Evaluating the Wiimote as a musical controller

The Nintendo Wiimote is growing in popularity with mu-sicians as a controller. This mode of use is an adaptationfrom its intended use as a game controller, and requiresevaluation of its functions in a musical context in orderto understand its possibilities and limits. Drawing on Hu-man Computer Interaction methodology, we assessed thecore musical applications of the Wiimote and designeda usability experiment to test them. 17 participants tookpart, performing musical tasks in four contexts: trigger-ing; precise and expressive continuous control; and ges-ture recognition. Interviews and empirical evidence wereutilised to probe the device’s limitations and its creativestrengths. This study should help potential users to planthe Wiimote’s employment in their projects, and should beuseful as a case study in HCI evaluation of musical con-trollers

Phalanger: controlling music software with hand movement using a computer vision and machine learning approach

Phalanger is a system which facilitates the control of music software with hand and finger motion, with the aim of creating a fluid style of interaction that promotes musicality. The system is purely video based, requires no wearables or accessories and uses affordable and accessible technology. It employs a neural network for background segmentation, a combination of imaging techniques for frame analysis, and a support vector machine (SVM) for recognition of hand positions. System evaluation showed the SVM to reliably differentiate between eight different classes. An initial formative user evaluation with ten musicians was carried out to help build a picture of how users responded to the system; this highlighted areas that need improvement and lent some insight into useful features for the next version

Reporting back from Degrowth Vienna 2020

Funding Information: 1 We are thankful for the workshop participants for contributing their ideas. We also wish to acknowledge Dr. Laura Pereira for her insightful comments that improved the report. 2 Nick Fitzpatrick is currently a La Caixa Doctoral INPhINIT Fellow (Grant: LCF/BQ/DI20/11780027) despite this workshop occurring before it commenced. Chris Vrettos is a scholar of the Onassis Foundation. Publisher Copyright: © 2022. Tamkang University, All rights reserved.Excessive global resource use is a major driver of ecological breakdown and biodiversity loss. To start envisioning democratic and sustainable futures we must question the assumptions behind endless economic growth. This article reflects on the use of a novel seed pathways methodology during a workshop in the Degrowth Vienna 2020 conference. The framework is applied to five ‘degrowth seeds ' (small initiatives that embody degrowth values) to identify the obstacles and enabling conditions needed to empower communities to imagine, create and experiment with degrowth-inspiredfutures.publishersversionpublishe

Cost-effectiveness of a patient-centred approach to managing multimorbidity in primary care:a pragmatic cluster randomised controlled trial

Objective Patients with multiple chronic health conditions are often managed in a disjointed fashion in primary care, with annual review clinic appointments offered separately for each condition. This study aimed to determine the cost-effectiveness of the 3D intervention, which was developed to improve the system of care. Design Economic evaluation conducted alongside a pragmatic cluster-randomised trial. Setting General practices in three centres in England and Scotland. Participants 797 adults with three or more chronic conditions were randomised to the 3D intervention, while 749 participants were randomised to receive usual care. Intervention The 3D approach: comprehensive 6-monthly general practitioner consultations, supported by medication reviews and nurse appointments. Primary and secondary outcome measures The primary economic evaluation assessed the cost per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gained from the perspective of the National Health Service (NHS) and personal social services (PSS). Costs were related to changes in a range of secondary outcomes (QALYs accrued by both participants and carers, and deaths) in a cost-consequences analysis from the perspectives of the NHS/PSS, patients/carers and productivity losses. Results Very small increases were found in both QALYs (adjusted mean difference 0.007 (-0.009 to 0.023)) and costs (adjusted mean difference 126 pound (-739 pound to 991)) pound in the intervention arm compared with usual care after 15 months. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio was 18 pound 499, with a 50.8% chance of being cost-effective at a willingness-to-pay threshold of 20 pound 000 per QALY (55.8% at 30 pound 000 per QALY). Conclusions The small differences in costs and outcomes were consistent with chance, and the uncertainty was substantial; therefore, the evidence for the cost-effectiveness of the 3D approach from the NHS/PSS perspective should be considered equivocal

Developing approaches to the collection and use of evidence of patient experience below the level of national surveys

National approaches to collecting patient feedback provide trust level information which although can provide a benchmark for trusts often doesn’t provide information about specific services or patients experiences of pathways of care. This more granular level of data could be more informative for local service development and improvement. This research explored the feasibility and usefulness of such approaches. A conceptual model and standard questionnaire of patient experience was developed that might work across a range of services and pathways of care. Seven trusts were recruited as collaborating sites in which the model and survey instrument was tested. These were from different geographical locations and settings. The impact of the pilot and survey results on the improvement and development of services was evaluated. The service- line approach to capturing patient feedback was generally more feasible and considered of value for service improvement. The collection of patients’ experiences across pathways of care was more challenging in terms of the development of the survey and interpretation of results. However, many sites identified specific actionable areas for improvement. This study has shown that it is possible to develop and apply a standardised survey in a range of services and provides evidence that a consistent unified approach to monitoring patient experiences is feasible. However several methodological problems are acknowledged such as the availability of resources and capacity for improvements to services and care. Evidence is now particularly needed to establish how best to produce positive impact from patient feedback

Values in computing

Whether it is in the form of software, system architecture or interface design, anything digital is inevitably affected by values: the organizational values of the project sponsor, the values of the research partners, and the values of each developer and designer. Some values (e.g. commercial success, academic prestige) are easier to quantify than others (e.g. social justice, care for the environment) with the latter often dismissed in decision making processes as lacking of measurable ‘evidence’. However, less easy to measure values are not less real: they are simply less visible. The aim of this one-day workshop is precisely to investigate mechanisms which give more exposure to those values in computing that are less frequently considered. We do so by bringing together practitioners from different computing backgrounds (e.g. software engineering, interaction design, information systems) who have first-hand experience of trying to represent on an equal footing all human values in computing

A statistics based Digital Twin for the combined consideration of heat treatment and machining for predicting distortion

This paper introduces a novel concept of Digital Twinning of heat treatment and machining for predicting distortion. A set of physical experiments were conducted, and statistical models based on these trials were created. The experiments involved heat-treating AA7075 billets with multiple input conditions and measuring distortion during machining trials. This trained a Gaussian Process machining model to reproduce the real-life behaviour of a part, and to predict distortions. These predictions matched the shape and magnitude of data points of the trials. The paper suggests further refinements of the model. The developed statistical tool enables distortion prediction to produce right-first-time parts