Treffer: Going beyond the mean in examining the effects of exoskeleton use on motor and attentional task performance.

This study examined how exoskeleton use affected motor and attention task performance and variability. Participants completed simulated industrial tasks in overhead or squatting postures, with and without exoskeleton support. Participants' mean performance, intra-individual variability, and inter-individual variability in motor and attention task performance were compared between conditions. The use of an upper-body exoskeleton during the overhead task resulted in overall slower motor performance, while using a lower-body exoskeleton during the squatting task increased intra-individual variability in motor performance. Mixed results were observed for attention performance and mental workload measures, indicating both potentially beneficial and detrimental effects. Findings suggest that exoskeleton use can affect both motor and attention task performance, as well as intra-individual variability, which may be related to restricted movement, poor exoskeleton fit, and pain, though these effects may be task- and system-specific. Performance variability metrics may offer unique insights beyond mean performance measures in evaluating exoskeleton impacts.
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Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. The author is an Editorial Board Member/Editor-in-Chief/Associate Editor/Guest Editor for Applied Ergonomics and was not involved in the editorial review or the decision to publish this article.