Understanding Interaction: Unraveling the mysteries of the mind using Virtual Reality

Abstract

Human robot interaction (HRI) is an important problem. As engineers we can design robots to match the requirements and desired capabilities as close as possible. However, the design targets are still unknown until we properly grasp how the human works. Specifically, human sensation is still poorly understood in the context of HRI. What I have contributed here are several firsts in our understanding of human perception by introducing experiments that study 1) how humans perceive sensory information from different sensory modalities, 2) how sensory information impact the way we perform tasks and 3) how we use such information to update the models of our own bodies. By looking at this problem through the lens of \emph{sensory conflict} and using recent advances and increase in accessibility of Virtual Reality, I investigate the effect of different sensory modalities in isolation. I pioneer a new method, the \emph{Visuotactile Two-Point Discrimination Test}, that focuses on spatial conflict between visual touch and tactile touch to explore the connection between vision and taction. Additionally, by investigating the effect sensory information has on the expression of so called “dynamic primitives”, I analyze for the very first time the effect of sensation on the switch between the primitives proposed in this theory. Finally, by introducing C/D-ratio manipulations and changing the relationship between the display (visual) and control signal (proprioception), I explore the role of sensation in updating our internal models.