Performance Evaluation of a Wearable Vibrotactile Glove for Telemanipulation

Abstract

This presentation discusses two controlled experiments conducted to measure objectively the ability of a vibrotactile glove to convey discriminable finger touch forces to an operator performing telemanipulation tasks. In the first experiment, the user performs a pick-and-place task with objects of known relative weight under the added constraint that he/she maintains grip forces within a controlled force range. Using measures such as the mean and variance of grip forces, this work demonstrates that proportional touch feedback allows the user to better regulate his/her grip forces with proportional touch feedback over no-feedback or binary touch feedback. In the second experiment, which is a reverse of the first experiment, the user sorts objects by relative weight. This second experiment shows that the vibrotactile glove allows the user to discriminate relative object features, such as weight.