Haptic Feedback Based on Movement Smoothness Improves Performance in a Perceptual-Motor Task

• Published in: IEEE transactions on haptics Vol. 15; no. 2; pp. 382 - 391
• Main Authors: Sullivan, Jennifer L., Pandey, Shivam, Byrne, Michael D., O'Malley, Marcia K.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 01.04.2022; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Cutaneous haptic feedback; Feedback control; haptic guidance; Haptic interfaces; Measurement; Mirrors; movement smoothness; Performance enhancement; Performance evaluation; Smoothness; Surgery; Task analysis; Tracing; Training; Vascular surgery; vibrotactile stimuli
• ISSN: 1939-1412; 2329-4051; 2329-4051
• DOI: 10.1109/TOH.2021.3126017

In many training scenarios, and in surgery in particular, feedback is provided to the trainee after the task has been performed, and the assessment is often qualitative in nature. In this paper, we demonstrate the effect of real-time objective performance feedback conveyed through a vibrotactile cue. Subjects performed a mirror-tracing task that requires coordination and dexterity similar in nature to that required in endovascular surgery. Movement smoothness, a characteristic associated with skilled and coordinated movement, was measured by spectral arc length, a frequency-domain measure of smoothness. The smoothness-based performance metric was encoded as a vibrotactile cue displayed on the user's arm. Performance on the mirror tracing task with smoothness-based feedback was compared to position-based feedback (where the subject was alerted when they moved outside the path boundary) and to a no vibrotactile feedback control condition. Subjects receiving smoothness-based feedback altered their task completion strategies, resulting in faster task completion times, but their accuracy was slightly worse overall than the other two groups. In procedures such as endovascular surgery, the reduction of procedure time that could be achieved with smoothness-based feedback training may be advantageous, despite the fact that accuracy was inferior to that observed with no feedback or position-based feedback.