Improving Situational Awareness in Military Operations using Augmented Reality

During military operations, the battlefields become fractured zones where the level of confusion, noise and ambiguity impact on achieving tactical objectives. Situational Awareness (SA) becomes a challenge because the unstable perception of the situation leads to a degraded understanding that disables the soldier in projecting the proper results. To meet this challenge various military projects have focused their efforts on designing integrated digital system to support decision-making for military personnel in unknown environments. This paper presents the state of art of military systems using Augmented Reality (AR) in the battlefield.Facultad de Informátic

Warning System for Outdoor Construction Workers Using Haptic Communication

A construction site is a risky workplace with constant movement of heavy vehicles on ground and cranes overhead, and simultaneous construction work at multiple levels along with significantly high noise levels. Over the past few decades, several efforts have been made to utilize technological advances in order to make the worksite a safer place and yielded positive results. However, the fatal and nonfatal count still remains very high for the construction industry. This study attempted to test haptic communication as an additional layer of safety for construction workers by developing a prototype to provide haptic feedback for predetermined Geofence zones. A phenomenological research study was conducted with the help of construction professionals to gather industry opinion on the haptic feedback prototypes and to determine the optimal location for the placement of the haptic feedback device. The study found that haptic communication has significant potential to reduce the fatal and non-fatal injuries on construction sites. In addition, the study determined the factors affecting the placement of wearable haptic warning system for outdoor construction workers

Warning System for Outdoor Construction Workers Using Haptic Communication

A construction site is a risky workplace with constant movement of heavy vehicles on ground and cranes overhead, and simultaneous construction work at multiple levels along with significantly high noise levels. Over the past few decades, several efforts have been made to utilize technological advances in order to make the worksite a safer place and yielded positive results. However, the fatal and nonfatal count still remains very high for the construction industry. This study attempted to test haptic communication as an additional layer of safety for construction workers by developing a prototype to provide haptic feedback for predetermined Geofence zones. A phenomenological research study was conducted with the help of construction professionals to gather industry opinion on the haptic feedback prototypes and to determine the optimal location for the placement of the haptic feedback device. The study found that haptic communication has significant potential to reduce the fatal and non-fatal injuries on construction sites. In addition, the study determined the factors affecting the placement of wearable haptic warning system for outdoor construction workers

Exploring Feedback Modalities Using Wearable Device for Complex Systems Training Programs

This study examined the effectiveness of a wearable device in delivering various feedback modalities in an attempt to improve performance outcomes in complex systems. Secondarily this study looked at performance when feedback type was matched to preferred learning style according to VARK Learning Styles Inventory results. Participants were required to perform system monitoring and correct for system failures through key presses. Feedback was delivered through a smart watch and was based on response time performance. Feedback modalities included visual, auditory, and haptic feedback. Subjective ratings of situation awareness and mental workload were also examined. Results indicated that auditory feedback condition response times were significantly slower than response times in other feedback condition with the control group having the fastest mean response times. Participants who tested as read write learners were the only learning style group to show higher levels of situation awareness and decreased mental workload when presented with their preferred

Hacking Blind Navigation

Independent navigation in unfamiliar and complex environments is a major challenge for blind people. This challenge motivates a multi-disciplinary effort in the CHI community aimed at developing assistive technologies to support the orientation and mobility of blind people, including related disciplines such as accessible computing, cognitive sciences, computer vision, and ubiquitous computing. This workshop intends to bring these communities together to increase awareness on recent advances in blind navigation assistive technologies, benefit from diverse perspectives and expertises, discuss open research challenges, and explore avenues for multi-disciplinary collaborations. Interactions are fostered through a panel on Open Challenges and Avenues for Interdisciplinary Collaboration, Minute-Madness presentations, and a Hands-On Session where workshop participants can hack (design or prototype) new solutions to tackle open research challenges. An expected outcome is the emergence of new collaborations and research directions that can result in novel assistive technologies to support independent blind navigation

Vibrotactile Warnings Design for Improving Risks Awareness in Construction Environment

Construction workers have difficulty identifying potential risks in harsh environments because traditional visual and acoustical alerts are inefficient. This study investigated a new communication method with a wearable tactile-based system to improve worker’s hazard perception. Three experiments are reported in relation to this system. The first experiment exploited VR as an experimental tool to compare auditory and vibrotactile warning signals as well as their combination in a simulated construction working environment. Findings demonstrated that the vibrotactile cues induced faster response times and higher affective ratings than auditory alarms, and their combination provided the shortest reaction time. The second experiment compared 7 different vibrotactile patterns varying in intensity, duration, and interval, to identify configurations that led to a higher degree of awareness. The third experiment validated the effectiveness of three selected tactons for delivering information on 3 hazard levels, finding that subjects could identify three-parameter signals with relatively low error. Our findings provide guidelines for designing tactile warning signals, which could help improve hazard recognition and risk perception, especially in construction sites

Some problems of designing for augmentative and alternative communication users: an enquiry through practical design activity

The submission is concerned with, and addresses, problems of designing for people with disabilities, with specific reference to people who are illiterate and cannot speak. People with such disabilities often depend on electronic AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication) devices for interpersonal communication. A central theme of the thesis, however, is that such products, and products intended for people with disabilities more generally, have characteristics that inadequately attend to users' needs. Through a combination of practical product development and literature reviews, the thesis demonstrates how improvements to AAC devices 'can be made through user-participatory, usercentred and more sensitive and perceptive design. Literature reviews in the following subjects are reported: AAC; the operational knowledge base for design and disability; user participatory design; and wearable computing. At the core of the thesis is the presentation and discussion of an empirical case study, carried out by the researcher, to design and develop the Portland Communication Aid (PCA). The PCA was conceived as an AAC product that would attempt to redress the inadequacies of predecessor devices. The design activity for the PCA is traced in the thesis, from initial concepts and development models through to a working prototype. Key ideas and essential principles of the design are illustrated. Throughout the work on the PCA, many problems associated with designing for people with severe communication disabilities were encountered. These problems, as with their resolutions, comprised matters of both designing (as an activity) and design (as product specification). The thesis contains comprehensive exposure and analysis of these problems and resolutions. In particular, the value of shaping meaning, metaphor, and other product semantics into devices intended for use by people with disabilities is explored. The study provides two substantive conclusions. First, that both the activity and the outcomes of Industrial Design have a valuable role in the empowerment and rehabilitation of AAC users. And second, that key principles have been identified that will enable designers to better identify, articulate and respond to the needs of people with communication disabilities (and the needs of people with disabilities more generally