Research Report - Can haptic technology encourage society to be more hygiene conscious ?

Can haptic technology become an extension of our senses, make us more hygiene conscious as human beings ?

Research report by Abdul Sulaiman

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- Introduction

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- Literature review - Haptic technology, an insight 03 - Context: a global pandemic 06 - The problem 07 - Justification 10

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- Primary research methods

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- Primary research findings

Contents.

- The interview 14 - The questionnaire 15

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- Conclusion

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- References

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- Appendices

1) 2020. Pexels. [online] Available at: <https://www.pexels.com/photo/cold-fashion-person-people-4297995/> [Accessed 7 May 2020].

2) 2020. Pexels. [online] Available at: <https://www.pexels.com/photo/photo-of-woman-wearing-turtleneck-top-2777898/> [Accessed 7 May 2020].

3) Ryo Tada + Studio TADA. 2020. FULU - Haptic Finger Nail For Augmented Reality â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Ryo Tada + Studio TADA. [online] Available at: <https://www.ryotada.com/fulu> [Accessed 7 May 2020].

4) Images.pexels.com. 2020. [online] Available at: <https://images. pexels.com/photos/3962328/pexels-photo-3962328.jpeg?auto=compress&cs=tinysrgb&dpr=3&h=750&w=1260> [Accessed 7 May 2020].

5) 2020. Pexels. [online] Available at: <https://www.pexels.com/photo/doctors-doing-operation-3259624/> [Accessed 7 May 2020].

6) 2020. Pexels. [online] Available at: <https://www.pexels.com/photo/persons-hand-on-orange-background-3762880/> [Accessed 7 May 2020].

7) Static01.nyt.com. 2020. [online] Available at: <https://static01.nyt. com/images/2020/03/21/business/20JPvirus-groceryworkers-print/ merlin_170535786_32ac1669-0156-40fd-a715-5181cf390fc9-superJumbo.jpg> [Accessed 7 May 2020].

Figures.

8) Therailwayhub.co.uk. 2020. [online] Available at: <https://www. therailwayhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/41/2019/08/Southeastern-despatching.jpg> [Accessed 7 May 2020].

9) Inews.co.uk. 2020. [online] Available at: <https://inews.co.uk/images-i.jpimedia.uk/imagefetch/https://inews.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Waitrose-worker-mask.jpg> [Accessed 7 May 2020].

10) Images.pexels.com. 2020. [online] Available at: <https://images.pexels.com/photos/3959482/pexels-photo-3959482.jpeg?auto=compress&cs=tinysrgb&dpr=2&h=650&w=940> [Accessed 7 May 2020].

11) Images.pexels.com. 2020. [online] Available at: <https://images.pexels.com/photos/4167562/pexels-photo-4167562.jpeg?auto=compress&cs=tinysrgb&dpr=2&h=650&w=940> [Accessed 7 May 2020].

Introduction

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An emerging technology.

Haptic technology is an emerging branch of technology that has so much untapped potential it is almost concerning.

It is not a new discovery; however, researchers are still very unfamiliar with this technology and are indeed in the early stages of understanding its capabilities and functionality. It is largely known to be able recreate a digital sense of touch, and wherever a fusion between humans and technology arises there are always question of ethics, morals and limitations.

Particularly, human enhancement, a fantasized trope in science fiction, becomes a question of going against biology and nature itself when it comes to reality. But do people have to become part man, part cyborg to really discover the unlocked potential haptic technology has to offer? No, they do not.

What if haptic technology could become an extension of human reality? Enhance reality without physically changing it, you? To fuse with the five senses, possibly the most integral system in the human body? It sounds very fictional, but it is a very realistic possibility and could benefit human being as a species moving forward through the evolution technological innovation

Aim of the report With the current Coronavirus pandemic as an applicable and relative area of context, this research report aims to gain an insight into a rapidly growing technological trend and whether its application to the sensory system can help influence people become more hygiene conscious. The report will provide an insight to potential, an informed perspective, not a definitive answer.

Fig (2) Futurstic haptic display

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Haptic technology, an insight.

Haptic is defined as anything “related to or based on the sense of touch (1).” Haptic technology refers to any form of technology that can recreate the sense of touch, more recently, digitally, but this recreation mainly happens physically. Haptic technology dates back to roughly pre 1960s where pilots of aircrafts applied to aeroplane servosystems that enabled pilots detect when a stall was occur due to the aerodynamic vibration felt in the pilot’s controls (2) (Could be suggested as an early form of haptic feedback). It really picked up traction when the implementation of this technology was applied to gaming systems to enhance the experience of realism. One of the earliest applications to a gaming system, was the use of haptic technology in Sega’s Fonz (3), a motocross arcade game.

Vibrations are a key mechanism in haptic devices, they help bring a sense of realism as you would experience with real life sensations. It helps produce force feedback, a wholistic sensation covering three dimensional haptic simulations of physical experiences like momentum, recoil and textures of objects. In order to produce these sensations, most haptic devices consist of an actuator or actuators that contain motors that rotate the actuators unbalanced weight which consequently causes the vibration.

When it comes to recreating physical sensations, there has since been a more advanced method of doing so via ultrasound waves transmission. With the transmission of these waves, converging towards a similar direction, a focal point of these waves can be created, and by manipulating the frequency of this emission can create and increase the sense of pressure on the receiving surface. Directed towards a human hand, this would create the physical sensation of touch. This technique has been adopted by leading haptic technology company, Ultrahaptics. They refer to their patented iteration of this method as “mid-air haptics (4)”, and state their technology helps create “digital worlds that feel human (4)”.

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Fig (3) Fulu’s Haptic finger nail

Literature review

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Context: A global pandemic.

The Coronavirus and its deadly counterpart, COVID-19, have put the world on standstill. It is a contagious virus that has raised awareness of the vulnerability of modern society and the significance of personal hygiene in light of preventing the spread of the virus. A primary measure that has been taken by forty-seven countries worldwide according to column writer Kaisha Langton, Express (5), was the enforcement of lockdowns, whereby millions of people have been advised to stay home and only leave home if absolutely necessary.

People being isolated from society and social norms is bound to shape societal structure and of course lead to influencing new behavioural trends. Logically, as people are only allowed out on a restricted basis, essential living has become a modern trend. Luxury item consumption in stores have gradually declined, with people only buying essential items in order to limit potential exposure to the virus. The way people are living currently is a compromise of quality to maintain an efficient lifestyle a sense of normality. A sense of cohesion has arisen in several communities, a joined front to combat the virus in numbers. Governments, brands and consumers alike have become more health conscious. With governments and brands specifically, they are consistently promoting public health. JWT Intelligence predicts this cohesive response could be a lasting one (6), evolving society to becoming more health and hygiene conscious in most aspects of their daily lives.

With solutions slowly emerging to help combat the virus and regain stability within society, could Haptic technology enhance these solutions? Be the solution?

Fig (4) A more hygeine concious society

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The problem.

The possible solution, Haptic technology. The problem, Coronavirus. However, the problem/pain point discovered, being coronavirus, is too big a problem, a problem itself.

With guidance from secondary insight into the structure of modern-day society, another emergent trend, consequent of the global pandemic, is the classification of “key workers”.

“Key workers are people whose jobs are vital to public health and safety during the coronavirus lockdown.

Because their work is so vital, the Government is keen to ensure that they are able to carry out their jobs with as little restriction as possible.”

– Josh White, The Telegraph (7)

The significance of the role of key workers to society, highlighted by this online article implies that without key workers in the current pandemic climate, public health and safety will be highly vulnerable. This public vulnerability was briefly reflected by actions of the public “- panic buying -” which “- led to the supermarkets imposing restrictions on how many of individual items customers could buy. (8)” This proposes an appropriate opportunity to be resolved via the application of haptic technology; as key workers have an integral role in society’s wellbeing, how can their safety be reinforced so they can successfully continue to provide services to the public?

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Fig (5) Pandemic workers in action

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Justification.

With evidence gathered from secondary research, it is clear that haptic technology recreates a sensation of touch via methods such as motor actuation and ultrasound wave transmission. But is this a reasonable proposed solution for reinforcing safety, in the sense of hygiene?

According to the NHS (9), â&#x20AC;&#x153;Physical distancing measures are for everyone, including children. We should all be trying to reduce our interaction with people to stop the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19).â&#x20AC;? Social distancing has been one of the key principles in protecting people from catching the virus as well other measures of protection such as regular sanitation of environments and the use of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) in the case of key workers. The common ground between these safety measures is the principle of reducing contact, whether it be with each other as people or reducing the amount of bacteria people come in contact with.

Haptic technology can possibly be applied here due to the fact that it supplies a means of recreating touch and physical sensations without physical touch, specifically via the method of ultrasound wave transmission. Being the relevant candidate to be applied in this proposed problem, the scope of applications is largely varied. Surfaces that react autonomously via haptic stimuli that inform key workers of bacteria contaminated working areas, protective masks that vibrate to inform health key works of potential exposure, both and many more opportunities that could be propelled by haptic technology. The ability to recreate the sensation of touch without physical contact could potentially help key workers reduce physical contact.

Fig (6) Touch, non-physical contact achievable via haptic technology

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Reason behind chosen method.

The methods of primary research carried out for this report were via the use of an interview and a questionnaire. Two interviews were initially carried out, however due to a corrupted audio file of the second of the interviews, the discussion was recapped and accounted for via a questionnaire. The aim of the primary research was to question key workers about the quality of safety in the working environment amidst coronavirus and how efficiency has been/can be maintained?

As key workers are a small demographic due to current circumstances, a more personal, informed response(s) would largely and more appropriately contribute to this report. That was the main train of thought behind the choice of using these research methods. Evidence of results correspondence and consent are present in the Appendices (A-F).

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Fig (7) A supermarket, key worker, part of the target demographic

Primary research method 12

Primary research findings

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The interview.

The interview previously taken place was with South Eastern trains, customer service assistant, Chris Petit. For questions that were asked during the interview, refer to Appendix C. One of the key insights from this interview was that as opposed to referring to the level of safety in his current place of work, Chris commented on the fact that he initially found pubic transport fairly unsafe, in relation to hygiene, “when lockdown first started, I didn’t have any PPE, so I didn’t feel too safe on buses and trains. I felt exposed.” Public transport was not considered as a contact point that key workers face on a daily basis going into work and there is a level of vulnerability to being exposed to contact as much as there is in the workplace.

“Eventually I managed to get my hands-on PPE which made me feel a bit safer on public transport.”

Another insight gained from this interview is that Chris feels that members of the public are also playing their part in keeping one another safe as he stated, “I’ve seen people coming off buses when they see other people coughing on the same bus.

It shows that people ae aware and conscious. “ This potentially shows that key workers are safer with more safety concious consumers in the working environment. It is also evident that physical distancing is a preventative measure that the public are taking and also at work with Chris stating, “management has ordered that shifts in the ticketing office now only require one member of staff as opposed to two for social distancing purposes.”

An insight that contradicted the earlier proposed addition of more protection to help key workers to reinforce their safety, was stated “I think there is nothing more that they can do, I think they’ve done all they can to be honest”, by Chris. This may be workplace specific, however South Eastern railway stations and other active companies right now are following similar procedures when it comes to keeping the staff and the public safe, i.e. social distancing, protective barriers being installed, sanitising the workspace, so this might be a widely shared opinion of active key workers.

Fig (8) Chris Petit (not pictured), the interviewee, is a South Eastern employee

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The questionnaire.

The interview previously taken place was with supermarket customer assistant, Joba Oke. For questions and answers that were asked during the recapped questionnaire, refer to Appendices E and F. Joba, being a younger worker, it was assumed that he would maybe have more relaxed views, but the results seemed to be in a similar region.

An example of a similar response was in response to being asked if he felt safe about the mode of transport he uses to travel to work (bus), “not really to be honest, there isn’t as much space as you would get on a train and now that they have limited entrance points on the bus, I do not feel safe on buses. I would normally get a lift in from a friend.” It is evident that buses may potentially be one of the least safe modes of transport purely due to the lack of space and the increased likelihood of being in contact with others, limited space for social distancing.

The second significant insight gained from the questionnaire is that Joba believes that safety measures at his workplace are efficient for the environment he is working in and that, “they seem to be working well at the moment without slowing down the flow of things.” Rating his workplace as an, “eight”, in relation to how safe he thinks his workplace is, hygiene relative. This, again, questions whether key workers are as safe as they can be, and if there really is a need for a haptic technology-based solution, or any other solutions at all. Maybe the government has been thorough with guiding key workplaces with efficient methods of keeping both them and the public safe.

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Fig (9) Joba Oke is a Waitrose customer assistant (not pictured)

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Conclusion

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Final thoughts.

This insightful research process has definitely highlighted a potential opportunity for haptic technology to be applied to, but is it necessary? It has provided an insight into the amazing capabilities of haptic technology and showed that there is a lot to yet be discovered about the upcoming branch of technology.

The potential for human evolution is there with refined application. The pandemic has also provided insight into a very present situation with the aid of primary research highlighting how key workers are currently coping with safety standards.

Primary insights have also indicated that there is a possibility current key worker environment are efficiently safe, and pose the question as to whether further, more technologically driven solutions/enhancements, are necessary. And necessity is said to be the mother of invention but can innovation trump necessity?

This has not demotivated the proposed application of haptic technology to aiding the reduction of harmful contact, aiming to keep key workers safe, and consequently the public, but this has only prompted the query of justification. If justified, can haptic technology extend itself as a sixth sense to help key workers be more aware of harmful contact. If applied correctly can it become… necessary?

“Challenging situations spark human innovation. Despite all the challenges that this pandemic brings, it is also causing us to re-evaluate what truly matters (10).”

– Molteni&C Itallian furniture brand

Fig (10) A safe handshake

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Objective.

With the innovative application of Haptic technology, design a product(s) that helps key workers reduce unsafe physical contact in their working environment. The product(s) should help keep the user safe without disrupting their workflow or hindering the publicâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s experience in the same environment.

Considerations: - Reduces unsafe contact - Benefits key workers immediately, public long term - Consider longevity of function and design - Your design must justify the implementation of Haptic technology

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Fig (11) Coronivirus, the problem

Reframed brief

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References 1) Merriam-webster.com. 2020. Definition Of HAPTIC. [online] Available at: <https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ haptic> [Accessed 7 May 2020].

2) En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Haptic Technology. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haptic_ technology#History> [Accessed 7 May 2020].

3) En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Fonz (Video Game). [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fonz_(video_ game)> [Accessed 7 May 2020].

4) Ultraleap.com. 2020. Digital Worlds That Feel Human | Ultraleap. [online] Available at: <https://www.ultraleap.com> [Accessed 7 May 2020].

5) Langton, K., 2020. Lockdown: Which Countries Are In Lockdown? How Many People?. [online] Express. co.uk. Available at: <https://www.express.co.uk/news/ world/1260709/lockdown-which-countries-are-in-lockdownhow-many-people-coronavirus-cases> [Accessed 7 May 2020].

6) Wunderman Thompson Intelligence. 2020. The Business Of Health. [online] Available at: <https://intelligence. wundermanthompson.com/2020/04/the-business-of-health/> [Accessed 7 May 2020].

7) White, J. and Hope, C., 2020. Who Is On The List Of Key Workers?. [online] The Telegraph. Available at: <https://www. telegraph.co.uk/news/0/key-essential-workers-uk/> [Accessed 7 May 2020].

8) BBC News. 2020. How Do I Get A Food Parcel?. [online] Available at: <https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/ business-51737030> [Accessed 7 May 2020].

9) Nhsinform.scot. 2020. Coronavirus (COVID-19): Physical Distancing. [online] Available at: <https://www.nhsinform. scot/illnesses-and-conditions/infections-and-poisoning/ coronavirus-covid-19/coronavirus-covid-19-physicaldistancing> [Accessed 7 May 2020].

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10) Block, I., 2020. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Challenging Situations Spark Human Innovationâ&#x20AC;? Say Italian Design Brands Hit By Covid-19. [online] Dezeen. Available at: <https://www.dezeen.com/2020/03/27/ italy-factory-closed-coronavirus-design/> [Accessed 7 May 2020].

Architecture, Design and the Built Environment Generic Ethics Assessment and Approval Form

Student name: Abdul Sulaiman Student number: n0808421@ntu.ac.uk Course of study: Product Design

Appendix A

Module code: PROD20002 Title of Project: Research Report

Section A: Primary Research

Are you intending to conduct Primary Research (from surveys you create, interviews, and/or focus groups) for this assessment

Yes

No

If you answer No, simply return this form to your module leader â&#x20AC;&#x201C; there is no need to complete the remainder of this form If you answer Yes, please be guided by your module leader, but ethical monitoring is primarily about protecting vulnerable groups, therefore please complete the following sections

Section B: Participants Vulnerable Groups Does your research involve vulnerable participants? If not, go to Section C If your research does involve vulnerable participants, will participants be knowingly recruited from one or more of the following vulnerable groups?

Children under 18 years of age

Yes

No

People over 65 years of age

Yes

No

Pregnant women

Yes

No

People with mental illness

Yes

No

Prisoners/Detained persons

Yes

No

Other vulnerable group#(please specify _____________________ )

Yes

No

Other types of vulnerable groups may include indigenous or non-English speakers, particularly in overseas countries, victims of torture, the homeless, ex-soldiers etc.

Appendices

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Appendix B

Appendix C

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Appendix D

Continued on following pages.

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Appendix E

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Appendix F

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End.