Construction of UEQ+ scales for voice quality: measuring user experience quality of voice interaction

The UEQ+ is a modular framework for the construction of UX questionnaires. The researcher can pick those scales that fit his or her research question from a list of 16 available UX scales. Currently, no UEQ+ scales are available to allow measuring the quality of voice interactions. Given that this type of interaction is increasingly essential for the usage of digital products, this is a severe limitation of the possible products and usage scenarios that can be evaluated using the UEQ+. We describe in this paper the construction of three specific scales to measure the UX of voice interactions. Besides, we discuss how these new scales can be combined with existing UEQ+ scales in evaluation projects

Defining Haptic Experience: Foundations for Understanding, Communicating, and Evaluating HX

Haptic technology is maturing, with expectations and evidence that it will contribute to user experience (UX). However, we have very little understanding about how haptic technology can influence people’s experience. Researchers and designers need a way to understand, communicate, and evaluate haptic technology’s effect on UX. From a literature review and two studies – one with haptics novices, the other with expert hapticians – we developed a theoretical model of the factors that constitute a good haptic experience (HX). We define HX and propose its constituent factors: design parameters of Timeliness, Density, Intensity, and Timbre; the cross-cutting concern of Personalization; usability requirements of Utility, Causality, Consistency, and Saliency; and experiential factors of Harmony, Expressivity, Autotelics, Immersion, and Realism as guiding constructs important for haptic experience. This model will help guide design and research of haptic systems, inform language around haptics, and provide the basis for evaluative instruments, such as checklists, heuristics, or questionnaires.We acknowledge the support of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), [funding reference number 2019-06589

The Usability of E-learning Platforms in Higher Education: A Systematic Mapping Study

The use of e-learning in higher education has increased significantly in recent years, which has led to several studies being conducted to investigate the usability of the platforms that support it. A variety of different usability evaluation methods and attributes have been used, and it has therefore become important to start reviewing this work in a systematic way to determine how the field has developed in the last 15 years. This paper describes a systematic mapping study that performed searches on five electronic libraries to identify usability issues and methods that have been used to evaluate e-learning platforms. Sixty-one papers were selected and analysed, with the majority of studies using a simple research design reliant on questionnaires. The usability attributes measured were mostly related to effectiveness, satisfaction, efficiency, and perceived ease of use. Furthermore, several research gaps have been identified and recommendations have been made for further work in the area of the usability of online learning

Interfacial chemistry of Langmuir-blodgett deposited polyimide films on Si(100)

Using the Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) technique, ultrathin films of the octadecylammonium salt of polyamic acid (PACS) on (100) oriented silicon wafers with one, three and five monolayers were prepared. The imidization of the films was investigated with x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) during a stepwise heating procedure in vacuum. Significant differences in the XPS spectra indicate an incomplete polymerization of the films as a function of film thickness. It is believed that the chemical interaction at the interface between Si substrate and PACS is responsible for the incomplete polymerization of the LB film in direct contact with the substrate. From ellipsometric measurements the absolute thickness of a PACS and a polyimide layer has been determined to be 1.7 nm and 0.6nm, respectively. These measurements allow us to determine the electron mean free path for the Si2p electrons (Ek=1153 eV) of λ = 4.2±0.1 nm through these films

Substrate effects on the structure of langmuir-blodgett-monolayers of Cd arachidate using x ray absorption spectroscopy

NEXAFS (near edge X-ray absorption fine structure) spectroscopy at the C Is edge has been employed to study the molecular orientations in Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films of cadmium arachidate deposited onto various substrates, silver, hydrogen terminated silicon, and silicon oxide. In contrast to other techniques (like infrared spectroscopy) NEXAFS spectroscopy allows for a direct comparison of molecular orientations in LB films deposited on the different substrate materials and reveals that the different substrates induce strongly different structural properties of the deposited films, although preparation conditions were identical. Whereas for the Ag substrate the monolayers show a virtually perpendicular orientation of the alkyl chains with respect to the surface, tilted and/or disordered chains were found for the differently pretreated silicon substrates. Films with three or more layers, however, show virtually perpendicular orientation of the alkyl chains in the outermost layers irrespective of the substrate, indicating that substrate effects are mainly limited to the first LB layer

Fostering the Family-School Relationship with a Web-Based Application

Ponencia de la conferencia "1st International Workshop on Higher Education Learning Methodologies and Technologies Online, HELMeTO 2019; Novedrate; Italy; 6 June 2019 through 7 June 2019"This work describes the design of a Web application that allows not only the communication of families with schools but also their immersion in the learning process of their children, so they can contribute in its mediation. To develop this project, an analysis of the needs of teachers in relation to communication with families was needed. To this end, a pilot study has been carried out with 40 teachers of pre-school and primary education and a low-cost information system has been developed. The results obtained reveal that the use of this platform has been useful and effective to enhance the communication process with families and to make them participate in the teaching and learning process of their children

Interphase orientation of polyimide on polycrystalline gold, silver and Si(100)

In this paper we present experimental data that can be used to infer the structural parameters of ultrathin polyimide films as a function of distance from the substrate surface. The polyimide films are prepared by the Langmuir‐Blodgett technique in a layer‐by‐layer fashion, and the orientation of the pyromellitimide unit in the polyimide macromolecules is determined as a function of film thick‐ness by near‐edge x‐ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy. To demonstrate that the interfacial bond determines the orientation of the polymer chains in the interphase, results for polyimide on gold, silver and Si(100) are compared.</p