Name: tactile vibrating toolkit and driving simulation platform for driving-related research
Uploaded: 2020-12-18T14:00:00
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Tactile Vibrating Toolkit and Driving Simulation Platform for Driving-Related Research at JoVE.com

This project has been sponsored by Beijing Talents Foundation.

NOTE: All methods described here have been approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of Tsinghua University and informed consent was obtained from all participants.
1. Participants
<ol>
	<li>Conduct a power analysis to calculate the required number of participants for recruitment according to the experimental design to achieve statistical power.</li>
	<li>Balance the gender of the participants during recruitment as much as possible.</li>
	<li>Ensure that participants have a valid driv...

The driving simulation platform&#160;and vibrating toolkit&#160;reasonably mimicked the application of potential wearable vibrotactile devices in real life, providing an effective technique in investigating driving-related research. With the use of this technology, a safe experimental environment with high configurability and affordability is now available for conducting research that is comparable to real-world driving.
There are several steps that require more attention. Firstly, during the ...

An erratum was issued for:&#160;<a href="https://www.jove.com/t/61408">Tactile Vibrating Toolkit and Driving Simulation Platform for Driving-Related Research</a>. The Authors section was&#160;updated.
Ao Zhu1 
Annebella Tsz Ho Choi1 
Ko-Hsuan Ma1 
Shi Cao2 
Han Yao1 
Jian Wu3 
Jibo He4,1 
1Psychology Department, School of Social Sciences, Tsinghua University 
2Department of Systems Design Engineering, University of Waterloo 
3Haier Innovation Design Center, Haier Company 
4Psychology Department, School of Education and Psychological Sciences, Sichuan University of Science and Engineering
to:
Ao Zhu1 
Annebella Tsz Ho Choi1 
Ko-Hsuan Ma1 
Shi Cao2 
Han Yao1 
Jian Wu3 
Jibo He1 
1Psychology Department, School of Social Sciences, Tsinghua University 
2Department of Systems Design Engineering, University of Waterloo 
3Haier Innovation Design Center, Haier Company

An erratum was issued for:&#160;<a href="https://www.jove.com/t/61408">Tactile Vibrating Toolkit and Driving Simulation Platform for Driving-Related Research</a>. The Authors section was&#160;updated.

Erratum: Tactile Vibrating Toolkit and Driving Simulation Platform for Driving-Related Research

According to the data revealed by the Global Health Estimates in 2016, traffic injury is the eighth cause of global deaths, leading to 1.4 million deaths worldwide1. In the year 2018, 39.2% of the traffic accidents were collisions with motor vehicles in transport, and 7.2% of which were rear-end collisions. A solution to increase vehicle and road safety is the development of an advanced driving assistance system (ADAS) to warn drivers with potential hazards. Data has shown that ADAS can greatly reduce the rate of rear-end collisions, and it is even more effective when equipped with an auto brake system2. In addition, with the development of autonomous vehicles, less human involvement will be required to control the vehicle, making a take-over request (TOR) warning system a necessity when the autonomous vehicle fails to regulate itself. The design of ADAS and TOR warning system is now an important piece of technology for drivers to avoid imminent accidents within a few seconds. The exemplar experiment used a vibrating toolkit along with a driving simulation platform to investigate which location would generate the best outcome when a vibrotactile warning system has been used as a potential ADAS and TOR warning system.
Categorized by perceptual channels, there are generally three types of warning modalities, that is visual, auditory, and tactile. Each warning modality&#160;has its own merits and limitations. When visual warning systems are in use, drivers can suffer from visual overload3, impairing driving performances due to inattentional blindness4,5. Although an auditory warning system does not influence drivers&#39; visual field, its effectiveness greatly depends on the surroundings such as background music and other noises in the driving environment6,7. Thus, situations that contain other external auditory information or significant noise may lead to inattentional deafness8,9, reducing the effectiveness of an auditory warning system. In comparison, tactile warning systems do not compete with drivers&#8217; visual or auditory processing. By sending vibrotactile warnings to drivers, tactile warning systems overcome the limitations of visual and auditory warning systems.
Previous studies showed that tactile warnings can benefit drivers by shortening their brake response time. It was also found that tactile warning systems yield a more effective result over visual10,11 and auditory12,13,14 warning systems in certain situations. However, limited research has focused on investigating the optimal location for placing a tactile warning device. According to sensory cortex hypothesis15 and sensory distance hypothesis16, the exemplar study chose the finger, wrist, and temple areas as the experimental locations for placing a tactile warning device. With the introduced protocol, the frequency and delivering time of a vibrating warning, and intervals between vibrations of the vibrating toolkit, can be configured to fit the experimental requirements. This vibrating toolkit consisted of a master chip, a voltage regulator chip, a multiplexer, a USB to Transistor-Transistor-Logic (TTL) adapter, a Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistor (MOSFET), and a Bluetooth module. The number of vibrating modules can also vary according to researchers&#8217; needs, with up to four modules vibrating at the same time. When implementing the vibrating toolkit in the driving-related experiments, it can be configured to fit the experimental settings as well as synchronized with driving performance data by revising the codes of the driving simulation.
While for researchers, conducting a driving experiment on a virtual platform is more feasible than in the real world due to the risk and cost involved. For instance, collecting performance indicators can be difficult, and it is hard to control the environmental factors involved when experiments are being conducted in the real-world. As a result, many studies have used fixed-base driving simulators running on PCs in recent years as an alternative to conduct on-road driving studies. After learning, developing, and researching for over 11 years in the driving research community, we established a driving simulation platform with a real car that consists of an open-source driving simulation software and a hardware kit, including a steering wheel and gearbox, three pedals, three mounted projectors, and three projector screens. With the driving simulation software supports only a single screen, the presented protocol used only the central projector and projector screen to conduct the experiment.
There are two major advantages of using the presented driving simulation platform. One advantage of this platform is that it uses an open-source software. Using the user-friendly open-source platform, researchers can customize the simulation and vibrating toolkit for their unique research needs by making simple software configuration without any code development&#160;. By revising the codes, researchers can create driving simulations that provide relative fidelity to the reality with plenty of options available on car types, road types, resistance of the steering wheel, lateral and longitudinal wind turbulence, time and brake event application program interfaces (APIs) for external software synchronization, and implementation of the behavioral paradigms such as car-following task and N-Back task. Although conducting driving-related research in a driving simulator cannot fully replicate driving in the real world, data collected through a driving simulator is reasonable and has been widely adopted by researchers17,18.
Another advantage of the proposed driving simulator is its low cost. As mentioned previously, the introduced driving simulation software is an open-source software that is available to users free of charge. In addition, the total cost of the whole hardware setup in this protocol is lower compare to typical high-fidelity commercial driving simulators. Figure 1 a and b show the complete setup of two driving simulators with the cost ranging from $3000 to $30000. In contrast, typical high-fidelity commercial driving simulators (fixed-base) usually cost around $10,000 to $100,000. With its highly affordable price, this driving simulator can be a popular choice not only for academic research purposes, but also for conducting driving classes19 and for demonstration of driving-related technologies20,21.
<img alt="Figure 1" class="xfigimg" src="/files/ftp_upload/61408/61408fig1v2.jpg" /> 
Figure 1: An image of the driving simulators.&#160;Both driving simulators consisted of a steering wheel and gearbox, three pedals, and a vehicle. (a) A $3000 driving simulator setup that used an 80-inch LCD screen with a resolution of 3840 &#215; 2160. (b) A $30000 driving simulator setup that used three mounted projectors and three projector screens with a dimension of 223 x 126 cm each. The projection screens were placed 60 cm above ground and 22 cm away from the front of the vehicle. Only the central projector and projector screen were used for the current experiment. <a href="https://www.jove.com/files/ftp_upload/61408/61408fig1v2large.jpg" target="_blank">Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.</a>
The driving simulation software and vibrating toolkit in the proposed method have already been used in previous studies by our researchers22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29. This self-developed vibrating toolkit following the ISO standard30 can be applied in different fields31,32 by adjusting the vibration frequency and intensity. It is important to note that a newer version of the vibrating toolkit has been developed and is introduced in the following protocol. Instead of adjusting the vibration frequency using an adjustable voltage adapter, the newer version is equipped with five different vibration frequencies and can be easier adjusted using the codes provided in Supplemental Coding File 1. Moreover, the presented driving simulator provides researchers with a safe, inexpensive, and effective way to investigate various kinds of driving-related research. Thus, this protocol is suitable for research laboratories that have a limited budget and have a strong need to customize experimental driving environments.

<table border="1" fo:keep-together.within-page="1" fo:keep-with-next.within-page="always">
	<tbody>
		<tr >
			<td >Logitech G29</td>
			<td >Logitech</td>
			<td >941-000114</td>
			<td >Steering wheel and pedals</td>
		</tr>
		<tr >
			<td >Projector screens</td>
			<td >-</td>
			<td >-</td>
			<td>The projector screen for showing the simulation enivronemnt.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr >
			<td >Epson CB-700U Laser WUXGA Education Ultra Short Focus Interactive Projector</td>
			<td >EPSON</td>
			<td >V11H878520W</td>
			<td>The projector model for generating the display of the simlution enivronment.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr >
			<td >The Open Racing Car Simulator (TORCS)</td>
			<td >-</td>
			<td >None</td>
			<td>Driving simulation software. The original creators are Eric Espi&#233; and Christophe Guionneau, and the version used in experiment is modified by Cao, Shi.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr >
			<td >Tactile toolkit</td>
			<td >Hao Xing Tech.</td>
			<td >None</td>
			<td>This is used to initiate warnings to the participants.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr >
			<td >Connecting program (Python)</td>
			<td >-</td>
			<td >-</td>
			<td>This is used to connect the TORCS with the tactile toolkit to send the vibrating instruction.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr >
			<td >G*power</td>
			<td >Heinrich-Heine-Universit&#228;t D&#252;sseldorf</td>
			<td >None</td>
			<td>This software is used to calculate the required number of participants.</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

tactile vibrating toolkit and driving simulation platform for driving-related research

Collision warning system plays a key role in the prevention of driving distractions and drowsy driving. Previous studies have proven the advantages of tactile warnings in reducing driver&#8217;s brake response time. At the same time, tactile warnings have been proved effective in take-over request (TOR) for partially autonomous vehicles.
How the performance of tactile warnings can be optimized is an ongoing hot research topic in this field. Thus, the presented low-cost driving simulation software and methods are introduced to attract more researchers to take part in the investigation. The presented protocol has been divided into five sections: 1) participants, 2) driving simulation software configuration, 3) driving simulator preparation, 4) vibrating toolkit configuration and preparation, and 5) conducting the experiment.
In the exemplar study, participants wore the tactile vibrating toolkit and performed an established car-following task using the customized driving simulation software. The front vehicle braked intermittently, and vibrating warnings were delivered whenever the front vehicle was braking. Participants were instructed to respond as quickly as possible to the sudden brakes of the front vehicle. Driving dynamics, such as the brake response time and brake response rate, were recorded by the simulation software for data analysis.
The presented protocol offers insight into the exploration of the effectiveness of tactile warnings on different body locations. In addition to the car-following task that is demonstrated in the exemplar experiment, this protocol also provides options&#160;to apply other paradigms to the driving simulation studies by making simple software configuration without any code development. However, it is important to note that due to its affordable price, the driving simulation software and hardware introduced here may not be able to fully compete with other high-fidelity commercial driving simulators. Nevertheless, this protocol can act as an affordable and user-friendly alternative to the general high-fidelity commercial driving simulators.

The exemplar study reported in this paper conducted&#160;the car-following task using the driving simulator and vibrating toolkit, which has also been published previously in an academic journal22. It is noteworthy that the older version of the vibrating toolkit was used when conducting the exemplar study, while a new version of the vibrating toolkit was introduced in the above protocol. The study was a within-subject design experiment with vibrating warning location as the only factor: finger, wr...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Tactile Vibrating Toolkit and Driving Simulation Platform for Driving-Related Research at JoVE.com

Tactile Vibrating Toolkit and Driving Simulation Platform for Driving-Related Research

This protocol describes a driving simulation platform and a tactile vibrating toolkit for the investigation of driving-related research. An exemplar experiment exploring the effectiveness of tactile warnings is also presented.&#160;

Collision warning system plays a key role in the prevention of driving distractions and drowsy driving. Previous studies have proven the advantages of ...

Our protocol provides researcher a very adaptable platform and tools for investigating the benefits and the effectiveness of the application of tactile devices, especially for in-vehicle warning system. This vibrating toolkit provides a safe, inexpensive, and effective technique for investigating various kinds of driving-related research. This method can also be used to conduct other human behavioral studies.This protocol has provided insight into the potential application of smart wearable devices in promoting driving safety. To configure the driving simulation software for an experiment, open the folder of the driving simulation software, the runtime folder, and the config folder. Open the expconfig.txt file and make any adjustments to the default settings of the driving simulation as necessary, according to the experimental design. Configure the UDP settings if a UDP data transfer is required for the experiment, and use true or false to allow the timestamp data synchronization to a specific local network IP address, via the enableUDPSendData option, to determine whether to enable the UDP for data transfer. Then specify each section of the IP address using the commands as indicated, to define the IP address for the UDP transfer.To set up the driving simulator, connect the steering wheel, three mounted projectors, and three projector screens to the computer. Place the projector screens 60 centimeters above the ground, and 22 centimeters away from the front of the instrumented vehicle Select options and display to set the screen resolution to match the screen size upon starting the driving simulation software. Then, on the configure page, select a player, and follow the instructions provided by the software, to calibrate the steering wheel, accelerator, and brake pedal.To configure the vibrating toolkit, connect the toolkit to the power supply and switch on the toolkit. Connect the toolkit to the computer via Bluetooth, and complete a pilot skin sensitivity test, to define the vibrating frequency to be used for the experiment. Then use the codes as indicated to set the vibrating frequency to 70 Hertz, and to synchronize the brake events from the simulation software and vibrating toolkit.To conduct a driving simulation experiment, after obtaining informed consent, help the participant adjust the seat distance to the pedal, and to set the back rest to a comfortable position. Inform the participant how to operate the simulator including the steering wheel, brake pedal, and accelerator pedal, and show the participant the roadmap that will be used for the driving simulation. Inform the participant that they should drive as they would in the real world while following the car in front of them and keeping a two second headway behind it, and instruct the participant to brake as soon as possible, Whenever the front vehicle brakes, even if the scenario does not require a brake response.Have the participant complete a five-minute practice trial that includes a set of five random brakes to learn how to maintain a two second headway distance behind the front vehicle. During the practice trial, if the participant is between 2.25 to 2.5 seconds behind the front vehicle, the driving simulation software will play a prompt with a female voice saying, Too far, please speed up"Too far, please speed up. If the participant is less than 1.5 seconds behind the front vehicle, the driving simulation software will play a prompt with a female voice saying, Too close, please slow down"Too close, please slow down.When the participant has completed the practice session, and can maintain a stable following distance, let the participant know that the study can be stopped without any penalty, by notifying the experimenters at any time as necessary. Inform the participant of the location that the vibrating toolkit will be placed before each block begins, and use medical tape to assist the participant in putting on the toolkit. Inform the participant that the toolkit will vibrate to warn the participant to brake, when the front vehicle is braking, and have the participant begin the first trial.Give the participant a two minute rest upon the completion of each block to reduce any carry-over effects. When all of the trials have been completed, have the participant indicate their preference for, and the vibration intensity, at each location of the toolkit, on a scale of one to seven, and record the usage rate of each of the participant's daily wearable accessories. In this representative analysis, the driving simulation experiment took place in a bright environment, with the simulated scene designed to appear similar to driving on the highway on a clear day.Post-talk analyses using pairwise Bonferroni-corrected T-tests, indicated no significant pairwise comparison differences in the brake response rates between task conditions. As illustrated, the application of tactile warnings could facilitate drivers'reactions towards upcoming hazards while driving, especially when the warning device was located on the driver's finger or wrist. Interestingly, while participants perceived the highest level of vibration in the temple area, the preference for the vibrating toolkit to be located at the temple area was the lowest.In addition, the fact that over 50%of the participants wore a watch in their everyday life, suggests the feasibility of adopting wearable vibrotactile devices as a warning system in real life. Instead of performing the car-following task, researchers can perform an impact task to investigate the cognitive effects of tactile violence simply by activating the option in the protocol

tactile-vibrating-toolkit-driving-simulation-platform-for-driving

Research

JoVE Journal

Behavior

Quantitative Assessment of Cortical Auditory-tactile Processing in Children with Disabilities

Objective and easy measurement of sensory processing is extremely difficult in nonverbal or vulnerable pediatric patients. We developed a new methodology to quantitatively assess children&#39;s cortical processing of light touch, speech sounds and the multisensory processing of the 2 stimuli, without requiring active subject participation or causing children discomfort. To accomplish this we developed a dual channel, time and strength calibrated air puff stimulator that allows both tactile stimulation and sham control. We combined this with the use of event-related potential methodology to allow for high temporal resolution of signals from the primary and secondary somatosensory cortices as well as higher order processing. This methodology also allowed us to measure a multisensory response to auditory-tactile stimulation.

Objective and easy measurement of sensory processing is extremely difficult in nonverbal or vulnerable pediatric patients. We developed a new methodology to quantitatively assess infants and children&#39;s cortical processing of light touch, speech sounds, and the multisensory processing of the 2 stimuli, without requiring active subject participation or causing discomfort in vulnerable patients.

Objective and easy measurement of sensory processing is extremely difficult in nonverbal or vulnerable pediatric patients. We developed a new methodology ...

Measurement of Vibration Detection Threshold and Tactile Spatial Acuity in Human Subjects

Tests that allow the precise determination of psychophysical thresholds for vibration and grating orientation provide valuable information about mechanosensory function that are relevant for clinical diagnosis as well as for basic research. Here, we describe two psychophysical tests designed to determine the vibration detection threshold (automated system) and tactile spatial acuity (handheld device). Both procedures implement a two-interval forced-choice and a transformed-rule up and down experimental paradigm. These tests have been used to obtain mechanosensory profiles for individuals from distinct human cohorts such as twins or people with sensorineural deafness.

Here, we present protocols to determine vibration detection thresholds and tactile acuity using psychophysical methods in man.

Tests that allow the precise determination of psychophysical thresholds for vibration and grating orientation provide valuable information about ...

Testing Tactile Masking between the Forearms

Masking, in which one stimulus affects the detection of another, is a classic technique that has been used in visual, auditory, and tactile research, usually using stimuli that are close together to reveal local interactions. Masking effects have also been demonstrated in which a tactile stimulus alters the perception of a touch at a distant location. Such effects can provide insight into how components of the body's representations in the brain may be linked. Occasional reports have indicated that touches on one hand or forearm can affect tactile sensitivity at corresponding contralateral locations. To explore the matching of corresponding points across the body, we can measure the spatial tuning and effect of posture on contralateral masking. Careful controls are required to rule out direct effects of the remote stimulus, for example by mechanical transmission, and also attention effects in which thresholds may be altered by the participant's attention being drawn away from the stimulus of interest. The use of this technique is beneficial as a behavioural measure for exploring which parts of the body are functionally connected and whether the two sides of the body interact in a somatotopic representation. This manuscript describes a behavioural protocol that can be used for studying contralateral tactile masking.

Here we explore contralateral tactile masking between the forearms in which tactile detection thresholds are modulated by vibration applied to a remote site. The details of which remote sites have an effect can tell us about how the body is represented in the brain.

Masking, in which one stimulus affects the detection of another, is a classic technique that has been used in visual, auditory, and tactile research, ...

A Microphysiologic Platform for Human Fat: Sandwiched White Adipose Tissue

White adipose tissue (WAT) plays a crucial role in regulating weight and everyday health. Still, there are significant limitations to available primary culture models, all of which have failed to faithfully recapitulate the adipose microenvironment or extend WAT viability beyond two weeks. The lack of a reliable primary culture model severely impedes research in WAT metabolism and drug development. To this end we have utilized NIH's standards of a microphysiologic system to develop a novel platform for WAT primary culture called 'SWAT' (sandwiched white adipose tissue). We overcome the natural buoyancy of adipocytes by sandwiching minced WAT clusters between sheets of adipose-derived stromal cells. In this construct, WAT samples are viable over eight weeks in culture. SWAT maintains the intact ECM, cell-to-cell contacts, and physical pressures of in vivo WAT conditions; additionally, SWAT maintains a robust transcriptional profile, sensitivity to exogenous chemical signaling, and whole tissue function. SWAT represents a simple, reproducible, and effective method of primary adipose culture. Potentially, it is a broadly applicable platform for research in WAT physiology, pathophysiology, metabolism, and pharmaceutical development.

White adipose tissue (WAT) has critical deficiencies in its current primary culture models, hindering pharmacological development and metabolic studies. Here, we present a protocol to produce an adipose microphysiological system by sandwiching WAT between sheets of stromal cells. This construct provides a stable and adaptable platform for primary WAT culture.

White adipose tissue (WAT) plays a crucial role in regulating weight and everyday health.  Still, there are significant limitations to available primary ...

A Novel Single Animal Motor Function Tracking System Using Simple, Readily Available Software

We have recently demonstrated that implanting intracortical microelectrodes in the motor corteces of rats&#160;results in immediate and lasting motor deficits. Motor impairments were manually quantified through an open field grid test to measure the gross motor function and through a ladder test to measure the fine motor function. Here, we discuss a technique for the automated quantification of the video-recorded tests using our custom Capadona Behavioral Video Analysis System: Grid and Ladder Test, or BVAS. Leveraging simple and readily available coding software (see the Table of Materials), this program allows for the tracking of a single animal on both the open field grid and the ladder tests. In open field grid tracking, the code thresholds the video for intensity, tracks the position of the rat over the 3 min duration of the grid test, and analyzes the path. It then computes and returns measurements for the total distance traveled, the maximum velocity achieved, the number of left- and right-handed turns, and the total number of grid lines crossed by the rat. In ladder tracking, the code again thresholds the video for intensity, tracks the movement of the rat across the ladder, and returns calculated measurements including the time it took the rat to cross the ladder, the number of paw slips occurring below the plane of the ladder rungs, and the incidence of failures due to stagnation or reversals. We envision that the BVAS developed here can be employed for the analysis of motor function in a variety of applications, including many injury or disease models.

The current study aimed to automate the quantification of motor deficits in rats. The initial evaluation model assesses motor loss resulting from an intracortical microelectrode implantation in the motor cortex. We report on the development and use of a tracking algorithm using easily adaptable, simple, and readily available coding software.

We have recently demonstrated that implanting intracortical microelectrodes in the motor corteces of rats&#160;results in immediate and lasting motor ...

Driving Under the Influence: How Music Listening Affects Driving Behaviors

Car driving is a daily activity for many individuals in modern societies. Drivers often listen to music while driving. The method presented here investigates how listening to music influences driving behaviors. A driving simulation was selected because it offers both a well-controlled environment and a good level of ecological validity. Driving behaviors were assessed through a car-following task. In practice, participants were instructed to follow a lead vehicle as they would do in real life. The lead vehicle speed changed over time requiring constant speed adjustments for the participants. The inter-vehicular time was used to assess driving behaviors. To complement the driving behaviors, the subjective mood and physiological level of arousal were also collected. As such, the results collected using this method offer insights on both the human internal state (i.e., subjective mood and physiological arousal) and driving behaviors in the car following task.

Here, we present a protocol to assess driving behaviors while following a vehicle in a simulated driving environment. The presented protocol is used to compare the impact of different auditory backgrounds on driving behaviors.

Car driving is a daily activity for many individuals in modern societies. Drivers often listen to music while driving. The method presented here ...

Characterization of the Sense of Agency over the Actions of Neural-machine Interface-operated Prostheses

This work describes a methodological framework that can be used to explicitly and implicitly characterize the sense of agency developed over the neural-machine interface (NMI) control of sensate virtual or robotic prosthetic hands. The formation of agency is fundamental in distinguishing the actions that we perform with our limbs as being our own. By striving to incorporate advanced upper-limb prostheses into these same perceptual mechanisms, we can begin to integrate an artificial limb more closely into the user&#39;s existing cognitive framework for limb control. This has important implications in promoting user acceptance, use, and effective control of advanced upper-limb prostheses. In this protocol, participants control a virtual prosthetic hand and receive kinesthetic sensory feedback through their preexisting NMIs. A series of virtual grasping tasks are performed and perturbations are systematically introduced to the kinesthetic feedback and virtual hand movements. Two separate measures of agency are employed: established psychophysical questionnaires (to capture the explicit experience of agency) and a time interval estimate task to capture the implicit sense of agency (intentional binding). Results of this protocol (questionnaire scores and time interval estimates) can be analyzed to quantify the extent of agency formation.

Here we present a protocol which characterizes the sense of agency developed over the control of sensate virtual or robotic prosthetic hands. Psychophysical questionnaires are employed to capture the explicit experience of agency, and time interval estimates (intentional binding) are employed to implicitly measure the sense of agency.

This work describes a methodological framework that can be used to explicitly and implicitly characterize the sense of agency developed over the ...

The HoneyComb Paradigm for Research on Collective Human Behavior

Collective human behavior such as group movement frequently shows surprising patterns and regularities, such as the emergence of leadership. Recent literature has revealed that these patterns, often visible at the global level of the group, are based on self-organized, individual behaviors that follow several simple local parameters. Understanding the dynamics of human collective behavior can help to improve coordination and leadership in group and crowd scenarios, such as identifying the ideal placement and number of emergency exits in buildings.
In this article, we present the experimental paradigm HoneyComb, which can be used to systematically investigate conditions and effects of human collective behavior. This paradigm uses a computer-based multi-user platform, providing a setting that can be shaped and adapted to various types of research questions. Situational conditions (e.g., cost-benefit ratios for specific behavior, monetary incentives and resources, various degrees of uncertainty) can be set by experimenters, depending on the research question. Each participant's motions are recorded by the server as hexagonal coordinates with timestamps at an accuracy of 50 ms and with individual IDs. Thus, a metric can be defined on the playfield, and movement parameters (e.g., distances, velocity, clustering, etc.) of participants can be measured over time. Movement data can in turn be combined with non-computerized data from questionnaires garnered within the same experiment setup.
The HoneyComb paradigm is paving the way for new types of human movement experiments. We demonstrate here that these experiments can render results with sufficient internal validity to meaningfully deepen our understanding of human collective behavior.

Here, we present the computer-based, multi-agent game HoneyComb, which enables experimental investigations of collective human movement behavior via black-dot-avatars on a virtual 2D hexagonal playfield. Different experimental conditions, like variable&#160;incentives on goal fields or vision radius, can be set, and their effects on human movement behavior can be investigated.

Collective human behavior such as group movement frequently shows surprising patterns and regularities, such as the emergence of leadership. Recent ...

A Novel Digital Platform for a Monitored Home-based Cardiac Rehabilitation Program

Despite the evidence that cardiac rehabilitation (CR) reduces the risk of recurrent cardiac events, only a minority of eligible patients are willing to join existing programs at cardiac rehabilitation centers. The unique remote patient monitoring system presented here enables healthcare providers to monitor CR patients at home in real-time and at low cost. The system combines mobile technology, artificial intelligence, and supportive services, expanding the delivery of medical care to the patient&#39;s home. The primary aim of the study is to increase the long-term adherence to physical activity in patients who participate in CR via the addition of a home-based digitally monitored CR component to the standard CR program in patients with ischemic heart disease (IHD), with the idea of forming new habitual health behaviors and increasing the long-term motivation for physical exercise (PE) habits at home. Secondary aims are to assess the program&#39;s impact on the physical activity level measured by average steps per day, minutes of exercise per week, blood pressure, metabolic parameters, body mass index, and waist-to-hip ratio, as well as a quality-of-life (QoL) questionnaire.The study has two arms: (1) home-based monitored exercise using a smart digital garment and wristband, in addition to motivation and reinforcement via text messages; (2) standard CR facility-based exercise. The study design is a randomized, controlled trial comparing standard CR to a home-based monitoring and reinforcement program. The study program is designed for 12 weeks.Clinical tests and anthropometric measurements are performed before and after the study, measuring height, weight, waist circumference, visceral fat and body mass index (BMI), blood pressure, and HbA1c and lipid profile. Patients have to complete a baseline survey including socio-demographic characteristics and QoL questionnaire SF-36. At the end of the study, patients complete a survey regarding the use of the smart digital garment&#39;s benefits and usability. The study is currently underway.

The aim is to promote a new approach to cardiac rehabilitation (CR), using a unique remote patient monitoring system that will enable healthcare providers to monitor CR patients at home at low cost, with the intention of making CR services more accessible and improving compliance. The study is currently underway.

Despite the evidence that cardiac rehabilitation (CR) reduces the risk of recurrent cardiac events, only a minority of eligible patients are willing to ...

Applying Incongruent Visual-Tactile Stimuli during Object Transfer with Vibro-Tactile Feedback

The application of incongruent sensory signals that involves disrupted tactile feedback is rarely explored, specifically with the presence of vibrotactile feedback (VTF). This protocol aims to test the effect of VTF on the response to incongruent visual-tactile stimuli. The tactile feedback is acquired by grasping a block and moving it across a partition. The visual feedback is a real-time virtual presentation of the moving block, acquired using a motion capture system. The congruent feedback is the reliable presentation of the movement of the block, so that the subject feels that the block is grasped and see it move along with the path of the hand. The incongruent feedback appears as the movement of the block diverts from the actual movement path, so that it seems to drop from the hand when it is actually still held by the subject, thereby contradicting the tactile feedback. Twenty subjects (age 30.2 &#177; 16.3) repeated 16 block transfers, while their hand was hidden. These were repeated with VTF and without VTF (total of 32 block transfers). Incongruent stimuli were presented randomly twice within the 16 repetitions in each condition (with and without VTF). Each subject was asked to rate the difficulty level of performing the task with and without the VTF. There were no statistically significant differences in the length of the hand paths and durations between transfers recorded with congruent and incongruent visual-tactile signals &#8211; with and without the VTF. The perceived difficulty level of performing the task with the VTF significantly correlated with the normalized path length of the block with VTF (r = 0.675, p = 0.002). This setup is used to quantify the additive or reductive value of VTF during motor function that involves incongruent visual-tactile stimuli. Possible applications are prosthetics design, smart sport-wear, or any other garments that incorporate VTF.

We present a protocol to apply incongruent visual-tactile stimuli during an object transfer task. Specifically, during block transfers, performed while the hand is hidden, a virtual presentation of the block shows random occurrences of false block drops. The protocol also describes adding vibrotactile feedback while performing the motor task.

The application of incongruent sensory signals that involves disrupted tactile feedback is rarely explored, specifically with the presence of vibrotactile ...