Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University

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No. of bitstreams: 1 magre_fl_me_rcla.pdf: 1903981 bytes, checksum: 84551fa2723407938a7c991dffabf379 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-09-18 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Os sistemas sensoriais e motor trabalham de forma integrada para restabelecer o equilíbrio corporal durante a realização de outras tarefas (e.g., carregar uma bandeja com copos, trocar uma lâmpada enquanto equilibramos numa escada, etc.), as quais identificamos como “supra-posturais”. Ainda, indivíduos usam a percepção háptica para incorporar ferramentas na realização dessas tarefas que podem, concomitantemente, auxiliar no controle da postura. Uma ferramenta identificada como útil ao controle postural é o sistema âncora que consiste numa tarefa de manipular sutilmente cabos flexíveis anexos a cargas de reduzida massa que ficam em contato com o solo. Segurando a ponta desses cabos com as mãos, os indivíduos, via exploração ativa do sistema háptico, ajustam seu corpo no espaço mais eficientemente do que sem esta ferramenta. O objetivo desse estudo é analisar em tarefa de ancoragem háptica como componentes de tarefa supra-postural (i.e., deslocar o sistema âncora ritmicamente para cima e para baixo; com e sem contato com o solo e com e sem presença de cargas anexas ao sistema âncora) afetam os níveis de oscilação corporal em tarefas de equilíbrio. Participaram do estudo 15 adultos jovens que realizaram duas sessões de coleta em dias distintos (sessão de ancoragem com cargas e sessão de ancoragem sem cargas). Os participantes ficaram em pé sobre uma plataforma de força com os pés na posição tandem, vendados, durante 30 segundos, e, ao som de um metrônomo (55 BPM), levantaram e abaixaram ritmicamente o sistema âncora (i.e., com cargas anexas) ou cabos de nylon livres (i.e., sem cargas anexas) de acordo com as seguintes condições: ancoragem estática, ancoragem dinâmica em fase, ancoragem dinâmica fora de fase e ancoragem mista. As mesmas condições foram realizadas nas duas sessões de ancoragem. Para cada condição foram realizadas 2 tentativas. As variáveis do centro de pressão (COP) incluíram o comprimento total do COP (CT-COP), RMS do deslocamento médio-lateral (RMS-ml), velocidade média de oscilação médio-lateral (Velocidade-ml) e frequência com 80% da potência espectral na direção médio-lateral (F80-ml). Os resultados revelaram que um sistema de ancoragem sem cargas não promove efeitos estabilizadores na postura, o que não o caracteriza como uma tarefa predominantemente supra-postural. Ainda, manter as cargas em suspensão durante uma tarefa de ancoragem não promove efeitos estabilizadores na postura tal como ocorre ao manter as cargas em contato com o solo. Por fim, ancorar-se com cargas estáticas no solo promove efeitos estabilizadores para a postura melhores do que ancorar-se com cargas de forma dinâmica. Esses resultados demonstram a influência da informação sensorial para controlar a postura em um sistema de ancoragem háptica, que depende de uma referência fixa para orientação postural (i.e., cargas das âncoras em contato com uma superfície). / The sensory and motor systems work in an integrated way to reestablish balance while performing other motor tasks (e.g., carry a tray with cups, changing a light bulb while balancing on a ladder, etc.), which we identify as “supra-postural.” Moreover, individuals use haptic perception to control tools while performing these tasks that can, at the same time, aid the postural control system. A tool identified as useful to the postural function is the anchor system, which consists in subtle manipulation of flexible cables attached to low mass loads that are kept in contact with the ground. Holding these cables with their hands, individuals, via active exploration, adjust their bodies in space more efficiently than without this tool. The purpose of this study is to analyze in haptic anchorage tasks how does supra-postural components (e.g., intentionally move rhythmically the anchor system up and down; with or without anchor masses touching the ground, and with or without the end loads attached to the anchor system) affect body sway during balancing tasks. Fifteen young adults participated in this study in two sessions of data collection separated in two different days (anchors with loads and free-load anchors). The participants stood on a force platform with their feet in tandem position, blindfolded, for 30 seconds. To the sound of a metronome (55 BPM), they moved anchor system or the nylon strings (e.g., without the attached loads) up and down according to the following conditions: quiet anchoring, in-phase and out-of-phase dynamic anchoring, and mixed anchoring (e.g., one hand quiet anchoring while the other keep a dynamic anchoring). The variables of the center of pressure (COP) included the COP’s path length (PL-COP), ellipse area, RMS of medial-lateral displacement (RMS-ml), mean speed of medial-lateral oscillation (MSS-ml) and the frequency at 80% of the power spectrum (F80-ml). Our results revealed that an unloaded anchorage system does not provide stabilizing effects for the posture system and is not characterized as a supra-postural task, contrary to the anchor system with loads. Also, keeping the loads in suspension during an anchoring task does not stabilize posture as much as when keeping the loads in contact with the ground. Finally, anchoring with steady loads on the ground promotes stabilizing effects of the posture compared to dynamic anchoring with loads moving rhythmically. These results illustrate that sensory information to control posture during haptic anchoring tasks rely on a fixed reference for postural orientation (i.e., anchor loads in contact with a surface).

L’objectif de cette recherche est de découvrir comment se développe l’image du corps et la relation d’objet, et ainsi l’élaboration du moi, des personnes aveugles de naissance.La problématique : deux approches de la cécité se confrontent. Une approche pessimiste faisant de la vision l’essentiel du savoir, liant le handicap physique au handicap sensoriel ; Une vision modérée, donnant du crédit à la perception haptique. Qu’en est-il de l’image du corps et de la relation d’objet ? Partant des conceptions de Lederman, Anzieu et Tisseron, nous avons conçu l’idée du Regard-peau. L’hypothèse : Le Regard-peau, permettrait à partir du perçu multimodal - une reconnaissance de l’image du corps et de l’objet ; - et un accès à la métaphore du désir en tant que relation à l’objet et à son interdit.La méthode : Pour arriver à confirmer ou infirmer cette hypothèse nous avons eu recours, aux acquis théoriques de la psychanalyse du développement, et sur le plan méthodique, à l’entretien semi directif, enfin à la création d’une situation expérimentale observable que nous avons créée étant donné qu’aucune expérimentation visuelle n’était possible. La population étudiée comprend 20 aveugles-nés âgés de 18 à 21 ans, qui nous a permis de comprendre l’état de cécité, et 3 jeunes hommes non-voyants de naissance, qui ont fait l’objet d’une étude de cas. / AThe objective of this research is to discover how the image of the body and object relation develop, furthermore, the ego development of congenitally blind people. Problematic: two approaches of blindness have been in confrontation. A pessimistic approach making vision the essential of knowledge, linking physical disability and sensory disability; A moderate vision, giving credit to haptic perception. What then about the body image and object relation? Starting with Lederman concepts, Anzieu and Tisseron, we onceived the idea of the gaze - skin. Hypothesis: The gaze - skin would allow, from the multimodal perception a recognition of the body image and the object; - and an access to the metaphor of desire as a relation to the desired object and its prohibition. Method: To get to confirm or disprove this hypothesis we used, the theoretical knowledge of developmental psychoanalysis, and methodologically, the semi-directive interview, and finally the creation of an observable experimental situation that we created because no visual experimentation was possible. The studied population included 20 congenitally blind people aged 18 to 21 years, which has enabled us to understand the state of blindness, and three young men blind from birth, who have been the subject of a case study, and were excluded those who became blind after a period of vision.

Consumers evaluate products in the market place using their senses and often form mental representations of product properties. These mental representations have been studied extensively. Imagery has been shown to interact with perception within many perceptual modalities including vision, auditory, olfactory, and motor. This dissertation draws on the vast visual imagery literature to examine imagery in the haptic, or touch, modality. Two studies were undertaken to examine the relationship between haptic imagery and haptic perception The first study is based on studies from cognitive psychology that have used similar methods for examining visual imagery and visual perception. In study 1, sighted and visually impaired participants were asked to evaluate objects haptically, to form a haptic image of that object during a short interval, and then to compare the haptic image to a second object. In Study 2, sighted and visually impaired participants listened to five radio advertisements containing imagery phrases from multiple modalities. After listening to the advertisements, participants were asked to recall the ad content and assess both the ad and the product while haptically evaluating the product in the ad. Though results were mixed and further exploration will be necessary, these studies offer broad implications for consumer use of haptic imagery in shopping environments. The implications for both sighted and blind consumers are discussed.

abstract: Robotic systems are outmatched by the abilities of the human hand to perceive and manipulate the world. Human hands are able to physically interact with the world to perceive, learn, and act to accomplish tasks. Limitations of robotic systems to interact with and manipulate the world diminish their usefulness. In order to advance robot end effectors, specifically artificial hands, rich multimodal tactile sensing is needed. In this work, a multi-articulating, anthropomorphic robot testbed was developed for investigating tactile sensory stimuli during finger-object interactions. The artificial finger is controlled by a tendon-driven remote actuation system that allows for modular control of any tendon-driven end effector and capabilities for both speed and strength. The artificial proprioception system enables direct measurement of joint angles and tendon tensions while temperature, vibration, and skin deformation are provided by a multimodal tactile sensor. Next, attention was focused on real-time artificial perception for decision-making. A robotic system needs to perceive its environment in order to make decisions. Specific actions such as “exploratory procedures” can be employed to classify and characterize object features. Prior work on offline perception was extended to develop an anytime predictive model that returns the probability of having touched a specific feature of an object based on minimally processed sensor data. Developing models for anytime classification of features facilitates real-time action-perception loops. Finally, by combining real-time action-perception with reinforcement learning, a policy was learned to complete a functional contour-following task: closing a deformable ziplock bag. The approach relies only on proprioceptive and localized tactile data. A Contextual Multi-Armed Bandit (C-MAB) reinforcement learning algorithm was implemented to maximize cumulative rewards within a finite time period by balancing exploration versus exploitation of the action space. Performance of the C-MAB learner was compared to a benchmark Q-learner that eventually returns the optimal policy. To assess robustness and generalizability, the learned policy was tested on variations of the original contour-following task. The work presented contributes to the full range of tools necessary to advance the abilities of artificial hands with respect to dexterity, perception, decision-making, and learning. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Mechanical Engineering 2016

abstract: Human fingertips contain thousands of specialized mechanoreceptors that enable effortless physical interactions with the environment. Haptic perception capabilities enable grasp and manipulation in the absence of visual feedback, as when reaching into one's pocket or wrapping a belt around oneself. Unfortunately, state-of-the-art artificial tactile sensors and processing algorithms are no match for their biological counterparts. Tactile sensors must not only meet stringent practical specifications for everyday use, but their signals must be processed and interpreted within hundreds of milliseconds. Control of artificial manipulators, ranging from prosthetic hands to bomb defusal robots, requires a constant reliance on visual feedback that is not entirely practical. To address this, we conducted three studies aimed at advancing artificial haptic intelligence. First, we developed a novel, robust, microfluidic tactile sensor skin capable of measuring normal forces on flat or curved surfaces, such as a fingertip. The sensor consists of microchannels in an elastomer filled with a liquid metal alloy. The fluid serves as both electrical interconnects and tunable capacitive sensing units, and enables functionality despite substantial deformation. The second study investigated the use of a commercially-available, multimodal tactile sensor (BioTac sensor, SynTouch) to characterize edge orientation with respect to a body fixed reference frame, such as a fingertip. Trained on data from a robot testbed, a support vector regression model was developed to relate haptic exploration actions to perception of edge orientation. The model performed comparably to humans for estimating edge orientation. Finally, the robot testbed was used to perceive small, finger-sized geometric features. The efficiency and accuracy of different haptic exploratory procedures and supervised learning models were assessed for estimating feature properties such as type (bump, pit), order of curvature (flat, conical, spherical), and size. This study highlights the importance of tactile sensing in situations where other modalities fail, such as when the finger itself blocks line of sight. Insights from this work could be used to advance tactile sensor technology and haptic intelligence for artificial manipulators that improve quality of life, such as prosthetic hands and wheelchair-mounted robotic hands. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering 2013

The explorative scanning movements of the hands have been compared to those of the eyes. The visual process is known to be composed of alternating phases of saccadic eye movements and fixation pauses. Descriptive results suggest that during the haptic exploration of objects short movement pauses occur as well.The goal of the present study was to detect these \"explorative stops\"(ES) during one-handed and two-handed haptic explorations of various objects and patterns, and to measure their duration. Additionally, the associations between the following variables were analyzed:(a) between mean exploration time and duration of ES, (b) between certain stimulus features and ES frequency, and (c) the duration of ES during the course of exploration.

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No. of bitstreams: 1 TeseGMF.pdf: 9476298 bytes, checksum: f22d69fa07d6e52aff3ce9e78fe21273 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-08-25 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) / The research objective was to analyze the repertory of representations of means of transportation also called “vehicles” (Aircraft, bicycle, car, sail boat, train and helicopter) expressed in modeling clay, drawing and oral description of children with visual deficiency with the use of models like toys, or reliefs or the reading of the description of a mean of transportation made by the child itself. Participating in the study were two boys with congenital blindness (A and N) and two girls with low vision (G and K) with visual deficiency without any other deficiency associated, with ages between six and nine years old. The research was developed in two institutions frequented by the participants. One of them non-governmental and the other municipal, both specialized in the caring of people with visual deficiency, and localized in two midsize cities in the intern of São Paulo State, where the participants were receiving caring. A period of familiarization between researcher and participant preceded the data collect. The procedure of data collect was made in the following sequence of steps: Repertoire Survey, Intervention, Replication of the repertoire survey and creation of a mean of transportation. The Intervention consisted in presenting the participants the models: toy, relief and orally reading the oral description made by the child itself. In front of each model the children were requested to say the name of the object presented, play the model on a sequence of activities in which they used the modeling clay, pencil and paper to do a drawing and the oral production of the model which was worked on both previous conditions (modeling and drawing). During the confection of the representations the children answered questions about the characteristics and functions of the object presented. The data analysis guided itself by: 1- The component elements featured by the children and the characteristics attributed by them to the mean of transportation in the representations by modeling, drawing and oral description; 2- the type of model used during the intervention: toy, relief and reading of the oral description; 3- the creation of a vehicle using modeling clay, drawing and description. The results showed that, in the absence of models, in dealing with the component elements, the participants with low vision highlighted the external in their productions, for example, wheel, door, while the blind highlighted the internal, like, seat, steering wheel. However, when toys or reliefs were presented, the blind participants also highlighted in their productions the external elements. In the oral description, it was noted that all the children described above all the component elements and the aspects of the function played by them or the vehicles. However, in the oral descriptions of toy models or relief, they referred proportionally more times to the component elements. In reference to the used models in the intervention, the results indicated modifications in the drawing representations, modeling and oral description of the participants, if compared to the productions in the absence of the models. When there was the presentation of the toys to the blind participant, his productions in modeling clay were made on the same representation pattern of the toy, while that the drawing was made in a superior point of view, that is an object seen from the top. When there was the presentation of a relief model, the productions in drawing and modeling clay of the blind participant followed the flat point of view of the relief representation. When the reading of the oral description happened, the representations of the blind participant didn’t change. As to participant K, with low vision, the representations remained adopting the flat point of view for the three types of model. About the vehicle creation step, highlight itself that participant K, with low vision, created a new mean of transportation. The other participants (A, N and G) made means of transportation that had been worked during the intervention. The results empirically proved that the productions of the children with visual deficiency are different from the ones produced by children that can see, seen that they organize the world the notice by other sensorial channels other than the vision. This results were deep-set with the findings about the differences of production between children with visual deficiency. The representations of the blind children and of the ones with low vision considered different points of view; this results contribute to the discussion about the comparing between psychic children, children with visual deficiency/blindness and children with visual deficiency/low vision. It is believed that the results obtained in this work contribute to the discussions, even sparse, about the representations of children with visual deficiency. / O objetivo da pesquisa foi analisar o repertório de representações de meios de transporte também denominados “veículo” (avião, bicicleta, carro, barco a vela, trem e helicóptero) expressas em massa de modelar, desenho e descrição oral de crianças com deficiência visual com o emprego de modelos do tipo brinquedos ou relevos ou leitura da descrição de um meio de transporte feito pela própria criança. Participaram do estudo dois meninos com cegueira congênita (A e N) e duas meninas com baixa visão (G e K) com deficiência visual sem nenhuma outra deficiência associada, com idades entre seis e nove anos. A pesquisa foi desenvolvida em duas instituições frequentadas pelos participantes. Uma delas não governamental e a outra municipal, ambas especializadas no atendimento de pessoas com deficiência visual, e localizadas em duas cidades de médio porte do interior do estado de São Paulo, onde os participantes recebiam atendimentos. Um período de familiarização entre pesquisadora e participantes antecedeu a coleta de dados. O procedimento de coleta de dados foi realizado na seguinte sequência de etapas: Levantamento de Repertório, Intervenção, Replicação do Levantamento de Repertório e Criação de um meio de transporte. A Intervenção consistiu em apresentar aos participantes os modelos: brinquedo, relevo e ler oralmente a descrição oral feita pela própria criança. Diante de cada modelo as crianças foram solicitadas a dizer o nome do objeto representado, reproduzir o modelo em uma sequência de atividades nas quais usaram a massa de modelar, lápis e papel para fazer um desenho e a produção oral do modelo que foi trabalhado nas duas condições anteriores (modelagem e desenho). Durante a confecção das representações as crianças responderam perguntas sobre as características e funções do objeto representado. A análise dos dados guiou-se por: 1- os elementos componentes destacados pelas crianças e as características por elas atribuídas ao meio de transporte nas representações por modelagem, desenho e descrição oral; 2- o tipo de modelo utilizado durante a Intervenção: brinquedo, relevo e leitura da descrição oral; 3- a criação de um veículo utilizando massa de modelar, desenho e a descrição. Os resultados mostraram que, na ausência de modelos, em se tratando dos elementos componentes, os participantes com baixa visão destacaram em suas produções os externos, como por exemplo, roda, porta, enquanto que os cegos destacaram os internos, como, banco, volante. Entretanto, quando houve apresentação de brinquedo ou relevo, os participantes cegos também destacaram em suas produções os elementos externos. Na descrição oral, observou-se que todas as crianças descreveram sobretudo os elementos componentes e os aspectos da função desempenhados por eles ou pelos veículos. Entretanto, nas descrições orais de modelos brinquedo ou relevo elas se referiram proporcionalmente mais vezes aos elementos componentes. No que tange aos modelos utilizados na Intervenção, os resultados indicaram modificações nas representações em desenho, modelagem e descrição oral dos participantes, se comparadas às produções na ausência dos modelos. Quando houve apresentação de brinquedos para o participante cego, suas produções em massa de modelar foram confeccionadas no mesmo padrão de representação do brinquedo, enquanto que o desenho foi feito em um ponto de vista superior, isto é um objeto visto por cima. Quando havia apresentação de modelo em relevo, as produções em desenho e massa de modelar do participante cego seguiu o ponto de vista horizontal da representação em relevo. Quando houve leitura da descrição oral, as representações do participante cego não se modificaram. Quanto à participante K, com baixa visão, as representações permaneceram adotando o ponto de vista horizontal para os três tipos de modelo. A respeito da etapa de criação de um veículo, destaca-se que apenas a participante K, com baixa visão, criou um novo meio de transporte. Os demais participantes (A, N e G) confeccionaram meios de transporte que haviam sido trabalhados durante a Intervenção. Os resultados comprovaram empiricamente que as produções de crianças com deficiência visual são diferentes daquelas produzidas por crianças que enxergam, visto que elas organizam o mundo que percebem por meio de outros canais sensoriais que não a visão. Estes resultados foram aprofundados com os achados sobre as diferenças de produção entre as crianças com deficiência visual. As representações das crianças cegas e daquelas com baixa visão consideraram pontos de vistas diferentes; estes resultados contribuem para a discussão sobre a comparação entre crianças videntes, crianças com deficiência visual/cegueira e crianças com deficiência visual/baixa visão. Acredita-se que os resultados obtidos neste trabalho contribuam para as discussões, ainda que esparsas, sobre as a representações de crianças com deficiência visual.

L’objectif de cette thèse est de mieux comprendre comment les enfants déficients visuels (DV) appréhendent les images tactiles qui illustrent les livres qui leur sont destinés. Notre travail est organisé autour de deux axes de réflexion. Le premier axe se concentre sur l’enfant qui explore des images tactiles, alors que le second axe se focalise sur l’impact des propriétés de ces images sur le traitement haptique des enfants. Nos travaux ont porté sur des enfants atteints de différents degrés de handicap visuel mais sans troubles associés (en particulier, sans retard cognitif), en distinguant les enfants aveugles précoces des enfants malvoyants. Nous avons également comparé leurs performances à celles d’enfants voyants de mêmes âges. Les résultats obtenus montrent que l’expérience perceptive des enfants en fonction de leur degré de handicap visuel impacte fortement la compréhension de l’image explorée tactilement. Les capacités de conceptualisation (accès aux dimensions perceptives et sémantiques de l’image) sont différentes, tout comme les mouvements d’exploration mis en œuvre pour accéder à une bonne compréhension. Nous montrons également que les dimensions spatio-temporelles des explorations (temps, quantité d’exploration, appréhension de l’espace) sont déterminantes pour reconnaitre ce qui est représenté par l’image, et que ces dimensions varient, à nouveau, en fonction du degré de handicap visuel. D’un point de vue fondamental, nous apportons des données concernant les spécificités du système perceptif haptique des enfants DV. D’un point de vue appliqué, nos travaux permettent de proposer des consignes pratiques relatives à la conception d’albums et des conseils pédagogiques concernant l’éducation au toucher à proposer à ces enfants. / The present PhD aims at understanding how Visual Impaired (VI) children process the tactile pictures that illustrate the tactile books specially designed for them. Our work is organized around two main axes of analysis. The first axis concentrates on the child who explores the tactile images, while the second axis focuses on the impact that the properties of these images can have on children’s haptic processing. Our researches included children presenting various degrees of visual impairment but without any associated disorders (in particular, without any cognitive delay), distinguishing early blind children from children with low vision. We also compared their performance with those of sighted children of similar ages. The results showed that children’s perceptive experience, varying according to their degree of visual handicap, strongly impacted their understanding of the tactually explored pictures. Their capacities of conceptualization (access to the perceptive and semantic dimensions of the pictures) were different, just like their movements of exploration carried out to attain a good understanding of the images. We also showed that some properties of the children’s explorations (duration, quantity of exploration, space apprehension) were directly related to the way the children interpreted what was represented in the pictures. Again, these spatiotemporal features varied as a function of the degree of visual handicap. From a fundamental point of view, we provided interesting information concerning the specificities of the haptic perceptive system of the VI children. From an applied point of view, our work enabled to elaborate practical instructions relative to the design of tactile albums and educational advices concerning the education of touch to be proposed to these children.