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Elementary reactive behavior can be improved in the case of cross-modal sensory interactions thanks to underlying multisensory integration mechanisms. Can this benefit be generalized to a challenging ongoing perceptive-motor performance? We choose a juggling task to examine this question. A central issue wellknown in juggling lies in establishing and maintaining a specific temporal coordination among balls, hands, eyes and posture. Here, we tested whether providing additional timing information about the balls and hands motions by using external sound and tactile periodic stimulations improved the performance of jugglers. Results indicated that specific combination of auditory and tactile metronome led to a decrease of the spatiotemporal variability of the juggler’s performance. A contrario, degraded performances were obtained in the case of unimodal tactile metronome. We discuss these results in view of the understanding of the neuronal integration process implied in the audio-tactile interaction, and considering the well-known gating effect of movement on vibrotactile perception. [authors summary]

This paper presents a novel approach to train how to juggle using a sensor system based on one of the most commercial, sophisticated and accessible input devices, the Wii Remote controller. This platform, particularly its infrared camera, is used to develop a real-time sensor system for hand motion tracking and fit it into a virtual reality interface. The quality of our algorithm was tested through this 3D virtual interface, which has the finality to give the user visual feedback of his/her hand positions, and created for the user the sensation of juggling. [authors summary]