39,959 research outputs found

    Design Fiction Diegetic Prototyping: A Research Framework for Visualizing Service Innovations

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    The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.Purpose: This paper presents a design fiction diegetic prototyping methodology and research framework for investigating service innovations that reflect future uses of new and emerging technologies. Design/methodology/approach: Drawing on speculative fiction, we propose a methodology that positions service innovations within a six-stage research development framework. We begin by reviewing and critiquing designerly approaches that have traditionally been associated with service innovations and futures literature. In presenting our framework, we provide an example of its application to the Internet of Things (IoT), illustrating the central tenets proposed and key issues identified. Findings: The research framework advances a methodology for visualizing future experiential service innovations, considering how realism may be integrated into a designerly approach. Research limitations/implications: Design fiction diegetic prototyping enables researchers to express a range of ‘what if’ or ‘what can it be’ research questions within service innovation contexts. However, the process encompasses degrees of subjectivity and relies on knowledge, judgment and projection. Practical implications: The paper presents an approach to devising future service scenarios incorporating new and emergent technologies in service contexts. The proposed framework may be used as part of a range of research designs, including qualitative, quantitative and mixed method investigations. Originality: Operationalizing an approach that generates and visualizes service futures from an experiential perspective contributes to the advancement of techniques that enables the exploration of new possibilities for service innovation research

    Hidden in full sight: kinship, science and the law in the aftermath of the Srebrenica genocide

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    Terms such as “relationship testing,” “familial searching” and “kinship analysis” figure prominently in professional practices of disaster victim identification (DVI). However, despite the dependence of those identification technologies on DNA samples from people who might be related to the dead and despite also the prominence of the notion of “relatedness” as a device for identifying the dead, the concepts of “relatedness” and “kinship” remain elusive both in practice and in analyses of the social and ethical aspects of DVI by DNA; they are hidden in full sight. In this article, we wish to bring kinship more to the fore. We achieve this through a case study of a setting where bio-legal framings dominate, that is, in the trial at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) of Radovan KaradĆŸić for the Srebrenica genocide in 1995. DNA samples from the families of those massacred in Srebrenica were vital for the identification of individual victims but are now also utilized as “evidence” by both the prosecution and the defense. By viewing practices of science (“evidence” and “identification”) and legal practices (“justice,” “prosecution” and “defence”) through the lens of kinship studies, we will present some alternative and complementary framings for the social accomplishment of ‘relatedness’

    A Neuropsychological Semiotic Model of Religious Experiences

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    Designing a Compensated–Kidney Donation System

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    Osteochondral lesions of the talus (OLTs) are the third most common type of osteochondral lesion and can cause pain and instability of the ankle joint. Episurf Medical AB is a medical technology company that develops individualized implants for patients who are suffering from focal cartilage lesions. Episurf have recently started a project that aims to implement their implantation technique in the treatment of OLTs. This master thesis was a part of Episurf’s talus project and the main goal of the thesis was to find the optimal implantation angle of the Episurf implant when treating OLTs. The optimal implantation angle was defined as the angle that minimized the maximum equivalent (von Mises) strain acting on the implant shaft during the stance phase of a normal gait cycle. It is desirable to minimize the strain acting on the implant shaft, since a reduction of the strain can improve the longevity of the implant. To find the optimal implantation angle a finite element model of an ankle joint treated with the Episurf implant was developed. In the model an implant with a diameter of 12 millimeters was placed in the middle part of the medial side of the talar dome. An optimization algorithm was designed to find the implantation angle, which minimized the maximum equivalent strain acting on the implant shaft. The optimal implantation angle was found to be a sagittal angle of 12.5 degrees and a coronal angle of 0 degrees. Both the magnitude and the direction of the force applied to the ankle joint in the simulated stance phase seemed to influence the maximum equivalent strain acting on the implant shaft. A number of simplifications have been done in the simulation of this project, which might affect the accuracy of the results. Therefore it is recommended that further, more detailed, simulations based on this project are performed in order to improve the result accuracy.Fokala broskskador pĂ„ talusbenet Ă€r den tredje vanligaste typen av fokala broskskador och kan ge upphov till smĂ€rta och instabilitet av fotleden. Episurf Medical AB Ă€r ett medicintekniskt företag som utvecklar individanpassade implantat för patienter med fokala broskskador. Episurf har nyligen pĂ„börjat ett projekt dĂ€r deras teknik ska anvĂ€ndas i behandlingen av fokala broskskador pĂ„ talusbenet. Den hĂ€r masteruppsatsen var en del i Episurfs talusprojekt och dess huvudmĂ„l var att finna den optimala implantationsvinkeln av Episurfs implantat i behandlingen av fokala broskskador pĂ„ talusbenet. Den optimala implanteringsvinkeln definierades som den vinkel som minimerade den effektiva von Mises-töjningen som verkade pĂ„ implantatskaftet under stance-fasen i en normal gĂ„ngcykel. Det Ă€r efterstrĂ€vansvĂ€rt att minimera belastningen pĂ„ implantatskaftet eftersom en reducering av belastningen kan förbĂ€ttra implantatets livslĂ€ngd. En finita element-modell av en fotled behandlad med Episurfs implantat utvecklades för att för att finna den optimala implantationsvinkeln. I modellen placerades ett implantat med en diameter pĂ„ 12 millimeter pĂ„ mittendelen av talus mediala sida. En optimeringsalgoritm utformades för att finna implantationsvinkeln som minimerade den effektiva von Mises-töjningen pĂ„ implantatskaftet. Den funna optimala implantationsvinkeln bestod av en vinkel pĂ„ 12.5 grader i sagittalplan och en vinkel pĂ„ 0 grader i koronalplan. BĂ„de storleken och riktningen pĂ„ kraften som applicerats pĂ„ fotleden under den simulerade stance-fasen av gĂ„ngcykeln verkade pĂ„verka belastningen pĂ„ implantatskaftet. Ett antal förenklingar har gjorts i projektets simuleringar, vilket kan pĂ„verka noggrannheten i resultatet. DĂ€rför rekommenderas att ytterligare, mer detaljerade simuleringar baserade pĂ„ det hĂ€r projektet görs för att förbĂ€ttra resultatets noggrannhet

    Exploring Research through Design in Animal-Computer Interaction

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    This paper explores Research through Design (RtD) as a potential methodology for developing new interactive experiences for animals. We present an example study from an on-going project and examine whether RtD offers an appropriate framework for developing knowledge in the context of Animal-Computer Interaction, as well as considering how best to document such work. We discuss the design journey we undertook to develop interactive systems for captive elephants and the extent to which RtD has enabled us to explore concept development and documentation of research. As a result of our explorations, we propose that particular aspects of RtD can help ACI researchers gain fresh perspectives on the design of technology-enabled devices for non-human animals. We argue that these methods of working can support the investigation of particular and complex situations where no idiomatic interactions yet exist, where collaborative practice is desirable and where the designed objects themselves offer a conceptual window for future research and development

    The redistributive role of non-profit organizations

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    By starting from the consideration that non-profit organizations cover a significant re-distributive function beside that of governmental agencies, the paper questions why government prefers to finance via transfers private entities likewise lucrative and non-lucrative entities rather than produce these goods directly. By generalizing the Hansmann (1996) theory, we propose a “make or buy” approach in which the choice among three different ownership regimes (governmental, non-profit and for-profit) providing services in public benefit oriented sectors is affected not only by costs reduction (X-efficiency) but also by the level of transfers (degree of “redistribution”) decided at a political level.non-profit organizations; redistribution; property rights

    Introduction to Bioethics in the 21st Century

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