A Comparison of Direct and Indirect Input Devices in a Volumetric Interactive Virtual Environment Workspace

Author(s):  
Robert G. Eggleston ◽  
William P. Janson ◽  
Kenneth A. Aldrich

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of two different types of input devices on psychomotor performance in a “full” 3D (volumetric) virtual environment. Three subjects used both a direct input device (hand-held stylus) and an indirect input device (6 degree of freedom, fixed mounted force device) to accomplish aimed movement to a target located in one of eight depth planes. Directness was characterized in terms of action space and perception space coincidence and natural kinematic arm-hand movements. Different instructions were used to place different demands on coordination of movement. Aim point performance was evaluated in terms of aiming speed and accuracy, and steadiness at the terminal point. A descriptive analysis showed consistently better performance on all measures with the direct device. A statistical analysis confirmed these trends, although significance often was not always achieved due to limited experimental power. In general, the results suggest an advantage for the direct input device in the range of 30% to 73% across target locations, depending on type of performance measured. The data are discussed in terms of action and perception space coincidence and the coordination of the multiple degrees of freedom property of external input devices.

Author(s):  
Richard Pak ◽  
Anne C. McLaughlin ◽  
Chao-Chung Lin ◽  
Wendy A. Rogers ◽  
Arthur D. Fisk

Interaction with almost any technical system requires the user to use an input device. Typically, the most common input device for a computer has been the mouse. However, the mouse presents challenges to a large segment of a potential user population: older adults. The current study examines potential performance differences in two types of input devices. The first, a touchscreen, is a direct input device that requires almost no training to use. The second, a rotary encoder, is a novel input device that is being used more frequently in consumer devices but has received little to no research attention. The current results suggest that choice of input device is highly related to the type of interface (what elements make up the interface) and age. Both age-dependent and age-independent guidelines are provided to address interface and input device interactions to positively affect usability.


2003 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenwei Yu ◽  
Ryu Kato ◽  
Fukuda Fabio ◽  
Hiroshi Yokoi ◽  
Yukinori Kakazu

A high-efficiency, easy-to-use input device is not only important for data entry but also for human-computer interaction. To date, there has been little research on input devices with many degrees of freedom (DOF) that can be used by the handicapped. This paper presents the development of an electromyography (EMG)-based input device for forearm amputees. To overcome the difficulties in analysing EMG and realising high DOF from biosignals, the following were integrated: (1) an online learning method to cope with nonlinearity and the individual difference of EMG signals; (2) a smoothing algorithm to deal with noisy recognition results and transition states; and (3) a modified Huffman coding algorithm to generate the optimal code, taking expected error and input efficiency into consideration. Experiments showed the validity of the system and the possibility for development of a quiet, free-posture (no postural restriction) input device with many DOF for users, including forearm amputees.


Author(s):  
Robert G. Eggleston ◽  
William P. Janson

Psychomotor performance involves a closed-loop interaction of motor control and perception. A 3D virtual environment (VE) system inserts technology in both the motor side (input device) and perceptual side (viewing system) that will affect task performance. Often performance studies associated with VE systems will compare input devices or viewing systems without considering the affect of other components on performance. This may create a problem in the attribution of the absolute magnitude of effect that can be assigned to a single subsystem/device in a VE system. This paper presents a data analysis strategy and procedure to address the attribution problem. The procedure is described and illustrated with data from a comparative device study involving a 3D virtual environment system. Benefits and limitations of the strategy are discussed.


Sains Insani ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-16
Author(s):  
Mohammad Tawfik Yaakub ◽  
Osman Md Rasip

This article discusses impact of UMNO-PAS political cooperation towards Islamic development in Malaysia from 1973 until 1978. The success of political cooperation in 1973 was the result of both UMNO’s leader, Tun Abdul Razak and PAS’s leader, Asri Muda willingness to explore a new political approach compared to what was being practiced at that time. Both leaders then started the development of a government known as the ‘Cooperation Government’ with the combination of UMNO and PAS in 1973 and later on, the development of the National Front’s (BN) Coalition Government in 1974. The Islamic religion benefits the most from the development of the Coalition Government which is a favourable gain for the Malays in Malaysia. Henceforth, this article will discuss in detail on the impact of the political cooperation between UMNO and PAS within the cooperation period. The methods used for this research is by interview and also by referring to secondary sources which are analyzed in a historical descriptive manner that is normally practiced in historical research. At the end of this research it is established that there are profound impacts to the Islamic religion within the UMNO-PAS cooperation period within 1973 to 1978 for example, the television and radio station beginning starting their programmes with the recitation from Quranic verses, the promulgation of ‘Adhan, alcohols are no longer served in official government’s function, lottery companies are not allowed to promote and announce the lottery results in official government’s media, the establishment of Islamic institution, the strengthening of Islamic education and the appropriate change in the relevant ministry’s symbols. This article can be utilized by subsequent researchers who wish to study the impact of political cooperation between UMNO and PAS. Keywords: political cooperation, UMNO-PAS, cooperation government ABTRAK:Makalah ini membincangkan mengenai impak kerjasama politik UMNO-PAS terhadap perkembangan Islam di Malaysia dari tahun 1973 hingga 1978. Kerjasama politik yang berjaya dibentuk bermula pada tahun 1973 adalah hasil daripada kesediaan Tun Abdul Razak dengan Mohd Asri Muda yang menerajui UMNO dan PAS pada ketika itu mencetuskan perubahan corak berpolitik yang berbeza berbanding sebelumnya. Maka, kedua-dua pemimpin ini kemudiannya merintis pembentukan sebuah kerajaan yang menggabungkan UMNO dengan PAS menerusi Kerajaan Campuran pada tahun 1973 dan Kerajaan Gabungan Barisan Nasional (BN) pada tahun 1974. Hasil daripada kejayaan penubuhan kedua-dua kerajaan ini, perkembangan Islam di negara ini bertambah pesat dan dapat dimanfaatkan oleh keseluruhan orang Melayu di Malaysia. Justeru, artikel ini membincangkan secara terperinci impak kerjasama politik antara UMNO dengan PAS dalam tempoh kerjasama politik berkenaan. Penyelidikan ini menggunapakai kaedah temubual dan menyorot sejumlah sumber sekunder yang kemudiannya dianalisis secara deskriptif sejarah (historical descriptive analysis) yang lazimnya dipraktikkan dalam kajian sejarah. Hasil kajian ini mendapati terdapat impak-impak jelas terhadap perkembangan Islam di negara ini sepanjang tempoh kerjasama politik antara UMNO dengan PAS dari tahun 1973 hingga 1978. Antara impak-impak tersebut ialah permulaan siaran televisyen dan radio dengan bacaan ayat-ayat suci Al-Quran, mengumandangkan suara azan, penghapusan arak dalam majlis-majlis kerajaan, penghapusan promosi dan keputusan judi di media kerajaan, penubuhan institusi Islam, pemerkasaan pendidikan Islam dan penukaran simbol institisu kerajaan. Akhirnya, artikel ini dapat dimanfaatkan oleh penyelidik-penyelidik berikutnya untuk menilai impak kerjasama politik antara UMNO dengan PAS.Kata kunci: kerjasama politik, UMNO-PAS, kerajaan campuran


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
María Camarasa-Gómez ◽  
Daniel Hernangómez-Pérez ◽  
Michael S. Inkpen ◽  
Giacomo Lovat ◽  
E-Dean Fung ◽  
...  

Ferrocenes are ubiquitous organometallic building blocks that comprise a Fe atom sandwiched between two cyclopentadienyl (Cp) rings that rotate freely at room temperature. Of widespread interest in fundamental studies and real-world applications, they have also attracted<br>some interest as functional elements of molecular-scale devices. Here we investigate the impact of<br>the configurational degrees of freedom of a ferrocene derivative on its single-molecule junction<br>conductance. Measurements indicate that the conductance of the ferrocene derivative, which is<br>suppressed by two orders of magnitude as compared to a fully conjugated analog, can be modulated<br>by altering the junction configuration. Ab initio transport calculations show that the low conductance is a consequence of destructive quantum interference effects that arise from the hybridization of metal-based d-orbitals and the ligand-based π-system. By rotating the Cp rings, the hybridization, and thus the quantum interference, can be mechanically controlled, resulting in a conductance modulation that is seen experimentally.<br>


Author(s):  
Maria Cristina Fortuna ◽  
Henk Hoekstra ◽  
Benjamin Joachimi ◽  
Harry Johnston ◽  
Nora Elisa Chisari ◽  
...  

Abstract Intrinsic alignments (IAs) of galaxies are an important contaminant for cosmic shear studies, but the modelling is complicated by the dependence of the signal on the source galaxy sample. In this paper, we use the halo model formalism to capture this diversity and examine its implications for Stage-III and Stage-IV cosmic shear surveys. We account for the different IA signatures at large and small scales, as well for the different contributions from central/satellite and red/blue galaxies, and we use realistic mocks to account for the characteristics of the galaxy populations as a function of redshift. We inform our model using the most recent observational findings: we include a luminosity dependence at both large and small scales and a radial dependence of the signal within the halo. We predict the impact of the total IA signal on the lensing angular power spectra, including the current uncertainties from the IA best-fits to illustrate the range of possible impact on the lensing signal: the lack of constraints for fainter galaxies is the main source of uncertainty for our predictions of the IA signal. We investigate how well effective models with limited degrees of freedom can account for the complexity of the IA signal. Although these lead to negligible biases for Stage-III surveys, we find that, for Stage-IV surveys, it is essential to at least include an additional parameter to capture the redshift dependence.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 127-130
Author(s):  
Max B. Schäfer ◽  
Kent W. Stewart ◽  
Nico Lösch ◽  
Peter P. Pott

AbstractAccess to systems for robot-assisted surgery is limited due to high costs. To enable widespread use, numerous issues have to be addressed to improve and/or simplify their components. Current systems commonly use universal linkage-based input devices, and only a few applicationoriented and specialized designs are used. A versatile virtual reality controller is proposed as an alternative input device for the control of a seven degree of freedom articulated robotic arm. The real-time capabilities of the setup, replicating a system for robot-assisted teleoperated surgery, are investigated to assess suitability. Image-based assessment showed a considerable system latency of 81.7 ± 27.7 ms. However, due to its versatility, the virtual reality controller is a promising alternative to current input devices for research around medical telemanipulation systems.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xing-Yu Hu ◽  
Guang-Ying Gao

Abstract Background PTB is an infectious disease, which not only seriously affects people’s health, but also causes a heavier disease economic burden on patients. At present, reform of the medical insurance payment can be an effective method to control medical expenses. Therefore, our study is to explore the compensation mechanism for pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) patients with a full period of treatment, to alleviate the financial burden of PTB patients and provide a reference and basis for the reform of PTB payment methods in other regions and countries. Methods The quantitative data of PTB patients was collected from the first half of 2015 to the first half of 2018 in Dehui Tuberculosis Hospital in Jilin Province, and medical records of PTB patients registered in the first half of 2018 (n = 100) from the hospital was randomly selected. Descriptive analysis of these quantitative data summarized the number, cost, medication and compliance. Semi-structured in depth interviews with policymakers and physicians were conducted to understand the impact of interventions and its causes. Results After implementation of the compensation mechanism, the number of PTB patient visits in 2018 was increased by 14.2%, average medical costs for outpatients and inpatients were significantly reduced by 31.8% and 47.0%, respectively, and the auxiliary medication costs was reduced by 36.5%. Moreover, the hospital carried out standardized management of tuberculosis, and the patient compliance was very high, reaching almost 90%. Conclusions The capitation compensation mechanism with a full period of treatment was a suitable payment method for PTB, and it is worthy of promotion and experimentation. In addition, the model improved patient compliance and reduced the possibility of drug-resistant PTB. However, due to the short implementation time of the model in the pilot areas, the effect remains to be further observed and demonstrated.


Universe ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 17
Author(s):  
Nils Andersson

As mature neutron stars are cold (on the relevant temperature scale), one has to carefully consider the state of matter in their interior. The outer kilometre or so is expected to freeze to form an elastic crust of increasingly neutron-rich nuclei, coexisting with a superfluid neutron component, while the star’s fluid core contains a mixed superfluid/superconductor. The dynamics of the star depend heavily on the parameters associated with the different phases. The presence of superfluidity brings new degrees of freedom—in essence we are dealing with a complex multi-fluid system—and additional features: bulk rotation is supported by a dense array of quantised vortices, which introduce dissipation via mutual friction, and the motion of the superfluid is affected by the so-called entrainment effect. This brief survey provides an introduction to—along with a commentary on our current understanding of—these dynamical aspects, paying particular attention to the role of entrainment, and outlines the impact of superfluidity on neutron-star seismology.


Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 372
Author(s):  
Ekaterina Sukhova ◽  
Elena Akinchits ◽  
Sergey V. Gudkov ◽  
Roman Y. Pishchalnikov ◽  
Vladimir Vodeneev ◽  
...  

Variation potential (VP) is an important long-distance electrical signal in higher plants that is induced by local damages, influences numerous physiological processes, and participates in plant adaptation to stressors. The transmission of increased hydraulic pressure through xylem vessels is the probable mechanism of VP propagation in plants; however, the rates of the pressure transmission and VP propagation can strongly vary. We analyzed this problem on the basis of a simple mathematical model of the pressure distribution along a xylem vessel, which was approximated by a tube with a pressure gradient. It is assumed that the VP is initiated if the integral over pressure is more than a threshold one, taking into account that the pressure is transiently increased in the initial point of the tube and is kept constant in the terminal point. It was shown that this simple model can well describe the parameters of VP propagation in higher plants, including the increase in time before VP initiation and the decrease in the rate of VP propagation with an increase in the distance from the zone of damage. Considering three types of the pressure dynamics, our model predicts that the velocity of VP propagation can be stimulated by an increase in the length of a plant shoot and also depends on pressure dynamics in the damaged zone. Our results theoretically support the hypothesis about the impact of pressure variations in xylem vessels on VP propagation.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document