Design of a preliminary error impact analysis model for spatial safety assessment of earthmoving operations

Regardless of technology benefits, safety planners still face difficulties explaining errors related to the use of different technologies and evaluating how the errors impact the performance of safety decision making. This paper presents a preliminary error impact analysis testbed to model object identification and tracking errors caused by image-based devices and algorithms and to analyze the impact of the errors for spatial safety assessment of earthmoving and surface mining activities. More specifically, this research designed a testbed to model workspaces for earthmoving operations, to simulate safety-related violations, and to apply different object identification and tracking errors on the data collected and processed for spatial safety assessment. Three different cases were analyzed based on actual earthmoving operations conducted at a limestone quarry. Using the testbed, the impacts of the errors were investigated for the safety planning purpose.

Unravelling design : fashion, dressmaking, ethos

Discourses on ethical fashion are usually geared toward finding solutions—or right outcomes—to ethical problems, based on a teleological model of design and a positioning of the designer as an autonomous and isolated design authority. This practice-led project argues, however, that considerations of design ethics must take into account not only the outcome of a design, but also the ongoing, lived experience of designing as a making located in pre-existing social, historical and cultural conditions. Through an exploration of my own dressmaking practice and a reading of ethos as location, I argue for two things: one, for the designer as a located entity rather than an autonomous "author", and, two, against design-asplan and the original design object, and for the circular and conditioned character of design. Through a connection to ethos, understandings of design ethics shift from an end object focus to something situated, and invested in, everyday lived experience—and always in the making.

A task-oriented approach to search engine usability studies

Usability is a multi-dimensional characteristic of a computer system. This paper focuses on usability as a measurement of interaction between the user and the system. The research employs a task-oriented approach to evaluate the usability of a meta search engine. This engine encourages and accepts queries of unlimited size expressed in natural language. A variety of conventional metrics developed by academic and industrial research, including ISO standards,, are applied to the information retrieval process consisting of sequential tasks. Tasks range from formulating (long) queries to interpreting and retaining search results. Results of the evaluation and analysis of the operation log indicate that obtaining advanced search engine results can be accomplished simultaneously with enhancing the usability of the interactive process. In conclusion, we discuss implications for interactive information retrieval system design and directions for future usability research. © 2008 Academy Publisher.

Towards participatory action design research : adapting action research and design science research methods for urban informatics

This paper proposes a new research method, Participatory Action Design Research (PADR), for studies in the Urban Informatics domain. PADR supports Urban Informatics research in developing new technological means (e.g. using mobile and ubiquitous computing) to resolve contemporary issues or support everyday life in urban environments. The paper discusses the nature, aims and inherent methodological needs of Urban Informatics research, and proposes PADR as a method to address these needs. Situated in a socio-technical context, Urban Informatics requires a close dialogue between social and design-oriented fields of research as well as their methods. PADR combines Action Research and Design Science Research, both of which are used in Information Systems, another field with a strong socio-technical emphasis, and further adapts them to the cross-disciplinary needs and research context of Urban Informatics.

The unfinished landscape fractal geometry and the aesthetics of ecological design

During the late 20th century it was proposed that a design aesthetic reflecting current ecological concerns was required within the overall domain of the built environment and specifically within landscape design. To address this, some authors suggested various theoretical frameworks upon which such an aesthetic could be based. Within these frameworks there was an underlying theme that the patterns and processes of Nature may have the potential to form this aesthetic — an aesthetic based on fractal rather than Euclidean geometry. In order to understand how fractal geometry, described as the geometry of Nature, could become the referent for a design aesthetic, this research examines the mathematical concepts of fractal Geometry, and the underlying philosophical concepts behind the terms ‘Nature’ and ‘aesthetics’. The findings of this initial research meant that a new definition of Nature was required in order to overcome the barrier presented by the western philosophical Nature¯culture duality. This new definition of Nature is based on the type and use of energy. Similarly, it became clear that current usage of the term aesthetics has more in common with the term ‘style’ than with its correct philosophical meaning. The aesthetic philosophy of both art and the environment recognises different aesthetic criteria related to either the subject or the object, such as: aesthetic experience; aesthetic attitude; aesthetic value; aesthetic object; and aesthetic properties. Given these criteria, and the fact that the concept of aesthetics is still an active and ongoing philosophical discussion, this work focuses on the criteria of aesthetic properties and the aesthetic experience or response they engender. The examination of fractal geometry revealed that it is a geometry based on scale rather than on the location of a point within a three-dimensional space. This enables fractal geometry to describe the complex forms and patterns created through the processes of Wild Nature. Although fractal geometry has been used to analyse the patterns of built environments from a plan perspective, it became clear from the initial review of the literature that there was a total knowledge vacuum about the fractal properties of environments experienced every day by people as they move through them. To overcome this, 21 different landscapes that ranged from highly developed city centres to relatively untouched landscapes of Wild Nature have been analysed. Although this work shows that the fractal dimension can be used to differentiate between overall landscape forms, it also shows that by itself it cannot differentiate between all images analysed. To overcome this two further parameters based on the underlying structural geometry embedded within the landscape are discussed. These parameters are the Power Spectrum Median Amplitude and the Level of Isotropy within the Fourier Power Spectrum. Based on the detailed analysis of these parameters a greater understanding of the structural properties of landscapes has been gained. With this understanding, this research has moved the field of landscape design a step close to being able to articulate a new aesthetic for ecological design.

Challenges in passenger terminal design : a conceptual model of passenger experience

In recent years, de-regulation in the airline industry and the introduction of low-cost carriers have conspired to produce significant changes in the airport landscape. From an airport operator’s perspective, one of the most notable has been the shift of capital revenue from traditional airline sources (through exclusive use, long term lease arrangements) to passengers (by way of fees collected from ticket sales). As a result of these developments, passengers have become recognized as major stakeholders who have the power to influence airport profitability. This link between passenger satisfaction and profitability has generated industry wide interest in the “passenger experience”. In this paper, we define the factors which influence passenger experience, namely (a) artifacts, (b) services and (c) the terminal building, and explore the challenges that exist in the current approaches to terminal design. On the basis of these insights, we propose a conceptual model of passenger experience, and motivate its use as a framework for further research into improving terminal design from a passenger oriented perspective.

A critical regionalist approach to housing design in Vietnam : socio-environmental organisation of living spaces in pre- and post-reform houses

Vietnam has a unique culture which is revealed in the way that people have built and designed their traditional housing. Vietnamese dwellings reflect occupants’ activities in their everyday lives, while adapting to tropical climatic conditions impacted by seasoning monsoons. It is said that these characteristics of Vietnamese dwellings have remained unchanged until the economic reform in 1986, when Vietnam experienced an accelerated development based on the market-oriented economy. New housing types, including modern shop-houses, detached houses, and apartments, have been designed in many places, especially satisfying dwellers’ new lifestyles in Vietnamese cities. The contemporary housing, which has been mostly designed by architects, has reflected rules of spatial organisation so that occupants’ social activities are carried out. However, contemporary housing spaces seem unsustainable in relation to socio-cultural values because they has been influenced by globalism that advocates the use of homogeneous spatial patterns, modern technologies, materials and construction methods. This study investigates the rules of spaces in Vietnamese houses that were built before and after the reform to define the socio-cultural implications in Vietnamese housing design. Firstly, it describes occupants’ views of their current dwellings in terms of indoor comfort conditions and social activities in spaces. Then, it examines the use of spaces in pre-reform Vietnamese housing through occupants’ activities and material applications. Finally, it discusses the organisation of spaces in both pre- and post-reform housing to understand how Vietnamese housing has been designed for occupants to live, act, work, and conduct traditional activities. Understanding spatial organisation is a way to identify characteristics of the lived spaces of the occupants created from the conceived space, which is designed by designers. The characteristics of the housing spaces will inform the designers the way to design future Vietnamese housing in response to cultural contexts. The study applied an abductive approach for the investigation of housing spaces. It used a conceptual framework in relation to Henri Lefebvre’s (1991) theory to understand space as the main factor constituting the language of design, and the principles of semiotics to examine spatial structure in housing as a language used in the everyday life. The study involved a door-knocking survey to 350 households in four regional cities of Vietnam for interpretation of occupancy conditions and levels of occupants’ comfort. A statistical analysis was applied to interpret the survey data. The study also required a process of data selection and collection of fourteen cases of housing in three main climatic regions of the country for analysing spatial organisation and housing characteristics. The study found that there has been a shift in the relationship of spaces from the pre- to post-reform Vietnamese housing. It also indentified that the space for guest welcoming and family activity has been the central space of the Vietnamese housing. Based on the relationships of the central space with the others, theoretical models were proposed for three types of contemporary Vietnamese housing. The models will be significant in adapting to Vietnamese conditions to achieve socioenvironmental characteristics for housing design because it was developed from the occupants’ requirements for their social activities. Another contribution of the study is the use of methodological concepts to understand the language of living spaces. Further work will be needed to test future Vietnamese housing designs from the applications of the models.

Getting the point : the role of gesture in managing intersubjectivity in a design activity

This paper illustrates the complexity of pointing as it is employed in a design workshop. Using the method of interaction analysis, we argue that pointing is not merely employed to index, locate, or fix reference to an object. It also constitutes a practice for reestablishing intersubjectivity and solving interactional trouble such as misunderstandings or disagreements by virtue of enlisting something as part of the participants’ shared experience. We use this analysis to discuss implications for how such practices might be supported with computer mediation, arguing for a “bricolage” approach to systems development that emphasizes the provision of resources for users to collaboratively negotiate the accomplishment of intersubjectivity ra- ther than systems that try to support pointing as a specific gestural action.

Combinatorial design of key distribution mechanisms for wireless sensor networks

Secure communications in wireless sensor networks operating under adversarial conditions require providing pairwise (symmetric) keys to sensor nodes. In large scale deployment scenarios, there is no prior knowledge of post deployment network configuration since nodes may be randomly scattered over a hostile territory. Thus, shared keys must be distributed before deployment to provide each node a key-chain. For large sensor networks it is infeasible to store a unique key for all other nodes in the key-chain of a sensor node. Consequently, for secure communication either two nodes have a key in common in their key-chains and they have a wireless link between them, or there is a path, called key-path, among these two nodes where each pair of neighboring nodes on this path have a key in common. Length of the key-path is the key factor for efficiency of the design. This paper presents novel deterministic and hybrid approaches based on Combinatorial Design for deciding how many and which keys to assign to each key-chain before the sensor network deployment. In particular, Balanced Incomplete Block Designs (BIBD) and Generalized Quadrangles (GQ) are mapped to obtain efficient key distribution schemes. Performance and security properties of the proposed schemes are studied both analytically and computationally. Comparison to related work shows that the combinatorial approach produces better connectivity with smaller key-chain sizes.

Custom digital workflows : a new framework for design analysis integration

Flexible information exchange is critical to successful design-analysis integration, but current top-down, standards-based and model-oriented strategies impose restrictions that contradicts this flexibility. In this article we present a bottom-up, user-controlled and process-oriented approach to linking design and analysis applications that is more responsive to the varied needs of designers and design teams. Drawing on research into scientific workflows, we present a framework for integration that capitalises on advances in cloud computing to connect discrete tools via flexible and distributed process networks. We then discuss how a shared mapping process that is flexible and user friendly supports non-programmers in creating these custom connections. Adopting a services-oriented system architecture, we propose a web-based platform that enables data, semantics and models to be shared on the fly. We then discuss potential challenges and opportunities for its development as a flexible, visual, collaborative, scalable and open system.

Custom digital workflows : a new framework for design analysis integration

Flexible information exchange is critical to successful design integration, but current top-down, standards-based and model-oriented strategies impose restrictions that are contradictory to this flexibility. In this paper we present a bottom-up, user-controlled and process-oriented approach to linking design and analysis applications that is more responsive to the varied needs of designers and design teams. Drawing on research into scientific workflows, we present a framework for integration that capitalises on advances in cloud computing to connect discrete tools via flexible and distributed process networks. Adopting a services-oriented system architecture, we propose a web-based platform that enables data, semantics and models to be shared on the fly. We discuss potential challenges and opportunities for the development thereof as a flexible, visual, collaborative, scalable and open system.

Design and modeling of collaboration architecture for security

Threats against computer networks evolve very fast and require more and more complex measures. We argue that teams respectively groups with a common purpose for intrusion detection and prevention improve the measures against rapid propagating attacks similar to the concept of teams solving complex tasks known from field of work sociology. Collaboration in this sense is not easy task especially for heterarchical environments. We propose CIMD (collaborative intrusion and malware detection) as a security overlay framework to enable cooperative intrusion detection approaches. Objectives and associated interests are used to create detection groups for exchange of security-related data. In this work, we contribute a tree-oriented data model for device representation in the scope of security. We introduce an algorithm for the formation of detection groups, show realization strategies for the system and conduct vulnerability analysis. We evaluate the benefit of CIMD by simulation and probabilistic analysis.

A Kansei approach to passenger terminal design

Current approaches to passenger terminal design are based on a direct relationship between the number of travelers and the size of the passenger terminal building: as one increases, so does the other. Over the next several decades, it is believed that the number of travelers worldwide will increase significantly. It follows, therefore, that in order to process these additional passengers, airports will need to build larger terminal facilities. Unfortunately, this is not a viable option for many airports due to financial, economic, operational and general space constraints. In this paper, we explore a new way of approaching terminal design based on a passenger oriented perspective. In doing so, we extend an interpretation of the Kansei design concept and show how it may be applicable towards the creation of new design paradigms in aviation. Our results are based on data collected in-situ at a major international terminal during 2012.