Human Hand Movements in Skilled Motor Performance of a Virtual Curling Task

The present paper develops a virtual curling system using robotic devices based on the sensory motor integration theory for the rehabilitation of disabled human sensorimotor system. In the training, a trainee manipulates the handle of an impedance-controlled robot and slides the stone toward the center of the house, as similar as an actual curing game. The developed system can estimate trainee´s hand impedance during the curing task to quantitatively evaluate an adaptation ability of musculoskeletal characteristics of the upper extremity. To design a training program and an evaluation index of training effects, standard hand motion and its dynamic properties for the virtual curing task are clarified through a set of training experiments with 18 health volunteers.