topauthor: Johnson_M* : Human-Computer Interaction Bibliography Search

[1] Universal Access to Media and the California Community Colleges Online Education Initiative Universal Access to Education / Johnson, Michael James Jayme UAHCI 2015: 9th International Conference on Universal Access in Human-Computer Interaction, Part III: Access to Learning, Health and Well-Being 2015-08-02 v.3 p.120-126

Keywords: Online education; Accessibility; Adaptable computing; OEI; California; Digital ecosystem

Link to Digital Content at Springer

Summary: The California Community College system launched the Online Education Initiative in 2014 to address the needs of students and to more effectively leverage the collective resources of the 113 campuses to provide the services needed for degree completion and transfer to university. Providing a common base of instructional technology resources, student services, and a statewide exchange of courses, and with all of this being universally accessible, the Online Education Initiative is one of the most ambitious efforts to address the needs of online students and educators in the history of California.

[2] HRI Workshop on Human-Robot Teaming Workshops / Hayes, Bradley / Gombolay, Matthew C. / Jung, Malte F. / Hindriks, Koen / de Greeff, Joachim / Jonker, Catholijn / Neerincx, Mark / Bradshaw, Jeffrey M. / Johnson, Matthew / Kruijff-Korbayova, Ivana / Sierhuis, Maarten / Shah, Julie A. / Scassellati, Brian Extended Abstracts of the 2015 ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction 2015-03-02 v.2 p.255-256

ACM Digital Library Link

Summary: Developing collaborative robots that can productively and safely operate out of isolation in uninstrumented, human-populated environments is an important goal for the field of robotics. The development of such agents, those that handle the dynamics of human environments and the complexities of interpreting human interaction, is a strong focus within Human-Robot Interaction and involves underlying research questions deeply relevant to the broader robotics community. "Human-Robot Teaming" is a full-day workshop bringing together peer-reviewed technical and position paper contributions spanning a multitude of topics within the domain of human-robot teaming. This workshop seeks to bring together researchers from a wide array of human-robot interaction research topics with the focus of enabling humans and robots to better work together towards common goals. The morning session is devoted to gaining insight from invited speakers and contributed papers, while the afternoon session heavily emphasizes participant interaction via poster presentations, breakout sessions, and an expert panel discussion.

[3] The Sustainability of FAR Part 117: Flight and Duty Limitation and Rest Requirements for Flight Crewmembers Student Forum: SF4 -- Potpourri / Rudari, Lukas / Sperlak, Lauren A. / Geske, Robert C. / Jones, Gilbert E., III / Johnson, Mary E. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 2014 Annual Meeting 2014-10-27 p.1969-1973

doi 10.1177/1541931214581411

Link to HFES Digital Content

Summary: The Federal Aviation Administration addressed fatigue risk for Part 121 pilots in 14 C.F.R. Part 117, which came into effect in January 2014. Fatigue jeopardizes safety in the sense that it increases the likelihood for pilot error which could potentially lead to an accident. The new regulations recognize for the first time risks to safety such as changes to natural circadian rhythms and 'jetlag'. A sustainability analysis was conducted for the new rest requirements which required a systematic approach to address the four key components of sustainability: economic, social, environmental, and organizational. This analysis primarily focuses on organizational aspects of 14 C.F.R. Part 117 sustainability. This study analyzed responses from 53 self-identified non-pilots (i.e. management, maintenance, safety personnel) to determine their perceptions of the new rest requirements for pilots in the industry. The responses indicate that there is a slight increase in perceived overall safety; however, the respondents reported that this new regulation would have a slightly negative effect on the organizational operations.

[4] From recipes to meals... and dietary regimes: method mixes as key emerging topic in human-centred design / Johnson, M. / Hyysalo, S. / Mäkinen, S. / Helminen, P. / Savolainen, K. / Hakkarainen, L. Proceedings of the 8th Nordic Conference on Human-Computer Interaction 2014-10-26 p.343-352

ACM Digital Library Link

Summary: Many argue that a decade-long crisis is crippling methods research in human-centred design (HCD). A recent paper critiques the widespread methods-as-recipe approach and suggests studying methods as part of HCD work; like in cooking, nobody cooks recipes, but they are used to bridge ingredients and meals. This paper extends that metaphor to dietary regimes that govern what meals are pursued. This focus shift expands the scope of relevant issues for methods research, thus creating a demand for open-ended and detailed case studies. Here we conducted a meta-review of five longstanding case studies that highlighted a key topic deserving attention: practitioners' method mixes should be taken seriously. Single-method use by a project, professional, or company happens rarely (in this data, never). Considering method mixes affects discussions of method validity and reliability. Even more importantly, it opens for consideration how method use in real-life HCD work differs from recipe development and validation.

[5] Management of Visual Clutter in Annotated 3D CAD Models: A Comparative Study Design of Visual Information / Camba, Jorge / Contero, Manuel / Johnson, Michael DUXU 2014: Third International Conference on Design, User Experience, and Usability, Part II: User Experience Design for Diverse Interaction Platforms and Environments 2014-06-22 v.2 p.405-416

Keywords: visual clutter; annotated 3D models; CAD model interaction; design communication

Link to Digital Content at Springer

Summary: The use of annotations in CAD models has been an active area of research because of their ability to connect design information to specific aspects of the model's geometry. The effectiveness of annotations is determined by the ability to clearly communicate information. However, annotations can quickly create clutter and confusion as they increase both in number and complexity. Consequently, efficient interaction and visualization mechanisms become crucial. Despite recent standardizations of procedures for the presentation of textual information in CAD models, no explicit guidelines are available as to how to make annotated models more readable and manageable. In this paper, we present the results of a comparative study of different mechanisms to manage visual clutter in annotated 3D CAD models and offer recommendations based on our findings. Our results show that even basic interaction mechanisms have a substantial impact on user's performance.

[6] The Relationship Between Levels of User Experience with a Product and Perceived System Usability Cognitive Engineering & Decision Making: CE5 -- The System Usability Scale / Kortum, Philip / Johnson, Megan Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 2013 Annual Meeting 2013-09-30 p.197-201

doi 10.1177/1541931213571044

Link to HFES Digital Content

Summary: The System Usability Scale (SUS) is a ten-point assessment tool developed as a reliable low-cost subjective usability scale that can be applied to systems in any number of contexts. Research has demonstrated higher usability ratings from users who claim greater experience with an interface than from those who rate themselves as having less experience. This paper describes research to extend this work by experimentally controlling the experience levels of the users over the course of the study, rather than relying on users' self-report. Two studies were conducted. In the first, Microsoft Publisher was used over three one hour sessions, with usability being measured with the SUS at the completion of each session. In the second study, MathWorks MATLAB was used over the course of 14 weeks, and SUS usability was measured near the beginning, the middle and end of this time frame. Results from the MS publisher study showed an increase in reported usability with increased experience consistent with the literature, but the data from the MATLAB study did not show this trend. Reasons for this discrepancy are discussed, as are future research directions that could shed further light on these unexpected findings.

[7] When it's better to ask forgiveness than get permission: attribution mechanisms for smartphone resources Authentication and authorization / Thompson, Christopher / Johnson, Maritza / Egelman, Serge / Wagner, David / King, Jennifer Proceedings of the 2013 Symposium on Usable Privacy and Security 2013-07-24 p.1

ACM Digital Library Link

Summary: Smartphone applications pose interesting security problems because the same resources they use to enhance the user experience may also be used in ways that users might find objectionable. We performed a set of experiments to study whether attribution mechanisms could help users understand how smartphone applications access device resources. First, we performed an online survey and found that, as attribution mechanisms have become available on the Android platform, users notice and use them. Second, we designed new attribution mechanisms; a qualitative experiment suggested that our proposed mechanisms are intuitive to understand. Finally, we performed a laboratory experiment in which we simulated application misbehaviors to observe whether users equipped with our attribution mechanisms were able to identify the offending applications. Our results show that, for users who notice application misbehaviors, these attribution mechanisms are significantly more effective than the status quo.

[8] Examining the Role of Contextual Exercises and Adaptive Expertise on CAD Model Creation Procedures HCI in Learning and Education / Johnson, Michael D. / Ozturk, Elif / Valverde, Lauralee / Yalvac, Bugrahan / Peng, Xiaobo HCI International 2013: 15th International Conference on HCI, Part II: Applications and Services 2013-07-21 v.2 p.408-417

Keywords: Adaptive Expertise; CAD; Evaluation Methods and Techniques; Modeling Processes

Link to Digital Content at Springer

Summary: As computer-aided design (CAD) tools become more integral in the product commercialization process, ensuring that students have efficient and innovative expertise necessary to adapt becomes more important. This work examines the role of adaptive expertise on CAD modeling behavior and the effect of contextual modeling exercises on the manifestation of behaviors associated with adaptive expertise in a population of student participants. A methodology comprising multiple data elicitation tools is used to examine these relationships; these tools include: survey data, model screen capture data analysis, and interviews. Results show that participants engaged in contextual exercises spent more of their modeling time engaged in actual modeling activities as opposed to planning when compared to a control group. Limited statistical support is provided for the role of contextual exercises leading to the manifestation of behaviors associated with adaptive expertise. The amount of time spent engaged in actual modeling is positively correlated with the adaptive expertise behaviors identified in the interviews.

[9] Taking data exposure into account: how does it affect the choice of sign-in accounts? Papers: understanding privacy / Ronen, Shahar / Riva, Oriana / Johnson, Maritza / Thompson, Donald Proceedings of ACM CHI 2013 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems 2013-04-27 v.1 p.3423-3426

ACM Digital Library Link

Summary: Online services collect personal data from their users, sometimes with no clear need. We studied how users sign-in to web sites using federated IDs, and found that most survey respondents were not aware of the data they expose. However, when presented with the tradeoffs behind each sign-in option, respondents reported a willingness to change how they sign-in to reduce their data exposure or, in fewer cases, to increase it to receive more benefits from the service. Our findings suggest that data exposure is a concern for users, and that there is a need for finding clearer ways for communicating it for each sign-in option.

[10] An eye-tracking study of notational, informational, and emotional aspects of learning analytics representations Affect analytics / Vatrapu, Ravi / Reimann, Peter / Bull, Susan / Johnson, Matthew LAK'13: 2013 International Conference on Learning Analytics and Knowledge 2013-04-08 p.125-134

ACM Digital Library Link

Summary: This paper presents an eye-tracking study of notational, informational, and emotional aspects of nine different notational systems (Skill Meters, Smilies, Traffic Lights, Topic Boxes, Collective Histograms, Word Clouds, Textual Descriptors, Table, and Matrix) and three different information states (Weak, Average, & Strong) used to represent student's learning. Findings from the eye-tracking study show that higher emotional activation was observed for the metaphorical notations of traffic lights and smilies and collective representations. Mean view time was higher for representations of the "average" informational learning state. Qualitative data analysis of the think-aloud comments and post-study interview show that student participants reflected on the meaning-making opportunities and action-taking possibilities afforded by the representations. Implications for the design and evaluation of learning analytics representations and discourse environments are discussed.

[11] Lessons for participatory designers of social media: long-term user involvement strategies in industry Community facilitation / Johnson, Mikael / Hyysalo, Sampsa Proceedings of the 12th Participatory Design Conference. Volume 1: Research Papers 2012-08-12 v.1 p.71-80

ACM Digital Library Link

Summary: Social media changes the conditions for user participation in service development. Active user communities, fast paced iterative development, considerable development after market launch, developer access to users' digital trails, peer production, and low cost feature distribution are well known facets that bring substantial changes. In this paper we distil lessons for participatory designers from an in-depth case study of an over decade-long service development in industry, Habbo Hotel by Sulake Corporation. We argue that the range of core issues that shape user participation in social media can be captured by three interrelated issues: 1) shifts in developer -- user social distance, 2) cumulated user knowledge beyond one project, and 3) user-generated content and user-owned services. We then consider what insight these provide for a design initiative we are involved in: the Finnish national public service broadcasting company's teacher resource.

[12] Facebook and privacy: it's complicated Online social networks / Johnson, Maritza / Egelman, Serge / Bellovin, Steven M. Proceedings of the 2012 Symposium on Usable Privacy and Security 2012-07-11 p.9

ACM Digital Library Link

Summary: We measure users' attitudes toward interpersonal privacy concerns on Facebook and measure users' strategies for reconciling their concerns with their desire to share content online. To do this, we recruited 260 Facebook users to install a Facebook application that surveyed their privacy concerns, their friend network compositions, the sensitivity of posted content, and their privacy-preserving strategies. By asking participants targeted questions about people randomly selected from their friend network and posts shared on their profiles, we were able to quantify the extent to which users trust their "friends" and the likelihood that their content was being viewed by unintended audiences. We found that while strangers are the most concerning audience, almost 95% of our participants had taken steps to mitigate those concerns. At the same time, we observed that 16.5% of participants had at least one post that they were uncomfortable sharing with a specific friend -- someone who likely already had the ability to view it -- and that 37% raised more general concerns with sharing their content with friends. We conclude that the current privacy controls allow users to effectively manage the outsider threat, but that they are unsuitable for mitigating concerns over the insider threat -- members of the friend network who dynamically become inappropriate audiences based on the context of a post.

[13] deForm: an interactive malleable surface for capturing 2.5D arbitrary objects, tools and touch Sensing / Follmer, Sean / Johnson, Micah / Adelson, Edward / Ishii, Hiroshi Proceedings of the 201 ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology1 2011-10-16 v.1 p.527-536

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Summary: We introduce a novel input device, deForm, that supports 2.5D touch gestures, tangible tools, and arbitrary objects through real-time structured light scanning of a malleable surface of interaction. DeForm captures high-resolution surface deformations and 2D grey-scale textures of a gel surface through a three-phase structured light 3D scanner. This technique can be combined with IR projection to allow for invisible capture, providing the opportunity for co-located visual feedback on the deformable surface. We describe methods for tracking fingers, whole hand gestures, and arbitrary tangible tools. We outline a method for physically encoding fiducial marker information in the height map of tangible tools. In addition, we describe a novel method for distinguishing between human touch and tangible tools, through capacitive sensing on top of the input surface. Finally we motivate our device through a number of sample applications.

[14] Identification of Factors that Affect the Adoption of Ergonomic Interventions Among EMS Workers Industrial Ergonomics: IE7 - Ergonomics Processes and Special Populations / Johnson, Monica R. / Lavender, Steven A. / Crawford, J. Mac / Reichelt, Paul A. / Conrad, Karen M. / Fernandez, Antonio R. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 55th Annual Meeting 2011-09-19 p.1057-1061

doi: 10.1177/1071181311551221

Link to HFES Digital Content

Summary: The primary goal of this study was to understand the adoption of specific voluntarily used ergonomic intervention aimed at preventing musculoskeletal injuries in EMS workers. According to previous research in the areas of information technology, acceptance and diffusion of innovation, worker's perceptions and attitudes impact the adoption of interventions. This research evaluated the adoption of an intervention that was designed to assist with the lateral transfer of patients as this has previously been reported as a frequent and strenuous task performed by EMS workers. The objective of the current study was to use structural equation modeling to determine which factors most closely affect its adoption. The model suggest that the perception that the intervention is relatively advantageous and easy to use, that the intervention is compatible with the task, having previous experience with similar tools and whether it was endorsed by champions who actively promote the use of the intervention are all factors contributing to the adoption of this ergonomic intervention.

[15] Productivity Improvement by Using Social-Annotations about Design Intent in CAD Modelling Process Social Computing in Business and the Enterprise / Alducin-Quintero, Gerardo / Contero, Manuel / Martín-Gutiérrez, Jorge / Guerra-Zubiaga, David A. / Johnson, Michael D. OCSC 2011: 4th International Conference on Online Communities and Social Computing 2011-07-09 p.153-161

Keywords: New Product Development Process; CAD; Social-Annotations; Design Intent; Engineering Change Process

Link to Digital Content at Springer

Summary: This paper focuses on the New Product Development Process (NPDP) area to contribute to increasing the productivity of CAD users by means of an improved design intent communication using a social-annotation technique. Design teams operate in a similar way to an online social network, and CAD models are not just only a 3D geometry representation, as they reflect the result of an specific modeling strategy, that usually constrains the future capability for modification and reuse of the existing 3D model. Considering this context, this work tries to assess the impact of annotations in the engineering change process in order to determine its influence in the user performance during this process. Preliminary experimental results obtained from several experiments with Spanish CAD students indicate that it is possible to reduce the time needed to perform engineering changes in existing models into a 10-20% range, if those CAD models provide annotations explaining the original design intent.

[16] A Feedback Information-Theoretic Approach to the Design of Brain-Computer Interfaces / Omar, Cyrus / Akce, Abdullah / Johnson, Miles / Bretl, Timothy / Ma, Rui / Maclin, Edward / McCormick, Martin / Coleman, Todd P. International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction 2010-12-30 v.27 n.1 p.5-23

Link to Article at Taylor & Francis

Summary: This article presents a new approach to designing brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) that explicitly accounts for both the uncertainty of neural signals and the important role of sensory feedback. This approach views a BCI as the means by which users communicate intent to an external device and models intent as a string in an ordered symbolic language. This abstraction allows the problem of designing a BCI to be reformulated as the problem of designing a reliable communication protocol using tools from feedback information theory. Here, this protocol is given by a posterior matching scheme. This scheme is not only provably optimal but also easily understood and implemented by a human user. Experimental validation is provided by an interface for text entry and an interface for tracing smooth planar curves, where input is taken in each case from an electroencephalograph during left- and right-hand motor imagery.

[17] Developing Ergonomic Interventions to Reduce Musculoskeletal Disorders in Grocery Distribution Centers INDUSTRIAL ERGONOMICS: Articles / Lavender, Steven A. / Sommerich, Carolyn M. / Johnson, Monica R. / Radin, Zaid Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 54th Annual Meeting 2010-09-27 v.54 p.1229-1233

Link to HFES Digital Content

Summary: The purpose of this work was to explore intervention concepts aimed at addressing the workers' needs in grocery distribution centers. Worker interviews indicated that many of the items that they handle are heavy, including cases of meat (up to 80 lbs), juice, water, and detergent. Management and safety personnel who participated in a brainstorming focus group session indicated key ergonomic issues include the weight of the meat cases, extended reaching, and even more specifically, overhead reaching. Intervention ideas discussed during the brainstorming indicated a need for mechanisms that reduce reach distances by keeping product close to the order picking aisle and mechanisms that relieve the physical burden of handling heavy product from their storage slots onto the order-picker's pallet jack.

[18] UNDERSTANDING FACTORS THAT AFFECT THE ADOPTION OF ERGONOMIC INTERVENTIONS AMONG EMS WORKERS INDUSTRIAL ERGONOMICS: IE9 -- Construction and Warehouses / Johnson, Monica R. / Lavender, Steven A. / Crawford, J. Mac / Reichelt, Paul A. / Fernandez, Antonio R. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 54th Annual Meeting 2010-09-27 v.54 p.1234-1238

Link to HFES Digital Content

Summary: The primary goal of this study was to understand the adoption of specific voluntarily used ergonomic interventions aimed at the musculoskeletal needs of EMS workers. According to previous research in the areas of information technology, acceptance and diffusion of innovation, worker's perceptions and attitudes impact the adoption of an intervention. Prior research identified the lateral transfer of patients as a frequently performed strenuous task performed by EMS workers. The intervention introduced is a transfer-board, designed and biomechanically validated to assist with these lateral transfers. In the current study EMS workers were surveyed to determine which factors most closely correlated with their intention to use the transfer-board. The data suggest that the perception that it is easy to use, the patient is safer while using the transfer-board, the transfer-board is compatible with other pieces of equipment and the smoothness of the patient transfer when using the transfer-board are all factors that may predict adoption.

[19] The Impact of Head Orientation on Multi-segmental Torso Coordination during the Transition from Sitting to Standing POSTERS: POS1 -- Posters 1 / Johnson, Molly B. / Van Emmerik, Richard E. A. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 54th Annual Meeting 2010-09-27 v.54 p.1373-1377

Link to HFES Digital Content

Summary: Objective: The aim of this research was to assess how changing the orientation of the head to the trunk would impact the mobility and coordination of multiple torso segments during a common postural transition. Background: The dynamic relationship of the head to the trunk has a major impact on vestibular, visual, and neck muscle stretch receptor sensory feedback. Integration of sensory feedback is necessary to regulate postural control, which is necessary for the performance of daily and occupational activities. During upright stance, head extension induces postural sway (Vuillerme & Rougier, 2005); however, postural control within the torso may also be impacted. Methods: Eleven male and thirteen female, healthy, young subjects performed the sit-to-stand movement starting from standardized sitting conditions. Each subject performed four sit-to-stand trials with each of three different head orientations: extended, flexed, and neutral. 3-D kinematic data were analyzed for six torso segments: head, cervical, upper-thoracic, mid-thoracic, lumbar, and pelvis. Sagittal range of motion was calculated for torso joints composed of adjacent segment pairs. Cross correlations and time lag to maximum cross correlation were analyzed for all possible pairs of torso segments for normalized sit-to-stand trials. Results: Moving from sitting to standing elicited greater range of motion of most torso joints with the head extended compared to with the head flexed or neutral. Cross correlations at zero lag and maximum cross correlations for most torso segment pairs were lower with the head extended compared to flexed or neutral. The lag to maximum cross correlation was higher for all non-adjacent torso segments with the head extended compared to flexed or neutral. Conclusion: Extending the head on the trunk increased mobility within the trunk and decreased temporal coordination between multiple torso segments. These findings suggest that changing the relationship of the head to the trunk induces postural instability within the torso in a healthy population during a postural transition. Application: Increased mobility and reduced stability within the torso during postural transitions could increase occupational risk for falls and injuries, such as low back pain. Avoiding unnecessary head extension could decrease the likelihood of postural instability and subsequent injury risk.

[20] Optimizing a policy authoring framework for security and privacy policies Privacy / Johnson, Maritza / Karat, John / Karat, Clare-Marie / Grueneberg, Keith Proceedings of the 2010 Symposium on Usable Privacy and Security 2010-07-14 p.8

Keywords: policy authoring, policy management, policy refinement, privacy policy, security policy, user experience design

ACM Digital Library Link

Summary: Policies which address security and privacy are pervasive parts of both technical and social systems, and technology to enable both organizations and individuals to create and manage such policies is seen as a critical need in IT. This paper describes policy authoring as a key component to usable privacy and security systems, and advances the notions of policy templates in a policy management environment in which different roles with different skill sets are seen as important. We discuss existing guidelines and provide support for the addition of new guidelines for usable policy authoring for security and privacy systems. We describe the relationship between general policy templates and specific policies, and the skills necessary to author each of these in a way that produces high-quality policies. We also report on an experiment in which technical users with limited policy experience authored policy templates using a prototype template authoring user interface we developed.

[21] Toward coactivity Late-breaking abstracts session/poster session 1 / Johnson, Matthew / Bradshaw, Jeffrey M. / Feltovich, Paul J. / Jonker, Catholijn / Sierhuis, Maarten / van Riemsdijk, Birna Proceedings of the 5th ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human Robot Interaction 2010-03-02 p.101-102

Keywords: autonomy, coactive, coordination, interdependence

ACM Digital Library Link

Summary: This paper introduces the concept of Coactivity as a new focal point for Human-Robot Interaction to address the more sophisticated roles of partner or teammate envisioned for future human-robot systems. We propose that most approaches to date have focused on autonomy and suggest that autonomy is the wrong focal point. The envisioned roles, if properly performed, have a high level of interdependence that cannot be addressed solely by autonomy and necessitate a focus on the coactivity.

[22] Is there a lateral transfer distance that minimizes twisting and lateral bending motions of the spine? INDUSTRIAL ERGONOMICS / Lavender, Steven A. / Johnson, Monica Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 53rd Annual Meeting 2009-10-19 v.53 p.882

Link to HFES Digital Content

Summary: Studies have shown that twisting and lateral bending postures and motions increase the risk of low back disorders in manual handling tasks (Marras et al., 1993; Punnet et al., 1991). These motions are often associated with asymmetric lifting. Thus, it has been hypothesized that one means for controlling these motions is through carefully designing the layout of the workplace. We hypothesized that spatially separating a lift's origin and destination to encourage stepping/turning of the body during a manual transfer task would reduce these motions. At the same time, however, the added distance may increase the tendency to reach, therein increasing the amount of forward bending, increases handling time, and may increase the physiologic cost. Thus, the objective of the current study was to determine if there is a separation distance between a lift's origin and destination during the lateral transfer of boxes that minimizes the lateral bending and twisting motions on the spine while not increasing the amount of forward bending due to reaching. The study was performed by having 29 male volunteers transfer boxes between two conveyors spaced .50, .75, 1.0, 1.25, 1.50, and 1.75 meters apart. Transfers were performed using loads of 9.5 and 16.5 kg. Spine kinematic data were collected with a magnetic motion capture system. The data from the box pick up and the box placement were analyzed separately. The twisting motions associated with the box placement were significantly affected by the transport distance (p=.007). However, the twisting motion when pick up the box, while showing a trend toward less motion with a 1 meter transport distance was not significantly different across the transport distances (p=.15). The lateral bending motions, both during the box pick up and the box placement were significantly affected by the transfer distance (p<.05). Overall our findings suggest twisting and lateral motions would both be minimized when the transfer distances were between 1 and 1.25 meters.

[23] From Tools to Teammates: Joint Activity in Human-Agent-Robot Teams HCD at Work / Bradshaw, Jeffrey M. / Feltovich, Paul J. / Johnson, Matthew / Breedy, Maggie R. / Bunch, Larry / Eskridge, Thomas C. / Jung, Hyuckchul / Lott, James / Uszok, Andrzej / van Diggelen, Jurriaan HCD 2009: 1st International Conference on Human Centered Design 2009-07-19 p.935-944

Link to Digital Content at Springer

Summary: Coordination is an essential ingredient of joint activity in human-agent-robot teams. In this paper, we discuss some of the challenges and requirements for successful coordination, and briefly how we have used KAoS HART services framework to support coordination in a multi-team human-robot field exercise.

[24] COMPARING THE EFFECTS OF TWO CONTROLLER ALGORITHMS ON DC TORQUE TOOL OPERATORS INDUSTRIAL ERGONOMICS: IE1 - Upper Extremity Ergonomics / Johnson, M. R. / Vandlen, K. A. / Hutter, E. E. / Gahlot, R. / Yen, W.-T. / Kommini, S. / Sommerich, C. M. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 52nd Annual Meeting 2008-09-22 v.52 p.1015-1019

Link to HFES Digital Content

Summary: Prior studies of effects of DC torque tool use on human operators have not studied the effect of different controller algorithms. This paper describes results of an experimental laboratory-based study that investigated the effects of DC torque tool controller algorithm on operator and tool kinematics. The effects of joint hardness and tool orientation were also examined. Dependent measures included posture and velocity of the operator's arm and displacement and velocity of the torque tool handle. Significant differences were found in several measures as a function of one or more of the independent variables. Of particular note, the Automatic Tightening Control (ATC) algorithm showed some positive effects (less movement and lower velocities) in comparison to the Downshift algorithm in certain conditions. These results provide some support for a potential biomechanical benefit from ATC.

[25] Adaptive Navigation Support, Learner Control and Open Learner Models Short Papers / Bull, Susan / Ahmad, Norasnita / Johnson, Matthew / Johan, Rasyidi / Mabbott, Andrew Proceedings of AH 2008 Adaptive Hypermedia and Adaptive Web-based Systems 2008-07-29 p.275-278

Link to Digital Content at Springer

Summary: We consider open learner models (OLM) with reference to adaptive navigation support and learner control. Our purpose is to assess the potential of a greater range of OLMs in adaptive educational hypermedia. We introduce five OLMs, discuss how these might be applied, and present learner reactions.