Applications of sensor-based behavioral assessments in user-centered engineering design

工程设计是一个迭代的过程，其成功依赖于与客户的有效沟通，以了解他们的需求。一个完整的设计过程需要客户多次审查设计原型。随着虚拟现实技术（VR）的发展，大多数设计原型评审正在向“数字原型”评审转变，尤其是在设计的早期阶段。这减少了原型所需的时间和成本，同时允许在早期设计阶段进行高保真设计评估。随着虚拟现实技术的发展，基于虚拟现实的设计评审的研究方向不断涌现。目前，使用可穿戴传感器进行面部跟踪或心率监测正在成为VR设备的标准。这种基于传感器的评估可以用来推断VR环境中用户的意图和情感。本研究的目的是研究这种基于传感器的行为评估在基于vr的设计审查中的应用，探讨它们如何提高对客户需求的理解，帮助告知设计规范和设计验证，最终提高设计过程的效率。神经营销领域也在研究类似的基于传感器的评估，以了解消费者行为。因此，我们打算与田纳西州中部大学的神经营销研究小组合作，探索这一新的研究方向。提出的研究具有提高设计周期效率的潜力，这将对包括制造业、航空航天和汽车在内的许多加拿大工业部门极为有益。

Engineering design is an iterative process whose success relies on effective communication with clients to understand their needs. A complete design process requires multiple design prototype reviews by the client. With advances in virtual reality (VR), most design prototype reviews are shifting towards "digital prototype" reviews, especially in the early phases of design. This reduces the time and cost required for prototyping, while allowing a way for high-fidelity design assessments even in early design stages. As the VR technology evolves, new research directions in VR-based design review continues to emerge. Presently, the use of wearable sensors for face-tracking or heart rate monitoring are becoming standard in VR devices. Such sensor-based assessments can be used to infer intentions and emotions of users in VR environment. The objective of this research is to investigate the application of such sensor-based behavioral assessments in VR-based design review, explore how they can improve the understanding of client needs and help with informing design specifications and design validation, and ultimately, improve the efficiency of design process. Similar sensor-based assessments are being studied in the realm of neuromarketing to understand consumer behaviour. Therefore, we intend to collaborate with a neuromarketing research group from the Middle State Tennessee University to explore this new research direction. The proposed research has the potential to improve design cycle efficiency which will be extremely beneficial to many Canadian industry sectors including manufacturing, aerospace, and automotive.