Journey to Fulfilling the Most Important Functional Requirement: Safety First 🥼

My Augmented Reality for Composite Materials Manufacturing project prioritized safety for team members and beta testers. The end product is used in the composite materials manufacturing laboratory, so proper lab and AR safety needs to be followed. Below is my approach to maintaining a high standard of safety.

1. Research & understand lab safety

2. Research & understand AR safety

3. Implement safety guardrails

Researching & understanding lab safety

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LSU conveniently provides a laboratory safety guide for all campus labs. Here is the list with the most critical rules highlighted.

LSU lab safety

1. Wear safety glasses or goggles at all times when in the lab

2. Wear proper clothing (solid toed-shoes, long pants, etc.) 

3. Wear a lab coat as required

4. Use a glove-compatibility chart to determine the proper gloves to protect yourself

5. Wash your hands regularly, especially when taking gloves off

6. Do not wear gloves outside the lab

7. Do not eat in the working area of the lab or store food where chemicals are kept

8. Dispose of outdated and unused chemicals through EHS in a timely manner

9. Know the location of the emergency equipment in the lab (emergency eyewash/shower, fire extinguisher, spill kit, first aid kit)

10. Know and follow emergency procedures for lab and building

11. Store flammables in a rated flammable storage refrigerator or freezer only

12. Use toxic chemicals in the fume hood not on an open bench top

13. Do not modify equipment

14. Do not use extension cords

Working with composite materials like carbon fiber requires a few extra safety guidelines. Below are a few resources I used to determine proper safety procedures for working with these materials.

Composite material safety (community college lab assignment as the resource, webpage no longer available)

• Possible routes of exposure: 

• Absorption –  use gloves,  glasses,  appropriate  clothing  

• Inhalation  –  use  dust  masks to  protect  against  dust  

• Ingestion  – never  eat  in  work area  while  performing  processes,  and  wash  hands before  eating 

• Injection  –  fiber  particles and  splinters, cover  any  open  wounds  

• Work environment: 

• Know where  safety  equipment is  

• Good housekeeping  -  keeping  areas  clean as  you  go  

• Wipe up spills    

• Keep tools clean  

• Keep fabric  remnants  swept  up  

• Properly  dispose  of  mixing  containers  

• Allergic reactions  can  be  caused by  any  of the  following:  

• Resins  

• Fibers  

• Hardeners and  curing  agents  

• Solvents    

• PPE: 

• Eye protection (safety glasses/goggles/face shields) 

• Skin protection  

• Lab coat 

• Gloves, differ depending on which chemicals you use 

• long pants 

• Closed toe shoes 

• Long hair should be tied back 

Composite material safety (msdswriter: What's an SDS?)

Another safety tip provided by the sponsor was to avoid the use of electronic devices with large, open access to the internal hardware while in the lab. Carbon fiber is electrically conductive. When working with pre-resin fiber, small shreds can fly into the air and a laptop's charging port, for example. This can cause permanent damage to the device, electric shock, or fire. Not good.

Researching & understanding AR safety

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The team's faculty advisor had prior experience working with AR/VR technology. He provided me with VR safety card. Though the project is AR-based, many of the same principles apply. AR technology has fewer safety risks because a user sees holograms superimposed onto reality through clear lenses. As opposed to VR, where a user's view of their surroundings is entirely obstructed.

VR safety card

The following people should not use VR (AR) technology: 

• People with heart conditions 

• People with anxiety or PTSD 

• People with medical devices such as pacemakers 

• People with history of epilepsy or seizure 

• People feeling sick, fatigued, or unwell in general 

• Pregnant people 

Movement awareness: 

• Be aware of your surroundings 

• Remain in contact with a facilitator in case of discomfort occurs 

• Discontinue use of the headset causes discomfort 

• Limit use to minutes at a time 

• Close your eyes, breathe deeply, and take a short break 

• Sit 

• Drink water 

Common known discomforts: 

• Eye strain, blurred vision 

• Dizziness, disorientation, nausea, lightheadedness 

• Impaired balance or hand-eye coordination 

• Drowsiness, fatigue 

• Motion sickness 

Real life safety applies in AR! 

We were aware of the potential hazards associated with users with a history of epilepsy or seizures. The use of visual elements that are common triggers was avoided.

Epilepsy and seizure information

"Epilepsy is a central nervous system (neurological) disorder in which brain activity becomes abnormal, causing seizures or periods of unusual behavior, sensations and sometimes loss of awareness. Anyone can develop epilepsy. Epilepsy affects both males and females of all races, ethnic backgrounds and ages." Mayo Clinic article 

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Epilepsy Society article: 

Photosensitive epilepsy is "triggered by flashing lights or contrasting light and dark patterns." Flashing lights between 3-30 hertz can trigger seizures. Also: 

"Some people are sensitive to geometric patterns with contrasts of light and dark such as stripes or bars. Patterns are more likely to be a trigger if they are changing direction or flashing, rather than if they are still or moving slowly in one direction. 

Flashing, flickering or patterned effects can make people with or without epilepsy feel disorientated, uncomfortable or unwell." 

In the case that someone with photosensitive epilepsy is exposed to a trigger: 

"Covering one eye completely with your hand will greatly reduce the photosensitive effect."  

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Mozilla Developer article: Web accessibility for seizures and physical reactions 

Possible triggers include: 

• Television screens or computer monitors due to the flicker or rolling images. 

• Certain video games or TV broadcasts containing rapid flashes or alternating patterns of different colors. 

• Intense strobe lights like visual fire alarms. 

• Natural light, such as sunlight, especially when shimmering off water, flickering through trees or through the slats of Venetian blinds. 

• Certain visual patterns, especially stripes of contrasting colors. 

Possible reactions include: 

• Seizures 

• Vestibuler Disordera 

• Migraines 

• Nausea 

• Vomiting 

Photic- and pattern-induced seizures: expert consensus of the Epilepsy Foundation of America Working Group 

"A flash is a potential hazard if it has luminance >or=20 cd/m2, occurs at a frequency of >or=3 Hz, and occupies a solid visual angle of >or=0.006 steradians (approximately 10% of the central visual field or 25% of screen area at typical viewing distances)." 

Implementing safety guidelines

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Personal protective equipment checkpoint:

The team decided to implement a checkpoint to ensure that users are wearing proper PPE before manufacturing a composite material. Here is a video of how the checkpoint looks for a user!

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Handy virtual safety sheets:

I developed material safety sheets for both epoxy resin as well as carbon fiber.

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PAR-Q form:

The IRB office required the team to produce a physical activity readiness questionnaire (PAR-Q) for beta testers to fill out before participating in the team's beta testing. This form was adapted from the IRB office's website to fit our project. 

Because of the nature of this project, users will be moving around the lab space. We need to be sure that beta testers can perform the simple tasks required to manufacture a composite material and operate the HoloLens at the same time.  

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Motion sickness susceptibility questionnaire:

Each beta tester filled out the following motion sickness susceptibility questionnaire before participating in phase 1 of beta testing.

Because of the nature of the project, motion sickness is a concern for beta testers. Any beta tester with a high susceptibility to motion sickness was not allowed to participate in the study due to the risk of being dizzy or getting sick in a manufacturing lab around dangerous, expensive equipment. While motion sickness is a safety hazard, it is not a large concern because Microsoft's development team has integrated safety warnings and use recommendations that beta testers were made aware of. Overall, this project is safe, but to err on the side of caution, the IRB office wanted us to exclude potential participants who are extra susceptible to motion sickness.