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Joystick use for virtual power wheelchair driving in individuals with tremor: Pilot study

Brad E. Dicianno, MD, et al.

Figure 1. Human Engineering Research Laboratories joystick in (a) isometric mode and (b) movement-sensing mode.

People with disabilities such as multiple sclerosis and Parkinson disease have difficulty operating control interfaces such as joysticks because of tremor. In this study, we compare a movement-sensing joystick, isometric joystick (IJ), and IJ with Weighted-Frequency Fourier Linear Combiner filter in individuals with tremor performing a virtual wheelchair driving task. Although the filtering system did not improve driving performance in this study, the IJ without filter yielded better results than the conventional joystick, suggesting force-sensing controls may be useful for those with tremor.


Volume 46 Number 2, 2009
   Pages 269 — 276

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