This study investigated the feasibility of using a desk bike in an office setting. Workstation measurements were introduced to accommodate 95% of the general U.S. population in using desk bikes. Reading and typing performances were compared at three different cycling conditions (no cycling, 10 and 25 watts). Thirty healthy individuals (15 female and 15 male; Age mean: 23.1, σ: 4.19) were recruited based on 5/50/95th percentile stature. Participants were required to select preferred workstation settings and perform reading and typing tasks while pedaling. According to anthropometric measurements and variability from user preference, recommended adjustable ranges of workstation settings for the general U.S. population were derived. Repeated measures ANOVA showed that pedaling had no significant effect on reading comprehension (p > .05), but had significant effect on typing performance (p < .001). A preferred level of cycling intensity was determined (mean 17.3 watts, σ: 3.69).

Prolonged seated posture in a sedentary office workstation is one of the major reasons that is causing the rising trend in obesity. To promote exercise in the office, this study investigates in using a desk-compatible recumbent bike in a workstation from two aspects. One is to provide workstation design guidelines that would accommodate 95% of the U.S. population. The other is to see if reading and typing can be carried out without hindrance. Twelve participants were required to select their preferred workstation settings and perform the reading and typing tasks while pedaling at three different conditions: no cycling, 10 and 25 watts. By using the anthropometric variability and the user preference from the sample, the adjustable range of the workstation settings for the general U.S. population was derived: seat height 382-455 mm, desk clearance 692-835 mm, desk depth 595-832 mm, and required minimum total distance 1243-1487 mm. Repeated measures ANOVA revealed that reading comprehension was not affected while pedaling (> 0.05), but typing was affected at higher watts (< 0.001).

Although advances have been made in oil spill remote detection, many electro-optic sensors do not provide real-time images, do not work well under degraded visual environments, nor provide a measure of extreme oil thickness in marine environments. A joint program now exists between BSEE and NVESD that addresses these capability gaps in remote sensing of oil spills. Laboratory experiments, calibration techniques, and field tests were performed at Fort Belvoir, Virginia; Santa Barbara, California; and the Ohmsett Test Facility in Leonardo, New Jersey. Weathered crude oils were studied spectroscopically and characterized with LWIR, and low-light-level visible/NIR, and SWIR cameras. We designed and fabricated an oil emulsion thickness calibration cell for spectroscopic analysis and ground truth, field measurements. Digital night vision cameras provided real-time, wide-dynamic-range imagery, and were able to detect and recognize oil from full sun to partial moon light. The LWIR camera provided quantitative oil analysis (identification) for >1 mm thick crude oils both day and night. Two filtered, co-registered, SWIR cameras were used to determine whether oil thickness could be measured in real time. Spectroscopic results revealed that oil emulsions vary with location and weathered state and some oils (e.g., ANS and Santa Barbara seeps) do not show the spectral rich features from archived Deep Water Horizon hyperspectral data. Multi-sensor imagery collected during the 2015 USCG Airborne Oil Spill Remote Sensing & Reporting Exercise and the design of a compact, multiband imager are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether different grip spans affected the touch performance of one-handed thumb interaction with a smartphone. Tapping time, hit count, and thumb-tip displacement were measured while using three mock-ups of an iPhone 5S, 6, and 6 Plus, respectively. In the tapping task, four positions were tested: top-left, top-right, bottom-left, and bottom-right. The results showed that the hit count ( F2,14=8.596, p=.004) and thumb-tip displacement ( F2,14=11.348, p=.001) significantly decreased as the grip span increased. Thus, we concluded that there existed another problem beyond the limit of thumb length that caused a reachability issue when using a large smartphone. Thus, this should be considered in the user interface design of a large smartphone.

The aim of this study is to develop a two-dimensional biomechanical static thumb model based on the posture of the hand using pipette. This model used hand anatomy and static equilibrium conditions to estimate internal tendon forces against a given external force. The input variables can be divided into two groups: 1) joint angle, external load and bone length, which are directly measured from the test; and 2) tendon force ratio and moment arm, which are adopted from previous studies. The thumb model was simulated using an FSR (forcesensing resistor) and validated using an Electromyography (EMG) system with four grip heights from 1 to 4 cm and with two tasks: Aspirating and Dispensing. A similar trend was observed between the simulation and EMG results. The average thumb pressure for Dispensing tasks is about 3.1 times greater than that for Aspirating, and the overall force efficiency ratio for both tasks is around 8 times the external load. The optimal grip height is 3 cm in terms of grip strength, 1 or 3 cm in terms of minimum internal force and 1 cm in terms of force efficiency. Overall, the optimal grip height is 1 or 3 cm.