Novel Electrode Designs for Electrotactile Stimulation of the Finger: A Comparative Assessment

IF 2.4 3区计算机科学 Q2 COMPUTER SCIENCE, CYBERNETICS

IEEE Transactions on Haptics Pub Date : 2023-10-06 DOI:10.1109/TOH.2023.3321925

Martin A. Garenfeld;Mauricio Carlos Henrich;Milica Isaković;Jovana Malešević;Matija Štrbac;Strahinja Došen

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Electrotactile stimulation can be an attractive technology to restore tactile feedback in different application scenarios (e.g., virtual and augmented reality, tele-manipulation). This technology allows designing compact solutions with no mechanical elements that can integrate a high-density matrix of stimulation points. The present study introduced four novel multi-pad finger-electrode designs with different arrangements (two matrix and two circular) and shapes of active pads (producing sensation) and reference pads (ideally, no sensation produced below the pad). The electrodes were used to investigate the subjects’ ability to spatially discriminate active pads within phalanges individually (6–9 pads) as well as across the full finger (18–19 pads). The tests were conducted in 12 subjects and the results showed that all designs led to high success rates when applied to the fingertip (70–81%). When tested on the full finger, the matrix and circular designs were characterized with similar performance (54–57%), and when the phalanges were analyzed individually, the spatial discrimination was best at the fingertip. Additionally, new approaches for faster amplitude calibration were proposed and tested, demonstrating that calibration duration can be reduced by approximately 40% compared to the standard approach of calibrating single pads individually. Finally, discrimination tests of dynamic tactile patterns were conducted using circular and matrix designs on the fingertip and full finger, respectively. The tests showed that the different patterns generated by the two arrangements could be clearly discriminated, especially in the case of full-finger matrix-style patterns. The present study, therefore, provides several important insights that are relevant when delivering tactile feedback to the finger using an electrotactile interface.

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用于手指电触觉刺激的新型电极设计：比较评估。

电触觉刺激是一种在不同应用场景（例如，虚拟和增强现实、远程操作）中恢复触觉反馈的有吸引力的技术。该技术允许设计紧凑的解决方案，无需机械元件，即可集成刺激点的高密度矩阵。本研究介绍了四种新颖的多垫手指电极设计，它们具有不同的排列（两个矩阵和两个圆形）和形状的有源垫（产生感觉）和参考垫（理想情况下，在垫下不会产生感觉）。电极用于研究受试者在空间上区分指骨内的活动垫（6-9个垫）以及整个手指（18-19个垫）的能力。对12名受试者进行了测试，结果显示，当应用于指尖时，所有设计的成功率都很高（70-81%）。当在全指上进行测试时，矩阵和圆形设计具有相似的性能（54-57%），当单独分析指骨时，指尖的空间辨别能力最好。此外，还提出并测试了用于更快振幅校准的新方法，表明与单独校准单个焊盘的标准方法相比，校准持续时间可以缩短约40%。最后，分别在指尖和全指上使用圆形和矩阵设计进行了动态触觉模式的辨别测试。测试表明，两种排列产生的不同图案可以清楚地区分，尤其是在全手指矩阵式图案的情况下。因此，本研究提供了一些重要的见解，这些见解在使用电活动界面向手指提供触觉反馈时是相关的。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

IEEE Transactions on Haptics COMPUTER SCIENCE, CYBERNETICS-

CiteScore

5.90

自引率

13.80%

发文量

109

审稿时长

>12 weeks

期刊介绍： IEEE Transactions on Haptics (ToH) is a scholarly archival journal that addresses the science, technology, and applications associated with information acquisition and object manipulation through touch. Haptic interactions relevant to this journal include all aspects of manual exploration and manipulation of objects by humans, machines and interactions between the two, performed in real, virtual, teleoperated or networked environments. Research areas of relevance to this publication include, but are not limited to, the following topics: Human haptic and multi-sensory perception and action, Aspects of motor control that explicitly pertain to human haptics, Haptic interactions via passive or active tools and machines, Devices that sense, enable, or create haptic interactions locally or at a distance, Haptic rendering and its association with graphic and auditory rendering in virtual reality, Algorithms, controls, and dynamics of haptic devices, users, and interactions between the two, Human-machine performance and safety with haptic feedback, Haptics in the context of human-computer interactions, Systems and networks using haptic devices and interactions, including multi-modal feedback, Application of the above, for example in areas such as education, rehabilitation, medicine, computer-aided design, skills training, computer games, driver controls, simulation, and visualization.