Sensory-motor representations and error learning – experimental analysis of manual intelligence in first order reality, virtual reality and augmented reality
CITEC Research project (jointly supervised with Thomas Schack, Robert Haschke, Matthias Weigelt, Helge Ritter)
One central issue for the cognitive control of movement is the compensation of errors and the learning processes that enhance error compensation mechanisms. This is especially true for movements that require a high degree of accuracy like manual actions (e.g. object grasping). In this project, innovative steps will be taken to learn about the cognitive basis of manual intelligence with a special emphasis on error. We will combine cognitive methods and conventional experimental settings (First Order Reality, FOR) with approaches from Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR). AR and VR based real-time manipulations of the actor’s perception in an experimental loop will permit the extraction of information with regard to error learning and manual intelligence, which are otherwise difficult to obtain in FOR. In addition, VR and AR allows for experimental variations that are impossible to accomplish in conventional setups.