bioSync ー
We present a novel, paired, wearable system for combining the kinesthetic experiences of two persons. These devices allow users to sense and combine muscle contraction and joint rigidity bi-directionally. This is achieved through kinesthetic channels based on electromyogram (EMG) measurement and electrical muscle stimulation (EMS). We developed a pair of wearable kinesthetic input-output (I/O) devices called bioSync that uses specially designed electrodes to perform biosignal measurement and stimulation simultaneously on the same electrodes.
In a user study, participants successfully evaluated the strength of their partners' muscle contractions while exerting their own muscles. We confirmed that the pair of devices could help participants synchronize their hand movements through tapping, without visual and auditory feedback. The proposed interpersonal kinesthetic communication system can be used to enhance interactions such as clinical gait rehabilitation and sports training, and facilitate sharing of physical experiences with Parkinson's patients, thereby enhancing understanding of the physical challenges they face in daily life.
Jun Nishida and Kenji Suzuki. 2017. BioSync: A Paired Wearable Device for Blending Kinesthetic Experience. In Proceedings of the 2017 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '17). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 3316–3327. https://doi.org/10.1145/3025453.3025829