Ilyas Uyanik1, Panagiotis Tsiamyrtzis3, Daniel Price2, Ioannis Pavlidis1

1Computational Physiology Laboratory, University of Houston,2 Honors College, University of Houston

3 Department of Statistics, Athens University of Business and Economics

Interfacing Real-Time Ozone Information

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Introduction

• Ozone is formed in the air through a complex series of reactions involving light and chemical precursors.

• High levels of ozone are harmful to health and the result of pollution under certain environmental conditions.

• The American Lung Association currently ranks Houston #7 among most ozone-polluted cities.

IntroductionApp-DesignSurvey Discussions

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• Until recently only a categorical qualitative description was possible for metropolitan areas.

• With the proliferation of environmental sensor networks, real-time quantitative and localized ozone information has become available.

• OzoneMap app: Evolution of ‘ozone clouds’ in the Houston area for the past two hours.

• Visualization conundrum for designers and users.

IntroductionApp-DesignSurvey Discussions

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App Design

IntroductionApp-DesignSurvey Discussions

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Survey of Potential

Users

IntroductionApp-DesignSurvey Discussions

• A total of 51 participants (31 males and 20 females) volunteered for this user study.

• The participants were asked to view two videos and then answer a set of questions.

Q1: Rate the temperature style representation of the evolving ozone data.

1= Poor ; 2= Fair ; 3= Good ; 4= Very Good ; 5= Excellent Q2: Rate the radar style representation of the evolving ozone

data. 1= Poor ; 2= Fair ; 3= Good ; 4= Very Good ; 5= Excellent Q3:Do you consult weather predictions over your smartphone

and/or the Internet? 1= Never ; 2= Rarely ; 3= Sometimes ; 4= Often ; 5= Very Often Q4: Do you consult pollutant predictions over your smartphone

and/or the Internet? 1= Never ; 2= Rarely ; 3= Sometimes ; 4= Often ; 5= Very Often Q5: Do you walk or run outdoors in a metropolitan area? 1= Never ; 2= Rarely ; 3= Sometimes ; 4= Often ; 5= Very Often Q6: Gender / Q7: Age / Q8: Education Level

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Survey Analysis

IntroductionApp-DesignSurvey Discussions

Poor Fair Good Very Good Excellent

The non-parametric Wilcoxon test indicated no significant differences between the medians of the two distributions (p=0.2311 > 0.05).

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The result of the first two questions

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Discussions

IntroductionApp-DesignSurvey Discussions

• An impasse resulted in a compromise, where both options are offered in the Settings, leaving the choice to the users.

• A famous historical case is the continued adoption of left-side driving by Britons - a leftover from the horse riding days, where left-side riding accommodated sword handling in moments of danger.

• The case we report here is a historical deja vu at a small scale, evolving in front of our eyes, which provides the opportunity for and in-depth study and intervention.

Thank You