Haptic tracking permits bimanual independence

This study shows that in a novel task-bimanual haptic tracking-neurologically normal human adults can move their 2 hands independently for extended periods of time with little or no training. Participants lightly touched buttons whose positions were moved either quasi-randomly in the horizontal plane by 1 or 2 human drivers (Experiment 1), in circle and square patterns in the vertical plane by 2 human drivers (Experiment 2), or at different frequencies in the horizontal plane by 2 human drivers (Experiment 3). Bimanual contact was maintained equally well in all conditions even though in Experiment 1 the left- and right-hand motions were uncorrelated (in the 2-driver condition), in Experiment 2 the left- and right-hand motions were spatially incongruous when circles and squares were tracked at the same time, and in Experiment 3 the left- and right-hand motions maintained different frequency ratios. Because haptic tracking has revealed that humans can in fact move their 2 hands independently, it may have potential as a new behavioral tool for revealing other perceptual-motor capabilities.