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Biomedical subjects

R Yoshitake

Publications and source records attributed to R Yoshitake.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2000

Ergonomic guidelines for using notebook personal computers. Technical Committee on Human-Computer Interaction, International Ergonomics Association.

In the 1980's, the visual display terminal (VDT) was introduced in workplaces of many countries. Soon thereafter, an upsurge in reported cases of related health problems, such as musculoskeletal disorders and eyestrain, was seen. Recently, the flat panel display or notebook personal computer (PC) became the most remarkable feature in modern workplaces with VDTs and even in homes. A proactive approach must be taken to avert foreseeable ergonomic and occupational health problems from the use of this new technology. Because of its distinct physical and optical characteristics, the ergonomic requirements for notebook PCs in terms of machine layout, workstation design, lighting conditions, among others, should be different from the CRT-based computers. The Japan Ergonomics Society (JES) technical committee came up with a set of guidelines for notebook PC use following exploratory discussions that dwelt on its ergonomic aspects. To keep in stride with this development, the Technical Committee on Human-Computer Interaction under the auspices of the International Ergonomics Association worked towards the international issuance of the guidelines. This paper unveils the result of this collaborative effort.

Equipment Design↗
PubMed1997

An analysis of users' preference on keyboards through ergonomic comparison among four keyboards.

The usability of four kinds of keyboards as regards touch and feel was evaluated by measuring the performance and eliciting the preferences of a total of 24 Japanese participants in a test that consisted of typing English text. It was found that quiet keyboards with an indistinct tactile feedback tend to give higher uncorrected error rates than keyboards with a distinct tactile feedback and clicking sound, while no significant difference in throughput was found among the four keyboards. As regards preference, the test participants were divided into two groups: those who preferred keyboards with a distinct tactile feedback and clicking sound, and those who preferred keyboards with an indistinct tactile feedback and no sound. Analysis revealed that these two groups also showed different sensations and preferences with respect to several aspects of the touch and feel of keyboards. This result suggests that suppliers of computer keyboards should provide two kinds of keyboards, with distinct and indistinct tactile key switches, in order to satisfy as many users as possible.

Computer Peripherals↗
PubMed1995

Relationship between key space and user performance on reduced keyboards.

Small computers are much in demand for mobile computing. However, keyboard size is an obstacle to further size reduction. Reducing the space occupied by keys would affect the usability of the keyboard. On the other hand, if the keys were closer together, the fingers would reach them faster. This could improve typing performance. An experiment was therefore conducted to investigate the relationship between users' performance and the center-to-center key space of reduced-size keyboards. Eighteen touch-typists were asked to do a word typing task on five different keyboards. A standard keyboard with a key space of 19.05 mm and smaller keyboards with key spaces of 16.7, 16.0, 15.6, and 15.0 mm were used in this study. No performance degradation was found on keyboards with a key space of 16.7 mm for faster typists (those capable of about 40 wpm), including those with large fingers (97.5 percentile of Japanese adult males). For faster typists with narrow fingers, there was no performance degradation on keyboards with a key space of 15.0 mm.

Adult↗