Anticipation of Human Movements : Analyzing Human Action and Intention: An Experimental Serious Game Approach

Abstract: What is the difference between intention and action? To start answering this complex question, we have created a serious game that allows us to capture a large quantity of experimental data and study human behavior. In the game, users catch flies, presented to the left or to the right of the screen, by dragging the tongue of a frog across a touchscreen monitor. The movement of interest has a predefined starting point (the frog) and necessarily transits through a via-point (a narrow corridor) before it proceeds to the chosen left/right direction. Meanwhile, the game collects data about the movement performed by the player. This work is focused on the analysis of such movements. We try to find criteria that will allow us to predict (as early as possible) the direction (left/right) chosen by the player. This is done by analyzing kinematic information (e.g. trajectory, velocity profile, etc.). Also, processing such data according to the dynamical movement primitives approach, allows us to find further criteria that support a classification of human movement. Our preliminary results show that individually considered, participants tend to create and use stereotypical behaviors that can be used to formulate predictions about the subjects’ intention to reach in one direction or the other, early after the onset of the movement.