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Accelerating Open Access Science in Human Factors Engineering and Human-Centered Computing

Human Systems Engineering and Design (IHSED2026): Future Trends and Applications

Human Systems Engineering and Design (IHSED2026): Future Trends and Applications cover
Editors: Tareq Ahram, Waldemar Karwowski
Topics: Artificial Intelligence & Computing, Human Systems Interaction
ISBN: 979-8-950676-13-0
DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1008139

Table of Contents

Designing an Online Rehabilitation Exercise Service for Frailty Prevention among Older Adults

Frailty prevention is a critical challenge in aging societies, as frailty represents a reversible state between robustness and the need for long-term care, involving both physical and social dimensions. This study presents the design and evaluation of an online rehabilitation exercise service aimed at preventing frailty among older adults. The service connects participants at home and in a community facility via video conferencing, enabling group exercise sessions and social interaction. A six-month experiment was conducted with 14 older adults, combining structured exercise sessions and informal social gatherings. Data were collected through physical function measurements, questionnaires, interviews, and video recordings. Results showed limited improvement in physical function, likely due to low session frequency and insufficient exercise intensity relative to participants’ baseline fitness. However, some participants reported increased awareness of stretching and greater motivation to engage in physical activity in daily life. In contrast, notable effects were observed in social engagement. Participants actively took on roles such as preparing and organizing the environment, which facilitated interaction and contributed to the prevention of social frailty. At the same time, challenges were identified in fostering interaction between online and in-person participants, as well as in supporting individuals without prior social connections. Video analysis revealed that meaningful insights emerged not only from structured activities but also from informal moments such as breaks and setup. The findings suggest that older adults can engage with digital technologies and contribute to service operation, highlighting the importance of designing sustainable, person-centered services that recognize their capabilities and agency.

Masayuki Ihara, Hiroko Tokunaga, Hiroki Murakami, Akihiko Koga, Takashi Yukihira, Ryoichi Maeda, Masashige Motoe, Shinpei Saruwatari
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Perceived Helpfulness and Adoption Intentions for Real-Time Attendance Text Notifications: Insights from School Stakeholders

Students who miss school regularly are more likely to fall behind in coursework, disengage from learning, and experience longer-term educational difficulties (Attendance Works, 2015). Chronic absenteeism remains a persistent barrier to student success (Gottfried, 2014), creating a need for timely, accessible, and actionable communication between schools and families. Real-time attendance text notifications represent one such approach, offering schools a way to inform parents and guardians immediately when a student is absent and potentially enabling earlier intervention. This pilot study examined school stakeholders’ perceptions of a real-time attendance text-messaging system designed to notify users when a student is absent. The study involved 43 participants who volunteered to participate in a six-month intervention. Each participant was assigned a fictitious child within the system and received real-time absence notifications intended to simulate an authentic school-to-home communication process. Participants included parents/guardians, educators, and administrators from Maryland public schools. At the conclusion of the intervention, participants completed a structured post-use interview or survey based on their experience with the system.The study focused on three research questions: how school stakeholders perceived the helpfulness of real-time attendance text notifications, whether they believed the notifications would prompt immediate action, and whether they believed the system could help reduce absenteeism. Findings suggest that participants responded positively across all three areas. Most participants viewed the notifications as helpful and valuable, believed that receiving a text message shortly after an absence would encourage immediate action, and agreed that a technology-based system could help reduce absenteeism. These findings provide preliminary evidence that real-time text notifications may serve as a practical, user-friendly communication tool to strengthen school-family engagement and support early attendance intervention.

Miselta Tita, Joyram Chakraborty
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Development of a design system for an AI call intake assistant - a user-centered reverse engineering approach

Although user-centered design (UCD) advocates for early user involvement, practical constraints often result in Human Factors integration taking place only when prototypes already exist. This paper proposes a solution to this challenge by employing a "reverse-engineered" UCD approach to an existing AI call intake assistant prototype. Deviating from the traditional linear approach, this approach reconstructs the problem space directly from the solution space. To apply this approach, a multi-stage method was utilized. First, a group interview was conducted with five developers of the existing AI prototype to elicit their implicit design rationales and assumptions. From this interview, preliminary usage requirements were retrospectively derived. Secondly, these requirements were validated and refined through a focus group involving 14 dispatchers, followed by a Kano analysis to identify basic, performance, and excitement factors. The study revealed critical discrepancies between developer assumptions and actual user needs. For instance, dispatchers required the capacity to intervene and cancel the AI assistance at any moment. The consolidated set of requirements now serves as the foundation for the next development phase of the AI assistant, ensuring better alignment with actual work practices. This demonstrates how a prototype can serve as a probe to deliberately step back into the problem space. Furthermore, the reverse-engineered approach holds particular promise for future rapid AI-based prototyping, especially when user involvement occurs late. This ensures the continued efficacy of human-centered design principles.

Joshua Kopp, Stefan Pfeffer, Lukas Willmann, Thomas Schlegel, Verena Wagner-Hartl
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Designing Adaptive Transparency User Interface for Pedestrian Safety in Mobile AR

As augmented reality (AR) glasses become integrated into daily life, their use during walking introduces critical safety challenges: virtual overlays can occlude real-world information, forcing users to divide attention between digital content and environmental hazards. While transparency control can mitigate this issue, fixed settings may be inadequate for dynamic walking contexts where lighting, scene complexity, and user motion change continuously. This paper presents an environment-aware transparency control system that dynamically adjusts AR interface opacity in real-time using a lightweight, interpretable heuristic. The system extracts visual features from the headset's passthrough camera, including scene motion, ambient brightness, and visual complexity, and combines them with head rotation velocity from inertial sensors to compute continuous transparency values. A within-subjects study (N=10) in a real-world indoor walking environment compared three interfaces: Opaque, Semi-Transparency, and Adaptive Transparency. Results show that both transparency-enabled interfaces significantly improved perceived safety and situational awareness while reducing interface interference compared to the Opaque condition (p < 0.001). Cognitive workload was reduced by 46.3–51.1% under both the Semi and Adaptive conditions. No significant differences were observed in objective walking behavior across interfaces. Although no significant differences were found between the Semi and Adaptive in either objective or subjective measures, 60% of participants preferred the Adaptive interface, suggesting that dynamic responsiveness offers perceived benefits for mobile AR safety and user experience.

Qiuli Jin, Zihan Ma, Zhikai Zhao, Shuping Xiong
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Systemic Design for Social License: Modelling Information and Communication Challenges in Mining Environmental Management through a Systemic CJM

Environmental management in mining projects is a complex socio-technical process in which legitimacy and operational viability depend not only on regulatory compliance, but also on the capacity to articulate actors, institutions, procedures, and environmental information throughout the project lifecycle. In this context, social licence is strained when environmental information is highly technical, dispersed, and fragmented, limiting traceability, shared understanding, and the capacity for informed action among public-sector, private-sector, and civil-society actors.This article discusses the contribution of Systemic Design, articulated with Service Design, to model the environmental management of mining projects through the construction of a systemic Customer Journey Map. Based on the case study of the Environmental Observatory for Mining Projects (EO), the article analyses how the “mining project journey” was constructed as a methodological device to represent interactions among actors, procedures, and environmental information platforms.The study shows that the Systemic Customer Journey Map enabled the identification of breakdown points in access, comprehension, traceability, coordination, and participation. It also supported the translation of these findings into design criteria for the Observatory and its Support Service. In doing so, the article contributes a replicable model for making visible the information and communication challenges that affect environmental governance and social licence in mining contexts.

Javiera Rodriguez, Katherine Mollenhauer, Gaspar Jarry, Karen Silva, Kay Bergamini
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Development and Verification of a Testing Methodology for Driver Alcohol Intoxication Detection Systems

The development of robust driver monitoring systems for alcohol intoxication detection represents a critical advancement in automotive safety technology. With intoxicated driving remaining a significant contributor to traffic fatalities worldwide, there is growing regulatory push alongside strategy for consumer safety organisations like Euro NCAP towards technologies to minimise associated risks. Development of production-ready detection solutions depends on multi-phase data collection and assessment with test participants under the influence of alcohol – presenting significant safety and ethical challenges. In consequence, there is a pressing need to build tool chains for driver intoxication monitoring system evaluation upon existing performance validation approaches across virtual and real-vehicle platforms. Specific innovation focusses upon providing user testing services for implementation during the automotive product development cycle at a critical phase between laboratory validation and real-world implementation. This paper presents a comprehensive testing framework validated through pilot implementation at the IDIADA proving ground in Spain, incorporating controlled intoxication protocols, vehicle instrumentation, and rigorous safety measures. The standardised approach supports comparative analysis between different solutions and establishes a benchmark for performance evaluation procedures balanced with specific challenges of user testing under alcohol intoxication inducement.

Francesco Deiana, James Jackson, Cristina Periago
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Long-term One-year Stability of Discomfort Perception in Automated Driving and Personal Influencing Factors

Comfort is considered one of the key factors for broad public acceptance of automated driving. New comfort aspects such as familiarity with driving manoeuvres, feelings of control, and apparent safety require user-centred design approaches to ensure usage and prevent disengagement or unnecessary take-overs. One research question in this area concerns the circumstances of comfort/discomfort perception such as stability over time and individual characteristics. The present research assessed the stability of perceived discomfort in automated driving after one year as well as influencing personal factors. A total of 28 participants (15 female, 13 male), aged between 20 and 72 years, took part in two driving simulator studies with a one-year break between them. On both dates, each participant experienced two automated drives including different potentially uncomfortable driving scenarios. During all drives, a handset controller allowed to report perceived discomfort continuously and gradually from 0 to 100 by pressing the lever. Correlation analyses were performed on the mean handset values for each entire drive. The results showed high correlations between ρ = .624 and ρ = .823 over time. Summarizing the influence of personal factors, young women with a more defensive driving style, less Affinity for Technology as well as less initial trust and acceptance of automation report more discomfort, with initial trust as most important factor. Overall, discomfort perception appears to be rather stable over time. Given the strong individual and dynamic nature, selectable driving style profiles and/or discomfort-adaptive real-time systems are recommended to achieve a human-centred design solution.

Matthias Beggiato, Cornelia Hollander, Maximilian Hentschel, Angelika C. Bullinger, Georg Jahn
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

From Commuters to Explorers: Modal Inertia, Behavioral Commitment, and the Segmentation Logic of Flat-Rate Urban Mobility

Urban residents do not fail to explore their cities because transit infrastructure is absent — they fail because behavioral habituation compresses their effective activity spaces far below objective accessibility boundaries. We term this condition modal inertia. This paper reports on a three-week social experiment in which 559 residents of a high-density metropolitan residential district in western Tokyo received unlimited access to a Digital Mobility Pass integrating a dedicated light rail line, four bus routes, and an electric micro-mobility sharing service for 2,000 JPY. Drawing on post-experiment survey data from 237 respondents (42.4% response rate) and 6,983 digital ticketing activation logs, we identify a four-segment behavioral typology and demonstrate that the number of transport modes actively combined, not demographic variables, is the primary predictor of behavioral change. Tri-modal users reported daily spending increases at 47.8%, against 33.3% for single-mode rail/bus users — a 43.5% relative differential sustained across both daily and leisure consumption contexts. The design implication is precise: MaaS interventions should be engineered to dissolve modal inertia, not merely to expand modal choice.

So Nishina
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

The Sunk Cost Dividend: Anticipatory Commitment, Willingness to Pay, and Behavioral Activation in Flat-Rate Urban Mobility

Behavioral economics has long characterized the sunk cost effect as a cognitive error — the irrational persistence in a course of action because of costs already incurred, irrespective of prospective value. This paper proposes an inversion of that framing. Drawing on behavioral log data, post-experiment survey responses (n = 237), and in-depth interview transcripts from a three-week commercial flat-rate mobility experiment in a high-density metropolitan district of western Tokyo, we identify a distinct behavioral mechanism we term anticipatory commitment: the state of structured behavioral readiness that pre-payment creates before a product is first used. Participants who paid 2,000 JPY in advance for a Digital Mobility Pass integrating three transport modes exhibited systematic pre-use scheduling, exhaustive mid-experiment optimization, and explicit value-maximization behavior. Willingness-to-pay data reveal a commercial ceiling of approximately 3,000– 5,000 JPY — a pricing corridor that covers operating costs without public subsidy. The central argument is that the pre-payment structure of a flat-rate mobility pass is not merely a revenue model; it is a behavioral intervention that converts latent urban exploration intent into structured temporal commitment. Free-of-charge trial alternatives would not produce this effect.

So Nishina
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Designing for the Operational Middle: A Sociotechnical Framework for Integrating Psychosocial Risk into Aviation Human Factors and Safety Management

The discipline of aviation human factors has historically organized itself around two design problems: the prevention of acute failure and the optimization of crew coordination. Both have produced substantial gains in system reliability, but neither fully addresses the psychosocial layer beneath them: the everyday cognitive, affective, and interpersonal conditions under which the workforce continuously produces safe performance. This paper develops a sociotechnical framework for addressing that gap. It introduces and formalizes the operational middle as a design construct: the population of aviation professionals who are certified, operationally performing, and not in crisis, but who are managing chronic psychosocial load that remains largely invisible to current monitoring, certification, and support-utilization systems. A Five-Layer Sociotechnical Model of Aviation Mental Health is proposed, distinguishing the technical, procedural, team-coordination, psychosocial, and stakeholder-environment layers of the aviation system, and locating the operational middle within the under-designed psychosocial layer. Drawing on convergent empirical signals - including cross-national workforce help-avoidance patterns and large-scale passenger perception data (N = 2,772) - the paper argues that the case for psychosocial redesign is now both internally and externally validated. Training implications are discussed through the lens of adaptive operational competencies, demonstrating how psychosocial resilience capabilities may be integrated into existing Crew Resource Management (CRM) and Evidence-Based Training (EBT) architectures rather than through parallel systems. The paper contributes a theoretical and design-oriented framework that reframes psychosocial conditions not as workforce wellbeing concerns running adjacent to safety, but as operational variables within sociotechnical systems that influence whether trained safety behaviors emerge under stress.

Kimberly Perkins, William Hoffman, Daan Vlaskamp
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Designing Employee Experience through Culture: A Framework for Culture Shift in Organizations

In recent years, Employee Experience (EX) has become a critical focus in organizational management, shifting from traditional human resource administration to maximizing employee engagement. Driven by diversifying work styles and the correlation between EX and Customer Experience (CX) under Service-Dominant Logic, organizations are increasingly leveraging "EX Design" to enhance employee satisfaction, motivation, and productivity. This paper explores EX Design and conceptualizes it through three relational dimensions: brand contracts (addressed via brand experience design), transactional contracts (addressed via service design), and psychological contracts (addressed via culture design). Because psychological contracts involve implicit expectations and shared assumptions, culture design plays a paramount role in shaping a positive EX. The paper defines culture design as the intentional and strategic shaping of shared values and mindsets, making implicit norms visible and embedding them into organizational practices. To operationalize this transformation, the study proposes a comprehensive four-step framework for "Culture Shift": (1) redefining organizational vision and mission, (2) assessing the current organizational culture, (3) co-creating the desired culture, and (4) implementing design-driven interventions. Furthermore, we present practical strategies for executing these interventions across four key domains: communication, community, events and rituals, and services and systems. By integrating EX Design with strategic culture shift methodologies, this paper provides a holistic framework for organizational transformation. The findings suggest that culture-driven EX Design goes beyond formal systems, designing shared meanings and relationships that serve as vital drivers for sustainable innovation, talent retention, and competitive advantage in dynamic business environments.

Kazuhiko Yamazaki
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Financial Reporting Quality and Firm Value: Evidence from Saudi Arabia

AbstractResearch Objective Grounded in agency, signaling, and stakeholder theories, this study investigates the impact of perceived financial reporting quality (FRQ) on firm value and investment decision-making within the reforming institutional landscape of Saudi Arabia's capital market under the Vision 2030 initiative. Specifically, it examines whether audit quality and corporate governance (AQCG), IFRS adoption, and narrative/ESG disclosures function as mediating or moderating variables in this relationship.Methodology The study employs a quantitative, cross-sectional survey design utilizing data gathered from 180 financial market professionals (including analysts, auditors, managers, regulators, and academics). Hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling (SEM) and moderated multiple regression analysis. The measurement model demonstrated robust psychometric properties, featuring strong construct reliability (Cronbach 's alpha = 0.744 - 0.898), convergent validity (AVE > 0.50), and highly satisfactory model fit indices (RMSEA = 0.028; CFI = 0.904).Key Findings The empirical results demonstrate that perceived FRQ has a significant positive effect on firm value and investment decision-making; however, this relationship is fully mediated by AQCG, with no statistically significant direct path observed. Conversely, neither IFRS adoption nor narrative and ESG disclosures act as significant mediators or moderators. This lack of significance is attributed to the voluntary nature of current ESG reporting and uneven IFRS compliance across listed firms. Additionally, AQCG was found to exert a strong, independent direct effect on investment decisions.Contributions & Policy Implications This research contributes to the accounting literature by offering empirical insights from an emerging Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) market. It demonstrates that internal corporate governance and external audit mechanisms—rather than mere accounting standards compliance—serve as the primary channels through which financial information translates into market value. To strengthen this quality-value transmission mechanism, the study advises regulators to implement mandatory ESG reporting frameworks, auditor rotation mandates, and AI-driven auditing technologies.

Ahmed Kotb, Saad Alharbi, Mahdy Othman, Abdullah Silawi
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Usability Evaluation of Handlebar Geometry for Steering Operability in a Semi-Recumbent Quadricycle

Last-mile mobility is increasingly important in tourist areas, where safe and convenient short-distance transportation is required. The authors are developing a license-free personal mobility vehicle: an electric-assist quadricycle with a semi-recumbent riding posture that allows riders to enjoy the surrounding scenery. This quadricycle employs front-wheel steering and rear-wheel drive, resulting in structural and steering characteristics distinct from conventional bicycles. However, handlebar options are often limited, as components are typically repurposed from standard bicycles. Therefore, it is crucial to evaluate whether such handlebars are ergonomically suitable for quadricycles and how they influence steering operability. This study investigates the influence of handlebar geometry on steering operability in a semi-recumbent quadricycle, focusing on subjective ratings of braking and steering. Experiments were conducted using a prototype vehicle, SQC-03A. Three common bicycle handlebar types—straight, bullhorn, and butterfly—were examined, with two gripping configurations for the butterfly handlebar, resulting in four experimental conditions.Participants included 10 male university students who performed braking and steering operations on a stationary vehicle. Usability was assessed using a five-point subjective rating scale. Results indicate that the straight handlebar achieved the highest usability ratings for both braking and steering, whereas the bullhorn handlebar received lower ratings. This may indicate an ergonomic mismatch; the bullhorn geometry encourages a forward-leaning posture that is incompatible with the semi-recumbent position supported by a backrest. These findings suggest that straight handlebars provide superior usability for semi-recumbent quadricycles. However, long-term fatigue and variations in grip strength should also be considered.

Takako Nonaka, Rei Shiina
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Designing Digitally Mediated Networks for Pet-Inclusive Disaster Evacuation: A Socio-Technical Perspective

Disaster evacuation planning has traditionally prioritized human safety, while companion animals remain ambiguously positioned within emergency response frameworks. Given the strong bonds between people and their animals, excluding them from evacuation planning can influence human behaviour, leading some to delay or avoid evacuation and thereby increasing risks to their safety. Although the importance of pet-inclusive evacuation has gained recognition following repeated disasters, support practices remain fragmented and largely dependent on local and volunteer-based coordination, particularly in Japan where responsibility is delegated to local governments. As a result, evacuees with companion animals face significant constraints due to limited access to timely and reliable information on shelters, temporary care, and support resources. To address these challenges, this study proposes a socio-technical design framework for a digitally mediated evacuation support network. Unlike prior approaches that focus primarily on policy development or localized practices, this study conceptualizes pet-inclusive evacuation as a system-level coordination problem mediated by real-time information infrastructure. The proposed framework incorporates a real-time mapping system that enables stakeholders to register, update, and access information dynamically. By integrating heterogeneous resources into a unified information layer, the system enhances coordination, situational awareness, and adaptive decision-making across multiple actors. The study further identifies key design requirements, including scalability, accessibility, and trust, contributing to the development of more inclusive and adaptive disaster preparedness systems.

Yuka Miyazawa, Osamu Yoshie
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Rethinking the Sitting Posture Intervention: A Framework for Improving with Nudging

Prolonged sitting and poor posture contribute to musculoskeletal strain, visual fatigue, and cardiovascular risks. Although ergonomic guidelines exist, they often lack actionable, personalized thresholds for configuring visual display terminal (VDT) setups, reducing their real‑world effectiveness. This study introduces an evidence‑driven framework that combines predictive modelling with subtle behavioural nudging to promote healthier sitting posture without disrupting workflow. Using covert naturalistic observations, we developed a predictive model that identifies how screen size, height, and viewing distance influence the likelihood of forward head posture (FHP) and head over‑flexion. Instead of intrusive alerts such as pop‑ups or vibrations, the framework employs unobtrusive nudges that operate at the periphery of attention. These include automatic monitor adjustments using a low‑cost motorized stand and adaptive content zooming that simulates changes in viewing distance to encourage self‑correction. The system also explores mapping stretching motions to computer inputs to promote micromovements throughout work sessions. By integrating ergonomics, behavioural design, and accessible interactive technologies, the proposed approach offers a non‑intrusive pathway toward sustainable posture improvement. It enables personalized, context‑responsive posture support aligned with natural user behaviour, ultimately enhancing long‑term well‑being without compromising productivity.

Junjian Chen, Qin Du, Yan Luximon
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Anthropometric-Driven Ergonomic Framework for Regionally Specialized Seat Design: A Multi-Stage Study on the Brazilian Market

Current vehicle seat design often relies on standardized global anthropometric data, which may fail to account for regional variances in human dimensions, environmental conditions, and cultural driving habits. This study proposes a comprehensive methodology for developing regionally specialized seats, specifically focused on the Brazilian market. The research integrates a three-stage approach: (1) systematic desk research of 25 papers and 13 patents to identify design variables; (2) stakeholder workshops with 31 local experts from HMB and Hyundai Transys Brazil to align engineering strategies; and (3) empirical 3D anthropometric analysis (N=631 for survey, N=17 for 3D scanning) to quantify body deformation across standing, sitting, and driving postures. Results revealed significant differences in the "Height Ratio" between Brazilian and Korean populations, with Brazilians showing greater diversity in body mass distribution (BMI). Furthermore, 3D scan data indicated a 30%–42% width expansion in the thigh and hip regions during driving, leading to the development of seven specialized seat comfort strategies, including enhanced lateral support for unpaved roads and rapid-ventilation systems for tropical climates. This methodology provides a robust framework for improving seat comfort and safety in global markets through regionalization.

Sunwoo Choi, Heecheon You, Sujin Kim, Xin Cui
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

A Hybrid MCDM Framework for Industrial Robot Appearance Evaluation Based on BWM-CRITIC Combined Weighting and VIKOR Ranking

To address the evaluation and selection of industrial robot appearances, this study constructs a hybrid multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) framework. Initial evaluation criteria are derived from users’ perceptual impressions, systematically organized using the KJ method under the paradigm of Kansei Engineering, and hierarchically structured based on Donald Norman’s three-level theory of emotional design. To overcome the limitations of single weighting techniques, this study adopts a dual-perspective weighting strategy: subjective weights reflecting expert judgments are obtained via the Best-Worst Method (BWM), while objective weights are generated using an improved CRITIC method integrated with information entropy, which accounts for the contrast intensity, conflict, and information utility inherent in the evaluation data. The two sets of weights are further fused into a final combined weight vector using the maximizing deviation method. Finally, the VIKOR ranking method is employed to comprehensively evaluate and rank four representative industrial robot design schemes. The validation results demonstrate that the proposed BWM-CRITIC combined weighting approach, coupled with VIKOR ranking, effectively balances subjective cognitive judgments and objective mathematical characteristics. Therefore, the proposed framework provides a robust and implementable tool for the screening and evaluation of industrial robot appearance designs, with potential extensions to other product form evaluation domains.

Wang Yueren, Beibei Sun
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Organizational Thermodynamics: A Phase Transition Model of Value Resonance and Entropic Collapse in High-Growth Startups

A recurring failure mode in high-growth startups is the progressive deterioration of organizational coherence traceable not to product failure or market dynamics but to value-misaligned senior leaders insulated from accountability by their own rank and compensation. This paper introduces Organizational Thermodynamics (OT), a formal framework modeling the scaling organization as an open thermodynamic system. The governing equation G = (U·V) − (S·T) captures free organizational energy as the net of purposive coupling force (U·V, institutional binding modulated by Value Resonance Coefficient V) minus entropic load (S·T, structural complexity scaled by growth velocity). When V turns negative in a high-rank leader, U·V turns negative, converting institutional architecture into a net entropy amplifier—a discontinuous collapse I term destructive sublimation. Two leading behavioral indicators—Agenda Engagement (AE) and Reward Centricity (RC)—are proposed as a composite early-warning index (EWI). Case vignette evidence from thirty-one technology startups (2015–2024, Series A–D) offers directional support: nine of eleven organizations (81.8%) experiencing destructive sublimation exhibited the AE↓ RC↑ pattern at least two quarters prior to visible deterioration. A multi-phase research agenda is proposed to underpin quantitative validation.

So Nishina
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

A Design Framework Based on Endogenous Priority Construction

The reduction of independent peer interaction is likely to negatively impact on children’s cognitive, emotional, and social development.Therefore, this study aims to establish a design framework to enhance children's willingness for face-to-face social engagement. The mixed-method approach, including literature review and semi-structured interview, was adopted. Firstly, through literature review, the main reasons why children dislike social activity are peer exclusion, lack of social skills, social anxiety, excessive screen time, over-protection by family, and social time compression. To further explore children’s social experiences and psychological need, the semi-structured interview was conducted. The interview themes covered basic situation, factors influencing social participation, prioritization of barriers. Through the research above, the six core psychological needs were identified. To validate this framework, we developed a companion robot prototype through co-design method to encourage children’s social engagement. Based on the gamification theory, the robot offers rewards after daily social interaction task supports with suggesting engaging topics to enhancing the social motivation of children. We validate this framework by integrating companion robot, which shows a positive influence of encouraging children interact with others face to face, and the potential for expanding applications with integrating existing frameworks and theories. This framework provides a reference to the designers who conduct studies in the field of child offline social development, with clear priority considerations. The framework address and understands the challenges of children’s social barriers.

Shuyao Liu, Yun Wang
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Utilizing system models for early prototype configurations in engineering complex technical systems

Early assurance of properties in complex technical systems can reduce engineering effort and even entire iterations. However, verification and validation face challenges caused by interdisciplinary dependencies and late availability of prototypes. Although Model-Based Systems Engineering offers formal system models for representing architectures, their potential for early test planning and prototype definition remains insufficiently used. This article presents a process chain for systematically extracting test-relevant system elements and parameters from system models to support V&V engineers in deriving suitable prototype configurations. Based on a systematic literature analysis, success criteria are defined and translated into a four-step approach: selecting the properties to be verified, automatically identifying relevant system elements, extracting test-relevant parameters, and generating prototype configurations. The process chain is tool-supported integrated. Relevant elements and parameters are exported from the system model using Node-RED flows, merged into a template structure, and visualized in a dashboard. The evaluation using a EU research project as well as a wind turbine case indicates potential for time savings, improved test coverage, enhanced traceability, and earlier detection of inconsistencies.

Iris Graessler, Marcel Ebel
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Approache to User Interface Usability Driven by Changing Mental Models: A Comparative Analysis of Boomers and Generation Z

This paper explores generational differences in user mental models and their impact on user interface usability. The study compares behavioral patterns of Boomers and Generation Z through an experimental task using an interactive graphical tool based on the Chord Wheel Diagram. The application visualizes musical tones within a defined scale using a circular layout complemented by a simple chord progression process visualization. The task was designed to combine a familiar context with a cognitive challenge. Music provides a generally recognizable domain, while the visual representation encourages users to rely on their own reasoning and interaction strategies rather than prior theoretical knowledge. This approach enables observation of how users from different generations interact with visually structured systems. User interactions were observed during exploratory tasks focused on identifying tonal relationships and navigating harmonic structures within the interface. The results indicate noticeable differences in navigation preferences, visual orientation, and interaction behavior between the two groups. Boomers tended to prefer sequential exploration, explicit guidance, and stable navigation structures, while Generation Z users demonstrated more exploratory and visually adaptive interaction patterns. The study also highlights the importance of adaptive visual feedback and interaction simplicity when designing interfaces intended for cognitively diverse user groups. The findings suggest that usability is closely connected to users’ cognitive expectations and interaction habits. The paper discusses practical implications for designing more human-centered visual interfaces that better reflect generational diversity in user behavior.

Josef Pavlicek, Irena Štrausová, Petra Pavlíčková, Martin Molhanec
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Evaluating Prompting Strategies for Spatial Planning in Mixed-Use Architecture: A Case Study of Kalkbreite, Zürich

In this paper, we will explore how different prompts affect the performance of LLMs when it comes to creating spatial plans in architecture. There are four strategies used in this study: one-shot prompting, few-shot prompting, chain-of-thought prompting, and meta-prompting. These methods are tested by presenting the same example of a mixed-use building, which is graded according to efficiency, complexity, accuracy, and effort involved in each case. It has been found that all these methods can provide a reasonably accurate output, although the quality and efficiency vary. Meta-prompting and chain-of-thought prompting are found to be quite detailed, while one-shot prompting is quick yet lacks detail. Few-shot and chain-of-thought prompting enable users to control their outputs through an interactive process, but this method takes up considerable time and effort.

Seyed Damoun Pezeshki, Ali Ghazvinian, Mahyar Hadighi
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Designing for Human Performance: Reframing Active Design as a Productivity Strategy in Smart Office Buildings

The built environment strongly influences employee movement, wellbeing and performance at work. Active Design in the workplace promotes physical activity and healthier behaviours each day through purposeful spatial and architectural interventions. Active design is gaining global recognition, however there is a paucity of empirical evidence documenting its productivity-related outcomes in the South African office-building context. We explore how active design projects enhance end-user performance and productivity, based on empirical data from an exploratory mixed-methods study. A qualitative-dominant comparative case study approach was employed, with two corporate office buildings chosen, one with active design interventions and the other representing a more conventional workplace environment. Data were collected through structured and semi-structured interviews with building occupants, employers and built environment professionals. The analysis concentrated on end-user perceptions of movement, wellbeing, fatigue, workplace satisfaction, productivity and organisational value. Results suggest that active design strategies, such as attractive staircases, walkable internal pathways, daylight, flexible workspaces and infrastructure supporting wellness, positively influence perceived productivity and performance. The greatest benefits were non-direct with participants linking active design environments with greater activity, improved mental wellbeing, reduced fatigue, improved morale and increased satisfaction at work. But the findings also suggest that organisational culture, employee engagement and management support play a role in productivity outcomes. The paper ends by suggesting that active design be conceptualized as a workplace productivity strategy that supports human performance indirectly via wellbeing- and behaviour-related pathways rather than an explicit, measurable productivity mechanism. Further studies with objective productivity indicators are recommended.

Liezl Le Roux, Kahilu Kajimo-Shakantu, Tascha Bremer
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Reward Temporal Architecture: A Framework for Intentional Culture Shift Design in Large Organizations

The dominant model of organizational culture change asks leaders to alter what their people believe. This paper proposes a different target: the temporal architecture of what they are rewarded for. We introduce the Reward Temporal Architecture (RTA) model — a framework that reconceptualizes organizational culture as a portfolio of six reward dimensions (Purpose, Recognition, Growth Opportunities, Compensation, Psychological Safety, and Belonging) operating across fundamentally incommensurable time horizons. The critical insight is not the dimensions themselves — variants of this taxonomy exist in the literature — but their temporal incompatibility: organizations that design culture change as if all rewards operate on the same clock consistently missequence interventions, create reward voids that generate resistance, and exhaust their most potent levers before the slower-acting ones have had time to take hold.Drawing on a longitudinal qualitative case study of a major Japanese manufacturing conglomerate across four transformation episodes spanning twenty-five years, we derive four propositions: that Compensation functions as a one-time reform ticket rather than a cultural lever; that Purpose internalization follows radically different timelines depending on whether organizational defeat is present; that Recognition operates simultaneously on a short-term institutional layer and a twenty-year cultural layer that require different management logics; and that Belonging cannot be designed directly and will ambivalently serve both transformation and resistance depending on organizational conditions. The RTA model offers practitioners a time-layered design grammar and scholars a measurable, longitudinal research program for culture change.

So Nishina
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Challenges with the land use applications process in South Africa

Effective land management is a panacea for the development of every nation, as land is needed for any infrastructure development. The South African government introduced the SPLUMA (Act 16 of 2013) land-use management policy to improve the land-acquisition process. This study aimed to explore the challenges encountered in processing land-use applications within Mangaung Municipality, South Africa. A qualitative research approach was adopted, using Bloemfontein as a case study. A semi-structured interview was conducted with 25 town planners, engineers, and environmentalists in Mangaung who were involved in land management processes to collect primary data. The factors contributing to the municipality's inability to process applications on time were categorised into external (client-related) and internal (human capacity-related, work process-related, and technology-related). The delay in land-use applications is widespread in the municipality, necessitating an urgent solution. The delay may affect the property development process, negatively impacting the municipality's and the country's economic development. Therefore, the administrative management of land applications in town planning must be improved to track applications more efficiently and monitor turnaround times. The study has identified the seriousness of land use application delays and their contributing factors. This will enable the municipality to reevaluate its entire land-use application process, thereby improving turnaround time and better serving its clients.

George Masuabi, Christopher Amoah
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Graphic Design History Lab: Teaching Critical AI Literacy Through Archival Practice in Design Education

This article reports on an experimental seminar held within the Master’s Programme in Product, Communication and Interior Design at University Iuav of Venice, conceived as an initial effort to formalise an AI-assisted procedure for cataloguing graphic design artefacts. Forty-seven students catalogued a corpus of computing and technology magazine covers spanning the 1970s through the 2000s, using a web platform that queries AI models via API. The seminar opened with a theoretical lecture introducing the conceptual tools for visual analysis, after which students built a cataloguing schema by hand. This sequence addresses a specific disciplinary problem: graphic design lacks both a systematic methodology for visual analysis and cataloguing standards adequate to its materials. AI-driven completion of the schema followed, testing whether the tool was viable in this setting. Pre/post Likert questionnaires and the resulting CSV files reveal three significant effects: students abandoned the expectation that AI outputs could be used without revision; they recalibrated their self-assessment around the distinction between description and interpretation; and they came to recognise, in retrospect, the critical value of having built the schema manually beforehand. The findings suggest that this sequence offers a replicable pedagogical model for introducing computational tools into humanistic disciplines that lack established methodological infrastructures.

Valentina Nitti, Elena Cavallin
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

From Generic to Personalized: Lessons for Meaningful Human–AI Interaction in LLM-Supported Care Documentation

We present an LLM-based documentation support system that extracts care-relevant information from nurse–resident interactions in residential care. While care workers generally responded positively, the inclusion of care worker–related information in reports remains a key issue. We investigate whether personalization via user profile injection can reduce such unwanted output. To this end, we introduce an LLM-based pipeline for automatically extracting care worker facts from transcripts. Results show that both profile injection and candidate-constrained prompting reduce care worker information, but lead to lower evaluation scores, indicating limited post-editing of the initial reports. We therefore argue for incorporating reflection mechanisms to mitigate automation bias, as well as feedback loops to further improve system performance and enable adaptation to individual documentation preferences.

Reinhard Kletter, Sabine Theresia Koeszegi
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Human-Centered AI for Exploring Global Framing Patterns in Climate Disaster News

Climate disaster news shapes public understanding of global events, yet coverage of the same disaster often varies across regions and media outlets. Differences in framing (e.g., tone, narrative emphasis, source selection) influence how responsibility, urgency, and impact are perceived. At the same time, the growing volume of digital news makes systematic comparison difficult. While natural language processing enables automated analysis, results are typically presented as abstract labels that are difficult for non-experts to interpret. This paper presents an interactive, human-centered AI system for exploring global framing patterns in climate disaster news. The system integrates automated article retrieval, content extraction, AI-based analysis, event-level grouping, and interactive visualizations that support cross-source and cross-regional comparison. A central contribution is the design of AI-generated explanations using progressive disclosure, providing optional interpretive support while maintaining a concise interface. This approach aims to reduce cognitive load and avoid overreliance on AI outputs. An empirical user study investigates how explanations support understanding and reasoning processes, as well as the identification of cross-regional framing patterns. Positioned at the intersection of HCI, explainable AI, and media literacy, this work contributes design insights for supporting reflective engagement with AI-driven analysis.

Helene Reiter, Rimbert Rudisch-Sommer
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Can governance, ethics, and system design make AI in HR truly trustworthy?

AI is rapidly transforming HRM, with organizations and universities adopting AI systems to recruit, evaluate, and analyse their workforces. While these technologies promise efficiency, flaws or biases in algorithms can affect individuals' careers and organizational performance, turning technological improvement into a matter of trust. Without proper governance, AI risks perpetuating bias and undermining accountability. Yet current research focuses largely on efficiency and cost savings, and the lack of integration between HRM and IT perspectives means organizations often implement AI without considering how governance structures and design decisions affect people. This study addresses that gap by investigating the governance of AI systems in HR through four questions: how governance structures shape trust, what role ethical frameworks play in mitigating bias, how system design influences transparency and accountability, and whether demographic and professional differences shape trust. Applying a socio-technical systems analysis to survey data from organizational and higher education participants, the findings show near-universal support for governance frameworks, with trust significantly associated with professional role, AI familiarity, and governance orientation.

Sapheya Aftimos, Dunya Hassoun
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

A Multimodal AI System Concept for Large‑Scale Consumer Opinion Analysis and Dual‑Quality Detection Across European Markets

This paper presents the concept of a multimodal artificial intelligence system designed for large-scale acquisition, integration, and analysis of consumer opinions to support the detection of the so-called dual quality phenomenon in products available on European markets. The proposed approach combines multilingual natural language processing, image analysis, automatic speech recognition, as well as product identification and entity-linking mechanisms.The system covers heterogeneous data sources, including online stores, marketplaces, blogs, forums, social media platforms, and audio-video materials. It uses dedicated data acquisition components, structured data standards, and methods based on large language models for processing unstructured content. A key stage of the pipeline is the transformation of source data into source-product-opinion relations, which are subsequently subjected to anonymization, deduplication, credibility assessment, sentiment analysis, and detection of signals potentially related to dual quality.An essential element of the concept is the aggregation of products originating from diverse sources and markets, despite inconsistent names, missing identifiers, and language differences. This process combines automatic methods with expert validation in a human-in-the-loop model, enabling the correction of product assignments, interpretation of ambiguous content, and adjustment of the scope of analysis to the objective of a given study.The proposed concept addresses the needs of institutions responsible for market surveillance by supporting the prioritization of regulatory actions and the selection of products requiring further analysis, including laboratory testing. The system is not intended to unequivocally confirm the occurrence of dual quality, but rather to indicate cases in which multilingual and multimodal consumer data provide grounds for in-depth verification.

Maciej Niemir, Jakub Gołąb
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Perceived Accuracy of Modern Technologies in Property Valuation: Evidence from South Africa

Property valuation accuracy remains a persistent concern within the real estate industry, particularly in developing markets where valuation inconsistencies undermine market confidence and professional credibility. Although Artificial Intelligence (AI), Geographical Information Systems (GIS), Automated Valuation Models (AVMs) and machine learning are increasingly associated with enhanced valuation accuracy and analytical capability, professional confidence in these technologies remains underexplored. This study investigates property valuers’ perceptions of modern technologies' ability to improve valuation accuracy within the South African property valuation profession and examines whether these perceptions differ across demographic and professional groups. A quantitative survey design was adopted using a structured Likert-scale questionnaire distributed to registered property valuers in South Africa, yielding 340 valid responses. Descriptive and inferential statistical analyses, including Spearman’s correlation analysis, Kruskal-Wallis H tests and pairwise Mann-Whitney U tests, were conducted. The findings reveal a pronounced divergence in perceptions across technologies. GIS was consistently perceived as a trusted and established valuation support tool, whereas perceptions regarding AI remained divided and varied significantly across registration class, experience groups and valuation specialisations. Less experienced valuers and candidate valuers demonstrated significantly greater confidence in AI technologies than their experienced, professional, registered counterparts, suggesting a generational divide in technology acceptance within the profession. Integrated technological approaches combining AI, GIS, AVMs and satellite imagery were perceived more positively than standalone technologies. The study identifies a critical contradiction between the demonstrated technical capabilities of AI-driven valuation systems and the ongoing professional hesitation toward their adoption. The findings suggest that trust, transparency, and explainability may be central determinants of technological adoption within professional valuation practice.

Barend Du Toit, Christopher Amoah
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

The Defeat-Accelerated Purpose: How Organizational Failure Transforms Resistance into Alignment

Organizations frequently fail to achieve field-level alignment through purposeful communication alone. This paper introduces Defeat-Accelerated Purpose (DAP), a mechanism explaining how concrete organizational failure — competitive displacement, product collapse, or undeniable market share loss — functions as a cognitive phase transition that eliminates the interpretive ambiguity sustaining resistance. Under stable conditions, purpose internalization follows an extended diffusion timeline driven by social negotiation and identity work. DAP bypasses this process: when defeat makes the cost of non-alignment viscerally apparent, maintaining resistance becomes more costly than compliance. Drawing on a longitudinal case study of a major Japanese manufacturing conglomerate, I examine three DAP episodes and one baseline non-DAP episode through process tracing. The analysis yields a four-condition model specifying when defeat accelerates purpose versus when it produces scapegoating or paralysis, and a five-phase process model describing the DAP sequence from defeat recognition to purpose embedding.

So Nishina
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Measuring What Cannot Easily Be Faked: Development and Validation of the Agenda Engagement and Reward Centricity Scales

The Organizational Thermodynamics framework (OT; Nishina, S., 2025a) predicts that V deterioration in senior leaders can be detected early enough to allow intervention—but only if V deterioration can actually be measured, reliably and without tipping off the leaders under scrutiny. This paper reports development and validation of the AE-RC Scale Battery, operationalizing two OT leading indicators: Agenda Engagement (AE) and Reward Centricity (RC). Study 1 (N = 312) identified a clean 14-item two-factor solution (αᴬᴱ = 0.87, αᴿᶜ = 0.84). Study 2 (N = 218, multi-source) confirmed the factor structure (CFI = 0.96, RMSEA = 0.054), established convergent and discriminant validity, and demonstrated test-retest reliability (rᴬᴱ = 0.79, rᴿᶜ = 0.81). Study 3 validated a behavioral-trace scoring protocol deriving AE and RC from archival enterprise metadata (κ = 0.78–0.83; criterion validity r = 0.71 and 0.67). Together, the three studies deliver a measurement infrastructure that is psychometrically defensible and practically deployable for board-level early-warning monitoring.

So Nishina
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Art infusion in digital service innovation platform ecosystems

Cultural and creative industries (CCI) are the most rapidly developing business sectors globally. Rapid developments in science and technology have required CCI to adjust to meet the challenges of digital transformation by providing opportunities for value cocreation with partners. The present study investigated TT, a Taiwanese culture and creative brand, as a case study of digital transformation, how this firm employs digital platform strategies to achieve value cocreation among brand suppliers and how this digital transformation has reshaped its organizational operations and partner relationships. This established an organizational framework comprising inclusive values, art infusion digital platform services, and cultural resources to provide a reference for CCI struggling with digital transformation and value cocreation. It revealed that TT develops designs grounded in Taiwanese cultural imagery to create products that capture the essence of its cocreated new brand. Furthermore, TT implements brand marketing and cobranded product services, employing art infusion not merely as a tool to add value but rather as the core of a value cocreation platform driving brand collaboration and customer participation. This study extends the theoretical applications of service-dominant logic by demonstrating that art infusion functions as an intermediary mechanism for integrating cultural resources and value cocreation. This study incorporates art fusion into the analytical framework of value co-creation, suggesting that it is not only part of the value proposition but also a key mediating mechanism that facilitates resource integration, participant interaction, and its mutually beneficial coexistence. As suggested by the SDL, this perspective expands the theoretical boundaries of value co-creation, thereby making design and cultural resources a core resource for digital transformation.

Li-Jung Liu, Chun-Liang Chen
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Extended Exploitation of Data in Manufacturing Companies for Strategic Decision-Making

For foresightful strategic decisions in engineering and production, it is important to identify and classify operational engineering data inmanufacturing companies in terms of relevance and impact. Established methods like Scenario-Technique or roadmapping consider expertise of strategic decision-makers and central decision-making bodies by, for instance, workshops and interviews. There is no overarching approach for evaluating the variety of operational data sources and feed them into specific data processing pipelines targeting strategic decision support. Based on a systematic literature analysis and comprehensive industrial experience, requirements are derived. These requirements are used to develop a method to identify, classify and evaluate data for strategic decision-making. The method is validated in an industrial project. The aim is to exploit informal and fragmented data from operational levels into structured, transparent decision support for strategic players.

Deniz Oezcan, Iris Graessler
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Assessment Of Road Construction Workers’ Exposure To Ergonomic Risk Factors Using The Discomfort Survey And Postural Assessment (DiSPA) Tool

The construction industry has been identified as one of the top industries with higher-than-average self-reported work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSDs). Construction workers develop musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) due to continuous exposure to ergonomic risk factors such as awkward posture, repetitive tasks, prolonged working duration, vibration, insufficient breaks or recovery, physical and mental stress, psychosocial and environmental factors. The Discomfort Survey and Postural Assessment (DiSPA) tool was developed to assess construction workers' exposure to ergonomic risk factors. The DiSPA tool combines a discomfort survey with postural assessment, assesses a range of risk factors and reviews the whole body for a comprehensive assessment. This study assesses the exposure of road construction workers to ergonomic risk factors using the DiSPA tool through self-reporting and observations. A cross-sectional assessment of 72 road construction workers, comprising labourers, masons, ironworkers, carpenters, operators, and drivers, was conducted, and quantitative data analysis was carried out. The results suggest a prevalence of MSDs among road construction workers. 83% of participants reported at least one form of musculoskeletal symptom. Carpentry was the trade with the highest musculoskeletal symptoms at 93%, and the lower back was identified as the body part most associated with MSDs. Although self-reporting is crucial for evaluating musculoskeletal symptoms, this research advocates a complementary approach to MSD assessment. An integrated method combining self-reporting and observations has been presented to achieve robust, comprehensive outcomes that enable appropriate interventions. The DiSPA tool meets the need for this complementary approach and has been applied to achieve the study aim.

Uchenna Okoro, Kenneth Lawani, Billy Hare
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

The Influence of Digital Transformation on Accounting Practices: Evidence from the Saudi Arabia

Digital transformation is reshaping the accounting profession worldwide, yet evidence from emerging economies remains fragmented. This study investigates the impact of digital transformation on accounting practices in Saudi Arabia, an economy undergoing rapid change under Vision 2030. Drawing on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), the Resource-Based View (RBV) and Dynamic Capability Theory (DCT), we conceptualise digital transformation through four key dimensions: adoption of cloud accounting, use of automation tools, accountants’ digital literacy, and investment in digital training. We examine how these dimensions influence the quality and efficiency of accounting practices in Saudi manufacturing firms. Using a survey of accounting and finance employees, the study employs descriptive statistics and regression analysis to test the proposed hypotheses. The findings are expected to offer theoretical insight into how resources and capabilities shape digital transformation outcomes and to provide practical guidance for firms, regulators and educators seeking to enhance digital readiness in the accounting profession.

Eman Attia, Afnan Anwar, Essam Salem Raffat, Ola Elsaadani, Abdullah silawi
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Competent, not Necessarily Confident: Insights from a Simulator Study on ATCO Readiness on Non-Endorsed Sectors

Conventionally, air traffic controllers (ATCOs) in upper airspace control centers must undergo sector-specific endorsement to operate them. This implies high training costs and limiting operational flexibility during staff shortages. Given the strict selection and education process, as well as operator experience, ATCOs may be capable of safely handling non-endorsed sectors with similar characteristics. Additionally, they could benefit from further training and competency expansion. To investigate this, an experience-based allocation tool was developed by the German Aerospace Center and tested at Maastricht Upper Area Control Centre (MUAC). The study evaluated ATCOs’ mental stress as well as self-assessments of mental workload, situation awareness, performance of air traffic management (ATM) flow, and job satisfaction. 17 executive ATCOs participated in a human-in-the-loop simulation at MUAC, completing reference run on endorsed sectors and test runs on both non-endorsed sector predicted ‘able’ or ‘not able’ by the experience-based allocation tool. Traffic scenarios varying in intensity included nominal and non-nominal conditions and covered adverse weather conditions, military activities, and emergencies. Although expected differences were found between endorsed sectors and non-endorsed sectors, human factors indicators remain within the predefined acceptable operational limits. One of the identified challenges for successful future implementation represents the observed competence-confidence gap, as ATCOs expressed concerns about the new endorsement method.

Maria Hagl, Robert Hunger, Jana Meier, Shruthi Shetty, Michael Finke, Tim Ruediger, Marco Temme
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

An Integrated Governance Model for University AI: Extending ISO/IEC 27001 for Higher Education

Generative Artificial Intelligence has become part of everyday practice in higher education. It supports learning and teaching, but it also enables new forms of academic misconduct, as students can use large language models to bypass assessment rules and to produce outputs that are difficult to attribute to individual performance. In parallel, universities face AI-related information security risks such as sensitive data disclosure and intellectual-property leakage. ISO/IEC 27001:2022 provides a well-established baseline for governing confidentiality, integrity, and availability, but it does not explicitly address AI-specific risk sources such as training-data dependencies, prompt-based attacks, non-deterministic outputs, model drift, and limited explainability. This paper develops an integrated AI governance model for higher education using Design Science Research (DSR). The artefact extends an ISO/IEC 27001-based ISMS by integrating AI lifecycle risk perspectives from ISO/IEC 23894 and AI management system integration concepts from ISO/IEC 42001, AI TRiSM and the NIST AI Risk Management Framework. Because AI systems and misuse patterns evolve rapidly, the model is using an Observe–Orient–Decide–Act (OODA) loop to ensure the possibility of short, evidence-based adaptation. The proposed model is evaluated qualitatively through the conformance to the standards and real-world academic use cases that illustrate AI-enabled misconduct in artefacts.

Christoph Jungbauer, Eszter Geresics-Földi
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Development of an Experiential Physical Computing Kit for Learning Supervised and Unsupervised Machine Learning

With the rapid advancement of AI technologies, including generative AI, artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly pervasive in society and everyday life. In Japan, national initiatives such as the Cabinet Office’s AI Strategy 2022 emphasize the importance of mathematics, data science, and AI education for all citizens, and teacher training materials for the high school subject Informatics II explicitly address unsupervised learning as a core AI mechanism. Unsupervised learning extracts latent patterns and structures from large-scale data without ground-truth labels and is widely used in real-world applications such as big data analytics. However, educational resources that enable high school students to concretely understand its learning process remain insufficient. Prior work has developed physical computing materials using autonomous robots to facilitate understanding of supervised learning, yet hands-on learning tools that deepen students’ understanding of unsupervised learning are still limited. To address this gap, this study extends prior educational designs by integrating unsupervised learning components into an experiential physical computing kit, enabling learners to engage with feature extraction and clustering processes in an intuitive and tangible manner. The developed kit is intended to support learners in forming a concrete understanding of both supervised and unsupervised learning through embodied interaction and data-driven experimentation.

Toshiyasu Kato
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Teaching E-learning for Visually Impaired Students

This project describes the development of an available e-learning design project for teaching innovative IT network program to visually impaired students. The program contains a virtual classroom, accessible learning materials, a remote computer laboratory, and delivery of the learning materials by teachers with vision disables. Additional teaching aids, as Windows Mixed Reality and Microsoft HoloLens transform abstract concepts into 3D experiences in the classroom, enabling students to investigate more deeply, see more clearly, and learn by doing. This paper explains the development of an available e-learning environment to bring advanced IT network program. Estimate results shows that visually impaired students situated both locally and distantly got equivalent grades, as the sighted students, because of additional time to comprehend and experiment via the virtual classroom and remote computer laboratory. Universities have been not receptive to ensure availability of learning supplies and courses for the visually impaired are mostly discriminated by the vision-driven online education method. In the context of the term ‘visually impaired’ refers to a vision disability resulting in little vision. This project was developed and designed for visually impaired students. In recent years, there has been a significant and rapid change in the delivery of educational content. The use of the Internet and web based instructional aids, once thought experimental, are now viewed as an integral part of the learning method. This has resulted in students receiving unprecedented access to information and the creation of new learning opportunities in design. Visually impaired students, who are particularly affected by this technological change, have faced a range of difficulties from the act of typing a letter and design to the use of computers in educational institutions.

Theresa Lobo
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Factors influencing public safety, societal development and sustainability due to shortcomings in the educational system.

The interdisciplinary study was conducted with an aim of identifying and eliminating gaps in public education of children at the levels of health, education and participation in national/local policy planning. Multidisciplinary Questionnaire was completed by 1209 students of the University of Latvia. Before conducting the survey, students were introduced to the states responsibility to ensure the health, life and development of every child, as described in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). 95.4% of students expressed their will to have been taught more useful life skills and knowledge at school, preparing them better for different challenges. 85.5% considered that teaching more about the history of the country and the region is necessary to be able to make the right choice when making important decisions. Differences between democratic and totalitarian regimes in observing human rights principles have been taught at school for 63%, only 46.3% were well informed about Russia's military aggressions against sovereign states violating international law. 87% still lack systemic health education at schools, 41% do not feel ready for the provision of first aid. Only 16% admit that respect for children's opinions is at least partially ensured in decision-making at various levels. Educational deficiencies of broad spectrum from knowledge of modifiable disease risk factors, first aid skills in critical situations, to the lack of historical knowledge that prevents strategic analysis of credible threats to the country's sustainability and national security, and maintenance of democratic principles of societal development. Urgent improvements of public education covering these gaps of knowledge are necessary.

Inguna Ebela, Ingrida Rumba-Rozenfelde, Henrijs Kalkis, Zenija Roja, Danute Razuka-Ebela, Romualds Razuks
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Supporting Reflexivity, Confidence Building, and Career Orientation through Educational Science-Grounded AI in Transition Education for At-Risk Students

This exploratory study examines the use of Yepa, an AI-based conversational system that transforms students’ narratives into structured learning experience (LX) maps to support vocational guidance and competence recognition. The study investigates how students in transition perceive AI-mediated reflection, how it supports confidence and competence recognition, and how institutional and pedagogical conditions shape its educational value. These findings suggest that the potential of AI-mediated reflective tools in education depends less on technological sophistication than on institutional support, meaningful pedagogical integration, and socially mediated use

Sandy Ingram, Joris Felder, Morgane Nissille, Leonard Noth, Bernadette Charlier
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Using BPMN and Chord Wheel Diagram As An Educational Framework For Analysing and Teaching Bob Dylan’s Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door

This paper presents a process-oriented framework for analyzing and teaching harmonic progression using Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) in combination with a Chord Wheel Diagram. The approach is applied to Bob Dylan’s *Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door*, a song with a simple and repetitive harmonic structure suitable for process-based modeling. The method interprets chord sequences as structured transitions within a tonal system, where each harmonic step represents a state in a cyclic process. BPMN models the temporal structure, including sequence and repetition, while the chord wheel provides a spatial representation of tonal relationships and functional roles. The results show that harmonic progression can be described as a structured and cyclic process linking harmony and melody. Compared to traditional chord representations, the framework separates temporal, tonal, and structural aspects, improving clarity and interpretability, and offering a cognitively accessible and pedagogically effective approach to teaching harmony.

Josef Pavlíček, Petra Pavlíčková, Matěj Brnka, Jana Kalabisová, Josef Pavlicek
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Extracurricular collaborative learning: Fostering understanding and interest in quantum technologies through escape games for future professionals

Quantum technologies are gaining importance in applied research and industry, as they are increasingly developing towards industry-ready applications. This leads to a growing demand for qualified professionals in this sector. Accessible education formats are necessary to provide future professionals with an early and low-threshold introduction to this abstract and complex field. This work introduces the design, implementation, and evaluation of an escape game developed to convey quantum physics and quantum technologies, especially quantum sensing, to students from grade 9 onwards. The escape game workshop was applied in an extracurricular context, and its effects on students' interest in quantum technologies, perceived understanding, and quality of collaboration were investigated.The evaluation results from 87 students show that all examined outcomes (interest, perceived understanding, and quality of collaboration) were rated significantly above the neutral reference value. No significant differences were found with respect to gender, grade level, or prior knowledge, indicating broad accessibility.These findings provide initial evidence that educational escape games can serve as promising entry points for engaging secondary school students with complex key technologies such as quantum technologies.

Sabina Baehr, Juliana Ludwig, Sebastian Lotz, Jens Wizl, Benjamin Burkard, Truong Le
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Developing Command Capability Throughout the Career: A Competency-Based Model for Leadership and Communication in the Navy

The increasing complexity of the maritime operational environment demands a shift from fragmented training to a longitudinal development of military officers’ competencies. While previous research at the Portuguese Naval Academy validated a staged approach for initial training, subsequent studies identified structural gaps in leadership and communication reinforcement throughout later career stages. This paper proposes a unified Global Development Model (GDM) for Portuguese Navy officers, integrating initial education with continuous professional development.Methodologically, the research employs a multi-phase mixed-methods design. Phase one analyses a case-based cadet intervention combining simulators and individual development plans. Phase two expands the empirical foundation through a survey of 255 officers and 17 semi-structured interviews, complemented by a comparative review of international programs.Data suggests that iterative cycles of assessment and feedback significantly improve self-confidence and communication effectiveness during initial training. Longitudinal analysis reveals a “dual-peak” demand for development: first, during initial command deployments, where technical skills often outpace behavioural readiness; and second, at the transition to senior leadership, where strategic and adaptive demands exceed previous training.The resulting GDM framework is structured into four clusters: (1) Initial Training (self-awareness/communication); (2) Operational Consolidation (situational leadership/stress management); (3) Command Development (mentoring/transformational leadership); and (4) Strategic Leadership (ethical governance/culture transformation). The GDM transforms leadership development from discrete activities into a learning infrastructure. While designed for the Portuguese Navy, its architecture – grounded in 360-degree feedback and mentoring cascades – offers a scalable solution for any professional military education program seeking to align strategic adaptability with operational risk reduction.

Ivo Soares, Mariana Baptista, Pedro Água, Armindo Frias, Miguel Silva, Catarina Martins
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Scalable Extraction and Normalization of Biomedical Knowledge from Research Literature

The growth of biomedical literature poses significant challenges for researchers conducting systematic and scoping reviews. In fields such as the use of digital biomarkers for the treatment of heart failure and cardiovascular disease, manually screening thousands of papers is time-consuming and not scalable. To address this problem, we developed AI-assisted tools for large scale analysis and structured knowledge extraction from biomedical research articles. Our approach emphasizes cross-graph analytics, facilitating the exploration of relationships among key biomedical concepts, including digital biomarkers and digital health technologies. By automating the extraction and structuring of knowledge from unstructured text, our system aims to accelerate evidence of synthesis and support more comprehensive and up-to-date reviews in rapidly evolving biomedical domains.We developed a knowledge graph generation pipeline that extracts subject-predicate-object triplets representing scientific claims from research articles. To address redundancy caused by linguistic variation across documents, we implemented a multi-stage consolidation process focused on normalizing entities and relations. This process begins by validating and filtering extracted triplets, then applies lexical normalization to unify entity representations by removing stop words, resolving variants, and merging acronyms with their full forms. Entity types and relations are similarly standardized to ensure uniformity and clarity. The pipeline is designed to be modular and extensible, allowing for the integration of additional normalization strategies or domain-specific ontologies as needed.To further consolidate equivalent triplets, we leverage embedding-based semantic similarity, enabling the merging of semantically similar entities and relationships even when expressed differently across sources. Additionally, our pipeline utilizes biomedical ontologies such as RxNorm and MeSH to map entities to standardized concept identifiers. This ontology-based normalization ensures that references to the same biomedical concept are unified, regardless of linguistic or spelling differences. We evaluated our approach on a pilot corpus of 150 biomedical research articles, processing over 2,000 extracted triplets. The normalization pipeline reduced the number of unique entity variants by more than 50%, consolidating these into approximately 900 unique, semantically unified relationships. Manual review of a representative sample indicated entity normalization accuracy in the range of 90-95%. In conclusion, the integration of lexical, semantic, and ontology-based normalization offers a robust framework for reducing ambiguity and improving the interoperability of the resulting knowledge graphs. Moreover, this structured and unified representation of knowledge facilitates systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and data-driven decision-making in biomedical science, while enabling advanced querying, trend analysis, and the identification of novel associations between biomedical concepts

Supraja Krovvidi, Finn Vos, Laurent Hasson, Ramesh Jakka, Shloke Meresh
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Evaluation of Hand Sewing Skills for the Design of a Clothing Repair Education Program: Pilot Study

From a sustainability perspective, individuals who practice appropriate purchasing, proper use and maintenance, and correct disposal of clothing are expected to contribute to reducing environmental impact. In Japan, students learn sewing in school; however, it cannot be said that they acquire sufficient skills. Therefore, this study aimed to develop an ergonomic educational program targeting improved finger dexterity as a long-term goal. As foundational research, it evaluated the current state of sewing skills and identified sewing techniques with potential for improvement. Furthermore, it explored the appropriate training conditions. As a pilot study, we evaluated “basic sewing” projects conducted in high-school home economics classes. Thread fineness was set at #20(n=36), #30(n=36), and #50(n=37), with lower numbers indicating thicker thread. We analyzed stitch length and coefficient of variation by analysis of variance. Additionally, for the knot, the formation of loops was assessed by calculating the proportion and performing a binary logistic regression analysis. The results showed no significant differences in stitch length for each basic stitch between thread finenesses. The proportion of loops in starting knots was 26.9%(#20,n=108), 34.3%(#30,n=108), and 52.3%(#50,n=111), which was higher for finer threads. Additionally, a regression analysis showed no significant differences in the number of strands or observer conditions; however, significant differences were observed only for thread fineness. The adjusted odds ratio for #50 was significantly higher than that for #20(AOR=3.02, 95%CI:1.71–5.34). The influence of the sectional second moment of area may have been inferred. It was suggested that material conditions also need to be considered for training purposes.

Mika Morishima, Keisei Maki, Fuka Miyamoto, Mai Yoshikawa
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Performance-Driven Material Innovation: Evaluating Thermal Masonry Systems as Alternatives to Conventional Cavity Wall Construction

The construction industry is increasingly shifting from conventional prescriptive detailing towards performance-based building solutions. In this context, thermal masonry systems represent a form of material innovation that integrates structural capacity and thermal performance within a single walling element. This paper assesses the viability of no-cavity thermal masonry as an alternative to traditional cavity wall construction in the South African built environment. A qualitative case-study approach was adopted, using Cem Brick’s Thermal Brick as the case. The study examines the system’s thermal, structural, construction, spatial and regulatory implications through technical documentation, comparative performance data, regulatory compliance information, field observation and supporting literature. The findings show that the Thermal Brick wall has a reported R-value of 0.62 m²K/W, which is broadly comparable to the 0.63 m²K/W reported for a clay cavity wall, while using a thinner wall profile. The system also has a lower reported thermal conductivity value and a higher reported thermal capacity value. Case-study data further indicates potential benefits in relation to construction time, cost efficiency, reduced wall complexity and ease of site execution. However, successful adoption is not determined by technical performance alone. Implementation also depends on rational design documentation, regulatory acceptance, contractor familiarity and professional confidence. The paper contributes to the discussion on innovative construction materials by positioning no-cavity thermal masonry as a performance-oriented socio-technical innovation rather than merely an alternative brick product. It concludes that thermal masonry systems may support more integrated, efficient and practical building-envelope solutions, although further independent testing and lifecycle evaluation are required.

Liezl Le Roux, Tascha Bremer
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Integrating Soil Quality Indicators into Agricultural Property Valuation: A Human-Centred Decision-Support Perspective

Agricultural property valuation is a complex expert task shaped by measurable land characteristics as well as professional judgement. In the Bloemfontein region of South Africa, inconsistent valuation outcomes may arise when structured environmental indicators are not routinely integrated into practice. This paper examines the potential of the Soil Management Assessment Framework (SMAF) as a human-centred decision-support mechanism in agricultural valuation. An inductive mixed-methods design combined qualitative and quantitative evidence. Survey questionnaires completed by seven experienced agricultural property valuers were used to rank valuation factors and test awareness of SMAF, while Ordinary Least Squares regression was applied to 97 verified agricultural property sales to identify significant price determinants. The results show that production potential, natural capital, soil quality, water availability, location and rainfall are highly ranked in valuation practice. Although only two valuers were familiar with SMAF and only one had used it, all respondents indicated that SMAF could improve the accuracy and consistency of valuations. The paper argues that SMAF should be treated not merely as a soil metric, but as a structured support tool that can strengthen expert judgement, reduce subjectivity and improve transparency in valuation reports.

Willem Lombard, Hendri Du Plessis, Barend Du Toit, Johan van Tol, Antonie Pool
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Circularity research using fashion industry waste as new fibers for eco-designed knitwear.

Recycling is minimal in the approximately 7 million tons of waste generated each year in the European Union's fashion value chain, which is burned or disposed of in landfills. Therefore, it is very important to develop recycling processes for textile waste and introduce them into clothing, promoting the circular economy. Relevance is based on compliance with EU regulations and directives regarding sustainability and circular fashion and the principles of eco-design. It demands stringent minimum requirements for durability and recyclability. Products must be designed with long service life cycles in mind. Mechanically recycled fibers are shorter, posing a challenge for eco-engineering in fiber blend design and the production of fine and regular yarns. To demonstrate that knitwear eco-design enables the production of sustainable clothing without compromising wear performance yarns and knit samples were developed, whose quality parameters were laboratory evaluated and compared with market references. It is technically possible to produce relatively fine (25 Nm) and regular (USTER international statistics) yarns with 50% wool/viscose waste and 50% virgin cotton. Within the scope of the be@t project, that the primary focus is the bio-economy of the textile industry, laboratory work was carried out at the Department of Textile Science and Technology. Through eco-design, the structure of the knits placed the yarns with recycled fibers in the inner layer and the yarns with virgin fibers in the outer layer, thus maintaining the durability, appearance, and touch of the garment similar to those of the control garment made with 100% virgin fiber yarns. Fashion eco-design practices enable the production of commercial clothing incorporating recycled fibers, with an acceptable level of quality, contributing to circularity and the reduction of textile waste.

Sandra Ferreira, Madalena Pereira, Teresa Raquel Barata, Nuno Belino, Ana Santiago, Marta Bicho Fernandes, Rui Miguel
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Eco-Dyeing of Wool-Blend Fabrics with a Natural Lac Dye: Comparison of Dyeing Processes and Treatment–Reuse of Dyeing Wastewater

Sustainable textile production requires ecoengineering solutions that integrate natural colorants, process optimization, and circular water management. In this work, wool-blend fabrics (45% wool/55% polyester) were dyed with a lac-based natural dye using exhaustion, pad-dry, and pad-batch processes, aiming to support ecodesign strategies for lower-impact textile products. Dyeing performance was assessed through colorimetric analysis and color fastness tests. Among the tested routes, exhaustion dyeing provided the best overall balance between color development and fastness properties. The wastewater generated during the exhaustion process was subsequently treated by electrochemical oxidation using a boron-doped diamond anode, as an ecoengineering approach for effluent reclamation and reuse. The treatment reduced the organic load and color of the eco-dyeing wastewater, improving its suitability for partial replacement of fresh water in new dyeing cycles. Reuse assays carried out with a 50:50 mixture of treated effluent and fresh water produced fabrics with only a slight color difference compared with those dyed with fresh water, while maintaining comparable color strength and very good washing and rubbing fastness. These results demonstrate the feasibility of combining natural dyeing, advanced electrochemical treatment, and wastewater reuse as an ecodesign-oriented strategy for circular and more sustainable wool-blend textile processing.

Bárbara Saraiva, Nuno Belino, Rui Miguel, João Carvalho, Annabel Fernandes
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Enhancing Textile Sustainability Through Natural Dyes: Performance on Wool and Wool‑Synthetic Blends

Environmental concerns regarding the impact of textile dyeing have stimulated research into the development of natural dyes as sustainable alternatives to synthetic dyes. This study presents a comprehensive analysis of the scientific literature on the application of natural dyes to wool and wool-synthetic fiber blends subtract, focused on the interaction between natural dyes and wool and synthetic fibers, mordant-assisted dyeing processes, and dyeing performance parameters, including dye uptake, fastness properties, and color uniformity. Wool fibers, with their protein structure containing different reactive functional groups, exhibit a greater affinity for natural dyes than synthetic fibers, resulting in greater dye absorption and also better color intensity and fastness. Synthetic fibers, on the other hand, have limited affinity for natural dyes and, consequently, exhibit heterogeneous dye distribution and less color uniformity.Optimized natural dyeing processes, using natural dyes with the combination of specific mordant agents, included the use of bio-mordants, can significantly improve dye fixation on yarns and fabrics, color strength, and fastness properties. However, industrial application of natural dyes has some limitations related to color variability and reproducibility, as well as scalability of the dyeing process. The present work proposes a comparative framework to evaluate the performance of natural dyes for dyeing fabrics made from wool and wool-synthetic blends, facilitating the selection of materials and dyeing process parameters. The development of dyeing processes that use natural dyes, combined with bio-based mordants, can contribute to more sustainable textile practices.

Teresa Raquel Barata, Marta Bicho Fernandes, Sandra Ferreira, Nuno Monteiro, Nuno Belino, Rui Miguel, Madalena Pereira
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

The Future of Sustainability and Circular Fashion in Contributing to the Improvement of Better Life Conditions in Communities. An Approach with Artificial Intelligence

Currently, the evolution of design has shifted its focus from solely the user to the human being and, more recently, to communities, to address societal problems, to which design itself has contributed (Papanek, 1971; Manzini, 2015; Norman, 2023). This evolution stems from the emergence of new challenges, such as climate and environmental change, social inequalities, high consumption, and the loss of a sense of community. Similarly, fashion design should evolve towards sustainable, regenerative, and circular models, where social innovation, creative communities, co-design, and community circularity are present in design practice with the aid of AI (Fletcher & Tham, 2019; Manzini, 2022; Wiegand & Wynn, 2025; Cianfanelli, 2025). The objective of this research is to analyze the contribution of AI to a sustainable and circular fashion design that serves the living conditions of communities. As a methodology, a literature review was combined with an embedded case study of the integrated project be@t, with as primary sources the Sustainability Reports of T&C (2024 and 2025) and the European statistics on AI adoption in companies. It is concluded that the twin transition of the Portuguese T&C is asymmetrical, Ecodesign accelerates (11% to 19% between 2019 and 2024) while digitalization stagnates (21%), and that AI is primarily a contribution to efficiency, productivity, and resource management, with its energy and water costs remaining to be measured: a trade-off between the use of new technologies and the improvement of living conditions in communities conceptualizes and proposes to operationalize through double accounting.

Madalena Pereira, Marta Bicho Fernandes, Sandra Ferreira, Joaquim Trindade, Rui Miguel, Teresa Raquel Barata
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Designing for Less and Longer: An Operational Framework for Lifecycle Governance, Control and Resource Efficiency

The transition from a recycling-based economy to a circular economy requires more than isolated improvements in materials, energy efficiency or end-of-life treatment. Especially in the early stages of product development, the fuzzy front end, interdisciplinary teams of engineers and product designers face high uncertainty while making decisions that strongly shape the product system. Existing approaches provide valuable support for lifecycle-oriented analysis or selected circular design strategies but still lack an integrative and practical framework that enables interdisciplinary teams to reflect on the current product system and derive actionable design directions. This paper addresses this gap by proposing an operational framework for circular product design grounded in the derived guiding principle of “Less and Longer”. The framework combines lifecycle thinking, multidimensional evaluation and a control-oriented perspective in a Circular Design Matrix supporting early-stage decision-making in circular product development. It facilitates interdisciplinary collaboration and supports reflective, creative dialogue among technical and creative disciplines. The Circular Design Matrix assess the product system across seven dimensions and five lifecycle phases with “control” as an enabling layer for a strategic re-design. Embedded in a collaborative framework, the approach was explored in an initial evaluation using three product cases: smartphones, washing machines and child car seats. The findings indicate that the framework is particularly valuable in interdisciplinary workshop settings, where it supports structured reflection, the identification of optimization potential and an iterative, holistic reconsideration of the product system from a circular economy perspective.

Franziska Braun, Oliver Schweizer
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Jazz as an Organizing Logic. Leadership: Improvisation and Coordination in Complex Systems Operations

Complex systems operations—such as emergency response, defence, and critical infrastructure management—require the simultaneous integration of stability, adaptability, and real-time decision-making under conditions of uncertainty. Traditional hierarchical models provide control but often lack responsiveness, whereas fully decentralized approaches enable innovation at the cost of coherence. This paper proposes an organizational framework based on the “jazz organization logics”, positioning jazz not as a metaphor but as an empirically grounded model of distributed coordination in complex dynamic environments. Drawing on complexity theory, systems thinking, and organizational behaviour, the approach conceptualizes jazz ensembles as high-reliability adaptive systems in which actors align around shared structures while engaging in disciplined improvisation. Four core pillars underpin the model: (1) Structured Flexibility, where minimal enabling constraints support adaptive action; (2) Distributed Leadership, where authority shifts according to situational expertise; (3) Relational Attunement, emphasizing continuous active sensing, mutual adjustment, and feedback; and (4) Rhythmic Structures, referring to enabling units that sustain operational continuity and tempo. The study integrates insights from case analyses across complex operational contexts, suggesting that teams operating with bounded autonomy show increased decision velocity and reduced coordination breakdowns compared to rigid command-and-control systems. The findings challenge the assumption that flexibility undermines control, reframing improvisation as disciplined adaptability grounded in shared norms. In environments characterized by volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA), the proposed framework offers a robust approach for achieving coherence without sacrificing innovation, contributing to the field of complex systems leadership and governance by articulating actionable principles for organizational design and adaptive coordination.

Pedro Água, Anacleto Correia, Antonio Goncalves, Armindo Frias, Ivo Soares, Miguel Silva
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

An Inclusive Teacher-Centred Platform for AI-Supported Adaptive Learning in Neurodivergent Children

Neurodivergent children in elementary school, specifically those with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), require learning tasks tailored to their sensory and cognitive profiles. However, educators face significant workloads when personalising materials, often hindered by digital tools lacking transparency and professional control. This paper proposes an inclusive, teacher-centred platform featuring a gamified assistant for adaptive learning. Its core is a controlled AI pipeline that transforms professional materials into safe, traceable activities.A participatory focus group with teachers, therapists, and neurodivergent adults established six foundational design recommendations mapped to safety and human diversity. To ensure safety and agency, the architecture needs an AI-output validation via a Human-in-the-Loop (HITL) dashboard and active source grounding. To prioritise emotional safety, traditional timers should be replaced with progress-based temporal anchors, while sensory safety is enhanced through a personalised audio environment integrating teacher voice recordings. Additionally, native sensory toggles and non-destructive navigation mitigate cognitive fatigue. This work contributes a transparent framework for adaptive task generation, addressing opacity and loss of professional agency in AI-supported special education.

Maria Vale, Vinicius Silva, Cristina Costescu, Celina Leão, Joao Sena-Esteves, Ana Paula Pereira, Filomena Soares
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Beyond Endurance: Integrating Emotional Intelligence and Systemic Support to Strengthen Resilience in Aviation

This mixed-methods study examines mental health support avoidance among pilots and air traffic controllers as a socio-technical systems issue in safety-critical aviation. Using survey data from 1,362 aviation professionals, closed-ended responses were analyzed with descriptive statistics and open-ended responses through thematic coding. Findings show that avoidance of formal support is shaped by fear of career consequences, low institutional trust, confidentiality concerns, and regulatory uncertainty. Many participants relied on self-directed coping strategies, including exercise, peer conversations, and personal stress management, as adaptive responses to systems perceived as punitive or unclear. Thematic findings identified concerns about medical disqualification, inconsistent review processes, and limited trusted early-intervention pathways. These results suggest that mental health avoidance is not only an individual or clinical issue, but also an outcome of organizational design, regulatory opacity, and perceived system risk. From a human systems engineering perspective, aviation safety depends on support structures that encourage transparency, early reporting, and trust. The study recommends redesigning confidential support pathways, integrating resilience and emotional intelligence training into professional development, and improving medical review transparency. Overall, the findings contribute to safety engineering and systems complexity by reframing aviation mental health support as a human performance and organizational resilience challenge.

Tasnim Hasan, Natalie Enman, Zhichao Yang, Kerwin Tu, Kimberly Perkins
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

A Gender-Sensitive Human Systems Engineering Approach to Personal Protective Equipment Design in the Textile Industry: A Sociotechnical Analysis

The research is based on focus group interviews with 25 unionized female textile workers. The data obtained were analyzed using thematic analysis and network analysis methods; the most significant finding of the study is that merely distributing PPE is insufficient to create a safe working environment. The key factors determining safe behavior are the suitability of the equipment to the body and the task, the quality of managerial supervision, and the psychosocial environment at the workplace. For example, thick gloves, protective goggles that do not fit the face properly, difficult-to-use hand tools, uncomfortable masks and workwear unsuitable for the female body both reduce PPE usage and weaken workers’ perception of risk. Furthermore, managerial pressure, workplace bullying and inadequate supervision also have negative effects on safety culture. Based on these findings, this study proposes a socio-technical model that views PPE not merely as equipment, but as a link between the individual and the system. According to this model, ergonomic fit, perceived comfort, quality of control and psychosocial working conditions interact to shape the risk of workplace accidents.Consequently, the research emphasizes that occupational health and safety policies should not focus solely on providing protective equipment. Instead, designs that consider the needs of female workers, ergonomic approaches based on worker participation, and a more holistic understanding of the system should be adopted.

Hüsre Gizem Akalp, Nurettin Yamankaradeniz, Sevinc Serpil Aytac
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Postural Strategies, Muscle Activation, and Perceived Strain in Drilling Tasks: Implications for Digital Human Model Prediction

Accurately predicting posture in drilling tasks remains challenging for Digital Human Models (DHMs), as individuals differ in how they balance reach, force transmission, and stabilization. This exploratory study investigated how drilling height affects posture, muscle activation, and perceived strain during static simulated drilling. Eleven participants performed the task at four standardized heights while joint angles, EMG activity, and subjective ratings were recorded. Shoulder elevation showed the clearest height-related changes, while elbow, wrist, and trunk adjustments were smaller and more individually variable. Muscle activation patterns broadly reflected these kinematic trends, and subjective strain increased mainly in extreme postures, with only weak links to EMG. Overall, the combination of stable within-individual behaviour and pronounced between-individual differences indicates that the DHMs should incorporate multiple feasible posture strategies. Given the small sample and static, non-vibrating setup, the findings are preliminary but provide a useful basis for refining posture prediction in drilling tasks.

Rebecca Rack, Anne Keßler, Elias Moos, Matthias Körber
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

The effectiveness of safety observation classification: A case study

Safety observations are an essential means of improving safety management and culture, and they play a key role in supporting the execution of occupational safety strategies. Information from observations can be obtained through, for example, case descriptions and various types of classifications. Classification enables the observations to be examined in a more structured manner. In this study, the applicability and effectiveness of the observation type classifications selected by the person who submitted the observation were analysed. The findings are based on an analysis of 1,988 safety observations made by a scaffolding service company. The observations were analysed to determine what proportion of the items classified into each category had been classified correctly, and what proportion of all observations belonging to a given category could be retrieved by examining that category. In addition, a generative artificial intelligence (GAI) was used to test how well it can categorise safety observations (n = 100). Based on the results, the individuals submitting the observations were generally able to classify them correctly when the category was easy to understand. Some categories were regarded as the most critical for the company’s operations. The safety observation classification performed by the GAI was slightly weaker compared to the original human-made classifications. The findings also indicated that, in order to make better use of the information obtained through classification, general classifications should be adapted to company- or industry-specific categories. This will ensure that the information obtained is more specific and relevant.

Johanna Pulkkinen, Maria Lindholm, Noora Nenonen
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Acute Physical Stress Responses in Individuals with Chronic Psychological Stress: A Cold Pressor Test Study

Chronic stress is a major public health concern associated with dysregulated physiological and psychological functioning. While responses to acute physical stressors have been studied in clinical populations such as chronic pain patients and individuals with major depression, limited attention has been paid to how non-clinical individuals experiencing chronic psychological stress respond to such challenges. This study examined whether individuals with chronic psychological stress differ from healthy controls in their behavioral, neuroendocrine, and subjective responses to an acute physical stressor.Forty non-clinical adults were stratified into a chronic stress group (n=20) and a healthy control group (n=20) based on the Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology (QIDS; chronic stress: QIDS ≥ 6, healthy: QIDS ≤ 5). The experimental protocol consisted of a 5-minute initial rest period, followed by saliva sampling (S1), a Cold Pressor Test (CPT) phase in which participants immersed their hand in ice water for up to 180 seconds, a second saliva sampling (S2), a 10-minute guided breathing rest period, and a final saliva sampling (S3). Salivary cortisol concentrations were measured to assess HPA axis reactivity. Subjective ratings of relaxation, stress, and task difficulty were collected across four phases: initial rest, CPT, early recovery, and late recovery.The chronic stress group showed a significantly higher risk of withdrawing from the CPT than healthy controls (median: 59.4s vs. 180.0s; survival analysis, Cox HR=2.538, p=0.028). Salivary cortisol at baseline (S1) did not differ between groups (p=0.50). To account for individual differences in baseline cortisol, S2 and S3 values were normalized to S1 ((S-S1)/S1). The normalized cortisol change (S3-S2 normalized) was significantly correlated with CPT tolerance time in both groups (healthy: r=0.446, p=0.049; stress: r=0.604, p=0.006), with no significant difference between groups (Fisher z-test, all p>0.48). Subjective stress ratings during initial rest were significantly higher in the chronic stress group (p=0.017), whereas CPT ratings showed no group difference (both p>0.24). During late recovery, the chronic stress group showed trends toward lower relaxation (p=0.058) and higher stress (p=0.056).Despite prolonged exposure to psychological stress, the chronic stress group showed cortisol reactivity patterns comparable to healthy controls, suggesting that neuroendocrine responsiveness to acute physical stressors may remain relatively preserved in chronic stress populations. In contrast, although CPT tolerance was shorter in the chronic stress group, perceived stress and difficulty during the task did not differ between groups. Given that the chronic stress group reported higher baseline stress prior to CPT, entering the acute stressor in an already-stressed state may have reduced their capacity to sustain performance, rather than reflecting a more intense in-task experience. During late recovery, the chronic stress group showed trends toward lower relaxation and higher stress, consistent with their elevated baseline stress. This suggests that individuals with chronic stress may experience persistent stress and difficulty relaxing in quiet states, which may contribute to slower recovery following acute stress exposure. These findings reveal selective impairments in behavioral tolerance and psychological recovery, with no clear evidence of impaired neuroendocrine reactivity, advancing our understanding of how chronic psychological stress modulates acute stress responses.

Jiayi Hu, Yuki Ban, Shin'ichi Warisawa
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Satellite data supporting situational awareness and management in a disaster

Management of the disaster event requires seamless coordination across numerous agencies, systems, and stakeholders. A shared understanding of the situation is critical as responders from different organizations (e.g., fire, medical, police, military) must operate under high pressure. Satellite data supports situational awareness, and it is crucial to utilize satellite data and ontology platforms in disaster management. This article introduces an analysis of the utilization of ICEYE's SAR satellite technology and semantic ontology platforms in creating a situational picture and situation management of natural disasters, especially major floods. The article highlights that the challenge of traditional optical satellites is their weather dependence, which often makes them unusable in storms and heavy rains. This problem is solved by ICEYE’s SAR radar technology, which is able to penetrate clouds, smoke and darkness, producing weather-independent and real-time geographic information (GIS) from the incident area up to six hours apart. Satellite- based SAR data is important to integrate on regional sensor data (e.g. ground-based sensor fusion data, drone data and weather sensor data).The intelligent solution, MobiJOPA™ of start-up enterprise Husqtec Corp, served as use case environment for situation management. The received satellite data is directed to the semantic infrastructure of the MobiJOPA™ unit, where rule-based artificial intelligence and a common ontology model fuse it with, among other things, terrain elevation models (DEMs) and existing infrastructure information. The system harmonizes data from different sources into an unambiguous situational picture tied to the emergency workers’ own language, which breaks down information silos and effectively prevents misunderstandings between different authorities. The article shows that the seamless interaction of radar data and semantic modeling significantly speeds up critical decision-making.

Vesa Salminen, Matti Pyykkönen
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

The Impact of an Enterprise Collaborative Thinking on a Company's Innovative Performance in the Transition to Industry 4.0

This article provides a small theoretical step in a larger study that aims to investigate the impact of digital transformation on the innovative performance of traditional manufacturing companies. A great number of this companies have started their digital transformation recently continuing to focus on the doing, using and interacting (DUI) innovation pattern. What role does enterprise collaborative thinking play in the transition to Industry 4.0? The enterprise collaborative thinking is a deliberate process that enables employees and departments across an organization to pool their skills, knowledge, and perspectives, working together on a shared, company-wide vision. It is a mindset and practice that prioritizes the collective success of the entire organization. Scientific literature reveals the interrelationship between enterprise innovation capabilities, the value of knowledge reflected in its impact on productivity, and the transition to Industry 4.0 reshaping the spatial dynamics of innovation by demanding not only technological capabilities but also the ability to absorb and recombine diverse knowledge, inevitably resulting in emerging of human centricity focused Industry 5.0. The conceptual framework for further research includes the enterprise collaborative thinking as the dependent variable and factors affecting enterprise collaborative thinking - as the independent variable.

Irena Vaivode
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Human-Centric Health Data Fidelity: Inferential Methodologies for Calibrating Human Systems Integration in Global Health Surveillance

We start from the idea that the reliability of global health surveillance on health data in the present era depends on the expert's ability to validate the fidelity of massive data through rigorous inferential procedures. This paper discusses the potential of a formal framework for assessing the fidelity of a Health Data Space (S), where a determinant (D) precedes monitored effects (F) within a large-scale dataset of exposed (E) and non-exposed (NE) individuals of a given experimental population. We propose a methodology to determine whether risk alerts represent global biological phenomena or unstable local signals by anchoring the data of a health space to established national gold standards and well known references. Specifically, our methodology employs a four-way inferential sequence based on Chi-squared Goodness-of-Fit tests to detect structural deviations across four critical dimensions: demographic proportional representation, clinical fidelity of high-risk strata, internal consistency of the unexposed baseline, and systemic divergence of aggregate incidences of the health space. We demonstrate the efficacy of this framework through a real-world case study of a massive dataset, specifically selected for its known structural complexities and its impact on the international public health discourse. The results we achieved confirm that this strategy is capable of identifying terminal divergences, such as demographic skews and biologically impossible deficits, proving that reported signals can often be products of a data selection bias rather than a biological effect. This approach confirms the necessity of human-centric validation, providing a formal mathematical protocol to calibrate global health systems and ensure that surveillance remains grounded in demographic and empirical reality.

Marco Roccetti
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Towards Sustainable Operations of High Altitude Platforms: Optimizing Crew Configuration Through Task Distribution

High Altitude Platforms (HAPs) are uncrewed aerial vehicles flying in the higher stratosphere, providing a unique platform to observe and monitor a specific area of interest on earth’s surface continuously for a longer time period and thus complementing satellite-based observations. The German Aerospace Center has developed a solar powered heavier-than-air HAP named HAP-α which has the capability to stay airborne for several weeks.To enable sustainable operations for HAPs, an increasing concern regarding crew size and operational efficiency has emerged. Even flight testing in its operating environment in the higher stratosphere will require missions with continuous piloting and supervision for at least 16 hours, as further automation to facilitate a reduced crew in skill a size will highly rely on this crucial step. Questions about feasible crew size and skill profile, possible underutilization of crew members and conflicts with mandatory rest periods have to be answered.This paper addresses the necessity of maintaining operational safety while simultaneously reducing crew numbers to foster sustainable operation of the HAP-α. We propose a two-step methodological approach, consisting of a preliminary competency analysis and a subsequent simulator campaign to assess subjective workload of individual crew members. Given the novelty of the system and the absence of established crew design standards or formalized competency frameworks or a comprehensive, structured knowledge, skills, abilities (KSA) portfolio, the initial test crew was selected according task profiles and a best-fit approach based on expert judgement and early operational considerations. Analysis of crew competency profiles utilizing the EASA Evidence Based Training (EBT) framework uncovers relevant competency portfolios. Insights gained from subjective workload data recorded during a weeklong simulator campaign under normal and abnormal operating conditions inform our understanding of task distribution and its impact on subjective workload. This approach necessitates a careful evaluation of workload and competency overlap between roles. Specifically, we will assess whether the workload associated with two roles is sufficiently low to justify their consolidation and whether the competency profile required for these roles share enough overlap to facilitate this merger. If consolidation proves impractical, we will consider an equitable distribution of tasks within the remaining roles, focusing on optimal alignment with skill sets and workload parameters.

Kristian Fettig, Arno Semke, Maria Hagl
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Heat Suit-Enhanced VR Training for Emergency Methanol Firefighting in Maritime Operations

The present study demonstrates a novel heat suit-based Virtual Reality (VR) training system for emergency response to methanol fires in the maritime industry, a significant driver of decarbonization in maritime as methanol becomes an increasingly attractive sustainable fuel. In contrast to conventional fires, methanol burns with near-invisible flames and rapid vaporization, hazards that cannot be reproduced safely through normal education. To address that, we modified an existing heat suit and seamlessly integrated it into the VR environment and provided this feedback in the form of thermo-haptic feedback, allowing Trainees to physically sense the growing heat as they walk towards a methanol fire on the drip tray of a container-ship manifold station. The unique novelty of our method is the inclusion of this thermo-feedback integration, which adds visual and auditory stimuli to enhance situational awareness and decision-making processes under thermal conditions. The system provides interactive fire behaviour and fire extinguisher simulation for a safe training experience. In bridging the sensory void of VR-only simulations, our design not only provides a leap forward for maritime firefighting readiness but also sets the standard for immersive training towards the unique environmental challenges associated with methanol-fuelled vessels.

Eric Lim, Chao Tian, Jason Li, Rick Chua, Thye Sang Ho
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Monitoring and Indicators Related to the Safety Observation Reporting and Management Process

Evaluating and monitoring the effectiveness of near-miss management systems (NMS) remain under-researched, and the absence of standard guidelines has contributed to variations in practice. In addition, most studies focus only on the number of near-miss reports without detailing other useful indicators or metrics for tracking NMS. This study provided information about the various aspects that organizations monitor in relation to the safety observation process. The term “safety observation” includes both unsafe conditions and unsafe acts, as well as near-misses, meaning unplanned events that could have caused harm but ultimately did not. Employing a mixed-method approach, the research conducted semi-structured interviews with five Finnish organizations from diverse sectors and an online survey involving safety professionals. The findings reveal that organizations track safety observations through various metrics related mainly to reporting activity, progress of handling the reports, and corrective actions. Common indicators are the number of reports, reporting coverage, response and processing times, and completion rates of corrective actions. While top management primarily focuses on the number of safety observations, safety teams and supervisors monitor additional aspects, such as report content and implementation of actions. The study highlights the need for qualitative indicators to supplement quantitative metrics and the potential of using positive safety observations and corrective actions as indicators.

Noora Nenonen, Johanna Pulkkinen, Maria Lindholm
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Cognitive Superiority: Human-Autonomy Systems in EDGE Operations

This paper constructs a unified theoretical and strategic framework for the development of future defense and security capabilities, grounded in cognitive systems science, autonomous adaptation, and Human-Autonomy Command (HAC). Drawing on three interrelated research programs addressing autonomy in conflict, cognitive superiority in Human-Autonomy Systems (HAS), and command in safety-critical Emergent, Dynamic, Global and Evolutionary (EDGE) operations, the paper outlines a coherent Mission System Architecture (MSA). It demonstrates why deterministic orchestration architectures are inherently insufficient for complex Operating Environments (OE) due to their violation of the Law of Requisite Variety, and proposes a shift toward cognitive systemic action coordinated through the Joint Cognitive Command System (JC2S). Ethical dimensions of autonomous lethality, Meaningful Human Control (MHC), and legal responsibility are critically examined. Furthermore, it necessitates the alignment of internal operational dynamics with the turbulent external environment, adhering to the principle of requisite variety. Three strategic propositions for policy and governance are identified: i) Operational and Academic Excellence; ii) Long-Term STEMM Investment and Triple-Helix Collaboration; and iii) Cognitive Architecture as Strategic Infrastructure, emphasizing the necessity of a Human-Autonomy Command approach for current and future conflict. The propositions demonstrate the need for a framework for autonomous technologies while ensuring ethical considerations and effective human-machine interaction. The paper concludes with recommendations for defense Science, Technology and Innovation (ST&I) investment and actionable proposals for Triple-Helix collaboration among government, industry, and academia, underscoring the necessity for continuous innovation, research, and development of robust policy frameworks to navigate the complexities of modern conflict and future challenging operating environments.

Arne Norlander
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Cognitive Model of Spear Phishing Cyberattacks

This research proposes a systemic theoretical model to understand the effectiveness of spear phishing in the context of fake banking advisor fraud, which affects 20% of the French population. Based on in-depth cognitive interviews, the study reveals how attackers orchestrate a cascade of psychological manipulations in four interdependent phases, systematically exploiting universal cognitive biases and emotional responses to bypass victims' analytical reasoning. The results demonstrate that vulnerability to spear phishing is not simply due to individual negligence but results from sophisticated exploitation of fundamental cognitive mechanisms, leading to a gradual deterioration of judgment and decision-making abilities. This detailed understanding of the underlying processes suggests a paradigm shift towards preventive strategies that emphasize the development of "situational intelligence" and protective metacognition, repositioning humans not as the "weak link" but as aware actors capable of recognizing their own cognitive vulnerabilities and activating appropriate protective strategies against digital manipulations.

Béatrice Foucault, Raphael Gontran
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Assessing Technician Capacity for ADAS Services in the Collision Repair Industry

Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) are increasingly essential to modern vehicle safety, yet their rapid growth has introduced significant workforce, training, and operational challenges within the auto collision repair industry. This study investigates the capacity of U.S. collision repair shops to diagnose and calibrate ADAS technologies, with emphasis on technician proficiency, service delivery models, and the industry’s heavy reliance on outsourced calibration. Using a survey of 304 collision repair businesses nationwide, the findings show that the market is dominated by small, single-location operations employing ten or fewer technicians, most of which employ technicians who lack specialized ADAS training. Only 72 shops reported having dedicated ADAS technicians, and 42 of these had received formal Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) instruction. Shops overwhelmingly perform pre- and post-repair scans in-house but rely heavily on sublet providers for ADAS calibration due to the technical complexity, equipment requirements, and brand-specific expertise these procedures demand. Nearly two third of surveyed businesses reported difficulty recruiting and retaining qualified ADAS technicians or reported relying on sublet services to make up for the lack of in-house expertise, reflecting a significant workforce gap. Correlation analysis shows that shops treat in-house and sublet services as substitutes rather than complementary approaches, and perceptions of cross-brand feasibility strongly influence whether calibration is outsourced. As ADAS-equipped vehicles continue to proliferate, these workforce shortages and fragmented training pathways pose risks to repair quality and consumer safety. The study highlights an urgent need for expanded technician training, clearer calibration standards, and further research into the quality and safety implications of outsourced ADAS services.

Dongyuan Wang, Pingying Zhang, Xiaohan Wu
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Dynamic Requirement Verification and Safety Assessment of Complex Systems using MBSE and Co-Simulation

Critical infrastructures, particularly nuclear energy systems, face growing complexity due to regulatory constraints, performance demands, and the transition toward low-carbon power. Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) supports complexity management by linking system architecture with multiphysics simulation, ensuring traceability from requirements to behavior. However, most MBSE verification approaches remain limited to nominal operating conditions and do not explicitly integrate reliability-driven degradation into requirement evaluation. In practice, aging, wear-out mechanisms, and random faults progressively erode safety margins, limiting early detection of degraded performance. This paper proposes an integrated methodology combining MBSE with stochastic degradation modeling for dynamic requirement verification under both functional and degraded scenarios. A stochastic Petri net (SPN) with Weibull-distributed transitions is embedded into a Dymola physical model to represent time-dependent failure behavior. Safety and performance requirements are formalized using the Common Requirement Modeling Language (CRML) within a SysML architecture model developed in Catia Magic and continuously evaluated during co-simulation. Interoperability between architectural and behavioral domains is ensured via Functional Mock-up Units (FMUs) and UDP-based communication, preserving synchronization and bidirectional traceability. The framework is applied to the primary loop of a Molten Salt Reactor (MSR), focusing on stochastic degradation of the primary fuel pump over 5000 s simulation. Results show a 39% mass-flow reduction, core temperature rise beyond the 708 °C safety limit, and an 18% increase in thermal power, demonstrating significant safety margin erosion. The proposed approach transforms verification from static compliance checking into a dynamic, reliability-aware assessment of system behavior over time.

Sandra Gyasi, Mouna El Alaoui, Nicolas Bureau, Robert Plana, Camilo Murillo Coba
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Physiological Signatures in Blast Overpressure: Implications for Wearable Monitoring

Blast overpressure (BOP) has been associated with injury in Service Members for more than a century, with early accounts dating to World War I descriptions of “shell shock.” While some effects are immediately visible, many are neurological, physiological, or functional and may present as delayed or cumulative “invisible injuries,” complicating detection and monitoring in training and operational environments involving repeated low-level exposure. Although physiological measures may reflect blast-related effects, no widely fielded wearable system currently integrates biosignals with BOP exposure data. This review examines physiological, neurological, and functional biosignals associated with blast exposure, with emphasis on signals sensitive to early performance or physiological degradation rather than clinical diagnosis. Human studies identify several biosignal domains with demonstrated sensitivity, including cardiovascular and respiratory measures, oculomotor activity, gait and balance, and behavioral performance. Eye tracking detects changes in oculomotor features associated with cumulative exposure, while body-worn accelerometry captures changes in gait and balance following exposure periods. Multimodal approaches that integrate eye movement and body-based measures demonstrate improved sensitivity compared to single-modality approaches. Overall, findings indicate that different biosignal domains capture complementary aspects of blast-related effects and support the use of multimodal approaches for detection. Future work may focus on real-time monitoring strategies to support earlier identification of performance and physiological changes in populations with occupational blast exposure.

Florence Chua, Alexis Cady, Lucas Hess, Dominic Cheng, Elizabeth Mezzacappa, Robert DeMarco, Jose Rodriguez
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Human Authority in the Age of Intelligent Systems: A Sociotechnical Framework for Decision Assurance and Psychosocial Safety

The rapid integration of intelligent systems into high-risk industries is reshaping how work is performed, decisions are made, and responsibility is distributed. While automation and artificial intelligence promise gains in efficiency, safety, and productivity, they also introduce under-recognised sociotechnical risks, including degraded human decision authority, cognitive overload, loss of practical expertise, and increasing psychosocial strain associated with uncertainty and workforce transition. This paper argues that current approaches to human factors engineering and system design are insufficient to address these conditions. While technical assurance frameworks for AI-enabled systems continue to mature, equivalent structures for ensuring the integrity, clarity, and sustainability of human decision-making remain underdeveloped. This gap presents a critical risk in high-reliability environments where human judgment is essential for managing variability, uncertainty, and system failure. Drawing on applied experience in automation-intensive operations and informed by an emerging global research agenda, this research introduces the Human Authority Index (HAI) as a novel sociotechnical framework developed by the author for assessing and designing decision-making in human–machine systems. The HAI positions human authority as a safety-critical variable across three dimensions: Decision Clarity, Cognitive Sustainability, and Psychosocial Safety. Together, these dimensions extend traditional human factors approaches by integrating organisational psychology, sociotechnical systems theory, and resilience engineering into a unified model. Through conceptual analysis and industry-informed scenarios, the paper demonstrates how poorly integrated automation can create hidden system fragility, while systems designed with clear human authority exhibit greater resilience and workforce engagement. This research contributes a practical framework to support safe, effective, and meaningful human participation in increasingly autonomous environments.

Peta Chirgwin
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

A Neuroadaptive Cognitive Deployment Framework for Human–System Integration

Human–system engineering has traditionally evaluated operator performance using metrics derived from workload, attention, or fatigue. While useful, these measures do not capture the dynamic neural processes through which cognitive resources are activated, stabilized, regulated, and recovered during task performance. This paper introduces the Neuroadaptive Cognitive Deployment Framework, which conceptualizes cognition as a dynamically deployable system resource within adaptive human–machine environments. The framework integrates baseline neural architecture estimation, derived from resting-state EEG and normative reference models, with real-time neural state monitoring to estimate cognitive deployability: the moment-to-moment readiness of neural systems to engage task-relevant processing under changing operational demands. A mathematical formulation of deployability is presented, together with a closed-loop system architecture that incorporates deployability estimates into adaptive control of human–system interaction. To characterize the temporal dynamics of engagement, the paper introduces the Cognitive Deployment Curve, which models transitions across baseline readiness, activation, sustained engagement, overload threshold, and recovery phases. By treating cognition as a deployable resource rather than a static capability, the framework extends traditional workload-based models and provides a foundation for neuroadaptive technologies in aviation, emergency response, complex engineering systems, and cognitive readiness training.

Curtis Cripe
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Redesign of an optical force sensor for hand-grip interface in helicopter flight simulators

The iterative redesign of a product is essential for advancing its Technology Readiness Level, enabling the transition from conceptual prototypes to reliable, real-world applications. In this study, a tactile force sensor named OPT-IN (OPTical-INceptor) based on the optical phenomena of Frustrated total internal reflection (FTIR) is redesigned as a product to be utilized on helicopter flight simulators as a collective controller. The sensor design includes light detectors, an LED light source, hemispherical silicone probes and a waveguide for transmitting light. The redesigned tactile sensor focuses on minimizing optical losses and measurement bias by reducing light leakage to the light sensing elements through properly shielding the waveguide and optimizing the LEDs placement for efficient signal transmission. Mechanical stability was improved through secure positioning of the photodetectors and probes, along with an ergonomic probe holder designed to improve user interaction. Additionally, cable management and structural integration were refined to enhance signal stability and overall system reliability. Finally, experimental tests involving two manoeuvres: a vertical repositioning and an Acceleration-Deceleration are conducted on an research flight simulator to evaluate the sensor’s performance in field applications.

Ahmad Abbasi, Andrea Zanoni
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Exploring Embodied Design for Technology-Mediated Emotion Intervention in Bipolar Disorder: A Mixed Methods Study

Individuals with bipolar disorder (BD) face embodied challenges in regulating their emotions, which stem from bodily experiences. Current technology-mediated emotion interventions are insufficient to adequately address these challenges. We employed a mixed-methods approach to explore embodied design in BD emotion interventions. First, social media analysis of 281 posts and 3,332 comments from Rednote (Xiaohongshu) was conducted to identify three core embodied challenges: unstable bipolar mood shifts, uncontrollable somatic reactions, and weak emotional awareness. Then, a literature review of technology-mediated emotion interventions screened 510 articles across three databases, identifying 11 relevant embodied design studies. Four embodied design patterns were analyzed through Means-Ends Chain analysis: interoceptive interaction, gestural interaction, somatosensory feedback, and metaphorical mapping. Integrating these findings, we propose embodied design implications that position the body as an active partner in BD emotion regulation, offering actionable guidance for developing technologies bridging bodily experiences and emotional understanding.

Zhen Zhao, Jiaan Li, Hailiang Wang
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Creative Activity as a Self-Regulating Human System: An EEG-Based Study of Oscillatory Dynamics

This study extends prior exploratory research (Isobe and Edagawa, 2025) to reconceptualize creative activity as a self-regulating human system and to clarify its psychophysiological dynamics. Creativity has often been examined as a cognitive state, such as flow or insight, or in relation to psychological traits; however, integrative approaches that incorporate temporal fluctuation and embodied processes remain limited (Csikszentmihalyi, 1996; Fink and Benedek, 2014; Sawyer, 2012). From the perspective of embodied cognition, cognitive processes are inseparable from bodily states and sensorimotor interactions (Shapiro, 2011). This suggests that creative activity should be understood not only as a mental process but as an embodied phenomenon grounded in ongoing physiological and environmental coupling. In design research, creativity has been framed as a practical and relational process (Cross, 2001; Dorst, 2015; Kimbell, 2011), yet its physiological grounding has been insufficiently explored. This study conducts a secondary analysis of EEG data collected during a LEGO® Serious Play® workshop to examine the dynamics of Interest and Stress and their relationships with psychological resources, including PERMA, general self-efficacy, and sleep. Results show that Interest follows an inverted U-shaped trajectory, while the relationship between Stress and Interest dynamically shifts from positive to negative across phases. PERMA and self-efficacy function as buffering mechanisms, and sleep provides a restorative foundation. Based on these findings, creative activity is conceptualized as an oscillatory process between arousal and recovery, modeled as an “Arousal–Recovery Loop.” This process is further structured as a multilevel framework consisting of (1) psychological resources that support orientation toward creative engagement, (2) creative practice, and (3) embodied dynamics. Within this framework, EEG oscillations are interpreted as observable manifestations of regulatory processes rather than isolated physiological events. These findings suggest that creativity should be understood as a rhythmically regulated process, offering theoretical and empirical contributions to creativity research and human-centered design.

Mika Isobe, Yoshikuni Edagawa
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Designing by Degree: Levels of Automation and Team Design Patterns as a Shared Language

Rapid advances in Information Technology (IT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) have resulted in increasingly complex socio‑technical systems, placing new demands on human–automation collaboration. These demands are particularly acute in VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous) environments, where failures can have immediate and severe consequences. Effective human‑automation teams must therefore adapt task and control allocation dynamically, while maintaining safety, accountability, and operator understanding. Adaptive automation (AA) has been widely studied as a means to support such flexibility, often described using Levels of Automation (LoA) frameworks. However, many existing LoA frameworks do not align well with decision‑cycle models commonly used to reason about responsibility distribution in VUCA contexts. This misalignment complicates the design and reuse of AA-solutions for real‑world applications. Team Design Patterns (TDPs) offer a promising approach by capturing reusable solutions to recurring challenges in human–automation teamwork. Yet, the systematic construction of coherent TDP sets remains difficult due to a lack of structured design support. To address this, we present an integrated human‑automation teaming framework that facilitates TDP development and supports cross‑disciplinary dialogue between designers, engineers, command staff, and policy‑makers. The framework extends NASA’s eight‑level LoA framework by assigning descriptive level names, explicit human‑loop status (in/on/out‑of‑the‑loop), and visual responsibility mapping inspired by the European Defence Agency’s methods‑of‑control framework. Based on a naval Uncrewed Surface Vessel use case, we developed and evaluated three TDPs with domain experts: uniform task delegation, uniform goal delegation, and a mixed‑level pattern combining different LoA across decision-cycle stages. Expert evaluation confirmed that mixed‑level TDPs best reflect operational, regulatory, and technological realities. Overall, the framework provides a structured basis for designing flexible and context‑appropriate adaptive automation in VUCA environments.

Jelle A Van Dijk, Rosa van Tuijn, Renske Verwaal-Bootsma, Bas Holleman, Mark A. Neerincx
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Tactile feedback for controlling a robot with hand gestures

This study investigates contactless gesture control combined with tactile ultrasound feedback as an alternative interaction method for controlling a robotic arm. A gesture alphabet was developed for translational and grasping movements. Hand motions were captured using a Leap Motion Controller, while tactile feedback forms were projected onto the user’s palm. 5 feedback forms were designed and evaluated regarding perceptibility, mental workload, directional changes, gripper opening width, task fulfillment, and operating time. The study included 32 participants, who first assessed the isolated feedback forms and then performed a grasping and placement task using a robotic arm. The results show that simple geometric forms, particularly points and lines, are perceived and interpreted more reliably than complex shapes such as triangles or helix. A line as Feedback form achieved the most favourable results across several variables, including directional perception, lower mental workload, and shorter average operating times. Rotational coding proved less intuitive and increased mental load, especially when used to represent linear robot movements. Overall, the findings indicate that tactile ultrasound feedback can support contactless robot control, provided that feedback forms are simple, continuous, and spatially intuitive. Future work should examine blind operation, larger samples, and person-specific adaptation based on tactile sensitivity.

Peter Schmid, Celine Bartschinski, Jonathan Kiessling, Thomas Maier
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

An experiment to explore the sensitivity of measuring mental effort by applying pupillometry and blink rate to task difficulty levels

This empirical study investigates the feasibility of measuring mental effort through pupillometry and blink rate analysis, focusing on the applicability of widely used eye-tracking technology in realistic task environments. The experiment involved 48 participants, primarily university students, who interacted with a custom-developed version of the computer game Tetris in a controlled laboratory setting. The game incorporated systematically increasing difficulty levels, ranging from very easy to extremely challenging, enabling precise manipulation of cognitive load. Pupil diameter and blink rate data were collected using a Tobii T120 eye tracker to examine their relationship with mental effort.The findings show that average pupil diameter significantly correlates with task difficulty, allowing reliable differentiation between cognitive load levels. Temporal changes in mental effort were further explored through profile curves derived from moving-average pupil-size data, revealing fluctuations within individual task levels. Two neural network models were also trained on part of the dataset to evaluate predictive performance. Statistical analysis demonstrated limited but promising accuracy in predicting mental effort from previously unseen pupillometric data.In contrast, blink rate analysis yielded inconclusive results because the recording method and device were insufficient to accurately detect blink frequency and timing. Overall, the study supports the validity of pupillometry for assessing mental effort while emphasizing the strengths and limitations of current eye-tracking technologies in applied contexts. The results also highlight the importance of selecting appropriate measurement techniques and hardware configurations when applying physiological indicators of cognitive load in interactive digital environments and human-computer interaction research settings.

Krisztian Dutka, Mate Koles, Karoly Hercegfi
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

PostDisaster – XR tools for assessing environmental disasters, planning related measures, and damage assessment

Environmental disasters, particularly earthquakes and floods, present immense challenges to humanity, demanding effective assessment and comprehensive management strategies. Given the increasing frequency and intensity of such events, their devastating impact on lives, the environment, and infrastructure calls for innovative approaches. Earthquakes can devastate entire urban areas within seconds, while flood events can also have long-term effects on the environment and livelihoods. Conventional disaster management methodologies often result in inefficient use of resources and suboptimal decision-making due to inadequate, near real-time, and cost-effective damage assessment capabilities. To address this critical gap, this paper introduces PostDisaster, an innovative platform designed to enhance disaster management and assessment and strengthen the resilience of the affected regions through the deployment of Virtual Reality (VR), Mixed Reality (MR), AI-supported satellite analysis, and drone-based tools. To overcome current technological limitations, the PostDisaster system provides decision-makers with tools for action planning and detailed damage analysis, delivering critical data at varying levels of detail. An AI-supported satellite image analysis tool delivers an immediate, macroscopic overview of the disaster’s scope. To obtain a more accurate overview of the situation, a drone-based tool generates a highly detailed 3D reconstruction of the affected area. which can be viewed in VR to enable decision-makers remote assessment of the situation and planning of measures. Finally, an on-site MR application allows users to walk through damaged infrastructure, mark damages and reconstruct the infrastructure. The reconstructed infrastructure with the marked damages can be subsequently viewed as digital representation in VR, ensuring comprehensive traceability of decisions for e.g., mission evaluations, debriefings or insurance assessments. This paper describes the current state of the PostDisaster system and the outcomes of the requirements analysis phase.

Elisabeth Broneder, Stefan Penn, Lukas Hofstetter, Diana Marin, Tobias Batik, Ole Siemers, Peter Kan, Stefan Habenschuss, Thomas Menzel-Berger, Alena Jungrova, Paul Henner Stangl, Rene Kastner, Susanna Wernhart, Adrian Schröder
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Event‑Level Acoustic Emergency Detection to Support Operator Awareness in Public Transport

We built a non visual emergency sound detection system for public transport cabins that reports event level alerts (no faces, no identities). The system consists of two stages. First, Anomalous Sound Detection (ASD) learns what normal cabin audio sounds like (e.g., bus, tram, metro, car) and identifies audio segments that deviate from this background. In this context, an anomaly corresponds to sounds such as human distress, crying, glass breaking, or sirens that stand out from engine noise and passenger chatter. ASD scans continuous audio and flags candidate segments using an anomaly score derived from reconstruction error and a threshold calibrated on normal data.Second, Sound Event Detection (SED) processes only these flagged segments and assigns an emergency related label (human distress, crying, glass break, siren).The system was evaluated on synthetic cabin audio scenes that reflect real cabin conditions, including polyphonic overlaps and SNR levels. The proposed models outperform standard baseline models. For ASD, a CNN autoencoder achieved AUC 96.98% and F1 91.71%, compared to 91.82% AUC and 81.87% F1 for a fully connected autoencoder. For SED, EfficientSED exceeded CRNN baselines (F1 59.55% vs. 50.49%, ER 0.75 vs. 0.94, PSDS1 0.40 vs. 0.33).The research results show that acoustic centric AI can provide timely and stable emergency cues under realistic public transport noise and overlap conditions, supporting operator monitoring without visual sensing.

Diva Pant, Franziska Schmalfuss
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Understanding User Experience in Voice Assistants: The Impact of Functional Suitability and Robust Speech Recognition

This study investigates user experience in the context of voice assistants, with a particular focus on the role of speech interaction quality. While prior research has emphasized multiple dimensions of system quality, voice-based interaction introduces unique challenges related to the accurate interpretation of spoken input. To address this, a research model comprising four constructs—Robust Speech Recognition, Functional Suitability, Completeness, and Attitude Toward Use—was developed and empirically tested. Data were collected from 50 voice assistant users and analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The results indicate that robust speech recognition significantly influences functional suitability, completeness, and attitude toward use, highlighting its central role in shaping user evaluations. In contrast, functional suitability did not exhibit a significant effect on attitude toward use, suggesting that users may form attitudes primarily based on immediate interaction quality rather than overall system performance. The findings contribute to the understanding of voice assistants by demonstrating that speech recognition represents a key driver of perceived system effectiveness and user experience. They further suggest that traditional assumptions from technology acceptance research may not fully apply in voice-based interaction contexts. From a practical perspective, the results emphasize the importance of improving speech recognition performance under real-world conditions to enhance both system effectiveness and user satisfaction.

David Šajina, Andrej Korica, Tihomir Orehovački
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Aligning Human-Agent Teamwork Plans with Human Factors in Time-Critical Decision Making

Human–Agent Teamwork (HAT) in high-stakes, volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) environments places stringent demands on the planning of context-dependent and interdependent activities. Effective planning in such environments requires explicit consideration of temporal human factors that shape both individual and team performance over time. This paper provides an overview of key human factors relevant to HAT planning and derives corresponding planning guidelines. First, three temporal mechanisms are identified at the individual level: time pressure, stress, and the timing of decisions. Second, four mechanisms affecting teamwork processes are discussed: joint decision making, work process alignment, team resilience, and meaningful human control. Based on the literature analysis and expert workshops, support functions are proposed that explicitly account for these temporal mechanisms. The synthesis resulted in six actionable guidelines for HAT planning: (1) anticipation, (2) adaptive task allocation, (3) prepared routines, (4) adaptability of informing and performing, (5) trust calibration, and (6) continuous monitoring. Together, these guidelines frame time not merely as an operational constraint but as a fundamental planning dimension for adaptive and resilient human–agent teamwork.

Mark A. Neerincx, Robbert van der mijn, Jonathan Barnhoorn
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

AI Integration and Risk Identification in Advanced Architectural Design Studios

Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly changing architectural practice. However, advanced design studios at the senior and graduate levels still rely on traditional pedagogical approaches of manual ideation, desk critique, and jury defense. This research explores the influence of AI integration on the student design experience in advanced studios and the possible risks it provides for the cultivation of critical thinking and creative agency. We employed a sequential mixed-method design. It consisted of (i) a literature review on AI in higher education, creative cognition, and studio pedagogy; (ii) semi-structured interviews with senior studio instructors; and (iii) a structured risk-assessment survey adapted from ISO 31000:2018 distributed to senior architectural students. Thirty things in three categories, AI Studio Environment, Pedagogical Context, and Design Competencies, were rated on five-point probability and impact scales. The findings show a profile dominated by opportunities, with 27 of the 30 aspects (90%) identified as opportunities and only three elements (equity in subscription cost, AI literacy of instructors, and curricular framework) identified as low-to-moderate dangers. No threats were identified in the Design Competencies cluster. The main possible use of associate AI with definite critical agency, with the studio's fundamental role being retained in the context of AI, but only if the institutional infrastructure is raised to a similar level. The paper offers a three-tiered agenda for transformation for educators and program developers.

Samah Elkhateeb, Hassan Mostafa
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Geometric Simplification in Humanoid Robot Facial Design: A Cross-Cultural Study of Emotion Recognition

This study investigates facial expression recognition in humanoid robot design, aiming to clarify cultural differences in emotional perception and to establish design guidelines for effective nonverbal communication. As robots are increasingly expected to coexist with humans in daily environments, the face functions as a crucial interface for conveying emotional states and social intentions. However, highly humanlike appearances often evoke psychological discomfort, known as the Uncanny Valley phenomenon. To address this issue, this research advocates a design approach that prioritizes artifact-like familiarity and psychological comfort through simplification rather than direct human imitation. We argue that robots should embody forms appropriate to their own functions, instead of replicating human appearance without critical adaptation.Drawing on the concept of characterization, this study focuses on simplified geometric facial designs. Characterization involves abstracting and deforming distinctive features while maintaining recognizability. In this research, facial elements are reduced to minimal components: eyes and a mouth constructed from geometric shapes derived from perfect circles. By systematically manipulating parameters such as aspect ratio, inclination, and curvature, we generated multiple symbolic expression patterns. These variations enabled controlled examination of how geometric deformation influences emotional interpretation.Previous research consisted of a comparative questionnaire experiment conducted with university students in Denmark and Japan. Participants classified perceived emotions according to Ekman’s six basic categories—happiness, anger, sadness, disgust, fear, and surprise—along with two neutral conditions. Results showed minimal cultural variation in the recognition of happiness, anger, sadness, and neutral expressions. In contrast, significant differences emerged for disgust, fear, and surprise, indicating that these emotions may depend more strongly on cultural or contextual factors. The findings suggest that simplified geometric expressions can communicate primary emotions across cultures, whereas secondary emotions require more context-sensitive design strategies.Building on these results, the present study conducts a detailed follow-up investigation focusing exclusively on Japanese university students. This phase analyzes the relationship between specific geometric parameters and emotional cognition in greater depth. By examining how variations in eye slant, mouth curvature, and proportional balance affect perceived emotional intensity, the study clarifies culturally specific tendencies in Japanese emotion recognition. Statistical analyses provide insight into how subtle geometric adjustments influence viewers’ psychological responses and categorical judgments.The ultimate objective of this research is to propose practical facial expression design guidelines for humanoid robots that reflect cultural nuances while maintaining universal interpretability. By extending established emotion models to symbolic and abstract facial representations, this study contributes to foundational discussions on robot morphology and human–artifact interaction. The findings offer designers empirically grounded principles for creating approachable robotic faces that foster psychological safety and intuitive communication. As robots transition from industrial machines to social partners integrated into everyday life, such design strategies will be essential for ensuring comfortable and sustainable human–robot coexistence.Furthermore, the study discusses implications for cross-cultural validation frameworks and iterative prototyping processes in robot design. Integrating quantitative findings with qualitative feedback enables designers to refine symbolic expressions systematically, balancing clarity, subtlety, and cultural resonance in real-world deployment scenarios. This approach strengthens evidence-based creative decision-making in practice.

Meina Tawaki, Ichi Kanaya, Keiko Yamamoto
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Optimizing human consciousness outside and inside the loop of artificial intelligence

As pre-pandemic ideas become antiquated phenomena, human development in a post-pandemic era will likely rely heavily on linear momentum that constantly reconfigures continual progress (Palamara, 2021). Consciousness that subsumes collective forces greater than individuals, alleviates internal friction when solutions are guaranteed (Palamara, 2012), but unanticipated interim factors could flaw algorithms (Imanirad, 2012), producing inaccuracies from hastily forced heuristic decisions (Chaiken,1980), appearing to be derived from original guaranteed solutions lacking efficiency (Palamara, 2021). A propulsion-directionality model of human consciousness is considered to account for kinetic and non-kinetic propulsion and it is interaction with linear and nonlinear directionality that optimizes human development; especially resilience. When interactions, abide by propulsion and directionality, their forces continually reconfigure balance, while interferences require greater effort to reinstate undetected variations in the set range that qualifies as stabilized. This constitutes, in part, Newton’s third law of motion (Newton, 1846) with respect to human consciousness of interactional forces that have non-kinetic propulsion with nonlinear directionality to produce sustainable loop effects.

Sherry Palamara
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings

Development digital skills for sustainable fashion design projects: a case study of Portuguese brand

Digital transformation is reshaping the textile and clothing sector, requiring greater competitiveness and the implementation of sustainable practices (Pereira et al., 2025). Ongoing technological and organizational change demands professionals with specific skills, as digital solutions increasingly influence the value chain and reshape traditional processes (Nafz et al., 2022). Digitalization also supports sustainability and circularity (Wiegand & Wynn, 2024; 2025), requiring professionals able to interpret complex information, adapt to change, collaborate in multidisciplinary teams, and generate innovative solutions. In this context, Problem-Based Learning (PBL) emerges as an effective strategy for developing these skills in the textile and apparel industry, focusing learning on students and on solving real problems. Collaborating with industry helps students understand production complexity and respond to concrete sector problems.This research analyses the use of PBL in developing digital and sustainability skills through a challenge conducted with a Portuguese brand, discussing its contribution as a pedagogical tool for solving complex problems and integrating digital technologies and sustainability criteria into production. PBL develops knowledge, skills, and attitudes through practical, real-world experiences (Guo et al., 2020). Results show that student involvement in real challenges increases commitment to the work. The challenge proved decisive in fostering active participation and deepening digital and sustainability skills. The experience highlighted the value of academia-industry collaboration, aligning learning with sector requirements. Facing a real challenge gave students direct contact with the sector and clearer understanding of future skills needs. Interaction with the company required confronting technical constraints, reinforcing practical application of knowledge and skill consolidation.

Marta Bicho Fernandes, Teresa Raquel Barata, Sandra Ferreira, Rui Miguel, Joaquim Trindade, Constança Almeida, Madalena Pereira
Open Access
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Conference Proceedings