Carisa Harris Adamson | University of California, Berkeley (original) (raw)

Papers by Carisa Harris Adamson

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting

Extended computer mouse usage may lead to health problems including chronic pain and musculoskele... more Extended computer mouse usage may lead to health problems including chronic pain and musculoskeletal disorders. The weight of the computer mouse is an important feature of mouse design. However, the impact of mouse weight on gaming has not been explored. This study assessed the influence of mouse weight on muscle activity, performance, and user preference. Twelve participants participated in this study. Participants used six computer mice (40g-140g) to perform a Fitts' test and gaming tasks. Wireless surface electromyography was used to record muscle activity. Fitts’ test was used to measure the performance. User preference assessed discomfort and overall preference. The results showed that muscle activity was slightly lower when using the heaviest mouse (140g); differences were not statistically significant. The lightest mouse (40g) had the highest error rate. The 60g mouse received the highest overall preference score, likely because it optimized performance while minimizing d...

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting

The COVID-19 pandemic introduced additional concerns for childhood obesity, cardiometabolic disor... more The COVID-19 pandemic introduced additional concerns for childhood obesity, cardiometabolic disorders, and mental health among children from lower socioeconomic status (SES) households. This study aimed to understand how distance education during the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the healthy habits, mental health, and metabolic health of 4th graders in an under-resourced district. 4th graders from 3 elementary schools answered questions about their habits related to diet, physical activity, sleep, and hydration during the pandemic (distance education). Students’ height, weight, waist, and hip measurements were recorded to assess metabolic health. The 4th-grade sample (n = 40) reported an overall more productive learning environment and healthier lifestyle while in school compared to learning at home. Metabolic and mental health screening results suggest that schools and communities should address mental and physical health issues that may have been triggered or exacerbated by distance ...

International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, 2017

Human-Computer Interaction. User Interface Design, Development and Multimodality, 2017

Virtual reality requires high levels of interaction with the user, a type of human computer inter... more Virtual reality requires high levels of interaction with the user, a type of human computer interaction. Interactions that match the way humans usually interact with their surroundings should improve training effectiveness. A 3D hand gesture based interface allows users to control the position and orientation of 3D objects by simply moving their hands, thereby, creating a more naturalistic interaction process. The design of hand gestures should be evaluated to determine design features that are the most effective and comfortable for the user. The purpose of this study was to evaluate parameters for the design of 3D hand gestures for object manipulation in virtual reality to optimize productivity and usability. Twenty participants completed object manipulation tasks while wearing an Oculus Rift headset with a mounted Leap Motion depth sensor camera to capture hand gestures. Independent variables were distance from hand to object, hand posture threshold for grab and release, and grab locations on object. The dependent variables were time for task completion and subjective measures of control, fatigue, motion sickness, and preference. The preferred gesture design parameter was related to better control and reduced time to complete the tasks. In conclusion, this study identified important gesture design features that can be optimized to improve usability and throughput for an object manipulation task in Virtual Reality.

IISE Transactions on Occupational Ergonomics and Human Factors, 2019

Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, 2021

Sedentary behaviour among school children has been associated with musculoskeletal pain, adverse ... more Sedentary behaviour among school children has been associated with musculoskeletal pain, adverse cardiometabolic disorders and reduced cognitive performance, all of which may be negatively impacted by distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. We present the methodology used to design and develop interventions to increase physical activity in 4th graders using a participatory, systems process during distance learning. Formative evaluation of training is being conducted with key stakeholders to facilitate this iterative process. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Heavy load carrying of water, firewood, and sand/stones is a ubiquitous activity for women living... more Heavy load carrying of water, firewood, and sand/stones is a ubiquitous activity for women living in developing countries. Although the intra-abdominal pressure associated with heavy load carrying is hypothesized to increase the risk of pelvic organ prolapse (POP) among women, relevant epidemiologic data are lacking. We conducted a comparative study involving two exploratory cross-sectional studies among convenience samples of women carrying heavy loads, with different characteristics: (1) as part of their activities for daily living, in Shinyanga region, Tanzania; and (2) working as sand miners in Pokhara, Nepal. Women were categorized has having “low” or “high” load-carrying exposures based on the measured weights of the loads being carried at the time of the survey, as well as on self-reported duration and frequency of load carrying. A summary score for lower abdominal discomfort suggestive of POP was generated using questions from the Pelvic Organ Prolapse Distress Inventory (PO...

Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 2016

Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is a costly disease for employers and a source of long-term disabili... more Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is a costly disease for employers and a source of long-term disability to workers. Force, repetition, and deviated posture are commonly believed risk factors for CTS. The aim of this study was to quantify associations between workplace biomechanical factors and incidence of dominant-hand CTS after adjusting for personal risk factors. 2751 incident eligible workers were followed prospectively for up to 6.4 years and contributed 6243 person-years of data to this longitudinal study. Applied force, frequency and duty cycle of exertions, wrist posture, and ACGIH TLV for HAL were quantified for each worker and periodically remeasured throughout the study. Incident cases of CTS were determined from symptoms and electrodiagnostic studies. Hazard Ratios were estimated using proportional hazards regression. All models were adjusted for age, gender, BMI, and orthogonal physical exposures. In the adjusted models, associations were found between CTS and peak force (HR = 2.17; 95% CI: 1.38 to 3.43), frequency of forceful exertions (HR = 1.84; 95% CI: 1.19 to 2.86),% of time spent in forceful exertions (HR = 2.05; 95% CI: 1.34 to 3.15), and the TLV for HAL as a continuous variable (HR = 1.32 per unit; 95% CI: 1.11–1.57). Conversely, statistical associations with increased risk of CTS were not found between total frequency of, or total% time under exertions, nor for deviated wrist postures. These results suggest that peak force acts as an independent risk factor for CTS. However, frequency of exertion and% time under exertion are only associated with CTS when a non-trivial amount of force is being applied, thus “repetition” does not appear to be an independent risk factor per se. We found no evidence to suggest that hand/wrist posture is an independent risk factor for CTS.

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, 2020

Many workers engaged in manual material handling (MMH) jobs experience high physical demands that... more Many workers engaged in manual material handling (MMH) jobs experience high physical demands that are associated with work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSD). Quantifying the physical demands of a job is an important legal requirement in the US that is used by human resources in the job hiring process. Most physical demands analysis (PDA) are performed using observational and semi-quantitative methods. The lack of accuracy and reliability of these methods can create problems when assigning acceptable tasks to an injured worker. In this study, various deep learning models were applied to data from eight inertial measurement units (IMUs) to predict 15 occupational physical activities (OPA). Overall, a 95% accuracy was reached by convolutional neural network (CNN) for predicting occupational physical activities when performed in isolation. More work is needed to estimate the accuracy of the model when OPA elements are combined into a more complex task.

Supplemental material, Online supplementary file 1, for Hand Posture and Force Estimation Using S... more Supplemental material, Online supplementary file 1, for Hand Posture and Force Estimation Using Surface Electromyography and an Artificial Neural Network by Mengcheng Wang, Chuan Zhao, Alan Barr, Hao Fan, Suihuai Yu, Jay Kapellusch and Carisa Harris Adamson in Human Factors: The Journal of Human Factors and Ergonomics Society

impact of gender on personal, health and workplace psychosocial

Applied Sciences

Virtual and augmented reality (VR, AR) systems present 3D images that users can interact with usi... more Virtual and augmented reality (VR, AR) systems present 3D images that users can interact with using controllers or gestures. The design of the user input process is crucial and determines the interactive efficiency, comfort, and adoption. Gesture-based input provides a device-free interaction that may improve safety and creativity compared to using a hand controller while allowing the hands to perform other tasks. Microgestures with small finger and hand motions may have an advantage over the larger forearm and upper arm gestures by reducing distraction, reducing fatigue, and increasing privacy during the interaction. The design of microgestures should consider user experience, ergonomic principles, and interface design to optimize productivity and comfort while minimizing errors. Forty VR/AR or smart device users evaluated a set of 33 microgestures, designed by ergonomists, and linked them to 20 common AR/VR commands based on usability, comfort, and preference. Based primarily on p...

Occupational and Environmental Medicine

BackgroundThere is growing use of a job exposure matrix (JEM) to provide exposure estimates in st... more BackgroundThere is growing use of a job exposure matrix (JEM) to provide exposure estimates in studies of work-related musculoskeletal disorders; few studies have examined the validity of such estimates, nor did compare associations obtained with a JEM with those obtained using other exposures.ObjectiveThis study estimated upper extremity exposures using a JEM derived from a publicly available data set (Occupational Network, O*NET), and compared exposure-disease associations for incident carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) with those obtained using observed physical exposure measures in a large prospective study.Methods2393 workers from several industries were followed for up to 2.8 years (5.5 person-years). Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) codes were assigned to the job at enrolment. SOC codes linked to physical exposures for forceful hand exertion and repetitive activities were extracted from O*NET. We used multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression models to describe ex...

Ergonomics

Background: Sit-stand workstations are proposed solutions to reduce sedentary time at work. Numer... more Background: Sit-stand workstations are proposed solutions to reduce sedentary time at work. Numerous companies are using them to mitigate health concerns such as musculoskeletal discomfort. Objective: To review the literature on sit-stand workstations and low back discomfort. Method: We conducted a meta-analysis on literature published before 17 November 2016 that addressed the relationship between sit-stand workstations and musculoskeletal discomfort, focusing on the low back. Results: Twelve articles were identified and eight that presented results in means (SD) were included. Among a pain-free population, the standardised mean difference was −0.230 for low back discomfort with use of sit-stand workstations. When applying the SMD to studies using the 10-point pain scale, the effect estimates ranged between −0.30 and −0.51. Conclusion: Sit-stand workstations may reduce low back pain among workers. Further research is needed to help quantify dosage parameters and other health outcomes.

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting

Background Various quantification methods have been used to measure exposure to risk factors for ... more Background Various quantification methods have been used to measure exposure to risk factors for musculoskeletal injuries, including observation, video-based frame-by-frame analysis, and direct measurements. Each technique has advantages and disadvantages. The American Conference of Government Industrial Hygienists (2017) Threshold Limit Value® (TLV®) uses the hand activity level (HAL) rating scale, a 10-point visual analog scale based on hand speed and rest pauses. HAL may be determined subjectively by an observer or from a lookup table, or an equation by measuring exertion frequency ( F) and percent duty cycle ( D). This study compares task level physical exposure variables measured manually and using video computer vision for jobs selected from a selected subset of the Upper Limb MSD Consortium prospective study. We compared F and D, calculated both using manual single-frame MVTA analysis and automatic computer vision (Akkas et al., 2015, Akkas et al., 2016, Akkas et al., 2017, G...

Heavy load carrying of water, firewood, and sand/stones is a ubiquitous activity for women living... more Heavy load carrying of water, firewood, and sand/stones is a ubiquitous activity for women living in developing countries. Although the intra-abdominal pressure associated with heavy load carrying is hypothesized to increase the risk of pelvic organ prolapse (POP) among women, relevant epidemiologic data are lacking. We conducted a comparative study involving two exploratory cross-sectional studies among convenience samples of women carrying heavy loads, with different characteristics: (1) as part of their activities for daily living, in Shinyanga region, Tanzania; and (2) working as sand miners in Pokhara, Nepal. Women were categorized has having “low” or “high” load-carrying exposures based on the measured weights of the loads being carried at the time of the survey, as well as on self-reported duration and frequency of load carrying. A summary score for reproductive health discomfort suggestive of POP was generated using questions from the Pelvic Organ Prolapse Distress Inventory...

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting

International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, 2017

Human-Computer Interaction. User Interface Design, Development and Multimodality, 2017

IISE Transactions on Occupational Ergonomics and Human Factors, 2019

Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, 2021

Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 2016

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, 2020

impact of gender on personal, health and workplace psychosocial

Applied Sciences

Occupational and Environmental Medicine

Ergonomics

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting

Heavy load carrying of water, firewood, and sand/stones is a ubiquitous activity for women living... more Heavy load carrying of water, firewood, and sand/stones is a ubiquitous activity for women living in developing countries. Although the intra-abdominal pressure associated with heavy load carrying is hypothesized to increase the risk of pelvic organ prolapse (POP) among women, relevant epidemiologic data are lacking. We conducted a comparative study involving two exploratory cross-sectional studies among convenience samples of women carrying heavy loads, with different characteristics: (1) as part of their activities for daily living, in Shinyanga region, Tanzania; and (2) working as sand miners in Pokhara, Nepal. Women were categorized has having “low” or “high” load-carrying exposures based on the measured weights of the loads being carried at the time of the survey, as well as on self-reported duration and frequency of load carrying. A summary score for reproductive health discomfort suggestive of POP was generated using questions from the Pelvic Organ Prolapse Distress Inventory...