Movement Times in Inter- and Intrapersonal Human Coordination

The present study examines how humans adapt their movements when interacting with another person. Different parameters of pick-and-place movements of the same person are compared in situations where the person works alone (intrapersonal coordination) and when the person is working with a partner (interpersonal coordination). Results show an overall increase in movement speed during the interpersonal condition and a reduced relative movement onset compared to the intrapersonal condition. The findings are discussed with respect to implications for the design of adaptive robots with the aim to improve human-robot interaction.