Multimodal 3D User Interfaces for Augmented Reality and Omni-Directional Video

[EN] Human-Computer Interaction is a multidisciplinary research field that combines, amongst others, Computer Science and Psychology. It studies human-computer interfaces from the point of view of both, technology and the user experience. Researchers in this area have now a great opportunity, mostly because the technology required to develop 3D user interfaces for computer applications (e.g. visualization, tracking or portable devices) is now more affordable than a few years ago. Augmented Reality and Omni-Directional Video are two promising examples of this type of interfaces where the user is able to interact with the application in the three-dimensional space beyond the 2D screen. The work described in this thesis is focused on the evaluation of interaction aspects in both types of applications. The main goal is contributing to increase the knowledge about this new type of interfaces to improve their design. We evaluate how computer interfaces can convey information to the user in Augmented Reality applications exploiting human multisensory capabilities. Furthermore, we evaluate how the user can give commands to the system using more than one type of input modality, studying Omnidirectional Video gesture-based interaction. We describe the experiments we performed, outline the results for each particular scenario and discuss the general implications of our findings.[ES] El campo de la Interacción Persona-Computadora es un área multidisciplinaria que combina, entre otras a las Ciencias de la Computación y Psicología. Estudia la interacción entre los sistemas computacionales y las personas considerando tanto el desarrollo tecnológico, como la experiencia del usuario. Los dispositivos necesarios para crear interfaces de usuario 3D son ahora más asequibles que nunca (v.gr. dispositivos de visualización, de seguimiento o móviles) abriendo así un área de oportunidad para los investigadores de esta disciplina. La Realidad Aumentada y el Video Omnidireccional son dos ejemplos de este tipo de interfaces en donde el usuario es capaz de interactuar en el espacio tridimensional más allá de la pantalla de la computadora. El trabajo presentado en esta tesis se centra en la evaluación de la interacción del usuario con estos dos tipos de aplicaciones. El objetivo principal es contribuir a incrementar la base de conocimiento sobre este tipo de interfaces y así, mejorar su diseño. En este trabajo investigamos de qué manera se pueden emplear de forma eficiente las interfaces multimodales para proporcionar información relevante en aplicaciones de Realidad Aumentada. Además, evaluamos de qué forma el usuario puede usar interfaces 3D usando más de un tipo de interacción; para ello evaluamos la interacción basada en gestos para Video Omnidireccional. A lo largo de este documento se describen los experimentos realizados y los resultados obtenidos para cada caso en particular. Se presenta además una discusión general de los resultados.[CA] El camp de la Interacció Persona-Ordinador és una àrea d'investigació multidisciplinar que combina, entre d'altres, les Ciències de la Informàtica i de la Psicologia. Estudia la interacció entre els sistemes computacionals i les persones considerant tant el desenvolupament tecnològic, com l'experiència de l'usuari. Els dispositius necessaris per a crear interfícies d'usuari 3D són ara més assequibles que mai (v.gr. dispositius de visualització, de seguiment o mòbils) obrint així una àrea d'oportunitat per als investigadors d'aquesta disciplina. La Realitat Augmentada i el Vídeo Omnidireccional són dos exemples d'aquest tipus d'interfícies on l'usuari és capaç d'interactuar en l'espai tridimensional més enllà de la pantalla de l'ordinador. El treball presentat en aquesta tesi se centra en l'avaluació de la interacció de l'usuari amb aquests dos tipus d'aplicacions. L'objectiu principal és contribuir a augmentar el coneixement sobre aquest nou tipus d'interfícies i així, millorar el seu disseny. En aquest treball investiguem de quina manera es poden utilitzar de forma eficient les interfícies multimodals per a proporcionar informació rellevant en aplicacions de Realitat Augmentada. A més, avaluem com l'usuari pot utilitzar interfícies 3D utilitzant més d'un tipus d'interacció; per aquesta raó, avaluem la interacció basada en gest per a Vídeo Omnidireccional. Al llarg d'aquest document es descriuen els experiments realitzats i els resultats obtinguts per a cada cas particular. A més a més, es presenta una discussió general dels resultats.Rovelo Ruiz, GA. (2015). Multimodal 3D User Interfaces for Augmented Reality and Omni-Directional Video [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/53916TESI

The CoroPrevention-SDM Approach : A Technology-supported Shared Decision Making Approach for a Comprehensive Secondary Prevention Program for Cardiac Patients

After a cardiac event, secondary prevention is recommended to foster recovery and reduce the risk of recurrent events. European guidelines and EAPC position statements on prevention of cardiovascular diseases recommend a holistic approach that actively engages patients by using shared decision making (SDM). It has been demonstrated that telerehabilitation can be a feasible and effective add-on or alternative compared to conventional in-hospital secondary prevention. However, till date, there is no eHealth solution that offers a holistic approach for secondary prevention that includes SDM. In this paper, we present the CoroPrevention-SDM approach, a technology-supported shared decision making approach for a comprehensive secondary prevention program for cardiac patients. The CoroPrevention Tool Suite consists of three applications that support patients and caregivers in following this approach: 1) a caregiver dashboard that includes decision support systems and supports SDM, 2) a patient mobile application that supports patients in making behaviour changes in their daily life, and 3) an extended ePRO application that collects patient reported outcomes and patient preferences. In a formative usability study, we assessed patients’ and caregivers’ opinion about our approach. The study indicated that both are willing to use our proposed approach to collaboratively set behavioural goals during SDM encounters.publishedVersionPeer reviewe

Do clinicians prescribe exercise similarly in patients with different cardiovascular diseases? Findings from the EAPC EXPERT working group survey

Background: Although disease-specific exercise guidelines for cardiovascular disease (CVD) are widely available, it remains uncertain whether these different exercise guidelines are integrated properly for patients with different CVDs. The aim of this study was to assess the inter-clinician variance in exercise prescription for patients with various CVDs and to compare these prescriptions with recommendations from the EXercise Prescription in Everyday practice and Rehabilitative Training (EXPERT) tool, a digital decision support system for integrated state-of-the-art exercise prescription in CVD. Design: The study was a prospective observational survey. Methods: Fifty-three CV rehabilitation clinicians from nine European countries were asked to prescribe exercise intensity (based on percentage of peak heart rate (HRpeak)), frequency, session duration, programme duration and exercise type (endurance or strength training) for the same five patients. Exercise prescriptions were compared between clinicians, and relationships with clinician characteristics were studied. In addition, these exercise prescriptions were compared with recommendations from the EXPERT tool. Results: A large inter-clinician variance was found for prescribed exercise intensity (median (interquartile range (IQR)): 83 (13) % of HRpeak), frequency (median (IQR): 4 (2) days/week), session duration (median (IQR): 45 (18) min/session), programme duration (median (IQR): 12 (18) weeks), total exercise volume (median (IQR): 1215 (1961) peak-effort training hours) and prescription of strength training exercises (prescribed in 78% of all cases). Moreover, clinicians’ exercise prescriptions were significantly different from those of the EXPERT tool (p < 0.001). Conclusions: This study reveals significant inter-clinician variance in exercise prescription for patients with different CVDs and disagreement with an integrated state-of-the-art system for exercise prescription, justifying the need for standardization efforts regarding integrated exercise prescription in CV rehabilitation

Sistema de ayuda a la enseñanza de Geometría basado en Realidad Aumentada

Se presenta un nuevo sistema de Realidad Aumentada para la enseñanza de conceptos abstractos en Geometría. El sistema muestra escenas 3D interactivas que pueden ser exploradas y manipuladas por los estudiantes usando marcadores que son utilizados como herramientas. También permite que el alumno resuelva ejercicios preparados por el profesor.Rovelo Ruiz, GA. (2009). Sistema de ayuda a la enseñanza de Geometría basado en Realidad Aumentada. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/14554Archivo delegad

Building blocks for creating enjoyable games : a systematic literature review

Designing serious games that engage lots of players is still a challenge, especially for domains that introduce complex, specialised, and tedious tasks that are difficult to represent in a game in terms of entertainment. Therefore, researchers have investigated ways to motivate players, including enjoyment. Enjoyment is tied to emotional experience and is associated with positive player reactions throughout a gameplay session. However, an inventory with concrete elements (including descriptions and empirical proofs) producing that experience is missing. While researchers have investigated enjoyment and its relationship with game design elements (GDE), the efforts remain dispersed and isolated across different areas. Besides, there is no guideline describing this relationship that assists designers in their creation process. Therefore, this paper presents a systematic literature review to provide a detailed understanding of GDE, player enjoyment, and instruments for evaluation. Additionally, an analysis of two successful cases of Games With a Purpose (GWAP, a subset of serious games) for linguistics is presented to highlight the impact of the GDE and providing relationships with the GDE mentioned in this literature review. We found 33 GDE, from which 28 positively affect player enjoyment, and they can be used as building blocks to design enjoyable GWAP (or other serious games). Further, we create a list of instruments that provide an ample understanding of the constructs of player enjoyment, namely enjoyment, immersion, flow, positive affect, and presence. The listed instruments can give researchers higher confidence as they will allow replication and comparison of studies. These two components are critical in the process of design and evaluation of games. Furthermore, the GWAP analysis shows that effectively the GDE are used in GWAP to enhance interaction and player enjoyment. Finally, conclusions and practical suggestions for future work are given

HCI and worker well-being in manufacturing industry

International audienceOperators’ well-being is a key factor for the success of industrial production processes. Even though research has studied the well-being aspects of the industry, such as support and improvement of ergonomics, there is still a long way to go to achieve a sustainable and healthy work context for manufacturing industry. We believe the Human-Computer Interaction community can contribute by developing research on worker well-being in real-life settings. This workshop intends to offer a venue for HCI researchers that focus on worker well-being for the manufacturing industry and other industry domains

Task-oriented arm training for stroke patients based on remote handling technology concepts:A feasibility study

BACKGROUND: Improving arm-hand skill performance is a major therapeutic target in stroke rehabilitation. Arm-hand rehabilitation may be enriched in content and variation by using technology-assisted training. Especially for people with a severely affected arm, technology-assisted training offers more challenging training possibilities. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to explore the feasibility of ReHab-TOAT, a "Remote Handling Based Task-Oriented Arm Training" approach featuring enriched haptic feedback aimed at improving daily activities and participation. METHODS: Five subacute or chronic stroke patients suffering moderate to severe arm-hand impairments and five rehabilitation therapists participated. All participants received 2 ReHab-TOAT sessions. Outcome measure was a bespoke feasibility questionnaire on user experiences and satisfaction regarding 'motivation', 'individualization of training', 'potential training effects', and 'implementation in rehabilitation' of patients and therapists. RESULTS: Both patients and therapists experienced ReHab-TOAT as being feasible. They found ReHab-TOAT very motivating and challenging. All patients perceived an added value of ReHab-TOAT and would continue the training. Small improvements regarding exercise variability were suggested. CONCLUSION: ReHab-TOAT seems to be a feasible and very promising training approach for arm-hand rehabilitation of stroke patients with a moderately or severely affected arm. Further research is necessary to investigate potential training effects of ReHab-TOAT

Exercise Prescription in Patients with Different Combinations of Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors : A Consensus Statement from the EXPERT Working Group

Whereas exercise training is key in the management of patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk (obesity, diabetes, dyslipidaemia, hypertension), clinicians experience difficulties in how to optimally prescribe exercise in patients with different CVD risk factors. Therefore, a consensus statement for state-of-the-art exercise prescription in patients with combinations of CVD risk factors as integrated into a digital training and decision support system (the EXercise Prescription in Everyday practice & Rehabilitative Training (EXPERT) tool) needed to be established. EXPERT working group members systematically reviewed the literature for meta-analyses, systematic reviews and/or clinical studies addressing exercise prescriptions in specific CVD risk factors and formulated exercise recommendations (exercise training intensity, frequency, volume and type, session and programme duration) and exercise safety precautions, for obesity, arterial hypertension, type 1 and 2 diabetes, and dyslipidaemia. The impact of physical fitness, CVD risk altering medications and adverse events during exercise testing was further taken into account to fine-tune this exercise prescription. An algorithm, supported by the interactive EXPERT tool, was developed by Hasselt University based on these data. Specific exercise recommendations were formulated with the aim to decrease adipose tissue mass, improve glycaemic control and blood lipid profile, and lower blood pressure. The impact of medications to improve CVD risk, adverse events during exercise testing and physical fitness was also taken into account. Simulations were made of how the EXPERT tool provides exercise prescriptions according to the variables provided. In this paper, state-of-the-art exercise prescription to patients with combinations of CVD risk factors is formulated, and it is shown how the EXPERT tool may assist clinicians. This contributes to an appropriately tailored exercise regimen for every CVD risk patient