Robot leadership-Investigating human perceptions and reactions towards social robots showing leadership behaviors.

Human-robot interaction research has shown that social robots can interact with humans in complex social situations and display leadership-related behaviors. Therefore, social robots could be able to take on leadership roles. The aim of our study was to investigate human followers' perceptions and reactions towards robot leadership behavior, and differences based on the robot's displayed leadership style. We implemented a robot to show either a transformational or a transactional leadership style in its speech and its movements. We presented the robot to university and executive MBA students (N = 29) and subsequently conducted semi-structured interviews and group discussions. The results of explorative coding indicated that participants differed in their perceptions and reactions based on the robot's leadership style and based on their assumptions about robots in general. We observed that participants quickly imagined either a utopia or worried about a dystopia, depending on the robot's leadership style and their assumptions, and that a subsequent reflection led to more nuanced views. We discuss the implications and recommendations for human-robot interaction and leadership research.

Do multimodal search cues help or hinder teleoperated search and rescue missions?

In search and rescue missions, teleoperated rovers equipped with sensor technology are deployed into harsh environments to search for targets. To support the search task, unimodal/multimodal cues can be presented via visual, acoustic and/or haptic channels. However, human operators often perform the search task in parallel with the driving task, which can cause interference of attentional resources based on multiple resource theory. Navigating corners can be a particularly challenging aspect of remote driving, as described with the Cornering Law. Therefore, search cues should not interfere with cornering. The present research explores how unimodal/multimodal search cues affect cornering performance, with typical communication delays of 50 ms and 500 ms. One-hundred thirty-one participants, distributed into two delay groups, performed a target search task with unimodal/multimodal search cues. Search cues did not interfere with cornering performance with 50 ms delays. For 500 ms delays, search cues presented via the haptic channel significantly interfered with the driving task. Practitioner summary: Teleoperated rovers can support search and rescue missions. Search cues may assist the human operator, but they may also interfere with the task of driving. The study examined interference of unimodal and multimodal search cues. Haptic cues should not be implemented for systems with a delay of 500 ms or more.

Fourier domain image fusion for differential X-ray phase-contrast breast imaging.

X-Ray Phase-Contrast (XPC) imaging is a novel technology with a great potential for applications in clinical practice, with breast imaging being of special interest. This work introduces an intuitive methodology to combine and visualize relevant diagnostic features, present in the X-ray attenuation, phase shift and scattering information retrieved in XPC imaging, using a Fourier domain fusion algorithm. The method allows to present complementary information from the three acquired signals in one single image, minimizing the noise component and maintaining visual similarity to a conventional X-ray image, but with noticeable enhancement in diagnostic features, details and resolution. Radiologists experienced in mammography applied the image fusion method to XPC measurements of mastectomy samples and evaluated the feature content of each input and the fused image. This assessment validated that the combination of all the relevant diagnostic features, contained in the XPC images, was present in the fused image as well.

A Fourier-based approach to the angiographic assessment of flow diverter efficacy in the treatment of cerebral aneurysms.

Flow diversion is an emerging endovascular treatment option for cerebral aneurysms. Quantitative assessment of hemodynamic changes induced by flow diversion can aid clinical decision making in the treatment of cerebral aneurysms. In this article, besides summarizing past key research efforts, we propose a novel metric for the angiographic assessment of flow diverter deployments in the treatment of cerebral aneurysms. By analyzing the frequency spectra of signals derived from digital subtraction angiography (DSA) series, the metric aims to quantify the prevalence of frequency components that correspond to the patient-specific heart rate. Indicating the decoupling of aneurysms from healthy blood circulation, our proposed metric could advance clinical guidelines for treatment success prediction. The very promising results of a retrospective feasibility study on 26 DSA series warrant future efforts to study the validity of the proposed metric within a clinical setting.