Managing workload in human–robot interaction: A review of empirical studies

Working with artificial agents is a challenging endeavor, often imposing high levels of workload on human operators who work within these socio-technical systems. We seek to understand these workload demands through examining the literature in major content areas of human–robot interaction. As research on HRI continues to explore a host of issues with operator workload, there is a need to synthesize the extant literature to determine its current state and to guide future research. Within HRI socio-technical systems, we reviewed the empirical literature on operator information processing and action execution. Using multiple resource theory (MRT; Wickens, 2002) as a guiding framework, we organized this review by the operator perceptual and responding demands which are routinely manipulated in HRI studies. We also reviewed the utility of different interventions for reducing the strain on the perceptual system (e.g., multimodal displays) and responses (e.g., automation). Our synthesis of the literature demonstrates that much is known about how to decrease operator workload, but there are specific gaps in knowledge due to study operations and methodology. This work furthers our understanding of workload in complex environments such as those found when working with robots. Principles and propositions are provided for those interested in decreasing operator workload in applied settings and also for future research.     

Human–robot collaboration and machine learning: A systematic review of recent research

Technological progress increasingly envisions the use of robots interacting with people in everyday life. Human–robot collaboration (HRC) is the approach that explores the interaction between a human and a robot, during the completion of a common objective, at the cognitive and physical level. In HRC works, a cognitive model is typically built, which collects inputs from the environment and from the user, elaborates and translates these into information that can be used by the robot itself. Machine learning is a recent approach to build the cognitive model and behavioural block, with high potential in HRC. Consequently, this paper proposes a thorough literature review of the use of machine learning techniques in the context of human–robot collaboration. 45 key papers were selected and analysed, and a clustering of works based on the type of collaborative tasks, evaluation metrics and cognitive variables modelled is proposed. Then, a deep analysis on different families of machine learning algorithms and their properties, along with the sensing modalities used, is carried out. Among the observations, it is outlined the importance of the machine learning algorithms to incorporate time dependencies. The salient features of these works are then cross-analysed to show trends in HRC and give guidelines for future works, comparing them with other aspects of HRC not appeared in the review.     

Transfer of learning in virtual environments: a new challenge?

The aim of all education is to apply what we learn in different contexts and to recognise and extend this learning to new situations. Virtual learning environments can be used to build skills. Recent research in cognitive psychology and education has shown that acquisitions are linked to the initial context. This provides a challenge for virtual reality in education or training. A brief overview of transfer issues highlights five main ideas: (1) the type of transfer enables the virtual environment (VE) to be classified according to what is learned; (2) the transfer process can create conditions within the VE to facilitate transfer of learning; (3) specific features of VR must match and comply with transfer of learning; (4) transfer can be used to assess a VE’s effectiveness; and (5) future research on transfer of learning must examine the singular context of learning. This paper discusses how new perspectives in cognitive psychology influence and promote transfer of learning through the use of VEs.     

The role of social media in higher education classes (real and virtual) – A literature review

The ubiquity of social media (e.g., Facebook, Twitter) is no more apparent than at the university. Social media are increasingly visible in higher education settings as instructors look to technology to mediate and enhance their instruction as well as promote active learning for students. Many scholars argue for the purposeful integration of social media as an educational tool. Empirical evidence, however, has lagged in supporting the claim. Most of the existing research on the utility and effectiveness of social media in the higher education class is limited to self-reported data (e.g., surveys, questionnaires) and content analyses. This paper summarizes the scholarly writings as well as reviews the findings of empirical investigations. Some limitations are discussed, and future areas of research are proposed.     

A demand-driven virtual disk prefetch mechanism for seamless mobility of personal computing environments

In this paper, we propose a demand-driven virtual disk (VD) prefetch mechanism—DPM—to improve the performance of virtual machine (VM) at destination site for mobile personal computing environments. DPM uses an extended CoW (Copy-on-Write) virtual block device to split the traditional monolithic large-sized VD image into multiple small-sized SVD (Software Virtual Disk) images at a basic granularity of a single kind of software. Based on the fine-grained VD splitting, DPM uses an access frequency and dynamic priority-based prefetch target identifying-APTI algorithm to identify the SVDs of the software being used by the user at destination site, and prefetches those SVDs by utilizing P2P transportation mechanism at background. We have built a prototype to realize DPM on Xen virtual machine monitor (VMM). Experiments on the prototype show that DPM can effectively improve the VM performance at an unexpected destination site without any cached VD state, being helpful in achieving seamless mobility of personal computing environments in distributed virtual machine environments.     

Particle swarm optimisation in designing parameters of manufacturing processes: A review (2008–2018)

The evolutionary optimisation algorithms appeared as an effective alternative to conventional statistical methods that have certain limitations in optimising complex manufacturing processes. Considering works published in the last decade, this paper presents an analysis of the particle swarm optimisation (PSO) implementation in designing parameters of heterogeneous manufacturing processes, both conventional and emerging, new processes. The literature review and analysis was structured according to the complexity of the optimisation problem (single response and multiresponse problems), and the development of an objective function for PSO. The tuning of the PSO algorithm-specific parameters was analysed in detail. The PSO algorithm performance was benchmarked with the results of other methods, including evolutionary algorithms, in designing process parameters. The concerns in applying PSO for multiresponse manufacturing problems were highlighted, and recommendations for future research were drawn. Such a comprehensive review on the PSO application in optimising manufacturing processes, including the detailed discussion on the algorithm characteristics and benchmark with other optimisation procedures, has not been pursued so far. Therefore, this review analysis provides hands on information for researchers and engineers at one place, and it is believed that the findings could serve as a basis for the future research and implementation directions.     

Expert system applications in business: A review and analysis of the literature (1977–1993)

A survey of expert system (ES) business application papers published between 1977 and 1993 indicates that an increasing amount of ES research is being conducted for a diverse range of business activities. The classification of literature by (1) year of publication, (2) application area, (3) generic problem area addressed, (4) problem domain, (5) level of management, (6) level of task interdependence, (7) means of development, (8) corporate/academic interaction in development, and (9) technology integration provides some insights in the trend. Implications to ES developers are discussed.     

Player–video game interaction: A systematic review of current concepts

Video game design requires a user-centered approach to ensure that the experience enjoyed by players is as good as possible. However, the nature of player–video game interactions has not as yet been clearly defined in the scientific literature. The purpose of the present study was to provide a systematic review of empirical evidences of the current concepts of player–video game interactions in entertainment situations. A total of 72 articles published in scientific journals that deal with human–computer interaction met the criteria for inclusion in the present review. Major findings of these articles were presented in a narrative synthesis. Results showed that player–video game interactions could be defined with multiple concepts that are closely linked and intertwined. These concepts concern player aspects of player–video game interactions, namely engagement and enjoyment, and video game aspects, namely information input/output techniques, game contents and multiplayer games. Global approaches, such as playability, also exist to qualify player–video game interactions. Limitations of these findings are discussed to help researchers to plan future advances of the field and provide supplementary effort to better know the role of less-studied aspects. Practical implications are also discussed to help game designers to optimize the design of player–video game interactions.     

The evolution of knowledge-based engineering from a design research perspective: Literature review 2012–2021

Knowledge-based engineering (KBE) is a research field, which evolved in the 1980s within the context of artificial intelligence (AI), computer aided design (CAD) and computer programming. KBE is often referred to methods, processes and tools for knowledge reuse and design automation promising time and cost benefits in engineering design and originally especially in aerospace and automotive industry. Despite the long period of existence, theoretical foundations of KBE are weak and scientific literature is quite dispersed. About a decade ago, a review by Verhagen et al. collected the state of research and identified future research challenges, which has gained impact within the KBE research community. Therefore, within our review we aim at analysing the evolution of those research challenges in KBE literature during the last decade and further provide an overview of current shortcomings from a design research perspective. The analysis comprises 160 publications from the period of 2012 to 2021. Key findings from the review show, that the challenges from 2012 remain unsolved. We further derived that reuse and adoption of KBE approaches from literature is impeded by (1) a missing conceptualization of KBE research, (2) insufficient links from knowledge source to automation and (3) a tendency of insufficient distinction of the application area.     

Can I sit here? A review of the literature supporting the use of single-user virtual environments to help adolescents with autism learn appropriate social communication skills

People with autism frequently have difficulty in behaving in a socially acceptable manner, for example, they may stand too close to other people in a social situation or do not observe accepted social niceties. This can lead to peer rejection and a sense of isolation. Research has been carried out to investigate whether single-user virtual environments (SVEs) could provide a suitable intervention to help those with autism learn how to communicate with others in a socially acceptable manner. This paper reviews the research studies to date and considers whether SVEs could provide a viable intervention to teach social communication skills to autistic people.     

Energizing business transactions in virtual worlds: an empirical study of consumers’ purchasing behaviors

Virtual marketplaces for products and services have become major profit sources in virtual worlds (VWs). The large quantity and growth of virtual product transactions and their platform providers’ profits have made it critical to understand consumer purchasing behavior in VWs. However, as open-ended VWs such as Second Life have environments that differ from those of other online communities, the underlying mechanisms of consumers’ e-commerce behavior may not explain their VW behavior. Therefore, this study examines consumers’ VW behavior by considering three categories of factors influencing their purchasing behavior: the platform context (i.e., technical characteristics such as interactivity and vividness and social characteristics such as involvement), product context (i.e., product value), and virtual experience (i.e., flow and satisfaction). This study examines how these factors affect consumers when they purchase virtual products. Its results highlight the importance of flow experience in consumers’ VW behavior. Interactivity, vividness, and involvement are found to affect consumers’ virtual experience—flow, and involvement exhibits a significantly stronger influence on flow. Flow and involvement are found to affect product value, and flow exerts a stronger influence than involvement on product value. Flow and product value directly impact consumers’ willingness to purchase, whereas satisfaction with the virtual world experience, which is significantly affected by flow, is not associated with willingness to purchase. The results further indicate that product value is more influential on willingness to purchase than is flow. After describing the study’s contributions to both research and practice, I conclude the paper by presenting avenues for future research.     

Augmented reality in language learning: A state-of-the-art review of 2014–2019

This systematic review study synthesizes research findings pertaining to the use of augmented reality (AR) in language learning. Published research from 2014 to 2019 has been explored and specific inclusion and exclusion criteria have been applied resulting in 54 relevant publications. Our findings determined: (a) devices and software employed for mastering AR; languages and contexts in which AR had been applied; theoretical perspectives adopted for guiding the use of AR; the number of participants in AR activities and benefits from using AR as an educational tool in the language classroom; (b) alignment of the affordances of Augmented Reality with the KSAVE (Knowledge, Skills, Attitudes, Values, Ethics) 21st-century skills framework; (c) future directions in AR research and practice. The main findings from this review demonstrate the popularity of mobile-based AR for supporting vocabulary (23.9%), reading (12.7%), speaking (9.9%) writing (8.5%) or generic language skills (9.9%). Our findings also uncovered areas that merit future attention in the application of AR in language learning – for instance learning theories were not often considered in the implementation of AR. The study concludes with suggestions for future research especially in the areas of instructional design and user experience.     

Does peer assessment in on-line learning environments work? A systematic review of the literature

There is an increase use of Peer Assessment (PA) approaches in On-line Learning Environments to support students and teachers on educational process. However, the community still lacks a comprehensive understanding of how Peer Assessment behaves within these educational environments, since there are no studies that make an analysis of the researches which has been conducted in this context, analysing the benefits and disadvantages of the use of Peer Assessment. Thus, the main goal of this work is to investigate and better understand how PA contributes in student learning as well as can bring benefits to the teachers involved. In order to meet our goal, we conducted a systematic literature review (SLR). In summary, the main findings are: (1) there are empirical evidences of the benefits of using PA in both industry and academy, and in several educational levels; (2) PA is most addressed to the correction of written activities on on-line courses; (3) About 60% of the articles showed PA improvement in student performance; (4) About 1/3 of the studies showed PA brings some benefits to teachers; (5) In some studies the use of the PA had difficulties, especially issues related to student motivation, which impairs the peer review process.     

What were we thinking? A scoping review of crisis management pandemic literature (1984–2019)

Pandemics are now the focus of research attention in the fields of preparedness and crisis management. As pandemics are some of the largest crises to occur, an important question becomes ‘what were the field of crisis management thinking about pandemic management’. This paper investigates how the field of crisis management have incorporated the body of knowledge arising from pandemics into its science (from 1984 to 2019). We performed a scoping review of 4 journals on crisis management and what they have written about pandemics (230 papers). The findings are summarized in eight different categories. The main result is that the field of crisis management have shown sparse interest in pandemics. We attribute this to factors such as fragmentation of academic sciences when the problem-solving needs integration, perceived incommensurability and the organization of attention. We argue that the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic can provide a basis for posing new questions in research on, and the political debate around, societal vulnerability at large and not only restricted to recent experiences of particular crises. Finally, we argue that this will need a stronger integration of research strands and communities, which in turn require the ability to ‘connect the dots’ between different sources of knowledge.     

Web-based Personalised System of Instruction: An effective approach for diverse cohorts with virtual learning environments?

The Personalised System of Instruction is a form of mastery learning which, though it has been proven to be educationally effective, has never seriously challenged the dominant lecture-tutorial teaching method in higher education and has largely fallen into disuse. An information and communications technology assisted version of the Personalised System of Instruction using a virtual learning environment is promoted here based on the authors’ longitudinal design research into this pedagogy. The particular elements of the virtual learning environment which are promoted are short video clips, online formative tests and an assessment management system. The authors present their experiences of developing and deploying this pedagogy for the teaching of introductory discrete mathematics to large classes of Computer Science students at two UK higher education institutions both with whole cohorts and ‘at risk’ groups of students. In particular, this method is promoted as particularly helpful to students who do not adopt a deep approach to learning as many students fail to do. Moreover ‘at risk’ students using this method (n = 71) demonstrated an average Glass effect size of 0.83 compared with other ‘at risk’ students who did not (n = 35). Based on these experiences, this pedagogy is promoted as an effective approach to teaching in higher education, especially the teaching of cognitive skills to diverse cohorts of students on foundation level modules.