Semaphorin-1a Is Required for Aedes aegypti Embryonic Nerve Cord Development

Although mosquito genome projects have uncovered orthologues of many known developmental regulatory genes, extremely little is known about mosquito development. In this study, the role of semaphorin-1a (sema1a) was investigated during vector mosquito embryonic ventral nerve cord development. Expression of sema1a and the plexin A (plexA) receptor are detected in the embryonic ventral nerve cords of Aedes aegypti (dengue vector) and Anopheles gambiae (malaria vector), suggesting that Sema1a signaling may regulate mosquito nervous system development. Analysis of sema1a function was investigated through siRNA-mediated knockdown in A. aegypti embryos. Knockdown of sema1a during A. aegypti development results in a number of nerve cord phenotypes, including thinning, breakage, and occasional fusion of the longitudinal connectives, thin or absent commissures, and general distortion of the nerve cord. Although analysis of Drosophila melanogaster sema1a loss-of-function mutants uncovered many similar phenotypes, aspects of the longitudinal phenotypes differed between D. melanogaster and A. aegypti. The results of this investigation suggest that Sema1a is required for development of the insect ventral nerve cord, but that the developmental roles of this guidance molecule have diverged in dipteran insects

The Role of Products in Consumer-Celebrity Relationships

Celebrities, designed and packaged to elicit an emotional reaction from consumers, appear to be indistinguishable from products. However, their role as characters in narrative creates a very different type of emotional attachment than products enjoy. By both being and being in narrative content, celebrities allow consumers to vicariously experience many new lives, and it is this fantasy connection that makes the consumercelebrity attachment both strong and long lasting. In this paper we explore how celebrities effect consumers, and we detail how celebrity products support activities that create and grow consumer-celebrity relationships. In addition, we offer some insight into how understanding these activities can both lead to better design of celebrity products and lead to design of future products that form a similar level of attachment with consumers

Searching for Intrinsic Value in Interaction: Reflections on the Conceptual Designs of Digital Music Players

Abstract. The value of most consumer electronics made today makes these products worth only slightly more than the parts needed to build them. In our research we have explore the aesthetics of interaction, searching for how interaction can add intrinsic value to products. Through an analysis of 20+ music players designed to emotionally link a variety of different users with their music across different contexts, we have identified three emerging thematic opportunities. These include interaction designs that (i) integrate the interaction into objects within the context, (ii) bridge the user activity and social role, and (iii) socially connect the user to other people. This paper details these themes and offers conceptual designs that illustrate how they work in products.

1840 PROCEEDINGS of the HUMAN FACTORS AND ERGONOMICS SOCIETY 47th ANNUAL MEETING—2003 IDENTIFICATION OF AN “APPROPRIATE ” DROWSY DRIVER DETECTION INTERFACE FOR COMMERCIAL VEHICLE OPERATIONS

Considerable progress has been made in measuring drowsiness and understanding its effects upon human performance in the laboratory and in simulated and operational driving conditions. This work builds upon previous research and identifies an appropriate design for a drowsy driver detection interface. A participatory design process was used that included both design experts and drivers in separate focus groups. One expert activity, evaluations of candidate interaction flow models, and two driver activities, critical incident interviews and a design exercise, are described here. The conflict that arose between the drivers ’ desires and the desires of the scientific community is that the drivers viewed the system as a loyal servant that would alert the driver when he became drowsy, while the scientific community viewed the system as a trusted advisor that would encourage the driver to stop and rest. The final design has many features to address both of these views

The Design of a Highly Reliable Robot for Unmediated Museum Interaction *

Abstract *- Installation of a robot system in a publicly accessible technical museum poses nontrivial problems along three axes. First, the robot must be reliable, both by failing rarely in spite of continuous, daily use and by allowing museum staff to easily return the robot to service. Second, the robot must perform without the need for staff intervention, from system autonomy to energetics enabling full-day operation without battery replacement. Third, the user-end interaction software must be self-explanatory as well as instructional and engaging in order to effectively communicate the learning goals of the exhibit. In this paper we describe the design of such a robot system and share early results regarding its successful deployment at five museums across the United States

Putting a Face on Embodied Interface Agents

Rapid increases in agent technology as well as the movement of computing into more and more social transactions has increased the need for embodied interface agents. However, interaction designers currently lack sufficient guidelines to confidently and successfully design the visual form of these agents. In this paper we offer a summary of research on the visual form of agents. In addition, we present our own study that explores the relationships between an agents visual form, the task it performs, and the demographics of users. As a result of the review and our own study, we frame the task of design of an agent’s form as being similar to “casting”. Finally, we offer some design guidelines to aid interaction designers in selecting human and non-human forms, in deciding how to address stereotypes, and in looking for opportunities to recast the agent’s visual form

The Personal Exploration Rover: The Ground-up Design, Deployment and Educational Evaluation of an Educational Robot for Unmediated Informal Learning Sites

Robotics brings together learning across mechanism, computation and interaction using the compelling model of real-time interaction with a physically instantiated intelligent device. The project described here is the third stage of the Personal Rover Project, which aims to produce technology, curriculum and evaluation techniques for use with after-school, out-of-school and informal learning environments mediated by robotics. Our most recent work has resulted in the Personal Exploration Rover (PER), whose goal is to create and evaluate a robot interaction that will educate members of the general public in an informal learning environment and capitalize on the current enthusiasm and excitement produced by NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers (MERs). We have two specific goals of teaching about the role of rovers as tools for scientific exploration and teaching about the importance of robot autonomy. To this effect we have designed an interactive, robotic museum exhibit which has been deployed at six locations across the United States. Here we describe the robot hardware and software designed for this task, the exhibits developed, and the results of formal evaluation of the exhibits ' educational impact on museum visitors