An assessment of the effects of navigation maps on drivers' mental workloads.

This study compares the mental workloads and subjective feelings of drivers navigating different road patterns using different formats of electronic and paper maps. The results show drivers experience lower mental workloads when using 2D electronic maps compared to 3D electronic maps. Significant differences in galvanic skin responses were observed for navigation map formats with different road intersection patterns. The low- and high-frequency components of heart rate variability showed significant differences between map formats for regular road intersections, but no significant differences between map formats for irregular road intersections. Statistically significant effects on subjective feelings were found between different map formats and road intersection patterns. The wider implications of the study results for the design and use of navigation map interfaces are discussed.

Designing attractive gamification features for collaborative storytelling websites.

Gamification design is considered as the predictor of collaborative storytelling websites' success. Although aforementioned studies have mentioned a broad range of factors that may influence gamification, they neither depicted the actual design features nor relative attractiveness among them. This study aims to identify attractive gamification features for collaborative storytelling websites. We first constructed a hierarchical system structure of gamification design of collaborative storytelling websites and conducted a focus group interview with eighteen frequent users to identify 35gamification features. After that, this study determined the relative attractiveness of these gamification features by administrating an online survey to 6333 collaborative storytelling websites users. The results indicated that the top 10 most attractive gamification features could account for more than 50% of attractiveness among these 35 gamification features. The feature of unpredictable time pressure is important to website users, yet not revealed in previous relevant studies. Implications of the findings were discussed.

The effects of different navigation maps on driving performance.

This study evaluated the driving performance of drivers presented with 2D and 3D electronic navigation maps and a traditional paper map with various route structures. A heads-up display was used to show the different driving conditions for each navigation map system. Results revealed that the drivers using an electronic navigation map performed better compared to the drivers using a paper map. The results also indicated that drivers who used 2D-regular pattern or 2D-irregular corner maps performed more efficiently than the drivers who used a 3D-regular pattern or 3D-irregular corner maps in reaching their destinations. In addition, drivers can save time and fuel by using 2D navigation maps in unfamiliar regions.

Safety management in a relationship-oriented culture.

A relationship-oriented culture predominates in the Greater China region, where it is more important than in Western countries. Some characteristics of this culture influence strongly the organizational structure and interactions among members in an organization. This study aimed to explore the possible influence of relationships on safety management in relationship-oriented cultures. We hypothesized that organizational factors (management involvement and harmonious relationships) within a relationship-oriented culture would influence supervisory work (ongoing monitoring and task instructions), the reporting system (selective reporting), and teamwork (team communication and co-ordination) in safety management at a group level, which would in turn influence individual reliance complacency, risk awareness, and practices. We distributed a safety climate questionnaire to the employees of Taiwanese high-risk industries. The results of structural equation modeling supported the hypothesis. This article also discusses the findings and implications for safety improvement in countries with a relationship-oriented culture.

A study of Fitts' law on goal-directed aiming task with moving targets.

Most research based on Fitts' law define a log-linear relationship between temporal and spatial accuracy in goal-directed aiming tasks using stationary targets. Whether this relationship holds or not when the targets have varying velocities, and how the behavioral strategies and physical activities may change accordingly are of interest. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between temporal and spatial accuracy in goal-directed aiming tasks with moving targets. Participants were asked to aim at two target widths using a joystick. Results demonstrated that in a goal-directed aiming task there was a negative effect on performance when target velocity was increased or target width was decreased. Participants moved faster and then made more systematic errors in a high-velocity target condition. Results may be applicable to the complex perceptual-motor behavior of people who perform tasks using computers.

Assessing effectiveness of various auditory warning signals in maintaining drivers' attention in virtual reality-based driving environments.

Drivers' fatigue contributes to traffic accidents, so drivers must maintain adequate alertness. The effectiveness of audio alarms in maintaining driving performance and characteristics of alarms was studied in a virtural reality-based driving environment. Response time to the car's drifting was measured under seven conditions: with no warnings and with continuous warning tones (500 Hz, 1750 Hz, and 3000 Hz), and with tone bursts at 500 Hz, 1750 Hz, and 3000 Hz. Analyses showed the audio warning signals significantly improved driving. Further, the tones' spectral characteristics significantly influenced the effectiveness of the warning.

Development of wireless brain computer interface with embedded multitask scheduling and its application on real-time driver's drowsiness detection and warning.

Biomedical signal monitoring systems have been rapidly advanced with electronic and information technologies in recent years. However, most of the existing physiological signal monitoring systems can only record the signals without the capability of automatic analysis. In this paper, we proposed a novel brain-computer interface (BCI) system that can acquire and analyze electroencephalogram (EEG) signals in real-time to monitor human physiological as well as cognitive states, and, in turn, provide warning signals to the users when needed. The BCI system consists of a four-channel biosignal acquisition/amplification module, a wireless transmission module, a dual-core signal processing unit, and a host system for display and storage. The embedded dual-core processing system with multitask scheduling capability was proposed to acquire and process the input EEG signals in real time. In addition, the wireless transmission module, which eliminates the inconvenience of wiring, can be switched between radio frequency (RF) and Bluetooth according to the transmission distance. Finally, the real-time EEG-based drowsiness monitoring and warning algorithms were implemented and integrated into the system to close the loop of the BCI system. The practical online testing demonstrates the feasibility of using the proposed system with the ability of real-time processing, automatic analysis, and online warning feedback in real-world operation and living environments.

A cross-cultural study of organizational factors on safety: Japanese vs. Taiwanese oil refinery plants.

This study attempts to identify idiosyncrasies of organizational factors on safety and their influence mechanisms in Taiwan and Japan. Data were collected from employees of Taiwanese and Japanese oil refinery plants. Results show that organizational factors on safety differ in the two countries. Organizational characteristics in Taiwanese plants are highlighted as: higher level of management commitment to safety, harmonious interpersonal relationship, more emphasis on safety activities, higher devotion to supervision, and higher safety self-efficacy, as well as high quality of safety performance. Organizational characteristics in Japanese plants are highlighted as: higher level of employee empowerment and attitude towards continuous improvement, more emphasis on systematic safety management approach, efficient reporting system and teamwork, and high quality of safety performance. The casual relationships between organizational factors and workers' safety performance were investigated using structural equation modeling (SEM). Results indicate that the influence mechanisms of organizational factors in Taiwan and Japan are different. These findings provide insights into areas of safety improvement in emerging countries and developed countries respectively.

Exploring design features for enhancing players' challenge in strategy games.

This paper examines how to make a player feel more challenged in a strategic computer game. It is hypothesized that information availability and resource advantage affect play difficulty, which in turn affects the challenge experienced. The difficulty of play can be defined in terms of the mental workload that players experience and the physical effort that players exert. Forty-five male college and graduate students participated in a 3 x 3 (information availability x resource advantage) between-subjects factorial design experiment. This experiment measured player mental workload, physical effort, and challenge. The results indicate that information availability affects player mental workload, and resource advantage affects levels of player physical effort, respectively. Moreover, the relationship between mental workload and challenge was found to be an inverted U-shaped curve; in other words, too much or too little mental workload may decrease player challenge. The relationship between physical effort and challenge exhibited similar characteristics.

Factors influencing player preferences for heroic roles in role-playing games.

Two studies were conducted to investigate whether player personality or social cognition influence preferences for heroic roles in role-playing games (RPG). In Study 1, 149 teenager subjects were categorized into five groups according to the Guilford Personality Inventory. Heroes were clustered into three types based on their attributes. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) results indicated that each personality group did not display distinctive preference for any particular heroic type. However, of the three heroic types teenagers most strongly preferred, Justice Warrior was followed, in order of preference, by Visionary Leader and Saint. In Study 2, the influence of three player social cognition factors (similarity, proximity, and familiarity) on player preference for heroic roles was studied. Multiple regression analysis results indicated that similarity and familiarity predicted player preferences for heroic roles.

Designing action games for appealing to buyers.

This study aims to identify design features for action games that would appeal to game-buyers, rather than game-players. Sixteen frequent-buyers of computer games identified 39 design features that appeal to buyers by contrasting different versions of Pacman games. Twenty-eight versions of Pacman were then evaluated in terms of the identified design features by 45 participants (27 male and 18 female college students). Qnet2000 neural network software was used to determine the relative importance of these design features. The results indicated that the top 10 most important design features could account for more than 50% of "perceived fun" among these 39 design features. The feature of avatar is important to game-buyers, yet not revealed in previous player-oriented studies. Moreover, six design factors underlying the 39 features were identified through factor analysis. These factors included "novelty and powerfulness," "appealing presentation," "interactivity," "challenging," "sense of control," and "rewarding," and could account for 54% of total variance. Among these six factors, appealing presentation has not been emphasized by player-oriented research. Implications of the findings were discussed.

The effects of cyclic stretching on tensile properties of the rabbit's skeletal muscle.

OBJECTIVE: To define the threshold of muscle injury with cyclic passive stretch. DESIGN: The changes in the load-deformation curve of muscle-tendon unit were monitored until the failure point by an in vivo rabbit model. BACKGROUND: Muscle injuries range in severity from a simple strain to complete rupture. Although strains occur more frequently than complete failures, only a few studies have investigated the phenomena of these sub-failure injuries. Monitoring of the continuum for stretch-induced injury allows us to define the threshold of stretch injury. METHODS: Thirty rabbits' triceps surae muscle-tendon unit preparations were used. One of the pairs (control) was stretched until failure; the other (experimental) was first cyclic stretched to either 12, 20 or 25% of the initial length of the muscle-tendon unit and then stretched to failure. Comparisons were made between the load-deformation curves of the experimental and control specimens. RESULTS: When cyclic stretched to 12 or 20%, there were no significant changes existed in the biomechanical parameters except the deformation at the peak load. In contrast, all the biomechanical parameters except the ration of the energy absorption changed significantly after 25% strain cyclic stretch. CONCLUSIONS: A threshold for stretch-induced injury does exist. This can be reproduced at the 25% strain of the triceps surae muscle-tendon unit.

Morphological changes of the triceps surae muscle-tendon unit during passive extension: an in vivo rabbit model.

OBJECTIVE: To elucidate the morphological and biomechanical manifestation of the triceps surae muscle-tendon unit during passive extension. DESIGN: The instantaneous changes within the load-deformation curve of muscle-tendon unit were analyzed by an in vivo rabbit model. BACKGROUND: Although muscle strains occur more frequently than complete failures, the failure mechanism of these sub-failure injuries is rarely investigated. Monitoring of the instantaneous changes in the load-deformation curve allows correlation with the morphological changes that occur during passive extension. METHODS: After anesthesia, the triceps surae muscle of rabbit was dissected and then stretched to failure by a MTS Bionix 858 machine. The morphological changes in failure patterns were recorded by photographs. RESULTS: The morphological and biomechanical manifestations of the triceps surae muscle-tendon unit was divided into five different portions: first, the viscoelastic portion with minimal morphologic change; second, the portion of micro-failure with local ecchymosis; third and fourth, the portions of macrofailure with sequential rupture of the muscle fibers; and fifth, the portion of rupture and separation of muscle parenchyma. CONCLUSIONS: A threshold for stretch-induced injury does exist. The threshold of the initiation of micro-failure in this model was 16.5% of the strain, which corresponded to 16.6% of the maximal sustainable force. RELEVANCE: Elucidation of the existence of micro-failure in skeletal muscle gives a good reference point to determine the functional capabilities and limitation of muscular tissue. With this, the deleterious effect of muscle stretching can be avoided by limiting muscle stretching to below this limit.