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[2602.21783] Therapist-Robot-Patient Physical Interaction is Worth a Thousand Words: Enabling Intuitive Therapist Guidance via Remote Haptic Control
Summary
This paper presents a haptic teleoperation system that enables therapists to remotely guide patients using an arm exoskeleton, enhancing motor training effectiveness.
Why It Matters
The integration of haptic feedback in remote therapy can significantly improve patient outcomes by allowing intuitive guidance from therapists. This research addresses the limitations of traditional methods, potentially transforming rehabilitation practices and enhancing the effectiveness of robotic assistance in therapy.
Key Takeaways
- Haptic teleoperation improves the efficiency of therapist-patient interactions.
- Participants showed reduced movement completion time and improved execution smoothness with haptic guidance.
- Trainers felt more competent using haptic feedback without increased mental or physical effort.
- Fewer verbal instructions were needed with haptic demonstrations compared to visual methods.
- Future research should explore usability in clinical settings to enhance robot-assisted therapy.
Computer Science > Robotics arXiv:2602.21783 (cs) [Submitted on 25 Feb 2026] Title:Therapist-Robot-Patient Physical Interaction is Worth a Thousand Words: Enabling Intuitive Therapist Guidance via Remote Haptic Control Authors:Beatrice Luciani, Alex van den Berg, Matti Lang, Alexandre L. Ratschat, Laura Marchal-Crespo View a PDF of the paper titled Therapist-Robot-Patient Physical Interaction is Worth a Thousand Words: Enabling Intuitive Therapist Guidance via Remote Haptic Control, by Beatrice Luciani and Alex van den Berg and Matti Lang and Alexandre L. Ratschat and Laura Marchal-Crespo View PDF HTML (experimental) Abstract:Robotic systems can enhance the amount and repeatability of physically guided motor training. Yet their real-world adoption is limited, partly due to non-intuitive trainer/therapist-trainee/patient interactions. To address this gap, we present a haptic teleoperation system for trainers to remotely guide and monitor the movements of a trainee wearing an arm exoskeleton. The trainer can physically interact with the exoskeleton through a commercial handheld haptic device via virtual contact points at the exoskeleton's elbow and wrist, allowing intuitive guidance. Thirty-two participants tested the system in a trainer-trainee paradigm, comparing our haptic demonstration system with conventional visual demonstration in guiding trainees in executing arm poses. Quantitative analyses showed that haptic demonstration significantly reduced movement completion t...