The HyVE: Hybrid vibro-electrotactile stimulation for sensory feedback in upper limb prostheses

Abstract

This work presents preliminary experiments using a new hybrid vibro-electrotactile interface named HyVE. It integrates vibrotactile with electrotactile stimulation over the same physical location, and it is thus able to provide a dual-modality sensory feedback on the body site where it is applied. Since HyVE was envisioned as a feedback system for prosthetic limbs, as a first step, we investigated the capability of human subjects to discriminate the properties of the two stimulation types when they are delivered simultaneously. Preliminary results are very promising: nine subjects were able to discriminate 9 stimuli (combinations of 3 electro- and 3 vibro-tactile stimuli) with a mean success rate of 70 %. These results suggest that a hybrid interface can be used to implement two parallel information channels in a compact way. This could be exploited for the closed loop control of an upper limb prosthesis.