Interactive exploration of historic information via gesture recognition

Developers of interactive exhibits often struggle to �nd appropriate input devices that enable intuitive control, permitting the visitors to engage e�ectively with the content. Recently motion sensing input devices like the Microsoft Kinect or Panasonic D-Imager have become available enabling gesture based control of computer systems. These devices present an attractive input device for exhibits since the user can interact with their hands and they are not required to physically touch any part of the system. In this thesis we investigate techniques to enable the raw data coming from these types of devices to be used to control an interactive exhibit. Object recognition and tracking techniques are used to analyse the user's hand where movement and clicks are processed. To show the e�ectiveness of the techniques the gesture system is used to control an interactive system designed to inform the public about iconic buildings in the centre of Norwich, UK. We evaluate two methods of making selections in the test environment. At the time of experimentation the technologies were relatively new to the image processing environment. As a result of the research presented in this thesis, the techniques and methods used have been detailed and published [3] at the VSMM (Virtual Systems and Multimedia 2012) conference with the intention of further forwarding the area

Collaborative geographic visualization

Dissertação apresentada na Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade Nova de Lisboa para a obtenção do grau de Mestre em Engenharia do Ambiente, perfil Gestão e Sistemas AmbientaisThe present document is a revision of essential references to take into account when developing ubiquitous Geographical Information Systems (GIS) with collaborative visualization purposes. Its chapters focus, respectively, on general principles of GIS, its multimedia components and ubiquitous practices; geo-referenced information visualization and its graphical components of virtual and augmented reality; collaborative environments, its technological requirements, architectural specificities, and models for collective information management; and some final considerations about the future and challenges of collaborative visualization of GIS in ubiquitous environment

Multi-Dimensional-Personalization in mobile contexts

During the dot com era the word "personalisation” was a hot buzzword. With the fall of the dot com companies the topic has lost momentum. As the killer application for UMTS or the mobile internet has yet to be identified, the concept of Multi-Dimensional-Personalisation (MDP) could be a candidate. Using this approach, a recommendation of mobile advertisement or marketing (i.e., recommendations or notifications), online content, as well as offline events, can be offered to the user based on their known interests and current location. Instead of having to request or pull this information, the new service concept would proactively provide the information and services – with the consequence that the right information or service could therefore be offered at the right place, at the right time. The growing availability of "Location-based Services“ for mobile phones is a new target for the use of personalisation. "Location-based Services“ are information, for example, about restaurants, hotels or shopping malls with offers which are in close range / short distance to the user. The lack of acceptance for such services in the past is based on the fact that early implementations required the user to pull the information from the service provider. A more promising approach is to actively push information to the user. This information must be from interest to the user and has to reach the user at the right time and at the right place. This raises new requirements on personalisation which will go far beyond present requirements. It will reach out from personalisation based only on the interest of the user. Besides the interest, the enhanced personalisation has to cover the location and movement patterns, the usage and the past, present and future schedule of the user. This new personalisation paradigm has to protect the user’s privacy so that an approach supporting anonymous recommendations through an extended "Chinese Wall“ will be described

Mobile based County revenue collection system

Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Mobile Telecommunication and Innovation at (MSc.MTI) at Strathmore UniversityToday more than ever, different entities are relying on information technology to enhance the performance of their operations. At the forefront of this reliance is mobile technology which possesses versatile and comprehensive solutions for service delivery. In Kenya today, thousands if not millions of individuals can access an array of services and goods with just a click of a button from their mobile devices. With the process of devolution underway, it is about time that the various government organs, such as county governments, equally adopt mobile based solutions. This study has found that the existing manual and semi-automated systems that are currently operational contain a cluster of problems such as: lack of reliability, slow processing time, poor inter-departmental integration, lack of adequate decision making reports and proneness to errors. During the course of the study a mobile solution called M-County was implemented so as to provide Kenyan citizens with a dynamic mobile platform that fundamentally allowed them to make various county payments, such as parking fees, with the use of mobile money platforms i.e. M-Pesa. Ultimately the payments made via the platform allowed county revenue officials to access real time revenue information and reports for analytical decision making purposes. A quantitative research method approach was fundamentally used to test the system as well as collect primary data. The sample size used was The outcome of the study shows a significant willingness of the public to adopt M-County. This willingness was mainly due to the ease of use of the application along with its functionalities. The users of the system made various recommendations that would essentially make the application more suitable to their needs. The potential for success of the system is generally very high mainly due to the exponential usage of mobile applications in Kenya presently

Sense-making across collaborating disciplines in the early stages of architectural design

In my PhD thesis I raise the claim that a main ingredient to successful design collaboration in architecture and engineering is to make sense out of the information that is provided by designers and consultants as early and comprehensively as possible. The design of buildings has become a task with such a level of complexity that a social effort is required to coordinate and integrate the various worldviews of disciplines involved. In my research I first analyse obstacles to sense-making across collaborating disciplines by investigating the worldviews and priorities of the main parties involved in the design of buildings. I then propose novel ways for exchanging knowledge and generating common understanding between design professionals during early design and I introduce the process of optioneering as one possible method to assist architectural and engineering work practice. I present my work on the computational framework DesignLink that allows users from varying professional backgrounds to gather, evaluate and compare their data for design decision making in teams. In order to address the above issues, I have embedded myself in the engineering firm Arup in their Sydney and Melbourne offices. There, I have examined methods for communicating and integrating aspects of building performance between designers and design consultants over a period of three years. As part of my research at Arup, I have gained an understanding about the everyday requirements of design professionals for sense-making in collaborative practice

The matrix revisited: A critical assessment of virtual reality technologies for modeling, simulation, and training

A convergence of affordable hardware, current events, and decades of research have advanced virtual reality (VR) from the research lab into the commercial marketplace. Since its inception in the 1960s, and over the next three decades, the technology was portrayed as a rarely used, high-end novelty for special applications. Despite the high cost, applications have expanded into defense, education, manufacturing, and medicine. The promise of VR for entertainment arose in the early 1990\u27s and by 2016 several consumer VR platforms were released. With VR now accessible in the home and the isolationist lifestyle adopted due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, VR is now viewed as a potential tool to enhance remote education. Drawing upon over 17 years of experience across numerous VR applications, this dissertation examines the optimal use of VR technologies in the areas of visualization, simulation, training, education, art, and entertainment. It will be demonstrated that VR is well suited for education and training applications, with modest advantages in simulation. Using this context, the case is made that VR can play a pivotal role in the future of education and training in a globally connected world

Tactile, spatial interfaces for CAD

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2003.Includes bibliographical references (p. 157-163).Computer-aided design (CAD) systems have become invaluable in three-dimensional creative design fields such as architecture and landscape architecture. However, these digital tools have not replaced the use of physical tools and materials as envisioned by the early developers of CAD. Instead, most designers have added digital media to their suite of physical media, gaining the benefits of both realms and using each where it is most advantageous. Given current CAD systems and how they are being used, two significant problems are apparent. First, the side-by-side physical/digital work environment has resulted in the need to frequently digitize and print in order to switch between physical and digital representations. This process is often time-consuming, costly, and frustrating. Second and more fundamental, the standard graphical user interface (GUI), although appropriate to some tasks, is restrictive as the only interface to CAD, because it lacks tactile and spatial qualities. Interacting with physical media such as paper, cardboard, and clay is a multisensory, spatial experience. Interacting in a GUI may be visual, but our other senses and spatial abilities remain underutilized. Recent interface design research includes embedding or augmenting physical artifacts with computation as one remedy to the limitations of the GUI. This dissertation investigates whether superimposing physical and digital media to create new interfaces for CAD has merit. Findings are presented from experiments performed with Illuminating Clay, a prototype interface that superimposes modeling clay and(cont.) topographic analysis. The objective was to discover whether these new kinds of interfaces could successfully combine the cognitive, motor, and emotional advantages of physical media with the capabilities of computation. Findings indicate that Illuminating Clay can indeed supplement a designer's eyeball analysis with more-accurate feedback while retaining the tactile and spatial advantages of working with a physical material. Salient issues pertaining to the design of tangible, and augmented-reality user interfaces were raised by these experiments: what the appropriate scale limitations should be, what the appropriate type of feedback is from computation, and whether real-time feedback is necessary.by Dorothy J. Shamonsky.Ph.D

Mobilizing the Past for a Digital Future : The Potential of Digital Archaeology

Mobilizing the Past is a collection of 20 articles that explore the use and impact of mobile digital technology in archaeological field practice. The detailed case studies present in this volume range from drones in the Andes to iPads at Pompeii, digital workflows in the American Southwest, and examples of how bespoke, DIY, and commercial software provide solutions and craft novel challenges for field archaeologists. The range of projects and contexts ensures that Mobilizing the Past for a Digital Future is far more than a state-of-the-field manual or technical handbook. Instead, the contributors embrace the growing spirit of critique present in digital archaeology. This critical edge, backed by real projects, systems, and experiences, gives the book lasting value as both a glimpse into present practices as well as the anxieties and enthusiasm associated with the most recent generation of mobile digital tools. This book emerged from a workshop funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities held in 2015 at Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston. The workshop brought together over 20 leading practitioners of digital archaeology in the U.S. for a weekend of conversation. The papers in this volume reflect the discussions at this workshop with significant additional content. Starting with an expansive introduction and concluding with a series of reflective papers, this volume illustrates how tablets, connectivity, sophisticated software, and powerful computers have transformed field practices and offer potential for a radically transformed discipline.https://dc.uwm.edu/arthist_mobilizingthepast/1000/thumbnail.jp