8,313 research outputs found
Workload-aware systems and interfaces for cognitive augmentation
In today's society, our cognition is constantly influenced by information intake, attention switching, and task interruptions. This increases the difficulty of a given task, adding to the existing workload and leading to compromised cognitive performances. The human body expresses the use of cognitive resources through physiological responses when confronted with a plethora of cognitive workload. This temporarily mobilizes additional resources to deal with the workload at the cost of accelerated mental exhaustion.
We predict that recent developments in physiological sensing will increasingly create user interfaces that are aware of the user’s cognitive capacities, hence able to intervene when high or low states of cognitive workload are detected. In this thesis, we initially focus on determining opportune moments for cognitive assistance. Subsequently, we investigate suitable feedback modalities in a user-centric design process which are desirable for cognitive assistance. We present design requirements for how cognitive augmentation can be achieved using interfaces that sense cognitive workload.
We then investigate different physiological sensing modalities to enable suitable real-time assessments of cognitive workload. We provide empirical evidence that the human brain is sensitive to fluctuations in cognitive resting states, hence making cognitive effort measurable. Firstly, we show that electroencephalography is a reliable modality to assess the mental workload generated during the user interface operation. Secondly, we use eye tracking to evaluate changes in eye movements and pupil dilation to quantify different workload states. The combination of machine learning and physiological sensing resulted in suitable real-time assessments of cognitive workload. The use of physiological sensing enables us to derive when cognitive augmentation is suitable.
Based on our inquiries, we present applications that regulate cognitive workload in home and work settings. We deployed an assistive system in a field study to investigate the validity of our derived design requirements. Finding that workload is mitigated, we investigated how cognitive workload can be visualized to the user. We present an implementation of a biofeedback visualization that helps to improve the understanding of brain activity. A final study shows how cognitive workload measurements can be used to predict the efficiency of information intake through reading interfaces. Here, we conclude with use cases and applications which benefit from cognitive augmentation.
This thesis investigates how assistive systems can be designed to implicitly sense and utilize cognitive workload for input and output. To do so, we measure cognitive workload in real-time by collecting behavioral and physiological data from users and analyze this data to support users through assistive systems that adapt their interface according to the currently measured workload. Our overall goal is to extend new and existing context-aware applications by the factor cognitive workload. We envision Workload-Aware Systems and Workload-Aware Interfaces as an extension in the context-aware paradigm. To this end, we conducted eight research inquiries during this thesis to investigate how to design and create workload-aware systems.
Finally, we present our vision of future workload-aware systems and workload-aware interfaces. Due to the scarce availability of open physiological data sets, reference implementations, and methods, previous context-aware systems were limited in their ability to utilize cognitive workload for user interaction. Together with the collected data sets, we expect this thesis to pave the way for methodical and technical tools that integrate workload-awareness as a factor for context-aware systems.Tagtäglich werden unsere kognitiven Fähigkeiten durch die Verarbeitung von unzähligen Informationen in Anspruch genommen. Dies kann die Schwierigkeit einer Aufgabe durch mehr oder weniger Arbeitslast beeinflussen. Der menschliche Körper drückt die Nutzung kognitiver Ressourcen durch physiologische Reaktionen aus, wenn dieser mit kognitiver Arbeitsbelastung konfrontiert oder überfordert wird. Dadurch werden weitere Ressourcen mobilisiert, um die Arbeitsbelastung vorübergehend zu bewältigen.
Wir prognostizieren, dass die derzeitige Entwicklung physiologischer Messverfahren kognitive Leistungsmessungen stets möglich machen wird, um die kognitive Arbeitslast des Nutzers jederzeit zu messen. Diese sind in der Lage, einzugreifen wenn eine zu hohe oder zu niedrige kognitive Belastung erkannt wird. Wir konzentrieren uns zunächst auf die Erkennung passender Momente für kognitive Unterstützung welche sich der gegenwärtigen kognitiven Arbeitslast bewusst sind. Anschließend untersuchen wir in einem nutzerzentrierten Designprozess geeignete Feedbackmechanismen, die zur kognitiven Assistenz beitragen. Wir präsentieren Designanforderungen, welche zeigen wie Schnittstellen eine kognitive Augmentierung durch die Messung kognitiver Arbeitslast erreichen können.
Anschließend untersuchen wir verschiedene physiologische Messmodalitäten, welche Bewertungen der kognitiven Arbeitsbelastung in Realzeit ermöglichen. Zunächst validieren wir empirisch, dass das menschliche Gehirn auf kognitive Arbeitslast reagiert. Es zeigt sich, dass die Ableitung der kognitiven Arbeitsbelastung über Elektroenzephalographie eine geeignete Methode ist, um den kognitiven Anspruch neuartiger Assistenzsysteme zu evaluieren. Anschließend verwenden wir Eye-Tracking, um Veränderungen in den Augenbewegungen und dem Durchmesser der Pupille unter verschiedenen Intensitäten kognitiver Arbeitslast zu bewerten. Das Anwenden von maschinellem Lernen führt zu zuverlässigen Echtzeit-Bewertungen kognitiver Arbeitsbelastung. Auf der Grundlage der bisherigen Forschungsarbeiten stellen wir Anwendungen vor, welche die Kognition im häuslichen und beruflichen Umfeld unterstützen. Die physiologischen Messungen stellen fest, wann eine kognitive Augmentierung sich als günstig erweist.
In einer Feldstudie setzen wir ein Assistenzsystem ein, um die erhobenen Designanforderungen zur Reduktion kognitiver Arbeitslast zu validieren. Unsere Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die Arbeitsbelastung durch den Einsatz von Assistenzsystemen reduziert wird. Im Anschluss untersuchen wir, wie kognitive Arbeitsbelastung visualisiert werden kann. Wir stellen eine Implementierung einer Biofeedback-Visualisierung vor, die das Nutzerverständnis zum Verlauf und zur Entstehung von kognitiver Arbeitslast unterstützt. Eine abschließende Studie zeigt, wie Messungen kognitiver Arbeitslast zur Vorhersage der aktuellen Leseeffizienz benutzt werden können. Wir schließen hierbei mit einer Reihe von Applikationen ab, welche sich kognitive Arbeitslast als Eingabe zunutze machen.
Die vorliegende wissenschaftliche Arbeit befasst sich mit dem Design von Assistenzsystemen, welche die kognitive Arbeitslast der Nutzer implizit erfasst und diese bei der Durchführung alltäglicher Aufgaben unterstützt. Dabei werden physiologische Daten erfasst, um Rückschlüsse in Realzeit auf die derzeitige kognitive Arbeitsbelastung zu erlauben. Anschließend werden diese Daten analysiert, um dem Nutzer strategisch zu assistieren. Das Ziel dieser Arbeit ist die Erweiterung neuartiger und bestehender kontextbewusster Benutzerschnittstellen um den Faktor kognitive Arbeitslast. Daher werden in dieser Arbeit arbeitslastbewusste Systeme und arbeitslastbewusste Benutzerschnittstellen als eine zusätzliche Dimension innerhalb des Paradigmas kontextbewusster Systeme präsentiert. Wir stellen acht Forschungsstudien vor, um die Designanforderungen und die Implementierung von kognitiv arbeitslastbewussten Systemen zu untersuchen.
Schließlich stellen wir unsere Vision von zukünftigen kognitiven arbeitslastbewussten Systemen und Benutzerschnittstellen vor. Durch die knappe Verfügbarkeit öffentlich zugänglicher Datensätze, Referenzimplementierungen, und Methoden, waren Kontextbewusste Systeme in der Auswertung kognitiver Arbeitslast bezüglich der Nutzerinteraktion limitiert. Ergänzt durch die in dieser Arbeit gesammelten Datensätze erwarten wir, dass diese Arbeit den Weg für methodische und technische Werkzeuge ebnet, welche kognitive Arbeitslast als Faktor in das Kontextbewusstsein von Computersystemen integriert
Smart Technologies for Precision Assembly
This open access book constitutes the refereed post-conference proceedings of the 9th IFIP WG 5.5 International Precision Assembly Seminar, IPAS 2020, held virtually in December 2020. The 16 revised full papers and 10 revised short papers presented together with 1 keynote paper were carefully reviewed and selected from numerous submissions. The papers address topics such as assembly design and planning; assembly operations; assembly cells and systems; human centred assembly; and assistance methods in assembly
Augmented reality for computer assisted orthopaedic surgery
In recent years, computer-assistance and robotics have established their presence in operating
theatres and found success in orthopaedic procedures. Benefits of computer assisted orthopaedic
surgery (CAOS) have been thoroughly explored in research, finding improvements in clinical outcomes, through increased control and precision over surgical actions. However, human-computer interaction in CAOS remains an evolving field, through emerging display technologies including augmented reality (AR) – a fused view of the real environment with virtual, computer-generated holograms. Interactions between clinicians and patient-specific data generated during CAOS are limited to basic 2D interactions on touchscreen monitors, potentially creating clutter and cognitive challenges in surgery.
Work described in this thesis sought to explore the benefits of AR in CAOS through: an integration between commercially available AR and CAOS systems, creating a novel AR-centric surgical workflow to support various tasks of computer-assisted knee arthroplasty, and three pre–clinical studies exploring the impact of the new AR workflow on both existing and newly proposed quantitative and qualitative performance metrics.
Early research focused on cloning the (2D) user-interface of an existing CAOS system onto a virtual AR screen and investigating any resulting impacts on usability and performance. An infrared-based registration system is also presented, describing a protocol for calibrating commercial AR headsets with optical trackers, calculating a spatial transformation between surgical and holographic coordinate frames. The main contribution of this thesis is a novel AR workflow designed to support computer-assisted patellofemoral arthroplasty. The reported workflow provided 3D in-situ holographic guidance for CAOS tasks including patient registration, pre-operative planning, and assisted-cutting. Pre-clinical experimental validation on a commercial system (NAVIO®, Smith & Nephew) for these contributions demonstrates encouraging early-stage results showing successful deployment of AR to CAOS systems, and promising indications that AR can enhance the clinician’s interactions in the future. The thesis concludes with a summary of achievements, corresponding limitations and future research opportunities.Open Acces
Human factors in instructional augmented reality for intravehicular spaceflight activities and How gravity influences the setup of interfaces operated by direct object selection
In human spaceflight, advanced user interfaces are becoming an interesting mean to facilitate human-machine interaction, enhancing and guaranteeing the sequences of intravehicular space operations. The efforts made to ease such operations have shown strong interests in novel human-computer interaction like Augmented Reality (AR). The work presented in this thesis is directed towards a user-driven design for AR-assisted space operations, iteratively solving issues arisen from the problem space, which also includes the consideration of the effect of altered gravity on handling such interfaces.Auch in der bemannten Raumfahrt steigt das Interesse an neuartigen Benutzerschnittstellen, um nicht nur die Mensch-Maschine-Interaktion effektiver zu gestalten, sondern auch um einen korrekten Arbeitsablauf sicherzustellen. In der Vergangenheit wurden wiederholt Anstrengungen unternommen, Innenbordarbeiten mit Hilfe von Augmented Reality (AR) zu erleichtern. Diese Arbeit konzentriert sich auf einen nutzerorientierten AR-Ansatz, welcher zum Ziel hat, die Probleme schrittweise in einem iterativen Designprozess zu lösen. Dies erfordert auch die Berücksichtigung veränderter Schwerkraftbedingungen
Attention-Based Applications in Extended Reality to Support Autistic Users: A Systematic Review
With the rising prevalence of autism diagnoses, it is essential for research
to understand how to leverage technology to support the diverse nature of
autistic traits. While traditional interventions focused on technology for
medical cure and rehabilitation, recent research aims to understand how
technology can accommodate each unique situation in an efficient and engaging
way. Extended reality (XR) technology has been shown to be effective in
improving attention in autistic users given that it is more engaging and
motivating than other traditional mediums. Here, we conducted a systematic
review of 59 research articles that explored the role of attention in XR
interventions for autistic users. We systematically analyzed demographics,
study design and findings, including autism screening and attention measurement
methods. Furthermore, given methodological inconsistencies in the literature,
we systematically synthesize methods and protocols including screening tools,
physiological and behavioral cues of autism and XR tasks. While there is
substantial evidence for the effectiveness of using XR in attention-based
interventions for autism to support autistic traits, we have identified three
principal research gaps that provide promising research directions to examine
how autistic populations interact with XR. First, our findings highlight the
disproportionate geographic locations of autism studies and underrepresentation
of autistic adults, evidence of gender disparity, and presence of individuals
diagnosed with co-occurring conditions across studies. Second, many studies
used an assortment of standardized and novel tasks and self-report assessments
with limited tested reliability. Lastly, the research lacks evidence of
performance maintenance and transferability.Comment: [Accepted version] K. Wang, S. J. Julier and Y. Cho, "Attention-Based
Applications in Extended Reality to Support Autistic Users: A Systematic
Review," in IEEE Access, vol. 10, pp. 15574-15593, 2022, doi:
10.1109/ACCESS.2022.314772
Flexible Automation and Intelligent Manufacturing: The Human-Data-Technology Nexus
This is an open access book. It gathers the first volume of the proceedings of the 31st edition of the International Conference on Flexible Automation and Intelligent Manufacturing, FAIM 2022, held on June 19 – 23, 2022, in Detroit, Michigan, USA. Covering four thematic areas including Manufacturing Processes, Machine Tools, Manufacturing Systems, and Enabling Technologies, it reports on advanced manufacturing processes, and innovative materials for 3D printing, applications of machine learning, artificial intelligence and mixed reality in various production sectors, as well as important issues in human-robot collaboration, including methods for improving safety. Contributions also cover strategies to improve quality control, supply chain management and training in the manufacturing industry, and methods supporting circular supply chain and sustainable manufacturing. All in all, this book provides academicians, engineers and professionals with extensive information on both scientific and industrial advances in the converging fields of manufacturing, production, and automation
가상현실 내 정보 불일치를 활용한 인지기능 평가: 탐색적 고찰
학위논문(박사) -- 서울대학교대학원 : 인문대학 협동과정 인지과학전공, 2022.2. 이경민.본 박사논문의 목적은 가상현실 내에서 발생하는 정보불일치에 대해서 알아보고, 정보 불일치로 인한 인지적 반응을 인지기능 평가에 활용할 수 있는 방안을 고찰하고자 함이다. 가상현실 주방과제를 구현하여 과제 수행 중 나타나는 움직임과 인지작용의 특성을 알아보고자 하였다. 또한 VR에서 과제수행 시 나타나는 인지 부하의 요인을 탐색하였다. 특히, 감각운동 조절 측면에서 가상현실 내 발생하는 정보불일치로 인한 인지 과부하를 살펴보았다.
첫째, 가상현실과 실제환경에서 작동하는 인지과정이 어떻게 다른지 알아보기 위해 두 환경 간의 과제 수행 차이를 비교하였다. 젊은 성인 그룹에서는 어려운 주방과제 수행 시 가상현실과 실제환경 간의 수행시간에 유의한 차이가 있었지만 쉬운 주방 과제에서는 차이가 없었다. 반면 노인 집단에서는 과제의 난이도와 관계없이 두 환경 간의 수행 시간에 상당한 차이가 있었다. 노인의 경우 가상현실에서 감각운동 조절의 어려움을 보였다. 즉 노인의 경우 젊은 성인에 비해 가상현실 내에서의 감각운동 조절이 더 어렵기 때문에 이로 인한 인지적 부하가 과제 수행 자체의 인지적 부하에 가중되어 과제 난이도가 어려워지면 인지용량의 한계를 초과하게 된다.
둘째, 가상 주방과제 수행 시 인지기능이 저하됨에 따라 갑자기 휙 움직이는(jerky) 패턴을 보이는 것으로 나타났다. 이는 인지기능이 저하된 노인의 경우 환경에 대한 예측력이 저하되어 최소 저크운동 조절(minimal jerk movement control)에 어려움이 있음을 시사한다. 또한 인지기능이 높은 그룹보다 인지기능이 낮은 노인 그룹의 경우 과제가 완료될 때까지의 일련의 움직임 단계가 더 많았다. 인지기능이 저하됨에 따라 비효율적이고 분주한 움직임을 보인다고 할 수 있다. 또한 다중회귀분석 결과, 노인이 가상현실 주방과제를 효율적으로 수행함에 있어 연령 및 학력 보다는 인지기능이 가장 영향을 미치는 요인으로 나타났다. 즉 가상현실 기반 과제수행은 순수 인지기능만을 평가하는 새로운 대안으로 제시할 수 있다.
마지막으로 감각운동 피드백의 예측불가능성(unpredictability)이 가상현실에서 인지부하를 유발하는 방식을 알아보고자 하였다. 섭동의 예측 가능성에 따른 반응 시간과 이동 속도를 암묵적 5°와 명시적 15° 섭동 조건에서 각각 측정하였다. 그 결과 암묵적 운동 제어 시 섭동의 변화를 예측할 수 없을 때 움직임의 정확도를 높이기 위해 움직임이 느려지는 전략(accuracy and speed trade-off)을 사용하는 것으로 나타났다. 즉, 감각운동조절 과정 상에서 정보 불일치로 인한 예측 불가능성에 대해 우리의 뇌는 다른 인지전략을 취한다고 설명할 수 있다.
결론적으로 가상현실은 기술적 충실도(fidelity) 문제로 인해 감각 피드백이 예측 불가능하고 가변적이기 때문에 실제 환경보다 더 많은 인지 부하를 유발한다. 특히 가상현실에서의 감각운동 조절은 실제환경에서 인간의 운동 시스템이 적응된 방식과는 다르다고 볼 수 있다. 즉 가상현실 내에서는 감각운동 시스템이 예측할 수 없는 환경에 적응하기 위해 다른 인지 전략을 취하게 된다. 환경에 따른 효율적인 인지전략의 전환은 중앙 집행기능(central executive)과 관련 있으며, 이러한 특징을 활용한 가상현실기반 과제는 새로운 인지기능 평가의 대안으로 제시할 수 있다.The purpose of this dissertation was to investigate information mismatch in virtual reality (VR) and explore the possibility of using the cognitive reaction arising from information mismatch for cognitive evaluation. The virtual kitchen task was used to observe the subjects’ behaviors while performing the task, and to investigate the characteristics of movement and cognitive processes appearing during the performance of the virtual task. In addition, an attempt was made to explore the factors of cognitive overload in VR that determine the difference compared to a performance in the real environment. In particular, this study aimed to investigate how information mismatch occurring in VR causes cognitive overload in terms of sensorimotor control.
First, it questioned how the cognitive process in VR differs from the real environment and also investigated the factors affecting the performance of tasks in VR. In the young adult group, while there was a significant difference between the execution time in VR and in the real environment in the difficult kitchen task, there was no such difference in the easy kitchen task. Meanwhile, among the elderly, there was a significant difference between the execution time in VR and in the real environment regardless of whether the task was difficult or easy. It was thought that cognitive load was caused due to difficulties in sensorimotor control in VR. It was found that the cognitive capacity is challenged when the task is difficult because the load of task performance itself and the load of sensorimotor control are doubling.
Second, it was found that as the cognitive function decreased, an abrupt and jerky movement pattern was exhibited during the virtual kitchen task. The number of sequences in movement until the task was completed was also busier in the elderly group with lower cognitive function in contrast with those with higher cognitive function. In the case of the elderly with deteriorated cognitive function, it is suggested that there is difficulty in minimal jerk movement control because the predictive ability responding to environment is decreased. In addition, according to the results of multiple regression, cognitive function of the elderly is the most influential factor in performing VR tasks, other than age and educational background, which means that purely evaluating cognitive function may be suggested.
Third, an attempt was made to verify how the unpredictability of sensorimotor feedback causes cognitive load in VR. The reaction time and speed of movement depending on the predictability of perturbation were measured in implicit 5 degrees and explicit 15 degrees perturbation. When the subject was unable to predict the variation of perturbation only in implicit motor control, reaching became slower and it took more time due to the accuracy and speed trade-off. In other words, unpredictability due to information mismatch leads to the use of different cognitive strategies in brain mechanisms.
In conclusion, VR induces more cognitive load than the real environment because the sensory feedback is unpredictable and variable due to technical fidelity problems. The sensorimotor control in VR is challenged by the way the human motor system is adapted. Further, it was found that an unpredictable environment requires different cognitive strategies for the sensorimotor system to adapt to it. The manner in which effective cognitive strategies are taken represents an efficient central executive function. From this perspective, VR-based cognitive evaluation, using such attributes, is thought to be an alternative method for early screening of cognitive decline.Chapter 1. Introduction 7
1.1 Research motivation and introductory overview 7
1.2 Research goal and questions 7
1.2.1 Overall research goal 7
1.2.2 Research questions 8
1.2.3 Research contributions 8
1.3 Thesis structure 8
Chapter 2. Literature Review 10
2.1 Virtual Reality (VR) as ecological method for cognitive evaluation 10
2.2 Sub-types of VR based tasks according to target cognitive function 12
2.2.1. VR task for spatial navigation 13
2.2.2. VR task for memory 14
2.2.3. VR task for executive function 16
2.3 Factors affecting on VR performance 19
2.3.1. General 19
2.3.2. Age effects on VR performance 20
2.3.3. Cognitive challenges in VR 21
2.3.4. Feasibility of VR task for dementia 22
2.4 Cognitive load in VR 23
2.4.1. Immersive versus non-immersive VR 23
2.4.2. Sense of presence and situated cognition 26
2.4.3. Sensorimotor adaptation in VR 28
2.5 Sensorimotor control in VR 29
2.5.1 Predictive brain and internal model for motor control 29
2.5.2 Explicit and implicit process in motor control 31
2.5.3 Accuracy & speed tradeoff in cognitive control 31
2.6 Executive control for information mismatch in information processing 32
Chapter 3. Differences in Cognitive Load Between Real and VR Environment 34
3.1 Introduction 34
3.2 Method 37
3.3 Results 40
3.4 Discussion 45
Chapter 4. The Efficiency of Movement Trajectory and Sequence in VR According to Cognitive Function in the Elderly 50
4.1 Introduction 50
4.2 Method 52
4.3 Results 53
4.4 Discussion 56
Chapter 5. Factors that Affect the Performance of Immersive Virtual Kitchen Tasks in the Elderly 59
5.1 Introduction 59
5.2 Method 62
5.3 Results 64
5.4 Discussion 70
Chapter 6. Effect of Predictability of Sensorimotor Feedback on Cognitive Load in VR 74
6.1 Introduction 74
6.2 Method 77
6.3 Results 79
6.4 Discussion 84
Chapter 7. Conclusion 88
7.1 Summary of findings 88
7.2 Future direction of research 90
References 92박
- …