Miwa Nakanishi

Human factor requirements for Applying Augmented reality to manuals in actual work situations

Augmented reality (AR) is expected to be applied to manuals for assembling or inspecting tasks instead of traditional paper-based ones. Our previous study revealed that when an AR manual was experimentally used for a wiring task, efficiency became higher and human error decreased. However, in order to practically apply AR manuals in actual work situations, some human factor requirements should be clarified in advance. Thus, in this study, we attempted to make it clear what kinds of effects they had on performance by some conditions or restrictions. Particularly, we focused on the most popular human interfaces, see-through display (STD) and retinal scanning display (RSD), and aimed at showing how to properly and effectively use them in actual work situations.

What Conditions are Required to Effectively Use Augmented Reality for Manuals in Actual Work

Augmented Reality (AR) is expected to be applied to manuals for assembling or inspecting tasks instead of traditional paper-based ones. Our previous study revealed that when an AR manual was experimentally used for a wiring task, efficiency became higher and human error decreased. However, in order to practically apply AR manuals in actual work situations, some human factor requirements should be clarified in advance. Thus, in this study, we attempt to make it clear what kinds of effects they have on performance by some conditions or restrictions. Particularly considering that a user wears a head-mounted display (HMD) and sees images presented by that superimposed on the real view, we examine the effects of those through some experiments. From the results, we found that a monocular HMD is better to be worn on nondominant eye, that information of an AR manual should be given part by part or one by one when the real view is complicated, and so on. We suggest conditions that do not affect their performance, or rather that enhance it in actual work situations, in this study.

User Characteristic-Based Information-Providing Service for Museum with Optical See-Through Head-Mounted Display: Does It Evoke Enthusiasm?

In psychology, users’ enthusiasm for products or services is categorized as a kind of intrinsic motivation. One theory states that enthusiasm is evoked when users perceive an adequate gap between their own characteristics and those of an object from the viewpoints of emotion, cognition, and ability. This study develops a method for computing an adequate psychological gap based on the characteristics of each user. We experimentally produce a service that makes each user feel the effect of the gap, and conduct a scientific evaluation. In particular, by focusing on the case of a museum, this study constructs an application to provide different sets of information to enable each user experience an adequate psychological gap with an optical see-through head-mounted display (OSD), and effectively evaluates whether this evokes user enthusiasm.

Urgent mobile tool for hearing impaired, language dysfunction and foreigners at emergency situation

This paper introduces a mobile application that allows deaf, language dysfunctioned, or non-native language users to report emergencies. An earlier version (booklet) was designed for hearing impaired person to be able to communicate with others without speaking. The current smart phone application allows calls to be made from a remote location. The screen transitions application follows the dialogue models used by emergency services. Users interact with the dialogues by tapping on icons or pictograms instead of using text messages. Evaluation by deaf people and a non-native speaker found that it was about three times quicker to report an emergency using this tool than it was by using text messages.

Tactile vibration of personal digital assistants for conveying feelings

At present, there are very few methods to utilize the vibration function in personal digital assistant (PDA) devices, which are simple, but poor in variation. These methods do not effectively use the vibration functions potential. In our research, we aim to maximize the use of vibration function for communication using PDA devices with the objective of adding a new value to the PDAs vibration function. We evaluate the relationships between vibrations and images evoked by them. From the results, we found the vibration patterns corresponding to each eight main type of feeling words in Japanese.

Novel method of evaluating GUI design from the viewpoint of worker experience: central control systems for social infrastructure

In this study, the value of different experiences obtained from operations was defined as worker experience. From this viewpoint, we have developed a novel method to evaluate graphical user interfaces (GUI) for next-generation control systems for social infrastructure. Beyond the traditional concept of ease of use, this method aims to introduce a sense of worth gained by operations and instill some sense of motivation to work through the GUI design, which will provide GUI designers a new viewpoint. In this paper, this method was adapted to application software to use it more practically, and the GUIs of two different systems are evaluated.

Suggestions on the applicability of visual instructions with see-through head mounted displays depending on the task

Task instructions have traditionally been communicated orally in many fields. However, recently more and more wearable displays, such as the see-through head mounted displays (HMDs) have been developed, and some studies have provided ideas on applying visual instruction using these new interfaces to particular situations. However, in some cases, where instructions are communicated amongst the workers, the data is not sufficient for field workers to choose the best way of communicating instructions depending on the situation. Thus, this study aims to clarify the cases in which it is effective to apply visual instructions with HMDs, and to provide information that suggests the applicability of such visual instructions instead of or in addition to the traditional auditory instructions in different situations. These suggestions will be a useful reference for workers in safety-critical fields, helping them make better decisions about whether, when, and where to introduce the new method of instructions. It will also address some of the unsolved problems in the field, such as errors, low efficiency, and discomfort in communication.

STUDY FOR ESTABLISHING DESIGN GUIDELINES FOR MANUALS USING AUGMENTED REALITY TECHNOLOGY - Verification and Expansion of the Basic Model Describing “Effective Complexity”

Augmented reality (AR), a technology that enables users to see an overlay of digital information on the real view, is expected to be applied more and more to human factor innovation. It has been suggested that a manual using AR (AR manual) improves accuracy and efficiency in actual work situations. To make an AR manual practical, hardware such as see-through display or retinal scanning display has been actively developed. However, software, i.e., information provided by the AR manual, has not been sufficiently examined. In a recent study, the authors built a mathematical model that describes the “effective complexity” of an AR manual according to the complexity of the real view. In this study, the basic model is verified by applying it to the AR manual for a realistic task. Furthermore, the applicability of the basic model is examined by assuming two different situations where either accuracy or efficiency has high priority. The objective of this study is to establish rough but practical guidelines for designing an AR manual.

Application Development for Gathering “Inexperienced UX” Data for Planning Next-Generation Products

User experience (UX) is a concept that represents the psychological values regarding products. UX can be categorized into two types: one that a user has experienced (experienced UX) and another that a user has not experienced (inexperienced UX). In this study, we gathered experienced UX data and established a method to apply this data to next-generation product ideas. Additionally, an application was developed to gather inexperienced UX data and apply this data to the product design process. The goal was to establish a method to generate ideas for next-generation products in anticipation of the medium- and long-term future.

A Study on Effective Tactile Feeling of Control Panels for Electrical Appliances

This study focuses on the fact that tactile factors, compared to visual factors, have not been effectively applied to enhance the usability of control panels. It also evaluates the effectiveness of allocating a rough/smooth feeling to the surface of each button in a control panel according to its operational function. The first experiment reveals relationships between some of the impressions concerning the operation of electrical appliances and the rough/smooth feeling when touching the surface of buttons. Moreover, it provides specific information on what degree of roughness/smoothness should be applied to what types of functional buttons. The second experiment demonstrates that the usability of control panels can be enhanced by providing a rough/smooth feeling to each button, considering suitability with respect to operation impressions. In addition, results indicate that users may feel discomfort when the rough/smooth feeling does not correspond to operation impressions.