Impact of Tangible Augmented Reality on Electromyography Output

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2022-05-03) Fischer, Kelly Choe

The utilization of augmented reality for guiding user motions and the incorporation of sensors as an assessment tool are areas of growing interest. Potential for future application exists in the viability to produce real-time interpretations and haptic feedback of electromyography (EMG) signals for prostheses and robotics. Previous technological limitations with augmented reality have been overcome to produce systems of greater human-computer interaction and flexibility. While it is not a new avenue to consider multi-sensory influence on muscular stress and activation, altering sensory input and the impacts of augmented reality on the body is relatively untouched. This study proposes incorporating EMG sensors with tangible augmented reality (TAR) during a series of low stress motion-based tasks to determine the impact on muscular activation. Specifically, 3 tasks were completed by the users while equipped with an EMG armband and their subsequent signal output recorded for those tasks in real-life and then with the TAR system. The TAR system incorporates a digital visual interaction with representative physical interactions of the tasks to best mimic the real-life tasks. Two types of signal classification features were analyzed to determine what influence the TAR system had on EMG output. The changes in integrated EMG and waveform length for the tasks after implementing the TAR system appear to reflect an increase in EMG and potentially muscular activation from the participants.
A Comparison of Laboratory and Synchronous Remote Usability Testing Methods Using AR

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2022-05-03) Kim, Ted

It has been demonstrated that virtual prototypes can be used productively in usability testing. Virtual prototypes, Augmented Reality (AR) in particular, has received some attention as platforms that support AR such as cell phones and iPads, which combine both the real and virtual worlds, become ubiquitous. Structured AR usability testing in the product development phase enables obtaining early user feedback, allowing companies to focus on UX from the early design phase. Therefore, several studies of usability testing using AR have been conducted, and there have been attempts to perform AR usability testing with remote settings. However, the authentic AR experience has not been provided to the participants due to complicated setup and logistics problems. They revealed many challenges such as different experimental mindsets, communication with participants, a sense of distance from the actual AR experience, and technical issues. This study was aimed to make such a direct comparison between the conventional lab-based (as a control group) usability testing, conventional lab-based AR usability testing, and a remote synchronous AR usability testing method to determine whether typical outcome variables (e.g. performance, satisfaction, accuracy) of usability tests would be affected by the reduced experiment control (e.g. presence of experimenter, user environment). To compare the assessment of the usability for each setup, SUS score, task time/experiment time, and error rate data were collected.
Investigating the Efficiency of Authoring Interactions for Augmented Reality Experiences for Designers

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2020-12-03) Jain, Karan Muktesh

Recent advances in augmented reality (AR) have provided an opportunity for this technology to be used in the industrial design and development process, especially, for product visualization and representing product concepts in AR for usability testing. However, the adoption of this technology in the industrial design process is slow-moving due to the complex development process of AR experiences. Currently, AR authoring tools require the user to program interactions for their applications, which makes it challenging for designers who may not be skilled in programming to rapidly develop interactions. Further, there is not much literature on the design and user experience (UX) of graphical user interface (GUI) based tools for authoring AR interactions for designers or non-programmers. This thesis investigated how authoring interactions for AR experiences can be made more efficient for designers. After reviewing current AR tools and projects, two UX architectures for authoring AR interactions with a GUI were put together. These architectures were called Component-Based UX Architecture and Event-Based UX Architecture. An interactive prototype was developed for each of the architecture and users were asked to author interactions for an AR representation of a table lamp and a toy car. A remote usability study was conducted to evaluate the two prototypes with 22 participants and it was found that the event-based UX architecture is significantly more efficient and user friendly than the component-based UX architecture in authoring interactions for AR experiences. The implication of the results in the design of AR authoring tools for designers has been further discussed in this paper.
Applying tangible augmented reality in usability evaluation

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2016-01-15) Zhang, Xiaotian

Feedback from users is an invaluable part of the product design process. Prototypes of varying levels of detail are frequently used to solicit feedback for attributes related to the physical and user experience aspects of a product. Using Tangible Augmented Reality Technologies to achieve natural interactions have significance in product design. TAR is one of Augmented Reality related technologies which enable the superposition of physical model in real environment and digital model on the screen many have possibility to solve this kind of problems. This study is to investigate whether usability input from AR/TAR technologies representations of a product with physical interface elements is similar to input based on a product/prototype. If AR/TAR technology inputs are found to be similar from the real product, it can be an evidence to indicate that AR/TAR can be a useful tool for collecting highly accurate inputs on a product concept focusing on physical controls. User testing was conducted with 20 participants. And, the conclusion shows the two AR methods are statistically significantly different with real product, but Tangible AR does not have a statistically significant difference with real product. The results of the data analysis strongly support that Tangible AR is doing effectively simulating the real product prototype in the user study.
A study of fabrication methods and design outcome on student perspective in an academic industrial design studio

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2015-05-15) Zhang, Linye

The construction of models is an important component in the innovation and final production phase of a design project. They are the key to testing a concept to identify and correct design or usability problems. Models at each stage of the design process should accurately represent the concept and so it is important to choose fabrication methods that are appropriate for the goals of the model. The focus of this paper is to examine the relationship between the fabrication methods used for model construction during the design process and the perceived success of the final design outcome. Sixty industrial design students, both undergraduate and graduate, were surveyed about the methods used to fabricate models during the early conceptual stage and the late testing phase of an assigned design project. Their comments regarding the purpose for choosing each method and the level of contribution to the final design outcome were collected. Results from the survey are presented and potential steps for guiding students to utilize the most effective fabrication method for the design scenario are discussed.
Comparing and exploring new text entry and edit methods for Smart TV

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2015-05-11) Li, Jingtian

Smart TV is becoming an increasingly important multimedia device for home entertainment now. One of the most important interaction between users and a smart TV is text entry and edit. For example a user may need to input online account credentials, input key words to search for favorite TV shows, write comments in forums or app stores, or enter text in many other scenarios. Editing and correction of entered text in any of these cases is currently a challenge. This study discussed about current input methods for smart TV and evaluate the effects of using smart phone touch gestures and virtual keyboard on the text entry and edit for Smart TV.
Effects of display position on guided repair and maintenance assisted by head-mounted display (HMD)

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2015-04-24) Yang, Tao

Over the last few years, there have been striking developments in wearable computing. Among all the different forms of wearable devices, Head Mounted Displays (HMDs) are deemed the first seamless solution to enabling workers with real time contextual information and allowing companies to integrate with existing back-end systems. The hands-free feature that come along with the HMDs is also believed a great advantage over many traditional technologies. However, few studies had discussed the impact of different design characteristics of head mounted displays on task performance. This study aimed to find out how different display positions of Head Mounted Displays may affect the performance of workers performing guided repair and maintenance tasks. A set of car maintenance tasks were performed by 20 participants with task guidance presented at four Display Conditions: above-eye HMD, eye-centered HMD, below-eye HMD and the traditional paper manual. Time and errors were measured and discussed, as well as other user experience related measurements.
A comparative study about cognitive load of air gestures and screen gestures for performing in-car music selection task

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2014-12-05) Wu, Xiaolong

With the development of technology, people's viewpoints of the automobile have shifted; instead of merely a means of transportation, the automobile has become a space in which a driver can still perform daily activities besides driving, such as communicating with other people, interacting with electronic devices, and receiving information. In the meantime, different ways of interaction have been explored. Among all the modalities, gestures have been considered as a feasible way for performing in-car secondary tasks because of their intuitiveness. However, few researches have been conducted in terms of subjects' cognitive load. This thesis has examined four gesture interfaces (air swipe, air tap, screen swipe, and screen tap), in terms of their effects on drivers' driving performance, secondary task performance, perceived cognitive load, and eye glance behavior. The result demonstrated that air gestures are generally slower than screen gestures with regard to secondary performance. Screen swipe gesture requires the lowest cognitive load while air swipe and screen tap gesture remain the same. Subjects in this study tend to prefer screen swipe gesture the most while prefer air tap gesture the least. However, there is no significant difference between air swipe and screen tap gesture. Although air tap gesture and screen tap gesture generated the largest amount of dwell times, no variance among the four gesture interfaces in driving performance has been found. The result indicated that even though air gestures are not limited by space, screen swipe in this study still seemed to be the most ideal way for performing in-car secondary task of music selection.
Exploring benefits of using augmented reality for usability testing

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2014-04-09) Mittal, Sanchit

This study explores if augmented reality can be used to get a better feedback for usability testing. Augmented reality is being used in various fields like entertainment, medicine, etc., but this technology’s use for product development has been very limited. This study specifically explores if it could be used for product usability testing. For this study, a product that is already in the market will be used. First, the usability of the product was tested using traditional method, i.e., asking user to accomplish a specific task using that product and then gaining feedback using a questionnaire asking them about their opinions. Then the same product was modeled for augmented reality environment and then a different set of users were asked to accomplish the same task in AR environment. Same questionnaire was provided to these users for feedback. After that, the feedback received using the two methods was compared. The hypothesis presented in this thesis says that using augmented reality can help get a better or similar usability feedback as compared to traditional usability testing. This method might help reduce the cost of usability testing conducted on a large scale by reducing the need to have a fully developed product for testing. It will help in identifying usability issues before a product has been fully developed and thus, reducing the development cost.