Interaction proxemics and image use in neurosurgery

2012. Helena Mentis, Kenton O'Hara, Abigail Sellen & Rikin Trivedi
Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.

Abstract

Within medical settings there is a growing interest in exploring touchless interaction technologies. The primary motivation here is to avoid contact during interaction with data so as to maintain asepsis. However, there is another important property of touchless interaction that has significant implications for their use within such settings -- namely that interaction behaviour is spatially distal from the device being interacted with. To further understand these implications we present fieldwork observations of work practice in neurosurgery theatres. Drawing on the notion of interaction proxemics and the theory of F-formations, our analysis articulates the spatial organization of collaborative work practices and interaction in these settings. From this understanding of spatial practices, we discuss opportunities and difficulties relating to the design of touchless interaction technologies for in surgical settings.

Read the full paper here ›

Citation

Mentis, H. M., O'Hara, K., Sellen, A., & Trivedi, R. (2012). Interaction proxemics and image use in neurosurgery. Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 927–936). New York, NY, USA: Association for Computing Machinery. URL: https://doi.org/10.1145/2207676.2208536, doi:10.1145/2207676.2208536

BibTeX

@inproceedings{10.1145/2207676.2208536,
author = {Mentis, Helena M. and O'Hara, Kenton and Sellen, Abigail and Trivedi, Rikin},
title = {Interaction proxemics and image use in neurosurgery},
year = {2012},
isbn = {9781450310154},
publisher = {Association for Computing Machinery},
address = {New York, NY, USA},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1145/2207676.2208536},
doi = {10.1145/2207676.2208536},
abstract = {Within medical settings there is a growing interest in exploring touchless interaction technologies. The primary motivation here is to avoid contact during interaction with data so as to maintain asepsis. However, there is another important property of touchless interaction that has significant implications for their use within such settings -- namely that interaction behaviour is spatially distal from the device being interacted with. To further understand these implications we present fieldwork observations of work practice in neurosurgery theatres. Drawing on the notion of interaction proxemics and the theory of F-formations, our analysis articulates the spatial organization of collaborative work practices and interaction in these settings. From this understanding of spatial practices, we discuss opportunities and difficulties relating to the design of touchless interaction technologies for in surgical settings.},
booktitle = {Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems},
pages = {927–936},
numpages = {10},
keywords = {gestural, health, imaging, proxemics, space, surgery, touchless interaction},
location = {Austin, Texas, USA},
series = {CHI '12}
}