Human Hand Movements in Skilled Motor Performance of a Virtual Curling Task

The present paper develops a virtual curling system using robotic devices based on the sensory motor integration theory for the rehabilitation of disabled human sensorimotor system. In the training, a trainee manipulates the handle of an impedance-controlled robot and slides the stone toward the center of the house, as similar as an actual curing game. The developed system can estimate trainee's hand impedance during the curing task to quantitatively evaluate an adaptation ability of musculoskeletal characteristics of the upper extremity. To design a training program and an evaluation index of training effects, standard hand motion and its dynamic properties for the virtual curing task are clarified through a set of training experiments with 18 health volunteers.