Hylke W. van Dijk

Sensor networks in the low lands.

This paper provides an overview of scientific and industrial developments of the last decade in the area of sensor networks in The Netherlands (Low Lands). The goal is to highlight areas in which the Netherlands has made most contributions and is currently a dominant player in the field of sensor networks. On the one hand, motivations, addressed topics, and initiatives taken in this period are presented, while on the other hand, special emphasis is given to identifying current and future trends and formulating a vision for the coming five to ten years. The presented overview and trend analysis clearly show that Dutch research and industrial efforts, in line with recent worldwide developments in the field of sensor technology, present a clear shift from sensor node platforms, operating systems, communication, networking, and data management aspects of the sensor networks to reasoning/cognition, control, and actuation.

Task-oriented gaming for transfer to prosthesis use

The aim of this study is to establish the effect of task-oriented video gaming on using a myoelectric prosthesis in a basic activity of daily life (ADL). Forty-one able-bodied right-handed participants were randomly assigned to one of four groups. In three of these groups the participants trained to control a video game using the myosignals of the flexors and extensors of the wrist: in the Adaptive Catching group participants needed to catch falling objects by opening and closing a grabber and received ADL-relevant feedback during performance. The Free Catching group used the same game, but without augmented feedback. The Interceptive Catching group trained a game where the goal was to intercept a falling object by moving a grabber to the left and right. They received no additional feedback. The control group played a regular Mario computer game. All groups trained 20 minutes a day for four consecutive days. Two tests were conducted before and after training: one level of the training game was performed, and participants grasped objects with a prosthesis simulator. Results showed all groups improved their game performance over controls. In the prosthesis-simulator task, after training the Adaptive Catching group outperformed the other groups in their ability to adjust the hand aperture to the size of the objects and the degree of compression of compressible objects. This study is the first to demonstrate transfer effects from a serious game to a myoelectric prosthesis task. The specificity of the learning effects suggests that research into serious gaming will benefit from placing ADL-specific constraints on game development.

Bias Blaster – Aiding Cognitive Bias Modification- Interpretation through a bubble shooter induced gameflow

This paper presents the design and development of Bias Blaster. Bias Blaster is a proof-of-concept integrated bubble-shooter game with an evidence-based therapeutic intervention, i.e., Cognitive Bias Modification Interpretation (CBM-I). The game is tailor-made for patients of the Dutch national mental health organization (GGZ) recovering from a First-Episode Psychosis (FEP). Cognitive Bias Modification- Interpretation treats the self-stigma and its associated interpretation bias as experienced by patients recovering from a FEP. The amount and frequency of CBM-I items and training is regulated by the patient, through an integrated game-mechanic of the modified bubble shooter. The game implements a motivational and reinforcement paradigm, which paves the way for the use of the rigorous and demanding CBM-I therapy. Moreover, Bias Blaster exploits the natural game flow of the bubble shooter to increase resilience and adherence throughout the treatment of FEP patients. This paper presents the design and development process of the game. The lessons learned are summarized in implications for the design of serious games: design for “acceptance“ and as a “serious therapeutic”.

iLift: A health behavior change support system for lifting and transfer techniques to prevent lower-back injuries in healthcare

OBJECTIVE Lower back problems are a common cause of sick leave of employees in Dutch care homes and hospitals. In the Netherlands over 40% of reported sick leave is due to back problems, mainly caused by carrying out heavy work. The goal of the iLift project was to develop a game for nursing personnel to train them in lifting and transfer techniques. The main focus was not on testing for the effectiveness of the game itself, but rather on the design of the game as an autogenous trigger and its place in a behavioral change support system. In this article, the design and development of such a health behavior change support system is addressed, describing cycles of design and evaluation. METHODS (a) To define the problem space, use context and user context, focus group interviews were conducted with Occupational Therapists (n=4), Nurses (n=10) and Caregivers (n=12) and a thematic analysis was performed. We interviewed experts (n=5) on the subject of lifting and transferring techniques. (b) A design science research approach resulted in a playable prototype. An expert panel conducted analysis of video-recorded playing activities. (c) Field experiment: We performed a dynamic analysis in order to investigate the feasibility of the prototype through biometric data from player sessions (n=620) by healthcare professionals (n=37). RESULTS (a) Occupational Therapists, Nurses and Caregivers did not recognise a lack of knowledge with training in lifting and transferring techniques. All groups considered their workload, time pressure and a culturally determined habit to place the patients well being above their own as the main reason not to apply appropriate lifting and transferring techniques. This led to a shift in focus from a serious game teaching lifting and transferring techniques to a health behavior change support system containing a game with the intention to influence behavior. (b) Building and testing (subcomponents of) the prototype resulted in design choices regarding players perspective, auditory and visual feedback, overall playability and perceived immersiveness. This design process also addressed the behavior shaping capacities of the game and its place within the health behavior change support system. An expert panel on lifting and transferring techniques validated the provoked in-game activities as being authentic. (c) Regression analysis showed an increase of the game score and dashboard score when more sessions were played, indicating an in-game training effect. A post-hoc test revealed that from an average of 10 playing sessions or more, the dashboard score and the game score align, which indicates behavioral change towards executing appropriate static lifting and transferring techniques. CONCLUSIONS Data gathered in the final field test shows an in-game training effect, causing players to exhibit correct techniques for static lifting and transferring techniques but also revealed the necessity for future social system development and especially regarding intervention acceptance. Social system factors showed a strong impact on the games persuasive capacities and its autogenous intent.

On the systematic conformance check of software artefacts

In this paper we present a systematic check of the conformance of the implemented and the intended software architecture. Nowadays industry is confronted with rapidly evolving embedded systems. In order to effectively reuse design artefacts such as requirements, architectural views and analysis, as well as the code base, it is important to have a consistent overview in each phase of the development process. In this paper we propose a conformance check framework that combines a colloquial engineering model and a conformance check system based on commodity technology, albeit the model and the system can be used in their own right. An academic experiment exemplifies the application of our framework.

Learning an EMG Controlled Game : Task-Specific Adaptations and Transfer

Video games that aim to improve myoelectric control (myogames) are gaining popularity and are often part of the rehabilitation process following an upper limb amputation. However, direct evidence for their effect on prosthetic skill is limited. This study aimed to determine whether and how myogaming improves EMG control and whether performance improvements transfer to a prosthesis-simulator task. Able-bodied right-handed participants (N = 28) were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 groups. The intervention group was trained to control a video game (Breakout-EMG) using the myosignals of wrist flexors and extensors. Controls played a regular Mario computer game. Both groups trained 20 minutes a day for 4 consecutive days. Before and after training, two tests were conducted: one level of the Breakout-EMG game, and grasping objects with a prosthesis-simulator. Results showed a larger increase of in-game accuracy for the Breakout-EMG group than for controls. The Breakout-EMG group moreover showed increased adaptation of the EMG signal to the game. No differences were found in using a prosthesis-simulator. This study demonstrated that myogames lead to task-specific myocontrol skills. Transfer to a prosthesis task is therefore far from easy. We discuss several implications for future myogame designs.

Towards opportunistic sensed data dissemination in vehicular environments

This paper proposes guidelines for the design of dissemination protocols for data sensed in vehicular environments in view of a number of potential applications. We organize the data dissemination process in three main tasks: discovery, assessment, and seizing of data exchange opportunities. One major problem is the limitation in bandwidth due to large amounts of data and short communication time slots. We elaborate on this problem by presenting preliminary results which favor an approach which disseminate date fairly over the nodes in the network.

Systematic exploration of the space of Jacobi algorithms

The ordering of operations in the execution of Jacobi-type algorithms is not unique. Given a sequential imperative program specification of a Jacobi algorithm, there is a method of transformational reasoning to convert the program to any one of a set of input-output equivalent concurrent programs. The method explores associativity and (pseudo) commutativity properties in the algorithm to tune the programs critical path length to an optimal throughput in a desired parallel implementation. The method constructs a certain precedence graph in which vertices represent elementary transformation steps and edges expose step precedence relations. Every feasible cut-set of the precedence graph yields a dependence graph of a concurrent program which is input-output equivalent to the given one. Moreover, regular dependence graphs will be transformed into regular dependence graphs if the cut-set is chosen to keep that property invariant. The method has been successfully applied to time adaptive algorithms in which QR, inverse QR and SVD Jacobi algorithms play a crucial role. The time adaptive SVD algorithm will be used in this paper to illustrate the power of the method. Starting off with the well known cyclic by rows Kogbetliantz program, the transformations gradually decrease its critical path thereby providing various alternative concurrent programs with correspondingly increasing parallel implementation throughput.

Play It Safe; A Situational Game for Occupational Safety

This chapter describes the design choices and theoretical constructs that have led to the development of an occupational safety game, going by the name Play it Safe. Play it Safe is a tower defense game that uses situational data collected by employees, during their daily work, to impact the parameters of the video game. These data are gathered through a safety campaign named, Count Yourself Lucky (CYL) to quantify the amount of times employees used the supplied safety technique [Stop, Think, Act, Review (STAR)]. Play it Safe, as a form of situational gaming and as a behavioral change support system (BCSS), through metaphorical re-contextualization attempts to create parameters for similar decision making encountered in the work environment and implicitly reinforce the training of the STAR protocol and conservative decision making. Play it Safe aims to improve employees’ situational awareness, creating a shared mental model and bottom–up accountability, meant to improve and align (shared) safety behaviors.

Reuse of pervasive system architectures

Developers are often confronted with incompatible systems and lack a proper system abstraction that allows easy integration of various hardware and software components. To try solve these shortcomings, building blocks are identified at different levels of detail in today’s pervasive/communication systems and used in a conceptual reasoning framework allowing easy comparison and combination. The generality of the conceptual framework is validated by decomposing a selection of pervasive systems into models of these building blocks and integrating these models to create improved ones. Additionally, the required properties of pervasive systems on scalability, efficiency, degree of pervasiveness, and maintainability are analysed for a number of application areas. The pervasive systems are compared on these properties. Observations are made, and weak points in the analysed pervasive systems are identified. Furthermore, we provide a set of recommendations as a guideline towards flexible architectures that make pervasive systems usable in a variety of applications.