RESEARCH ARTICLE
Validation of a Vibrotactile Stimulation System Using the Wii Remote for Studies of Tactile Sensitivity
Eri Sugimoto, Hitoshi Sasaki*
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2017Volume: 10
First Page: 118
Last Page: 126
Publisher ID: TOPSYJ-10-118
DOI: 10.2174/1874350101710010118
Article History:
Received Date: 08/5/2017Revision Received Date: 04/6/2017
Acceptance Date: 08/7/2017
Electronic publication date: 27/07/2017
Collection year: 2017
open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode). This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Background:
Vibrotactile stimuli are widely used to study the functional characteristics of the haptic sense. Although many vibrotactile stimulators are commercially available, most are expensive.
Objective:
We developed a low-cost vibrotactile stimulation system using a Nintendo Wii Remote and a personal computer. In the present study, we examined the validity and accuracy of this vibrotactile stimulation system.
Method:
In the first experiment, we measured the linearity of vibration amplitude and changes in peak vibration frequency generated by the Wii Remote as a function of activation intensity. In the second experiment, the effect of vibrotactile stimuli applied to the dorsal surface of hand on two-point discrimination threshold at the index finger was examined in twelve participants.
Results:
The peak vibration frequency was about 150 Hz irrespective of vibration intensity, which would effectively activate fast adapting type II (FAII) cutaneous mechanical receptors. The two-point discrimination threshold measured at the third pad of the index finger decreased significantly when a near-threshold vibrotactile stimulus was applied to the dorsal hand, a response termed stochastic resonance (SR). These SR results are consistent with findings in the other sensory systems, such as auditory, visual, and somatosensory systems.
Conclusion:
This newly developed stimulation system produces controllable vibrotactile stimuli useful for study of the haptic sense.