Development of a Hardware/Software System for Proprioception Exergaming

Physiotherapy and rehabilitation are getting ever more relevance as an integral part of healthcare devising and employing new, effective methodologies and tools. However, not seldom are such tools boring and difficult to use properly for achieving the given training and therapeutic goals. Exergaming, the combination of physical exercise and video gaming, may help to overcome these issues by offering enjoyment and motivation. However, the literature lacks papers investigating how to integrate such devices into a serious game combining effectiveness and enjoyment. In this paper, we focus on the Balance Board (BB), a device used in gyms and in several health-related applications [1], and present an exergaming system for proprioception training. The system includes a BB, which was instrumented to act as a motion controller for an ad-hoc developed, simple 3D video game. The system aims to provide enjoyable training with the BB, boosting equilibrium exercising through the simulation of downhill skiing. We validated the score computation and tested the efficacy of the system in a user test with 40 participants, in ecological settings. The evaluation concerned user performance and a game experience questionnaire. The results showed statistically significant improvement in players’ ability to use the BB. Users also reported a positive gameplay experience

VERSO IL CONCETTO DI SMART CITY: SOLUZIONI IOT EDGE-CLOUD

Since the term was coined by Kevin Ashton in 1999, the Internet of Things (IoT) did not gain considerable popularity until 2010 where it became a strategic priority for governments, companies, and research centers. Despite this large-scale interest, IoT only reached mass markets in 2014 in the form of wearable devices and fitness trackers, home automation, industrial asset monitoring, and smart energy meters. The \u2018things\u2019 refer to sensors and other smart devices with the ability to monitor an object\u2019s state, or even control it using actuators. Ashton envisaged that when such sensors and smart devices were on a ubiquitous network \u2013 the Internet \u2013 they would have far more value. Trending data-centric technologies in the IoT involve security and data governance, infrastructure (edge & cloud analytics), data processing, advanced analytics, and data integrating and messaging. These technologies are supported by cloud computing service models that include three major layers \u2013 Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). Of the three, IaaS is the foundation while SaaS is the top layer functioning off both PaaS and IaaS. Interestingly enough, although SaaS is normally represented in graphics as the smallest layer of Cloud infrastructure, it is anything but. The IaaS layer of Cloud Computing is comprised of all the hardware needed to make Cloud Computing possible. The PaaS layer of the Cloud is a framework for developers that they can build upon and use to create customized applications. Built on top of both IaaS and PaaS, Software as a Service provides applications, programs, software, and web tools to the public for free or for a price. By the year 2020, trillions of gigabytes of data will be generated through the Internet of Things. This is no doubt difficult to comprehend easily. However, with the growing number of connected devices it is not surprising that by 2020, more than ten billion sensors and devices will be connected to the internet. Furthermore, all of these devices will gather, analyze, share, and transmit data in real-time. Hence, without the data, IoT devices would not hold the functionalities and capabilities which have made them achieve so much worldwide attention. If organizations are not in a position to somehow ingest, process and analyze these data, then it becomes worthless, and the IoT project will be considered a failure. Unlike a traditional IT system, IoT systems are cyber-physical systems involving both humans and machines as end-users. Their interaction forms a complex web of M2M (Machine to Machine) and H2M (Human to Machine) transactions. Right from device firmware, to network interfaces, extending all the way to business logic defined in cloud application and user app, software remains the most critical driver in IoT. Similarly, Edge computing presents great opportunities to achieve ubiquitous computation in the Internet ecosystem. It is proposed to overcome the intrinsic challenges of computing on the cloud side. Edge computing offers to gather more sensory data, reducing the response time, freeing up network bandwidth, and ultimately reducing the workload on the cloud. In the effort to elevate support for technologies that are directed toward IoT in smart cities concept, support for developers and service providers is critical especially regarding fast and feasible deployment of IoT solutions and assets. To that end, I focused during my research on ways and methods to exploit generic IoT solutions; Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and edge engines. In this book, I present Atmosphere, a novel edge-to-cloud solution for supporting development and deployment by IoT developers and service providers. Atmosphere cloud is a SaaS deployment-ready model, while Atmosphere edge is a lightweight edge engine for IoT device management. Needless to say, testing the various software components is essential to ensure a safe and reliable IoT system. The solutions I contributed to were tested in multiple projects of varying volumes and challenges. In some projects, using the generic concept was straight forward, while in others, where the structure of the IoT data was complicated and restrictions were established by the partners, the integration was challenging

IoT Grid alignment assistant system for dynamic wireless charging of electric vehicles

Several technological solutions are being researched to establish efficient, reliable, and robust wireless vehicular electric charging on a wide scale. We propose an artificial vision system-the Grid Alignment Assistant System (GAAS)- A imed at maximizing the energy flow between the transmitting and receiving goals, by supporting the driver in the task of keeping an alignment between the vehicle and the charging grids in the road. GAAS exploits low cost and open hardware and software components. GAAS supports IoT capabilities as an API cloud service is developed for real-time measurements storage. This paper presents road test results showing that high precision misalignment estimations can be achieved, and presents some challenges imposed by the actual deployment environment

Atmosphere, an Open Source Measurement-Oriented Data Framework for IoT

The ever more extensive data collection from Internet of Thing (IoT) devices stresses the need for efficient application development tools. State-of-the-art IoT cloud services are powerful, but the best solutions are proprietary, and there is a growing demand for interoperability and standardization. We have investigated how to develop a nonvendor-locked framework, which exploits state of the art data management technologies, and targets effective and efficient development in this article. Focusing on the concept of measurement, we abstracted an architecture that could be applied in a variety of domains and contexts. We tested the framework and its workflow in four use cases analyzing data and enabling new services in health, automotive, and instruction. Our experience showed the benefits of the development tool, which is not tied to a commercial platform, nor requires the huge set-up times needed to start a project from scratch. The tool is released open-source, particularly supporting collaborative researc

Design and implementation of an IoT system for enhancing proprioception training

This paper presents a motion sensing add-on and a graphical user interface for the balance board. Our system adds kinetic sensing to the board in order to record its rotation in the 3D space. A sports game, a 3D video game for ski training, is set to be controlled by the rotation of the balance board. The system thus adds to the balance board IoT capabilities

Building a Tangible Serious Game Framework for Elementary Spatial and Geometry Concepts

Tangible learning is a promising branch, especially for scientific learning, allowing an enhanced sensorial involvement and participation by children. While a lot is being done on the side of programming, less has been investigated on elementary spatial and geometric concepts. The paper presents i-Vertex, an open-hardware framework for tangible serious games on geometry concepts for primary school pupils. The framework targets spatial reasoning and includes music as a related and complementary feature, which should add value also for usability. i-Vertex supports collaboration between kids and the key role of a teacher as an adult that interacts with the children in different ways, introducing them to the discovery and understanding of basic geometric concepts and physical phenomenon. At present, we have built a prototype, featuring a very limited number of vertices, and functionally tested it in lab, in two main scenarios covering topics such as lines and triangles. Based on the successful feedback of this experiment, we intend to proceed further, upgrading the platform with a more powerful and product oriented micro-controller and board

Optimization of the design of a barbed suture for flexor tendon repair using extended finite element analysis

Aim: Use of barbed sutures for flexor tendon repair is a promising technique. These sutures lie within the substance of the tendon, avoiding the need of external knots and so improving tendon gliding. The load is dispersed equally along the length of the barbed suture, decreasing the possibility of rupture. The purpose of this article is to propose enhanced suture geometry by comparing different cross-sectional configurations, barb cut angles and cut depths using the finite element method.Methods: Inspired by the geometry of flexor tendons, an elliptical cross-sectional wire was investigated. Mechanical behavior of five different aspect ratios (ρ = 1/3, 1/2, 1, 2, 3), three different cut angles (150°, 154°, 160°) and three cut depths (0.07-mm, 0.12-mm, 0.18-mm) were studied via extended finite element analysis using ABAQUS, for two different loading conditions: one to assess the strength of the suture and the second to evaluate the strength of a single barb. An extended finite element method has been implemented on ABAQUS to predict crack growth in viscoelastic material.Results: Based on these results, an elliptical suture having an aspect ratio of 1/2, 160° of cut angle, and 0.12-mm of cut depth is recommended.Conclusion: Barbed sutures are a good option for tendon repair. Our experiments assessed the mechanical performance of barbed sutures and suggested an optimized suture geometry for a single-stranded repair technique

Lactuca sativa growth in compacted and non-compacted semi-arid alkaline soil under phosphate fertilizer treatment and cadmium contamination

International audienc