The Rice Haptic Rocker: Skin stretch haptic feedback with the Pisa/IIT SoftHand

Myoelectric prostheses have seen increased application in clinical practice and research, due to their potential for good functionality and versatility. Yet, myoelectric prostheses still suffer from a lack of intuitive control and haptic feedback, which can frustrate users and lead to abandonment. To address this problem, we propose to convey proprioceptive information for a prosthetic hand with skin stretch using the Rice Haptic Rocker. This device was integrated with the myo-controlled version of Pisa/IIT SoftHand and a size discrimination test with 18 able bodied subjects was performed to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. Results show that the Rice Haptic Rocker can be successfully used to convey proprioceptive information. A Likert survey was also presented to the experiment participants, who evaluated the integrated setup as easy to use and effective in conveying proprioception.