2022/06/28
The University of Tokyo
Keio University
Toyohashi University of Technology
Japan Science and Technology Agency
To augment physical functions with tools like robotic arms, it is important to be able to incorporate them as a part of one's own body and operate them with ease. While the embodiment of tools such as a cane has been explained in terms of substitution (e.g., as a substitute for a leg) or extension (e.g., extending a leg), there have been few reports of "additive" embodiment, such as with robotic arms as third and fourth arms.
Ken Arai, a graduate student at the Graduate School of Engineering at The University of Tokyo, along with Hiroto Saito, a Project Research Associate, and Professor Masahiko Inami from the university's Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, in collaboration with researcher Masaaki Fukuoka and Professor Maki Sugimoto of Keio University, and Assistant Professor Sachiyo Ueda and Professor Michiteru Kitazaki of Toyohashi University of Technology, have successfully developed supernumerary robotic arms in a virtual reality (VR) space that are synchronized with the user's foot movements, and conducted an experiment on their embodiment. This study is the world's first attempt to explain the embodiment of a supernumerary robotic limb system, successfully capturing the perception of the space around the system (peripersonal space) and the feeling of having additional arms (supernumerary limb sensation) when wearing the robotic arms.
This research was published in Scientific Reports on June 27, 2022 (British Summer Time).
The full press release is available below.