Touchscreen Devices Research Articles

IMPROVEMENT IN FINE MOTOR CONTROL IN DEMENTIA ELDERLY FROM A COMPUTERIZED TOUCHSCREEN TRAINING PROGRAM

Dementia, a prevalent ageing disease, affects both the higher brain function and motor function, particularly finger movements (Chan, Haber, Drew, & Park, 2014). Task-based finger-tapping speed on a touchscreen device has been used as an assessment criterion to identify patients with deteriorating cognitive abilities (Gualtieri & Johnson, 2005; Cipriani, Bianchetti, & Trabucchi, 2006). As part of a larger project, we designed a computerized cognition intervention program and examined whether the intervention program would improve the finger-tapping speed of the dementia vis-à-vis the cognitively-healthy elderly. Ten mild-to-moderate dementia elderly (aged 83± 5.6) and 8 cognitively healthy elderly (aged 78±6.1) participated in a computerized intervention program where they played cognitive games on touch-screen tablet for about 30-45 minutes per session over two weeks. Participants’ touch interaction data over six sessions were collected and analyzed. Using a linear mixed-effect model for analysis, we found that in the 1st session, the touch performance of the dementia elderly was significantly worse than that of the cognitively-healthy elderly (b=-0.172, Z=-2.311, p<.05). By the 6th session, the dementia elderly had significantly improved their touch performance (b=-0.171, Z= -8.042, p<.001) such that their touch performance was now comparable to the cognitively-healthy elderly (b=-0.064, Z=-0.874, p=.393). Overall, our preliminary results suggested that after participating in 6 sessions of our computerized cognitive intervention program, the dementia elderly showed significant improvement in their fine motor movement as measured by their finger-tapping speed. The improved finger-tapping speed serves as a first step toward slowing down the cognitive decline of the dementia elderly.

Associations between child mobile use and digital parenting style in Hungarian families

ABSTRACTMobile touch screen device (MTSDs) use is becoming widespread in children and has negative and positive consequences. Yet, factors associated with greater use remain unexplored, despite the importance of their identification for intervention purposes. It stands to reason that parents can influence child MTSD use, via their attitudes, beliefs, role-modelling, and style of parenting. Here, we examined the associations between these parental characteristics and child MTSD use and whether parenting styles specifically with regard to child MTSD use exist. Hungarian parents (N = 1283) were surveyed about their children’s digital activities, their own attitudes and beliefs regarding the child’s MTSD use, and their own attachment to- and use of mobile phones. Taking a data-driven approach, distinct “digital parenting styles” were identified and these resembled general parenting styles. Findings further suggested that children spent more time with MTSD use if their parents: were more permissive, more authoritative and less authoritarian; had a lower educational level; exhibited greater attachment to their mobile phones; and had more positive attitudes towards, and attributed less harm and more benefits to, early device use. These results are the first evidence for existence of digital parenting styles and suggest that parental characteristics are potential prevention and treatment targets.

Pedagogical approaches surrounding the touchscreen: The child and practitioner perspective

This article reports on the findings of a mixed-methods, interpretive study identifying practitioners’ pedagogical approaches when children aged 3–4 years use touchscreen devices in early years settings in the West Midlands, UK. A multi-site case study approach was adopted involving interviews with 12 practitioners to identify their rationale for using these devices. Coupled with 160 observations of touchscreen practice, this allowed the opportunity to critique intentions with practice, to determine children’s opportunities to play with, and potentially learn from, touchscreen technologies. Capturing child voice was an integral aspect of this study. By providing the opportunity for children to express their views through four focus-group interviews, the study found that there was a distinct difference between children’s and practitioners’ intentions regarding touchscreen play. As a result, practitioners overlooked opportunities to strengthen children’s learning by following their interests. The data were analysed using activity theory as a central theoretical framework. From this analysis, it is argued that pedagogical approaches surrounding touchscreen use in early years settings need to be developed in order to incorporate the child’s voice in decisions which impact on the ways in which they play with these devices.

Investigating Gesture Typing for Indirect Touch

With the development of ubiquitous computing, entering text on HMDs and smart TVs using handheld touchscreen devices (e.g., smartphone and controller) is becoming more and more attractive. In these indirect touch scenarios, the touch input surface is decoupled from the visual display. Compared with direct touch input, entering text using a keyboard in indirect touch is more challenging because before the finger touch, no visual feedback is available for locating the touch finger. Aiming at this problem, in this paper, we investigate the feasibility of gesture typing for indirect touch since keeping the finger in touch with the screen during typing makes it possible to provide continuous visual feedback, which is beneficial for increasing the input performance. We first examine users' gesture typing ability in terms of the appropriate keyboard size and location in motor space and then compare the typing performance in direct and indirect touch mode. We then propose an improved design to address the uncertainty and inaccuracy of the first touch. Our evaluation result shows that users can quickly acquire indirect gesture typing, and type 22.3 words per minute after 30 phases, which significantly outperforms previous numbers in literature. Our work provides the empirical support for leveraging gesture typing for indirect touch.

42.3: Invited Paper: Silver nanowire for Next Generation Touch Solution

We developed a continuous roll‐to‐roll process for the fabrication of electrodes of silver nanowire (AgNWs) networks. For high‐throughput flexible electronic devices to be ready for the market, their transparent conductive electrodes (TCEs) should show stable working performance during folding conditions and have a long operating life. In this study, TCEs were produced by AgNWs electrodes. The AgNWs electrodes showed an outstanding sheet resistance value of 50 ohm/sq, 92.3% transmittance, mechanical stability, and excellent long‐term stability. Flexible touch screen were produced using the AgNWs transparent electrodes on a flexible COP substrate. The touch screen performance is superior to that of a device based on the as‐coated AgNWs electrode. The roll‐to‐roll process provides a facile and reliable method for fabricating large‐area AgNWs transparent flexible electrodes for next‐generation flexible touch screen devices.

Collecting Sleep, Circadian, Fatigue, and Performance Data in Complex Operational Environments.

Sleep loss and circadian misalignment contribute to a meaningful proportion of operational accidents and incidents. Countermeasures and work scheduling designs aimed at mitigating fatigue are typically evaluated in controlled laboratory environments, but the effectiveness of translating such strategies to operational environments can be challenging to assess. This manuscript summarizes an approach for collecting sleep, circadian, fatigue, and performance data in a complex operational environment. We studied 44 airline pilots over 34 days while they flew a fixed schedule, which included a baseline data collection with 5 days of mid-morning flights, four early flights, four high-workload mid-day flights, and four late flights that landed after midnight. Each work block was separated by 3-4 days of rest. To assess sleep, participants wore a wrist-worn research-validated activity monitor continuously and completed daily sleep diaries. To assess the circadian phase, pilots were asked to collect all urine produced in four or eight hourly bins during the 24 h after each duty block for the assessment of 6-sulfatoxymelatonin (aMT6s), which is a biomarker of the circadian rhythm. To assess subjective fatigue and objective performance, participants were provided with a touch-screen device used to complete the Samn-Perelli Fatigue Scale and Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT) during and after each flight, and at waketime, mid-day, and bedtime. Using these methods, it was found that sleep duration was reduced during early starts and late finishes relative to baseline. Circadian phase shifted according to duty schedule, but there was a wide range in the aMT6s peak between individuals on each schedule. PVT performance was worse on the early, high-workload, and late schedules relative to baseline. Overall, the combination of these methods was practical and effective for assessing the influence of sleep loss and circadian phase on fatigue and performance in a complex operational environment.

Context Association in Glaucoma Patients Using a Touch Screen.

The results showed that people with glaucoma are able to perform with high accuracy a context-association task on a touch screen. This device could be a new possibility for communication and for clinical assessment. The present study was designed to investigate the ability of patients with glaucoma to use a touch screen to find and associate pictures with limited text. Eighty-four volunteers were recruited in 3 groups and tested binocularly or monocularly. Twenty-eight patients with binocular glaucoma (M=68.5 y) were selected with a visual acuity of 0.4 log MAR or better in each eye and visual field defects, with a mean deviation equal to or less than -6 dB in each eye. Twenty-eight age-matched controls (M=68.8 y) and 28 young controls (M=22.1 y) were also recruited (normal acuity; exclusion of ocular disease). The participants had to associate, by moving their index on a 22″ touch screen, a target on the unique scene (between 3 other distractor images) with a consistent background related to the target (eg, to match a fish with the sea). The performances of the glaucomatous patients were significantly (P<0.01) impaired in monocular vision compared with binocular vision with regard to the exploration duration (+2 s), accuracy (-3% of correct response), and peak speed (-10 cm/s). However, with binocular vision, representing daily life conditions, exploration duration, deviation, movement duration, peak speed, and accuracy were not affected by glaucoma, as demonstrated by comparison with the age-matched group. People with glaucoma are able to perform with high accuracy a context-association task on a touch screen. Many applications involving touch screen devices should provide new tools with limited text to help patients with visual disabilities.

Statistical Test Methodology for Evaluating Electromagnetic Information Leakage From Mobile Touchscreen Devices

This paper presents a statistical-test-based methodology for evaluating the electromagnetic (EM) emanations from mobile touchscreen devices. These EM emanations potentially contain information that can be exploited to reconstruct screen images of the device remotely. The proposed method evaluates the threat of such EM-based information leakage by performing a statistical test of measured EM waves and environmental noise without performing ad-hoc screen restoration or image processing. In particular, we employ the Kolmogorov–Smirnov test, a nonparametric statistical test method, to compare two distributions of radiated EM waves: one that potentially contains screen information and another with environmental noise. In addition, this paper demonstrates the validity of our methodology via experiments involving authentic tablet devices in real-world settings and discusses a possible method to determine the confidence interval that can be adopted as a criterion for security evaluation depending on the environment.

Touch Screen Tester Device End-Effector

The paper describes the implementation of a new type of End-effector for testing touch screen devices. To automate the testing process of touch screens devices, a new type of end-effector is presented. The End-effector can be attached at diferent tipes of robotics sistem trough a connection part, which can be designed depending on the type of robot. For the movements in the test scenario, the end-effector is designed to move like a human hand. To create the physical parts in the prototype phase is used an field of rapid prototyping (RP) technology, called fused deposition modeling (FDM).

터치스크린을 통한 접근-회피 경험이 태도에 미치는 영향

터치스크린을 통한 접근-회피 경험이 태도에 미치는 영향

New insights into the indentation size effect in silicate glasses

When glasses resist permanent deformations, for applications such as a windshield or the cover of a touch-screen device, it is important to understand how they respond to inelastic energy dissipation processes. Many glasses exhibit the so-called Indentation Size Effect (ISE), where the indentation hardness is dependent on the maximum force exerted on the probe. In this study, we perform microindentation on silica and soda lime silicate glasses over a wide range of maximum forces and extract the Vickers hardness by the Oliver and Pharr method. The inelastic volume responsible for dissipating the inelastic energy is decomposed into densification and plastic flow, using surface topography and annealing. We show that the ISE is intimately linked to these mechanisms. Finally, we hypothesize the cause of the ISE is an increase in plasticity in a zone of material under the indenter probe experiencing reduced viscosity due to high strain rates and shear thinning.

Soft Magnetic Powdery Sensor for Tactile Sensing.

Soft resistive tactile sensors are versatile devices with applications in next-generation flexible electronics. We developed a novel type of soft resistive tactile sensor called a soft magnetic powdery sensor (soft-MPS) and evaluated its response characteristics. The soft-MPS comprises ferromagnetic powder that is immobilized in a liquid resin such as polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) after orienting in a magnetic field. On applying an external force to the sensor, the relative distance between particles changes, thereby affecting its resistance. Since the ferromagnetic powders are in contact from the initial state, they have the ability to detect small contact forces compared to conventional resistive sensors in which the conductive powder is dispersed in a flexible material. The sensor unit can be made in any shape by controlling the layout of the magnetic field. Soft-MPSs with different hardnesses that could detect small forces were fabricated. The soft-MPS could be applied to detect collisions in robot hands/arms or in ultra-sensitive touchscreen devices.

Gender recognition in smartphones using touchscreen gestures

This paper presents an approach for gender recognition in smartphones using touchscreen gestures performed by the user. The primary behavioral data comprising readings from the accelerometer, gyroscope, and orientation sensors are acquired while the user interacts with the touchscreen device. These measurements are further enriched by deriving a secondary set of gesture attributes such as swipe length and point curvature. The GIST descriptor-based features are then extracted from two-dimensional maps of the gesture attributes. Finally, a k-nearest neighbor (k-NN) classifier recognizes the user's gender based on a subset of features identified through feature selection. We have evaluated the performance of the proposed approach on two datasets, which consist of 2268 touch gestures from 126 subjects, collected using two different touchscreen devices. Our experiments show that the approach achieves higher gender classification accuracy compared to the existing method. In addition, the performance of our approach is consistent as it provides classification accuracy of 93.65% and 92.96% on the first and second datasets, respectively when multiple gestures are combined for gender recognition. Our study demonstrates that holistic image features considered in this work provide reliable information for smartphone-based gender classification.

Neural Activations Associated With Friction Stimulation on Touch-Screen Devices.

Tactile sensation largely influences human perception, for instance when using a mobile device or a touch screen. Active touch, which involves tactile and proprioceptive sensing under the control of movement, is the dominant tactile exploration mechanism compared to passive touch (being touched). This paper investigates the role of friction stimulation objectively and quantitatively in active touch tasks, in a real human-computer interaction on a touch-screen device. In this study, 24 participants completed an active touch task involved stroking the virtual strings of a guitar on a touch-screen device while recording the electroencephalography (EEG) signal. Statistically significant differences in beta and gamma oscillations in the middle frontal and parietal areas at the late period of the active touch task are found. Furthermore, stronger beta event-related desynchronization (ERD) and rebound in the presence of friction stimulation in the contralateral parietal area are observed. However, in the ipsilateral parietal area, there is a difference in beta oscillation only at the late period of the motor task. As for implicit emotion communication, a significant increase in emotional responses for valence, arousal, dominance, and satisfaction is observed when the friction stimulation is applied. It is argued that the friction stimulation felt by the participants' fingertip in a touch-screen device further induces cognitive processing compared to the case when no friction stimulation is applied. This study provides objective and quantitative evidence that friction stimulation is able to affect the bottom-up sensation and cognitive processing.

Vietnamese pre-schoolers’ tablet use and early childhood learning: an ecological investigation

ABSTRACTAs Vietnam’s economic growth and consumer demands continue to accelerate, more Vietnamese families are now able to acquire portable touchscreen devices such as iPads. Previous research has shown that the use of touchscreen devices can benefit pre-schoolers’ learning, especially within school and home settings. However, little is known about the broader sociocultural environment within which such technology adoption by families with pre-schoolers takes place, especially in the Global South. Guided by Bronfenbrenner’s ecology of human development, this research investigates the ecology of tablet use and early childhood learning by pre-schoolers in Vietnam through an ethnographic investigation of 42 mother-child dyads. We found that Vietnamese pre-schoolers’ tablet use for the purpose of early childhood learning was initiated, sustained or even enforced by their parents. Vietnamese mothers strongly regard tablets as learning tools that give their children a distinct edge in educational achievement. However, such enthusiastic appropriation of the tablets was not matched by the mothers’ concomitant understanding of the benefits and risks of touchscreen devices for children, nor the availability of social scaffolding structures for the parents.

Polarization properties of silver nanowire/polymer composite films: diattenuation, retardance and depolarization

Polarization properties of silver nanowire (AgNW)/polymer composite films are investigated by spectroscopic polarimetry, with special attention to their potential application as the transparent conductive electrode of touch screen devices. The analysis of the Mueller matrix decomposition for preferentially oriented AgNW networks shows linear diattenuation and retardance, in addition to depolarization due to the scattering of light by AgNWs. Diattenuation, retardance and depolarization increases with increasing loading amounts of AgNWs. Conversely, depolarization decreases when the diameter of the AgNWs decreases. These polarization properties have an impact on the polarization state of the transmitted light. When applied to a model of liquid crystal display (LCD) with in-cell touch screen (AgNW composite film is placed between crossed linear polarizers), this results in light leakage. However, such leakage (transmittance) can be reduced to 7 × 10−4% by using AgNWs with a diameter of less than or equal to 23 nm, in a film with a sheet resistance of 50Ω/sq, and by aligning the optic axis of the composite film with the transmission axis of the polarizers.

The Use of Smart Technology in an Online Community of Patients With Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy.

BackgroundDegenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM) is a prevalent and progressively disabling neurological condition. Treatment is currently limited to surgery, the timing of which is not without controversy. New international guidelines recommend that all patients should undergo lifelong surveillance and those with moderate-to-severe or progressive disease should be offered surgery. Long-term surveillance will place substantial burden on health services and short clinic assessments may risk misrepresenting disease severity. The use of smart technology to monitor disease progression could provide an invaluable opportunity to lessen this burden and improve patient care. However, given the older demographic of DCM, the feasibility of smart technology use is unclear.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to investigate current usage of smart technology in patients with self-reported DCM to inform design of smart technology apps targeted at monitoring DCM disease progression.MethodsGoogle Analytics from the patient section of Myelopathy.org, an international DCM charity with a large online patient community, was analyzed over a 1-year period. A total of 15,761 sessions were analyzed.ResultsIn total, 39.6% (295/744) of visitors accessed the website using a desktop computer, 35.1% (261/744) using mobile, and 25.3% (188/744) using a tablet. Of the mobile and tablet visitors, 98.2% (441/449) utilized a touchscreen device. A total of 51.3% (141/275) of mobile and tablet visitors used iPhone Operating System (iOS) and 45.8% (126/275) used an Android operating system. Apple and Samsung were the most popular smart devices, utilized by 53.6% (241/449) and 25.8% (116/449) of visitors, respectively. The overall visitor age was representative of DCM trials. Smart technology was widely used by older visitors: 58.8% (113/192) of mobile visitors and 84.2% (96/114) of tablet visitors were aged 45 years or older.ConclusionsSmart technology is commonly used by DCM patients. DCM apps need to be iOS and Android compatible to be accessible to all patients.

Mobile touch screen device use and associations with musculoskeletal symptoms and visual health in a nationally representative sample of Singaporean adolescents

This study aimed to describe contemporary technology use, especially smartphones and tablets (mobile touch screen devices), and examine associations with musculoskeletal symptoms and visual health among adolescents in Singapore. A representative sample of 1884 adolescents (50.4% girls) from grades primary 5 to post-secondary (10–18 years old), recruited from 13 schools, completed an online questionnaire in class. Total technology use was high, with smartphone duration being highest (mean = 264 [SD = 243] min/day). Patterns of use, including multitasking and bout length, were influenced by gender, school level, type of device and activities. Musculoskeletal discomfort and visual symptoms were commonly reported. After adjusting for potential confounders, more hours/day of smartphone use was associated with increased risk of neck/shoulders, upper back, arms and wrist/hand discomfort (OR = 1.04[95%CI = 1.01–1.07] to 1.07[1.03–1.10]) and visual symptoms (OR = 1.05[1.02–1.08]), but was associated with decreased odds of myopia (OR = 0.97[0.94–0.99]). No significant associations were found for tablet use.Practitioner Summary: 1884 adolescents in Singapore completed an in-depth questionnaire regarding their use of technology. The smartphone was the device with the highest usage, and greater smartphone use was associated with increased odds of musculoskeletal and visual symptoms. High use of smartphones has physical health implications for adolescents.

MathemAntics: a model for computer-based mathematics education for young children / MathemAntics: un modelo de enseñanza de matemáticas asistida por ordenador para niños

Computer-based early mathematics education, especially when implemented on a touchscreen device, can help young children learn basic concepts of number and operations in deep and engaging ways. We have developed MathemAntics — antic or playful mathematics — a software system that works on touchscreen tablets, to serve as a key aspect of mathematics instruction for children from age three to the early grades. This paper discusses the need for such software; describes and analyses currently available software; articulates the theoretical and design principles that form the basis of MathemAntics and can serve as the foundation for new software; presents a case study of a child using MathemAntics; and describes potential use of MathemAntics in a classroom setting. We invite readers to explore, investigate and use MathemAntics themselves.

Development of an Electrostatic Beat Module for Various Tactile Sensations in Touch Screen Devices

One of the most dominant factors in developing tactile modules is the ability to generate abundant vibrotactile sensation. This paper presents a new vibrotactile module which can stimulate two mechanoreceptors at the same time without any mechanical vibration motors. To realize that, we first design an electro-tactile beat module (an ETB module) consisting of a lower part, a connection part and an upper part. The two electrodes were designed in an interdigitated pattern and were applied to the upper part. By applying two voltage inputs with slightly different frequencies to two electrodes in the proposed ETB module, respectively, we can create beat-patterned vibration. Furthermore, we can create normal vibration with the proposed ETB module by applying same frequency to the two electrodes. Experiments were conducted to validate the haptic performance of the proposed prototype. The results show that the proposed ETB module can create not only beat-patterned vibration but also normal vibration. The results also show that it can generate strong enough vibration to stimulate mechanoreceptors in wide frequency ranges.