[R U X] Corner
................................................................................ We are graduate and undergraduate students in the Research in User eXperience (RUX) Lab in the Department of Human Factors and Behavioral Neurobiology. RUX investigates the usability and user experience of technology in our everyday world. This is a regular column that explores different technologies typically used by Embry-Riddle students. ................................................................................
Okay, We Hear You: Research Insights Tyce Miller | Graduate Researchers Christina Reyes, Jose N. Mathew | Undergraduate Researchers The Study
The Process
With the astounding number of projects and studies conducted throughout all the labs on our campus, it can be difficult to keep up with all the breakthroughs and discoveries being made every semester. The Research in User eXperience lab is no exception. In the fall of 2021, a study examining the effects of background noise on user experience and the performance of mixed reality voice dictation was conducted (Sinlapanuntakul et al., 2022). In an era where imagined future technologies are becoming the reality of our modern world, mixed reality (MR) is a technology that is now well-developed. Moreover, it is currently being integrated into many different sectors of life including industry. MR overlays virtual elements over the real world and allows the user to manipulate those elements as needed.
The HoloLens 2
Photo Courtesy / Microsoft
Twenty participants with ages ranging from 18-25 participated by using the features provided with the HL2. This study used the Microsoft Hololens 2 (HL2), a Prior to each session, a briefing was conducted to help mixed reality headset to examine how effective its voice participants become more familiar with the HL2. dictation feature was in three different noise conditions. The primary objective was to find out whether it was During each session, participants repeated a variety viable to use the device’s voice dictation feature in noisy of words and phrases, provided through the speechsettings, such as a manufacturing floor. to-text dictation tool under a background noise. More specifically, the sound, measured in decibels, had three The secondary objective of this study was to compare different settings. The first setting was low (40 decibels), its results to a past study, conducted by the RUX lab, or the equivalent of library ambient noise; the second called “We Didn’t Catch That.” Throughout the course setting was medium (55 decibels), or the noise level of of the study, researchers investigated the voice dictation an electric toothbrush; and the last setting was high (70 performance of the original Microsoft Hololens (HL1). decibels), or the noise level of a vacuum cleaner. Page 18