Steering Task Research Articles

Constrained Path Tracking at Varying Angles in a Mouse Tracking Task

This study was aimed to determine the effects of direction and path length on movement time when traversing a constrained path of width, W, in a mouse tracking task. Tracking within constrained paths has been demonstrated to hold in many applications. Movement time and velocity of movement have shown very similar relationships, possibly because of the lack of extreme testing conditions. Most previous research evaluated conditions with only constant path length (A) of movement. A total of 15 participants performed a mouse steering task within a constrained path at various angles. The independent variables were track width (W), path length, and path angle. Movement time was the dependent variable. Analyses showed a significant effect of movement direction on movement time, and the relationship was approximately sinusoidal and symmetrical about the horizontal axis. Path length had a significant effect on speed of movement, which was not that apparent on movement time. At low A/W values, movements appeared to be ballistic. Tracking within constrained paths can be modeled to account for the effect of path angle. Vertical hand movements, especially within constrained paths, may not be ideal from a performance and biomechanical standpoint. The performance curve gradients are a good way to evaluate and standardize the testing of input devices and to define acceptable speeds for various tolerances in computer and industrial tasks that involve angular motions. The results of this experiment will help designers to optimize products and training programs.

DIAGNOSTIC OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES’ USE IN VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE: ANALYSIS OF AN EXPERIENCE

In recent years, parallel to the transformations occurring at all levels, a technological revolution has taken place from which the development and integration of multiple resources in all areas and sectors has been derived. All these changes have implications in Vocational Guidance, noting by its relevance in the present study, the integration and use of technological tools in the development of guidance tasks and the adoption by its technicians, the skills needed to make an effective use of them. Taking as reference the above, the research problem of this work is focused on describing the use that professional counselors make of the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in the development of their daily work. With this purpose, we describe this study, in which, through quantitative and qualitative methods, we conclude, in general, the lack of true integration of ICT tools in guidance and a large deficit training in the group of counselors regarding to technological resources, which implies the need to design training activities with a view to remedying this deficiency. Key words: information and communication technologies (ICT), technological competences, use of technological resources, vocational guidance.

User performance measures for evaluating interactive TV pointing devices

This study evaluated remote pointing devices for testing that are applicable to interactive TV (iTV). With a standard Mouse 2.0 as the baseline condition, empirical experiments were conducted on new pointing devices for three different interaction methods. For measurement, a directional task on a straight trail based on Fitts' law specified in ISO 9241-9 and a steering tunnel task on a curved trail based on Steering law were performed. As a result of the evaluation for movement on a straight trail, Hall mouse and OFN showed a higher accuracy than GyroPoint, whereas GyroPoint showed a faster speed than the other methods. The evaluation on a curved trail, however, found that the speed and accuracy of GyroPoint, Hall mouse, and OFN were all excellent. These results suggest that pointing devices can exhibit different performances by task. In this study, a curved trail was considered in addition to the straight trail specified in ISO 9241-9 for measurement of interactive pointing devices, which enabled general diagnosis and evaluation for input methods that are appropriate for the actual iTV environment. Above all, this paper is meaningful in that it provides extended evaluation criteria for a curved trail that incorporates various interaction styles now being developed.

Introducing a method to compare the hand position of drivers under wheel steering task: preliminary results

The task of turning a steering wheel requires a minimum amount of strength and amplitude. Such requirements may be lacking in aged and/or disabled drivers. The VOLHAND project aims to ease driving ...

Digital TV 리모컨의 포인팅 방식에 대한 사용성 평가

Along with the development of communication technology, DTV is gradually evolving into media that provide diverse services and information. This study is related with remote controls that control DTV interfaces and assessed the usability of remote pointing device. To this end, pointing devices using three different interaction methods that have been attempted recently by the industry were selected to conduct empirical experiments. The usability assessment was conducted centering on the existing directional task on straight tracks presented in ISO 9241-Part 9 and the steering tunnel task on curved tracks proposed in this study. The measurement variables included movement time, accuracy, throughput, subjective satisfaction and user behaviors. Based on the results of the assessment, in the case of movements on straight tracks, the GyroPoint method showed better implementing time but lower accuracy compared to the Hall Mouse and OFN methods while in the case of assessment on curved tracks, all of the GyroPoint method, Hall Mouse and OFN methods showed excellent results on both implementing time and accuracy. Besides, differences in efficiency and subjective satisfaction were shown among individual pointing devices. Based on these results, it is considered that individual pointing methods have different advantageous and disadvantageous characteristics. In this study, the usability of remote control pointing methods was assessed and diagnosed reflecting environments where DTVs are used through assessments considering the aspect of straight tracks along with curved tracks. Among others, this study is considered to be meaningful in that it provides assessment criteria and basic data for the development of remote controls suitable for the evolving DTV environments.

Quality control of superficial hyperthermia by treatment evaluation

Steering of multi-element heating arrays for superficial hyperthermia (SHT) can be a challenge in the clinic. This is because the technician has to deal with a multiple-input multiple-output system, varying tissue dynamics, and often sparse tissue temperature data. In addition, patient feedback needs to be taken into account. Effective management of the steering task determines the quality of heating. Systematic evaluation is an effective tool to control the quality of treatments. The purpose of this manuscript is to report on a treatment evaluation flow developed for SHT at the Erasmus MC. This flow is used to secure the quality of steering as well as to stimulate general quality awareness in the hyperthermia team. All treatments are evaluated in a multidisciplinary discussion. Tools and methods were developed to enable effective and efficient evaluations.The treatment evaluation sheet is a compact and intuitive representation of power and temperature data. Trend lines and a temperature-depth plot allow a quick analysis of the steering parameters and the heating profile within the target volume. In addition, the principal statistics of applicator power, water bolus and tissue temperature values are given. Power steering data includes the number of switch-off events, interruption time and the number of steering actions. A list of basic checks and reference values for clinical data support further the treatment evaluation. These tools and the systematic treatment evaluations they facilitate, ultimately lead to consistent performance and fine tuning of the set-up and steering strategy for each individual patient.

Motor-Model-Based Dynamic Scaling in Human–Computer Interfaces

This paper presents a study on how the application of scaling techniques to an interface affects its performance. A progressive scaling factor based on the position and velocity of the cursor and the targets improves the efficiency of an interface, thereby reducing the user's workload. The study uses several human-motor models to interpret human intention and thus contribute to defining and adapting the scaling parameters to the execution of the task. Two techniques addressed to vary the control-display ratio are compared, and a new method for aiding in the task of steering is proposed.

Verbal Control Robot which Interprets Vague Expression

This paper discusses the development of the interpretation system for the mobile robot manipulation which maps linguistic command with vague expression issued by a human operator to an appropriate quantity. The system allows the operator to use only few kinds of vague expressions, as can be seen in the case when a human instructs some other person orally. The problem here is to find an appropriate quantity for each operator because the quantity corresponding to the vague word which is implied by the operator differs when operator changes. To cope with the difficulty, this paper proposes the distance type fuzzy reasoning algorithm with iterative learning scheme that can accommodate individual difference on how to quantify the vague expression. The experiment has been carried out to examine the change in the number of instructions required to guide the mobile robot to destination. The result of the experiment shows that the number of instructions necessary for achieving the guidance task decreases in almost all cases, which implies the validity of the proposed system.

SmartGuide – A Smartphone Museum Guide with Ultrasound Control

Abstract While smartphones are well equipped for outdoor localization tasks, they usually do not provide support for identifying an indoor point of interest. This especially prohibits the context aware use of smartphones for guidance tasks inside a building, e. g. a museum. Alternatives like the use of near field communication (NFC) or barcode tagging demands an explicit interaction of the user with the tag, as well as dedicated sensors on the users’ phone. WiFi triangulation requires a calibration step for every distinct location. We found that ultrasonic signals, sent by a cheap, stand-alone emitter, can be the basis of a light-weight smartphone based proximity detection system. Using this technique we developed a prototypical context-aware museum guide and tested it successfully in public.

Evaluation of Guidance Performance in Urban Terrains for Different UAV Types and Performance Criteria Using Spatial CTG Maps

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) present in a wide range of scales, airframe types and possible systems configurations. Assessing how these different systems perform, therefore, should be an essential part of their design. This task, however, is particularly difficult due to the complex, dynamic interactions these vehicles are capable of, and the often complex operational conditions. In this paper we describe and apply an evaluation framework based on spatial cost-to-go (SCTG) maps. These maps describe the spatial distributions of optimal state and cost-to-go for a given geographical environment, and are computed using a finite-state approximation of the vehicle dynamics. The SCTG maps embed the interaction effects between vehicle dynamics and environment, and thus provide a rigorous basis for the evaluation of the airframe, various system and environment factors. The paper describes the results obtained applying this framework to a basic goal-directed guidance task taking place in an urban environment. Three small-scale UAV types are compared: a fixed-wing aircraft, a standard helicopter, and a quad-rotorcraft. Both minimum-time and minimum-energy performance criteria are analyzed to determine overall performance characteristics and highlight the basic features of the proposed framework.

Planificación y desarrollo de un mapa de habilidades TIC en orientación

The main purpose of this article focuses on identifying specific Information and Communication Technologies skills, particularly those related to web pages and e-mail, useful in the implementation of Guidance functions and tasks. To this end, it was designed a competence map overlaid on those of a technological and coach and also produces a matrix that considered seven areas of focus grouped by International Association Educational and Vocational Guidance: evaluation, educational guidance, career development, counselling, information management, research and evaluation and placement. It also took into account three types of approaches to the counsellor regarding the use of ICT in guidance, as a resource, medium and development of guidance materials and two of these tools (websites and e-mail). The effective integration of Information and Communication Technologies and effective use of them, by guidance professional is based on their competences in them. This resource, open and flexible, requires a continuous updating in order to be useful in the implementation of guidance tasks, in self-assessment of competence by professionals; diagnosis of deficits in the design, planning and development training and guidance actions. It is also an instrument of great relevance and usefulness to guidance practitioners to explore the training needs and their occupational profile and to motivate their professional development. El propósito del presente artículo se centra en identificar determinadas competencias TIC, concretamente las relacionadas con las páginas web y el correo electrónico, de utilidad en la implementación de funciones y tareas de Orientación. Para ello, se diseñó un mapa de competencias en el que se entrecruzan las de carácter tecnológico y orientador, y se elaboró asimismo una matriz integrada por siete áreas de Orientación seleccionadas por la AIOEP: valoración, orientación educativa, desarrollo de la carrera, asesoramiento, gestión de la información, Investigación y evaluación y colocación. También se consideraron tres tipos de enfoques en lo referente al empleo de las TIC en Orientación (como recurso, medio y desarrollo de materiales orientadores) y dos herramientas (páginas web y correo electrónico). La integración y empleo eficaz de las TIC, por los orientadores, se halla en función de las competencias de éstos en ellas. Esta herramienta (mapa), de carácter abierto y flexible, exige una continua actualización con el propósito de ser útil en la puesta en práctica de actividades orientadoras; en la autoevaluación de competencias por parte de los profesionales del ámbito; en el diagnóstico de déficits formativos y en el diseño, planificación y desarrollo de acciones de formación y/u orientación. Se trata de un instrumento de gran relevancia para que los Orientadores exploren sus necesidades formativas y asesoras, el perfil ocupacional y motiven su desarrollo profesional.

Distribution of Peripheral Vision for a Driving Simulator Functional Field of View Task

Although previous studies have assessed the allocation of central and peripheral vision in functional field of view (FFOV) tasks, few studies have directly assessed changes in the FFOV within a driving environment. By modifying a typical FFOV task paradigm with central and peripheral target tasks occurring in a low-fidelity driving simulation, a method of assessing the allocation of peripheral vision resources was developed. Two experiments were conducted to: 1) validate the FFOV task in a driving simulation environment, 2) assess peripheral attention distribution due to the simulation background, and 3) assess peripheral attention distribution due to a basic vehicle steering task. In Experiment 1, the central and peripheral task performance of 17 college undergraduates (8 males, 9 females) was compared when provided a blank white screen versus the driving simulation background (i.e., driver's vehicle moving on a winding road towards a distant horizon). In Experiment 2, the central and peripheral task performance of 27 college undergraduates (19 male, 8 female) was assessed when provided the same driving simulation background as in Experiment 1, but with the additional task of controlling the vehicle's lane position. Both experiments used a central, two-choice object recognition task that varied in object display speed (160, 260 ms) with a concurrent peripheral target detection task that varied in eccentricity (10, 20, 30° visual angle) and radial position (4 cardinal, 4 oblique). Results from both experiments indicated a successful replication of a FFOV task with poorer peripheral task performance as peripheral targets increased in display speed and eccentricity. Analysis of peripheral target localization accuracy performance suggested a lower visual field dominance and a differentiated pattern of peripheral attention allocation for the driving environment and when the participants were performing the steering task.

Integration of dynamic information for visuomotor control in young adults with developmental coordination disorder

We examined the hypothesis that developmental coordination disorder (DCD) consists of a poor integration of distal preparatory visual information with the visual information that arises during movement execution. We set up a steering task where the action goal was to steer smoothly on a virtual winding course under conditions that manipulated the availability and timing of visual information. Participants were 20 young adults who had been diagnosed with DCD in their childhood and 20 typically developing age-matched controls. On a simple tracking task, participants with DCD were slower and more variable than controls. The group differences dissipated, however, when the display highlighted the directional changes necessary within the next 500 ms. When the latter condition was modified to also include the full layout of the course, however, the performance of the DCD group once again decreased. This result could not be attributed to a simple distraction effect. The results suggest that distinct neural mechanisms are associated with the processing of fast visual information for online control and longer-term action preparation based on spatial layout. In skilled action, cerebellar and parietal areas process information effectively and their outputs are integrated into one smooth movement. Because the DCD group showed difficulties in steering when both types of information were present, it is likely that this integration is suboptimal.

Where do we look when we steer and does it matter?

Land & Lee (1994) documented that car drivers direct gaze to the tangent point of the curve when steering a bend. Wann & Land (2000) described how fixating on an appropriate point on the road (tangent of the curve or the path) may simplify the task of steering. The first part of this study revisited Land & Lee, using head-mounted gaze tracking and simulated roadways presented on a 90deg FoV screen. Gaze records were digitized and catalogued by researchers who were not aware of the proposals in Wann & Land. The results suggest that for the majority of the time, during bend steering, gaze is directed to a point on the future path (centre of the road) rather than the tangent point. This experiment was then repeated with a divided attention task, of monitoring both the road and a speed indicator, and similar results were obtained. Finally a series of trials were constructed where gaze location was cued by small transparent indicators that were placed within the scene to test whether stabilizing gaze or fixating on the anticipated path resulted in more accurate control. The general pattern of results suggest that gaze fixation is an important component of controlling steering, but opens a debate as to whether the tangent point or future path have special status.

An investigation of subjective operational biases in steering tasks evaluation

The steering law is an excellent performance model for trajectory-based tasks, such as drawing and writing in GUIs. Current studies on steering tasks focus on the effect of system factors (i.e. path width and amplitude) on the movement time and steering law's related applications. We conducted a series of experiments to further explore the effect of different operational biases (bias speed or accuracy) on steering completion time and standard deviation for two steering trajectory shapes, i.e. a straight steering task and a circular steering task, and then establish a new model accommodating system and subjective factor in steering tasks. Empirical results showed that the new model is more predictive and robust than the traditional steering law.

Pen pressure control in trajectory-based interaction

This study presents a series of three experiments that evaluate human capabilities and limitations in using pen-tip pressure as an additional channel of control information in carrying out trajectory tasks such as drawing, writing and gesturing on computer screen. The first experiment measured the natural range of force used in regular drawing and writing tasks. The second experiment tested human performance of maintaining pen-tip pressure at different levels with and without a visual display of the pen pressure. The third experiment, using the steering law paradigm, studied path steering performance as a function of the steering law index of difficulty, steering path type (linear and circular) and pressure precision tolerance interval. The main conclusions of our investigation are as follows. The natural range of pressure used in drawing and writing is concentrated in the 0.82 N (SI force unit Newton (N) is used in this article) to 3.16 N region. The resting force of the pen tip on the screen is between 0.78 N and 1.58 N. Pressure near or below the resting force is markedly more difficult to control. Visual feedback improves pressure-modulated trajectory tasks. Up to six layers of pressure can be controlled in steering tasks, but the error rate changed from 4.9% for one layer of pressure to 35% for six layers. The steering law holds for pressure steering tasks, which enables systematic prediction of successful steering time for a given path's length, width and pressure precision criterion. The steering time can also be modelled as a logarithmic function of pressure control precision ratio σ. Taken together, the current work provides a systematic body of empirical knowledge as basis for future research and design of digital pen applications.

Effects of Multimodal Error Feedback on Human Performance in Steering Tasks

This paper investigates the relationship between “error feedback” (when tracking or trajectory errors are made) and user performance in steering tasks. The experiment examines feedback presented in visual, auditory and tactile modalities, both individually and in combinations. The results indicate that feedback significantly affects the accuracy of steering tasks but not the movement time. The results also show that users perform most accurately with tactile feedback. This paper contributes to the basic understanding of “error feedback” and how it impacts on steering tasks, and it offers insights and implications for the future design of multimodal feedback mechanisms for steering tasks.

Bayesian Integration and Non-Linear Feedback Control in a Full-Body Motor Task

A large number of experiments have asked to what degree human reaching movements can be understood as being close to optimal in a statistical sense. However, little is known about whether these principles are relevant for other classes of movements. Here we analyzed movement in a task that is similar to surfing or snowboarding. Human subjects stand on a force plate that measures their center of pressure. This center of pressure affects the acceleration of a cursor that is displayed in a noisy fashion (as a cloud of dots) on a projection screen while the subject is incentivized to keep the cursor close to a fixed position. We find that salient aspects of observed behavior are well-described by optimal control models where a Bayesian estimation model (Kalman filter) is combined with an optimal controller (either a Linear-Quadratic-Regulator or Bang-bang controller). We find evidence that subjects integrate information over time taking into account uncertainty. However, behavior in this continuous steering task appears to be a highly non-linear function of the visual feedback. While the nervous system appears to implement Bayes-like mechanisms for a full-body, dynamic task, it may additionally take into account the specific costs and constraints of the task.

The effect of haptic guidance, aging, and initial skill level on motor learning of a steering task

In a previous study, we found that haptic guidance from a robotic steering wheel can improve short-term learning of steering of a simulated vehicle, in contrast to several studies of other tasks that had found that the guidance either impairs or does not aid motor learning. In this study, we examined whether haptic guidance-as-needed can improve long-term retention (across 1 week) of the steering task, with age and initial skill level as independent variables. Training with guidance-as-needed allowed all participants to learn to steer without experiencing large errors. For young participants (age 18–30), training with guidance-as-needed produced better long-term retention of driving skill than did training without guidance. For older participants (age 65–92), training with guidance-as-needed improved long-term retention in tracking error, but not significantly. However, for a subset of less skilled, older subjects, training with guidance-as-needed significantly improved long-term retention. The benefits of guidance-based training were most evident as an improved ability to straighten the vehicle direction when coming out of turns. In general, older participants not only systematically performed worse at the task than younger subjects (errors ∼3 times greater), but also apparently learned more slowly, forgetting a greater percentage of the learned task during the 1 week layoffs between the experimental sessions. This study demonstrates that training with haptic guidance can benefit long-term retention of a driving skill for young and for some old drivers. Training with haptic guidance is more useful for people with less initial skill.

Combining Enhanced and Synthetic Vision for Autonomous All-Weather Approach and Landing

This article is about the design and evaluation of the human–machine interface of an enhanced and synthetic vision system. Several tunnel-in-the-sky and pathway-in-the-sky concepts including scene-linking elements have been evaluated. Pathway-in-the-sky displays enable pilots to accurately fly difficult trajectories. However, these displays may drive pilots' attention to the aircraft guidance task at the expense of other tasks, particularly when the pathway display is located head-down. A pathway head-up display (HUD) might be a viable solution to overcome this disadvantage. Moreover, the pathway might mitigate the perceptual segregation between the static near domain and the dynamic far domain and hence might improve attention switching between both sources. To more comprehensively overcome the perceptual near-to-far domain disconnect, alphanumeric symbols could be attached to the pathway leading to an HUD design concept called scene linking. A scene-linked pathway-predictor concept was implemented on a monocular retinal scanning head-mounted device (HMD) in combination with an optical head tracker. The evaluation comprises low-fidelity part-task simulations, high-fidelity simulator runs, and flight trials. Where laboratory experiments found evidence in favor of scene-linked pathway HUDs or HMDs, the real flight tests could not fully support this display concept. Even so, in all studies evidence has been found that the head-up pathway concept could be superior to current head-up solutions.