Digital Cognitive Companions for Marine Vessels : On the Path Towards Autonomous Ships

As for the automotive industry, industry and academia are making extensive efforts to create autonomous ships. The solutions for this are very technology-intense. Many building blocks, often relying on AI technology, need to work together to create a complete system that is safe and reliable to use. Even when the ships are fully unmanned, humans are still foreseen to guide the ships when unknown situations arise. This will be done through teleoperation systems.In this thesis, methods are presented to enhance the capability of two building blocks that are important for autonomous ships; a positioning system, and a system for teleoperation.The positioning system has been constructed to not rely on the Global Positioning System (GPS), as this system can be jammed or spoofed. Instead, it uses Bayesian calculations to compare the bottom depth and magnetic field measurements with known sea charts and magnetic field maps, in order to estimate the position. State-of-the-art techniques for this method typically use high-resolution maps. The problem is that there are hardly any high-resolution terrain maps available in the world. Hence we present a method using standard sea-charts. We compensate for the lower accuracy by using other domains, such as magnetic field intensity and bearings to landmarks. Using data from a field trial, we showed that the fusion method using multiple domains was more robust than using only one domain. In the second building block, we first investigated how 3D and VR approaches could support the remote operation of unmanned ships with a data connection with low throughput, by comparing respective graphical user interfaces (GUI) with a Baseline GUI following the currently applied interfaces in such contexts. Our findings show that both the 3D and VR approaches outperform the traditional approach significantly. We found the 3D GUI and VR GUI users to be better at reacting to potentially dangerous situations than the Baseline GUI users, and they could keep track of the surroundings more accurately. Building from this, we conducted a teleoperation user study using real-world data from a field-trial in the archipelago, where the users should assist the positioning system with bearings to landmarks. The users experienced the tool to give a good overview, and despite the connection with the low throughput, they managed through the GUI to significantly improve the positioning accuracy

The Augmented Learner : The pivotal role of multimedia enhanced learning within a foresight-based learning model designed to accelerate the delivery of higher levels of learner creativity

The central theme for this dissertation lies at the intersection of multisensory technology enhanced learning, the field of foresight and transformative pedagogy and their role in helping to develop greater learner creativity. These skills will be key to meeting the needs of the projected growing role of the creative class within the emerging global workforce structure and the projected growth in R&D and the advancement of human-machine resource management. Over the past two decades, we have traversed from the Industrial Age through the Information Age into what we now call postnormal times, manifested partly in Industry 4.0. It is widely considered that the present education system in countries with developed economies is not optimised for delivering the much-needed creative skills, which are prominent amongst the critical 21st C skills required by the creative class, (also known as creatives), which will be increasingly dominant in terms of near future employability. Consequently, there will be a potential shortfall of creatives unless this issue is rapidly addressed. To ensure that the creative skills I aimed to enhance were relevant and aligned with emerging demands of the changing landscape, I deconstructed the critical dimensions, context, and concept of creativity in postnormal times as well as undertaking in-depth research on the potential future workscape and the future of education and learning, applying a comprehensive foresight approach to the latter using a 2030-2040 horizon. Based upon the outcomes of these studies I designed an experimental integrative learning system that I have applied, researched, and evolved over the past 4 years with over 150 students at PhD and master’s level. The system is aimed at generating higher levels of creative engagement and development through a focus on increased immersion and creativity-inducing approaches. The system, which I call the Living Learning System, is based upon eight integrated elements, supported by course development pillars aimed at optimizing learner future skill competencies and levels of creativity for which I apply severalevaluation techniques and metrics. Accordingly, as the central hypothesis of this dissertation, I argue that by integrating the critical elements of the Living Learning System, such as emerging multisensory technology enhanced learning coupled with optimised transformative and experiential learning approaches, framed within the field of foresight, with its futures focus and decentralised thinking approaches, students increase their ability to be creative. This increased ability is based on the student attaining a richer level of personal ambience through deeper immersion generated through higher incidence of self-direction, constructivism-based blended pedagogy, futures literacy, and a balance of decentralised and systems-based thinking, as well as cognitive and social platforms aimed at optimizing learner creative achievement. This dissertation demonstrates how the application of the combined elements of the Living Learning System, with its futures focus and its ensuing transdisciplinary curricula and courses, can provide a clear path towards significantly increased learner creativity. The findings of the quantitative, questionnaire-based research set out in detail in Chapter 9, together with the performance and creativity evaluation models applied against the selected case studies of student projects substantiate the validity of the hypothesis that the application of the Living Learning System with its futures focus leads to increased creativity in line with the needs of the postnormal era.publishedVersio

Innovations in education and training to enable development of pharmacists as clinicians.

The NHS is in urgent need of clinical healthcare capacity in terms of front-line clinician staff, to deal with the burgeoning complexity and volume of care being delivered. These clinicians need to be accountable for the delivery of direct clinical care to patients, meeting the demands of clinical services and patients. In the UK, from 2026 onwards, all new pharmacists will be independent prescribers at point of registration. There is an opportunity for pharmacists to evolve their traditional role - from that of medicines governance, supply and ancillary advice - to one in which they have a central role within the NHS as a clinician. The aim of this programme of research was to explore innovations in education and training that would enable development of pharmacists as clinicians. The programme is comprised of six public outputs investigating four separate educational interventions, including: a pharmacy longitudinal clerkship (PLC) and interprofessional education (IPE) placements at undergraduate level, and the use of simulation-based education (SBE) and an Advanced Clinical Examination & Assessment (ACE) course within the advanced pharmacist space. Output 1 used Donabedian's conceptual model to characterise the development and implementation of the first cohort of a PLC model for student pharmacists (SPs). It used interpretivist philosophy and qualitative semistructured interviews of SPs and tutors, informed by the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF), to undertake an initial evaluation. Seven themes were identified and mapped to seven TDF domains. These reported increased levels of student confidence, enthusiasm for a pharmacy career, and general practitioner (GP) positivity about the PLC. Output 2 reported on two further cohorts of the PLC model. Qualitative semi-structured interviews of SP and GP tutors were used to explore stakeholder perceptions of influences of behavioural determinants on SP development. Interview design and analysis were informed by the TDF. Seven SPs and five GPs were interviewed. Key themes included: knowledge – utilisation and practical application; skills – triangulation of skills under supervision; beliefs about capabilities – confidence building with clinical and patient contact; professional role and identify. The evaluation showed the benefits of the PLC model by embedding SPs in clinical teams and the clinical environment over a prolonged period. It was expected that this training would translate into a more confident transition to postgraduate professional practice. Output 3 reported on the evaluation of a separate week-long innovative hospital-based IPE placement involving SPs and medical students. Evaluation focused on level 1 and 2 of the Kirkpatrick Four-Level Training Evaluation Model. Focus groups were used to explore the students' views and experiences. Thematic analysis was undertaken using the TDF. Three key categories with multiple sub-themes were identified: Category 1, overall perception of experience; Category 2, student interactions; Category 3, suggestions for improvement. Overall, students valued their participation in the week and reported many benefits of learning with and from other students. Output 4 was a commentary giving some critical thought on the current state of advanced pharmacist practice within the UK, as well as giving primary thinking on how UK pharmacists, service models, and pharmacist education systems need to adapt to meet the demands of advanced pharmacist practice. It challenges pharmacy's historic dogma, discusses a requirement for teaching to transcend simplistic concepts of medicines-harm, considers the need for the standardisation of clinical skills and discusses the necessity for formal advanced practice programmes and preceptorship models. It finally proposes a model for Advanced Pharmacist Practitioners and the ultimate future vision of autonomous practice. Output 5 reported on the implementation of innovative SBE to support the development of advanced general practice clinical pharmacists (GPCPs). An interpretivist philosophy was applied where pre and post simulation questionnaires were used to support an evaluation focused on level 1 and 2 of the Kirkpatrick Four-Level Training Evaluation Model. Increased confidence and self-reported competence were reported in all areas pertaining to application of consultation and clinical skills. Qualitative comments from the participants regarding the training course were also favourable, highlighting the value of the training in developing clinical competence and confidence when dealing with a variety of general practice scenarios. Output 6 explores the potential behavioural determinants influencing the implementation of skills gained from ACE courses by GPCPs. The work used an interpretivist philosophy and qualitative methodology, with theoretical underpinning using the TDF. Seven dyadic (paired) interviews were conducted. Three main themes were identified: 1. Factors influencing implementation of advanced clinical skills by pharmacists; 2. Social and environmental influences affecting opportunities for pharmacists in advanced clinical roles; 3. Perceptions of pharmacist professional identify for advance practice roles. The work identified numerous behavioural determinants related to the implementation of advanced clinical skills including: the course supporting clinically autonomous practice; frustration around social and environmental factors limiting implementation causing alienation; need for clarification of professional identity/roles. This programme of research identified numerous innovations in education and training which would allow pharmacists to develop as clinicians over a variety of career stages and healthcare settings. There is commonality between PLC and IPE placements in terms of affording SPs exposure to clinical environments as part of undergraduate education. The benefits observed during individual placements are also likely to be synergistic if combined into a longitudinal IPE placement. SBE was used effectively in both undergraduate and advanced pharmacist education, and can be expected to augment clinical teaching at all levels of pharmacist education. ACE courses would make a suitable component of a competency-based training programme for advanced pharmacist practitioners, where skills learned on the course can be integrated into practice in a preceptored and supervised environment. This is similar to how clinical skills were implemented and practiced during PLC placements. Recommendations included the need to develop education and training across the continuum of pharmacist practice, and should be linked to an accepted career structure. Clinically supervised, curriculum-based training programmes delivered in clinical practice should contain elements of IPE and SBE to augment the learning experience for any career level. Review of current education and training pathways are urgently needed such that exposures to the beneficial innovations described in this thesis might be utilised to expeditiously create pharmacist clinicians with these skills, to enhance healthcare capacity in support of clinical care delivery to patients

Eye quietness and quiet eye in expert and novice golf performance: an electrooculographic analysis

Quiet eye (QE) is the final ocular fixation on the target of an action (e.g., the ball in golf putting). Camerabased eye-tracking studies have consistently found longer QE durations in experts than novices; however, mechanisms underlying QE are not known. To offer a new perspective we examined the feasibility of measuring the QE using electrooculography (EOG) and developed an index to assess ocular activity across time: eye quietness (EQ). Ten expert and ten novice golfers putted 60 balls to a 2.4 m distant hole. Horizontal EOG (2ms resolution) was recorded from two electrodes placed on the outer sides of the eyes. QE duration was measured using a EOG voltage threshold and comprised the sum of the pre-movement and post-movement initiation components. EQ was computed as the standard deviation of the EOG in 0.5 s bins from –4 to +2 s, relative to backswing initiation: lower values indicate less movement of the eyes, hence greater quietness. Finally, we measured club-ball address and swing durations. T-tests showed that total QE did not differ between groups (p = .31); however, experts had marginally shorter pre-movement QE (p = .08) and longer post-movement QE (p < .001) than novices. A group × time ANOVA revealed that experts had less EQ before backswing initiation and greater EQ after backswing initiation (p = .002). QE durations were inversely correlated with EQ from –1.5 to 1 s (rs = –.48 - –.90, ps = .03 - .001). Experts had longer swing durations than novices (p = .01) and, importantly, swing durations correlated positively with post-movement QE (r = .52, p = .02) and negatively with EQ from 0.5 to 1s (r = –.63, p = .003). This study demonstrates the feasibility of measuring ocular activity using EOG and validates EQ as an index of ocular activity. Its findings challenge the dominant perspective on QE and provide new evidence that expert-novice differences in ocular activity may reflect differences in the kinematics of how experts and novices execute skills

Emergent Behaviors in a Resilient Logistics Supply Chain

This PhD dissertation addresses vulnerabilities in logistics supply chains, such as disruptions from pandemics, natural disasters, and geopolitical tensions. It underscores the complexity of supply chains, likening them to socio-technical systems where resilience is key for managing unexpected events and thriving amidst adversity. The focus is on leveraging smart business objects—exemplified by “smart pallets” with sensing and computational capabilities—to augment real-time decision-making and resilience in supply chains. When strategically positioned within the supply network, these smart pallets can provide key insights into the movement of goods, enabling a rapid response to disruptions through real-time monitoring and predictive analytics. The dissertation investigates centralized, decentralized, and hybrid approaches to decision-making within these networks. Centralized methods ensure uniformity but may neglect local specifics, while decentralized ones offer adaptability at the risk of inconsistency. A hybrid model seeks to balance these extremes, combining broad guidelines with local autonomy for optimal resilience. This research aims to explore how such smart objects can anticipate and react to emergent behaviors, thereby augmenting supply chain resilience beyond mere performance indicators to actively managing and adapting to disruptions. Through various chapters, the dissertation offers an exploration, from designing resilient architectures and evaluating business rules in real-time to mining these rules from data and adapting them to evolving circumstances. Overall, this work presents a nuanced view of resilience in supply chains, emphasizing the adaptability of business rules, the importance of technological evolution alongside organizational practices, and the potential of integrating novel techniques such as process mining with multi-agent systems for better decision-making and operational efficiency

Designing Digital Work

Combining theory, methodology and tools, this open access book illustrates how to guide innovation in today’s digitized business environment. Highlighting the importance of human knowledge and experience in implementing business processes, the authors take a conceptual perspective to explore the challenges and issues currently facing organizations. Subsequent chapters put these concepts into practice, discussing instruments that can be used to support the articulation and alignment of knowledge within work processes. A timely and comprehensive set of tools and case studies, this book is essential reading for those researching innovation and digitization, organization and business strategy