A Study on Rehabilitation Using a Tactile-Force Presentation System

在目前的研究中，我们正在尝试开发一种复合显示器，通过两个手指和机械手来表示压力和力，以便为残疾人提供足够的刺激，以促进灵巧技能的恢复。该复合显示器包括由一只手操纵的装置，这只手被称为“主手”。主手配有两个触觉显示器和一个作为力显示器的铰接机械手。食指和拇指各有一个触觉显示器。每个触觉显示器都有一个6乘4的刺激针阵列，与每个指垫接触。操作者操纵主手来感受虚拟触觉。虚拟物体可以通过主手传递的触觉和位置反馈在二维空间中进行处理和移动。为了评估显示器的表现能力，我们进行了两个系列的实验。在实验A中，人类受试者抓住虚拟物体，并试图判断它们的直径。在实验B中，人类受试者试图将各种钉子插入洞中。在实验A中，我们根据如何精确地判断peg的直径来评估显示的表征能力。实验A的结果表明，当受试者同时接受触觉和力反馈时，准确识别抓取物体大小的能力更强。在“拾取和放置”任务中，人类操作员要多次抓取物体，因此识别准确性对于成功完成此类任务非常重要。在实验B中，受试者试图将一个虚拟的钉子插入一个不同大小的洞中。随着孔直径的增加，钉可以成功插入的角度范围减小。压力-力和仅力表示的最终姿态分别为0.3°和2.5°。第二个发现是，当钉的直径仅比孔略小时，作业者有时无法找到孔，或者将钉沉入孔壁中。我们能够测量钉子穿透孔壁的量。如果压力和力都表现出来，我们的复合表现可以有效地增强抓取对象的真实感。我们目前正在开发的虚拟挂钉插入过程中产生的旋转力的表示方法，可以进一步提高虚拟现实的质量。由于目前显示器的安全问题尚未解决，我们无法对残疾患者进行现场测试，但我们预计，在满足必要的安全要求后，在不久的将来能够进行此类现场测试。少

In the present study, we are attempting to develop a compound display to represent pressure and force via two fingers and the robotic hand in order to provide adequate stimuli to handicapped individuals in order to facilitate recovery of dexterity skills. The compound display comprises an apparatus to be manipulated by one hand, which is called the "master hand". The master hand is equipped with two tactile displays and an articulated manipulator functioning as the force display. There is one tactile display for the index finger and one for the thumb. Each tactile display has a 6-by-4 array of stimulus pins which contacts each finger pad. An operator manipulates the master hand to feel virtual tactile sensation. A virtual object can be handled and moved in two dimensions via the tactile and position feedback delivered through the master hand. To evaluate the display's representational capability, we performed two series of experiments. In Experiment A, human subjects grasped virtual pe … More gs and attempted to judge their diameters. In Experiment B, the human subjects tried to insert various pegs into a hole. In Experiment A, we evaluated the representational capability of the display on the basis of how precisely the peg's diameter can be judged. The results of Experiment A show that the ability to accurately identify grasped-object size is greater when the subject receives both tactile and force feedback. In a "pick up and place" task a human operator grasps objects many times, and so identification accuracy is important for successful completion of such a task. In Experiment B, the subject attempts to insert a virtual peg into a different size hole. As the diameter of the hole increases, the range of angles at which a peg can be successfully inserted decreases. Final attitudes of pressure-force and force-only representations are-0.3 and 2.5°, respectively. A second finding was that when the peg was only slightly smaller in diameter than the hole, the operator sometimes was unable to find the hole, or sank the peg into the wall of the hole. We were able to measure the amount by which the peg penetrated the hole wall. Our compound presentation is effective at enhancing the realism of grasped objects if pressure and force are both represented. The quality of virtual reality could be further improved by means of representing rotational force caused in the process of inserting the virtual peg, which we are currently working to develop. We could not perform a field test with handicapped patients due to unresolved safety issues of the present display, but we anticipate being able to perform such field tests in the near future after meeting the necessary safety requirements. Less