Semantic Smart Homes: Towards Knowledge Rich Assisted Living Environments

International audienceThe complexity of the Emergency Supply Chains makes its management very difficult. Hence, we present in this article a comprehensive view of the French emergency supply chain (ESC), we propose an ad hoc relationship model between actors, and a GRAI grid-based model to initiate a new approach for controlling the ESC deficiencies, especially related to decision making. Throughout the article, we discuss the interest of the use of enterprise modelling to model the ESC. We discuss too, the characterization of the different issues related to the steering of the ESC. A literature review based on the GRAI grid model is proposed and discussed too. The GRAI method is used here because it presents the advantage of using the theory of complex systems, and it provides a dynamic model of an organization by focusing on decision-making and decisions communication

Software Usability

This volume delivers a collection of high-quality contributions to help broaden developers’ and non-developers’ minds alike when it comes to considering software usability. It presents novel research and experiences and disseminates new ideas accessible to people who might not be software makers but who are undoubtedly software users

The use of UTAUT and Post Acceptance models to investigate the attitude towards a telepresence robot in an educational setting

(1) Background: In the last decade, various investigations into the field of robotics have created several opportunities for further innovation to be possible in student education. However, despite scientific evidence, there is still strong scepticism surrounding the use of robots in some social fields, such as personal care and education; (2) Methods: In this research, we present a new tool named: HANCON model that was developed merging and extending the constructs of two solid and proven models: the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model to examine the factors that may influence the decision to use a telepresence robot as an instrument in educational practice, and the Post Acceptance Model to evaluate acceptability after the actual use of a telepresence robot. The new tool is implemented and used to study the acceptance of a Double telepresence robot by 112 pre-service teachers in an educational setting; (3) Results: The analysis of the experimental results predicts and demonstrate a positive attitude towards the use of telepresence robot in a school setting and confirm the applicability of the model in an educational context; (4) Conclusions: The constructs of the HANCON model could predict and explain the acceptance of social telepresence robots in social contexts

High latency unmanned ground vehicle teleoperation enhancement by presentation of estimated future through video transformation

Long-distance, high latency teleoperation tasks are difficult, highly stressful for teleoperators, and prone to over-corrections, which can lead to loss of control. At higher latencies, or when teleoperating at higher vehicle speed, the situation becomes progressively worse. To explore potential solutions, this research work investigates two 2D visual feedback-based assistive interfaces (sliding-only and sliding-and-zooming windows) that apply simple but effective video transformations to enhance teleoperation. A teleoperation simulator that can replicate teleoperation scenarios affected by high and adjustable latency has been developed to explore the effectiveness of the proposed assistive interfaces. Three image comparison metrics have been used to fine-tune and optimise the proposed interfaces. An operator survey was conducted to evaluate and compare performance with and without the assistance. The survey has shown that a 900ms latency increases task completion time by up to 205% for an on-road and 147 % for an off-road driving track. Further, the overcorrection-induced oscillations increase by up to 718 % with this level of latency. The survey has shown the sliding-only video transformation reduces the task completion time by up to 25.53 %, and the sliding-and-zooming transformation reduces the task completion time by up to 21.82 %. The sliding-only interface reduces the oscillation count by up to 66.28 %, and the sliding-and-zooming interface reduces it by up to 75.58 %. The qualitative feedback from the participants also shows that both types of assistive interfaces offer better visual situational awareness, comfort, and controllability, and significantly reduce the impact of latency and intermittency on the teleoperation task

Intelligent Interfaces to Empower People with Disabilities

Severe motion impairments can result from non-progressive disorders, such as cerebral palsy, or degenerative neurological diseases, such as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), Multiple Sclerosis (MS), or muscular dystrophy (MD). They can be due to traumatic brain injuries, for example, due to a traffic accident, or to brainste