Vassilis Charissis

Human–machine collaboration through vehicle head up display interface

This work introduces a novel design for an automotive full-windshield head-up display (HUD) interface which aims to improve the driver’s spatial awareness and response times under low visibility conditions. To fulfil these requirements, we have designed and implemented a working prototype of a human–machine interface (HMI). Particular emphasis was placed on the prioritisation and effective presentation of information available through vehicular sensors, which would assist, without distracting, the driver in successfully navigating the vehicle under low visibility conditions. The proposed interface is based on minimalist visual representations of real objects to offer a new form of interactive guidance for motorway environments. Overall, this work discusses the design challenges of such a human–machine system, elaborates on the interface design philosophy and presents the outcome of user trials that contrasted the effectiveness of our proposed HUD against a typical head-down display (HDD).

Design and Implementation of Augmented Reality Environment for Complex Anatomy Training: Inguinal Canal Case Study

Adhering to contemporary requirements for reduction of cadaveric training of medical trainees we have developed a prototype augmented reality environment which investigates complex anatomical sections. A human 3D model has been implemented in order to facilitate educational tactics presented in a Virtual Reality (VR) environment. Opting for a sophisticated approach of interaction, the interface elements are based on simplified visual representation of real anatomical elements, and can be operated through haptic devices and surround auditory cues. This paper discusses the challenges involved in the development process of the augmented reality environment, and the HCI design, introduces the visual components of the interface and presents the outcome of a preliminary evaluation of the proposed VR training method on a group of twelve medical doctors. The paper concludes with a tentative plan of future work which aims to expand the context and interactivity of the system so as to enable the trainees to rehearse surgical methods in a simulated VR environment.

On the interaction of TCP and Routing Protocols in MANETs

Recent research in mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) has highlighted the detrimental effect of multiple retransmission timeouts (RTOs) on TCP throughput. However, the effect of the routing protocol’s buffering strategy on this phenomenon has not been explicitly demonstrated or studied. In this paper, we present and analyse through simulations using functional testbed routing agents, TCP throughput performance during a route break event. The results of our analysis on three popular routing protocols, namely AODV, DSR and OLSR, produces insight into the different behavioural patterns of TCP during this event, and highlights the mechanisms of each routing protocol that affect it. Further, trade-offs in the choice of the routing parameters with respect to TCP performance are discussed.

Interface Development for Early Notification Warning System: Full Windshield Head-Up Display Case Study

This paper elaborates on the development of a prototype Head-Up Display (HUD) system designed to offer crucial navigation information to the driver, under adverse weather conditions. In particular the paper presents the implementation process and evaluation of the sharp turn notification and traffic warning cues which reflect some of the most common risks that may be encountered in a collision in a motorway environment under low visibility. Additionally, emphasis was placed on the prioritisation and effective presentation of information available through vehicular sensors, which would assist, without distracting, the driver in successfully navigating the vehicle under low visibility conditions. This information which appear in the form of symbolic representations of real objects, are projected in the vehicles windscreen and superimposed onto the real scenery. Overall the paper examines the potential benefits and occurring issues of the proposed HUD interface and presents the results of a large scale evaluation of the system on a group of forty users, as performed using a driving simulator.

Development and Evaluation of Virtual Reality Medical Training System for Anatomy Education

Medical education is a dynamic field that witnesses continuous evolution and development. The employment of Virtual Reality (VR) based visualization and training environments in the delivery of anatomy teaching transfers the learning experience from one that involves memorising the structures without a true understanding of the 3-Dimensional (3D) relations, to a process that involves a thorough understanding of the structure based on visualisation rather than memorising, which makes the learning process more efficient and enjoyable, and less time consuming. This paper describes the development of a Virtual Reality and 3D visualisation system for anatomy teaching. The developed system offers a real-time 3D representation of the heart in an interactive VR environment that provides self-directed learning and assessment tools through a variety of interfaces and functionalities. To ensure the accuracy and precision of the developed system it was evaluated by a group of medical professionals.

An Enquiry into VR Interface Design for Medical Training : VR Augmented Anatomy Tutorials for Breast Cancer

This paper presents an initial study exploring and evaluating a novel, accessible and user-centred interface developed for a VR Medical training environment. In particular, the proposed system facilitates a detailed 3D information exchange, with the aim of improving the users internal 3D understanding and visualisation of complex anatomical inter-relationships. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed VR teaching method we developed a female 3D model under the guidance of Consultant Breast surgeons with particular emphasis given on the axilla section. In turn we commenced a comparative study between PBL tutorials augmented with VR and the contemporary teaching techniques involving twelve participants. Overall the paper outlines the development process of the proposed VR Medical Training environment, discusses the results from the comparative study, and offers suggestions for further research and a tentative plan for future work.

An investigation of a healthcare management system with the use of multimodal interaction and 3D simulation: A technical note

Purpose – Current healthcare applications produce a complex and inaccessible set of data that often needs to be investigated simultaneously. As such the conflicting software applications and mental effort being demanded from the user result in time‐consuming analysis and diagnosis. The purpose of this paper is to provide a prototype, interactive system for management of multiple data sets, currently used for gait analysis capturing, reconstruction and diagnosis. In summary, this work is concerned with the development of interactive information‐visualisation software that assists medical practitioners in simplifying and enhancing the retrieval, visualisation and analysis of medical data with the intention of improving the overall system leading to an improved service for the user and patient experience.Design/methodology/approach – The design of the proposed system aims to combine all the related existing software currently used for gait analysis and diagnosis under one, user‐friendly package. The latter w...

The Characterisation of a Virtual Reality System to Improve the Quality and to Reduce the Gap between Information Technology and Medical Education

Contemporary medical training is hindered by an excessive amount of information provided to students through mainly traditional teaching methods yet the younger generations are accustomed to digital data and information on-demand. As such they have developed a fully customised manner of learning, which in turn requires a new, innovative and equally customised teaching method. This inherited customisation and accelerated manner of learning stems from contemporary lifestyle trends. As such, a reduced learning curve requires innovative and efficient teaching methods, which comply with existing curriculums, yet facilitate the contemporary learning mantra. In particular medical education requires a plethora of information related to the understanding of spatial relations and the three-dimensionality of the human body. Previous studies successfully employed Virtual Reality (VR) and high fidelity patient simulation in order to improve and enhance the medical education and clinical training. The benefits of this technological adoption in the teaching field offered safer experimentation environments, reduced time and cost. Furthermore the Virtual Reality facilities and systems can be extensively customised with relatively low cost and be re-used for various applications. The purpose of this paper is to identify the differences between current education methods and the proposed technology. This research will exploit current teaching trends and attempt to provide recommendations based on a University of Jordan case study. Overall the paper describes the design process of the survey questionnaire that was used for this evaluation and provides valuable insights to both academics and practitioners regarding the potential benefits and drawbacks of adopting such a system.

Enhancing human responses through augmented reality Head-Up Display in vehicular environment

Contemporary needs for constant provision of information and communication has crowded the modern vehicles interior with a variety of instrumentation displays. This abundance of automotive infotainment devices can reduce significantly drivers decision making process and response times, leading to higher probability of collision, especially under adverse weather conditions. Typical dashboard instrumentation has proven inefficient to tackle such issues and Head-Up Display (HUD) interfaces deemed as an increasingly viable alternative by recent developments in automotive research and manufacturing. This paper presents our current work towards the development of a full-windshield HUD interface that could enhance human responses and provide time-dependant and only critical information for collisions avoidance. For the evaluation of the system we have developed a VR driving simulator that simulates traffic flow and typical accident scenarios in motorway environment. Finally the paper presents the evaluation results and future work that would improve the interaction between HUD interface and driver.

Evolution of a full-windshield HUD designed for current VANET communication standards

Aspects of contemporary automotive research on infotainment and safety notifications have enjoyed mainstream adoption by vehicle manufacturers either as dashboard or Head-Up Display (HUD) visual cues. Such notifications, going beyond the traditional fuel/speedometer indicators, have proven popular with drivers and exhibit great safety-enhancing potential. In previous work, we proposed a HUD design which showed substantial promise towards aiding driver reactions under low visibility conditions. In this paper, we present an evolution of the original design which aims to improve on it both in terms of efficiency and cost. Alongside the new HUD design we present a newly developed medium-fidelity driving simulator that can make use of real road-traffic traces and improve on realism by considering wireless communication limitations. We use the new simulator to evaluate our HUD design and show that it compares favourably with our past efforts.