Thesis (M.S.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Department of Systems Science and Industrial Engineering, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves: 150-155).

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2003. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study aims to investigate a work environment into which a new workflow system, that automates the work process, has recently been introduced. The study will focus on the level of work morale displayed by the people active in this new environment, as well as their perception of their work. The study takes the form of a case study carried out in the Nedcor Home Loans Application Processing Centre. This centre is the central area in which all home loan applications for the entire Gauteng, North West, Orange Free State, Mpumalanga and Limpopo regions are collated and processed. The applications from these regions translate into a total of between 9 and 13 thousand applications each month. The home loan application process is the most complex of the banking application processes as it involves a number of interfaces with external parties and systems. The workflow system was introduced in order to simplify, co-ordinate and accelerate this process. The study was conducted using D. A. De Vaus's Surveys in Social Research, Fourth Edition, a methodology for surveys in social research, as a guideline. A structured questionnaire was constructed in order to collect data regarding the opinions and behaviour of the sample members. A pilot study was conducted with 10 of the sample members in order to test and refine the survey instrument. Following this, the updated survey instrument was distributed to the sample group. The population of the case study environment consisted of less than 100 people all situated in one location. For this reason the entire survey population was selected as the sample population. The data collected described the sample members' attitudes towards work, their relationships with their colleagues, as well as their perceptions of their opportunities for personal growth, as a measure of their level of work morale. Information describing the employees perceived type of work was also collected. This was done by accumulating information regarding the level of thinking, responsibility and monotony that characterised their work, as well as the proportion of time that staff members spent interacting directly with the system. After the survey implementation, the data was collated and analysed. The reliability of the data was tested using Cronbach's alpha. Data that originated from concepts with Cronbach's alpha scores of below 0,6 were deemed to be unreliable and were removed from the dataset. A correlation analysis, using Spearman's rank correlation, was conducted on the remaining data. This analysis was aimed at establishing whether any correlations between the type of work carried out by an employee and his or her associated level of work morale exist. It was established that the level of work morale that characterised the case study environment was relatively low, as will be discussed in detail in Chapter 5. Furthermore, it was ascertained that the introduction of the system had a significant influence on the nature of the work carried out by the staff in the case study environment, and that a strong correlation existed between the type of work carried out by an employee and his or her associated level of work morale. From this it was concluded that the introduction of the system influenced the level of work morale found to characterise the case study environment. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die doelwit van hierdie studie is om 'n werksomgewing te evalueer waar 'n nuwe werkvloeistelsel, wat prosesse outomatiseer, onlangs geimplementeer is. Die studie fokus op die vlak van werk moraal wat vertoon word deur mense in hierdie nuwe omgewing, sowel as hulle persepsie van hul werk. Die studie neem die vorm aan van 'n gevallestudie wat uitgevoer is in die Nedcor Huislening Applikasie Sentrum. Hierdie sentrum is die sentrale plek waar alle huislening applikasies vir die Gauteng, Noordwes, Vrystaat, Mpumalanga en Limpopo gebiede versamel en verwerk word. Die hoeveelheid applikasies in hierdie gebiede is tussen 9 000 en 13 000 per maand. Die huislening applikasie proses is die mees komplekse proses van alle bank applikasie prosesse, aangesien dit 'n aantal integrasies met eksterne partye en stelsels vereis. Die werkvloeistelsel is geimplementeer om hierdie prosesse te vereenvoudig, te koordineer en te versnel. Die studie is uitgevoer deur D.A. De Vaus se "Surveys in Social Research, Fourth Edition, a methodology for surveys in social research" as 'n verwysingsraamwerk te gebruik. 'n Gestruktureerde vraelys is saamgestel om data te versamel oor die menings en gedrag van die lede in die toetsgroep. 'n Proefstudie is uitgevoer met 10 lede van die toetsgroep om die opname-instrument te toets en te verfyn. Daarna is die opgedateerde opname instrument onder die toetsgroep versprei. Die bevolking van die gevallestudie bestaan uit minder as 100 mense wat almal in dieselfde lokasie geplaas is. Om hierdie rede is die totale bevolking gekies as die toetsgroep. Die data wat versamel is het die lede van die toetsgroep se houdings teenoor hulle werk, hulle verhoudings met hulle kollegas, sowel as hulle persepsie van geleenthede vir persoonlike groei, beskryf. Die data is gebruik as 'n aanduiding van hul vlak van werk moraal. Data wat die werknemers se persepsie van hulle tipe werk weerspieel, is ook versamel. Data oor die denkvlak, verantwoordelikheid en eentonigheid van hulle werk, sowel as die hoeveelheid tyd wat personeellede spandeer het op direkte interaksie met die stelsel. Na die implementering van die opname, is die data versamel en geanaliseer. Die betroubaarheid van die data is getoets deur Cronbach se alpha toets toe te pas. Data, waar die indikator se Cronbach alpha telling minder was as 0.6, is geag as onbetroubaar en is verwyder van die datastel. 'n Korrelasie-analise is uitgevoer op die oorblywende data, deur gebruik te maak van Spearman se korrelasie mode. Die analise is daarop gefokus om te bepaal of daar enige ooreenstemming is tussen 'n werknemer se tipe werk en sy of haar verwante vlak van werkmoraal. Daar is gevind dat die vlak van werkmoraal wat hierdie studie kenmerk, relatief laag is. Dit sal verder bestudeer work in hoofstuk 5. Daar is ook bevind dat die instelling van die stelsel 'n beduidende invloed het op die werk wat uitgevoer word deur die betrokke personeel in die gevallestudie-omgewing. Daar is 'n sterk korrelasie tussen die tipe werk en die vlak van werk moraal van werknemers. Die gevolgtrekking is dus dat die instelling van die stelsel die vlak van werkmoraal beinvloed het in hierdie gevallestudie.

Les développements récents de la réalité virtuelle font du travail collaboratif assisté par ordinateur un outil prometteur et flexible. Il est en effet aujourd’hui possible, de représenter les données ainsi que les utilisateurs eux-mêmes de manière vivante dans les environnements virtuels collaboratifs (EVC). Les EVC se définissent comme des mondes virtuels distribués, générés par ordinateur, dans lesquels les utilisateurs peuvent se rencontrer, communiquer et interagir entre eux, mais aussi avec des données et des objets 3D. Les utilisateurs peuvent être éloignés physiquement, parler des langues différentes et utiliser des systèmes informatiques hétérogènes tout en collaborant malgré tout au sein d’un EVC. L’objectif principal des EVC est de proposer une collaboration fluide entre plusieurs utilisateurs. Ceci implique de prendre en charge un nombre considérable d’échanges, de communications et de négociations mais également de permettre des activités collaboratives. Par ailleurs, il est nécessaire de proposer des techniques d’interaction ainsi que des moyens pour bien prendre conscience de tout ce qui se passe dans l’environnement. Afin de préserver ces différents aspects dans la conception des EVC, nous nous intéressons à quatre facteurs essentiels : l’immersion, la conscience, la communication et l’intuitivité. Ces facteurs sont déterminants pour le succès des systèmes virtuels collaboratifs. En tenant compte des quatre facteurs cités cidessus, nous proposons et évaluons de nouvelles métaphores pour la navigation et la manipulation afin d’améliorer et d’enrichir les techniques d’interactions dans les EVC. Premièrement, nous proposons et évaluons un ensemble de trois métaphores de navigation pour explorer un environnement à plusieurs : indiquer un chemin en dessinant des flèches, illuminer un chemin à suivre et orienter une boussole pour montrer une direction. Ces métaphores peuvent être implémentées dynamiquement et utilisées directement dans n’importe quels environnements. Nos résultats révèlent que ces métaphores de navigation réduisent considérablement le temps passé à chercher un chemin dans des contextes d’exploration collaborative. Par ailleurs, nous avons développé une technique de manipulation directe dédiée aux environnements virtuels immersifs. Cette technique, qui utilise sept points de contrôle, affranchit l’utilisateur de plusieurs difficultés souvent rencontrées telles que le tremblement de la main ou l’effet Heisenberg lors de la manipulation d’objets 3D dans un système de projection immersive. En réduisant le nombre de degrés de liberté de l’objet manipulé à l’aide de point de contrôle, notre technique permet à l’utilisateur de contrôler partiellement l’objet, rendant ainsi la manipulation d’objets volumineux plus aisée. Enfin, nous avons implémenté et évalué deux métaphores d'interaction dans une application de conception et d'aménagement de poste de travail industriel. En tenant compte des quatre facteurs cités ci-dessus, nous avons implémenté une application de conception de poste de travail pour trois principaux types d'utilisateurs : un utilisateur final, un ingénieur et un expert en ergonomie. Afin d'avoir un niveau d'immersion optimal et des interactions naturelles entre des utilisateurs, nous avons implémenté une configuration de système asymétrique pour chaque utilisateur. Chacun pouvait utiliser quelque métaphores de communication implicites qui étaient simples, naturelles, et pertinentes dans notre contexte collaborative. / Recent progress of the virtual reality technology gives the computer supported collaborative work a potential and flexible tool of vividly representing data as well as users themselves in collaborative virtual environments. Collaborative virtual environments have been defined as computer-based, distributed virtual worlds in which people can meet, communicate and interact with others, with data and 3D objects. People may be geometrically far from each other, speak different languages and use heterogeneous computer systems. The ultimate goal in developing collaborative virtual environments is to support a smooth collaboration between multiple users which involves considerable communication and negotiation, cooperative and collaborative activities, interaction techniques, and awareness process. Considering these aspects into the design of a collaborative virtual environment, we are interested in four main factors, including immersion, awareness, communication and naturalness. These factors greatly determine the success of a collaborative virtual system. From the need of improving and completing interaction techniques in CVEs considering the four preceding factors, in this research we propose and evaluate new metaphors for 3D navigation and manipulation techniques. The first contribution of this research is to propose and evaluate a set of three navigation metaphors in a collaborative exploration context, including drawing directional arrows, lighting up path to follow, and orientating a compass to show a direction. These navigation metaphors can be dynamically implemented and used without constraints in any 3D virtual environments. The empirical result of our experiment revealed that these navigation metaphors considerably reduced wasted time in a wayfinding task of a collaborative exploring scenario. We have developed, in the second part of this research, a direct manipulation technique in immersive virtual environments. This manipulation technique deals with some difficulties the user often encounters such as hand jitter or Heisenberg effects while manipulating 3D objects in immersive projection systems. By dividing the number of degrees of freedom of the manipulated object into each handle of our tool, our technique enables a user to partially control the object, making the manipulation of large objects easier in immersive virtual environments. The last contribution of this research is the implementation and evaluation of two interaction metaphors in a digital mock-up application. Taking into account the four factors including immersion, awareness, communication and naturalness, we have built a workstation design application for three main users: an end-user, a design engineer and an ergonomics expert. In order to have an optimal immersion for the whole application and natural interaction between them, we have implemented an asymmetric system setup at each user's site. Each user could use some implicit communication metaphors which were simple, natural and still relevant in our collaborative context.

ARécemment, les caméras RGB-D ont été introduites sur le marché et ont permis l’exploration de nouvelles approches de reconnaissance d’actions par l’utilisation de deux modalités autres que les images RGB, à savoir, les images de profondeur et les séquences de squelette. Généralement, ces approches ont été évaluées en termes de taux de reconnaissance. Cette thèse s’intéresse principalement à la reconnaissance rapide d’actions à partir de caméras RGB-D. Le travail a été focalisé sur une amélioration conjointe de la rapidité de calcul et du taux de reconnaissance en vue d’une application temps-réel. Dans un premier temps, nous menons une étude comparative des méthodes existantes de reconnaissance d’actions basées sur des caméras RGB-D en utilisant les deux critères énoncés : le taux de reconnaissance et la rapidité de calcul. Suite aux conclusions résultant de cette étude, nous introduisons un nouveau descripteur de mouvement, à la fois précis et rapide, qui se base sur l’interpolation par splines cubiques de valeurs cinématiques du squelette, appelé Kinematic Spline Curves (KSC). De plus, afin de pallier les effets négatifs engendrés par la variabilité anthropométrique, la variation d’orientation et la variation de vitesse, des méthodes de normalisation spatiale et temporelle rapide ont été proposées. Les expérimentations menées sur quatre bases de données prouvent la précision et la rapidité de ce descripteur. Dans un second temps, un deuxième descripteur appelé Hiearchical Kinematic Coavarince(HKC) est introduit. Ce dernier est proposé dans l’optique de résoudre la question de reconnaissance rapide en ligne. Comme ce descripteur n’appartient pas à un espace euclidien, mais à l’espace des matrices Symétriques semi-Définies Positives (SsDP), nous adaptons les méthodes de classification à noyau par l’introduction d’une distance inspirée de la distance Log-Euclidienne, que nous appelons distance Log-Euclidienne modifiée. Cette extension nous permet d’utiliser des classifieurs adaptés à l’espace de caractéristiques (SPsD).Une étude expérimentale montre l’efficacité de cette méthode non seulement en termes de rapidité de calcul et de précision, mais également en termes de latence observationnelle. Ces conclusions prouvent que cette approche jointe à une méthode de segmentation d’actions pourrait s’avérer adaptée à la reconnaissance en ligne et ouvrent ainsi de nouvelles perspectives pour nos travaux futurs. / The recent availability of RGB-D cameras has renewed the interest of researchers in the topic of human action recognition. More precisely, several action recognition methods have been proposed based on the novel modalities provided by these cameras, namely, depth maps and skeleton sequences. These approaches have been mainly evaluated in terms of recognition accuracy. This thesis aims to study the issue of fast action recognition from RGB-D cameras. It focuses on proposing an action recognition method realizing a trade-off between accuracy and latency for the purpose of applying it in real-time scenarios. As a first step, we propose a comparative study of recent RGB-D based action recognition methods using the two cited criteria: accuracy of recognition and rapidity of execution. Then, oriented by the conclusions stated thanks to this comparative study, we introduce a novel, fast and accurate human action descriptor called Kinematic Spline Curves (KSC).This latter is based on the cubic spline interpolation of kinematic values. Moreover, fast spatialand temporal normalization are proposed in order to overcome anthropometric variability, orientation variation and rate variability. The experiments carried out on four different benchmarks show the effectiveness of this approach in terms of execution time and accuracy. As a second step, another descriptor is introduced, called Hierarchical Kinematic Covariance(HKC). This latter is proposed in order to solve the issue of fast online action recognition. Since this descriptor does not belong to a Euclidean space, but is an element of the space of Symmetric Positive semi-definite (SPsD) matrices, we adapt kernel classification methods by the introduction of a novel distance called Modified Log-Euclidean, which is inspiredfrom Log-Euclidean distance. This extension allows us to use suitable classifiers to the feature space SPsD of matrices. The experiments prove the efficiency of our method, not only in terms of rapidity of calculation and accuracy, but also in terms of observational latency. These conclusions show that this approach combined with an action segmentation method could be appropriate to online recognition, and consequently, opens up new prospects for future works.

Error related negativity (ERN) is a pronounced negative evoked response potential (ERP) that follows a known error. This neural pattern has the potential to communicate user awareness of incorrect actions within milliseconds. While the implications for human-machine interface and augmented cognition are exciting, the ERN has historically been evoked only in the laboratory using complex equipment while presenting simple visual stimuli such as letters and symbols. To effectively harness the applied potential of the ERN, detection must be accomplished in complex environments using simple, preferably single-electrode, EEG systems feasible for integration into field and workplace-ready equipment. The present project attempted to use static photographs to evoke and successfully detect the ERN in a complex visual search task: motorcycle conspicuity. Drivers regularly fail to see motorcycles, with tragic results. To reproduce the issue in the lab, static pictures of traffic were presented, either including or not including motorcycles. A standard flanker letter task replicated from a classic ERN study (Gehring et al., 1993) was run alongside, with both studies requiring a binary response. Results showed that the ERN could be clearly detected in both tasks, even when limiting data to a single electrode in the absence of artifact correction. These results support the feasibility of applied ERN detection in complex visual search in static images. Implications and opportunities will be discussed, limitations of the study explained, and future directions explored.

Cette thèse a été initiée dans un contexte d’amélioration de l'expérience utilisateur (UX) pour l'analyse des données de Business Intelligence en raison de l'augmentation du volume de données liées à cette activité. D'une part, les besoins psychologiques des utilisateurs portent sur la simplification de l’utilisation des applications analytiques, ils font l’objet de plus en plus d’attention ; d'autre part, les tâches qu'ils sont prêts à mener deviennent de plus en plus complexes ce qui peut entraîner une surcharge de mémoire qui influe sur les performances dans leur réalisation. Pour garantir la prise en compte de ces deux aspects, les designers doivent concevoir des interfaces et fournir des informations appropriées qui répondent à la fois aux besoins des utilisateurs et aux nécessités de leur activité. Dans cette recherche, nous nous sommes intéressés à l'amélioration de la reprise de la tâche suite à une suspension ou à une interruption de celle-ci dans le cadre de l’analyse visuelle de données. La nature multitâche des actions des utilisateurs et les capacités limitées de stockage de la mémoire de travail humaine entraînent des difficultés à s’engager de nouveau dans une tâche qui a été interrompue ou suspendue. Il devient donc avantageux de disposer d'un outil de suppléance de la mémoire qui aide les utilisateurs à se remettre à leur tâche dans des conditions optimales.Une revue de la littérature nous a conduit tout d'abord au positionnement de notre recherche vis à vis de l'approche énactive et de la perception sensorimotrice qui considèrent l'outil comme un artefact configurant l'interaction entre l'utilisateur et la tâche, selon deux états, saisi ou déposé. De ce point de vue, nous avons constaté que le modèle de mémoire cognitiviste utilisé couramment ne considère pas le rôle de l’interaction avec le monde extérieur dans la construction de la mémoire, et par conséquent ignore la dimension saisie des supports et outils dans la construction d’une mémoire. Par conséquent, nous proposons de compléter ce modèle avec un modèle de mémoire incarnée, qui ouvre une nouvelle perspective permettant de concevoir un outil de suppléance mémorielle approprié. Enfin, les principes de conception d’IHM et d’UX nous aident à construire une proposition d’outil et à mener un plan d'expérience mettant en avant le lien entre les modifications des conditions de perception et les modifications de la dynamique d’interaction. En conclusion de cette partie, la problématique générale est introduite avec l’exploration, la mise en œuvre et l’évaluation de la proposition. La première expérience, le test pilote, analyse la perception que peuvent avoir des concepteurs naviguant sur des applications interactives. Cette étude nous a aidé à construire un vocabulaire d'évaluation en conception d’un support de suppléance de la mémoire et nous a guidé pour concevoir un processus expérimental en tenant compte de ces critères. Dans une seconde expérience, nous développons un outil basé sur une fonction que nous appelons le "history path". Cet outil permet d’afficher à l’utilisateur, dans une fenêtre spécifique de l’interface, certaines étapes de résolution d’une tâche antérieure effectuée par ce même utilisateur (ou pour simuler une interruption de tâche). Nous avons mis en place une expérience simple (minimaliste) simulant une résolution de problème qui a été enregistrée pour évaluer dans quelle mesure le history path peut aider l'utilisateur à récupérer efficacement une tâche interrompue. La première partie de cette expérience nous permet de confirmer l’utilité potentielle de cette fonction et nous aide à explorer l’espace de conception. Dans la deuxième partie, nous expérimentons deux outils différents basés sur deux représentations de l’history path, une représentation statique et l’autre dynamique. Les résultats de l'évaluation nous amènent à comprendre les conditions techniques d'une expérience positive pour laquelle la reprise de tâche est facilitée. / This thesis was initiated in the context of enhancing the user experience for analyzing data due to the increase of the volume of data related to this activity. On the one hand, users’ psychological needs for the simple use of analytic applications are paid more attention than before; on the other hand, the task they are willing to conduct is getting more and more complicated, which may cause memory overload that influences the task performance. To ensure that both aspects are taken into account, the designers should provide a proper information and design a proper interface that meets both users’ needs and the requirements of their activity. In this research, we are interested in improving the task recommitment following a task suspension or interruption in the context of a visual data analysis task. The multitasking nature of user actions and limited storage capacity of human working memory cause difficulties in re-engaging an interrupted or suspended task. Therefore, it is beneficial to have a memory supplementation tool that supports users to recommit their task in optimal conditions. A literature review first leads to the positioning of our research on the enactive approach and sensorimotor perception that consider the tool as an artifact configuring the interaction between the user and the task, in two modes the “put down” mode and the “in hand” mode. From this point of view, we have found that the commonly used cognitive memory model ignores the role of interaction with the external world in the formation of the memory, and consequently ignores the “in hand” dimension of the artifacts in one memory construction. Therefore, we complete this model with the embodied memory, which gives us a new perspective to design an appropriate memory tool that serves as a supplementation of our perceptual system. Finally, the design principles in human-computer interaction and UX helped us build a tool and conduct an experimental plan highlighting the link between changes in perception conditions and changes in the dynamics of interaction. As a conclusion, the research problem is introduced in terms of how we can provide users with a relevant context to recommit to resolving a task after interruption. The design proposal needs to be explored, designed and evaluated. The first experiment, the exploratory study, analyzes the perception of interactive applications by experienced designers. This study helped us construct a vocabulary of evaluation of the design for a memory supplementation support and guided us for the design considering these criteria. In the second experiment, we develop a tool based on a function that we call the “history path”, which permits to show, in a specific window of the user interface, some of the steps of a previous task resolution that a user has performed during previous experience (or to simulate a resolution task interruption). We set up a simple (minimalist) experiment simulating a problem-solving task, which was recorded to evaluate the extent to which a history path support can help the user for efficient recovering of an interrupted task. The first part of this experiment allows us to confirm the potential use of this function and helps us explore the design space. In the second part, we experiment two different tools, based on two history path representations, a static one and a dynamic one. The evaluation results allow us to understand the technical conditions of a positive experience for which task recovery is facilitated. In this second experiment, several means for recording the user experience were mobilized: the evaluation of the durations and gaze frequencies on area of interest in the interface window by eye tracking, the recording of the verbalizations during the RTA (Retrospective Think Aloud) session, and the semantic evaluation.

This project focuses on the design and modeling of a two degree-of-freedom dissipative passive haptic display. Haptic displays are man-machine interfaces that transmit forces to the human operator. A dissipative passive haptic display is one that may only remove energy from the system using actuators such as brakes and dampers, thus ensuring the safety of the human operator. These devices may be used to implement virtual constraints such as desired paths and obstacles. Traditional friction brakes have previously been used as dissipative and coupling elements in a two degree-of-freedom parallel manipulator, resulting in undesired effects such as vibration, stiction, and slow response times. Alternatively, the new robot is actuated by rheological brakes, which feature fast response times and smooth application of torque. This approach aims to improve upon the accuracy and feel of the previous design. A commercial magnetorheological (MR) fluid brake was selected and put through an extensive series of tests. The data was used to develop a model that characterizes MR fluid behavior in low speed braking applications. A parallel five bar linkage was designed and built that has separate configurations corresponding to 3-brake and 4-brake operation. The length of each arm was chosen by means of a geometrical optimization that weighs the size and area of the workspace and actuator effects. A simulation was then developed by incorporating the brake model into the equations of motion of the robot. Next, two forms of path following velocity control were devised and tested in simulation. Finally, the accuracy, workload, and smoothness of both controllers and both configurations were examined in preliminary tests with human operators.

Although most modern, highly-computerized flight decks are known to be robust to small disturbances and failures, humans still play a crucial role in advanced decision making in off-nominal situations, and accidents still occur because of poor human-automation interaction. In addition to the physical state of the environment, operators now have to extend their awareness to the state of the automated flight systems. To guarantee the accuracy of this knowledge, humans need to know the dynamics or approximate versions of the dynamics that rule the automation. The operator's situation awareness can decline because of a deficient mental model of the aircraft and an excessive workload. This work describes the creation of a computational human agent model simulating cognitive constructs such as situation awareness and mental models known to capture the symptoms of poor human-automation interaction and provide insight into more comprehensive metrics supporting the validation of automated systems in aviation.

The thesis research aims to further the study of human-robot interaction (HRI) issues, especially regarding the development of an assistive robot designed to help individuals possessing motor impairments. In particular, individuals with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), represent a potential user population that possess an array of motor impairment due to the progressive nature of the disease. Through review of the literature, an initial target for robotic assistance was determined to be object retrieval and delivery tasks to aid with dropped or otherwise unreachable objects, which represent a common and significant difficulty for individuals with limited motor capabilities. This thesis research has been conducted as part of a larger, collaborative project between the Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University. To this end, we developed and evaluated a semi-autonomous mobile healthcare service robot named EL-E. I conducted four human studies involving patients with ALS with the following objectives: 1) to investigate and better understand the practical, everyday needs and limitations of people with severe motor impairments; 2) to translate these needs into pragmatic tasks or goals to be achieved through an assistive robot and reflect these needs and limitations into the robot's design; 3) to develop practical, usable, and effective interaction mechanisms by which the impaired users can control the robot; and 4) and to evaluate the performance of the robot and improve its usability. I anticipate that the findings from this research will contribute to the ongoing research in the development and evaluation of effective and affordable assistive manipulation robots, which can help to mitigate the difficulties, frustration, and lost independence experienced by individuals with significant motor impairments and improve their quality of life.

No description available.