Name: applying incongruent visual-tactile stimuli during object transfer with vibro-tactile feedback
Uploaded: 2019-05-23T14:30:00
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Applying Incongruent Visual-Tactile Stimuli during Object Transfer with Vibro-Tactile Feedback at JoVE.com

This study was not funded.

The following protocol follows the guidelines of human research ethics committee of the university. See Table of Materials for reference to the commercial products.
NOTE: After receiving approval of the university ethics committee, 20 healthy individuals (7 males and 13 females, mean and standard deviation [SD] of age 30.2 &#177; 16.3 years) were recruited. Each subject read and signed an informed consent form pretrial. Inclusion criteria were right-handed individuals aged 18 ...

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In this study, a protocol that quantifies the effect of adding VTF on the object transfer kinematics in the presence of incongruent visual-tactile stimuli was presented. To the best of our knowledge, this is the only protocol available to test the effect of VTF on the response to incongruent visual-tactile stimuli. The several critical steps involved in the application of incongruent visual-tactile stimuli during object transfer with VTF include the following: attaching the VTF system to the subject, activating the VTF, ...

Illusions are exploitations of the limitations of our senses, as we mistakenly perceive information that deviates from objective reality. Our perceptual inference is based on our experience in interpreting sensory data and on the calculation of our brain of the most reliable estimate of reality in the presence of ambiguous sensory input1.
A sub-category in the research of illusions is one that combines incongruent sensory signals. The illusion that results from incongruent sensory signals originates from the constant multisensory integration performed by our brain. While there are numerous studies concerning incongruence in visual-auditory signals, incongruence in other sensory pairs is less reported. This difference in the number of reports might be attributed to the higher simplicity in designing a setup that incorporates visual-auditory incongruence. However, studies that report results relating to other sensory pairs modalities, are interesting. For example, the effect of incongruent visual-haptic signals on visual sensitivity2 was studied using a system where the visual and haptic stimuli were matched in spatial frequency; however, the haptic and visual orientation was identical (congruent) or orthogonal (incongruent). In another study, the effect of incongruent visual-tactile motion stimuli on the perceived visual direction of motion was investigated using a visual-tactile cross-modal integration stimulator with a lighted panel that presents visual stimuli and a tactile stimulator that presents tactile motion stimuli with arbitrary motion direction, speed, and indentation depth in the skin3. It was suggested that we internally represent both the statistical distribution of the task and our sensory uncertainty, combining them in a manner consistent with a performance-optimizing Bayesian process4.
Virtual reality has made the ability to deceive the visual feedback to the subject an easy task. Several studies used multisensory virtual reality to misalign visual and somatosensory information. For example, virtual reality was recently used to induce embodiment in a child&#8217;s body, with or without activation of a child-like voice distortion5. In another example, the visual presentation of the walking distance during self-motion was extended and was therefore incongruent with the travel distance felt by body-based cues6. A similar virtual reality setup was designed for a cycling activity7. All of the aforementioned literature, however, did not combine an interference to one of the senses, in addition to the incongruent signal. We chose the tactile sense to receive such a disturbance.
Our tactile sensory system provides direct evidence as to whether an object is being grasped. We therefore expect that when direct visual feedback is distorted or unavailable, the role of the tactile sensory system in object manipulation tasks will be prominent. However, what would happen if the tactile sensory channel was also disturbed? This is a possible outcome of using vibrotactile feedback (VTF) for sensory augmentation, as it captures the attention of the individual8. Today, augmented feedback of different modalities is used as an external tool, meant to enhance our internal sensory feedback and improve performance during motor learning, in sport and in rehabilitation settings9.
The study of incongruent visual-tactile stimuli may enhance our understanding regarding perception of the sensory input. Particularly, quantification of the additive or reductive value of VTF during motor function that involves incongruent visual-tactile stimuli, can assist in future prosthetics design, smart sport-wear, or any other garments that incorporate VTF. Since amputees are deprived of tactile stimuli at the distal aspect of their residuum, their daily usage of the VTF, embedded in the prosthetic to convey knowledge of grasping, for example, might influence how they perceive visual feedback. Understanding of the mechanism of perception under these conditions, will allow engineers to perfect VTF modalities to reduce the negative effect on VTF users.
We aimed to test the effect of VTF on the response to incongruent visual-tactile stimuli. In the presented setup, 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 and the partition (acquired using a motion capture system). Since the subject is prevented from seeing the actual hand movement, the only visual feedback is the virtual one. The congruent feedback is the reliable presentation of the movement of the block, so that the subject feels that the block is grasped and sees 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. Three hypotheses were tested: when moving an object from one place to another using virtual visual feedback, (i) the path and duration of the object&#8217;s transfer motion will increase when incongruent visual-tactile stimuli is presented, (ii) this change will increase when incongruent visual-tactile stimuli is presented and VTF is activated on the moving arm, and (iii) a positive correlation will be found between the perceived difficulty level of performing the task with the VTF activated and the path and duration of the object&#8217;s transfer motion. The first hypothesis originates from aforementioned literature that report that various modalities of incongruent feedback affect our responses. The second hypothesis relates to the previous findings that VTF captures the attention of the individual. For the third hypothesis, we assumed that subjects who were more disturbed by the VTF, will trust the virtual visual feedback more than their tactile sense.

<table>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>3D printer</td>
			<td>Makerbot</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>https://www.makerbot.com/</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Box and Blocks test</td>
			<td>Sammons Preston</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>https://www.performancehealth.com/box-and-blocks-test</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Flexiforce sensors (1lb)</td>
			<td>Tekscan Inc.</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>https://www.tekscan.com/force-sensors</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>JASP</td>
			<td>JASP Team</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>https://jasp-stats.org/</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Labview</td>
			<td>National Instruments</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>http://www.ni.com/en-us/shop/labview/labview-details.html</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Micro Arduino</td>
			<td>Arduino LLC</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>https://store.arduino.cc/arduino-micro</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Motion capture system</td>
			<td>Qualisys</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>https://www.qualisys.com</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Shaftless vibration motor</td>
			<td>Pololu</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>https://www.pololu.com/product/1638</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>SPSS</td>
			<td>IBM</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>https://www.ibm.com/analytics/spss-statistics-software</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

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 used the described technique to test the three hypotheses that when moving an object from one place to another using virtual visual feedback: (i) the path and duration of the object&#8217;s transfer motion will increase when incongruent visual-tactile stimuli is presented; (ii) this change will increase when incongruent visual-tactile stimuli is presented and VTF is activated on the moving arm; and (iii) a positive correlation will be found between the perceived difficulty level of performing the task with the VTF act...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Applying Incongruent Visual-Tactile Stimuli during Object Transfer with Vibro-Tactile Feedback at JoVE.com

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

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 ...

The protocol tests the effect of vibro-tactile feedback on the response to incongruent visual-tactile stimuli. A motion capture system calculates the 3D coordinates of a block transferred across a partition. So the analysis of the movement time and path of the block in each repetition can be performed efficiently and precisely at the end of the trial.The reaction of the subject to the incongruent visual-tactile stimuli in the presence of vibro-tactile feedback can be easily quantified. Quantification of the positive or negative contribution of vibro-tactile feedback during motor function that involves incongruent visual-tactile stimuli can assist in future design of operative prostheses, haptics, and surgical tools, smart sportswear, or any other garments that incorporate vibro-tactile feedback. Any motion capture system and vibro-tactile feedback system can be used to replicate our protocol.Begin by obtaining a wooden box with a 15.2 centimeter high partition in the center. Place a soft sponge layer on both sides of the partition. Then, place six passive reflective markers on the aspect opposite to the screen at the four corners and on both ends of the partition.Use a 3D printer to manufacture a cube with the dimensions of 2.5 centimeters by 2.5 centimeters by 2.5 centimeters attached to a base with the dimensions of 4.5 centimeters by 4.5 centimeters by one centimeter. Next, place a large screen, approximately 1.5 meters, in front of a table and place the box on the table, 10 centimeters from the edge opposite to the screen. Finally, use a six-camera motion capture system activated at 100 hertz to visualize the partition and the movement of the block in real time.Calibrate the motion capture system with an instrumented wand so that the block and the partition of the box are recognized as rigid bodies. Then, place the box on the table 10 centimeters from the edge opposite to the screen. First, instruct the subject to remove any watches, bracelets, and rings.Attach the VTF system controller to their forearm. Then, attach two thin and flexible force sensors to the palmar aspect of the thumb and index fingers over a thin, spongy layer. Place a cuff on the skin of the upper arm of the subject and ensure it sits comfortably.Press the button to activate the battery attached to the controller. And then ask the subject to press their thumb and index fingers together lightly. Instruct the subject to train for 10 minutes in grasping the block as lightly as possible, using only the two instrumented fingers.Have them lift the block, move it, and place it back on the table several times, attempting to apply a minimal amount of force on the block. Next, instruct the subject to stand close to the table where the box and partition are placed. Place a divider at the edge of the table near the subject and above the box so that the subject is unable to see the box, but can easily see the screen in front of him or her.Then, place the block in the middle of the right compartment of the box and guide the hand of the subject to it. Start the software controlling the cameras of the motion capture system. In the control panel of the visual feedback software, select with/without VTF, type the code of the subject, click run, connect, open, and start.Instruct the subject to transfer the block 16 times with the force sensors instrumented hand, while viewing the movement of the virtual block on the screen. After each transfer, move the block back across the partition to its starting location. After the subject completes all 16 repetitions, click stop in the software.Finally, ask the subject to rate the difficulty level of performing the task of transferring the block 16 times twice, with and without the VTF, according to the following scale. Zero is not difficult at all, one is slightly difficult, two is moderately difficult, three is very difficult, and four is extremely difficult. Results indicated that the perceived difficulty level from zero to four of performing the task with the VTF significantly correlated with the normalized path length of the block with VTF.The normalized path length in the presence of incongruent visual-tactile signals was longer for subjects who perceived the task as more difficult when using the VTF. Further, the normalized path length was significantly longer for subjects who perceived the task as more difficult when using the VTF. It is critical that the subject is not aware of the possibility of misleading feedback during the trial.To ensure this, the bottom of the box is lined with a soft sponge layer and the subject wears circum-ear earphones to eliminate auditory feedback of the block falling and hitting the wooden box. Also, the two transfers with incongruent feedback should be chosen randomly out of the 16 transfers performed.

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