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I/O Bits
No full textWe present I/O Bits, a prototype personal informatics system that explores the potential for user-driven and situated self-tracking. With simple tactile inputs and small e-paper visualizations, I/O Bits are dedicated physical devices that allow individuals to track and visualize different kinds of personal activities in-situ. This is in contrast to most self-tracking systems, which automate data collection, centralize information displays, or integrate into multi-purpose devices like smartwatches or mobile phones. We report findings from an e-paper visualization workshop and a prototype deployment where participants constructed their own I/O Bits and used them to track a range of personal data. Based on these experiences, we contribute insights and opportunities for situated and user-driven personal informatics
The origin of pointing
No full textPointing gestures play a foundational role in human language, but up to now, we have not known where these gestures come from. Here, we investigated the hypothesis that pointing originates in touch. We found, first, that when pointing at a target, children and adults oriented their fingers not as though trying to create an “arrow” that picks out the target but instead as though they were aiming to touch it; second, that when pointing at a target at an angle, participants rotated their wrists to match that angle as they would if they were trying to touch the target; and last, that young children interpret pointing gestures as if they were attempts to touch things, not as arrows. These results provide the first substantial evidence that pointing originates in touch
„Fremdbestände“ im Archiv
No full textIm Januar 2020 wurde ich bei einem Magazinrundgang im Diözesanarchiv Rottenburg (im Folgenden: DAR) auf Filmrollen aufmerksam, die mit einem Etikett „Katholisches Filmwerk“ gekennzeichnet waren. Auf meine Frage, was denn genau das Katholische Filmwerk sei, erhielt ich von der Leiterin des DAR die Antwort, dass es sich bei dem Bestand (im Folgenden: KFW) um einen „Fremdbestand“ handele, der bisher noch unbearbeitet sei. Der Grund: Das KFW sei eine überdiözesane Einrichtung mit einer inhaltlich überdiözesanen Überlieferung, weswegen die Archivleitung gar nicht genau wisse, ob der Bestandsbildner überhaupt in die archivische Zuständigkeit des DAR falle und/oder die Überlieferung zum „Überlieferungsprofil“ des DAR passe. Darüber hinaus liege mit der Filmüberlieferung eine Überlieferungsform bzw. Archivaliengattung vor, mit der das DAR bislang kaum Erfahrung gesammelt habe. Es sei daher fraglich sei, ob das DAR diesen Bestand adäquat zu erschließen vermag. Diese Aussagen waren die Initialzündung für die vorliegende Arbeit. Das KFW soll dabei nur beispielhaft stehen für Bestände in Diözesanarchiven, die nicht unmittelbar in die Zuständigkeit eines bestimmten Archivs fallen, somit einerseits in gewisser Weise einem unbestimmten „Graubereich“ angehören und daher als „fremd“ angesehen werden können, andererseits aber inhaltlich-thematisch der Überlieferung des eigenen Archivs nicht völlig fernstehen
Brücke über die Salzach bei Kaprun
No full textIm Zuge der Hochwasserschutzmaßnahmen entlang der Salzach wird zur Überführung der Straße von Zell am See nach Kaprun in Österreich eine neue Brücke mit größerer Stützweite notwendig. Der Ersatzneubau der Brücke über die Salzach bei Mayereinöd ist ein Trogbauwerk in Verbundbauweise, dessen Form funktional entworfen wurde. In Querrichtung werden vorgefertigte π-Platten mit externer Bewehrung gewählt, um eine große Schlankheit und eine schnelle Bauzeit zu ermöglichen. Die externe Bewehrung wird feuerverzinkt ausgeführt
Inquiry-Based Learning in Design
No full textThe University of Applied Sciences FH Potsdam is known for its wide-ranging design education: Product and communications designers have been trained here since 1992, interface designers since 2003. In order to highlight the potentials as well as the difficulties and limitations of inquiry-based learning in the discipline of design, several design professors from the department who had already implemented inquiry-based learning in their teaching practice were invited to a discussion in August of 2015
The new German standard on constructed wetland systems for treatment of domestic and municipal wastewater
No full textThe German Association for Water, Wastewater and Waste e.V. (DWA) has published a new standard for the dimensioning, construction, and operation of constructed wetlands for treatment of domestic and municipal wastewater. The changes to the standard are based on a wide range of experience gained in recent years in Germany and Europe. For the first time ever, the standard has been officially translated and published in English. This paper summarizes the new standard for secondary treatment of domestic wastewater with classical one-stage unsaturated vertical flow (VF) wetlands, VF wetlands with lava sand for treatment of wastewater from combined sewer systems, and actively aerated VF and horizontal flow (HF) flow wetlands. Two-stage unsaturated VF wetlands treating raw wastewater (French VF wetlands), are also included in the new standard. HF wetlands are no longer described in the standard for secondary treatment of domestic wastewater. This does not exclude their application. Existing HF wetland systems in Germany may continue to be operated so long as effluent parameters are met and proper operations and maintenance is ensured. This paper gives an overview of the new design standard, including key information on wastewater type and loading, as well as primary attributes of each wetland design
Off the Grid
No full textThis research explores the merit of alternative arrangements of cultural artifacts to expose the aesthetic abundance of a cultural collection. The conventional display of museum objects in online interfaces tends to neglect the physical gestalt of the collection. For example, coins typically end up in tabular grids of thumbnail pages in online collections mimicking their rigid placement in storage drawers of a depot and glass cabinets in exhibitions. The overall aim behind this research was to devise visualizations that do justice to the material and semantic richness of an entire collection, while providing a casual mode of access that is inviting to people with no background in numismatics. To do this, we undertook an iterative design process, which involved a close collaboration with numismaticians and playful ideation with actual coins. Carefully negotiating expert knowledge and lay curiosity, the resulting visualization represents the collection’s dimensions using thousands of thumbnails as visual data points. The coins can be arranged into various layouts such as piles representing, for example, metal types, or streams visualizing the ebb and flow of coins over the centuries. In the interface, one can play with the coins in a manner that would be unthinkable in a physical exhibition and that has not been tried in a digital display. The article reports on the overall research and design process of this project, the resulting interface concept and prototype, and the feedback received during two evaluations
Enhancing Location Recommendation Through Proximity Indicators, Areal Descriptors, and Similarity Clusters
No full textLocation recommendation (LR) or rather location-based recommender systems (LBRS) are an integral part of modern location-based services (LBS). Most LR algorithms only focus on location-specific attributes when calculating recommendations, while completely ignoring the urban structure surrounding the locations. (In this paper we refer to a geographic coordinate (latitude and longitude) as position. Locations and places in contrast refer to physical entities e.g. a restaurant, a bus stop or a lake). This paper demonstrates how the urban structure can be modelled in LR calculations by using data from OpenStreetMap (OSM) and the location data itself. Based on these datasets, we present two approaches to extend the LR process by (1) including the urban structure in direct proximity of the location (Proximity Indicators and Areal Descriptors) and by (2) not only looking for individual locations but location clusters (Similarity Clusters). Thereby we acknowledge the complexity of a location, which can not be perceived as a detached entity. A location is part of a given urban structure and we need to include the parameters of this structure in our algorithms. A prototypical implementation compares locations from four major German cities: Berlin, Hamburg, Munich and Cologne and thereby highlights the applicability of the underlying data structures derived from OSM and the location data itself. We conclude by outlining the potential of the presented approaches in the context of LR as well as their relevancy for urban planning and neighboring disciplines
Sustainable Digitalization of Cultural Heritage
No full textWhile digitalization opens up new possibilities for cultural heritage and tourism it also brings new challenges. Initiatives such as “Europeana”, an internet portal for cultural heritage within the European Union, support institutions with the display of their collections. National initiatives complement these efforts. This report describes initiatives and projects for generating and sustaining digital cultural heritage resources in the German state of Brandenburg. With the cultural heritage distributed throughout the state and managed by hundreds of institutions, the task of digitalization is a common challenge for all of these institutions. Digitalization and digital sustainability is limited by shortcomings in areas of human resources, knowledge and IT infrastructure. In light of these limitations, the cultural heritage community addresses challenges with an interdisciplinary approach. It is based on a collaborative model with four levels: (1) a statewide strategy of an interdisciplinary task force; (2) cooperative projects; (3) cooperative IT infrastructure; and (4) an overall coordination. The priorities are: (1) creating and displaying digital content; (2) establishing best practices and workflows; (3) developing cooperative infrastructures for sustainment. Since 2012, several projects have been implemented based on that collaborative model. More than 50 participating institutions benefited from cooperative planning, managing, digitizing and digital presentation. With regard to the third priority, the task force’s next step is finding solutions for digital preservation. Considering the lack of funding and resources in the cultural heritage sector, options for creating and sustaining digital resources are limited. Digital cultural heritage requires interdisciplinary thinking, cooperative initiatives, reliable IT infrastructures and additional funding