USDOE Human Subjects Research Database, Fiscal Year 2007

Brown University

Public Information Contact:

Ms. Lisa J. Manekofsky
Brown University
Box 1910
Providence, RI 02912-1910

Phone: 401-863-7654
Fax: 401-863-7657
E-mail: ljm@cs.brown.edu

Institutional Review Board (IRB):

Projects are approved by an IRB located at: Brown University
The approving IRB operates under an OHRP assurance.
OHRP assurance number: FWA 00004460

Human Subject Projects:

Number of Human Subjects projects reported: 1

BU-03-DE-FG02-03ER25582 "Application Driven Research, Development, and Evaluation of Interactive Scientific Visualization Techniques in Multiple Working Environments"

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Project Identifier: BU-03-DE-FG02-03ER25582

Project Title:
"Application Driven Research, Development, and Evaluation of Interactive Scientific Visualization Techniques in Multiple Working Environments"

Principal Investigator: Dr. Andries van Dam, Brown University

Project started in: 2003

Status of the Research this Fiscal Year:
  Recruitment and/or enrollment of new participants or review of records/specimens continue.

Project Funding Information:

This project received funding during fiscal year 2007.

Funding for Human Subjects Research:

DOE: Office of Advanced Scientific Computing Research
$900,000.00 (Est.) for: Fiscal Year 2007
No additional funding was received since last year's report.
Percent of funding associated with the use of human subjects: 1-20

Information on Use of Human Subjects:

This project does not involve the use of multiple protocols/subprojects.

Identifier or number: Evaluation of User Interfaces for Interactive Scientific

Institutional Review Board (IRB) Review:
Type of Review: Expedited
Approving Institution: Brown University
Most recent approval: 05/07/07

Number of human subjects who participated in this project/protocol/subproject in the last reporting period: 92
Reporting period for number of human subjects: Fiscal Year 2007

Type(s) of Human Subjects Involvement:

Use of human beings to develop/test instruments, materials, devices, objects, and the like or to investigate the "man-machine interface".
Abstract:
(a. Objectives, b. Methodology, c. Ionizing Radiation, Radioactive Substances, or Chemical Substances to which human subjects are exposed, d. Involvement of Human Subjects [d.1. procedures used, d.2. risks if any])

The objective of the study is to examine the relationships between different virtual reality (VR) display platforms (desktops, fishtanks, and Caves) and user performance/performance. The users (and potential beneficiaries) in this case are Brown biologists/researchers who would gain in terms of selecting advanced platforms and software for better understanding their confocal datasets. Computer science researchers will gain from the conclusions of the study in that they will be better able to characterize the suitability of different platforms and interaction techniques for scientific collaborations with biologists.

In the user study, participants are asked to explore or perform specific observation tasks on scientific datasets. The exploration is conducted in the Cave, desktop, and fishtank environments. After the tasks, participants are handed a post-questionnaire which assesses their preference of the environments. Participation is voluntary; participants are paid ($10/hr, pro-rated), and the study typically takes 60 to 90 minutes.

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