Effects of Electrical Muscle Stimulation on Memorability of Hand Gestures: A Preliminary Study

While images and videos can be used to self-learn hand gestures, it can be difficult to learn gestures accurately in terms of the fingers one has to move and when in order to perform gestures by simply observing images or videos, especially with regard to gestures requiring the movement of multiple fingers. We focus on applying tactile sensation to the muscles of the fingers that should be moved to improve the learnability of hand gestures during self-learning. Specifically, we use electrical muscle stimulation (EMS). We consider EMS may decrease the tendency to move the wrong finger at the wrong time. We first developed a video and an EMS-based hand-gesture-learning support system. Our system applies EMS in synchronization with the movements shown in the videos. Then, we compared the memorability of hand-gesture learning with an existing video-based hand-gesture learning-support system. The results showed an increased number of errors when using EMS, which could be attributed to several factors, such as discomfort from the EMS and a decrease in active engagement and attention. Based on the discussion, we presented a new design for a hand-gesture-learning support system using EMS in response to user errors.