iVR Control: An immersive VR Simulation for Rover Navigation and Control

Tackling issues endemic to traditional remote rover control systems, such as cognitive workload arising from unfamiliarity with the robot, its characteristics, and its context, this thesis explores the use of a VR headset and immersive simulation to enable robot operators to view the robot being operated in its context. Needs, insights, and solutions were gathered through a study of relevant literature, rover operator interviews and job shadows, and three prototype development and testing sprints. These provide evidence that gestural controls coupled with immersive VR interfaces can improve rover operator’s abilities to establish situational awareness and complete traditionally complex tasks, such as robot arm repositioning and task switching. This thesis concludes with six key insights concerning the creation of VR control systems for rover operation: affordance, consistency, communicability, feedback loop, spatial memory, and simulation sickness

Embodied science and mixed reality: How gesture and motion capture affect physics education

abstract: A mixed design was created using text and game-like multimedia to instruct in the content of physics. The study assessed which variables predicted learning gains after a 1-h lesson on the electric field. The three manipulated variables were: (1) level of embodiment; (2) level of active generativity; and (3) presence of story narrative. Two types of tests were administered: (1) a traditional text-based physics test answered with a keyboard; and (2) a more embodied, transfer test using the Wacom large tablet where learners could use gestures (long swipes) to create vectors and answers. The 166 participants were randomly assigned to four conditions: (1) symbols and text; (2) low embodied; (3) high embodied/active; or (4) high embodied/active with narrative. The last two conditions were active because the on-screen content could be manipulated with gross body gestures gathered via the Kinect sensor. Results demonstrated that the three groups that included embodiment learned significantly more than the symbols and text group on the traditional keyboard post-test. When knowledge was assessed with the Wacom tablet format that facilitated gestures, the two active gesture-based groups scored significantly higher. In addition, engagement scores were significantly higher for the two active embodied groups. The Wacom results suggest test sensitivity issues; the more embodied test revealed greater gains in learning for the more embodied conditions. We recommend that as more embodied learning comes to the fore, more sensitive tests that incorporate gesture be used to accurately assess learning. The predicted differences in engagement and learning for the condition with the graphically rich story narrative were not supported. We hypothesize that a narrative effect for motivation and learning may be difficult to uncover in a lab experiment where participants are primarily motivated by course credit. Several design principles for mediated and embodied science education are proposed.The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at: http://cognitiveresearchjournal.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s41235-017-0060-

Indoor Navigation and Manipulation using a Segway RMP

This project dealt with a Segway RMP, utilizing it in an assistive-technology manner, encompassing navigation and manipulation aspects of robotics. First, background research was conducted to develop a blueprint for the robot. The hardware, software, and configuration of the RMP was updated, and a robotic arm was designed to extend the RMP’s capabilities. The robot was programmed to accomplish autonomous multi-floor navigation through the use of the navigation stack in ROS, image detection, and a GUI. The robot can navigate through the hallways of the building utilizing the elevator. The robotic arm was designed to accomplish tasks such as pressing a button and picking an object up off of a table. The Segway RMP is designed to be utilized and expanded upon as a robotics research platform

Assistive systems for quality assurance by context-aware user interfaces in health care and production

Rüther S. Assistive systems for quality assurance by context-aware user interfaces in health care and production. Bielefeld: Universitätsbibliothek Bielefeld; 2014.The reprocessing of medical devices is an essential procedure to keep hospitals operational. Workers at the Central Sterilization Supply Department (CSSD) clean, disinfect and sterilize medical devices and have to obligate to the manifold of legal and hygiene prescriptions. Failures during reprocessing can endanger patients' safety and increase costs. The process of decontamination has rich sources of failures because of the complexity of hygiene, medical devices and regulatory specifications. The benefits of an assistance system helping workers in preventing failures are therefore obvious and crucial. New interaction technologies such as augmented reality can potentially help workers in the CSSD to avoid failures during the reprocessing of medical devices. Challenging requirements for the application of new interaction technology within the CSSD arise through process complexity, legislation, integration and hygiene restrictions. This thesis proposes an assistance system that supports the worker in the unclean area of a CSSD with respect to these requirements. The system provides a user interface for context-aware worker guidance and collection of process relevant data from the worker. The proposed interaction mechanism of 'virtual touches' fulfills the hygiene requirements and is realized by an adapted workspace which is equipped with a depth camera and a projected user interface. The 'business process modeling notation 2.0 (BPMN 2.0)' standard is utilized to define process models that control the workflow, coordinate the system's components and maintain a database for quality assurance and worker guidance. In addition to an in depth description of the system, an evaluation with two user studies and interviews with CSSD domain experts are conducted throughout this thesis. The results reveal a high capability for failure avoidance during the reprocessing of medical devices without delaying the process compared to today's CSSDs. Additionally, CSSD experts appraise a high practical relevance and underline the feasibility of the underlying concepts for the CSSD domain. The concepts of the process integration, the standardized modeling of the workflow and workers' tasks as well as the context-aware interface are also helpful, relevant and applicable in the domain of manual assembly processes. Thus, this thesis describes, how the system can be transfered to the domain of manual production. The presentation of a prototype at a renowned international industrial fair and the accompanying feedback from manufacturing experts underline the scalability and the portability of the proposed assistance system to the production domain, which is a result of a component based system architecture utilizing process models for the coordination of computational devices and human workers

Measuring user experience for virtual reality

In recent years, Virtual Reality (VR) and 3D User Interfaces (3DUI) have seen a drastic increase in popularity, especially in terms of consumer-ready hardware and software. These technologies have the potential to create new experiences that combine the advantages of reality and virtuality. While the technology for input as well as output devices is market ready, only a few solutions for everyday VR - online shopping, games, or movies - exist, and empirical knowledge about performance and user preferences is lacking. All this makes the development and design of human-centered user interfaces for VR a great challenge. This thesis investigates the evaluation and design of interactive VR experiences. We introduce the Virtual Reality User Experience (VRUX) model based on VR-specific external factors and evaluation metrics such as task performance and user preference. Based on our novel UX evaluation approach, we contribute by exploring the following directions: shopping in virtual environments, as well as text entry and menu control in the context of everyday VR. Along with this, we summarize our findings by design spaces and guidelines for choosing optimal interfaces and controls in VR.In den letzten Jahren haben Virtual Reality (VR) und 3D User Interfaces (3DUI) stark an Popularität gewonnen, insbesondere bei Hard- und Software im Konsumerbereich. Diese Technologien haben das Potenzial, neue Erfahrungen zu schaffen, die die Vorteile von Realität und Virtualität kombinieren. Während die Technologie sowohl für Eingabe- als auch für Ausgabegeräte marktreif ist, existieren nur wenige Lösungen für den Alltag in VR - wie Online-Shopping, Spiele oder Filme - und es fehlt an empirischem Wissen über Leistung und Benutzerpräferenzen. Dies macht die Entwicklung und Gestaltung von benutzerzentrierten Benutzeroberflächen für VR zu einer großen Herausforderung. Diese Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit der Evaluation und Gestaltung von interaktiven VR-Erfahrungen. Es wird das Virtual Reality User Experience (VRUX)- Modell eingeführt, das auf VR-spezifischen externen Faktoren und Bewertungskennzahlen wie Leistung und Benutzerpräferenz basiert. Basierend auf unserem neuartigen UX-Evaluierungsansatz leisten wir einen Beitrag, indem wir folgende interaktive Anwendungsbereiche untersuchen: Einkaufen in virtuellen Umgebungen sowie Texteingabe und Menüsteuerung im Kontext des täglichen VR. Die Ergebnisse werden außerdem mittels Richtlinien zur Auswahl optimaler Schnittstellen in VR zusammengefasst