6,978 research outputs found

    Computer memories: the history of computer form

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    This paper looks at the computer as a truly global form. The similar beige boxes found in offices across the world are analysed from the perspective of design history rather than that of the history of science and technology. Through the exploration of an archive of computer manufacturer's catalogues and concurrent design texts, this paper examines the changes that have occurred in the production and consumption of the computer in the context of the workplace, from its inception as a room-sized mainframe operated through a console of flashing lights, to the personal computer as a 'universal' form, reproduced by many manufacturers. It shows how the computer in the past has been as diverse as any other product, and asks how and why it now appears as a standardised, sanitised object. In doing so our relationship with the office computer, past and present is explored, revealing a complex history of vicissitude.</p

    The design-by-adaptation approach to universal access: learning from videogame technology

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    This paper proposes an alternative approach to the design of universally accessible interfaces to that provided by formal design frameworks applied ab initio to the development of new software. This approach, design-byadaptation, involves the transfer of interface technology and/or design principles from one application domain to another, in situations where the recipient domain is similar to the host domain in terms of modelled systems, tasks and users. Using the example of interaction in 3D virtual environments, the paper explores how principles underlying the design of videogame interfaces may be applied to a broad family of visualization and analysis software which handles geographical data (virtual geographic environments, or VGEs). One of the motivations behind the current study is that VGE technology lags some way behind videogame technology in the modelling of 3D environments, and has a less-developed track record in providing the variety of interaction methods needed to undertake varied tasks in 3D virtual worlds by users with varied levels of experience. The current analysis extracted a set of interaction principles from videogames which were used to devise a set of 3D task interfaces that have been implemented in a prototype VGE for formal evaluation

    Composition and Self-Adaptation of Service-Based Systems with Feature Models

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    The adoption of mechanisms for reusing software in pervasive systems has not yet become standard practice. This is because the use of pre-existing software requires the selection, composition and adaptation of prefabricated software parts, as well as the management of some complex problems such as guaranteeing high levels of efficiency and safety in critical domains. In addition to the wide variety of services, pervasive systems are composed of many networked heterogeneous devices with embedded software. In this work, we promote the safe reuse of services in service-based systems using two complementary technologies, Service-Oriented Architecture and Software Product Lines. In order to do this, we extend both the service discovery and composition processes defined in the DAMASCo framework, which currently does not deal with the service variability that constitutes pervasive systems. We use feature models to represent the variability and to self-adapt the services during the composition in a safe way taking context changes into consideration. We illustrate our proposal with a case study related to the driving domain of an Intelligent Transportation System, handling the context information of the environment.Work partially supported by the projects TIN2008-05932, TIN2008-01942, TIN2012-35669, TIN2012-34840 and CSD2007-0004 funded by Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and FEDER; P09-TIC-05231 and P11-TIC-7659 funded by Andalusian Government; and FP7-317731 funded by EU. Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tec

    Multimedia Interface In Smart Home Monitoring

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    Smart home environment monitoring systems will incorporate more and more multimedia information and technology, bringing a sense of visual reality into the control room and providing more effective communication using a richer vocabulary of media This is a prototype system where the top 80%, approximately, of the window is associated with the console-based interface and the bottom 20% with the command based interface This Multimedia Interface (MUI) prototype is to convey as much possible information in the main screen display as possible, without forcing the user to burrow down through different layers of screens or menus Secondly to facilitate user-initiated changes to the system with minimal mouse/keyboard action (console) or keyboard (command-based) action on the user's part Lastly to facilitate rapid learning on the user's part, and to couple the visual feedback of both systems so that command-based system changes are indicated on the console-based system and vice-versa The console-based interface is activated by clicking on the appropriate widget like buttons in most cases, check boxes and radio buttons for a few systems The prototype command-based interface includes an edit box at the extreme bottom of the screen, where the user can type a command The user then clicks on the "Process Command Line" button to execute the command Immediately above the edit box is a list box (read only) in which the user's command is duplicated, and then followed by the program's response The results are based on analytical results, questionnaire analysis and console and command based interface results From the results tell that the prototype interface is very easy to use, and that no real major changes need to be made in order to increase learn ability The analysis also showed that the open standards and security is a priority of designing the multimedia interface of smart house

    Emerging technologies for learning (volume 2)

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    Marshall Avionics Testbed System (MAST)

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    Work accomplished in the summer of 1989 in association with the NASA/ASEE Summer Faculty Research Fellowship Program at Marshall Space Flight Center is summarized. The project was aimed at developing detailed specifications for the Marshall Avionics System Testbed (MAST). This activity was to include the definition of the testbed requirements and the development of specifications for a set of standard network nodes for connecting the testbed to a variety of networks. The project was also to include developing a timetable for the design, implementation, programming and testing of the testbed. Specifications of both hardware and software components for the system were to be included

    Automated industrial inspection workbench for human machine interface (HMI) consoles

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    The actual moment of the industrial production is changing the way of production. Now the systems are adaptable to produce different items in the same production line with a very reduced time to setup the systems. In the same way, the quality control systems must be more adaptable and intelligent possible. The present work propose the creation of intelligent and adaptable inspection cell to inspect Human Machine Interface (HMI) consoles of different types. This cell is composed by an image acquisition system with controlled illumination, a force sensor installed on the robot tool to verify the buttons’ functionality. The force tests are processed and classified using decision three, k-Nearest Neighbors (k-NN) and Support Vector Machine (SVM) classification method. Besides, the Thin-Film Transistor (TFT) display uses Normalized Cross-Correlation (NCC) and Correlation Coefficients (CC) to check the display’s regions. To Liquid Cristal Display (LCD) is used the same method and also be used a Neural Network Classification (NNC). In the experimental tests, four different types of consoles prototypes are tested, one of them has a TFT display and buttons, others two have only buttons and one has only a LCD display. In the inspection workbench is created, all the hardware necessary to execute the inspection was installed successfully. Moreover, the inspection methods obtained a precision higher than 90% to the buttons and display inspection.O momento atual produção industrial está mudando a forma de produzir. Agora os sistemas são adaptativos para produzir diferentes itens na mesma linha de produção com tempo de mudança ou customização muito reduzido. No mesmo sentido, os sistemas de controle de qualidade devem ser o mais adaptativo e inteligente possível. O presente trabalho propõe o desenvolvimento de célula de inspeção inteligente e adaptativa para inspectionar consoles de Human Machine Interface (HMI) de diferentes tipos. Esta célula é composta por um sistema de aquisição de imagem com iluminação controlada, um sensor de força instalado na ferramenta de um manipulador para verificar a funcionalidade dos botões. Os testes de força são processados e classificados usando métodos de aprendizagem de máquina, nomeadamente, decision tree, k-Nearest Neighbor (k-NN) and Support Vector Machine (SVM). Além disso,é utilizada a Nomalized Cross-Correlation e Correlation Coefficients para checar as regiões do display do tipo Thin-Film Transistor (TFT). Em displays do tipo Cristal Líquido (LCD) é utilizado o mesmo metodo, sendo também utilizada a classificação usando Rede Neurais. Nos testes experimentais, foram testados quatro tipos de consoles HMI, sendo que um deles possui um display de TFT e botões, outros dois possuem somente botões e um tem somente um display de LCD. Na bancada de inspeção criada, foi devidamente instalado todo o hardware necessário para execução da inspeção. Além do mais, obteve-se precisão acima de 90% para os métodos de inspeção dos botões e displays
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