title: Cognitive ergonomics in virtual environments: development of an intuitive and appropriate input device for navigating in a virtual maze.
abstract: For patients suffering from mild cognitive impairments, the navigation through a virtual maze should be as intuitive and efficient as possible in order to minimize cognitive and physical strain. This paper discusses the appropriateness of interaction devices for being used for easy navigation tasks. Information gained from human centered evaluation was used to develop an intuitive and ergonomic interaction device. Two experiments examined the usability of tracked interaction devices. Usability problems with the devices are discussed. The findings from the experiments were translated into general design guidance, in addition to specific recommendations. A new device was designed on the basis of these recommendations and its usability was evaluated in a second experiment. The results were used to develop a lightweight interaction device for navigation in the virtual maze.
authors.affiliation: COAT-Basel/UPKBS, Department of Psychiatry, University of Basel, Switzerland. ols@coat-basel.com
authors.forename: Oliver
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Stefani
authors.forename: Ralph
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mager
authors.forename: Franz
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mueller-Spahn
authors.forename: Hubert
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sulzenbacher
authors.forename: Evangelos
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bekiaris
authors.forename: Brenda K
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Wiederhold
authors.forename: Harshada
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.forename: Alex H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Bullinger
mesh_terms: D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D004867:Equipment Design; D006804:Ergonomics; D006801:Humans; D018782:Maze Learning; D014584:User-Computer Interface