BACKGROUND: Learning to perform new movements is usually achieved by
following visual demonstrations. Haptic guidance by a force feedback device is
a recent and original technology which provides additional proprioceptive cues
during visuo-motor learning tasks. The effects of two types of haptic
guidances-control in position (HGP) or in force (HGF)-on visuo-manual tracking
("following") of trajectories are still under debate. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPALS
FINDINGS: Three training techniques of haptic guidance (HGP, HGF or control
condition, NHG, without haptic guidance) were evaluated in two experiments.
Movements produced by adults were assessed in terms of shapes (dynamic time
warping) and kinematics criteria (number of velocity peaks and mean velocity)
before and after the training sessions. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: These results
show that the addition of haptic information, probably encoded in force
coordinates, play a crucial role on the visuo-manual tracking of new
trajectories