A Pilot Study

Abstract

A declared aim in prosthetic research is enabling physical and psychological integration of robotic limbs into a user»s body schema. The rubber hand illusion (RHI) gives insight into the impact of sensory feedback and its multisensory integration on embodiment which can be used in wearable robot design, e. g. prosthetic hands. This paper presents a pilot study using a robotic hand and shows its ability to induce a robotic hand illusion (RobHI). Two activity levels were tested and found to be sucessful in eliciting an illusion. Future research will concentrate on the impact of participants» control of the robotic hand and reception of sensory feedback on the elicitation of an illusion and subsequently on embodiment. Further research plans are envisioned to profit from the advances that have been made in human-computer interaction concerning users» needs and their importance in satisfying interaction scenarios.