Hand Guidance Using Grasping Metaphor and Wearable Haptics

In this work, we propose a novel method for hand guidance, combining grasping metaphor and wearable haptics. To guide the hand towards the desired orientation, the system generates vibrations exploiting the grasp theory, asking the user to align the perceived wrench with the gravity. To evaluate the system and demonstrate its potentiality, different vibrotactile feedback approaches have been tested. Both constant and error-depending vibration intensities were considered as feedback methods. Experimental results confirmed the capability of the proposed approach in guiding the hand of the users towards target orientations in a limited time with high accuracy. Users’ experience feedback, supported by the statistical analysis of the data, shows that providing information about the actual orientation error is crucial to accomplish the task in minor time.