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Mete M, Jeong H, Wang WD, Paik J. SORI: A softness-rendering interface to unravel the nature of softness perception. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2314901121. [PMID: 38466880 PMCID: PMC10990105 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2314901121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2023] [Accepted: 02/02/2024] [Indexed: 03/13/2024] Open
Abstract
Tactile perception of softness serves a critical role in the survival, well-being, and social interaction among various species, including humans. This perception informs activities from food selection in animals to medical palpation for disease detection in humans. Despite its fundamental importance, a comprehensive understanding of how softness is neurologically and cognitively processed remains elusive. Previous research has demonstrated that the somatosensory system leverages both cutaneous and kinesthetic cues for the sensation of softness. Factors such as contact area, depth, and force play a particularly critical role in sensations experienced at the fingertips. Yet, existing haptic technologies designed to explore this phenomenon are limited, as they often couple force and contact area, failing to provide a real-world experience of softness perception. Our research introduces the softness-rendering interface (SORI), a haptic softness display designed to bridge this knowledge gap. Unlike its predecessors, SORI has the unique ability to decouple contact area and force, thereby allowing for a quantitative representation of softness sensations at the fingertips. Furthermore, SORI incorporates individual physical fingertip properties and model-based softness cue estimation and mapping to provide a highly personalized experience. Utilizing this method, SORI quantitatively replicates the sensation of softness on stationary, dynamic, homogeneous, and heterogeneous surfaces. We demonstrate that SORI accurately renders the surfaces of both virtual and daily objects, thereby presenting opportunities across a range of fields, from teleoperation to medical technology. Finally, our proposed method and SORI will expedite psychological and neuroscience research to unlock the nature of softness perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mustafa Mete
- Reconfigurable Robotics Laboratory, Institute of Mechanical Engineering, School of Engineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, LausanneCH 1005, Switzerland
| | - Haewon Jeong
- Soft Robotics Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, Hanyang University, Seoul04763, Republic of Korea
| | - Wei Dawid Wang
- Soft Robotics Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, Hanyang University, Seoul04763, Republic of Korea
| | - Jamie Paik
- Reconfigurable Robotics Laboratory, Institute of Mechanical Engineering, School of Engineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, LausanneCH 1005, Switzerland
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Iiyoshi K, Khazaaleh S, Dalaq AS, Daqaq MF, Korres G, Eid M. Origami-Based Haptic Syringe for Local Anesthesia Simulator. IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON HAPTICS 2024; 17:39-44. [PMID: 38224514 DOI: 10.1109/toh.2024.3353924] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/17/2024]
Abstract
Although medical simulators have benefited from the use of haptics and virtual reality (VR) for decades, the former has become the bottleneck in producing a low-cost, compact, and accurate training experience. This is particularly the case for the inferior alveolar nerve block (IANB) procedure in dentistry, which is one of the most difficult motor skills to acquire. As existing works are still oversimplified or overcomplicated for practical deployment, we introduce an origami-based haptic syringe interface for IANB local anesthesia training. By harnessing the versatile mechanical tunability of the Kresling origami pattern, our interface simulated the tactile experience of the plunger while injecting the anesthetic solution. We present the design, development, and characterization process, as well as a preliminary usability study. The force profile generated by the syringe interface is perceptually similar with that of the Carpule syringe. The usability study suggests that the haptic syringe significantly improves the IANB training simulation and its potential to be utilized in several other medical training/simulation applications.
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van Wegen M, Herder JL, Adelsberger R, Pastore-Wapp M, van Wegen EEH, Bohlhalter S, Nef T, Krack P, Vanbellingen T. An Overview of Wearable Haptic Technologies and Their Performance in Virtual Object Exploration. SENSORS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2023; 23:1563. [PMID: 36772603 PMCID: PMC9919508 DOI: 10.3390/s23031563] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2022] [Revised: 01/24/2023] [Accepted: 01/26/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
We often interact with our environment through manual handling of objects and exploration of their properties. Object properties (OP), such as texture, stiffness, size, shape, temperature, weight, and orientation provide necessary information to successfully perform interactions. The human haptic perception system plays a key role in this. As virtual reality (VR) has been a growing field of interest with many applications, adding haptic feedback to virtual experiences is another step towards more realistic virtual interactions. However, integrating haptics in a realistic manner, requires complex technological solutions and actual user-testing in virtual environments (VEs) for verification. This review provides a comprehensive overview of recent wearable haptic devices (HDs) categorized by the OP exploration for which they have been verified in a VE. We found 13 studies which specifically addressed user-testing of wearable HDs in healthy subjects. We map and discuss the different technological solutions for different OP exploration which are useful for the design of future haptic object interactions in VR, and provide future recommendations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Myla van Wegen
- Department of Precision and Microsystems Engineering, Delft University of Technology, 2628 CD Delft, The Netherlands
| | - Just L. Herder
- Department of Precision and Microsystems Engineering, Delft University of Technology, 2628 CD Delft, The Netherlands
| | | | - Manuela Pastore-Wapp
- Gerontechnology and Rehabilitation Group, ARTORG Center for Biomedical Engineering Research, University of Bern, 3008 Bern, Switzerland
- Neurocenter, Luzerner Kantonsspital, 6000 Luzern, Switzerland
| | - Erwin E. H. van Wegen
- Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Amsterdam Movement Sciences, Amsterdam UMC, VUmc, 1117 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | | | - Tobias Nef
- Gerontechnology and Rehabilitation Group, ARTORG Center for Biomedical Engineering Research, University of Bern, 3008 Bern, Switzerland
| | - Paul Krack
- Department of Neurology, Center for Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, University of Bern, 3008 Bern, Switzerland
| | - Tim Vanbellingen
- Gerontechnology and Rehabilitation Group, ARTORG Center for Biomedical Engineering Research, University of Bern, 3008 Bern, Switzerland
- Neurocenter, Luzerner Kantonsspital, 6000 Luzern, Switzerland
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Valdivia AA, Habibian S, Mendenhall CA, Fuentes F, Shailly R, Losey DP, Blumenschein LH. Wrapping Haptic Displays Around Robot Arms to Communicate Learning. IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON HAPTICS 2023; PP:57-72. [PMID: 37022237 DOI: 10.1109/toh.2023.3240400] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/19/2023]
Abstract
Humans can leverage physical interaction to teach robot arms. As the human kinesthetically guides the robot through demonstrations, the robot learns the desired task. While prior works focus on how the robot learns, it is equally important for the human teacher to understand what their robot is learning. Visual displays can communicate this information; however, we hypothesize that visual feedback alone misses out on the physical connection between the human and robot. In this paper we introduce a novel class of soft haptic displays that wrap around the robot arm, adding signals without affecting that interaction. We first design a pneumatic actuation array that remains flexible in mounting. We then develop single and multi-dimensional versions of this wrapped haptic display, and explore human perception of the rendered signals during psychophysic tests and robot learning. We ultimately find that people accurately distinguish single-dimensional feedback with a Weber fraction of 11.4%, and identify multi-dimensional feedback with 94.5% accuracy. When physically teaching robot arms, humans leverage the single- and multi-dimensional feedback to provide better demonstrations than with visual feedback: our wrapped haptic display decreases teaching time while increasing demonstration quality. This improvement depends on the location and distribution of the wrapped haptic display.
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Wu YS, Hung SK. Origami Inspired Laser Scanner. MICROMACHINES 2022; 13:1796. [PMID: 36296149 PMCID: PMC9611993 DOI: 10.3390/mi13101796] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2022] [Revised: 10/14/2022] [Accepted: 10/18/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Diverse origami techniques and various selections of paper open new possibilities to create micromachines. By folding paper, this article proposes an original approach to build laser scanners, which manipulate optical beams precisely and realize valuable applications, including laser marking, cutting, engraving, and displaying. A prototype has been designed, implemented, actuated, and controlled. The experimental results demonstrate that the angular stroke, repeatability, full scale settling time, and resonant frequency are 20°, 0.849 m°, 330 ms, 68 Hz, respectively. Its durability, more than 35 million cycles, shows the potential to carry out serious tasks.
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Zeng H, Yu W, Chen D, Hu X, Zhang D, Song A. Exploring Biomimetic Stiffness Modulation and Wearable Finger Haptics for Improving Myoelectric Control of Virtual Hand. IEEE Trans Neural Syst Rehabil Eng 2022; 30:1601-1611. [PMID: 35675253 DOI: 10.1109/tnsre.2022.3181284] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
The embodiment of virtual hand (VH) by the user is generally deemed to be important for virtual reality (VR) based hand rehabilitation applications, which may help to engage the user and promote motor skill relearning. In particular, it requires that the VH should produce task-dependent interaction behaviors from rigid to soft. While such a capability is inherent to humans via hand stiffness regulation and haptic interactions, yet it have not been successfully imitated by VH in existing studies. In this paper, we present a work which integrates biomimetic stiffness regulation and wearable finger force feedback in VR scenarios involving myoelectric control of VH. On one hand, the biomimetic stiffness modulation intuitively enables VH to imitate the stiffness profile of the user's hand in real time. On the other hand, the wearable finger force-feedback device elicits a natural and realistic sensation of external force on the fingertip, which provides the user a proper understanding of the environment for enhancing his/her stiffness regulation. The benefits of the proposed integrated system were evaluated with eight healthy subjects that performed two tasks with opposite stiffness requirements. The achieved performance is compared with reduced versions of the integrated system, where either biomimetic impedance control or wearable force feedback is excluded. The results suggest that the proposed integrated system enables the stiffness of VH to be adaptively regulated by the user through the perception of interaction torques and vision, resulting in task-dependent behaviors from rigid to soft for VH.
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Williams SR, Suchoski JM, Chua Z, Okamura AM. A 4-Degree-of-Freedom Parallel Origami Haptic Device for Normal, Shear, and Torsion Feedback. IEEE Robot Autom Lett 2022. [DOI: 10.1109/lra.2022.3144798] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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