Kinesthetic Displays: Creating Embodied Experiences of Movement Using Vibrotactile Feedback

Kinesthesia – awareness of position and movement of body parts – is essential in all aspectsof life.

Kinesthesia enables mundane activities such as typing or lifting a glass to our lips, aswell as feats like playing a piano concert or competing in an elite sport. It not only providesinformation about our body, but also helps form an embodied understanding of the world aroundus. Although kinesthesia is central to human experience, it is barely used in human-computerinteraction (HCI).

However, existing methods like visual retargeting or auditory body illusionssuggest that such displays are possible.

Vibration, exemplified by the Pinocchio Illusion, mightbe an ideal actuation method to convey kinesthetic information; however, the literature showsno systematic way to achieve this.I aim to design kinesthetic displays (KDs), general purpose devices that provide an embodiedexperience of movement.

I will apply a sensorimotor perspective to the design of vibrotactilefeedback, building on my know-how of using sensorimotor contingencies for designing vibrotactilematerial experiences.

In this project my team and I will design a series of prototype KDs whichwill be used to study how design decisions, stimulation parameters, and algorithms influencethe introspective experience of movement.

The resulting data will be used to formulate designguidelines for KDs and to establish an empirical theory of sensorimotor interaction.KDs will transform remote and co-located training and skill sharing.

KDs will help us betterunderstand our own bodies and provide amputees with sensory access to prosthetic limbs orother body augmentations.

Finally, KDs will provide digital systems with an embodied channelof communication, revolutionizing how we interact with computers.