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The emergency room (ER) digital bedside card is a simple and important invention. It can be directly connected to the hospital information system to display important patient information in real time, reduce the workload of ER staff, improve their satisfaction, and provide useful information for patients and their families. We conducted a prospective study of ER staff using questionnaires and conducted Wilcoxon signed-rank test to compare before and after ER digital bedside card implementation in the Tamsui MacKay Memorial Hospital. Sixty participants of the ER staff joined the study before and after digital card implementation. After the ER digital bedside card was set up, the number of round trips from the nursing station to the ER bedside and the number of common questions asked by patients and their family members were significantly reduced. The cards reduced the response time for frequently asked questions by patients and their family members and significantly improved the satisfaction of ER staff. Our study showed that ER digital bedside cards reduced the workload of ER staff, provided patients and their families with useful information, and greatly improved ER staff satisfaction. This marks an important milestone in the future development of smart ER. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergency department (ED) is at the forefront of medical care, and the medical team needs to make outright judgments and treatment decisions under time constraints. Thus, knowing how to make personalized and precise predictions is a very challenging task. With the advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) technology, Chi Mei Medical Center (CMMC) adopted AI, the Internet of Things (IoT), and interaction technologies to establish diverse prognosis prediction models for eight diseases based on the ED electronic medical records of three branch hospitals. CMMC integrated these predictive models to form a digital AI dashboard, showing the risk status of all ED patients diagnosed with any of these eight diseases. This study first explored the methodology of CMMC's AI development and proposed a four-tier AI dashboard architecture for ED implementation. The AI dashboard's ease of use, usefulness, and acceptance was also strongly affirmed by the ED medical staff. The ED AI dashboard is an effective tool in the implementation of real-time risk monitoring of patients in the ED and could improve the quality of care as a part of best practice. Based on the results of this study, it is suggested that healthcare institutions thoughtfully consider tailoring their ED dashboard designs to adapt to their unique workflows and environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study was to determine the usefulness of augmented reality (AR) in teaching. An experiment was conducted to examine children's learning performances, which included the number of errors they made, their ability to remember the content of what they had read and their satisfaction with the three types of teaching materials, including a picture book, physical interactions and an AR graphic book. The three teaching materials were aimed to respectively demonstrate the characteristics of six bacteria with 2D graphics, 3D physical objects, and 3D virtual objects. Seventy-two fifth-grade children were randomly selected to participate in the study, and they were divided into three groups, each of which used the assigned teaching material to learn the name of the six different bacteria in intervals of 1, 2 and 3 min. Results showed that the AR graphic book offers a practical and hands-on way for children to explore and learn about the bacteria. Follow-up interviews indicated that the children liked the AR graphic book the most, and they preferred it to the other materials. Lay Description What is currently known about Augmented Reality and learning? Augmented reality (AR) provides a new perspective for learning by allowing learners to visualize complex spatial relationships and abstract concepts., What the paper adds to the subject matter? AR improves learning performances to a similar extent as the most used teaching materials (both picture books and physical interactions) do., AR not only facilitates learning but also increases learning motivations better than conventional teaching materials do. The implications of study findings for practitioners. If children feel bored about reading textbooks, give them AR (because AR effectively enhances learning and children are more motivated when using AR)., AR teaching material is a good alternative to conventional picture book and physical interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated different Chinese on-screen text layouts to see if they improved the reading speed and comprehension of Taiwanese children. A number of different experimental treatments were used. These were: interword spacing (unspaced, semi-spaced and fully-spaced), text difficulty (easy and difficult) and text direction (vertical and horizontal). The experiment involved 84 children aged between 10 and 11 years old. In the experiment the children were asked to read articles. The time they took to read these articles was recorded. The children also partook in comprehension tests to determine how much they had understood about the articles they had read. The results showed that horizontal text was read more quickly than vertical text and was better comprehended. The results also showed that fully-spaced difficult text was read more quickly than semi-spaced difficult text, and unspaced difficult text was also better comprehended. Practitioner Summary: This experiment was conducted to explore the affects of interword spacing, text direction and text difficulty on the reading speeds and comprehension of on-screen traditional Chinese characters by Taiwanese children. It found that fully-spaced, horizontal text was the quickest and most comprehendible to read, regardless of text difficulty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to understand whether warning messages help decision-makers recognise redundancy bias and reduce the effects of such bias during exposure to redundant information. We proposed a mechanism to reduce the effect of redundancy bias by presenting computer-supported warning messages during the decision process as a debiasing method, and tested this method via a longitudinal experiment with 108 subjects. Warnings could serve as an effective reminder of the presence of redundancy bias and reduce irrational increases in confidence. Further, these warnings could encourage people to carefully consider and adjust their decisions. The results showed that redundancy leads to repeated statements being rated as more valid than non-repeated statements. As predicted, with the help of the warnings, the participants were able to carefully reconsider and adjust their decisions, and they were somewhat satisfied with this feature. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study aimed to evaluate how differently co-located users perform and interact while solving problems by using existing and newly developed interaction mechanisms of a multi-touch tabletop system on a large-size tabletop display. Furthermore, this study aimed to investigate users’ perceived situation awareness due to the system. This study conducted one experiment and introduced three newly developed interaction mechanisms:two-way rubber band, drag-and-response,andcentre collection area.Two-way rubber band enables users not only to send but also to request digital objects. Drag-and-response allows users to accept or to reject digital objects sent by others; therefore, it eliminates conflicting situations and interference. Centre collection area stores, organises, and manages shared digital resources on a surface of a tabletop display, so that users have an overall picture of available resources. This paper discusses results of an experiment, research findings, and implications along with conclusions and several suggestions for future development and research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the compatibility of stimulus codes and response modalities and how it mediated the spatial Stroop effect. Stimulus code (word, arrow and moving dots), response modality (voice, keypress and mouse movement), directional information (left and right) and physical location (centre, left and right) of the stimulus were manipulated. Participants responded to the directional information of the stimulus. Spatial interference was expected when the stimulus’ directional information and physical location were incongruent. Results showed that more compatible pairings for the three response modalities were word–voice, arrow–keypress and arrow–movement. Incongruent spatial location delayed the reaction time for all response modalities with the word, speeded up the vocal and keypress responses with the moving dots, and had no effect with the arrow. Arrow was thus recommended for conveying directional information on interfaces. This study demonstrated that spatial interference was mediated by the stimulus code, response modality and their compatibility. Practitioner Summary:This study manipulated three stimulus codes and three response modalities to examine how stimulus–response compatibility mediated the spatial Stroop effect. Spatial interference appeared with the word and moving dots, but not arrow stimulus, for vocal, keypress and mouse responses. Arrow was therefore recommended to convey directional information on an interface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mobile computers are now increasingly applied to facilitate face-to-face collaborative learning. However, the factors affecting face-to-face peer interactions are complex as they involve rich communication media. In particular, non-verbal interactions are necessary to convey critical communication messages in face-to-face communication. Through gathering discourse and non-verbal interaction records, this study explores the peer interactions supported by two collaborative applications: one with mobile computers and the other with shared-display groupware ( SDG). The results show that the students tended to interact with each other according to a distributed and an unsocial interaction pattern when using the application with mobile computers. In contrast, the students who learned with the SDG demonstrated a shared interaction pattern, whereby they often jointly focused on and referred to the shared work. The analysis of the students' work further found that a higher level of discussion was generally associated with the shared interaction pattern. The results seem to support SDG as being useful in augmenting face-to-face peer interaction supported by mobile computers. The implications derived from the findings also support the argument that non-verbal interaction records are useful for quantitatively and qualitatively analysing face-to-face peer interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents a look-ahead release planning approach on the basis of AutoMod simulation model for a sixth-generation thin film transistor liquid crystal display color filter (CF) fab in north Taiwan. The studied CF fab has two identical lines with the processes of black matrix (BM), color layer [red, green, and blue (RGB)], indium tin oxide, and photo spacer (PS). These two lines share two supporting processes, multi-domain vertical alignment (MVA) and laboratory (LAB). MVA has the capability and flexibility to provide the functions of RGB and PS, whereas LAB can provide the functions of BM and RGB. The production release planning becomes cornplex because of the equipment flexibility in supporting each other. An AutoMod simulation mode[ is therefore developed and validated using real data from the fab. The AutoMod simulation model is well representative of the real system with less than 10% difference in throughput in all production stations. Using simulation to look ahead, a production controller can predict potential equipment idleness and make adjustment to better utilize equipment capacity. On the basis of simulation with design of experiments, the proposed simulation-based look-ahead release plan is demonstrated to be effective in improving system throughput. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored the effects of culture, ambient illumination, and resolution on perceived image quality and colourfulness of mobile displays. Thirty Taiwanese and 30 American students participated in the experiment. Two types of culture (Taiwanese and American), two types of illumination level (1500 lux and 7000 lux), and five types of resolution level (320×240, 260×208, 200×160, 140×112, and 80×64) were investigated in the experiment. Interactions between culture and resolution, and between illumination and resolution, were found for both perceived image quality and colourfulness. The results indicated that subjects were able to detect smaller differences in perceived image quality but not for colourfulness, and Taiwanese subjects could detect smaller differences than could the American subjects for both perceived image quality and colourfulness. The results further indicated that Taiwanese subjects were able to detect smaller differences at most of the resolution levels for colourfulness in 1500 lux than were the American subjects. Practitioner Summary: This study found, from culture differences and ergonomics considerations, that Taiwanese subjects could detect smaller differences than could American subjects when evaluating perceived image quality and colourfulness on mobile displays. Mobile display manufacturers can use the results of this study as a reference for future mobile display design. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

To investigate the most efficient way to represent text in reading Chinese on computer displays, three typographic variables, character size (41′ arc/24 pixels and 60′ arc/32 pixels), character spacing (1/4 and 1/8 character width) and font type (Kai and Ming), were manipulated. Results showed that the reading speed for Chinese characters of Kai type in 24 pixels with 1/8 character spacing was the shortest. Character size significantly affected overall reading speed; in specific, text in 24-pixel characters was read faster than text in 32-pixel characters. Further eye-movement analyses revealed that text in smaller-sized characters had longer fixation duration, fewer fixations and fewer regressions than text in larger-sized characters. The interaction between character spacing and font type was observed on overall reading efficiency and on some eye-movement measures, which suggests that different character spacings should be considered in different font types for more efficient reading. Generally, characters in Kai font were easier to read with 1/8 character spacing than with 1/4 character spacing. The relationship between eye-movement measures and overall reading efficiency was further discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: The advancement in variable message signs (VMS) technology has made it possible to display message with various formats. This study presented an ergonomic study on the message design of Chinese variable message signs on urban roads in Taiwan. Effects of color scheme (one, two and three) and number of message lines (single, double and triple) of VMS on participants’ response performance were investigated through a laboratory experiment. Results of analysis showed that color scheme and number of message lines are significant factors for participants’ response time to VMS. Participants responded faster for two-color than for one- and three-color scheme. Participants also took less response time for double line message than for single and triple line message. Both color scheme and number of message lines had no significant effect on participants’ response accuracy. The preference survey after the experiment showed that most participants preferred two-color scheme and double line message to the other combinations. The results can assist in adopting appropriate color scheme and number of message lines of Chinese VMS. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This study investigates the effects of two different display modes—head-up display (HUD) vs. head-down display (HDD) on the driving performance and psychological workload ratings of drivers operating commercial vehicles in Taiwan. Twelve commercial lorry drivers participated in a 2 (high/low driving load road)×2 (head-up/head-down display)×2 (different arrangements of display sequences used) mixed-factor driving simulation experiment. Participants were divided into two groups according to the level of driving load conditions within each driving load group; the participants were further divided into another 2 subgroups based on two arrangements of display sequences used. For each driving load condition, there were two 20-min driving simulation experiments, separated by a display sequence using head-up first and then head-down or vice versa. The subjects were asked to perform four tasks: “commercial goods delivery”, “navigation”, “speed detection and maintenance” and “response to an urgent event”. Results indicated that for the first task, commercial goods delivery, the two display types showed no significant performance difference in terms of average accuracy rate. However, in terms of response time to an urgent event, it was faster with the HUD (with a low driving load—head-up vs. head-down: 1.0073 vs. 1.8684 s; with a high driving load—head-up vs. head-down: 1.3235 vs. 2.3274 s) and speed control was more consistent (having low speed variations) than with the HDD. In addition, using the HUD caused less mental stress for the drivers than the HDD and was easier for first-time users to become familiar with; with a high driving load, however, the difference between the two displays was not significant. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Taiwan is a highly informational country, and a robust traffic network is not only critical to the national economy, but is also an important infrastructure for economic development. This paper aims to integrate government open data and global positioning system (GPS) technology to build an instant image-based traffic assistant agent with user-friendly interfaces, thus providing more convenient real-time traffic information for users and relevant government units. The proposed system is expected to overcome the difficulty of accurately distinguishing traffic information and to solve the problem of some road sections not providing instant information. Taking the New Taipei City Government traffic open data as an example, the proposed system can display information pages at an optimal size on smartphones and other computer devices, and integrate database analysis to instantly view traffic information. Users can enter the system without downloading the application and can access the cross-platform services using device browsers. The proposed system also provides a user reporting mechanism, which informs vehicle drivers on congested road sections about road conditions. Comparison and analysis of the system with similar applications shows that although they have similar functions, the proposed system offers more practicability, better information accessibility, excellent user experience, and approximately the optimal balance (a kind of symmetry) of the important items of the interface design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]