Human Interaction, Emerging Technologies and Future Applications III

The idea of transferring vehicle control to an automated system and thereby transforming from driver to passenger has raised safety concerns among potential users. To examine vehicle occupants’ perception (perceived safety and driving comfort, monitoring gaze behavior) of automated vehicle control in light of actual system experience, a driving simulator study with 50 participants was conducted comparing automated vs. human vehicle control from a passenger’s perspective. Automated vehicle control was perceived as less safe and comfortable, resulting in the majority of participants preferring human vehicle control. Correspondingly, participants performed more monitoring gaze behavior during automated than human vehicle control. The results underline the importance of a transparent, user-adaptive system design to create positive driving experiences especially during the first contact, thereby ensuring acceptance and usage by diverse users, who differ in their attitude towards automated vehicles.

Robo-taxis (automated vehicles operating in a ride-hailing model) have the potential to improve mobility while reducing traffic, emissions, and energy use. However, such outcomes depend largely on increasing riders per vehicle. Public policy that incentivizes industry to design robo-taxis to support ride-pooling may be critical to achieving positive outcomes. This research reviews current shared automated vehicle designs and literature related to potential consumer risks and benefits of ride-pooling in robo-taxis in order to articulate potential design solutions to promote pooling.

Besides hard factors like horsepower or consumption, today’s connected cars need soft factors being available as criteria for purchasing decisions. User experience (UX), as one of these soft factors, is essentially influenced by services available inside the vehicle. Almost every new vehicle offers a variety of mostly Internet-enabled services to improve the driving experience and to make customers happier. One challenge is to make UX measurable regarding experiences and knowledge inside the vehicle. It has been researched what influencing factors significantly characterize the evaluation of in-car UX. A combination of assessment of relevance, usability testing of pre-defined use cases as well as gathering of quantitative parameters helped create a characteristic variable as a measure of UX inside vehicles. The final evaluation tool is to allow the formation of a holistic opinion about experiences and knowledge inside vehicles and to enable a comparability of UX of complete vehicles as well as of developmental states. Ultimately this not only supports customers in their purchasing decision process, but also manufacturers developing and optimizing new and existing solutions.

The human centered design (HCD) process assessment model (PAM) is intended for use when performing conformational assessments of the process capability on the development of interactive systems. The HCD processes reference model (PRM) specified in ISO 9241-220 together with the rules of how to assess the processes defined in HCD-PAM must be applied when performing an HCD process assessment. In this paper, the HCD-PAM applying the HCD-PRM is exemplified by a practical example of assessing the HCD.3.4.2 process.

Robot systems will soon be able to hand over objects to humans as well as receive objects from humans in a robust way. From an ergonomics point of view, it is required to evaluate those robot systems and their interactions with humans based on appropriate parameters and design them accordingly. Therefore, we conducted an experiment with human-to-human hand-overs. The aim was to analyze different conditions of hand-overs that occur in our daily life such as different spatial direction, cups with varying filling quantities and varying states of perception of the receiving person. It was shown that cups with a higher filling level lead to a significantly higher duration of the interaction phase than cups with a lower filling level. Additionally, perceptual impairment of the receiver and thereby a lack of feedback led to a higher duration of the interaction phase.

Inclusive ‘relaxed performances’ are leisure activities where people can participate, within a theatre environment, often with the use of assistive technologies, adapted texts and scripts that support interaction and social inclusion. This paper presents a participatory collaborative research project that examines the challenges faced by people living with disability when accessing theatre performances, and how design, technology and adaptations can facilitate participation and promote empowerment. Embracing a participatory approach with attention given to persons with visual impairments, people with mobility impairments persons with language and communication limitations and those on the autism spectrum, data was collected in 4 phases, from the pre-performance to the presentation of the performance. Post-performance analysis used interpretive approaches and evaluation analysis. Results include the development of potential strategies for the inclusion of people from all perspectives in performances. These strategies include the use of audio description which provides visual information about gestures, props and the layout of the stage.

Web-based coding tools are a popular alternative to desktop applications widely employed in education. Understanding the factors that affect the acceptance of web-based coding tools is a prerequisite for their successful application. With an aim to determine to what extent students’ attitude towards programming and their previous programming knowledge affect students’ acceptance of the web-based programming tool, an empirical study was carried out in which the technology acceptance model (TAM) was employed as a theoretical backbone. Participants in the study were students enrolled to the introductory programming course who used Repl.it as a representative sample of the web-based coding tool. The psychometric features of the introduced research framework were examined by means of the partial least square structural equation modelling technique. The study findings revealed that attitude towards programming does not play an important role in the adoption of a web-based coding tool.

This paper is part of a broader study of which the objective is to investigate, map, and discuss the UX throughout the consumer journey when buying apparel online. Clothes possess some characteristics best explored by touch, but this is not possible in online shopping. Consumers are expected to make decisions based on product presentations composed mainly of visual and textual descriptions. In this paper we intend to discuss users’ views towards online shopping and to do so, we have chosen an exploratory approach as our first practical step and conducted exploratory interviews with 24 women, in Portugal, to understand their feelings towards buying clothes online. In a previous study, we conducted exploratory interviews with 19 people in Brazil. We drew a parallel between the two sets of interviews to find differences and similarities.

For the optimization of human-machine systems, it is necessary to gather knowledge about human-machine interaction. For power tools this knowledge is often built up in laboratory and field studies. A problem that often arises is the high amount of effort required for the attachment of measurement equipment, which makes it difficult to conduct large studies, especially in the field. The effort could be reduced by using a data logger, but it is not clear which measurement variables and record frequencies are relevant.In this paper requirements for a data logger to capture the human-machine interaction are presented. Furthermore, a realization of a data logger and four suitable studies are presented. This allows large field studies to be carried out much more easily, making it possible to optimize power tools on the basis of big data collected in the field.

Successful application of User eXperience (UX) design thinking relies on appropriate tools and strategies. The aim is to enhance the interaction and user experience of a design thinking course in a Chinese context, particularly for elementary and high schools attached to Beijing Normal University. It includes two cases face to two different target user groups: young parents and high school teachers. By using a human-centered design process, the study uses qualitative field research methods to understand parents’ and teachers’ attitudes and needs for initiating such courses. Interactive prototypes are developed to aid teaching, an online platform to assist management, and the research team invites users to experience and evaluate these human-computer user interfaces. After iterations of conceptual evaluation, one design solution is a novel design thinking course service combined with interactive toolkits, public services, and the other solution is an online design thinking learning platform that supports multi-user online collaborations.

The article focuses on proposing sustainable solutions for pedestrians that give continuity in its path and make the place attractive to walk, contemplate or take a break including green infrastructure around it to increase the amount of green area per inhabitant which It is lacking. The general objective proposes to develop a plan for pedestrian and cycle path mobility with a green area to improve the connectivity of the study sector. The study methodology is developed in four steps in which the quality of pedestrian infrastructure is identified, the quantity and quality of demand for pedestrian mobility is determined and the designs of the proposal for pedestrian mobility (road cycle) and the proposal of green areas through a database of Question Pro being evaluated in the TOPSIS platform to determine the guidelines of the proposal design of the two focus groups of the study.

Verbal responses are not always consistent with neural responses when asked about a particular experience. The objective of the research is to verify the difference between an observer's verbal and neural response when interacting with food. Analyze these responses and their influence on the choice process through Neuroscience and Neurodesign tools.

The workers productivity in the usage of power tools depends directly on the perceived comfort during the application. A comfort aspect that is felt particularly intensely is the vibration emissions of power tools. Vibrations strain the user in a physically and psychologically way. Hereby, the ahv-value (DIN EN ISO 5349-1) already considers harmful effects of vibrations on the human hand arm system, but it is not suitable to judge the discomfort of vibrations. An objective value for vibration discomfort evaluation in power tool applications does not exist. This paper analyses biological basics for human vibration sensing in power tool applications to investigate the correlation between the perceived vibration discomfort and objective vibration measurements in angle grinder applications. In addition to the known ahv-value, a new value is introduced which takes higher frequency components into account and suits to the perceived vibration discomfort for the tested applications with two angle grinders.

Increasing interactivity in exhibit is always an issue in museum exhibition, nowadays education becomes an important feature in museum, and how to impart knowledge in an interactive way, have audiences understood well is a barrier. The objective of this research is to investigate the interaction qualities in daily studying for teenager students. Workshop and interviews were conducted, and the result revealed affected by atmosphere, emotional involvement, economy, accurate and immediate feedback, interests exploration and adventure, reality connection, auxiliary by multiple channel and well organized are the core qualities. In addition, these qualities will be the guidance for museum exhibit design to enhance the experience and efficiency of learning in museum.

Digital twins – digital models of technical systems and processes – have recently been introduced to work with complex industrial processes. Yet should such models concern only physical objects (as definitions of them often imply), or should users and other human beings also be included? Models that include people have been called human digital twins (HDTs); they facilitate more accurate analyses of technologies in practical use. The cognitive mimetic approach can be used to describe human interactions with technologies. This approach analyses human information processes such as perceiving and thinking to mimic how people process information in order to design intelligent technologies. The results of such analyses can be presented as an ontology of human action, and in this way included in HDT models.

This paper analyses the influence of museum lighting design on the brand image and human satisfaction inside exhibition halls, taking Birmingham museum and art gallery as the case study of this research focusing on the exhibition that included the ancient Egyptian displays. Four different generated lighting scenes using virtual reality were generated. The results showed that the lighting had an impact on the brand image and affect the willingness of people to revisit the museum and recommend it to family and friends. This research considers the museum’s visitors as active participants not just passive recipients of environmental stimuli. The research tried to provide a better understanding of how the exhibition environment in terms of lighting is perceived and provide further insight into how exhibition lighting design can enhance the visitor’s experience and create a brand image. According to the research results, visitors tend to be willing to return and stay longer in the presence of diverse and exciting lighting settings.

Color is an important element in product development marketing strategies. Understanding the relation of the pleasant impression and colors on a particular type of object is an essential contribution to product development design to meet customer needs. Emerging technologies to capture physiological - objective indicators have the potentials to deepen understanding of customer preferences. In this study, we investigated Kansei evaluation of pleasantness toward sofa with different color attributes through back-ear EEG measurement. In this pilot study, the result shows that the most pleasant color for the particular object could be from the list of an individual’s favorite colors with different degrees of positive evaluation. The early positive P100 ERP, N400 ERP, and LPP from the back - ear recording could be evoked through this Kansei evaluation of sofa colors with the potentials to become prominent features to identify the most pleasant sofa color among the group of individuals.

With the increasing demand for applications supporting mobility, well-structured and competent mobile applications are a growing need. The music industry is one of the prominent sectors which is expanding its services to mobile platforms. This paper presents a novel design of a Mobile Music Streaming Application which provides music streaming services to users efficiently and effectively.

Bravo is a corset-type wearable device for female college students with depression to detect physiological indicators, to monitor depression levels, and to provide expert advice, e.g., professional counselling service. The system consists of two main components. One is a series of sensors that record the user’s physiological indicators, which measure and evaluate depression levels comprehensively. The other one is a compatible mobile application that allows the user to query physiological conditions and to receive corresponding expert advice. The design and implementation fit into privacy needs, offer supporting data to healthcare providers. The goal is to provide the female college students with a real-time mental health monitoring channel to predict and prevent depression and to establish an active social support community.

The crew’s cognitive ability has become a critical issue in long-term marine tasks with different scheduling arrangements. The present study aims to investigate the impact of long-term operation and different scheduling systems on situation awareness (SA), one of the most important cognitive abilities. 15 male simulated crew members, randomly divided into three groups of five each, were involved in the ship simulation operation experiment for 9 days. The experimental stage of three days each was adopted as within-subject factor, while the scheduling system was set as the between-subject factor, including three kinds of 24-h schedules. SA was measured by 3D-SART subjective scale and situation present assessment technique (SPAM) in an everyday indicator-monitoring task. The results showed the stable enhancement of the subjects’ SA with the increase of the experimental stage, and significant difference of SA did not exist among the subjects under different scheduling systems. It suggests that operators have good adaptability to the different scheduling systems under long-term operation conditions.

Lack of territorial planning by municipal governments derives in the irregular and unsustainable growth of cities. Nigeria, Guayaquil has experienced deep ecosystem vulnerability since people first started to populate the territory in the mid 80’s; turning it into an endangered ecosystem. Through a SWOT and TOPSIS analysis, this research proposes the creation of a “module” that aims to strengthen the relationship between both urban and natural spaces, by reforesting the mangrove swamps. Thus, benefiting the ecosystem, taking steps to achieve the percentage of green spaces stipulated by the World Health Organization (WHO), and addressing several SDG’s established by the United Nations (UN). The results show that the ecological border prototype is viable if the conditions in which it takes place consider: (a) cooperation community-municipality and (b) material implementation according to the TOPSIS method. This will make the project sustainable and long term beneficial for the territory.

This paper explores a variety of existing interactive sonification systems in the context of interactive sound art. In design of interactive sonification from technological standpoint, the stress is put on studying the usability and functionality of the systems. We explore the focus towards creative aspects of interaction in both technology development and sound creation stages. In some artistic sonifications, the control is in the hand of the technology creators, in some others in the hand of the artists, and sometimes in the hand of the performers or the audience members. The numerous relations and interactions between performers, composers, technologists, data domain scientists, environment and audiences make it difficult to classify the complex phenomenon of interactive sonification. Some challenges in such systems are the ownership of technical and aesthetic components, balancing engagement and interaction among different stakeholders (domain scientist, designer, composer, spectator, etc.) and encouraging audience engagement.

The Collaborative Communication Interruption Management System or C-CIMS [1] uses machine learning techniques to build task boundary inference models to send interruptions at appropriate times within distributed multi-user, multitasking interactions. The primary objective of this work is to explore improving C-CIMS performance using speaker and team dependent machine learning techniques. This has the potential to optimize system performance for each talker or team engaged in the interaction. An analysis of variance illustrated that there is a significant difference in C-CIMS performance using the talker-dependent models compared to the team-dependent models. Additionally a subset of talker and teams significantly outperform the baseline model. These results motivate the continued exploration of additional techniques to maximize C-CIMS performance in making improved accurate decisions in disseminating interruptions.

Further to an experiment conducted with a deep learning (DL) model, tailored to predict whether a water meter device would fail with passage of time, we came across a very strange case, occurring when we tried to strengthen the training activity of our classifier by using, besides the numerical measurements of consumed water, also other contextual available information, of categorical type. Surprisingly, that further categorical information did not improve the prediction accuracy, which instead fell down, sensibly. Recognized the problem as a case of an excessive increase of the dimensions of the space of data under observation, with a correspondent loss of statistical significance, we changed the training strategy. Observing that every categorical variable followed a quasi-Pareto distribution, we re-trained our DL models, for each single categorical variable, only on that fraction of meter devices (and corresponding measurements of consumed water) that exhibited the most frequent qualitative values for that categorical variable. This new strategy yielded a prediction accuracy level never reached before, amounting to a value of 87–88% on average.

In recent years, we have been using biometric verification systems in various places such as daily life and businesses. However, it’s insufficient in hospital and food factory to introduction of the security system of the room access control. This is because they wear gloves, masks and hats in hospitals and factories, so they cannot verify faces or fingerprints. In this study, we propose a speaker verification system using HTM (Hierarchical Temporal Memory). We verify speaker and detection of unlearned speakers by experiments. In addition, we consider the use in hospitals and factories, and also evaluate it in a noisy environment. The evaluation values are Precision, Recall, and F-measure. The experimental results show that in the case of 10 learners, F-measure exceeded 0.6 in the classification of 2 classes of learners and non-learners.

This paper studies and analyzes the precision calculation method of the transmission mechanism of the roll axis, pitch axis and yaw axis of the Rod and Disc Type aircraft’s Flight Control Deck Suite. As the input of flight control system, Flight Control Deck Suite’s accuracy analysis directly affects the position of control surface. The systematic and accurate calculation process ensures that the Flight Control System has good maneuverability.

As the network has expanded considerably, security mechanisms are a key issue in networks. Intrusive activities, such as unauthorized access and data manipulation, are increasing. Therefore, the role of the Network Intrusion Detection System (NIDS) in monitoring network traffic for activity and determining whether an intrusion has occurred is very important. The performance of an IDS depends on the selection of the classification model and training data, however, many classifiers generate similar results when measuring performance. The technique of order of preference for similarity to the ideal solution (TOPSIS) is used to select one or more alternatives based on the criteria. The main objective is to present some classification models used in a data set to select the best alternative according to the performance criteria using the TOPSIS method. The deductive method and selection research technique were applied to study the NSL-KDD.

Interaction and capturing information from the surrounding is dominated by vision and hearing. Haptics on the other side, widens the bandwidth and could also replace senses (sense switching) for impaired. Haptic technologies are often limited to point-wise actuation. Here, we show that actuation in two-dimensional matrices instead creates a richer input. We describe the construction of a full-body garment for haptic communication with a distributed actuating network. The garment is divided into attachable-detachable panels or add-ons that each can carry a two dimensional matrix of actuating haptic elements. Each panel adds to an enhanced sensoric capability of the human- garment system so that together a 720° system is formed. The spatial separation of the panels on different body locations supports semantic and theme-wise separation of conversations conveyed by haptics. It also achieves directional faithfulness, which is maintaining any directional information about a distal stimulus in the haptic input.

The user interface is an essential part of handheld 3D scanners. During the scanning process, it provides feedback to the user to help him operate the scanner in an efficient way. For instance, it generally displays the reconstructed 3D model in real-time to let the user know which parts of the object have been captured and which have not. Traditionally, this type of information is displayed on a 2D screen, via a graphical user interface. Instead, we propose to use a mixed reality headset. We claim that this technology is better suited for handheld 3D scanning because it allows the reconstructed 3D model to be blended into the user’s perception of the real world. To validate this claim, we developed a prototype that uses the HTC Vive Pro headset as an interface for a handheld 3D scanner based on a Primesense Carmine RGB-D Camera.

This paper describes a comparative study of two different 3 degrees-of-freedom (DOF) flythrough techniques for immersive 3D environments. The results of this qualitative study indicate that the use of the Oculus Rift S hand controllers provides a greater usability than the use of Leap Motion free hand gestures system for a simple 3 DOF flythrough travel task inside immersive virtual environments. However, the correction of technical issues with the current Leap Motion free hand gesture recognition system could lead to different results.

At this work a virtual reality environment is created, in order to simulate a medical training room. This aims to help in nursing teaching process focuses on Toco-surgery, a medical area which match Labor and Delivery. At first, a virtual scene, which replicates the real area were medical students are trained, was designed. Then interaction aimed to show students both procedure and tools they needed to know at medical area. Finally, tests were made with a group of people who already knew procedures and another that were in the learning process.

New VR and AR environments have been gradually coming in the world of the pleasure maritime industry implying new possibilities of experiences for costumers. In this perspective, the paper investigates the potential role of digital technology in expanding or shifting the physical boundaries of a cruise vessel or a yacht. Through case studies analysis, the study presents a reflection on the state of the art of virtual, augmented and merged reality environments in the sector, highlighting both the key concept of convergence vs divergence between the physical and digital worlds, and the purposes in technology enhancing. The results point-out how new technologies are breaking down the barriers made up of a simple physical fitting, expanding the boundaries through the use of immersive experiences, even if future scenarios are still open in the cross sectorial purpose of VR, AR and MR technology use.

The aim of this work is to present the methodology implemented for the assessment of the human perception of sound and of the degree of acoustic comfort of occupants in an ancient Roman theatre. The evaluation is carried out through a visual and acoustic experience in a virtual environment. The textured 3D visual model of the space, and the binaural auralisations based on either on-site empirical measurements or on acoustic simulations, are displayed in a listening room designed with a very short reverberation time and low background noise. By means of sophisticated equipment for 3D virtual environment reproduction to groups of people, this listening room enables the physical ambience to be recreated of the Roman theatre of Cartagena, which is located in the southeast of Hispania (Spain). Groups of people can therefore subjectively assess the intelligibility of speech and the clarity for music of this open-air performance venue. The results accentuate the strong correlation between audio and visual perceptual aspects and contribute towards a more comprehensive understanding of the architectural aural experience.

90% of civil engineering projects had accidents in Colombia in 2018. Therefore, this project developed an innovative evaluation system through Virtual Reality that allows risk prevention. A 360-degree questionnaire about Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) was developed using 3DVista. A traditional lecture about PPE was given to team members. Then, the group was divided into G1 (n = 14), who did a Paper-&-Pencil test, and G2 (n = 15), who did the VR test, both with the same questions. A second test was carried out to evaluate the remembrance five days later with the same procedure. As a result, both tests caused a significant difference in trainees’ remembrance (p < 0.05), and G2 had better results in the second test than G1 (p = 0,002). Besides, in the satisfaction questionnaire, 43% of G2’s participants affirmed that this tool allowed them to obtained better results. It should be noted that the proposal is innovative, different, and didactic.

Previous research has found conflicting results whether social media photo-sharing actually improves or worsens social connectedness. This work explored relationships among social connectedness, photo-sharing and social rewards on the most used online photo-sharing platform, Instagram. The study focused on photo-sharing rather than the passive viewing of photos. The aim was to investigate photo-sharing relationships with social connectedness considering differences of types of social rewards and sharing photos of oneself, which had not been analyzed before. Results from an online survey of 383 participants found Instagram photo-sharing does not have a direct relationship with social connectedness, however, it does have a relationship with social rewards that stimulate elements of face-to-face communication online. Sharing photos of oneself had a more significant relationship with social rewards. The results found positive relationships between social reward satisfaction regardless of the number of social rewards and satisfaction was only impacted negatively when negative comments were received.

In this paper, we discuss the results of the ongoing research project “Datemats” funded by the European Commission - aimed at developing novel teaching methods for both design and engineering students in the field of Emerging Materials & Technologies (EM&Ts). Specifically, we will focus on Interactive, Connected, Smart (ICS) EM&Ts in the field of Wearable technologies. We framed a new innovative syllabus covering theoretical knowledge (materials and design) practical knowledge through a learning by doing approach (coding skills, manufacturing processes) and skills about how to design successful products by involving companies in the design curricula. The methodology for the preparation of the syllabus and identification of learning contents and methods is described. The structure and contents of the syllabus are presented, and finally, the future steps for the implementation of the syllabus are discussed.

In this paper, we present a research study on the classification of emotions, through data gathered on a smartphone. To this end, we have developed a mobile application to elicit emotions in participants using memory tasks with success – failure manipulation and also using video clips. Interactions were recorded with accelerometer and gyroscope sensors records and keystroke on the device. We trained supervised classification models, with the records, to predict the nature of emotion elicited on two dimensions (pleasure and activation) and the success or failure related tasks memory tasks. In order to evaluate the emotion induction we have proposed a self-assessment procedure. We achieved interesting results on the pleasure dimension, by proposing a protocol with natural interactions on smartphone.

This paper is about analysing, producing and evaluating podcasts as an additional educational resource in design at the university. Podcasts are now a very popular media for the consumption of information and entertainment about a vast array of subjects. They revival the experience of live conversation, something that was extremely frequent in salons, cafes, radio and television since the XVIII century but has been lost in more recent times, in a generation that lost places and practice for debate as they were entertained by social media. This paper describes an experience done in Faculty of Architecture of the University of Lisbon to understand and build a podcast with professionals and the results obtained. It shows a deep analysis of this (new) media for the establishment of some guiding principles. An analysis of digital data will be used in future studies about the impact, age groups and geographies of the listeners.

Establishing trust is an important aspect of the design of technological tools for mental health, as individuals are persuaded to disclose personal distressing experiences when privacy is ensured. This work-in-progress paper presents an interdisciplinary research project aiming to compare the behavior of individuals expressing trauma-related thoughts and feelings in response to trauma-evoking video clips, following three different interaction sources: a) a psychologist, b) a technological tool utilizing a human-like agent and c) a technological tool utilizing a machine-like agent. Electro-physiological, subjective and behavioral measures will be collected and triangulated to test the effectiveness of each interaction source. The design of the digital interface is presented in this paper aiming to provide insights for establishing trust in eHealth applications.

Chatbots are getting increasingly popular in businesses, and particularly in customer services, but there is also a growing interest in developing artificial conversational agents able to coach people for medical or social purposes. Yet in too many cases, they remain frustrating to use when it comes to actual conversation going beyond simple question-answer interactions. In this paper, we show that this inability to sustain conversations is mostly caused by the lack of consideration of the user’s expectations, intentions, and current knowledge by the chatbot: a lack of a Theory of Mind. We investigated this hypothesis by designing an experiment using 5 chatbots having won the Loebner prize, in two different kinds of interaction: one relying heavily on implicit information, and the other not. As expected, no chatbot was able to keep conversing in the implicit condition.

Communication is becoming more open than ever before. Just as the world is faced with a pandemic and people are working more from home, so has our need for instant communication increased exponentially. While instant messaging is actively being researched in a range of domains notification system is a vital element of an effective Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) not just for informing a design and implementation of the interface but also for improved and advanced interfaces. For example, for instant messaging (IM) where a tremendous number of messages through e-mail and mobile instant messaging (MIM) are received often lead to disturbing notifications scenarios to users. The primary goal of this paper is to introduce relevant research questions related to the notification domain and to suggest a new instant messaging (IM) framework to reduce this disturbance, enabling both senders and recipients to be more meaningful. The paper studies notifications from two different perspectives: (i) Usage Scenario: identifying how notification alerts are designed, managed and dealing with effects on people, (ii) User Interaction: discussing meaningfulness of the notification, the value notifications can add to users, and long-term benefits users can get from being notified. The discussion will lead to opportunities for researchers to acquire relevant knowledge, assess the mechanisms of notification and evaluate the current design frameworks.

The future of Internet of Things (IoT)-based living spaces would involve interaction, coordination, collaboration and communication between humans, machines, robots and other technology-laden systems in the context of users performing their daily routine tasks. Through this Contextually Intelligent Activity Recognition framework, this work proposes to develop a long-term, robust, feasible, easily implementable, sustainable and economic solution for Activity Recognition and Activity Monitoring, that would be able to track, monitor, evaluate, analyze and access human behavior in the context of the multimodal aspects of these user interactions including the spatial and temporal features. This Multilayered Contextually Intelligent Activity Recognition Framework envisions to take a holistic approach to improve the quality of life, enhance the user experience, acceptance and trust on technology during Activities of Daily Living (ADLs), in the context of human-computer, human-machine and human-robot interactions. The results presented uphold the relevance and demonstrate the feasibility for practical implementation of this framework in the future of IoT-based living spaces, for instance Smart Homes and Smart Cities.

The NeuroDesign Special Interest Group (SIG) introduces an initiative that seeks synergies at the intersection of digital engineering, neurocognitive science, and design research. It focuses on examining designers’ thinking (i.e., creativity and collaboration) in particular in team settings. This SIG aims to advance the understanding of neurocognition associated with design teamwork. This initiative will address a critical gap in the field of the complex and context-dependent effects of design team collaboration. The main legacies will be the establishment and development of a community in the intersection of design, psychology, and neurocognitive science.

In current training settings, mastering and using English as a language is mandatory for flying aircraft simulators, classroom teaching, and Human-Machine Interaction (HMI) design. Non-native language teaching has a significant influence on the learning efficiency for the Chinese pilot students, especially in HMI. Within this English teaching context, the students tend to be silent and inactive. However, fewer studies focus on teaching. This study focuses on how to improve the English understanding ability from self-efficacy and optimization of HMI. To address this issue, the research team observed six classroom teaching sessions and analyzed data based on LICC paradigm (the Learning, Instruction, Curriculum, and Culture). Furthermore, the study conducted in-depth qualitative interviews with seven instructors and thirty pilot students and conducted a qualitative analysis based on the grounded theory. It found that teaching styles of scenario-based teaching, supportiveness, interactivity, and fairness have a significant impact on learning efficiency. This study helps understand the learning efficiency of Chinese pilot students and has a positive effect on improving flight levels.

The proposed Ubiquitous Activity Aware Framework aims to leverage the immense potential that lies in the application of Activity Centered Computing in an Internet of Things (IoT) environment for the future of technology-based living spaces, for instance, in Smart Homes and Smart Cities. The scientific contribution in this work aims to address both the shortage of caregivers and the global challenges for reducing the burden of healthcare related costs for treating elderly people. Elderly people face problems like motor disabilities, physical limitations, memory issues and so on, which limit their abilities to perform Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) on their own. The challenge in this context is to develop technology-based solutions to sustain active aging and independent living of the aging population. Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) is commonly found in the aging population and there is a looming need for early detection of MCI to address the increasing healthcare related costs associated with the elderly population. To ensure smooth functioning of the world, the proposed framework addresses the aforementioned challenges through development of a long-term, economically viable and feasible assistive solution that takes a holistic approach in terms of analyzing user interactions during ADLs, to track, study, analyze and detect potential symptoms of MCI and other anomalies in elderly behavior, for preventive and timely care, with an aim to reduce these costs incurred to the healthcare industry in the context of contributing towards independent living of the aging population in Smart Homes.

This research work discusses a mathematical foundation based on probability theory and related disciplines for development of a knowledge base that would list the exhaustive ways or approaches, arising from universal diversity, by which any activity can be performed by a given user. The global challenge in this field is to address the needs associated with the constantly increasing population of the world who are diverse in multiple ways, through development of systems and frameworks that can serve as a long-term, robust, feasible, easily implementable, sustainable and economic solution for making the future of technology laden living environments ‘aware’ of the diverse ways by which users could be interacting with the environment and its components, in the context of performing Activities of Daily Living (ADLs), which are essential for their sustenance. Addressing this challenge serves as the main motivation for this work. Several case studies on different ADLs by application of the proposed framework were performed for development of the knowledge base and one study is presented here and discussed. In the context of making IoT-environments ‘Activity Aware’ for diverse users, such a knowledge base is expected to serve as a foundation to provide necessary information for various critical applications, for instance (1) user-centered activity recommendations by activity recommendation systems, (2) personalized behavior interventions for users with various forms of impairments – physical, cognitive etc. and (3) increasing the performance accuracy of the existing works in this field for adapting and responding to diverse interaction patterns exhibited by different users.

This paper outlines the steps for a specification to create a language for defining human behavior in the context of complex activities, with a specific focus on Activities of Daily Living (ADLs). The proposed specification to create a language for defining human behavior is used to develop a framework for representation of (1) macro-level tasks or actions associated with any complex activity, (2) the context parameters on which these tasks or actions are performed and (3) sequence of movements of various body parts associated with performing these actions on the context parameters in the context of the given complex activity. To evaluate the efficacy of this proposed work, it has been implemented on a dataset of ADLs. The results presented and discussed uphold the relevance for practical implementation of the proposed human behavior definition language in real-time settings for addressing various challenges and utilizing the full potential of activity centric computing for improving the quality of life and user experience during ADLs as well as for various other applications.

It is difficult for people with severe disabilities who cannot control their hands to operate the mouse and keyboard. We have engaged in a three-dimensional virtual space user interface based on convergence and divergence using a virtual reality device with a gaze tracking function. In this paper, we propose to add a flick function to the user interface. The flick function is a combination of blinking eye and quick vision shift. By using this flick operation, we have achieved text input to the computer as well as window arrangement. This new feature let the handicapped people operate computers only with eyes as much as healthy people can operate with hands. In order to show the feasibility of our user interface, we have conducted numerical experiments, and obtained favorable results.

This paper introduces a multilayered framework in the field of Human-Human interaction and its related disciplines, that envisions to take a holistic approach to provide a long-term, economic and sustainable solution to mitigate feelings of loneliness and social isolation in elderly people, as well as to address housing needs and caregiver needs for children, demonstrated by young families or extended families on a global scale. Each layer of this framework consists of a distinct functionality. The first layer allows studying and analyzing the global population data and the elderly people count to identify the percentage of elderly people in different parts of the world who are currently staying alone - who might need this framework. The second layer helps to identify young families or extended families with demonstrated housing needs or caregiver needs to look after their children. The final layer consists of the methodology to develop mutually beneficial connections between these families and elderly people based on the geographic locations of the two. In the context of these connections, the elderly could act as the source of housing as well as interact and look after the young children from these families, this would provide means of human interactions and mitigate their feelings of loneliness. To add to this, when the family members come to visit the elderly, they could bring medications or address any of their other needs. This is the first of a series of publications towards the development of this framework. Here we primarily focus on developing the first layer of this framework and present the results.

Due to a steady increase of total hip arthroplasty, biomechanical multibody simulations are moving more and more into focus. These simulations allow to calculate forces, moments and muscle activities in the human body and, thus, can help to improve surgery planning and outcomes. However, generic human body models based on anthropometric data are mostly used for these simulations. Since these models are not customized to patients, there is a need to adapt the models to the individual patient. Therefore, 3D models of bones are created by segmentation of CT and MRI scans and assigned different landmarks. This allows to define both, the shape and size of bones, in this case the femur, which leads to patient-specific adjustments of muscle attachment points. Also muscles can be segmented to determine important parameters such as muscle volume, allowing the definition of important simulation parameters, like the maximum isometric force or the tendon slack length of individual patients leading to customized models.

Human movement is composed of external motion and internal motor. Motion is controlled rationally with the fixed goal. So, tactics is important. But we, humans, coordinate our body parts instinctively to adapt to the environments and situations. Thus, coordination, i.e., strategy is important. Thus, to achieve our goal, we need to evaluate our performance and improve trial after trial. But quantitative performance indicator which support our instinct is not available. This paper proposes to utilize non-Euclidean Mahalanobis Distance (MD). Then, we do not have to worry about orthonormality and units, which Euclidean distance requires. It enables us to increase dimensionality easily and processes it in a very short time. Mahalanobis Distance-Pattern Approach proposed here combines MD and patterns. So, it enables a holistic and quantitative performance evaluation. Therefore, robots that work with warm consideration to our individual, personal way of movements can be developed beyond those just working for labor.

Nowadays, vacuuming cleaners are not only used for floor cleaning, but also for other usages like curtain cleaning, sofa cleaning and ceiling cleaning. And prolonged vacuuming may cause potential health risks. Cordless stick vacuum cleaner whose main mass is near the handle has an advantage when being used to clean high places. This study is to investigate the effect of relative position of its COM (center of mass) and handle on the upper limb muscle activities during vacuuming in different situations. Sixteen participants conducted vacuuming tasks in both floor and high window using three cleaner models with com above handle, in front of handle, and below handle. Electromyography data from six muscles were recorded and analyzed. Compared to the floor task, muscle activities are significantly greater during the window task. When vacuuming floor, no significant data difference is observed among three kinds of cleaner models. When vacuuming window, cleaner with com above handle is more preferable, causing lower muscle activities, than other two kinds of cleaners.

Back pain is widespread in Japan in recent years. The economic loss from back pain in Japan was 82.1 billion yen in 2011. Therefore, it is necessary to construct a low back pain prevention system that can be easily used. First, system estimate the body part from the image using OPENPOSE. It extract the five coordinates (neck, shoulders, and buttocks) from the output. It calculate the z coordinate of each point. Finally, It estimate the front-back tilt and the left-right tilt. We compare three distances (2 m, 3.5 m, 5 m) and three angles (20°, 0°, −20°) in experiments. Review the results. In the distance, the discrimination rates are 2 m: 83%, 3.5 m: 99%, 5 m: 66%. Next, regarding the angle, the discrimination system was good in the order of 20°, 0°, 20°.

The questionnaire method is generally used for present dementia screening. However, this method requires time for 10 to 15 min with a doctor and a clinical psychologist, which puts a burden on hospitals and test subjects. The purpose of this study is to reduce the burden of users by constructing a system to distinguish patients with mild dementia and healthy persons from speech data. Before that this paper examines the effectiveness of speech features. MFCC has been confirmed to be effective in previous research, this paper extracted six kinds of other speech features that are likely to be correlated with symptoms of dementia. This paper got about 90% accuracy rate for a sentence of conversational speech in SVM and Random Forest. Moreover, this paper has calculated the importance of the features by using the SVM-RFE method. As a result, this showed that log-mel spectrum was more important than MFCC.

With the use of information terminals represented by smartphones, our eyes get tired. One index indicating eye fatigue is a change in the number of blinks. In this study, we set the ultimate goal that is to develop eye fatigue prevention system with less time and less physical burden for patient. By doing this, the information terminal performs a flickering of the eyes using a detection camera and a validity check. Previous EAR study with blink detection is confirmed to be effective, and this paper proposes a new formula EARM used EAR. As an evaluation method of blink detection, we used the total time average of the square of the residual value. The results showed that EARM was more accurate than the EAR. Further, it was suggested that the number of blinks during VDT work can be classified into several patterns.

This collaborative transdisciplinary research across the university was initiated with a seed grant from two different colleges to solve one of the major public health problems specifically focusing on humans’ sedentary behavior at the workplace. Sedentary behavior has emerged as a potential risk factor for numerous chronic diseases and all-cause mortality during the last decade. The aim of this study was to develop a new product and system to reduce the time spent sitting at the workplace. A series of physical working prototypes with electronic design and signal processing software application were designed and developed to demonstrate the usability, functionality, and human-interaction through scientifically valid measurements. This paper illustrates the process of system engineering and product design, methodology, and testing results.

Digital transformation is a key driver for Industry 4.0 and converts production and logistics into a digitalized, interconnected, intelligent factory and supply chain. Associated technical developments are resulting in an enormous change in the requirements for employee competencies. Despite increasing automation, workforces and their skills are still of great importance for the successful utilization of innovative technologies. Until now, current research has scarcely focused on upcoming changes in technology-specific competencies due to digitalization and automation in logistics. The aim of this paper is to identify the competency requirements by means of semi-structured interviews with technology providers. The analysis indicates that demands for competencies change based on the use of hardware and software products. The paper identifies future relevant competencies and requirements for logistics employees so that Industry 4.0 technologies can be exploited. By analyzing changes in competencies, demands for qualifications and appropriate development and training for employees can be derived.

Smart cities utilize the Big Data and IoT to provide better life for citizens. Since, they are the most complicated human artifact, the adoption of such technologies become a complex task, requiring continuous data collection, aggregation and analysis. In order to transform city problems into concrete actions a systematic approach aimed at digital transition needs to be followed. There are huge efforts to build city information models for encoding city objects, their relations and supporting the decision-making. This requires a common knowledge base, supported by rich vocabularies and ontologies that are capable to handle the information diversity and overload.In this paper a methodological framework and an upper-level ontology for building digital city models are presented. The process of digital city modelling follows the concept of digital twin by providing a data-driven decision making. The proposed upper-level ontology aims to overcome city modeling problems due to data silos and lack of semantic interoperability.

In the perspective of Industry 4.0, the contemporary presence of workers and robots in the same workspace requires the development of human motion prediction algorithms for a safe and efficient interaction. In this context, the purpose of the present study was to perform an operation of sensor fusion, by creating a collection of spatial and inertial variables of human upper limbs kinematics of typical industrial movements. Spatial and inertial data of ten healthy young subjects performing three pick and place gestures at different heights were measured with a stereophotogrammetric system and Inertial Measurement Units, respectively. Elbow and shoulder angles estimated from both instruments according to a multibody approach showed very similar trends. Moreover, two variables of the database were identified as distinctive features able to differentiate among the three gestures of pick and place.

Inclusive and frugal innovations are the key to managing workforce potential of the underdeveloped regions of South Asia (SA). Digital employment solutions (DES) can help to improve the targeted mobility of labour between developed and underdeveloped regions and countries. This research explores the relationship between frugal and inclusive innovations and DES. This review study analyses 16 articles to investigate this relationship. The study found direct and indirect relationships among frugal and inclusive innovations, DES and the employment situation in developed and underdeveloped regions and countries. Frugal innovations and DES may be an appropriate solution to tackle the employment problems in SA but cultural, social and economic barriers can affect the success of the overall process. Researchers and policymakers should, however, carefully evaluate the nature of target regions, the degree of cooperation and evaluation of various related barriers.

Sales and circulation of print publications, either newspapers or magazines, are dropping. In Portugal alone, from 2014 to 2018, there was a drop in printed periodic publications in circulation (INE, 2019a) and a fall of millions of units in the sales of newspapers and magazines (INE, 2019b). At the same time, digital media remains on the rise as the main source of information for the Portuguese population, since 81% of people between the ages of 16 to 74 use the internet to read or download news (INE, 2018). In the process of duplication or migration of content from print to digital, with the rise of multimedia stories, interactivity and mobility, it would be natural that Data Visualization would follow the tendency. Taking the changes in the media landscape into account, a question arose: how are Portuguese media outlets publishing charts, diagrams and infographics? Is Data Visualization rising on digital as other forms of news, like video and audio, or is it maintaining a foot in each platform? Are there any visible differences between the publication of infographics in digital and print editions? The main objective of the present research was to trace patterns of frequency, authorship, design, composition, relevance and themes in order to create a detailed overview of contemporary Data Visualization in Portuguese news outlets. To do this, the research team chose to analyze publications made in 2017, since this was a fruitful year for news in Portugal and the world. The analysis focused on March, August and October, which were the months with the biggest prevalence of newsworthy events of the year. During this period, the team collected, categorized and analyzed all charts, diagrams and infographics published by the 12 media outlets with the biggest readership in Portugal, both in print and digital editions, in March, August and October 2017. These were: Público, Jornal de Notícias, Diário de Notícias, Expresso, Observador, Correio da Manhã, Jornal Económico, Jornal de Negócios, I, Sol, Visão e Sábado, which were divided in daily newspapers, weekly newspapers, economic newspapers, news magazines and one news website. The first step was the design of an analysis sheet, based on a large base of literary influences and previous similar analysis, which included information such as title, date, author, editorial section, theme, type and size of graphics, importance, format, graphical elements, interactivity and appearance on the cover. The results were unexpected, and the differences were outstanding. While some variances were to be anticipated, only one of the 12 news outlets published a similar quantity of infographics or the same infographic on both platforms. All the rest published almost ten times more charts, diagrams and infographics in the print editions than on the websites. This research will enable the team to evaluate how the production of charts, diagrams and infographics in news outlets depends on the daily routines and workflows of data visualization professionals.

The petroleum industry is becoming increasingly dependent on digital systems, and the companies have ambitious plans for increased use of digital technology – along the entire value chain. The introduction of digital technology involves increased use of data collection, automatization, machine learning and access to computer resources in order to analyse large volumes of data. Digitalisation initiatives in the industry will change work processes and will increase automatization and provide decision support in daily operations. Despite greater automation, the industry will depend to a large extent on people to monitor systems and intervene if the technology breaks down. The Petroleum Safety Authority Norway (PSA) has tightened its follow-up of digitalisation initiatives in the industry. Over the last years we have performed a number of activities in order to build knowledge about HSE risk and follow up the digitalisation initiatives in the industry. In this paper we will describe the main areas that we emphasise in our follow-up of the petroleum industry on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.

The task of shop floor management is to ensure high effectiveness and efficiency of a production system. The objective of this paper is to identify potentials for improvement of shop floor management in the context of digitalization and to identify fields of action. As a result, the paper shows four categories of deficits in shop floor management, respectively information management. First, insufficiently designed business processes lead to additional administrative work for shop floor managers. Second, shop floor management can be strengthened by improving e-mail communication. Third, the meeting organization and fourth, the reporting offer potential for improvement. The creation of reports and the preparation of key figures, for example, involve routine activities that do not add value and can be partially automated. Therefore, as part of the project, a shop floor board was prototypically developed using a low-code development platform in order to demonstrate the potential of this approach.

Would you prefer a 20-page report with columns and rows, or would you rather see that information in a simple pie or bar chart? Data presented in a visually simple format is easy to comprehend. From the giant screens that display your favorite coffee to the information on your phone screens, we all interact with visual information. Our lives today are filled with technology and data, and visualized data is an integrated component of the technologies we interact with. Although most industries have adopted data visualization for several decades, it was only the past decade that saw healthcare starting to use it to communicate information to patients. Leveraging data visualization helps us to deliver clinical insights and help with critical decision making in a quicker and more accurate manner. Healthcare undoubtedly benefits from leveraging these tools to identify trends and opportunities to optimize systems thereby improving the quality of care.

The Digital Transformation and Industry 4.0 change production work in a holistic and disruptive nature. Most industrial challenges highlight technological aspects since Industry 4.0 is emphasizing on beyond the frontier technology. They revealed the need for organizational changes as well as influences on the human factor. For instance, the employment of assistance systems to support workers on the shop floor allow new information flows by overcoming existing barriers such as hierarchy or distances. Thus, there are not only technological but also more comprehensive implications on work induced by identified use cases. This paper presents few implemented use cases in which technologies optimize or enable new organizational facets to pave the way for new forms of work organization. Building on these use cases, superordinate work organization design principles are discussed.

The aim of this case study was to analyze and evaluate the force risks associated with building metal towers structures using exoskeleton and without it in electrical technicians in high voltage lines. The data recollection was made using three different methods, a self-discomfort report, observational data (RULA and REBA) and muscular activity using electromyography (EMG). The results of the self-discomfort report showed a greater discomfort in wrist, hands, lower back and thighs. The outcomes of RULA analysis suggested that 51,6% of the activity postures were in high risk and the remaining in medium risk. REBA’s outcomes showed that 32% of the activity postures are classified as high risk and 65% in medium risk. About the EMG analysis, the mean difference analysis showed that there is no difference between using the exoskeleton and without. Finally, it is necessary to improve the working conditions instead of considering the usage of the exoskeleton.

Industrial robotics called “collaborative” makes operator share his workspace with a robot or even perform tasks simultaneously with it. Human-robot co-activity situations as all new technologies, modify the operator’s work and raise health and safety issues at work. To prevent occupational accidents and diseases but also to better understand Human-Robot Collaboration in the workplace, a study based on an ergonomics approach was conducted in a food company. Preliminary results show that handling tasks decrease while supervisory tasks increase, Operators have therefore more interest in their activity and feel valued. They think that collaborative robot integration improves their work conditions. However, mechanical moving parts (arms, tools, handled parts) of these cobots have sometimes hit operators. This study tries to work out ways to improve this collaboration in terms of health and safety.

To explain customers’ willingness to use smart speakers for online shopping (voice-commerce) an integrated explanatory model was developed. The model is based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology 2 (UTAUT 2), which was expanded from the original model to include the construct of “perceived risk.” The postulated associations were studied using a structural equation model. The most significant and substantial factors influencing the willingness of German online shoppers to use smart speakers throughout different phases of the customer journey proved to be hedonic motivation and performance expectancy. Meanwhile, perceived effort expectancy had an indirect influence on intention to use. Perceived risk has a negative effect on intention to use. Prior experience with and perceived price value of smart speakers has less influence on the intention to use smart speakers in voice commerce.

With the current industry approaching its ceiling, many issues are emerging. This paper points out that to cope with these issues, we need to shift from working for others to working for ourselves. Its basic idea is to make the most of our current resources and to provide people with mental satisfaction to enjoy their life. The current industrial framework is technology-focused. But this paper points out the importance of psychological happiness and satisfaction, by making the most of our current resources. Thus, we can not only reduce cost and energy, but we can provide everybody with the desire to actualize themselves more. So, everybody can work for tomorrow. He or she challenges his or her own task to achieve his or her own goal. In short, we should explore a new horizon of mental world.

This work presents a study case of Agriculture Cyber-Physical Systems (ACPS), which uses temperature and humidity sensor in an automatic irrigation system for precision agriculture. The work consists of a low-cost, long-range monitoring, using sensors, solar cells, microcontroller and LoRa technology. Farms, when equipped with this ACPS, will be able to improve predictability and reduce its high degree of uncertainty in the supply chain.

The analysis of the literature indicates a relationship between the increase in the dynamics of the environment (from stable, through variable to turbulent and turbulent environments) and the desired increase in the enterprise’s flexibility. Flexibility is to enable the use of a greater variety of perceived market opportunities. Information and communication technologies (ICT) are understood as a family of technologies that process, collect and transmit information in electronic form. The research problem addressed in this paper is to identify the impact of environmental turbulence levels (low, high) on the characteristics and types of ICT software used.

This article analyzes the rice sector and the challenges related to the impact generated by production systems, such as greenhouse gas emissions in the natural environment. Previous studies show the application of Green Lean to achieve greater competitiveness and reducing the negative environmental impact. To achieve these objectives, Lean tools are used that improve quality, increase productivity, reduce inventories and costs like the Kaizen method. Therefore, this methodology is proposed through a management model in the sector analyzed to achieve the expected sustainability of the production process.

This article describes how Lean Manufacturing tools were applied in a Peruvian textile company. A production management model is proposed whose goal is to reduce the number of non-conforming products in the pants manufacturing line. For this, all information was gathered from the production area of the company under study. With the use of quality tools, the diagnosis of the current situation of the pants line was made, identifying the most significant defects, which were 19.43% of produced units in 2018. It was determined that the main causes of the observed defects refer to non-standardized sewing processes, quality control errors, non-standardized cutting processes, and poor production planning. The application of VSM and SMED allowed the correct standardization of denim pants production, TQM allowed proper control and quality management of the production process, and JIT for optimal production planning.

Nowadays the most challenging scientific problems are solved by joint ventures within international consortia operating on site of Mega Science facilities. Outcomes of these projects are not pure scientific ones, but possess many practical applications. In our study, we investigate the PIK facility in an aspect of its business-like application. It has been constructed in the outskirts of St. Petersburg, Russia, and will perform as high-flux research nuclear reactor. We propose several practical aspects of PIK to be of interest for business community. We stress that in future Mega Science facility would play crucial role in scientific development, and their activity is to conjugate with interests of the society. To our viewpoint, unique scientific facilities can be treated as future business tool, and now the aim of experts is to optimize their usage as a part of global scientific infrastructure.

The industrial chemical sector has grown during the last years in the Peruvian market, becoming highly competitive since it represents the second main activity in the manufacturing industry. However, companies belonging to the sector have experienced a decrease in productivity, since it has a lower production rate than other economic sectors. This paper presents a model for increasing the productivity of companies in the sector. For this, the 5S and TPM techniques will be used sequentially. First, 5S techniques are applied to reorder the working area and to create a clean and safe environment for operating personnel. Then, the TPM technique is used to focus on reducing the deficiencies that machines present through preventive maintenance and raise awareness and involve operational personnel in the daily activities of autonomous maintenance. For validation of the model, a simulation with the software Arena is performed. Results show an increase of about 15% in productivity, the cycle time reduces by 14%, the OEE will increase by 24% and daily production by 15% in the paint line.

The research is based on the problems encountered in the production process of companies in the metalworking sector. The problem arises from the low availability of machines in the production process due to working conditions (39.5%), poor maintenance management (40.3%) and poor-quality control (20.2%) that generate low profitability for business. As a solution, Lean Manufacturing tools are implemented to improve the process and increase profitability. The improvement proposal consists of a series of stages: first, the definition of indicators for the measurement of the variables; then, the design and implementation of a pilot in the production process and, in parallel, a simulation system will be designed to evaluate the long-term results. The document concludes that the implementation of the proposed tools will increase the availability of machines and an OEE to 55%, avoiding defective products and reducing reprocessed products by 4%.

Nowadays, organizations in the cotton knitwear industry have had to adapt to a client who is not willing to pay an additional cost for activities that do not add value to the product. In Peru, many companies that export cotton knitwear closes every year since they cannot compete with countries such as China and Hong Kong due to their high production costs. This paper introduces a production management model based on Lean Manufacturing techniques and standardization of operations to reduce waste in the production flow, thus improving quality, and reducing production time and costs. So, a Production and Continuous improvement model (PDCA) were implemented. The validation was performed in a representative Peruvian company that exports cotton knitwear, resulting in an efficiency improvement of 10%, reduction of defective products of 20%, and generating savings of almost 5,000 soles monthly.

A risk can be described as a situation that can negatively affect the development of an activity and the people involved that. In this sense, risk management is used to achieve a reduction or elimination of risk. The objective of the investigation was to determine factors that caused the low value of crop yield in a Peruvian banana supply chain. The research applied House of Risk (HOR) model to determine risk event and associated causes. As a result, strategies were proposed to mitigate the occurrence of risks in the company.

Many businesses enhance on-line user experience using various recommender systems which have a growing innovation and research interest. Recommender systems in music streaming applications proactively suggest new selections to users by attempting to predict user preferences. While current music recommendation systems help users to efficiently discover fascinating music, challenges remain in this research area. This paper presents a critical analysis of current music recommender systems and proposes a new hybrid recommender system with efficient and enhanced prediction capabilities.

Starting from the mobile phone usage habits of Chinese graduate students, this paper explores the problems of mobile phone usage habits and the training of MTI interpreters in China, find out that most of Chinese MTI-students use mobile phone more than three hours every day and reveals how to give full play to the positive role of mobile phones and other mobile media to promote the training of talents and the development of professional interpreters.

The retail sector is a growing industry, however with serious problems associated with inventories such as stock breakage. This article proposes a collaborative model applying the S&OP methodology to reduce stock breakages in a Peruvian company in the retail sector through a purchasing plan designed by the interaction and participation of different actors in charge of the process. The results of the model are measured by the percentage of stock breaks, the demand forecast error and the increase in sales. In the diagnosis of the problem two factors were identified that cause the stock breaks. The first is caused by the delay that exists in the replenishment of inventories, due to the bad programming of delivery of products between the distribution center and the stores. The second is related to the insufficient amount of purchases caused by not properly categorizing the products, poor forecast and not having safety inventory policies. A simulation resulted in a 17% stock breakage reduction, a 17% forecast error decrease, and a 15% sales increase.

In this document it was proposed to apply Lean Agriculture, using the five Lean principles focused on the production of organic apples, which would allow to achieve a differentiated product, through the reduction of waste, improvements in the quality of activities and the commitment of the farmers. For this, a review of the literature that corroborated the impact of the methodology was carried out. In addition, surveys were conducted, taking a sample of farmers, which evidenced the gap. Finally it was obtained as a conclusion that after the implementation of the Lean Agriculture methodology in the processes, an increase in production suitable for sale in traditional and organic markets is achieved. In addition, the increase in quality achieved a percent of production suitable for exporting.

At present, companies in the Peruvian plastic sector have an average capacity utilization indicator of 71.45%. However, in Peru many SMEs are with 50% well below this indicator. After a study performed in a representative company of the Peruvian plastic sector, the causes of low efficiency in resource utilization were determined through a problems tree and a Pareto analysis. These causes are failures, reprocesses and Setup times in the extrusion machines, taking around 1008 h a year to solve these problems. This article proposes a model to improve efficiency, integrating Lean Manufacturing tools such as 5s, SMED, and autonomous maintenance. The first one was used as a support tool, while SMED was used to reduce the configuration time and autonomous maintenance to reduce the failures number and the reprocesses number. The model was validated through a case study, obtaining as results the reduction of the setup time by 50%, breakdowns by 50% and reprocesses by 60%.

Avocado exports have increased considerably between 2016 and 2019 in Peru. For this reason, it is important that farmers develop strategies in their supply chain that will generate dwell value for their final product. In response to the above, Supply Chain Management Leagile (SCM Leagile) surface. This supply chain strategy Reduce processes that do not generate value to the product and have to rapid response to the constant change in demand for avocado to the international market. The objective of this paper is present a model of SCM Leagile which can be used by the farmers in various agrifood supply chains.

The problem identified is the poor management and control of production, which includes direct consequences with regard to quality, planning of operations and work method; generating mainly penalties for non-fulfillment of orders, increased operating costs and lost opportunity cost that negatively affect the efficiency of the production process of concrete posts and accessories in a SME company. The implementation of an improvement model is proposed applying the Lean Manufacturing philosophy; whose application is focused on improving 3 main waste in the production system: defects, inventory and waiting time. The proposals of the study generated a reduction in the percentage of defects in the company by 6.46%, 9.50% in the case of penalties for non-compliance with orders, 34.67% in the cycle time and a 21% increase in the OEE of the machines.

The paper discusses the principles of human-centered design applied to the development of a medical wearable electrocardiogram (ECG) patch-like system. The following design issues are taken under consideration. Firstly, how to design wearable suitable for people of different size, gender and age. Secondly, how to ensure proper signal detection, both tactile and visual. Thirdly, how to provide reliable physical connections between the element of the hardware piece (electronics, adhesive base, housing). Fourthly, how to reach intuitiveness of the user-system interface. Fifthly, how to achieve appearance more of a consumer product rather than a medical device, as many people prefer such systems to be small, convenient, comfortable and give no indications about its actual function. Design decisions throughout the development cycle are based on analysis of several available sensors with analogous purpose.

This study focuses on problems of inadequate production capacity management. The factors that generate this scenario are related to the incorrect distribution of work areas, the absence of standardization of the production process and unorganized workstations in the production line. The application of 5S’s tool, Value Stream Mapping (VSM) and a proposal for plant design are presented to solve the problem. After the application of the design solution, it was identified that 1 h and 23 min can be saved in transfer times, which can be invested in the manufacture of more products, improving the use of the plant’s capacity.

In the Peruvian market there is a great demand for the improvement of the service and quality of the products, that is why many SMEs look for low-cost alternatives that allow them to optimize their activities and thus be able to assure the quality of the service. The problem is that there are many difficulties when implementing tools or techniques due to high costs or lack of knowledge, therefore a productivity model is proposed focused on six sigma and lean manufacturing methodologies in order to adapt the needs of SMEs with 4 phases can analyze, design, implement and monitor requirements in order to reduce mismanagement of service quality, cost savings and decrease product returns.

This study aimed to identify the causes of significant problems existing in the metallurgical sector, and a solution is proposed for the setup process. We detail the theoretical background of the processes in the lean manufacturing methodology, which will be applied to a rolling machine. Further, we provide a brief description of the company and the sector’s problems. We describe success stories of companies that implemented various lean manufacturing tools. We also present some of the results achieved across sectors to gain an in-depth understanding of the technique and a practical support of the implemented model. Our proposal is based on the lean manufacturing methodology; tools such as Single Minute Exchanges of Dies, Kaizen, 5S, and value stream mapping (VSM) will be used to reduce setup times and to impact machine layout and productivity positively. We also show the implementation results of a pilot plan conducted in the company over a period of more than 3 months.

In the bakery industry, it is sought to have zero defective products. It is in the packing; where it is evident, as the last area of the production chain, all the defects generated. Therefore, a combined redesign method is proposed, which consists in the use of Economy of Movement, Ergonomics, Poka Yoke and Method Engineering to reduce defective products in SMEs in the bakery industry. The losses of these generate a reduction of 29.50% for crushed bread and 19.67% of bread on the floor, reducing with the use of this method to 16.20% and 8.38% respectively.

The Peruvian textile industry is a highly competitive market and is one of the main economic engines of the country. The sector provides more than 463 thousand jobs and represents 7.4% of the GDP. Most of the companies, mostly family businesses, do not have enough knowledge to implement a management model according to productivity standards and expected level of service. This article proposes a production model for the clothing industry based on Lean management, combining SIPOC, VSM, 5S techniques and a production system to increase profitability in the short term and make it sustainable in time. The model is validated by a case study in a representative company of the sector. The proposed activities were monitored through the study of work indicators, in which the results indicate an increase in productivity by 59% and the fulfillment by 48%.

The present research work has as objective the application of Six Sigma DMAIC methodology in the production’s processes, the results will be manifested in increasing the efficiency of the production system and in reducing the delay in order delivery. In a metal mechanic company dedicated to the manufacture of electrical boards which focus is the terraced boards there was presented a fulfillment rate failure to deliver on time 46%. On the other hand, the delivery delay is generated because the current productivity does not supply what is required by the customer, therefore a minimum 394 units per month is needed to meet the requirements but currently only produce 226 units per month. For solve this problem it was proposed that Production model that merges the painting and baking areas and that generates an impact on the entire painting operation.

All over the world cities are ageing and elderly populations living in the cities is increasing in proportion. Ironically, the existing cities are more favorable for younger age groups than that for the elderly. With the recent developments in Artificially Intelligent (AI) technologies, numerous gadgets and applications have been invented that may support independent living for the elderly. It is one of the emerging sectors within the big shift to smart cities and is popularly termed as Ambient Assisted Living (AAL). Based on a thorough literature review this paper critically analyzes the current positioning of AAL in the shifting paradigm of existing societies into technology driven societies. In this paper state-of-the-art applications of AAL were analyzed from the governance perspective. Evidence from literature indicates that the development and dissemination of AAL gadgets and applications has been largely ad-hoc.

Annually in Ecuador, flood risks are observed due to hydroclimatological factors, influenced by variability and climate change, the vulnerability of populations due to land occupation and poor urban planning in risk management issues. This research proposes an early warning system focused on citizen participation, analyzes the sectors most at risk of flooding in the urban area of the city of Milagro, and plans a methodology to previously alert the community to the occurrence of these events, concluding that it is a sustainable strategy to strengthen the capacities of the study population in order to build resilient communities and reduce their vulnerability.

In Peru, under the framework of the National Policy for the Modernization of public management by 2021, it is intended that state institutions enter the Civil Service Regime that seeks to continuously improve the public administration in order to avoid disorder in hiring, remuneration excessive, breaches of the rights of the servers, among others, which are currently causing delays and poor service to citizens. For this reason, a management model is proposed that allows integrating the guidelines set forth by the Law of Civil Service and the process improvement techniques that will allow the current situation to be identified, prioritizing which are the critical processes and thus being able to define an improvement plan integrating the different areas within the institution.