Multi-touch electronic devices like the iPad are the technology of the future, but the long-term safety of these devices had not been investigated until recently.
ASU researchers are hoping to find if certain gestures are safe when using the devices or if they cause musculoskeletal disorders like carpal tunnel syndrome, which has been linked to long-term use of keyboards.
Devin Jindrich, an assistant professor in the School of Life Sciences, is one of three principal investigators working on the research project, which will also study whether the devices can be designed to reduce physical stress.
“It became apparent to us that we are right at the beginning potentially of a new phase in human-device interaction,” Jindrich said.
The National Science Foundation is funding the $1.2 million project, and the first experiments will begin in July.
The researchers plan on targeting multi-touch technologies through prevention methods so consumers don’t get use to potentially harmful devices, such as keyboards, he said.
“There are injuries that can be directly linked to…the types of activities that people do when they’re interacting with technology,” Jindrich said, which becomes an issue when people interact with technology on a daily basis.
Most research is conducted after the technology has been around long enough to cause injuries.
He said the researchers would study the types of designs deemed safe before they cause injuries.
“We don’t have a good [scientific] understanding of how people are using the devices, how they’re controlling their finger and arm motions when they’re using the devices and whether there’s the potential for injury associated with long-term use of these types of interfaces,” Jindrich said.
He said the end goal is to be able to make predictions based on data and create a “toolkit” for designers of the devices that will address safety issues.
“There’s not a lot of information for [companies] to be able to use to predict what will be safe and what won’t be,” Jindrich said.
He said the “toolkit” would be based on a detailed musculoskeletal computer model of the hand and arm to understand how certain movements and gestures could affect a person.
Kanav Kahol, a biomedical informatics assistant professor and co-principal investigator, will be working closely with the computer model and developing the “toolkit,” where programmers can plug in and evaluate gestures for safety.
“[The model] can give you feedback on whether that is going to be a safe gesture to use or not,” Kahol said.
Jindrich said certain movements and gestures that seem simple to most people, like with the hands and arms, can affect the body in complex ways.
“Just because a movement is bigger or smaller, doesn’t necessarily mean that a bigger movement is…going to require more muscle activity,” Jindrich said, adding that the body’s movements are deeply connected.
“It’s not necessarily the case that injuries are localized to where movements are,” Jindrich said.
For example, using fingers for certain movements can still affect other parts of the body and possibly injure them.
Kahol said there are several parts of the project, including studying people, making basic gestures and recording forces, movements and muscle activity.
The researchers will then use computer models to predict the harm and stress certain gestures can cause over time and provide the information to designers and developers through the computer and an iPhone application.
“The programmers will basically be able to use that and say, ‘OK, here’s a safe gesture, here is not a safe gesture,” Kahol said.
Companies like Hewlett-Packard have already shown an interest in the research.
“They realize the value of it but they just don’t have the time or the energy to develop it,” Kahol said. “This is something that is going to be widely used by everybody.”
Cecil Lozano, a biomedical informatics postdoctoral student, is a key member of the team and has a background in biomedical engineering and kinesiology.
“I have always been interested in improving people’s lives,” Lozano said.
She said it’s important to prevent problems instead of fixing them.
Lozano has personally had problems with her wrist and other body parts because of certain keyboards and other workspace technologies.
She owns an iPad and has noticed that some gestures are more difficult to produce than others.
Zooming out on the screen, which requires a spreading movement of the forefinger thumb, is more difficult than zooming in, a reversal of the same action, Lozano said.
The experiments will involve repetitive gestures, and there are many factors to consider, like the size of the device, whether the device is held or placed on a surface, and the amount and length of time interacting with it.
“The list is tremendous on the factors that can affect you [and] how you interact,” Lozano said, including the impact of psychological factors like frustration.
Reach the reporter at reweaver@asu.edu
