Adding haptic input may improve balance control and help prevent falls in older adults. This study examined the effects of added haptic input via light touch on a railing while walking. Participants (N = 53, 75.9 ± 7.9 years) walked normally or in tandem (heel to toe) with and without haptic input. During normal walking, adding haptic input resulted in a more cautious and variable gait pattern, reduced variability of center of mass acceleration and margin of stability, and increased muscle activity. During tandem walking, haptic input had minimal effect on step parameters, decreased lower limb muscle activity, and increased cocontraction at the ankle closest to the railing. Age was correlated with step width variability, stride length variability, stride velocity, variability of medial-lateral center of mass acceleration, and margin of stability for tandem walking. This complex picture of sensorimotor integration in older adults warrants further exploration into added haptic input during walking.
Artificial haptics has the potential to revolutionize the way we integrate physical and virtual technologies in our daily lives, with implications for teleoperation, motor skill acquisition, rehabilitation, gaming, interpersonal communication, and beyond. Here, we delve into the intricate interplay between the somatosensory system and engineered haptic inputs for perception and action. We critically examine the sensory feedback's fidelity and the cognitive demands of interfacing with these systems.
The use of electromagnetic fields to control a collection of magnetic nanoparticles, known as a microswarm, has many promising applications. Current research often makes use of accurate but time-consuming simulations lacking real-time human input. On the contrary, human interaction is possible with a real-time simulator, allowing the collection of valuable user interaction data.
Being deafblind means my perception differs profoundly from those who are conventionally sighted and have non-impaired hearing. A lot of hidden knowledge is to be found in the disparity between these differing experiences that could be of great value in developing assistive technologies that have a broad scope to engage with both disabled and non-disabled users. This article explores the balancing act between sensory loss and the potential inherent in all of us and how this should be part of the design process of haptic assistive technology.
Vehicle drivability, defined as the smooth operation and stability of a vehicle in response to driver inputs, significantly influences the performance of passenger cars. Among various driving conditions, tip-in acceleration is one of the most frequently encountered and crucial factors affecting drivability. This study investigates preferred longitudinal acceleration profiles for electric vehicles through subjective evaluations obtained from on-road tests.
Introduction: Ergonomic issues are widespread among surgeons performing teleoperated robotic surgery. As the ergonomics of a teleoperation system depends on the controller handle, it needs to be designed wisely. While the importance of the controller handle in robot-assisted telemanipulation has been highlighted previously, most existing work on the usability of a human-robot system for surgery was of qualitative nature or did not focus on surgery-specific tasks.
