Exploring haptic interfacing with a mobile robot without visual feedback

Search and rescue scenarios are often complicated by low or no visibility conditions. The lack of visual feedback hampers orientation and causes significant stress for human rescue workers. The Guardians project [1] pioneered a group of autonomous mobile robots assisting a human rescue worker operating within close range. Trials were held with fire fighters of South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue. It became clear that the subjects by no means were prepared to give up their procedural routine and the feel of security they provide: they simply ignored instructions that contradicted their routines

What impressions do users have after a ride in an automated shuttle? An interview study

In the future, automated shuttles may provide on-demand transport and serve as feeders to public transport systems. However, automated shuttles will only become widely used if they are accepted by the public. This paper presents results of an interview study with 30 users of an automated shuttle on the EUREF (Europäisches Energieforum) campus in Berlin-Schöneberg to obtain in-depth understanding of the acceptance of automated shuttles as feeders to public transport systems. From the interviews, we identified 340 quotes, which were classified into six categories: (1) expectations about the capabilities of the automated shuttle (10% of quotes), (2) evaluation of the shuttle performance (10%), (3) service quality (34%), (4) risk and benefit perception (15%), (5) travel purpose (25%), and (6) trust (6%). The quotes indicated that respondents had idealized expectations about the technological capabilities of the automated shuttle, which may have been fostered by the media. Respondents were positive about the idea of using automated shuttles as feeders to public transport systems but did not believe that the shuttle will allow them to engage in cognitively demanding activities such as working. Furthermore, 20% of respondents indicated to prefer supervision of shuttles via an external control room or steward on board over unsupervised automation. In conclusion, even though the current automated shuttle did not live up to the respondents’ expectations, respondents still perceived automated shuttles as a viable option for feeders to public transport systems.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Transport and PlanningHuman-Robot InteractionIntelligent VehiclesTransport and Plannin

Understanding security risks and users perception towards adopting wearable Internet of Medical Things

This thesis examines users’ perception of trust within the context of security and privacy of Wearable Internet of Medical Things (WIoMT). WIoMT is a collective term for all medical devices connected to internet to facilitate collection and sharing of health-related data such as blood pressure, heart rate, oxygen level and more. Common wearable devices include smart watches and fitness bands. WIoMT, a phenomenon due to Internet of Things (IoT) has become prevalent in managing the day-to-day activities and health of individuals. This increased growth and adoption poses severe security and privacy concerns. Similar to IoT, there is a need to analyse WIoMT security risks as they are used by individuals and organisations on regular basis, risking personal and confidential information. Additionally, for better implementation, performance, adoption, and secured wearable medical devices, it is crucial to observe users’ perception. Users’ perspectives towards trust are critical for adopting WIoMT. This research aimed to understand users’ perception of trust in the adoption of WIoMT, while also exploring the security risks associated with adopting wearable IoMT. Employing a quantitative method approach, 189 participants from Western Sydney University completed an online survey. The results of the study and research model indicated more than half of the variance (R2 = 0.553) in the Intention to Use WIoMT devices, which was determined by the significant predictors (95% Confidence Interval; p < 0.05), Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use and Perceived Security and Privacy. Among these two, the domain Perceived Security and Privacy was found to have significant outcomes. Hence, this study reinforced that a WIoMT user intends to use the device only if he/she trusts the device; trust here has been defined in terms of its usefulness, easy to use and security and privacy features. This finding will be a steppingstone for equipment vendors and manufacturers to have a good grasp on the health industry, since the proper utilisation of WIoMT devices results in the effective and efficient management of health and wellbeing of users. The expected outcome from this research also aims to identify how users’ security and perception matters while adopting WIoMT, which in future can benefit security professionals to examine trust factors when implementing new and advanced WIoMT devices. Moreover, the expected result will help consumers as well as different healthcare industry to create a device which can be easily adopted and used securely by consumers

Security risks and user perception towards adopting Wearable Internet of Medical Things

The Wearable Internet of Medical Things (WIoMT) is a collective term for all wearable medical devices connected to the internet to facilitate the collection and sharing of health data such as blood pressure, heart rate, oxygen level, and more. Standard wearable devices include smartwatches and fitness bands. This evolving phenomenon due to the IoT has become prevalent in managing health and poses severe security and privacy risks to personal information. For better implementation, performance, adoption, and secured wearable medical devices, observing users’ perception is crucial. This study examined users’ perspectives of trust in the WIoMT while also exploring the associated security risks. Data analysed from 189 participants indicated a significant variance (R2 = 0.553) on intention to use WIoMT devices, which was determined by the significant predictors (95% Confidence Interval; p < 0.05) perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and perceived security and privacy. These were found to have important consequences, with WIoMT users intending to use the devices based on the trust factors of usefulness, easy to use, and security and privacy features. Further outcomes of the study identified how users’ security matters while adopting the WIoMT and provided implications for the healthcare industry to ensure regulated devices that secure confidential data

Event-based personal retrieval

People who work in a research, academic or business environment often have personal information collections which are large enough to need retrieval aids. A major difference between personal information retrieval and normal document retrieval is that the items to be retrieved are often associated with events in the searcher's life and can be retrieved by their relationship to other events as well as by content. This paper describes some of the background to event-based retrieval and then describes a prototype graphical event-based retrieval system

Tourism and the smartphone app: capabilities, emerging practice and scope in the travel domain.

Based on its advanced computing capabilities and ubiquity, the smartphone has rapidly been adopted as a tourism travel tool.With a growing number of users and a wide varietyof applications emerging, the smartphone is fundamentally altering our current use and understanding of the transport network and tourism travel. Based on a review of smartphone apps, this article evaluates the current functionalities used in the domestic tourism travel domain and highlights where the next major developments lie. Then, at a more conceptual level, the article analyses how the smartphone mediates tourism travel and the role it might play in more collaborative and dynamic travel decisions to facilitate sustainable travel. Some emerging research challenges are discussed

Employment Retention Essentials

Employment retention is one of the critical challenges facing the workforce field today. For any organization that seeks to improve retention services, "Employment Retention Essentials" is an invaluable resource. User-friendly and filled with practical ideas, this guide offers concrete tools for keeping people working, including tips on how to involve employers, build relationships and stay in contact with participants