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Performance of a visuomotor walking task in an augmented reality training setting
Juliet A M Haarman1, Julia T Choi2, Jaap H Buurke3
1Roessingh Research and Development, Roessinghsbleekweg 33b, 7522 AH Enschede, The Netherlands; Department of Biomechanical Engineering, University of Twente, Drienerlolaan 5, 7522 NB Enschede, The Netherlands.
Healthy adults could not learn a sequenced walking task using augmented reality visual cues. While the setup was intuitive, performance did not improve over training blocks, suggesting suboptimal feedback limited learning.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Biomechanics
- Human-Computer Interaction
Background:
- Visual cues are utilized for training motor patterns.
- Augmented reality (AR) systems offer novel training environments.
- Visuomotor tasks require precise coordination between visual input and motor output.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the performance and learning capacities of healthy individuals in a high-precision visuomotor walking task using AR.
- To assess sequence-specific and non-specific learning effects during treadmill walking with projected visual targets.
- To evaluate the influence of walking speed and step length adjustments on task performance.
Main Methods:
- Twenty healthy participants walked on an instrumented treadmill with projected visual stepping targets.
- Task difficulty was manipulated using two walking speeds (2.3 km/h and 3.3 km/h).
- Participants adjusted step length to match target distances presented in random or sequenced blocks to measure learning.
Main Results:
- Initial performance was 76% at lower speed and 54% at higher speed.
- No significant increase in performance was observed across training blocks, indicating a lack of learning.
- Participants were more successful when increasing step length compared to shortening it.
Conclusions:
- The AR training setup was intuitive but did not induce significant learning of the visuomotor walking task.
- Suboptimal feedback presentation is hypothesized to be a limiting factor for learning.
- Further research is needed to optimize AR feedback for motor skill acquisition in walking.
