Communicating Augmented Reality Devices Improving Technology Acceptance Among Electric Utility Field Workers

Augmented Reality (AR) is very useful for many different fields and purposes such as entertainment, education, military, navigation, industrial, or electric utility. Electric utilities find use in AR due to the flexibility of location and the real-time information sharing with visuals to keep employees safe and efficient. This exploratory study investigated the use of infographic templates as a way to introduce this new technology to line workers in the electric utility field. Infographics were used as a way to prime workers to be more aware of the technology and its possible uses as well as usefulness. Through the use of Communication Accommodation Theory and the Technology Acceptance Model, the researcher found evidence indicating that presenting information in a clear and interesting way increased electric utility workers desire to adopt the new technology through perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness (Davis, Bagozzi & Warshaw, 1989)

FiAAR: An augmented reality firetruck equipment assembly and configuration assistant technology

Augmented reality (AR) is the technology that expands the physical world by enhancing the objects that reside in the real world with computer generated perceptual information to provide interactive experience in a real-world environment. AR is used effectively in many business sectors such as the engineering, education and training, medicine, logistics and transport, and others. Rescue services is one of the challenging areas where the use of AR technology has extremely high demands for robustness and ease of use. In this paper, we have introduced two augmented reality versions for the FiAAR project developed by Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences. The first version is developed for Realmax HMT-1 device with hands free interaction utilizing speech recognition. The second version in turn focuses on hand recognition and it's developed for Realwear Qian device with Leap Motion sensor. Our intention is to show the potential of current AR technologies in demanding use cases

Parting A Read Sea Of Images: An Exploration Of Field Dependent-Independent Responses To Minimalist, Pictographic And Infographic Data Displays

ABSTRACT Western society reflects an âeikoncentric eraâ when contemporary instruction has become image -centered. Textbooks, journals, popular media as well as computer-based and web- based instructional media are filled by pictures that are intended to accomplish learning. Imagery is widely believed to represent an efficient, understandable method for relaying information and clarifying instruction for nearly all learners. However, those who subscribe to the adage âa picture is worth a thousand wordsâ often fail to acknowledge individual differences in visual comprehension and cognition. The field dependent-independent (FDI) cognitive style describes individual learner differences that can thwart visual learning. Information graphics are among the frequently used types of imagery that portray data. There is little empirical evidence to guide their design, and their creation is often based on intuition or opinion. This study researched the ways FDI learners comprehend and aesthetically assess minimalist information graphics, pictograms and infographics. Those participants who represented the most extreme field-dependent or field-independent learners were invited to participate in a two-part study. An instrument named the Comparative Information Graphic Test (CIG-T) was developed for testing comprehension of and perceived aesthetic efficacy, value and preference for minimalist information graphics, pictograms and infographics by FDI learner

Learning with Multiple Representations: Infographics as Cognitive Tools for Authentic Learning in Science Literacy | Apprendre avec des représentations multiples: l'infographie de presse comme outil cognitif pour l'apprentissage authentique en science

This paper presents a descriptive case study where infographics—visual representation of data and ideas—have been used as cognitive tools to facilitate learning with multiple representations in the context of secondary school students’ science news reporting. Despite the complementary nature of the two research foci, studies on cognitive tools and multiple representations have evolved independently. This is because research on cognitive tools has narrowly focused on technological artifacts and their impact on learning outcomes with less attention to learner agency and activity structures. This has created challenges of sustainably applying cognitive tools in classroom teaching and learning. Using data from a design-based research project where secondary school students created authentic infographic-based science news reports, this study demonstrates how infographics can serve as process-oriented cognitive tools for learning and instruction of science literacy in classroom contexts. Results have implications for the study and design of learning environments involving representations. Cet article présente une étude de cas où l'infographie de presse – offrant une représentation visuelle de données et d’idées – est utilisée comme outil cognitif pour faciliter l'apprentissage au moyen de représentations multiples dans le contexte de production de rapports scientifiques par des élèves du secondaire. Malgré la complémentarité des deux axes de recherche, les travaux sur les outils cognitifs et sur les représentations multiples ont évolué séparément. En effet, la recherche sur les outils cognitifs s'est strictement concentrée sur les artefacts technologiques et leur impact sur les résultats d'apprentissage mais a accordé moins d'attention à l’action  des apprenants et aux structures des activités. Il en résulte des défis pour l’application durable d’outils cognitifs dans l'enseignement et l'apprentissage en classe. À partir de données issues d'un projet de recherche orientée par la conception (design-based research)  dans lequel les élèves du secondaire ont produit des rapports scientifiques authentiques intégrant des infographies de presse, cette étude montre comment l’infographie de presse peut servi

The role of ICTs and public-private cooperation for cultural heritage tourism. The case of Smart Marca / Il ruolo delle ICT e della cooperazione pubblico-privati per il turismo culturale. Il caso di Smart Marca

This paper analyzes the opportunities related to public-private cooperation for the implementation of information communication technologies (ICTs) to promote cultural heritage tourism. After a literature review on the role of cooperation between private and public sectors and the most relevant information communication technologies (ICTs) for the promotion of cultural heritage, the analysis moves to travel apps, by illustrating features, main trends and some applications of this technology to cultural heritage and tourism. In the second part, the connection between tourism, cultural heritage and digital technologies is analyzed through the description of Smart Marca app, which, starting from the cooperation between local public and private entities, exploited ICTs to promote cultural tourism in Fermo area (Marche Region, Italy).  Il contributo analizza le potenzialità della cooperazione pubblico-privata nella progettazione e realizzazione di nuove tecnologie dell’informazione (ICT) per la promozione del turismo del patrimonio culturale. Dopo una rassegna della letteratura dedicata al ruolo della collaborazione tra pubblico e privato e delle ICT per la promozione del patrimonio culturale e lo sviluppo turistico di un territorio, l’articolo focalizza l’attenzione sulle applicazioni mobili di viaggio, illustrandone trend e caratteristiche, nonché alcuni esempi di applicazione di questa tecnologia al patrimonio culturale e al turismo. Nella seconda parte, la connessione tra turismo, patrimonio culturale e ICT viene analizzata attraverso la descrizione dell’app Smart Marca, che, a partire dalla cooperazione tra enti pubblici e attori privati, ha utilizzato le nuove tecnologie per promuovere il turismo culturale nel territorio fermano (Regione Marche, Italia)

Communicative Information Visualizations: How to make data more understandable by the general public

Although data visualizations have been around for centuries and are encountered frequently by the general public, existing evidence suggests that a significant portion of people have difficulty understanding and interpreting them. It might not seem like a big problem when a reader misreads a weather map and finds themselves without an umbrella in a rainstorm, but for those who lack the means, experience, or ability to make sense of data, misreading a data visualization concerning public health and safety could be a matter of life and death. However, figuring out how to make visualizations truly usable for a diverse audience remains difficult. In my thesis, I examined three areas where altering current practices may help make data visualizations more understandable and impactful in the future

Literacy for digital futures : Mind, body, text

The unprecedented rate of global, technological, and societal change calls for a radical, new understanding of literacy. This book offers a nuanced framework for making sense of literacy by addressing knowledge as contextualised, embodied, multimodal, and digitally mediated. In today’s world of technological breakthroughs, social shifts, and rapid changes to the educational landscape, literacy can no longer be understood through established curriculum and static text structures. To prepare teachers, scholars, and researchers for the digital future, the book is organised around three themes – Mind and Materiality; Body and Senses; and Texts and Digital Semiotics – to shape readers’ understanding of literacy. Opening up new interdisciplinary themes, Mills, Unsworth, and Scholes confront emerging issues for next-generation digital literacy practices. The volume helps new and established researchers rethink dynamic changes in the materiality of texts and their implications for the mind and body, and features recommendations for educational and professional practice