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Novel Approaches and Applications in Ergonomic Design, 4th Edition
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Novel Approaches and Applications in Ergonomic Design, 4th Edition

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Applied Biosciences and Bioengineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 June 2026 | Viewed by 2069

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Heecheon You

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Industrial and Management Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang 37673, Republic of Korea
Interests: ergonomics; innovative product development; digital human scan analysis; smart healthcare; VR/AR/MR; multimodal AI
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Good interactions between humans and systems, including tasks, products, tools, workplaces, and environments, are crucial for better safety, usability, and productivity. In the fourth industrial revolution, new technologies such as artificial intelligence, VR/AR/MR, digital twins, cloud computing, the Internet of Things, big data, digitalization, and wireless technologies have challenged ergonomists and human factor professionals to explore innovative design solutions and the methodologies involved in human–system interactions for the synergistic fusion of the digital, biological, and/or physical worlds.

This Special Issue aims to provide a platform for sharing novel methodologies and applications that can be effectively utilized for the development of ergonomic human–system interactions. The areas that these ergonomic approaches and applications focus on may include, but are not limited to, cognition, anthropometry, biomechanics, safety, macro-ergonomics, human–system integration, user-centered design, universal design, experience design, sustainable design, affective computing, autonomous systems, VR/AR/MR, aging, healthcare, neuro-ergonomics, musculoskeletal disorders, human–robot interaction, and exoskeletons.

Prof. Dr. Heecheon You
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • cognition
  • anthropometry
  • biomechanics
  • safety, macro-ergonomics
  • human–system integration
  • user-centered design
  • universal design
  • experience design
  • sustainable design
  • affective computing
  • autonomous systems
  • artificial intelligence
  • machine learning
  • digital twin
  • VR/AR/MR
  • aging
  • healthcare
  • neuro-ergonomics
  • musculoskeletal disorders
  • human–robot interaction
  • exoskeleton

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Related Special Issue

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

11 pages, 1657 KB  
Article
Ergonomic Risk in Total Hip Arthroplasty: Approach-Specific Postural Loads and Position-Swap Effects During Cup Preparation
by Carmelo Marín-Martínez, José Emilio Mantilla-de-los-Ríos-García, Elena Galián-Muñoz, Marina Sánchez-Robles, Vicente Jesús León-Muñoz, Antonio Murcia-Asensio, Matilde Moreno-Cascales and Francisco Lajara-Marco
Appl. Sci. 2026, 16(7), 3418; https://doi.org/10.3390/app16073418 - 1 Apr 2026
Viewed by 182
Abstract
Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) among orthopaedic surgeons are associated with sustained, constrained postures during demanding intraoperative tasks. Total hip arthroplasty (THA) comprises sequential steps that may impose different postural loads on both the surgeon and assistant, yet team-level ergonomic design interventions remain underexplored. This [...] Read more.
Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) among orthopaedic surgeons are associated with sustained, constrained postures during demanding intraoperative tasks. Total hip arthroplasty (THA) comprises sequential steps that may impose different postural loads on both the surgeon and assistant, yet team-level ergonomic design interventions remain underexplored. This study compared ergonomic risk during primary THA performed through the direct lateral (modified Hardinge) and posterolateral (Moore) approaches and assessed a simple workflow redesign: swapping surgeon and assistant positions during acetabular cup preparation (bottom reaming, perimeter reaming, and cup impaction). In a controlled Sawbones-based simulation using standard THA instruments, eight standardised surgical steps were recorded with 360° photographs. Forty-two postural instances (22 for the surgeon, 20 for the assistant) were analysed. Joint angles were measured with Kinovea and converted to Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA) scores; intra- and inter-rater reliability (ICC) and minimum detectable change (MDC95) were calculated. Surgeon REBA scores were in the medium-risk range and slightly lower with the posterolateral approach (mean 5.5) than with the direct lateral approach (mean 5.88), whereas assistant scores were in the low-risk range (means 3.43 and 3.29, respectively). The position-swap intervention successfully lowered the surgeon’s REBA action level, most notably during cup impaction, where ergonomic risk dropped from 10 (high risk) to 4 (medium risk) in the posterolateral approach, and from 7 (medium risk) to 3 (low risk) in the direct lateral approach, without increasing assistant risk. These findings provide controlled simulation-based evidence that this simple, zero-cost positional change can reduce the surgeon’s ergonomic action level during THA, although confirmation under real operative conditions is needed before broad generalization. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Approaches and Applications in Ergonomic Design, 4th Edition)
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22 pages, 4243 KB  
Article
Lumbar Shear Force Prediction Models for Ergonomic Assessment of Manual Lifting Tasks
by Davide Piovesan and Xiaoxu Ji
Appl. Sci. 2026, 16(3), 1414; https://doi.org/10.3390/app16031414 - 30 Jan 2026
Viewed by 436
Abstract
Lumbar shear forces are increasingly recognized as critical contributors to lower-back injury risk, yet most ergonomic assessment tools—most notably the Revised NIOSH Lifting Equation (RNLE)—do not directly estimate shear loading. This study develops and evaluates a family of linear mixed-effects regression models that [...] Read more.
Lumbar shear forces are increasingly recognized as critical contributors to lower-back injury risk, yet most ergonomic assessment tools—most notably the Revised NIOSH Lifting Equation (RNLE)—do not directly estimate shear loading. This study develops and evaluates a family of linear mixed-effects regression models that statistically predict L4/L5 lumbar shear force exposure using traditional NIOSH lifting parameters combined with posture descriptors extracted from digital human models. A harmonized dataset of 106 peak-shear lifting postures was compiled from five controlled laboratory studies, with lumbar shear forces obtained from validated biomechanical simulations implemented in the Siemens JACK (Siemens software, Plano, TX, USA) platform. Twelve model formulations were examined, varying in fixed-effect structure and hierarchical random effects, to quantify how load magnitude, hand location, sex, and joint posture relate to simulated task-level anterior–posterior shear exposure at the lumbar spine. Across all models, load magnitude and horizontal reach emerged as the strongest and most stable predictors of shear exposure, reflecting their direct mechanical influence on anterior spinal loading. Hip and knee flexion provided substantial additional explanatory power, highlighting the role of whole-body posture strategy in modulating shear demand. Upper-limb posture and coupling quality exhibited minimal or inconsistent effects once load geometry and lower-body posture were accounted for. Random-effects analyses demonstrated that meaningful variability arises from individual movement strategies and task conditions, underscoring the necessity of mixed-effects modeling for representing hierarchical structure in lifting data. Parsimonious models incorporating subject-level random intercepts produced the most stable and interpretable coefficients while maintaining strong goodness-of-fit. Overall, the findings extend the NIOSH framework by identifying posture-dependent determinants of lumbar shear exposure and by demonstrating that simulated shear loading can be reliably predicted using ergonomically accessible task descriptors. The proposed models are intended as statistical predictors of task-level shear exposure that complement—rather than replace—comprehensive biomechanical simulations. This work provides a quantitative foundation for integrating shear-aware metrics into ergonomic risk assessment practices, supporting posture-informed screening of manual material-handling tasks in field and sensor-based applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Approaches and Applications in Ergonomic Design, 4th Edition)
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28 pages, 5958 KB  
Article
Spinal Line Detection for Posture Evaluation Through Training-Free 3D Human Body Reconstruction with 2D Depth Images
by Sehyun Kim, Hye-Jun Lee, Jiwoo Lee, Changgyun Kim and Taemin Lee
Appl. Sci. 2026, 16(2), 1096; https://doi.org/10.3390/app16021096 - 21 Jan 2026
Viewed by 459
Abstract
The spinal angle is an important indicator of body balance. It is important to restore the 3D shape of the human body and estimate the spine center line. Existing multi-image-based body restoration methods require expensive equipment and complex procedures, and single image-based body [...] Read more.
The spinal angle is an important indicator of body balance. It is important to restore the 3D shape of the human body and estimate the spine center line. Existing multi-image-based body restoration methods require expensive equipment and complex procedures, and single image-based body restoration methods struggle to accurately estimate internal structures such as the spine center line due to occlusion and viewpoint limitation. This study proposes a method to compensate for the shortcomings of the multi-image-based method and to overcome the limitations of the single-image method. We propose a 3D body posture analysis system that integrates depth images from four directions to restore a 3D human model and automatically estimate the spine center line. Through hierarchical matching of global and fine registration, restoration to noise and occlusion is performed. In addition, adaptive vertex reduction is applied to maintain the resolution and shape reliability of the mesh, and the accuracy and stability of spinal angle estimation are simultaneously secured using the level of detail (LOD) ensemble. The proposed method achieves high-precision 3D spine registration estimation without relying on training data or complex neural network models, and the verification confirms the improvement in matching quality. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Approaches and Applications in Ergonomic Design, 4th Edition)
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16 pages, 1736 KB  
Article
User Experience Enhancement of a Gamified Speech Therapy Program Using the Double Diamond Design Framework
by Sujin Kim, Eunjin Kwon, Jaesun Yu, Younggeun Choi, Myoung-Hwan Ko, Yun-ju Jo, Hyun-Gi Kim and Heecheon You
Appl. Sci. 2026, 16(2), 826; https://doi.org/10.3390/app16020826 - 13 Jan 2026
Viewed by 559
Abstract
The global rise in childhood speech disorders highlights the need for accessible and engaging home-based rehabilitation tools. This study applied the Double Diamond design framework to enhance the user experience (UX) of Smart Speech, a gamified functional speech therapy program. Using heuristic evaluation, [...] Read more.
The global rise in childhood speech disorders highlights the need for accessible and engaging home-based rehabilitation tools. This study applied the Double Diamond design framework to enhance the user experience (UX) of Smart Speech, a gamified functional speech therapy program. Using heuristic evaluation, expert interviews, and benchmarking, six core UX problem areas were identified, including insufficient guidance, low personalized motivation, limited feedback, and accessibility issues. Through an iterative ideation process, 78 UX improvement concepts were generated, encompassing motivational reinforcement (e.g., praise stickers and character interaction), automated training guidance, enhanced feedback mechanisms, and error-prevention features. A usability evaluation with 20 participants, including speech-language pathologists (SLPs) and parents, showed significant improvements across key dimensions, with increases of 1.1 to 2.6 points on a 7-point scale. These findings demonstrate that systematic UX design can substantially improve engagement, usability, and the potential therapeutic utility of home-based speech therapy systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Approaches and Applications in Ergonomic Design, 4th Edition)
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