Control theoretic models of pointing

This article presents an empirical comparison of four models from manual control theory on their ability to model targeting behaviour by human users using a mouse: McRuer’s Crossover, Costello’s Surge, second-order lag (2OL), and the Bang-bang model. Such dynamic models are generative, estimating not only movement time, but also pointer position, velocity, and acceleration on a moment-to-moment basis. We describe an experimental framework for acquiring pointing actions and automatically fitting the parameters of mathematical models to the empirical data. We present the use of time-series, phase space, and Hooke plot visualisations of the experimental data, to gain insight into human pointing dynamics. We find that the identified control models can generate a range of dynamic behaviours that captures aspects of human pointing behaviour to varying degrees. Conditions with a low index of difficulty (ID) showed poorer fit because their unconstrained nature leads naturally to more behavioural variability. We report on characteristics of human surge behaviour (the initial, ballistic sub-movement) in pointing, as well as differences in a number of controller performance measures, including overshoot, settling time, peak time, and rise time. We describe trade-offs among the models. We conclude that control theory offers a promising complement to Fitts’ law based approaches in HCI, with models providing representations and predictions of human pointing dynamics, which can improve our understanding of pointing and inform design

Digital Communication of Knowledge for Academic Design-Build Initiatives

Academic Design-Build Studios engage in diverse projects throughout the world. They are often highly complex and involve numerous stakeholders of different disciplines and cultures. They therefore rely on effective communication between all parties throughout all phases of the project cycle. Digital technology offered by the worldwide web allows new means of communication and for immense amounts of information to be presented and shared. The research consortium European Design-Build Knowledge Network (EDBKN), consisting of a team of academic Design-Build practitioners, is currently developing a web-based platform designbuildXchange (dbXchange.eu) to support Design-Build stakeholders worldwide. A low-threshold, high-tech platform has been created, providing a "toolbox" for supporting projects throughout the project's life. Tools are offered for project presentation, networking, academic research, as well as dialogue and knowledge exchange between all stakeholders. This "knowledge exchange platform" allows projects to support each other by uploading information on research, design, construction details, funding, legal issues, costings, the realities of construction and much more. It will thus become a valuable source of information for all stakeholders throughout the world

Glitch Reading: [Re]Mediation and the Protocols of Reading

In this paper, I outline a methodology for reading poetic works that operate between media environments, noting the subtle shifts and failures that mark the material changes. The space between mediums and processes of remediation produce residue from the various material substrates and protocols of reading that adhere to works moving through networks. The attention to the residue can be understood as glitches, which proliferate the possibilities of reading and reveal the construction of imbricated reading environments. This is a practice I want to consider through the framework of glitch reading. Drawing on Rosa Menkman\u27s theorization of glitches and Tan Lin\u27s considerations of reading environments, I develop an understand of glitch reading as a critical and creative project that considers the proliferation of activities that constitute reading. In many ways this is a response to Alexander Galloway’s call for “new methodologies of scanning, playing, sampling, parsing, and recombining” as critical methods. In continuing to consider the mediation and between status of the glitch, these practices trouble the boundaries between critical and creative, material and immaterial, chaotic noise and apophenic messages. Glitch reading is a practice of reading processes of mediation, reading ruptures, distortions, and absences. It is a rupture in the protocols of reading, exposing the structures of reading and the way in which they can be expanded or further developed through remediation. In this sense, glitch reading becomes a way to understand reading as a process of disparate activities that fabricate a fluid structure that is designated as reading. It also includes processes that are often excluded from the structure of reading, what Tan Lin refers to as practices of non-reading. Attending to the glitch as a moment that exposes the material substrates that fabricate seamless environments, alternative forms of reading can proliferate and provide a glimpse into larger networks of relationality. By looking to works of art and poetics, and actually attempting to read the glitches, new possibilities in the regimes of reading become available. To read the glitch creates a way to reimagine and reconsider the networks of relations between humans and their technologies

Applications of internet technology for requirements elicitation

During the Requirements Elicitation part of a project various stakeholders need to be able to communicate their requirements to the developers, and the developers need to be able communicate their understanding back to the stakeholders. Communication between the various members of the project is the key factor during the Requirements Elicitation part of a project. Easing communications between stakeholders and developers makes the process of eliciting requirement easier, leading to better requirements specification and eventually a better product. The Requirements Elicitation Process through Internet (REPI) web site has been designed and implemented to explore this idea. The prototype version of REPI guides project members through the elicitation phase using the Software Engineering Institute\u27s framework for Requirements Elicitation. The REPI web site forces stakeholders to explicitly describe the requirements and encourage early discussion between stakeholders and developers. This decreases the likelihood of misunderstood requirements, leading to better requirements specification

Chemical and Geometric Transformations of MoS2/WS2 Heterostructures by Plasma Treatment

abstract: Two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) like molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) and tungsten disulfide (WS2) are effective components in optoelectronic devices due to their tunable and attractive electric, optical and chemical properties. Combining different 2D TMDCs into either vertical or lateral heterostructures has been pursued to achieve new optical and electronic properties. Chemical treatments have also been pursued to effectively tune the properties of 2D TMDCs. Among many chemical routes that have been studied, plasma treatment is notable for being rapid and versatile. In Wang’s group earlier work, plasma treatment of MoS2 and WS2 resulted in the formation of MoO3 and WO3 nanosheets and nanoscrolls. However, plasma treatment of 2D TMDC heterostructures have not been widely studied. In this dissertation, MoS2/WS2 vertical and lateral heterostructures were grown and treated with air plasma. The result showed that the vertical heterostructure and lateral heterostructures behaved differently. For the vertical heterostructures, the top WS2 layer acts as a shield for the underlying MoS2 monolayer from oxidizing and forming transition metal oxide nanoscrolls, as shown by Raman spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy (AFM). On the contrary, for the lateral heterostructures, the WS2 that was grown surrounding the MoS2 triangular core served as a tight frame to stop the propagation of the oxidized MoS2, resulting a gradient of crack distribution. These findings provide insight into how plasma treatment can affect the formation of oxide in heterostructure, which can have further application in nanoelectronic devices and electrocatalysts.Dissertation/ThesisMasters Thesis Materials Science and Engineering 201

Formal functional testing of graphical user interfaces.

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:DX177960 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

How to teach digital reading?

This paper offers a discussion of the knowledge, skills, and awareness involved in digital reading. Reading, in this paper, is used in the broader sense to include deriving meaning from media on a digital screen. This paper synthesises key ideas from existing studies and presents a taxonomy for the teaching of digital reading. The taxonomy includes the development of: 1) the knowledge of linear and deep reading strategies; 2) basic and critical information skills; and 3) a multimodal semiotic awareness. The goal of this paper is to unpack the specific knowledge and skills for digital reading which will support educators, including classroom teachers and librarians, on the aspects to pay attention to as students engage in digital reading. This paper argues that, in addition to equipping students with the knowledge of reading strategies and information skills, an awareness of how the various semiotic modes make meaning is fundamental to effective digital reading

Information processing on smartphones in public versus private

People increasingly turn to news on mobile devices, often while out and about, attending to daily tasks. Yet, we know little about whether attention to and learning from information on a mobile differs by the setting of use. This study builds on Multiple Resource Theory (Wickens, 1984) and the Resource Competition Framework (Oulasvirta et al., 2005) to compare visual attention to a dynamic newsfeed, varying only the setting: private or public. We use mobile eye-tracking to evaluate the effects of setting on attention and assess correspondent learning differences after exposure to the feed, which allows us to uncover a relationship between attention and learning. Findings indicate higher visual attention to mobile newsfeed posts in public, relative to a private setting. Moreover, scrolling through news on a smartphone in public attenuates some knowledge gain but is beneficial for other learning outcomes