ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To establish the reference range for assessment items of the 'Simple Driving Simulator' (SiDS) in a normative population and to compare performance of age-matched young adults with a traumatic brain injury (TBI) to this reference data. METHODS AND PROCEDURES: Normative ranges were calculated from the data of 445 participants in the control group. Three performance ranges were established: 'normal', 'borderline' and 'impaired' defined using standard deviation cutoff values in the control group. The performance of 28 patients with a TBI, aged 18-35 years, was evaluated. The performance score for the TBI group in the 'impaired range' was calculated for each test item and used to make a synthetic judgment regarding the clinical value of the SiDS. MAIN OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: In the control group, only 0.6% of the participants exhibited a performance in the impaired range on >2 items, compared to 33.2% for the TBI group. CONCLUSIONS: We provide evidence that impaired performance on ≤2 items of the SiDS provides a sensitive criterion of 'driving fitness' in young adults after a TBI.
Subject(s)
Attention/physiology , Automobile Driving , Brain Injuries, Traumatic/diagnosis , Brain Injuries, Traumatic/physiopathology , Computer Simulation , Psychomotor Performance/physiology , Adolescent , Adult , Case-Control Studies , Cognition , Female , Humans , Judgment , Male , Reaction Time/physiology , Reference Values , Young AdultABSTRACT
This study was designed to examine differences in reaction times of drivers of various age groups and to assess the influence of mental workload on reaction times. Experiments were performed on a simulated street and under other conditions to identify drivers with long reaction times and drivers whose reaction times are affected strongly by mental workloads while driving on a public road. Reaction times after hearing a buzzer were measured under five conditions: (1) sitting in a stationary vehicle, (2) executing mental calculations in a stationary vehicle, (3) driving on a simulated street, (4) executing mental calculations while driving on a simulated street, and (5) driving on a public road. Subjects were 10 drivers each of three age groups. Each experiment was performed by these subjects under the five conditions. Results showed that mental calculations increased the average reaction time for each age group. Mental calculations increased differences among age groups and individuals, and increased differences in respective drivers' individual performance. Mental calculations influenced elderly drivers' reaction times remarkably. Results also demonstrated that an experiment on a simulated street identified drivers who showed long reaction times on a public road.
Subject(s)
Attention/physiology , Automobile Driving/psychology , Automobiles , Cognition/physiology , Reaction Time , Workload , Adult , Age Factors , Data Collection , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Time FactorsABSTRACT
Recently, surgical operations have sometimes been tried under laparoscopic video images using teleoperation robots or forceps manipulators. Therefore, in this paper, forceps manipulation efficiencies were evaluated when images for manipulation had some transmission delay (Experiment 1), and when the convergence point of the stereoscopic video cameras was either fixed and variable (Experiment 2). The operators' tasks in these experiments were sewing tasks which simulated telesurgery under 3-dimensional scenography. As a result of experiment 1, the operation at a 200+/-100 ms delay was kept at almost the same accuracy as that without delay. As a result of experiment 2, work accuracy was improved by using the zooming lens function; however the working time became longer. These results seemed to show the relation of a trade-off between working time and working accuracy.
Subject(s)
Clinical Competence , Surgical Instruments , Video-Assisted Surgery , Humans , Japan , Robotics , Surgical Procedures, OperativeABSTRACT
Augmented reality (AR) is anticipated for use in medical practice. However, virtual objects cannot be overlaid exactly on real objects using theoretical data. Therefore, this study is intended to determine the correction method to overlay a virtual object with real object accurately. Experimental results confirmed that differences of perceived depth position between real and virtual objects can be made negligible (within 1 mm on average) by correcting sizes of virtual objects such that they can be seen identically to the real object.
Subject(s)
Tomography, X-Ray Computed , User-Computer Interface , Computer Graphics , Humans , Japan , MaleABSTRACT
The relationship between the amount of rotation of the eyeball and the amount of rotation of the line of sight was investigated. The planar model and ellipsoidal model were compared as the trajectory of the center of the pupil. An evaluation of precision was carried out by measuring the discrepancy between the direction of the target and the estimated direction of the line of sight. The experimental results showed that the planar model was more precise than the ellipsoidal model. The center of rotation of the eyeball seems to translate along the oblique rotation of the eyeball.
