Ergonomics evaluation of gestures interaction for the elderly in extended reality

IF 3 2区工程技术 Q2 ENGINEERING, INDUSTRIAL

International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics Pub Date : 2025-05-01 DOI:10.1016/j.ergon.2025.103749

Yumiao Chen, Ying Hu

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

With the intensification of aging in China, the social status and needs of the elderly are becoming increasingly prominent. Extended Reality (XR), as an emerging technology capable of delivering immersive experiences, presents new opportunities to enhance the quality of life for the elderly. Gesture interaction, known for its low learning curve and ease of use, has been widely adopted in XR applications. However, due to cognitive and limb motor decline, the current gestures in XR remain challenging for the elderly. The aim of this study is to establish a set of interaction gestures for the elderly that can be widely used in the XR environment. The study was divided into two phases, combining cognitive and electromyographic (EMG) experiments. During the cognitive experiment, we focused on 8 common XR commands and collected 24 gestures to compare the differences in gesture cognition between elderly and young people. During EMG experiments, we screened out the gestures with lower muscle load, proposed an optimal set of aging-adapted gestures and specify the corresponding interaction guidelines. The results of the study provide practical recommendations for designing interaction gestures that match the psychological and physiological needs of the elderly, aiming to enable them to fully benefit from the welfare brought by XR technologies.

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扩展现实中老年人手势交互的人机工程学评价

随着中国老龄化的加剧，老年人的社会地位和需求日益突出。扩展现实（XR）作为一种能够提供沉浸式体验的新兴技术，为提高老年人的生活质量提供了新的机会。手势交互以其低学习曲线和易于使用而闻名，已广泛应用于XR应用程序。然而，由于认知和肢体运动能力下降，目前的XR手势对老年人来说仍然具有挑战性。本研究的目的是建立一套可以在XR环境中广泛使用的老年人互动手势。研究分为两个阶段，认知实验和肌电图实验相结合。在认知实验中，我们针对8个常见的XR指令，收集了24个手势，比较老年人和年轻人在手势认知上的差异。在肌电图实验中，我们筛选了肌肉负荷较低的手势，提出了一组最优的适应衰老的手势，并制定了相应的交互准则。研究结果为设计符合老年人心理和生理需求的交互手势提供了实用建议，旨在使老年人充分受益于XR技术带来的福利。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics 工程技术-工程：工业

CiteScore

6.40

自引率

12.90%

发文量

110

审稿时长

56 days

期刊介绍： The journal publishes original contributions that add to our understanding of the role of humans in today systems and the interactions thereof with various system components. The journal typically covers the following areas: industrial and occupational ergonomics, design of systems, tools and equipment, human performance measurement and modeling, human productivity, humans in technologically complex systems, and safety. The focus of the articles includes basic theoretical advances, applications, case studies, new methodologies and procedures; and empirical studies.