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International audience; This study seeks to investigate whether users activate cognitive representations of their partner’s action when they are involved in tactile collaborative tasks. The social Simon effect is a spatial stimulus–response interference induced by the mere presence of a partner in a go/nogo task. It has been extensively studied in the visual and auditory sensory modalities, but never before in the tactile modality. We compared the performances of 28 participants in three tasks: (1) a standard Simon task where participants responded to two different tactile stimuli applied to their fingertips with either their left or right foot, (2) an individual go/nogo task where participants responded to only one stimulus and (3) a social go/nogo task where they again responded to only one stimulus, but were partnered with another person who responded to the complementary stimulus. The interference effect due to spatial incongruence between the side where participants received the stimulus and the foot used to answer increased significantly in the standard Simon task compared to the social go/nogo task. Such a difference was not observed between the social and individual go/nogo tasks. Performances were nevertheless enhanced in the social go/nogo task, but irrespectively of the stimulus–response congruency. This study is the first to report a negative result for the social Simon effect in the tactile modality. Results suggest that cognitive representation of the co-actor is weaker in this modality.

Universal Design (UD) is usually stated to be "for all ages and abilities". Given that stroke is a major source of disability, it is important that UD recommendations take stroke-specific problems into account. Within the framework of EU project STARR, we have investigated user requirements of stroke survivors. In this project we have used a mix of interviews, focus groups, design workshops and technology tests to come up with a set of design recommendations, which we present as a first step towards universal design recommendations which are inclusive for stroke survivors. Our general recommendations are: make it fun, do not make people fail, empower and encourage. The technology needs to be highly adaptable to different sets of abilities. Safety, but also aesthetics and simplicity is important, but it is pointed out that designs should not be "childish" - this can be felt to be degrading. It is important to be able to see and follow your progress and win small victories often. Consider social applications and activities - being able to connect to others in the same situation can enable discussions and provide peer support. More stroke consequence specific recommendations are to design to allow one-sided use (hemiplegia), avoid sensory and activity overload (fatigue), complement speech with images (aphasia), limit demand on memory, support learning and avoid errors (memory problems), and include multiple modalities in your design (reduced vision or hearing).

This paper presents a new platform to monitor stroke patients activities during their everyday life at home. This platform is intended to be a part of a smart objects ecosystem for home monitoring using common objects embedding sensors. The monitoring is performed with a self-contained smart cup that can be used to drink at different times of the day. The smart cup embeds various sensors in order to detect its movements and the liquid level. Activity analysis is performed on the collected data in order to provide information to the therapists on the patient's sedentariness and independence on the daily life tasks (sitting, walking, drinking and going up and down the stairs). This paper presents the design concept of the smart cup along with the implementation and mainly focuses on the activity analysis process. We used a linear classifier: the Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifier. Indeed, the classification of stroke patient's activities is a binary classification. Moreover, as we decided to use DCT features, SVM is the classifier that gives better classification performances. The results show a recognition precision above 92% on all activities with the smart cup. A comparative study has been carried out in order to assess the performances of the linear SVM classifier and a non-linear Multi-Layered Perceptron (MLP) classifier. The result of this study shows that the linear SVM classifier offers better performances on classifying everyday life activities with a smart cup.

This paper presents a platform prototype to monitor alcohol consumption for festival's attendees. The platform also aims to raise awareness about alcohol consumption in order to help people control or even reduce their alcohol consumption. The platform consists of a self-contained smart cup which the attendee uses during the day. This platform allows to easily follow the user's alcohol intake based on a model in order to display alerts if necessary. The smart cup embeds sensors to detect the liquid level and its movements. In addition, activity recognition is performed from the collected data in order to recognize when the user drinks and enhance the alcohol intake assessment. The smart cup also embeds LEDs visual displays that provides information about the alcohol intake estimation. This paper presents the design concept of the smart cup along with the technical implementation. Then, the data processing and analysis is presented for the alcohol intake estimation method using activity recognition with a Support Vector Machine classifier. An experiment have also been carried out and shows a good level of recognition above 90% for the “drinking” activity. Next, the feedback identification for the alcohol intake estimation is detailed in the last section. Finally, perspectives for the detection of abnormal behavior based on the alcohol intake assessment and the movements of the cup are introduced.

Les nouvelles technologies sont de plus en plus utilisees pour repondre aux besoins specifiques des individus avec trouble du spectre de l’autisme (TSA). Les interfaces homme-machine explorant le sens du toucher apparaissent comme un canal d’interaction potentiellement interessant pour les personnes avec TSA. Notre but est d’etablir une revue systematique de l’existant concernant les interfaces tactiles et haptiques dediees au TSA. Nous mettons l’accent sur les approches de developpement et les etudes utilisateurs effectuees. Les resultats montrent qu’il existe une grande variete de technologies et d’interfaces destinees aux individus avec TSA. Les interfaces tactiles ou haptiques viennent en complement d’autres modalites d’interaction homme-machine dans le developpement de robots, de manettes de jeu, d’objets tangibles interactifs, de tablettes ou encore d’environnements virtuels. Toutefois, les etudes utilisateurs, lorsqu’elles existent, n’atteignent pas a l’heure actuelle un niveau de qualite methodologique suffisant pour permettre d’etayer leur validite pour l’aide aux personnes avec TSA. Les modalites tactiles et haptiques meriteraient d’etre davantage investiguees dans les recherches sur les interfaces homme-machine pour l’autisme.

Conference of 2017 Zooming Innovation in Consumer Electronics International Conference, ZINC 2017 ; Conference Date: 31 May 2017 Through 1 June 2017; Conference Code:129086; International audience; We present a study on the influence of the applied force on tactile perception thresholds, during exploration of tactile textures generated with electrovibration. Combined with screen-integrated force detection this could lead to more realistic texture feedback on touch screens while exploring a virtual surface. From a first user study, three force levels corresponding to the light (0.2 N-1.5 N), medium (1.5 N-3.0 N), and high force (3.0 N-7.0 N) categories were deduced. In a second study, the users were asked to apply these force levels while following a line on the screen. We determined the perception thresholds of 10 participants for specific electrovibration stimuli (100 Hz, 160 Hz, 240 Hz, 360 Hz, and 540 Hz sine signals) using a staircase method. No force effect on the perception threshold has been measured for 100 Hz and 160 Hz, while it decreased with increasing applied force at 240 Hz, 360 Hz, and 540 Hz.

Dans ce papier, nous presentons une plateforme de suivi d'activite continu et de guidage des patients post-AVC a domicile durant leurs activites de la vie quotidienne. La plateforme consiste en un verre intelligent qui embarque des capteurs afin de suivre l'activite du bras et de la main lors de la journee. Le verre detecte son orientation, le niveau d'eau, sa position par rapport a une cible specifique ainsi que les tremblements. De plus, un affichage permet de guider le patient dans ses mouvements. Nous presentons egalement deux etudes cliniques prevues avec les therapeutes et les patients.

This paper presents a new ecosystem of smart objects designed to monitor motor functions of stroke patients during rehabilitation sessions at the hospital. The ecosystem has been designed starting from an observational study as well as the Action Research Arm Test. It includes a jack and a cube for hand grasping monitoring and a smart watch for the arm dynamic monitoring. The objects embed various sensors able to monitor the pressure of the fingers, the position of the fingers, their orientation, their movements and the tremors of the patient during the manipulation tasks. The developed objects can connect, via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi technology, to an Android mobile application in order to send collected data during the execution of the manipulation task. Performances achieved during the sessions will be displayed on the tablet. Using the collected data, the therapists could assess the upper arm motor abilities of the patient by accessing qualitative information that is usually evaluated by visual estimations or not reported and adapt the rehabilitation program if necessary. The objects, as well as the visualization interfaces, have been evaluated with health care professionals in terms of design and functionalities. The results from this evaluation show that the objects׳ design is adapted to bring useful information on the patient׳s motor activities, while the visualization interfaces are useful, but require new functionalities. Finally, a preliminary study has been carried out with stroke patients in order to assess the usability and acceptability of such an ecosystem during rehabilitation sessions. This study indicated that the patients are willing to use the ecosystem during the sessions thanks to its easy usage.

Introduction Older pedestrians are overrepresented in fatal accidents. Studies consistently show gap-acceptance difficulties, especially in complex traffic situations such as two-way streets and when vehicles approached rapidly. In this context, the present research was aimed at assessing the effectiveness of a vibrotactile device and study older pedestrian’s behavior when wearing the wristband designed to help them make safer street-crossing decisions. Method Twenty younger-old participants (age 60–69), 20 older-old participants (age 70–80) and 17 younger adults (age 20–45) carried out a street-crossing task in a simulated two-way traffic environment with and without a vibrotactile wristband delivering warning messages. Results The percentage of decisions that led to collisions with approaching cars decreased significantly when participants wore the wristband. Benefits tended to be greater particularly among very old women, with fewer collisions in the far lane and when vehicles approached rapidly when they wore the wristband. But collisions did not fall to zero, and responses that were in accordance with the wristband advice went up to only 51.6% on average, for all participants. The wristband was nevertheless considered useful and easy to use by all participants. Moreover, behavioral intentions to buy and use such a device in the future were greater in both groups of older participants, but not among the younger adults. Practical applications This haptic device was able to partly compensate for some age-related gap-acceptance difficulties and reduce street-crossing risks for all users. These findings could be fruitfully applied to the design of devices allowing communication between vehicles, infrastructures, and pedestrians.

Conference of 18th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility, ASSETS 2016 ; Conference Date: 24 October 2016 Through 26 October 2016; Conference Code:124437; International audience; In this work, we present a platform for continuously monitor and guide stroke patient at home during Activities of the Daily Living. The platform consists of a smart cup which embeds sensors that monitor the patient's hand and arm motor activity at different times of the day. The cup detects its orientation, the liquid level, its position on a specific target, as well as tremors. Moreover, displays are provided to guide the patient's movement. Finally, the planned studies with both the therapists and patients are presented.

Conference of 8th ACM SIGCHI Symposium on Engineering Interactive Computing Systems, EICS 2016 ; Conference Date: 21 June 2016 Through 24 June 2016; Conference Code:122402; International audience; This paper presents a solution to monitor and guide stroke patients during Activities of the Daily Living. It consists of a self-content smart glass that the patient can use to drink at different times of the day (water, coffee, etc.). The smart glass embeds a series of sensors that track in a transparent way the patients activity in everyday life (glass orientation, liquid level, target reaching and tremors). This solution allows therapists to monitor and analyze easily the Activities of the Daily Living of the patient in order to adapt the weekly rehabilitation sessions with suitable exercises. In addition, the smart glass embeds visual displays aimed at providing gestural guidance information when the patient do not use properly the glass. The paper presents the first prototype of the smart glass by highlighting the methodology adopted to design the software and hardware components of the platform.

The paper presents an ergonomic analysis carried out in the early phases of an RD project. The purpose was to investigate the functioning of today's Automotive Service Technicians (ASTs) training in order to inform the design of an Augmented Reality (AR) teaching aid. The first part of the paper presents a literature review of some major problems encountered by ASTs today. The benefits of AR as technological aid are also introduced. Then, the methodology and the results of two case studies are presented. The first study is based on interviews with trainers and trainees; the second one on observations in real training settings. The results support the assumption that today's ASTs' training could be regarded as a community-of-practice (CoP). Therefore, AR could be useful as a collaboration tool, offering a shared virtual representation of real vehicle's parts, which are normally invisible unless dismantled (e.g. the parts of a hydraulic automatic transmission). We conclude on the methods and the technologies to support the automotive CoP.

International audience; The paper presents a number of user involvement methods which can be used in the design of Augmented Reality (AR) systems for engineering education. One of the characteristics of these technologies is that future users do not always have a thorough knowledge of AR and its applications in engineering education. Furthermore, the technology is in search of applications, and there are few existing HCI guidelines for AR interfaces. In this sense, the design and usability evaluation of these systems are real challenges. We present methods which are suitable in this context (e.g. scenarios, field studies, activity analysis, and formative evaluations of prototypes). We also discuss their advantages and limitations when designing AR systems for engineering education from a user-centred perspective.

Il est couramment affirme que la Realite Augmentee (RA) ouvre de nouvelles perspectives pour la formation. Aujourd’hui, on constate que peu de donnees objectives viennent etayer les hypotheses concernant l’efficacite et l’utilisabilite de cette technologie. Cet article presente une revue de certains resultats empiriques actuels sur l’ergonomie de la RA pour l’apprentissage. Les conclusions sur l’efficacite de la technologie pour la formation ne sont pas tranchees. Actuellement, la RA se revele efficace pour la presentation d’un feed-back sur l’avancement d’une tâche, realisee en parallele avec d’autres tâches, ou pour l’assistance au rappel. Nous avancons l’idee que le nombre limite de resultats empiriques concluants est en partie du a l’absence d’une approche centree sur l’utilisateur et l’apprentissage tout au long du processus de conception et d’evaluation des systemes de RA. En conclusion, nous soulignons l’importance d’une telle orientation.

14th European Congress of Psychology. Linking technology and psychology: feeding the mind, energy for life, Milan, Italie, 07-/07/2015 - 10/07/2015; Old pedestrians are overrepresented in fatal accidents. Many studies have consistently shown slower decision making, wrong time estimation, slower walking speed and navigation difficulties that lead to dangerous pedestrian behaviors and/or travel reduction with aging. In this context, the present study aims at developing and assessing the efficiency of a vibrotactile navigation assistance to support old pedestrians to cross the street and get around safely. To this end, 40 old participants aged between 70 and 80 and 20 young adults take part in two simulated pedestrian tasks. The first one is a street crossing task where participants actually cross a two-way experimental road in a virtual environment. The second one is a navigation task where participants have to go from point A to point B in a virtual city. Each task is performed with and without a vibrotactile wristband delivering alert messages (street crossing) and directional messages (navigation). Data are currently being collected. We hypothesize that both young and old pedestrians will benefit from the vibrotactile aid system, with fewer dangerous street crossing decisions and more efficient navigation patterns. We expect a stronger effect in the old participants' group. If such a vibrotactile device offsets difficulties related to cognitive and perceptual decline in old pedestrians, it can contribute to maintaining their travel autonomy and reduce the risk of fatal accidents.

2015 IEEE World Haptics Conference (WHC), Evanston, ETATS-UNIS, 22-/06/2015 - 26/06/2015; Haptic technologies can open up new avenues for assisting older people in their daily activities, in particular in navigation and orientation tasks. A number of haptic wearables have already proven their usefulness for younger individuals. However, older adults' specific needs for a haptic navigation aid have seldom been investigated. The same is valid for the design of haptic patterns that would be both acceptable and efficient for the elderly. This paper is a contribution in this direction. It is focused on the design of a set of haptic patterns for and by the elderly. It presents the user evaluation that was conducted to assess the recognition rate of these patterns during a navigation task in an urban environment. Fourteen elderly participants took part in the study. The results showed that repetitions of a sequence within a pattern were not crucial for their discrimination and recall. On the contrary, they can cause memorization difficulties and confusion. We discuss these results and propose a number of recommendations for the design of haptic patterns adapted to the older adults' needs.

This exploratory study was carried out in the early phases of an R & D project for the implementation of an augmented reality-based (AR-based) job aid for automotive service technicians (ASTs). Prior to the study, key stakeholder groups had little clarity on the actual goal of the future system. Strong emphasis was placed on providing technicians with step-by-step guidance during repairs to new models of vehicles. AR was also assumed to be useful as a visualization aid for inaccessible vehicle parts. An ergonomic study was proposed to help clarify the high-level end users’ requirements. The study, on 11 mechanics, was done using the critical incident technique. The incidents were collected through interviews. The results showed that the major difficulty in ASTs’ activity was diagnosing electronic components on new models of vehicles. Other critical factors appeared in technicians’ verbal reports, e.g., physical and organisational difficulties. The visualization of inaccessible vehicle parts, which was stakeholders’ primary concern, only seemed problematic in one case. On the basis of these results, we discuss the applicability of AR to ASTs’ work as well as a few perspectives of the study. Relevance to industry There exist a number of job aids for ASTs, each of which has its advantages and disadvantages. This paper focuses on the advantages of AR to assist ASTs’ activity. We also report an empirical study on ASTs’ major difficulties with new models of vehicles.