A debate dashboard to enhance on-line knowledge sharing

Purpose – Web 2.0 technologies have radically modified the way in which knowledge is created, managed and shared, improving productivity and accelerating innovation processes for the enterprises. These technologies have allowed enterprises to produce knowledge, leverage collective intelligence and build social capital on a scale that was unimaginable a few years ago. In this paper we focus on a particular kind of web-based collaborative platforms known as argument mapping tools and we discuss the main barriers to the adoption of them. Literature has proved that these argument mapping tools provide large and small and medium enterprise with several advantages, but nevertheless, they have low level adoption. In this paper we explore new technological solutions to support the adoption of argument mapping tools. In particular, we propose the design of a Debate Dashboard to provide visual feedback to support online deliberation. These visual feedback aims at compensating the loss of information due to the mediation of the technology. The Debate Dashboard is composed of a set of suitable visualization tools that have been selected on the basis of a literature review of the visualization tools. Design/methodology/approach - We propose a literature review of existing visualization tools. Building on the literature review we selected thirty visualization tools, which have been classified on the basis of the kind of feedback they are able to provide. We identify three classes of feedback: Community feedback (identikit of users), Interaction feedback (about how users interact) and Absorption feedback (about generated content and its organization). We distilled the Debate Dashboard features by building on results of a literature review on Web 2.0 tools for data visualization. As output of literature review we selected six visualization tools. We consider these selected tools as a sort of starting point. Indeed, our aim is the improvement of them through the addition of further features and functions in order to make them more effective in providing feedback. Originality/value – Our paper enriches the debate about computer mediated conversation and visualization tools. We propose a Dashboard prototype to augment collaborative knowledge mapping tools by providing visual feedback on conversations. The Dashboard will provide at the same time three different kinds of feedback about: details of the participants to the conversation, interaction processes and generated content. This will allow the improvement of the benefits and reduce the costs deriving from the use of mapping tools. Moreover, another important novelty is that visualization tools will be integrated to mapping tools, as until now they have been used only to visualize data contained in forums (as Usenet or Slash.dot), chat or email archives Practical implications – The Dashboard provides feedback about participants, interaction processes and generated contents, thus supporting the adoption of mapping tools as technologies able to foster knowledge sharing among remote workers or/and customers and supplier. The integration of Debate Dashboard with common online argument mapping tools aims at enabling the following advantages: 1. Reduction of misunderstanding; 2. Reduction of cognitive effort required to use argument mapping tools; 3. Improvement of the exploration and the analysis of the maps - the Debate Dashboard feedback improves the usability of the object (the map), thus allowing users to pitch into the conversation in the right place

Advanced Scientific Visualization, a Multidisciplinary Technology Based on Engineering and Computer Science

Today’s visualization tools are equipped with highly interactive visual aids, which allow analysis and inspection of complex numerical data generated from high-bandwidth data sources such as simulation software, experimental rigs, satellites, scanners, etc. Such tools help scientists and engineers in data extraction, visualization, interpretation and analysis tasks, enabling them to experience a high degree of interaction and effectiveness in solving their design problems, which become more and more complex day by day. As the variety of today’s visualization tools is diversifying, there is a need for their simultaneous use within different engineering software when solving multidisciplinary engineering problems. It is evident that such tools have to be available for a combined use, in order to eliminate many well known problems of sharing, accessing and exchanging design models and the related information content. It is shown that Object-Oriented methodology is a well adapted approach to stream the software development process of future engineering applications. The three European projects ALICE, LASCOT and SERKET are given as examples in which the evolving computer software technologies have been researched and demonstrated to address the evolution of the visualization software in engineering and for information visualization in general

Optimization of stand-alone photovoltaic system by implementing fuzzy logic MPPT controller

A photovoltaic (PV) generator is a nonlinear device having insolation-dependent volt-ampere characteristics. Since the maximum-power point varies with solar insolation, it is difficult to achieve an optimum matching that is valid for all insolation levels. Thus, Maximum power point tracking (MPPT) plays an important roles in photovoltaic (PV) power systems because it maximize the power output from a PV system for a given set of condition, and therefore maximize their array efficiency. This project presents a maximum power point tracker (MPPT) using Fuzzy Logic theory for a PV system. The work is focused on a comparative study between most conventional controller namely Perturb and Observe (P&O) algorithm and is compared to a design fuzzy logic controller (FLC). The introduction of fuzzy controller has given very good performance on whatever the parametric variation of the system

Navigation in hypermedia learning systems: Experts vs. novices

With the advancement of Web technology, hypermedia learning systems are becoming more widespread in educational settings. Hypermedia learning systems present course content with non-sequential formats, so students are required to develop learning paths by themselves. Yet, empirical evidence indicates that not all students can benefit from hypermedia learning. Research into individual differences suggests that prior knowledge has significant effects on student learning in hypermedia systems, with experts and novices showing different preferences to the use of hypermedia learning systems and requiring different levels of navigation support. It is therefore essential to develop a mechanism to help designers understand the needs of experts and novices. To address this issue, this paper presents a framework to illustrate the needs of students with different levels of prior knowledge by analyzing the findings of previous research. The overall aim of this framework is to integrate students’ prior knowledge into the design of hypermedia learning systems. Finally, implications for the design of hypermedia learning systems are discussed

Categorisation of visualisation methods to support the design of Human-Computer Interaction systems

During the design of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) systems, the creation of visual artefacts forms an important part of design. On one hand producing a visual artefact has a number of advantages: it helps designers to externalise their thought and acts as a common language between different stakeholders. On the other hand, if an inappropriate visualisation method is employed it could hinder the design process. To support the design of HCI systems, this paper reviews the categorisation of visualisation methods used in HCI. A keyword search is conducted to identify a) current HCI design methods, b) approaches of selecting these methods. The resulting design methods are filtered to create a list of just visualisation methods. These are then categorised using the approaches identified in (b). As a result 23 HCI visualisation methods are identified and categorised in 5 selection approaches (The Recipient, Primary Purpose, Visual Archetype, Interaction Type, and The Design Process).Innovate UK, EPSRC, Airbus Group Innovation

CreaTable Content and Tangible Interaction in Aphasia

Multimedia digital content (combining pictures, text and music) is ubiquitous. The process of creating such content using existing tools typically requires complex, language-laden interactions which pose a challenge for users with aphasia (a language impairment following brain injury). Tangible interactions offer a potential means to address this challenge, however, there has been little work exploring their potential for this purpose. In this paper, we present CreaTable – a platform that enables us to explore tangible interaction as a means of supporting digital content creation for people with aphasia. We report details of the co-design of CreaTable and findings from a digital creativity workshop. Workshop findings indicated that CreaTable enabled people with aphasia to create something they would not otherwise have been able to. We report how users’ aphasia profiles affected their experience, describe tensions in collaborative content creation and provide insight into more accessible content creation using tangibles