Using EMG to anticipate head motion for virtual-environment applications.
In virtual environment (VE) applications, where virtual objects are presented in a see-through head-mounted display, virtual images must be continuously stabilized in space in response to user's head motion. Time delays in head-motion compensation cause virtual objects to "swim" around instead of being stable in space which results in misalignment errors when overlaying virtual and real objects. Visual update delays are a critical technical obstacle for implementing head-mounted displays in applications such as battlefield simulation/training, telerobotics, and telemedicine. Head motion is currently measurable by a head-mounted 6-degrees-of-freedom inertial measurement unit. However, even given this information, overall VE-system latencies cannot be reduced under about 25 ms. We present a novel approach to eliminating latencies, which is premised on the fact that myoelectric signals from a muscle precede its exertion of force, thereby limb or head acceleration. We thus suggest utilizing neck-muscles' myoelectric signals to anticipate head motion. We trained a neural network to map such signals onto equivalent time-advanced inertial outputs. The resulting network can achieve time advances of up to 70 ms.
Human Information Processing Research Branch, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA. ybarniv@mail.arc.nasa.gov
Yair
Y
Barniv
Mario
M
Aguilar
Erion
E
Hasanbelliu
D000328:Adult; D000465:Algorithms; D001185:Artificial Intelligence; D003198:Computer Simulation; D003936:Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D004576:Electromyography / Q000379:methods*; D004777:Environment; D005260:Female; D019416:Head Movements / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009334:Neck Muscles / Q000502:physiology*; D014584:User-Computer Interface