Augmented reality action assistance and learning for cognitively impaired people: a systematic literature review
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paper_title: Augmented Reality for Rehabilitation of Cognitive Disabled Children: A Preliminary Study

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We have designed a non-immersive recreational and educational augmented reality application (ARVe - Augmented Reality applied to Vegetal field) that allows young children to handle 2D and 3D plant entities in a simple and intuitive way. This application involves a task of pairing and provides visual, olfactory or auditory cues to help children in decision making. 93 children from a French elementary school (including 11 cognitive disabled ones) participated in a preliminary study. The objectives of this study were: (1) to investigate children performance and behaviour in using AR techniques, and (2) to examine specific attitudes of cognitive disabled children confronted to such techniques. We have observed that disabled children were very enthusiastic when using the application and showed a high motivation compared to most other pupils. Moreover, autistic and trisomic children were able to express some positive emotions when confronted to the application. These very encouraging results promote a widespread use of such tools for cognitive disabled children.
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paper_title: Augmented Reality Games for Upper-Limb Stroke Rehabilitation

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Stroke is the number one cause of severe physical disability in the UK. Recent studies have shown that technologies such as virtual reality and imaging can provide an engaging and motivating tool for physical rehabilitation. In this paper we summarize previous work in our group using virtual reality technology and webcam-based games. We then present early work we are conducting in experimenting with desktop augmented reality (AR) for rehabilitation. AR allows the user to use real objects to interact with computer-generated environments. Markers attached to the real objects enable the system (via a webcam) to track the position and orientation of each object as it is moved. The system can then augment the captured image of the real environment with computer-generated graphics to present a variety of game or task-driven scenarios to the user. We discuss the development of rehabilitation prototypes using available AR libraries and express our thoughts on the potential of AR technology.
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paper_title: An augmented reality training platform for assembly and maintenance skills

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Training technicians to acquire new maintenance and assembly skills is important for various industries. Because maintenance and assembly tasks can be very complex, training technicians to efficiently perform new skills is challenging. Training of this type can be supported by Augmented Reality, a powerful industrial training technology that directly links instructions on how to perform the service tasks to the machine parts that require processing. Because of the increasing complexity of maintenance tasks, it is not sufficient to train the technicians in task execution. Instead, technicians must be trained in the underlying skills-sensorimotor and cognitive-that are necessary for the efficient acquisition and performance of new maintenance operations. These facts illustrate the need for efficient training systems for maintenance and assembly skills that accelerate the technicians' acquisition of new maintenance procedures. Furthermore, these systems should improve the adjustment of the training process for new training scenarios and enable the reuse of worthwhile existing training material. In this context, we have developed a novel concept and platform for multimodal Augmented Reality-based training of maintenance and assembly skills, which includes sub-skill training and the evaluation of the training system. Because procedural skills are considered as the most important skills for maintenance and assembly operations, we focus on these skills and the appropriate methods for improving them.
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paper_title: Evaluating virtual reality and augmented reality training for industrial maintenance and assembly tasks

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The current study evaluated the use of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) platforms, developed within the scope of the SKILLS Integrated Project, for industrial maintenance and assembly (IMA) tasks training. VR and AR systems are now widely regarded as promising training platforms for complex and highly demanding IMA tasks. However, there is a need to empirically evaluate their efficiency and effectiveness compared to traditional training methods. Forty expert technicians were randomly assigned to four training groups in an electronic actuator assembly task: VR (training with the VR platform twice), Control-VR (watching a filmed demonstration twice), AR (training with the AR platform once), and Control-AR (training with the real actuator and the aid of a filmed demonstration once). A post-training test evaluated performance in the real task. Results demonstrate that, in general, the VR and AR training groups required longer training time compared to the Control-VR and Control-AR groups, respe...
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paper_title: Affordances and Limitations of Immersive Participatory Augmented Reality Simulations for Teaching and Learning

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The purpose of this study was to document how teachers and students describe and comprehend the ways in which participating in an augmented reality (AR) simulation aids or hinders teaching and learning. Like the multi-user virtual environment (MUVE) interface that underlies Internet games, AR is a good medium for immersive collaborative simulation, but has different strengths and limitations than MUVEs. Within a design-based research project, the researchers conducted multiple qualitative case studies across two middle schools (6th and 7th grade) and one high school (10th grade) in the northeastern United States to document the affordances and limitations of AR simulations from the student and teacher perspective. The researchers collected data through formal and informal interviews, direct observations, web site posts, and site documents. Teachers and students reported that the technology-mediated narrative and the interactive, situated, collaborative problem solving affordances of the AR simulation were highly engaging, especially among students who had previously presented behavioral and academic challenges for the teachers. However, while the AR simulation provided potentially transformative added value, it simultaneously presented unique technological, managerial, and cognitive challenges to teaching and learning.
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paper_title: Application of Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality in Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, in Particular in the Case of Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

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This paper is a combination of a review of the papers related to applications of virtual reality and augmented reality in various aspects of psychiatry and neurophysiology, with special attention to using the respective approaches in the case of autistic spectrum disorders (ASDs) and of a description of the studies of the authors dealing with the corresponding problem. The major emphasis is put on the elements that contribute to the amelioration of communicative and emotional skills in such children, mainly related to modeled applications, computers, and an output interface (projection). This study, therefore, focuses on the understanding of the elements simplifying the development of these new information and communication technologies. In order to answer our queries, we used exploratory interviews and specific reviews, such as virtual or augmented reality and virtual (preferably geo-localized) environments used to provide children with ASD a database containing varied and multimodal information for various purposes: (i) a display of the 3D environment and its constituent objects, (ii) understanding of the task, (iii) an increase in the salience of certain objects, (iv) issuance of instructions associated with interaction with the environment in order to increase the capacity of an individual to process and use received information to allow a better performance of the activities of daily living (ADL), (v) simulation of everyday activities, repeating them as necessary things, and graduating them in order to be able to control a given situation, and (vi) introducing many innovative techniques that are not well-known in the treatment of ASD.
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paper_title: Augmented Reality and Mobile Learning: the State of the Art

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In this paper, the authors examine the state of the art in augmented reality AR for mobile learning. Previous work in the field of mobile learning has included AR as a component of a wider toolkit but little has been done to discuss the phenomenon in detail or to examine in a balanced fashion its potential for learning, identifying both positive and negative aspects. The authors seek to provide a working definition of AR and to examine how it can be embedded within situated learning in outdoor settings. The authors classify it according to key aspects device/technology, mode of interaction/learning design, type of media, personal or shared experiences, whether the experience is portable or static, and the learning activities/outcomes. The authors discuss the technical and pedagogical challenges presented by AR, before looking at ways in which it can be used for learning. Finally, the paper looks ahead to AR technologies that may be employed in the future.
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paper_title: Demand Analysis for an Augmented Reality based Assembly Training

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The first head-mounted display (HMD) was developed in 1986 by Ivan Sutherland. Since then, augmented reality (AR) applications are largely limited to prototypes. One reason might be the lack of user comprehension regarding user requirements. In order to develop a HMD-based training system for daily use, it is important to understand user demands. This paper aims at presenting a demand analysis for an industrial engine assembly line at the car manufacturer BMW Group. We describe the background of training within industries (TWI) and present extant AR-based training studies. We use the value proposition design method to analyze our customers and classify our requirements with a common quality management method, the Kano Model. We find four "must-have" requirements for a HMD-based training system, which are crucial for the development of a minimal viable solution. In order to familiarize assembly employees with augmented reality applications, we design a simple demonstration for the Microsoft HoloLens. Additionally, we present future research directions focusing on comprehensive user studies in real industrial environments.
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paper_title: GenVirtual: An Augmented Reality Musical Game for Cognitive and Motor Rehabilitation

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Electronic games have been used to stimulate cognitive functions such as attention, concentration and memory. This paper presents GenVirtual, which is an augmented reality musical game and is proposed to help people with learning disabilities. The intention is to help the patient in the following skills: creativity, attention, memory (storage and retrieval), planning, concentration, ready-response, hearing and visual perception, and motor coordination. The therapist has flexibility to place the musical and visual elements, allowing him to create different scenarios to each patient. GenVirtual uses Augmented Reality technology to allow people with physical disorders to interact with the game. Patients with no fingers can also play this game. GenVirtual was evaluated by a music therapist who considered it as a facilitating and motivating game to the learning process and that it has the potential to improve the life of the people with special needs.
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paper_title: Current status, opportunities and challenges of augmented reality in education

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Although augmented reality (AR) has gained much research attention in recent years, the term AR was given different meanings by varying researchers. In this article, we first provide an overview of definitions, taxonomies, and technologies of AR. We argue that viewing AR as a concept rather than a type of technology would be more productive for educators, researchers, and designers. Then we identify certain features and affordances of AR systems and applications. Yet, these compelling features may not be unique to AR applications and can be found in other technological systems or learning environments (e.g., ubiquitous and mobile learning environments). The instructional approach adopted by an AR system and the alignment among technology design, instructional approach, and learning experiences may be more important. Thus, we classify three categories of instructional approaches that emphasize the ''roles,'' ''tasks,'' and ''locations,'' and discuss what and how different categories of AR approaches may help students learn. While AR offers new learning opportunities, it also creates new challenges for educators. We outline technological, pedagogical, learning issues related to the implementation of AR in education. For example, students in AR environments may be cognitively overloaded by the large amount of information they encounter, the multiple technological devices they are required to use, and the complex tasks they have to complete. This article provides possible solutions for some of the challenges and suggests topics and issues for future research.
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paper_title: How Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality is Being Used to Support People Living with Dementia—Design Challenges and Future Directions

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The number of people worldwide that suffer with Dementia is estimated at 46 million people and is set to increase to 131.5 million by 2050 at a combined cost estimated at $818bn. Caring for our elderly population living with dementia raises issues over resources in terms of financial aid and time. This paper reviews from existent research projects how Virtual Reality (VR), and Augmented Reality (AR), have been used as cognitive aids to the person living with Dementia (PwD), specifically in the early stages of the condition. The purpose of these interventions being to provide PwD with strategies to maintain their independent living. Within VR and AR, gamification approaches have also been used to provide support through the delivery of calming experiences, use as memory aids, and also cognitive stimulation. VR has also been used as a learning tool enabling carers to gain a better understanding to the challenges PwD face every day. The end of this paper identifies a number of design challenges that exist going forward and includes possible future directions that may be taken.
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paper_title: The Design Space of Augmented and Virtual Reality Applications for Assistive Environments in Manufacturing: A Visual Approach

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Research on how to take advantage of Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality applications and technologies in the domain of manufacturing has brought forward a great number of concepts, prototypes, and working systems. Although comprehensive surveys have taken account of the state of the art, the design space of industrial augmented and virtual reality keeps diversifying. We propose a visual approach towards assessing this space and present an interactive, community-driven tool which supports interested researchers and practitioners in gaining an overview of the aforementioned design space. Using such a framework we collected and classified relevant publications in terms of application areas and technology platforms. This tool shall facilitate initial research activities as well as the identification of research opportunities. Thus, we lay the groundwork, forthcoming workshops and discussions shall address the refinement.
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paper_title: Working with Augmented Reality?: A Long-Term Analysis of In-Situ Instructions at the Assembly Workplace

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Due to increasing complexity of products and the demographic change at manual assembly workplaces, interactive and context-aware instructions for assembling products are becoming more and more important. Over the last years, many systems using head-mounted displays (HMDs) and in-situ projection have been proposed. We are observing a trend in assistive systems using in-situ projection for supporting workers during work tasks. Recent advances in technology enable robust detection of almost every work step, which is done at workplaces. With this improvement in robustness, a continuous usage of assistive systems at the workplace becomes possible. In this work, we provide results of a long-term study in an industrial workplace with an overall runtime of 11 full workdays. In our study, each participant assembled at least three full workdays using in-situ projected instructions. We separately considered two different user groups comprising expert and untrained workers. Our results show a decrease in performance for expert workers and a learning success for untrained workers.
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paper_title: Augmented Reality Teaching and Learning

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This literature review focuses on augmented realities (AR) for learning that utilize mobile, context-aware technologies (e.g., smartphones, tablets), which enable participants to interact with digital information embedded within the physical environment. We summarize research findings about AR in formal and informal learning environments (i.e., schools, universities, museums, parks, zoos, etc.), with an emphasis on the affordances and limitations associated with AR as it relates to teaching, learning, and instructional design. As a cognitive tool and pedagogical approach, AR is primarily aligned with situated and constructivist learning theory, as it positions the learner within a real-world physical and social context while guiding, scaffolding and facilitating participatory and metacognitive learning processes such as authentic inquiry, active observation, peer coaching, reciprocal teaching and legitimate peripheral participation with multiple modes of representation.
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paper_title: Guidelines for snowballing in systematic literature studies and a replication in software engineering

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Background: Systematic literature studies have become common in software engineering, and hence it is important to understand how to conduct them efficiently and reliably. Objective: This paper presents guidelines for conducting literature reviews using a snowballing approach, and they are illustrated and evaluated by replicating a published systematic literature review. Method: The guidelines are based on the experience from conducting several systematic literature reviews and experimenting with different approaches. Results: The guidelines for using snowballing as a way to search for relevant literature was successfully applied to a systematic literature review. Conclusions: It is concluded that using snowballing, as a first search strategy, may very well be a good alternative to the use of database searches.
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paper_title: Augmented Reality Cubes for Cognitive Gaming: Preliminary Usability and Game Experience Testing

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Early detection is important in dementia care; however, cognitive impairment is still under-recognised and under-diagnosed. Cognitive screening and training are two important preventative treatments, which can lead to early detection of cognitive decline. In this work, the “Cognitive Augmented Reality Cubes” (CogARC) system is presented, i.e. a serious game for cognitive training and screening, utilising an interaction technique based on Augmented Reality and the manipulation of tangible, physical objects (cubes). The game is a collection of cognitive mini-games of preventative nature and is, primarily, targeting elderly players (≥60 years old). A preliminary testing was conducted focusing on the game experience that CogARC offers (utilising the In-Game Experience Questionnaire), the usability of the system (using the System Usability Scale), and the specific user observations and remarks, as documented by open, semi-structured interviews. Overall, CogARC demonstrated satisfying positive responses, however, the negative reactions indicated that there are specific problems with aspects of the interaction technique and a number of mini-games. The open interview shed more light on the specific issues of each mini-game and further interpretation of user interactions. The current study managed to provide interesting insights into the game design elements, integration of Augmented Reality, tangible interaction of the system, and on how elderly players perceive and use those interaction components.
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paper_title: Augmented Reality for Teaching Science Vocabulary to Postsecondary Education Students with Intellectual Disabilities and Autism.

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AbstractThe purpose of this study was to examine the use of an emerging technology called augmented reality to teach science vocabulary words to college students with intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorders. One student with autism and three students with an intellectual disability participated in a multiple probe across behaviors (i.e., acquisition of science vocabulary words) design. Data were collected on each student's ability to define and label three sets of science vocabulary words (i.e., bones, organs, and plant cells). The results indicate that all students acquired definition and labeling knowledge for the new science vocabulary terms. Results are discussed in the context of applying universal design principles with emerging technologies to create authentic opportunities for students with intellectual disabilities and autism spectrum disorders to learn science vocabulary. (Keywords: augmented reality, autism, intellectual disability, science vocabulary, universal design for learning)
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paper_title: Is the coverage of google scholar enough to be used alone for systematic reviews

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In searches for clinical trials and systematic reviews, it is said that Google Scholar (GS) should never be used in isolation, but in addition to PubMed, Cochrane, and other trusted sources of information. We therefore performed a study to assess the coverage of GS specifically for the studies included in systematic reviews and evaluate if GS was sensitive enough to be used alone for systematic reviews. All the original studies included in 29 systematic reviews published in the Cochrane Database Syst Rev or in the JAMA in 2009 were gathered in a gold standard database. GS was searched for all these studies one by one to assess the percentage of studies which could have been identified by searching only GS. All the 738 original studies included in the gold standard database were retrieved in GS (100%). The coverage of GS for the studies included in the systematic reviews is 100%. If the authors of the 29 systematic reviews had used only GS, no reference would have been missed. With some improvement in the research options, to increase its precision, GS could become the leading bibliographic database in medicine and could be used alone for systematic reviews.
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paper_title: Using In-Situ Projection to Support Cognitively Impaired Workers at the Workplace

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Today's working society tries to integrate more and more impaired workers into everyday working processes. One major scenario for integrating impaired workers is in the assembly of products. However, the tasks that are being assigned to cognitively impaired workers are easy tasks that consist of only a small number of assembly steps. For tasks with a higher number of steps, cognitively impaired workers need instructions to help them with assembly. Although supervisors provide general support and assist new workers while learning new assembly steps, sheltered work organizations often provide additional printed pictorial instructions that actively guide the workers. To further improve continuous instructions, we built a system that uses in-situ projection and a depth camera to provide context-sensitive instructions. To explore the effects of in-situ instructions, we compared them to state-of-the-art pictorial instructions in a user study with 15 cognitively impaired workers at a sheltered work organization. The results show that using in-situ instructions, cognitively impaired workers can assemble more complex products up to 3 times faster and with up to 50% less errors. Further, the workers liked the in-situ instructions provided by our assistive system and would use it for everyday assembly.
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paper_title: Using Augmented Reality to Help Children with Autism Stay Focused

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Children with autism have difficulty sustaining their selective attention during therapy sessions. Attention management techniques involve the use of verbal and visual prompting, annotated on top of the physical objects used during therapies. Here, the authors explore how augmented reality helps integrate the physical and digital worlds, mimicking current strategies for attention management in autism. They describe their design decisions when developing the Mobile Object Identification System (Mobis), a mobile augmented reality application that lets teachers superimpose digital content on top of physical objects. The results of a five-week deployment study demonstrate that Mobis is useful and easy to use, increases the sustained and selective attention of children with autism, and elicits positive emotions during therapies. This article is part of a special issue on managing attention.
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paper_title: Evaluating Augmented Reality to Complete a Chain Task for Elementary Students with Autism.

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The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of augmented reality to teach a chain task to three elementary-age students with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Augmented reality blends digi...
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paper_title: Augmented reality in educational activities for children with disabilities

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Abstract This study explores a new way to integrate advanced display technology into educational activities for children with different disabilities. A free interactive mobile augmented reality (AR) application was developed to facilitate the learning of geometry. Twenty-one elementary school children participated in an experiment. The results show that the AR system could help the school children to finish puzzle game activities independent of teacher’s assistance. With the use of AR display technology, the participants demonstrated improved ability to complete puzzle game tasks when compared to the use of traditional paper-based methods. Performance data indicated that the use of AR technology could enhance learning motivation and frustration tolerance in children with special needs.
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paper_title: The Effect of Literacy Learning via Mobile Augmented Reality for the Students with ADHD and Reading Disabilities

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This study focuses on the effects of mobile augmented reality (MAR) on word recognition learning. The study developed an interactive effect and corresponding video on word learning in MAR. MAR uses the camera of the mobile phone. It is installed in to interpose virtual objects on the real life view through the camera. The study participants were two fifth-grade elementary school children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and reading disabilities. The study followed a single-case design using ABA’ models in which A indicated the baseline, B indicated the intervention and A’ indicated the maintenance phrase. The experiment period was almost 3 months. The independent variable was word recognition teaching with MAR on Chinese literacy ability of ‘read the words’ and ‘select the correct the word to blank line’. The experimental results demonstrated that the scores for 2 children with ADHD and reading disabilities increased considerably during the intervention and maintenance phrases. The developmental applications of these results are also discussed.
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paper_title: Augmented reality-based video-modeling storybook of nonverbal facial cues for children with autism spectrum disorder to improve their perceptions and judgments of facial expressions and emotions

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Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are characterized by a reduced ability to understand the emotions of other people. Increasing evidence indicates that children with ASD might not recognize or understand crucial nonverbal behaviors, which likely causes them to ignore nonverbal gestures and social cues, like facial expressions, that usually aid social interaction. We used an augmented reality (AR)-based video modeling (VM) storybook (ARVMS) to strengthen and attract the attention of children with ASD to nonverbal social cues because they have difficulty adjusting and switching their attentional focus. In this research, AR has multiple functions: it extends the social features of the story, but it also restricts attention to the most important parts of the videos.Evidence-based research shows that AR attracts the attention of children with ASD. However, few studies have combined AR with VM to train children with ASD to mimic facial expressions and emotions to improve their social skills. In addition, we used markerless natural tracking to teach the children to recognize patterns as they focused on the stable visual image printed in the storybook and then extended their attention to an animation of the story. After the three-phase (baseline, intervention, and maintenance) test data had been collected, the results showed that ARVMS intervention provided an augmented visual indicator which had effectively attracted and maintained the attention of children with ASD to nonverbal social cues and helped them better understand the facial expressions and emotions of the storybook characters. ARVMS increased focus on specific nonverbal cues to prompt social-emotional reciprocity judgments.ARVMS was entertaining and attracted the attention of children with ASD.ARVMS increased virtual visual hints overlaid on the storybook for children with ASD to learn.
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paper_title: Augmented Reality for Rehabilitation of Cognitive Disabled Children: A Preliminary Study

paper_content:

We have designed a non-immersive recreational and educational augmented reality application (ARVe - Augmented Reality applied to Vegetal field) that allows young children to handle 2D and 3D plant entities in a simple and intuitive way. This application involves a task of pairing and provides visual, olfactory or auditory cues to help children in decision making. 93 children from a French elementary school (including 11 cognitive disabled ones) participated in a preliminary study. The objectives of this study were: (1) to investigate children performance and behaviour in using AR techniques, and (2) to examine specific attitudes of cognitive disabled children confronted to such techniques. We have observed that disabled children were very enthusiastic when using the application and showed a high motivation compared to most other pupils. Moreover, autistic and trisomic children were able to express some positive emotions when confronted to the application. These very encouraging results promote a widespread use of such tools for cognitive disabled children.
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paper_title: Context-Aware Mobile Augmented Reality Architecture for Lifelong Learning

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Virtual Instructor enabled Mobile Augmented Reality Systems (MARS) have the potential to provide continuous and autonomous instruction to human learners anytime, anyplace, and at any-pace. MARS based learning provides the advantage of a natural human-computer interface, flexible mobility, and context-aware instruction allowing learners to interact with their natural environment with augmented perceptual cues. These perceptual cues combining multi-modal animation, graphics, text, video, and voice along with empirical pedagogical techniques can elegantly orchestrate a mobile instructional tool that facilitates life-long learning. The challenge, however, is building a mobile instructional tool with capabilities for adapting to various learning environments ranging from traditional schools and outdoor learning to the workplace while also considering the cultural, geographical, and other contexts about the learner. This paper discusses a novel system/software architecture, CAARS, for developing context-aware mobile augmented reality instructional systems.
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paper_title: User-driven Intelligent Interface on the Basis of Multimodal Augmented Reality and Brain-Computer Interaction for People with Functional Disabilities

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The analysis of the current integration attempts of some modes and use cases of human-to-machine interaction is presented. The new concept of the user-driven intelligent interface for accessibility is proposed on the basis of multimodal augmented reality and brain-computer interaction for various applications: in disabilities studies, education, home care, health care, eHealth, etc. The several use cases of multimodal augmentation are presented. The perspectives of the better human comprehension by the immediate feedback through neurophysical channels by means of brain-computer interaction are outlined. It is shown that brain–computer interface (BCI) technology provides new strategies to overcome limits of the currently available user interfaces, especially for people with functional disabilities. The results of the previous studies of the low end consumer and open-source BCI-devices allow us to conclude that combination of machine learning (ML), multimodal interactions (visual, sound, tactile) with BCI will profit from the immediate feedback from the actual neurophysical reactions classified by ML methods. In general, BCI in combination with other modes of AR interaction can deliver much more information than these types of interaction themselves. Even in the current state the combined AR-BCI interfaces could provide the highly adaptable and personal services, especially for people with functional disabilities.
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paper_title: Using augmented reality smart glasses to design games for cognitive training

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To develop and test a cognitive therapy game using smart glasses (SiME; Taipei, Taiwan) in an interactive object game. Using the smart glasses as an input device, an interactive object game for cognitive rehabilitation, in which players accomplished a virtual food preparation task by making various choices, was developed. Over the course of 17 sessions, which were divided into baseline, intervention, and maintenance phases, under a multiple baseline design, three participants with different levels of cognitive impairment interacted with the game, and user performance data were collected during the gameplay. Three participants significantly increased their target responses during the intervention phase. In addition, they maintained their virtual food preparation performance after the intervention phase. The developed game can be an effective method for delivering cognitive rehabilitation for a diverse population.
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paper_title: Augmented reality: sustaining autonomous way-finding in the community for older persons with cognitive impairment

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Impairment of autonomous way-finding subsequent to a multitude of neurodegenerative and other diseases impedes independence of older persons and their everyday activities.It was the goal to use augmented reality to aid autonomous way-finding in a community setting.A spatial map and directional information were shown via head-up display to guide patients from the start zone on the hospital campus to a bakery in the nearby community.Hospital campus and nearby community.Patients with mild cognitive impairment (age 63 to 89).A head-up display was used to help patients find their way.Time needed to reach goal and number of assists needed.With use of augmented reality device, patients preceded along the correct path in 113 out of 120 intersections. Intermittent reassurance was needed for most patients. Patients affirmed willingness to use such an augmented reality device in everyday life if needed or even pay for it.Augmented reality guided navigation is a promising means to sustain autonomous way-finding as a prerequisite for autonomy of older persons in everyday activities. Thus, this study lays ground for a field trial in the community using assistive technology for older persons with cognitive impairment.
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paper_title: Augmented Reality Experiences in Therapeutic Pedagogy: A Study with Special Needs Students

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Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have played a major role in shaping our society, affecting nearly all aspects of our daily lives. In educational contexts, the ongoing technological revolution we are experiencing naturally calls for a transformation of traditional teaching and learning processes. The integration and efficient use of emergent technologies have become fundamental challenges in the educational domain. In this paper, we evaluate the use of Augmented Reality (AR) technology in a classroom with middle school special-needs students. Our primary goal is to quantitatively assess whether AR helps special-needs students to improve their results, performance, motivation, and other aspects of the learning process. Information was collected via pre and post questionnaires distributed to participants before and after an intervention. Our results serve as basis for improving future educational AR-related projects and materials.
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paper_title: cARe: An Augmented Reality Support System for Dementia Patients

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Symptoms of progressing dementia like memory loss, impaired executive function and decreasing motivation can gradually undermine instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) such as cooking. Assisting technologies in form of augmented reality (AR) have previously been applied to support cognitively impaired users during IADLs. In most cases, instructions were provided locally via projection or a head-mounted display (HMD) but lacked an incentive mechanism and the flexibility to support a broad range of use-cases. To provide users and therapists with a holistic solution, we propose cARe, a framework that can be easily adapted by therapists to various use-cases without any programming knowledge. Users are then guided through manual processes with localized visual and auditory cues that are rendered by an HMD. Our ongoing user study indicates that users are more comfortable and successful in cooking with cARe as compared to a printed recipe, which promises a more dignified and autonomous living for dementia patients.
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paper_title: Effects of Direct Systematic Instruction on Google Glass Orientation With Individuals With Intellectual Disability

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Glass, designed by Google, is a fairly new wearable and mobile technology that projects an image into a glass prism above the eye and is currently in beta testing. A touch pad on the side of Glass allows users to engage with the device through swiping gestures and voice control to perform several functions similar to mobile devices. This initial study used a multiple probe across participants design to investigate the effects of direct systematic instruction (model-lead-test [MLT]) to teach three individuals with intellectual disability (ID) to operate Glass. To date, no study has been conducted using Glass with individuals with ID. Results demonstrated a functional relation between the direct systematic instruction and student performance with Glass orientation across all participants. Additionally, participants indicated positive experiences using this wearable/mobile technology based on social validity measures collected at the end of the study. Limitations, future research, and implications for practi...
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paper_title: Twinkle Megane: Near-Eye LED Indicators on Glasses for Simple and Smart Navigation in Daily Life

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We present an eyeglass-type wearable device that has light emitting diode (LED) indicators on the frame of it. The device produces lighting patterns of 14 RGB LEDs near user’s eyes as guiding information. Since installed LEDs on the frame of glasses are light and saving power, it is feasible to develop it for daily use. On the other hand, it cannot provide rich information such as text or images. In this study, we aim to realize a remote assistive system that provides assistive commands by lighting patterns of the eyeglass-type device from remote sites. Especially, we consider elderlies who are suffering from mild cognitive impairment as users. They would be one of potential user groups since the device does not block their sights by text or images and it can be worn in daily life without the additional sense of restraint. This paper explains our conceptual assistive system structure, a prototype eyeglass-type device with near-eye LED indicators and usability experimentation in simple navigational tasks.
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paper_title: Safety and Lack of Negative Effects of Wearable Augmented-Reality Social Communication Aid for Children and Adults with Autism

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There is a growing interest in the use of augmented reality (AR) to assist children and adults with autism spectrum disorders (ASD); however, little investigation has been conducted into the safety of AR devices, such as smartglasses. The objective of this report was to assess the safety and potential negative effects of the Empowered Brain system, a novel AR smartglasses-based social communication aid for people with ASD. The version of the Empowered Brain in this report utilized Google Glass (Google, Mountain View, CA, USA) as its hardware platform. A sequential series of 18 children and adults, aged 4.4 to 21.5 years (mean 12.2 years), with clinically diagnosed ASD of varying severity used the system. Users and caregivers were interviewed about the perceived negative effects and design concerns. Most users were able to wear and use the Empowered Brain (n = 16/18, 89%), with most of them reporting no negative effects (n = 14/16, 87.5%). Caregivers observed no negative effects in users (n = 16/16, 100%). Most users (77.8%) and caregivers (88.9%) had no design concerns. This report found no major negative effects in using an AR smartglasses-based social communication aid across a wide age and severity range of people with ASD. Further research is needed to explore longer-term effects of using AR smartglasses in this population.
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paper_title: An Augmented Reality Virtual Assistant to Help Mild Cognitive Impaired Users in Cooking a System Able to Recognize the User Status and Personalize the Support

paper_content:

Intelligent Assistive Technologies (IAT) spectrum is rapidly expanding and embody smart systems supporting assistive tasks in ambient assisted living. In this field, it has been developed a virtual assistant to help mild cognitive impaired subjects to carry out elementary food preparation. The system is composed of several modules that manage supportive animations and user actions recognition to develop a personalized assistant able to interact with him considering the user status and the environmental context. Main results are: action recognition among the reach, move, mix, tilt and grasp gestures of 85%; the development of sensor fusion module able to estimate the objects accuracies in real time taking into account the quality of fit; the development of contextualized animations that take into account objects location on the kitchen plane.
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paper_title: Using an Augmented Reality Enhanced Tabletop System to Promote Learning of Mathematics: A Case Study with Students with Special Educational Needs

paper_content:

Background:Learning applied mathematics is very important for people with special educational needs (SEN). SEN students cannot fully benefit from mathematics instruction and curriculum in general education classrooms. Technology can adapt and individualize mathematics instruction for SEN students. Researchers and teachers in the field of special education have made efforts to incorporate technology into math curricula for these students to improve their results.Material and methods:The tabletop system was used in a real educational setting, where we compared the learning experience of the students before and after using the tabletop. The evaluation method focused on three elements: the increase of knowledge, the relationship between the acquired learning and the type of educational needs, and the student’s satisfaction and motivation after using the tabletop.Results:The study provides evidence to suggest several reasons why the tabletop instructional effectiveness is higher than that using traditional methods. The tabletop is shown as a new technology-based artifact which offers new ways of interacting with the European monetary system, and using technology as an “object-to-think-with”, It also increases the motivation of students as well as the collaboration between them.Conclusions:Our results reveal that the tabletop is a feasible technology that can be successfully applied in special educational needs contexts.
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paper_title: ABBAS: An Adaptive Bio-sensors Based Assistive System

paper_content:

Assistive systems have become commercially available to help new workers or workers with cognitive disabilities to learn new tasks. However, continuous feedback systems can make the worker feel patronized or bored, which might influence their performance. We present ABBAS, a novel integration of four different bio-sensors into an assistive system, using in-situ projection for providing feedback and measuring workers' stress levels during assembly work tasks through bio-sensors in real-time. It adjusts work steps according to the worker's state. In two user studies, we assessed the suitability of different bio-sensors to detect the worker's stress level and showed the feasibility of GSR to create adaptive assistive systems that consider the workers' current physiological state. Finally, we discuss how integrating bio-sensors influences assistive systems and leads to both opportunities and challenges for assistive technology in general.
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paper_title: Assistive system experiment designer ASED: a toolkit for the quantitative evaluation of enhanced assistive systems for impaired persons in production

paper_content:

This paper introduces the toolkit ASED: Assistive System Experiment Designer. Combining a specially constructed assembly table and new software it allows measuring the performance of impaired persons when using assistive systems for production environments (ASiPE). The ASiPE design tested using ASED transgresses the state of the art by three enhancements. With the help of ASED we are able to quantify and rank their effects on work quality and performance. The ASED toolkit, however, is not confined to the design tested but can be used for the experimental analysis of every kind of manual process.
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paper_title: Comparing projected in-situ feedback at the manual assembly workplace with impaired workers

paper_content:

With projectors and depth cameras getting cheaper, assistive systems in industrial manufacturing are becoming increasingly ubiquitous. As these systems are able to continuously provide feedback using in-situ projection, they are perfectly suited for supporting impaired workers in assembling products. However, so far little research has been conducted to understand the effects of projected instructions on impaired workers. In this paper, we identify common visualizations used by assistive systems for impaired workers and introduce a simple contour visualization. Through a user study with 64 impaired participants we compare the different visualizations to a control group using no visual feedback in a real world assembly scenario, i.e. assembling a clamp. Furthermore, we introduce a simplified version of the NASA-TLX questionnaire designed for impaired participants. The results reveal that the contour visualization is significantly better in perceived mental load and perceived performance of the participants. Further, participants made fewer errors and were able to assemble the clamp faster using the contour visualization compared to a video visualization, a pictorial visualization and a control group using no visual feedback.
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paper_title: About the development of an interactive assistance system for impaired employees in manual order picking

paper_content:

For the user-centered development of an assistance system for manual order picking with impaired people, the interaction partners "human and machine" are interviewed and examined in a first analysis. A survey of user-tasks and --requirements was carried out in form of an expert interview with a questionnaire in a sheltered workshop. Thereby 78 questionnaires about impaired employees are filled in by the pedagogical staff of the sheltered workshop. The results of the evaluation give information about the properties and capabilities, but also about the personal benefits of such a system for the impaired people. The evaluated results serve as a framework for the hardware- and software-design of the order picking system.
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paper_title: Augmented manufacturing: a study with impaired persons on assistive systems using in-situ projection

paper_content:

Production work requires a high level of awareness and especially manual assembly work is prone to human errors. At the same time the demand for manual assembly grows. Assistive systems in production environments (ASiPE) have to be augmented to improve the overall performance and reduce skill requirements. In this study the prototype of an augmented ASiPE is applied in an experiment with impaired persons. It uses in-situ projection (i.e. the projection of work-relevant information directly into the working space, Figures 1, 8) to cognitively assist users in assembly and to improve their inclusion in regular work processes. The aim is to observe their behavior with this new form of human computer interaction and to empirically quantify the effects on performance both in time and quality. The results show that the augmentation has a catalytic effect: The test subjects assembling slowly could not cope with the augmented ASiPE and performed worse than their counterparts without augmentation. The test subjects who worked faster than average assembled the product significantly better, both with respect to time (14.5% reduction) and especially to quality (45.8% error reduction). The ability to access the potential of augmented workplaces seems to be related to a worker' cognitive potential which is not adequately mapped by the competence ratios sheltered work organizations currently use.
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paper_title: Using In-Situ Projection to Support Cognitively Impaired Workers at the Workplace

paper_content:

Today's working society tries to integrate more and more impaired workers into everyday working processes. One major scenario for integrating impaired workers is in the assembly of products. However, the tasks that are being assigned to cognitively impaired workers are easy tasks that consist of only a small number of assembly steps. For tasks with a higher number of steps, cognitively impaired workers need instructions to help them with assembly. Although supervisors provide general support and assist new workers while learning new assembly steps, sheltered work organizations often provide additional printed pictorial instructions that actively guide the workers. To further improve continuous instructions, we built a system that uses in-situ projection and a depth camera to provide context-sensitive instructions. To explore the effects of in-situ instructions, we compared them to state-of-the-art pictorial instructions in a user study with 15 cognitively impaired workers at a sheltered work organization. The results show that using in-situ instructions, cognitively impaired workers can assemble more complex products up to 3 times faster and with up to 50% less errors. Further, the workers liked the in-situ instructions provided by our assistive system and would use it for everyday assembly.
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paper_title: The potentials of in-situ-projection for augmented workplaces in production: a study with impaired persons

paper_content:

Interactive projections have been around for more than a decade. We measured their potentials for augmented workplaces in production. For this purpose we built the prototype of an assistive system projecting instructions directly into the workspace (in situ). While it can be applied in every production environment, the system was first implemented and tested where it is needed the most: in a sheltered work organization employing persons with impairments. It could be shown that the assembly times could be slightly reduced by the augmented system. However it had a "catalytic" effect on the test subjects' work quality: While some seem to be overwhelmed by the new information density and perform worse, others perform much better than the control group and significantly reduce error rates. The qualitative results show that although impaired persons retain a critical perspective on systems directly changing the way they have been working for years, all users would like to retry working with the system. When looking at additional aids like the projection of a real-sized model in the workspace, the users invariantly accept its benefits for their assembly work.
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paper_title: Comparing Tactile, Auditory, and Visual Assembly Error-Feedback for Workers with Cognitive Impairments

paper_content:

More and more industrial manufacturing companies are outsourcing assembly tasks to sheltered work organizations where cognitively impaired workers are employed. To facilitate these assembly tasks assistive systems have been introduced to provide cognitive assistance. While previous work found that these assistive systems have a great impact on the workers' performance in giving assembly instructions, these systems are further capable of detecting errors and notifying the worker of an assembly error. However, the topic of how assembly errors are presented to cognitively impaired workers has not been analyzed scientifically. In this paper, we close this gap by comparing tactile, auditory, and visual error feedback in a user study with 16 cognitively impaired workers. The results reveal that visual error feedback leads to a significantly faster assembly time compared to tactile error feedback. Further, we discuss design implications for providing error feedback for workers with cognitive impairments.
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paper_title: Let’s Cook : An Augmented Reality System Towards Developing Cooking Skills for Children with Cognitive Impairments

paper_content:

Although activities of daily living are often difficult for individuals with cognitive impairments, their autonomy and independence can be fostered through interactive technologies. The use of traditional computer interfaces has however proved to be difficult for these users, bringing to the surface the need for novel interaction methods. This paper proposes Let’s Cook, an innovative Augmented Reality game, designed to teach children with cognitive impairments how to prepare simple meals, following a playful approach. Let’s Cook supports multimodal interaction techniques utilizing tangible objects on a table-top surface, as well as multimedia output. Additionally, it can be personalized to accommodate the diverse needs of children with cognitive impairments by employing individual user profiling. The system is currently installed in the kitchen of the Rehabilitation Centre for Children with Disabilities in Heraklion, Crete where it was evaluated by the students.
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paper_title: Context-aware assistive systems at the workplace: analyzing the effects of projection and gamification

paper_content:

Context-aware assistive systems (CAAS) have become ubiquitous in cars or smartphones but not in industrial work contexts: while there are systems controlling work results, context-specific assistance during the processes is hardly offered. As a result production workers still have to rely on their skills and expertise. While un-impaired workers may cope well with this situation, elderly or impaired persons in production environments need context-sensitive assistance. The contribution of the research presented here is three-fold: (1) We provide a framework for context-aware assistive systems in production environments. These systems are based on motion recognition and use projection and elements from game design (gamification) to augment work. (2) Based on this framework we describe a prototype with respect to both the physical and the software implementation. (3) We present the results of a study with impaired workers and quantifying the effects of the augmentations on work speed and quality.
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paper_title: The Development and Evaluation of an Assistance System for Manual Order Picking - Called Pick-by-Projection - with Employees with Cognitive Disabilities

paper_content:

The present paper focuses on conducting research in the field of technical support by assistance systems in order picking for people with cognitive disabilities. One of the goals is to present the prototype of an assistance system for manual order picking (called pick-by-projection), which is the result of an interdisciplinary and user-centered process with and for people with cognitive disabilities. Additionally this paper aims at presenting results of a first evaluation with 24 employees with cognitive disabilities, who were testing pick-by-projection in comparison to three methods of the current state of the art.
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paper_title: Social Communication Coaching Smartglasses: Well Tolerated in a Diverse Sample of Children and Adults With Autism

paper_content:

Background: Augmented reality (AR) smartglasses are an emerging technology that is under investigation as a social communication aid for children and adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and as a research tool to aid with digital phenotyping. Tolerability of this wearable technology in people with ASD is an important area for research, especially as these individuals may experience sensory, cognitive, and attentional challenges. Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the tolerability and usability of a novel smartglasses system that has been designed as a social communication aid for children and adults with autism (the Brain Power Autism System [BPAS]). BPAS runs on Google Glass Explorer Edition and other smartglasses, uses both AR and affective artificial intelligence, and helps users learn key social and emotional skills. Methods: A total of 21 children and adults with ASD across a spectrum of severity used BPAS for a coaching session. The user’s tolerability to the smartglasses, user being able to wear the smartglasses for 1 minute (initial tolerability threshold), and user being able to wear the smartglasses for the entire duration of the coaching session (whole session tolerability threshold) were determined through caregiver report. Results: Of 21 users, 19 (91%) demonstrated tolerability on all 3 measures. Caregivers reported 21 out of 21 users (100%) as tolerating the experience, while study staff found only 19 out of 21 users managed to demonstrate initial tolerability (91%). Of the 19 users who demonstrated initial tolerability, all 19 (100%) were able to use the smartglasses for the entire session (whole session tolerability threshold). Caregivers reported that 19 out of 21 users (91%) successfully used BPAS, and users surpassed caregiver expectations in 15 of 21 cases (71%). Users who could communicate reported BPAS as being comfortable (94%). Conclusions: This preliminary report suggests that BPAS is well tolerated and usable to a diverse age- and severity-range of people with ASD. This is encouraging as these devices are being developed as assistive technologies for people with ASD. Further research should focus on improving smartglasses design and exploring their efficacy in helping with social communication in children and adults with ASD. [JMIR Mhealth Uhealth 2017;5(9):e140]
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paper_title: Augmented Reality for Teaching Science Vocabulary to Postsecondary Education Students with Intellectual Disabilities and Autism.

paper_content:

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to examine the use of an emerging technology called augmented reality to teach science vocabulary words to college students with intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorders. One student with autism and three students with an intellectual disability participated in a multiple probe across behaviors (i.e., acquisition of science vocabulary words) design. Data were collected on each student's ability to define and label three sets of science vocabulary words (i.e., bones, organs, and plant cells). The results indicate that all students acquired definition and labeling knowledge for the new science vocabulary terms. Results are discussed in the context of applying universal design principles with emerging technologies to create authentic opportunities for students with intellectual disabilities and autism spectrum disorders to learn science vocabulary. (Keywords: augmented reality, autism, intellectual disability, science vocabulary, universal design for learning)
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paper_title: Effects of Digital Navigation Aids on Adults With Intellectual Disabilities Comparison of Paper Map, Google Maps, and Augmented Reality

paper_content:

The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of three different navigation aids with students with intellectual disability. Participants included six college-aged students with intellectual disability who attended a postsecondary education program. An adapted alternating treatment design was used to compare a paper map, Google Maps on a mobile device, and an augmented reality navigation application. The results indicated that the augmented reality navigation application was functionally the most effective condition. Conclusions are discussed in the context of supporting people with intellectual disability by teaching navigation skills.
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paper_title: Augmented Reality As a Working Aid for Intellectually Disabled Persons For Work in Horticulture

paper_content:

The main focus of this article is to verify experimentally the possibility of using Augmented Reality as a platform for display educational materials in the field of horticulture in the real world for people with intellectual disabilities. Experimental verification was attended by eight people with varying levels of mental disability. The educational material was presented to the research participants in the form of a video, which was accessible via Wikitude platform based on the specific GPS coordinates. To find and display the content, participants used iPad2 and Android tablet devices. Despite the great potential of Augmented Reality technology, on the basis of undertaken studies it is still not possible to recommend this type of education for people with intellectual disabilities.
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paper_title: Augmented Reality as a Navigation Tool to Employment Opportunities for Postsecondary Education Students With Intellectual Disabilities and Autism

paper_content:

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of location-based augmented reality navigation compared to Google Maps and paper maps as navigation aids for students with disabilities. The participants in this single subject study were three college students with intellectual disability and one college student with autism spectrum disorder. The study measured their ability to independently make navigation decisions in order to travel to unknown business locations in a city. All students attended a postsecondary education college-based program. Results indicated that students traveled more successfully using augmented reality compared to Google Maps and a paper map. Conclusions are discussed in the context of reducing barriers related to employment. (Keywords: augmented reality, intellectual disabilities, mobile devices, navigation, postsecondary education, transition)
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paper_title: Using a Mobile App to Teach Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities to Identify Potential Food Allergens

paper_content:

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of using augmented reality applications to identify potential food allergens. Seven individuals with intellectual disabilities participated. Par...
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paper_title: An Assistive Navigation System Based on Augmented Reality and Context Awareness for People With Mild Cognitive Impairments

paper_content:

This paper presents a system for supplying spatial orientation and support to cognitively impaired people in their daily activities. The system is a technological solution based on external aid at a practical level (substitution-based rehabilitation). In particular, we propose a model focused on points of interest or well-known places, in which user-friendly routes to a destination are generated based on the user context rather than the conventional street names and quantitative distances. Moreover, the system offers augmented reality views that include contextual information. This philosophy of navigation more closely matches the needs of the user than do conventional navigation systems; the proposal is especially useful for users who are not accustomed to using new technologies (e.g., elderly people), people experiencing disorientation and, more generally, individuals with a slight cognitive deficit. The system also includes an application that allows the relatives of the user to establish tasks that must be performed at a specific location and to monitor the activities of the user to detect potentially risky situations.
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paper_title: Examining Augmented Reality to Improve Navigation Skills in Postsecondary Students With Intellectual Disability

paper_content:

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of using mobile technology to improve navigation skills in three students with intellectual disability (ID) in a postsecondary education program...
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paper_title: ARCoach 2.0: Optimizing a Vocational Prompting System Based on Augmented Reality for People with Cognitive Impairments

paper_content:

This study improved the ARCoach system that provided vocational training for individuals with cognitive impairments using an Augmented Reality (AR) based task prompting technology. Using cyclic codes to enhance AR tag recognition rates, the proposed system not only provided picture cues but also identified incorrect task steps on the fly and helped make corrections. Experimental data showed that the participant considerably increased the target response, thus improving vocational job skills during the intervention phases. In addition to assistive technology, our approach can apply to other AR applications where tag recognition rates need to be improved.
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paper_title: Augmented reality cues and elderly driver hazard perception

paper_content:

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of augmented reality (AR) cues in improving driving safety among elderly drivers who are at increased crash risk because of cognitive impairments. BACKGROUND: Cognitively challenging driving environments pose a particular crash risk for elderly drivers. AR cuing is a promising technology to mitigate risk by directing driver attention to roadway hazards. We investigate whether AR cues improve or interfere with hazard perception in elderly drivers with age-related cognitive decline. METHOD: A total of 20 elderly (M = 73 years, SD = 5) licensed drivers with a range of cognitive abilities measured by a speed-of-processing (SOP) composite participated in a 1-hr drive in an interactive, fixed-base driving simulator. Each participant drove through six straight, 6-mile-long, rural roadway scenarios following a lead vehicle. AR cues directed attention to potential roadside hazards in three of the scenarios, and the other three were uncued (baseline) drives. Effects of AR cuing were evaluated with respect to (a) detection of hazardous target objects, (b) interference with detecting nonhazardous secondary objects, and (c) impairment in maintaining safe distance behind a lead vehicle. RESULTS: AR cuing improved the detection of hazardous target objects of low visibility. AR cues did not interfere with detection of nonhazardous secondary objects and did not impair ability to maintain safe distance behind a lead vehicle (close following). SOP capacity did not moderate those effects. CONCLUSION: AR cues show promise for improving elderly driver safety by increasing hazard detection likelihood without interfering with other driving tasks, such as maintaining safe headway. Language: en
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paper_title: Augmented reality cues to assist older drivers with gap estimation for left-turns.

paper_content:

The objective of this study was to assess the effects of augmented reality (AR) cues designed to assist middle-aged and older drivers with a range of UFOV impairments, judging when to make left-turns across oncoming traffic. Previous studies have shown that AR cues can help middle-aged and older drivers respond to potential roadside hazards by increasing hazard detection without interfering with other driving tasks. Intersections pose a critical challenge for cognitively impaired drivers, prone to misjudge time-to-contact with oncoming traffic. We investigated whether AR cues improve or interfere with hazard perception in left-turns across oncoming traffic for drivers with age-related cognitive decline. Sixty-four middle-aged and older drivers with a range of UFOV impairment judged when it would be safe to turn left across oncoming traffic approaching the driver from the opposite direction in a rural stop-sign controlled intersection scenario implemented in a static base driving simulator. Outcome measures used to evaluate the effectiveness of AR cueing included: Time-to-Contact (TTC), Gap Time Variation (GTV), Response Rate, and Gap Response Variation (GRV). All drivers estimated TTCs were shorter in cued than in uncued conditions. In addition, drivers responded more often in cued conditions than in uncued conditions and GRV decreased for all drivers in scenarios that contained AR cues. For both TTC and response rate, drivers also appeared to adjust their behavior to be consistent with the cues, especially drivers with the poorest UFOV scores (matching their behavior to be close to middle-aged drivers). Driver ratings indicated that cueing was not considered to be distracting. Further, various conditions of reliability (e.g., 15% miss rate) did not appear to affect performance or driver ratings.
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paper_title: Simulated augmented reality windshield display as a cognitive mapping aid for elder driver navigation

paper_content:

A common effect of aging is decline in spatial cognition. This is an issue for all elders, but particularly for elder drivers. To address this driving issue, we propose a novel concept of an in-vehicle navigation display system that displays navigation information directly onto the vehicle's windshield, superimposing it on the driver's view of the actual road. An evaluation of our simulated version of this display shows that it results in a significant reduction in navigation errors and distraction-related measures compared to a typical in-car navigation display for elder drivers. These results help us understand how context-sensitive information and a simulated augmented reality representation can be combined to minimize the cognitive load in translating between virtual/information spaces and the real world.
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paper_title: ADAMAAS: Towards Smart Glasses for Mobile and Personalized Action Assistance

paper_content:

In this paper, we describe the assistive system ADAMAAS (Adaptive and Mobile Action Assistance) introducing a new advanced smartglasses technology. The aim of ADAMAAS is to move from stationary status diagnosis systems to a mobile and adaptive action support and monitoring system, which is able to dynamically react in a context-sensitive way to human error (slips and mistakes) and to provide individualized feedback on a transparent virtual plane superimposed on user's field of view. For this purpose ADAMAAS uses advanced technologies like augmented reality (AR), eye tracking, object recognition, and systematic analysis of users' mental representations in long-term memory. Preliminary user tests with disabled participants at an early prototype stage revealed no substantial physical restrictions in the execution of their activities, positive feedback regarding the assistive hints, and that participants could imagine wearing the glasses for long periods of time.
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paper_title: Achieving Adaptive Augmented Reality through Ontological Context-Awareness applied to AAL Scenarios

paper_content:

This paper presents a proposal for supporting daily user needs by simple interactions with the environment through an augmented-reality perspective that applies proactive adaptation through knowledge representation using ontologies. The proposed architecture (i- ARA) uses principles of the Semantic Web that endow context-awareness and user personalization. In addition, these types of services allow the supervision and management of what is happening in the environment and, consequently, improve the information offered to users. The architecture has been used to implement applications using iPhone technology and has been applied to illustrative scenarios, including Ambient Assisted Living.
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paper_title: Augmented Reality System for Aiding Mild Alzheimer Patients and Caregivers

paper_content:

Alzheimer's Disease (AD) has become ever more prominent within the area of healthcare. Studies show that it is the most common cause of dementia in older adults. In addition, a large percentage of patients and their caregivers still face enormous challenges concerning treatment and the performing of everyday tasks. Forgetfulness and location awareness are recurrent symptoms. On the other hand, smartphones have become a more common feature of their daily lives. Therefore, this paper presents a mobile application to help individuals diagnosed in the early stages of Alzheimer's Disease to identify objects and people. In addition, it can track the location of an AD individual, since they frequently become disoriented and lost. The application presented herein proposes an accessible interface, based on Augmented Reality techniques that uses speech commands for different features: time reminders for taking medicine, identification of which medicine to be taken, people recognition from photos, among others. In addition tests revealed a promising interface using voice recognition and a feasibility of locating individuals using the caregiver's mobile application.
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paper_title: Augmented reality annotations to assist persons with Alzheimers and their caregivers

paper_content:

Persons with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and their caregivers implement diverse strategies to cope with memory loss. A common strategy involves placing tags on drawers or removing cabinet doors to make their contents visible. This study describes the Ambient aNnotation System (ANS), aimed at assisting people suffering from AD and their caregivers with this task. The system has two main modules: The tagging subsystem allows caregivers to create and manage ambient annotations in order to assist people with memory problems. The second subsystem allows people with AD to use a mobile phone to recognize tags in the environment and to receive relevant information in the form of audio, text, or images. The identification of these tags is performed in real time by uploading images from the mobile phone to a server, which uses the SURF algorithm for object recognition. We describe the design and implementation of the system as well as results of the evaluation of its performance and efficiency. ANS can process query images approximately every 2 s and is able to locate users in their homes with a precision of 0.93. A usability study conducted with six subjects determined that audio notifications are more effective than vibrating notifications to alert the user about tags in the environment.
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paper_title: Mobile Augmented Reality Based on the Semantic Web Applied to Ambient Assisted Living

paper_content:

This paper presents an infrastructure for supporting elderly-people needs by simple interactions with the environment through an augmented-reality perspective. We propose a general and adaptive model to transform physical information of objects in the environment into a virtual representation through accelerometers and digital compasses. The model also makes use of principles of the Semantic Web that provides context-awareness and user personalization to the proposed services. The model have been adapted to implement an application using iPhone technology and applied to illustrative problems into Ambient Assisted Living scenarios.
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paper_title: Augmented manufacturing: a study with impaired persons on assistive systems using in-situ projection

paper_content:

Production work requires a high level of awareness and especially manual assembly work is prone to human errors. At the same time the demand for manual assembly grows. Assistive systems in production environments (ASiPE) have to be augmented to improve the overall performance and reduce skill requirements. In this study the prototype of an augmented ASiPE is applied in an experiment with impaired persons. It uses in-situ projection (i.e. the projection of work-relevant information directly into the working space, Figures 1, 8) to cognitively assist users in assembly and to improve their inclusion in regular work processes. The aim is to observe their behavior with this new form of human computer interaction and to empirically quantify the effects on performance both in time and quality. The results show that the augmentation has a catalytic effect: The test subjects assembling slowly could not cope with the augmented ASiPE and performed worse than their counterparts without augmentation. The test subjects who worked faster than average assembled the product significantly better, both with respect to time (14.5% reduction) and especially to quality (45.8% error reduction). The ability to access the potential of augmented workplaces seems to be related to a worker' cognitive potential which is not adequately mapped by the competence ratios sheltered work organizations currently use.
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paper_title: Working with Augmented Reality?: A Long-Term Analysis of In-Situ Instructions at the Assembly Workplace

paper_content:

Due to increasing complexity of products and the demographic change at manual assembly workplaces, interactive and context-aware instructions for assembling products are becoming more and more important. Over the last years, many systems using head-mounted displays (HMDs) and in-situ projection have been proposed. We are observing a trend in assistive systems using in-situ projection for supporting workers during work tasks. Recent advances in technology enable robust detection of almost every work step, which is done at workplaces. With this improvement in robustness, a continuous usage of assistive systems at the workplace becomes possible. In this work, we provide results of a long-term study in an industrial workplace with an overall runtime of 11 full workdays. In our study, each participant assembled at least three full workdays using in-situ projected instructions. We separately considered two different user groups comprising expert and untrained workers. Our results show a decrease in performance for expert workers and a learning success for untrained workers.
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paper_title: A benchmark for interactive augmented reality instructions for assembly tasks

paper_content:

With the opportunity to customize ordered products, assembly tasks are becoming more and more complex. To meet these increased demands, a variety of interactive instruction systems have been introduced. Although these systems may have a big impact on overall efficiency and cost of the manufacturing process, it has been difficult to optimize them in a scientific way. The challenge is to introduce performance metrics that apply across different tasks and find a uniform experiment design. In this paper, we address this challenge by proposing a standardized experiment design for evaluating interactive instructions and making them comparable with each other. Further, we introduce a General Assembly Task Model, which differentiates between task-dependent and task-independent measures. Through a user study with 12 participants, we evaluate the experiment design and the proposed task model using an abstract pick-and-place task and an artificial industrial task. Finally, we provide paper-based instructions for the proposed task as a baseline for evaluating Augmented Reality instructions.
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paper_title: Advantages of eye-gaze over head-gaze-based selection in virtual and augmented reality under varying field of views

paper_content:

The current best practice for hands-free selection using Virtual and Augmented Reality (VR/AR) head-mounted displays is to use head-gaze for aiming and dwell-time or clicking for triggering the selection. There is an observable trend for new VR and AR devices to come with integrated eye-tracking units to improve rendering, to provide means for attention analysis or for social interactions. Eye-gaze has been successfully used for human-computer interaction in other domains, primarily on desktop computers. In VR/AR systems, aiming via eye-gaze could be significantly faster and less exhausting than via head-gaze. To evaluate benefits of eye-gaze-based interaction methods in VR and AR, we compared aiming via head-gaze and aiming via eye-gaze. We show that eye-gaze outperforms head-gaze in terms of speed, task load, required head movement and user preference. We furthermore show that the advantages of eye-gaze further increase with larger FOV sizes.
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paper_title: A benchmark for interactive augmented reality instructions for assembly tasks

paper_content:

With the opportunity to customize ordered products, assembly tasks are becoming more and more complex. To meet these increased demands, a variety of interactive instruction systems have been introduced. Although these systems may have a big impact on overall efficiency and cost of the manufacturing process, it has been difficult to optimize them in a scientific way. The challenge is to introduce performance metrics that apply across different tasks and find a uniform experiment design. In this paper, we address this challenge by proposing a standardized experiment design for evaluating interactive instructions and making them comparable with each other. Further, we introduce a General Assembly Task Model, which differentiates between task-dependent and task-independent measures. Through a user study with 12 participants, we evaluate the experiment design and the proposed task model using an abstract pick-and-place task and an artificial industrial task. Finally, we provide paper-based instructions for the proposed task as a baseline for evaluating Augmented Reality instructions.
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paper_title: Comparing Conventional and Augmented Reality Instructions for Manual Assembly Tasks

paper_content:

Augmented Reality (AR) gains increased attention as a means to provide assistance for different human activities. Hereby the suitability of AR does not only depend on the respective task, but also to a high degree on the respective device. In a standardized assembly task, we tested AR-based in-situ assistance against conventional pictorial instructions using a smartphone, Microsoft HoloLens and Epson Moverio BT-200 smart glasses as well as paper-based instructions. Participants solved the task fastest using the paper instructions, but made less errors with AR assistance on the Microsoft HoloLens smart glasses than with any other system. Methodically we propose operational definitions of time segments and other optimizations for standardized benchmarking of AR assembly instructions.
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paper_title: Interactive worker assistance: comparing the effects of in-situ projection, head-mounted displays, tablet, and paper instructions

paper_content:

With increasing complexity of assembly tasks and an increasing number of product variants, instruction systems providing cognitive support at the workplace are becoming more important. Different instruction systems for the workplace provide instructions on phones, tablets, and head-mounted displays (HMDs). Recently, many systems using in-situ projection for providing assembly instructions at the workplace have been proposed and became commercially available. Although comprehensive studies comparing HMD and tablet-based systems have been presented, in-situ projection has not been scientifically compared against state-of-the-art approaches yet. In this paper, we aim to close this gap by comparing HMD instructions, tablet instructions, and baseline paper instructions to in-situ projected instructions using an abstract Lego Duplo assembly task. Our results show that assembling parts is significantly faster using in-situ projection and locating positions is significantly slower using HMDs. Further, participants make less errors and have less perceived cognitive load using in-situ instructions compared to HMD instructions.
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paper_title: In-Situ Instructions Exceed Side-by-Side Instructions in Augmented Reality Assisted Assembly

paper_content:

Driven by endeavors towards Industry 4.0, there is increasing interest in augmented reality (AR) as an approach for assistance in areas like picking, assembly and maintenance. In this work our focus is on AR-based assistance in manual assembly. The design space for AR instructions in this context includes, e.g., side-by-side, 3D or projected 2D presentations. In previous research, the low quality of the AR devices available at the respective time had a significant impact on performance evaluations. Today, a proper and up-to-date comparison of different presentation approaches is missing. This paper presents an improved 3D in-situ instruction and compares it to previously presented techniques. All instructions are implemented on up-to-date AR hardware, namely the Microsoft HoloLens. To support reproducible research, the comparison is made using a standardized benchmark scenario. The results show, contrary to previous research, that in-situ instructions on state-of-the-art AR glasses outperform side-by-side instructions in terms of errors made, task completion time, and perceived task load.
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Title: Augmented Reality Action Assistance and Learning for Cognitively Impaired People: A Systematic Literature Review

Section 1: INTRODUCTION
Description 1: This section introduces the concept of augmented reality (AR) and its potential to support various areas, specifically focusing on approaches that help cognitively impaired individuals.

Section 2: METHODOLOGY
Description 2: This section describes the systematic literature review process, including the database search, criteria for inclusion, and the categorization scheme used to analyze the collected literature.

Section 3: THE LITERATURE
Description 3: This section presents an in-depth review and categorization of 52 publications identified in the study, split into purposes of action assistance and learning and further dissected by target age group and type of AR device used.

Section 4: LEARNING
Description 4: This section explores the use of AR in learning scenarios for different age groups, detailing various AR applications and their effectiveness in enhancing cognitive and educational outcomes for children, adults, and combined age groups.

Section 5: ACTION ASSISTANCE
Description 5: This section discusses the literature focused on using AR for action assistance to support cognitively impaired adults and elderly individuals in their daily tasks and work environments.

Section 6: LIMITATIONS
Description 6: This section addresses the inherent limitations of the systematic literature review, including potential biases and the specificity of the targeted publications.

Section 7: DISCUSSION
Description 7: This section provides a detailed discussion of observed trends, best practices, and the effectiveness of various AR devices and applications for cognitively impaired individuals, including age-specific insights.

Section 8: FUTURE TRENDS
Description 8: This section predicts future trends in AR technology and its applications, emphasizing the potential expansion of AR assistance systems and the challenges that need to be addressed.

Section 9: CONCLUSION
Description 9: This section summarizes the key findings of the systematic literature review, outlining the quantitative and qualitative insights gained regarding AR action assistance and learning for the cognitively impaired.

Section 10: FUTURE WORK
Description 10: This section outlines suggestions for future research, emphasizing the need to expand the review to include more specific diseases and to conduct further experiments with AR glasses and other technologies.