Facial Haptic Feedback for Robotic Prostheses

Individuals with spinal cord injury and upper-limb loss find it difficult to operate robotic prostheses without haptic feedback. Facial haptic feedback may be a useful form of sensory substitution for manipulation in these settings because of the availability and sensitivity of skin of the face. However, existing devices for facial haptics are bulky and occluding, and designed to simulate sensations in virtual reality games rather than enable telepresence. We propose to apply a compact haptic device to the cheek and characterize its effectiveness for sensory substitution of force along a single axis, comparing force feedback, biofeedback, and no haptic feedback conditions in healthy participants.