6,831 research outputs found

    Consuming Web Data in a Guiding App for Public Bus Users

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    The complexity of urban public bus networks in big cities makes their use very difficult. This paper presents Notify.me, a set of pervasive services for mobility that employs open data from the public bus network in Madrid. Our solution provides both a guiding service to assist users travelling by bus and a notifying service (visual, acoustical and sensorial) that informs them when a relevant point on their route has been reached (transfer or destination). Notify.me needs a starting point, which can be the user's current location, a destination and the preferences regarding the best route for the user. Notify.me requests a route from the Madrid public bus company via SOAP Web services. The back-end responds with the calculated route, the user's route, which includes the bus lines, the transfers and the pedestrian routes needed to reach the destination. Finally, an empirical evaluation of the experiences of users who employed Notify.me is presented

    Healthy Transportation Choices with IoT and Smart Nudging

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    Modern technology has provided people with ease of living but at the same time has given birth to the problems of equally modern nature. For instance, high reliance on private transportation has resulted in unintended consequences such as high level of air pollution and congestion in urban cities. Another main disadvantage that is often overlooked is related to the rise of several noncommunicable diseases that are caused due to excessive dependence on cars and lack of physical activity. This thesis is entirely dedicated to encounter serious hazards of lack of physical activity by choosing unhealthy transportation choices. The interaction between people and the computers has become ubiquitous over the span of years. People interact in digital environment for a number of reasons. From checking weather conditions to running multinational trading businesses, computer driven digital automation has taken over what has always remained a manual handiwork. Cognizant of the potency of computer driven services and its authority, we propose applying nudge theory to encourage users to choose healthy options when it comes to any type of mobility. The first step involves researching about collecting, storing and performing analysis on data from different resources and then suggesting different techniques to manipulate it in order to perform an effective nudge

    What's APPening to news? A mixed-method audience-centred study on mobile news consumption

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    News is increasingly being consumed on a multitude of media devices, including mobile devices. In recent years, mobile news consumption has permeated individuals’ news consumption repertoires. The main purpose of this study is twofold: (1) gain insight in how mobile news outlets infiltrated the broader news media repertoires of mobile device owners and (2) understand in what circumstances mobile news is consumed within these news media repertoires. The key is to understand how and why this widening agency in appropriating various places and social spaces in everyday life relates to general news media consumption (Peters, 2012). This two-phased study aims to illuminate how mobile device owners position their mobile news consumption in relation to other types of news media outlets. First, a guiding cluster analysis of a large-scale questionnaire (N = 1279) was preformed, indicating three types of news consumers. Second, in order to thicken the originally derived clusters, a mixed-method study was set up, combining objective data originating from mobile device logs with more subjective audience constructions through personal diaries and face-to-face interviews (N = 30). This study reveals the Janus-faced nature of mobile news. On the one hand, the majority of news consumers dominantly relies on traditional media outlets to stay informed, only to supplement with online mobile services in specific circumstances. Even then, there is at least a tendency to stick to trusted brand materials. On the other hand, these mobile news outlets/products do seem to increasingly infiltrate the daily lives of mobile audiences who were previously disengaged with news

    Beyond The Corporate Responsibility To Respect Human Rights In The Dawn Of A Metaverse

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    This note analyzes the legal mechanisms in the United States that provide compensation for vaccine injuries sustained as a result of inoculation against pandemic viruses when a public health emergency has been declared. While the United States has an every-day compensation scheme that deters litigation by providing just compensation yet upholds the right of injured parties to seek damages in court, it has a special compensation scheme applicable to vaccines developed to address public health emergencies that bars litigation by effectively providing vaccine manufactures with complete indemnification and severely restricts the ability of injured parties to receive compensation. Meanwhile, in contracting with pharmaceutical companies to provide advance purchase orders for forthcoming vaccines, other countries, the European Union, and the intergovernmental organization COVAX have managed to negotiate agreements that provide vaccine manufactures with some measure of liability protections while still maintaining the ability for consumers to take their claims to court in the event of a vaccine injury. Through comparisons between the United States’ pandemic countermeasures compensation scheme and its own every-day vaccine injury compensation program, as well as schemes devised by other countries and organizations, this note argues against the wisdom of a scheme that favors protecting pharmaceutical companies over the protecting the populace and suggests that the United States enact a more equitable way to balance the competing interests of incentivizing pharmaceutical companies to produce life-saving vaccines and protecting the right of consumers to compensation

    Shopping For Privacy: How Technology in Brick-and-Mortar Retail Stores Poses Privacy Risks for Shoppers

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    As technology continues to rapidly advance, the American legal system has failed to protect individual shoppers from the technology implemented into retail stores, which poses significant privacy risks but does not violate the law. In particular, I examine the technologies implemented into many brick-and-mortar stores today, many of which the average everyday shopper has no idea exists. This Article criticizes these technologies, suggesting that many, if not all of them, are questionable in their legality taking advantage of their status in a legal gray zone. Because the American judicial system cannot adequately protect the individual shopper from these questionable privacy practices, I call upon the Federal Trade Commission, the de facto privacy regulator in the United States, to increase its policing of physical retail stores to protect the shopper from any further harm

    Fitting in Versus Learning: A Challenge for Migrants Learning Languages Using Smartphones

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    There is great interest in the potential of smartphones to enable language learning during daily activities. However, this overlooks the paradox faced by migrant learners that while they have the educational goal of seeking to improve their language skills, they also have the cultural goal of fitting into the host society. Inappropriate use of smartphones as learning aids makes learners stand out as outsiders. Here, we investigate the use of smartphones by migrants for Mobile Assisted Language Learning (MALL) in their daily lives. We report on their participation in the trial of a system that coupled a custom smartphone app with location-based hardware triggers. This presented learning activities based on scenarios from everyday life that were prompted when approaching relevant locations around a UK town. Analysis of pre- and post- interviews indicates that social and cultural influences affect the location, timing and type of learning undertaken using the system. Participants preferred to learn in ways that were unobtrusive, and deferred engagement with content if social context inhibited use of the phone. For example, playing audio in public was seen as inappropriate. Although the app was designed with location-specific content, many participants chose to study elsewhere and at other times, in addition to accessing content from the phone at the time and place that the activity was triggered. We conclude that social context and wanting to belong are important influences for migrant learners, and emphasise the potential of MALL systems in encouraging engagement with physical and digital spaces and reflections about citizenship

    Playful AR - Playfulness and augmented reality in a route planning application

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    This thesis explores implementing playfulness into a route planning application using augmented reality. While AR in itself has been around since the 1960s, the use of it on smartphones is a quite new territory. The potential for AR as an everyday tool grows with the development of technology, and the use of the cameras in smartphones. Because of its newness there are still issues with the user experience and different opinions on how to best utilise it. The preliminary idea for this design concept was of a route planning application with AR, which helps the user map themselves in 3D space. Looking at past and present applications, many of them are games or have a lighthearted way of using AR. Implementing playfulness in design can make the user experience more pleasurable for the user. Adding playfulness as a means of introducing users to a new way of navigating, not only new applications and technology, but in the real world as well. The combining of the AR app and playfulness was achieved in this thesis with the help of the Playful Experience Framework (PLEX). A video prototype was made based on the design concept derived from the PLEX cards. The video prototype was then used in interviews where the design concept was explained. The aim of the interviews was to gauge the overall reaction to this type of application and answer questions such as: who would use it, how would they use it, and how they found the playful experience? The reception of playful aspect of the application played a part in analysing the responses in order to see how to proceed with the concept and whether it was a viable idea or not. The overall opinion of the design concept was positive with many wanting to test it out, which would be the next step in development after new iteration is complete, fixing the issues found in the current one.Denna avhandling utforskar implementationen av lekfullhet i en ruttplaneringsapplikation med hjĂ€lp av förstĂ€rkt verklighet (augmented reality / AR). Medan AR i sig har funnits sedan 1960-talet Ă€r anvĂ€ndningen av det i smartmobiler ett helt nytt omrĂ„de. Potentialen för AR som ett vardagsverktyg vĂ€xer i takt med utvecklingen av teknik och anvĂ€ndningen av kamerorna i smartmobiler. Eftersom AR Ă€r en ny anvĂ€ndarupplevelse, finns det fortfarande problem med den och Ă„sikterna om hur den bĂ€st ska utnyttjas varierar. Den preliminĂ€ra idĂ©n för avhandlingens koncept var en ruttplaneringsapplikation med AR som hjĂ€lper anvĂ€ndaren orientera sig sjĂ€lv i en 3D-vĂ€rld. MĂ„nga nu existerande AR-applikationer Ă€r spel eller utnyttjar AR pĂ„ ett lekfullt sĂ€tt vilket kan göra anvĂ€ndarupplevelsen mer njutbar för anvĂ€ndaren. Lekfullhet kan anvĂ€ndas som ett sĂ€tt att introducera anvĂ€ndare till ett nytt sĂ€tt att navigera, inte bara nya applikationer och teknik, utan ocksĂ„ i den verkliga vĂ€rlden. I denna avhandling förverkligades kombinationen av ar-appen och lekfullhet med hjĂ€lp av ett sĂ„ kallat “Playful Experience Framework” (PLEX). En videoprototyp gjordes baserat pĂ„ PLEX kortens koncept. Videoprototypen anvĂ€ndes sedan i in-tervjuer dĂ€r designkonceptet förklarades. Syftet med intervjuerna var att mĂ€ta den övergripande reaktionen pĂ„ denna typ av applikation och svara pĂ„ frĂ„gor som: vem skulle anvĂ€nda den, hur skulle de anvĂ€nda den, och hur den lekfulla upplevelsen upplevdes. För att se hur man skulle kunna fortsĂ€tta med konceptet och huruvida det var en genomförbar idĂ© eller inte, var motta-gandet av den lekfulla aspekten av applikationen speciellt viktig i analysen av svaren. Det allmĂ€nna mottagandet av konceptet var positiv och mĂ„nga sade sig vilja testa prototypen, vilket skulle vara nĂ€sta steg i utvecklingen efter det att en ny iteration Ă€r fĂ€rdig, med korrigeringar av de problem som identifierats i den nuvarande versionen

    MOBILITY AS A SERVICE.Four Case Studies

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    Human mobility has consistently been an essential segment in human development. Megaatrends such as Social change, urbanization and globalization, services and sharing economy, scarcity of resources, and technological advances are affecting society and economy in several ways. Over past several decades, public investments have been made to expand and improve mobility service across the urban areas. Over the next few years, the transportation sector gets ready for rapid changes, moving towards an advanced mobility supported by strong technology stream and the convergence of superior megatrends that are increasing the massive wave of conversion. Despite the changes happening in mobility, experts argue the challenge for transit agencies is attracting people out of their cars and use public transport, however, due to several difficulties public transport creates for private car users, they still prefer to use their own car. There are several reasons behind this but accessibility and convenience can be identified as two major factors for choosing private car rather than public transport. One of the concepts currently is developing in several countries to address public transport challenges is Mobility as a Service. MaaS is a service model that frames the mobility based on customer preferences and priorities in which users major commuting needs are fulfilled and offered by a single mobility provider. Up until now, research focus has been more on the theoretical and technical aspects of the phenomenon and there is a lack of studies about current available MaaS providers in respect of their offering to real-world users. The objective of this study is to focus on the B2C value proposition that is being offered by a selected number of MaaS providers to determine how they differ in respect of their offering for target users and how they fit into the framework of an ideal mobility provider. Four cases including Whim, Moovel, Go La, and Moovit were selected to conduct the benchmark. The result of the benchmark indicates although it is difficult to name a service as the best among the others, Whim service in Finland fits better into the MaaS concept. It is the only service that offers several mobility modes as a monthly subscription to the user in addition to providing a seamless user experience for moving from point A to B. MaaS has a great potential to be implemented into daily commuting. From the user's point of view, it can address several difficulties of using public transport service, However, there are several areas of MaaS that are unclear and makes it difficult to define a concrete approach for its implementation. One of the main unclarified aspects of the concept is its business model and B2B offering. The future of MaaS depends heavily on the B2B side of the phenomena. Defining a concrete business model for MaaS to provide a clear idea of how it benefits the stakeholders competing each other, makes it easier for those businesses involving in MaaS to decide on implementing it into their services and thus, enables MaaS growth as of the solutions addressing mobility and daily commuting of travellers

    Usability improvement of public transit application through mental model and user journey

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    Using a mobile application that is featured with local public transit information can greatly improve user action, as well as assisting travelers to have a better experience while taking public transit services. Crowd environment inside a public transit is one of the most frequent causes that lead difficulties to passengers when they engaging their mobile devices to access their apps or in some conditions. Finding crucial information such as stops points and remaining time to interchanges point when switching to another line becomes more difficult in those conditions especially for foreigners who new in a particular region. This study presents the combination of a mental model and a usability approach to construct a user journey map that led to new insights on user's experiences and challenges when utilizing their mobile local transit application. This valuable information is a part of the elicitation process to propose an alternative interaction method to enhance the usability and travel experience of the public transit app. The experimental results indicate that in contrast to the existing mobile transit app, the proposed interface with the utilization of a wearable device could considerably enhance user action when trying to reach the desired location in terms of total time and performance. It implies that the proposed solution, which works through the mental model and user journey is able to intuitively enhance the public transit app usability
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