Publications
79 results found
Pena-Perez N, Eden J, Ivanova E, et al., 2023, How virtual and mechanical coupling impact bimanual tracking, Journal of Neurophysiology, Vol: 129, Pages: 102-114, ISSN: 0022-3077
Bilateral training systems look to promote the paretic hand’s use in individuals with hemiplegia. Although this is normally achieved using mechanical coupling (i.e., a physical connection between the hands), a virtual reality system relying on virtual coupling (i.e., through a shared virtual object) would be simpler to use and prevent slacking. However, it is not clear whether different coupling modes differently impact task performance and effort distribution between the hands. We explored how 18 healthy right-handed participants changed their motor behaviors in response to the uninstructed addition of mechanical coupling, and virtual coupling using a shared cursor mapped to the average hands’ position. In a second experiment, we then studied the impact of connection stiffness on performance, perception, and effort imbalance. The results indicated that both coupling types can induce the hands to actively contribute to the task. However, the task asymmetry introduced by using a cursor mapped to either the left or right hand only modulated the hands’ contribution when not mechanically coupled. The tracking performance was similar for all coupling types, independent of the connection stiffness, although the mechanical coupling was preferred and induced the hands to move with greater correlation. These findings suggest that virtual coupling can induce the hands to actively contribute to a task in healthy participants without hindering their performance. Further investigation on the coupling types’ impact on the performance and hands’ effort distribution in patients with hemiplegia could allow for the design of simpler training systems that promote the affected hand’s use.
Skvortsova V, Nedelchev S, Brown J, et al., 2022, Design, characterisation and validation of a haptic interface based on twisted string actuation, FRONTIERS IN ROBOTICS AND AI, Vol: 9, ISSN: 2296-9144
Perez NP, Eden J, Ivanova E, et al., 2022, Is a Robot Needed to Modify Human Effort in Bimanual Tracking?, IEEE ROBOTICS AND AUTOMATION LETTERS, Vol: 7, Pages: 8069-8075, ISSN: 2377-3766
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- Citations: 1
Perez NP, Eden J, Burdet E, et al., 2022, Lateralization of Impedance Control in Dynamic Versus Static Bimanual Tasks., Annu Int Conf IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc, Vol: 2022, Pages: 785-789
In activities of daily living that require bimanual coordination, humans often assign a role to each hand. How do task requirements affect this role assignment? To address this question, we investigated how healthy right-handed participants bimanually manipulated a static or dynamic virtual object using wrist flexion/extension while receiving haptic feedback through the interacting object's torque. On selected trials, the object shook strongly to destabilize the bimanual grip. Our results show that participants reacted to the shaking by increasing their wrist co-contraction. Unlike in previous work, handedness was not the determining factor in choosing which wrist to co-contract to stabilize the object. However, each participant preferred to co-contract one hand over the other, a choice that was consistent for both the static and dynamic objects. While role allocation did not seem to be affected by task requirements, it may have resulted in different motor behaviours as indicated by the changes in the object torque. Further investigation is needed to elucidate the factors that determine the preference in stabilizing with either the dominant or non-dominant hand.
Abeywardena S, Anwar E, Miller S, et al., 2022, Human balance augmentation via a supernumerary robotic tail., Annu Int Conf IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc, Vol: 2022, Pages: 2878-2881
Humans are intrinsically unstable in quiet stance from a rigid body system viewpoint; however, they maintain balance thanks to neuro-muscular sensory properties whilst still exhibiting postural sway characteristics. This work intro-duces a one-degree-of-freedom supernumerary tail for balance augmentation in the sagittal plane to negate anterior-posterior postural sway. Simulations showed that the tail could success-fully balance a human with impaired ankle stiffness and neural control. Insights into tail design and control were made; namely, to minimise muscular load the tail must have a significant component in the direction of the muscle, mounting location of the tail is significant in maximising inertial properties for balance augmentation and that adaptive control of the tail will be best suited for different loads held by a wearer.
Farkhatdinov I, Garnier A, Arichi T, et al., 2022, Evaluation of a Portable fMRI Compatible Robotic Wrist Interface., Annu Int Conf IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc, Vol: 2022, Pages: 2535-2539
This paper presents evaluation of a portable fMRI compatible haptic interface to study the brain correlates of sensorimotor control during wrist motion. The interface is actuated by a shielded DC motor located more than 2 m away from the 3T MR scanner's bore. The achievable wrist torque of the interface is up to 2 Nm, and the interface provides sufficient bandwidth for human motor control experiments. Ergonomic and fMRI compatibility testing with a 3T MR scanner showed that the interface is MR safe, compatible with a strong static magnetic field and radio frequency emission, and its operation does not affect the quality of the acquired images. Clinical Relevance- We present and evaluate an fMRI compatible robotic interface to study human wrist joint motor function.
Cespedes N, Hsu A, Jones JM, et al., 2022, A Feasibility Study of a Data-Driven Human-Robot Conversational Interface for Reminiscence Therapy, Pages: 708-713, ISSN: 2164-0572
Social Assistive Robotics are widely used in health-care to improve conventional treatments and increase patient engagement. Reminiscence Therapy (RT) is one application where social robots can be incorporated. RT is commonly used with people living with dementia, and it aims to evoke users' memories and stimulate cognitive functioning using nostalgic materials. This paper presents a feasibility study of a data-driven human-robot conversational interface for reminiscing sessions. Ten healthy participants were recruited to evaluate the usability of the interface, user engagement and interaction perception. The results showed that most of the participants followed the conversation, and half of them contributed highly (i.e., interaction/speaking time >51.54%) during the interaction with the robot. Participants perceived the system as being able to generate context-relevant dialogue.
Brown JP, Farkhatdinov I, 2022, Using Audio Recordings to Characterise a Soft Haptic Joystick, 11th International Workshop on Haptic and Audio Interaction Design (HAID), Publisher: SPRINGER INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHING AG, Pages: 102-111, ISSN: 0302-9743
Soave F, Bryan-Kinns N, Farkhatdinov I, 2022, Designing Audio Feedback to Enhance Motion Perception in Virtual Reality, 11th International Workshop on Haptic and Audio Interaction Design (HAID), Publisher: SPRINGER INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHING AG, Pages: 92-101, ISSN: 0302-9743
Perez NP, Eden J, Ivanova E, et al., 2022, Is a robot needed to modify human effort in bimanual tracking?, 9th IEEE RAS/EMBS International Conference for Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics (BioRob), Publisher: IEEE, ISSN: 2155-1782
Omarali B, Palermo F, Althoefer K, et al., 2022, Tactile Classification of Object Materials for Virtual Reality based Robot Teleoperation, Pages: 9288-9294, ISSN: 1050-4729
This work presents a method for tactile classification of materials for virtual reality (VR) based robot teleoperation. In our system, a human-operator uses a remotely controlled robot-manipulator with an optical fibre-based tactile and proximity sensor to scan surfaces of objects in a remote environment. Tactile and proximity data and the robot's end-effector state feedback are used for the classification of objects' materials which are then visualized in the VR reconstruction of the remote environment for each object. Machine learning techniques such as random forest, convolutional neural and multi-modal convolutional neural networks were used for material classification. The proposed system and methods were tested with five different materials and classification accuracy of 90 % and more was achieved. The results of material classification were successfully exploited for visualising the remote scene in the VR interface to provide more information to the human-operator.
Stone M, Orlov P, Farkhatdinov I, 2022, Design and Preliminary In-Classroom Evaluation of a Low-Cost Educational Mobile Robot, 23rd Conference on Towards Autonomous Robotic Systems (TAROS), Publisher: SPRINGER INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHING AG, Pages: 128-136, ISSN: 0302-9743
Vitanov I, Farkhatdinov I, Denoun B, et al., 2021, A Suite of Robotic Solutions for Nuclear Waste Decommissioning, ROBOTICS, Vol: 10
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- Citations: 3
Din AR, Althoefer K, Farkhatdinov I, et al., 2021, Innovation in the time of SARS-CoV-2: A collaborative journey between NHS clinicians, engineers, academics and industry, SURGEON-JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL COLLEGES OF SURGEONS OF EDINBURGH AND IRELAND, Vol: 19, Pages: E281-E288, ISSN: 1479-666X
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- Citations: 1
Otaran A, Farkhatdinov I, 2021, Haptic ankle platform for interactive walking in virtual reality., IEEE Trans Vis Comput Graph, Vol: PP
This paper presents an impedance type ankle haptic interface for providing users with an immersive navigation experience in virtual reality (VR). The ankle platform actuated by an electric motor with feedback control enables the use of foot-tapping gestures to create a walking experience similar to a real one and to haptically render different types of walking terrains. Experimental studies demonstrated that the interface can be easily used to generate virtual walking and it is capable to render terrains such as hard and soft surfaces, and multi-layer complex dynamic terrains. The designed system is a seated-type VR locomotion interface, therefore allowing its user to maintain a stable seated posture to comfortably navigate a virtual scene.
Palermo F, Rincon-Ardila L, Oh C, et al., 2021, Multi-modal robotic visual-tactile localisation and detection of surface cracks, Pages: 1806-1811, ISSN: 2161-8070
We present and validate a method to detect surface cracks with visual and tactile sensing. The proposed algorithm localises cracks in remote environments through videos/photos taken by an on-board robot camera. The identified areas of interest are then explored by a robot with a tactile sensor. Faster R-CNN object detection is used for identifying the location of potential cracks. Random forest classifier is used for tactile identification of the cracks to confirm their presences. Offline and online experiments to compare vision only and combined vision and tactile based crack detection are demonstrated. Two experiments are developed to test the efficiency of the multi-modal approach: online accuracy detection and time required to explore a surface and localise a crack. Exploring a cracked surface using combined visual and tactile modalities required four times less time than using the tactile modality only. The accuracy of detection was also improved with the combination of the two modalities. This approach may be implemented also in extreme environments since gamma radiation does not interfere with the sensing mechanism of fibre optic-based sensors.
Slonina Z, Bonzini AA, Brown J, et al., 2021, Using RoboChick to Identify the Behavioral Features Promoting Social Interactions
Studies of social behaviors in animals are faced with various methodological difficulties, which can be addressed by using controlled artificial social agents. Previous studies have shown that various animal species interact with passive replicas or interactive robots that mimic their conspecifics. In the case of chickens, filial attachment (imprinting) to robots is observed in young chicks. However, the features and functions of the robots that maximize the efficiency of chicken-robot attachment have not yet been identified. Therefore, we designed RoboChick, a simple robot that can be easily customized with different features. Further, we developed a protocol for assessing the attractiveness of each feature. In the current study, we tested the attractiveness of two RoboChick features during robot-chick interactions: the presence of flashing lights and vocalizations in response to chick interactions. Our proposed protocol proved suitable for assessing the efficacy of the features. RoboChick, which is open and modular, can be easily reproduced by other research groups and adapted to test different features in different experimental conditions.
Ratcliffe J, Soave F, Bryan-Kinns N, et al., 2021, Extended reality (XR) remote research: a survey of drawbacks and opportunities, CHI '21: CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Publisher: ACM, Pages: 1-13
Extended Reality (XR) technology - such as virtual and augmented reality - is now widely used in Human Computer Interaction (HCI), social science and psychology experimentation. However, these experiments are predominantly deployed in-lab with a co-present researcher. Remote experiments, without co-present researchers, have not flourished, despite the success of remote approaches for non-XR investigations. This paper summarises findings from a 30-item survey of 46 XR researchers to understand perceived limitations and benefits of remote XR experimentation. Our thematic analysis identifies concerns common with non-XR remote research, such as participant recruitment, as well as XR-specific issues, including safety and hardware variability. We identify potential positive affordances of XR technology, including leveraging data collection functionalities builtin to HMDs (e.g. hand, gaze tracking) and the portability and reproducibility of an experimental setting. We suggest that XR technology could be conceptualised as an interactive technology and a capable data-collection device suited for remote experimentation.
Sun F, Zang W, Huang H, et al., 2021, Accelerometer-Based Key Generation and Distribution Method for Wearable IoT Devices, IEEE INTERNET OF THINGS JOURNAL, Vol: 8, Pages: 1636-1650, ISSN: 2327-4662
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- Citations: 5
Huang HY, Farkhatdinov I, Arami A, et al., 2021, Cable-driven robotic interface for lower limb neuromechanics identification, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, Vol: 68, Pages: 461-469, ISSN: 0018-9294
This paper presents a versatile cable-driven robotic interface to investigate the single-joint joint neuromechanics of the hip, knee and ankle in the sagittal plane. This endpoint-based interface offers highly dynamic interaction and accurate position control (as is typically required for neuromechanics identification), and provides measurements of position, interaction force and EMG of leg muscles. It can be used with the subject upright, corresponding to a natural posture during walking or standing, and does not impose kinematic constraints on a joint, in contrast to existing interfaces. Mechanical evaluations demonstrated that the interface yields a rigidity above 500 N/m with low viscosity. Tests with a rigid dummy leg and linear springs show that it can identify the mechanical impedance of a limb accurately. A smooth perturbation is developed and tested with a human subject, which can be used to estimate the hip neuromechanics.
Otaran A, Farkhatdinov I, 2021, A Short Description of an Ankle-Actuated Seated VR Locomotion Interface, 28th IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces (IEEE VR), Publisher: IEEE, Pages: 64-66
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- Citations: 4
Soave F, Farkhatdinov I, Bryan-Kinns N, 2021, Multisensory Teleportation in Virtual Reality Applications, 28th IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces (IEEE VR), Publisher: IEEE, Pages: 377-379
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- Citations: 3
Ratcliffe J, Soave F, Hoover M, et al., 2021, Remote XR Studies: Exploring Three Key Challenges of Remote XR Experimentation, CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Publisher: ASSOC COMPUTING MACHINERY
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- Citations: 3
Soave F, Kumar AP, Bryan-Kinns N, et al., 2021, Exploring Terminology for Perception of Motion in Virtual Reality, ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference (DIS), Publisher: ASSOC COMPUTING MACHINERY, Pages: 171-179
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- Citations: 3
Omarali B, Althoefer K, Mastrogiovanni F, et al., 2021, Workspace Scaling and Rate Mode Control for Virtual Reality based Robot Teleoperation, IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics (SMC), Publisher: IEEE, Pages: 607-612, ISSN: 1062-922X
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- Citations: 2
Otaran A, Farkhatdinov I, 2021, Walking-in-Place Foot Interface for Locomotion Control and Telepresence of Humanoid Robots, 20th IEEE-RAS International Conference on Humanoid Robots (HUMANOIDS), Publisher: IEEE, Pages: 453-458, ISSN: 2164-0572
Brown J, Farkhatdinov I, 2021, A Soft, Vibrotactile, Shape-Changing Joystick for Telerobotics, IEEE World Haptics Conference (WHC), Publisher: IEEE, Pages: 1158-1158
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- Citations: 2
Otaran A, Farkhatdinov I, 2021, A Cable-Driven Walking Interface with Haptic Feedback for Seated VR, IEEE World Haptics Conference (WHC), Publisher: IEEE, Pages: 592-592
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- Citations: 2
Brown J, Farkhatdinov I, 2021, Shape-Changing Touch Pad based on Particle Jamming and Vibration, IEEE World Haptics Conference (WHC), Publisher: IEEE, Pages: 337-337
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- Citations: 2
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