A method to investigate drivers' acceptance of Blind Spot Detection System®

Lately, with the goal of improving road safety, car makers developed and commercialised some Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) which, through the detection of blind spot areas on the vehicle's sides, could help the drivers during the overtaking and the change lane task. Despite the possible benefits to reduce lateral crashes, the overall impact on road safety of such systems have not been deeply studied yet; notably, despite some researches have been carried out, there is a lack of studies regarding the long-term usage and drivers' acceptance of those systems. In order to fill the research gap, a methodology, based on the combination of focus groups interviews, questionnaires and a small-scale field operational test (FOT), has been designed in this study; such a methodology aims at evaluating drivers' acceptance of Blind Spot Information System? and at proposing some ideas to improve the usability and user-friendliness of this (or similar) device in their future development.     

Accessibility and ergonomic analysis for banking cash

Ergonomics and accessibility in banking has been the subject of numerous discussions, and in this work proposed by the partnership of companies and NR TN Mobile Work Safety and Occupational Medicine, aimed to analyze the service box and propose the development of a project to the teller accessible account of both the legal aspects regarding the factors inherent in banking, focusing primarily on the interface of the worker and the client user.     

Risk factors for incident carpal tunnel syndrome: results of a prospective cohort study of newly-hired workers

Carpal tunnel syndrome is one of the most costly upper extremity disorders in the working population. Past literature has shown an association between personal and work factors to a case definition of carpal tunnel syndrome but little is known about the combined effects of these factors with the development of this disorder. Few studies have examined these associations in longitudinal studies. The purpose of this paper is to identify risk factors for incident carpal tunnel syndrome in a longitudinal study of workers across a wide range of occupations.     

A study of the kinematics of ingress and egress of upright and recumbent seats

Research has been done on the maximum reach and ingress/egress of upright seats. However, research on recumbent seats and comparisons between recumbent and upright seats is limited. By using an eight-camera Vicon motion capture system and C-motion Visual 3D modeling software, this research compared the ingress/egress joint kinematics and maximal planar reach of an upright seat with a recumbent seat. Mean range of motion and mean peak angle for each ingress/egress task were determined and the values for the upright seat were compared to the values for the recumbent seat. For each reach task, three extreme points were extracted and compared between the upright and recumbent seat. Seat orientation was found to have a statistically significant effect on the range of motion of several joints during the ingress/egress tasks, as well as one of the extreme points during the reaching tasks.     

Design and the global and human wellbeing

This paper approaches the challenge of considering the principles of sustainable development in the conception of products, services or systems in a specific territory, though inserted in a globalized world. The reflection takes place by crosschecking the information gathered through bibliographical research on the following themes: wellbeing, design, and the local versus global relation. Thus, the strategy of analysis adopted comprehends the triangulation of information for further comparison of the survey and discussion of the data obtained. This paper results in a set of reflections on the interactions between human beings and their territories, towards new conceptions oriented to a more sustainable future.     

State of scientific knowledge about the need of recovery time at specific workplaces and recommendations for further research

Research activities to determine the need of recovery time at work were mainly performed in the 1970s and 1980s. Previous studies were largely based on expert opinions or were generated within small and non-representative groups. Often, laboratory experiments were carried out with a low number of subjects. Especially during the last decade, only little additional scientific knowledge was generated on this topic. The very resource intensive development of more detailed results based on the existing level of scientific knowledge is assumed as one reason for this. In general, it seems to be reasonable to continue further research on the knowledge generated in previous studies, but implement larger samples and more representative groups. Besides, according to monotonous manual work, more research is especially needed regarding relative operating forces and operation frequencies taken grip conditions and hand/body position into account.     

Improving wheelchair prescription: an analysis of user needs and existing tools

Wheelchair users experience many situations that affect the stability and associated performance of their wheelchair. Stability is affected by user characteristics and abilities, environmental features and conditions, and wheelchair modification and accessories. Wheelchair prescribers need effective tools and methods to provide quantitative evaluation and prediction of the behavior of the user-wheelchair system in a variety of static and dynamic situations. Such information is very important to guide efficient management of associated risks and adjust chairs accordingly. This project involves a user-centered approach for design and evaluation of a load cell based wheelchair stability assessment system (Wheel-SAS). Here, the current methods for assessing stability are described, and their shortcomings explained. The user-centered design approach being applied to the development of the associated Wheel-SAS hardware and software is described. Future work including semi-structured interviews and an online survey with wheelchair prescribers and associated healthcare professionals for deriving user requirements and a design specification for a load cell system for measuring dynamic wheelchair stability are detailed.     

Post occupancy evaluation of primary schools in Saudi Arabia

The physical school environment has been shown to be important in helping children fulfill their academic potential and in providing appropriate working conditions for staff. However, few tools have been developed that enable multi stakeholder consultation which takes into account the opinions of young students. In Saudi Arabia there has been widespread investment in schools, but few guidelines have been provided to assist design or continuous evaluation. A Post Occupancy Evaluation (POE) method was developed and used to evaluate three international primary schools in Saudi Arabia. The methods identified weaknesses in the three schools and differences in responses from the three groups consulted (children, teachers and parents). Conclusions drawn from the study are that greater efforts need to be made to draw together research about how school facilities can support teaching and learning, increase effectiveness and levels of satisfaction. POE, when used in conjunction with checklists could be used as a means of driving up standards of educational facilities.