940 research outputs found
"Disney is the Tiffany’s and I am the Woolworth's of the business": A critical re-analysis of the business philosophies, production values and studio practices of animator-producer Paul Houlton Terry
No full textThis thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.Animator-producer Paul Houlton Terry has been portrayed as having little passion for the animation he produced and being more concerned with making a profit than producing entertaining cartoons with high production values. The purpose of the dissertation is to re-evaluate Terry‘s legacy to animated cartooning by analyzing his business philosophies, production values, and studio practices.
Application of four psychodynamic factors to the early life and career of Terry, 1887-1929, found that his economic decision making was characterized by: an external locus of control, risk-averse financial behaviour, extreme saving behaviour through precaution, and shrewd money management practices. Based on Terry‘s historical responses to twelve major economic, technological, or institutional forces of change for the period 1929-1955, the psychodynamic factors were found to provide accurate explanations for his studio practices and production decisions.
There was no evidence to support the conclusion that three early career disappointments undermined Terry‘s intrinsic motivation to create animated cartoons. Rather, Terry‘s lack of risk taking, external locus of control, tight studio production schedule, desire to compete with neighbour studio Fleischer, difficulty in separating financial rewards from creative processes in animation, and practice of undertaking surveillance measures on staff may have undermined his and his studio‘s creativity. Archival research found Terry to possess strong passions for and to have made significant creative contributions to the field of animation.
Biographical research found that Terry retained a stable nucleus of highly talented artists who dedicated a significant portion of their working careers to the studio. An analysis of the cel aesthetics of a random sample of animated cartoons produced during the years 1930-1955 found that Terry created animated cartoons with above average cel aesthetics when compared to the other studios thereby supporting an inference that Terry was motivated to producing quality crafted animation. Further research is suggested into the role psychodynamic factors and economic decision-making play in the film production process and a clarification of Terry‘s legacy to the field of animated cartoons
Is a Semantic Web Agent a Knowledge-Savvy Agent?
No full textThe issue of knowledge sharing has permeated the field of distributed AI and in particular, its successor, multiagent systems. Through the years, many research and engineering efforts have tackled the problem of encoding and sharing knowledge without the need for a single, centralized knowledge base. However, the emergence of modern computing paradigms such as distributed, open systems have highlighted the importance of sharing distributed and heterogeneous knowledge at a larger scale—possibly at the scale of the Internet. The very characteristics that define the Semantic Web—that is, dynamic, distributed, incomplete, and uncertain knowledge—suggest the need for autonomy in distributed software systems. Semantic Web research promises more than mere management of ontologies and data through the definition of machine-understandable languages. The openness and decentralization introduced by multiagent systems and service-oriented architectures give rise to new knowledge management models, for which we can’t make a priori assumptions about the type of interaction an agent or a service may be engaged in, and likewise about the message protocols and vocabulary used. We therefore discuss the problem of knowledge management for open multi-agent systems, and highlight a number of challenges relating to the exchange and evolution of knowledge in open environments, which pertinent to both the Semantic Web and Multi Agent System communities alike
Individual differences and propensity to engage with in-vehicle distractions – A self-report survey
No full textRatings of severity and frequency of engagement with distracting driver behaviours are reported in this paper. Survey data were collected using an anonymous online questionnaire. Four hundred eighty-two respondents contributed to the survey during a 2 month data collection period. Results indicate that the three behaviours rated as most distracting when driving were (i) writing text messages (41%), (ii) reading text messages (62%), and (iii) using a cellular telephone hand-held (52%). The three most frequently reported distracting behaviours that resulted in accidents were (i) ‘interaction with child passengers’ 2.1% (near misses = 7.5%), (ii) both, route guidance destination entry with 2% (near misses = 2.8%) and use of an ‘… add-on media device, e.g., an iPod’ with 2% (near misses = 3.9%), and (iii) the three items ‘reading a text message’, ‘following advice from a route guidance system’, and ‘interaction with pets’, all with 1.7% of respondents reporting an accident when undertaking the activity (with 6.5%, 3%, and 2.2% respectively for near misses). Two hierarchical regression models were explored. The first introducing personal factors, i.e., age, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability and intellect (R2 = 0.131, p < 0.001). The second controlled for variables in the first model and introduced driver-related variables, mileage, penalty points, and frequency of accidents with assumed responsibility (R2 = 0.253, p < 0.001). This model identified age, extraversion, mileage, penalty points and accidents all to be significant predictors of engagement with unnecessary distractions. The data presents a picture of widespread awareness of, and engagement with, distracting behaviours by drivers in the United Kingdom. Findings from the hierarchical regressions suggest scope may exist to mediate the levels of distracting behaviours by exploring individual differences and driving styles.<br/
Investigating human factors of automated driving
Full text linkAutonomous vehicles have become a reality. This novel form of transport is expected to
enhance road safety, provide comfort for drivers and decrease traffic problems. From a
human factors’ perspective, however, this advanced technology can give rise to negative
effects. Considerable human factors’ research on automated driving has already been
undertaken on issues such as loss of situation awareness, vigilance decrement, suboptimal
mental workload, over trust, distrust and acceptance of automated driving systems.
Nevertheless several gaps still remain, particularly, how people in different age spectrum
consider this novel technology?: what is the main factor to predict acceptance of the
technology?: and how can the transition between automated and manual driving be
managed safely in ways that drivers find acceptable?. To answer these empirical
questions, four detailed studies were performed: i) public opinion; ii) factors influencing
users’ acceptance; iii) the impact of control transition between automated and manual
driving on drivers’ mental workload and driving performance; and iv) appropriate
strategies to deal with system failure. To specifically answer those initial research
questions and achieve the accurate results, the whole research process has been
undertaken in four individual studies, using various research designs and methods of data
collection (focus groups, a survey and two experiments using a driving simulator) in order
to address these gaps in existing research. The specific research questions and objectives
are pointed out in individual studies. Results of the focus group study revealed the
different opinions toward autonomous driving and provided suggestions to develop the
technology in the future. Key among these were the participants cited almost equal
numbers of positive and negative opinions on the technology. Older people favoured
automated driving technology more than others and younger people considered more
negative opinions than other groups. Moreover, various options of autonomy, specific
software for people with a disability or older people and ease of use were pointed out for
the system development. Findings from the survey presented factors that predict users’
intention to use autonomous driving. The predictive models between the U.K and
Thailand are different. In addition, the participants from Thailand were willing to use
highly automated driving than the U.K.’s participants. The results of the focus group and
survey also revealed that people were concerned about the technology especially when
the system failure. Thus, the first driving simulator study was conducted to investigate
the effects of control transition between automated and manual driving. The findings
found the negative effects of transition control between automated and manual driving on drivers’ mental overload and driving performance degradation. Finally, the second
driving simulator study reported the situation criticality and difficulty when the driver
took over control from automated driving. It found that the autonomous system bringing
the vehicle to a controlled stop is an appropriate strategy when the autonomous system
fails. These main findings have important implications for consideration by technology
makers and designers when designing automated vehicles. For example, at present, the
dominant strategy in the case of automation failures is to hand back control to the driver.
The results of this research suggest that the vehicle should bring itself to a controlled stop
Advocating a utilitarian profession in a Kantian world? LIS ethical reflection and the challenges of political philosophy
No full textThe over-arching political philosophy of the past 30 years has seen a movement from the Utilitarian principles that had dominated since the mid to late Victorian period to a more Kantian, rights-based approach to justification of public services and professions. Political philosophy has a major impact on the ethical parameters in which professions operate. In publically-funded libraries a change in such philosophy can alter the aims and objectives of the organisation, and even the justification for its very existence. In a sector that grew out of the Utilitarian era, such as public libraries, old arguments for advocacy that have been used historically hold little sway with elected officials and managers inculcated within a rights-based framework. LIS professional education rarely fills such gaps; while many LIS courses contain modules that deal in professional ethics, a key tangential issue is the understanding of political philosophy and the motivations and beliefs of those who fund library services. Conversely many elected officials come to public service with an education that covers the broadest range of political philosophy. In the UK, North America and Europe, for instance, the PPE degree (politics, philosophy, and economics) and its variants are a staple of the ruling classes. Such a background sees them well able to understand and be able to rebut any arguments for justifying services that do not fit into the rights-based approach. LIS professionals’ ethical reflection must become more strategic and be aimed at advocacy that is effective and will be understood by elected officials influenced by rights-based arguments. Utilising the public library service as an example, this paper will identify how many in the profession may have strategically misfired in terms of their advocacy approach, and instead suggest how ethical reflection could be enhanced by presenting the justification of library services within the philosophical context of the day, and how in doing so fill a major gap in the knowledge of many library and information professionals. It will be argued that used in partnership with ethical codes, such a focused ethical reflection can take such static documents and apply them to myriad real scenarios, enabling them to become a living embodiment of active ethical reflection in library and information services
Individual differences during driver secondary task performance:Verbal protocol and visual allocation findings
No full textThis paper reports a study in which visual allocation and verbal reports were recorded to determine individual differences in drivers conducting in-vehicle tasks. Participants drove a simulated route whilst conducting pre-defined tasks using the in-vehicle entertainment system. Tasks of varying complexity were presented to the participants. Licensed (experienced) drivers made significantly more verbal reports relating to road signs and markings, vehicles, scenery in general and vehicle operations; than did unlicensed (novices). No significant difference was found between expert and novice drivers when reporting in-car entertainment system related utterances. Surprising gender differences were also found. Males drover faster, with greater variance, and made more utterances in identified categories. Females were found to make significantly less verbal reports during secondary task performance. The difference in results obtained between expert and novices may imply that novices need to use their attention capacity to focus on the skill of driving, whereas experts through experience, have automated this skill and can use their attention capacity to more effectively during primary tasks. Results suggest that expert drivers are not necessarily experts at undertaking secondary tasks. © 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.</p
The Temptation to Text When Driving - Many Young Drivers Just Can't Resist
No full textWhen questioned, people clearly understand that texting while driving is a dangerous behaviour. However, evidence convincingly shows that a meaningful proportion continue to both read and write texts. Why is this? We prospectively recognise the risks associated with the task; yet in context, many of us are unable to restrain our behaviour for the greater good. This paper reports a simulator study investigating young drivers’ engagement with texting. It considers, i) willingness to text, and ii) the nature of the temptation (modest financial reward or penalty).The study had a mixed design with all Participants experiencing a ‘temptation to text’ condition (and a control). During the ‘temptation to text’ condition, half the sample were offered either the financial reward to incentivise responses, while the others had an equivalent penalty. Ultimately, all participants received full compensation. Driver performance and mental workload measures were collected as proxy indicators for behavioural impacts.Results are consistent with previous published studies and showed significantly increased workload. Similarly, vehicle performance was also found to be significantly worse when texting and driving. However, the primary goal of this study was to explore the willingness of young drivers to read and respond to mobile phone ‘texts’ when tempted to do so. Engagement with texting was found to be significantly higher than hypothesised with 60% of participants responding to text messages. Adoption of short headways was found to be predictive of an inclination to text. Socio-technical implications are considered with respect to the potential to reduce texting while driving
Visual demand and the introduction of advanced driver information systems into road vehicles
Full text linkSIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:DXN013691 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo
Minding the aesthetic: The place of the literary in education and research.
No full textThe article discusses the significance of aesthetic as a mode of cognition and means of social cohesion. It notes the relation of aesthetic knowledge with the perception or intuition, the emergence of such awareness into something durable and the response to the embodiment. It describes the evolution of aesthetic delight in the human species, the sense of sense of beauty arising on one's realization of the formal qualities of something, through the poem presented by the author on achievement
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