Effect of External Force on Agency in Physical Human-Machine Interaction
In the advent of intelligent robotic tools for physically assisting humans, user experience, and intuitiveness in particular have become important features for control designs. However, existing works predominantly focus on performance-related measures for evaluating control systems as the subjectiv...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2020-05-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Human Neuroscience |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnhum.2020.00114/full |
| _version_ | 1818313405923065856 |
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| author | Satoshi Endo Jakob Fröhner Selma Musić Sandra Hirche Philipp Beckerle Philipp Beckerle |
| author_facet | Satoshi Endo Jakob Fröhner Selma Musić Sandra Hirche Philipp Beckerle Philipp Beckerle |
| author_sort | Satoshi Endo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In the advent of intelligent robotic tools for physically assisting humans, user experience, and intuitiveness in particular have become important features for control designs. However, existing works predominantly focus on performance-related measures for evaluating control systems as the subjective experience of a user by large cannot be directly observed. In this study, we therefore focus on agency-related interactions between control and embodiment in the context of physical human-machine interaction. By applying an intentional binding paradigm in a virtual, machine-assisted reaching task, we evaluate how the sense of agency of able-bodied humans is modulated by assistive force characteristics of a physically coupled device. In addition to measuring how assistive force profiles influence the sense of agency with intentional binding, we analyzed the sense of agency using a questionnaire. Remarkably, our participants reported to experience stronger agency when being appropriately assisted, although they contributed less to the control task. This is substantiated by the overall consistency of intentional binding results and the self-reported sense of agency. Our results confirm the fundamental feasibility of the sense of agency to objectively evaluate the quality of human-in-the-loop control for assistive technologies. While the underlying mechanisms causing the perceptual bias observed in the intentional binding paradigm are still to be understood, we believe that this study distinctly contributes to demonstrating how the sense of agency characterizes intuitiveness of assistance in physical human-machine interaction. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-13T08:33:14Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-07ef7a64da514cbda13c896c1ee0a9e9 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1662-5161 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-13T08:33:14Z |
| publishDate | 2020-05-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Human Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj.art-07ef7a64da514cbda13c896c1ee0a9e92022-12-21T23:53:43ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Human Neuroscience1662-51612020-05-011410.3389/fnhum.2020.00114481663Effect of External Force on Agency in Physical Human-Machine InteractionSatoshi Endo0Jakob Fröhner1Selma Musić2Sandra Hirche3Philipp Beckerle4Philipp Beckerle5Chair of Information-Oriented Control, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Technical University of Munich, Munich, GermanyChair of Information-Oriented Control, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Technical University of Munich, Munich, GermanyChair of Information-Oriented Control, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Technical University of Munich, Munich, GermanyChair of Information-Oriented Control, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Technical University of Munich, Munich, GermanyElastic Lightweight Robotics Group, Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, Robotics Research Institute, Technische Universität Dortmund, Dortmund, GermanyInstitute for Mechatronic Systems, Mechanical Engineering, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Darmstadt, GermanyIn the advent of intelligent robotic tools for physically assisting humans, user experience, and intuitiveness in particular have become important features for control designs. However, existing works predominantly focus on performance-related measures for evaluating control systems as the subjective experience of a user by large cannot be directly observed. In this study, we therefore focus on agency-related interactions between control and embodiment in the context of physical human-machine interaction. By applying an intentional binding paradigm in a virtual, machine-assisted reaching task, we evaluate how the sense of agency of able-bodied humans is modulated by assistive force characteristics of a physically coupled device. In addition to measuring how assistive force profiles influence the sense of agency with intentional binding, we analyzed the sense of agency using a questionnaire. Remarkably, our participants reported to experience stronger agency when being appropriately assisted, although they contributed less to the control task. This is substantiated by the overall consistency of intentional binding results and the self-reported sense of agency. Our results confirm the fundamental feasibility of the sense of agency to objectively evaluate the quality of human-in-the-loop control for assistive technologies. While the underlying mechanisms causing the perceptual bias observed in the intentional binding paradigm are still to be understood, we believe that this study distinctly contributes to demonstrating how the sense of agency characterizes intuitiveness of assistance in physical human-machine interaction.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnhum.2020.00114/fullhuman-centered controlshared controlhuman-robot interactionautonomyagencyhaptics |
| spellingShingle | Satoshi Endo Jakob Fröhner Selma Musić Sandra Hirche Philipp Beckerle Philipp Beckerle Effect of External Force on Agency in Physical Human-Machine Interaction Frontiers in Human Neuroscience human-centered control shared control human-robot interaction autonomy agency haptics |
| title | Effect of External Force on Agency in Physical Human-Machine Interaction |
| title_full | Effect of External Force on Agency in Physical Human-Machine Interaction |
| title_fullStr | Effect of External Force on Agency in Physical Human-Machine Interaction |
| title_full_unstemmed | Effect of External Force on Agency in Physical Human-Machine Interaction |
| title_short | Effect of External Force on Agency in Physical Human-Machine Interaction |
| title_sort | effect of external force on agency in physical human machine interaction |
| topic | human-centered control shared control human-robot interaction autonomy agency haptics |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnhum.2020.00114/full |
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