Rozprawy doktorskie na temat „Mac users”

The area of mental health distress is one that crosses many disciplines including; psychiatry, critical psychiatry, psychology, critical psychology, history, politics, economics, philosophy, sociology, culture and human geographies (Thrift, 2006). Consequently, there are a complex set of issues to consider when discussing the experiences of being a mental health service user. Notwithstanding this diversity, such representations of mental health have a tendency to position service users as a fairly homogenous and static group of bodies – in other words, they are the stable ‘other’ (Conradson, 2005; Parr, 2000). As a way of exploring the complexity, this thesis sets out to explore the multiplex constituents and heterogeneous ways in which daily service user life is played out within everyday mental health spatial contexts. These spaces incorporate the psychiatric institution, the mental health day centre and the home. Using interviews, ethnography, poetry and visual ethnographies, service users’ experiences are analysed by exploring the relational aspects of the discursive and the non-discursive, such as receiving a diagnostic label and subsequent treatments and the ways in which these practices permeate the embodied and spatial experiences of every day service user life. This corpus of research data suggests that rather than the experiences of mental health distress operating as a stratified set of factors awaiting analysis, there were divergent accounts incorporating positivity, negativity and ambivalence in the ways which service users made meanings of their daily lives (Brown & Tucker, 2010). Consequently, this thesis is framed around the ontological realms of creativity, potentiality and of becoming within and through space (Deleuze & Guattari, 2004; Massumi, 2002). Finally, some implications of the current political changes and how these may impact upon daily service user life are discussed to highlight that mental health service users’ are always on the move.

Innovative improvements in the area of Human-Computer Interaction and User Interfaces have en-abled intuitive and effective applications for a variety of problems. On the other hand, there has also been the realization that several real-world optimization problems still cannot be totally auto-mated. Very often, user interaction is necessary for refining the optimization problem, managing the computational resources available, or validating or adjusting a computer-generated solution. This thesis investigates how humans can help optimization methods to solve such difficult prob-lems. It presents an interactive framework where users play a dynamic and important role by pro-viding hints. Hints are actions that help to insert domain knowledge, to escape from local minima, to reduce the space of solutions to be explored, or to avoid ambiguity when there is more than one optimal solution. Examples of user hints are adjustments of constraints and of an objective function, focusing automatic methods on a subproblem of higher importance, and manual changes of an ex-isting solution. User hints are given in an intuitive way through a graphical interface. Visualization tools are also included in order to inform about the state of the optimization process. We apply the User Hints framework to three combinatorial optimization problems: Graph Clus-tering, Graph Drawing and Map Labeling. Prototype systems are presented and evaluated for each problem. The results of the study indicate that optimization processes can benefit from human interaction. The main goal of this thesis is to list cases where human interaction is helpful, and provide an ar-chitecture for supporting interactive optimization. Our contributions include the general User Hints framework and particular implementations of it for each optimization problem. We also present a general process, with guidelines, for applying our framework to other optimization problems.

Innovative improvements in the area of Human-Computer Interaction and User Interfaces have en-abled intuitive and effective applications for a variety of problems. On the other hand, there has also been the realization that several real-world optimization problems still cannot be totally auto-mated. Very often, user interaction is necessary for refining the optimization problem, managing the computational resources available, or validating or adjusting a computer-generated solution. This thesis investigates how humans can help optimization methods to solve such difficult prob-lems. It presents an interactive framework where users play a dynamic and important role by pro-viding hints. Hints are actions that help to insert domain knowledge, to escape from local minima, to reduce the space of solutions to be explored, or to avoid ambiguity when there is more than one optimal solution. Examples of user hints are adjustments of constraints and of an objective function, focusing automatic methods on a subproblem of higher importance, and manual changes of an ex-isting solution. User hints are given in an intuitive way through a graphical interface. Visualization tools are also included in order to inform about the state of the optimization process. We apply the User Hints framework to three combinatorial optimization problems: Graph Clus-tering, Graph Drawing and Map Labeling. Prototype systems are presented and evaluated for each problem. The results of the study indicate that optimization processes can benefit from human interaction. The main goal of this thesis is to list cases where human interaction is helpful, and provide an ar-chitecture for supporting interactive optimization. Our contributions include the general User Hints framework and particular implementations of it for each optimization problem. We also present a general process, with guidelines, for applying our framework to other optimization problems.

Video game developers have implemented multiple measures to combat piracy throughout history. One of these measures, defined in this study as in-game anti-piracy measures, prevents player progression on unauthorized copies by degrading gameplay or drastically increasing the difficulty.This study conducts a content analysis research on textual data gathered from the world wide web to assess the public perception in regards to this type of anti-piracy measures. The data gathered for this study consists of 425 statements in the form of comments and forum posts that have been coded, divided into themes and then analyzed inductively to generate findings that can be linked to Moshirnia’s (2012) previous research.Even though no clear results occurred that can confirm Moshirnia’s (2012) findings, this study has discovered a potential connection between in-game anti-piracy measures promoting piracy. The findings also suggest that the unique “broke features” might lead to the popularization of games modded to let legitimate users experience them too.

Thesis (M.S. in Systems Engineering)--Naval Postgraduate School, March 2009.
Thesis Advisor(s): Green, John M. "March 2009." Description based on title screen as viewed on April 23, 2009. Author(s) subject terms: Architecture, architecture framework, DoDAF, JCIDS, requirements, systems engineering Includes bibliographical references (p. 105-111). Also available in print.

The ever increasing demand of our information society for reliable Geographic Information (GI) is the moving power for the development and maintenance of Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDI). Consequently, an SDI works to full benefit of its users if the SDI data collection is accessible and can be efficiently used by all users in spatial problem solving and decision-making. Current development and use of SDI focuses on handling geospatial data entirely by means of information technology. Thereby, low awareness seems to be paid to a user-friendly and understandable presentation of geospatial data. Based on the understanding that GI is the result of human geospatial information processing, it is argued that cartography is essential in the SDI context in order to achieve the objectives of SDI. Specifically, the thesis aimed at exploring the concept of user-oriented map design in relation to SDI and elaborating a methodology for creating effective cartographic representations for SDI relevant user types. First of all, the SDI concept, its objectives and principles are explored using the example of the current European SDI initiatives as to the human aspect of an SDI. Secondly, in order to determine the role and task of cartography in the SDI context, the conceptual framework of contemporary cartography is reviewed to provide the theoretical and technological framework for a user-oriented map design. Given this, the SDI environment is assessed in relation to cartography with respect to the services providing access to the SDI data collection. Further, an SDI map production framework is elaborated utilising Spiess’ concept of the graphic filter as a model for the transformation of SDI data into useful cartographic representations. Besides, the map design strategy by Grünreich provides the starting point for developing the process of map production. The main tasks are detailed and justified taking into consideration the semiotic-cognitive and action-related concepts underpinning contemporary cartography. The applied research encompasses a case study which is performed to implement and, thus, evaluate the proposed methodology. It starts from a use case scenario where an international spatial planning team requires getting familiar with the overall geographic characteristics of a European cross-border area. Following the process steps of user-oriented map design in the SDI environment, a map design specification is elaborated and implemented under real world conditions. The elaborated methodology for creating user-friendly and understandable cartographic representations of geospatial data in the SDI environment is based on theoretical and technological foundation of contemporary cartography. Map design in the SDI context, first of all, means to establish a graphic filter that determines the parameters and rules of the cartographic transformation process to be applied. As both an applied art and engineering the design of the graphic filter is a creative process developing a map design solution which enables SDI users to easily produce their map. It requires on the one hand an understanding of map use, map user and map use situation, and on the other hand insight into the data used as the source. The case study proves that the elaborated methodology is practicable and functional. Cartographic reverse engineering provides a systematic and pragmatic approach to the cartographic design task. This way, map design solutions can be built upon existing cartographic experience and common traditions as suggested by the INSPIRE recommendation for portrayal. The resulting design solution constitutes a prototype of a European Reference Map at medium scale built upon existing cartographic experience and common traditions. A user-friendly, understandable and comparable presentation of geospatial data in Europe would support the human and institutional potential for cross-border cooperation and collaboration. Besides that, the test implementation shows that tools are available which make it technically feasible and viable to produce a map from geospatial data in the SDI data collection. The research project raises awareness to the human aspect of SDI inherit in its objective to support end users to derive GI and knowledge from the geospatial data gathered in the SDI data collection. The role and task of cartography in the SDI context is to contribute to the initiation, creation, and maintenance of portrayal services to facilitate a comprehensive access to the underlying geospatial data by means of a user-friendly and understandable graphic interface. For cartography to take effect in the SDI development and use, cartographic design knowledge has to be made explicit and operational. It is the responsibility of cartographic professionals to prepare the map design. The wide range of map use contexts requires a great flexibility of design variants depending on the dimension of human-map interaction. Therefore, the design of the maps needs to be user-driven to enable an efficient map use in the user’s task. Besides their function as a graphic interface, maps facilitate a common understanding of the depicted geographic features and phenomena when sharing GI between SDI users. In other words, map design can be regarded a measure to establish interoperability of geospatial data beyond the technical level. The research work is in the scope of communication cartography, a research domain seeking to deepen the understanding of the role of cartographic expressions when understanding and communication of GI is involved
Der wachsende Bedarf unserer Wissensgesellschaft an zuverlässigen Informationen über räumliche Strukturen und Sachverhalte ist die treibende Kraft bei Aufbau und Einsatz von Geodateninfrastrukturen (GDI). Eine Geodateninfrastruktur wirkt zum vollen Nutzen der Gesellschaft, wenn die Daten in der GDI zugänglich sind und effektiv für Erkenntnis- und Entscheidungsprozesse genutzt werden können. Die gegenwärtige Entwicklung von GDI setzt auf moderne Informationstechnologien bei der Geodatenverarbeitung. Dabei, wird einer bedarfsgerechten und nutzerfreundlichen Präsentation von Geodaten in ansprechender visueller Form wenig Aufmerksamkeit zuteil. Da Geoinformation erst durch die Interaktion des Nutzers mit den Geodaten entsteht, ist es Aufgabe der Kartographie, bedarfsgerechte Kartendarstellungen zu gestalten und an der Schnittstelle zwischen einer Geodateninfrastruktur und ihren Nutzern bereitzustellen. Ziel der vorliegenden Dissertation ist es, eine Methodik für den Kartenherstellungsprozess in einer GDI-Umgebung zu entwickeln und beispielhaft zu erproben. Zunächst, werden Konzept, Ziele und Prinzipien von Geodateninfrastruktur beispielhaft anhand der Europäischen GDI-Initiativen dargestellt und hinsichtlich des Bedarfs an kartographischen Darstellungen untersucht. Danach wird, ausgehend von der Forderung nach verständlichen und gut interpretierbaren Geoinformationen, die Rolle der Kartographie im GDI-Kontext bestimmt. Dabei werden zunächst Funktion und Aufgaben der Kartographie sowie die tragenden Konzepte und Grundlagen einer nutzerorientierten Kartengestaltung dargelegt. Der Vergleich der bestehenden Geodatenzugangsdienste zur Funktion der Kartographie ergibt eine Lücke, die es zu schließen gilt, um den Nutzeranforderungen gerecht zu werden. Dazu wird der Gesamtprozess für die Herstellung von Karten im GDI-Kontext beschrieben. In diesem Prozess kommt dem Graphikfilter von Spiess (2003) besondere Bedeutung als Modell eines wissensbasierten Systems zur Aufstellung und Umsetzung von kartographischen Gestaltungsregeln zu. Den Ausgangspunkt für die Ausarbeitung der Teilprozesse bieten die von Grünreich (2008) vorgeschlagenen Teilaufgaben der Kartographie im Rahmen der GDI. Mittels eines Anwendungsfalls im Europäischen Kontext wird der vorgeschlagene Gesamtprozess erprobt. Dieses Beispiel geht davon aus, dass eine internationale Planungsgruppe im Zuge der Konzeption einer grenzüberschreitenden Verkehrsverbindung eine anschauliche Beschreibung der Landschaft in Form einer einheitlich gestalteten und flächendeckenden Karte benötigt. Durch Anwendung des kartographischen Reverse Engineering anerkannt gut gestalteter Karten werden die Vorgaben für die Kartengestaltung ermittelt. Einschließlich der Anwendung auf konkrete GDI-Daten wird der zuvor entwickelte Herstellungsprozess ausgeführt und diskutiert. Die entwickelte Methodik für den Kartenherstellungsprozess in der GDI-Umgebung basiert auf den semiotisch-kognitiven und handlungstheoretischen Konzepten der modernen Kartographie. Kartengestaltung im Kontext von Geodateninfrastrukturen bedeutet die Entwicklung eines Graphikfilters, der eine optimale bedarfsgerechte Visualisierung der Geodaten mittels nutzerspezifischer Parameter und Gestaltungsregeln ermöglicht. Wie das Fallbeispiel zeigt, ist es die durch die entwickelte Methodik möglich, brauchbare und nützliche Kartendarstellungen zu gestalten. Die Anwendung des kartographischen Reverse Engineering erlaubt es, Kartendarstellungen zu entwickeln, die - wie von INSPIRE empfohlen - bewährten kartographischen Erfahrungen und allgemeinen Traditionen entsprechen. Das Ergebnis des Anwendungsfalls ist ein Prototyp einer Europäischen Referenzkarte im Maßstab 1: 250,000. Die einheitliche und somit vergleichbare Darstellung über Grenzen hinweg unterstützt das Planungsteam in seiner Arbeit. Die praktische Umsetzung der Karte zeigt zudem, dass funktionsfähige Werkzeuge und Technologien für die regelbasierte Kartenherstellung aus GDI-Daten vorhanden sind. Die Dissertation trägt dazu bei, das Bewusstsein für den menschlichen Aspekt der Nutzung einer Geodateninfrastruktur zu schärfen. Der Beitrag der Kartographie zur Nutzung der Geodaten einer GDI besteht in der Initiierung, Gestaltung und Pflege von Darstellungsdiensten, da die Nutzbarkeit der Geodaten am besten gewährleistet ist, wenn die Gestaltungsmethoden der Kartographie angewendet werden. Dabei liegt es in der Verantwortung der Kartographen, die nutzerseitigen Aspekte dieser graphischen Schnittstelle unter Berücksichtigung der modernen kartographischen Konzepte zu betreuen. Gemäß INSPIRE-Richtlinie werden auf Karten gestützte Informationen bei zahlreichen Tätigkeiten verwendet. Für eine effektive visuelle Informationsverarbeitung durch den Nutzer ist daher eine nutzerorientierte Kartengestaltung in Abhängigkeit von der geplanten Interaktion (z.B. Kommunikation oder Analyse) unerlässlich. Neben der Funktion als Schnittstelle machen kartographische Darstellungen räumliche Strukturen verständlich. Daher ist die Kartenherstellung im GDI-Kontext eine Maßnahme, um Interoperabilität von Geodaten über die technische Ebene hinaus auf menschlicher Ebene zu ermöglichen. Die Relevanz dieser Forschungsarbeit liegt im Bereich der Kommunikationskartographie, die die Effektivität und Verbindlichkeit der Kommunikation über räumliche Strukturen und Sachverhalte zu vertiefen sucht

This exegesis presents a selection of my published work of the last twenty years as original research into the uses of mapping in design practice and criticism. The argument springs from three understandings of the term ‘mapping’: as a practical term, denoting the practice of map-­‐making and visualisation, as a relational term, describing the discourse-­‐driven approach to design writing and criticism advocated here, and as a reflexive term, describing a process of situated self-­‐reflection. While a substantial part of my work published since the book Else/Where: Mapping (Abrams and Hall, 2006) covers mapping and visualisation outcomes as its subject matter, my interest in mapping as a research method extends the scope beyond things that look like diagrams and maps. Of particular relevance is the use of mapping to denote the designerly methods of framing, selecting, connecting and arranging causal relationships in the service of uncovering new possibilities. When informed by psychogeographic traditions, the map-­‐maker does not pretend to detached omniscience, but is implicated the relational structure developed. Each mapping, whether its output is visual or textual, is a formative iteration. In this sense, this exegesis is also a mapping of my critical development, tracing the passage of design writing from the reporting methods learned on trade magazines to more critical methods of design research and analysis.
Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy by Publication (PhD)
Queensland College of Art
Arts, Education and Law
Full Text

This dissertation is composed of two independent studies: Cellular research and WBAN (Wireless Body Area Network) research. Both investigations are directed towards improving the system performance in wireless communication systems in terms of Quality of Service (QoS) and system capacity. For the Cellular research part, this dissertation will present novel user-specific QoS requirements as defined by their respective Mean Opinion Score (MOS) formulas, and associated schedulers for wireless applications and systems that optimize spectral allocation. User-specific QoS requirements are defined and several methods to make use of such requirements to maximum the spectral utilization are presented. Five User-Specific QoS Aware (USQA) schedulers are proposed that consider the user-specific QoS requirements in the allocation of spectral resources. Schedulers are introduced that dynamically adapt to the user-specific QoS requirements to improve quality as measured by the MOS, or the system capacity, or can improve both the quality and system capacity. Due to the different cell deployment arrangements and inter-cell interference in heterogeneous networks in comparison to homogeneous networks, the USQA scheduling is also analyzed and the system performance is evaluated in such networks. Throughput improvements of File Transfer Protocol (FTP) applications benefiting from the rate adaptation and MAC (Media Access Control) scheduling algorithms for video applications that incorporate user-specific QoS requirements to improve system capacity are demonstrated. Another novel approach recognizes that the user-specific frequency sensitivity can be used to improve capacity. There is considerable variation in the audible range of frequencies that can be perceived by individuals, especially at the high frequency end, which is primarily affected by a gradual decline with age. This can be utilized to improve the system performance by personalizing the VoIP codecs and decreasing the user's source data rate for people from an older age group and thus increase the system capacity. Given the potentially substantial system performance gain resulting from the USQA schedulers, it is critical to analyze their feasibility and complexity in practical LTE (4G cellular) and future wireless systems. From the LTE system perspective, LTE QoS end-to-end signaling procedures are addressed, and corresponding protocol adaptations are analyzed in order to support the USQA schedulers. In addition, the optimal scheduling period is analyzed that trades off between performance gain and implementation complexity. In the WBAN research, MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) in vivo antenna technologies are introduced and are motivated by the high data rate requirements of wirelessly transmitted low-delay High Definition (HD) video during Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS). MIMO in vivo technologies are proposed to be used in the in vivo environments to enhance and determine the maximum data transmission rate while satisfying the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) power limitations. Various factors are considered in the MIMO in vivo study including antenna separation, antenna angular positions, human body size, and system bandwidth to determinate the maximum data rate that can be supported.

Thematic tourist maps provide users with a tangible geographic route to their travel destinations and also may contain a wide variety of additional information to enhance traveler experiences. Unlike other types of maps that focus on accurate topographic representation of an area or on depiction of spatial data, tourist maps should be specifically constructed to appeal directly to the end-user. Toward that end, this research developed and implemented a model to incorporate user opinion on content, levels of detail, and labeling conventions during the process of designing and creating a wine tourism map for southwest Virginia. Over 700 (total) wine tourists completed brief questionnaires during five distinct phases of data collection and map modeling. At each point, we incorporated user input into map design for the preceding phase, and a final assessment surveyed tourist attitude of the finished product. Interestingly, surveys indicated a propensity for users to highly rank the idea of more and more detailed content data, as well as high levels of spatial detail, but when presented with the corresponding maps, they tended to favor a cleaner more simplified display. This finding underscores our conclusion that while user input is critical for developing successful tourist maps, cartographic training and skill is still required to achieve a quality product. Overall, the final map incorporating user input received overwhelmingly positive user reviews when compared to existing regional maps indicating that our iterative method of seeking user input at various stages of map development was successful, and facilitated creation of an improved product.
Master of Science

In our society multiple hierarchies exist when it comes to bodies. These hierarchies find their way to many fields of our daily life, including map applications (apps) and while places are becoming more inclusive, most of them are still tailored to a more “normal” user. In this explorative design thesis, I intend to explore different perceptions of the city and maps from the position of a wheelchair user by bringing multidisciplinary practices in Interaction Design field and through several design concepts. The thesis will follow the principles of Research-through-Design and will be supported with research in pluriversal design, phenomenology and norm creative innovation. It will explore the notion of “value” through different encounters between bodies and maps.

In this thesis, we present an innovative and novel approach to personalise maps/geo-spatial services for mobile users. With the proposed map personalisation approach, only relevant data will be extracted from detailed maps/geo-spatial services on the fly, based on a user’s current location, preferences and requirements. This would result in dramatic improvements in the legibility of maps on mobile device screens, as well as significant reductions in the amount of data being transmitted; which, in turn, would reduce the download time and cost of transferring the required geo-spatial data across mobile networks. Furthermore, the proposed map personalisation approach has been implemented into a working system, based on a four-tier client server architecture, wherein fully detailed maps/services are stored on the server, and upon a user’s request personalised maps/services, extracted from the fully detailed maps/services based on the user’s current location, preferences, are sent to the user’s mobile device through mobile networks. By using open and standard system development tools, our system is open to everyday mobile devices rather than smart phones and Personal Digital Assistants (PDA) only, as is prevalent in most current map personalisation systems. The proposed map personalisation approach combines content-based information filtering and collaborative information filtering techniques into an algorithmic solution, wherein content-based information filtering is used for regular users having a user profile stored on the system, and collaborative information filtering is used for new/occasional users having no user profile stored on the system. Maps/geo-spatial services are personalised for regular users by analysing the user’s spatial feature preferences automatically collected and stored in their user profile from previous usages, whereas, map personalisation for new/occasional users is achieved through analysing the spatial feature preferences of like-minded users in the system in order to make an inference for the target user. Furthermore, with the use of association rule mining, an advanced inference technique, the spatial features retrieved for new/occasional users through collaborative filtering can be attained. The selection of spatial features through association rule mining is achieved by finding interesting and similar patterns in the spatial features most commonly retrieved by different user groups, based on their past transactions or usage sessions with the system.

Introduction Professional peer support is an increasingly utilised service within health services and a means by which the government’s policies on recovery, personalisation and self-care can be implemented. Peer support workers are being employed at an increasing rate yet the evidence for their clinical and cost-effectiveness is uncertain. This may be due to the relatively low quality research conducted this far, combined with a lack of empirically validated studies exploring how peer support work may work. Service-user perspectives have also been neglected within the research literature, which is somewhat surprising given peer support's roots in personal recovery. There have been a number of psychological theories proposed to explain the mechanisms of peer support but these lack empirical validation and specificity to professional peer support. Objectives The specific objectives of this research project were to explore service-users’ accounts of professional peer support work; to relate findings from these accounts to extant theory; and based on these findings the ultimate objective was to develop a theory that contributes to explaining the relationship developed within peer support work. Design Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with ten service-users who were currently, or had previously, engaged with a professional peer support worker. Methods Ethical and Research and Development approval was attained prior to the commencement of the study. Constructivist grounded theory was used from the formulation of research question through to analysis and development of the theory. Results Three overarching themes were constructed from the data. 'The process of disclosure’ describes how disclosure of mental health difficulties, experiences as a service-user and wider disclosure about life experiences, interests and values facilitate the development of a shared identity and an in-group identity with the peer support worker.

Mobile Augmented Reality (MAR) is an emerging technology that, when done right, can offer the users a rich experience. However, as with most emerging technologies, it is primarily technology-driven, often leaving the user needs aside. In this study a sensor-based MAR prototype was developed and evaluated, following a User-Centered Design process. The prototype visualized a future building in the city of Stockholm, Sweden. However, sensors in today’s smartphones are not perfect, which is a problem when used as tracking method to augment 3D-content. Also, developing a MAR experience includes some challenges and issues that need to be addressed in order to develop a good experience for the user. One of those challenges is to test and validate ideas at an early stage of the development. Usually when following a User-Centered Design process, prototyping is a useful tool for testing and validating. Though, even the simplest MAR experience requires an advanced infrastructure, which is expensive and time-consuming to develop. In this study both the inherited problems of smartphone sensors and the challenges regarding MAR development were taken into account during the development. To counteract these problems, cleverly designed functions were implemented. To evaluate the final version of the prototype, a user test was conducted in an urban environment. The most important lessons learned during this study were that today’s smartphones do not provide robust and accurate sensor data in an urban environment. Resulting in incorrect placement and flickering of the augmented 3D-object. Also, the functions that were developed to counteract these problems helped in some degree, indicating the potential of overcoming hardware problems with cleverly designed functions. Last, using existing AR framework to produce an interactive and AR-enabled prototype, to a low cost and relatively fast, proved successful.
Mobil förstärkt verklighet (Mobile Augmented Reality, eller MAR) är en teknik på frammarsch som utvecklas i snabb takt. MAR har möjligheten att leverera en rik upplevelse till användaren. Dock är utvecklingen av MAR, likt de flesta tekniker under snabb utveckling, teknikdriven vilket ofta medför att användarens behov glöms bort. I denna studie står användaren i fokus när en sensorbaserad MAR-prototyp utvecklas och utvärderas. Allt detta sker med hjälp utav en användarcentrerad designprocess och prototypen används för att visualisera en kommande byggnad i Stockholm, Sverige. Vid utveckling av en sensorbaserad MAR-upplevelse står man inför ett flertal utmaningar och problem som alla behöver adresseras för att kunna leverera en bra upplevelse till användaren. Dels finns hårdvaruproblem så som att sensorer i dagens smartphones är långt ifrån perfekta, detta medför problematik i placeringen utav 3D-objekt som baseras på sensordata. En annan utmaning är att testa och validera idéer i ett tidigt skede av utvecklingen. Vanligtvis när man följer en användarcentrerad designprocess är tidiga prototyper ett användbart verktyg för testning och validering. Dock kräver även den enklaste MAR-upplevelsen en avancerad infrastruktur, som är både dyr och tidskrävande att utveckla. I denna studie tas dessa problem och utmaningar i beaktning redan i ett tidigt utvecklingsstadium. Väldesignade funktioner utvecklas för att motverka och minska inverkan utav dessa problem. För att utvärdera den slutgiltiga prototypen utfördes ett användartest i stadsmiljö. En viktig lärdom från denna studie är att dagens smartphones inte erbjuder tillräckligt robust och precis mätning av sensordata i stadsmiljö för att leverera en bra användarupplevelse. Detta resulterade i felaktig och hoppande/skakig placering av 3D-objekt. De funktioner som utvecklades för att motverka problemen med MAR hjälpte i viss utsträckning, dessa påvisade en potential att överkomma hårdvarubrister med smarta och väldesignade funktioner. Att använda AR-ramverk för att producera interaktiva MAR-prototyper, till en låg kostnad och med relativt kort utvecklingstid, visade sig lyckat.

Det finns begränsad tillgång till pussel för personer med synfel (inklusive blinda personer). För att undersöka behovet av potentiella användare i 3D kartpussel och identifiera deras preferenser, behov och krav, användes en kvalitativ metod som på engelska kallas ”participatory design”. Projektet utfördes i Kreta och alla deltagare kom från ön. Då Icke-standardiserade subjekt användes i forskningsprojektet användes lämpliga tillgängliga metoder och kommunikationsvägar för att anpassa studien för denna grupp. Stor vikt lades ner på bakgrundsstudier, inklusive intervjuer med experter och undersökning av befintligt material inom detta ämne.  För att underlätta förståelsen av konceptet och skapa en gemensam referensram för alla deltagare gjordes funktionella 3D prototyper av  kartpussel föreställande Kreta. Prototyperna gjordes i trä, antingen tall eller MDF. Därefter organiserades fokusgrupper och intervjuer. I fokusgrupperna deltog vuxna och barn med synnedsättning. Aktiviteterna var scenariokreation, utvärdering av användarvänlighet och en enkätundersökning som fylldes in av de som kunde (personer med tillräckligt god syn).  Data som samlades analyserades med hjälp av kvalitativa och kvantitativa metoder. Resultatet av testerna visade potentiella användarvänlighetsproblem för prototyperna, de flesta relaterade till synskadade individers erfarenheter av linkande produkter. Dessutom identifierades deltagarnas preferenser och behov angående temat, storlek, material, typ av samband och andra faktorer av pusslet.  Resultaten visar att osäkerhet eller brist på bekräftelse huruvida pusselbitarna var lagda rätt eller fel var den största svårigheten bland deltagare med synnedsättning. Den mest populära metoden för låsning av pusselbitarna bland de med synnedsättning var ”fit in a frame” och ”magnets”. Majoriteten av deltagarna uppmuntrade att lägga till färger på pusslet och markera olika städer. Sex av åtta deltagare var intresserade av att köpa pussel liknande det som de testat. Av 22 icke synskadade personer svarade nio av dem att det är möjligt att de skulle köpa pusslet och elva svarade att det är väldigt möjligt att de skulle köpa tredimensionella pussel. Mer än hälften såg färger som ett tilläggselement på pusslet. De två mest populära låsningsmetoderna var ”loose contact” och ”fit in a frame”. Angående materialvalet, togs trä emot väl av både synskadade och icke-synskadade testpersoner. Träprototyper  var dock det enda tillgängliga under testet. Deltagare gav flera förslag angående temat, storlek och extra egenskaper för produkten. Det resulterade i att många idéer genererades under ”workshopen”. Utfall, problem och begränsningar relaterade till de använda metoderna diskuterades och rekommendationer för framtida studier gjordes.
There are a limited number of puzzles accessible to visually impaired people (including the blind population) and also limited 3D map-puzzles available in the market. In order to explore the interest of potential users in 3D map-puzzles and identify their preferences, needs and demands, a participatory design approach was adopted. The project took place in Crete and all participants came from the local population. Because of the non-standard population included in this research project (visually impaired people) accessible methods and means of communication had to be selected. Therefore an extensive background research was performed, including interviews with experts and a thorough study of existing knowledge and previous research in related fields.  Aiming to facilitate understanding of the concept and to provide a common point of reference for all participants, functional prototypes of a 3D map-puzzle of the island of Crete were developed and manufactured. Prototypes were made of wood, either Pine or MDF. Subsequently, focus group and interview sessions were organized. Visually impaired and sighted, adults and children, participated in these sessions which included usability testing of the prototypes, scenario creation and a questionnaire (for the sighted participants). Data collected in the conducted sessions were analyzed using qualitative and quantitative methods. The results revealed usability problems of the prototypes and provided signs of potential problems, most of them related to the use of similar products by visually impaired individuals. Additionally, preferences and needs of the participants about the theme, the size, the material, the type of connection and other elements of the puzzle, were identified. According to the findings, the most severe problem, occurring when visually impaired participants tried to assemble the puzzle, was the uncertainty or “lack of confirmation” whether pieces were assembled in the right way or not. The most popular connection types among visually impaired participants were “fit in a frame” and “magnet”. Additionally, the majority of visually impaired participants were in favor of adding colors on the puzzle and marks for the different cities. Regarding buying interest, six out of eight visually impaired participants stated that they would buy a puzzle like the one they tested. Out of the twenty-two sighted participants, nine answered that it is “possible” and eleven answered that it is “highly possible” to buy a 3D map-puzzle. More than half of the sighted participants selected colors as an additional element on the puzzle while the two most popular connection types were “loose contact” and “fit in a frame”. Regarding the material of the puzzle, wood was well accepted by both sighted and visually impaired participants. However, only prototypes made from wood were available to the participants.  Additionally, participants made various suggestions regarding the theme, the size and additional elements of a 3D puzzle. As a result, many ideas were produced during the sessions. Eventually, outcomes, problems and limitations related to the methods used during the study were discussed and recommendations for future work were made.

Web maps are today used more than ever. These are often displayed in geographical information system solutions. Web maps are often constructed in the terms of different layers where the bottom-most layer is called base map or background map. A specific kind of base maps are those that are the canvas for utility networks. These base maps can look vastly different from each other. Sometimes the base map can be overlooked. Currently there are different theories and opinions on how these base maps shall be designed and what information they shall contain. This thesis investigates a suitable base map design for utility network management and also creates some prototypes as a proof of concept. The thesis focus mostly on three factors, colour, information visualisation and symbology. This is investigated by using a user-centred design approach and comparing it to existing findings in literature and among map theories. The user-centred design process involves a case study performed with participants that work with utility networks in web map solutions. The research method is an iterative process where the participants are answering three quantitative surveys. The surveys includes prototypes which is refined for each step after analysing the participants answers. The thesis concludes that low saturated colours is good practise to enhance the network, this is both evident in literature as well as in the case study. Amount of lightness in the base map seem to be more of a opinionated matter and can highly differentiate depending on users device. Using hue is recommended to make borders between map elements more distinct. The base map shall only obtain the most relevant information and more specific information is recommended to be added through additional layers. Further studies need to be done in order to investigate the networks design and there is also a need to investigate how a map solution with several layers shall be design and how the relationships between those layers shall be constructed for utility network management

O objetivo geral deste estudo foi de identificar quais são os aspectos do design de interface de uma plataforma gratuita de ensino digital, GeekieLab, dirigida ao ENEM e adotada no Ensino Médio público da cidade de São Paulo. O método de estudo de caso único permitiu explorar aspectos da interface a partir de entrevistas e observações com os usuários, expandindo as informações e discussões teóricas do design. Baseando-se nos padrões extraídos das entrevistas, a pesquisa propôs verificar a percepção do aluno ao utilizar a plataforma. A revisão bibliográfica foi utilizada para definição do recorte da pesquisa e planejada para complementar o embasamento teórico, como também identificar as reflexões dos estudos já realizados sobre os métodos e elementos de design em recursos digitais. Autores como Ramos e Santos (2006) e Norman e Spohrer (1996) foram utilizados para a elaboração de padrões e correlações dos aspectos educacionais. No que diz respeito aos aspectos de design, utilizou-se Garret (2011) e Goodwin (2009) como base para o estudo do design de interface. Para especificidades, como os elementos de interação, utilizou-se a abordagem de Verplank (2007) e Reeves e Nass (1996). Para os elementos de informação, recorreu-se a Pettersson (2013). E para os elementos visuais, foram utilizadas as obras de Lupton e Phillips (2008). Pretende-se, com isso, contribuir para o conhecimento nas áreas de design e educação, além de apontar aspectos relevantes para tornar mais eficiente uma interface com propósito educacional.
The general objective of this study was to identify the Of the interface design of a free digital teaching platform, GeekieLab, addressed to ENEM and adopted in Public High School of Sao Paulo City. The single case study method allowed Explore aspects of the interface from interviews and observations With users, expanding information and theoretical discussions Of the design. Based on the standards drawn from the interviews, the The research proposed to verify the student\'s perception when using the platform. The literature review was used to define the Of the research and planned to complement the theoretical basis, As well as to identify the reflections of the studies already carried out About methods and design elements in digital resources. Authors such as Ramos and Santos (2006) and Norman and Spohrer (1996) Were used for the elaboration of patterns and correlations of Educational aspects. With regard to the design aspects, Garret (2011) and Goodwin (2009) were used as the basis for the study Of the interface design. For specificities, such as the elements Of interaction, we used the approach of Verplank (2007) and Reeves And Nass (1996). For the information elements, it was used Pettersson (2013). And for the visual elements, the Works by Lupton and Phillips (2008). It is intended, therefore, to contribute Knowledge in the areas of design and education, as well as Relevant aspects to make an interface more efficient. For educational purposes.

The appearance of the electrical appliances has undergone a dramatic change in many aspects since the 1920&rsquo
s. Throughout years, along with their changed appearance, the way the appliances are perceived has altered. The interface of domestic products is mainly dominated by visual elements. Undoubtedly, the domination of the visual perception in the interfaces of the appliances might cause complications in the interaction between the product and visually impaired users. In this thesis, the interaction between the electrical household appliances and visually impaired user is examined to identify the strong points in the interaction as well as any complications that may occur during the interaction. Observations were conducted with ten users to explore the interaction between the visually impaired users and three electrical domestic appliances: washing machine, vacuum cleaner and iron. The findings of the observations indicate that visually impaired users can operate their appliances, with some limitations. Yet a number of common problematic points related to the interface elements, which hinder from using their electrical appliances with full functionality, were encountered. At the end of the study, a list of design recommendations, some of which offered in the literature previously, are suggested.

American composer, author and conductor Leonard J. Lehrman (b. 1949) has spent a majority of his lifetime devoted to the scholarship on the music of Marc Blitzstein (1905-1964). Lehrman completed Blitzstein’s Idiots First in 1973, and finished his own one-act opera Karla in 1974. In an effort to honor Blitzstein, Lehrman included Karla along with Idiots First to begin the set of one-act operas to be titled Tales of Malamud. Lehrman coined the term “selective serialism” in reference to Blitzstein’s use of serial techniques representing something associated with death or something diabolical. Lehrman applies a similar technique in that he uses serialism to reference the presence of a handwritten notes that are tied to the dramatic context of the opera. This study examines Lehrman's use of serialism in Karla as it was directly influenced by Blitzstein’s use of serialism in Idiots First.

This dissertation project aims to deal with all these problems by proposing a platform to support people with reduced mobility. There are systems that deal with the problem of urban accessibility through sets of data provided by certified authorities. Such systems have the limit of not being updated in real time and do not extend the possibility of adding information to all participants. From this comes the idea of creating a new application. The application purpose is to collect information on urban accessibility from all users and guarantee, by applying the concept of crowd-sensing, a high level of data trustworthiness. To be effective in its goal, the application must be easy to use and accessible to everyone at anytime and anywhere. For this reason, the software will be developed around two must-haves that form the main basis for today's communication: Internet and smartphones.

The aim of this thesis project is to create a user interface for a web based film production project management portal. This implies creating a site map and a functionality specification based on the needs of the people working in the film production industry. The project was made on account of The Chimney Pot, a post production company in Stockholm. For the scope of this project, the research was concentrated on the part of film production that concerns The Chimney Pot, i.e. the procedures that take place after a film has been recorded. The research also focused on people working in the area of Stockholm, even if their clients and customers in other areas of Sweden and abroad were indirectly included in order for the project portal to be a usable tool in projects where these people are involved.

Before any visible results can be seen in a web production project, a range of preparation steps needs to be taken. Planning is essential if the final product shall work properly. Extensive research has to be done into the industry. In order to make the product usable, the intended users, their requirements, work procedures and environment need to be examined. Only when there are substantial results and enough knowledge about the industry, the actual implementation can start. The first step is to make a functionality specification, next a site map should be produced and the technical architecture should be specified. These are the areas that are covered in this project, but there are also recommendations about how the further development should be made. Important aspects in the next phase are to create a budget, to put together a development team and to create a graphic user interface. In the whole process the issues of usability need to be considered, i.e. efficiency, flexibility, learnability and satisfaction.

The key requirements for the project portal turned out to be speed and effectiveness. The user interface was designed to be intuitive and to be shallow, which means that the user should be able to perform any task with the least amount of mouse clicks possible. Another intention with the produced user interface is for it to be clearly divided into the four main areas that could be extracted from the user requirements. They are planning, project details, communication and file sharing. Directly after logging on to the project portal, the user should get an overview of all these areas. Other important considerations were security, version control and seamlessness. These issues demand a thorough planning of the technical architecture and this thesis provides some useful tips for the further development of the technical specification.

The ever increasing demand of our information society for reliable Geographic Information (GI) is the moving power for the development and maintenance of Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDI). Consequently, an SDI works to full benefit of its users if the SDI data collection is accessible and can be efficiently used by all users in spatial problem solving and decision-making. Current development and use of SDI focuses on handling geospatial data entirely by means of information technology. Thereby, low awareness seems to be paid to a user-friendly and understandable presentation of geospatial data. Based on the understanding that GI is the result of human geospatial information processing, it is argued that cartography is essential in the SDI context in order to achieve the objectives of SDI. Specifically, the thesis aimed at exploring the concept of user-oriented map design in relation to SDI and elaborating a methodology for creating effective cartographic representations for SDI relevant user types. First of all, the SDI concept, its objectives and principles are explored using the example of the current European SDI initiatives as to the human aspect of an SDI. Secondly, in order to determine the role and task of cartography in the SDI context, the conceptual framework of contemporary cartography is reviewed to provide the theoretical and technological framework for a user-oriented map design. Given this, the SDI environment is assessed in relation to cartography with respect to the services providing access to the SDI data collection. Further, an SDI map production framework is elaborated utilising Spiess’ concept of the graphic filter as a model for the transformation of SDI data into useful cartographic representations. Besides, the map design strategy by Grünreich provides the starting point for developing the process of map production. The main tasks are detailed and justified taking into consideration the semiotic-cognitive and action-related concepts underpinning contemporary cartography. The applied research encompasses a case study which is performed to implement and, thus, evaluate the proposed methodology. It starts from a use case scenario where an international spatial planning team requires getting familiar with the overall geographic characteristics of a European cross-border area. Following the process steps of user-oriented map design in the SDI environment, a map design specification is elaborated and implemented under real world conditions. The elaborated methodology for creating user-friendly and understandable cartographic representations of geospatial data in the SDI environment is based on theoretical and technological foundation of contemporary cartography. Map design in the SDI context, first of all, means to establish a graphic filter that determines the parameters and rules of the cartographic transformation process to be applied. As both an applied art and engineering the design of the graphic filter is a creative process developing a map design solution which enables SDI users to easily produce their map. It requires on the one hand an understanding of map use, map user and map use situation, and on the other hand insight into the data used as the source. The case study proves that the elaborated methodology is practicable and functional. Cartographic reverse engineering provides a systematic and pragmatic approach to the cartographic design task. This way, map design solutions can be built upon existing cartographic experience and common traditions as suggested by the INSPIRE recommendation for portrayal. The resulting design solution constitutes a prototype of a European Reference Map at medium scale built upon existing cartographic experience and common traditions. A user-friendly, understandable and comparable presentation of geospatial data in Europe would support the human and institutional potential for cross-border cooperation and collaboration. Besides that, the test implementation shows that tools are available which make it technically feasible and viable to produce a map from geospatial data in the SDI data collection. The research project raises awareness to the human aspect of SDI inherit in its objective to support end users to derive GI and knowledge from the geospatial data gathered in the SDI data collection. The role and task of cartography in the SDI context is to contribute to the initiation, creation, and maintenance of portrayal services to facilitate a comprehensive access to the underlying geospatial data by means of a user-friendly and understandable graphic interface. For cartography to take effect in the SDI development and use, cartographic design knowledge has to be made explicit and operational. It is the responsibility of cartographic professionals to prepare the map design. The wide range of map use contexts requires a great flexibility of design variants depending on the dimension of human-map interaction. Therefore, the design of the maps needs to be user-driven to enable an efficient map use in the user’s task. Besides their function as a graphic interface, maps facilitate a common understanding of the depicted geographic features and phenomena when sharing GI between SDI users. In other words, map design can be regarded a measure to establish interoperability of geospatial data beyond the technical level. The research work is in the scope of communication cartography, a research domain seeking to deepen the understanding of the role of cartographic expressions when understanding and communication of GI is involved.
Der wachsende Bedarf unserer Wissensgesellschaft an zuverlässigen Informationen über räumliche Strukturen und Sachverhalte ist die treibende Kraft bei Aufbau und Einsatz von Geodateninfrastrukturen (GDI). Eine Geodateninfrastruktur wirkt zum vollen Nutzen der Gesellschaft, wenn die Daten in der GDI zugänglich sind und effektiv für Erkenntnis- und Entscheidungsprozesse genutzt werden können. Die gegenwärtige Entwicklung von GDI setzt auf moderne Informationstechnologien bei der Geodatenverarbeitung. Dabei, wird einer bedarfsgerechten und nutzerfreundlichen Präsentation von Geodaten in ansprechender visueller Form wenig Aufmerksamkeit zuteil. Da Geoinformation erst durch die Interaktion des Nutzers mit den Geodaten entsteht, ist es Aufgabe der Kartographie, bedarfsgerechte Kartendarstellungen zu gestalten und an der Schnittstelle zwischen einer Geodateninfrastruktur und ihren Nutzern bereitzustellen. Ziel der vorliegenden Dissertation ist es, eine Methodik für den Kartenherstellungsprozess in einer GDI-Umgebung zu entwickeln und beispielhaft zu erproben. Zunächst, werden Konzept, Ziele und Prinzipien von Geodateninfrastruktur beispielhaft anhand der Europäischen GDI-Initiativen dargestellt und hinsichtlich des Bedarfs an kartographischen Darstellungen untersucht. Danach wird, ausgehend von der Forderung nach verständlichen und gut interpretierbaren Geoinformationen, die Rolle der Kartographie im GDI-Kontext bestimmt. Dabei werden zunächst Funktion und Aufgaben der Kartographie sowie die tragenden Konzepte und Grundlagen einer nutzerorientierten Kartengestaltung dargelegt. Der Vergleich der bestehenden Geodatenzugangsdienste zur Funktion der Kartographie ergibt eine Lücke, die es zu schließen gilt, um den Nutzeranforderungen gerecht zu werden. Dazu wird der Gesamtprozess für die Herstellung von Karten im GDI-Kontext beschrieben. In diesem Prozess kommt dem Graphikfilter von Spiess (2003) besondere Bedeutung als Modell eines wissensbasierten Systems zur Aufstellung und Umsetzung von kartographischen Gestaltungsregeln zu. Den Ausgangspunkt für die Ausarbeitung der Teilprozesse bieten die von Grünreich (2008) vorgeschlagenen Teilaufgaben der Kartographie im Rahmen der GDI. Mittels eines Anwendungsfalls im Europäischen Kontext wird der vorgeschlagene Gesamtprozess erprobt. Dieses Beispiel geht davon aus, dass eine internationale Planungsgruppe im Zuge der Konzeption einer grenzüberschreitenden Verkehrsverbindung eine anschauliche Beschreibung der Landschaft in Form einer einheitlich gestalteten und flächendeckenden Karte benötigt. Durch Anwendung des kartographischen Reverse Engineering anerkannt gut gestalteter Karten werden die Vorgaben für die Kartengestaltung ermittelt. Einschließlich der Anwendung auf konkrete GDI-Daten wird der zuvor entwickelte Herstellungsprozess ausgeführt und diskutiert. Die entwickelte Methodik für den Kartenherstellungsprozess in der GDI-Umgebung basiert auf den semiotisch-kognitiven und handlungstheoretischen Konzepten der modernen Kartographie. Kartengestaltung im Kontext von Geodateninfrastrukturen bedeutet die Entwicklung eines Graphikfilters, der eine optimale bedarfsgerechte Visualisierung der Geodaten mittels nutzerspezifischer Parameter und Gestaltungsregeln ermöglicht. Wie das Fallbeispiel zeigt, ist es die durch die entwickelte Methodik möglich, brauchbare und nützliche Kartendarstellungen zu gestalten. Die Anwendung des kartographischen Reverse Engineering erlaubt es, Kartendarstellungen zu entwickeln, die - wie von INSPIRE empfohlen - bewährten kartographischen Erfahrungen und allgemeinen Traditionen entsprechen. Das Ergebnis des Anwendungsfalls ist ein Prototyp einer Europäischen Referenzkarte im Maßstab 1: 250,000. Die einheitliche und somit vergleichbare Darstellung über Grenzen hinweg unterstützt das Planungsteam in seiner Arbeit. Die praktische Umsetzung der Karte zeigt zudem, dass funktionsfähige Werkzeuge und Technologien für die regelbasierte Kartenherstellung aus GDI-Daten vorhanden sind. Die Dissertation trägt dazu bei, das Bewusstsein für den menschlichen Aspekt der Nutzung einer Geodateninfrastruktur zu schärfen. Der Beitrag der Kartographie zur Nutzung der Geodaten einer GDI besteht in der Initiierung, Gestaltung und Pflege von Darstellungsdiensten, da die Nutzbarkeit der Geodaten am besten gewährleistet ist, wenn die Gestaltungsmethoden der Kartographie angewendet werden. Dabei liegt es in der Verantwortung der Kartographen, die nutzerseitigen Aspekte dieser graphischen Schnittstelle unter Berücksichtigung der modernen kartographischen Konzepte zu betreuen. Gemäß INSPIRE-Richtlinie werden auf Karten gestützte Informationen bei zahlreichen Tätigkeiten verwendet. Für eine effektive visuelle Informationsverarbeitung durch den Nutzer ist daher eine nutzerorientierte Kartengestaltung in Abhängigkeit von der geplanten Interaktion (z.B. Kommunikation oder Analyse) unerlässlich. Neben der Funktion als Schnittstelle machen kartographische Darstellungen räumliche Strukturen verständlich. Daher ist die Kartenherstellung im GDI-Kontext eine Maßnahme, um Interoperabilität von Geodaten über die technische Ebene hinaus auf menschlicher Ebene zu ermöglichen. Die Relevanz dieser Forschungsarbeit liegt im Bereich der Kommunikationskartographie, die die Effektivität und Verbindlichkeit der Kommunikation über räumliche Strukturen und Sachverhalte zu vertiefen sucht.

We measure the prevalence and uses of Man-in-the-Middle TLS proxies using a Flash tool deployed with a Google AdWords campaign. We generate 15.2 million certificate tests across two large-scale measurement studies and find that 1 in 250 TLS connections are intercepted by proxies. The majority of these proxies appear to be benevolent, however we identify over 3,600 cases where eight malware products are using this technology nefariously. We also find thousands of instances of negligent, duplicitous, and suspicious behavior, some of which degrade security for users without their knowledge. Distinguishing these types of practices is challenging in practice, indicating a need for transparency and user awareness. We also report the results of a survey of 1,976 individuals regarding their opinions of TLS proxies. Responses indicate that participants hold nuanced opinions on security and privacy trade-offs, with most recognizing legitimate uses for the practice, but also concerned about threats from hackers or government surveillance. There is strong support for notification and consent when a system is intercepting their encrypted traffic, although this support varies depending on the situation. A significant concern about malicious uses of TLS inspection is identity theft, and many would react negatively and some would change their behavior if they discovered inspection occurring without their knowledge. We also find that a small but significant number of participants are jaded by the current state of affairs and have lost any expectation of privacy.

Denna studie undersöker sociala mediers påverkan på människor med fokus på mat och hälsa. Med hjälp av en kvantitativ enkätstudie har vi undersökt hur och på vilket sätt de sociala medierna spelar in i hur människor äter. Fokus ligger på vilket medie människor i åldern 18 år och uppåt väljer för att få inspiration till hälsosam mat, i vilken grad sociala medier förändrat människors medvetenhet och intresse kring hälsa och mat samt huruvida den här påverkan upplevs som positiv (inspirerande) eller negativ (stress/förvirring). Resultatet visar att de sociala medierna inte tagit över som inspirationskälla då de traditionella medierna, så som tidskrifter, TV och böcker, visade sig vara vanligast för att inspireras och skaffa sig inspiration kring mat. De sociala medierna fungerar snarare som ett komplement och har större popularitet hos den yngre generationen. Vidare visar studien att sociala medier delvis bidragit till att öka medvetenhet och intresse kring mat och hälsa. Majoriteten angav att de snarare inspireras än känner stress/förvirring till de hälsobudskap kring mat som florerar på sociala medier och studien visade ett tydligt mönster att kvinnor är både mer negativt och positivt påverkade än männen.

Mobile shopper guide system consists of two parts mainly: mobile map, administrative and user portal. Mobile map consists of Vilnius city map and the points, which shows the location of the shops. Administrative and user portal supports mobile map. In the paper the analysis of documentation templates was done.During this work administrative and user portal was created and analyzed.
Mobiliojo pirkėjo gido sistema susideda iš dviejų dalių: mobilaus žemėlapio, administracinės ir kliento dalies. Mobilus žemėlapis – tai Vilniaus miesto žemėlapis su tam tikrais taškais, reiškiančiai parduotuves.Administracinė ir kliento dalis skirta mobiliam žemėlapiui palaikyti. Darbe buvo analizuojami sistemos dokumentavimo šablonai. Darbe buvo sukurta administracinė ir kliento dalis, kuri turi būti dedama į internetą. Sukurtosios sistemos dalis buvo analizuojama.

This thesis work examines how the user experience of mobile games can be evaluated with the use of session recording tools. The thesis project was carried out at the mobile games development company MAG Interactive, and the aim was to produce a workflow for the company with guidelines for how to conduct user testing with session recording tools for mobile devices. In order to evaluate the tools and services, and to develop the workflow, several user tests have been conducted. When using mobile session recording tools, it is possible to record the screen of the device, the microphone input and in some tools also the front camera input while the user is playing the game. Recording the test session makes it easier to understand and evaluate the player experience of the game and also to identify usability issues. The thesis also covers other parts necessary when conducting user testing besides the actual session recording tool. These are test set up (instructions, tasks etc.), integration, distribution of the test and the application and also analysis of the recorded test session.

This mixed-method study explored cataloger’s judgment through the presence of text as entered by catalogers for the 11 electronic resource items during the National Libraries test for Resource Description and Access (RDA). Although the literature discusses cataloger’s judgment and suggests that cataloging practice based on new cataloging code RDA will more heavily rely on cataloger’s judgment, the topic of cataloger’s judgment in RDA cataloging was not formally studied. The purpose of this study was to study the differences and similarities in the MARC records created as a part of the RDA National Test and to determine if the theory of bounded rationality could explain cataloger’s judgment based on the constructs of cognitive and temporal limits. This goal was addressed through a content analysis of the MARC records and various statistical tests (Pearson’s Chi-square, Fisher’s Exact, and Cramer’s V). Analysis of 217 MARC records was performed on seven elements of the bibliographic record. This study found that there were both similarities and differences among the various groups of participants, and there are indications that both support and refute the assertion that catalogers make decisions based on the constructs of time and cognitive ability. Future research is needed to be able to determine if bounded rationality is able to explain cataloger’s judgment; however, there are indicators that both support and refute this assertion. The findings from this research have implications for the cataloging community through the provision of training opportunities for catalogers, evaluating workflows, ensuring the proper indexing of bibliographic records for discovery, and recommended edits to RDA.

This report handles the creation of an access control map and the dening of asecurity policy for a healthcare communication system. An access control mapis a graphical way to describe the access controls of the subjects and objects ina system. We use a three step method to produce a graphical overview of theparts in the system, the interactions between them and the permissions of thesubjects. Regarding the security policy we create a read up and read down policylike the so called Ring policy, but adapt a write sideways approach. We alsoapply a mandatory access control which has a centralized authority that denesthe permissions of the subjects. Attribute restrictions is also included to thesecurity levels, to set an under limit for reading permissions.

This paper aims to show that controlled hydraulic drives, when properly considered and approached, are a technology that allows for a systematic and safe system design with regard to performance and energy efficiency. Controlled hydraulic drives are predestinated to be an indispensable alternative to electromechanical drives for many fields of application, especially against the background of Industry 4.0. But hydraulic drives will only be able to play this role if they see themselves as a part of mechatronics, speak the language of mechatronics and recognize the increasing importance of electric drives as part of the hydraulic toolbox as a chance.

Today’s societal development is not sustainable. The transportation sector has the potential role to be a tremendous lever for sustainability due to its central position in the societal structure as well as for the current unsustainable trends that occur in this system. Recommendations to public transportation providers were made by highlighting the main existing gaps between the current transportation system and an envisioned future transportation system that could exist in a sustainable society. To highlight these gaps, multiple perspectives were considered. These perspectives were enabled by e.g. User Journey Maps at the individual level and a holistic perspective over the broader urban transport system. The premise is that in order to increase use rates of public transportation, there is a need to better assess and address urban travellers' needs when commuting. For providers to have a strategic, stepwise approach and to be able to bring the public transportation system towards sustainability, the authors recommended that public transportation providers prioritize and implement future actions aligned with the three prioritization questions presented at the strategic level of the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development and by defining a criterion that would emphasize that the users’ needs of importance highlighted in the study are fulfilled.

ABSTRACT THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SOCIO ECONOMIC FACTORS AND USE CONTEXT IN PRODUCT USABILITY Karapars, Zeynep M. Sc., Department of Industrial Design Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ç
igdem Erbug April 2004, 184 pages Developments in the usability discipline have lead to new paths in new product development processes. The methods for development of usable products are abundant and the area is crescent for new research. One of the concerns in usability lies in the question of employment of user centered design in the prevailing product development processes. In this study, it is aimed to be clarified that inquiry into the use context should be an initial step in user centered design. However, use context is one of the less explored areas of usability. Detailed examinations of contextual factors may open paths to new methods of integrating usability into products. This study aims to take a step towards the analysis of the impact of socio economic factors on usability of product. A field study is made in order to acquire a deeper understanding. Samples of two different socio-economic groups are defined from the marketing perspective. Contextual factors are specified on the example of washing machines. Comparison of problems between the users from the two socio economic groups shed light on the relationship between socio economic variables and usability problems.

I detta papper, designas och utvärderas en händelsebaserad Android-applikation. MyWorld är en mobil applikation. Händelser som sker i användarens närhet kan ses på en karta. Genom arbetet används beprövade metoder för att skapa en väldefinierad design. Det tas upp problem och lösningar på designrelaterade problem i en händelsebaserad applikation. Designen utvärderas sedan genom användartester som använder mått av framgång, felsteg och tillfredställdhet. Genom en process på tre iterationer har arbetet gett applikationen en ny design som blivit mer användbar för användarna. I slutskedet finns en färdig designprototyp som är implementerad i applikationen.

Cette thèse aborde les problématiques liées à la construction de Topic Maps et à leur utilisation pour la recherche d'information dans le cadre défini par le Web sémantique (WS). Le WS a pour objectif de structurer les informations disponibles sur le Web. Pour cela, les ressources doivent être sémantiquement étiquetées par des métadonnées afin de permettre d'optimiser l'accès à ces ressources. Ces métadonnées sont actuellement spécifiées à l'aide des deux standards qui utilisent le langage XML : RDF et les Topic Maps. Un contenu à organiser étant très souvent volumineux et sujet à enrichissement perpétuel, il est pratiquement impossible d'envisager une création et gestion d'une Topic Map, le décrivant, de façon manuelle. Plusieurs travaux de recherche ont concerné la construction de Topic Maps à partir de documents textuels [Ellouze et al. 2008a]. Cependant, aucune d'elles ne permet de traiter un contenu multilingue. De plus, bien que les Topic Maps soient, par définition, orientées utilisation (recherche d'information), peu d'entre elles prennent en compte les requêtes des utilisateurs.Dans le cadre de cette thèse, nous avons donc conçu une approche que nous avons nommée ACTOM pour " Approche de Construction d'une TOpic Map Multilingue ". Cette dernière sert à organiser un contenu multilingue composé de documents textuels. Elle a pour avantage de faciliter la recherche d'information dans ce contenu. Notre approche est incrémentale et évolutive, elle est basée sur un processus automatisé, qui prend en compte des documents multilingues et l'évolution de la Topic Map selon le changement du contenu en entrée et l'usage de la Topic Map. Elle prend comme entrée un référentiel de documents que nous construisons suite à la segmentation thématique et à l'indexation sémantique de ces documents et un thésaurus du domaine pour l'ajout de liens ontologiques. Pour enrichir la Topic Map, nous nous basons sur deux ontologies générales et nous explorons toutes les questions potentielles relatives aux documents sources. Dans ACTOM, en plus des liens d'occurrences reliant un Topic à ses ressources, nous catégorisons les liens en deux catégories: (a) les liens ontologiques et (b) les liens d'usage. Nous proposons également d'étendre le modèle des Topic Maps défini par l'ISO en rajoutant aux caractéristiques d'un Topic des méta-propriétés servant à mesurer la pertinence des Topics plus précisément pour l'évaluation de la qualité et l'élagage dynamique de la Topic Map.

This thesis deals with the design and implementation of system for recording and repeating of events for audio systems. The introductory part is devoted to the study of sound systems, their user interfaces and communication protocols that are used by audio systems. Hereafter the description of essential features of Mac OS X, as well as the characteristic of its user interface and principles of development on this platform, are given. The core of the thesis consists of the design of system for recording and repeating of events and the concept of events which specifies the reprezentation of events in the system and their subsequent processing. In~the end of the thesis is presented the implementation of the designed system for Mac OS X with respect to possible extensions of the system and its features.

In this current economical environment business are looking to become more efficient to lower the costs and provide a better service. New technological advances are quickly being integrated to automate or more rapidly perform the task. Most of these technological advances are in the field of information and communication technology (ICT). Nevertheless, the introduction of technologies is not enough, as better management strategies and organization structures are needed to develop the business further. Duroc Machine Tools identified a problem within the sales and service approach, which does not employ ICT tools while communicating with the customer. Therefore, the cost per order is high and a direct one to one communication is the only approach. The project focuses on lowering the cost of each order, without decreasing the customer care and the overall quality of the service. This was firstly done by studying the possibilities of what ICT tools would be applied to enhance the communication processes. Data was collected from statistical sources to give an overall idea. Next case studies of companies within similar industries and region were performed to indicate in more detail the tools used and available. An educated guess was formulated of what ICT tools should be considered, the more infrequent or conflicting ICTs recommended were verified by interviewing employees with a demonstration of the tools application. The second stage was to analyze the organizational structure and applying lean tools to add value to the customer. A customer perspective is at the centre of this theory and several tools were used to improve the system. Finally the ICT tools were integrated with the new organizational structure to demonstrate the developments possibilities in the future vision. The study found that common ICT functions such as information upload have become essential for doing business today. Another trend that was established is that live information or user-generated approach which is a must have factor in the future ICT platform, this was mostly suggested by introducing micro-blogs. The infrequent and conflicting ICTs within the industry that were recommended were: e-commerce, order management and model driven process solving (MDP). The verification showed a strong consent within the company to apply such tools. To finish the project a strategy of implementation was formulated to guide the company towards its vision of a better system.

Une démarche pour la conception de ce type d'interfaces est proposée. Elle s'appuie sur une modélisation de la coopération entre l'opérateur et le système d'aide à la décision. Cette approche met en évidence la nécessite de résoudre les situations de conflit lorsque les démarches de résolution de problème de deux "décideurs potentiels", aboutissent à des résultats différents.

En turistbroschyr är en bekant produkt som turister kan hämta information ifrån. Men hur upplever användarna interaktionen med ett obekant navigationskoncept som vi kallar DSI i kontexten av att söka turistinformation och vad har DSI för påverkan på användarupplevelsen? Vi har utfört en studie på tio respondenter. Studien inkluderar en observation där respondenterna har fått interagera, med applikationen vi skapade med navigationskonceptet DSI, och utföra ett antal uppgifter. De har även fått utföra ett antal uppgifter på en PDF med samma innehåll men med en annan struktur. Därefter utförde vi metoden Product Reaction Cards och till sist en intervju. Vi kom fram till att det tar tid att lära sig någonting obekant som DSI men när respondenterna väl har lärt sig konceptet så har det haft en positiv påverkan på användarupplevelsen och majoritet ansåg den som användbar i kontexten av att söka turistinformation.
A tourist brochure is a familiar product that tourists collect information from. But how do users experience the interaction with an unfamiliar navigation concept we call DSI in the context of seeking tourist information and what impact does DSI have on the user experience (UX)? We conducted a study of ten respondents. The study includes an observation in which the respondents had to interact with the application we created with the navigation concept DSI, and perform a number of tasks. They also performed a number of tasks on a PDF with the same content but with a different structure. Afterwards we performed the method Product Reaction Cards and lastly an interview. We concluded that it takes time to learn something unfamiliar as DSI but when the respondents have learned the concept it turned out to have a positive impact on the user experience and the majority considered it useful in the context of seeking tourist information.

Interactive applications with 3D graphics are used everyday in a lot of different fields, such as games, teaching, learning environments and virtual reality. The scenarios showed in interactive applications usually tend to present detailed worlds and characters, being the most realistic as possible. Detailed 3D models require a lot of geometric complexity. But not always the available graphics hardware can handle and manage all this geometry maintaining a realistic frame rate. Simplification methods attempt to solve this problem, by generating simplified versions of the original 3D models. These simplified models present less geometry than the original ones. This simplification has to be done with a reasonable criterion in order to maintain as possible the appearance of the original models. But the geometry is not the only important factor in 3D models. They are also composed of additional attributes that are important for the final aspect of the models for the viewer. In the literature we can find a lot of work presented about simplification. However, there are still several points without an efficient solution. Therefore, this thesis focuses on simplification techniques for 3D models usually used in interactive applications.

Solving the road congestion problem is one of the major issues in modern cities since it causes time wasting, pollution, higher industrial costs and huge road maintenance costs. Among possible congestion avoidance methods, traffic assignment is a valuable choice since it does not involve huge investments to expand the road network. Traffic assignments are traditionally devoted to two main perspectives on which the well-known Wardropian principles are inspired : the user equilibrium (user's perspective) and the system optimum (system perspective). User equilibrium is a user-driven traffic assignment in which each user chooses the most convenient path selfishly. It guarantees that fairness among users is respected since, when the equilibrium is reached, all users sharing the same origin and destination will experience the same travel time. The main drawback in a user equilibrium is that the system total travel time is not minimized. On the other hand, the system optimum is a system-wide traffic assignment in which drivers are routed on the network in such a way the total travel time is minimized but users might experience travel times that are higher than the other users travelling from the same origin to the same destination. Thus, there are drawbacks in using one of the two assignments that can be partially overcome by applying users' fairness considerations while minimizing a system-oriented objective. In the last decade, few attempts have been done to present a users' needs and system efficiency trade-off traffic assignment with non-linear programming techniques. In this thesis linear programming models for a fair and efficient traffic assignment in congested road networks are presented.

Augmented reality (AR) has revolutionized the way people view the real world, AR has been used across a range of sectors. Recently, researchers examined the possibilities for improving user experience with augmented reality. However, there are few studies on adoption of AR users' interactions with online data resources. The aim of this study is proposing a mobile augmented reality interface for users to interact and engage with online data. The prototype is based on the framework of a PEAR (Public Engagement Augmented Reality) initiative for further AR development. PEAR framework provides an AR extension and enables users to engage with online information through AR representation [1]. This prototype was developed and implemented using Unity game engines C# and Vuforia SDK on the front-end, both NodeJS servers with MongoDB were used on the back-end. The prototype was tested and then used in a 2-week user study to analyse and validate the framework.

A partir d'une démarche axée sur le génie logiciel, l'objectif de cette thèse est d'intégrer des fonctionnalités de prototypage, favorisant le cycle de développement d'applications de surveillance. Le mémoire est divisé en cinq chapitres. Dans le premier, sont abordés les systèmes de supervision. Puis, après avoir identifié un ensemble de problèmes ergonomiques résultant de leur utilisation et de leur conception, une démarche globale de conception et évaluation développée au LAIH est décrite. Une application de supervision nécessitant de nombreux développements informatiques, les principaux modèles utilisés en génie logiciel sont ensuite abordés. La conception et l'évaluation d'un système homme-machine fait intervenir de multiples méthodes et outils issus de domaines divers. Dans ce cadre, un panorama de ces méthodes et outils fait l'objet du deuxième chapitre. Ces différents points nous conduisent à proposer une démarche axée sur le prototypage dans le troisième chapitre. Celle-ci a pour objectif d'améliorer la conception des images destinées à la supervision des procédés en fournissant un cadre méthodologique aux différents intervenants impliqués dans le cycle de développement. Dans l'objectif d'appliquer cette démarche, le quatrième chapitre décrit notre contribution à l'étude et l'intégration de fonctionnalités de prototypage dans l'atelier ATLAS (atelier logiciel pour l'animation de synoptiques). Cette recherche a été menée en collaboration avec la CSEE et 3IP. ATLAS consiste, à partir d'une description graphique du procédé, à générer des prototypes d'images. Une fois les vues graphiques évaluées et validées dynamiquement, une partie des données de prototypage est ensuite récupérée pour produire l'application définitive qui sera implantée sur le site. Enfin une première validation technique ainsi que des perspectives de recherches et de développement sont présentées dans le cinquième chapitre.

Dans le cadre de l'interaction homme-machine multimodale, le presuppose de base est que la communication humaine est multimodale et efficace, et qu'il doit donc en etre de meme pour ce cas particulier d'interaction. On peut cependant se demander si les modalites que l'on cherche a integrer dans les interfaces correspondent a une potentialite humaine, si elles peuvent etre mises en uvre par l'utilisateur, dans quelle mesure, et surtout si elles augmentent ou non l'efficacite de l'interaction. L'objectif de ce travail est donc d'etudier, par le biais de deux experiences et de leur analyse comparative avec une troisieme, le comportement d'utilisateurs potentiels d'interfaces multimodales. Nos resultats montrent, entre autres, une utilisation spontanee et simple de la multimodalite ; un apprentissage est donc necessaire pour une utilisation performante et complexe de ces nouvelles possibilites d'interaction. Nous avons pu aussi observer une interdependance entre le type de tache a realiser et l'utilisation d'une modalite ou d'une autre, ou encore l'interet de la multimodalite comme moyen de repousser les situations bloquantes.

Die Hochwasserereignisse der letzten Jahre haben Mängel bei der schnellen Verfügbarkeit des klassischen Darstellungs-, Entscheidungs- und Analyseinstruments Karte offenbart. Die Erfahrungen von 1997 und 2002 verdeutlichen, dass eine homogene digitale Datengrundlage, die neben rein topographischen zusätzlich auch fachspezifische Informationen des Hochwasserschutzes enthält, für eine effektive Bekämpfung solcher Ereignisse notwendig ist.

Mit den Daten des ,Amtlichen Topographisch-Kartographischen Informationssystems’ (ATKIS) liegen topographische Basisdaten in graphikfreier Form als digitales Landschaftsmodell (DLM) flächendeckend für die Bundesrepublik vor. Anhand der exemplarischen Ableitung von nutzerorientierten Kartenmodellen aus diesen graphikfreien Daten wurde deren Eignung für den besonderen Verwendungszweck im Rahmen eines Hochwasserschutz-Informationssystems überprüft. Als Anwendungsbeispiel wurde das Gebiet der Ziltendorfer Niederung, die während des Oder-Hochwassers 1997 überflutet wurde, gewählt.

In Expertengesprächen wurden zunächst Inhalte identifiziert, die für einen wirksamen Hochwasserschutz Relevanz besitzen; diese Inhalte wurden anschließend analog zum ATKIS-Systemdesign strukturiert und als Objekte eines separaten Objektbereichs im digitalen Fachmodell (DFM) erfasst.

Bei der Ableitung von (Bildschirm-) Karten aus den graphikfreien Daten wurden jeweils unterschiedliche Kriterien für die Basiskarte und die Fachinhalte berücksichtigt. Dabei wurden verschiedene kartographische Regeln und Gesetze mit dem Ziel der prägnanten Visualisierung und damit der eindeutigen Lesbarkeit der Karten angewendet. Beispielhaft sei hier die Schaffung einer visuellen Hierarchie zwischen Basiskarte und Fachinhalten genannt. Die besonderen Nutzungsbedingungen von Karten im Einsatzfall erfordern u.a., dass die Karten auch von Personen, die nur über geringe oder keine Erfahrung im Umgang mit Karten verfügen, schnell und einfach zu lesen sind, um so eine sichere Informationsvermittlung zu gewährleisten. Voraussetzung dafür ist einerseits die Beschränkung auf die Darstellung der wesentlichen Inhalte, andererseits die Verwendung leicht lesbarer Kartenzeichen. Aus diesem Grund wurden einheitliche Kartenzeichen zur Darstellung der Fachinhalte entwickelt, die entweder aus allgemein bekannten Symbolen, aus den im Katastrophenschutz üblicherweise verwendeten sog. taktischen Zeichen oder aus Fachzeichen des Hochwasserschutzes abgeleitet wurden.

Die entwickelten Kartenmodelle wurden abschließend in qualitativen Experteninterviews in Bezug auf ihre Qualität und Verwendbarkeit im Hochwasserschutz geprüft. Die Auswertung der Interviews ergab eine insgesamt positive Beurteilung der Karten für den Einsatz in Hochwasserschutz-Informationssystemen. Damit leistet die vorliegende Arbeit einen Beitrag zur Entwicklung von (Bildschirm-) Karten zur Unterstützung bei der Entscheidungsfindung im Katastrophenmanagement.
The flooding events of recent years have revealed shortcomings concerning the speedy availability of traditional presentation, decision-making and analysis instrument maps. The experiences of 1997 and 2002 show that a homogenous digital dataset comprising relevant information on flood control measures as well as purely topographical information is essential to effectively combat such events.

Data from the official cartographic and topographic information system (Amtliches Topographisch-Kartographisches Informationssystem - ATKIS) provide basic non-graphic topographic data as digital landscape models (DLM) for the whole of the Federal Republic of Germany. By means of the exemplary derivation of user-oriented map models from these non-graphic data, their suitability for deployment in the context of a flood protection information system was verified. The Ziltendorfer Niederung area, which was flooded by the Oder in 1997, was chosen as an example.

First of all, in expert interviews subject matter that was relevant for effective flood control was identified. This subject matter was than structured analogous to the ATKIS system design and recorded in the digital thematic model (DFM).

Different respective criteria for the basis map and specialist content were taken into account with the derivation of (screen) maps from the non-graphic data. Thereby the different cartographic rules and guidelines were used with the aim of succinct visualisation and thus clear readability of the maps. The creation of a visual hierarchy between the components basis map and specialist content is cited as exemplary here.

Maps also sometimes need to be read quickly and easily by persons who have little or no knowledge of how to do this in order to assure reliable communication of information. This is conditional on the one hand on the presentation of the intrinsic content, and on the other the use of easily readable conventional map signs. For this reason standard conventional signs for the presentation of specialist content were developed that were either derived from commonly known symbols, from so-called tactical signs commonly used in disaster control, or from specialist signs from flood control.

The developed map model was finally verified with respect to its quality and usability in flood control. Evaluation of the interviews showed an overall positive assessment of the maps for use in flood protection information systems. This paper thus contributes to the development of (screen) maps to support the decision-making processes of disaster management.

The purpose of this study was to understand boaters' adoption and usage of smartphones and mobile apps as well as to obtain their opinion on potential features of a targeted mobile app being developed as part of a broader interdisciplinary Florida Sea Grant outreach project. Data were gathered from an online survey of a sample of 164 boaters from the surrounding Central Florida area. In contrast with previous empirical mobile app studies, many respondents reported using mobile apps for information-seeking versus escape gratifications. Further more than half of the respondents' age sixty-five and over indicated using smartphones and mobile apps. These findings reflected recent national trend data showing shifting gratifications and an increase in technology use among older American adults. In regards to the planned mobile app, the study's respondents had favorable reactions to its potential features and indicated an above average intent toward downloading the app.
M.A.
Masters
Communication
Sciences
Communication; Mass Communication

Ce travail concerne l'assistance à la supervision en télérobotique. Le niveau supervision a pour rôle de déterminer la configuration du télérobot la plus adaptée à la tache à accomplir. Une approche basée sur la connaissance doit rendre le télérobot plus rapidement opérationnel pour des interventions plus complexes dans des environnements mal connus. La conception d'un tel système passe par l'étude de l'activité télérobotique et du processus de déroulement d'une mission. Une modélisation de l'activité à trois niveaux Opération, Tache et Action et un schéma de déroulement à cinq étapes Génération du plan, Raffinement, Exécution, Planification locale et Replanification sur incident sont proposés. Devant la complexité du processus de déroulement d'une mission, le rôle du système d'assistance est non seulement d'assurer l'interface avec le télérobot et d'apporter une aide à la décision, mais aussi de guider l'operateur au cours de la mission en lui soumettant les bons problèmes au bon moment. Pour mieux prendre en compte cette dernière fonction, une architecture à deux niveaux est proposée. Le premier est le niveau Planification. Il comprend les différents mécanismes permettant la mise en place et l'exécution des commandes envoyées au télérobot. La planification utilise une représentation par graphes et régles de la connaissance, et s'appuie sur des mécanismes orientes objet. Le second niveau est le niveau Métaplanification. Il détermine quel mécanisme de planification doit être mis en œuvre. La maquette logicielle réalise cette architecture à l'aide de deux « blackboards ». Le blackboard de planification contient l'état du plan, décrit selon les niveaux Opération, Tache et Action, et contrôle le télérobot. Le blackboard de Métaplanification contient l'état de la mission, décrit selon les niveaux Etapes de planification et Activite de planification, et contrôle le blackboard de planification. La simulation d'une mission à l'aide de cette maquette confirme l'intérêt des mécanismes proposés.

Cette thèse aborde les problématiques liées à la construction de Topic Maps et à leur utilisation pour la recherche d’information dans le cadre défini par le Web sémantique (WS). Le WS a pour objectif de structurer les informations disponibles sur le Web. Pour cela, les ressources doivent être sémantiquement étiquetées par des métadonnées afin de permettre d'optimiser l'accès à ces ressources. Ces métadonnées sont actuellement spécifiées à l'aide des deux standards qui utilisent le langage XML : RDF et les Topic Maps. Un contenu à organiser étant très souvent volumineux et sujet à enrichissement perpétuel, il est pratiquement impossible d’envisager une création et gestion d’une Topic Map, le décrivant, de façon manuelle. Plusieurs travaux de recherche ont concerné la construction de Topic Maps à partir de documents textuels [Ellouze et al. 2008a]. Cependant, aucune d’elles ne permet de traiter un contenu multilingue. De plus, bien que les Topic Maps soient, par définition, orientées utilisation (recherche d’information), peu d’entre elles prennent en compte les requêtes des utilisateurs.Dans le cadre de cette thèse, nous avons donc conçu une approche que nous avons nommée ACTOM pour « Approche de Construction d’une TOpic Map Multilingue ». Cette dernière sert à organiser un contenu multilingue composé de documents textuels. Elle a pour avantage de faciliter la recherche d’information dans ce contenu. Notre approche est incrémentale et évolutive, elle est basée sur un processus automatisé, qui prend en compte des documents multilingues et l’évolution de la Topic Map selon le changement du contenu en entrée et l’usage de la Topic Map. Elle prend comme entrée un référentiel de documents que nous construisons suite à la segmentation thématique et à l’indexation sémantique de ces documents et un thésaurus du domaine pour l’ajout de liens ontologiques. Pour enrichir la Topic Map, nous nous basons sur deux ontologies générales et nous explorons toutes les questions potentielles relatives aux documents sources. Dans ACTOM, en plus des liens d’occurrences reliant un Topic à ses ressources, nous catégorisons les liens en deux catégories: (a) les liens ontologiques et (b) les liens d’usage. Nous proposons également d’étendre le modèle des Topic Maps défini par l’ISO en rajoutant aux caractéristiques d’un Topic des méta-propriétés servant à mesurer la pertinence des Topics plus précisément pour l’évaluation de la qualité et l’élagage dynamique de la Topic Map
The research work in this thesis is related to Topic Map construction and their use in semantic annotation of web resources in order to help users find relevant information in these resources. The amount of information sources available today is very huge and continuously increasing, for that, it is impossible to create and maintain manually a Topic Map to represent and organize all these information. Many Topic Maps building approaches can be found in the literature [Ellouze et al. 2008a]. However, none of these approaches takes as input multilingual document content. In addition, although Topic Maps are basically dedicated to users navigation and information search, no one approach takes into consideration users requests in the Topic Map building process. In this context, we have proposed ACTOM, a Topic Map building approach based on an automated process taking into account multilingual documents and Topic Map evolution according to content and usage changes. To enrich the Topic Map, we are based on a domain thesaurus and we propose also to explore all potential questions related to source documents in order to represent usage in the Topic Map. In our approach, we extend the Topic Map model that already exists by defining the usage links and a list of meta-properties associated to each Topic, these meta-properties are used in the Topic Map pruning process. In our approach ACTOM, we propose also to precise and enrich semantics of Topic Map links so, except occurrences links between Topics and resources, we classify Topic Map links in two different classes, those that we have called “ontological links” and those that we have named “usage links”