Navigation-by-music for pedestrians: an initial prototype and evaluation

Digital mobile music devices are phenomenally popular. The devices are becoming increasingly powerful with sophisticated interaction controls, powerful processors, vast onboard storage and network connectivity. While there are ‘obvious’ ways to exploit these advanced capabilities (such as wireless music download), here we consider a rather different application—pedestrian navigation. We report on a system (ONTRACK) that aims to guide listeners to their destinations by continuously adapting the spatial qualities of the music they are enjoying. Our field-trials indicate that even with a low-fidelity realisation of the concept, users can quite effectively navigate complicated routes

Knowledge Construction of 3D Geometry Concepts and Processes Within a Virtual Reality Learning Environment

A consensus has emerged within the mathematics education community about the limitations of traditional approaches for teaching and learning 3D geometry. Therefore, it has been suggested that new approaches based on the use of computers need to be adopted. One such new approach that has been proposed utilises Virtual Reality Learning Environment (VRLE). This paper reports on the initial phases of a research study whose major aim is to design and evaluate a VRLE to facilitate the construction of knowledge about 3D geometry concepts and processes. This research study investigates two primary school students’ construction of 3D geometry knowledge whilst engaged within a VRLE developed by the researcher. A design experiments research methodology was employed in this study. This is research that iterates through cycles of design and research with the objective of arriving at theoretical and design principles that will have application both within and beyond the immediate research study. Therefore, the results being reported in this paper will be used to inform the modification not only of the VRLE but also of theoretical frameworks underlying the design and implementation of VRLEs

Testing Two Tools for Multimodal Navigation

The latest smartphones with GPS, electronic compasses, directional audio, touch screens, and so forth, hold a potential for location-based services that are easier to use and that let users focus on their activities and the environment around them. Rather than interpreting maps, users can search for information by pointing in a direction and database queries can be created from GPS location and compass data. Users can also get guidance to locations through point and sweep gestures, spatial sound, and simple graphics. This paper describes two studies testing two applications with multimodal user interfaces for navigation and information retrieval. The applications allow users to search for information and get navigation support using combinations of point and sweep gestures, nonspeech audio, graphics, and text. Tests show that users appreciated both applications for their ease of use and for allowing users to interact directly with the surrounding environment

Knowledge Building of 3D Geometry Concepts and Processes within a Virtual Reality Learning Environment

This paper reports on a pilot study for a prototype VRLE (Virtual Reality Learning Environment) named VRMath. The two primary school students who were involved in this study engaged in two VRMath learning activities designed by the researchers. The results indicated that 3D navigation within the VR 3D space was difficult. However, it could be aided with the navigation aids designed within VRMath. The 3D navigation within the 3D virtual space also caused the participants confusion in terms of their spatial visualisation and orientation abilities. The construction of 3D geometrical objects within VRMath was also difficult especially when the participants were operating the 3D rotation mentally and physically with respect to their body (i.e., the egocentric frame of reference). It was found that the simultaneously use of different frames of reference could help the construction of 3D geometrical objects. During the learning activities, issues about the usability of VRMath were also explored

Using Auto-Ordering to Improve Object Transfer between Mobile Devices

People frequently form small groups in many social and professional situations: from conference attendees meeting at a coffee break, to siblings gathering at a family barbecue. These ad-hoc gatherings typically form into predictable geometries based on circles or circular arcs (called F-Formations). Because our lives are increasingly stored and represented by data on handheld devices, the desire to be able to share digital objects while in these groupings has increased. Using the relative position in these groups to facilitate file sharing could facilitate intuitive interfaces such as passing or flicking. However, there is no reliable, lightweight, ad-hoc technology for detecting and representing relative locations around a circle. In this thesis, we present three systems that can auto-order locations about a circle based on sensors standard on commodity smartphones. We tested two of these systems using an object passing task in a laboratory environment against unordered and proximity-based systems, and show that our techniques are faster, more accurate, and preferred by users

All across the circle : using auto-ordering to improve object transfer between mobile devices

People frequently form small groups in many social and professional situations: from conference attendees meeting at a coffee break, to siblings gathering at a family barbecue. These ad-hoc gatherings typically form into predictable geometries based on circles or circular arcs (called F-Formations). Because our lives are increasingly stored and represented by data on handheld devices, the desire to be able to share digital objects while in these groupings has increased. Using the relative position in these groups to facilitate file sharing can enable intuitive techniques such as passing or flicking. However, there is no reliable, lightweight, ad-hoc technology for detecting and representing relative locations around a circle. In this paper, we present two systems that can auto-order locations about a circle based on sensors that are standard on commodity smartphones. We tested these systems using an object-passing task in a laboratory environment against unordered and proximity-based systems, and show that our techniques are faster, are more accurate, and are preferred by users.Postprin

Magnetic properties of nanoscale compass-Heisenberg planar clusters

We study a model of spins 1/2 on a square lattice, generalizing the quantum compass model via the addition of perturbing Heisenberg interactions between nearest neighbors, and investigate its phase diagram and magnetic excitations. This model has motivations both from the field of strongly correlated systems with orbital degeneracy and from that of solid-state based devices proposed for quantum computing. We find that the high degeneracy of ground states of the compass model is fragile and changes into twofold degenerate ground states for any finite amplitude of Heisenberg coupling. By computing the spin structure factors of finite clusters with Lanczos diagonalization, we evidence a rich variety of phases characterized by Z2 symmetry, that are either ferromagnetic, C-type antiferromagnetic, or of Neel type, and analyze the effects of quantum fluctuations on phase boundaries. In the ordered phases the anisotropy of compass interactions leads to a finite excitation gap to spin waves. We show that for small nanoscale clusters with large anisotropy gap the lowest excitations are column-flip excitations that emerge due to Heisenberg perturbations from the manifold of degenerate ground states of the compass model. We derive an effective one-dimensional XYZ model which faithfully reproduces the exact structure of these excited states and elucidates their microscopic origin. The low energy column-flip or compass-type excitations are robust against decoherence processes and are therefore well designed for storing information in quantum computing. We also point out that the dipolar interactions between nitrogen-vacancy centers forming a rectangular lattice in a diamond matrix may permit a solid-state realization of the anisotropic compass-Heisenberg model.Comment: 24 pages, 18 figure