Age-related effects of vibration feedback on hand dexterity performance in virtual reality

In recent years, virtual reality (VR) technology has become essential for middle-aged adults in terms of health, medical care, social interaction, and entertainment. Training fine motor skills using VR and haptic technologies promises enormous benefits. In this study, we used a virtualized Nine-Hole Peg Test (NHPT) and vibrotactile feedback to examine age-related differences in hand dexterity performance. A total of 60 volunteers participated in the study, divided into a young age group, 20–30 (30 participants) and a middle-aged group, 40–60 years old (30 participants). Participants completed the physical NHPT, the virtualized NHPT, and the virtualized NHPT with vibrotactile feedback. The execution time, hand dominance, and performance error were considered to study age-related differences. Results revealed that the execution time was significantly reduced for the middle-aged age group when vibrotactile feedback was provided, as compared to the young age group. Furthermore, hand dominance had a significant effect on performance for the middle-aged age group for both the physical and the virtualized NHPT. Finally, analyzing the task errors indicated that picking up the pegs from the plate and the holes is the most difficult. This difficulty increased execution time. These findings will be helpful for the development of VR applications to train fine motor skills for middle-aged adults.