Digitally augmenting the physical ground space with timed visual cues for crutch-assisted walking

This late-breaking work presents initial results regarding a novel mobile-projection system, aimed at helping people to learn how to walk with crutches. The existing projection-based solutions for gait training disorders are based on walking over a fixed surface (usually a treadmill). In contrast, our solution projects visual cues (footprints and crutch icons) directly into the floor, augmenting the physical space surrounding the crutches, in a portable way. Walking with crutches is a learning skill that requires continuous repetition and constant attention to detail to make sure they are being used correctly, avoiding negative consequences, such as falls or injuries. We conducted expert consultation sessions, and we identified the main issues that patients face when walking with crutches. This informed the design of Augmented Crutches. We performed a qualitative evaluation and conclude with design implications: the importance of timing, self-assurance and awareness.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A digitally-augmented ground space with timed visual cues for facilitating forearm crutches’ mobility

Persuasive technologies for physical rehabilitation have been pro posed in a number of different health interventions such as post-stroke gait rehabilitation. We propose a new persuasive system, called Augmented Crut ches, aimed at helping people to walk with crutches. People with injuries, or with any sort of mobility problem typically use assistive devices such as crut ches, walkers or canes in order to be able to walk more independently. However, walking with crutches is a learning skill that needs continuous repetition and constant attention to detail in order to walk correctly with them and without suffering negative consequences, such as falls or injuries. In close collaboration with therapists, we identify the main issues that patients face when walking with crutches. These vary from person to person, but the most common and hardest challenges are the position and coordination of the crutches. Augmented Crut ches studies human behavior aspects in these situations and augments the ground space around the user with digital visual cues where timing is the most important factor, without the need for a constant therapist providing manual help. This is performed through a mini-projector connected to a smartphone, worn by the user in a portable, lightweight manner. Our system helps people to learn how to walk using crutches with increased self-confidence and motivation. Additionally, our work identifies timing, controllability and awareness as the key design dimensions for the successful creation of persuasive, interactive experiences for learning how to walk with crutches.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Robot-assisted gait self-training: assessing the level achieved

This paper presents the technological status of robot-assisted gait self-training under real clinical environment conditions. A successful rehabilitation after surgery in hip endoprosthetics comprises self-training of the lessons taught by physiotherapists. While doing this, immediate feedback to the patient about deviations from the expected physiological gait pattern during training is important. Hence, the Socially Assistive Robot (SAR) developed for this type of training employs task-specific, user-centered navigation and autonomous, real-time gait feature classification techniques to enrich the self-training through companionship and timely corrective feedback. The evaluation of the system took place during user tests in a hospital from the point of view of technical benchmarking, considering the therapists’ and patients’ point of view with regard to training motivation and from the point of view of initial findings on medical efficacy as a prerequisite from an economic perspective. In this paper, the following research questions were primarily considered: Does the level of technology achieved enable autonomous use in everyday clinical practice? Has the gait pattern of patients who used additional robot-assisted gait self-training for several days been changed or improved compared to patients without this training? How does the use of a SAR-based self-training robot affect the motivation of the patients

Haptic Interaction with a Guide Robot in Zero Visibility

Search and rescue operations are often undertaken in dark and noisy environment in which rescue team must rely on haptic feedback for exploration and safe exit. However, little attention has been paid specifically to haptic sensitivity in such contexts or the possibility of enhancing communicational proficiency in the haptic mode as a life-preserving measure. The potential of root swarms for search and rescue has been shown by the Guardians project (EU, 2006-2010); however the project also showed the problem of human robot interaction in smoky (non-visibility) and noisy conditions. The REINS project (UK, 2011-2015) focused on human robot interaction in such conditions. This research is a body of work (done as a part of he REINS project) which investigates the haptic interaction of a person wit a guide robot in zero visibility. The thesis firstly reflects upon real world scenarios where people make use of the haptic sense to interact in zero visibility (such as interaction among firefighters and symbiotic relationship between visually impaired people and guide dogs). In addition, it reflects on the sensitivity and trainability of the haptic sense, to be used for the interaction. The thesis presents an analysis and evaluation of the design of a physical interface (Designed by the consortium of the REINS project) connecting the human and the robotic guide in poor visibility conditions. Finally, it lays a foundation for the design of test cases to evaluate human robot haptic interaction, taking into consideration the two aspects of the interaction, namely locomotion guidance and environmental exploration

The New Hampshire, Vol. 108, No. 06 (Oct. 4, 2018)

An independent student produced newspaper from the University of New Hampshire

Positioning and Face Work on 4chan’s /r9k/

This thesis uses theories of positioning and politeness to analyze a collection of anonymous discussion board posts gathered from 4chan\u27s ROBOT-9001 message board. I provide an overview of 4chan\u27s history and review recent literature focused on the website. I then examine how users direct gender-based insults at other users within a set of excerpts taken from the larger collection of posts, finding that users who express opposition to misogyny or sexism are identified by others as feminine through the usage of derogatory and misogynistic insults. Next, I examine a second set of excerpts, demonstrating how a user establishes and maintains her identity across multiple anonymous posts in order to respond to insults directed at her by other users. Finally, I conclude with considerations for further research for research interested in 4chan and anonymous text-based computer mediated communication

Design and development of a weight support device for upper limb stroke rehabilitation

Upper limb recovery following a stroke is generally quite poor. Upper limb therapy at clinic is usually limited due to lack of time and resources to accommodate the growing stroke population. Consequently, a small percentage of therapy is spent on improving upper limb movement and is generally limited to range of motion and stretching exercises. As a result, upper limb exercises are prescribed to stroke survivors to perform at home. Subsequently, the potential to facilitate self-practice at home has been realized leading to the development of numerous rehabilitative and assistive devices for the upper limb. However, commercially available devices do not tend to be adopted for home use due to practical and economic factors. This thesis details the design, development, and evaluation of a weight support device for home-based upper limb rehabilitation, driven through a user-designed approach. This was achieved through engaging with stakeholders (i.e. stroke survivors, therapists) throughout the design process via informal interviews, focus groups, and prototype testing, ensuring that their desired requirements were incorporated into the final device. From this process, a low-cost, portable, weight support device was manufactured with supports for both the upper arm and forearm. Furthermore, an external feedback system was created to provide real-time feedback to the user to help motivate and encourage them to engage in independent practice at home with the weight support device. Testing the device and feedback system with participants in their home environment showed that it was acceptable for home use, suggesting that it could be feasible for aiding with the facilitation of self-practice. Further refinements towards range of motion and portability of the device will be required as desired by participants in addition to providing a diverse range of feedback applications to engage with.Upper limb recovery following a stroke is generally quite poor. Upper limb therapy at clinic is usually limited due to lack of time and resources to accommodate the growing stroke population. Consequently, a small percentage of therapy is spent on improving upper limb movement and is generally limited to range of motion and stretching exercises. As a result, upper limb exercises are prescribed to stroke survivors to perform at home. Subsequently, the potential to facilitate self-practice at home has been realized leading to the development of numerous rehabilitative and assistive devices for the upper limb. However, commercially available devices do not tend to be adopted for home use due to practical and economic factors. This thesis details the design, development, and evaluation of a weight support device for home-based upper limb rehabilitation, driven through a user-designed approach. This was achieved through engaging with stakeholders (i.e. stroke survivors, therapists) throughout the design process via informal interviews, focus groups, and prototype testing, ensuring that their desired requirements were incorporated into the final device. From this process, a low-cost, portable, weight support device was manufactured with supports for both the upper arm and forearm. Furthermore, an external feedback system was created to provide real-time feedback to the user to help motivate and encourage them to engage in independent practice at home with the weight support device. Testing the device and feedback system with participants in their home environment showed that it was acceptable for home use, suggesting that it could be feasible for aiding with the facilitation of self-practice. Further refinements towards range of motion and portability of the device will be required as desired by participants in addition to providing a diverse range of feedback applications to engage with

Designing companions, designing tools : social robots, developers, and the elderly in Japan

Ce mémoire de maîtrise trace la généalogie d’un robot social, de sa conception à ses différentes utilisations et la manière dont les utilisateurs interagissent avec. A partir d’un terrain de six mois dans une start-up et deux maisons de retraite au Japon, j’interroge la création de Pepper, un robot social crée par la compagnie japonais SoftBank. Pepper a été créé de façon à être humanoïde mais pas trop, ainsi que perçu comme adorable et charmant. Par la suite, je décris comment Pepper et d’autres robots sociaux sont utilisés, à la fois par des développeurs, mais aussi par des personnes âgées, et je souligne une tension existante entre leur utilisation comme des compagnons et des outils. En me basant sur l’anthropologie ontologique et la phénoménologie, j’examine la construction du robot comme une entité avec laquelle il est possible d’interagir, notamment à cause de sa conception en tant qu’acteur social, ontologiquement ambigu, et qui peut exprimer de l’affect. En m’intéressant aux interactions multimodales, et en particulier le toucher, je classifie trois fonctions remplies par l’interaction : découverte, contrôle, et l’expression de l’affect. Par la suite, je questionne ces actes d’agir vers et s’ils peuvent être compris comme une interaction, puisqu’ils n’impliquent pas que le robot soit engagé. J’argumente qu’une interaction est un échange de sens entre des agents engagés et incarnés. Il y a effectivement parfois un échange de sens entre le robot et son utilisateur, et le robot est un artefact incarné. Cependant, seule l’impression d’intersubjectivité est nécessaire à l’interaction, plutôt que sa réelle présence.This master’s thesis traces a genealogy of a social robot through its conception to its various uses and the ways users interact with it. Drawing on six months of fieldwork in a start-up and two nursing homes in Japan, I first investigate the genesis of a social robot created by SoftBank, a Japanese multinational telecommunications company. This social robot is quite humanlike, made to be cute and have an adorable personality. While developers constitute one of the user populations, this robot, along with several others, is also used by elderly residents in nursing homes. By analyzing the uses of these populations, I underline the tension between the social robot as a companion and a tool. Drawing on ontological anthropology and phenomenology I look at how the robot is constructed as an entity that can be interacted with, through its conception as an ontologically ambiguous, social actor, that can express affect. Looking at multimodal interaction, and especially touch, I then classify three functions they fulfill: discovery, control, and the expression of affect, before questioning whether this acting towards the robot that does not imply acting from the robot, can be considered a form of interaction. I argue that interaction is the exchange of meaning between embodied, engaged participants. Meaning can be exchanged between robots and humans and the robot can be seen as embodied, but only the appearance of intersubjectivity is enough, rather than its actual presence