XPL the Extensible Presentation Language

The last decade has witnessed a growing interest in the development of web interfaces enabling both multiple ways to access contents and, at the same time, fruition by multiple modalities of interaction (point-and-click, contents reading, voice commands, gestures, etc.). In this paper we describe a framework aimed at streamlining the design process of multi-channel, multimodal interfaces enabling full reuse of software components. This framework is called the eXtensible Presentation architecture and Language (XPL), a presentation language based on design pattern paradigm that keeps separated the presentation layer from the underlying programming logic. The language supplies a methodology to expedite multimodal interface development and to reduce the effort to implement interfaces for multiple access devices, by means of using the same code. This paper describes a methodology approach based on Visual Design Pattern (ViDP) and Verbal Design Pattern (VeDP), offering examples of multimodal and multichannel interfaces created with the XPL Editor

Haptic Hybrid Prototyping (HHP): An AR Application for Texture Evaluation with Semantic Content in Product Design

The manufacture of prototypes is costly in economic and temporal terms and in order to carry this out it is necessary to accept certain deviations with respect to the final finishes. This article proposes haptic hybrid prototyping, a haptic-visual product prototyping method created to help product design teams evaluate and select semantic information conveyed between product and user through texturing and ribs of a product in early stages of conceptualization. For the evaluation of this tool, an experiment was realized in which the haptic experience was compared during the interaction with final products and through the HHP. As a result, it was observed that the answers of the interviewees coincided in both situations in 81% of the cases. It was concluded that the HHP enables us to know the semantic information transmitted through haptic-visual means between product and user as well as being able to quantify the clarity with which this information is transmitted. Therefore, this new tool makes it possible to reduce the manufacturing lead time of prototypes as well as the conceptualization phase of the product, providing information on the future success of the product in the market and its economic return

Vision systems with the human in the loop

The emerging cognitive vision paradigm deals with vision systems that apply machine learning and automatic reasoning in order to learn from what they perceive. Cognitive vision systems can rate the relevance and consistency of newly acquired knowledge, they can adapt to their environment and thus will exhibit high robustness. This contribution presents vision systems that aim at flexibility and robustness. One is tailored for content-based image retrieval, the others are cognitive vision systems that constitute prototypes of visual active memories which evaluate, gather, and integrate contextual knowledge for visual analysis. All three systems are designed to interact with human users. After we will have discussed adaptive content-based image retrieval and object and action recognition in an office environment, the issue of assessing cognitive systems will be raised. Experiences from psychologically evaluated human-machine interactions will be reported and the promising potential of psychologically-based usability experiments will be stressed

Generic dialogue modeling for multi-application dialogue systems

We present a novel approach to developing interfaces for multi-application dialogue systems. The targeted interfaces allow transparent switching between a large number of applications within one system. The approach, based on the Rapid Dialogue Prototyping Methodology (RDPM) and the Vector Space model techniques from Information Retrieval, is composed of three main steps: (1) producing finalized dia logue models for applications using the RDPM, (2) designing an application interaction hierarchy, and (3) navigating between the applications based on the user's application of interest

Enactivism and ethnomethodological conversation analysis as tools for expanding Universal Design for Learning: the case of visually impaired mathematics students

Blind and visually impaired mathematics students must rely on accessible materials such as tactile diagrams to learn mathematics. However, these compensatory materials are frequently found to offer students inferior opportunities for engaging in mathematical practice and do not allow sensorily heterogenous students to collaborate. Such prevailing problems of access and interaction are central concerns of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), an engineering paradigm for inclusive participation in cultural praxis like mathematics. Rather than directly adapt existing artifacts for broader usage, UDL process begins by interrogating the praxis these artifacts serve and then radically re-imagining tools and ecologies to optimize usability for all learners. We argue for the utility of two additional frameworks to enhance UDL efforts: (a) enactivism, a cognitive-sciences view of learning, knowing, and reasoning as modal activity; and (b) ethnomethodological conversation analysis (EMCA), which investigates participants’ multimodal methods for coordinating action and meaning. Combined, these approaches help frame the design and evaluation of opportunities for heterogeneous students to learn mathematics collaboratively in inclusive classrooms by coordinating perceptuo-motor solutions to joint manipulation problems. We contextualize the thesis with a proposal for a pluralist design for proportions, in which a pair of students jointly operate an interactive technological device