Wearable Sensorimotor Enhancer for a Fingertip based on Stochastic Resonance
This paper reports the initial experimental results of a wearable sensorimotor enhancer for a fingertip. A shorttime exposure of tactile receptors to sub-sensory white-noise vibration is known to improve the tactile sensitivity. This phenomenon, called “noise-enhanced tactile sensation or stochastic resonance (SR) in the somatosensory system, is expected to enhance the sense of touch when white-noise vibration is applied to a fingertip, and thereby improve associated motor skills. A prototype sensorimotor enhancer has been developed in this research. This wearable device is to stimulate tactile receptors by applying vibration from a compact lead zirconate titanate (PZT) piezoelectric stack actuator attached at the radial side of the fingertip. This design keeps the palmar region free and maintains the wearer’s manipulability. Sensory and motor tests have been conducted for health subjects to confirm the efficacy of the device. Statistical significance has been observed in most of the tests.
Yuichi Kurita Minoru Shinohara Jun Ueda
Graduate School of Information Science,Nara Institute of Science and Technology (NAIST),8916-5,Takay School of Applied Physiology,Georgia Institute of Technology,28 Ferst Drive,Atlanta,GA 30332 USA George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering,Georgia Institute of Technology,801 Ferst Drive,
国际会议
2011 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation(2011年IEEE世界机器人与自动化大会 ICRA 2011)
上海
英文
3790-3795
2011-05-09（万方平台首次上网日期，不代表论文的发表时间）