Ekaterina Ivanova

• Dr.-Ing
• Lecturer (equiv. Assistant Professor) in Human-Machine Interaction at Queen Mary University of London

Objectives. The last decades have seen a surge of robots for physical training/work assistance. How to best control these interfaces is unknown, although arguably the interaction should be similar to human movement assistance. Here we compare the behaviour and assessment of subjects tracking a moving target with assistance from (i) trajectory guida...

Haptic communication, the exchange of force and tactile information during dancing or moving a table together, has been shown to benefit the performance of the human partners. Similarly, it could also be used to improve the performance of robots working in contact with a human operator. While we move to more robot integrated work spaces, how common...

Many tasks such as physical rehabilitation, vehicle co-piloting or surgical training, rely on physical assistance from a partner. While this assistance may be provided by a robotic interface, how to implement the necessary haptic support to help improve performance without impeding learning is unclear. In this paper, we study the influence of hapti...

Supernumerary effectors have been proposed to enable users to perform tasks alone that normally require assistance from a partner. While various supernumerary robotic limbs have been developed in the last decade, the capability of users to operate them effectively has not yet been proven. Here we tested whether users (i) can complete a task that re...

Motivation is crucial in stroke rehabilitation, as it enhances patient engagement, adherence, and recovery. Robots can be employed to improve motivation through multiplayer rehabilitation games, which allow patients to collaborate and interact in a virtual environment through multimodal sensory cues. This social interaction can provide social suppo...

Humans activate muscles to shape the mechanical interaction with their environment, but can they harness this control mechanism to best sense the environment? We investigated how participants adapt their muscle activation to visual and haptic information when tracking a randomly moving target with a robotic interface. The results exhibit a differen...

Physically connected humans have been shown to exploit the exchange of haptic forces and tactile information to improve their performance in joint action tasks. As human interactions are increasingly mediated through robots and networks it is important to understand the impact that network features such as lag and noise may have on human behaviour....

Humans activate muscles to shape the mechanical interaction with their environment, but can they harness this control mechanism to best sense the environment? We investigated how participants adapt their muscle activation to visual and haptic information when tracking a randomly moving target with a robotic interface. The results exhibit a differen...

Connected humans have been previously shown to exploit the exchange of haptic forces and tactile information to improve their performance in joint action tasks. As human interactions are increasingly mediated through robots and networks it is important to understand the impact that network features such as lag and noise may have on human behaviour....

Bilateral training systems look to promote the paretic hand´s use in individuals with hemiplegia. While this is normally achieved using mechanical coupling (i.e., a physical connection between the hands), a virtual reality system relying on virtual coupling (i.e., through a shared virtual object) would be simpler to use and prevent slacking. Howeve...

Supernumerary robotic limbs can act as intelligent prostheses or augment the motion of healthy people to achieve actions which are not possible with only two natural hands. However, as trimanual control is not typical in everyday activities, it is still unknown how different training could influence its acquisition. We conducted an experimental stu...

Human movement augmentation with a third robotic hand can extend human capability allowing a single user to perform three-hand tasks that would typically require cooperation with other people. However, as trimanual control is not typical in everyday activities, it is still unknown how to train people to acquire this capability efficiently. We condu...

Trimanual operation using a robotic supernumerary limb is a new and challenging mechanism for human operators that could enable a single user to perform tasks requiring more than two hands. Foot-controlled interfaces have previously proven able to be intuitively controlled, enabling simple tasks to be performed. However, the effect of going from un...

Robotic bimanual training can benefit from understanding how to modify human motor effort in bimanual tasks. We addressed this issue by carrying out a study to investigate whether and how penalizing the use of one hand could alter the hands’ effort distribution. Actuated haptic perturbations and alterations of the visual feedback of the right hand...

Many surgical tasks require three or more tools operating together. A supernumerary robotic arm under the surgeon’s control could enable one surgeon to control three surgical tools simultaneously without assistance, thereby avoiding the common communication errors of the operation room. However, how do humans consider the complexity of controlling...

Many tasks such as physical rehabilitation, vehicle co-piloting or surgical training, rely on the physical assistance from a partner. While this assistance may be provided by a robotic interface, how to implement the necessary haptic support to help improve performance without impeding learning is unclear. In this paper, we study the influence of h...

This paper presents a novel teleoperation system, which has been designed to address challenges in the remote control of spaceborne bimanual robotic tasks. The primary interest for designing this system is to assess and increase the efficacy of users performing bimanual tasks, while ensuring the safety of the system and minimising the user's mental...

Proprioception, yielding awareness of the body's position and motion in space, is typically lacking in prostheses and supernumerary limbs. Electrical stimulation is one technique that may provide these devices with proprioception. This paper first investigates how the modalities of electrotactile cues, such as frequency and intensity, are perceived...

Many teleoperation tasks require three or more tools working together, which need the cooperation of multiple operators. The effectiveness of such schemes may be limited by communication. Trimanipulation by a single operator using an artificial third arm controlled together with their natural arms is a promising solution to this issue. Foot-control...

Objectives This pilot field study aimed to detect long-term changes in technology acceptance (TAM), user experience (UX) during use of an experimental demonstrator Bi-Manu-Interact (BMI) in stroke rehabilitation. Methods In 10 therapy sessions, patients performed a 20 min workout per session with the BMI. Patients with stroke were interviewed afte...

Die Rehabilitation motorischer Fähigkeiten nach Schlaganfall erfordert häufig eine sehr intensive und lang andauernde Behandlung. Bei meist stark begrenzten klinischen Rehabilitationszeiten ist eine Fortsetzung der Bewegungstherapie nach Entlassung aus der Rehaklinik daher von großer Bedeutung, um einen dauerhaften und nachhaltigen Therapieerfolg z...

Motor relearning after stroke is a lengthy process which should be continued after patients get discharged from the clinic. This project aims at developing a system for telerehabilitation which enables stroke patients to exercise at home autonomously or under supervision of a therapist. The system includes haptic therapy devices which are more prom...

Our area of interest is robotic-based rehabilitation after stroke, and our goal is to help patients achieve optimal motor learning during high-intensity repetitive movement training through the assistance of robots. It is important, that the robotic assistance is adapted to the patients' abilities, thereby ensuring that the device is only supportin...

New technologies can be implemented in clinical rehabilitation processes or to close the gap in health care provision by transferring them to the patients’ home. Successful use can only be achieved under the assumption that the technology is accepted by its users. The involvement of users in iterative development processes is to be shown to increas...

Robotic therapy devices have been an important part of clinical neurological rehabilitation for several years. Until now such devices are only available for patients receiving therapy inside rehabilitation hospitals. Since patients should continue rehabilitation training after hospital discharge at home, intelligent robotic rehab devices could help...

Robot based therapy is one of the prevalent therapeutic approaches in motor stroke rehabilitation. It is often used in hospitals in combination with conventional therapy. In order to optimize human-robot interaction, we aim to investigate how a therapist physically supports patients during motor training of the upper extremities. This paper present...

Die motorische Rehabilitationsbehandlung nach Schlaganfall ist sehr langwierig, eine Fortsetzung der Übungstherapiebehandlung nach Entlassung aus der Rehaklinik ist daher für jeden Patienten von großer Bedeutung für einen dauerhaften und nachhaltigen Therapieerfolg. Mangels geeigneter Möglichkeiten der häuslichen Therapiedurchführung und -unterstüt...

Robotic therapy devices have been an important part of clinical neurological rehabilitation for several years. Until now such devices are only available for patients receiving therapy inside rehabilitation hospitals. Since patients should continue rehabilitation training after hospital discharge at home, intelligent robotic rehab devices could help...