1,721,055 research outputs found
Metareasoning as a tool for pattern recognition
No full textThe paper introduces the concepts of image interpretation by form feature and interpretation strategy as a fall out of observing human interpreters at work. It discusses the need for flexible control in an automatic interpreter, outlining an automatic interpretation process and the required meta (or reflective) mechanisms
Special Issue "In honour of Stefano Levialdi"
No full textThis special issue is dedicated to the celebration of Stefano Levialdi’s scientific activities
on the occasion of his 70th birthday. It contains articles dealing with research areas to
which he has contributed during his long and fruitful career.
Stefano is one of the scholars who brought about a breakthrough, a deconstruction of
the classic views on computer science, by considering computers as tools that transform
people’s perception of the world rather than as mere means for performing computations.
During his scientific activity, he has always perceived the inadequacies of current
computational models to encompass a real understanding of this role of computers, and
consequently focused his research on the development of languages and systems to support
this paradigm.
In his research he has followed an original path, less certain and involving more risks
than those traced within more traditional computer science, always interested in the
paradigm shifts provoked by the evolution of computers and the parallel new insights
gained on the meaning of computing. In particular, he focused on the study of patterns in
vision and on discovering new perspectives opened by their use in visual, interactive
computational tools.
Born in Rome on 6 November 1936, Stefano moved with his family to Argentina in 1940
and in 1959 he graduated in Telecommunications Engineering at the University of Buenos
Aires. In 1960 he won a scholarship at Marconi Wireless in Chelmsford, UK, and in 1961
he came back to Italy and became a Lecturer in Electronics at the University of Genoa.
From 1968 to 1980 he worked at the Cybernetics Laboratory in Arco Felice, Naples, a
research centre of the Italian National Research Council (CNR). Since 1981 he has been
full professor, first at the University of Bari, and from 1983 at the University of Rome ‘‘La
Sapienza’’. One of his most recent achievements was to become an IEEE Life Fellow in
1998.
[...
Editorial Preface, Special Issue on Map-Based Interaction
No full textRivista on-line, http://www.psychnology.org
End Users as Unwitting Software Developers
No full textThe widespread use of personal software systems and the boom of the so-called Web 2.0 is erasing the distinctions between those who create software products and those who use or consume them. End users are increasingly involved in the design and development of the tools they use. Unfortunately, there is a high incidence of errors in applications developed by end users. In this paper, a view on end-user development is outlined, which identifies the communication gap between end users and professional software developers as one main source of errors. The spectrum of users that lie between pure end users and professional developers is examined. In particular, the focus is on a particular type of end users that are very active in shaping software tools to their needs without being aware that they are programming: in short, they are unwitting programmers. Their characteristics and their need of appropriate development techniques and environments are analyzed. Finally, the metadesign participatory approach we have developed is briefly described to show how it fills the communication gap and well supports the activities of unwitting programmers
- …
