Toward Somatotopic Matching: The Wearable Integrated Soft Haptic Device (WISH)
摘要
This work presents a soft pneumatic feedback system designed with integrability and wearability as primary concerns. Modern active prostheses can help recover some motor functions lost with hand amputation, but they typically fail to restore sensory abilities, forcing individuals to rely predominantly on visual feedback. Few solutions have been effectively integrated into prostheses for real-world use. At the system’s core, two soft pneumatic actuators are placed in contact with the subject’s skin and inflated to provide pressure stimuli, representing the force exerted during hand grasping. We report on the design and characterization of the system, including behavioural experiments with able-bodied participants and one prosthesis user. Results from psychophysical, dexterity, and usability tests show that the system has the potential to restore sensory feedback in hand amputees and can be a useful tool for enabling correct modulation of force during grasping and manipulation tasks.