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.
Barniv
Yair
Y
Human Information Processing Research Branch, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA. ybarniv@mail.arc.nasa.gov
Aguilar
Mario
M
Hasanbelliu
Erion
E
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