Strategic Error as Style: Finessing the Grammar Checker

Composition studies lacks a comprehensive theory of error, one which successfully defines error in writing and offers a pedagogical response to ostensible errors that neither ignores nor pathologizes them. Electronic text-critiquing technologies offer some promise of helping writers notice and correct errors, but they are under-researched in composition and rarely well-integrated into pedagogical praxis. This research on the grammar and style checker in Microsoft Word considers the program as an electronic checklist for making decisions about what counts as an error in a given rhetorical situation. This study also offers a theory of error grounded in the idea of attention, or cognitive load, some of which an electronic checker can relieve in its areas of its greatest effectiveness, which this research quantifies. The proposed theory of error forms the basis for a pedagogy of register, understood as typified style, and establishes that error itself can be a strategic style move

Meta-modeling design expertise

The general problem that this research addresses is that despite the efforts of cognitive studies to describe and document the behavior of designers in action and the evolution of computer-aided design from conceptual design to fabrication, efforts to provide computational support for high-level actions that designers execute during the creation of their work have made minimal progress. In this regard this study seeks answers to the following questions: What is the nature of design expertise? How do we capture the knowledge that expert designers embed in their patterns of organization for creating a coherent arrangement of parts? And how do we use this knowledge to develop computational methods and techniques that capture and reuse such expertise to augment the capability of designers to explore alternatives? The challenge is that such an expertise is largely based on experience, assumptions, and heuristics, and requires a process of elucidation and interpretation before any implementation into computational environments. This research adopts the meta-modeling process from the model-based systems engineering field (MBSE), understood as the creation of models of attributes and relationships among objects of a domain. Meta-modeling can contribute to elucidating, structuring, capturing, representing, and creatively manipulating knowledge embedded in design patterns. The meta-modeling process relies on abstractions that allow the integration of myriad physical and abstract entities independent from the complexity of the geometric models; mapping mechanisms that facilitate the interfacing of a repository of parts, functions, and even other systems; and computer-interpretable and human-readable meta-models that enable the generation and the assessment of both configuration specifications and geometric representations. For validation purposes three case studies from the domain of customs façade systems have been deeply studied using techniques of verbal analysis, complemented with digital documentation, for distilling the design knowledge that have been captured into the meta-models for reutilization in the generation of design alternatives. The results of this research include a framework for capturing and reusing design expertise, parametric modeling guidelines for reutilization, methods for multiplicity of external geometric representations, and the augmentation of the design space of exploration. The framework is the result of generalizing verbal analyses of the three case studies that allow the identification of the mechanics behind the application of a pattern of organization over physical components. The guidelines for reutilization are the outcome of the iterative process of automatically generating well-formed parametric models out of existing parts. The capability of producing multiple geometric representations is the product of identifying ae generic operation for interpreting abstract configuration specifications. The amplification of the design space is derived from the flexibility of the process to specify and represent alternatives. In summary, the adoption of the meta-modeling process fosters the integration of abstract constructs developed in the design cognition field that facilitate the manipulation of knowledge embedded in the underlying patterns of design organization. Meta-modeling is a mental and computational process based on abstraction and generalization that enable reutilization.Ph.D

Involving users in the design process: the role of product representations in co-designing

Allowing users to be part of shaping change in new product development can contribute to more successful products. Advances in recent years in digital product representations (such as CAD and rapid prototyping) can potentially offer economic and time-saving benefits to this process. The research in this thesis has generated guidelines to support co-designing activity by exploring the issues of user involvement in the design process, paying particular attention to the use of digital (computer-based) and non-digital product representations to facilitate understanding and communication. The guidelines emerged through empirical research. The first stage of the research explored users' perceptions of physical and emotional product properties through digital and rapid prototyped representations: initial guidelines for Including product representations in co-designing were generated. An Interview study was then conducted to examine the wider issues of user involvement in designing and the use of digital and non-digital product representations from the standpoint of ten practicing - designers. Challenges and barriers to user Involvement were perceived but designers were open-minded to the Idea of digital co-designing. In parallel an audit was undertaken to evaluate product representation technologies for their ability to facilitate co-designing: traditional non-digital methods of sketching and hand-made models were used to develop criteria for this benchmarking. Limitations were found with existing technology and it was apparent that traditional methods (e. g. hand-drawn sketches and models) were better able to facilitate co-designing at this time than digital methods. These findings led to recommendations for future co-designing tools. Co-designing processes were then explored through six practical studies conducted with individuals and small groups of users. Users experimented with designing and making improved handles for a small gardening tool through sketching and day modelling. Design concepts were then taken further into digital media, through 3D scanning, digital CAD images and rapid prototyping and presented back to users for evaluation. Co-designing was also explored through a commercial context with an international packaging manufacturer. Ten users communicated design ideas for improved packaging by triangulation of notes, sketches, discussion and modelling activity. This produced user-led design criteria and commercially valuable concept designs. Important insights were gained into how codesigning may be facilitated within a commercial context and the experiences of the stakeholders. Several pertinent ethical issues such as ownership of ideas, incentives and rewards for user involvement were raised. The thesis concludes with guidelines and recommendations for co-designing, particularly regarding the role of product representations

Artificial Intelligence-based Smarter Accessibility Evaluations for Comprehensive and Personalized Assessment

The research focuses on utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) algorithms to enhance accessibility for people with disabilities (PwD) in three areas: public buildings, homes, and medical devices. The overarching goal is to improve the accuracy, reliability, and effectiveness of accessibility evaluation systems by leveraging smarter technologies. For public buildings, the challenge lies in developing an accurate and reliable accessibility evaluation system. AI can play a crucial role by analyzing data, identifying potential barriers, and assessing the accessibility of various features within buildings. By training ML algorithms on relevant data, the system can learn to make accurate predictions about the accessibility of different spaces and help policymakers and architects design more inclusive environments. For private places such as homes, it is essential to have a person-focused accessibility evaluation system. By utilizing machine learning-based intelligent systems, it becomes possible to assess the accessibility of individual homes based on specific needs and requirements. This personalized approach can help identify barriers and recommend modifications or assistive technologies that can enhance accessibility and independence for PwD within their own living spaces. The research also addresses the intelligent evaluation of healthcare devices in the home. Many PwD rely on medical devices for their daily living, and ensuring the accessibility and usability of these devices is crucial. AI can be employed to evaluate the accessibility features of medical devices, provide recommendations for improvement, and even measure their effectiveness in supporting the needs of PwD. Overall, this research aims to enhance the accuracy and reliability of accessibility evaluation systems by leveraging AI and ML technologies. By doing so, it seeks to improve the quality of life for individuals with disabilities by enabling increased independence, fostering social inclusion, and promoting better accessibility in public buildings, private homes, and medical devices

Making Heat Visible: Improving household heat efficiency through thermal images.

The full text file is under embargo under 09.09.15.Energy is largely invisible to users. It has been argued that employing technologies to visualise energy will assist people in conserving energy. Energy visibility interventions have largely focussed on appliance use and electricity consumption. This thesis aims to firstly explore whether making heat visible, using thermal images, promotes heat (and thereby energy) conservation. Secondly using a multiple method approach, it explores how. Five studies were employed. Study One and Three investigated whether using thermal images as a tailored antecedent intervention would promote energy conservation behaviours. The results confirmed that the images led to a reduction in Kg CO2 emissions attributed to domestic energy use. Study One and Three indicated that householders undertook more energy saving behaviours in relation to those aspects that were visible in the images. These actions were attributed to simple, energy saving behaviours such as proofing draughts. Study Two investigated how people make sense of the images and how behaviours are promoted by the images. Study two suggested that the images provide a unique medium through which factors which contribute to energy saving can be combined and reasoned by the viewer. It suggests the psychological factors in a pathway from prompt to behaviour. Study Four established that showing the images in an information presentation was not as effective when influencing participants’ ideas about energy conservation. Finally, Study Five explored participants gaze and demonstrated how features of the images, can attract the viewer. The novel contribution of this thesis is in establishing that ‘making heat visible’ through a tailored thermal imaging prompt can increase the likelihood of a householder taking simple energy saving actions, by providing a novel medium through which householders attend to heat and energy use

Design and semantics of form and movement (DeSForM 2006)

Design and Semantics of Form and Movement (DeSForM) grew from applied research exploring emerging design methods and practices to support new generation product and interface design. The products and interfaces are concerned with: the context of ubiquitous computing and ambient technologies and the need for greater empathy in the pre-programmed behaviour of the ‘machines’ that populate our lives. Such explorative research in the CfDR has been led by Young, supported by Kyffin, Visiting Professor from Philips Design and sponsored by Philips Design over a period of four years (research funding £87k). DeSForM1 was the first of a series of three conferences that enable the presentation and debate of international work within this field: • 1st European conference on Design and Semantics of Form and Movement (DeSForM1), Baltic, Gateshead, 2005, Feijs L., Kyffin S. & Young R.A. eds. • 2nd European conference on Design and Semantics of Form and Movement (DeSForM2), Evoluon, Eindhoven, 2006, Feijs L., Kyffin S. & Young R.A. eds. • 3rd European conference on Design and Semantics of Form and Movement (DeSForM3), New Design School Building, Newcastle, 2007, Feijs L., Kyffin S. & Young R.A. eds. Philips sponsorship of practice-based enquiry led to research by three teams of research students over three years and on-going sponsorship of research through the Northumbria University Design and Innovation Laboratory (nuDIL). Young has been invited on the steering panel of the UK Thinking Digital Conference concerning the latest developments in digital and media technologies. Informed by this research is the work of PhD student Yukie Nakano who examines new technologies in relation to eco-design textiles

Evaluating memetics : A case of competing perspectives at an SME.

Memetics, which posits a cultural replicator similar to the gene in biology, has been proposed as a theory with which to study cultural phenomena such as organisations. However, much of the theory of memetics has been developed without empirical testing. Consequently, its application to organisations and its operationalisation in empirical studies tends to make assumptions about the nature of putative memes. The purpose of this project is to design a study to test the fundamental tenets of meme theory in an organisational setting. To do so the study poses research questions relating to the possibility of identifying units of culture and investigates whether such units can be seen to replicate. The questions posed require the development of an 'extra-memetic' method which avoids the pitfalls of previous studies by rejecting the operationalisation of memes as part of its design. By considering complexity theory a narrative approach, grounded in a realist philosophy, is selected as the basis of an extra-memetic method. To accommodate the various technical terms used in the literature a glossary is included. Subsequently, an analysis based on first, structural narrative units and second, narrative evaluation is developed in the context of a case study organisation. The narrative approach enables the generic use of the underlying rationale of the genetic theory which underpins the proposal of the meme but without resorting to genetic analogy. In particular, the concept of the optimon is adopted. By comparing competing perspectives at the case study organisation, the study finds that it is possible to identify 'optimon' units of culture similar to the optimon genes which are described in Mendelian heredity. However, the notion of replication in culture, similar to that of DNA, is not supported. The original contribution to knowledge is constituted by a critical evaluation of the extant memetic theory, an approach to identifying units of culture which might aid the application of genetic metaphor or discourse theory and a new methodological approach to investigating the meme. In particular, one unit of culture, the 'proof, is identified and through the use of a punnett square model its credibility as a replicator is critically evaluated. The limitations of a single case study are recognised and summarised. However, in addition to the contribution to meme theory, the project points towards possible avenues for further research which are related to critical realism, discourse analysis and action research in organisations

Semantos : a semantically smart information query language

Enterprise Information Integration (EII) is rapidly becoming one of the pillars of modern corporate information systems. Given the spread and diversity of information sources in an enterprise, it has become increasingly difficult for decision makers to have access to relevant and accurate information at the opportune time. It has therefore become critical to seamlessly integrate the diverse information stores found in an organization into a single coherent data source. This is the job of EII and one of the key components to making it work is harnessing the implied meaning or semantics hidden within data sources. Modern EII systems are capable of harnessing semantic information and ontologies to make integration across data stores possible. These systems do not, however, allow a consumer of the integration service to build queries with semantic meaning. This is due to the fact that most EII systems make use of XQuery, SQL, or both, as query languages, neither of which has the capability to build semantically rich queries. In this thesis Semantos (from the Greek word sema for “sign or token”) is proposed as a viable alternative: an information query language based in XML, which is capable of exploiting ontologies, enabling consumers to build semantically enriched queries. An exploration is made into the characteristics or requirements that Semantos needs to satisfy as a semantically smart information query language. From these requirements we design and develop a software implementation. The benefit of Semantos is that it possesses a query structure that allows automated processes to decompose and restructure the queries without human intervention. We demonstrate the applicability of Semantos using two realistic examples: a query enhancement- and a query translation service. Both expound the ability of a Semantos query to be manipulated by automated services to achieve Information Integration goals.Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2009.Computer Scienceunrestricte