PhD Theses (Design)

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Shaping Emotions: An Emotive Form Design Framework for Emotional Disconnect Identification and Creativity Enhancement
(2023) Vaidya, Gaurav Vinod
The prime aim of this research is to formulate a framework for emotional disconnect identification and creativity enhancement during the product form ideation phase of the design process. Contemporary trends in design show consumer inclination towards objects which motivate them, improve their quality of life and spark emotions. Consequently, along with the functionality requirements, a product needs to serve consumers' emotional needs, and for that, the product must relate to them at their emotional level. Previous research suggests that the emotional element of design could be more crucial in deciding the success of the product than the functional aspect, as it affects consumers' decision-making in choosing a product. Thus, designers must possess the necessary knowledge and skills to deal with this design paradigm of product emotions. Moreover, designers should know whether their intended emotions are conveyed to the consumers. These issues are addressed in the current research with a systematic approach in a phase-wise manner that has resulted in proposing the Shaping Emotions Framework. The proposed framework has been experimented with and successfully demonstrated with a case of form ideation of Bluetooth Speakers.
(A) Correlation Study between the Subjective and Objective (Eye Tracking) Measures During the Evaluation of Visual Classical Aesthetics
(2022) Nayak, Bighna Kalyan
The term aesthetics is used broadly to encompass the perception, production, and response to art and interactions with objects and senses that evoke an intense feeling, often of pleasure. Evaluation of aesthetics for any visual (two-dimensional and three-dimensional) is critical in today's scenario. Any product's success in the market depends on its aesthetic appeal, as functionality/ usability and utility aspects are almost saturated. Visual aesthetics plays a crucial role in attracting consumers and leading to positive emotional changes, resulting in purchase intention. It is well known that ‘seeing is believing, and believing is buying.’ Thus, the visual perception of any product/image plays a decisive role in consumer behavior. It is important to incorporate aesthetic features in the consumer product during its design and development. Improper assessment of the aesthetic values of a product may lead to market failure.
Designing Innovative Smart City : User-Centric Framework and Inclusive Strategy
(2024) Singh, Abhisek
The trend of Smart Cities has fascinated the ambitions of citizens and Governments worldwide. This race has led to the development of huge infrastructures embedded with Hi-tech services for the comfort of city dwellers. In many places, it was observed that the technology was adopted blindly without analyzing the prevailing conditions of the area or the requirements of the population. It resulted in the development of hi-tech ghost towns around the globe. After the completion of such hi-tech townships, policy makers face difficulty attracting occupants. It raises the question of whether to consider such hi-tech projects successful, where technology and environmental realms have attained a level of sanctity but failed to include a human scale.
Design and Evaluation of User-Centric Gesture-based Selection Techniques for Small Objects of Varying Distances in Dense Virtual Environments of HMD-VR Applications
(2024) Bhowmick, Shimmila
Virtual reality (VR) is a computer-generated simulation of a three-dimensional environment that can be interacted with in a seemingly real or physical way through the use of electronic devices, such as head-mounted displays. In VR, users have various options for interacting with the virtual world, such as controllers, gloves, bare-hand gestures, haptic devices, and bodysuits. VR has a multitude of applications, ranging from gaming to healthcare, education and training, and tourism and travels to name a few. Object selection is an essential and crucial task in any of the VR applications because it allows users to identify, interact with and manipulate virtual objects in the virtual environment (VE). In VR, VEs contain objects of varying densities, sizes, and distances from the user. However, selecting small objects placed at varying distances in a dense VE can be challenging, and can lead to inaccurate selection, increased task completion times, and higher levels of fatigue and frustration. Therefore, it is necessary to develop effective object selection techniques that enable accurate and quick selection, particularly for small objects placed at varying distances within dense VE. Our thesis is focused on controller-less object selection techniques. The thesis is based on five primary experiments, with the first two studies being gesture elicitation studies. The initial study focuses on investigating user-centric gestures for selecting small objects within arm's reach and at a distance in a dense VE. The second study concentrates on evaluating user-elicitated gestures for selecting an individual gesture for each VE condition. The gestures were evaluated based on their ease of use, appropriateness, suitability for the gesture's function, preferences, and effort. Thereafter three studies were conducted to evaluate the techniques with existing techniques in the literature. The third study aimed to design and evaluate gesture-based object selection techniques for dense VE where targets are small and placed within arm's reach. We designed a technique called Locked Dwell Time based Point and Tap (LDTPT) and compared it with existing techniques from the literature. The results showed that LDTPT was the most natural and efficient technique for selecting small targets at arm's reach. However, participants found it difficult to use and learn. To address the limitations, in the fourth study, we designed and evaluated a new technique called Tiny hands, which scales down the size of virtual hands to select small targets. Results showed that Tiny hands technique was significantly faster, more accurate, and easy to use, learn, and preferred over other techniques. In the fifth study, we designed and evaluated AMAZE and AMAZE-X techniques (A Multi-finger Approach to Zoom in dense Environments) for the selection of small targets placed at a distance in dense VE. This technique offers zoom using multiple fingers in VR. Results show that these techniques outperform existing techniques in task completion time, accuracy, easy to use, ease of learning, naturalness, preference and effort. Lastly, we are able to present a set of design recommendations that can be used by designers and developers to design efficient and effective gesture-based object selection techniques for small object selection in dense VE where targets are placed within arm’s reach and at a distance.
Embodying Conceptual Metaphors in Mainstream Non-linear English Film Narratives An Analytical Study
(2024) Gokhale, Sheetal Madhav
This research is primarily concerned with the ways in which the advent of digital technology influenced the design of a film narrative and brought about innovation in the execution of cinematic storytelling in recent popular English language cinema, especially that of Hollywood. The study shows that not only does the ease of technology lead to new approaches to visual storytelling (viz. non-linearity), but that these novel experiments remain comprehensible to a lay audience by transforming our imagination of the world. Without a linear and teleological understanding of narrative time, imaginative engagement and narrative comprehension must depend upon other kinds of commonalities of language and culture such as embodied cognition and cognitive metaphors. This study sought to show that the newer understanding of the world that non-linear cinema seeks to elicit, is not only based upon embodied cognitive metaphors derived from language in filmic content but is executed at the level of design and form by manipulating the filmic container itself to facilitate an alternative understanding. In this respect, the study is located at the juncture of narrative design, digital humanities, digital media studies, and cognitive film theory.
Design and Evaluation of User-Centric Gestures for Locomotion in HMD-VR Interfaces for a Seated Position
(2023) Vinod, Priya
Virtual Reality (VR) systems offer a means of immersing users within 3D computer-generated virtual environments (VEs) with the aim of creating a natural experience. This thesis explores and investigates body gestures as a medium of interaction in a seated position for locomotion in multitasking VEs. The present research aims to identify and evaluate natural and intuitive gestures for locomotion in a seated position for three different multitasking scenarios This research presents the results of five user studies aimed at developing and evaluating three new controller-less, gesture-based locomotion techniques for multitasking VEs that can be performed while seated. The first study utilized the gesture elicitation method to generate three sets of user-centric gestures for locomotion suitable for different multitasking VEs. The second study evaluated these gestures based on appropriateness, ease of use, effort, and user preference and further classified them based on hand usage and geometric taxonomy. Three new gesture-based techniques, called the Calling gesture, Deictic Pointing gesture, and Mirror- Leaning gesture, was designed and developed for virtual locomotion. Three different comparative studies were conducted to compare these gestures with techniques from the literature, such as tapping and teleportation, and evaluated based on parameters such as task completion time, accuracy, intuitiveness, performance, comfort, ease of use, perceived workload, spatial knowledge, presence, simulation sickness, and user preference.
Design, Development and Evaluation of Transfer Assistive Device Using Biomechanics in Human-Machine Environment
(2024) Mahammed, Kelifa Seid
This study aims to design a simple, inexpensive, and safe transfer assistive device with a focus on introducing a new research direction in the field of assistive technology devices through a context-driven research approach during concept selection, evaluation and development process. An alternative design methodology was executed and adopted to explore the interaction between the user and the current device and generate integrated human-machine design conceptualization and evaluation strategies. Custom biomechanical assessment methods for human-machine interaction were synthesized to evaluate the device's safety and usability. A working prototype was developed, and an EMG-based experimental validation was conducted on the selected potential participants to examine the functionality of the developed transfer assistive device. The study's main contributions are: an alternative biomechanical loading prediction equation was formulated to determine the compressive loads at the L5/S1 lumbar spine for any load and handle orientations, which would be helpful in the early estimation of musculoskeletal disorders in a similar product. A simple alternative methodology for identifying an optimum handle design and orientation was presented using a human-machine approach based on the EMG data recorded during the experiment, and a new technique was also presented for the effective selection of an optimum actuator load and its location in the context of human-machine design. Additionally, three findings were also obtained from this experiment, which may be useful for ongoing related studies, such as (1) the compressive load at the spine largely depends on posture than the hand load, (2) BR muscles had the highest contribution in the FPT tasks, in contrast AD muscles was shown to have lowest contribution. (3) the formulation of a predictive equation for estimating the spine load that might help in evaluating the handle design in a similar product. Generally, a transfer assistive device employing a precisely selected component was developed that was able to transfer users in a biomechanically accepted transfer posture.
Study on Ergonomic and Crew Protective Interventions on Light Armoured Vehicles for Ethiopian Army
(2022) Mengistu, Amare Wibneh
Light armored vehicles (LAVs) are multi-purpose type of vehicles. It can be used for reconnaissance activities such as patrolling and scouting activities, transporting and carrying troops, ambulance service, small and large scale combating activities in various army wings, and conflict cessation in streets and institutions of urban or city. From the design perspective, LAVs require maneuverability, survivability, off-road efficiency, and compact size, maintaining the adequacy of the space and comfort. Researchers have conducted various studies regarding its maneuverability, survivability/crew protection, and firing power in a compact interior space of the vehicle. However, ergonomics aspects are often overlooked while space compactness and crew protective aspects are considered. Therefore, the current research aims to investigate the design intervention of the ergonomic and crew protective aspects without affecting the space occupancy and mobility of the Ethiopian LAV to enhance crew comfort and safety.
Designing a Knowledge-Based System to Facilitate the Process of Fall Risk Assessment in Construction
(2023) Vigneshkumar, C
Fall from height (FFH) accounts for a large number of fatalities and severe injuries in the construction industry worldwide. Several approaches have been proposed by many researchers to enhance the safety performance of construction industry by preventing falls. However, fall incidents continue to impact the construction sector more in developing regions compared to developed countries. This could be achieved through fall risk assessment (RA) method. The entire safety procedures are likely to fail, if RA fails, as this is one of the critical safety processes in construction industry. But, the traditional method of RA fails to identify safety risks involved in construction activities due to lack of experience and time. To address these safety challenges, some researchers recommended to integrate knowledge management (KM) concept into construction safety management. Unfortunately, there has been few studies that attempts to integrate KM into safety in construction. Hence, this study focused on integrating KM into the safety planning to facilitate the process of RA in the Indian construction industry focusing on preventing falls. This research was presented in the context of traditional vertical formwork because the use of formwork in construction frequently involves working at heights and its operations are associated with a high level of falls incidents and injuries across all construction operations.
(A) Visual Study on Motifs and Patterns of Ahom’s Brick Monuments
(2022) Deori, Saurav Khuttiya
Assam is located in the North-eastern part of India; it is blessed with its rich and diverse culture and heritage. One of the most influential aspects of heritage is the reign of Ahoms in Assam for nearly 600 years (A.D. 1228–1826). Historically, Ahoms are from a group of Tai people and most historians mention that the descendants of Tai people are from Yunnan province. The Ahoms came to Assam by crossing the Patkai Hills on the northern- eastern border of Myanmar. They settled over the Brahmaputra valley and extended their kingdom over the upper and lower part of Assam. With the leadership of the first Ahom King Sukapha (A.D. 1228–1268), they set up their first capital in the Charaideu district of Assam. The initial phase of the Ahom dynasty was unstable as they were expanding the kingdom subjugating the Brahmaputra valley of Assam. By the 17th century, art and architecture flourished prosperously. Literature states that during the reign of Ahom King Rudra Singha (A.D. 1698-1714), the masonry architecture flourished.
Frugal Design for Marginal Contexts: Formulating a Systematic Approach and a Design Toolkit
(2022) Upadhyay, Pankaj
This thesis examines the subject of ‘Frugal Design for Marginal Contexts’ to forward the scope of product design in marginalised socio-economic scenarios and equip designers with necessary tools. ‘Frugal design’ is defined as a low-resource intensive design process for developing affordable, optimised, performant and holistic products, and ‘Marginal Contexts’ (MC) are defined as social scenarios with poor socio-economic conditions where people lack freedom and capabilities.
Design And Development Of DASH: Design Assessment Framework And Tool For Sustainable Housing
(2023) Piparsania, Kratika
The idea of sustainability is based on three pillars: environmental, economic, and social, per the Brundtland report. Housing is a type of architecture with which any occupant can connect. It is a place that supports an occupant’s physical, emotional, cultural, and social needs, which support their consciousness. The methodology includes an extensive literature review, data collection, and analysis to understand, achieve, and balance sustainability. The study identified an evident gap in current green building rating systems regarding the inclusion of social and cultural indicators. There is an inclination for quantitative approaches, such as energy, the environment, and resources. The study found that it is viable to identify, recognize, and determine social and cultural indicators that are both tangible and intangible. There is a need to cater to more sustainable housing that is socially and culturally appropriate for the transition to a low-carbon future. In most research regarding the sustainable built environment, participation and feedback are limited to industry experts and professionals, and residents are excluded. This study presents residents' views regarding the incorporation of socio-cultural indicators and the understanding of sustainability. This study focuses on socio-cultural sustainability: incorporating culture as the fourth pillar of sustainability or as an extension of social sustainability. This study attempted to fill this gap by collecting data from Indian residents, thus validating social and cultural indicators according to occupants’ needs. Through a secondary data review and survey research, this study intends to find relevant socio-cultural indicators that are occupation-defined. The context of this study is specific to India and its residents, with a limited set of people involved due to restrictions resulting from COVID-19. This study aims to determine a way to more effectively integrate the physical and intangible aspects of housing for socioculturally focused and sustainable development by establishing a theoretical framework. The developed theoretical framework is further translated into a practical toolkit. The assessment tool is designed and developed in Microsoft Excel. Each section has design guidelines based on sustainable design practices and best practices followed by national standards and codes. The categories of the tool are identified in the framework and are sectioned into various categories and sub-categories. The template is made in a spreadsheet format, and the tool is designed and developed using Microsoft excel. Each sub-category is detailed with specific design guidelines. The guidelines are based on sustainable design practices and best practices followed by national standards and codes. The scoring for the entire sheet and every section is on a scale ranging from "Poor" to "Best Practice" with score values (-1, 0,3,5), which are color-coded. All criteria within each category have been assigned equal weightage (i.e., 3 for good practice) except for innovation which is 1. The score of each section is calculated and reported after every sub-category's data. The final score calculations for the overall category are displayed at the bottom of the worksheet. The last tab, "Result," provides a concise summary of all the data, divided by category and multiple graphical charts. The toolkit covers seven categories of effect, identified as they have the most significant potential to reduce a building's environmental impact and remove the most frequently met problems and barriers in a balanced, sustainable design. The tool is later validated by industry experts who have worked in the development of similar assessment tools. The tool is checked with heuristics principles for user interface testing with the help of participant observation. The tool version V1 is revised based on the feedback received, and further V2 is developed and validated.
Design Development of Post-Disaster Transitional Shelter
(2023) Dev, Kankana Narayan
Transitional Housing is a crucial intermediate phase in the disaster recovery process, where the affected population resides for a temporary period until they can return to their habitats. The built environment today is affected more and more by rapid and drastic changes due to human-made and natural disasters. Presently, Humanitarian Aid of disaster relief shelters functioning the role of transitional shelters is often in the form of plastic sheets, tents, prefabricated units, and public community buildings such as community centres, schools, hospitals, university halls of residence, places of worship, sports venues, and private rentals. The providence of such facilities is often carried out by the government administrations, NGOs, and Humanitarian Aid Agencies. The term of residence in such facility ranges from days to years, which disrupts the normal functioning of the public institution that is used to house the displaced population, especially schools and colleges. The study begins by studying the impact of disasters and Humanitarian Aid with a focus on Shelter Aid. The definition of transitional accommodation by several aid agencies is analysed with the help of case study of transitional shelters implemented in the aftermath of past disasters. We identified essential characteristics of transitional housing by making a comparative review of different solutions developed in the past in the global context by universities, architects, designers, engineers, manufacturers, NGOs, and governments. The objective of this research is to develop the design guidelines for transitional shelter aftermath of a flood disaster, with a focus to create dignified living conditions which are both environmentally sustainable and economically feasible. The context of the study is the Flood Plains of the Brahmaputra Valley in the North Eastern state of Assam, India which gets flooded annually displacing thousands of people. The residents of the flood-plains and scattered river islands in the form of sandbars of the Brahmaputra basin reside there due to the available fertile land for agricultural activity. Evidence of architectural adaptation in the form of ‘chang ghar’ or houses on stilts is observed in the indigenous tribal houses to address the floods. Most households had personal boats for transportation during floods. A sequential mixed method approach is used in this research. The qualitative phase focused on selected study of three flood-prone settlements in the Brahmaputra Valley. This study documents the rural homesteads lifestyle in the valley by a selective survey of households from three locations which are annually affected by floods. Visual documentation supported by draft measured drawing and user interviews are used to study the homesteads, which are mostly nonengineered. Salient building elements are identified and documented. Structural components, Comfort, Material Technology, Architectural Design, Sanitation and Waste Management are studied in detail to understand the lifestyle of the people and the cultural influences. Further, analysis is made to understand the housing response to the disaster profile of the context. The genre of transportable, flexible and ephemeral architecture is rapidly expanding in the Humanitarian Shelter Aid sector. The research proceeds with the development of a full-scale prototype of a temporary shelter kit model made using the locally abundant material of Bamboo with community participation. The full-scale prototype underwent three iterations until March 2020. The design criteria are determined by the analysis of different aspects that could contribute to the optimization of the final product: life in relief shelter camps, essential qualities of a domestic environment, its spaces and functions, general requirements set by aid organizations and technical strength requirements. Bamboo is considered as a material for construction due to its availability in abundance, a renewable resource, and because many people in the region reside in houses made of Bamboo. From the findings of the design exercise, we realize that Bamboo is the most appropriate material for use in transitional housing across the region of Assam. The structural stability with thermal comfort and privacy contribute to the cultural acceptance of the shelter type. The design development involved the community at every step of its conception to develop ownership over the project and also the construction of the same. However, the storage of the shelter kit of non-treated Bamboo was found to be a challenge. We also explored the option of enterprise development of the shelter kit to establish the delivery of the shelter locally within the community as part of disaster preparedness.
Design Heuristics for Furniture Design and Tool for Model Making
(2023) Das, Supradip
The furniture industry’s innovation culture is shifting towards democratic design by internalizing the production process. Designers, product developers and engineers work together in a prototyping space to transform a concept into a real product, considering the prototype as the boundary object amongst different domains and stakeholders to foster innovation processes. Given design students’ future endeavours in the aforementioned work environment, prototyping activity is an integral part of design education to improve the immature mental model of novice designers. In contrast, teaching prototypedriven design innovation is not that simple, as it is tacit knowledge. Furthermore, prototype-driven design innovation is difficult for novice designers, as prototyping is the main activity. Simultaneous thinking and making tend to be complex activities for novice designers. This research seeks to develop tools to support novice designers in thinking and model-making, emphasizing furniture design. An extensive literature review on prototyping culture, novice designers’ mental models and requirements for prototyping were used to arrive at the specifications for developing tools. ‘Design heuristics for furniture design’ (DHfFD) as a catalyst for thinking and ‘Tool for Model Making’ (TfMM) as a catalyst for making are two different tools developed in this research. The toolsets have been developed from an analysis of the characteristics of 650 award-winning furniture (chair) designs and published compendium of well-known successful designs and introduced in the form of cards. A total of 86 DHfFD cards and 65 TfMM cards had been developed. This research extends its investigation to analyze the acceptance and effectiveness of the tools with novice design students. Students have enthusiastically accepted it to generate more diverse concepts and models with appropriate materials and processes. This study correlates DHfFD with more alternative concepts and TfMM with the quality of the appearance model in furniture design. This research integrates evidence, methods, and perspectives from cognition and design, correspondingly providing a pedagogical recommendation to use DHfFD and TfMM to overcome prototype-driven design innovation issues in furniture design among novice designers.
Life Cycle and Techno-economic Assessments of Porous Radiant Burner and Proposed Organizational Design of the Entity Associated
(2023) Rani, Shaik Sofia
In 2005, the United Nations proposed sustainable development goals (SDG) with 17 objectives as a replacement for millennium development goals (MDGs), as MDGs could not be achieved to their fullest capacity. The third SDG which focuses on ‘ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all at all ages, is a broader goal when compared to the MDG, which concentrates only on maternity and child health. A lot is yet to be done to achieve the complete objective of the third SDG before 2030. Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7 is to ensure the usage of clean cooking fuel to 100% of households by 2030. An effort of developing a Porous Radiant Burner (PRB) at the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati, India has been made considering these goals. In the present research work, different applications of PRB have been tested for sustainability.
Design and Development of a Semi-Automatic Handloom
(2023) Mahato, Manohar
Design is considered as creative human activities which focus to improve living for all categories of people. Humans are weaving cloth through handloom and powerloom to fulfill their one of the basic needs in life. Handlooms have a long history beyond the available ancient history. Over the time, handloom improved through many inventions towards making powerloom available today primarily from industrial revolution. Whereas handlooms have many special features over powerloom like making tailor made fabrics for small quantity etc. These features are still fulfilling the special human needs through creative weaving by handloom which are not fulfilled by powerloom. Also, handloom sector is second largest employer after agriculture in India. It shows the number of people involved in the sector and its unique positioning in the textile sector. Exports of these handloom products have a huge opportunity in various countries of the world. Existing handlooms are very inefficient in production and tedious to weave, causes various work related musculoskeletal disorders to the weaver. It is found that very few research work have been carried out to improve directly to the weavers working conditions in compare to number of weaver affected in the handloom sector. In this research work, it has been studied to improve the handloom weaving through design intervention for commercial application useful in handloom cluster with higher productivity in reduced effort.
(A) study on customized visual image representation from the target group for social awareness communication (In Indian Context)
(2023) Das, Bappa
The thesis is a qualitative attempt to investigate varied information components (emphasizing human image representation) and their layout patterns in social awareness campaign posters from an artist researcher’s understanding of visual communication point of view. Visual communication enriches through presentation in combination of visuals and text, and their varied combinations. Users’ acceptance relevance specifically concerns when a poster is supported by the visuals depict through photographs of human endorsement of a service theme and product for promotion, and thus a poster presentation of a message gets a desired acceptance. In this issue, the present work investigates if the human figures presented in some Government sponsored social awareness (India current context specific) campaign posters are providing a good sense of acceptance by the target users while decoding and accepting the message. An image creates more impact than written words, and we become more dependent upon visual media for coping today’s life of technology domination. The power of a visual image is proven to be essential for emotion creation and influencing our decision of accepting. The thesis key points are: • Celebrity image of an awareness campaign and relevance to local target group. • For national campaign, a single grid framework can be considered when in the cosmopolitan city area, celebrity images and others area bilingual campaign can be made with target group human figure representatives. • The human figure represents may be considered this specific field of expertise that link to the campaign content and context in long run. Further experimentations on a schematic composition for a national awareness campaign, to cater different people including urban and rural diversity, with the same campaign text in varied language and visual images can have a practical clarity where other relevant elements/ components having authoritative and endorsement value may follow the identical position.
Identification of most suitable in-vehicle position of mobile-phone as navigation device for minimizing driver distraction: A study on drivers of Mobile Application Based Taxi Services (MABTS)
(2021) Verma, Indresh Kumar
With the advancement in technology, most drivers (personal as-well-as hired car) use mobile phones as portable navigation devices for cars. One of the detrimental effects of using mobile phones while driving is the distraction caused to the drivers, commonly referred to as ‘driver distraction.’ Sources of driver distraction can vary significantly; however, the literature review indicates that distracted driving due to mobile phone use has been identified as a significant cause of road accidents. Out of the different issues related to mobile phone use, while driving, the in-vehicle position of the mobile phone could be one of the lesser-explored causes of distraction. Researchers have empirically examined the effect of the positions of car navigation display on eye movement and braking reaction time. Earlier studies related to the placement of in-vehicle displays and infotainment systems showed that positions of displays affect driver distraction and, thereby, driving performance. Hence, following the literature review, it can be concluded that driver-distraction due to the varied positions of the in-vehicle navigational device (like mobile-phone) might impact driving performance and consequently the possibility of road accident. In India, Mobile Application-Based Taxi Services (MABTS) companies like ‘OLA’ and ‘Uber’ are using mobile-phone applications for executing their services. Although mobile phone is a major cause of distraction, its complete elimination is impractical, as it has become an inevitable part of driving, particularly for the drivers of MABTS. It was observed from the field study that mobile-phone used for navigation purpose was generally mounted at different locations on and around the dashboard and steering wheel, as per the driver’s perception of convenience. Neither there is a guideline nor specific locations followed by the MABTS drivers for mounting their mobile phone for navigation purposes. Positioning the in-vehicle mobile phone at an un-optimal location would reduce the driving performance and increase the chances of accidents for the drivers. Hence, there is a need to study the suitability of in-vehicle mobile phone position to ensure the minimum adverse effect on driving performance (lane keeping, error/ lapses, maneuvering) and minimal effort (bio-mechanical, reachability) while operating/ navigating during driving. The study presented in the thesis attempted to find the most preferred/ suitable location for placing the mobile phone, used as a navigation device. The research framework has been presented in five phases.In phase – I, the problem was identified, research questions raised, literature review, followed by research gap identification, aim & objectives were set, and hypothesis formulated. In phase – II, a field study was conducted to identify the extent of MABTS drivers’ involvement/ engagement in distracting tasks and their preference of location for placing the in-vehicle mobile phone used as a navigation device. A semi-structured questionnaire and a few open-ended questions were administered to the drivers. In phase – III, digital human modeling (DHM) based study was conducted using the CATIA-DELMIA software. This study was carried out to identify the head (rotation, flexion/ extension), torso movement, and hand reachability required for easy information access from different in-vehicle mobile phone positions. In phase – IV, an innovative self-adjusting mobile-phone holder was developed, which can be mounted on the hub of the steering wheel by adopting a systematic product development process. During phase – V, an empirical study was carried out on a driving simulator in a laboratory setup. In this study, the drivers’ driving performance was measured using the lane change task (LCT), and visual behavior was measured using the eye-movement recorder. This complete research to understand the distracting effect of mobile phones’ position on the drivers was perhaps the first in the Indian context. The policy-makers/ road-transport authorities can utilize the current research findings for formulating guidelines for efficient and safe use of in-vehicle navigation devices. The MABTS companies can adopt the outcome of the research to develop guidelines and standard operating procedures (SOP) for the in-vehicle placement of navigational devices (e.g., mobile phones) by taxi drivers. Additionally, industrial designers can also use the knowledge to design mobile holders/ spaces integrated within the dashboard, keeping in mind smaller visual angles for safety and usability.
Designing Product Forms Inspired by Nature – A Design Science Approach
(2021) Verma, Shiv Kumar
Taking inspiration from nature is a very innovative, creative, and novel approach to design products. Over time, one can cite several innovations inspired by nature - from the weapons made by cavemen to the modern day high-speed trains inspired by a kingfisher. Professional from different knowledge domains have developed various methods and tools for drawing inspiration from nature in their line of work and practice. In this research, we examined the literature on methods and processes focusing upon two professional groups for our primary research: the Systematic methods developed by Researchers/Scientists/Engineers that study principles and phenomenon in nature; and the Intuitive methods more often pursued by Designers/Architects/Painters/Artists. The former group often criticizes the latter groups' intuitive methods as being ‘non-scientific’. Motivated by such criticisms, the current research set out to explore if a systematic design research and systematic design practice can be developed for generating nature-inspired product forms. This exploratory research work undertook the study drawing from Nigel Cross taxonomy that suggests that designers can understand underlying creative design processes from a study of Processes, Product and People. Following this framework four studies were undertaken. These were: Study 1: A review study on existing processes and methods currently followed for nature-inspired design Study 2: An analysis of 30 nature-inspired products that were designed by professional design studios from India and abroad. Study 3: A study of the approaches followed by selected 5 international professional designers known for their products that are inspired from nature. Study 4: This was a live experimental class room study conducted with design students to understand the underlying process they have followed when tasked to design a perfume bottle that is inspired by nature. The research followed a mixed method. Insights related to underlying design thinking process were drawn from the four studies. These insights were combined to formulate a framework identifying the key parameters and elements under consideration in the design process. A proposal for a generative tool for nature-inspired product form generation was formulated. It justified our hypotheses that a systematic approach to Product form generation can indeed be formulated.
Sustainability-Orienting Design Support for Farm Machinery Design
(2021) Banerjee, Sharmistha
This thesis focuses on sustainable agricultural mechanization development for small farms in developing countries. Statistics show that developing countries are dominated by farm holdings less than 2 hectares in size. The sustainability of these farms is crucial for the sustainability of agriculture in these countries. Mechanization of these farms is the need of the day considering the rising cost and shortage of labor. Studies show that mechanization increases farm power availability, cropping intensity, and food grain production while saving time, labor, production costs, post-harvest losses, seeds, and fertilizers. Thus, mechanization offers the possibility of increasing farmers' income. Due to the lack of economies of scale, it is not feasible for these farmers to own agricultural machinery (AM). Their AM needs are also very different from that of large, heavily mechanized farms. Thus, these small farms need the development of AM that can be hired as per need, i.e., a product-service combination offering. Also, the context demands that the said AM-based product-service system offer support infrastructure and product-services (for allied processes) so that the farmers can cost-effectively adopt it. Thus, the context calls for AM and its allied service ecosystem's design as a sustainable PSS. This thesis presents a framework (D-SAM, Design for Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization) and a set of guidelines (G-SAM, Guidelines for Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization) for the sustainability-oriented design of AM along with its associated service ecosystem following an S.PSS design approach. D-SAM helps in strategic analysis, including a sustainability assessment and priority setting, ideation process, design and engineering of the product, service, and system, and the sustainability improvement or worsening assessment of the redesigned SAM offer. G-SAM helps in the sustainability assessment of the existing scenario, sustainability priority setting for the design, and the ideation process. It puts forward three perspectives for assessment and design in front of the designer: 1. S.PSS design; 2. Design for a sustainable agricultural outcome; and 3. Environmentally sustainable product design. G-SAM provides open-ended ideation cues to guide, educate, and inform a designer during the design process. The assessment is conducted using rapid sustainability assessment (RSA) indicators. G-SAM integrates the analysis and design ideation phase in its construct as designers perform analysis and ideation simultaneously.

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