On the Utility of Affective Feedback in Prosthesis Embodiment

We experience many rich haptic interactions through our natural limbs that involve emotional affect and discriminative task-related information. When the limb is amputated and replaced with a prosthesis, amputees are deprived of these sensations. This lack of haptic sensation limits prosthesis embodiment and can result in device abandonment. Enabling embodiment, however, will require more than restoration of task-specific haptic feedback. Here, we propose a novel haptic feedback approach to provide the C-tactile sensations shown to foster embodiment. We hypothesize that this approach will align sensory expectations with actual sensory afferents and enhance the possibility of embodiment and better prosthesis utility.