A Review on Human-Computer Interaction and Intelligent Robots

In the field of artificial intelligence, human–computer interaction (HCI) technology and its related intelligent robot technologies are essential and interesting contents of research. From the perspective of software algorithm and hardware system, these above-mentioned technologies study and try to build a natural HCI environment. The purpose of this research is to provide an overview of HCI and intelligent robots. This research highlights the existing technologies of listening, speaking, reading, writing, and other senses, which are widely used in human interaction. Based on these same technologies, this research introduces some intelligent robot systems and platforms. This paper also forecasts some vital challenges of researching HCI and intelligent robots. The authors hope that this work will help researchers in the field to acquire the necessary information and technologies to further conduct more advanced research

Students\u27 Perceptions of Multimedia Classrooms at East Tennessee State University.

The purpose of this study was to investigate students\u27 perceptions of multimedia classrooms at East Tennessee State University regarding technologies in multimedia classrooms, students\u27 learning achievements, instructors\u27 instructional methods, and students\u27 learning styles. Two surveys in multimedia classrooms and traditional classrooms were designed to measure and compare students\u27 perceptions of multimedia classrooms. The VARK (Fleming, 2002b) learning style survey was used to calculate the students\u27 learning styles. The research was conducted during spring semester, 2002. Participants in this study included 187 students in multimedia classrooms and 110 students in traditional classrooms at East Tennessee State University. The majority of students were from the School of Business and the College of Applied Science and Technology. The results of data analysis showed that there were no significant differences in students\u27 perceptions of multimedia classrooms regarding technologies, learning achievements, and learning styles. However, there were significant differences in students\u27 perceptions of multimedia classrooms regarding instructors\u27 instructional methods. Students in multimedia classrooms had better perceptions of instructors\u27 instructional methods than students in traditional classrooms. Furthermore, the majority of students in multimedia classrooms and traditional classrooms had positive attitudes towards multimedia classrooms. Several recommendations for future research, VARK learning styles, and administrators and policy makers at East Tennessee State University resulted from this study. A future study with a larger and more diverse population using both quantitative and qualitative methodology is recommended to further explore the effectiveness of multimedia classrooms in higher education. Reinforcement of training, technical support, and classroom maintenance are recommended to administrators and policy makers at East Tennessee State University in order to use multimedia classrooms more effectively

Storing, caring and sharing: Examining organisational practices around material stuff in the home

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.Homes are a much discussed, but little empirically examined resource for action. Material stuff at home offer resources for social, organisational and individual activities that we routinely encounter and use on an everyday basis. Yet their purposes, storing and sharing practices of use and roles in social and organisational actions are hardly touched upon within Human Computer Interaction (HCI) and Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) academic literature. As a consequence of this, there are critical gaps in understanding home organisation and management methods as a means of informing the design of novel technologies. This thesis is an examination of everyday routines in home, paying particular attention to tidying, storing, retrieving and sharing practices. To examine these practices at home, this thesis presents a combination of two qualitative studies using ethnographically oriented methods. Study one (Home’s Tidying up, Storing and Retrieving) concerns the topic of home storage in practice; investigating how householders create and use domestic storage practices and the methods used to manage their storage at home. Study two (Social Interaction around Shared Resources) concerns social interaction around shared resources, and the methods used to manage sharing practices at home. Semi-structured interviews, fieldwork observation, tour around a home, and a photo diary were undertaken to produce a ‘rich’ description of how householders collaborate in storing and sharing set of practices to manage their everyday routines. Several key finding emerged from the research, that are used to identify important implications for design of home organisational technologies, for example to support effective lightweight interactions, providing user controlled mechanism to make different levels of privacy protection for family members, offering effective awareness of family communications and notifications of the activities of other people around these organisation systems, and making available a range of flexible options for family members to access a shared resource. The thesis make the case that flexible systems should be designed allowing people to categorise things in different ways, and have the values of home asserted in technologies, considering factors such as emotion around the use of space in home organisation to make homes become the unique places that they are understood to be

Artful Systems: Investigating everyday practices of family life to inform the design of information technology for the home

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.The research in this thesis was motivated by an interest in understanding the work and effort that goes into organising family homes, with the aim of informing the design of novel information technology for the home. It was undertaken to address a notable absence of in-depth research into domestic information and communication technology in the fields of Human Computer Interaction (HCI) and Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW). To that end, this thesis presents an ethnographic study of everyday routines in thirteen family homes. Following an established tradition within HCI and CSCW, the study applies qualitative fieldwork methods as a means to investigate and interpret the empirical materials. Periods of extended observation and semi-structured interviews with the thirteen families over a three-year period form the basis of the empirical material. The materials are analysed using a hybrid perspective composed of a combination of influences from the study of material culture, to interaction analysis and ethnography. The hybrid analytical perspective draws out insights regarding the families’ mundane practices and the artfully devised solutions they use to organise daily life. Four household activities and artefacts are given specific focus: (i) household list making, (ii) the display qualities of refrigerator doors, (iii) the organisation of household clutter, and (iv) the devising of bespoke solutions in organising home life. Broader findings include the observations that people tailor solutions to meet their needs, that optimum efficiency is not the pre-eminent determinant in what method or artefact people choose to organise themselves and their homes, and that homes determine their individual characters in part by how everyday tasks and organisation are accomplished. In short, the personal qualities of these mundane practices are part of what makes a home a home. These findings are used to elicit implications for information technology design, with the aim of encouraging designers of domestic technology to be aware of and respectful towards the idiosyncratic nature of the home, and, wherever possible, to design in such a way as to allow the technology to be appropriated for families’ bespoke tailoring. To evaluate and address this point, two design projects, one on augmented magnets and another on a “media bowl”, are used to develop and test out this approach. Both projects are critically examined to reflect on the efficacy of the design approach and what lessons might be learnt for future studies and design exercises. The combination of detailed ethnographic fieldwork on family homes combined with the development of experimental design projects is intended to deepen the understanding of the mundane behaviours and everyday routines of family homes, in order to better inform the design of information technology for the home

Prototype software environment for digital ultrasound review

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 1994.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 100-103).by Denise Kung.M.S

An experimental study to develop an engaging multimedia design model for children

Multimedia has enormous potential but there is still much to learn about what works and what does not work for children. The aim of this research was to develop a model for multimedia design that gives user engagement for children . . " A preliminary scoping study showed that children did realise the potential of multimedia but did not like the design of the applications given to them. A search was made for a multimedia application that fitted the 'wish lists' of the children in the scoping study in order to identify a vehicle for. these investigations. The Sims, a popular game about Life Management, where players play a major role in the management of everyday family life (providing a place to stay, managing finance, basic needs, moods and desires), fitted this description and was selected for this purpose. Five experiments were conducted with children (9 to 14 years old) varying the use of The Sims to test what really engaged them. An Engagement Scale was created as a rating scale to measure engagement at five-minute intervals. Other data to establish the degree of engagement was gathered through video recordings and interviews. The experiments obtained high levels of engagement for some conditions, for example, simulation and construct conditions. From this the factors contributing to engagement were identified. As a result a 6-component theory of engagement was formulated as 'An Engaging Multimedia Design Model for Children'. The model proposes that children need to be able to interact with the multimedia at several levels to be engaged to it. The lowest level of interaction needs to give immediate feedback as a result of the child's actions to support physical or motor skills. The higher levels of inte,r action, however, need to support mental model skills and goal achievement. In some cases goals set by the designer are effective. In others the children need to set their own goals and levels of aspirations. If the design features in the multimedia conform to these principles the multimedia application will be engaging for children

Usabilidade na Web e usabilidade na televisão interactiva

Tese de mestrado. Tecnologia Multimédia. 2005. Faculdade de Engenharia. Universidade do Porto, Departamento de Ciências da Comunicação, Artes e Tecnologias da Informação. Universidade Lusófona de Humanidades e Tecnologia

Storing, caring and sharing : examining organisational practices around material stuff in the home

Homes are a much discussed, but little empirically examined resource for action. Material stuff at home offer resources for social, organisational and individual activities that we routinely encounter and use on an everyday basis. Yet their purposes, storing and sharing practices of use and roles in social and organisational actions are hardly touched upon within Human Computer Interaction (HCI) and Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) academic literature. As a consequence of this, there are critical gaps in understanding home organisation and management methods as a means of informing the design of novel technologies. This thesis is an examination of everyday routines in home, paying particular attention to tidying, storing, retrieving and sharing practices. To examine these practices at home, this thesis presents a combination of two qualitative studies using ethnographically oriented methods. Study one (Home’s Tidying up, Storing and Retrieving) concerns the topic of home storage in practice; investigating how householders create and use domestic storage practices and the methods used to manage their storage at home. Study two (Social Interaction around Shared Resources) concerns social interaction around shared resources, and the methods used to manage sharing practices at home. Semi-structured interviews, fieldwork observation, tour around a home, and a photo diary were undertaken to produce a ‘rich’ description of how householders collaborate in storing and sharing set of practices to manage their everyday routines. Several key finding emerged from the research, that are used to identify important implications for design of home organisational technologies, for example to support effective lightweight interactions, providing user controlled mechanism to make different levels of privacy protection for family members, offering effective awareness of family communications and notifications of the activities of other people around these organisation systems, and making available a range of flexible options for family members to access a shared resource. The thesis make the case that flexible systems should be designed allowing people to categorise things in different ways, and have the values of home asserted in technologies, considering factors such as emotion around the use of space in home organisation to make homes become the unique places that they are understood to be.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Artful systems : investigating everyday practices of family life to inform the design of information technology for the home

The research in this thesis was motivated by an interest in understanding the work and effort that goes into organising family homes, with the aim of informing the design of novel information technology for the home. It was undertaken to address a notable absence of in-depth research into domestic information and communication technology in the fields of Human Computer Interaction (HCI) and Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW). To that end, this thesis presents an ethnographic study of everyday routines in thirteen family homes. Following an established tradition within HCI and CSCW, the study applies qualitative fieldwork methods as a means to investigate and interpret the empirical materials. Periods of extended observation and semi-structured interviews with the thirteen families over a three-year period form the basis of the empirical material. The materials are analysed using a hybrid perspective composed of a combination of influences from the study of material culture, to interaction analysis and ethnography. The hybrid analytical perspective draws out insights regarding the families’ mundane practices and the artfully devised solutions they use to organise daily life. Four household activities and artefacts are given specific focus: (i) household list making, (ii) the display qualities of refrigerator doors, (iii) the organisation of household clutter, and (iv) the devising of bespoke solutions in organising home life. Broader findings include the observations that people tailor solutions to meet their needs, that optimum efficiency is not the pre-eminent determinant in what method or artefact people choose to organise themselves and their homes, and that homes determine their individual characters in part by how everyday tasks and organisation are accomplished. In short, the personal qualities of these mundane practices are part of what makes a home a home. These findings are used to elicit implications for information technology design, with the aim of encouraging designers of domestic technology to be aware of and respectful towards the idiosyncratic nature of the home, and, wherever possible, to design in such a way as to allow the technology to be appropriated for families’ bespoke tailoring. To evaluate and address this point, two design projects, one on augmented magnets and another on a “media bowl”, are used to develop and test out this approach. Both projects are critically examined to reflect on the efficacy of the design approach and what lessons might be learnt for future studies and design exercises. The combination of detailed ethnographic fieldwork on family homes combined with the development of experimental design projects is intended to deepen the understanding of the mundane behaviours and everyday routines of family homes, in order to better inform the design of information technology for the home.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Worker Training: Competing in the New International Economy

This report focuses on the training given to employed workers both from the standpoint of the competitiveness of U.S. industry and from the standpoint of the individual worker who may need training to advance. Most workers who get training get it from their employer, and much of the report looks at the employer provided training system. The message of this report is that the debate about national training policies needs to be broadened to encompass not only training programs for the economically disadvantaged, the displaced worker, or people with special needs, but also those who stand on the front line of American productivity-employed workers at all levels