Effects of display curvature and task duration on proofreading performance, visual discomfort, visual fatigue, mental workload, and user satisfaction

User experience with ultrawide curved displays: A mixed methods analysis

Due to the trend of replacing dual displays with ultrawide (UW) curved displays, we used a mixed methods analysis to investigate the user experience with UW curved displays. We conducted an experimental laboratory study that quantified user self-selected positions for three displays - 24 in. flat panel, and 34 in. and 40 in. UW curved displays. Participants were first provided with a familiarization protocol, and they then positioned the display. The self-selected UW display viewing distances were within current recommendations; however, viewing distance increased with display size, potentially challenging small work surface depths and may have been in response to feeling "overwhelmed" by larger displays. Head twist range of motion increased with display width. While all displays were within recommendations, participants commented that less head twisting was a factor in choosing the 34 in. over the 40 in. display. Practitioners should assess potential workstation limitations and the potential impact on neck twist angles when installing ultrawide displays.

Best Practices for Technology in Clinical Social Work and Mental Health Professions to Promote Well-being and Prevent Fatigue

The shift to communication technologies during the pandemic has had positive and negative effects on clinical social worker practice. Best practices are identified for clinical social workers to maintain emotional well-being, prevent fatigue, and avoid burnout when using technology. A scoping review from 2000 to 21 of 15 databases focused on communication technologies for mental health care within four areas: (1) behavioral, cognitive, emotional, and physical impact; (2) individual, clinic, hospital, and system/organizational levels; (3) well-being, burnout, and stress; and (4) clinician technology perceptions. Out of 4795 potential literature references, full text review of 201 papers revealed 37 were related to technology impact on engagement, therapeutic alliance, fatigue and well-being. Studies assessed behavioral (67.5%), emotional (43.2%), cognitive (57.8%), and physical (10.8%) impact at the individual (78.4%), clinic (54.1%), hospital (37.8%) and system/organizational (45.9%) levels. Participants were clinicians, social workers, psychologists, and other providers. Clinicians can build a therapeutic alliance via video, but this requires additional skill, effort, and monitoring. Use of video and electronic health records were associated with clinician physical and emotional problems due to barriers, effort, cognitive demands, and additional workflow steps. Studies also found high user ratings on data quality, accuracy, and processing, but low satisfaction with clerical tasks, effort required and interruptions. Studies have overlooked the impact of justice, equity, diversity and inclusion related to technology, fatigue and well-being, for the populations served and the clinicians providing care. Clinical social workers and health care systems must evaluate the impact of technology in order to support well-being and prevent workload burden, fatigue, and burnout. Multi-level evaluation and clinical, human factor, training/professional development and administrative best practices are suggested.

Determining Work-Rest Schedules for Visual Tasks That Use Optical Head-Mounted Displays Based on Visual Fatigue and Visually Induced Motion Sickness Recovery

This study aimed to determine work-rest schedules for visual tasks of different lengths by evaluating visual fatigue and visually induced motion sickness (VIMS) using an optical head-mounted display (OHMD). Thirty participants were recruited to perform 15 and 30 min visual tasks using an OHMD. After completing each visual task, participants executed six levels of rest time. Critical flicker fusion frequency (CFF) values, relative electroencephalography indices, and Simulator Sickness Questionnaire (SSQ) scores were collected and analyzed. Results indicated that after completing the 15 and 30 min visual tasks, participants experienced visual fatigue and VIMS. There was no significant difference between baseline CFF values, four electroencephalography relative power index values, and SSQ scores when participants completed a 15 min visual task followed by a 20 min rest and a 30 min visual task followed by a 30 min rest. Based on our results, a 20 min rest for visual fatigue and VIMS recovery after a 15 min visual task on an OHMD and a 25 min rest for visual fatigue and VIMS recovery after a 30 min visual task on an OHMD are recommended. This study suggests a work-rest schedule for OHMDs that can be used as a reference for OHMD user guidelines to reduce visual fatigue and visually induced motion sickness.

A social media network analysis of trypophobia communication

Trypophobia has attracted scientific attention in recent years. Few related studies have recruited participants using online methods, and even less is known about health communication in an environment where trypophobia was first widely discussed (i.e., the Internet). This study describes communication patterns in a Facebook group for trypophobia by detecting frequent topics, top contributors, and their discourses. We identified key commenters and performed word frequency analysis, word co-occurrence analysis, topic modeling, and content analysis. Impactful users posted and replied more often when discussing peer-reviewed science. Triggering content was actively removed by the group administrators. A wide variety of triggers not discussed in trypophobia-related literature were frequently mentioned. However, there was a lack of discussion on peer-reviewed treatments. The combination of a few expert and many supportive amateur gatekeepers willing to understand trypophobia, along with active monitoring by administrators, might contribute to in-group trust and the sharing of peer-reviewed science by top users of the trypophobia Facebook group.

Effects of Noise Exposure and Mental Workload on Physiological Responses during Task Execution

Twelve healthy male students were recruited to investigate the physiological response to different noise exposure and mental workload (MW) conditions, while performing multi-attribute task battery (MATB) tasks. The experiments were conducted under three noise exposure conditions, with different sound pressure levels and sharpness. After adaptation to each noise condition, the participants were required to perform the resting test and the MATB task tests with low, medium, and high MW. The electroencephalogram (EEG), electrocardiogram (ECG), and eye movement data were obtained, during the periods when participants were in the resting and task taking state. The results showed that subjects' physiological responses at rest were unaffected by noise exposure conditions. However, during the execution of MATB tasks, the elevated sound pressure level and increased sharpness were significantly correlated with increased mean pupil diameter and heart rate variability (HRV). These responses suggested that the human body defends itself through physiological regulation when noise causes adverse effects. If the negative effects of noise were more severe, this could damage the body's health and result in a significant drop in task performance. The elevated mental demands led to increased stress on the subjects, which was reflected in a considerable increase in theta relative power. Either high or low MW was related with reduced saccade amplitude and a decrease in weighted task performance, indicating an inverted U-shaped relationship between workload level and work performance.

Fatigue due to smartphone use? Investigating research trends and methods for analysing fatigue caused by extensive smartphone usage: A review

BACKGROUND: The easy accessibility of smartphones has led to a fivefold increase in their use. People use smartphones almost anywhere, including during travelling and studying. During the global COVID-19 pandemic, the average smartphone screen time has increased from 2.25 to 4.8 hours per day. In India, smartphone usage increased by 68%, and the average screen time increased from 2.42 to 6.9 hours. This dependency on smartphones has led to smartphone addiction. Inappropriate postures during the prolonged use of smartphones can exert adverse effects such as musculoskeletal disorders, digital eye strain, loss of focus and attention. OBJECTIVES: This study was undertaken to understand the effects of prolonged smartphone utilisation and explored fatigue measurement techniques. METHODS: A total of 130 studies examining the effects of smartphone utilisation published in the previous 10 years were identified from the following databases: IEEE, Science Direct, PubMed, PubMed Central, and Google Scholar are reviewed. This study was conducted from September 2019 to January 2021. RESULTS: One in every four adolescents were prone to smartphone addiction, which causes poor mental health. Moreover, India’s research on the effects of excessive smartphone usage is limited. CONCLUSIONS: Studies are required to establish the correlation between fatigue levels and smartphone usage patterns.

Effects of Auditory Pre-Stimulation on Cognitive Task Performance in a Noisy Environment

The accident rate due to human errors in industrial fields has been consistently high over the past few decades, and noise has been emerging as one of the main causes of human errors. In recent years, auditory pre-stimulation has been considered as a means of preventing human errors by improving workers’ cognitive task performance. However, most previous studies demonstrated the effectiveness of the auditory pre-stimulation in a quiet environment. Accordingly, studies on the effects of pre-stimulation in a noisy environment are still lacking. Therefore, this study aimed to empirically investigate: (1) the effects of noisy environments on the performances of cognitive tasks related to different functions of working memory and (2) the effects of auditory pre-stimulation on the performances of cognitive tasks in a field-noise environment. To accomplish these research objectives, two major experiments were conducted. In the first experiment, a total of 24 participants performed each of three basic short-term/working memory (STM/WM) tasks under two different experimental conditions (quiet-noise environment and field-noise environment) depending on the presence or absence of field noise. In the second experiment, the participants performed each of the three basic STM/WM tasks in a field-noise environment after they were provided with one of four different auditory pre-stimulations (quiet noise, white noise, field noise, and mixed (white and field) noise). The three STM/WM tasks were the Corsi block-tapping, Digit span, and 3-back tasks, corresponding to the visuospatial sketchpad, the phonological loop, and the central executive of WM, respectively. The major findings were that: (1) the field-noise environment did not affect the scores of the Corsi block-tapping and 3-back tasks, significantly affecting only the Digit span task score (decreased by 15.2%, p < 0.01); and (2) the Digit span task performance in the field-noise environment was improved by 17.9% (p < 0.05) when mixed noise was provided as a type of auditory pre-stimulation. These findings may be useful for the work-space designs that prevent/minimize human errors and industrial accidents by improving the cognitive task performance of workers in field-noise environments.

Development and Trial of a Prototype Device for Sensorimotor Therapy in Patients with Distal Radius Fractures

This study examined the clinical feasibility of a prototype device (development name: Ghost) for facilitating range of motion (RoM) recovery in the acute phase in patients with distal radius fractures (DRF). The Ghost device involves the administration of a combination of vibratory and visual stimuli. We divided the patients into the Ghost (n = 10) and control group (n = 4; tendon vibration only) groups. The experimental interventions were administered between the day after surgery and day 7 postoperatively. Traditional hand therapy was provided to both groups once daily from day 7 until day 84 postoperatively and once a week from day 84 until the end of the intervention period. Because vibratory stimulation makes the patient focus on wrist flexion, the primary outcome was the arc of wrist flexion-extension on the injured side, which was measured on days 7, 14, 28, 42, 56, 70, and 84. Analysis of covariance was applied using a bootstrap method to evaluate changes over time and compare them between the groups. Analyses was performed after stratification by age and body mass index. Both interventions improved RoM over time in patients with DRF. Results showed that Ghost has greater efficacy for improving wrist RoM in DRF patients than vibration alone. Treatment with Ghost can result in good RoM improvement during the acute phase of DRF in young patients and those with and normal or low body mass index. Further study is needed to verify our findings and assess the extent of RoM recovery.

Curved Versus Flat Monitors: Interactive Effects of Display Curvature Radius and Display Size on Visual Search Performance and Visual Fatigue

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study is to examine the interactive effects of display curvature radius and display size on visual search accuracy, visual search speed, and visual fatigue.

BACKGROUND

Although the advantages of curved displays have been reported, little is known about the interactive effects of display curvature radius and size.

METHOD

Twenty-seven individuals performed visual search tasks at a viewing distance of 50 cm using eight configurations involving four display curvature radii (400R, 600R, 1200R, and flat) and two display sizes (33″ and 50″). To simulate curved screens, five flat display panels were horizontally arranged with their centers concentrically repositioned following each display curvature radius.

RESULTS

For accuracy, speed, and fatigue, 33″-600R and 50″-600R provided the best or comparable-to-best results, whereas 50″-flat provided the worst results. For accuracy and fatigue, 33″-flat was the second worst. The changes in the horizontal field of view and viewing angle due to display curvature as well as the association between effective display curvature radii and empirical horopter (loci of perceived equidistance) can explain these results.

CONCLUSION

The interactive effects of display curvature radius and size were evident for visual search performance and fatigue. Beneficial effects of curved displays were maintained across 33″ and 50″, whereas increasing flat display size from 33″ to 50″ was detrimental.

APPLICATION

For visual search tasks at a viewing distance of 50 cm, 33″-600R and 50″ 600R displays are recommended, as opposed to 33″ and 50″ flat displays. Wide flat displays must be carefully considered for visual display terminal tasks.

PROVIDER TECHNOLOGY, FATIGUE AND WELL-BEING: A SCOPING REVIEW (Preprint)

Background

Video and other technologies are reshaping the delivery of health care, yet barriers related to workflow and possible provider fatigue suggest that a thorough evaluation is needed for quality and process improvement.

Objective

This scoping review explored the relationship among technology, fatigue, and health care to improve the conditions for providers.

Methods

A 6-stage scoping review of literature (from 10 databases) published from 2000 to 2020 that focused on technology, health care, and fatigue was conducted. Technologies included synchronous video, telephone, informatics systems, asynchronous wearable sensors, and mobile health devices for health care in 4 concept areas related to provider experience: behavioral, cognitive, emotional, and physical impact; workplace at the individual, clinic, hospital, and system or organizational levels; well-being, burnout, and stress; and perceptions regarding technology. Qualitative content, discourse, and framework analyses were used to thematically analyze data for developing a spectrum of health to risk of fatigue to manifestations of burnout.

Results

Of the 4221 potential literature references, 202 (4.79%) were duplicates, and our review of the titles and abstracts of 4019 (95.21%) found that 3837 (90.9%) were irrelevant. A full-text review of 182 studies revealed that 12 (6.6%) studies met all the criteria related to technology, health care, and fatigue, and these studied the behavioral, emotional, cognitive, and physical impact of workflow at the individual, hospital, and system or organizational levels. Video and electronic health record use has been associated with physical eye fatigue; neck pain; stress; tiredness; and behavioral impacts related to additional effort owing to barriers, trouble with engagement, emotional wear and tear and exhaustion, cognitive inattention, effort, expecting problems, multitasking and workload, and emotional experiences (eg, anger, irritability, stress, and concern about well-being). An additional 14 studies that evaluated behavioral, emotional, and cognitive impacts without focusing on fatigue found high user ratings on data quality, accuracy, and processing but low satisfaction with clerical tasks, the effort required in work, and interruptions costing time, resulting in more errors, stress, and frustration. Our qualitative analysis suggests a spectrum from health to risk and provides an outline of organizational approaches to human factors and technology in health care. Business, occupational health, human factors, and well-being literature have not studied technology fatigue and burnout; however, their findings help contextualize technology-based fatigue to suggest guidelines. Few studies were found to contextually evaluate differences according to health professions and practice contexts.

Conclusions

Health care systems need to evaluate the impact of technology in accordance with the Quadruple Aim to support providers’ well-being and prevent workload burden, fatigue, and burnout. Implementation and effectiveness approaches and a multilevel approach with objective measures for clinical, human factors, training, professional development, and administrative workflow are suggested. This requires institutional strategies and competencies to integrate health care quality, technology and well-being outcomes.

Usability and Effectiveness of Immersive Virtual Grocery Shopping for Assessing Cognitive Fatigue in Healthy Controls: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial

BACKGROUND

Cognitive fatigue (CF) is a human response to stimulation and stress and is a common comorbidity in many medical conditions that can result in serious consequences; however, studying CF under controlled conditions is difficult. Immersive virtual reality provides an experimental environment that enables the precise measurement of the response of an individual to complex stimuli in a controlled environment.

OBJECTIVE

We aim to examine the development of an immersive virtual shopping experience to measure subjective and objective indicators of CF induced by instrumental activities of daily living.

METHODS

We will recruit 84 healthy participants (aged 18-75 years) for a 2-phase study. Phase 1 is a user experience study for testing the software functionality, user interface, and realism of the virtual shopping environment. Phase 2 uses a 3-arm randomized controlled trial to determine the effect that the immersive environment has on fatigue. Participants will be randomized into 1 of 3 conditions exploring fatigue response during a typical human activity (grocery shopping). The level of cognitive and emotional challenges will change during each activity. The primary outcome of phase 1 is the experience of user interface difficulties. The primary outcome of phase 2 is self-reported CF. The core secondary phase 2 outcomes include subjective cognitive load, change in task performance behavior, and eye tracking. Phase 2 uses within-subject repeated measures analysis of variance to compare pre- and postfatigue measures under 3 conditions (control, cognitive challenge, and emotional challenge).

RESULTS

This study was approved by the scientific review committee of the National Institute of Nursing Research and was identified as an exempt study by the institutional review board of the National Institutes of Health. Data collection will begin in spring 2021.

CONCLUSIONS

Immersive virtual reality may be a useful research platform for simulating the induction of CF associated with the cognitive and emotional challenges of instrumental activities of daily living.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04883359; http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04883359.

INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID)

PRR1-10.2196/28073.

Comparing immersiveness and perceptibility of spherical and curved displays

Curved displays are believed to create a feeling of immersiveness similar to virtual reality. However systematic studies are needed to demonstrate that this is, in fact, true and under what conditions. In an experimental study 24 participants compared five different displays (concave, convex, hemisphere, sphere and a flat display) in terms of their immersiveness and perceptibility, and they also rated their overall preferences. Both immersiveness and perceptibility affected overall preference ratings. Participants gave higher preference ratings to the convex and concave displays, which were rated high in immersiveness and perceptibility, but gave lower preference ratings to the hemisphere/spherical display which had high ratings on immersiveness but low ratings on perceptibility. The study results imply that curved displays do indeed create a feeling of immersiveness. Concave and convex displays were rated highly favorably and should receive more attention for applications where visual experience and a feeling of immersiveness is particularly important.