Phenomenology-Based Ethnography:Introduction to the Special Issue

This paper describes a statistical method for evaluating the surface flaw distributions responsible for the improved strength and reliability of small-scale MEMS specimens. The method uses a power-law function, which, though empirical in form, is consistent with the conventional two-parameter Weibull distribution, to approximate the flaw size distributions on specimen tensile surfaces. The parameters in the power-law function are determined from Weibull strength plots. Literature data for single-crystal silicon beam specimens covering a range of widths from mm to nm are analyzed using this method. The analysis indicates a reduction in scatter in addition to increase in strength with diminishing specimen size, and quantifies a systematic tightening in flaw distribution associated with refinement in fabrication method and the limitations of physical sizes on flaw dimensions, which is consistent with the experimental observations. Furthermore, the implications of the increased strength and reduced strength scatter to the processing techniques and structural integrity of MEMS devices are discussed

Eyes-Free Environmental Awareness for Navigation

El-Shimy D, Grond F, Olmos A, Cooperstock JR. Eyes-Free Environmental Awareness for Navigation. Journal on Multimodal User Interfaces. 2012;5(3-4):131-141.We consider the challenge of delivering location-based information through rich audio representations of the environment, and the associated opportunities that such an approach offers to support navigation tasks. This challenge is addressed by In-Situ Audio Services, or ISAS, a system intended primarily for use by the blind and visually impaired communities. It employs spatialized audio rendering to convey the relevant content, which may include information about the immediate surroundings, such as restaurants, cultural sites, public transportation locations, and other points of interest. Information is aggregated mostly from online data resources, converted using text-to-speech technology, and ``displayed'', either as speech or more abstract audio icons, through a location-aware mobile device or smartphone. This is suitable not only for the specific constraints of the target population, but is equally useful for general mobile users whose visual attention is otherwise occupied with navigation. We designed and conducted an experiment to evaluate various techniques for delivering spatialized audio content to users via interactive auditory maps. The results of this experiment and its implications to our project are described here