Portable Tool for Finalizing Freehand Drawings : Activity Analysis and Design Requirements

Within a multidisciplinary team of designers, architects and mechanical engineers, and ergonomists, we participate in a research project (ICC) in design and creative interface. This paper describes a participative and iterative approach and reviews the results of field studies involved in the design of a portable tool for finalizing freehand drawings. The results are discussed in terms of Activity Theory and its contribution to this field.Peer reviewe

A Virtual Desktop's First evaluation for an Augmented Design Process

Many CAD tools already allow to design and directly manipulate ideas in a digital way. However, designers still use pen and paper during the early design phase of their projects. Indeed, existing CAD tools constraint creative work. There is a need for a spontaneous human computer interaction in design computing. In order to answer to this need, we develop an integrated aided design tool based on a Virtual Desktop. The designer sits in front of a classical desk where s/he can design and manipulate drawings and generated models. This paper describes the observations made during experiment about Virtual Desktop’s use by a designer. The experiment demonstrates that the immersive aspect of our system interface modifies the relationship between the designer and his/her model and, by the way, how this relation generates a new type of augmented interaction.Peer reviewe

Les habitats carolingiens de Montours et La Chapelle-Saint-Aubert (Ille-et-Vilaine)

Quatre sites ruraux du haut Moyen Âge ont été fouillés dans la région de Fougères lors des opérations d’archéologie préventive conduites de 1995 à 1997 sur le tracé de l’autoroute des Estuaires (A84). La contemporanéité de ces gisements a conduit, d’emblée, à harmoniser les problématiques et à accorder une part importante à l’approche paléoenvironnementale ainsi qu’à l’analyse du mobilier céramique. L’étude des trois ensembles d’habitats et d’un gué carolingiens laisse entrevoir une gestion organisée et dynamique des terroirs environnants (parcellaire, réseaux fossoyés, chemins, aménagement d’un fond de vallon tourbeux...) qui ont été structurés et exploités entre le XIIe et le Xe s. Parallèlement à la contribution que cette synthèse apporte à la connaissance de l’habitat et du mode de vie dans les campagnes bretonnes au haut Moyen Âge, domaine encore peu abordé par l’archéologie, les données bioarchéologiques précisent l’impact des activités agro-pastorales sur l’évolution du milieu végétal et du paysage.From 1995 to 1997, four early medieval sites were excavated in the Fougères region as part of archaeological research work carried out prior to the construction of the A84 motarway. As the sites all date from the same period, a comprehensive research plan was implemented from the outset, with special emphasis on paleo-environmental analysis and examination of pottery finds. Examination of the three Carolingian settlement sites, as well as a ford from the same period, reveals an organised, interactive approach to environmental management of the surrounding lands (land division, ditch Systems. tracks, development of a peatcovered valley floor), which were developed and systematically exploited from the 7th to 10th century. The present volume provides a significant contribution to our understanding of early medieval rural settlements in Brittany, an area of study which has hitherto received little attention from archaeologists The research is enhanced by an analysis of bio-archaeological data from the sites, showing the impact of agro-pastoral activities on the landscape and vegetation in nearby areas

Effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor and angiotensin receptor blocker initiation on organ support-free days in patients hospitalized with COVID-19

IMPORTANCE Overactivation of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) may contribute to poor clinical outcomes in patients with COVID-19. Objective To determine whether angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) initiation improves outcomes in patients hospitalized for COVID-19. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS In an ongoing, adaptive platform randomized clinical trial, 721 critically ill and 58 non–critically ill hospitalized adults were randomized to receive an RAS inhibitor or control between March 16, 2021, and February 25, 2022, at 69 sites in 7 countries (final follow-up on June 1, 2022). INTERVENTIONS Patients were randomized to receive open-label initiation of an ACE inhibitor (n = 257), ARB (n = 248), ARB in combination with DMX-200 (a chemokine receptor-2 inhibitor; n = 10), or no RAS inhibitor (control; n = 264) for up to 10 days. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was organ support–free days, a composite of hospital survival and days alive without cardiovascular or respiratory organ support through 21 days. The primary analysis was a bayesian cumulative logistic model. Odds ratios (ORs) greater than 1 represent improved outcomes. RESULTS On February 25, 2022, enrollment was discontinued due to safety concerns. Among 679 critically ill patients with available primary outcome data, the median age was 56 years and 239 participants (35.2%) were women. Median (IQR) organ support–free days among critically ill patients was 10 (–1 to 16) in the ACE inhibitor group (n = 231), 8 (–1 to 17) in the ARB group (n = 217), and 12 (0 to 17) in the control group (n = 231) (median adjusted odds ratios of 0.77 [95% bayesian credible interval, 0.58-1.06] for improvement for ACE inhibitor and 0.76 [95% credible interval, 0.56-1.05] for ARB compared with control). The posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitors and ARBs worsened organ support–free days compared with control were 94.9% and 95.4%, respectively. Hospital survival occurred in 166 of 231 critically ill participants (71.9%) in the ACE inhibitor group, 152 of 217 (70.0%) in the ARB group, and 182 of 231 (78.8%) in the control group (posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitor and ARB worsened hospital survival compared with control were 95.3% and 98.1%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE In this trial, among critically ill adults with COVID-19, initiation of an ACE inhibitor or ARB did not improve, and likely worsened, clinical outcomes. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT0273570

Le papier dans les environnements virtuels pour l’architecture : Quels supports pour un traitement digital de l’information?

peer reviewedEn architecture, le support papier est présent dans différentes activités et, malgré la prégnance de l’informatique dans tous les domaines, il reste l’outil privilégié de l’architecte pour réaliser ses relevés ou ses premières esquisses de conception. Les caractéristiques du papier-crayon, comme sa maniabilité ou sa faculté à supporter la créativité par l’ambiguïté et l’imprécision des traits, en font un outil incontournable. Dans le cadre du développement d’interfaces-esquisse basées sur une technologie à stylo et dont l’objectif principal est d’apporter des aides dans les phases de relevé et dans les premières phases de conception, nous nous intéressons à la question du support : est-il possible d’utiliser un papier satisfaisant aux caractéristiques essentielles du papier traditionnel, et qui serait un support pour un traitement digital de l’information ? Nous nous intéressons aux questions d’usage et envisageons les différents types de papiers virtuels en regard des différentes situations de travail que rencontre l’architecte

Premières évaluation d’un Bureau Virtuel pour un processus de conception augmenté

peer reviewedBeaucoup d’outils CAO prétendent déjà créer et manipu-ler directement des idées de manière digitale. Pourtant, les concepteurs utilisent encore la technique du papier-crayon dans les premières phases de conception de leurs projets. En effet, les outils CAO existants contraignent la créativité par un encodage fastidieux et une rigueur de traits qui laissent peu de place à l’ambiguïté. Une inte-raction plus spontanée entre l’homme et l’ordinateur est nécessaire en conception assistée. Pour répondre à ce be-soin, nous avons développé un outil d’aide à la concep-tion intégré, basé sur un Bureau Virtuel : le concepteur est assis devant un bureau traditionnel et peut créer et manipuler les dessins et des modèles générés à partir de ces derniers. Cet article décrit nos observations d’un concepteur lors d’une expérience sur l’utilisation du Bu-reau Virtuel. Cette expérience montre que les aspects immersifs de notre système modifient la relation entre le concepteur et son modèle et, de ce fait, génèrent un nou-veau type d’interaction augmentée.Many CAD tools already allow to create and manipulate directly ideas in a digital way. However, designers still use the pen and paper technique during the early design phase of their projects. Indeed, existing CAD tools con-straint the creative work. There is a need for a sponta-neous human computer interaction in design computing. In order to answer to this need, we develop an integrated aided design tool based on an Virtual Desktop. The de-signer sits in front of a classical desktop where s/he can create and manipulate drawings and generated models. The paper relates the observations made from an ex-periment about the use of the Virtual Desktop by a de-signer. That experiment demonstrates that the immersive aspect of our system interface modifies the relation exist-ing between the designer and his/her model and, this way, its generates a new type of augmented interaction