Towards transparent telepresence

It is proposed that the concept of transparent telepresence can be closely approached through high fidelity technological mediation. It is argued that the matching of the system capabilities to those of the human user will yield a strong sense of immersion and presence at a remote site. Some applications of such a system are noted. The concept is explained and critical system elements are described together with an overview of some of the necessary system specifications

An Augmented Interaction Strategy For Designing Human-Machine Interfaces For Hydraulic Excavators

Lack of adequate information feedback and work visibility, and fatigue due to repetition have been identified as the major usability gaps in the human-machine interface (HMI) design of modern hydraulic excavators that subject operators to undue mental and physical workload, resulting in poor performance. To address these gaps, this work proposed an innovative interaction strategy, termed “augmented interaction”, for enhancing the usability of the hydraulic excavator. Augmented interaction involves the embodiment of heads-up display and coordinated control schemes into an efficient, effective and safe HMI. Augmented interaction was demonstrated using a framework consisting of three phases: Design, Implementation/Visualization, and Evaluation (D.IV.E). Guided by this framework, two alternative HMI design concepts (Design A: featuring heads-up display and coordinated control; and Design B: featuring heads-up display and joystick controls) in addition to the existing HMI design (Design C: featuring monitor display and joystick controls) were prototyped. A mixed reality seating buck simulator, named the Hydraulic Excavator Augmented Reality Simulator (H.E.A.R.S), was used to implement the designs and simulate a work environment along with a rock excavation task scenario. A usability evaluation was conducted with twenty participants to characterize the impact of the new HMI types using quantitative (task completion time, TCT; and operating error, OER) and qualitative (subjective workload and user preference) metrics. The results indicated that participants had a shorter TCT with Design A. For OER, there was a lower error probability due to collisions (PER1) with Design A, and lower error probability due to misses (PER2)with Design B. The subjective measures showed a lower overall workload and a high preference for Design B. It was concluded that augmented interaction provides a viable solution for enhancing the usability of the HMI of a hydraulic excavator

Organic paddy farming practice to learning application

Knowledge sharing and transfer through information and communication technology applications is alternative and popular medium in this era.This paper aim to describe how the knowledge about organic paddy practices are used in learning prototype, call as Si Padi.The objective of learning prototype is to increase awareness and to promote sustainable practices in organic paddy farming. The real-life practices of sustainable paddy farming have been adapted in the design of the prototype.The findings of this study indicate that the prototype is beneficial in creating sustainability awareness among the students. For future applications, the learning prototype for the sustainability awareness program can be extended to other sustainability related issues

An overview of disruptive technologies for aquaculture

The world wild fish stocks are being depleted in an ever-increasing speed. Aquaculture is the only way to ensure sufficient seafood for the world. Conventional aquaculture can be traced back to 4000 years in China and has been very successful in the past three decades. However, aquaculture has faced serious challenges, including only a few improved species, labour-intensiveness, environmental pollution, diseases and lack of traceability of products. Aquaculture needs disruptive technologies to increase fish production. Novel and disruptive technologies, including genome editing, artificial intelligence, offshore farming, recirculating aquaculture systems, alternative proteins and oils to replace fish meals and fish oils, oral vaccination, blockchain for marketing and internet of things, may provide solutions for sustainable and profitable aquaculture. This review briefly introduces these emerging and disruptive technologies to open up a forum for an in-depth discussion on how to integrate these technologies into aquaculture to improve its sustainability and profitability

Sketching in VR for landscape architects : exploring new possibilities

The sketching possibilities in VR are getting increasingly more available for people without in-depth programming and computer skills. Previous research has shown that using VR in the sketching process by landscape architects increases the understanding of spatiality, reduces the cognitive load, enhances communication, and gives confidence to the user. To understand the field a literature study was undertaken and interviews were conducted. To get new practical insights an applied sketching session was performed and documented. The hardware used was Oculus Quest 2 and the software was a plug-in for SketchUp called VRSketch. The method used for the applied sketching was inspired by auto-ethnographic studies where one interacts within a given environment while at the same time observing and documenting ones own reactions to that environment. In this study the environment is VR and the activity being performed and observed is sketching in VR. An open mind to all sorts of results was kept to make the most out of the methodology. This method compliments past studies and whilst it doesn’t give results which necessarily reflect what other people would experience, it indicates directions for future research. Some of the results were consistent with previous studies and others need further research. Future investigation could explore: having multiple users in a VR setting at the same time, exploring the possibilities with different levels of abstraction, the different types of intuition, to use a checklist to get started but not to get creative, and to generally expand the academic discourse as technology advances