1,168 research outputs found

    Tourism e-services and Jewish heritage: a case study of Prague

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    Abstract: Our paper describes the new potential for tourism e-services (smartphone apps and enhanced Internet platforms) for promoting the intangible cultural heritage in European destinations using the example of Prague’s Jewish heritage. Although quite a few tourism e-services are present in the tourism market in Prague, their full potential has not been exhausted. The paper shows that one of the ways how the intangible cultural heritage in European destinations can be promoted is through employing the apps for smartphones and tablets involving local myths and legends constituting the backbone of local cultural and religious traditions. Our research is based on the empirical results of the three stages of our own questionnaire survey conducted in Prague in May–August 2013 for assessing the revealed preferences of Prague’s residents and tourists for such apps and novel IT solutions. Our results demonstrate that a potential app should feature a narrative, a possibility to upload additional information, as well as interactive online maps. The app should be offered at both App Store and Android Market Play free of charge with embedded in-app purchases that might reach up to 3 EUR in additional payments. The paper tackles a top-notch field of electronic tourism (or e-tourism) that embeds the mobile technologies and the intangible cultural heritage approach. The results and outcomes might be useful not only for IT developers specialising in digital tourism but also for local stakeholders and residents

    Mobile Campus Tour Guide for UTP

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    In line with the advancement of current technology, popularity of mobile tour guide application for universities is growing rapidly among the universities outside of Malaysia. Local universities are currently trying to adapt to this new phenomena. Current method used in exploring places in campus is time consuming and not effective. Common workaround is to look for the signboards or ask around but there are cases where the direction given was wrong and confusing. The objective of this project is to develop an android mobile tour guide application, ‘UTP Campus Tour Guide’, for Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS that provide users with interactive map to help them in exploring UTP. A review of existing mobile tour guide applications reveals diverse design methods were used for developing these applications. The results of careful analysis of these applications informed the design of the proposed application. The application is developed using MIT App Inventor 2 as the platform. A customized map of UTP and specific routes from one location to another location was developed using Google Maps Engine and then tested continuously to ensure its functionality working flawlessly. Users are able to find their preferred destination easily and can have a self-guided tour on their own with the help of this mobile tour guide application. Potential target users for this system will be mainly new students, new staffs and visitors of UTP who are not familiar with places in UTP. This mobile application will act as a map navigator for them to find places in UTP easily

    Mobile Campus Tour Guide for UTP

    Get PDF
    In line with the advancement of current technology, popularity of mobile tour guide application for universities is growing rapidly among the universities outside of Malaysia. Local universities are currently trying to adapt to this new phenomena. Current method used in exploring places in campus is time consuming and not effective. Common workaround is to look for the signboards or ask around but there are cases where the direction given was wrong and confusing. The objective of this project is to develop an android mobile tour guide application, ‘UTP Campus Tour Guide’, for Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS that provide users with interactive map to help them in exploring UTP. A review of existing mobile tour guide applications reveals diverse design methods were used for developing these applications. The results of careful analysis of these applications informed the design of the proposed application. The application is developed using MIT App Inventor 2 as the platform. A customized map of UTP and specific routes from one location to another location was developed using Google Maps Engine and then tested continuously to ensure its functionality working flawlessly. Users are able to find their preferred destination easily and can have a self-guided tour on their own with the help of this mobile tour guide application. Potential target users for this system will be mainly new students, new staffs and visitors of UTP who are not familiar with places in UTP. This mobile application will act as a map navigator for them to find places in UTP easily

    As novas tecnologias e o turismo criativo : estudo de caso da cidade do Porto

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    This research work attempts to extend the existing literature on development strategies for creative tourism supply and on the use of new technology in tourism, specifically creative tourism, which cannot be found in most of the existing literature. Hence, this work proposes a strategy to develop creative tourism in the city of Porto, paying special attention to the role played by new technology. This study comprises an analysis of the current state of creative tourism in Porto and the use of technology in the current tourism strategy. A case study method for the city of Porto is undertaken and qualitative approach is conducted interpretatively. A seven-steps model is proposed for developing creative tourism in the city of Porto, in which new technology plays an important role. Networking is also considered as a continued input of this model. In this work, the supply ecosystem was analysed and potential service providers were taken into account. Future research could focus on tourist motivations to participate in creative activities. This study encourages key creative and/or cultural agents to take the opportunity to acknowledge their potential to develop a creative tourism offer and to be aware that this kind of tourism could be an opportunity to improve the sustainability of their businesses. It also draws attention of city leaders to this topic as a new way of enhancing the tourism experience and improving economic growth. It may also encourage these agents to develop new offers within the range of their activities, maximizing the potential of technology that they may already use. Furthermore, it provides knowledge about new ways in which to develop creative tourism innovation and to take advantage of the benefits that new technology may bring. The originality of this work is based on developing a new model for creative tourism in Porto, paying special attention to the implementation and integration of new technology. The model intends to be a guide to promoting a creative tourism policy for Porto, but it could also be used as a basis for other cities to foster this kind of tourism

    Virtual Reality

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    At present, the virtual reality has impact on information organization and management and even changes design principle of information systems, which will make it adapt to application requirements. The book aims to provide a broader perspective of virtual reality on development and application. First part of the book is named as "virtual reality visualization and vision" and includes new developments in virtual reality visualization of 3D scenarios, virtual reality and vision, high fidelity immersive virtual reality included tracking, rendering and display subsystems. The second part named as "virtual reality in robot technology" brings forth applications of virtual reality in remote rehabilitation robot-based rehabilitation evaluation method and multi-legged robot adaptive walking in unstructured terrains. The third part, named as "industrial and construction applications" is about the product design, space industry, building information modeling, construction and maintenance by virtual reality, and so on. And the last part, which is named as "culture and life of human" describes applications of culture life and multimedia-technology

    BENTHIC HABITAT MAPPING OF MOUNTAIN TOP BANK WITHIN THE NORTHERN GULF OF MEXICO THROUGH INTEGRATED GEOPHYSICAL AND VISUAL DATA ANALYSIS

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    Mesophotic coral ecosystems (MCEs) are among the seafloor ecosystems that have been poorly studied throughout the world’s oceans, but they are a vital and diverse ecosystem that should be prioritized for future mapping and ecological studies. Priority should be given to them because they possess natural, social, and economic values, and face a variety of threats, all of which, if not better understood will result in the loss of this unique ecosystem. Insights into these ecosystems, among other deep-sea environments, are lacking due to difficulty accessing them, inherent lag between data collection by an autonomous system and observation by a scientific team, and the vastness of the seafloor. The Gulf of Mexico, a geologically complex environment, has demonstrated the characteristics needed to support MCEs, with reefs such as the Pinnacle Reefs, Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS), the Florida Middle Ground reef system, and Pulley Ridge already identified. Mountain Top Bank (MTB), a hardground feature 60-150 m below the sea surface, is a mesophotic reef site off the coast of Mississippi, USA. As it is poorly understood, it is the focus of this study. Bathymetry, backscatter, and photographic ground truthing data were collected by autonomous surface and underwater vehicles (ASV, AUV) and compiled into ArcGIS software to produce a benthic habitat map (BHM) and geodatabase of this site. These data were used to correlate fish and macroinvertebrate presence and abundance with habitat features within a transect atop MTB. This analysis illustrated that the site is characterized by a network of outcrops and boulders interspersed within a predominately sandy environment, with a diverse array of biota including Cnidaria, Porifera, Mollusca, Chordata, Echinodermata, and Rhodophyta. Compiling these data into a BHM and geographic information system (GIS) geodatabase is a powerful way to assess ecosystems and support conservation efforts

    Neural Signals of Video Advertisement Liking:Insights into Psychological Processes and their Temporal Dynamics

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    What drives the liking of video advertisements? The authors analyzed neural signals during ad exposure from three functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data sets (113 participants from two countries watching 85 video ads) with automated meta-analytic decoding (Neurosynth). These brain-based measures of psychological processes—including perception and language (information processing), executive function and memory (cognitive functions), and social cognition and emotion (social-affective response)—predicted subsequent self-report ad liking, with emotion and memory being the earliest predictorsafter the first three seconds. Over the span of ad exposure, while the predictiveness of emotion peaked early and fell, that of social cognition had a peak-and-stable pattern, followed by a late peak of predictiveness in perception and executive function.At the aggregate level, neural signals—especially those associated with social-affective response—improved the prediction of out-of-sample ad liking compared with traditional anatomically based neuroimaging analysis and self-report liking. Finally, earlyonset social-affective response predicted population ad liking in a behavioral replication. Overall, this study helps delineate the psychological mechanisms underlying ad processing and ad liking and proposes a novel neuroscience-based approach for generating psychological insights and improving out-of-sample predictions

    The development of a quality function deployment (QFD) model for the implementation of a mobile augmented reality (AR) tourism application in the context of urban heritage tourism

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    Technology has been widely implemented in tourism to enhance the tourism product and tourist experience. However, it remains a challenge for many tourism businesses in urban heritage areas to identify technological solutions and successfully implement them into their business strategy. Particularly for urban heritage sites, it is often challenging to provide information within and around a heritage site without disturbing or destroying the heritage image. Augmented Reality (AR) was identified as a suitable technology to overcome this challenge. However, while AR is not considered a new technology in many industries, and mobile tourism applications with AR functions exist, it has provided limited benefits to tourists due to the lack of using AR functions meaningfully. In addition, the development of wearable devices is increasingly focused on the use of augmented and virtual reality to enhance the user experience. Therefore, there is a need to explore methods of meaningful implementation of such technologies for the tourism industry. This study will investigate current standards of AR technology and tourist requirements in order to examine how to develop meaningful mobile AR tourism applications. For the development of a beneficial product, Quality Function Deployment (QFD), as a tool within Total Quality Management (TQM) was identified as the suitable theoretical background for the purpose of this study. QFD was developed in the theory of quality management, in particular TQM. QFD has since been employed across many industries including the hospitality and tourism sector in a number of studies. However, it has not yet been implemented in the urban heritage tourism context, presenting a knowledge gap. As QFD is designed to incorporate the customers’ view into the product design stage, the aim is to design a meaningful product that is valuable for the visitor and benefit the destination. Therefore, this research aims to eliminate the gap by generating a QFD model for the development of mobile AR tourism applications in the context of urban heritage tourism. Dublin was selected as the research site due to its rich urban heritage. After Dublin’s re-branding strategy in 2013, it has marketed itself with the brand image of ‘Digital Dublin’ in order to encourage the implementation of technology for the purpose of promoting urban heritage tourism. Therefore, Dublin was considered as the suitable research site for the purpose of this study. To achieve the research aim, a mixed method approach was employed for the primary research including semi-structured interviews, focus groups and questionnaires. The study was divided into three research phases. Research phase 1 investigates requirements of tourists, mobile AR application developers and industry experts from Dublin’s tourism industry for the development and use of mobile AR tourism applications in urban heritage tourism. 26 in-depth interviews were conducted with international tourists visiting Dublin in addition to 9 interviews with mobile AR application developers and industry experts from Dublin. Findings were analysed using thematic analysis, providing the knowledge base for Research Phase 2 – focus groups. The second research phase was conducted with tourists as a post-experience study. It aimed to confirm identified tourist requirements from the literature and Research Phase 1, and examine additional findings to design the questionnaire for the quantitative Research Phase 3. Research Phase 3 was conducted with domestic and international tourists in Dublin and provided an importance rating of identified tourist requirements for the development of the final QFD model for mobile AR tourism applications in the urban heritage tourism context. The outcomes from the quantitative research were analysed using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to reduce tourist requirements for the final QFD model. By identifying tourist requirements and translating them into respective technical characteristics, this study provides a set of technological elements in hierarchical order for the design of meaningful mobile AR tourism applications in urban heritage tourism. The final 18 requirements are in close alignment with the outcomes of the qualitative research of this study highlighting the need of immediate access to information regardless of time and place, while being able to filter the available information to the tourists’ interest and needs. The final QFD model for the development of mobile AR tourism applications in urban heritage tourism was presented as the outcome of this research. The main contribution to theory is the extension in the identification process of customer requirements for the QFD model. While previous studies in QFD have mainly focused on product functions, such as software and hardware capabilities, the QFD model in this study aims to provide a balance between functional requirements and behavioural characteristics of tourists that are driven by psychological aspects. This study not only explored tourist requirements as in previous studies, but furthermore user resistance factors that would result in avoiding mobile AR tourism applications in urban heritage tourism. Including these criteria as customer attributes in the HOQ, the QFD model was extended to include behavioural and psychological attributes of customers, which is valuable for further implementation of QFD particularly in social studies. This research will furthermore contribute to professionals, Destination Marketing Organisations (DMO) as well as mobile AR application developers alike, by providing a model for the development of mobile AR applications in the context of urban heritage tourism that has incorporated tourist requirements as well as mobile AR application developer considerations. Furthermore, it needs to be acknowledged that the requirements are not limited to mobile AR applications, but are considered particularly valuable for further research in the area of mobile application development for tourism purposes and are expected to be partially transferable to other technology implementations for tourism products
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