Agents for educational games and simulations

This book consists mainly of revised papers that were presented at the Agents for Educational Games and Simulation (AEGS) workshop held on May 2, 2011, as part of the Autonomous Agents and MultiAgent Systems (AAMAS) conference in Taipei, Taiwan. The 12 full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from various submissions. The papers are organized topical sections on middleware applications, dialogues and learning, adaption and convergence, and agent applications

Meaningful Hand Gestures for Learning with Touch-based I.C.T.

The role of technology in educational contexts is becoming increasingly ubiquitous, with very few students and teachers able to engage in classroom learning activities without using some sort of Information Communication Technology (ICT). Touch-based computing devices in particular, such as tablets and smartphones, provide an intuitive interface where control and manipulation of content is possible using hand and finger gestures such as taps, swipes and pinches. Whilst these touch-based technologies are being increasingly adopted for classroom use, little is known about how the use of such gestures can support learning. The purpose of this study was to investigate how finger gestures used on a touch-based device could support learning

When to make the sensory social: Registering in copresent openings

This article provides the first detailed empirical analysis of naturally-occurring videorecorded openings during which participants make the sensory social through the action of registering – calling joint attention to a selected, publicly perceivable referent so others shift their sensory attention to it. Examining sequence-initial actions that register referents for which a participant is regarded as responsible, this study elucidates a systematic preference organization which observably guides when and how people initiate registering sequences sensitive to both referent ownership and referent value. Analysis shows how choosing to register an owned referent puts involved participants’ face, affiliation, and social relationship on the line

2018 Student Center for Science Engagement Research Symposium Program

Welcome everyone to the 10th Annual Research Symposium of the Student Center for Science Engagement (SCSE), co-sponsored with the NIH MARC NU-STAR Program! All of us in the SCSE are excited about the research and collaborations that were part of the summer program, both at NEIU and at other institutions. The SCSE Summer Research Program has continued to flourish, with 44 students and 26 faculty involved in 19 different research groups. These projects represented all of the STEM disciplines, with many interdisciplinary collaborations. These partnerships extended outside of the NEIU campus with students working with the scientists at the Field Museum, Lafayette College, Northern Illinois University, the University of Chicago, Michigan State University, the USDA National Soil Erosion Research Laboratory, the University of California at Berkeley, the University of Iowa, Ithaca College, Centro de Investigación Científica de Yucatán, and the Pennsylvania State University. Whether projects were done at NEIU or elsewhere, they are only possible with the support and efforts of faculty mentors and students working together to form strong and authentic research communities. Vital support also came from the College of Arts and Sciences, Academic Affairs, the SCSE Executive Board, and the contributions from grant programs secured by the NEIU community, including the NSF Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation, the U.S. Department of Education Hispanic Serving Institutions Title III program, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the NIH MARC U-STAR Program, and the NIH Chicago-CHEC program. It is also important to recognize the work of the SCSE staff in supporting all of the work that went into supporting students and faculty, as well as this Symposium. Since I am relatively new in the position of Director, I also need to recognize the extensive efforts of Dr. Joel Olfelt, who was in the position of Director prior to my start in August of this year. Finally, I want to emphasize not just the excellent work that was done over the summer, but also the building of a culture and community at NEIU that values and emphasizes these research experiences for our students, faculty, and staff. This is the result of all those involved, especially the talents, abilities, dedication, enthusiasm, and determination of our students

Target and Spacing Sizes for Smartphone User Interfaces for Older Adults: Design Patterns Based on an Evaluation with Users

The use of smartphones is becoming widespread among all sectors of the population. However, developers and designers do not have access to guidance in designing for specific audiences such as older adults. This study investigated optimal target sizes, and spacing sizes between targets, for smartphones user interfaces intended for older adults. Two independent variables were studied – target sizes and spacing between targets – for two common smartphone gestures – tap and swipe. Dependent variables were accuracy rates, task completion times, and participants’ subjective preferences. 40 older adults recruited from several daycare centers participated in both tasks and a post-session questionnaire. The recommendations drawn from the authors’ research support two interaction design patterns relative to touch target sizes for older adults, and are presented in this paper

The iconographic brain: a critical philosophical inquiry into (the resistance of) the image

The brain image plays a central role in contemporary image culture and, in turn, (co)constructs contemporary forms of subjectivity. The central aim of this paper is to probe the unmistakably potent interpellative power of brain images by delving into the power of imaging and the power of the image itself. This is not without relevance for the neurosciences, inasmuch as these do not take place in a vacuum; hence the importance of inquiring into the status of the image within scientific culture and science itself. I will mount a critical philosophical investigation of the brain qua image, focusing on the issue of mapping the mental onto the brain and how, in turn, the brain image plays a pivotal role in processes of subjectivation. Hereto, I draw upon Science & Technology Studies, juxtaposed with culture and ideology critique and theories of image culture. The first section sets out from Althusser's concept of interpellation, linking ideology to subjectivity. Doing so allows to spell out the central question of the paper: what could serve as the basis for a critical approach, or, where can a locus of resistance be found? In the second section, drawing predominantly on Baudrillard, I delve into the dimension of virtuality as this is opened up by brain image culture. This leads to the question of whether the digital brain must be opposed to old analog psychology: is it the psyche which resists? This issue is taken up in the third section which, ultimately, concludes that the psychological is not the requisite locus of resistance. The fourth section proceeds to delineate how the brain image is constructed from what I call the data-gaze (the claim that brain data are always already visual). In the final section, I discuss how an engagement with theories of iconology affords a critical understanding of the interpellative force of the brain image, which culminates in the somewhat unexpected claim that the sought after resistance lies in the very status of the image itself

3D Virtual Worlds and the Metaverse: Current Status and Future Possibilities

Moving from a set of independent virtual worlds to an integrated network of 3D virtual worlds or Metaverse rests on progress in four areas: immersive realism, ubiquity of access and identity, interoperability, and scalability. For each area, the current status and needed developments in order to achieve a functional Metaverse are described. Factors that support the formation of a viable Metaverse, such as institutional and popular interest and ongoing improvements in hardware performance, and factors that constrain the achievement of this goal, including limits in computational methods and unrealized collaboration among virtual world stakeholders and developers, are also considered