Supporting Tangible User Interaction with Integrated Paper and Electronic Document Management Systems

Although electronic technology has had a significant impact on the way that offices manage documents, in most cases electronic documents have not completely replaced paper documents. As a result, many present-day offices use a combination of paper and electronic documents in their normal work-flow. The problem with this, however, is that it results in information and document management becoming fragmented between the paper and electronic forms. There is, therefore, a need to provide better integration of the management of paper and electronic documents in order to reduce this fragmentation and, where possible, bring the advantages of electronic document management to paper documents. Previous research has investigated methods of incorporating management and tracking of paper documents into electronic document management systems. However, better integration between paper and electronic document management is still needed, and could potentially be achieved by augmenting elements of the physical document management system with electronic circuitry so they can support tangible user interaction with the integrated document management system. Therefore, the aim of this thesis has been to investigate this. The approach that was taken began by identifying the requirements of such integrated systems by studying the document management needs of a number of real-world offices. This was followed by the development of a series of prototype systems designed to function as tangible user interfaces to the integrated document management system. These prototypes were then evaluated against the identified requirements, and a user study was conducted in order to evaluate their usability. The results of these evaluations demonstrate that it is possible to develop systems systems that can utilise tangible user interaction techniques to enhance the integration of paper and electronic document management, and thus better bridge the divide between the physical and virtual worlds of documents

Visualization of physical library shelves to facilitate collection management and retrieval

Electronic cataloguing systems are used by libraries to provide search mechanisms for finding books in their collections. These systems provide limited, if any, tools for browsing content electronically in a manner similar to browsing books on physical library shelves. Furthermore, library patrons often struggle to physically locate and retrieve books, even after they have found what they are looking for using library catalogue systems. A number of prototype technologies have been developed in recent years to assist library users with the task of locating books. These systems are, however, rather limited in their functionality, and generally do not provide tools for remote browsing of library shelves. In this paper we introduce Metis, a system designed to allow virtual viewing of collections, and to assist with physical retrieval of books using a range of desktop and mobile computing devices

Digital management and retrieval of physical documents

Although in today's everyday work environments digital and paper documents co-exist, the systems used to manage them are often completely separate; digital documents are managed using computer systems, while paper documents are organised and managed using manual systems. Since it is unlikely that the widespread use of paper documents will cease to exist in the foreseeable future, digital systems are needed for managing the storage and retrieval of paper documents which better integrate with existing systems for management of digital documents. This paper presents an architecture for a system to digitally manage paper document containers, such as folders, which has been used as the design basis for a prototype system we have developed. This prototype system aims to resolve some of the problems associated with an earlier prototype we have developed to integrate filing of physical folders with digital document management systems

SOPHYA: a system for digital management of ordered physical document collections

In recent years several systems have been developed to integrate the management of physical and digital documents and artefacts. These systems, which often rely on technologies such as RFID, generally detect the location of a digitally tagged item within a collection, with varying degrees of location sensitivity, ranging from a room to a smaller container such as a filing cabinet or briefcase. Despite their obvious value, such systems are not capable of detecting the precise location and ordering of individual items within the managed collection of items. In this paper we present the second generation of our earlier prototype system, called SOPHYA, which utilises a wired technology to allow management and retrieval of documents and artefacts within ordered collections

The ColorDex DJ system: a new interface for live music mixing

This paper describes the design and implementation of a new interface prototype for live music mixing. The ColorDex system employs a completely new operational metaphor which allows the mix DJ to prepare up to six tracks at once, and perform mixes between up to three of those at a time. The basic premises of the design are: 1) Build a performance tool that multiplies the possible choices a DJ has in respect in how and when tracks are prepared and mixed; 2) Design the system in such a way that the tool does not overload the performer with unnecessary complexity, and 3) Make use of novel technology to make the performance of live music mixing more engaging for both the performer and the audience. The core components of the system are: A software program to load, visualize and playback digitally encoded tracks; the HDDJ device (built chiefly out of a repurposed hard disk drive), which provides tactile manipulation of the playback speed and position of tracks; and the Cubic Crossfader, a wireless sensor cube that controls of the volume of individual tracks, and allows the DJ to mix these in interesting ways

Time-based geographical mapping of communicable diseases

Information visualisation methods can potentially be employed to assist the work of epidemiologists and other health care professionals in mapping the spread of communicable diseases in remote areas, where the task of disease surveillance encompasses temporal elements such as changes in climate, land use and population movements. This paper presents an investigation into the use of time-based visualisation techniques coupled with geographical maps and support for distributed mobile collection of patient data. This study has focused on the development of an information visualisation prototype designed for use by epidemiology researchers on mobile platforms (tablets and smart phones). The prototyping activity has involved the participation of prospective users working in the Amazon region. Initial results are presented and discussed

Global variation in postoperative mortality and complications after cancer surgery: a multicentre, prospective cohort study in 82 countries

© 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licenseBackground: 80% of individuals with cancer will require a surgical procedure, yet little comparative data exist on early outcomes in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). We compared postoperative outcomes in breast, colorectal, and gastric cancer surgery in hospitals worldwide, focusing on the effect of disease stage and complications on postoperative mortality. Methods: This was a multicentre, international prospective cohort study of consecutive adult patients undergoing surgery for primary breast, colorectal, or gastric cancer requiring a skin incision done under general or neuraxial anaesthesia. The primary outcome was death or major complication within 30 days of surgery. Multilevel logistic regression determined relationships within three-level nested models of patients within hospitals and countries. Hospital-level infrastructure effects were explored with three-way mediation analyses. This study was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03471494. Findings: Between April 1, 2018, and Jan 31, 2019, we enrolled 15 958 patients from 428 hospitals in 82 countries (high income 9106 patients, 31 countries; upper-middle income 2721 patients, 23 countries; or lower-middle income 4131 patients, 28 countries). Patients in LMICs presented with more advanced disease compared with patients in high-income countries. 30-day mortality was higher for gastric cancer in low-income or lower-middle-income countries (adjusted odds ratio 3·72, 95% CI 1·70–8·16) and for colorectal cancer in low-income or lower-middle-income countries (4·59, 2·39–8·80) and upper-middle-income countries (2·06, 1·11–3·83). No difference in 30-day mortality was seen in breast cancer. The proportion of patients who died after a major complication was greatest in low-income or lower-middle-income countries (6·15, 3·26–11·59) and upper-middle-income countries (3·89, 2·08–7·29). Postoperative death after complications was partly explained by patient factors (60%) and partly by hospital or country (40%). The absence of consistently available postoperative care facilities was associated with seven to 10 more deaths per 100 major complications in LMICs. Cancer stage alone explained little of the early variation in mortality or postoperative complications. Interpretation: Higher levels of mortality after cancer surgery in LMICs was not fully explained by later presentation of disease. The capacity to rescue patients from surgical complications is a tangible opportunity for meaningful intervention. Early death after cancer surgery might be reduced by policies focusing on strengthening perioperative care systems to detect and intervene in common complications. Funding: National Institute for Health Research Global Health Research Unit

Effects of hospital facilities on patient outcomes after cancer surgery: an international, prospective, observational study

© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 licenseBackground: Early death after cancer surgery is higher in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) compared with in high-income countries, yet the impact of facility characteristics on early postoperative outcomes is unknown. The aim of this study was to examine the association between hospital infrastructure, resource availability, and processes on early outcomes after cancer surgery worldwide. Methods: A multimethods analysis was performed as part of the GlobalSurg 3 study—a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study of patients who had surgery for breast, colorectal, or gastric cancer. The primary outcomes were 30-day mortality and 30-day major complication rates. Potentially beneficial hospital facilities were identified by variable selection to select those associated with 30-day mortality. Adjusted outcomes were determined using generalised estimating equations to account for patient characteristics and country-income group, with population stratification by hospital. Findings: Between April 1, 2018, and April 23, 2019, facility-level data were collected for 9685 patients across 238 hospitals in 66 countries (91 hospitals in 20 high-income countries; 57 hospitals in 19 upper-middle-income countries; and 90 hospitals in 27 low-income to lower-middle-income countries). The availability of five hospital facilities was inversely associated with mortality: ultrasound, CT scanner, critical care unit, opioid analgesia, and oncologist. After adjustment for case-mix and country income group, hospitals with three or fewer of these facilities (62 hospitals, 1294 patients) had higher mortality compared with those with four or five (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 3·85 [95% CI 2·58–5·75]; p<0·0001), with excess mortality predominantly explained by a limited capacity to rescue following the development of major complications (63·0% vs 82·7%; OR 0·35 [0·23–0·53]; p<0·0001). Across LMICs, improvements in hospital facilities would prevent one to three deaths for every 100 patients undergoing surgery for cancer. Interpretation: Hospitals with higher levels of infrastructure and resources have better outcomes after cancer surgery, independent of country income. Without urgent strengthening of hospital infrastructure and resources, the reductions in cancer-associated mortality associated with improved access will not be realised. Funding: National Institute for Health and Care Research