Delivering building simulation information via new communication media

Often, the goal of understanding how the building works and the impact of design decisions is hampered by limitations in the presentation of performance data. Contemporary results display is often constrained to what was considered good practice some decades ago rather than in ways that preserve the richness of the underlying data. This paper reviews a framework for building simulation support that addresses these presentation limitations as well as making a start on issues related to distributed team working. The framework uses tools and communication protocols that enable concurrent information sharing and provide a richer set of options for understanding complex performance relationships

Delivering building simulation information via new communication media

Often, the goal of understanding how the building works and the impact of design decisions is hampered by limitations in the presentation of performance data. Contemporary results display is often constrained to what was considered good practice some decades ago rather than in ways that preserve the richness of the underlying data. This paper reviews a framework for building simulation support that addresses these presentation limitations as well as making a start on issues related to distributed team working. The framework uses tools and communication protocols that enable concurrent information sharing and provide a richer set of options for understanding complex performance relationships

An interactive learning environment in geographical information systems

The Unigis Learning Station is a computer‐based learning management tool for the Postgraduate Diploma in Geographical Information Systems by distance learning (correspondence). Unigis is an international network of universities co‐operating in the delivery of such courses. The students on Unigis courses are mature mid‐career professionals who study in addition to undertaking full time jobs. The Learning Station offers these students information about the course, resources for independent study, a structured set of exercises, assessments and feedback opportunities, and an integrated and easy way to interact with other course software. Following a brief introduction to the Unigis curriculum, this paper discusses the design of the Learning Station. The roles the Learning Station adopts are outlined, and the range of multimedia and communications tools used discussed. Evaluation of the Learning Station is presented and the issued raised by this provide useful lessons for other computer‐based learning management tools, and the adaptation of the Learning Station to other teaching and learning situations

Natural‐language processing applied to an ITS interface

The aim of this paper is to show that with a subset of a natural language, simple systems running on PCs can be developed that can nevertheless be an effective tool for interfacing purposes in the building of an Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS). After presenting the special characteristics of the Smalltalk/V language, which provides an appropriate environment for the development of an interface, the overall architecture of the interface module is discussed. We then show how sentences are parsed by the interface, and how interaction takes place with the user. The knowledge‐acquisition phase is subsequently described. Finally, some excerpts from a tutoring session concerned with elementary geometry are discussed, and some of the problems and limitations of the approach are illustrated

An information assistant system for the prevention of tunnel vision in crisis management

In the crisis management environment, tunnel vision is a set of bias in decision makers’ cognitive process which often leads to incorrect understanding of the real crisis situation, biased perception of information, and improper decisions. The tunnel vision phenomenon is a consequence of both the challenges in the task and the natural limitation in a human being’s cognitive process. An information assistant system is proposed with the purpose of preventing tunnel vision. The system serves as a platform for monitoring the on-going crisis event. All information goes through the system before arrives at the user. The system enhances the data quality, reduces the data quantity and presents the crisis information in a manner that prevents or repairs the user’s cognitive overload. While working with such a system, the users (crisis managers) are expected to be more likely to stay aware of the actual situation, stay open minded to possibilities, and make proper decisions

VALIDATION OF A MEDIA SELECTION FRAMEWORK THROUGH PRACTICAL USE

Appropriate use of multimedia brings potential education and learning benefits to students. It is widely accepted that people learn better when the full potentials of multimedia are put to correct use, during the design of educational / learning material. In a previous paper by the authors, we presented an initial media selection framework, used for mapping multimedia to educational concepts. In this paper, we present results of experiments carried out using the framework practically for educational design. Specifically, the paper focuses on validating the framework, in essence, assessing the extent to which it improves learning. The validation experiment compared the performance of students that learned from material designed using the framework, with the performance of students that learned from existing learning materials, both sets of material contained similar educational concepts. We also performed reliability tests (assessing whether the framework produces the same media output for the same educational concept) and usability tests (assessing whether users found the framework easy to use). This paper presents and discusses the results of these tests

TrailXplorer: An interactive mobile educational tool to promote safety awareness and prevent injuries from outdoor adventures.

This thesis seeks to introduce an interactive mobile prototype to promote safety awareness and a visualized guideline to assist outdoor adventurers. Nature is a place where many people go to find peace and relax. According to the “Outdoor participation report 2017” (the Coleman Company, 2017), 144.4 million Americans participated in outdoor activities in 2017. Unfortunately for a multitude of reasons, people encounter some type of unfortunate event that results in either injury or death. As the number of outdoor participants has continued increased annually, safety awareness and skills training have become increasingly crucial now more than ever. This project sought to not only educate people’s outdoor skills and reduce injuries but to also proposes new interactive methods that can support them in the future. The overall purpose of this project was to reduce injuries from outdoor activities by promoting safety awareness and educate people on outdoor activity skills. By providing users with information about environmental conditions and Augmented reality technology, users can have better insights into their surroundings in addition to knowledge of useful safe solutions when they go outdoors. Therefore, in the future outdoor enthusiasts will be able to enjoy a better and safer adventure. More importantly, this project explored how to integrate emerging technologies into people’s real- life experiences while helping them to solve problems. The deliverables of this project included three parts. Firstly, the user research. A lot of user research methods, such as user questionnaire, interviews, user personas are used to identify the target audience, their needs and pain points. Secondly, the interaction design process included planning and documenting user flow, the definition of design through wireframes and visual design iterations. To find the optimal user experience, scenarios were evaluated based on user objectives. Lastly, a demo video was created to help communicate the workflow by simulating the use cases. This project proposed to combine user experience methods, interfaces design, and augmented reality technology to deliver a better and safer outdoor experience

Locating image presentation technology within pedagogic practice

This article presents data gathered through a University for the Creative Arts Learning and Teaching Research Grant (2009-2010); including a study of existing image presentation tools, both digital and non-digital; and analysis of data from four interviews and an online questionnaire. The aim of the research was to look afresh at available technology from the point of view of a lecturer in the visual arts, and to use the information gathered to look more critically at the available technology