The audio-graphical interface to a personal integrated telecommunications system

Thesis (M.S.V.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1984.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 80-88).The telephone is proposed as an environment for exploring conversational computer systems. A personal communications system is developed which supports multi-modal access to multi-media mail. It is a testbed for developing novel methods of interactive information retrieval that are as intuitive and useful as the spoken word. A personalized telecommunications management system that handles both voice and electronic mail mess.ages through a unified user interface is described. Incoming voice messages are gathered via a conversational answering machine. Known callers are identified with a speech recognition unit so they can receive personal outgoing recordings. The system's owner accesses messages over the telephone by voice using natural language queries, or with the telephone keypad. Electronic mail messages and system status are transmitted by a text-to-speech synthesizer. Local access is provided by a touch sensitive screen and color raster display. Text and digitized voice messages are randomly accessible through graphical ideograms. A Rolodex-style directory permits dialing-by-name and the creation of outgoing recordings for individuals or mailing lists. Note: A 3/4 inch color U-matic video cassette accompanies this thesis, it is five minutes in length, and has an English narrative.by Barry Michael Arons.M.S.V.S

ACUTA Journal of Telecommunications in Higher Education

In This Issue Discovering Hidden Revenue Sources in Ancillary Telecom Services How Videoconferencing Helps Universities Serve New Markets Show Me the Money- Entrepreneurs on Campus IT and Return on Investment Implementing IP Telephony Rate Development/Cost Modeling at UT Speech-Dialing the Right Campus Connection lnstitutional Excellence Award: College of St. Elizabeth President\u27s Message From the Executive Director Jake B. Schrum, PhD Internetworking Multimedi

A framework for designing constructionist approaches to community-centered messaging

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, 2000.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 137-143).Social constructionism is a term used to describe systems where individuals take an active role in development that can enhance their community's social setting. This thesis asks, "What is the role of communication technologies in a social constructionalist approach to community-centered messaging?" Towards answering this question, a framework is described for developing and assessing such a system. This framework accounts for the varying skills of the community members, the amount of support the network provider is willing to invest, and the effort needed to use tools. A well designed system can meet the ambitions of the community that employs them, while a poor design leads to frustration and apathy. An experimental platform, Canard, has been built in order to explore this framework. It provides a unified communication representation and tools that allow rapid development of community-centered communication applications that do not require significant expertise to use them. The Canard system has been used by diverse communities over the past two years with varying degrees of success. The degree of success is a function of the group's ambition and willingness to participate in the process of crafting communication solutions for personal and community benefit.by Pascal Roger Chesnais.Ph.D

Back seat driver : voice assisted automobile navigation

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1989.Includes bibliographical references (p. 156-165) and index.by James Raymond Davis.Ph.D

Developing a home assessment instrument for the disabled elderly.

Senior citizens are a rapidly growing portion of our population. This large group of older people has increased the demand for commercial accessible housing such as nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Due to the inflexible design of older homes, the elderly have been forced to move to in such types of housing. The high price of nursing homes and the strong desire the elderly have to remain in their existing homes support the need for a more cost effective and accessible way to live. Therefore, it was the purpose of this research project to develop an assessment instrument to determine the degree of accessibility of an existing older home in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma which is representative of an older home typically inhabited by the elderly. An assessment instrument was developed to evaluate accessibility in the areas of mobility and visual disability. At the end of this thesis study one can use the results of this assessment instrument to create designs correcting problems relating to these inaccessible areas as they are identified by the instrument. Also included in the development of this instrument were considerations for elements that research has indicated increases the quality of life for the elderly. After using the newly designed assessment instrument on the home utilized for this case study, the noncompliant elements were identified and addressed. New design solutions were drawn in order to illustrate the method used to rectify the problem areas and elements identified as insufficient by the assessment instrument. An effort to create design solutions that were aesthetically pleasing that did not appear institutionalized was also a goal of this research project

Making Government Work: Electronic Delivery of Federal Services

This report focuses on key topics and issues that are central to the successful use of electronic deli very by government. This report provides Congress with alternative strategies for improving the performance of government by using modern information technologies

SURVEY OF EXISTING I&R SERVICES AND A NEBRASKA 211 SYSTEM COST/BENEFIT ANALYSIS

In June, 1999, the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (NHHSS) and the United Way of the Midlands requested that the University of Nebraska Public Policy Center coordinate a feasibility study of a statewide Information and Referral (I&R) system for health and human services. Because several I&R systems around the country make use of the 2-1-1 three digit number for I&R information, and there are a number of states investigating reserving 211 for statewide I&R services, this report uses the 211 nomenclature although there has been no state Public Service Commission designation of 211 for this purpose in Nebraska. This report defines, describes, and calculates the anticipated quantifiable and non-quantifiable costs and benefits of implementing such an I&R/211 system