Development of end-to-end low-cost IoT system for densely deployed PM monitoring network: an Indian case study

Particulate matter (PM) is considered the primary contributor to air pollution and has severe implications for general health. PM concentration has high spatial variability and thus needs to be monitored locally. Traditional PM monitoring setups are bulky, expensive, and cannot be scaled for dense deployments. This paper argues for a densely deployed network of IoT-enabled PM monitoring devices using low-cost sensors, specifically focusing on PM10 and PM2.5, the most health-impacting particulates. In this work, 49 devices were deployed in a region of the Indian metropolitan city of Hyderabad, of which 43 devices were developed as part of this work, and six devices were taken off the shelf. The low-cost sensors were calibrated for seasonal variations using a precise reference sensor and were particularly adjusted to accurately measure PM10 and PM2.5 levels. A thorough analysis of data collected for 7 months has been presented to establish the need for dense deployment of PM monitoring devices. Different analyses such as mean, variance, spatial interpolation, and correlation have been employed to generate interesting insights about temporal and seasonal variations of PM10 and PM2.5. In addition, event-driven spatio-temporal analysis is done for PM2.5 and PM10 values to understand the impact of the bursting of firecrackers on the evening of the Diwali festival. A web-based dashboard is designed for real-time data visualization

Visual Voyage of Stock Market Strategies: Eye-tracking Insights into Investor Choices

Investors rely on judgmental heuristics and comparative analysis for future stock price prediction based on specific components of information in hand. Information components are used as anchors for price estimation. Through an eye-tracking experiment, we aim to understand the perceived significance of various formats of information, particularly focusing on graphical and numerical components, and to explore the influence of complex time-varying patterns in stock price line plots. Results show that graphical components capture higher visual attention. Participants are not always loss-averse and prominently exhibit disposition effects for investment decisions in profitable scenarios. The 52-week high is allotted the highest fixation duration, signifying its perception as a strong reference point. Investment choices were found to be varying based on levels of prior knowledge and experience. The visual gaze analysis provides behavioural insights into complex decision-making processes

Experimental Study on the Decision Making process in a Centipede Game

The studys objective was to measure the somatic state response (skin conductance and heart rate) and understand thedecision making processes in a two-player Centipede game, an extensive form game, with a modified payoff. The experi-ment included fixed and random termination for analyzing the effect of players mutual trust on risk-taking behavior. Thebehavioral results reveal that trust controls the game rounds (that is, the number of pass decisions) in known or randomtermination game conditions, though the exit points were higher in the former compared to the latter condition. Higherskin conductance and heart rate during the game-play is noticed as compared to the baseline data showing anxiety duringthe gameplay and interestingly opponents action induced higher skin conductance amplitude than during self-play for thesame decision. The data provides strong preliminary evidence of trust influencing cooperative gameplay

Clickbait’s Impact on Visual Attention – An Eye Tracker Study

In this paper, we have studied the impact of clickbait headlines on the distribution of visual attention on hyperlinked news articles. Visual attention is a driving factor in ad-based revenue models that support online journalism. Importantly, it is also an indicator of cognitive processes involved in reading and comprehension. We hypothesize that articles with clickbait headlines receive lesser visual attention when controlled for articles’ content. This is based on the premise that a significant proportion of clicks on clickbait headlines are driven by readers’ specific epistemic curiosity rather than knowledge acquisition. An eye-tracker setup was used to infer visual attention from the gaze-fixation analysis conducted on data from 60 participants. Our results suggest that clickbait headlines significantly reduce the visual attention on news articles. Though, article content comprehension measured by a recall test was comparable for clickbait and non-clickbait headlines. Our findings add to the discussions on the cognitive attention and the implications of using clickbait headlines for news publishers, newsreaders, and advertising agencies alike

Analyzing Performance Differences in Artists and Engineers- An RPM Study

Analytic reasoning differences, as gauged from intelligence metrics, in students engaged in streams requiring a predom-inantly divergent (arts) or convergent thinking (science and engineering) is a topic of interest. In this paper we haveexamined this difference by a modified sequence of two sections (D & E) of the Standard Ravens Progressive matrices(RPM). The scan path gaze behavior was analyzed with an eye tracker. The 30 engineering students (half of them arealso trained in fine arts) scored higher than the 15 fine arts students. In the former cohort, the artistic and the non-artisticset show no difference in performance but the scan path, fixation count and time taken indicate possible differences invisual strategies for pattern identification. From the detailed analysis, we argue that intelligence as measured by RPM isenhanced by training in reasoning and logic as in engineering streams and might not reflect an innate ability

Geography Map Knowledge Acquisition by Solving a Jigsaw Map Compared to Self-Study: Investigating Game Based Learning

Efficacy of games as learning medium is of interest to researchers and the gaming industry. A critical metric for learning is knowledge retention and very few studies have conducted in-depth comparisons of: a) game versus no-game learning, b) collaborative versus individual learning. Towards this, the study reported in this article will present the findings from an experiment using Asia and world maps, cut into pieces as in a jigsaw puzzle. The participants were primary school children who were randomly assigned to the puzzle and no-puzzle group. To understand the role of collaborative interactions in learning, each group was further divided into two subgroups. Each subgroup either solved the puzzle or studied the full map (no-puzzle) individually or collaboratively. Three post-tests were conducted over a period of 10 days. The mean scores and Mann Whitney test shows: a) In the no-puzzle condition, no difference in the average scores of the individual and collaborative groups for both maps was observed, b) In the puzzle condition, the collaborative group score was slightly more than that of the individual group for Asia map, while the difference was significant for the continent map, and c) Puzzle and no-puzzle individual group scores were comparative for Asia map but the continent map groups showed a major difference. The findings are mixed with collaborative puzzle solving showing higher retention while puzzle solving does not show significant effect on learning and retention

Objectifying Gaze: an empirical study with non-sexualized images

Empirical investigations demonstrate similar cognitive processing patterns for objects and sexualized women. However, sexual objectification (SO) extends beyond sexualized women. To explore SO, we apply eye-tracking technique in conjunction with local/global and body-inversion paradigms. Ninety-four college students participated in the study. The visual gaze on non-sexualized South-Asian wo(men) images and the response time in Navon task post-priming with upright and inverted images is analyzed. Results indicate that participants of both genders gaze objectify females. Interestingly, male images are also gaze objectified. A comparison of attention allocation to face versus sexual body parts in upright versus inverted female images shows a reduced face-to-body ratio for the latter orientation, indicating a gender-specific attention shift. Combining the two SO theories, the study objectively substantiates the claim that women undergo objectification in even in non-sexual attire

The Objectifying Gaze: Impact of Sexualized Media on Viewer Gaze Behavior towards (Non)Traditional Attire

In this study, we investigate the priming effect of camera-induced objectifying-gaze, operationalised via sexualised music video(MV), on university students when looking at target female images in traditional (saree, salwar) and western (shirt-pant, short-dress) attires in the Indian demographics. We showed participants two videos where female leads wore unrevealing Indian attire (saree) and revealing western clothing in sexualised and traditional MVs respectively. We quantified gaze as fixation-duration and visit-count (revisit frequency) metrics. Our findings report that there is a priming effect of sexualised media. Female images in all attires are equally objectified and body-biased gaze is more pronounced in sexualised MV priming, short-dress is more objectified in traditional MV priming, and saree is less objectified overall, which confirms the social stereotypes on attire and respectability — traditionally clad (vs. non-traditional) women are seen as more moral and worthy of respect and protection compared to women in hypersexualized and objectified roles

Exploring Empathy and a Range of Emotions Towards Protest Photographs

Images are a powerful medium known to induce empathy and emotional response in people. In political protests it has the power for a people-initiated policy change and signifies the deep symbolism of a political system. In this study, we aim to quantify the range of emotional connection a person experiences for photographs of a farmers' protest.The protest was the headlines in all media at the time this experiment was conducted and had polarized public opinion. Each photograph is identified to have a set of physical and semantic features. The three selected features were presence of police, gender and close-up (vs.long-shot) in the frame. The intensity on a range of emotions (fear, disgust, anger, sadness, optimism, pessimism, surprise, shock, happiness, and respect) experienced by the viewer for each feature was collected. By statistical and dimensionality analyses, we isolate and identify influencing factors in an image. We found that the presence of police in aggressive actions and close-up shots of had the highest variation in the emotional responses of participants. Interestingly, the gender of the protesters did not show statistically significant effects. The findings from the exploratory investigation highlights the powerful role photographic features have on emotional responses of people, an understudied but critical factor in a world immersed in social media