Yang, X. D., Bischof, W. F. and Boulanger, P. (2008). Perception of haptic force during hand movements. IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Pasadena, USA, May 19-23, 129-135.

Haptic interfaces are used increasingly in medical systems and related applications, but relatively little is known on the effectiveness of these interfaces. This paper reports an study on the perception of haptic force magnitude during hand movements. Discrimination thresholds were determined for a reference force of 1.5N in five different directions (0°, 45°, 90°, 135°, and 180° with respect to the movement direction). We found that force discrimination thresholds detected were significantly higher during hand movement than those reported previously without hand movement, indicating that the perception of force magnitude is impaired by hand movement. The results also show there is no significant difference between the discrimination thresholds found for fast and slow hand movements. Finally, we found that the perception of force magnitude is impaired at a force direction of 45° with respect to the hand movement, indicating an oblique effect.

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