Enhancing Teleoperation: Personalized Design Through Psychological Profiling

This study aims to investigate the relationships between Sensory Substitution (SS), Embodiment, Personality traits, and Performance to optimize teleoperation devices. A novel telemanipulation task, BAST (slaBs deformAtion riSk Task), was devised for this purpose. Twenty healthy subjects were asked to perform the BAST task, which involved deforming slabs and earning as much virtual money as possible. This was done either with force feedback (artificial SS) or without (natural SS). The results demonstrated that the utilization of artificial SS resulted in a reduction in Applied Force and an increase in Elapsed Time. Regarding the subjective experience during the BAST, Embodiment was found to decrease both the Applied Force and the Elapsed Time, whereas Explicit SS (perceived SS during the task) only reduced the Elapsed Time. Furthermore, Personality traits such as Management and Control, as well as Empathy and Compassion, were found to result in reduced Applied Force and increased Elapsed Time, while also influencing the outcome of Wins and Losses. These findings may inform the design of teleoperation devices that consider individuals' psychological profiles.