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Extending the body to virtual tools using a robotic surgical interface: evidence from the crossmodal congruency task
Ali Sengül1, Michiel van Elk, Giulio Rognini
1Center for Neuroprosthetics, School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland. ali.sengul@epfl.ch
Plos One
|December 11, 2012
Summary
Virtual-robotic tool use, like in surgical robotics, alters how we perceive space around us, similar to real-world tools. This effect extends to passively held tools, suggesting a broad impact on spatial representation.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Human-Computer Interaction
- Robotics
Background:
- Real-world tool use enhances multisensory integration in peripersonal space.
- The impact of virtual-robotic tools on spatial representations is not well understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if virtual-robotic tool use affects body and space representations.
- To compare these effects with those of real-world tool use.
Main Methods:
- Two experiments using a haptic interface to control a virtual tool.
- Crossmodal congruency task to assess multisensory integration.
- Investigated effects of active and passive tool use, and crossed hand positions.
Main Results:
- Active virtual-robotic tool use modulated crossmodal congruency effects, similar to real-world tool use.
- Crossed tool positions induced strong interference, indicating peripersonal space remapping.
- Remapping occurred with both active and passive tool use.
Conclusions:
- Virtual-robotic tools extend peripersonal space representations, comparable to physical tools.
- Findings have implications for learning and human factors in surgical robotics.
- Demonstrates the utility of virtual reality and haptics in cognitive neuroscience research.
