Affective Analysis of Visual and Vibro-Tactile Feedback During Floor Cleaning Task Using Heart Rate Variability

In this study, we analyzed the electrocardiogram (ECG) against visual and vibro-tactile feedback during floor cleaning task using sheet-type mop for proposing physiological indexes to estimate the emotional changes during the task. For this purpose, we developed a real-time measurement and feedback system of the floor cleaning. In this system, the swept area by the mop and trunk posture of the cleaner were estimated from the motion sensor data attached to the body and the mop. Based on these estimation, the vibro-tactile and visual feedbacks were provided to the cleaners for improving the efficiency of the cleaning and for letting them know their current posture. During the task, we measured ECG to perform heart rate variability (HRV) analysis. After the task, the participants were asked to answer the questionnaires for collecting their subjective emotions. The results of the analysis demonstrated that male subjects tended to feel achievement from the visual feedback of the swept area which can be detected by RMSSD, one of the HRV index, of the ECG signal. It was also shown that LF/HF, the other HRV index, is suitable to detect concentration in the task. Our results demonstrated the potential of the HRV indexes for measuring daily emotions which can be used to optimize the contents of the feedback based on their emotional state for reducing the daily mental workload.