Search Results (19)

Public touchscreens, such as those used in automated teller machines or ticket payment systems, which are accessed by different people in a short period of time, could transmit pathogens and thus spread infections. Therefore, the aim of this study was to develop and test a prototype of a touchscreen system for the public sector that disinfects itself quickly and automatically between two users without harming any humans. A quartz pane was installed in front of a commercial 19” monitor, into which 120 UVC LEDs emitted laterally. The quartz plate acted as a light guide and irradiated microorganisms on its surface, but—due to total reflection—not the user in front of the screen. A near-infrared commercial touch frame was installed to recognize touch. The antibacterial effect was tested through intentional staphylococcus contamination. The prototype, composed of a Raspberry Pi microcomputer with a display, a touchscreen, and a touch frame, was developed, and a simple game was programmed that briefly switched on the UVC LEDs between two users. The antimicrobial effect was so strong that 1% of the maximum UVC LED current was sufficient for a 99.9% staphylococcus reduction within 25 s. At 17.5% of the maximum current, no bacteria were observed after 5 s. The residual UVC irradiance at a distance of 100 mm in front of the screen was only 0.18 and 2.8 µW/cm² for the two currents, respectively. This would allow users to stay in front of the system for 287 or 18 min, even if the LEDs were to emit UVC continuously and not be turned off after a few seconds as in the presented device. Therefore, fast, automatic touchscreen disinfection with UVC LEDs is already possible today, and with higher currents, disinfection durations below 1 s seems to be feasible, while the light guide approach virtually prevents the direct irradiation of the human user. Full article

This work presents the design of a new game controller device and the development of two exergames (Peter Jumper and Andromeda) for upper limb rehabilitation. The eJamar controller is a novel electromechanical device designed to measure wrist and hand movements, such as pronation/supination, flexion/extension, and ulnar/radial deviation, enabling users to perform control actions in the exergames. One of eJamar’s most significant features is its ability to measure hand grip strength, a function not available in commercial gaming controllers. The exergame Peter Jumper involves a character jumping over obstacles in various environments, promoting hand grip exercises. The exergame Andromeda involves shooting enemy ships, promoting coordination between hand movements and grip strength, making it suitable for different rehabilitation techniques. A testing protocol was applied with eight healthy participants (5F and 3M), who completed a survey evaluating gameplay, usability, and satisfaction of the system. The results demonstrated that the developed exergames are intuitive and easy to play, with participants reporting that a therapist’s presence is not required for gameplay. Hence, it suggests that the developed system can improve the rehabilitation process, promoting wrist–arm movements and grasping actions. Full article

Exer-games are interactive experiences in which participants engage in physical exercises to achieve specific goals. Some of these games have a collaborative nature, wherein the actions and achievements of one participant produce immediate effects on the experiences of others. Music serves as a stimulus that can be integrated into these games to influence players’ emotions and, consequently, their actions. In this paper, a framework of music services designed to enhance collaborative exer-games is presented. These services provide the necessary functionality to generate personalized musical stimuli that regulate players’ affective states, induce changes in their physical performance, and improve the game experience. The solution requires to determine the emotions that each song may evoke in players. These emotions are considered when recommending the songs that are used as part of stimuli. Personalization seeds based on players’ listening histories are also integrated in the recommendations in order to foster the effects of those stimuli. Emotions and seeds are computed from the information available in Spotify data services, one of the most popular commercial music providers. Two small-scale experiments present promising preliminary results on how the players’ emotional responses match the affective information included in the musical elements of the solution. The added value of these affective services is that they are integrated into an ecosystem of Internet of Things (IoT) devices and cloud computing resources to support the development of a new generation of emotion-based exer-games. Full article

In this article, I analyse the function of supporting child-characters in contemporary videogames. I integrate Stephen Zimmerly’s typology of sidekicks in Young Adult literature with critical writing on the ‘Daddening’ of videogames, a coinage that refers to the rise in the number of videogames that centre on the filial bond between a father figure and a child. Bringing these ideas into conversation with each other allows me to expand Zimmerly’s sidekick typology to include the ‘Ludic Gateway’, the ‘Morality Certificate’, and the ‘Disciplinary Tool’. I explore each category in greater depth using two case studies: The Last of Us series (2012; 2014; 2020) and the God of War series (2008; 2018; 2022). These commercially successful, critically acclaimed franchises rely on young deuteragonists to humanize and redeem the gruff, aggressive, violent male player character. Furthermore, the child sidekicks also serve to regulate the player’s in-game behaviour by way of a parasocial relationship. Using a close reading approach, I demonstrate that the supporting child-characters function as meta-critical devices to discipline gaming communities and the video game medium itself. Full article

Background: The prevalence of neurological disorders is increasing worldwide. In recent decades, the conventional rehabilitation for people with neurological disorders has been often reinforced with the use of technological devices (robots and virtual reality). The aim of this systematic review was to identify the evidence on the economic cost of rehabilitation with robotic and virtual reality devices for people with neurological disorders through a review of the scientific publications over the last 15 years. Methods: A systematic review was conducted on partial economic evaluations (cost description, cost analysis, description of costs and results) and complete (cost minimization, cost-effectiveness, cost utility and cost benefit) studies. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were followed. The main data sources used were PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science (WOS). Studies published in English over the last 15 years were considered for inclusion in this review, regardless of the type of neurological disorder. The critical appraisal instrument from the Joanna Briggs Institute for economic evaluation and the Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards (CHEERS) were used to analyse the methodological quality of all the included papers. Results: A total of 15 studies were included in this review. Ten papers were focused on robotics and five on virtual reality. Most of the studies were focused on people who experienced a stroke. The robotic device most frequently used in the papers included was InMotion^® (Bionik Co., Watertown, MA, USA), and for those focused on virtual reality, all papers included used semi-immersive virtual reality systems, with commercial video game consoles (Nintendo Wii^® (Nintendo Co., Ltd., Kyoto, Japan) and Kinect^® (Microsoft Inc., Redmond, WA, USA)) being used the most. The included studies mainly presented cost minimization outcomes and a general description of costs per intervention, and there were disparities in terms of population, setting, device, protocol and the economic cost outcomes evaluated. Overall, the methodological quality of the included studies was of a moderate level. Conclusions: There is controversy about using robotics in people with neurological disorders in a rehabilitation context in terms of cost minimization, cost-effectiveness, cost utility and cost benefits. Semi-immersive virtual reality devices could involve savings (mainly derived from the low prices of the systems analysed and transportation services if they are applied through telerehabilitation programmes) compared to in-clinic interventions. Full article

In the last decade, the use of virtual reality (VR) technologies has been increasing, as head-mounted display devices, such as the Meta Quest series, have become commercially accessible to everyday consumers. There are plenty of software applications developed for VR, ranging from games to serious training. Despite the fast-growing emergence of novel and natural gesture-based interface components, traditional windows, icons, menus, and pointer user interfaces still remain popular in these implementations. Therefore, navigating and interacting within 3-dimensional environments can still be challenging in virtual reality. This body of work will serve as a reference to the literature survey on 3-dimensional user interfaces and their implementations, and categorize them to reiterate a set of design recommendations for implementing 3-dimensional user interfaces in virtual reality. While questions revolve around the need for a 3-dimensional user interface if a 2-dimensional user interface suffices, we cannot ignore the capabilities and benefits offered when utilising 3-dimensional space. Unlike other work, this work proposes a novel metaphor-guided quadrant model to delineate the 3-dimensional user interface problem in an end-to-end manner. To achieve this, over 30 unique articles selected using a meta-analyses methodology were reviewed. The result highlights the dimensional semantics of the inputs and dimensional outcomes of the virtual targets. Notable reiterated design recommendations would match devices to interaction and then to the tasks in 3-dimensional environments, reducing the degrees of freedom, imposing constraints when possible, and not implementing one single best interaction technique. The results of this survey will be beneficial for virtual reality simulation designers or researchers attempting to determine the appropriate model when developing user interfaces for virtual reality content. Full article

Despite the importance of Earth sciences in addressing the global challenges that humanity is presently facing, attention toward related disciplines has been witnessed to be globally declining at various levels, including education and university teaching. To increase students’ engagement and explore alternative teaching activities, a didactical experiment was carried out at the University of Florence (Italy); the teaching course, “basic elements of geomorphology”, was reorganized to include relevant elements of gamification. Parallel to the frontal lessons, a competition based on a recurring quiz game was conducted. This activity was called “Who wants to be a Geomorphologist?”, clearly paraphrasing a notorious TV show. During every lesson, a moment was included where the students used their mobile devices to access a series of quizzes that were previously prepared by the teacher to test the reasoning skills of the students and their abilities to make connections between distinct topics. A commercial educational app was used to organize the activity, run the quiz sessions, assign points, and update the leaderboard in real time. A quantitative evaluation procedure assessed the positive impacts in terms of supporting the learning process, improving the engagement in the teaching course, and fostering the liking for geomorphology. Full article

 The aim of this study was a comprehensive evaluation and comparison of the physical and mechanical properties of a newly developed nano-sized hydroxyapatite fiber-reinforced composite with other fiber-reinforced and particle-filled composites. Commercially available eight composite resins (3 fiber-reinforced and 5 particle-filled) were used: Fiber-reinforced composites: (1) NovaPro Fill (Nanova): newly developed nano-sized hydroxyapatite fiber-reinforced composite (nHAFC-NF); (2) Alert (Pentron): micrometer-scale glass fiber-reinforced composite (µmGFC-AL); (3) Ever X Posterior (GC Corp): millimeter-scale glass fiber-reinforced composite (mmGFC-EX); Particle-filled composites: (4) SDR Plus (Dentsply) low-viscosity bulk-fill (LVBF-SDR); (5) Estelite Bulk Fill (Tokuyama Corp.) low-viscosity bulk-fill (LVBF-EBF); (6) Filtek Bulk Fill Flow (3M ESPE) low-viscosity bulk-fill (LVBF-FBFF); (7) Filtek Bulk Fill (3M ESPE) high-viscosity bulk-fill (HVBF-FBF); and (8) Filtek Z250 (3M ESPE): microhybrid composite (µH-FZ). For Vickers microhardness, cylindrical-shaped specimens (diameter: 4 mm, height: 2 mm) were fabricated (n = 10). For the three-point bending test, bar-shaped (2 × 2 × 25 mm) specimens were fabricated (n = 10). Flexural strength and modulus elasticity were calculated. AcuVol, a video image device, was used for volumetric polymerization shrinkage (VPS) evaluations (n = 6). The polymerization degree of conversion (DC) was measured on the top and bottom surfaces with Fourier Transform Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR; n = 5). The data were statistically analyzed using one-way ANOVA, Tukey HSD, Welsch ANOVA, and Games–Howell tests (p < 0.05). Pearson coefficient correlation was used to determine the linear correlation. Group µH-FZ displayed the highest microhardness, flexural strength, and modulus elasticity, while Group HVBF-FBF exhibited significantly lower VPS than other composites. When comparing the fiber-reinforced composites, Group mmGFC-EX showed significantly higher microhardness, flexural strength, modulus elasticity, and lower VPS than Group nHAFC-NF but similar DC. A strong correlation was determined between microhardness, VPS and inorganic filler by wt% and vol% (r = 0.572–0.877). Fiber type and length could affect the physical and mechanical properties of fibers containing composite resins.   Full article

A virtual reality (VR) environment is different from the generally produced video-based experience, as it creates an interactive user experience (UX) by allowing the users to respond to operations or commands using various input devices. In particular, as existing analog-type fashion shows that have limitations in space and time have evolved into digital fashion shows that include interaction, the importance of the naturalness of interaction and visual expression is being emphasized in UX research. However, study cases that maximize user immersion through the interaction of visual changes in the stage and clothes of a digital fashion show are scarce. As such, this study introduces an interactive VR fashion show to analyze the impact of interaction on the UX in a VR environment. In the design of the interactive VR fashion show, various interaction elements that affect the UX are selected and the scope of UX application is suggested. In addition, by utilizing a commercial game engine, the production process necessary to simulate an existing fashion show is shown step-by-step. The user test in this study is examined in-depth by dividing the evaluation of the user into a two-step survey, and the results are objectively verified through a statistical analysis. Full article

The overwhelming growth and popularity of mobile devices and games have motivated initiatives to explore mobile and augmented reality to bring the physical and virtual together. While several domains have been the recipient of such focus, particular importance has been placed on the cultural heritage (CH) field, with examples demonstrating the promise of location-based games (LBGs) at enhancing the CH experience aimed at promoting awareness. Games like Pokémon GO have exacerbated the appeal of LBGs, showing that they can be as popular as blockbuster video games. However, as much potential as LBGs have in raising CH awareness, they can be challenging to build because, unlike their commercial counterparts, their primary aim is learning, emphasizing the cultural significance of the real-world location rather than augmented assets. With limited research that explicitly identifies elements in creating these games in CH contexts, this work aimed to identify design practices and considerations in the design of LBGs. This work is intended for educators, researchers, instructional designers, game developers, and those in the CH field interested in exploring creative ways to embody a deeper understanding of and appreciation for CH. Full article

Piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducers (PMUTs) have been widely applied in distance sensing. However, the sensing distance of currently reported miniaturized ultrasonic sensors (e.g., PMUTs or CMUT) is still limited up to a certain range (e.g., ≤5 m) compared to conventional bulk ultrasonic devices. This paper reports a PMUT array design using scandium-doped aluminum nitride (AlScN) as its piezoelectric layer for an extended long-range detection purpose. To minimize air attenuation, our device is resonating at 66 kHz for a high receive sensitivity of 5.7 mV/Pa. The proposed PMUT array can generate a sound pressure level (SPL) as high as 120 dB at a distance of 10 cm without beam forming. This PMUT design is catered for a pin-to-pin replacement of the current commercial bulk ultrasonic ranging sensor and works directly with the conventional range finding system (e.g., TI PGA460). In comparison with the common bulk transducer, the size of our device is 80% smaller. With the identical ranging detection setup, the proposed PMUT array improves the system SNR by more than 5 dB even at a distance as far as 6.8 m. The result of extended sensing distance validates our miniaturized PMUT array as the optimized candidate for most ultrasonic ranging applications. With the progressive development of piezoelectric MEMS, we believe that the PMUT technology could be a game changer in future long-range sensing applications. Full article

Sepsis is a life-threatening condition mostly caused by a bacterial infection resulting in inflammatory reaction and organ dysfunction if not treated effectively. Rapid identification of the causing bacterial pathogen already in the early stage of bacteremia is therefore vital. Current technologies still rely on time-consuming procedures including bacterial culturing up to 72 h. Our approach is based on ultra-rapid and highly sensitive nanomechanical sensor arrays. In measurements we observe two clearly distinguishable distributions consisting of samples with bacteria and without bacteria respectively. Compressive surface stress indicates the presence of bacteria. For this proof-of-concept, we extracted total RNA from EDTA whole blood samples from patients with blood-culture-confirmed bacteremia, which is the reference standard in diagnostics. We determined the presence or absence of bacterial RNA in the sample through 16S-rRNA hybridization and species-specific probes using nanomechanical sensor arrays. Via both probes, we identified two clinically highly-relevant bacterial species i.e., Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus down to an equivalent of 20 CFU per milliliter EDTA whole blood. The dynamic range of three orders of magnitude covers most clinical cases. We correctly identified all patient samples regarding the presence or absence of bacteria. We envision our technology as an important contribution to early and sensitive sepsis diagnosis directly from blood without requirement for cultivation. This would be a game changer in diagnostics, as no commercial PCR or POCT device currently exists who can do this. Full article

This paper proposes an input mapping system that can transform various input signals from next-generation virtual reality devices to suit existing virtual reality content. Existing interactions of virtual reality content are developed based on input values for standardized commercial haptic controllers. This prevents the challenge of new ideas in content. However, controllers that are not compatible with existing virtual reality content have to take significant risks until commercialization. The proposed system allows content developers to map streams of new input devices to standard input events for use in existing content. This allows the reuse of code from existing content, even with new devices, effectively reducing development tasks. Further, it is possible to define a new input method from the perspective of content instead of the sensing results of the input device, allowing for content-specific standardization in content-oriented industries such as games and virtual reality. Full article

Life expectancy has increased in recent years. Physical activity has been postulated as a key element in active aging strategies. However, adherence to physical exercise programs has traditionally been low among the elderly, and the current situation of the COVID-19 pandemic has added extra impediments. Immersive virtual reality (IVR) devices could motivate this population to practice exercise. This study aimed to analyse the use of IVR exergames as a tool to facilitate physical exercise in older people. Four healthy older adults (males, 65–77 years) participated in the study. They carried out two exergaming sessions with HTC Vive Pro^TM. Outcomes were evaluated using the Simulator Sickness Questionnaire (SSQ), System Usability Scale (SUS), Game Experience Questionnaire (GEQ post-game module), an ad hoc satisfaction questionnaire, and perceived effort. All participants completed the sessions without adverse effects, with no SSQ symptoms reported. SUS scores were high in both sessions (SUS > 85/100). Post-game GEQ scores were 3.08–3.41/4 (positive experiences) and 0.08–0.16/4 (negative experiences). Opinions showed high levels of satisfaction with the experience. Exergaming programs, based on commercial head-mounted displays, are a feasible alternative to traditional senior exercise, and could be a solution to the current situation that has arisen from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Full article