TACTILE GUIDANCE OF THE HAND IN A BLIND POINTING TASK: 'THE TACTILE COMPASS': Tactile Compass in a Blind Pointing Task

摘要

Using tactile skin receptors that are sensitive to vibrations thereby allowing the use of a "tactile compass" made up of a matrix of micro-vibrators that reproduce tactile encoding on the skin surface to orient the wearer. The tactile compass used in this study consisted in 49 microvibrators laid out in a 7×7 matrix. The 49 microvibrators contained inertial vibrators activated by micromotors. The tactile messages were provided in a dynamic way by the successive activation of each microvibrators. The present study investigated the efficiency of the tactile compass in guiding the hand in a blind pointing task when inserted into an abdominal girdle. More specifically, the performances obtained using tactile coding are compared to those obtained using verbal instructions. The participants had to point, from the central target towards one of the four other targets each corresponding to one of the six directions (upwards, downwards, left, right, backwards and forwards) located either in the frontal plane or in the horizontal plane. Overall, the results reveal the efficiency for gesture guidance of providing tactile messages in a dynamic way, without involving learning. In addition, they establish that tactile information transmitted via our vibrotactile device is involved in the processes of both motor control and production of movement in tridimensional space.