Interdisciplinary – Page 5 – UROP Spring Symposium 2021

Interdisciplinary

How Do Companies Respond to Consumer Boycotts? A Deeper Understanding of the Interplay between Social Movements, Corporations and Political Actors.

Xinyue Cao Pronouns: she/her/hers Research Mentor(s): Pablo Sanz, PhD Candidate Research Mentor School/College/Department: Strategy Department, Ross School of Business Presentation Date: Thursday, April 22, 2021 Session: Session 6 (4pm-4:50pm) Breakout Room: Room 19 Presenter: 1 Event Link Abstract For privacy concerns this abstract cannot be published at this time. Authors: Xinyue Cao, Isaac Matti Research […]

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Disability Justice and Technology

Blind people use commercially available visual description services powered by either human agents or artificial intelligence in their daily lives to alleviate access barriers. However, few works discuss the security risks for Blind people when inadvertently exposing private content during the use of these services. From the personal narratives of Blind people, this study seeks to inform the design of privacy preserving and equitable technologies for and with Blind people. Through semi-structured interviews with Blind people, this study unearths the current privacy-preserving practices they use, and the values and considerations to be included in emerging technologies. This work offers the conceptualization of image obfuscation techniques in upcoming design iterations of visual description services.

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COVID-19 hidden stories

Despite the vast studies that exist concerning marginalized populations and discriminatory concerns within the healthcare system, there are little to none focusing on the first-hand narratives of Hispanic individuals who face barriers to accessing healthcare services. Most importantly, there is not enough research that delves into the perspectives of Hispanic immigrants who have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Hence, this study, “COVID-19 Hidden Stories,” served to extensively analyze and investigate the various factors that play a role in accessibility to healthcare that has yet been captured by the media. This investigative study was a platform for Hispanic individuals within the Detroit and Grand Rapids communities of Michigan and from Chicago, Illinois, to share their experiences with COVID-19. Through non-contact interviews covering aspects of COVID-19, substantial journalistic research was gathered and analyzed to draw commonalities between the respective recounts of the interviewees; by far, there were high relevance of themes such as loss of family, strained health, financial constraints, and fear of deportation amidst the pandemic. Through this research, there were several barriers and factors that resulted in the silencing of Hispanic immigrants during this difficult period, suggesting a systemic fault in the American healthcare system. Their stories humanize existing statistics and add nuance to the understanding of the intersectionality between immigration policies and health care services. In documenting first-hand accounts of Hispanic individuals, these stories will be compiled to create a podcast that will help the Hispanic community trudge through isolation during the pandemic.

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COVID-19 hidden stories

Despite the vast studies that exist concerning marginalized populations and discriminatory concerns within the healthcare system, there are little to none focusing on the first-hand narratives of Hispanic individuals who face barriers to accessing healthcare services. Most importantly, there is not enough research that delves into the perspectives of Hispanic immigrants who have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Hence, this study, “COVID-19 Hidden Stories,” served to extensively analyze and investigate the various factors that play a role in accessibility to healthcare that has yet been captured by the media. This investigative study was a platform for Hispanic individuals within the Detroit and Grand Rapids communities of Michigan and from Chicago, Illinois, to share their experiences with COVID-19. Through non-contact interviews covering aspects of COVID-19, substantial journalistic research was gathered and analyzed to draw commonalities between the respective recounts of the interviewees; by far, there were high relevance of themes such as loss of family, strained health, financial constraints, and fear of deportation amidst the pandemic. Through this research, there were several barriers and factors that resulted in the silencing of Hispanic immigrants during this difficult period, suggesting a systemic fault in the American healthcare system. Their stories humanize existing statistics and add nuance to the understanding of the intersectionality between immigration policies and health care services. In documenting first-hand accounts of Hispanic individuals, these stories will be compiled to create a podcast that will help the Hispanic community trudge through isolation during the pandemic.

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Resilience in Crisis

Immigrants in the United States play an ambivalent role in the public health crisis of COVID-19. They are especially vulnerable to economic burden, health risk, and mental health issues due to lack of access to affordable healthcare. On the other hand, immigrant healthcare workers play a vital part in fighting against the pandemic and providing culturally sensitive care (Tayaben and Younas 2020). Focusing on immigrants’ challenges during the public health crisis, this creative arts project further recognizes their under-representation in the depiction of such challenges by the mainstream media. Through collaboration with Chicago-based community arts group CIRCA-Pintig (CP), this project provides immigrants with a voice for storytelling via theatre arts.

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Analysis of Wheelchair Dimensions

The goal of this project was to characterize wheelchair dimensions to provide guidance to vehicle manufacturers who are designing integrated wheelchair seating stations in automated vehicles. UMTRI has a database of wheelchair crashes that include front and side view photos of hundreds of wheelchairs. My task on the project was to digitize specific wheelchair points using Image J software, calibrating each photo using a known scale dimension on each photo. These data can be used to define key dimensions for each wheelchair, such as maximum length, width, and height. Forty wheelchairs, including both manual and power styles, were analyzed. Results will be used to create generic 3-dimensional wheelchair models that represent the range of wheelchair sizes available.

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Understanding Dynamic Loading of Wheelchairs Secured in Vehicles During Crashes

To develop integrated wheelchair seating stations for automated vehicles (AVs), manufacturers need to understand the loading involved when securing a wheelchair to the vehicle, because wheelchairs can weigh much more than vehicle seats. The University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) has conducted hundreds of dynamic sled tests of wheelchairs since the 1980s that include data on securement forces. These tests have involved manual, power, and stroller wheelchairs and a range of crash dummy sizes from small children to large adult males. This project first involved updating the wheelchair sled test database with the most recent test results, and then investigated factors that affect load levels. The main finding is that the weight of the wheelchair has the greatest correlation with the amount of floor loading. Results from this analysis will allow vehicle manufacturers to design wheelchair seating stations for AVs that will allow passengers who travel while seated in a wheelchair to ride safely and independently.

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3d Online Body Shape Model Development

In the automotive industry, there have been an increasing number of fatalities, easily preventable by building safer vehicles. In the medical field, it is almost impossible to thoroughly test accuracy of medical technology without using a physical model, which are oftentimes very expensive. This study involves the development of realistic user-manipulated 3D body models for usage in the medical, automotive, and engineering fields. Along with my mentor and fellow researcher, we have been building a nuanced body model application using Unity to be put out on the apple store and google play store. While results are inconclusive so far, as the application has not been released yet, it hopefully will facilitate the lives of engineers, researchers, and manufacturers working in a number of industries.

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3d Online Body Shape Model Development

In the automotive industry, there have been an increasing number of fatalities, easily preventable by building safer vehicles. In the medical field, it is almost impossible to thoroughly test accuracy of medical technology without using a physical model, which are oftentimes very expensive. This study involves the development of realistic user-manipulated 3D body models for usage in the medical, automotive, and engineering fields. Along with my mentor and fellow researcher, we have been building a nuanced body model application using Unity to be put out on the apple store and google play store. While results are inconclusive so far, as the application has not been released yet, it hopefully will facilitate the lives of engineers, researchers, and manufacturers working in a number of industries.

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Video Communication for Brain-Computer Interface Research

This project was to create an instructional video for the Direct Brain Interface Lab, which conducts Brain-Computer Interface research. This lab helps develop and test brain-computer interface devices that help the human brain communicate with software by translating brain activity into commands for electronic devices and computer systems. The video was created to improve communication between researchers in the lab and the lab participants using the brain-computer interface devices. The video format is especially helpful for participants with disabilities who are sometimes unable to understand conventional directions. The video explains how to use the device, and how the user needs to “think” the commands for the computer to respond with the appropriate output. This instructional video was created using videos from the lab’s database, including direct-feed videos of the brain-computer interface device’s output, and videos of people using the devices to create those outputs. These videos were chained together with Adobe Premiere Pro. The final video contained effects and a voiceover to help better communicate the instructions. This video will be used in the lab to help the participants better understand their brain-computer interface devices and how to use them correctly. The video will be updated periodically depending on how the participants respond and how the instructions change. The lab can now communicate their instructions in a video format, which will help better explain how to use the brain-computer interface.

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