Haptic perception

Fueled by novel applications, interest in haptic perception is growing. This paper provides an overview of the state of the art of a number of important aspects of haptic perception. By means of touch we can not only perceive quite different material properties, such as roughness, compliance, friction, coldness and slipperiness, but we can also perceive spatial properties, such as shape, curvature, size and orientation. Moreover, the number of objects we have in our hand can be determined, either by counting or subitizing. All these aspects will be presented and discussed in this paper. Although our intuition tells us that touch provides us with veridical information about our environment, the existence of prominent haptic illusions will show otherwise. Knowledge about haptic perception is interesting from a fundamental viewpoint, but it also is of eminent importance in the technological development of haptic devices. At the end of this paper, a few recent applications will be presented

Haptic Illusions: Biases in the perception of volume, weight and roughness

The present thesis investigated the perception of volume, weight and roughness when exploring 3-dimensional objects by touch and/of vision, and examined whether these percepts were influenced by specific object properties (e.g shape, material). In perception research, the term bias has been used to indicate the occurrence of these systematic influences. Our experiments were conducted with healthy subjects, who were blindfolded during haptic conditions (i.e. exploration by touch only). Strong influences were found of the objects’ shape on the volume judgment of small objects during unimanual haptic conditions, visual and bimodal (i.e. both vision and touch) conditions, as well as on the bimanual haptic volume judgment of large objects. The direction of these biases was the same; a tetrahedron was perceived as larger in volume than a cube or a sphere of the same physical volume, and a cube was perceived as larger than a sphere. Our analyses suggested that the volume was not perceived directly but was based on other object dimensions that were salient during the exploration. For example, the haptic and bimodal biases for the small objects could be explained by assuming the volume judgment is based on the objects’ total surface area. In addition, the haptic volume percept was influenced also by the objects’ material properties. A cube with a smooth surface was perceived as larger than an equally sized cube with a rough surface, and a cube with a larger thermal conductivity was perceived as larger than a cube with a smaller thermal conductivity. The accuracy of the haptic system to discriminate the volume of same-shaped 3-D objects was also investigated. The results showed that subjects could discriminate objects with a volume difference of at least 11 %. My study also showed that the shape of objects had an influence on weight perception: perceptually larger objects were perceived as lighter, in both haptic and bimodal conditions. The observed biases were large, but large individual differences in the magnitude of the biases were found. Finally, we showed that prolonged exploration of a rough surface resulted in a decrease of the perceived roughness of a subsequently scanned surface, whereas prolonged exploration of a smooth surface resulted in an increase of the perceived roughness. In addition, perceived roughness of a surface explored with one finger shifted towards the roughness of the surface scanned with an adjacent finger. These results provided information about the way roughness information is processed in the brain. The studies presented in this thesis demonstrate clearly how different object dimensions influence our percepts. Investigation of these illusions provides knowledge about the accuracy and the abilities of the haptic system. In addition to the scientific relevance, these findings may also be important for specific applications. For example, the finding that shape has an influence on volume perception may be relevant for package designers and also in the field of remote handling. In order to avoid or at least to decrease the occurrence of these misperceptions, designers should be aware of the illusions described here

GDPR i praktiken

Till följd av den nya tekniska utvecklingen kom dataskyddsförordningen mer känd som GDPR. Regelverket togs i bruk den 25 maj 2018 med syfte att förstärka kontrollen för privatpersoners uppgifter eftersom EU inte längre kunde garantera sina medborgares rättigheter i den snabba växande värld. GDPR kommer med nya bestämmelser över hur personuppgifter skall behandlas samt medför högre krav på hantering av personuppgifter. Organisationerna som inte följer GDPR kan riskera betala en administrativ sanktionsavgift om behandlingen inte utförs i enlighet med förordningen. Syftet med den här examensarbete är att genom kvalitativ intervjustudie undersöka vad organisationerna på Åland har gjort för att uppfylla de nya kraven samt vilka åtgärder dem har vidtagit. Resultatet visar att organisationerna har vidtagit nya tekniska och organisatoriska säkerhetsåtgärder för att deras kunder skall känna sig trygga och att deras insamlade personuppgifter ska behandlas säkert enligt lagen. Kommunikation och informationsutbyte med kunden har även ökat

"The children have pretty much influence, but I can’t say in what exactly" : Accommodation – staff’s experiences of unaccompanied children’s influence at residential care homes

During the last years the numbers of unaccompanied children seeking asylum in Sweden have increased rapidly. Most of these children are placed in residential care homes. Although influence is a right for the children, many studies show that their influence lacks at residential care homes. Previous studies have also shown that social workers were aware of the importance of children’s influence but the problem was that they didn’t have any methods to make it work in practice. Further there are other studies that present methods in working with children’s influence. Client- focused work and actively listening to the children are two methods among others that studies has shown are important when working with influence. At the same time it has shown that the conditions at residential care homes are not satisfying for working with children’s influence. We therefore wanted to study the accommodation- staffs’ experiences of children’s influence at residential care homes. 8 accommodation- staffs’ were interviewed in various residential care homes in a county in southern Sweden. We found that, based on the staffs reasoning, there is a lack of influence among the children at residential care homes. The accommodation- staffs’ experiences however seemed to be based on the lack of sufficiently good methods and conditions at the residential care homes, which also confirmed previous studies

Politisierung von Sprache : politische Einflüsse auf die Serbokroatische Sprache und die Nachfolgesprachen

Emir KahrimanovicDiplomarbeitPolitisierung von SpracheGeschichte des des Serbokroatischen und der NachfolgesprachenAbstractDie einzigartige kulturelle, religiöse und politische Lage des ehem. Jugoslawien die einerseits auf ihrem Gebiet Volksgruppen verbindet, die sich kulturell und religiös unterscheiden, andererseits eigentlich eine und die selbe Sprache sprechen, verkomplizierte die Identitätsbildung der jeweiligen Nationen entscheidend. Diese Komplexität spiegelt sich auch in der Geschichte des Serbokroatischen wieder, weswegen in dieser Arbeit die komplexen Mechanismen der Sprachpolitik im westlichen Balkan in einem historischen Querschnitt mit besonderem Fokus auf die serbokroatische Sprache und ihre Nachfolgesprachen erläutert werden.Dabei ist einerseits die Sprachpolitik im Allgemeinem erläutert worden und andererseits im Speziellen die Sprachpolitik auf dem Gebiet des ehemaligen Jugoslawien und der Vorgänger bzw. Nachfolgestaaten. Im Besonderen geht dabei in der Arbeit um die Wechselwirkung zwischen Sprache und Politik. Das heißt die gegenseitige Beeinflussung zwischen diesen zwei Polen, wie beispielsweise die Kreierung einer Sprachpolitik seitens politischer Vertreter und der natürlichen Sprachveränderung, die politische Reaktionen nach sich zieht, wie im Fall der natürlichen Dominanz der serbischen Varietät innerhalb des sozialistischen Jugoslawien aufgrund administrativer Gründe, welche verschiedene Reaktionen anderer Bevölkerungsteile des Landes hervorgerufen hat.Emir KahrimanovicDiploma thesisAbstractThe Politicasion of Language - History of Serbo-Croatian and its Succeeded Languages?The former Yugoslavia with its unique cultural, religious and political circumstances connects various ethnic groups on its territory, that on one hand culturally and religiously differ and on the other hand share the same language. This conditions complicated the development of identities in the respective nation states. The complexity of this process is especially reflected in the history of the Serbo-Croatian. Therefore this research analyses the extensive mechanism of language policy in the Western Balkans in a historical perspective with specific focus on the Serbo-Croatian and its succeeded languages.The study exemplifies not only the general language policy in the former Yugoslavia, but also investigates the practice in its nation states. Thus particularly the interaction between language and policy is focused. The reciprocal impact between these two poles is of specific interest, because the natural change of language was accompanied by the creation of an language policy by the political representatives. The latter provoked diverse reactions among the ethnic groups in the Socialist Yugoslavia, which is evident in the case of the naturally dominance of the serbian variety in the administration.vorgelegt von Emir KahrimanovicAbweichender Titel laut Übersetzung der Verfasserin/des VerfassersZsfassung in dt. und engl. SpracheGraz, Univ., Dipl.-Arb., 2013(VLID)22677

Automatically effective? : A cost-benefit analysis of the automatization efficiency within the Citizenship Department at the Swedish Migration Agency

Medborgarskapsenheten på Migrationsverket har i regleringsbrev från regeringen fått i uppdrag att digitalisera verksamheten, där ett av målen för digitalisering är ökad effektivitet. Med anledning av den långa kötiden för beslut i svenskt medborgarskap, har medborgarskapsenheten implementerat automatisering inom två ärendetyper. Detta för att förenkla handläggningsprocessen och på så vis minska kötiden.  Syftet med denna studie är att utvärdera om implementeringen av automatiseringarna är lönsam. För att undersöka detta genomförs en kostnads-nyttoanalys som bygger på data från Migrationsverket. Kostnads-nyttoanalysen bygger även på två enkätundersökningar som tillämpar metoden contingent valuation method (CVM).  Värderingen av effekterna av automatiseringen sker med hänsyn till två värderingsgrunder. Dels en värdering grundad på förändrad medborgarnytta, dels en alternativ värdering grundad på lönekostnaden som de frigjorda resurserna motsvarar. Effekterna av automatiseringen undersöks under tidsintervallen 1-4 år samt 1-10 år och innefattar kvantitativa kostnads- och nyttoposter samt kvalitativa nyttoposter. Kvantitativt sett visar båda värderingsalternativen en olönsamhet efter fyra år och en lönsamhet efter tio år. Om de kvalitativa posterna överstiger underskotten vid fyra år uppstår en lönsamhet redan då. Känslighetsanalysen visar på viss osäkerhet i beräkningarna då flera underliggande poster kan variera i storlek.The Citizenship Department at the Swedish Migration Agency has in letters of regulation been instructed by the government to digitalize the department. One of  the objectives for the digitalization is to increase efficiency. Due to a long processing time regarding citizenship applications, the department has implemented automatization in two types of applications. This was done in order to simplify the case process and thereby decrease the processing time.  The purpose of this thesis is to evaluate if the implementation of the automatization is profitable. A cost-benefit analysis based on data from the Swedish Migration Agency was conducted to investigate the effects on efficiency. The cost-benefit analysis also conducts two surveys applying the contingent valuation method (CVM). The valuation of the effects of the automatization is executed with regards to two different bases of valuation. One valuation is based on the change in the benefits of the citizen, and an alternative valuation is based on the salary cost that freed resources correspond to. The effects of automatization are investigated during the time intervals 1-4 years and 1-10 years, and include quantitative cost and benefit entries as well as qualitative benefit entries. Quantitatively, both valuation options are unprofitable after four years and are profitable after ten years. Profitability would arise already after four years if the qualitative entries exceeds the deficits. The sensitivity analysis shows some uncertainty in the calculations, as several underlying entries may vary in size

Automatically effective? : A cost-benefit analysis of the automatization efficiency within the Citizenship Department at the Swedish Migration Agency

Medborgarskapsenheten på Migrationsverket har i regleringsbrev från regeringen fått i uppdrag att digitalisera verksamheten, där ett av målen för digitalisering är ökad effektivitet. Med anledning av den långa kötiden för beslut i svenskt medborgarskap, har medborgarskapsenheten implementerat automatisering inom två ärendetyper. Detta för att förenkla handläggningsprocessen och på så vis minska kötiden.  Syftet med denna studie är att utvärdera om implementeringen av automatiseringarna är lönsam. För att undersöka detta genomförs en kostnads-nyttoanalys som bygger på data från Migrationsverket. Kostnads-nyttoanalysen bygger även på två enkätundersökningar som tillämpar metoden contingent valuation method (CVM).  Värderingen av effekterna av automatiseringen sker med hänsyn till två värderingsgrunder. Dels en värdering grundad på förändrad medborgarnytta, dels en alternativ värdering grundad på lönekostnaden som de frigjorda resurserna motsvarar. Effekterna av automatiseringen undersöks under tidsintervallen 1-4 år samt 1-10 år och innefattar kvantitativa kostnads- och nyttoposter samt kvalitativa nyttoposter. Kvantitativt sett visar båda värderingsalternativen en olönsamhet efter fyra år och en lönsamhet efter tio år. Om de kvalitativa posterna överstiger underskotten vid fyra år uppstår en lönsamhet redan då. Känslighetsanalysen visar på viss osäkerhet i beräkningarna då flera underliggande poster kan variera i storlek.The Citizenship Department at the Swedish Migration Agency has in letters of regulation been instructed by the government to digitalize the department. One of  the objectives for the digitalization is to increase efficiency. Due to a long processing time regarding citizenship applications, the department has implemented automatization in two types of applications. This was done in order to simplify the case process and thereby decrease the processing time.  The purpose of this thesis is to evaluate if the implementation of the automatization is profitable. A cost-benefit analysis based on data from the Swedish Migration Agency was conducted to investigate the effects on efficiency. The cost-benefit analysis also conducts two surveys applying the contingent valuation method (CVM). The valuation of the effects of the automatization is executed with regards to two different bases of valuation. One valuation is based on the change in the benefits of the citizen, and an alternative valuation is based on the salary cost that freed resources correspond to. The effects of automatization are investigated during the time intervals 1-4 years and 1-10 years, and include quantitative cost and benefit entries as well as qualitative benefit entries. Quantitatively, both valuation options are unprofitable after four years and are profitable after ten years. Profitability would arise already after four years if the qualitative entries exceeds the deficits. The sensitivity analysis shows some uncertainty in the calculations, as several underlying entries may vary in size