ISSN:
1741-0444
Keywords:
Two-point vibrotactile discrimination
;
Vibrotactile resolution
;
Vibrotactile excitation
;
Tactile excitation
;
Tactile parameter optimisation
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Biology
,
Chemistry and Pharmacology
,
Medicine
Notes:
Abstract Tactile spatial resolution is an important factor in the design of vibrotactile arrays. The two-point discrimination distance is used as a measure of tactile spatial resolution. An experimental study is presented showing the effect of pulse burst stimulus parameters, pulse repetition period and duty cycle on two-point vibrotactile spatial discrimination. An array of piezoceramic vibrators is used to measure two-point spatial discrimination on the index finger. In a group of 14 subjects, the average two-point discrimination distance for a pulse repetition period of 1/25 s is 2.1 mm (SD=1.0), whereas for 1/500 s it is 5.1 mm (SD=0.9). Differences in discrimination distances are statistically significant according to the ANOVA analysis (p〈0.001). Results show that the two-point discrimination distance is better for longer pulse repetition periods. Therefore the pulse repetition period in an excitatory waveform composed of bursts of pulses is important for tactile resolution. No statistically significant differences in discrimination distances are found between bursts of pulses of 50% duty cycle and those of lower duty cycle. The latter result indicates that, by choosing low-duty cycle waveforms for vibrotactile stimulation, the power can be reduced with no loss in two-point discrimination capacity.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF02344692
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