New HCI techniques for better living through technology

In the Human Computer Interaction community, researchers work on many projects that investigate the efficacy of new technologies for better living, but unlike other research fields, these researchers must have an approach that is typically multi-disciplinary. Technology is always developing thus improving our lives in many ways like education, health and communication. This due to the fact that it is supposed to make life easier. This dissertation explores three main aspects: the first is learning with new technologies, the second is the improvement of real life by using innovative devices while the third is the usage of mobile devices in combination with image processing algorithms and computer graphics techniques. We firstly describe the progress on the state of the art and related work that have been necessary to implement such tools on commodity hardware and deploy them in both mobile and desktop settings. We propose the usage of different technologies in different settings, comparing these solutions for enhancing the interaction experience by introducing virtual/augmented reality tools for supporting this kind of activities. We also applied well-known gamification techniques coming from different mobile applications for demonstrating how users can be entertained and motivated in their working out. We describe our design and prototype of several integrated systems created to improve the educational process, to enhance the shopping experience, to provide new experiences for travellers and even to improve fitness and wellness activities. Finally, we discuss our findings and frame them in the broader context of better living thanks to technology, drawing the lessons learnt from each work while also proposing relative future work

Use of Multicomponent Non-Rigid Registration to Improve Alignment of Serial Oncological PET/CT Studies

Non-rigid registration of serial head and neck FDG PET/CT images from a combined scanner can be problematic. Registration techniques typically rely on similarity measures calculated from voxel intensity values; CT-CT registration is superior to PET-PET registration due to the higher quality of anatomical information present in this modality. However, when metal artefacts from dental fillings are present in a pair of CT images, a nonrigid registration will incorrectly attempt to register the two artefacts together since they are strong features compared to the features that represent the actual anatomy. This leads to localised registration errors in the deformation field in the vicinity of the artefacts. Our objective was to develop a registration technique which overcomes these limitations by using combined information from both modalities. To study the effect of artefacts on registration, metal artefacts were simulated with one CT image rotated by a small angle in the sagittal plane. Image pairs containing these simulated artifacts were then registered to evaluate the resulting errors. To improve the registration in the vicinity where there were artefacts, intensity information from the PET images was incorporated using several techniques. A well-established B-splines based non-rigid registration code was reworked to allow multicomponent registration. A similarity measure with four possible weighted components relating to the ways in which the CT and PET information can be combined to drive the registration of a pair of these dual-valued images was employed. Several registration methods based on using this multicomponent similarity measure were implemented with the goal of effectively registering the images containing the simulated artifacts. A method was also developed to swap control point displacements from the PET-derived transformation in the vicinity of the artefact. This method yielded the best result on the simulated images and was evaluated on images where actual dental artifacts were present

Program on application of communication satellites to educational development. Communication media and educational technology: An overview and assessment with reference to communication satellites

Technology assessment of communication media and educational technology including future trends utilizing communication satellites, television, and computer-assisted instructio

NBS monograph

From Introduction: "This report is the first of a series intended to provide a selective overview of research and development efforts and requirements in the somewhat overlapping fields of the computer and information sciences and technologies. The projected series of reports will attempt to outline the probable range of R & D activities in the computer and information sciences and technologies through selective reviews of the literature and to develop a reasonable consensus with respect to the opinions of workers in these and potentially related fields as to areas of continuing R & D concern for research program planning or review in these areas.

Good Grief

Good Grief is a novel that follows one family as they move through the five stages of grief. The purpose of the creative work is to focus on the complicated relationships of a blended family, and further complicate that with the added pressure of mourning a loved one, while still fulfilling familial and societal obligations. It is a meditation on the different ways people handle emotional trauma. Grief is a universal concept, but often mistreated or misunderstood. Grief, as a process, takes several different forms, some of which—expressing pain through joviality or sensuality—are shrouded in shame. My thesis challenges the notion of normative coping behaviors, while also telling an engaging and emotionally evocative story about one family with a convoluted lineage and even more complex relationships to each other. Good Grief follows a five-stage model of grief; it leads with denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and finally ends with acceptance. The novel is split into five sections with each one focusing on a different family member. Each character in this work expresses his or her individualized way of grieving by embodying one of the five stages. This allows me to deeply investigate the intricate nature of grief and how it is further complicated by each member’s gender, age, and relationship to the deceased

Special Libraries, Winter 1987

Volume 78, Issue 1https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/sla_sl_1987/1000/thumbnail.jp

The doll : the figure of the doll in culture and theory

Constance Eileen King, in her Dolls and Dolls' Houses (1977), describes the doll above (Figure 1) as a 'French bisque-headed doll with jointed body, fixed eyes and open mouth. The original costume is very decorative. Marked "* 95" for Phoenix Baby'. King's description is doll-collection speak, and shows a particular way of looking at dolls, one which typically identifies the country of origin (French), the name of the dollseries (Phoenix Baby), materials of which the doll is made (head made of bisque, a kind of unglazed porcelain) and any identifying marks it might have, with a particular emphasis on dress and head. This type of doll is usually referred to as a bebe, a word registered by French and German manufacturers by 1850 to describe a doll suggesting a child somewhere between the ages of four and twelve. The Liebe (in Figure 1) is a doll allright, but it is a very particular kind of doll, and gives a very particular idea of what a doll is. This doll represents perhaps the most nostalgically stereotypical idea of a doll: it shows a little girl in a pretty dress. If one goes and looks at the range of more modern dolls which clutter the shelves in toy stores--Ginny, Barbie, Cindy, Baby Dribbles, My First Baby, Action Man, Skydancer, Polly Pocket, Cabbage Patch Dolls, Spice Girls dolls, Power Rangers and Star Trek dolls, Furbies, to mention a few--one finds that dolls come representing a huge variety of different ages, social classes, ethnic and national backgrounds, occupations, hobbies. They are made of a variety of materials and combinations of materials; wood, leather, cloth, metal, composition (strengthened papier meiche), celluloid, plastic, wax, porcelain, stone. Often they are also what we might call borderline or fantasy human figures, half-monsters, three quarter animals, one third machines, in various combinations. Even though the French bebe might be immediately recognisable as a doll, and would conform to a conventional idea of a doll, it is by no means a typical doll. There is no typical doll