Abstract
Studies of cross modal information transfer typically involve the transfer of specific content such as the identity of a shape. We now report a new phenomenon which demonstrates that frame of reference information may be similarly transferred. We show transfer between proprioceptive/kinesthetic sense of hand orientation and vision for the purposes of reestablishing coordinated visual-manual activity in the presence of exocentricly referenced rotational sensory-motor transformations. Such rotational misalignments are encountered in teleoperation & telerobotics when the remote image sensor, usually a camera, is oriented so that resulting display coordinates are rotated with respect to the coordinates in which a user must operate a remote manipulator (e.g Smith & Smith, 1962). To demonstrate the new phenomenon the hand not used for control is utilized to provide a kinesthetic cue to the camera orientation and thereby greatly reduce the difficulty in compensating for the control-display misalignment. In essence the cueing hand, which is positioned to copy the attitude of the viewing camera, provides a kinesthetic reference for the movement of the controlling hand. Users then make their control movements relative to their kinesthetic sense of the orientation of the cueing hand. Experimental testing shows that this technique works & can reduce control inaccuracy associated with some rotational misalignments by 64% w/o explicit training. We now can show that the phenomenon is generally not demonstrable without explicit attentional effort by the subjects and can use an immersing virtual environment to demonstrate it with three-axis transformations.
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