Development of a low-cost multimodal VR system for engineering design

Virtual Reality technologies are available at a lower cost than ever before. However, such systems are developed mainly for the consumer market, and inaccuracies in spatial judgements may make them unsuitable for specific applications like Engineering Design. There is evidence to suggest that the addition of haptic feedback may improve spatial judgements, but most commercially available haptic systems are impractical and unaffordable outside of specialist research settings and large enterprises. We describe the challenges for developing a multimodal VR system using only low-cost off-the-shelf technologies, and demonstrate a working prototype of a system which aims to overcome these issues

Telling the difference between deceiving and truth telling: An experiment in a public space

The behavioral experiment presented in this paper investigated deception tasks (both concealment and lying) undertaken in a public space. The degree of risk of deception detection and the demands of self-regulation when deceiving were manipulated. The results showed a significant interaction effect between veracity and risk of deception detection, emerged for the body movement of “hand(s) in pocket(s)”. The incidence of “hand(s) in pocket(s)” was found to increase from truth telling to deceiving conditions when the risk of deception detection was higher, and to decrease from truth telling to deceiving conditions when the risk was lower. Higher risk of deception detection was also found in magnifying the “overall negative and controlled impression” displayed by both deceivers and truth tellers, compared to the lower risk of detection condition. We also discussed the possible effects of risk of deception detection and depletion of self-regulation, on deception behavior. Further studies and the connection between this study and the research community of computer vision and multimodel interaction is also discussed

Multimodal “sensory illusions” for improving spatial awareness in virtual environments

Inaccurate judgement of distances in virtual environments (VEs) restricts their usefulness for engineering development, in which engineers must have a good understanding of the spaces they are designing. Multimodal feedback can improve depth perception in VEs, but this has yet to be implemented and tested in engineering applications with systems which provide haptic feedback to the body. The project reported in this paper will develop a multimodal VE to improve engineers’ understanding of 3D spaces. It will test the concept of “sensory illusions” where the point of collision in the VE differs to the point of haptic feedback on the body. This will permit the use of fewer vibrotactile devices and therefore the development of a more wearable system. This paper describes related work in multisensory and tactile stimulation which suggests that our perception of a stimulus is not fixed to the point of contact

Predicting human behaviour in emergencies

The outcome of an emergency is largely determined by the behaviour of the people involved. To improve the safety of buildings and to increase the effectiveness of response procedures and training programmes it is often necessary to predict human behaviour in emergency situations. There are several approaches which can be used to make these predictions, but not all had previously been systematically analysed and therefore their appropriateness for any given application was unknown. This thesis describes an analysis of approaches for predicting human behaviour in emergencies. The research focussed on approaches which could be used by human factors professionals to extend the contribution this systems-oriented and user-focussed discipline can make to managing risks and reducing danger. The investigated approaches were evaluated against criteria for judging their quality, including validity, reliability, resources, sensitivity and ethics. In research conducted to test the approaches, fire drills, virtual environments (VEs) and a new talk-through approach, in which participants describe the hypothetical actions they would take in an emergency scenario, demonstrated potential for predicting behaviour in emergency situations. These approaches were subsequently evaluated in a standardised comparison, in which each one was applied to analyse the behaviour demonstrated during an evacuation from a university building. The observed frequencies of behaviour produced by each approach were significantly correlated, as were the sequences of behaviour. All of the approaches demonstrated replicability. The resources required to apply each approach were relatively low, especially for the talk-through approach. Based on the findings from this research, and drawing upon previous work from the scientific literature, guidance was provided for selecting approaches and methods for behavioural prediction in emergency situations. The talk-through approach is suitable for use during the concept phase of a design as it is quick to implement and requires low resources. VEs and simulation tools are more appropriate for design activities when detailed CAD models become available. Fire drills can provide useful measures of human behaviour in evacuation scenarios, but require a physical representation of the building or environment under investigation. Fire drills, VEs and simulation tools can be used to inform emergency response procedures. Predictions from all of the aforementioned approaches can support the development of training programmes. This guidance was previously unavailable to human factors professionals and now serves both to inform design work and support the evaluation of existing evacuation procedures and protocols

Development of a technique for predicting the human response to an emergency situation

This paper presents development work on a new approach for predicting the human response to an emergency situation. The study builds upon an initial investigation in which 20 participants were asked to predict what actions they would take in the event of a domestic fire [1]. The development work involved a retest with an additional 20 participants to investigate the reliability of the approach. Furthermore, the analysis procedure was improved such that the results represented more accurately those which could be obtained from practical application of the approach. As found in the initial investigation, the frequencies and sequences of the reported acts had significant relationships with a study of behavior in real fires [2] (Spearman’s rho: 0.323, N=55, p<0.05) and (Spearman’s rho: 0.340, N=37, p<0.05), respectively. Further development work is required, but the results indicate that the approach may have use for predicting human behavior in emergencies

Exploring new connections between the physical and digital for future heritage interpretations

New forms of connections between information and the physical world create opportunities for novel activities around heritage. This paper analyses a technological progression from linking data and content to locations, towards data captured by and linked to everyday objects. The former is exemplified by a study which explored community-based inquiry activities at a historical cemetery site. To explore the latter, we are developing a series of scenarios and visualisations to analyse peoples’ interpretations of contextual footprints – current and historical data gathered through the Internet of Things

DiFac: Digital Factory for Human Oriented Production System

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Variability of human behaviour in outdoor public spaces, associated with the thermal environment

This paper presents part of the outcomes of a programme of research into the influence of the thermal environment on human behaviour in an outdoor public seating area. The research was conducted during one month in summer, autumn and winter of 2015 and 2016. The data gathered consists in the conduct of people using a public square in Nottingham city centre, and measurements of the environmental conditions taken at that place. The data of Number of People and the Size of Groups of people, were analysed according with the thermal environment of the place. The results showed a strong significant correlation between Number of People and Globe Temperature_sun [r = .66, p < .001]. A multiple regression analysis found that the Number of People per minute in a public space can be predicted using the Globe Temperature_sun and the Wind Speed data of that place [R-square of .39, p < 0.001]. These prediction models can be used to forecast the occupancy of the place and the grouping of users under different environmental conditions. The results can assist the design of urban spaces by allowing testing their future use with predicted data of human behaviour. In addition, the data obtained will serve as a foundation for further research about the human behaviour in public spaces

SHION (Smart tHermoplastic InjectiON): An Interactive Digital Twin Supporting Real-Time Shopfloor Operations

Injection molding is widely used to produce plastic components with large lot size. However, guaranteeing consistency and quality of parts in injection molding is challenging. Failures occur due to variation during injection cycles. Thus, real-time detection of failures will have a high impact on quality and productivity. This article is focused on Smart tHermoplastic injectION (SHION), a cloud-based Digital Twin supported by AI-based control of process parameters. Process parameters and their interrelationship with quality failure were studied and used to generate models for real-time prediction of part quality. Two injection manufacturing lines in industry were chosen for data acquisition, implementation, and validation of the Digital Twin. While SHION successfully predicted faulty products in real time, adoption of traditional Cloud-centric Internet of Things approaches poses unforeseen practical challenges such as exposure to risk of losing data due to network issues and prohibitive cost of regularly transferring a large amount data to Cloud services