Usefulness of three-dimensional imaging in a flexible endoscopic surgery platform with multi-degrees-of-freedom articulating devices.

Background And Aims: Recent studies on endoscopic submucosal dissection have aimed to reduce the difficulty of the procedure by using multi-degrees-of-freedom articulating devices. In this study, we evaluated the usefulness of adding three-dimensional (3D) video imaging into simulated endoscopic submucosal dissection tasks using multi-degrees-of-freedom devices.

Methods: We designed an endoscopic platform with a 3D camera and two multi-degrees-of-freedom devices.

Three-Dimensional Position Presentation via Head and Waist Vibrotactile Arrays.

This article introduces a novel system designed to convey the three-dimensional positions surrounding the user. The system incorporates circumferential vibrotactile arrays strategically positioned on both the user's head and waist. Through the synergy of this two-dimensional arrangement and modulations in vibration amplitude, the system adeptly presents comprehensive three-dimensional positional information.

A Novel Method for Surface Exploration by 6-DOF Encountered-Type Haptic Display Towards Virtual Palpation.

Surface exploration in virtual reality has a large potential to enrich the user's experience. It could for example be used to train and simulate medical palpation. During palpation, users tap, indent, and rub the surface of a sample to estimate the underlying properties.

Benchmarking Protocols for Evaluating Small Parts Robotic Assembly Systems.

This paper presents a set of performance metrics, test methods, and associated artifacts to help progress the development and deployment of robotic assembly systems. The designs for three task board artifacts that replicate small part insertion and fastening operations such as threading, snap fitting, and meshing with standard screws, nuts, washers, gears, electrical connectors, belt drives, and wiring are presented. To support the evaluation of robotic assembly and disassembly operations, benchmarking protocols and performance metrics are presented that leverage these task boards.

Practicality Assessment of the Improved ICT-Based Dementia Care Mapping Support System.

Objectives: Authors have developed an ICT (Information-Communication Technology)-based Dementia Care Mapping (DCM™) support system and assessed its usefulness previously using videos. The aim of this study is to evaluate practicality of the improved support system by actual mapping.

Methods: We obtained highly reliable mapping data by a team of 3 mappers (M1, M2, and M3), who mapped 5 elderly people with dementia continuously over 4 hours in 2 sites.

Steering bends and changing lanes: The impact of optic flow and road edges on two point steering control.

Successful driving involves steering corrections that respond to immediate positional errors while also anticipating upcoming changes to the road layout ahead. In popular steering models these tasks are often treated as separate functions using two points: the near region for correcting current errors, and the far region for anticipating future steering requirements. Whereas two-point control models can capture many aspects of driver behavior, the nature of perceptual inputs to these two "points" remains unclear.