Transformations between visual and kinesthetic coordinate systems in reaches to remembered object locations and orientations

Abstract

The abilities of human subjects to perform reach and grasp movements to remembered locations/orientations of a cylindrical object were studied under four conditions: (1) visual presentation of the object-reach with vision allowed; (2) visual presentation-reach while blindfolded; (3) kinesthetic presentation of the object-reach while blindfolded and (4) kinesthetic presentation-reach with vision. The results showed that subjects were very accurate in locating the object in the purely kinesthetic condition and that directional errors were low in all four conditions; but, predictable errors in reach distance occurred in conditions 1,2, and 4. The pattern of these distance errors was similar to that identified in previous research using a pointing task to a small target (i.e., overshoots of close targets, undershoots of far targets). The observation that the pattern of distance errors in condition 4 was similar to that of conditions 1 and 2 suggests that subjects transform kinesthetically defined hand locations into a visual coordinate system when vision is available during upper limb motion to a remembered kinesthetic target. The differences in orientation of the upper limb between target and reach positions in condition 3 were similar in magnitude to the errors associated with kinesthetic perceptions of arm and hand orientations in three-dimensional space reported in previous studies. However, fingertip location was specified with greater accuracy than the orientation of upper limb segments. This was apparently accomplished by compensation of variations in shoulder (arm) angles with oppositely directed variations in elbow joint angles. Subjects were also able to transform visually perceived object orientation into an appropriate hand orientation for grasp, as indicated by the relation between hand roll angle and object orientation (elevation angle). The implications of these results for control of upper limb motion to external targets are discussed.

Body-centric interaction techniques for very large wall displays

“…Cocchini et al showed, using a "fluff test" of experiment participants removing stickers from their own body, that the brain has a separate mechanism for governing proprioceptively-guided self-touching [4]. It has also been shown that "eyes-free" proprioceptive reaching can outperform vision guided reaching [7]. We conclude that proprioceptively guided reaching in personal space can augment parallel observation in extrapersonal space, and formulate a second design guideline:…”

Evidence for a Proprioception-Based Rapid On-Line Error Correction Mechanism for Hand Orientation during Reaching Movements in Blind Subjects

“…A limited number of studies have analyzed reaching and grasping movements when visual information was not available (Wing et al, 1986;Jakobson and Goodale, 1991;Darling and Miller, 1993;Hocherman, 1993;Gaunet and Rossetti, 2006;Coluccia et al, 2007;Gaunet et al, 2007;Gosselin-Kessiby et al, 2008). Some studies suggested that visual feedback or visual experience was not essential for the successful execution of reaching or grasping movements (Jeannerod, 1984;Castiello et al, 1993;Sergio and Scott, 1998;Ittyerah et al, 2007).…”

Impaired capacity of cerebellar patients to perceive and learn two-dimensional shapes based on kinesthetic cues.

“…These cues are processed rapidly enough to provide highly relevant information required for the on-line control of volitional limb movements (Cordo 1988(Cordo , 1990Flanders and Cordo 1989). It is also clear that coding of target and limb position can employ coordinate systems that are based on kinesthetic information (Tillery et al 1991;Darling and Miller 1993). Many of these applications of kinesthetic information require transformations of sensory inputs from the periphery into reference frames that are suitable not only for generating movements but also for generating visual representations of body position or the characteristics of external objects or conditions being evaluated.…”