IN WORKING MACHINES the human operator is essential for the performance of the total system. Productivity and energy efficiency are both dependent not only on inherent machine properties and working place conditions, but also on how the operator manoeuvres the machine. In order to operate energy-efficient the operator has to experience the machine as harmonic. This is important to consider duri...

OBJECTIVE To determine the extent to which differences in generic quality of life (QOL) between transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) and surgical aortic valve replacement (AVR) patients explained by EuroSCORE and heart-team operability assessment. METHODS A total of 146 high-risk patients with EuroSCORE > 6 and aged ≥ 75 years underwent TAVI (n = 80) or aortic valve replacement (n =...

“Media” is an artifact that expands our creativity and intelligence. We have been studying the use of “Rich Media” to support creative and intelligent human activities. Specifically, for over ten years we have focused on the 3D space as one of “Rich Media” and developed many 3D sketch systems that support the design of 3D objects. However, their long-term evaluation has revealed that they are n...

Hazard and operability (HAZOP) methodology is a Process Hazard Analysis (PHA) technique used worldwide for studying not only the hazards of a system, but also its operability problems, by exploring the effects of any deviations from design conditions. Our paper is the HAZOP review intended to gather HAZOP-related literature from books, guidelines, standards, major journals, and conference proce...

For further development of electronic commerce, electronic payment systems play an essential role. Many payment schemes have been proposed, but none of them have been accepted as a standard payment system for a variety of reasons. In this paper, we evaluate payment schemes in terms of the three requirements: offline operability, anonymity and transferability. We think these three requirements a...

This paper presents the architecture design of the robot operability assessment simulation testbed (called "ROAST") for the resolution of robot operability problems occurred during interactions between human operators and robots. The basic idea of the ROAST architecture design is to enable the easy composition of legacy or new simulation models according to its purpose. ROAST architecture is ba...

BACKGROUND This study examined the relationship between interhandle distances and upper limb exertion during simply pushing and pulling of a cart with four swivel wheels, defined by a roll box pallet (RBP) in a Japanese industrial standard. METHODS Six healthy young male participants were asked to push and pull an RBP at a distance of 5.2 m under six conditions corresponding to different inte...

The present paper has reported a case study of the “Electronic Doctor’s Bag” which is a telemedical tool for home-visit medical services using the mobile communications environment in an isolated island and a disaster area hit by the tsunami. Clinical trials performed for 20 patients around a clinic in Miyako Island indicated that the communication functions of the proposed system were highly e...