Assistive technologies for severe and profound hearing loss: beyond hearing aids and implants

Assistive technologies offer capabilities that were previously inaccessible to individuals with severe and profound hearing loss who have no or limited access to hearing aids and implants. This literature review aims to explore existing assistive technologies and identify what still needs to be done. It is found that there is a lack of focus on the overall objectives of assistive technologies. In addition, several other issues are identified i.e. only a very small number of assistive technologies developed within a research context have led to commercial devices, there is a predisposition to use the latest expensive technologies and a tendency to avoid designing products universally. Finally, the further development of plug-ins that translate the text content of a website to various sign languages is needed to make information on the internet more accessible

Model srednjoškolskog e-obrazovanja zasnovan na tehnologijama Interneta inteligentnih uređaja

Predmet disertacije je istraživanje mogućnosti primene e-obrazovanja zasnovanog na internetu inteligentnih uređaja (eng. Internet of Things, IoT) u srednjim školama. Cilj istraživanja je da se unapredi nastavni proces u srednjoškolskom obrazovanju primenom servisa interneta inteligentnih uređaja, društvenih medija i mobilnih tehnologija, i postigne kvalitativno unapređenje srednjoškolskog obrazovanja. Istraživanje je fokusirano na srednjoškolski sistem u Srbiji i posebno je prilagođeno sistemima obrazovanja u zemljama u razvoju. Korišćenjem pametnih učionica u obrazovnom procesu poboljšavaju se efikasnost i kvalitet nastave, kao i nivo osposobljenosti učenika. Škole koje implementiraju pametne učionice stvaraju bolji imidž i veću konkurentnost, čime postaju atraktivnije za veći broj kvalitetnih učenika. Ovakav način organizovanja srednjoškolskog obrazovnog procesa omogućava brzu i kvalitetnu komunikaciju nastavnika sa učenicima, efikasnu razmenu informacija, povećanje obima sadržaja koji može biti prezentovan u okviru nastavnog časa, aktivno učešće učenika u nastavnom procesu i kvalitetniju nastavu. Istraživanje je realizovano sa učenicima Pete ekonomske škole „Rakovica“ u Beogradu. Rezultati ukazuju na pozitivan ishod procesa sticanja znanja, kao i iskustva i stavova učenika

Adaptive Energy Saving and Mobility Support IPv6 Routing Protocol in Low-Power and Lossy Networks for Internet of Things and Wireless Sensor Networks

Internet of Things (IoT) is an interconnection of physical objects that can be controlled, monitored and exchange information from remote locations over the internet while been connected to an Application Programme Interface (API) and sensors. It utilizes low-powered digital radios for communication enabling millions and billions of Low-power and Lossy Network (LLN) devices to communicate efficiently via a predetermined routing protocol. Several research gaps have identified the constraints of standardised versions of IPv6 Routing Protocol for Low Power and Lossy Networks evidently showing its lack of ability to handle the growing application needs and challenges. This research aims to handle routing from a different perspective extending from energy efficiency, to mobility aware and energy scavenging nodes thereby presenting numerous improvements that can suit various network topologies and application needs. Envisioning all the prospects and innovative services associated with the futuristic ubiquitous communication of IoT applications, we propose an adaptive Objective Function for RPL protocol known as Optimum Reliable Objective Function (OR-OF) having a fuzzy combination of five routing metrics which are chosen based on system and application requirements. It is an approach which combines the three proposed implemented Objective Functions within this thesis to enable the OR-OF adapt to different routing requirements for different IoT applications. The three proposed OFs are Energy saving Routing OF, Enhanced Mobility Support Routing OF and Optimized OF for Energy Scavenging nodes. All proposed OFs were designed, implemented, and simulated in COOJA simulator of ContikiOS, and mathematical models were developed to validate simulated results. Performance Evaluation indicated an overall improvement as compared with the standardised versions of RPL protocols and other related research works in terms of network lifetime with an average of 40%, packet delivery ratio of 21%, energy consumption of 82% and End-to-End Delay of 92%