Background: For core information on the V2 ANSI/INCITS 389-393:2005 URC standards and implementations, see the pioneering URC flagship simulation site at www.myurc.org, maintained by the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Trace Center. A brief background on URC initiative and MedURC simulation is available. There is also an upcoming chapter by Danturthi, Schroff and Winters, entitled Progress in Using the Universal Remote Console Standard to Create User-Customized Interfaces for Future Medical Devices, in a book entitled Accessibility and Usability Considerations for Medical Instrumentation.
There are five URC-related projects associated with the RERC-AMI:
This project has focused on a robust URC interface generator for devices with windows the size of a PocketPC PDA, given four URC standards-compliant files that express the nature of the socket for the selected Target device or service. An "on-the-fly" interface is then generated using the C# language within the MS .Net environment. It is based on implementing an algorithm that consists of a series of stages that include considerations of the Target files to determine the collection of viable interface design widgets, followed by use of an "accessibility/preferences" filter (based on reading an additional XML file generated by a pilot Accessibility and Preferences Evaluation Survey) to select user-preferred interface widgets from the viable alternatives, and then followed by a layout algorithm that uses rules and maxima-minima criteria to determines screen layout, widget ordering and grouping and number of pages. A human subjects study has found that users had a surprisingly strong preference for interfaces based on their abilities and preferences as compared to either default interfaces or the Microsoft Accessibility interfaces. This has been the Master's Thesis project of Pawan Shroff (suervisor: Jack Winters), which was successfully defended on November 17, 2005 (see slides as pdf file) and will be completed by the end of November 2005. This is being picked up by Dr. Sarma Danturthi, with a number of minor improvements planned. For more information see:
The prototype Med-URC (described previously) runs on a client machine and communicates with the target device residing on the RERC-AMI web site. Communication between the URC and the target happens via a request-acknowledgement method. The ANSI/INCITS standard Target files reside on the web side. The project provides the web-based simulation environment for MedURC. This includes a collection of Target files (Target Discovery, Socket Description, Presentation Template, Resource Description File) for each of three classes of devices: vital sign monitors, controls for exam tables/bed/chairs, and exercise ergometers. The web site supports an instance of a Target, which then simulates the socket. The current implementation also possesses an internal algorithm to generate changing values to simulate physiologic signals such as heart rate. nearly all of the URC standard is supported, with several areas - specifically "notify" capabilities, to be implemented in the near future. Future development will focus on increasing the number of Target devices, including products from specific manufacturers wtihin the classes of devices that are currently supported. See also:
Before using our on-the-fly interface generator, the user first completes this survey. This creates a user-specific XML file, or "user profile," that complements the four target-specific files, and is used by our generator to create an interface that is more sensitive to the abilities and preferences of the user. The initial prototype was designed as part of the MS Thesis of Pawan Scroff. This project will be continued by Randy Will, Sarma Danturthi, Jack Winters, and likely some consultants to the RERC-AMI as we work towards establishing a taxonomy, implemented as a formal XML schema, that is intended to serve as a User Profile that captures information about user preferences, abilities and perhaps other information that would be of value to context-aware and user-centered interfaces. See also:
The UniTherapy technology includes URC support. Specifically, a the "Home Patient" user interface targeting home rehabilitation (called "home rehab appliance") can be treated as a V2 Target service. A URC prototype running on the PocketPC has been is implemented. The development environment is Microsoft Visual Studio.Net Compact Framework. The TUN (Target-URC Network) library, developed by Wireless RERC, is used. There is more information at the UniTherapy site (www.rerc-ami.org/unitherapy).
A software program called "MUPAD" has been developed with Microsoft Visual Studio .Net. It provides an GUI interface for authoring V2-compliant xml documents without requiring the knowledge of V2 schema. It currently supports generating V2 Socket and PreT document, and can be run from MS Notepad. More information will be forthcoming.