A Comparison between Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality on Upper-limb Prosthesis Control

Yinghe Sun, Christopher L. Hunt, Wally Niu, Ziwei Li, Gabriel Cyrino, Reidner Cavalcante, Edgard Lamounier, Alcimar B. Soares, Nitish V. Thakor

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

In recent years, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies have been shown to be promising avenues for improving the security, convenience, and efficacy of rehabilitative prosthesis training systems. Despite their rise in popularity, it is still unclear what advantages these paradigms have over one another when applied to complex motor tasks. In this study, we aim to determine which paradigm, AR or VR, is better suited for the completion of dexterous motor control tasks needed for effective upper-limb prosthesis use. We evaluate a population of able-bodied (N=5) subjects. Each of them performed 50 3-dimensional object manipulation tasks in analogous AR and VR environments respectively, with 100 trials for each subject. During each trial, subjects operate a virtual upper-limb prosthesis to perform reach-grasp-relocation manipulations via a myoelectric pattern recognition (MPR) algorithm. We report an average improvement in Fitts' throughput (+20.94% and +21.26%) from all subjects when comparing VR to AR task performance in the reach and relocation phase. Additionally, we observe an increase in overall task completion rate (+3.60%) and mean path efficiency (+9.59% and +6.73%) during the reach and relocation phases of motion. What's more, we report a statistically significant decrease in mean task completion time during both reach and relocation phases when comparing AR to VR-based trials (p<0.05). Based on these functional results, we conclude that as a paradigm, VR promotes more efficient motion, resulting in higher task completion rates and path efficiency. On the other hand, AR allows subjects to perform motor tasks with shorter time consumed compared with VR.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationProceedings - 2021 International Symposium on Electrical, Electronics and Information Engineering, ISEEIE 2021
PublisherAssociation for Computing Machinery
Pages521-528
Number of pages8
ISBN (Electronic)9781450389839
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 19 2021
Event2021 International Symposium on Electrical, Electronics and Information Engineering, ISEEIE 2021 - Virtual, Online, Korea, Republic of
Duration: Feb 19 2021Feb 21 2021

Publication series

NameACM International Conference Proceeding Series

Conference

Conference2021 International Symposium on Electrical, Electronics and Information Engineering, ISEEIE 2021
Country/TerritoryKorea, Republic of
CityVirtual, Online
Period2/19/212/21/21

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Software
  • Human-Computer Interaction
  • Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
  • Computer Networks and Communications

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