Multi-vehicles interaction graph model for cooperative collision warning system

Cooperative collision warning system for road vehicles, enabled by recent advances in positioning systems and wireless communication technologies, can potentially reduce traffic accident significantly. To improve the system, we propose a graph model to represent interactions between multiple road vehicles in a specific region and at a specific time. Given a list of vehicles in vicinity, we can generate the interaction graph using several rules that consider vehicle's properties such as position, speed, heading, etc. Safety applications can use the model to improve emergency warning accuracy and optimize wireless channel usage. The model allows us to develop some congestion control strategies for an efficient multi-hop broadcast protocol.

Bringing the internet down to earth : emerging spaces of locative media

Web 1.0 referred to the early, read-only internet; Web 2.0 refers to the ‘read-write web’ in which users actively contribute to as well as consume online content; Web 3.0 is now being used to refer to the convergence of mobile and Web 2.0 technologies and applications. One of the most important developments in mobile 3.0 is geography: with many mobile phones now equipped with GPS, mobiles promise to “bring the internet down to earth” through geographically-aware, or locative media. The internet was earlier heralded as “the death of geography” with predictions that with anyone able to access information from anywhere, geography would no longer matter. But mobiles are disproving this. GPS allows the location of the user to be pinpointed, and the mobile internet allows the user to access locally-relevant information, or to upload content which is geotagged to the specific location. It also allows locally-specific content to be sent to the user when the user enters a specific space. Location-based services are one of the fastest-growing segments of the mobile internet market: the 2008 AIMIA report indicates that user access of local maps increased by 347% over the previous 12 months, and restaurant guides/reviews increased by 174%. The central tenet of cultural geography is that places are culturally-constructed, comprised of the physical space itself, culturally-inflected perceptions of that space, and people’s experiences of the space (LeFebvre 1991). This paper takes a cultural geographical approach to locative media, anatomising the various spaces which have emerged through locative media, or “the geoweb” (Lake 2004). The geoweb is such a new concept that to date, critical discourse has treated it as a somewhat homogenous spatial formation. In order to counter this, and in order to demonstrate the dynamic complexity of the emerging spaces of the geoweb, the paper provides a topography of different types of locative media space: including the personal/aesthetic in which individual users geotag specific physical sites with their own content and meanings; the commercial, like the billboards which speak to individuals as they pass in Minority Report; and the social, in which one’s location is defined by the proximity of friends rather than by geography.

The Brisbane media map : participatory design and authentic learning to link students and industry

The Brisbane Media Map is both an online resource and a tertiary-level authentic learning project. The Brisbane Media Map is an online database which provides a detailed overview of about 600 media industry organisations in Brisbane, Australia. In addition to providing contact details and synopses for each organisation’s profile, the Brisbane Media Map also includes supplementary information on current issues, trends, and individuals in the media and communication industry sectors. This resource is produced and updated annually by final-year undergraduate Media and Communication students. This article introduces the Brisbane Media Map, its functionality and systems design approach, as well as its alignment with key learning infrastructures. It examines authentic learning as the pedagogical framework underpinning the ongoing development work of the resource and highlights some synergies of this framework with participatory design principles. The Brisbane Media Map is a useful example of an authentic learning approach that successfully engages students of non-traditional and non-design areas of study in human-computer interaction, usability, and participatory design activities.

Produtzung : Von medialer zu politischer Partizipation

Wahrscheinlich war es ja nur ein Versuch einer alteingesessenen Institution der Massenmedien, sich bei „den Leuten, die man früher ‚das Publikum‘ nannte“ („the people formerly known as the audience“; Rosen, 2006, n.pag.) wieder einzuschmeicheln. Dennoch, die Anerkennung des kollektiven „You“ in YouTube und anderen kollaborativen Onlineplattformen als Person des Jahres durch das amerikanische Magazin Time (Grossman, 2007) liefert ein weiteres Indiz für die wachsende Bedeutung solcher Projekte zur gemeinschaftlichen Produktion und Distribution von Inhalten. Kreative Websites wie Flickr und YouTube, kollaborative Wissenssammlungen von Wikipedia über Digg bis zu Google Earth, nutzergesteuerte Diskussionen in Slashdot, OhmyNews, und der allgemeinen Blogosphäre, aber auch die Softwareentwicklungsgemeinschaften im Open‐Source‐Bereich – sie alle dienen als Beispiele für diese nun etablierten Trend zur Entwicklung neuer Produktions‐, Geschäfts‐, Gemeinschafts‐ und Selbstlenkungsmodelle, die wesentlich durch zunehmend komplexere Web‐2.0‐Tools unterstützt werden. Hinter diesen Beispielen wird eine allgemeiner Tendenz sichtbar, die aus ökonomischer Sicht bereits von Yochai Benkler als „commons‐based peer production“ (2006), und von Eric von Hippel als „democratizing innovation" (2005) beschrieben worden ist. Henry Jenkins spricht zudem von einer „convergence culture“ (2006), in der solche nutzergesteuerten Projekte operieren, und es können auch Verbindungen zwischen diesen stärker aktive gewordenen Nutzern und Alvin Tofflers professionellen Konsumenten, den „Prosumers“ ziehen (1971).

Trends in online journalism : a case study approach based on euaustralia online

This paper takes stock of current changes affecting journalism, and as a case study brings up to date the record of progress made with an online publishing enterprise, EUAustralia Online, first reported on in 2007. It perceives the development of news publishing on line as being in two sectors: media corporations moving to occupy the online publishing field, through complex business stratagems and product-making, and small publications enjoying low production costs and the ability to strike up relationships with numerous users, even on a mass scale. Recent developments in both major publishing and niche publishing are appraised in a literature review, considering both broad-scale industry trends; and pressure from fresh advances in information and communication technology to produce ever-more sophisticated media artefacts, like multi-platform news coverage. The paper also recounts the pattern of work on EUAustralia Online, showing how such publications, ubiquitous ‘blogs’ or newsletters, may be placed in a prospective online order, where large and small operations might co-exist.

Designing participation in agile ridesharing with mobile social software

Growing participation is a key challenge for the viability of sustainability initiatives, many of which require enactment at a local community level in order to be effective. This paper undertakes a review of technology assisted carpooling in order to understand the challenge of designing participation and consider how mobile social software and interface design can be brought to bear. It was found that while persuasive technology and social networking approaches have roles to play, critical factors in the design of carpooling are convenience, ease of use and fit with contingent circumstances, all of which require a use-centred approach to designing a technological system and building participation. Moreover, the reach of technology platform-based global approaches may be limited if they do not cater to local needs. An approach that focuses on iteratively designing technology to support and grow mobile social ridesharing networks in particular locales is proposed. The paper contributes an understanding of HCI approaches in the context of other designing participation approaches.

Discussions in space

In-place digital augmentation enhances the experience of physical spaces through digital technologies that are directly accessible within that space. This can take place in many forms and ways, e.g., through location-aware applications running on the individuals’ portable devices, such as smart phones, or through large static devices, such as public displays, which are located within the augmented space and accessible by everyone. The hypothesis of this study is that in-place digital augmentation, in the context of civic participation, where citizens collaboratively aim at making their community or city a better place, offers significant new benefits, because it allows access to services or information that are currently inaccessible to urban dwellers where and when they are needed: in place. This paper describes our work in progress deploying a public screen to promote civic issues in public, urban spaces, and to encourage public feedback and discourse via mobile phones.

Serious playground : using Second Life to engage high school students in urban planning

Virtual world platforms such as Second Life have been successfully used in educational contexts to motivate and engage learners. This article reports on an exploratory workshop involving a group of high school students using Second Life for an urban planning project. Young people are traditionally an under-represented demographic when it comes to participating in urban planning and decision making processes. The research team developed activities that combined technology with a constructivist approach to learning. Real world experiences and purposes ensured that the workshop enabled students to see the relevance of their learning. Our design also ensured that play remained an important part of the learning. By conceiving of the workshop as a ‘serious playground’ we investigated the ludic potential of learning in a virtual world.

When 'listeners can't talk' : comparing active listening in opening sequences of telephone and online counselling

While there is growing use of online counselling, little is known about its interactional organisation and how it compares to telephone counselling. This is despite past research suggesting that both counsellors and clients report the impact of the different modalities on the presentation and management of the counselling interaction. This paper compares the interactional affordances of telephone and online web counselling in opening sequences on Kids Help Line, a 24-hour Australian counselling service for children and young people up to the age of 25. We examine two ways that counsellors show active listening through response tokens and formulations. The analysis describes how counsellors’ use of minimal response tokens facilitate the clients’ problem presentation and are used in the management of turn taking and sequence organisation. For example, counsellors use the response token Mm hm to show that they understand that the client’s unit of talk to is not yet complete, and to affirm or invite the client to continue speaking. Formulations in phone and web counselling are another way that counsellors display active listening to re-present stretches of the clients’ preceding talk. In phone and web counselling, however, the respective modalities can complicate matters of turn transition and sequence organisation. By examining actual phone and online counselling sessions, this paper offers empirical demonstrations of the interactional affordances of phone and online counselling, and shows how the institutional practice of active listening is accomplished across different counselling modalities

A pilot test on the differences between domestic and international students’ perceptions towards online learning in a Malaysian institution (Part I)

Teaching to an international audience online can be significantly different as compared to a traditional classroom setting. In a traditional classroom setting, the students are usually removed from their own cultural context and required to operate in the lecturer’s context. International students coming to Malaysia to study are implicitly expected to, and often do, become familiar with the Malaysian culture and style of education. The use of educational technologies as a blended strategy in higher education programs offers challenges and opportunities for all students but this may be different for international students who come from varied backgrounds. With an increasingly competitive global demand for higher education, Malaysian institutions strive to be the hub of educational excellence and a preferred option for international students in coping with the challenges of studying abroad in a different culture. This research will evaluate how undergraduate students perceive their online learning experiences in a Malaysian university. The OLES (Online Learning Environment Survey) will be used to explore the international and domestic students’ perception on e-learning and the findings of the first six OLES scales varying from (Computer Usage, Teacher Support, Student Interaction & Collaboration, Personal Relevance, Authentic Learning, and Student Autonomy) will be reported in this research. An in-depth study will be conducted to compare and contrast the challenges of international students with domestic students. Major difficulties encountered and how these students actually cope with e-learning, as well as the strategies and tools used to overcome the challenges will be investigated.

A pilot test on the differences between domestic and international students' perceptions towards online learning in a Malaysian institution (part II)

Teaching to an international audience online can be significantly different as compared to a traditional classroom setting. In a traditional classroom setting, the students are usually removed from their own cultural context and required to operate in the lecturer’s context. International students coming to Malaysia to study are implicitly expected to, and often do, become familiar with the Malaysian culture and style of education. The use of educational technologies as a blended strategy in higher education programs offers challenges and opportunities for all students but this may be different for international students who come from varied backgrounds. With an increasingly competitive global demand for higher education, Malaysian institutions strive to be the hub of educational excellence and a preferred option for international students in coping with the challenges of studying abroad in a different culture. This research will evaluate how undergraduate students perceive their online learning experiences in a Malaysian institute. The OLES (Online Learning Environment Survey) will be used to explore the international and domestic students’ perception on e-learning and the findings of the last six OLES scales varying from (Equity, Enjoyment, Asychronocity, Evaluation & Assessments, Online Learning Tools, and Interface Design) will be reported in this research. An in-depth study will be conducted to compare and contrast the challenges of international students with domestic students. Major difficulties encountered and how these students actually cope with e-learning, as well as the strategies and tools used to overcome the challenges will be investigated.

Trajectories of broadband : the coming, going and return of broadband

As the paper’s subtitle suggests broadband has had a remarkably checkered trajectory in Australia. It was synonymous with the early 1990s information superhighway and seemed to presage a moment in which “content is [to be] king”. It disappeared almost entirely as a public priority in the mid to late 1990s as intrastructure and content were disconnected in services frameworks focused on information and communication technologies. And it came back in the 2000s as a critical infrastructure for innovation and the knowledge economy. But this time content was not king but rather an intermediate input at the service of innovating industries and processes. Broadband was a critical infrastructure for the digitally-based creative industries. Today the quality of the broadband infrastructure in Australia—itself an outcome of these different policy frameworks—is identified as “fraudband” holding back business, creativity and consumer uptake. In this paper I use the checkered trajectory of broadband on Australian political and policy horizons as a stepping off point to reflect on the ideas governing these changing governmental and public settings. This history enables me to explore how content and infrastructure are simultaneously connected and disconnected in our thinking. And, finally, I want to make some remarks about the way communication, particularly media communication, has been marginally positioned after being, initially so apparently central.

The self-Googling phenomenon : investigating the performance of personalized information resources

This paper investigates self–Googling through the monitoring of search engine activities of users and adds to the few quantitative studies on this topic already in existence. We explore this phenomenon by answering the following questions: To what extent is the self–Googling visible in the usage of search engines; is any significant difference measurable between queries related to self–Googling and generic search queries; to what extent do self–Googling search requests match the selected personalised Web pages? To address these questions we explore the theory of narcissism in order to help define self–Googling and present the results from a 14–month online experiment using Google search engine usage data.

Managing ubiquitous eco cities : the role of urban telecommunication infrastructure networks and convergence technologies

A successful urban management system for a Ubiquitous Eco City requires an integrated approach. This integration includes bringing together economic, socio-cultural and urban development with a well orchestrated, transparent and open decision making mechanism and necessary infrastructure and technologies. Rapidly developing information and telecommunication technologies and their platforms in the late 20th Century improves urban management and enhances the quality of life and place. Telecommunication technologies provide an important base for monitoring and managing activities over wired, wireless or fibre-optic networks. Particularly technology convergence creates new ways in which the information and telecommunication technologies are used. The 21st Century is an era where information has converged, in which people are able to access a variety of services, including internet and location based services, through multi-functional devices such as mobile phones and provides opportunities in the management of Ubiquitous Eco Cities. This paper discusses the recent developments in telecommunication networks and trends in convergence technologies and their implications on the management of Ubiquitous Eco Cities and how this technological shift is likely to be beneficial in improving the quality of life and place. The paper also introduces recent approaches on urban management systems, such as intelligent urban management systems, that are suitable for Ubiquitous Eco Cities.

A Conceptualisation of Courseware Development Process in Malaysian Educational Context

Multimedia-based learning has been accepted as an effective learning tool and has broadly prevailed in various types of education around the world. The Malaysian ministry of education has also adopted this information communication technology (ICT) as the means of an education reformation project called, ‘Smart School’ since 1998, aiming to improve all Malaysian Primary and Secondary students’ learning ability, attitudes, achievement, and further enhance teachers’ teaching performance. As a result, Malaysian Ministry of Education has distributed a number of interactive courseware of the key learning domains such as Mathematics, Science, Bahasa Melayu (Malay language), and English. According to recent reports by Malaysian Ministry of Education (MOE), however, the courseware has not been effectively used in schools, and many researchers point out there are vital issues concerning the interface and interaction design. Within this context, this paper presumes that one of the main reasons could derive from a structural aspect of the course development process that is devaluing or ignoring the importance of interface and interaction design. Therefore, it is imperative to conceptualise the courseware development process in terms of creating interactive and quality learning experiences through defining the stakeholders’ needs in terms of better learning and teaching. Within this context, this paper reviews the current development process and proposes a new concept called the interactive communication component which enables courseware developers to embed interactive and quality learning experiences into their courseware development process. The key objective is to provide opportunities to discuss the courseware development process from the different stakeholders’ perspectives of the educational courseware in a Malaysian context.