piece IOL.

PubMed

Wolffe, M; Landry, R J; Alpar, J J

2007-08-01

To identify the source of unwanted glare images from a three-piece intraocular lens (IOL) implant following cataract surgery. The IOL and posterior capsule were examined under mydriatic and nonmydriatic conditions using direct focal illumination from a slit lamp biomicroscope. Direct focal illumination was undertaken with both a narrow beam (0.1 mm in width) and small spot (0.1 mm in diameter) to identify the points at which the glare images were stimulated. While observing the location of the beam with the slit lamp biomicroscope, the patient indicated when the glare images were stimulated. The nasal haptic insertion into the optic was identified as the source of temporal line images arising from lights such as headlamps from oncoming cars and street lamps. The adjacent edge of the IOL was also identified as the likely source of additional cob web-like light rays. The haptic insertions in three-piece IOLs may, under certain conditions, interfere with light entering the pupil and produce extraneous images. Large mesopic pupils and decentred IOLs are conditions that increase the likelihood of unwanted glare images.

Laser-induced thermoelastic effects can evoke tactile sensations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jun, Jae-Hoon; Park, Jong-Rak; Kim, Sung-Phil; Min Bae, Young; Park, Jang-Yeon; Kim, Hyung-Sik; Choi, Seungmoon; Jung, Sung Jun; Hwa Park, Seung; Yeom, Dong-Il; Jung, Gu-In; Kim, Ji-Sun; Chung, Soon-Cheol

2015-06-01

Humans process a plethora of sensory information that is provided by various entities in the surrounding environment. Among the five major senses, technology for touch, haptics, is relatively young and has relatively limited applications largely due to its need for physical contact. In this article, we suggest a new way for non-contact haptic stimulation that uses laser, which has potential advantages such as mid-air stimulation, high spatial precision, and long working distance. We demonstrate such tactile stimulation can be enabled by laser-induced thermoelastic effects by means of physical and perceptual studies, as well as simulations. In the physical study, the mechanical effect of laser on a human skin sample is detected using low-power radiation in accordance with safety guidelines. Limited increases (< ~2.5 °C) in temperature at the surface of the skin, examined by both thermal camera and the Monte Carlo simulation, indicate that laser does not evoke heat-induced nociceptive sensation. In the human EEG study, brain responses to both mechanical and laser stimulation are consistent, along with subjective reports of the non-nociceptive sensation of laser stimuli.

Laser-induced thermoelastic effects can evoke tactile sensations.

PubMed

Jun, Jae-Hoon; Park, Jong-Rak; Kim, Sung-Phil; Min Bae, Young; Park, Jang-Yeon; Kim, Hyung-Sik; Choi, Seungmoon; Jung, Sung Jun; Hwa Park, Seung; Yeom, Dong-Il; Jung, Gu-In; Kim, Ji-Sun; Chung, Soon-Cheol

2015-06-05

Humans process a plethora of sensory information that is provided by various entities in the surrounding environment. Among the five major senses, technology for touch, haptics, is relatively young and has relatively limited applications largely due to its need for physical contact. In this article, we suggest a new way for non-contact haptic stimulation that uses laser, which has potential advantages such as mid-air stimulation, high spatial precision, and long working distance. We demonstrate such tactile stimulation can be enabled by laser-induced thermoelastic effects by means of physical and perceptual studies, as well as simulations. In the physical study, the mechanical effect of laser on a human skin sample is detected using low-power radiation in accordance with safety guidelines. Limited increases (< ~2.5 °C) in temperature at the surface of the skin, examined by both thermal camera and the Monte Carlo simulation, indicate that laser does not evoke heat-induced nociceptive sensation. In the human EEG study, brain responses to both mechanical and laser stimulation are consistent, along with subjective reports of the non-nociceptive sensation of laser stimuli.

Modeling and control of a cable-suspended robot for inspection of vertical structures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barry, Nicole; Fisher, Erin; Vaughan, Joshua

2016-09-01

In this paper, a cable-driven system is examined for the application of inspection of large, vertical-walled structures such as chemical storage tanks, large ship hulls, and high-rise buildings. Such cable-driven systems are not commonly used for these tasks due to vibration, which decreases inspection accuracy and degrades safety. The flexible nature of the cables make them difficult to control. In this paper, input shaping is implemented on a cable-driven system to reduce vibration. To design the input shapers, a model of the cable-driven system was developed. Analysis of the dominant dynamics and changes in them over the large workspace are also presented. The performance improvements provided by the input shaping controller are quantified through a series of simulations.

A Virtual Information-Action Workspace for Command and Control

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lintern, Gavan; Naikar, Neelam

2002-10-01

Information overload has become a critical challenge within military Command and Control. However, the problem is not so much one of too much information but of abundant information that is poorly organized and poorly represented. In addition, the capabilities to test the effects of decisions before they are implemented and to monitor the progress of events after a decision is implemented are primitive. A virtual information-action workspace could be designed to resolve these issues. The design of such a space would require a detailed understanding of the specific information needed to support decision making in Command and Control. That information can be obtained with the use of knowledge acquisition and knowledge representation tools from the field of applied cognitive psychology. In addition, it will be necessary to integrate forms for perception and action into a virtual space that will support access to the information and that will provide means for testing and implementing decisions. This paper presents a rationale for a virtual information-action workspace and outlines an approach to its design.

Analysis of parameters for technological equipment of parallel kinematics based on rods of variable length for processing accuracy assurance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koltsov, A. G.; Shamutdinov, A. H.; Blokhin, D. A.; Krivonos, E. V.

2018-01-01

A new classification of parallel kinematics mechanisms on symmetry coefficient, being proportional to mechanism stiffness and accuracy of the processing product using the technological equipment under study, is proposed. A new version of the Stewart platform with a high symmetry coefficient is presented for analysis. The workspace of the mechanism under study is described, this space being a complex solid figure. The workspace end points are reached by the center of the mobile platform which moves in parallel related to the base plate. Parameters affecting the processing accuracy, namely the static and dynamic stiffness, natural vibration frequencies are determined. The capability assessment of the mechanism operation under various loads, taking into account resonance phenomena at different points of the workspace, was conducted. The study proved that stiffness and therefore, processing accuracy with the use of the above mentioned mechanisms are comparable with the stiffness and accuracy of medium-sized series-produced machines.

Geometric features of workspace and joint-space paths of 3D reaching movements.

PubMed

Klein Breteler, M D; Meulenbroek, R G; Gielen, S C

1998-11-01

The present study focuses on geometric features of workspace and joint-space paths of three-dimensional reaching movements. Twelve subjects repeatedly performed a three-segment, triangular-shaped movement pattern in an approximately 60 degrees tilted horizontal plane. Task variables elicited movement patterns that varied in position, rotational direction and speed. Trunk, arm, hand and finger-tip movements were recorded by means of a 3D motion-tracking system. Angular excursions of the shoulder and elbow joints were extracted from position data. Analyses of the shape of 3D workspace and joint-space paths focused on the extent to which the submovements were produced in a plane, and on the curvature of the central parts of the submovements. A systematic tendency to produce movements in a plane was found in addition to an increase of finger-tip path curvature with increasing speed. The findings are discussed in relation to the role of optimization principles in trajectory-formation models.

Multimodal Interaction with Speech, Gestures and Haptic Feedback in a Media Center Application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Turunen, Markku; Hakulinen, Jaakko; Hella, Juho; Rajaniemi, Juha-Pekka; Melto, Aleksi; Mäkinen, Erno; Rantala, Jussi; Heimonen, Tomi; Laivo, Tuuli; Soronen, Hannu; Hansen, Mervi; Valkama, Pellervo; Miettinen, Toni; Raisamo, Roope

We demonstrate interaction with a multimodal media center application. Mobile phone-based interface includes speech and gesture input and haptic feedback. The setup resembles our long-term public pilot study, where a living room environment containing the application was constructed inside a local media museum allowing visitors to freely test the system.

Grounded Learning Experience: Helping Students Learn Physics through Visuo-Haptic Priming and Instruction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Huang, Shih-Chieh Douglas

2013-01-01

In this dissertation, I investigate the effects of a grounded learning experience on college students' mental models of physics systems. The grounded learning experience consisted of a priming stage and an instruction stage, and within each stage, one of two different types of visuo-haptic representation was applied: visuo-gestural simulation…

Study of Co-Located and Distant Collaboration with Symbolic Support via a Haptics-Enhanced Virtual Reality Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yeh, Shih-Ching; Hwang, Wu-Yuin; Wang, Jin-Liang; Zhan, Shi-Yi

2013-01-01

This study intends to investigate how multi-symbolic representations (text, digits, and colors) could effectively enhance the completion of co-located/distant collaborative work in a virtual reality context. Participants' perceptions and behaviors were also studied. A haptics-enhanced virtual reality task was developed to conduct…

Haptic device for a ventricular shunt insertion simulator.

PubMed

Panchaphongsaphak, Bundit; Stutzer, Diego; Schwyter, Etienne; Bernays, René-Ludwig; Riener, Robert

2006-01-01

In this paper we propose a new one-degree-of-freedom haptic device that can be used to simulate ventricular shunt insertion procedures. The device is used together with the BRAINTRAIN training simulator developed for neuroscience education, neurological data visualization and surgical planning. The design of the haptic device is based on a push-pull cable concept. The rendered forces produced by a linear motor connected at one end of the cable are transferred to the user via a sliding mechanism at the end-effector located at the other end of the cable. The end-effector provides the range of movement up to 12 cm. The force is controlled by an open-loop impedance algorithm and can become up to 15 N.

A novel shape-changing haptic table-top display

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Jiabin; Zhao, Lu; Liu, Yue; Wang, Yongtian; Cai, Yi

2018-01-01

A shape-changing table-top display with haptic feedback allows its users to perceive 3D visual and texture displays interactively. Since few existing devices are developed as accurate displays with regulatory haptic feedback, a novel attentive and immersive shape changing mechanical interface (SCMI) consisting of image processing unit and transformation unit was proposed in this paper. In order to support a precise 3D table-top display with an offset of less than 2 mm, a custommade mechanism was developed to form precise surface and regulate the feedback force. The proposed image processing unit was capable of extracting texture data from 2D picture for rendering shape-changing surface and realizing 3D modeling. The preliminary evaluation result proved the feasibility of the proposed system.

Inertial constraints on limb proprioception are independent of visual calibration.

PubMed

Riley, M A; Turvey, M T

2001-04-01

When the coincidence of a limb's spatial axes and inertial eigenvectors is broken, haptic proprioception of the limb's position conforms to the eigenvectors. Additionally, when prisms break the coincidence between an arm's visual and actual positions, haptic proprioception is shifted toward the visual-spatial direction. In 3 experiments, variation of the arm's mass distribution was combined with prism adaptation to investigate the hypothesis that the proprioceptive effects of inertial and visual manipulations are additive. This hypothesis was supported across manipulations of plane of motion, body posture, proprioceptive target, and proprioceptive experience during prism adaptation. Haptic proprioception seems to depend on local, physical reference frames that are relative to the physical reference frames for the body's environmental position and orientation.

Development of Quasi-3DOF upper limb rehabilitation system using ER brake: PLEMO-P1

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kikuchi, T.; Fukushima, K.; Furusho, J.; Ozawa, T.

2009-02-01

In recent years, many researchers have studied the potential of using robotics technology to assist and quantify the motor functions for neuron-rehabilitation. Some kinds of haptic devices have been developed and evaluated its efficiency with clinical tests, for example, upper limb training for patients with spasticity after stroke. However, almost all the devices are active-type (motor-driven) haptic devices and they basically require high-cost safety system compared to passive-type (brake-based) devices. In this study, we developed a new practical haptic device 'PLEMO-P1'; this system adopted ER brakes as its force generators. In this paper, the mechanism of PLEMO-P1 and its software for a reaching rehabilitation are described.

An augmented reality haptic training simulator for spinal needle procedures.

PubMed

Sutherland, Colin; Hashtrudi-Zaad, Keyvan; Sellens, Rick; Abolmaesumi, Purang; Mousavi, Parvin

2013-11-01

This paper presents the prototype for an augmented reality haptic simulation system with potential for spinal needle insertion training. The proposed system is composed of a torso mannequin, a MicronTracker2 optical tracking system, a PHANToM haptic device, and a graphical user interface to provide visual feedback. The system allows users to perform simulated needle insertions on a physical mannequin overlaid with an augmented reality cutaway of patient anatomy. A tissue model based on a finite-element model provides force during the insertion. The system allows for training without the need for the presence of a trained clinician or access to live patients or cadavers. A pilot user study demonstrates the potential and functionality of the system.

Operators' perception of comfort in two tractor cabs.

PubMed

Ferrari, E; Cavallo, E

2013-01-01

Workspace characteristics affect the perceived comfort level of the operator and uncomfortable working conditions have been found to have a negative impact on productivity and safety. The comfort of the operator is increasingly recognized by manufacturers as a product's added value. Comfort can positively distinguish a product and increase its competitiveness. The concept of comfort is controversial, and a clear operational definition is missing. Nevertheless, it is widely accepted that comfort is a subjective phenomenon that can be evaluated by the final users. In this study, comfort aspects of the tractor workspace interior (i.e., the cab) were investigated. Users with various levels of expertise and two medium-power utility tractors of different brands were used in a 2 x 2 mixed-factorial experimental design. Participants were involved in a dynamic assessment of the cabs, and their opinions about the different workspaces were collected through a questionnaire. Additionally, objective measurements were taken on both tractors, and subjective data were compared with objective data. Results indicate significant differences in terms of the ease of locating and operating the controls (i.e., rear-mounted three-point linkage, hydraulic system, and power take-off), the ease of starting the tractor, the ease exiting the cab, the required level of concentration in executing the tasks, the adequacy of lateral visibility from the driving station, and the level of noise at the operator's position. This article provides guidance for improving the comfort of tractor workspace interiors. Agricultural machinery manufactures would benefit from research results, differentiating themselves from competitors.

Somato-Motor Haptic Processing in Posterior Inner Perisylvian Region (SII/pIC) of the Macaque Monkey

PubMed Central

Ishida, Hiroaki; Fornia, Luca; Grandi, Laura Clara; Umiltà, Maria Alessandra; Gallese, Vittorio

2013-01-01

The posterior inner perisylvian region including the secondary somatosensory cortex (area SII) and the adjacent region of posterior insular cortex (pIC) has been implicated in haptic processing by integrating somato-motor information during hand-manipulation, both in humans and in non-human primates. However, motor-related properties during hand-manipulation are still largely unknown. To investigate a motor-related activity in the hand region of SII/pIC, two macaque monkeys were trained to perform a hand-manipulation task, requiring 3 different grip types (precision grip, finger exploration, side grip) both in light and in dark conditions. Our results showed that 70% (n = 33/48) of task related neurons within SII/pIC were only activated during monkeys’ active hand-manipulation. Of those 33 neurons, 15 (45%) began to discharge before hand-target contact, while the remaining neurons were tonically active after contact. Thirty-percent (n = 15/48) of studied neurons responded to both passive somatosensory stimulation and to the motor task. A consistent percentage of task-related neurons in SII/pIC was selectively activated during finger exploration (FE) and precision grasping (PG) execution, suggesting they play a pivotal role in control skilled finger movements. Furthermore, hand-manipulation-related neurons also responded when visual feedback was absent in the dark. Altogether, our results suggest that somato-motor neurons in SII/pIC likely contribute to haptic processing from the initial to the final phase of grasping and object manipulation. Such motor-related activity could also provide the somato-motor binding principle enabling the translation of diachronic somatosensory inputs into a coherent image of the explored object. PMID:23936121

Eye Tracking of Occluded Self-Moved Targets: Role of Haptic Feedback and Hand-Target Dynamics.

PubMed

Danion, Frederic; Mathew, James; Flanagan, J Randall

2017-01-01

Previous studies on smooth pursuit eye movements have shown that humans can continue to track the position of their hand, or a target controlled by the hand, after it is occluded, thereby demonstrating that arm motor commands contribute to the prediction of target motion driving pursuit eye movements. Here, we investigated this predictive mechanism by manipulating both the complexity of the hand-target mapping and the provision of haptic feedback. Two hand-target mappings were used, either a rigid (simple) one in which hand and target motion matched perfectly or a nonrigid (complex) one in which the target behaved as a mass attached to the hand by means of a spring. Target animation was obtained by asking participants to oscillate a lightweight robotic device that provided (or not) haptic feedback consistent with the target dynamics. Results showed that as long as 7 s after target occlusion, smooth pursuit continued to be the main contributor to total eye displacement (∼60%). However, the accuracy of eye-tracking varied substantially across experimental conditions. In general, eye-tracking was less accurate under the nonrigid mapping, as reflected by higher positional and velocity errors. Interestingly, haptic feedback helped to reduce the detrimental effects of target occlusion when participants used the nonrigid mapping, but not when they used the rigid one. Overall, we conclude that the ability to maintain smooth pursuit in the absence of visual information can extend to complex hand-target mappings, but the provision of haptic feedback is critical for the maintenance of accurate eye-tracking performance.

Eye Tracking of Occluded Self-Moved Targets: Role of Haptic Feedback and Hand-Target Dynamics

PubMed Central

Mathew, James

2017-01-01

Abstract Previous studies on smooth pursuit eye movements have shown that humans can continue to track the position of their hand, or a target controlled by the hand, after it is occluded, thereby demonstrating that arm motor commands contribute to the prediction of target motion driving pursuit eye movements. Here, we investigated this predictive mechanism by manipulating both the complexity of the hand-target mapping and the provision of haptic feedback. Two hand-target mappings were used, either a rigid (simple) one in which hand and target motion matched perfectly or a nonrigid (complex) one in which the target behaved as a mass attached to the hand by means of a spring. Target animation was obtained by asking participants to oscillate a lightweight robotic device that provided (or not) haptic feedback consistent with the target dynamics. Results showed that as long as 7 s after target occlusion, smooth pursuit continued to be the main contributor to total eye displacement (∼60%). However, the accuracy of eye-tracking varied substantially across experimental conditions. In general, eye-tracking was less accurate under the nonrigid mapping, as reflected by higher positional and velocity errors. Interestingly, haptic feedback helped to reduce the detrimental effects of target occlusion when participants used the nonrigid mapping, but not when they used the rigid one. Overall, we conclude that the ability to maintain smooth pursuit in the absence of visual information can extend to complex hand-target mappings, but the provision of haptic feedback is critical for the maintenance of accurate eye-tracking performance. PMID:28680964

Improving manual skills in persons with disabilities (PWD) through a multimodal assistance system.

PubMed

Covarrubias, Mario; Gatti, Elia; Bordegoni, Monica; Cugini, Umberto; Mansutti, Alessandro

2014-07-01

In this research work, we present a Multimodal Guidance System (MGS) whose aim is to provide dynamic assistance to persons with disabilities (PWD) while performing manual activities such as drawing, coloring in and foam-cutting tasks. The MGS provides robotic assistance in the execution of 2D tasks through haptic and sound interactions. Haptic technology provides the virtual path of 2D shapes through the point-based approach, while sound technology provides audio feedback inputs related to the hand's velocity while sketching and filling or cutting operations. By combining this Multimodal System with the haptic assistance, we have created a new approach with possible applications to such diverse fields as physical rehabilitation, scientific investigation of sensorimotor learning and assessment of hand movements in PWD. The MGS has been tested by people with specific disorders affecting coordination, such as Down syndrome and developmental disabilities, under the supervision of their teachers and care assistants inside their learning environment. A Graphic User Interface has been designed for teachers and care assistants in order to provide training during the test sessions. Our results provide conclusive evidence that the effect of using the MGS increases the accuracy in the tasks operations. The Multimodal Guidance System (MGS) is an interface that offers haptic and sound feedback while performing manual tasks. Several studies demonstrated that the haptic guidance systems can help people in recovering cognitive function at different levels of complexity and impairment. The applications supported by our device could also have an important role in supporting physical therapist and cognitive psychologist in helping patients to recover motor and visuo-spatial abilities.

Shadow-driven 4D haptic visualization.

PubMed

Zhang, Hui; Hanson, Andrew

2007-01-01

Just as we can work with two-dimensional floor plans to communicate 3D architectural design, we can exploit reduced-dimension shadows to manipulate the higher-dimensional objects generating the shadows. In particular, by taking advantage of physically reactive 3D shadow-space controllers, we can transform the task of interacting with 4D objects to a new level of physical reality. We begin with a teaching tool that uses 2D knot diagrams to manipulate the geometry of 3D mathematical knots via their projections; our unique 2D haptic interface allows the user to become familiar with sketching, editing, exploration, and manipulation of 3D knots rendered as projected imageson a 2D shadow space. By combining graphics and collision-sensing haptics, we can enhance the 2D shadow-driven editing protocol to successfully leverage 2D pen-and-paper or blackboard skills. Building on the reduced-dimension 2D editing tool for manipulating 3D shapes, we develop the natural analogy to produce a reduced-dimension 3D tool for manipulating 4D shapes. By physically modeling the correct properties of 4D surfaces, their bending forces, and their collisions in the 3D haptic controller interface, we can support full-featured physical exploration of 4D mathematical objects in a manner that is otherwise far beyond the experience accessible to human beings. As far as we are aware, this paper reports the first interactive system with force-feedback that provides "4D haptic visualization" permitting the user to model and interact with 4D cloth-like objects.

Virtual Reality Cerebral Aneurysm Clipping Simulation With Real-time Haptic Feedback

PubMed Central

Alaraj, Ali; Luciano, Cristian J.; Bailey, Daniel P.; Elsenousi, Abdussalam; Roitberg, Ben Z.; Bernardo, Antonio; Banerjee, P. Pat; Charbel, Fady T.

2014-01-01

Background With the decrease in the number of cerebral aneurysms treated surgically and the increase of complexity of those treated surgically, there is a need for simulation-based tools to teach future neurosurgeons the operative techniques of aneurysm clipping. Objective To develop and evaluate the usefulness of a new haptic-based virtual reality (VR) simulator in the training of neurosurgical residents. Methods A real-time sensory haptic feedback virtual reality aneurysm clipping simulator was developed using the Immersive Touch platform. A prototype middle cerebral artery aneurysm simulation was created from a computed tomography angiogram. Aneurysm and vessel volume deformation and haptic feedback are provided in a 3-D immersive VR environment. Intraoperative aneurysm rupture was also simulated. Seventeen neurosurgery residents from three residency programs tested the simulator and provided feedback on its usefulness and resemblance to real aneurysm clipping surgery. Results Residents felt that the simulation would be useful in preparing for real-life surgery. About two thirds of the residents felt that the 3-D immersive anatomical details provided a very close resemblance to real operative anatomy and accurate guidance for deciding surgical approaches. They believed the simulation is useful for preoperative surgical rehearsal and neurosurgical training. One third of the residents felt that the technology in its current form provided very realistic haptic feedback for aneurysm surgery. Conclusion Neurosurgical residents felt that the novel immersive VR simulator is helpful in their training especially since they do not get a chance to perform aneurysm clippings until very late in their residency programs. PMID:25599200

Objective Assessment of Laparoscopic Force and Psychomotor Skills in a Novel Virtual Reality-Based Haptic Simulator.

PubMed

Prasad, M S Raghu; Manivannan, Muniyandi; Manoharan, Govindan; Chandramohan, S M

2016-01-01

Most of the commercially available virtual reality-based laparoscopic simulators do not effectively evaluate combined psychomotor and force-based laparoscopic skills. Consequently, the lack of training on these critical skills leads to intraoperative errors. To assess the effectiveness of the novel virtual reality-based simulator, this study analyzed the combined psychomotor (i.e., motion or movement) and force skills of residents and expert surgeons. The study also examined the effectiveness of real-time visual force feedback and tool motion during training. Bimanual fundamental (i.e., probing, pulling, sweeping, grasping, and twisting) and complex tasks (i.e., tissue dissection) were evaluated. In both tasks, visual feedback on applied force and tool motion were provided. The skills of the participants while performing the early tasks were assessed with and without visual feedback. Participants performed 5 repetitions of fundamental and complex tasks. Reaction force and instrument acceleration were used as metrics. Surgical Gastroenterology, Government Stanley Medical College and Hospital; Institute of Surgical Gastroenterology, Madras Medical College and Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital. Residents (N = 25; postgraduates and surgeons with <2 years of laparoscopic surgery) and expert surgeons (N = 25; surgeons with >4 and ≤10 years of laparoscopic surgery). Residents applied large forces compared with expert surgeons and performed abrupt tool movements (p < 0.001). However, visual + haptic feedback improved the performance of residents (p < 0.001). In complex tasks, visual + haptic feedback did not influence the applied force of expert surgeons, but influenced their tool motion (p < 0.001). Furthermore, in complex tissue sweeping task, expert surgeons applied more force, but were within the tissue damage limits. In both groups, exertion of large forces and abrupt tool motion were observed during grasping, probing or pulling, and tissue sweeping maneuvers (p < 0.001). Modern day curriculum-based training should evaluate the skills of residents with robust force and psychomotor-based exercises for proficient laparoscopy. Visual feedback on force and motion during training has the potential to enhance the learning curve of residents. Copyright © 2016 Association of Program Directors in Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Effects of a Haptic Augmented Simulation on K-12 Students' Achievement and Their Attitudes Towards Physics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Civelek, Turhan; Ucar, Erdem; Ustunel, Hakan; Aydin, Mehmet Kemal

2014-01-01

The current research aims to explore the effects of a haptic augmented simulation on students' achievement and their attitudes towards Physics in an immersive virtual reality environment (VRE). A quasi-experimental post-test design was employed utilizing experiment and control groups. The participants were 215 students from a K-12 school in…

Physics-based approach to haptic display

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brown, J. Michael; Colgate, J. Edward

1994-01-01

This paper addresses the implementation of complex multiple degree of freedom virtual environments for haptic display. We suggest that a physics based approach to rigid body simulation is appropriate for hand tool simulation, but that currently available simulation techniques are not sufficient to guarantee successful implementation. We discuss the desirable features of a virtual environment simulation, specifically highlighting the importance of stability guarantees.

Neodymium:YAG laser cutting of intraocular lens haptics.

PubMed

Gorn, R A; Steinert, R F

1985-11-01

Neodymium:YAG laser cutting of polymethylmethacrylate and polypropylene anterior chamber and posterior chamber intraocular lens haptics was studied in terms of ease of transection and physical structure of the cut areas as seen by scanning electron microscopy. A marked difference was discovered, with the polymethylmethacrylate cutting easily along transverse planes, whereas the polypropylene resisted cutting along longitudinal fibers. Clinical guidelines are presented.

A Comparison of the Effects of Depth Rotation on Visual and Haptic Three-Dimensional Object Recognition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lawson, Rebecca

2009-01-01

A sequential matching task was used to compare how the difficulty of shape discrimination influences the achievement of object constancy for depth rotations across haptic and visual object recognition. Stimuli were nameable, 3-dimensional plastic models of familiar objects (e.g., bed, chair) and morphs midway between these endpoint shapes (e.g., a…

Visualizing Without Vision at the Microscale: Students With Visual Impairments Explore Cells With Touch

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jones, M. Gail; Minogue, James; Oppewal, Tom; Cook, Michelle P.; Broadwell, Bethany

2006-12-01

Science instruction is typically highly dependent on visual representations of scientific concepts that are communicated through textbooks, teacher presentations, and computer-based multimedia materials. Little is known about how students with visual impairments access and interpret these types of visually-dependent instructional materials. This study explored the efficacy of new haptic (simulated tactile feedback and kinesthetics) instructional technology for teaching cell morphology and function to middle and high school students with visual impairments. The study examined students' prior experiences learning about the cell and cell functions in classroom instruction, as well as how haptic feedback technology impacted students' awareness of the 3-D nature of an animal cell, the morphology and function of cell organelles, and students' interest in the haptic technology as an instructional tool. Twenty-one students with visual impairment participated in the study. Students explored a tactile model of the cell with a haptic point probe that allowed them to feel the cell and its organelles. Results showed that students made significant gains in their ability to identify cell organelles and found the technology to be highly interesting as an instructional tool. The need for additional adaptive technology for students with visual impairments is discussed.

Simulation and curriculum design: a global survey in dental education.

PubMed

Perry, S; Burrow, M F; Leung, W K; Bridges, S M

2017-12-01

Curriculum reforms are being driven by globalization and international standardization. Although new information technologies such as dental haptic virtual reality (VR) simulation systems have provided potential new possibilities for clinical learning in dental curricula, infusion into curricula requires careful planning. This study aimed to identify current patterns in the role and integration of simulation in dental degree curricula internationally. An original internet survey was distributed by invitation to clinical curriculum leaders in dental schools in Asia, Europe, North America, and Oceania (Australia and New Zealand). The results (N = 62) showed Asia, Europe and Oceania tended towards integrated curriculum designs with North America having a higher proportion of traditional curricula. North America had limited implementation of haptic VR simulation technology but reported the highest number of scheduled simulation hours. Australia and New Zealand were the most likely regions to incorporate haptic VR simulation technology. This survey indicated considerable variation in curriculum structure with regionally-specific preferences being evident in terms of curriculum structure, teaching philosophies and motivation for incorporation of VR haptic simulation into curricula. This study illustrates the need for an improved evidence base on dental simulations to inform curriculum designs and psychomotor skill learning in dentistry. © 2017 Australian Dental Association.

Finite Element Methods for real-time Haptic Feedback of Soft-Tissue Models in Virtual Reality Simulators

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Frank, Andreas O.; Twombly, I. Alexander; Barth, Timothy J.; Smith, Jeffrey D.; Dalton, Bonnie P. (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

We have applied the linear elastic finite element method to compute haptic force feedback and domain deformations of soft tissue models for use in virtual reality simulators. Our results show that, for virtual object models of high-resolution 3D data (>10,000 nodes), haptic real time computations (>500 Hz) are not currently possible using traditional methods. Current research efforts are focused in the following areas: 1) efficient implementation of fully adaptive multi-resolution methods and 2) multi-resolution methods with specialized basis functions to capture the singularity at the haptic interface (point loading). To achieve real time computations, we propose parallel processing of a Jacobi preconditioned conjugate gradient method applied to a reduced system of equations resulting from surface domain decomposition. This can effectively be achieved using reconfigurable computing systems such as field programmable gate arrays (FPGA), thereby providing a flexible solution that allows for new FPGA implementations as improved algorithms become available. The resulting soft tissue simulation system would meet NASA Virtual Glovebox requirements and, at the same time, provide a generalized simulation engine for any immersive environment application, such as biomedical/surgical procedures or interactive scientific applications.

Intact haptic priming in normal aging and Alzheimer's disease: evidence for dissociable memory systems.

PubMed

Ballesteros, Soledad; Reales, José Manuel

2004-01-01

This study is the first to report complete priming in Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients and older control subjects for objects presented haptically. To investigate possible dissociations between implicit and explicit objects representations, young adults, Alzheimer's patients, and older controls performed a speeded object naming task followed by a recognition task. Similar haptic priming was exhibited by the three groups, although young adults responded faster than the two older groups. Furthermore, there was no difference in performance between the two healthy groups. On the other hand, younger and older healthy adults did not differ on explicit recognition while, as expected, AD patients were highly impaired. The double dissociation suggests that different memory systems mediate both types of memory tasks. The preservation of intact haptic priming in AD provides strong support to the idea that object implicit memory is mediated by a memory system that is different from the medial-temporal diencephalic system underlying explicit memory, which is impaired early in AD. Recent imaging and behavioral studies suggest that the implicit memory system may depend on extrastriate areas of the occipital cortex although somatosensory cortical mechanisms may also be involved.

Lack of transfer of skills after virtual reality simulator training with haptic feedback.

PubMed

Våpenstad, Cecilie; Hofstad, Erlend Fagertun; Bø, Lars Eirik; Kuhry, Esther; Johnsen, Gjermund; Mårvik, Ronald; Langø, Thomas; Hernes, Toril Nagelhus

2017-12-01

Virtual reality (VR) simulators enrich surgical training and offer training possibilities outside of the operating room (OR). In this study, we created a criterion-based training program on a VR simulator with haptic feedback and tested it by comparing the performances of a simulator group against a control group. Medical students with no experience in laparoscopy were randomly assigned to a simulator group or a control group. In the simulator group, the candidates trained until they reached predefined criteria on the LapSim ® VR simulator (Surgical Science AB, Göteborg, Sweden) with haptic feedback (Xitact TM IHP, Mentice AB, Göteborg, Sweden). All candidates performed a cholecystectomy on a porcine organ model in a box trainer (the clinical setting). The performances were video rated by two surgeons blinded to subject training status. In total, 30 students performed the cholecystectomy and had their videos rated (N = 16 simulator group, N = 14 control group). The control group achieved better video rating scores than the simulator group (p < .05). The criterion-based training program did not transfer skills to the clinical setting. Poor mechanical performance of the simulated haptic feedback is believed to have resulted in a negative training effect.

Collision detection and modeling of rigid and deformable objects in laparoscopic simulator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dy, Mary-Clare; Tagawa, Kazuyoshi; Tanaka, Hiromi T.; Komori, Masaru

2015-03-01

Laparoscopic simulators are viable alternatives for surgical training and rehearsal. Haptic devices can also be incorporated with virtual reality simulators to provide additional cues to the users. However, to provide realistic feedback, the haptic device must be updated by 1kHz. On the other hand, realistic visual cues, that is, the collision detection and deformation between interacting objects must be rendered at least 30 fps. Our current laparoscopic simulator detects the collision between a point on the tool tip, and on the organ surfaces, in which haptic devices are attached on actual tool tips for realistic tool manipulation. The triangular-mesh organ model is rendered using a mass spring deformation model, or finite element method-based models. In this paper, we investigated multi-point-based collision detection on the rigid tool rods. Based on the preliminary results, we propose a method to improve the collision detection scheme, and speed up the organ deformation reaction. We discuss our proposal for an efficient method to compute simultaneous multiple collision between rigid (laparoscopic tools) and deformable (organs) objects, and perform the subsequent collision response, with haptic feedback, in real-time.

Control of an ER haptic master in a virtual slave environment for minimally invasive surgery applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Han, Young-Min; Choi, Seung-Bok

2008-12-01

This paper presents the control performance of an electrorheological (ER) fluid-based haptic master device connected to a virtual slave environment that can be used for minimally invasive surgery (MIS). An already developed haptic joint featuring controllable ER fluid and a spherical joint mechanism is adopted for the master system. Medical forceps and an angular position measuring device are devised and integrated with the joint to establish the MIS master system. In order to embody a human organ in virtual space, a volumetric deformable object is used. The virtual object is then mathematically formulated by a shape-retaining chain-linked (S-chain) model. After evaluating the reflection force, computation time and compatibility with real-time control, the haptic architecture for MIS is established by incorporating the virtual slave with the master device so that the reflection force for the object of the virtual slave and the desired position for the master operator are transferred to each other. In order to achieve the desired force trajectories, a sliding mode controller is formulated and then experimentally realized. Tracking control performances for various force trajectories are evaluated and presented in the time domain.

6-DoF Haptic Rendering Using Continuous Collision Detection between Points and Signed Distance Fields.

PubMed

Hongyi Xu; Barbic, Jernej

2017-01-01

We present an algorithm for fast continuous collision detection between points and signed distance fields, and demonstrate how to robustly use it for 6-DoF haptic rendering of contact between objects with complex geometry. Continuous collision detection is often needed in computer animation, haptics, and virtual reality applications, but has so far only been investigated for polygon (triangular) geometry representations. We demonstrate how to robustly and continuously detect intersections between points and level sets of the signed distance field. We suggest using an octree subdivision of the distance field for fast traversal of distance field cells. We also give a method to resolve continuous collisions between point clouds organized into a tree hierarchy and a signed distance field, enabling rendering of contact between rigid objects with complex geometry. We investigate and compare two 6-DoF haptic rendering methods now applicable to point-versus-distance field contact for the first time: continuous integration of penalty forces, and a constraint-based method. An experimental comparison to discrete collision detection demonstrates that the continuous method is more robust and can correctly resolve collisions even under high velocities and during complex contact.

Integration of soft tissue model and open haptic device for medical training simulator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Akasum, G. F.; Ramdhania, L. N.; Suprijanto; Widyotriatmo, A.

2016-03-01

Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS) has been widely used to perform any surgical procedures nowadays. Currently, MIS has been applied in some cases in Indonesia. Needle insertion is one of simple MIS procedure that can be used for some purposes. Before the needle insertion technique used in the real situation, it essential to train this type of medical student skills. The research has developed an open platform of needle insertion simulator with haptic feedback that providing the medical student a realistic feel encountered during the actual procedures. There are three main steps in build the training simulator, which are configure hardware system, develop a program to create soft tissue model and the integration of hardware and software. For evaluating its performance, haptic simulator was tested by 24 volunteers on a scenario of soft tissue model. Each volunteer must insert the needle on simulator until rearch the target point with visual feedback that visualized on the monitor. From the result it can concluded that the soft tissue model can bring the sensation of touch through the perceived force feedback on haptic actuator by looking at the different force in accordance with different stiffness in each layer.

Passive haptics in a knee arthroscopy simulator: is it valid for core skills training?

PubMed

McCarthy, Avril D; Moody, Louise; Waterworth, Alan R; Bickerstaff, Derek R

2006-01-01

Previous investigation of a cost-effective virtual reality arthroscopic training system, the Sheffield Knee Arthroscopy Training System (SKATS), indicated the desirability of including haptic feedback. A formal task analysis confirmed the importance of knee positioning as a core skill for trainees learning to navigate the knee arthroscopically. The system cost and existing limb interface, which permits knee positioning, would be compromised by the addition of commercial active haptic devices available currently. The validation results obtained when passive haptic feedback (resistance provided by physical structures) is provided indicate that SKATS has construct, predictive and face validity for navigation and triangulation training. When tested using SKATS, experienced surgeons (n = 11) performed significantly faster, located significantly more pathologies, and showed significantly shorter arthroscope path lengths than a less experienced surgeon cohort (n = 12). After SKATS training sessions, novices (n = 3) showed significant improvements in: task completion time, shorter arthroscope path lengths, shorter probe path lengths, and fewer arthroscope tip contacts. Main improvements occurred after the first two practice sessions, indicating rapid familiarization and a training effect. Feedback from questionnaires completed by orthopaedic surgeons indicates that the system has face validity for its remit of basic arthroscopic training.

Design and Evaluation of Shape-Changing Haptic Interfaces for Pedestrian Navigation Assistance.

PubMed

Spiers, Adam J; Dollar, Aaron M

2017-01-01

Shape-changing interfaces are a category of device capable of altering their form in order to facilitate communication of information. In this work, we present a shape-changing device that has been designed for navigation assistance. 'The Animotus' (previously, 'The Haptic Sandwich' ), resembles a cube with an articulated upper half that is able to rotate and extend (translate) relative to the bottom half, which is fixed in the user's grasp. This rotation and extension, generally felt via the user's fingers, is used to represent heading and proximity to navigational targets. The device is intended to provide an alternative to screen or audio based interfaces for visually impaired, hearing impaired, deafblind, and sighted pedestrians. The motivation and design of the haptic device is presented, followed by the results of a navigation experiment that aimed to determine the role of each device DOF, in terms of facilitating guidance. An additional device, 'The Haptic Taco', which modulated its volume in response to target proximity (negating directional feedback), was also compared. Results indicate that while the heading (rotational) DOF benefited motion efficiency, the proximity (translational) DOF benefited velocity. Combination of the two DOF improved overall performance. The volumetric Taco performed comparably to the Animotus' extension DOF.

Cortical mechanisms underlying sensorimotor enhancement promoted by walking with haptic inputs in a virtual environment.

PubMed

Sangani, Samir; Lamontagne, Anouk; Fung, Joyce

2015-01-01

Sensorimotor integration is a complex process in the central nervous system that produces task-specific motor output based on selective and rapid integration of sensory information from multiple sources. This chapter reviews briefly the role of haptic cues in postural control during tandem stance and locomotion, focusing on sensorimotor enhancement of locomotion post stroke. The use of mixed-reality systems incorporating both haptic cues and virtual reality technology in gait rehabilitation post stroke is discussed. Over the last decade, researchers and clinicians have shown evidence of cerebral reorganization that underlies functional recovery after stroke based on results from neuroimaging techniques such as positron emission tomography and functional magnetic resonance imaging. These imaging modalities are however limited in their capacity to measure cortical changes during extensive body motions in upright stance. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) on the other hand provides a unique opportunity to measure cortical activity associated with postural control during locomotion. Evidence of cortical changes associated with sensorimotor enhancement induced by haptic touch during locomotion is revealed through fNIRS in a pilot study involving healthy individuals and a case study involving a chronic stroke patient. © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Robot-assisted microsurgical forceps with haptic feedback for transoral laser microsurgery.

PubMed

Deshpande, Nikhil; Chauhan, Manish; Pacchierotti, Claudio; Prattichizzo, Domenico; Caldwell, Darwin G; Mattos, Leonardo S

2016-08-01

In this paper, a novel, motorized, multi-degrees-of-freedom (DoF), microsurgical forceps tool is presented, which is based on a master-slave teleoperation architecture. The slave device is a 7-DoF manipulator with: (i) 6-DoF positioning and orientation, (ii) 1 open/close gripper DoF; and (iii) an integrated force/torque sensor for tissue grip-force measurement. The master device is a 7-DoF haptic interface which teleoperates the slave device, and provides haptic feedback in its gripper interface. The combination of the device and the surgeon interface replaces the manual, hand-held device providing easy-to-use and ergonomic tissue control, simplifying the surgical tasks. This makes the system suitable to real surgical scenarios in the operating room (OR). The performance of the system was analysed through the evaluation of teleoperation control and characterization of gripping force. The new system offers an overall positioning error of less than 400 μm demonstrating its safety and accuracy. Improved system precision, usability, and ergonomics point to the potential suitability of the device for the OR and its ability to advance haptic-feedback-enhanced transoral laser microsurgeries.

Development of optical FBG force measurement system for the medical application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Song, Hoseok; Kim, Kiyoung; Suh, Jungwook; Lee, Jungju

2010-03-01

Haptic feedback plays a very important role in medical surgery. In minimally invasive surgery (MIS), however, very long and stiff bar of instruments take haptic feeling away from the surgeon. In minimally invasive robotic surgery (MIRS), moreover, haptic feelings are totally eliminated. Previous researchers have reported that the absence of force feedback increased the average force magnitude applied to the tissue by at least 50%, and increased the peakforce magnitude by at least a factor of two. Therefore, it is very important to provide haptic information in MIRS. Recently, many sensors are being developed for MIS or MIRS, but they have some obstacles in their application to real situations of medical surgery. The most critical problems are size limit and sterilizability. Optical fiber sensors are one of the most suitable sensors for this environment. Especially, optical fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensor has one additional advantage than the other optical fiber sensors. FBG sensor is not influenced by intensity of light source. In this paper, we would like to present the initial results of study on the application of the FBG sensor to measure reflected forces in MIRS environments and then suggest the possibility of successful application to the MIRS systems.

Development of optical FBG force measurement system for the medical application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Song, Hoseok; Kim, Kiyoung; Suh, Jungwook; Lee, Jungju

2009-12-01

Haptic feedback plays a very important role in medical surgery. In minimally invasive surgery (MIS), however, very long and stiff bar of instruments take haptic feeling away from the surgeon. In minimally invasive robotic surgery (MIRS), moreover, haptic feelings are totally eliminated. Previous researchers have reported that the absence of force feedback increased the average force magnitude applied to the tissue by at least 50%, and increased the peakforce magnitude by at least a factor of two. Therefore, it is very important to provide haptic information in MIRS. Recently, many sensors are being developed for MIS or MIRS, but they have some obstacles in their application to real situations of medical surgery. The most critical problems are size limit and sterilizability. Optical fiber sensors are one of the most suitable sensors for this environment. Especially, optical fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensor has one additional advantage than the other optical fiber sensors. FBG sensor is not influenced by intensity of light source. In this paper, we would like to present the initial results of study on the application of the FBG sensor to measure reflected forces in MIRS environments and then suggest the possibility of successful application to the MIRS systems.

Safe Local Navigation for Visually Impaired Users With a Time-of-Flight and Haptic Feedback Device.

PubMed

Katzschmann, Robert K; Araki, Brandon; Rus, Daniela

2018-03-01

This paper presents ALVU (Array of Lidars and Vibrotactile Units), a contactless, intuitive, hands-free, and discreet wearable device that allows visually impaired users to detect low- and high-hanging obstacles, as well as physical boundaries in their immediate environment. The solution allows for safe local navigation in both confined and open spaces by enabling the user to distinguish free space from obstacles. The device presented is composed of two parts: a sensor belt and a haptic strap. The sensor belt is an array of time-of-flight distance sensors worn around the front of a user's waist, and the pulses of infrared light provide reliable and accurate measurements of the distances between the user and surrounding obstacles or surfaces. The haptic strap communicates the measured distances through an array of vibratory motors worn around the user's upper abdomen, providing haptic feedback. The linear vibration motors are combined with a point-loaded pretensioned applicator to transmit isolated vibrations to the user. We validated the device's capability in an extensive user study entailing 162 trials with 12 blind users. Users wearing the device successfully walked through hallways, avoided obstacles, and detected staircases.

Can a Soft Robotic Probe Use Stiffness Control Like a Human Finger to Improve Efficacy of Haptic Perception?

PubMed

Sornkarn, Nantachai; Nanayakkara, Thrishantha

2017-01-01

When humans are asked to palpate a soft tissue to locate a hard nodule, they regulate the stiffness, speed, and force of the finger during examination. If we understand the relationship between these behavioral variables and haptic information gain (transfer entropy) during manual probing, we can improve the efficacy of soft robotic probes for soft tissue palpation, such as in tumor localization in minimally invasive surgery. Here, we recorded the muscle co-contraction activity of the finger using EMG sensors to address the question as to whether joint stiffness control during manual palpation plays an important role in the haptic information gain. To address this question, we used a soft robotic probe with a controllable stiffness joint and a force sensor mounted at the base to represent the function of the tendon in a biological finger. Then, we trained a Markov chain using muscle co-contraction patterns of human subjects, and used it to control the stiffness of the soft robotic probe in the same soft tissue palpation task. The soft robotic experiments showed that haptic information gain about the depth of the hard nodule can be maximized by varying the internal stiffness of the soft probe.

Mechanical model of orthopaedic drilling for augmented-haptics-based training.

PubMed

Pourkand, Ashkan; Zamani, Naghmeh; Grow, David

2017-10-01

In this study, augmented-haptic feedback is used to combine a physical object with virtual elements in order to simulate anatomic variability in bone. This requires generating levels of force/torque consistent with clinical bone drilling, which exceed the capabilities of commercially available haptic devices. Accurate total force generation is facilitated by a predictive model of axial force during simulated orthopaedic drilling. This model is informed by kinematic data collected while drilling into synthetic bone samples using an instrumented linkage attached to the orthopaedic drill. Axial force is measured using a force sensor incorporated into the bone fixture. A nonlinear function, relating force to axial position and velocity, was used to fit the data. The normalized root-mean-square error (RMSE) of forces predicted by the model compared to those measured experimentally was 0.11 N across various bones with significant differences in geometry and density. This suggests that a predictive model can be used to capture relevant variations in the thickness and hardness of cortical and cancellous bone. The practical performance of this approach is measured using the Phantom Premium haptic device, with some required customizations. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Aging and Haptic-Visual Solid Shape Matching.

PubMed

Norman, J Farley; Adkins, Olivia C; Dowell, Catherine J; Hoyng, Stevie C; Gilliam, Ashley N; Pedersen, Lauren E

2017-08-01

A total of 36 younger (mean age = 21.3 years) and older adults (mean age = 73.8 years) haptically explored plastic copies of naturally shaped objects (bell peppers, Capsicum annuum) one at a time for 7 s each. The participants' task was to then choose which of 12 concurrently visible objects had the same solid shape as the one they felt. The younger and older participants explored the object shapes using either one, three, or five fingers (there were six participants for each combination of number of fingers and age group). The outcome was different from that of previous research conducted with manmade objects. Unlike Jansson and Monaci (2006) , we found that for most objects, our participants' performance was unaffected by variations in the number of fingers used for haptic exploration. While there was no significant overall effect of the number of fingers, there was a significant main effect of age. The younger adults' shape matching performance was 48.6% higher than that of the older adults. When perceiving naturally shaped objects such as bell peppers, it appears that the usage of a single finger can be as effective as haptic exploration with a whole complement of five fingers.

Performance Evaluation of Passive Haptic Feedback for Tactile HMI Design in CAVEs.

PubMed

Lassagne, Antoine; Kemeny, Andras; Posselt, Javier; Merienne, Frederic

2018-01-01

This article presents a comparison of different haptic systems, which are designed to simulate flat Human Machine Interfaces (HMIs) like touchscreens in virtual environments (VEs) such as CAVEs, and their respective performance. We compare a tangible passive transparent slate to a classic tablet and a sensory substitution system. These systems were tested during a controlled experiment. The performance and impressions from 20 subjects were collected to understand more about the modalities in the given context. The results show that the preferences of the subjects are strongly related to the use-cases and needs. In terms of performance, passive haptics proved to be significantly useful, acting as a space reference and a real-time continuous calibration system, allowing subjects to have lower execution durations and relative errors. Sensory substitution induced perception drifts during the experiment, causing significant performance disparities, demonstrating the low robustness of perception when spatial cues are insufficiently available. Our findings offer a better understanding on the nature of perception drifts and the need of strong multisensory spatial markers for such use-cases in CAVEs. The importance of a relevant haptic modality specifically designed to match a precise use-case is also emphasized.

Patient adaptive control of end-effector based gait rehabilitation devices using a haptic control framework.

PubMed

Hussein, Sami; Kruger, Jörg

2011-01-01

Robot assisted training has proven beneficial as an extension of conventional therapy to improve rehabilitation outcome. Further facilitation of this positive impact is expected from the application of cooperative control algorithms to increase the patient's contribution to the training effort according to his level of ability. This paper presents an approach for cooperative training for end-effector based gait rehabilitation devices. Thereby it provides the basis to firstly establish sophisticated cooperative control methods in this class of devices. It uses a haptic control framework to synthesize and render complex, task specific training environments, which are composed of polygonal primitives. Training assistance is integrated as part of the environment into the haptic control framework. A compliant window is moved along a nominal training trajectory compliantly guiding and supporting the foot motion. The level of assistance is adjusted via the stiffness of the moving window. Further an iterative learning algorithm is used to automatically adjust this assistance level. Stable haptic rendering of the dynamic training environments and adaptive movement assistance have been evaluated in two example training scenarios: treadmill walking and stair climbing. Data from preliminary trials with one healthy subject is provided in this paper. © 2011 IEEE

Inhomogeneous Point-Processes to Instantaneously Assess Affective Haptic Perception through Heartbeat Dynamics Information

PubMed Central

Valenza, G.; Greco, A.; Citi, L.; Bianchi, M.; Barbieri, R.; Scilingo, E. P.

2016-01-01

This study proposes the application of a comprehensive signal processing framework, based on inhomogeneous point-process models of heartbeat dynamics, to instantaneously assess affective haptic perception using electrocardiogram-derived information exclusively. The framework relies on inverse-Gaussian point-processes with Laguerre expansion of the nonlinear Wiener-Volterra kernels, accounting for the long-term information given by the past heartbeat events. Up to cubic-order nonlinearities allow for an instantaneous estimation of the dynamic spectrum and bispectrum of the considered cardiovascular dynamics, as well as for instantaneous measures of complexity, through Lyapunov exponents and entropy. Short-term caress-like stimuli were administered for 4.3–25 seconds on the forearms of 32 healthy volunteers (16 females) through a wearable haptic device, by selectively superimposing two levels of force, 2 N and 6 N, and two levels of velocity, 9.4 mm/s and 65 mm/s. Results demonstrated that our instantaneous linear and nonlinear features were able to finely characterize the affective haptic perception, with a recognition accuracy of 69.79% along the force dimension, and 81.25% along the velocity dimension. PMID:27357966

EuPathDB: the eukaryotic pathogen genomics database resource

PubMed Central

Aurrecoechea, Cristina; Barreto, Ana; Basenko, Evelina Y.; Brestelli, John; Brunk, Brian P.; Cade, Shon; Crouch, Kathryn; Doherty, Ryan; Falke, Dave; Fischer, Steve; Gajria, Bindu; Harb, Omar S.; Heiges, Mark; Hertz-Fowler, Christiane; Hu, Sufen; Iodice, John; Kissinger, Jessica C.; Lawrence, Cris; Li, Wei; Pinney, Deborah F.; Pulman, Jane A.; Roos, David S.; Shanmugasundram, Achchuthan; Silva-Franco, Fatima; Steinbiss, Sascha; Stoeckert, Christian J.; Spruill, Drew; Wang, Haiming; Warrenfeltz, Susanne; Zheng, Jie

2017-01-01

The Eukaryotic Pathogen Genomics Database Resource (EuPathDB, http://eupathdb.org) is a collection of databases covering 170+ eukaryotic pathogens (protists & fungi), along with relevant free-living and non-pathogenic species, and select pathogen hosts. To facilitate the discovery of meaningful biological relationships, the databases couple preconfigured searches with visualization and analysis tools for comprehensive data mining via intuitive graphical interfaces and APIs. All data are analyzed with the same workflows, including creation of gene orthology profiles, so data are easily compared across data sets, data types and organisms. EuPathDB is updated with numerous new analysis tools, features, data sets and data types. New tools include GO, metabolic pathway and word enrichment analyses plus an online workspace for analysis of personal, non-public, large-scale data. Expanded data content is mostly genomic and functional genomic data while new data types include protein microarray, metabolic pathways, compounds, quantitative proteomics, copy number variation, and polysomal transcriptomics. New features include consistent categorization of searches, data sets and genome browser tracks; redesigned gene pages; effective integration of alternative transcripts; and a EuPathDB Galaxy instance for private analyses of a user's data. Forthcoming upgrades include user workspaces for private integration of data with existing EuPathDB data and improved integration and presentation of host–pathogen interactions. PMID:27903906

Synthesis and Evaluation of A High Precision 3D-Printed Ti6Al4V Compliant Parallel Manipulator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pham, Minh Tuan; Teo, Tat Joo; Huat Yeo, Song; Wang, Pan; Nai, Mui Ling Sharon

2017-12-01

A novel 3D printed compliant parallel manipulator (CPM) with θX - θX - Z motions is presented in this paper. This CPM is synthesized using the beam-based method, a new structural optimization approach, to achieve optimized stiffness properties with targeted dynamic behavior. The CPM performs high non-actuating stiffness based on the predicted stiffness ratios of about 3600 for translations and 570 for rotations, while the dynamic response is fast with the targeted first resonant mode of 100Hz. A prototype of the synthesized CPM is fabricated using the electron beam melting (EBM) technology with Ti6Al4V material. Driven by three voice-coil (VC) motors, the CPM demonstrated a positioning resolution of 50nm along the Z axis and an angular resolution of ~0.3 “about the X and Y axes, the positioning accuracy is also good with the measured values of ±25.2nm and ±0.17” for the translation and rotations respectively. Experimental investigation also shows that this large workspace CPM has a first resonant mode of 98Hz and the stiffness behavior matches the prediction with the highest deviation of 11.2%. Most importantly, the full workspace of 10° × 10° × 7mm of the proposed CPM can be achieved, that demonstrates 3D printed compliant mechanisms can perform large elastic deformation. The obtained results show that CPMs printed by EBM technology have predictable mechanical characteristics and are applicable in precise positioning systems.

Real-time, haptics-enabled simulator for probing ex vivo liver tissue.

PubMed

Lister, Kevin; Gao, Zhan; Desai, Jaydev P

2009-01-01

The advent of complex surgical procedures has driven the need for realistic surgical training simulators. Comprehensive simulators that provide realistic visual and haptic feedback during surgical tasks are required to familiarize surgeons with the procedures they are to perform. Complex organ geometry inherent to biological tissues and intricate material properties drive the need for finite element methods to assure accurate tissue displacement and force calculations. Advances in real-time finite element methods have not reached the state where they are applicable to soft tissue surgical simulation. Therefore a real-time, haptics-enabled simulator for probing of soft tissue has been developed which utilizes preprocessed finite element data (derived from accurate constitutive model of the soft-tissue obtained from carefully collected experimental data) to accurately replicate the probing task in real-time.

Comparison of Walking and Traveling-Wave Piezoelectric Motors as Actuators in Kinesthetic Haptic Devices.

PubMed

Olsson, Pontus; Nysjo, Fredrik; Carlbom, Ingrid B; Johansson, Stefan

2016-01-01

Piezoelectric motors offer an attractive alternative to electromagnetic actuators in portable haptic interfaces: they are compact, have a high force-to-volume ratio, and can operate with limited or no gearing. However, the choice of a piezoelectric motor type is not obvious due to differences in performance characteristics. We present our evaluation of two commercial, operationally different, piezoelectric motors acting as actuators in two kinesthetic haptic grippers, a walking quasi-static motor and a traveling wave ultrasonic motor. We evaluate each gripper's ability to display common virtual objects including springs, dampers, and rigid walls, and conclude that the walking quasi-static motor is superior at low velocities. However, for applications where high velocity is required, traveling wave ultrasonic motors are a better option.

Human eye haptics-based multimedia.

PubMed

Velandia, David; Uribe-Quevedo, Alvaro; Perez-Gutierrez, Byron

2014-01-01

Immersive and interactive multimedia applications offer complementary study tools in anatomy as users can explore 3D models while obtaining information about the organ, tissue or part being explored. Haptics increases the sense of interaction with virtual objects improving user experience in a more realistic manner. Common eye studying tools are books, illustrations, assembly models, and more recently these are being complemented with mobile apps whose 3D capabilities, computing power and customers are increasing. The goal of this project is to develop a complementary eye anatomy and pathology study tool using deformable models within a multimedia application, offering the students the opportunity for exploring the eye from up close and within with relevant information. Validation of the tool provided feedback on the potential of the development, along with suggestions on improving haptic feedback and navigation.

Development of a Whole-Body Haptic Sensor with Multiple Supporting Points and Its Application to a Manipulator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hanyu, Ryosuke; Tsuji, Toshiaki

This paper proposes a whole-body haptic sensing system that has multiple supporting points between the body frame and the end-effector. The system consists of an end-effector and multiple force sensors. Using this mechanism, the position of a contact force on the surface can be calculated without any sensor array. A haptic sensing system with a single supporting point structure has previously been developed by the present authors. However, the system has drawbacks such as low stiffness and low strength. Therefore, in this study, a mechanism with multiple supporting points was proposed and its performance was verified. In this paper, the basic concept of the mechanism is first introduced. Next, an evaluation of the proposed method, performed by conducting some experiments, is presented.

Kinematic synthesis of bevel-gear-type robotic wrist mechanisms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Chen-Chou

Bevel-gear-type robotic wrist mechanisms are commonly used in industry. The reasons for their popularity are that they are compact, light-weight, and relatively inexpensive. However, there are singularities in their workspace, which substantially degrade their manipulative performance. The objective of this research is to develop an atlas of three-degree-of-freedom bevel-gear-type wrist mechanisms, and through dimensional synthesis to improve their kinematic performance. The dissertation contains two major parts: the first is structural analysis and synthesis, the other is kinematic analysis and dimensional synthesis. To synthesize the kinematic structures of bevel-gear-type wrist mechanisms, the kinematic structures are separated from their functional considerations. All kinematic structures which satisfy the mobility condition are enumerated in an unbiased, systematic manner. Then the bevel-gear-type wrist mechanisms are identified by applying the functional requirements. Structural analysis shows that a three-degree-of-freedom wrist mechanism usually consists of non-fractionated, two degree-of-freedom epicyclic gear train jointed with the base link. Therefore, the structural synthesis can be simplified into a problem of examining the atlas of non-fractionated, two-degree-of-freedom epicyclic gear trains. The resulting bevel-gear-type wrist mechanism has been categorized and evaluated. It is shown that three-degree-of-freedom, four-jointed wrist mechanisms are promising for further improving the kinematic performance. It is found that a spherical planetary gear train is necessarily imbedded in a three-degree-of-freedom, four-jointed wrist mechanism. Therefore, to study the workspace and singularity problems of three-degree-of-freedom four-jointed spherical wrist mechanisms, we have to study the trajectories of spherical planetary gear trains. The parametric equations of the trajectories and some useful geometric properties for the analysis and synthesis of workplace are derived. The workspace boundary equations can be derived via both geometric consideration and Jacobian analysis. The workspace is divided by inner and outer boundaries into regions of accessibility of zero, two, and four. The design criteria of full workspace and a maximum four-root region are established.

Modeling of Explorative Procedures for Remote Object Identification

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-09-01

haptic sensory system and the simulated foveal component of the visual system. Eventually it will allow multiple applications in remote sensing and...superposition of sensory channels. The use of a force reflecting telemanipulator and computer simulated visual foveal component are the tools which...representation of human search models is achieved by using the proprioceptive component of the haptic sensory system and the simulated foveal component of the

In-the-bag decentration of an intraocular lens in a patient with a tendency to hypertrophic scarring

PubMed Central

Joshi, Rajesh Subhash

2016-01-01

Summary We report a case of rapid anterior lens capsular contraction leading to decentration of a hydrophilic acrylic lens with stiff haptics (Rayner design). To our knowledge, this is the first report to investigate early capsular contraction with folding of the haptic over the optic in a patient with a tendency toward hypertrophic scar formation. PMID:27330480

Biomimetic shoulder complex based on 3-PSS/S spherical parallel mechanism

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hou, Yulei; Hu, Xinzhe; Zeng, Daxing; Zhou, Yulin

2015-01-01

The application of the parallel mechanism is still limited in the humanoid robot fields, and the existing parallel humanoid robot joint has not yet been reflected the characteristics of the parallel mechanism completely, also failed to solve the problem, such as small workspace, effectively. From the structural and functional bionic point of view, a three degrees of freedom(DOFs) spherical parallel mechanism for the shoulder complex of the humanoid robot is presented. According to the structure and kinetic characteristics analysis of the human shoulder complex, 3-PSS/S(P for prismatic pair, S for spherical pair) is chosen as the original configuration for the shouder complex. Using genetic algorithm, the optimization of the 3-PSS/S spherical parallel mechanism is performed, and the orientation workspace of the prototype mechanism is enlarged obviously. Combining the practical structure characteristics of the human shouder complex, an offset output mode, which means the output rod of the mechanism turn to any direction at the point a certain distance from the rotation center of the mechanism, is put forward, which provide possibility for the consistent of the workspace of the mechanism and the actual motion space of the human body shoulder joint. The relationship of the attitude angles between different coordinate system is derived, which establishs the foundation for the motion descriptions under different conditions and control development. The 3-PSS/S spherical parallel mechanism is proposed for the shoulder complex, and the consistence of the workspace of the mechanism and the human shoulder complex is realized by the stuctural parameter optimization and the offset output design.