Identification of Human Centered Design Factors and their impact on Design of Cyber-Human training environments for orthopedic surgery

In this paper, an innovative cyber-human based design approach developed for a VR based orthopedic surgical training simulator is presented. The paper focuses on throwing light on Human Centered Computing (HCC) principles in the design of VR based training environments. HCC principles such as affordance, visual density and cognitive load have been used during the design process. A novel concept of dynamic affordance which is defined as a function of comprehension of the elements of a virtual environment is also discussed in the paper. The orthopedic surgical procedure in focus is the condylar plating surgery which is performed to treat the fractures of femur. Three training environments are also elaborated in the paper which are developed at varying levels of difficulty focusing on various steps of the condylar plating surgery. Challenge scenarios were also developed to assess skills acquisition of the users along with the pre and post-test based knowledge assessments. Furthermore, multiple variants of the environments are designed to assess the impact of HCC factors such as dynamic affordance, visual density and cognitive load on the comprehension, skills acquisition, and knowledge acquisition of the users. The results from such assessment activities conducted at two medical hospitals are also presented in this paper.