Exploratory fNIRS Measures During Redirected Hand Interaction

Abstract

Redirected hand techniques alter the displayed position of a user’s hand to support haptic interaction in virtual reality. We report an exploratory feasibility study combining detection thresholds (DTs) and wearable frontal functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Fifteen right-handed participants performed reaching and tracking tasks in VR. A pseudo-two-alternative forced-choice phase estimated DTs for horizontal warp gains. A second phase recorded fNIRS signals during reaching and tracking blocks under − 10°, 0°, and + 10° gains. Reaching and tracking DTs did not differ significantly. For the tracking task, HbO changes at channel 25 showed an uncorrected positive association with the inward DT: participants with larger HbO increases at this frontal channel tended to show wider DTs. Although this result is exploratory and should not be interpreted as a corrected neural marker, it suggests that continuous tracking may provide a useful task context for studying brain activity under redirected hand interaction.