The Effect of an Orthotic Device for Balancing Neck Muscles During Daily Office Tasks

Quinzi, Federico; Scalia, Martina; Giombini, Arrigo; Cagno, Alessandra di; Pigozzi, Fabio; Casasco, Maurizio

doi:10.1177/0018720818814957

Cited by 3 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…EMG activity of the neck muscles ranged from about 5 to 20% MVCEMG, which appears reasonable because the workers were walking and moving their head up and down to inspect equipment. The average %MVC of neck muscles of office workers with minimal head movement was about 4.5% (Quinzi et al, 2019).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…While early research in the field of AR devices focused on the technical functionality of devices, there is a paucity of human factors and occupational safety research of AR devices for industrial field workers and utility workers (EPRI, 2018). Important human factors and safety issues are physical strain (force of the neck and back muscles), eye strain, cognitive loading, and situational awareness.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effect of Two Common Head-Mounted Augmented Reality Systems on Muscle Force and Blink Rate of Electric Utility Power Plant Operators

Marklin

Toll

Bauman

et al. 2019

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual

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Augmented reality (AR) is a technology that combines real and virtual information presented to the user in an interactive way in real time. The Microsoft HoloLens and RealWear HMT-1 are two common types of head-mounted AR available to industrial field workers. These two AR systems were tested on how they affected blink rate, an indicator of eye strain, and electromyographic (sEMG) activity of the neck and shoulder muscles of electric utility power plant operators while they performed five routine inspection tasks of coal equipment. The inspection tasks were conducted under three conditions: HoloLens, HMT-1, and No AR (regular method). Workers communicated with the HoloLens with a right-hand gesture and by voice input to the HMT-1. The duration of the inspection tasks ranged from an average of 10 to 28 sec. Twelve experienced power plant operators participated in the study. sEMG) of the right and left sternocleidomastoid, splenius, semispinalis capitis, and upper trapezius muscles were measured, and a small camera recorded blink rate of the right eye. Results reveal generally no significant differences in 50th and 90th percentile sEMG between the three conditions for all eight muscles. Although the means of blink rate appeared consistently lower with the HoloLens than the No AR and HMT-1 (approximately 4.4 blinks/min), these differences were not significant at the 0.05 level (p=0.06 to 0.17). Future studies should investigate a larger sample size of workers wearing AR devices for longer time periods (> 30 min) to determine long-term effects of AR devices on muscle activity and eye strain. A system of hardware, software, and experimental protocol was developed that follow-up studies may employ to test physiological effects of AR devices.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Two Common Head-Mounted Augmented Reality Systems on Muscle Force and Blink Rate of Electric Utility Power Plant Operators

Marklin

Toll

Bauman

et al. 2019

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual

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“…prepare and splice cable. The average %MVC of neck muscles of office workers with minimal head movement was about 4.5% MVC (Quinzi et al, 2019). Due to the small sample size and short testing times, the study was not able to confirm whether the extra weight of the HoloLens and HMT-1 increased muscle activity compared to the absence of AR.…”

Section: Semg Muscle Activitymentioning

confidence: 84%

“…Fiftieth percentile EMG activity of the three major neck muscles (SCM, SMP, and SPL) ranged from 5% to 15% MVC, which appears reasonable because the workers were moving their head up and down to inspect equipment and prepare and splice cable. The average %MVC of neck muscles of office workers with minimal head movement was about 4.5% MVC (Quinzi et al, 2019). Due to the small sample size and short testing times, the study was not able to confirm whether the extra weight of the HoloLens and HMT-1 increased muscle activity compared to the absence of AR.…”

Section: Semg Muscle Activitymentioning

confidence: 84%

“… Forde et al (2011) placed a weight on the posterior side of the helmet of a helicopter pilot to counteract the extra weight of night vision goggles. Counterbalanced weights were also used on office workers with the Neck Balance System (NBS; Quinzi et al, 2019 ), which was a hat with a weight applied over the posterior region of the brain. The NBS reduced the exertion of the semispinalis capitis (SMP) and had no effect on neck flexor muscles.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Do Head-Mounted Augmented Reality Devices Affect Muscle Activity and Eye Strain of Utility Workers Who Do Procedural Work? Studies of Operators and Manhole Workers

Marklin

Toll²,

Bauman

et al. 2020

Hum Factors

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Objective The objective was to determine the effect of two head-mounted display (HMD) augmented reality (AR) devices on muscle activity and eye strain of electric utility workers. The AR devices were the Microsoft HoloLens and RealWear HMT-1. Background The HoloLens is an optical see-through device. The HMT-1 has a small display that is mounted to the side of one eye of the user. Method Twelve power plant operators and 13 manhole workers conducted their normal procedural tasks on-site in three conditions: HoloLens, HMT-1, and “No AR” (regular method). Duration of test trials ranged up to 30 s for operators and up to 10 min for manhole workers. Mean and peak values of surface electromyographic (sEMG) signals from eight neck muscles were measured. A small eye camera measured blink rate of the right eye. Results In general, there were no differences in sEMG activity between the AR and “No AR” conditions for both groups of workers. For the manhole workers, the HoloLens blink rate was 8 to 11 blinks per min lower than the HMT-1 in two tasks and 6.5 fewer than “No AR” in one task. Subjective assessment of the two AR devices did not vary in general. Conclusion The decrease in blink rate with the HoloLens may expose utility manhole workers to risk of eye strain or dry-eye syndrome. Application HMD AR devices should be tested thoroughly with respect to risk of eye strain before deployment by manhole workers for long-duration procedural work.

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Research on the comfort degradation mechanism of high-speed railway passengers: a field study using dynamic interface pressure

Peng

Sun

Fan

et al. 2022

Transportation Safety and Environment

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Discomfort caused by long-term sitting decreases the passenger experience and may lead to musculoskeletal diseases, and this has become one of the main problems for passengers of high-speed railways. However, the comfort degradation mechanism during long-term sitting in high-speed railways is still unknown. This study aimed to reveal passengers’ sitting comfort degradation mechanism in high-speed railways. By carrying out long-term sitting tests on high-speed trains running on the Shanghai-Kunming line, the dynamic interface pressure and subjective comfort including overall and regional comfort of seven participants were obtained. Machine learning models and statistical analysis methods were combined for data analysis to reveal the effect of regional comfort and the contribution of sitting duration during the process of sitting comfort degradation. The results show that overall comfort is most significantly influenced by the comfort of the shoulders, waist and buttocks. The seats play different roles before and after 20 minutes during long-term sitting and there is a lag between the fatigue occurring and being offset. Therefore, the structure of seats affects overall comfort by affecting important regional comfort, and a long-term sitting test is necessary for accurate seat assessment. The comfort degradation mechanism can be used to define standards for long-term sitting comfort or provide guidance for seat evaluation, and the design and evaluation plan mentioned in this article for second-class seats can be applied to other cases with limited accommodating space.

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The Effect of an Orthotic Device for Balancing Neck Muscles During Daily Office Tasks

Cited by 3 publications

References 44 publications

Effect of Two Common Head-Mounted Augmented Reality Systems on Muscle Force and Blink Rate of Electric Utility Power Plant Operators

Effect of Two Common Head-Mounted Augmented Reality Systems on Muscle Force and Blink Rate of Electric Utility Power Plant Operators

Do Head-Mounted Augmented Reality Devices Affect Muscle Activity and Eye Strain of Utility Workers Who Do Procedural Work? Studies of Operators and Manhole Workers

Research on the comfort degradation mechanism of high-speed railway passengers: a field study using dynamic interface pressure

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