Lean-Interaction: passive image manipulation in concurrent multitasking
During surgical procedures, surgeons’ hands are often occupied with various medical instruments, leaving minimal capacity for traditional input methods. In my master’s thesis, I investigated alternative touchless input modalities tailored to the operating room environment.
The thesis explored multimodal surgeon-computer interfaces through a user-centered design process. A theoretical review of multimodal systems formed the foundation for an exploratory study of radiologists’ workflows. Observations, interviews, and a systematic analysis within the context of radiological interventions revealed specific workflow challenges, leading to the classification of requirements for a touchless interface.
Through an iterative design process, innovative interaction techniques were developed to address these needs, focusing on radiological interventions. The design included abstracting the existing interface into a graphical user interface optimized for evaluation. The result was the concept “OVI,” which explored suitable multimodal combinations of hands-free interaction techniques for navigating image data. Input modalities included full-body, head, and eye gestures, as well as voice commands, enabling selection and manipulation tasks.
The study specifically evaluated which manipulative modalities were most effective for zoom interactions, distinguishing primary and secondary tasks for radiologists. A prototype system integrating both software and hardware interfaces was implemented to simulate real-world usage, providing valuable insights into the potential of touchless interfaces in enhancing medical workflows.
