Modern Information Systems

The development of modern information systems is a demanding task. New technologies and tools are designed, implemented and presented in the market on a daily bases. User needs change dramatically fast and the IT industry copes to reach the level of efficiency and adaptability for its systems in order to be competitive and up-to-date. Thus, the realization of modern information systems with great characteristics and functionalities implemented for specific areas of interest is a fact of our modern and demanding digital society and this is the main scope of this book. Therefore, this book aims to present a number of innovative and recently developed information systems. It is titled "Modern Information Systems" and includes 8 chapters. This book may assist researchers on studying the innovative functions of modern systems in various areas like health, telematics, knowledge management, etc. It can also assist young students in capturing the new research tendencies of the information systems' development

Digital sculpture : technical and aesthetic considerations applicable to current input and output modes of additive fabricated sculpture

Published ArticleThis article examines the synergy between aesthetic and technical issues surrounding current input and output modes applicable to digital sculpture built by means of additive fabrication technologies. The scope is limited to select sculptural aspects that either transcend, question or fall short when measured against traditional manufacturing and aesthetic modes. Presented are a range of technical as well as aesthetic aspects that have impacted on this ''new form'' of sculpture delivery. It is indicated that irrespective of current strengths and weaknesses, for the evolving sculptor, an interactive creative partnership between technologies equally positions this ''new form'' of sculpture delivery as a leading role player towards defining a new digital aesthetic

Communication Balance in the Telematic Society and Users’ Technical Imagination

Diese Studie ist eine explorative Forschungsarbeit die darauf abzielt, Stimmen und Ansichten von NutzerInnen sozialer Medien, im Zusammenspiel mit dem theoretischen Gerüst von Flussers Kommunikationstheorie, zu beleuchten. Konkreter gesprochen wird diese Studie empirisch untersuchen, wie Menschen soziale Medien als dialogische Kommunikationsmedien im Vergleich zu Massenmedien als diskursives Kommunikationsmedium wahrnehmen und nutzen. Auf Ergebnissen empirischer Untersuchung beruhend, wird diese Studie die Folge davon für das Kommunikationsgleichgewicht erschließen. Diese Studie führte ein Fokusgruppeninterview mit koreanischen NutzerInnen sozialer Medien durch. Insgesamt wurden für das Interview 24 koreanische NutzerInnen von sozialen Medien durch das Stichprobenverfahren befragt. Die Befragten waren KoreanerInnen in den 20igern bis 30igern, die in der Provinz Seoul und Gyeonggi, Südkorea, leben. Die Analyse des Inhaltes wurde gemäß der Methode der qualitativen Inhaltsanalyse (Mayring, 2000) durchgeführt. Diese Studie erweist, dass die Entwicklung von sozialen Medien uns die Möglichkeit für das Wachsen von dialogischer Kommunikation gibt, um ein Gegengewicht zur Dominanz des diskursiven Medienkomplexes zu sein. Nicht desto trotz ist um dieses Ideal zu erzielen noch viel zu beheben. Es scheint dringend und wichtig für die Entwicklung von sozialen Medien zu sein, die Techno-Imagination des Nutzers herauszubilden, wenn man die Ergebnisse dieser Studie betrachtet. Die Forschung über die Nutzerwahrnehmung und -Aktivität von sozialen Medien hat verdeutlicht, das dass Potential von sozialen Medien durch die Techno-Imagination des Nutzers voll ausgeschöpft werden kann. Die Wege öffnen sich für uns entweder zu einer telematischen Gesellschaft, wo die diskursive und dialogische Kommunikation ausgeglichen ist oder zum Totalitarismus, der von einem diskursiven Medienkomplex, wie Flusser darlegt, dominiert wird. In welche Richtung wir gehen hängt von den Bemühungen ab den aktiven Nutzer mit Techno-Imagination zu entwickeln.:1. Introduction to the Study 1.1 The Problem Statement and Purpose of Study 1.2 Research Questions 1.3 Structure of the Thesis 2. Flusser’s Theory of the Telematic Society 2.1 Major Themes of Flusser’s Communication Theory 2.1.1 Proposition of Communication 2.1.2 Historical Typology of Communication 2.1.3 Balance of Communication 2.2 Imbalance in Communication in the Age of Technical Images 2.2.1 A Mechanism and a Function of Technical Images 2.2.2 The Media System in the Age of Technical Images 2.2.3 Domination of Technical Images and Mass Deception 2.3 Prospects for Communication Balance in the Telematic Society 2.3.1 A Communication Structure of the Telematic Society 2.3.2 Users of the Telematic Society 2.3.3 Socio-Cultural Characteristics of the Telematic Society 3. Development of the Telematic Society 3.1 Current State of the Telematic Technology 3.1.1 The Emergence of Social Media 3.1.2 A Growth in Social Media Users 3.2 The Development of Dialogical Media Culture 3.2.1 Diversification of Information Media Use 3.2.2 A Growth of Dialogical Information Activity 3.2.3 The Development of Networked Political Activism 3.3 Current Obstacles to the Telematic Society 3.3.1 Users’ Passivity in Social Media 3.3.2 New Power Concentration of the Web 3.3.3 The Rise of National Webs and Danger of State’s Control on the Web 4. Users’ Perception and Practice in the Telematic Society 4.1 Research Method and Analysis 4.2 Analysis of Focus Group Interviews 4.2.1 Use of Social Media 4.2.2 Users’ Perception and Evaluation of Social Media 5. Implication of Users’ Technical Imagination and Communication Balance 5.1 A Typology of Social Media Users and Technical Imagination 5.1.1 Critical Active Users 5.1.2 Pragmatic Users 5.1.3 Critical Information Seekers 5.1.4 Skeptical Users 5.1.5 Conservative Users 5.2 Implication for Communication Balance 5.2.1 Possibility of the Growth of Telematic Users 5.2.2 Promotion of Users’ Competences for Communication Balance 6. Conclusion and Recommendations for Further Study 6.1 Conclusion 6.2 Recommendations Bibliography Appendix Abstrac

Inventory of ATT system requirements for elderly and disabled drivers and travellers

This Inventory of ATT System Requirements for Elderly and Disabled Drivers and Travellers is the product of the TELSCAN project’s Workpackage 3: Identification and Updating of User Requirements of Elderly and Disabled Travellers. It describes the methods and tools used to identify the needs of elderly and disabled (E&D) travellers. The result of this investigation is a summary of the requirements of elderly and disabled travellers using different modes of transport, including private cars, buses/trams, metros/trains, ships and airplanes. It provides a generic user requirements specification which can guide the design of all transport telematics systems. However, it is important to stress that projects should also capture a more detailed definition of user requirements for their specific application area or system

Online Specificity: Live Event Artworks and the Inner Continuity of the Network.

This practice-based research analyses the encounter of Net/Web artworks, their materiality and their space-time condition. I analyse a selection of online-specific artworks to examine their materiality and experiential features in an investigation into how they can offer a varied encounter atypical to offline artworks. The research suggests that these encounters have the potential to disturb a familiar linear or chronological sense of space-time. In line with this enquiry, the research explores qualities found in online-specific artworks that are analogous with the encounter of durée (i.e. duration). This concept was first theorised by Henri Bergson in 1886 as an experience of time with a heterogeneous nature that takes place in the inner self of human experience. I examine this theory to consider whether online-specific artworks are more capable of precipitating experiences associated with durée and its understanding of memory. In order to do so, I examine the materiality of these artworks (e.g. HTML/CSS) and their temporal existence in the network duration when online users establish a net connection to retrieve them (e.g. URL, HTTP). This research analyses the state of the network as a heterogeneous reality, as described by network theorist Tiziana Terranova (2004), in order to explore how such qualities impact the encounter of online-specific artworks as inherent assets of the network duration. The thesis proposes that the transitory reality of these time-based artworks are only operative in the live stream of the information flux that resides in the virtual state of the network. As a result, such encounters are analysed through a new notion of event described in the research as live events. From this perspective, the research explores similar experiential aspects that are shared between online-specific artworks and offline time-based artworks (e.g. Standing Wave (1920) by Naum Gabo) due to a live encounter during their temporal activation. Subsequently, this research analyses the materiality of telecommunication technology, especially within the protocol system (e.g. TCP/IP) operative in the architecture of the Net/Web to illustrate the transitory reality of online-specific artworks. Furthermore, through a genealogy of historical references the research selects a number of offline and online artworks to analyse their experiential aspect in relation to their time experience, materiality and method of realisation. The nature of web-based artworks and their encounter is recognised in the research through the iterative possibility of their ‘assets’ in the network and their potential capability to introduce new memory experiences specific to an online encounter

A systematic approach for the analysis, design and implementation of Telecommunications-Supported Training (TST) systems

The objetive of the present thesis is to develop and test out a systematic approach to the analysis, design and implementation of Telecommunications-Supported Training (TST) systems. The Literature Review offers a set of approaches to similar problems in the field of Information Systems. Several other disciplines have also been considered: Psychology of Human Factors, Organizational and Innovation Theory, and applied research being currently carried out under the EU DELTA Programme. A global User-Centred Model of TST has been developed, based on the wellestablished principles of Systems Engineering and Soft Systems Methodology. The theoretical basis for this model is the concept of TST Architecture, conceived as a functional arrangement of technical components which are introduced in order to improve the performance of the actors involved in the system. The other key aspect is the design of a set of Adoption Strategies, aiming for the creation of the necessary conditions to achieve user acceptance of the technologies implemented. Following these principles, the ADAM (Architectural Design and Adoption Model) systematic approach is developed. It is structured in five stages: Context Analysis, System Analysis, System Design, System Implementation and System Maintenance. Each stage is structured into steps and activities, described in terms of key points, outcomes, deliverables, and roles involved. The ADAM approach has been tested out in its twofold dimension of analyzing already implemented TST systems and designing new ones. The first case discusses the application of ADAM to the EU Multimedia TeleSchool (MTS) TST system. The test is completed by discussing the design and implementation, performed by the author, of a TST system at the Universidad Politecnica de Madrid. The results confirm the usefulness of ADAM both for practitioners and researchers in the field. Also, the TST model is extended as regards the components of acceptance and adoption, and their impact on the introduction of technologies in organizations

Technological innovation and change in the university

It is by now common knowledge that one of the aspects upon which the survival of the University depends is how it will make the best possible use of the new technologies (e-learning). Despite the acceptance of this principle, difficulties arise when one attempts to proceed from the mere declaration to actually planning activities and putting them into effect. This research, the result of collaboration between teachers and researchers of the Educational Science and Engineering Faculties of the University of Florence, focuses on certain theoretical concepts and reference apparatus, bringing international literature to bear on the specific case of Italy. [english version]It is by now common knowledge that one of the aspects upon which the survival of the University depends is how it will make the best possible use of the new technologies (e-learning). Despite the acceptance of this principle, difficulties arise when one attempts to proceed from the mere declaration to actually planning activities and putting them into effect. This research, the result of collaboration between teachers and researchers of the Educational Science and Engineering Faculties of the University of Florence, focuses on certain theoretical concepts and reference apparatus, bringing international literature to bear on the specific case of Italy. [english version

THE HYBRONAUT AND THE UMWELT: WEARABLE TECHNOLOGY AS ARTISTIC STRATEGY

This dissertation explores the use of irony in networked wearable technology art as a strategy to emphasise the complexity of conjunction between techno-organic human and the techno-organic world. The research addresses the relationship between technologically enhanced human and networked hybrid environment, and speculates on the impact of technological enhancements to the subjective construction of Umwelt through ironic interventions. The project employs both artistic practice and critical theory. The practice-based part of the dissertation is comprised of three wearable technology artworks produced during the study. These concrete artefacts employ irony as a means to expose the techno-organic relationship between humans and their environment under scrutiny. The works highlight the significance of technological modifications of the human for the formation of subjective worldview in an everyday hybrid environment. The theoretical part navigates between the fields of art, design, technology, science and cultural studies concerning the impact of technology and networks on human experience and perception of the world. In the background of this research is biologist Jakob von Uexküll’s concept of the Umwelt, which is a subjective perception created by an organism through its active engagement with the everyday living environment. This dissertation focuses on the Umwelt that is formed in an interaction between hybrid environment and the technologically enhanced human, the Hybronaut. 4 Hybrid environment is a physical reality merged with technologically enabled virtual reality. The Hybronaut is an artistic strategy developed during the research based on four elements: wearable technology, network ability, irony and contextualised experience for the public. Irony is one of the prominent characteristics of the Hybronaut. Irony functions as a way to produce multiple paradoxical perspectives that enable a critical inquiry into our subjective construction of Umwelt. The research indicates that ironic networked wearable technology art presents an opportunity to re-examine our perception concerning the human and his environment