Interface Prototype Research Articles

Methods for Patient-Centered Interface Design of Test Result Display in Online Portals.

Objectives:Patients have unique information needs to help them interpret and make decisions about laboratory test results they receive on web-based portals. However, current portals are not designed in a patient-centered way and little is known on how best to harness patients’ information needs to inform user-centered interface design of portals. We designed a patient-facing laboratory test result interface prototype based on requirement elicitation research and used a mixed-methods approach to evaluate this interface.Methods:After designing an initial test result display prototype, we used multiple evaluation methods, including focus group review sessions, expert consultation, and user testing, to make iterative design changes. For the user testing component, we recruited 14 patient-users to collect and analyze three types of data: comments made during testing sessions, responses to post-session questionnaires, and system usability scores.Results:Our initial patient-centered interface design included visual ranges of laboratory values, nontechnical descriptions of the test and result, and access to features to help patients interpret and make decisions about their results. Findings from our evaluation resulted in 6 design iterations of the interface. Results from user testing indicate that the later versions of the interface fulfilled patient’s information needs, were perceived as usable, and provided access to information and techniques that facilitated patient’s ability to derive meaning from each test result.Conclusions:Requirement elicitation studies can inform the design of a patient-facing test result interface, but considerable user-centered design efforts are necessary to create an interface that patients find useful. To promote patient engagement, health information technology designers and developers can use similar approaches to enhance user-centered software design in patient portals.

Digital Human Models in Human Factors and Ergonomics Evaluation of Gesture Interfaces

Gesture-based interfaces are becoming a widely used interaction modality in many industrial applications. Therefore, it is important to guarantee usable and ergonomic interfaces for workers. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the use of digital human models (DHMs) by human factors/ergonomics (HFE) experts can complement the user evaluation of gesture interface prototypes. Two case studies were conducted, in which gesture-based systems for remote robot control were evaluated. The results indicate that the use of DHMs supports the findings from self-reported HFE evaluations. However, digital human modeling still has some limitations. For example, in this study, it was not possible to evaluate small muscle groups (e.g. fingers). We argue that adaptation of the DHMs could be a rapid and simple alternative for supporting the HFE design of gestures.

11,11,12,12‐Tetracyanonaphtho‐2,6‐quinodimethane in Contact with Ferromagnetic Electrodes for Organic Spintronics

AbstractSpinterface engineering has shown quite important roles in organic spintronics as it can improve spin injection or extraction. In this study, 11,11,12,12‐tetracyanonaptho‐2,6‐quinodimethane (TNAP) is introduced as an interfacial layer for a prototype interface of Fe/TNAP. An element‐specific investigation of the electronic and magnetic structures of Fe/TNAP system by use of near edge X‐Ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) and X‐ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) is reported. Strong hybridization between TNAP and Fe and induced magnetization of N atoms in TNAP molecule are observed. XMCD sum rule analysis demonstrates that the adsorption of TNAP reduces the spin moment of Fe by 12%. In addition, induced magnetization in N K‐edge of TNAP is also found with other commonly used ferromagnets in organic spintronics, such as La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 and permalloy, which makes TNAP a very promising molecule for spinterface engineering in organic spintronics.

A framework for informing consumers on the ecological impact of products at point of sale

ABSTRACTThe use of intelligent information technologies has the means to provide ecological information just-in-time, thus alleviating consumers' cognitive burden at the time of purchase. We propose a computational framework for supporting consumer awareness of the ecological impact of products they consider purchasing at point of sale. The proposed framework permits consulting multiple information sources through diverse access interfaces, combined with a recommendation engine to score product greenness. We evaluate our approach in terms of usability, performance, and user-influence tests through two conceptual prototypes: an online store and an augmented reality interface to use at physical stores. Our findings suggest that providing ecological information at the time of purchase is able to direct consumers' preference towards products that are ecological and away from products that are not; consumers also express willingness to pay slightly more for ecological products. The experimental results obtained with the interface prototypes are statistically significant.

Ecological Interface Design for Computer Network Defense.

A prototype ecological interface for computer network defense (CND) was developed. Concerns about CND run high. Although there is a vast literature on CND, there is some indication that this research is not being translated into operational contexts. Part of the reason may be that CND has historically been treated as a strictly technical problem, rather than as a socio-technical problem. The cognitive systems engineering (CSE)/ecological interface design (EID) framework was used in the analysis and design of the prototype interface. A brief overview of CSE/EID is provided. EID principles of design (i.e., direct perception, direct manipulation and visual momentum) are described and illustrated through concrete examples from the ecological interface. Key features of the ecological interface include (a) a wide variety of alternative visual displays, (b) controls that allow easy, dynamic reconfiguration of these displays, (c) visual highlighting of functionally related information across displays, (d) control mechanisms to selectively filter massive data sets, and (e) the capability for easy expansion. Cyber attacks from a well-known data set are illustrated through screen shots. CND support needs to be developed with a triadic focus (i.e., humans interacting with technology to accomplish work) if it is to be effective. Iterative design and formal evaluation is also required. The discipline of human factors has a long tradition of success on both counts; it is time that HF became fully involved in CND. Direct application in supporting cyber analysts.

Research on an innovative multifunction steering wheel for individuals with reduced mobility

This article presents the results of an experimental comparative study assessing the functionality of a prototype for a new interface for driving electric vehicles equipped with a steer-by-wire system. The interface was developed under the umbrella of the Eco-Mobility project, co-financed by European funds. Unlike classical steering solutions, the prototype interface described in this report is characterized by an absence of foot controls. Main control is achieved via a multifunctional steering wheel using only the upper limbs, which makes it accessible to drivers with varying degrees of mobility. The steer-by-wire system provides the opportunity to alter the sensitivity of the steering ratio, defined as the ratio of the maximum angle of rotation of the steering wheel to the maximum steering angle of the front wheels. Studies were performed in a dynamic 3D simulator. The goal of these studies was to assess the quality of driving with both a classic and the multifunctional steering wheel (with two steering ratio variants). Simulator studies used a proprietary methodology that enabled assessment of the interface’s functionality. The assessment was made using quality indicators developed for the purpose of quantifying the correctness of test performance. Statistical analysis of these parameters exhibited significant differences between the results of the steering wheel indicators.

Natural language interface model for the evaluation of ergonomic routines in occupational health (ILENA)

This article presents research done on a joint assessment model, including physiotherapy and computer and vector concepts, to achieve a natural language interface prototype creation that captures occupational health movements by performing an upper extremities rating in workers in computing.

Supporting Semantic Capture During Kinesthetic Teaching of Collaborative Industrial Robots

Industrial robot systems being deployed today do not contain domain knowledge to aid robot operators in setup and operational use. To gather such knowledge in a robotic context requires mechanisms for entering and capturing semantic data. Such mechanisms would allow a system to gradually build a working vocabulary while interacting with the environment and operators, valuable for the bootstrapping system knowledge and ensuring the data collection over time. This paper presents a prototype user interface that assists the kinesthetic teaching mode of a collaborative industrial robot, allowing for the capture of semantic information while working with the robot in day-to-day use. Two modalities, graphical point-and-click and natural language, support capture of semantic context and the building of a working vocabulary of the environment while modifying or creating robot programs. A semantic capture experiment illustrates the approach.

Non-Uniform Information Access in Collaborative Information Retrieval

Although there has been a great deal of research into Collaborative Information Retrieval/Seeking (CIR/S), the majority has assumed that team members in a collaborative search team always have the same level of unrestricted access to information. However, observations from different domains such as healthcare, business, government, etc. have suggested that collaboration sometimes involves people with differing levels of access to information. This type of scenario has been referred to as Multi-Level Collaborative Information Retrieval (MLCIR). As well as a support for collaboration, MLCIR must consider information flow, security and shareability between collaborators. Therefore, existing CIR/S interface components and concepts (e.g. awareness, division of labour, persistence, etc.) may not be directly applicable to MLCIR. To the best of our knowledge, there has not been any systematic evaluations to investigate the impact of MLCIR on search outcomes and to provide user-centred design recommendations for MLCIR interfaces. To address this gap, a number of studies were conducted using real-world MLCIR examples as scenarios. This thesis highlights four research objectives; these are: 1) to investigate the impact of different collaborative search strategies and MLCIR scenarios on search outcomes using a user simulation approach, 2) to develop a preliminary MLCIR interface and investigate the impact of MLCIR scenarios on search outcomes using a user study, 3) to investigate the impact of existing CIR concepts on MLCIR search outcomes using a user study, and 4) to develop and evaluate a working prototype of an MLCIR interface that supports users for asynchronous collaboration. These investigations followed an iterative approach until a final MLCIR interface could be produced. The first study was a user simulated study which allowed us to test a large number of variables and to pick prominent ones for further user studies. It was found that when relevance feedback search strategies were used, search performance of non-full access (where team members had 90% access to collection) outperformed full access (where team members had 100% access to collection). This simulated study also fulfilled the first research objective. Next, a preliminary user study was conducted using variables selected based on the findings of the simulated study. This study uncovered a number of interface components, and awareness concepts such as query awareness, result awareness and team awareness that could be used to support users in MLCIR scenarios. This user study addressed the second research objective. Based on findings from this user study, two further user studies were conducted where we evaluated a number of interface components implemented to support query awareness, result awareness and team awareness. Results suggested that having access to query properties and result properties in MLCIR scenarios can leverage team members? search performance. These two user studies addressed the third research objective. Finally, a working MLCIR interface was built based on the findings elicited from our previous user studies. The interface was then evaluated using the web and non-uniform information access scenarios. The results showed that blacklisting search terms had a significant negative impact on search outcome than blacklisting documents (f-measure: 0.04 vs 0.197). This study fulfilled the final research objective. All five studies presented in this thesis provided us with an increasing understanding of how to develop an MLCIR interface that is usable and helpful for users. As a final product, a working MLCIR interface was produced which could provide collaborating users with useful awareness information without disclosing any sensitive data. Overall, this thesis provided important new design suggestions and showed reusability of CIR components for MLCIR interfaces, something that has never been demonstrated before. The interfaces, experimental designs and findings including design suggestions that are presented in this thesis serve as novel guidelines for further investigations into MLCIR.

Advances in the development of a cognitive user interface

In this contribution, we want to summarize recent development steps of the embedded cognitive user interface UCUI, which enables a user-adaptive scenario in human-machine or even human-robot interactions by considering sophisticated cognitive and semantic modelling. The interface prototype is developed by different German institutes and companies with their steering teams at Fraunhofer IKTS and Brandenburg University of Technology. The interface prototype is able to communicate with users via speech and gesture recognition, speech synthesis and a touch display. The device includes an autarkic semantic processing and beyond a cognitive behavior control, which supports an intuitive interaction to control different kinds of electronic devices, e. g. in a smart home environment or in interactive respectively collaborative robotics. Contrary to available speech assistance systems such as Amazon Echo or Google Home, the introduced cognitive user interface UCUI ensures the user privacy by processing all necessary information without any network access of the interface device.

Intelligent ALMM System - implementation assumptions for its Knowledge Base

The paper introduces the concept of implementation assumptions about the Knowledge Base (KB) system cooperating with intelligent information system for the discrete optimization of problem solving, named Intelligent ALMM System. This system utilizes a modeling paradigm named Algebraic Logical Meta Model of Multistage Decision Processes (ALMM) and its theory, both developed by Dudek-Dyduch E. The system solves combinatorial and discrete optimization problems including NP-hard problems with possible user assistance. The models of problems are stored in a Problem Model Library. In this paper the idea of KB for the storage of the properties of problems is presented. The concept of the KB on problems presented in previous works has been extended by introducing an additional module pertaining to the properties of a problems library. A discussion was presented in the context of the selection of tools that enable the construction of such a library as well as its architecture. In the adopted strategy of storing the properties of problems, the interface for exchanging information is compatible with the library of problems using polymorphic and component properties of object-oriented programming. Considerations are explained by means of a sample UML diagram and interface prototypes.

Guidelines for Error Message Design

The presented study aims to develop a set of guidelines for error message design. A large amount of research is available in the literature on the topic of warning design. The same is not true for error messages. Although some research exists, the design of error messages is not covered to the same extent as warning design. To address this lack of research, a set of guidelines for error message design was developed from the literature regarding error message design, as well as from warning design theory. These guidelines were then evaluated through two usability studies (a heuristic evaluation and individual interviews with users) to determine whether they are valid and effective. The guidelines were refined based on the results of the usability studies. The final set of guidelines can be used to inform the design and development of error messages and facilitate early evaluation of interface prototypes.

Multi-scale dynamic maps for the management of invading and established wildlife populations: brushtail possums in New Zealand

Context The abundance and distribution of mammalian species often change in response to environmental variability, losses or gains in suitable habitat and, in the case of pest species, control programs. Consequently, conventional distribution maps rapidly become out of date and fail to provide useful information for wildlife managers. For invasive brushtail possum populations in New Zealand, the main causes of change are control programs by central and local government agencies, and post-control recovery through recolonisation and in situ recruitment. Managers need to know current, and likely future, possum population levels relative to control targets to help assess success at preventing the spread of disease or for protecting indigenous species. Information on the outcomes of government-funded possum control needs to be readily available to members of the general public interested in issues such as conservation, disease management and animal welfare. Aims To produce dynamic, scalable maps of the current and predicted future distribution and abundance of possums in New Zealand, taking into account changes due to control, and to use recent visualisation technology to make this information accessible to managers and the general public for assessing control strategies at multiple spatial scales. Methods We updated an existing individual-based spatial model of possum population dynamics, extending it to represent all individuals in a national population of up to 40 million. In addition, we created a prototype interface for interactive web-based presentation of the model’s predictions. Key results The improved capability of the new model for assessing possum management at local-to-national scales provided for real-time, mapped updates and forecasts of the distribution and abundance of possums in New Zealand. The versatility of this platform was illustrated using scenarios for current and emerging issues in New Zealand. These are hypothetical incursions of possums, reinvasion of large areas cleared of possums, and impacts on animal welfare of national-scale management of possums as vectors of bovine tuberculosis (TB). Conclusions The new individual-based spatial model for possum populations in New Zealand demonstrated the utility of combining models of wildlife population dynamics with high-speed computing capability to provide up-to-date, easily accessible information on a species’ distribution and abundance. Applications include predictions for future changes in response to incursions, reinvasion and large-scale possum control. Similar models can be used for other species for which there are suitable demographic data, typically pest species, harvested species or species with a high conservation value. Implications Models such as the spatial model for possums in New Zealand can provide platforms for (1) real-time visualisation of wildlife distribution and abundance, (2) reporting and assessing progress towards achieving management goals at multiple scales, (3) use as a decision-support tool to scope potential changes in wildlife populations or simulate the outcomes of alternative management strategies, and (4) making information about pest control publicly available.

ScaffdCF: A Prototype Interface for Managing Conflicts in Peer Review Process of Open Collaboration Projects

ScaffdCF: A Prototype Interface for Managing Conflicts in Peer Review Process of Open Collaboration Projects

Compilation of Japanese learners’ dictionaries

The number of Japanese language learners outside Japan, especially of advanced level learners, is increasing yearly. From the intermediate level onwards, they could profit from bilingual Japanese learners’ dictionaries in their native language, but in most linguistic areas of the world only very simple dictionaries for beginners and for tourists are available. Our project therefore aims at supporting the compilation of Japanese language learners’ dictionaries for intermediate and advanced learners by building a database of contents needed when editing a Japanese language learners’ dictionary, and offering it online. This 4 year project is going to be running from 2011 to 2014. Two surveys were conducted: a survey of the vocabulary used in textbooks of Japanese as a foreign language and a quantitative survey on the targeted area of the Japanese language in a large-scale corpus, in order to select the list of words to be included in the database, and a general list of basic vocabulary for Japanese language instruction was created. At present, usage examples are being compiled on the basis of this vocabulary list, and a database system is being developed. A prototype of a database search interface and download system has been completed. The database is going to include various types of information which are considered to be useful for learners, such as grammar, phonetics, synonyms, collocations, stylistics, learners’ errors etc. These are presently being studied in detail to be made public in 2014.

Inter-Technology Backscatter

We introduce inter-technology backscatter, a novel approach that transforms wireless transmissions from one technology to another, on the air. We show for the first time that Bluetooth transmissions can be used to create Wi-Fi and ZigBee-compatible signals using backscatter communication. Since Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and ZigBee radios are widely available, this enables a backscatter design that works using only commodity devices. We build an FPGA prototype that creates 2'11 Mbps Wi-Fi or Zigbee packets by backscattering Bluetooth transmissions. We use this to demonstrate previously infeasible applications including the first contact lens form-factor antenna prototype and implantable neural recording interface that communicate directly to commodity devices, such as smartphones, thus enabling the vision of Internet-connected implanted devices

A closed-loop interface for capacitive micro-accelerometers with pulse-width-modulation force feedback

This paper presents an electromechanical closed-loop interface for the high performance capacitive micro-accelerometer. To overcome the problem that the linearity of the traditional analogue force feedback scheme is sensitive to the mismatch in the MEMS transducer, a pulse-width-modulation (PWM) force feedback method is developed in this paper. Elaborate non-linearity analysis of the PWM force feedback and a comparison with traditional analog feedback method is presented. A prototype interface circuit is designed and fabricated in a standard 0.35 μm CMOS process which measures 6.25 mm2. The noise floor of the system is 10 μg/√Hz and the signal bandwidth is 1.2 kHz, respectively. The system shows a DC nonlinearity of 1.6‰ without extra linearization circuit with an input range of ± 1.4 g when interface to a commercial accelerometer device.

Abstracting application deployment on Cloud infrastructures

Deploying a complex application on a Cloud-based infrastructure can be a challenging task. In this contribution we present an approach for Cloud-based deployment of applications and its present or future implementation in the framework of several projects, such as “!CHAOS: a cloud of controls” [1], a project funded by MIUR (Italian Ministry of Research and Education) to create a Cloud-based deployment of a control system and data acquisition framework, “INDIGO-DataCloud” [2], an EC H2020 project targeting among other things high-level deployment of applications on hybrid Clouds, and “Open City Platform”[3], an Italian project aiming to provide open Cloud solutions for Italian Public Administrations. We considered to use an orchestration service to hide the complex deployment of the application components, and to build an abstraction layer on top of the orchestration one. Through Heat [4] orchestration service, we prototyped a dynamic, on-demand, scalable platform of software components, based on OpenStack infrastructures. On top of the orchestration service we developed a prototype of a web interface exploiting the Heat APIs. The user can start an instance of the application without having knowledge about the underlying Cloud infrastructure and services. Moreover, the platform instance can be customized by choosing parameters related to the application such as the size of a File System or the number of instances of a NoSQL DB cluster. As soon as the desired platform is running, the web interface offers the possibility to scale some infrastructure components. In this contribution we describe the solution design and implementation, based on the application requirements, the details of the development of both the Heat templates and of the web interface, together with possible exploitation strategies of this work in Cloud data centers.

Acceptability of Clinical Decision Support Interface Prototypes for a Nursing Electronic Health Record to Facilitate Supportive Care Outcomes.

To determine the acceptability, usefulness, and ease of use for four nursing clinical decision support interface prototypes. In a simulated hospital environment, 60 registered nurses (48 female; mean age=33.7±10.8; mean years of experience=8.1±9.7) participated in a randomized study with four study groups. Measures included acceptability, usefulness, and ease of use scales. Mean scores were high for acceptability, usefulness, and the ease of use for all four groups. Inexperienced participants (<1 year) reported higher perceived ease of use (p=.05) and perceived usefulness (p=.01) than those with experience of 1 year or more. Participants completed the protocol and reported that all four interfaces, including the control (HANDS), were acceptable, easy to use, and useful. Further study is warranted before clinical implementation within the electronic health record.

Quantitative damage identification in tendon anchorage via PZT interface-based impedance monitoring technique

In this study, the severity of damage in tendon anchorage caused by the loss of tendon forces is quantitatively identified by using the PZT interface-based impedance monitoring technique. Firstly, a 2-DOF impedance model is newly designed to represent coupled dynamic responses of PZT interface-host structure. Secondly, the 2-DOF impedance model is adopted for the tendon anchorage system. A prototype of PZT interface is designed for the impedance monitoring. Then impedance signatures are experimentally measured from a laboratory-scale tendon anchorage structure with various tendon forces. Finally, damage severities of the tendon anchorage induced by the variation of tendon forces are quantitatively identified from the phase-by-phase model updating process, from which the change in impedance signatures is correlated to the change in structural properties.