Enhancing a Traditional Ergonomics Tool With Capabilities and Algorithms From Immersive Environments

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
OkJoon Kim ◽  
Uma Jayaram ◽  
Sankar Jayaram ◽  
Craig Palmer
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Design ◽  
Virtual Environments ◽  
Virtual Environment ◽  
Information Exchange ◽  
Ease Of Use ◽  
Human Model ◽  
Evaluation Tools ◽  
Physically Based ◽  
Immersive Environment ◽  
Constraint Based Modeling

This paper presents our continuing work in approaches to link traditional, commercially available ergonomics evaluation tools with virtual environment tools for providing enhanced capabilities for engineering design. Ergonomic evaluation tools in engineering design are fairly mature and are used in important and specific ways to analyze human model postures in industry. The promising capabilities of immersive environment tools such as realistic environments and interactions, constraint-based modeling, and physically-based modeling are attractive to industry but have so far been available only in environments separate from the traditional ergonomics analysis tools. Our research seeks to create well-integrated synergistic approaches that will complement traditional ergonomics tools with a careful assimilation of capabilities and algorithms from a virtual environment. The information exchange, representations, communication, and computational issues involved in achieving this connectivity are discussed in this paper. We demonstrate this functionality between a commercial ergonomics tool and an immersive assembly system. It is anticipated that this synergy between an ergonomics tool and a virtual environment will lead to breakthroughs and ease of use benefits similar to those that have now been obtained by the close integration of CAD and virtual environments.

Portraying and Understanding Large-Scale Distributed Virtual Environments: Experience and Tentative Conclusions

1995 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 146-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin R. Stytz ◽  
Bruce Hobbs ◽  
Andrea Kunz ◽  
Brian Soltz ◽  
Kirk Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Environments ◽  
Virtual Environment ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Autonomous Agents ◽  
Distributed Simulation ◽  
Ease Of Use ◽  
Space Environment ◽  
Interactive Control ◽  
Near Earth Space ◽  
Distributed Virtual Environments

The Distributed Simulation Internet (DSI) provides users access to large-scale, complex, active, unpredictable virtual environments. If users are to effectively use these environments, they will require support for understanding and acting in these environments. Support is necessary because humans have a time and space limited span of attention. The Satellite Modeler, Omniview true 3D, and Synthetic BattleBridge projects were undertaken to develop and investigate the interfaces and autonomous agents required to effectively support users of the Distributed Simulation Internet. The Satellite Modeler emulates the near-Earth space environment and portrays models of satellites moving in their correct orbits around the Earth. The motion of the satellites is broadcast to users of the DSI. The Satellite Modeler is intended to function as a training and operational aid for orbital analysts and to help them understand key spatial relationships for satellites in near-Earth orbit. The Omniview project was undertaken to provide interactive control and manipulation of a true 3D image and to thereby assist the user in understanding the activity within the DSI-hosted virtual environment. That project developed an interface that provides the Omniview user with the ease of use that a window, icon, mouse, and pointer GUI interface provides to users of 2D displays. The Synthetic BattleBridge is a system that, like the Omniview, portrays a DSI-hosted virtual environment but does not act in it. The Synthetic BattleBridge is designed to support users in making accurate and timely decisions by providing several different types of cognitive support for understanding and analyzing the activity in a battlespace. In this paper, we briefly describe each project and present some observations and conclusions we have drawn based on our experience with them.

scholarly journals A Comparative Study of Sense of Presence of Virtual Reality and Immersive Environments

2016 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Max M. North ◽  
Sarah M. North
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Virtual Environments ◽  
Virtual Environment ◽  
Head Tracking ◽  
Virtual Reality Environment ◽  
Sense Of Presence ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Environment Simulation ◽  
Immersive Environment ◽  
Tracking Device

The study of sense of presence experienced in virtual reality environments has become an important area of research. The continued advancement of immersive technology offers more opportunities to examine how a subject becomes immersed in and interacts with a variety of virtual environments. The primary purpose of this research is to study the sense of presence while interacting with a traditional Virtual Reality Environment (Helmet-based system with a Head-tracking device) and compare it with a virtual reality environment using an Immersive Environment (Spherical-based Visualization environment). Two empirical experiments were investigated in this study, each consisting of thirty-five subjects. A virtual airplane scenario was created and simulated for the participants of both environments. Participants were given several questionnaires after completing the simulation. This study mainly focused on question 9 and 10 of that survey, which dealt with how much the participant felt present in the virtual environment, and if the presence of the real world could still be experienced while in the virtual environment. We found that the subjects felt more involved with the virtual environment while using the Immersive Environment simulation versus using the traditional helmet-based Virtual Reality Environment. There was a statistically significant difference in questions 9 and 10 between the Immersive Environment and traditional Virtual Reality Environment when those questions are considered in isolation. However there was not a significant difference in the total sense of presence between the two environments after analyzing the questions together. The primary differences between the questions were analyzed using the overall mean and the standard deviation. The Immersive Environment has a smaller deviation than the traditional Virtual Reality Environment, implying that the sense of presence response is more concentrated. However, the overall results demonstrate that both environments are almost equally effective, with the Immersive Environment having several slight advantages.

Assessment of Electronic Procurement Practices on Project Delivery, Case Study of Selected Construction Companies in Oyo State

2018 ◽  
pp. 257-266
Keyword(s):  
Construction Industry ◽  
Information Exchange ◽  
Ease Of Use ◽  
Project Delivery ◽  
Development Programs ◽  
Construction Firms ◽  
Construction Companies ◽  
Electronic Procurement ◽  
Ict Infrastructure ◽  
E Mail

This study investigated the use of e-Procurement in selected construction firms in Oyo state, Nigeria. The data were derived using a well-structured questionnaire survey involving 104 respondents. Descriptive statistical and correlation analyses were used to analyze the data. Findings show that the use of electronic procurement in the selected construction firms for carrying out procurement function is high with majority of the professionals affirming the use of the system, the four categories of e-Procurement used were e-mail, static websites, web.2.0 technologies and portals that have capabilities of supporting the execution of functions limited to intra and inter firm communication and exchange of project information and data. Consequently, between 84 percent and 76 percent of the respondents used these e-Procurement technologies for communication of information, exchange of bill of quantities, project reports, CAD drawings and project specifications. Consequently, factors with the highest positive impacts on the use of these technologies in the firms were the speed of transactions, lower transaction cost and ease of use. The study implies that the selected construction firms in Oyo state Nigeria predominantly use e-mails and websites to support the execution of pre-award phase of construction procurement. Finding also shows that there is positive relationship between e-Procurement (e-Notifying, e-Exchange, and e-Submission of bid) and Project delivery. The study suggests that to accelerate the rate of uptake of e-Procurement and maximize its benefits in the Nigerian construction industry, there is a need to improve the quality and quantity of ICT infrastructure across the country; and to embark on aggressive enlightenment campaigns, training and skill development programs in the use of e-Procurement in the construction industry in this country.

scholarly journals Perceptual uncertainty and action consequences independently affect hand movements in a virtual environment

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Giesel ◽  
Anna Nowakowska ◽  
Julie M. Harris ◽  
Constanze Hesse
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Environments ◽  
Virtual Environment ◽  
Motor Skills ◽  
Hand Movements ◽  
Perceptual Information ◽  
Avoidance Task ◽  
Natural Environments ◽  
Motor Behaviour ◽  
Virtual And Augmented Reality

AbstractWhen we use virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) environments to investigate behaviour or train motor skills, we expect that the insights or skills acquired in VR/AR transfer to real-world settings. Motor behaviour is strongly influenced by perceptual uncertainty and the expected consequences of actions. VR/AR differ in both of these aspects from natural environments. Perceptual information in VR/AR is less reliable than in natural environments, and the knowledge of acting in a virtual environment might modulate our expectations of action consequences. Using mirror reflections to create a virtual environment free of perceptual artefacts, we show that hand movements in an obstacle avoidance task systematically differed between real and virtual obstacles and that these behavioural differences occurred independent of the quality of the available perceptual information. This suggests that even when perceptual correspondence between natural and virtual environments is achieved, action correspondence does not necessarily follow due to the disparity in the expected consequences of actions in the two environments.

Dropouts and Aftereffects: Examining General Accessibility to Virtual Environment Technology

2002 ◽  
Vol 46 (26) ◽  
pp. 2114-2118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kay M. Stanney ◽  
Kelly S. Kingdon ◽  
Robert S. Kennedy
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Environments ◽  
Virtual Environment ◽  
Broad Spectrum ◽  
General Public ◽  
Dropout Rates ◽  
Environment Exposure ◽  
Oculomotor Disturbances ◽  
A Minor

Are current virtual environments (VEs) usable by the broad spectrum of people who may wish to utilize this technology? The current study, which examined over 1000 participants, indicates the answer to this question is a definitive ‘no’. Virtual environment exposure was found to cause people to vomit (1.1%), experience nausea (71%), disorientation (70%), and oculomotor disturbances (79%). Overall, 88% of participants reported some level of adverse symptomatology, ranging from a minor headache to vomiting and intense vertigo. These disturbances led 12% of those exposed to prematurely cease their interaction. Dropout rates as high as nearly 50% were found in exposures of 1 hr in length. In addition, long-term aftereffects were found, including headaches, drowsiness, nausea, and fatigue. These problems could substantially reduce the accessibility of VE technology by the general public and thus must be resolved if this technology is to be widely adopted.

SHARP: A System for Haptic Assembly and Realistic Prototyping

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abhishek Seth ◽  
Hai-Jun Su ◽  
Judy M. Vance
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Environments ◽  
Virtual Prototyping ◽  
Mechanical Assembly ◽  
Swept Volumes ◽  
Physically Based ◽  
Product Design Process ◽  
Costly Product ◽  
Easy Integration ◽  
Realization Process ◽  
Product Realization

Virtual Reality (VR) technology holds promise as a virtual prototyping tool for mechanical assembly; however, several developmental challenges still need to be addressed before virtual prototyping applications can successfully be integrated into the product realization process. This paper describes the development of SHARP (System for Haptic Assembly & Realistic Prototyping), a portable VR interface for virtual assembly. SHARP uses physically-based modeling for simulating realistic part-to-part and hand-to-part interactions in virtual environments. A dual handed haptic interface for realistic part interaction using the PHANToM® haptic devices is presented. The capability of creating subassemblies enhances the application’s ability to handle a wide variety of assembly scenarios. Swept volumes are implemented for addressing maintainability issues and a network module is added for communicating with different VR systems at dispersed geographic locations. Support for various types of VR systems allows an easy integration of SHARP into the product realization process resulting in faster product development, faster identification of assembly and design issues and a more efficient and less costly product design process.

The VEOS Project

1994 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 111-129 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Bricken ◽  
Geoffrey Coco
Keyword(s):  
Rapid Prototyping ◽  
Virtual Environments ◽  
Virtual Environment ◽  
Object Oriented ◽  
Organization Structure ◽  
Object Oriented Programming ◽  
Iterative Refinement ◽  
Software Infrastructure ◽  
Human Interface ◽  
Heterogeneous Distributed Computing

The Virtual Environment Operating Shell (veos) was developed at University of Washington's Human Interface Technology Laboratory as software infrastructure for the lab's research in virtual environments. veos was designed from scratch to provide a comprehensive and unified management facility to support generation of, interaction with, and maintenance of virtual environments. VEOS emphasizes rapid prototyping, heterogeneous distributed computing, and portability. We discuss the design, philosophy and implementation of veos in depth. Within the Kernel, the shared database transformations are pattern-directed, communications are asynchronous, and the programmer's interface is LISP. An entity-based metaphor extends object-oriented programming to systems-oriented programming. Entities provide first-class environments and biological programming constructs such as perceive, react, and persist. The organization, structure, and programming of entities are discussed in detail. The article concludes with a description of the applications that have contributed to the iterative refinement of the VEOS software.

Research on Plug&Play Technology for Smart Grid Information Exchange Bus

2013 ◽  
Vol 291-294 ◽  
pp. 2047-2056
Author(s):  
Di Si Zhang ◽  
Guang Xian Lv ◽  
Peng Liu ◽  
Xue Yuan Su ◽  
Hai Tao Liu
Keyword(s):  
Smart Grid ◽  
Information Flow ◽  
Information Exchange ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Ease Of Use ◽  
Distribution Automation ◽  
Control Information ◽  
Routing Table ◽  
The Status ◽  
Routing Tables

To promote the ease of use and reliability of IEC 61968 based Information Exchange Bus and fulfill the rapid establishment of inter-buses and adapters-bus communication channels, this article first analyzes the status quo of distribution automation integrity. Combined with the concept of universal PnP technology, the functions of IEC 61968 based adapters as well as buses are improved and more adapted. Considering characteristics of IEC 61968 standards, components like adapter identification information, topic-authorization table, and topic-authorization routing table are introduced and then a set of special mechanisms are built, including binding&unbinding procedures for inter-buses and adapters-buses, retransmission scheme, and mergence of topic authorization routing tables used to control information flow. By implementing this theory, the adapters-buses and inter-buses PnP functions are realized and the ease of use and reliability of smart grid information exchange buses are enhanced.

scholarly journals Crowd behaviour during high-stress evacuations in an immersive virtual environment

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (122) ◽  
pp. 20160414 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mehdi Moussaïd ◽  
Mubbasir Kapadia ◽  
Tyler Thrash ◽  
Robert W. Sumner ◽  
Markus Gross ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Environments ◽  
Virtual Environment ◽  
Human Subjects ◽  
High Stress ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Social Conventions ◽  
Emergency Situations ◽  
Crowd Behaviour ◽  
The Individual

Understanding the collective dynamics of crowd movements during stressful emergency situations is central to reducing the risk of deadly crowd disasters. Yet, their systematic experimental study remains a challenging open problem due to ethical and methodological constraints. In this paper, we demonstrate the viability of shared three-dimensional virtual environments as an experimental platform for conducting crowd experiments with real people. In particular, we show that crowds of real human subjects moving and interacting in an immersive three-dimensional virtual environment exhibit typical patterns of real crowds as observed in real-life crowded situations. These include the manifestation of social conventions and the emergence of self-organized patterns during egress scenarios. High-stress evacuation experiments conducted in this virtual environment reveal movements characterized by mass herding and dangerous overcrowding as they occur in crowd disasters. We describe the behavioural mechanisms at play under such extreme conditions and identify critical zones where overcrowding may occur. Furthermore, we show that herding spontaneously emerges from a density effect without the need to assume an increase of the individual tendency to imitate peers. Our experiments reveal the promise of immersive virtual environments as an ethical, cost-efficient, yet accurate platform for exploring crowd behaviour in high-risk situations with real human subjects.

Don't Take Touch for Granted: An Interview with Susan Lederman

1998 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 64-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
René Verry
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Motor Control ◽  
Virtual Environments ◽  
Virtual Environment ◽  
Haptic Perception ◽  
Information Science ◽  
Haptic Interfaces ◽  
Annual Symposium ◽  
International Council ◽  
Canadian Institute

Susan Lederman (SL) is an invited member of the International Council of Research Fellows for the Braille Research Center and a Fellow of he Canadian Psychology Association. She was also an Associate of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research in the Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Programme for 8 years. A Professor in the Departments of Psychology and Computing & Information Science at Queen's University at Kingston (Ontario, Canada), she has written and coauthored numerous articles on tactile psychophysics, haptic perception and cognition, motor control, and haptic applications in robotics, teleoperation, and virtual environments. She is currently the coorganizer of the Annual Symposium a Haptic Interfaces for Teleoperation and Virtual Environment Systems. René Verry (RV) is a psychology professor at Millikin University (Decatur, IL), where she teaches a variety of courses in the experimental core, including Sensation and Perception. She chose the often-subordinated somatic senses as the focus of her interview, and recruited Susan Lederman as our research specialist.

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