3,618 research outputs found
In-home and remote use of robotic body surrogates by people with profound motor deficits
By controlling robots comparable to the human body, people with profound
motor deficits could potentially perform a variety of physical tasks for
themselves, improving their quality of life. The extent to which this is
achievable has been unclear due to the lack of suitable interfaces by which to
control robotic body surrogates and a dearth of studies involving substantial
numbers of people with profound motor deficits. We developed a novel, web-based
augmented reality interface that enables people with profound motor deficits to
remotely control a PR2 mobile manipulator from Willow Garage, which is a
human-scale, wheeled robot with two arms. We then conducted two studies to
investigate the use of robotic body surrogates. In the first study, 15 novice
users with profound motor deficits from across the United States controlled a
PR2 in Atlanta, GA to perform a modified Action Research Arm Test (ARAT) and a
simulated self-care task. Participants achieved clinically meaningful
improvements on the ARAT and 12 of 15 participants (80%) successfully completed
the simulated self-care task. Participants agreed that the robotic system was
easy to use, was useful, and would provide a meaningful improvement in their
lives. In the second study, one expert user with profound motor deficits had
free use of a PR2 in his home for seven days. He performed a variety of
self-care and household tasks, and also used the robot in novel ways. Taking
both studies together, our results suggest that people with profound motor
deficits can improve their quality of life using robotic body surrogates, and
that they can gain benefit with only low-level robot autonomy and without
invasive interfaces. However, methods to reduce the rate of errors and increase
operational speed merit further investigation.Comment: 43 Pages, 13 Figure
Investigating the Impacts of AR, AI, and Website Optimization on Ecommerce Sales Growth
E-commerce has evolved into a vital element of modern life by giving customers a quick and easy way to buy products and services online. Businesses increasingly focus on building their online presence in order to remain competitive, which represents a huge change as a result of the growth of e-commerce. Utilizing artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR), and website optimization is one of the primary ways firms are aiming to improve their e-commerce operations at the moment. While AR can improve product recommendations and the visual component of online shopping by giving customers a more immersive experience, AI can be used to tailor the user experience and boost personalization. On the other side, website optimization can assist companies in enhancing the user experience and raising conversion rates. Businesses can make better choices about how to implement these variables into their operations by knowing how they affect e-commerce sales. This study used data from 190 global e-commerce sites to empirically examine the effects of using AI, AR, and website optimization on the increase of e-commerce sales. The study used a multiple regression analysis to look at how these factors and the rise of e-commerce relate to one another. The study's findings demonstrated that every element had a favorable and significant impact on the increase of e-commerce sales. This suggests that companies investing in artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and website optimization can anticipate a comparable rise in revenue. These results suggest that companies wishing to enhance their e-commerce operations should think about investing in AI, AR, and website optimization. They may improve client satisfaction this way, boost conversion rates, and eventually boost sales.
 
VANET Applications: Hot Use Cases
Current challenges of car manufacturers are to make roads safe, to achieve
free flowing traffic with few congestions, and to reduce pollution by an
effective fuel use. To reach these goals, many improvements are performed
in-car, but more and more approaches rely on connected cars with communication
capabilities between cars, with an infrastructure, or with IoT devices.
Monitoring and coordinating vehicles allow then to compute intelligent ways of
transportation. Connected cars have introduced a new way of thinking cars - not
only as a mean for a driver to go from A to B, but as smart cars - a user
extension like the smartphone today. In this report, we introduce concepts and
specific vocabulary in order to classify current innovations or ideas on the
emerging topic of smart car. We present a graphical categorization showing this
evolution in function of the societal evolution. Different perspectives are
adopted: a vehicle-centric view, a vehicle-network view, and a user-centric
view; described by simple and complex use-cases and illustrated by a list of
emerging and current projects from the academic and industrial worlds. We
identified an empty space in innovation between the user and his car:
paradoxically even if they are both in interaction, they are separated through
different application uses. Future challenge is to interlace social concerns of
the user within an intelligent and efficient driving
A User-Focused Reference Model for Wireless Systems Beyond 3G
This whitepaper describes a proposal from Working Group 1, the Human Perspective of the Wireless World, for a user-focused reference model for systems beyond 3G. The general structure of the proposed model involves two "planes": the Value Plane and the Capability Plane. The characteristics of these planes are discussed in detail and an example application of the model to a specific scenario for the wireless world is provided
A Creative Exploration of the Use of Intelligent Agents in Spatial Narrative Structures
This thesis is an interdisciplinary study of authoring tools for creating spatial narrative structuresâ exposing the relationship between artists, the tools they use, and the experiences they create. It is a research-creation enterprise resulting in the creation of a new authoring tool. A prototype collaborative tool for authoring spatial narratives used at the Land|Slide: Possible Futures public art exhibit in Markham, Ontario 2013 is described. Using narrative analysis of biographical information a cultural context for authoring and experiencing spatial narrative structures is discussed. The biographical information of artists using digital technologies is posited as a context framing for usability design heuristics. The intersection of intelligent agents and spatial narrative structures provide a future scenario by which to assess the suitability of the approach outlined in this study
Mobile information access in the real world: A story of three wireless devices
This is the post-print version of the Article. The official published version can be accessed from the link below - Copyright @ 2008 ElsevierThe importance of the user perspective to the wireless information access experience cannot be understated: simply put, users will not indulge in devices that are perceived to be difficult to use and in technologies that do not offer quality infotainment â combined information and entertainment â content. In this paper, we investigate the impact that mobile devices have on the user wireless infotainment access experience in practice. To this end, we have undertaken an empirical study placed in a âreal-worldâ setting, in which participants undertook typical infotainment access tasks on three different wireless-enabled mobile devices: a laptop, a personal digital assistant and a head mounted display device. Results show that, with the exception of participantsâ level of self-consciousness when using such devices in public environments, the user wireless information access experience is generally unaffected by device type. Location was shown, though, to be a significant factor when users engage in tasks such as listening to online music or navigation. Whilst the interaction between device and environment was found to influence entertainment-related tasks in our experiments, the informational ones were not affected. However, the interaction effects between device and user type was found to affect both types of tasks. Lastly, a userâs particular computing experience was shown to influence the perceived ease of wireless information access only in the case of online searching, irrespective of whether this is done for primarily informational purposes or entertainment ones
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