Multi-touch accceptance: perceived disorientation and consequences on task engagement

The research project takes place within the technology acceptability framework which tries to understand the use made of new technologies, and concentrates more specifically on the factors that influence multi-touch devices’ (MTD) acceptance and intention to use. Why be interested in MTD? Nowadays, this technology is used in all kinds of human activities, e.g. leisure, study or work activities (Rogowski and Saeed, 2012). However, the handling or the data entry by means of gestures on multi-touch-sensitive screen imposes a number of constraints and consequences which remain mostly unknown (Park and Han, 2013). Currently, few researches in ergonomic psychology wonder about the implications of these new human-computer interactions on task fulfillment.This research project aims to investigate the cognitive, sensori-motor and motivational processes taking place during the use of those devices. The project will analyze the influences of the use of gestures and the type of gesture used: simple or complex gestures (Lao, Heng, Zhang, Ling, and Wang, 2009), as well as the personal self-efficacy feeling in the use of MTD on task engagement, attention mechanisms and perceived disorientation (Chen, Linen, Yen, and Linn, 2011) when confronted to the use of MTD. For that purpose, the various above-mentioned concepts will be measured within a usability laboratory (U-Lab) with self-reported methods (questionnaires) and objective indicators (physiological indicators, eye tracking). Globally, the whole research aims to understand the processes at stakes, as well as advantages and inconveniences of this new technology, to favor a better compatibility and adequacy between gestures, executed tasks and MTD. The conclusions will allow some recommendations for the use of the DMT in specific contexts (e.g. learning context).

Resources, experience and perseverance in entrepreneurs' perceived likelihood of success in an emerging economy

This paper introduces new results obtained from a statistical investigation into a 3071-observation data set collected from a Vietnamese nationwide entrepreneurship survey. From established relationships, such factors as preparedness, financial resources and participation in social networks are confirmed to have significant effects on entrepreneurial decisions. Entrepreneurs, both financially constrained and unconstrained, who have a business plan tend to start their entrepreneurial ventures earlier. Also, financial constraints have a profound impact on the entrepreneurial decisions. When perceiving the likelihood of success to be high, an entrepreneur shows the tendency for prompt action on business ideas. But when seeing the risk of prolonging the waiting time to first revenue, a prospective entrepreneur would be more likely to wait for more favorable conditions despite the vagueness of "favorable". Additionally, empirical computations indicate that there is a 41.3% probability that an extant entrepreneur who is generating revenue sees high chance of success. Past work and entrepreneurial experiences also have positive impacts on both the entrepreneurial decisions and perceived chance of success.