Movement Strategy Discovery during Training via Haptic Guidance

Haptic guidance has previously been investigated to facilitate motor skill training, whereupon a robotic device assists a trainee in executing the desired movement. However, many studies have reported a null or even detrimental effect of haptic guidance on training compared to unassisted practice. While prior studies have focused on using haptic guidance to refine a movement strategy, our study explores its effect on the discovery of a new strategy. Subjects learned to manipulate a virtual under-actuated system via a haptic device either with or without haptic guidance (and without haptic feedback of system dynamics). The guidance enabled subjects to experience a range of successful movements, rather than strictly enforcing one trajectory. Subjects who trained with guidance adopted a strategy that involved faster reaches, required greater control of the system's degrees of freedom, and increased the potential for faster task completion. However, overall improvement of task performance was limited with the new strategy.