Information and communication technologies for public use and interactive-multimedia city kiosks

Thesis (Master)--Izmir Institute of Technology, Industrial Design, Izmir, 2004Includes bibliographical references (leaves: 103)Text in English; Abstract: Turkish and Englishix, 106 leavesThis thesis provides framework for consideration of the potential of information andcommunication technologies for public events and performances for the developing usage of new products, particularly information public kiosks. In the theoretical framework, the concepts and terms of information and communication technology are generally introduced along with the identification of number of major factors such as elements, diversity, necessity and evolution. Moreover, the importance of ICT technologies in urban settings and human behavior in response to this type of technology are investigated through the history of ICT. The concept of the usage of information and communication technology by actual people is particularly emphasized. Not only the utilization of information and communication technology in public space is described but also effective usage of ICT in the public space and information access provided by public products are identified.Figures of ICT systems and related products, their roots in design differences and new tools and products that are common examples of ICT, particularly the use of the information city kiosk, are presented and discussed. Design principles of the public information kiosk, which play a prominent role in the public use of ICT, are established. The analysis of design factors and human-product relations based on user profile, material choices, form, function and location are discussed. Finally, the thesis includes a conclusion that argues that the information city kiosks and their increased public use will designate the new images of the cities

Game design and development

The project focuses on computer tools suitable for particular game genres and how they are used to develop 3D computer games. As part of learning about the tools, the author developed a 3D computer adventure game called Adventures of Smiley using Macromedia Director MX and 3D Studio Max. The game\u27s purpose is to engage children using a friendly interface while they learn about different topics in various subject areas through lessons and puzzles. The research gathered information about the current game industry, technologies and game genres, which can be used as a reference for the beginning level game programmer. The project documentation and the game are also published on the Internet and can be freely accessed online

Vice : an interface designed for complex engineering software : an application of virtual reality

Concurrent Engineering has been taking place within the manufacturing industry for many years whereas the construction industry has until recently continued using the 'over the wall' approach where each task is completed before the next began. For real concurrent engineering in construction to take place there needs to be true collaborative working between client representatives, construction professionals, suppliers and subcontractors. The aim of this study was to design, develop and test a new style of user interface which promotes a more intuitive form of interaction than the standard desktop metaphor based interface. This new interface has been designed as an alternative for the default interface of the INTEGRA system and must also promote enhanced user collaboration. By choosing alternative metaphors that are more obvious to the user it is postulated that it should be possible for such an interface to be developed. Specific objectives were set that would allow the project aim to be fulfilled. These objectives are outlined below: To gain a better understanding of the requirements of successful concurrent engineering particularly at the conceptual design phase. To complete a thorough review of the current interfaces had to take place including any guidelines on how to create a "good user interface". To experience many of the collaboration systems available today so that an informed choice of application can be made. To learn the relevant skills required to design, produce and implement the interface of choice. To perform a user evaluation of the finished user interface to improve overall usability and further streamline the concurrent conceptual design. The user interface developed used a virtual reality environment to create a metaphor of an office building. Project members could then coexist and interact within the building promoting collaboration and at the same time have access to the remaining INTEGRA tools. The user evaluation proved that the Virtual Integrated Collaborative Environment (VICE) user interface was a successful addition to the INTEGRA system. The system was evaluated by a substantial number of different users which validates this finding. The user evaluation also provided positive results from two different demographics concluding that the system was easy, intuitive to use with the necessary functionality. Using metaphor based user interfaces is not a new concept. It has become standard practise for most software developers. There are arguments for and against these types of user interfaces. Some advanced users will argue that having such an interface limits their ability to make full use of the applications. However the majority of users do not come within this bracket and for them, metaphor based user interfaces are very useful. This is again evident from the user evaluation.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Vice : An interface designed for complex engineering software : An application of virtual reality

Concurrent Engineering has been taking place within the manufacturing industry for many years whereas the construction industry has until recently continued using the 'over the wall' approach where each task is completed before the next began. For real concurrent engineering in construction to take place there needs to be true collaborative working between client representatives, construction professionals, suppliers and subcontractors. The aim of this study was to design, develop and test a new style of user interface which promotes a more intuitive form of interaction than the standard desktop metaphor based interface. This new interface has been designed as an alternative for the default interface of the INTEGRA system and must also promote enhanced user collaboration. By choosing alternative metaphors that are more obvious to the user it is postulated that it should be possible for such an interface to be developed. Specific objectives were set that would allow the project aim to be fulfilled. These objectives are outlined below: To gain a better understanding of the requirements of successful concurrent engineering particularly at the conceptual design phase. To complete a thorough review of the current interfaces had to take place including any guidelines on how to create a "good user interface". To experience many of the collaboration systems available today so that an informed choice of application can be made. To learn the relevant skills required to design, produce and implement the interface of choice. To perform a user evaluation of the finished user interface to improve overall usability and further streamline the concurrent conceptual design. The user interface developed used a virtual reality environment to create a metaphor of an office building. Project members could then coexist and interact within the building promoting collaboration and at the same time have access to the remaining INTEGRA tools. The user evaluation proved that the Virtual Integrated Collaborative Environment (VICE) user interface was a successful addition to the INTEGRA system. The system was evaluated by a substantial number of different users which validates this finding. The user evaluation also provided positive results from two different demographics concluding that the system was easy, intuitive to use with the necessary functionality. Using metaphor based user interfaces is not a new concept. It has become standard practise for most software developers. There are arguments for and against these types of user interfaces. Some advanced users will argue that having such an interface limits their ability to make full use of the applications. However the majority of users do not come within this bracket and for them, metaphor based user interfaces are very useful. This is again evident from the user evaluation

"Production Ergonomics

"Production ergonomics – the science and practice of designing industrial workplaces to optimize human well-being and system performance – is a complex challenge for a designer. Humans are a valuable and flexible resource in any system of creation, and as long as they stay healthy, alert and motivated, they perform well and also become more competent over time, which increases their value as a resource. However, if a system designer is not mindful or aware of the many threats to health and system performance that may emerge, the end result may include inefficiency, productivity losses, low working morale, injuries and sick-leave. To help budding system designers and production engineers tackle these design challenges holistically, this book offers a multi-faceted orientation in the prerequisites for healthy and effective human work. We will cover physical, cognitive and organizational aspects of ergonomics, and provide both the individual human perspective and that of groups and populations, ending up with a look at global challenges that require workplaces to become more socially and economically sustainable. This book is written to give you a warm welcome to the subject, and to provide a solid foundation for improving industrial workplaces to attract and retain healthy and productive staff in the long run.

ASSESSING PRODUCT CONFIGURATOR CAPABILITIES FOR SUCCESSFUL MASS CUSTOMIZATION

Mass customization is becoming a competitive strategy for companies offering individualized products. Product configurators provide a platform for companies to do interactive product configuration which is essential for mass customization. Companies need to realize the degree of customization appreciated by the customers and the extent of customization that can be offered competitively. This research is an effort to develop an approach to ascertain the product configurator requirements to achieve mass customization. The frameworks developed for this research are validated with a case study

"Production Ergonomics

"Production ergonomics – the science and practice of designing industrial workplaces to optimize human well-being and system performance – is a complex challenge for a designer. Humans are a valuable and flexible resource in any system of creation, and as long as they stay healthy, alert and motivated, they perform well and also become more competent over time, which increases their value as a resource. However, if a system designer is not mindful or aware of the many threats to health and system performance that may emerge, the end result may include inefficiency, productivity losses, low working morale, injuries and sick-leave. To help budding system designers and production engineers tackle these design challenges holistically, this book offers a multi-faceted orientation in the prerequisites for healthy and effective human work. We will cover physical, cognitive and organizational aspects of ergonomics, and provide both the individual human perspective and that of groups and populations, ending up with a look at global challenges that require workplaces to become more socially and economically sustainable. This book is written to give you a warm welcome to the subject, and to provide a solid foundation for improving industrial workplaces to attract and retain healthy and productive staff in the long run.

Digital fabrication of custom interactive objects with rich materials

As ubiquitous computing is becoming reality, people interact with an increasing number of computer interfaces embedded in physical objects. Today, interaction with those objects largely relies on integrated touchscreens. In contrast, humans are capable of rich interaction with physical objects and their materials through sensory feedback and dexterous manipulation skills. However, developing physical user interfaces that offer versatile interaction and leverage these capabilities is challenging. It requires novel technologies for prototyping interfaces with custom interactivity that support rich materials of everyday objects. Moreover, such technologies need to be accessible to empower a wide audience of researchers, makers, and users. This thesis investigates digital fabrication as a key technology to address these challenges. It contributes four novel design and fabrication approaches for interactive objects with rich materials. The contributions enable easy, accessible, and versatile design and fabrication of interactive objects with custom stretchability, input and output on complex geometries and diverse materials, tactile output on 3D-object geometries, and capabilities of changing their shape and material properties. Together, the contributions of this thesis advance the fields of digital fabrication, rapid prototyping, and ubiquitous computing towards the bigger goal of exploring interactive objects with rich materials as a new generation of physical interfaces.Computer werden zunehmend in Geräten integriert, mit welchen Menschen im Alltag interagieren. Heutzutage basiert diese Interaktion weitgehend auf Touchscreens. Im Kontrast dazu steht die reichhaltige Interaktion mit physischen Objekten und Materialien durch sensorisches Feedback und geschickte Manipulation. Interfaces zu entwerfen, die diese Fähigkeiten nutzen, ist allerdings problematisch. Hierfür sind Technologien zum Prototyping neuer Interfaces mit benutzerdefinierter Interaktivität und Kompatibilität mit vielfältigen Materialien erforderlich. Zudem sollten solche Technologien zugänglich sein, um ein breites Publikum zu erreichen. Diese Dissertation erforscht die digitale Fabrikation als Schlüsseltechnologie, um diese Probleme zu adressieren. Sie trägt vier neue Design- und Fabrikationsansätze für das Prototyping interaktiver Objekte mit reichhaltigen Materialien bei. Diese ermöglichen einfaches, zugängliches und vielseitiges Design und Fabrikation von interaktiven Objekten mit individueller Dehnbarkeit, Ein- und Ausgabe auf komplexen Geometrien und vielfältigen Materialien, taktiler Ausgabe auf 3D-Objektgeometrien und der Fähigkeit ihre Form und Materialeigenschaften zu ändern. Insgesamt trägt diese Dissertation zum Fortschritt der Bereiche der digitalen Fabrikation, des Rapid Prototyping und des Ubiquitous Computing in Richtung des größeren Ziels, der Exploration interaktiver Objekte mit reichhaltigen Materialien als eine neue Generation von physischen Interfaces, bei

VEmap: A Visualization Tool for Evaluating Emotional Responses in Virtual Environments

VEMap (virtual emotion map) can be seen as an advanced application of virtual environment (VE) technology to aid with design activities in architecture and urban planning, which can assist designers to understand users’ opinions. The aim of this research and development work is to create a software application that allows designers to evaluate a user’s emotional response to virtual representations of architectural or urban planning environments. In this project, a galvanic skin response (GSR) test is adopted as an objective measurement for collecting skin conductance data representing emotional arousal. At the same time, the user’s self-reports are used as a form of subjective measurement for identifying emotional valence (i.e. positive, neutral, and negative). Finally, all of the information collected from both GSR readings (objective measurement) and self-reports (subjective measurement) are converted into coloured dots on the base map of the corresponding virtual environment (VE). According to the results of the VEmap evaluation and validation procedure, the beta-testing and evaluation of this project has been confirmed that VEmap may interpret users’ emotional changes as evoked by VE mostly. From a usability perspective, there is no obvious difficulty present for participants on all the controls. Moreover, according to participants’ comments, VEmap may increase users’ interests and promote their involvement if it is applied in architectural design and urban planning. However, gender might have influence on self-report part, and virtual reality usage or 3D game experiences might affect navigation in VE