Search

Approximately 1.1. billion people worldwide live with some form of disability, and assistive technology has the potential to increase their overall quality of life. However, the end users' perspective and needs are often not sufficiently considered during the development of this technology, leading to frustration and nonuse of existing devices. Since its first competition in 2016, CYBATHLON has aimed to drive innovation in the field of assistive technology by motivating teams to involve end users more actively in the development process and to tailor novel devices to their actual daily-life needs. Competition tasks therefore represent unsolved daily-life challenges for people with disabilities and serve the purpose of benchmarking the latest developments from research laboratories and companies from around the world. This review describes each of the competition disciplines, their contributions to assistive technology, and remaining challenges in the user-centered development of this technology., Annual Review of Control, Robotics, and Autonomous Systems, 6, ISSN:2573-5144

Additional file 1. Supplementary Material 1. Full survey: QuestionPro export (PIL and TL survey trees). Supplementary Material 2. Summary (readout) of linear mixed model.

Motor learning is assumed to be a partly error driven process. Motor learning studies on simple movements have shown that skilled subjects benefit from training with error amplification. Findings of studies with simple movements do not necessarily transfer to complex sport movements. The goal of this work was to determine the benefit of visual error amplification for non-naïve subjects in learning a fast rowing movement.We conducted a study comparing non-naïve subjects receiving a fading, visual feedback with visual error amplification against a control group receiving the same visual feedback without error amplification. Separate outcome metrics were applied for the domains of spatial and velocity magnitude errors. Besides error metrics, variability metrics were evaluated for both domains, such that they could be interpreted in quantitative relation to each other.The implemented error amplification did not cause group differences in any variable. Subjects with or without error amplification reached similar absolute levels in error and variability. Possible reasons remain speculative. For implementing error amplification to the training of complex movements design decisions must be made for which an informative basis is missing, e.g. the error amplification gains., Current Issues in Sport Science (CISS)

Frontiers in Neuroscience, 11, ISSN:1662-453X, ISSN:1662-4548

Robot-assisted training can be enhanced by using augmented feedback to support trainees during learning. Efficacy of augmented feedback is assumed to be dependent on the trainee's skill level and task characteristics. Thus, selecting the most efficient augmented feedback for individual subjects over the course of training is challenging.We present a general concept to automate feedback selection based on predicted performance improvement. As proof of concept, we applied our concept to trunk-arm rowing. Using existing data, the assumption that improvement is skill level dependent was verified and a predictive linear mixed model was obtained. We used this model to automatically select feedback for new trainees. The observed improvements were used to adapt the prediction model to the individual subject. The prediction model did not over-fit and generalized to new subjects with this adaptation.Mainly, feedback was selected that showed the highest baseline to retention learning in previous studies. By this replication of our former best results we demonstrate that a simple decision rule based on improvement prediction has the potential to reasonably select feedback, or to provide a comprehensible suggestion to a human supervisor. To our knowledge, this is the first time an automated feedback selection has been realized in motor learning., International Journal of Computer Science in Sport, 16 (3), ISSN:1684-4769

Berichte aus der Sportwissenschaft, Human Movement and Technology : book of abstracts - 11th Joint Conference on Motor Control & Learning, Biomechanics & Training, ISBN:978-3-8440-4707-3, ISBN:3-8440-4707-7

Simulators are commonly used to train complex tasks. In particular, simulators are applied to train dangerous tasks, to save costs, and to investigate the impact of different factors on task performance. However, in most cases, the transfer of simulator training to the real task has not been investigated. Without a proof for successful skill transfer, simulators might not be helpful at all or even counter-productive for learning the real task. In this paper, the skill transfer of complex technical aspects trained on a scull rowing simulator to sculling on water was investigated. We assume if a simulator provides high fidelity rendering of the interactions with the environment even without augmented feedback, training on such a realistic simulator would allow similar skill gains as training in the real environment. These learned skills were expected to transfer to the real environment. Two groups of four recreational rowers participated. One group trained on water, the other group trained on a simulator. Within two weeks, both groups performed four training sessions with the same licensed rowing trainer. The development in performance was assessed by quantitative biomechanical performance measures and by a qualitative video evaluation of an independent, blinded trainer. In general, both groups could improve their performance on water. The used biomechanical measures seem to allow only a limited insight into the rowers' development, while the independent trainer could also rate the rowers' overall impression. The simulator quality and naturalism was confirmed by the participants in a questionnaire. In conclusion, realistic simulator training fostered skill gains to a similar extent as training in the real environment and enabled skill transfer to the real environment. In combination with augmented feedback, simulator training can be further exploited to foster motor learning even to a higher extent, which is subject to future work., PLoS ONE, 8 (12), ISSN:1932-6203

In general, concurrent augmented feedback has been shown to effectively enhance learning in complex motor tasks. However, to optimize technical systems that are intended to reinforce motor learning, a systematic evaluation of different augmented feedback designs is required. Until now, mainly visual augmented feedback has been applied to enhance learning of complex motor tasks. Since most complex motor tasks are mastered in response to information visually perceived, providing augmented concurrent feedback in a visual manner may overload the capacities of visual perception and cognitive processing. Thus, the aim of this work was to evaluate the practicability of auditory feedback designs supporting a three-dimensional rowing-type movement in comparison with visual feedback designs. We term a feedback design practical if the provided information can easily be perceived and interpreted, and immediately be used to support the movement. In a first experiment, it became evident that participants could interpret three-dimensional auditory feedback designs based on stereo balance, pitch, timbre, and/or volume. Eleven of 12 participants were able to follow the different target movements using auditory feedback designs as accurately as with a very abstract visual feedback design. Visual designs based on superposition of actual and target oar orientation led to the most accurate performance. Considering the first experimental results, the feedback designs were further developed and again evaluated. It became evident that a permanent visual display of the target trajectories could further enhance movement accuracy. Moreover, results indicated that the practicability of the auditory designs depends on the polarity of the mapping functions. In general, both visual and auditory concurrent feedback designs were practical to immediately support multidimensional movement. In a next step, the effectiveness to enhance motor learning will be systematically evaluated.

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 20 (1), ISSN:1531-5320, ISSN:1069-9384

It is generally accepted that augmented feedback provided by a human expert or a technical display effectively enhances motor learning. However discussion of the way to most effectively provide augmented feedback has been controversial. Related studies have focused primarily on simple or artificial tasks enhanced by visual feedback. Recently technical advances have made it possible also to investigate more complex realistic motor tasks and to implement not only visual but also auditory haptic or multimodal augmented feedback. The aim of this review is to address the potential of augmented unimodal and multimodal feedback in the framework of motor learning theories. The review addresses the reasons for the different impacts of feedback strategies within or between the visual auditory and haptic modalities and the challenges that need to be overcome to provide appropriate feedback in these modalities either in isolation or in combination. Accordingly the design criteria for successful visual auditory haptic and multimodal feedback are elaborated.

Concurrent augmented feedback has been shown to be less effective for learning simple motor tasks than for complex tasks. However, as mostly artificial tasks have been investigated, transfer of results to tasks in sports and rehabilitation remains unknown. Therefore, in this study, the effect of different concurrent feedback was evaluated in trunk-arm rowing. It was then investigated whether multimodal audiovisual and visuohaptic feedback are more effective for learning than visual feedback only. Naïve subjects (N = 24) trained in three groups on a highly realistic virtual reality-based rowing simulator. In the visual feedback group, the subject’s oar was superimposed to the target oar, which continuously became more transparent when the deviation between the oars decreased. Moreover, a trace of the subject’s trajectory emerged if deviations exceeded a threshold. The audiovisual feedback group trained with oar movement sonification in addition to visual feedback to facilitate learning of the velocity profile. In the visuohaptic group, the oar movement was inhibited by path deviation-dependent braking forces to enhance learning of spatial aspects. All groups significantly decreased the spatial error (tendency in visual group) and velocity error from baseline to the retention tests. Audiovisual feedback fostered learning of the velocity profile significantly more than visuohaptic feedback. The study revealed that well-designed concurrent feedback fosters complex task learning, especially if the advantages of different modalities are exploited. Further studies should analyze the impact of within-feedback design parameters and the transferability of the results to other tasks in sports and rehabilitation., Experimental Brain Research, 233 (3), ISSN:0014-4819, ISSN:1432-1106

Augmented feedback, provided by coaches or displays, is a well-established strategy to accelerate motor learning. Frequent terminal feedback and concurrent feedback have been shown to be detrimental for simple motor task learning but supportive for complex motor task learning. However, conclusions on optimal feedback strategies have been mainly drawn from studies on artificial laboratory tasks with visual feedback only. Therefore, the authors compared the effectiveness of learning a complex, 3-dimensional rowing-type task with either concurrent visual, auditory, or haptic feedback to self-controlled terminal visual feedback. Results revealed that terminal visual feedback was most effective because it emphasized the internalization of task-relevant aspects. In contrast, concurrent feedback fostered the correction of task-irrelevant errors, which hindered learning. The concurrent visual and haptic feedback group performed much better during training with the feedback than in nonfeedback trials. Auditory feedback based on sonification of the movement error was not practical for training the 3-dimensional movement for most participants. Concurrent multimodal feedback in combination with terminal feedback may be most effective, especially if the feedback strategy is adapted to individual preferences and skill level.