The Effect of Haptic Delay on Robot-Mediated Dyadic Cooperation

Abstract

Research on robot-mediated dyadic interactions has shown benefits in understanding cooperation between individuals with different skill levels, such as rehabilitation between a therapist and a patient. The need for remote rehabilitation arises in response to overcoming physical distance. However, setting up remote connections between individuals remains a challenge considering network delay. This study explored how haptic delay between humans influences their motor performance. A real-time impedance controller, where time delay can be explicitly introduced, has been developed to mediate intervention. Twelve healthy participants were divided into six dyads, each comprising one Expert and one Novice. Experts were assigned to track a given target point evolving along a pre-determined random trajectory, whereas Novices were tasked with tracking a cloud of points centered around the same target point presented to Experts, thus implementing a form of visual disturbance. Each dyadic interaction started with a Familiarization condition, followed by a Solo condition, and then activating the connection introduced different haptic delays. Preliminary results reveal a negative impact on the motor performance of both Experts and Novices attributable to the haptic delay. Future work needs to expand upon these results.