In "surplus limb robotics", which aims to expand physical functions by adding artificially designed surplus limbs separately from the natural body, the surplus limb robot system is regarded as a part of one's body. It is important to be able to handle it without resistance, that is, to be able to "embody" it.
Research groups such as the University of Tokyo, Keio University, and Toyohashi University of Technology have jointly developed a surplus limb robot arm system that operates in conjunction with the movement of the toes in a virtual reality (VR) space.Examining the changes in the wearer's subjective sensations, the wearer reports that he perceived the surplus limb robot arm as if it were a new part of his body.
The surplus limb robot system used in this study captures the wearer's movements with sensors attached to the wearer's body and reflects them in the movements of the avatar and robot arm in the VR space.The wearer can see the robot arm in the VR space from the first person's point of view with the head-mounted display, and when the robot arm touches the ball, the tactile presentation device gives a reaction to the toes.
The 16 experimental participants (healthy people) who tackled the task of touching the ball with the surplus limb robot arm in the VR space feel that the robot arm is a part of their own body (body ownership). , I felt that the movement of the robot arm was in response to my intention (sense of action), and that I felt that my position overlapped with the position of the robot arm (sense of self-position). That is shown by the questionnaire.This suggests that the wearer may have succeeded in embodying the feeling that his / her arm has increased (sense of surplus limbs).
In addition, the response time to visual and tactile feedback showed a large change before and after wearing the surplus limb robot arm, indicating that there may have been a change in perception (change in proximal space) around the surplus limb robot arm. It is said that it was done.
The results of this research are considered to be important findings for designing a surplus limb robot system that moves in cooperation with humans.
Paper information:[Scientific Reports] Embodiment of supernumerary robotic limbs in virtual reality
