Citizen science and the professional-amateur divide: lessons from differing online practices

Online citizen science platforms increasingly provide types of infrastructural support previously only available to organisationally-based professional scientists. Other practices, such as creative arts, also exploit the freedom and accessibility afforded by the World Wide Web to shift the professional-amateur relationship. This paper compares communities from these two areas to show that disparate practices can learn from each other to better understand their users and their technology needs. Three major areas are discussed: mutual acknowledgement, infrastructural support, and platform specialisation. We discuss the advantages and disadvantages of differing practices, and lessons that can be learnt for online citizen science platforms

Planet Four: Craters - Optimizing task workflow to improve volunteer engagement and crater counting performance

Virtual citizen science platforms allow nonscientists to take part in scientific research across a range of disciplines, including planetary science. What is required of the volunteer can vary considerably in terms of task type, variety, judgment required, and autonomy—even when the overall goal is unchanged. Through analysis of our live Zooniverse Planet Four: Craters citizen science platform, the effects of task workflow design factors including volunteer autonomy, task variety, task type, and judgment required on volunteer engagement and crater marking performance were investigated. Website analytics showed volunteers using the Full interface (most autonomy and variety) were more likely to return to the platform, although the amount of time spent per visit was unaffected by the interface used. However, analysis of performance suggested that how this time was used did differ. The interface involving the least complex task resulted in the greatest amount of data and rate of collection, although this also coincided with a greater number of false positives when compared with the expert. Performance in terms of agreement, both between participants and with the expert judgment, was significantly improved when using the Stepped interface for crater position and the Ramped (Mark) when measuring diameter—interfaces that both directly measured the metric with a specific, delineated task. The implications for planetary scientists considering the citizen science route is that there is a balancing act to perform, weighing the importance of volunteer engagement with scientists' data needs and the resources that can be committed to data validation

A sociotechnical system approach to virtual citizen science: an application of BS ISO 27500:2016

We discuss the potential application to virtual citizen science of a recent standard (BS ISO 27500:2016 "The human-centred organisation") which encourages the adoption of a sociotechnical systems perspective across a wide range of businesses, organizations and ventures. Key tenets of the standard concern taking a total systems approach, capitalizing on individual differences as a strength, making usability and accessibility strategic objectives, valuing personnel and paying attention to ethical and values-led elements of the project in terms of being open and trustworthy, social responsibility and health and wellbeing. Drawing upon our experience of projects in our laboratory and the wider literature, we outline the principles identified in the standard and offer citizen science themed interpretations and examples of possible responses

A sociotechnical system approach to virtual citizen science: an application of BS ISO 27500:2016

We discuss the potential application to virtual citizen science of a recent standard (BS ISO 27500:2016 "The human-centred organisation") which encourages the adoption of a sociotechnical systems perspective across a wide range of businesses, organizations and ventures. Key tenets of the standard concern taking a total systems approach, capitalizing on individual differences as a strength, making usability and accessibility strategic objectives, valuing personnel and paying attention to ethical and values-led elements of the project in terms of being open and trustworthy, social responsibility and health and wellbeing. Drawing upon our experience of projects in our laboratory and the wider literature, we outline the principles identified in the standard and offer citizen science themed interpretations and examples of possible responses

Patient-maintained propofol sedation: the anaesthetists' point of view

Many operations within the UK do not require general anaesthesia, and are instead carried out under sedation. A doctor normally provides this, and as the patient is not in control, they may be either under or over-sedated due to a misjudgement of patient anxiety. One solution would be to allow the patients to directly control their own sedation level. This paper presents an invention for innovation (i4i) project developing such a Patient Maintained Propofol Sedation Device (PMPSD). Due to the health risks associated with under and over-sedation, the anaesthetists' interface takes on an added importance to ensure they can oversee the process and intervene when needed. Through the project, a unique opportunity has arisen where anaesthetists have been involved throughout the interface design process, contributing to the development and testing of a prototype. We present this prototype, highlight its key features and how it differs from existing sedation pump interface systems. As the project continues, the interface will be used as part of a clinical trial at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust involving 80 orthopaedic patients throughout the rest of 2018 and into 2019

A feasibility and comparison study of Autonomous Robotic Vehicles for the FMCG manufacturing sector

As we are approaching the fourth industrial revolution of Industry 4.0, many companies including Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) and Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) companies are currently conducting feasibility studies and researching the potentials of autonomous robots and vehicles in future massproduction processes. Compared to their Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV) predecessors, they are deemed to be far more economical to install and integrated into brownfield sites with more ease. This work presents a specification based comparison study of market leaders that evaluates the specifications given for 16 ARV technologies available globally and within the UK. From this comparison study a feasibility study of two similarly specified ARVs could be conducted, most notably the Omron LD-CT130 AIV. If Industry 4.0 is fully exploited, it has the opportunity to cause an increased efficiency and reduce overall costs within a company, and making processes lean. Failure to embrace ARV technology will result in the potential loss of jobs. There is of course resentment for change from modern Luddites. However, the 4th Industrial Revolution is inevitable and should be embraced. Wartzman (2015) suggested two approaches working hand in hand in for Industry 4.0: preparing for a future career, and encouraging continuous learning within industry with organisations retraining employees. Moreover, industries should train and educate themselves and employees regarding how to accommodate ARV technologies in order to retain jobs in the future

A prototype patient-maintained propofol sedation system using target controlled infusion for primary lower-limb arthroplasty

Each year, many operations in the UK are performed with the patient awake, without the use of general anaesthesia. These include joint replacement procedures, and in order to reduce patient anxiety, the supervising anaesthetist delivers the sedative propofol intravenously using a target-controlled infusion (TCI) device. However, it is clinically challenging to judge the required effect-site concentration of sedative for an individual patient, resulting in patient care issues related to over or under-sedation. To improve the process, patient-maintained propofol sedation (PMPS), where the patient can request an increase in concentration through a hand-held button, has been considered as an alternative. However, due to the proprietary nature of modern TCI pumps, the majority of PMPS research has been conducted using prototypes in research studies. In this work, a PMPS system is presented that effectively converts a standard infusion pump into a TCI device using a laptop with TCI software. Functionally, the system delivers sedation analogous to a modern TCI pump, with the differences in propofol consumption and dosage within the tolerance of clinically approved devices. Therefore, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has approved the system as a safe alternative to anaesthetist-controlled TCI procedures. It represents a step forward in the consideration of PMPS as a sedation method as viable alternative, allowing further assessment in clinical trials

User experience of digital technologies in citizen science

The growing interest in citizen science has resulted in a new range of digital tools that facilitate the interaction and communications between citizens and scientists. Considering the ever increasing number of applications that currently exist, it is surprising how little we know about how volunteers interact with these technologies, what they expect from them, and why these technologies succeed or fail. Aiming to address this gap, JCOM organized this special issue on the role of User Experience (UX) of digital technologies in citizen science which is the first to focus on the qualities and impacts of interface and user design within citizen science. Seven papers are included that highlight three key aspects of user-focused research and methodological approaches. In the first category, "design standards", the authors explore the applicability of existing standards, build and evaluate a set of guidelines to improve interactions with citizen science applications. In the second, "design methods", methodological approaches for getting user feedback, analysing user behaviour and exploring different interface designs modes are explored. Finally, "user experience in the physical and digital world" explores crossovers with other fields to improve our understanding of user experiences and demonstrate how design choices not only influence digital interactions but also shape interactions with the wider world

Low cost, user friendly embedded machine vision system implementation for high-speed industrial manufacture

The future of manufacturing environments is becoming increasingly intelligent. With Industry 4.0, and lean production strategies, many manufacturers are considering investing in intelligent, real time, and non-destructive machine vision (MV) systems for product manufacture fault analysis [2]. This technology is improving rapidly in both the industrial and consumer sectors [3]. This work presents the development of a low cost, user friendly embedded machine vision system for use in industrial snack manufacturing. Previous attempts at using a high cost ~£10000 system failed, due to inadequate knowledge for successful integration. The OpenMV cam M7 was procured as a low cost ~£100, simpler alternative. The system achieved 88% ±1% sensitivity and precision in detecting products on a live production line. Therefore this is a viable prototyping option for machine vision novices, enabling informed decisions thereafter