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Research Roundup: May 26, 2016

Research Roundup
Research Roundup

Research aims to improve tourism by studying when people are focused

UF researcher Jamie Kim is developing a wearable technology called iMotion, a combination of glasses and a wristband that aims to improve tourism experiences, according to a press release.

A camera mounted on the frame is used to track eye motion, while the wristband measures electrical activity on the skin’s surface.

As subjects interact with their environments, the glasses and the wristband determine how interested they are by looking at the peaks in the measurements of the eyes and the skin.

A GPS unit is used in conjunction to track movement.

When an individual is focused on a particular object, the measurements taken from both eyes and the skin peak together. The three sets of data — from the glasses, wristband and GPS — are analyzed, and a heat map is produced.

Kim is able to decipher what people find most interesting from the information on the map. Additional insight can be inferred from the data, such as when the subject is confused, and the heat map shows his or her eyes have been wandering around.

The research was inspired by a need to understand the impact social media has on travel decisions, Kim said.

“The research we are doing provides a fundamental understanding of how the travel industry can design,” Kim said.

- Andronik Mkrtychev


Nutritional labels on seafood affect consumer purchases

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A new UF study found parents of young children are more likely to purchase raw fish for their families if nutritional labels are put on the packaging, according to a press release.

The study was conducted primarily through online surveys. Some participants were placed in groups that received nutritional information and others joined groups that did not, said Xiang Bi, a UF assistant professor of food and resource economics.

Researchers wanted to know if providing nutritional information on the health benefits of seafood helped consumers pick seafood more often. Poultry, beef and pork labels have been required to state nutritional value on packaging since 2012, but seafood does not, she said.After seeing nutritional benefits and basic ways to prepare seafood, more families bought seafood than they would have otherwise.

Parents assume kids won’t like seafood, she said. Researchers found kids are open to trying it, but they usually don’t if they are not influenced to and thus never develop a taste for it.

“Kids develop their food preferences from their parents,” she said.

Consumers that come from uneducated or lower-income families were not widely targeted for the study, Bi said.

She said many people just don’t know seafood is usually healthier.

“You’d think people know salmon has healthier fatty acids — but not really,” Bi said. “Once you tell them, they’re more likely to buy it.”

-Jasmine Osmond


Zoo animals are in danger of wood toxins

Zoo animals may be at risk in their own homes.

According to a study by the UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, arsenic might be endangering zoo animals’ health.

Led by Julia Gress, a former post-doctoral researcher in the IFAS Soil and Water Sciences Department, the study revealed wood enclosures treated with chromated copper arsenate can be toxic.

“The practice of using CCA-treated wood in animal enclosures is very common,” Gress wrote in an email. “There are numerous instances on the internet of animals being poisoned from chewing on CCA-wood and ash.”

The problem’s source, she wrote, lies in the wood treatment industry.

“Treated wood is marketed for use this way,” she wrote. “It’s widely used around farms and agricultural operations — theme parks, ranches.”

Gress wrote that, although her study focused on only one zoo’s samples, it’s important to know how pervasive the matter is.

She could not reveal the zoo’s name due to a confidentiality agreement, according to an email.

“This is a widespread issue, not confined to one zoo,” Gress wrote.

- Monica Andrade

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