Magnetic Table Interface and Magnetic Foods

This poster paper discuss the concept of magnetic table interface and magnetic foods. This interface introduces new human-food interactions such as modifying weight, levitation, movement, and dynamic textures for our daily used food and utensils using a strong magnetic field formed by an array of Bitter electromagnets. To make foods and cutleries interactive, we add edible magnetic material on the food such as iron and iron oxides, and make cutleries with magnetic materials. We expect that this system will alter our food consumption behaviours and make the whole experience much more interactive and enjoyable

Envisioning social drones in education

Education is one of the major application fields in social Human-Robot Interaction. Several forms of social robots have been explored to engage and assist students in the classroom environment, from full-bodied humanoid robots to tabletop robot companions, but flying robots have been left unexplored in this context. In this paper, we present seven online remote workshops conducted with 20 participants to investigate the application area of Education in the Human-Drone Interaction domain; particularly focusing on what roles a social drone could fulfill in a classroom, how it would interact with students, teachers and its environment, what it could look like, and what would specifically differ from other types of social robots used in education. In the workshops we used online collaboration tools, supported by a sketch artist, to help envision a social drone in a classroom. The results revealed several design implications for the roles and capabilities of a social drone, in addition to promising research directions for the development and design in the novel area of drones in education

Virulent Zones

Scientists have identified southern China as a likely epicenter for viral pandemics, a place where new viruses emerge out of intensively farmed landscapes and human--animal interactions. In Virulent Zones, Lyle Fearnley documents the global plans to stop the next influenza pandemic at its source, accompanying virologists and veterinarians as they track lethal viruses to China's largest freshwater lake, Poyang Lake. Revealing how scientific research and expert agency operate outside the laboratory, he shows that the search for origins is less a linear process of discovery than a constant displacement toward new questions about cause and context. As scientists strive to understand the environments from which the influenza virus emerges, the unexpected scale of duck farming systems and unusual practices such as breeding wild geese unsettle research objects, push scientific inquiry in new directions, and throw expert authority into question. Drawing on fieldwork with global health scientists, state-employed veterinarians, and poultry farmers in Beijing and at Poyang Lake, Fearnley situates the production of ecological facts about disease emergence inside the shifting cultural landscapes of agrarian change and the geopolitics of global health

HISTORY URBANISM RESILIENCE VOLUME 01:

The 17th conference (2016, Delft) of the International Planning History Society (IPHS) and its proceedings place presentations from different continents and on varied topics side by side, providing insight into state-of-the art research in the field of planning history and offering a glimpse of new approaches, themes, papers and books to come. VOLUME 01: Ideas on the Move and Modernisatio

Balancing User Experience for Mobile One-to-One Interpersonal Telepresence

The COVID-19 virus disrupted all aspects of our daily lives, and though the world is finally returning to normalcy, the pandemic has shown us how ill-prepared we are to support social interactions when expected to remain socially distant. Family members missed major life events of their loved ones; face-to-face interactions were replaced with video chat; and the technologies used to facilitate interim social interactions caused an increase in depression, stress, and burn-out. It is clear that we need better solutions to address these issues, and one avenue showing promise is that of Interpersonal Telepresence. Interpersonal Telepresence is an interaction paradigm in which two people can share mobile experiences and feel as if they are together, even though geographically distributed. In this dissertation, we posit that this paradigm has significant value in one-to-one, asymmetrical contexts, where one user can live-stream their experiences to another who remains at home. We discuss a review of the recent Interpersonal Telepresence literature, highlighting research trends and opportunities that require further examination. Specifically, we show how current telepresence prototypes do not meet the social needs of the streamer, who often feels socially awkward when using obtrusive devices. To combat this negative finding, we present a qualitative co-design study in which end users worked together to design their ideal telepresence systems, overcoming value tensions that naturally arise between Viewer and Streamer. Expectedly, virtual reality techniques are desired to provide immersive views of the remote location; however, our participants noted that the devices to facilitate this interaction need to be hidden from the public eye. This suggests that 360$^\circ$ cameras should be used, but the lenses need to be embedded in wearable systems, which might affect the viewing experience. We thus present two quantitative studies in which we examine the effects of camera placement and height on the viewing experience, in an effort to understand how we can better design telepresence systems. We found that camera height is not a significant factor, meaning wearable cameras do not need to be positioned at the natural eye-level of the viewer; the streamer is able to place them according to their own needs. Lastly, we present a qualitative study in which we deploy a custom interpersonal telepresence prototype on the co-design findings. Our participants preferred our prototype instead of simple video chat, even though it caused a somewhat increased sense of self-consciousness. Our participants indicated that they have their own preferences, even with simple design decisions such as style of hat, and we as a community need to consider ways to allow customization within our devices. Overall, our work contributes new knowledge to the telepresence field and helps system designers focus on the features that truly matter to users, in an effort to let people have richer experiences and virtually bridge the distance to their loved ones

Miniaturisation of pH Holographic Sensors for Nano-Bioreactors

Monitoring and controlling pH is of utmost importance in bioprocessing as it directly affects product yield and quality. Multiplexed experiments can be performed in nanobioreactors for optimisation of yield and cell heterogeneity in a relatively quick and inexpensive manner. In this thesis, a pH holographic sensor (holosensor) is miniaturised to 3.11 nL in volume and integrated into a PDMS-glass microfluidic chip for monitoring the growth of Lactobacillus casei Shirota. Although other established methods for monitoring cell cultures can be utilised, miniaturised holosensors enable real-time and non-consumptive monitoring of the bacterial cell culture growth medium. The 2-hydroxyethylmethacrylate (HEMA)-co-2-(trifluoromethyl) propenoic acid (TFMPA) holosensor was fabricated using an adapted technique from photolithography, coupled with the use of a polymerisation inhibitor to control the gel polymerisation with diameters not exceeding a standard deviation of 0.067. The hologram brightness was optimised to 1.05 ms integration time with 36X magnification using a low power (0.290 mW) 532 nm green continuous wave (CW) laser with a devised beam-offset technique. The holosensor was characterised with ionic strength balanced (9.50 mS/cm) McIIvaine pH buffers and a calibration curve plotted together with measured ionic strength, optical density at 600 nm (OD600) and pH. Correspondingly, RGB-xyY transformed values were plotted in the CIE 1931 chromaticity diagram. Later, a miniaturised 0.4$\phi$ HEMA-co-TFMPA holosensor and array was also demonstrated. Together with the 3.0$\phi$ holosensor, an accuracy parameter for the 0.4$\phi$ spot and array holosensors were calculated to be 99.08%, 99.38% and 97.77% respectively. Further work involved studying the issues associated with fabricating gels with unusually flat gel profiles. Other preliminary results suggested the alternative of utilising polymers as a holosensor substrate, together with a dye-free method for hologram fabrication, outlined the prospective possibility of a miniaturised holosensor integrated into a polymer microfluidic chip with the flexibility of hologram colour customisation for cell culture monitoring.Sponsored by Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR

Environmental, Health and Economic Conditions during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has evolved as a global pandemic and the disease has affected nearly every country and region. This pandemic has posed further threats to people due to the emergence of the number of novel SARS-CoV-2 strains with unknown original hosts. Since the start of the pandemic, COVID-19 has overwhelmed health systems worldwide, from crippling health resources to causing paradigms shifts in health care delivery. The various strategies taken to control viral transmission including testing process, quarantine and isolation have had dire psychological and financial implications on individuals and institutions. Furthermore, many countries have implemented lockdowns and other restrictions to curb the virus’s spread resulted in disrupted formal education, unplanned fiscal costs on emergency reliefs, and decreased productivity. This Special Issue provides an avenue for authors from various disciplines to better understand the risk factors associated with the spread and severity of COVID-19 infections. It also provides information about the influence of COVID-19 and its countermeasures on local economies, the environment, and mental health. This Special Issue contains 11 research articles and one review

Incinerated ashes: characteristics and potential for use in concrete-related applications

For this study on municipal incinerated bottom ash and sewage sludge ash, and their use in concrete related applications, an original analytical systemisation method was developed. This involved sourcing of the global data, which were systematically coordinated into a collective form, for the analysis, evaluation and modelling work to be undertaken. An overview of the ash production is provided initially, covering municipal solid waste and sewage sludge, incineration and ash processing. The physical and chemical properties of the ashes were then studied. On the use of MIBA/SSA as aggregate and cement components, the applications explored included cement clinker production, pastes, mortars, concrete, blocks. lightweight aggregate concrete and aerated concrete. Enviromnental impacts and case studies were also covered. Models were developed for strength estimation with the use of the ashes as aggregate and cement components. It was determined that MlBA and SSA can offer value as aggregate and cementitious components, though conditions on their use are required. The ashes are suited for use at low contents in concrete products. Lightweight aggregate produced from MIBA/SSA exhibited similar properties to Lytag. Aerated concrete offered a particularly favourable outlet for use. Leaching tests showed that the ash heavy metals were immobilised within the cement matrix