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HCI Lab - Health and Safety

For the HCI Lab we take Health and Safety seriously. We outline some general health and safety rules, and guidelines for AR/VR experiences. For further H&S guidelines and details please see the VUW health and Safety Web site.

HCI Lab General Health and Safety

  • All students using the lab must do a Health and Safety induction by an HCI staff member before using the HCI lab. HCI Staff, see the general health and safety resources page in the ECS Staff Wiki page which includes slides for a general induction.
  • All students as part of their project including PhD, Masters, Honours, Research Assistant, Summer Scholars must complete two documents (master copies on the ECS Staff Wiki). The forms need to be completed and returned to ecs-safety@ecs.vuw.ac.nz and your supervisor.
  • Please no food nor drinks are allowed in the lab. Only drink bottles with a lid are permitted.
  • Please switch off all lights after use.
  • Do not take away any equipment from the HCI lab without approval from a member of HCI Staff
  • Do not bring any unauthorised equipment into the lab without approval.
  • Please use hand sanitizers and equipment sanitizers where appropriate.
  • Only people with swipe card access are allowed to actively use the room. Except invitations from HCI Staff for demos or people participating in a user study.
  • If any HCI equipment (or other equipment e.g. chair) breaks or has software problems please report a bug/job about it immediately.
  • If any HCI equipment needs to be issued or used outside of the lab (e.g. off campus) then a job (email: jobs@ecs.vuw.ac.nz) needs to be logged and recorded in the equipment register. All HCI equipment needs to be appropriate labelled. There is a labelling machine in the school office (CO358).

Health and Safety Guidelines for AR/VR Experiences

We outline guidelines for participants, facilitators, and checklists for demoing and running user studies for AR/VR experiences.

Participant Guidelines

These are guidelines for working with participants in AR/VR experiences with HCI lab equipment. If you feel uncomfortable at any time, please let us know immediately so we can assist you. These guidelines highlights some of the risks to be aware of while wearing a AR/VR headset. Please ask the facilitator if you have any questions.
  1. Waiver and Declaration. Please read and sign the Waiver and Declaration for Augmented Reality / Virtual Reality Experiences at VUW.
  2. AR/VR Headset. For this experience you will need to wear a VR/AR headset with the real world completely blocked out.
  3. Symptoms. Some people may feel symptoms related to ‘cyber-sickness’ such as feeling: disorientated, dizzy, nauseous. The following conditions may increase your risk of cyber-sickness. Please let us know if you are: tired, under the influence of alcohol or drugs, having digestive problems, feeling emotional stress or anxiety, suffering from a cold, flu, COVID, headache, migraine, or earache.
  4. Trigger Symptoms. Patterns or light flashes during VR may trigger symptoms in some people (even those without a history of seizures, blackouts or epilepsy). However, this is rare and more common in children and young people. Symptoms can be: severe dizziness, seizures blackouts, eye or muscle twitching
  5. Phobias. Please let us know if you have a history of phobias related to spatial awareness such as fear of heights, claustrophobia, agoraphobia or similar.
  6. Non-Participation. We do not recommended you participate in a VR/AR Experience if you are: pregnant or elderly, or have: pre-existing binocular vision abnormalities, psychiatric disorder, heart condition, serious medical condition, history of seizure, loss of awareness, or other symptoms linked to an epilepsy, pacemaker or another implanted medical device. Please let us know if you have any of these conditions.
  7. Participation. If you choose to participate in the VR/AR Experience you agree that you understand the risk of feeling the effects of cyber-sickness and you do so at your own risk.

Facilitators Guidelines

If you are facilitating an AR/VR experience either as a demo or for a user study please follow these guidelines.

  1. Create a controlled space
    • The activity space should ideally be in an isolated room (e.g. HCI Lab - CO140) or be blocked-off with rails, curtain, or block tapes.
    • Manage the area so the participant(s) has privacy and no other people cannot enter the space accidentally.
    • Anyone else wanting to come into the area must have permission of the facilitator.
    • Booking of the HCI lab for user studies needs to be coordinated with HCI Staff.
  2. Prevent tripping and collision hazards
    • Serious injuries can occur from tripping or running into furniture, people, or other objects.
    • Scan the area for trip hazards and clear it of unnecessary objects and furniture before starting the activity. There should be no hazards at head height (such as hanging lamps)
    • The floor should be free of potential trip hazards such as extraneous cables or loose mats. Clear away power cords on the ground where the participant will be active. Only leave the cable that connects the VR/AR headset to the PC.
    • Lay all other cords and cables alongside the edge of the space and cover with trip-guards (protective rubber covers) or duct tape where appropriate.
  3. Monitoring participants during AR/VR activities
    • Any AR/VR experience with participants should have at least one facilitator present in the room and if there is an audience then one person to manage crowd control.
    • Ensure AR/VR headset cables do not tangle around the participant.
    • Ensure AR/VR headset cables do not get trodden on, stomped on, or any equipment like a chair goes over it
    • Carefully monitor participant(s) for any signs of discomfort or being accidentally knocked unconscious.
  4. If participant(s) shows signs of discomfort
    • intervene immediately and stop the activity
    • help stabilize the participant (e.g. sit them down on a chair if not already seated)
    • remove their headset
    • check if they are ok

Facilitator Checklist

Follow this checklist for any issues participants have during AR/VR experiences.

  1. Immediately discontinue using the AR/VR headset if you observe (as facilitator) or the participant reports any of the following symptoms:
    • Seizures
    • Loss of awareness
    • Eye strain
    • Eye or muscle twitching
    • Involuntary movements
    • Altered, blurred, or double vision or other visual abnormalities
    • Dizziness
    • Disorientation
    • Impaired balance
    • Impaired hand-eye coordination
    • Excessive sweating
    • Increased salivation
    • Nausea
    • Lightheadedness
    • Discomfort or pain in the head or eyes
    • Drowsiness
    • Fatigue
    • Any symptoms similar to motion sickness.
  2. If a participant experiences any of the above symptoms. Under non-emergency situations, guide the participant to a chair or couch, sit them down and allow them to have a rest and drink some water slowly. If participant is not ok and if appropriate please take them to Mauri Ora (Student Health), Student Union Building Level 1.
  3. If a participant feels better after a period of time, allow them to leave but remind them not to engage in visually or physically demanding activities in the following few hours. In particular, they should not drive, operate machinery or play sports. Make sure they have a way to get home or to their next location. Call for help if need be.
  4. If a participant has serious and/or persistent symptoms (medical emergency) please call the emergency services on 111, VUW campus security 8888 (0800 842 8888). Apply first aid if you are confident, are approved to administer first aid, and it is safe to do so.

Developer Guidelines

Often students are developing VR applications on their own in a lab or office. It is important to also make sure good health and safety practices are followed.

  • If doing any AR/VR development and using HMDs while alone then there needs to be someone else who is responsible for checking on you at least once every thirty minutes. This is in case you become accidentally unconscious while wearing an HMD.

First Aid

For non-emergency First Aid the following people are qualified first aiders in the School of Engineering and Computer Science: Roger Cliffe, Duncan McEwan, Tim Exley, Jason Edwards, Arthur Roberts

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