Information Presentation Through a Head-Worn Display (“Smart Glasses”) Has a Smaller Influence on the Temporal Structure of Gait Variability During Dual-Task Gait Compared to Handheld Displays (Paper-Based System and Smartphone)

Details

• Personal Author:
  Nussbaum MA ; Sedighi A ; Ulman SM
• Description:
  The need to complete multiple tasks concurrently is a common occurrence both daily life and in occupational activities, which can often include simultaneous cognitive and physical demands. As one example, there is increasing availability of head-worn display technologies that can be employed when a user is mobile (e.g., while walking). This new method of information presentation may, however, introduce risks of adverse outcomes such as a decrement to gait performance. The goal of this study was thus to quantify the effects of a head-worn display (i.e., smart glasses) on motor variability during gait and to compare these effects with those of other common information displays (i.e., smartphone and paper-based system). Twenty participants completed four walking conditions, as a single task and in three dual-task conditions (three information displays). In the dual-task conditions, the information display was used to present several cognitive tasks. Three different measures were used to quantify variability in gait parameters for each walking condition (using the cycle-to-cycle standard deviation, sample entropy, and the "goal-equivalent manifold" approach). Our results indicated that participants used less adaptable gait strategies in dual-task walking using the paper-based system and smartphone conditions compared with single-task walking. Gait performance, however, was less affected during dual-task walking with the smart glasses. We conclude that the risk of an adverse gait event (e.g., a fall) in head-down walking conditions (i.e., the paper-based system and smartphone conditions) were higher than in single-task walking, and that head-worn displays might help reduce the risk of such events during dual-task gait conditions. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Accidental Falls Accidents Biomechanical Phenomena Nervous System Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Biomechanics Cognitive Function Falls Information Processing Kinesiology Task Performance
• ISSN:
  1932-6203
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  13
• Issue:
  4
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20056598
• Citation:
  PLoS One 2018 Apr; 13(4):e0195106
• Contact Point Address:
  Maury A. Nussbaum, Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, United States of America
• Email:
  nussbaum@vt.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2018
• Performing Organization:
  Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20010701
• Source Full Name:
  PLoS One
• End Date:
  20260630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:ba15787463c9365b831ea96e9656194970fd7c20ac0a44c9dda902808fe3fe5f8b79df285accf2f6072c2087f46ffc5776dcb4689a9ee9fa2487320ce7f184c0
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/214177/cdc_214177_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 9.11 MB ]