AESTHETIC APPEAL OF ROBOTIC LIMB INTERACTIONS AND EFFECTS ON DESIGN AND FUNCTION

Abstract

Prosthetic devices play an important role in rehabilitation of people with limb reduction. Although their functionality is getting closer to their human counterpart, there are some aspects regarding visual appeal that need more development. Our objective was to study human – robot interaction and conclude a set of measures to aid in the design of prosthetics. Consequently, the design decisions must include a visual appeal aspect. We employed the method of conducting several surveys to find if there is a dependence between prosthetic device materials and visual appeal. The uncanny valley effect was also studied. We developed a methodology that can be used and further developed for design improvement towards considering the human factors in the process of design of prosthetic limbs.

Keywords

• uncanny valley
• prosthetic hand
• robotic aesthetics