Annu Int Conf IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2021 Nov;2021:4781-4786. doi: 10.1109/EMBC46164.2021.9630479.
The present work aims to introduce a novel robotic platform suitable for investigating perception in multi-sensory motion tasks for individuals with and without sensory and motor disabilities. The system, called RoMAT, allows the study of how multisensory signals are integrated, taking into account the speed and direction of the stimuli. It is a robotic platform composed of a visual and tactile wheel mounted on two routable plates to be moved under the finger and the visual observation of the participants. We validated the system by implementing a rotation discrimination task considering two different sensory modalities: vision, touch and multisensory visual-tactile integration. Four healthy subjects were asked to report the length of motion rotation after perceiving a moving stimulus generated by the visual, tactile, or both stimuli. Results suggest that multisensory precision improves when multiple sensory stimulations are presented. The new system can therefore provide fundamental inputs in determining the perceptual principles of motion processing. Therefore, this device can be a potential system to design screening and rehabilitation protocols based on neuroscientific findings to be used in individuals with visual and motor impairments.Clinical relevance- This research presents a novel robotic motion simulator to deliver combined or independent stimulation of the visual and tactile sensory signals.
本工作旨在介绍一种适用于研究有感觉和运动障碍的个体在多感觉运动任务中的感知的新型机器人平台。该系统称为 RoMAT，允许研究多感觉信号如何整合，同时考虑到刺激的速度和方向。它是由一个视觉和触觉轮组成的机器人平台，安装在两个可路由的板上，以便在手指下移动，并让参与者观察视觉。我们通过实施旋转辨别任务验证了该系统，该任务考虑了两种不同的感觉模态：视觉、触觉和多感觉视觉-触觉整合。四名健康受试者被要求在感知到由视觉、触觉或两者产生的运动刺激后，报告运动旋转的长度。结果表明，当呈现多个感觉刺激时，多感觉精度会提高。因此，新系统可以为确定运动处理的感知原则提供基本输入。因此，该设备可以成为一种潜在的系统，用于根据神经科学发现设计基于感觉和运动障碍个体的筛查和康复方案。临床意义——本研究提出了一种新型机器人运动模拟器，用于提供视觉和触觉感觉信号的组合或独立刺激。
