A Human-Human Interface Using EMGs and Tactile Stimulation

Abstract

This paper proposes a novel human-human interface (HHI) using electromyograms (EMGs) and tactile stimulation as an interactive communication tool between human and human. In this system, EMGs is utilized to measure muscle conditions of human, and then the muscle force and muscular coordination are evaluated based on EMGs. Evaluated results are converted to stimulation signals, and then sent to another human as tactile stimulation for interactive communication. For accurately communication, stimulation signals are generated based on human sensory characteristics. In the experiments, utilizing small oscillators as tactile stimulators, human sensory characteristics for stimulation amplitudes and effective oscillation patterns for multi-channel stimulation were investigated. Muscle condition during forearm motions of an imaginary therapist was also evaluated and sent to an imaginary patient for verification of the proposed method. The results lead us to conclude that the proposed HHI could use to communication tool for motor function rehabilitation.