17-03-2014, 08:46 PM
ABSTRACT
We present the results of a user study performed within a multitask
healthcare simulation, where nurses are required to care for
virtual patients within a 3D virtual environment while recording
data in a 2D graphical user interface (GUI) based electronic health
record system. We evaluated whether a single interaction metaphor
of mouse and keyboard for both virtual and GUI sub-systems of
our simulation was superior in terms of user preference and performance
to a dual interaction metaphor of using touchscreen for the
virtual environment while using mouse and keyboard for the GUI.
User preference and performance both indicate that the single interaction
metaphor was more usable, although each technique was
sufficiently usable for accomplishing simulation goals.
Index Terms: I.3.7 [Computer Graphics]: Three-Dimensional
Graphics and Realism—virtual reality; H.5.2 [Information Interfaces
and Presentation]: User Interfaces—Input devices and strategies;
interaction styles; user-centered design
1 INTRODUCTION AND MOTIVATION
This paper focuses on providing usable 3D interaction techniques
for nurses. In collaboration with St. Francis Hospital System, we
designed a virtual hospital ward to provide learning opportunities
by simulating a nurse’s patient observation tasks. We have designed
interaction techniques for a demographic that is dissimilar to most
users of virtual environmnents (VEs): practicing nurses[9, 1]. Because
of this contrast in demographics, we must design for usability
and not depend on previous experience in VEs. However, we can
leverage nurses’ existing medical knowledge.
Our simulation requires integrating input devices for two differing
tasks: interaction with the patient and his or her environment
within a virtual hospital room, and data review and recording within
a 2D simulated electronic health record (EHR). Since the EHR is a
traditional 2D GUI application, we designed it for mouse and keyboard
interaction. We employed user-centered techniques to design
3D interaction capabilities for virtual hospital rooms suitable for a
touchscreen. In this paper, we present the results of a user study
comparing the single interaction metaphor of mouse and keyboard
to the dual interaction metaphor of touchscreen on one monitor plus
mouse and keyboard on the other monitor in our simulation.
2 RELATED WORK
Many researchers have successfully implemented virtual reality
simulations for healthcare. For example, Chodos et al. [6] implemented
a simulation to allow emergency medical technicians to
practice procedures associated with assessing and stabilizing an accident
victim. Gupta et al. [7] created a simulation to train healthcare
workers in correct hand hygiene procedures. None of these
Figure 1: A screenshot of the application. The virtual hospital room
is shown on the left, and the electornic health record is shown on the
right.
systems present usability results specifically related to their 3D interaction
techniques. Additionally, each of these systems requires
little to no data entry, while a considerable portion of our simulation
depends on the nurse being able to accurately input data into
the patient’s EHR.
We present the results of a user study performed within a multitask
healthcare simulation, where nurses are required to care for
virtual patients within a 3D virtual environment while recording
data in a 2D graphical user interface (GUI) based electronic health
record system. We evaluated whether a single interaction metaphor
of mouse and keyboard for both virtual and GUI sub-systems of
our simulation was superior in terms of user preference and performance
to a dual interaction metaphor of using touchscreen for the
virtual environment while using mouse and keyboard for the GUI.
User preference and performance both indicate that the single interaction
metaphor was more usable, although each technique was
sufficiently usable for accomplishing simulation goals.
Index Terms: I.3.7 [Computer Graphics]: Three-Dimensional
Graphics and Realism—virtual reality; H.5.2 [Information Interfaces
and Presentation]: User Interfaces—Input devices and strategies;
interaction styles; user-centered design
1 INTRODUCTION AND MOTIVATION
This paper focuses on providing usable 3D interaction techniques
for nurses. In collaboration with St. Francis Hospital System, we
designed a virtual hospital ward to provide learning opportunities
by simulating a nurse’s patient observation tasks. We have designed
interaction techniques for a demographic that is dissimilar to most
users of virtual environmnents (VEs): practicing nurses[9, 1]. Because
of this contrast in demographics, we must design for usability
and not depend on previous experience in VEs. However, we can
leverage nurses’ existing medical knowledge.
Our simulation requires integrating input devices for two differing
tasks: interaction with the patient and his or her environment
within a virtual hospital room, and data review and recording within
a 2D simulated electronic health record (EHR). Since the EHR is a
traditional 2D GUI application, we designed it for mouse and keyboard
interaction. We employed user-centered techniques to design
3D interaction capabilities for virtual hospital rooms suitable for a
touchscreen. In this paper, we present the results of a user study
comparing the single interaction metaphor of mouse and keyboard
to the dual interaction metaphor of touchscreen on one monitor plus
mouse and keyboard on the other monitor in our simulation.
2 RELATED WORK
Many researchers have successfully implemented virtual reality
simulations for healthcare. For example, Chodos et al. [6] implemented
a simulation to allow emergency medical technicians to
practice procedures associated with assessing and stabilizing an accident
victim. Gupta et al. [7] created a simulation to train healthcare
workers in correct hand hygiene procedures. None of these
Figure 1: A screenshot of the application. The virtual hospital room
is shown on the left, and the electornic health record is shown on the
right.
systems present usability results specifically related to their 3D interaction
techniques. Additionally, each of these systems requires
little to no data entry, while a considerable portion of our simulation
depends on the nurse being able to accurately input data into
the patient’s EHR.