7,628 research outputs found
A review of contemporary techniques for measuring ergonomic wear comfort of protective and sport clothing
Protective and sport clothing is governed by protection requirements, performance, and comfort of the user. The comfort and impact performance of protective and sport clothing are typically subjectively measured, and this is a multifactorial and dynamic process. The aim of this review paper is to review the contemporary methodologies and approaches for measuring ergonomic wear comfort, including objective and subjective techniques. Special emphasis is given to the discussion of different methods, such as objective techniques, subjective techniques, and a combination of techniques, as well as a new biomechanical approach called modeling of skin. Literature indicates that there are four main techniques to measure wear comfort: subjective evaluation, objective measurements, a combination of subjective and objective techniques, and computer modeling of humanâtextile interaction. In objective measurement methods, the repeatability of results is excellent, and quantified results are obtained, but in some cases, such quantified results are quite different from the real perception of human comfort. Studies indicate that subjective analysis of comfort is less reliable than objective analysis because human subjects vary among themselves. Therefore, it can be concluded that a combination of objective and subjective measuring techniques could be the valid approach to model the comfort of textile materials
Include 2011 : The role of inclusive design in making social innovation happen.
Include is the biennial conference held at the RCA and hosted by the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design. The event is directed by Jo-Anne Bichard and attracts an international delegation
Usability and Design of Personal Wearable and Portable Devices for Thermal Comfort
Conference paperPersonal comfort is important in the design of objects and environments. However, as comfort is a subjective experience, it is a very difficult aspect to design for. This paper presents an interrogation into the design for human thermal comfort, in particular the design of personal devices for use in shared work environments. The findings of two user studies are presented, in which wearable and portable, off-the-shelf personal heating and cooling devices were deployed in the field to explore the interaction with and use of these devices in everyday settings with the aim to uncover key aspects and requirements for the design of such devices. We found that functionality and affordances, i.e. the design for versatility, appropriation and mobility, as well as control, availability, effectiveness and efficiency of use were most important. Furthermore, individual preferences, foremost the preference for on-body versus off-body heating and cooling, and aspects related to wearable design of the devices, such as aesthetics, materiality, comfort of wear, mobility and unobtrusiveness, also need to be taken into account.This research was supported by the Media & Arts
Technology Programme at the School of Electronic
Engineering and Computer Science, Queen Mary
University of London, an EPSRC Centre for
Doctoral Training (EP/G03723X/1)
Painting the ideal home: using art to express visions of technologically supported independent living for older people in North East England
This paper describes the investigation of the development of future technological products to support older people in everyday living through the agency of a community art group. Recent research has identified a number of challenges facing designers seeking to use traditional participatory design approaches to gather technology requirements data from older people. Here, a project is described that sought to get a group of older people to think creatively about their needs and desires for technological support through the medium of paint. The artistic expression technique described in this article allowed the identification of issues that had also been found by previous research that used a range of different techniques. This indicates that the approach shows promise, as it allows information to be gathered in an environment that is comfortable and familiar using methods already known by the participants and which they find enjoyable. It provides a complement (or possible alternative) to standard protocols and has the potential benefit of extracting even richer information as the primary task for participants is enjoyable in its own right and is not associated with an interrogative process. Furthermore, it is argued that some of the key risks of traditional approaches are lessened or removed by the naturalistic setting of this approach
Design of innovative clothing for pressure injury prevention: end-user evaluation in a mixed-methods study
The global relevance of pressure injury (PI) prevention technologies arise from their impact on the quality of life of people with limited mobility and the costs associated with treating these preventable injuries. The purpose of this mixed methods study is to evaluate the design of a prototype integrating Smart Health Textiles for PI prevention based on feedback from specialist nurses who care for individuals who are prone to or have PIs. This is a mixed methods study. A structured questionnaire was conducted as part of an evaluation of a prototype garment for the prevention of PIs. This questionnaire was applied during the evaluation of the prototype and afterwards focus group discussions were held with experts. Descriptive statistics techniques were used to analyze the data and thematic and integrated content analysis was conducted through concomitant triangulation. Nineteen nurses took part, aged 30 to 39 years (52.6%) and with 12.31 ± 8.96 years of experience. Participants showed that the prototype required more manipulation and physical effort, which interfered its usefulness, in addition to presenting difficulties with the openings and the material of the closure system, which interfered with the ease of use and learning. Overall satisfaction with the product was moderate, with some areas for improvement found, such as satisfaction, recommendations to colleagues, and pleasantness of use. It is concluded that areas for improvement have been found in all dimensions, including in the design of openings and the choice of materials. These findings supply significant insights for improving clothing to meet the needs of healthcare professionals and patients.The 4NoPressure project was co-financed by the Operational Program for Competitiveness
and Internationalization (COMPETE 2020) under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, with
support from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), reference number POCI-01-0247-
FEDER-039869
Micro-Atmospheres: Investigating Portable and Wearable Solutions to Support Individual Thermal Comfort in Open-Plan Offices
PhD ThesisThis thesis aims to challenge existing approaches to the study of thermal comfort by addressing it through the design of wearable and portable personal thermal devices. Engineering-led approaches to thermal comfort have developed norms and standards to provide comfortable environments. Nevertheless, thermal comfort is very often difficult to achieve, especially in shared environments, as the perception of what is comfortable is highly subjective and varies among occupants. Accordingly, the focus of enquiry is shifting towards personal solutions, however, this has not included yet a critical investigation of their use in context, of design aspects and affordances. To address these open questions, a Research through Design approach was implemented to reframe the problem space using design artefacts as vehicles for the enquiry. Mixed methods from two domains, namely, thermal comfort research and HCI, were employed to study in the field how thermal comfort is achieved and perceived, and to derive implications for the design of future personal wearable and portable thermal solutions. The investigation was based on a human-centred design process, which included an initial analysis phase and a design phase with three iterations of low-fidelity and mid-fidelity prototype development and testing. Due to its transdisciplinary nature, this work contributes to the fields of thermal comfort research, HCI and wearable design. Contributions to thermal comfort research are made through findings in respect to the complexity of the achievement of thermal comfort, which include exploration, adaptation and the transcendence of different comfort layers. Implications on the design of personal thermal devices derived from the investigation contribute to the body of knowledge in wearable design and HCI and include utility-related aspects but also a need for openness in design and for emotional design to support exploration, adaptation, and the social role of the artefact at the crossroads between functional element and fashion item
Womenâs experiences of wearing therapeutic footwear in three European countries
Background: Therapeutic footwear is recommended for those people with severe foot problems associated with
rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, it is known that many do not wear them. Although previous European studies
have recommended service and footwear design improvements, it is not known if services have improved or if this
footwear meets the personal needs of people with RA. As an earlier study found that this footwear has more
impact on women than males, this study explores womenâs experiences of the process of being provided with it
and wearing it. No previous work has compared womenâs experiences of this footwear in different countries,
therefore this study aimed to explore the potential differences between the UK, the Netherlands and Spain.
Method: Women with RA and experience of wearing therapeutic footwear were purposively recruited. Ten women
with RA were interviewed in each of the three countries. An interpretive phenomenological approach (IPA) was
adopted during data collection and analysis. Conversational style interviews were used to collect the data.
Results: Six themes were identified: feet being visibly different because of RA; the referring practitionersâ approach
to the patient; the dispensing practitionersâ approach to the patient; the footwear being visible as different to
others; footwear influencing social participation; and the womenâs wishes for improved footwear services. Despite
their nationality, these women revealed that therapeutic footwear invokes emotions of sadness, shame and anger
and that it is often the final and symbolic marker of the effects of RA on self perception and their changed lives.
This results in severe restriction of important activities, particularly those involving social participation. However,
where a patient focussed approach was used, particularly by the practitioners in Spain and the Netherlands, the
acceptance of this footwear was much more evident and there was less wastage as a result of the footwear being
prescribed and then not worn. In the UK, the women were more likely to passively accept the footwear with the
only choice being to reject it once it had been provided. All the women were vocal about what would improve
their experiences and this centred on the consultation with both the referring practitioner and the practitioner that
provides the footwear.
Conclusion: This unique study, carried out in three countries has revealed emotive and personal accounts of what
it is like to have an item of clothing replaced with an âinterventionâ. The participantâs experience of their
consultations with practitioners has revealed the tension between the practitionersâ requirements and the womenâs
âsocialâ needs. Practitioners need greater understanding of the social and emotional consequences of using
therapeutic footwear as an intervention
Wearable design requirements identification and evaluation
: Wearable electronics make it possible to monitor human activity and behavior. Most of these
devices have not taken into account human factors and they have instead focused on technological
issues. This fact could not only affect humanâcomputer interaction and user experience but also the
devicesâ use cycle. Firstly, this paper presents a classification of wearable design requirements that
have been carried out by combining a quantitative and a qualitative methodology. Secondly, we
present some evaluation procedures based on design methodologies and humanâcomputer interaction
measurement tools. Thus, this contribution aims to provide a roadmap for wearable designers and
researchers in order to help them to find more efficient processes by providing a classification of
the design requirements and evaluation tools. These resources represent time and resource-saving
contributions. Therefore designers and researchers do not have to review the literature. It will no be
necessary to carry out exploratory studies for the purposes of identifying requirements or evaluation
tools either
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