Dan Nathan-Roberts

How Fitness Trackers Facilitate Health Behavior Change

Fitness trackers have broadened the healthcare ecosystem and made self-tracking everyday physical activities possible. Features like heart rate monitoring can help detect health ailments, yet there is little evidence that suggests tracking health indicators and physical activities leads to long-term health behavior change. This proceeding analyzes areas of Human Factors that could be used to increase long-term user engagement. Feedback, information display, and specific design principles and case studies are discussed.

Testing Aesthetic and Function Design Preference for Touch Screen and Non–Touch Screen Mobile Phones Using Interactive Genetic Algorithms

Rapid mobile phone market growth has drastically shortened design cycle times forcing designers to identify user preferences quickly. Two studies test a novel method to quickly determine design preferences for touch screen and non–touch screen mobile phones. Interactive Genetic Algorithms (IGAs) are tested as an option for preference identification. IGAs efficiently explore design spaces, finding user preferences via an iterative system mimicking evolution. Each study tested six independent variables: horizontal and vertical button spacing; horizontal and vertical screen dimensions; corner radius; and user’s goal between aesthetically pleasing, functional, and both aesthetic and functional (first experiment), and aesthetic preference differences between touch screen and non–touch screen mobile phones for dialing phone numbers only (second experiment). Results showed IGAs to be a viable method; participant preference varied by goal (horizontal button spacing and screen width were most effected). Designers can employ IGAs to quickly determine aesthetic and other user preferences.

Field-Based Human Factors in Home and Community Settings: Challenges and Strategies

Studies of complex health and healthcare phenomena such as transitions of care, chronic disease management, or care coordination, often require field work spanning people, time, and place. The scope of such field work often includes patients and their families and settings such as the home and community. Human factors researchers are identifying the challenges associated with conducting such work and are developing practical strategies. This panel gathers human factors experts to address the question: What are the challenges to and strategies for conducting human factors field research on health and healthcare with multiple individuals including patients, over longer periods of time, and across settings including the (patient) home and community? Panelists answer this question by describing their personal experiences with multiple studies and provide vignettes for grounding an interactive panelist-audience discussion.

Increasing the Use of Evidence Based Practices in Stroke Rehabilitation

This paper examines stroke rehabilitation as performed by healthcare professionals and the possibility for an improved rate of patient recovery through an “instructional document” that would be attached to research findings. Current practices as well as reported barriers are examined and presented. There is a disconnect between current practices and the most effective treatments or evidence based practices. After exploration and noting that research papers have limitations when used as instructions, this paper points towards solutions. The possibility of adding an instructional document, in line with current Human Factors principles, to stroke rehabilitation research is ultimately explored as way of increasing the use of evidence based practices and thus improve patient outcome.

Analysis of Eddy Current: What Can Be Done to Reduce the Number of False Positives and False Negatives Made by Human Operators in Nondestructive Testing?

This work identifies the potential for improving the reliability of nondestructive testing (NDT) in the aviation industry. This particular work is focused on a piece of equipment called eddy current scanner and specifically investigates how this instrument, used to detect cracks on aircraft components, could be improved to better fit human needs and capabilities. Current research shows us that Type I and Type II errors, also known as false negatives and false positives, made by operators of the eddy current are in part due to workspace conditions, physical positioning, and mental states greatly affecting the amount of cognitive resources left available to perform a job accurately and reliably. Potential solutions that are within the realm of eddy current’s design and possible enhancements are presented.

Design Considerations in Wearable Technology for Patients with Bipolar Disorder

This proceeding examines the unique aspects of wearable sensor technology in the domain of bipolar disorder. Specifically, the proceeding examines the current literature on the use cases, design, data analysis models, and ethics to identify the design implications for the future design of wearable technology for people diagnosed with bipolar disorder and, potentially, other affective disorders. As a result, suggestions have been proposed to enhance the human– computer interaction between the user and device, a critical aspect in design as defined by the patients.

Socially Interactive Robots Can Teach Young Students Language Skills; a Systematic Review

The goal of this systematic review is to consider whether social factors of robots allow the robots to be socially interactive language learning assistants for young students in the classroom. A total of 443 articles were found. After applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, 17 empirical studies in which a robot assisted children in preschool through elementary school on their language skills were analyzed. This review discusses to which areas of language learning robots have been applied and how the social interaction of the robot influences student learning behaviors and outcomes. The results of this paper indicate that robots have capabilities that are useful for instructing students in oral language skills because of their socially interactive nature. There is room for this social dynamic to be researched further in the human factors and human robot interaction fields.

Real-Time Cognitive-State Neuroimaging in Applied Education

The combination of advances in cognitive neuroscience & the development of powerful, yet portable, devices are enabling real-time assessments in education. Electroencephalography (EEG) & functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) are two such neuroimaging tools being explored during instruction, with a current focus on student attention, engagement, & cognitive load. Neural synchrony has been linked with successful knowledge transfer, social interaction quality, engagement level, & shared attention. These studies, along with ergonomic considerations, are the focus of this literature review. Real-time learning assessments can optimize both teacher & student performance & satisfaction. A tailored instruction has the potential to create optimal learning experiences & more-proactively address learning difficulties.

Elaborating the Human Aspect of the NIST Framework for Cyber-Physical Systems

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has developed a Framework for Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS Framework) that supports system engineering analysis, design, development, operation, validation and assurance of CPS. Cyber-physical systems (CPS) comprise interacting digital, analog, physical, and human components engineered for function through integrated physics and logic. For instance, a city implementing an advanced traffic management system including real-time predictive analytics and adaptation/optimization must consider all aspects of such a CPS system of systems’ functioning and integrations with other systems, including interactions with humans. One Aspect (or grouping of stakeholder concerns) of the CPS Framework is the Human Aspect. NIST is engaging HFES in a panel discussion to elaborate Human Aspect concerns, such as constructs, measures, methods, and tools.

A Systematic Review of Communication in Distributed Crews in High-Risk Environments

Effective communication is critical to team performance but can be impacted by the distribution of team members. Distribution is increasingly found in high-risk environments where task complexity necessitates geographic and/or temporal separation of team members. Understanding the impact of distribution on communication is critical to ensuring effective team performance. We review the research examining communication in distributed teams in high-risk environments to provide an overview of the literature to date. Articles examining communication in distributed teams were analyzed in a systematic review following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Themes relevant to the research question were extracted from the studies using thematic analysis. Five themes were identified: updating shared mental models, effects of transmission lags, content of communication, communication protocols, and technological advances. The five themes identify directions for future research.