A usability evaluation model for a bionic massage device: A bionic massage device based on the seated knee adjustment method as a validation

Bionic massage devices have been widely used in rehabilitation therapy settings, yet no systematic research exists for their usability evaluation. Therefore, this paper proposes a usability evaluation model for inic massage devices and uses a bionic massage device based on the seated knee adjustment manipulation as the evaluation object to demonstrate the feasibility of the model. The test results show that the bionic massage device meets the stiffness requirements and there are certain risk mitigation measures in terms of safety; in terms of effectiveness, the Pearson correlation coefficient between the bionic force output and the practitioners's massage force is 0.556 (p<0.01), which basically reproduces the practitioners's massage force, and the reachable range of the end massage head meets the human body size parameters; in terms of comfort, the comfort questionnaire found that the user is concerned about the comfort of the massage and the electromyography (EMG) data showed that users had perceived fatigue during the massage process. The test results show that the evaluation model can effectively evaluate the usability of the device and suggest human improvement solutions based on ergonomics.