Fine-motor execution using repetitive force-feedback

• US 20100134408A1
• Filed: 05/27/2008
• Published: 06/03/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 05/25/2007
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Arthur R. Palsbo, Matthew Hopkins, Naomi Lynn Gerber, Sidney Johnson, Susan E. Palsbo, Walter Norblad, Younhee Kim, Zoran Duric
• Original Assignee: Arthur R. Palsbo, Matthew Hopkins, Naomi Lynn Gerber, Sidney Johnson, Susan E. Palsbo, Walter Norblad, Younhee Kim, Zoran Duric
• Inventors: Johnson, Sidney, Duric, Zoran, Kim, Younhee, Hopkins, Matthew, Palsbo, Arthur R., Gerber, Naomi Lynn, Palsbo, Susan E., Norblad, Walter
• Application Number:
  US12/153,903
• Publication Number:
  US 20100134408A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/156
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/011 Arrangements for interaction with the human body, e.g. for user immersion in virtual reality blind teaching G09B21/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/016 Input arrangements with force or tactile feedback as computer generated output to the user

Abstract

An individual'"'"'s fine-motor skills can be assessed using a force-feedback haptic unit that includes an end-effecter and programmable settings. To assess these skills, a tangible computer readable medium initializes the programmable settings with a set of initial settings. It then presents a 3-D representation of a character or characters to a user. The user in turn is prompted to mimic the character(s) on a work space. While the user is attempting to mimic the character(s) using the end-effecter on the work space, timed stroke data are collected from the force-feedback haptic unit. Using the timed stroke data, an analysis is then generated to determine the user'"'"'s precision and accuracy of mimicking the character.

Claims

1. A tangible computer readable medium encoded with computer readable instructions that when executed by one or more processors executes a method for assessing an individual'"'"'s fine-motor skills using a force-feedback haptic unit having an end-effecter and programmable settings comprising:

a. initializing the programmable settings with a set of initial settings;

b. presenting a 3-D representation of at least one character to a user;

c. prompting the user to mimic the character on a work space;

d. collecting timed stroke data from the force-feedback haptic unit while the user is attempting to mimic the character using the end-effecter on the work space; and

e. generating an analysis to determine the user'"'"'s precision and accuracy using the timed stroke data.

2. The medium according to claim 1, further including controlling the force-feedback haptic unit while the user is attempting to mimic the character using the end-effecter on the work space.

3. The medium according to claim 1, further including using the analysis to present real-time visual feedback.

4. The medium according to claim 3, wherein the real-time visual feedback includes at least one of the following:

a. an image of at least one stroke;

b. an image of at least one stroke overlaid on an image of the character;

c. statistical data comprising;

i. hit rate data;

ii. error rate data;

iii. accuracy data;

iv. directional accuracy data;

v. summary data; and

vi. any combination of the above; and

d. any combination of the above.

5. The medium according to claim 1, wherein both the collecting timed stroke data and the generating an analysis are repeated multiple times.

6. The medium according to claim 5, wherein the analysis includes summary data for the timed stroke data that are collected through the multiple times.

7. The medium according to claim 6, wherein the summary data includes at least one of the following:

a. statistics;

b. time-series analysis; and

c. user-defined settings for the force-feedback haptic unit.

8. The medium according to claim 1, wherein the character is described by at least one of the following:

a. a quadratic curve;

b. a cubic curve;

c. a Bezier curve;

d. a polynomial equation; and

e. any combination of the above.

9. The medium according to claim 1, wherein the timed stroke data includes a timed sequence of x, y, and z coordinate data.

10. The medium according to claim 1, wherein the timed stroke data includes lift data, the lift data including a curve in a plane substantially perpendicular to the work space.

11. The medium according to claim 1, further including adjusting the programmable settings using updated settings received from a trainer in response to the analysis.

12. The medium according to claim 11, wherein a plan is considered when setting the updated settings, the plan being one of the following:

a. a therapeutic intervention plan;

b. a treatment plan;

c. a guided plan;

or

d. any combination of the above.

13. The medium according to claim 1, wherein the force-feedback haptic unit is configured to communicate with a remote force-feedback haptic unit.

14. The medium according to claim 1, wherein a trainer operates the force-feedback haptic unit.

15. The medium according to claim 14, wherein the trainer operates the force-feedback haptic unit using an asynchronous “

store and forward”

operation.

16. The medium according to claim 14, wherein the trainer operates the force-feedback haptic unit using an interactive synchronous operation.

17. The medium according to claim 1, further including moving the end-effecter to a starting point.

18. The medium according to claim 1, wherein the force-feedback haptic unit is adjustable to accommodate different types of end-effecters.