Mikiko Oono

Interactive rock climbing playground equipment: modeling through service

Rock-climbing is a tool for investigating a full-body interaction. To design physical and psychological interaction with rock-climbing equipment, it is critical that scientific data on childrens interaction with the equipment be collected. We developed a rock-climbing wall with embedded sensors to record the physical behavior of children while playing on the wall. Over 1000 children participated in this study. With the aim of creating an evidenced-based interaction design of climbing, we formulated a climbing behavior model to see the relationship among influencing variables that describe climbing activities.

Change the Changeable Framework for Implementation Research in Health.

In recent years, a “participatory” system of community members and researchers has become a key factor to obtaining the best outcomes to create a better world. The authors previously suggested the problem structure change theory to find how to address social issues. In this paper, we suggest the “change the changeable framework” with three approaches for community-based program implementation: 1) Share the value of the change the changeable, 2) Systematize the process of a problem structure change, and 3) Build a sustainable system and discuss a case study based on the framework. In the case study, we conducted a safety education curriculum for injury prevention that consisted of what is injury prevention, playground safety, indoor safety, and photovoice project. We introduce an injury surveillance system and a risk recognition system as new tools for the collaboration of human intelligence and artificial intelligence.

Automatic Learning of Climbing Configuration Space for Digital Human Children Model

Millions of children die from preventable injuries every year around the world. Environmental modification is one of the most effective ways to prevent these fatal injuries. The environment should be modified and products should be designed in ways that will reduce the risk of injury by taking child–environment and child–product interactions into account. However, it is still very difficult even for advanced simulation systems to predict how children interact with products in everyday life situations. In this study, we explored a data-driven method as a promising approach for simulating children’s interaction with products in everyday life situations. We conducted an observational study to collect data on children’s climbing behavior and developed a database on children’s climbing behavior to clarify a climbing configuration space, which enables the prediction and simulation of the possible climbing postures of children.

PW 2651 Prevention of climbing-related injury using an intelligent artificial camera and digital human child model

It is still very difficult even for advanced simulation systems to predict how children interact with products in everyday life situations because the environment around children, including the layout of consumer products in their homes, constantly changes, and because children change their behaviors depending on the position of their center of gravity and muscular strength. The purpose of this study is to develop a children’s climbing behavior database to clarify the configuration space of climbing behavior that enable the prediction and simulation of possible climbing postures in children. We developed a system that collects three-dimensional posture data from color and depth images using a RGB-D camera that can capture color images and depth data, and then used pose recognition software (OpenPose) to acquire posture data. In order to construct a database of children’s climbing behavior using our developed system, we performed an observational study on how children interact with a climbing apparatus. Fourteen children aged 20 to 58 months participated. Using depth data from Kinect (a Microsoft’s RGB-D camera) and posture data detected by Open Pose, our developed system obtains 3D coordinate data for the detected person’s posture. The coordinates of the acquired postures were converted into nine values to normalize the posture data. We purposely extracted postures only when a child touched the climbing apparatus because children react in response to the shape of an object. The extracted posture data were compressed into two or three dimensions using dimension reduction and plotted on a scatter plot. The collection of points on the plotted scatter plot can be treated as a data-driven configuration space, which indicates the space of postures that children are able to take when they climb. We showed that it is possible to generate configuration spaces using posture data of children’s climbing behaviors.

PA 14-1-1349 Community living lab as a research partner and development of safety goods

Background Children’s deaths due to choking on cherry tomatoes have been reported throughout the world. Although cherry tomatoes should be cut into small pieces, no tool for cutting them or other smooth, spongy foods is on the market in Japan. Objective The goal of the present study is to develop an attractive kitchen utensil to reduce choking risk due to cherry tomatoes in children. Methods We collaborated with the Tokyo Fire Department and the Japan Industrial Designers’ Association, which is the largest national organization for industrial designers in Japan, and created four mockups for cherry tomato slicers: 1) castanets, 2) tongs, 3) small scissors, and 4) large scissors. We put a great deal of thought into designing the blade and changed the design several times until a cherry tomato could be cut smoothly. We then conducted a workshop in Omura, Nagasaki, Japan to educate the public on the risk of choking and to collect community input on our new product. Participants tried all four designs and answered a questionnaire. Findings Thirty-one community members completed a questionnaire. When asked if one knew that children could die from choking on a cherry tomato, 52% of the respondents said ‘no’, and only 32% said that they actually cut cherry tomatoes when giving them to children. Regarding the ease of cutting (six-point Likert scale, with 6 being the easiest), the average scores for designs 1) through 4) were 4.53, 3.87, 4.16, and 5.13 respectively. Finally, when asked to rank the items in order of preference, ranks 1 through 4, in order, were assigned to the large scissors, the castanets, the small scissors, and the tongs, respectively. Conclusion We have obtained a partner to commercialize the developed slicer.

PW 1713 Technology-enhanced community participation in injury prevention– a new method to design prevention strategies in the digital era–

Background According to a report by the Tokyo Fire Department, 114 children under 5 years of age fell from balconies or windows from 2011 to 2015. Objectives To evaluate actual balcony situations and collect photographic data for the development of a new monitoring system. Methods We conducted an online survey to ask the public questions about 1) the size of their balcony, 2) what kind of objects are on the balcony, 3) how they mainly use their balcony, 4) their child’s age and sex, and 5) the floor number on which the balcony is located. We also collected a photograph of their balcony. Findings One hundred and fifteen people participated in the present study. Approximately half of the respondents live in houses, and the other half live in apartments. The average balcony width was 496.7 cm (min=150 cm, max=1,500 cm), the average depth was 130.4 cm (min=65 cm, max=400 cm), and the average height was 118.5 cm (min=78 max=400). Compressor units, laundry poles, drying racks, and planters are major objects that are commonly located on the balcony, and slippers, brooms, dustpans, glass fish tanks, and tricycles are among the less common but important objects to be aware of in terms of fall prevention. Over 65% of respondents said that they used their balcony to hang laundry, and 67% of respondents reported that their balcony was located on the second floor. Although approximately 90% of respondents said that they knew of numerous incidents of falls from balconies, only 27% of respondents actually took preventive actions. Conclusion Based on the results of this survey, we developed a new monitoring system using a RGB-D camera that has the ability to calculate fall risk based on shape evaluation of objects present on the balcony.

PW 2175 Fence design with the goal of helping to prevent children from falling from balconies

According to a report by the Tokyo Fire Department, 114 children under 5 years of age fell from balconies or windows between 2011 and 2015 in Tokyo. One approach to prevent such falls is the design of a fence that children cannot climb over. It is necessary to investigate the relationship between climbing behavior and fence design. We conducted an experiment in which children climbed a designed apparatus that included a fence. In the designed apparatus, the diameter of the handrail (30 or 100 mm), the position of the handrail (just above the fence or 100 mm on the near side of the fence), the height of the footing (300 or 650 mm), and the shape of the top face of the footing (horizontal or sloped) could be changed. A total of 21 children aged 26 to 76 months participated. The children were 2, 4, and 6 years of age, and the number of children in each age group was seven. Except for one subject who climbed the fence under two conditions, children of 2 years of age could not climb the fence under any condition. Two of the seven children of 4 years of age climbed the fence under all conditions. The probability of climbing over the fence under the condition in which the handrail was located at the near side of the fence was approximately half that under the condition in which the handrail was located just above the fence. Children of approximately 6 years of age climbed the fence under all conditions. Based on the results, we found that installing handrails on the near side of the fence is effective for preventing climbing. As another approach, we are trying to develop a monitoring system based on IoT and AI technologies.

Behavior Monitoring with Non-wearable Sensors for Precision Nursing

Non-wearable sensors utilizing advanced image-processing and sensing technologies for capturing an individual’s behavior in real-world settings are now available. Wearable sensors are difficult to use, especially for long-term recordings, because the batteries for these sensors must be exchanged or recharged. Behavioral data collected using non-wearable sensors can be used for precision nursing, which indicates individualized risk management and intervention plan based on the understanding of individual risk and other health status. In this study, we applied the developed non-wearable technologies to evaluate a person’s gait ability, which is an important factor for creating a fall prevention program.

Development of Child Climbing Behavior Video Database

Climbing is an important fundamental skill that children acquire in early childhood. Children love to climb everything, including consumer products, such as furniture, that are not designed to be climbed on. This puts children at risk of severe injuries. To prevent injuries, it is critical to understand how children climb on objects. The purpose of this study is to collect children’s climbing behavior data to clarify the relationship between climbing behavior and object features.

Smart transfer of social problem into industry by linking living data center with social function library: Case study of toothbrush injury prevention

Social problems related to daily living can be changed through the rethinking and integration of potential social functions of smart cities. This paper discusses a methodology for smart transformations achieved by providing industrialized solutions to basic social problems related to daily living that are based on linking data centers for collecting living phenomena with potential social functions. In this paper, we present a case study in which the concept of “linked living data center for living change (LLDC)” is applied to provide the following functions: problem identifiers, media promoters, researchers and field testers, and value promotors and regulators. The case study is related to the living-safety problem of penetrating injuries due to toothbrushes, which was transformed into an industrialized solution with a new social value via the LLDC.