1,721,147 research outputs found
May I show you the route? Developing a service robot application in a library using design science research
No full textThe present study demonstrates the ongoing development of a service robot application in a campus library through the application of Design Science Research (DSR) combined with user-centered design (UCD). In particular, we involved librarians and co-created an application solution addressing two use cases: giving directions to a desired subject area/book and providing recommendations for an event/book. Additionally, we involved potential end users to evaluate the robot artifact through an onsite usability test (N = 14) already within the design cycle. This process resulted in a successful application of the robot artifact for the identified use cases and shows feasibility of combining DSR with UCD
Teaching programming during COVID lockdowns – a positive lesson
No full textAs an immediate response to the economic impact of COVID, in 2020 regional UK governments promoted short-term funded university courses to enable indi-viduals that were redundant or furloughed to reskill in the area of software de-velopment. One of the courses developed was a novel Post Graduate Certificate in Software Development (Cert), based on a well-established MSc in Software Development (conversion) course (MSc SD) delivered at a local University. The course attracted over 700 applications, enabling the application of higher entry criteria than the MSc SD. Differences in the entry criteria and delivery format (entirely online for Cert) presented a unique Action Based research op-portunity. This paper initially reports on course performance of the Cert in comparison to the MSc SD. It then provides an analysis of impact and differ-ences within the enhanced entry criteria for the Cert. Providing discussion and recommendations for entry criteria and delivery mechanisms for similar courses
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Design of a HVAC System Based on Confluents Jets Applied in Office Spaces
No full textA Comparison of Three Different NeuroTag Visualization Media: Brain Visual Stimuli by Monitor, Augmented and Virtual Reality Devices
Full text linkBrain Computer Interfaces (BCIs) proved to overcome some limitations of other input modes (e.g., gestures, voice, haptic, etc.). BCIs are able to detect the brain activity, thus identifying searched patterns. When a specific brain activity is detected, a well-defined action can be triggered, thus implementing a human-machine interaction paradigm. BCIs can be used in different domains ranging from industry to services for impaired people.Small and ergonomics devices, such as the NextMind (https://www.next-mind.com/) are the result of recent technological advances; these new devices allow to support users in everyday life, thus bringing the design of BCIs into a new dimension well beyond the scope of laboratory tests.In particular, The NextMind is a device able to detect and classify signals coming from the visual cortex. Visual stimuli are blinking/flickering textures that are associated with objects called NeuroTags (see Figure 1). An event is triggered when the user focuses on the same NeuroTag for a given amount of time. This paradigm can replace selection methods based on keyboard, mouse, gesture, touch, voice, and gaze.This paper compares and assesses three different interfaces that share the same input device (the NextMind) to detect the brain activity and differ in the medium to convey to the user the visual stimuli. A monitor, an Augmented Reality (AR) device (the Microsoft HoloLens), and a Virtual Reality (VR) device (the Oculus Rift) are considered. The aim of this work is to assess any difference in the three visualization media when displaying NeuroTags. User tests have been performed in order to evaluate the usability of the three different solutions. After each test, users were asked for filling out the System Usability Scale (SUS) questionnaire and the SUS scores have been used for statistical analysis
Guidelines for Social XR Implementation of Social Cues
Full text linkIn our digital age, human social communication is increasingly mediated. However, mediated social communication (MSC) systems will only become a viable alternative for in-person social interactions when they reliably and intuitively convey all relevant social and spatial cues needed by communication partners to establish effective communication, collaboration, mutual understanding, and trust. A lot of research has been done on mediated communication in general, and on the effect of social cues in particular. However, this research typically focuses on particular social cues, investigating effects of implementations in particular situations. In addition, the research often focuses on answering psychological or cognitive questions. The translation to design questions such as functional and technical requirements is often left to the developers of the technical systems. This leaves a gap between psychological research results and a translation towards practical guidelines for designers and developers. This paper aims to make a first step towards guidelines for the implementation of social cues for social XR implementations
Tutorial: Conceptualizing intelligence amplification in human-centred AI applications using the design canvas
Full text linkDesigning applications that enhance the cognitive abilities of their users is complex and requires involvement of stakeholders from different disciplines. The intelligence amplification design canvas aims to ease and support initial design processes. Currently, a step-by-step tutorial for practitioners is lacking. Extending earlier work regarding the organization of a design canvas workshop, the objective of this paper is to provide such a tutorial. Leveraging the comprehensive design approach for intelligence amplification from earlier work, participants of this tutorial will detail a self-defined idea or existing application using the 13 elements of the intelligence amplification design canvas in four short iterations. Following its four design principles, participants use the intelligence amplification design canvas to emphasize and define human-centred design aspects, the embodiment in the form of a software agent, the use of data driven approaches and computational intelligence, and incorporation of human in the loop. This way, the tutorial contributes to the initiation of new human-centred AI projects as well as the analysis and improvement of existing applications. Furthermore, this tutorial aspires to form a group of researchers and practitioners to collaboratively develop and evaluate human-centred AI applications and case studies. The tutorial can be planned as a half-day or full-day session depending on the target audience. The tutorial requires a room for 4-8 pairs of workshop participants, a large screen or beamer, and laptop for the tutorial presentation. The intelligence amplification design canvas can best be printed on A3 paper for each participant and can be filled in using a pen or post-its. The target audience of the tutorial includes, but is not limited to practitioners, researchers, and students active in the fields of computer science, information systems research, systems design and engineering and human-computer interaction
Recent Advances in Biomechanics
Full text linkThis book presents an understanding of biomechanics through chapters analyzing human behavior in sport from a medical perspective. It offers a comprehensive range of principles, methods, techniques, and tools to provide the reader with clear knowledge of the impact of biomechanic processes. The text considers physical, mechanical, and biomechanical aspects and is illustrated by different key application domains such as sports performance, sports science, ergonomy science, gait and human posture, and musculoskeletal disorders in medicine. The first three chapters provide useful tools for measuring, generating, simulating, and processing in biomechanics with the clinical and experimental applications in medicine. The last section describes the application of biomechanics in sport performance. Engineers, researchers, and students from biomedical engineering and health sciences, as well as industrial professionals, can profit from this compendium of knowledge on biomechanics applied to the human body
How System Failures and Ransomwares Affect Drivers’ Trust and Attitudes in an Automated Car? A Simulator Study
Full text linkAs cars are becoming more automated and connected, their vulnerability to cyberattack is also increasing. This research aims to understand how drivers react to a cyber-attack affecting personal data in a connected and automated car. Thirty-seven participants participated in a driving simulator study where a ransomware popped-up on the centre console while driving in automated mode. An inductive content analysis was conducted to examine drivers’ responses to open-ended questions. The analysis showed that participants identified a range of themes including 1) their interpretation of the ransomware displayed on the in-vehicle screen, 2) the expected effects of this message on the vehicle and its components (automated driving system and in-vehicle display) and 3) the attitudes and feelings drivers experienced. Drivers were primarily concerned about the detrimental effects of the ransomware on the automated driving system and road safety, but were less concerned with respect to personal data encryption. When not ignored, the cyberattack negatively affected trust in the automated system and drivers’ emotion
An organizational and operational capability and maturity assessment for SMEs in emerging markets towards the ESG criteria adaptation
Full text linkSMEs are considered the backbone of every economy forming nearly 95% of the private sector globally. As they are mostly family businesses, start-ups or specialized enterprises, they operate mainly locally or regionally with a direct impact to the society, the, employment and the national economy. On the other hand, due to their limited size and operations they cannot afford the cost and effort needed for long term planning and strategy development that can secure the value, volume, reputation and recognition needed to attract investments. The ESG criteria can be considered as a privilege system primarily for the large-scale organizations and the Multinational Enterprises whose financial and human resources can be easier allocated on ESG activities that return serious financial and reputational benefits. Research indicates that more than 90% of the investors invest only in companies with high social and sustainable profiles. The message from investors and consumers is that if companies cant show any sign of changing their business models, they wont be able to sell. The same applies at country level. Finland for example does not offer any business opportunities to any company that does not have a solid and proven sustainability strategy and track record. This trend, for clients and investors, to consider only Green (sustainable) or Pink (Social) products and companies for their purchases and investments, drives all types of organizations towards that adaptation of the ESG criteria. However, and since such a strategy requires investments, resources, funds and time that only Multinational organizations can provide, SMEs are left out from any opportunity to develop, grow, and compete. This paper highlights this ESG discrimination among the SMEs and MNEs and intends to bridge this gap by identifying, in a smaller scale, activities that reflect the ESG criteria and can be implemented by the SMEs at organizational and operational level. Such an approach provides SMEs the opportunity to record, report and receive credit, visibility and recognition for their sustainable, social and ethical governance efforts and actions, that can potentially enlarge their customer base and attract the investments needed to further develop themselves. The proposed approach is based on an assessment that creates an SME ESG roadmap framework for the SMEs to initially identify their ESG awareness and maturity before adopting any ESG related strategy and commitment. The assessment highlights the SMEs capability and maturity to adopt such a mid-range strategy and align their operations with the ESG criteria on a smaller scale. The results of the assessment formulate an achievable ESG related strategy for each SME, identify the key ESG activities to be implemented, indicate their order of execution, and predict a performance score upon the completion of the proposed strategy. This score can be utilized by SMES to receive social, reputational and financial recognition for their contribution to the local and regional society and economy. To secure the relevance of the SMEs ESG oriented activities with the actual ESG requirements, the proposed approach has been developed after studying several ESG reporting and scoring methodologies such as the Refinitiv, FTSE Russel, BHI, and others, and extractive the most relevant ESG requirements and metrics that can be implemented and measured with the abilities of an SME.Due to the significant variations of the SMEs operations, the proposed framework is targeted primarily to SMEs in emerging markets where the economic development and a structured business environments can help such a novel approach in SMEs strategic management and leadership
Gait analysis related to running injuries
No full textL’objectif de cette thèse était de déterminer l'effet de la fatigue sur l'atténuation des ondes de choc d'impact et d'évaluer la relation entre la biomécanique humaine et l'atténuation des chocs pendant la course. Dans cette thèse, nous proposons une nouvelle méthodologie pour l'analyse des événements de choc survenant au cours de la procédure expérimentale proposée. Notre approche est basée sur le spectre de réponse aux chocs (SRS), qui est une fonction basée sur la fréquence utilisée pour indiquer l'amplitude des vibrations dues à un choc ou à un événement transitoire Nous avons utilisé des technologies embarquées tel que les centrales inertielles (IMU) (RunScribe®, San Francisco, CA, USA) pour notre expérimentation.Les blessures de surmenage en course à pied sont souvent provoquées par la fatigue ou une mauvaise technique, qui se reflètent toutes deux dans la cinématique du coureur. La recherche de pointe sur la cinétique et la cinématique dans le sport utilise des systèmes d'analyse de mouvement qui sont inaccessibles à la plupart des athlètes. Le potentiel des capteurs embarqués pour l'analyse cinétique et cinématique des coureurs est extrêmement pertinent et rentable. Tout au long de nos recherches, nous avons démontré le potentiel des capteurs portables pour l'analyse cinétique et cinématique des coureurs. Nous présentons plusieurs études utilisant des centrales inertielles (IMU) pour l'évaluation du niveau de performance et surveillance de la fatigue. Nous avons extrait de nombreux paramètres de foulée pour les évaluations de performance et de santé. Les capteurs embarqués constituent un outil précieux pour les coureurs, des débutants aux experts, pour l'évaluation de la technique de course.Notre hypothèse est que la fatigue entraîne une diminution de la capacité d'atténuation des chocs du système musculo-squelettique, impliquant ainsi potentiellement un risque plus élevé de blessure due au surmenage.The objective of this thesis was to determine the effect of fatigue on impact shock wave attenuation and assess how human biomechanics relate to shock attenuation during running. In this paper, we propose a new methodology for the analysis of shock events occurring during the proposed experimental procedure. Our approach is based on the Shock Response Spectrum (SRS), which is a frequency-based function that is used to indicate the magnitude of vibration due to a shock or a transient event. Five high level CrossFit athletes who ran at least three times per week and who were free from musculoskeletal injury volunteered to take part in this study. Two Micromachined Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) accelerometers (RunScribe®, San Francisco, CA, USA) were used for this experiment.Injuries in running are often provoked by fatigue or improper technique, which are both reflected in the runner’s kinematics. State of the art research on kinetics and kinematics in sports is using motion analysis systems that are inaccessible to most athletes. The potential of wearable sensors for runners’ kinetic and kinematics analysis is extremely relevant and cost effective. Throughout our research we demonstrate the potential of wearable sensors for runners’ kinetic and kinematics analysis. We present several studies using inertial measurement units (IMU) for performance level assessment, training assistance, and fatigue monitoring. We extracted many gait parameters for performance and health assessments. Wearable sensors provide a valuable tool for runners, from beginners to experts, for running technique assessment.Our hypothesis is that fatigue leads to a decrease in the shock attenuation capacity of the musculoskeletal system, thus potentially implying a higher risk of overuse injur
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