IMPLEMENTATION OF VIRTUAL REALITY ENHANCED CONTINUOUS PERFORMANCE TEST DESIGNED FOR ATTENTION DEFICIT HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER DIAGNOSIS

The purpose of the study is to implement a virtual reality (VR) enhanced continuous performance test (CPT) specifically designed as an aid to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) diagnosis with the newest enabling technologies. To realize such an objective, firstly, the VR technology enabled ADHD diagnosis methodologies are investigated and required metrics are analyzed. Then, a new model is constructed in order to measure the required metrics and an assessment methodology is adopted to evaluate such metrics to cooperate with the created VR application. As the contribution, a new measurement model and procedure are presented and the effectiveness of the system is going to be examined in future studies

Navigation, Path Planning, and Task Allocation Framework For Mobile Co-Robotic Service Applications in Indoor Building Environments

Recent advances in computing and robotics offer significant potential for improved autonomy in the operation and utilization of today’s buildings. Examples of such building environment functions that could be improved through automation include: a) building performance monitoring for real-time system control and long-term asset management; and b) assisted indoor navigation for improved accessibility and wayfinding. To enable such autonomy, algorithms related to task allocation, path planning, and navigation are required as fundamental technical capabilities. Existing algorithms in these domains have primarily been developed for outdoor environments. However, key technical challenges that prevent the adoption of such algorithms to indoor environments include: a) the inability of the widely adopted outdoor positioning method (Global Positioning System - GPS) to work indoors; and b) the incompleteness of graph networks formed based on indoor environments due to physical access constraints not encountered outdoors. The objective of this dissertation is to develop general and scalable task allocation, path planning, and navigation algorithms for indoor mobile co-robots that are immune to the aforementioned challenges. The primary contributions of this research are: a) route planning and task allocation algorithms for centrally-located mobile co-robots charged with spatiotemporal tasks in arbitrary built environments; b) path planning algorithms that take preferential and pragmatic constraints (e.g., wheelchair ramps) into consideration to determine optimal accessible paths in building environments; and c) navigation and drift correction algorithms for autonomous mobile robotic data collection in buildings. The developed methods and the resulting computational framework have been validated through several simulated experiments and physical deployments in real building environments. Specifically, a scenario analysis is conducted to compare the performance of existing outdoor methods with the developed approach for indoor multi-robotic task allocation and route planning. A simulated case study is performed along with a pilot experiment in an indoor built environment to test the efficiency of the path planning algorithm and the performance of the assisted navigation interface developed considering people with physical disabilities (i.e., wheelchair users) as building occupants and visitors. Furthermore, a case study is performed to demonstrate the informed retrofit decision-making process with the help of data collected by an intelligent multi-sensor fused robot that is subsequently used in an EnergyPlus simulation. The results demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed methods in a range of applications involving constraints on both the environment (e.g., path obstructions) and robot capabilities (e.g., maximum travel distance on a single charge). By focusing on the technical capabilities required for safe and efficient indoor robot operation, this dissertation contributes to the fundamental science that will make mobile co-robots ubiquitous in building environments in the near future.PHDCivil EngineeringUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/143969/1/baddu_1.pd

Realidade aumentada móvel aplicada na navegação indoor para cadeirantes

Physical deficiency is an obstacle to the afflicted individual, as they are deprived from realizing routine activities, without the help of others. For many, the use of wheelchairs is fundamental to providing mobility and social inclusion. However, these individuals still come up against a series of challenges in order to improve their life quality. Among the many difficulties, one in particular is highlighted: navigation in indoor environments buildings, such as localizing the shortest and best route for arriving at a desired destination. In the context of the Information Society, the use of pervasive computation and intelligent environments have application potential in supporting navigation assisted by mobile devices. In this scenario, it is noted that there exist a sparse quantity of applications capable of attending to the special needs of wheelchair users. Therefore, this study considers the hypothesis that other technologies, such as Mobile Augmented Reality (AR), possess the potential to facilitate the navigation of wheelchair users in indoor environments. In light of the above, the main motive behind this research study is to investigate computational techniques that support the use of indoor navigation based on Mobile AR, especially those which possess total control over their upper limbs. In order to achieve such, this work study proposes an architecture to support the development of these applications. Experiments were performed with wheelchair user volunteers. These interacted with an application via touch or voice commands in order to navigate within a test environment. This environment proposes the use of navigation arrows through use of AR. The features implemented onto the proposed architecture were capable of providing significant benefits for indoor navigation. Especially, when compared to traditional techniques.Tese (Doutorado)A deficiência física é um obstáculo aos portadores, uma vez que os mesmos são privados de realizar atividades rotineiras, sem auxílio de outros. Para muitos, o uso de cadeiras de rodas é fundamental para proporcionar mobilidade e inclusão social. No entanto, cadeirantes ainda enfrentam uma série de desafios para melhorar sua qualidade de vida. Entre as muitas dificuldades, uma em especial se destaca: a navegação em ambientes internos (indoor) de edificações, tais como a localização do menor e melhor caminho para chegar ao seu destino final. No contexto da Sociedade da Informação, o uso de computação pervasiva e de ambientes inteligentes tem potencial de aplicação no apoio à navegação suportada por dispositivos móveis. Neste cenário, observa-se parca quantidade de aplicações capazes de atender as necessidades especiais de cadeirantes. Portanto, este trabalho considera a hipótese de que outras tecnologias como a Realidade Aumentada (RA) Móvel, possui potencial para facilitar a navegação de cadeirantes em ambientes fechados. Diante disso, a motivação principal desta pesquisa é investigar técnicas computacionais que suportem o uso da navegação indoor de cadeirantes, baseada na RA Móvel, especialmente os que possuem total controle dos membros superiores. Para tanto, este trabalho propõe uma arquitetura para suportar o desenvolvimento destas aplicações. Experimentos foram realizados com voluntários cadeirantes. Estes interagiram com a aplicação por meio de comandos de toque ou de voz, para navegar dentro de um ambiente de teste. Este ambiente propõe o uso de setas de navegação com o uso de RA. As características implementadas na arquitetura proposta foram capazes de proporcionar benefícios significativos para navegação indoor de cadeirantes. Principalmente, quando comparado com técnicas tradicionais. Palavras-chave: realidade aumentada móvel, navegação indoor, cadeirantes

Uma estratégia para suportar interação humanocomputador de crianças com deficiências nos membros superiores por meio de dispositivo vestível.

The features of immersion, involvement and motivation have turned serious games into an important tool in the medical field. However, there are people who, due to some physical disability, cannot or do not want to play. In this perspective, the study presents a strategy to support the human-computer interaction of children with disabilities in the upper limbs through a wearable device, which aims to expand the use of digital games by target audience. Thus, in the long term, it can help to accept the motor limitation, motivate patients to use the disabled limb more frequently, develop and create abilities, raise potential, learn new technologies, improve cognitive, emotional and physical aspects, socialization and leisure. Throughout the development of this study, all the functionalities of the wearable Myo device were used to control a puzzle, in order to promote interaction between the individual and the game. In this context, the game is controlled by the disabled limb through Myo. To validate the research, the developed game was made available to a group with physical disabilities in the upper limbs, aged between eight and fifteen years, of the Association for Assistance to the Disabled Child (AADC). It was observed that the participants of the research were able to expand the access to games using the Myo device and they felt more motivated to play with it. In the long term, it is expected to contribute to the motivation of patients, through technological innovations, so that the process of promoting body awareness might be more interactive, playful and attractive.CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível SuperiorDissertação (Mestrado)As características de imersão, envolvimento e motivação têm feito dos jogos sérios uma importante ferramenta utilizada na área médica. Entretanto, existem pessoas que, por alguma deficiência física, não conseguem ou não querem jogar. Nessa perspectiva, este trabalho apresenta uma estratégia para suportar interação humano-computador de crianças com deficiência nos membros superiores por meio de dispositivo vestível, com o objetivo de ampliar o uso de jogos digitais para o público-alvo. Assim, a longo prazo, pode-se auxiliar na aceitação da limitação motora, motivar os pacientes a utilizar com maior frequência o membro com deficiência, desenvolver e criar habilidades, despertar potenciais, conhecer novas tecnologias, melhorar os aspectos cognitivos, emocionais e físicos, a socialização e o lazer. Para o desenvolvimento deste trabalho, foram utilizadas as funcionalidades do dispositivo vestível Myo para controlar um jogo de quebra-cabeça como meio de prover a interação entre o indivíduo e o jogo. Neste contexto, o jogo é controlado pelos movimentos do membro superior do usuário, que apresenta a deficiência, por meio do Myo. Para validação da pesquisa, foi disponibilizado o jogo desenvolvido a indivíduos com deficiência física nos membros superiores, na faixa etária entre oito e quinze anos, da Associação de Assistência à Criança Deficiente (AACD). Logo, observou-se que os participantes da pesquisa conseguiram ampliar o acesso a jogos utilizando o dispositivo Myo e sentiram-se mais motivados a jogar. A longo prazo, espera-se contribuir na motivação dos pacientes, através das inovações tecnológicas, para que o processo de promoção da consciência corporal seja mais interativo, lúdico e atrativo

Virtual world affordances for people with lifelong disability

"The findings from this thesis show that virtual worlds offer valuable affordances for people with lifelong disability and identify six affordances offered: communication, mobility, personalization, social inclusion, personal development, and joint activity. The study also concludes that the affordances identified may represent constraints to some people because of their disability