A skin stretch tactor for sensory substitution of wrist proprioception

Abstract

This paper presents a novel sensory feedback device and an original method aiming to provide skin stretch feedback of three degree-of-freedom wrist movements, which are extension-flexion, radial-ulnar deviation and pronation-supination, to prosthetic hand users. In order to evaluate the performance of the device, a test setup is built. A user study with able-bodied participants is conducted. Confusion matrices are created from the experimental data, and the results are analyzed in terms of correct identification of the intended stimulations. Analysis shows that the proposed design together with the sensory feedback method is a viable option for proprioceptive feedback lacking in robotic prosthetic hands.