Uni- and Bi-directional Haptic Human-Human Interaction During Upper- and Lower-Limb Tracking Tasks
摘要
Haptic human-robot-human interaction allows users to feel and respond to one another’s forces while interfacing with separate robotic devices. For both upper- and lower-limb tasks, previous work has shown that virtual interactions with a partner can improve motor performance and enhance individual learning. However, whether the mechanism of these improvements generalizes across different human systems is an open question. In this work, we investigate the effects of dyadic interaction during a trajectory tracking task involving single-joint movements at the wrist and ankle. We compare tracking performance and muscle activation during haptic conditions where pairs of participants were uni- and bi-directionally connected, in order to investigate the contribution of real-time responses from a partner during the interaction. Findings indicate similar improvements in tracking performance during the haptic conditions across joints, suggesting that uni-directional interaction is sufficient for movement correction during simple motor behaviors in healthy individuals.