Perceptions and attitudes of bicyclists towards self-driving cars: a mixed methods approach

Efforts to advance Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) have taken on a central role in research and development in recent years and will have a significant influence on road traffic in the future. Research on AVs has mainly focused on the technology itself and the direct users of AVs and their acceptance. However, the role of bicyclists, interacting with AVs in traffic, is not yet researched as thoroughly. Using a mixed methods approach, we combine quantitative results from a survey among bicyclists (N = 889) and qualitative results from a focus group (N = 19) to give insights into bicyclists’ attitudes and expectations towards self-driving cars. The results showed that bicyclists’ affinity for technology is a significant predictor for both their trust and perceived safety towards self-driving cars, as well as an effect of age and gender on these variables. Both from the quantitative and qualitative results, it is clear that flawless functioning of the technology of AVs is a prerequisite for bicyclists encountering and interacting with AVs in traffic, and that the status of the vehicle (autonomous vs. non-autonomous) is very important as well as easy to understand signals that indicate the next manoeuvres of the AV. For supporting interaction with AVs, we found that bicyclists are open to External Human Machine Interface (eHMI) solutions, as long as these ensure inclusion and support the easily-accessible nature of bicycling. Our findings can inform the design of eHMIs that help shape the interaction between bicyclists and AVs in the future, and provide insights on which factors determine the perception of AVs and, ultimately, the acceptance of AVs as part of road traffic

Synthesis and characterization of naphthalimide-functionalized polynorbornenes

ABSTRACT: Highly fluorescent and photostable (2-alkyl)-1H-benzo[de]isoquinoline-1,3(2H)-diones with a polymerizable norbornene scaffold have been synthesized and polymerized using ring-opening metathesis polymerization. The monomers presented herein could be polymerized in a living fashion, using different comonomers and different monomer ratios. All obtained materials showed good film-forming properties and bright fluorescence caused by the incorporated push–pull chromophores. Additionally, one of the monomers containing a methylpiperazine functionality showed protonation-dependent photoinduced electron transfer which opens up interesting applications for logic gates and sensing. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT: [Image: see text

Dolmetschen für gehörlose MigrantInnen in Österreich

Das Dolmetschen für gehörlose MigrantInnen ist ein Bereich, der aufgrund der stetig zunehmenden Einwanderungszahlen in Österreich immer mehr an Bedeutung gewinnt. Das primäre Ziel der vorliegenden Diplomarbeit ist es, zu untersuchen, welche Besonderheiten und Herausforderungen dieser spezielle Dolmetschbereich mit sich bringt und welche Strategien Sprach- und KulturexpertInnen in diesen Settings einsetzen. Es wird weiters ermittelt, wie eine adäquate Dolmetschung für diese KlientInnengruppe aussehen könnte, wobei von der These ausgegangen wird, dass durch die Teamarbeit mit gehörlosen ExpertInnen eine effizientere Verständigung mit gehörlosen MigrantInnen erreicht werden kann. Im theoretischen Teil werden zunächst Hintergrundinformationen über das Gebärdensprachdolmetschen und die Zuwanderungssituation in Österreich vermittelt sowie die Besonderheiten des Dolmetschens für (gehörlose) MigrantInnen beleuchtet. Für die empirische Untersuchung wurden fünf hörende professionelle ÖGS-DolmetscherInnen und ein/e gehörlose/r SozialarbeiterIn mittels Leitfäden interviewt. Wie die Studie belegt, arbeiten DolmetscherInnen immer häufiger und vorwiegend im Kommunalbereich für gehörlose EinwanderInnen. Eine besondere Herausforderung stellen hierbei die sprachlichen und kulturellen Unterschiede dar. Weitere Besonderheiten sind u.a. die erhöhte Auftragsdauer, unbezahlte Dolmetscheinsätze, vorherrschende Machtunterschiede, Rollenkonflikte, die Anwesenheit von Begleitpersonen sowie das fehlende Bewusstsein für die Komplexität dieser Dolmetscheinsätze vonseiten der hörenden Gesprächspartei. Überdies konnten eine Reihe von Strategien erhoben werden, die größtenteils auch für Dolmetschaufträge mit österreichischen Gehörlosen und gehörlosen Personen mit minimaler Sprachkompetenz kompatibel sind. Die Resultate bestätigen weiters die Hypothese, dass durch den Einsatz von gehörlosen ExpertInnen eine optimale Verständigung mit gehörlosen MigrantInnen erzielt werden kann.The field of interpreting for deaf migrants is gaining importance in Austria as the number of migrants has been steadily increasing. The main objective of this thesis is to identify the challenges and characteristics of this specific interpreting field and to examine what strategies linguistic and cultural experts deploy in these settings. Moreover, it will be investigated how a successful interpretation for deaf migrants might look like. This study is based on the hypothesis that a more effective communication with deaf migrants can be achieved by collaborating with deaf experts. The theoretical part of this thesis comprises background information on sign language interpreting and migration in Austria and highlights the characteristics of interpreting for (deaf) migrants. The empirical part presents the results of the semi-structured interviews with five professional hearing Austrian Sign Language interpreters and one deaf social worker. The analysis of the results shows that interpreters are increasingly working for deaf immigrants and primarily in community settings. One of the main challenges that interpreters face when interpreting for deaf migrants are their linguistic and cultural differences. Further implicating factors include the increased duration of such interpreting sessions, uncompensated interpreting assignments, existing power imbalances, role conflicts, the presence of accompanying persons as well as the lack of understanding of the complexity of such challenging interpreting assignments on the part of the hearing clients. Besides, various strategies had been identified, most of which can be used for Austrian deaf clients or deaf persons with minimal language skills too. The results of the empirical study also proofed the aforementioned hypothesis that a successful communication with deaf migrants can be achieved by collaborating with deaf experts.vorgelegt von Marina HollaufAbweichender Titel laut Übersetzung der Verfasserin/des VerfassersZsfassung in dt. und engl. SpracheGraz, Univ., Dipl.-Arb., 2012(VLID)21717