Apparatus for generating sensations of movement and for physical rehabilitation

摘要

The appliance designed to allow a living being to perceive sensations of virtual movements of part of his body comprises a control unit in which is stored a table containing a first plurality of basic excitation signals, a second plurality of macro-motifs each formed by a third plurality proper of the basic signals, a sequencer reading the macro-motifs in order to emit a second plurality of corresponding commands for excitation, each time, of a third plurality proper of vibrators selected from among a first plurality of vibrators carried by a coupling support in predetermined respective zones of the part of the body, the excitation of the third plurality proper of vibrators by the second plurality of commands being intended to mechanically stimulate elements of the body, to provoke the creation of bioelectrical signals in the living being, allowing him to perceive sensations of a given virtual movement.

主权项

1. A method for generating a macro-pattern having a plurality of elementary excitation signals that induces bioelectric signals in a human body causing a human being to perceive sensations of a virtual movement of a body part when the plurality of elementary excitation signals are supplied to a plurality of vibrators disposed at predetermined positions arranged along subparts of the body part, the method comprising the steps of:
a) determining in advance the macro-pattern corresponding to the virtual movement of the body part of the human being; b) applying vibrations corresponding to the plurality of elementary excitation signals of the macro-pattern to the predetermined positions arranged along the subparts of the body part of the human being; c) collecting sensation indications from the human being that are indicative of the virtual movement perceived by the human being in response to step b); d) iterating steps b) and c) while varying parameters of the macro-pattern in response to the sensation indications collected in accordance with step c) until the collected sensation indications correspond to a satisfactory sensation perception of the virtual movement.