Many different types of computer user interfaces are used to perform office tasks. Although some guidelines are proposed for selecting user interfaces appropriate to perform differnet tasks, they have not been supported by empirical studies. This study examined five user interface styles and their combinations which were used to perform representative office tasks. A variety of analysis techniques such as brainstorming, analytic hierarchy process, prototyping, and expert opinions were employed to evaluate the usability of the interfaces. Also, a human factors experiment was conducted to validate empirically the analysis results. The analysis procedures and results are described along with guidelines for selecting user interfaces in terms of subjective preferences and performance measures.

The objectives of this study are twofold : (1) to investigate musculoskeletal discomfort for sedentary workers in offices ane (2) to revise the Korean Standard for the design of office chairs in order to reduce or eliminate the physical discomfort or the office workers. Two hundred seventy-one office workers from nineteen different companies companies were selected to evaluate the musculoskeletal discomfort and indibidual features of chair design. A statistical analysis of the survey rebealed that the office currently being used had two major deficiencies such as insufficient adjustability and inappropriate design specifications in ergonomic sense. A stepwise regression analysis showed that the deficiencies on the musculoskeletal discomfort of the workers. Based on the ergonomic design pronciples, was debeloped to revise the Korean Standard for the design specifications of office chairs. An application of the methodology was made amend the design specifications of the four factors such as seat pan height, seat pan width, and seat pan inclunation. Their effects were evident in the musculoskeletal discomfort of the workers.

This research examines classifying and characterizing breast form's classification on elderly women, 242 subjects from 55 to 75 years of age participated. 27 direct anthropometric measurement were applied to classify the breast typesl. We analyzed measurement data using factor analysis, cluster analysis, analysis of variance. The results of the study were as follows. 1) 55-64 aged group was taller and higher than 65-79 aged group. Typical breast form in 55-64 aged group was more obese than breast form in 65-79 aged group. 2) We extracted 5 factors(obesity of breast, height of breast, height of breast items, location & size of breast, width of upper chest & shouldet length, height of breast & lower length of nipples) from total items through factor analysis. 3) Through cluster analysis, we categorized 3 clusters. Namely, type 1; characterized the best slender type, type 2; characterized middle sized type, type 3: characterized obesity type. Type 2 is the typical type on elderly women.

The paper presents a new scheme and a support system for the analysis sof hyman errors in nuclear power plants based on a cognitive model. We discusse the problems identified in current managerial analysis, and propose a new approach that frames the description of human activities according to a human decision making modle, so that it could provide a better reconstruction of a sequence of event suspected of involving human errors. This sophistcated approach becomes practical for the field application with the support of a computerized aiding system. The model-based event re-construction method is expected to enable the analysts to produce more informative reports, which in turn heop to derive appropriate counter- measures to reduce the possibility of the analyzed human errors.

Among many kinds of odors, some are known to have effects of sedation or stimulation on brain activity. In this study, brain activity levels affected by four kinds of fragrance0lemon, lavender, jasmine, and rose-were tested using EEG recording. In the first experiment, the quality of alpha wave was examined under controlled rest condition. In the second experiment, the event-related potential (ERP) and contingent negative variation (CNV) were investigated during a simple reaction tasks (SRT) against auditory signal. EEG data obtained for the rest condition were analyzed suing "3-Dimensional Viewer)" which was developed by ourselves to show the chaotic attractor of the signal. Power spectrum were also calculated using FET. EEG data obtained during the SRT were analyzed by comparing CNV amplitudes about each odor condition. Results confirmed the sedative effect of the lemon and the lavender, and the stimulative effect of the jasmine and the rose.

It is not difficult to find risky manual material handling which requires various arm exertion for moving and assembling irregular stuffs in industries. Many of workers have been hurt on their muscular and skeletal system due to the manual material handling. This study is to provide data for isokinetic muscular strength elbow flexors and extensors of Korean male and female adults. Provided standard data for isokinetic muscular strength of elbow flexous and extensors can be used for scientific and systematic analysis of arm exertionl.

This paper summarizes recent research in the use of the psychophysical method of adjustment to establish acceptable parameters for upper extremity work activities. Results from these studies show that this psychophysical approach can provide reliable guidelines based upon realistic job conditions which involve one or more risk factors for cumulative trauma. It is also shown that this method provides advantages over other psychophysical methods as well as current biomechanical and physioligical criteria.

A biomechanical model of lower extremity in seated postures was developed to assess muscular activities of lower extremity involved in a variety of foot pedal operations. The model incorporated four rigid body segments with the twenty-four muscles to represent lower extremity. This study deals with quasi-static movement to investigate dymanic movement effect in seated foot operation. It is found that optimization method which has been used for modeling the articulated body segments does not predict the forces generated from biarticular muscles and antagonistic muscles reasonably. So, the revised nonlinear optimization scheme was employed to consider the synergistic effects of biarticular muscles and the antagonistic muscle effects from the stabilization of the joint. For the model validation, three male subjects performen the experiments in which EMG activities of the nine lower extremity muscles were measured. Predicted muscle forces were compared with the corresponding EMG amplitudes and it showed no statistical difference. For the selection of optimal seated posture, a physiological meaningful criterion for muscular load sharing developed.