Using colocation to support human memory

The progress of health care in the western world has been marked by an increase in life expectancy. Advances in life expectancy have meant that more people are living with acute health problems, many of which are related to impairment of memory. This paper describes a pair of scenarios that use RFID to assist people who may suffer frommemory defects to extend their capability for independent living. We present our implementation of an RFID glove, describe its operation, and show how it enables the application scenarios

Project ARIAL: the Colombian case

IDRC document. Monograph on the ARIAL Project in Colombia dealing with the organization of research and resource allocation for agricultural research - describes the institutional framework for allocating resources, interrelationships among research centres; discusses agricultural planning, role of the agricultural sector in economic development. Statistical data

Virtual Reality Adaptation Using Electrodermal Activity to Support the User Experience

Virtual reality is increasingly used for tasks such as work and education. Thus, rendering scenarios that do not interfere with such goals and deplete user experience are becoming progressively more relevant. We present a physiologically adaptive system that optimizes the virtual environment based on physiological arousal, i.e., electrodermal activity. We investigated the usability of the adaptive system in a simulated social virtual reality scenario. Participants completed an n-back task (primary) and a visual detection (secondary) task. Here, we adapted the visual complexity of the secondary task in the form of the number of non-player characters of the secondary task to accomplish the primary task. We show that an adaptive virtual reality can improve users' comfort by adapting to physiological arousal regarding the task complexity. Our findings suggest that physiologically adaptive virtual reality systems can improve users' experience in a wide range of scenarios

Model-Based Performance Prediction for Concurrent Software on Multicore Architectures

Model-based performance prediction is a well-known concept to ensure the quality of software.Current approaches are based on a single-metric model, which leads to inaccurate predictions for modern architectures. This thesis presents a multi-strategies approach to extend performance prediction models to support multicore architectures.We implemented the strategies into Palladio and significantly increased the performance prediction power

Human Rights and Technology: Mapping the Landscape to Support Grantmaking

This study was commissioned by five leading foundations to inform donors' thinking and funding in the overlapping space of human rights and technology.New technologies, especially access to the internet, are transforming the landscape of the international human rights movement. The Ford Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Open Society Foundations, the Oak Foundation and Humanity United, seeking to make strategic investments to harness technology in the service of human rights, face choices about priorities and opportunities for strategic collaboration as well as risks and challenges in this rapidly changing field.This study shows how the HR-Tech space encompasses technology both as infrastructure on which rights in the digital and the physical worlds depend, and as instruments that can help make human rights defenders and their work more effective and secure. Many HR-Tech discussions focus too narrowly on the challenges related to the development and application of the technology itself. Instead, the study identifies broader areas of HR-Tech work that should be at the center of strategic visions and projects. These include building global alliances; developing norms; improving the production, management and analysis of evidence; enhancing cross-sector collaboration; and thinking about technology deployment and adoption early on. Donors who fund HR-Tech work will be more effective with a comprehensive understanding of this broad landscape. They can also support each other and the broader field by sharing knowledge from their current initiatives and past lessons for effective advancement of human rights in the new technology landscape.A bibliography is included

Comparative performance of human and mobile robotic assistants in collaborative fetch-and-deliver tasks

There is an emerging desire across manufacturing industries to deploy robots that support people in their manual work, rather than replace human workers. This paper explores one such opportunity, which is to field a mobile robotic assistant that travels between part carts and the automotive final assembly line, delivering tools and materials to the human workers. We compare the performance of a mobile robotic assistant to that of a human assistant to gain a better understanding of the factors that impact its effectiveness. Statistically significant differences emerge based on type of assistant, human or robot. Interaction times and idle times are statistically significantly higher for the robotic assistant than the human assistant. We report additional differences in participant's subjective response regarding team fluency, situational awareness, comfort and safety. Finally, we discuss how results from the experiment inform the design of a more effective assistant.BMW Grou

Feature-based representation for assembly modelling

The need for a product model which can support the modelling requirements of a broad range of applications leads to the application of a feature-based model. An important requirement in feature-based design and manufacture is that a single feature representation should be capable of supporting a number of different applications. The capability of representing products composed of assemblies is seen to be necessary to serve the information needs of those applications. To achieve this aim it is an essential prerequisite to develop a formal structure for the representation of assembly information in a feature-based design system. This research addresses two basic questions related to the lack of a unified definition for features and the problem of representing assemblies in a feature-based representation. The intention is to extend the concept of designing with features by incorporating assembly information in addition to the geometrical and topological details of component parts. This allows models to be assembled using the assembly information within the feature definitions. Features in this research are defined as machined volumes which are represented in a hierarchical taxonomy. The taxonomy includes several types and profiles of features which cover a general range of machined parts. A hierarchical assembly structure is also defined in which features form basic entities in the assembly. Each feature includes information needed to establish assembly relationships among features in the form of mating relationships. An analysis of typical assemblies shows that assembly interfaces occur at the face level of the mating features and between features themselves. Three mating relationships between pairs of features have been defined (against, fits and align) and are represented in the form of expressions that can be used for evaluations. Various sub-types of these major mating relationships can be identified (e.g. tight fit, clearance fit, etc.) and represented through the use of qualifying attributes. Component Relation Graphs, Feature Relation Graphs and Face Mating Graphs have been developed to represent each level of interaction in an assembly, and assembly relationships are combined with knowledge on process planning into a Component Connectivity Graph. These graphs are used as the basis for deriving an integrated data structure which is used for defining classes for each level in the assembly hierarchy. The implementation of a prototype system has been facilitated by use of an object-oriented programming technique which provides a natural method of adding functionality to the geometric reasoning process of features and the complex relationships between the parts that make up the assembly. The feature-based model is embedded in an object-oriented solid modeller kernel, ACIS®. The research demonstrates the possibilities for a single feature representation to support multiple activities within a computer integrated manufacturing environment. Such a representation can form the basis of design improvement techniques and manufacturing planning as well as be a model to support the life cycle of the product

Agent-Based Facilitation of Water Allocation: Case Study in the Drome River Valley

International audienceThe purpose of the 1992 French Water Act is to encourage negotiation and dialogue among local stakeholderswithin a framework which is very similar to a patrimonial approach. Potential use of models in such post-normalapproaches is analyzed. Two kinds of models are compared: one is agent-based, the other follows a more classicalapproach. They are compared according to their contributions as negotiation support tools. This comparisonis based on a specific collective decision process dealing with water allocation at the sub-basin scale, in whichauthors are involved. Both are used to support collective decision processes through simulation of resource usedynamics. Agent-Based Models entail the broadening of spatial information of actors in the process, revealinginter-connected topics not taken into consideration earlier. This makes it possible to remain relevant, despite thesometimes rapidly evolving stakes. The central point of this paper is the implementation, within a practical application,of theories advocating the use of ABM as a collective decision support system. This application promotesa better understanding of the kind of support ABM provides and the way it does so. This is broughtabout more by re-framing the discussion and modifying the representation of the system on the part of thestakeholders than by providing specific agreements

A very modern professional: the case of the IT service support worker

The IT profession has retained a reputation as a ‘privileged area of the labour market’ (Webster, 2005, p.4; Bannerji, 2011). Workers practicing IT skills have been at the forefront of the competitive drive for innovation and efficiency gains promoted by a neoliberal enterprise ideology (Blackler et al, 2003). In the last two decades, as systems thinking (e.g. Ackoff, 1999) and customer-centric practices (e.g. Levitt, 2006) have converged in a globally powerful IT service management (ITSM) ‘best practice’ discourse (Trusson et al, 2013), the IT service support worker has emerged to be a worker-type of considerable socio-economic importance. Aside from keeping organizational information systems operative, when such systems fail these workers are called upon to rapidly restore the systems and thus head-off any negative commercial or political consequences. Yet these workers are acknowledged only as objectified resources within the ITSM ‘best practice’ literature (e.g. Taylor, Iqbal and Nieves, 2007) and largely overlooked as a distinctive contemporary worker-type within academic discourse. This paper, through analysis of salary data and qualitative data collected for a multiple case study research project, considers the extent to which these workers might be conceived of as being ‘professionals’. The project approached the conceptual study of these workers through three lenses. This paper focuses on the project’s consideration of them as rationalised information systems assets within ‘best practice’ ITSM theory. It also draws upon our considerations of them as knowledge workers and service workers. We firstly situate the IT service support worker within a broader model of IT workers comprising four overlapping groupings: managers, developers, technical specialists and IT service support workers. Three types of IT service support worker are identified: first-line workers who routinely escalate work; second-line workers; and ‘expert’ single-line workers. With reference to close associations made with call centre workers (e.g. Murphy, 2011) the status of IT service support workers is explored through analysis of: (i) salary data taken from the ITJOBSWATCH website; and (ii) observational and interview data collected in the field. From this we challenge the veracity of the notion that the whole occupational field of IT might be termed a profession concurrently with the notion that a profession implies work of high status. Secondly, the paper explores two forces that might be associated with the professionalization of IT as an occupation: (i) rationalisation of the field (here promoted by the British Computer Society); and (ii) formalisation of IT theoretical/vocational education. A tension is identified, with those IT service support workers whose work is least disposed to rationalisation and whose complex ‘stocks of knowledge’ (Schutz, 1953) have been acquired through time-spent practice laying claim to greater IT professional status. Thirdly, consideration is given to individuals’ personal career orientations: occupational, organizational and customer-centric (Kinnie and Swart, 2012). We find that whilst organizations expect IT service support workers to be orientated towards serving the interests of the organization and its clients, the most individualistically professional tend towards being occupationally orientated, enthusiastically (re)developing their skills to counter skills obsolescence in an evolving technological arena (Sennett, 2006)

Unilateral Home State Regulation: Imperialism or Tool for Subaltern Resistance?

Home state reluctance to regulate international corporate activities in the human rights context is sometimes characterized as an imperialistic infringement of host state sovereignty. This concern may be explicit, or it may be implicit in an expressed desire to avoid conflict with the sovereignty of foreign states. Yet, in the absence of a multilateral treaty directly addressing business and human rights, a regulatory role for home states in preventing and remedying human rights harms is increasingly being suggested. This paper seeks to explore theoretical perspectives that support unilateral home state regulation. Having established that unilateral home state regulation could serve as a catalyst for international norm creation, the paper will explore whether--despite its potential benefits--such regulation is inevitably imperialistic. In order to answer this question, this paper will draw upon the work of Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL) scholars to critique the customary international law process