Pointing Devices for Wearable Computers

We present a survey of pointing devices for wearable computers, which are body-mounted devices that users can access at any time. Since traditional pointing devices (i.e., mouse, touchpad, and trackpoint) were designed to be used on a steady and flat surface, they are inappropriate for wearable computers. Just as the advent of laptops resulted in the development of the touchpad and trackpoint, the emergence of wearable computers is leading to the development of pointing devices designed for them. However, unlike laptops, since wearable computers are operated from different body positions under different environmental conditions for different uses, researchers have developed a variety of innovative pointing devices for wearable computers characterized by their sensing mechanism, control mechanism, and form factor. We survey a representative set of pointing devices for wearable computers using an “adaptation of traditional devices” versus “new devices” dichotomy and study devices according to their control and sensing mechanisms and form factor. The objective of this paper is to showcase a variety of pointing devices developed for wearable computers and bring structure to the design space for wearable pointing devices. We conclude that a de facto pointing device for wearable computers, unlike laptops, is not likely to emerge

Automatically Generating Interfaces for Personalized Interaction with Digital Libraries

We present an approach to automatically generate interfaces supporting personalized interaction with digital libraries; these interfaces augment the user-DL dialog by empowering the user to (optionally) supply out-of-turn information during an interaction, flatten or restructure the dialog, and inquire about dialog options. Interfaces generated using this approach for CITIDEL are described

The gatekeeper: individual differences are key in the chain from perception to behaviour

A basic assumption in mainstream social cognition is that the path from perception to behaviour is often automatic and direct, as supported for example by several experimental studies showing that priming can lead directly to a congruent behaviour without any need of conscious awareness of the process. However, we argue that the priming of a goal or an object activates individual differences in automatic evaluations at the associative level that in turn are the key predictors of action (gatekeeper model). A study (n = 90) on the American stereotype is presented to support the model. The results show that individual differences of the American stereotype as assessed with the IAT predicts a relevant action (essay evaluation) but only under condition of priming. Broader implications for predictive validity of implicit measures are also discussed

Diagnosis of bell palsy with gadolinium magnetic resonance imaging

Bell palsy is a condition resulting from a peripheral edematous compression on the nervous fibers of the facial nerve. This pathological condition often has clinical characteristics of no importance and spontaneously disappears in a short time in a high percentage of cases. Facial palsy concerning cranial nerve VII can also be caused by other conditions such as mastoid fracture, acoustic neurinoma, tumor spread to the temporal lobe (e.g., cholesteatoma), neoformation of the parotid gland, Melkersson-Rosenthal syndrome, and Ramsay-Hunt syndrome. Therefore, it is important to adopt an accurate diagnostic technique allowing the rapid detection of Bell palsy and the exclusion of causes of facial paralysis requiring surgical treatment. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with medium contrast of the skull shows a marked increase in revealing lesions, even of small dimensions, inside the temporal bone and at the cerebellopontine angle. The authors present a clinical case to show the important role played by gadolinium MRI in reaching a diagnosis of Bell palsy in the differential diagnosis of the various conditions that determine paralysis of the facial nerve and in selecting the most suitable treatment or surgery to be adopted

Soccer-related craniomaxillofacial injuries

The authors assessed the rate of craniomaxillofacial fractures in soccer and the areas where they occur, describing above all the injury pattern of this sport. Over a 5-year period (1995-2000) 46 cases of 329 with fractures associated with different sports activities have been surgically operated at the maxillofacial surgery department of the Policlinico "Umberto I" Hospital, University "La Sapienza" of Rome. All data collected have been selected on the basis of sex, age, anatomic site of the fracture, and the practiced sport. Information on injury patterns, severity, and play circumstances have been documented. The department examined 7 sports disciplines, but soccer was responsible for sports-related maxillofacial fractures in 34 of 46 cases (73.9%). All 34 fractures occurred to men. In soccer, the zygomatic and nasal regions are mainly involved. In fact the authors examined zygomatic fractures in 15 cases and nasal fractures in 10 cases. Direct contact between players generally causes soccer-related maxillofacial fractures: head-elbow impacts (21 cases) or head-head impacts (14 cases). The male:female ratio is 6.6:1, while the average age is 25 years for males and 23 years for females. In comparison with other sports (rugby, football, etc.) where physical contact occurs more frequently and the higher incidence of traumatic events justifies the use of protective measures, soccer is not a particularly violent sport. In soccer, maxillofacial traumas are caused by violent impacts between players that take place mainly when the ball is played with the forehead. In this moment there can be an elbow-head impact or a head-head impact. The authors believe that the low incidence of fractures, severity of the lesions, and discomfort caused by possible protective masks make their use unjustified. The data collected during this study witness that in soccer 21 of 34 cases of maxillofacial fractures are caused by elbow-head impacts. This fact suggests a preventive strategy against violent behavior in soccer play. Because the use of any sort of helmet proved impossible, the introduction of more severe penalties and a greater respect for the rules of the game by the players could reduce the percentage of impacts during matches. Impacts cause the most serious and frequent lesions in the maxillofacial region

Money Walks: A Human-Centric Study on the Economics of Personal Mobile Data

In the context of a myriad of mobile apps which collect personally identifiable information (PII) and a prospective market place of personal data, we investigate a user-centric monetary valuation of mobile PII. During a 6-week long user study in a living lab deployment with 60 participants, we collected their daily valuations of 4 categories of mobile PII (communication, e.g. phonecalls made/received, applications, e.g. time spent on different apps, location and media, photos taken) at three levels of complexity (individual data points, aggregated statistics and processed, i.e. meaningful interpretations of the data). In order to obtain honest valuations, we employ a reverse second price auction mechanism. Our findings show that the most sensitive and valued category of personal information is location. We report statistically significant associations between actual mobile usage, personal dispositions, and bidding behavior. Finally, we outline key implications for the design of mobile services and future markets of personal data.Comment: 15 pages, 2 figures. To appear in ACM International Joint Conference on Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing (Ubicomp 2014

Evaluation of the esthetic results of a 40-patient group treated surgically for dentoskeletal class III malocclusion

A dentoskeletal Class III malocclusion results in unesthetic alterations of the soft tissues, which may cause psychologic and interpersonal problems. Surgical treatment, if based on cephalometric evaluations alone, can result in inadequate correction of facial esthetics. The aim of this paper is to discuss the esthetic needs observed in surgical planning of a group of 40 Class III patients and to compare the presurgical esthetic parameters with those recorded in the sixth month of follow-up. To obtain the proper esthetic result and to restore proper stomatognathic functionality, surgical treatment planning required the integration and correction of skeletal cephalometric planning. In 24 of the 40 patients, the skeletal and esthetic planning were in agreement with each other. In the remaining 16 patients, the correction of skeletal planning with the esthetic planning was necessary to obtain the correct esthetic and functional restoration. In all patients, esthetic, radiographic, and functional analysis at the sixth month of follow-up revealed the restoration of correct facial esthetics in the vertical, transverse, and sagittal planes; no temporomandibular joint problems; and a high degree of personal satisfaction regarding the esthetic and functional result obtained, including improvements in social life and in masticatory function. Cephalometric indications should always be compared with esthetic clinical indications and, possibly, the skeletal planning must be corrected by the esthetic needs, so that esthetic and functional success can be reached at the same time