Neuromorphic vibrotactile stimulation of fingertips for encoding object stiffness in telepresence sensory substitution and augmentation applications
Citation:
Francesca Sorgini, Luca Massari, Jessica D'Abbraccio, Eduardo Palermo, Arianna Menciassi, Petar Petrovic, Alberto Mazzoni, Maria Chiara Carrozza, Fiona N. Newell, Calogero M. Oddo, Neuromorphic vibrotactile stimulation of fingertips for encoding object stiffness in telepresence sensory substitution and augmentation applications, Sensors, 18, 261, 2018, 1 - 18Download Item:
Abstract:
We present a tactile telepresence system for real-time transmission of information about
object stiffness to the human fingertips. Experimental tests were performed across two laboratories
(Italy and Ireland). In the Italian laboratory, a mechatronic sensing platform indented different rubber
samples. Information about rubber stiffness was converted into on-off events using a neuronal
spiking model and sent to a vibrotactile glove in the Irish laboratory. Participants discriminated the
variation of the stiffness of stimuli according to a two-alternative forced choice protocol. Stiffness
discrimination was based on the variation of the temporal pattern of spikes generated during the
indentation of the rubber samples. The results suggest that vibrotactile stimulation can effectively
simulate surface stiffness when using neuronal spiking models to trigger vibrations in the haptic
interface. Specifically, fractional variations of stiffness down to 0.67 were significantly discriminated
with the developed neuromorphic haptic interface. This is a performance comparable, though slightly
worse, to the threshold obtained in a benchmark experiment evaluating the same set of stimuli
naturally with the own hand. Our paper presents a bioinspired method for delivering sensory
feedback about object properties to human skin based on contingency–mimetic neuronal models,
and can be useful for the design of high performance haptic devices.
Author's Homepage:
http://people.tcd.ie/fnewellDescription:
PUBLISHED
Author: NEWELL, FIONA
Type of material:
Journal ArticleCollections
Series/Report no:
Sensors18
261
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Full text availableSubject (TCD):
Neuroscience , Haptic Perception , VISION, AUDITION, SOMATOSENSATIONDOI:
10.3390/s18010261Metadata
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