Evaluating the Microsoft HoloLens through an augmented reality assembly application

Industry and academia have repeatedly demonstrated the transformative potential of Augmented Reality (AR) guided assembly instructions. In the past, however, computational and hardware limitations often dictated that these systems were deployed on tablets or other cumbersome devices. Often, tablets impede worker progress by diverting a user\u27s hands and attention, forcing them to alternate between the instructions and the assembly process. Head Mounted Displays (HMDs) overcome those diversions by allowing users to view the instructions in a hands-free manner while simultaneously performing an assembly operation. Thanks to rapid technological advances, wireless commodity AR HMDs are becoming commercially available. Specifically, the pioneering Microsoft HoloLens, provides an opportunity to explore a hands-free HMD’s ability to deliver AR assembly instructions and what a user interface looks like for such an application. Such an exploration is necessary because it is not certain how previous research on user interfaces will transfer to the HoloLens or other new commodity HMDs. In addition, while new HMD technology is promising, its ability to deliver a robust AR assembly experience is still unknown. To assess the HoloLens’ potential for delivering AR assembly instructions, the cross-platform Unity 3D game engine was used to build a proof of concept application. Features focused upon when building the prototype were: user interfaces, dynamic 3D assembly instructions, and spatially registered content placement. The research showed that while the HoloLens is a promising system, there are still areas that require improvement, such as tracking accuracy, before the device is ready for deployment in a factory assembly setting

The Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Principal Investigators (PI) Guide: Development of a Best Practices Website

With the help of the National Science Foundation (NSF), many Principal Investigators (PIs) have been able to mentor undergraduates through Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) site awards. These REU sites are critical to the development of future graduate students, but can be challenging to run due to several required skills outside the scope of most faculty members' expertise, e.g., recruiting applicants, navigating the logistics of housing visiting undergraduate students, and tracking student outcomes after their REU experiences. In recent years, REU PIs in NSF's Computer & Information Science & Engineering (CISE) Directorate have come together through PI meetings to share best practices for running a successful REU site. While PIs inevitably take different approaches to running their sites based on their research projects, there is still a need to provide new PIs with guidance on the different aspects of an REU site such as identifying resources that can assist in recruiting women and underrepresented minority applicants, providing training for graduate students acting as mentors, and strategies for keeping a mentoring connection to undergraduate researchers after they return to their home institutions. Currently, REU site preparation and orientation for new PIs is a face-to-face process that requires careful planning and significant travel costs. The REU PI Guide, a set of web-based resources, was developed to share best practices of experienced PIs and build capacity within the REU PI community in a more scalable and cost-effective way. The REU PI Guide allows PIs to look up advice and guidance when needed and share their own best practices. This paper describes our approach to designing the REU PI Guide. The Guide is a database of documents, examples, and overviews of the different aspects of running an REU site. The Guide was developed by assessing new PIs' needs at an NSF workshop for new PIs, gathering existing resources from experienced PIs, creating and refining a website, and evaluation with new PIs. The website’s content and design will be refined through on-going feedback from PIs and other REU site stakeholders. This site has the potential broader impact to share best practices with REU PIs outside the CISE directorate and significantly ease the process of engaging future scientists via REU sites.This proceeding is published as Iglesias Pena, Mariangely, Stephen B. Gilbert, and Jamie Payton. "The Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Principal Investigators (PI) Guide: Development of a best practices website." 2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition. Paper no. 22172. DOI: 10.18260/1-2--31121. Posted with permission.</p

Evaluating the Microsoft HoloLens through an augmented reality assembly application

Industry and academia have repeatedly demonstrated the transformative potential of Augmented Reality (AR) guided assembly instructions. In the past, however, computational and hardware limitations often dictated that these systems were deployed on tablets or other cumbersome devices. Often, tablets impede worker progress by diverting a user's hands and attention, forcing them to alternate between the instructions and the assembly process. Head Mounted Displays (HMDs) overcome those diversions by allowing users to view the instructions in a hands-free manner while simultaneously performing an assembly operation. Thanks to rapid technological advances, wireless commodity AR HMDs are becoming commercially available. Specifically, the pioneering Microsoft HoloLens, provides an opportunity to explore a hands-free HMD’s ability to deliver AR assembly instructions and what a user interface looks like for such an application. Such an exploration is necessary because it is not certain how previous research on user interfaces will transfer to the HoloLens or other new commodity HMDs. In addition, while new HMD technology is promising, its ability to deliver a robust AR assembly experience is still unknown. To assess the HoloLens’ potential for delivering AR assembly instructions, the cross-platform Unity 3D game engine was used to build a proof of concept application. Features focused upon when building the prototype were: user interfaces, dynamic 3D assembly instructions, and spatially registered content placement. The research showed that while the HoloLens is a promising system, there are still areas that require improvement, such as tracking accuracy, before the device is ready for deployment in a factory assembly setting.This proceeding is published as Evans, Gabriel, Jack Miller, Mariangely Iglesias Pena, Anastacia MacAllister, and Eliot Winer. "Evaluating the Microsoft HoloLens through an augmented reality assembly application." In SPIE Defense+Security, Proceedings SPIE, Volume 10197, Article 101970V, Degraded Environments: Sensing, Processing, and Display 2017. Anaheim, California; April 11-12, 2017. DOI: 10.1117/12.2262626. Posted with permission.</p

Geografía de la Salud sin fronteras, desde Iberoamérica

Este libro de Geografía sin fronteras, desde Iberoamérica, reúne trabajos de especialistas en materia de Geografía de la salud de países de Iberoamérica, con diversidad de enfoques y métodos, que permitirá al lector tener una visión del estado actual de esta rama holística e integral de la geografía y la importancia que tiene en la solución de problemas que aquejan nuestra sociedad. El libro se estructura en tres partes: la primera aborda aspectos epistemológicos, teórico conceptuales; en la segunda se presentan las aplicaciones de los SIG y aspectos metodológicos para abordar la salud púbica; y en la tercera se presentan estudios de caso. En la primera parte se aborda la epistemología de la Geografía de la salud: retos y convergencias; geografía y salud: integración de conocimientos y prácticas, como un modo de mirar hacia el mundo a partir de la geografía. Se desarrolla la dimensión local de lo cotidiano de la salud en el territorio; se abordan los procesos de urbanización y resultados en salud; se presenta el tema de la planeación estratégica, un nuevo pensamiento hacia la construcción de ciudades saludables; se abordan reflexiones sobre el estado del arte en la gestión municipal del riesgo de desastres en México. El último tema de esta primera parte del libro es sobre “La geografía médica de Jesús Galindo y Villa”, en el que se analizan los elementos que permitieron construir una cartografía desde la perspectiva de la Geografía de la Salud. La segunda parte del libro incluye aplicaciones de los SIG y metodologías. El primer trabajo es la metodología de evaluación multicriterio en el análisis espacial de la salud, cuyo objetivo es brindar elementos para el apoyo a la toma de decisiones que apunten a lograr una mejora en la calidad de vida de la población. Otra temática es la aplicación de las geo-tecnologías en la geografía de la salud, como los sistemas de información geográfica (SIG), los cuales se ha incrementado su uso en el campo de la salud en los últimos años. Las aplicaciones son muy diversas pueden utilizarse para trazar la ruta más efectiva que seguirá una ambulancia, para ubicar los servicios médicos de una ciudad, así como para analizar patrones de distribución de una determinada enfermedad. Se aborda el tema de tendencias y escenario para el 2020 de la diabetes mellitus en el Estado de México con el propósito es incentivar la iniciativa de políticas públicas que incidan en la disminución de esta enfermedad e impulsar estilos de vida más saludables, principalmente en municipios más vulnerables. La tercera parte del libro son estudios de caso de latitudes diferentes: de Puerto Rico, de México y de Chile, en los que se desarrollan las temáticas de riesgos naturales, vulnerabilidad, contaminación en ciudades, estilos de vida, espacios verdes y análisis espacial estadístico y comparativo de la práctica agroecológica. Exhortamos al lector a leer este valioso documento que le permitirá contar con bases teórico conceptuales, conocer algunas aplicaciones y tener una visión del potencial de la geografía de la salud. Agradecemos los valiosos aportes de los colegas participantes en esta obra, como una de las pocas en esta temática en idioma español y portugués, que sin duda seguirá fortaleciendo esta rama de la geografía. También agradecemos a las autoridades de la Facultad de Geografía de la Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México y de la Coordinación para la Innovación y la Aplicación de la Ciencia y la Tecnología de la Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí, por el valioso apoyo brindado para la publicación de este libro