Designing the temporal aspects of the user interface: Views from the coal face

We aim to support user interface designers in capturing, representing and reasoning about temporal information. We have developed a method to support user interface designers in considering how the temporal aspects of software impact the user. Importantly the method is based on a detailed analysis of data from a set of situated interviews that capture the views of practicing user interface designers. This paper discusses the background research and the motivation for the method.

Temporal patterning of competitive emotions : a critical review

An interactional model of stress that integrates current research on competitive affects and emphasizes the temporal dimensions of the stress process is forwarded. The literature reveals that the study of athletes' affective responses to competition has been narrowly focused on pre-competitive anxiety. Equivocal findings on temporal patterning of competitive anxiety suggest that a fundamental change in the empirical approach is needed because the current conceptualization of anxiety and other complex emotions is imprecise. The analysis of secondary emotions as patterns of discrete basic emotions, as suggested by differential emotions theorists, is proposed for consideration in future research. In this view, competitive anxiety is considered as a set of patterns of emotions rather than a unitary affect. The adoption of this approach could result in better operationalization of competitive anxiety as well as other secondary performance-related emotions. We propose that research on competitive affects should follow two parallel lines. The first should focus on the description of complex emotional states that reflect the idiosyncratic emotional experience and vocabulary of the athlete. The second should examine the sets of basic emotions experienced throughout competition, and focus on individual differences and factors determining those differences. The integration of the two approaches could lead to a better understanding of whether, how and why individuals differ in the interpretation of specific secondary emotions and their effect on performance. Moreover, it would permit the analysis of intra-individual variations in labelling secondary emotions with respect to different competitive contexts and temporal aspects.

Flowering ecology of a Box-Ironbark Eucalyptus community

Box-Ironbark forests occur on the inland hills of the Great Dividing Range in Australia, from western Victoria to southern Queensland. These dry, open forests are characteristically dominated by Eucalyptus species such as Red Ironbark E. tricarpa, Mugga Ironbark E. sideroxylon and Grey Box E. microcarpa. Within these forests, several Eucalyptus species are a major source of nectar for the blossom-feeding birds and marsupials that form a distinctive component of the fauna. In Victoria, approximately 83% of the original pre - European forests of the Box-Ironbark region have been cleared, and the remaining fragmented forests have been heavily exploited for gold and timber. This exploitation has lead to a change in the structure of these forests, from one dominated by large 80-100 cm diameter, widely -spaced trees to mostly small (≥40 cm DBH), more densely - spaced trees. This thesis examines the flowering ecology of seven Eucalyptus species within a Box-Ironbark community. These species are characteristic of Victorian Box-Ironbark forests; River Red Gum E. camaldulensis, Yellow Gum E. leucoxylon, Red Stringybark E. macrorhyncha, Yellow Box E. melliodora, Grey Box E. microcarpa, Red Box E. polyanthemos and Red Ironbark E. tricarpa. Specifically, the topics examined in this thesis are: (1) the floral character traits of species, and the extent to which these traits can be associated with syndromes of bird or insect pollination; (2) the timing, frequency, duration, intensity, and synchrony of flowering of populations and individual trees; (3) the factors that may explain variation in flowering patterns of individual trees through examination of the relationships between flowering and tree-specific factors of individually marked trees; (4) the influence of tree size on the flowering patterns of individually marked trees, and (5) the spatial and temporal distribution of the floral resources of a dominant species, E. tricarpa. The results are discussed in relation to the evolutionary processes that may have lead to the flowering patterns, and the likely effects of these flowering patterns on blossom-feeding fauna of the Box-Ironbark region. Flowering observations were made for approximately 100 individually marked trees for each species (a total of 754 trees). The flower cover of each tree was assessed at a mean interval of 22 (+ 0.6) days for three years; 1997, 1998 and 1999. The seven species of eucalypt each had characteristic flowering seasons, the timing of which was similar each year. In particular, the timing of peak flowering intensity was consistent between years. Other spatial and temporal aspects of flowering patterns for each species, including the percentage of trees that flowered, frequency of flowering, intensity of flowering and duration of flowering, displayed significant variation between years, between forest stands (sites) and between individual trees within sites. All seven species displayed similar trends in flowering phenology over the study, such that 1997 was a relatively 'poor' flowering year, 1998 a 'good' year and 1999 an 'average' year in this study area. The floral character traits and flowering seasons of the seven Eucalyptus species suggest that each species has traits that can be broadly associated with particular pollinator types. Differences between species in floral traits were most apparent between 'summer' and 'winter' flowering species. Winter - flowering species displayed pollination syndromes associated with bird pollination and summer -flowering species displayed syndromes more associated with insect pollination. Winter - flowering E. tricarpa and E. leucoxylon flowers, for example, were significantly larger, and contained significantly greater volumes of nectar, than those of the summer flowering species, such as E. camaldulensis and E. melliodom. An examination of environmental and tree-specific factors was undertaken to investigate relationships between flowering patterns of individually marked trees of E. microcarpa and E. tricarpa and a range of measures that may influence the observed patterns. A positive association with tree-size was the most consistent explanatory variable for variation between trees in the frequency and intensity of flowering. Competition from near-neighbours, tree health and the number of shrubs within the canopy area were also explanatory variables. The relationship between tree size and flowering phenology was further examined by using the marked trees of all seven species, selected to represent five size-classes. Larger trees (≥40 cm DBH) flowered more frequently, more intensely, and for a greater duration than smaller trees. Larger trees provide more abundant floral resources than smaller trees because they have more flowers per unit area of canopy, they have larger canopies in which more flowers can be supported, and they provide a greater abundance of floral resources over the duration of the flowering season. Heterogeneity in the distribution of floral resources was further highlighted by the study of flowering patterns of E. tricarpa at several spatial and temporal scales. A total of approximately 5,500 trees of different size classes were sampled for flower cover along transects in major forest blocks at each of five sample dates. The abundance of flowers varied between forest blocks, between transects and among tree size - classes. Nectar volumes in flowers of E. tricarpa were sampled. The volume of nectar varied significantly among flowers, between trees, and between forest stands. Mean nectar volume per flower was similar on each sample date. The study of large numbers of individual trees for each of seven species was useful in obtaining quantitative data on flowering patterns of species' populations and individual trees. The timing of flowering for a species is likely to be a result of evolutionary selective forces tempered by environmental conditions. The seven species' populations showed a similar pattern in the frequency and intensity of flowering between years (e.g. 1998 was a 'good' year for most species) suggesting that there is some underlying environmental influence acting on these aspects of flowering. For individual trees, the timing of flowering may be influenced by tree-specific factors that affect the ability of each tree to access soil moisture and nutrients. In turn, local weather patterns, edaphic and biotic associations are likely to influence the available soil moisture. The relationships between the timing of flowering and environmental conditions are likely to be complex. There was no evidence that competition for pollinators has a strong selective influence on the timing of flowering. However, as there is year-round flowering in this community, particular types of pollinators may be differentiated along a temporal gradient (e.g. insects in summer, birds in winter). This type of differentiation may have resulted in the co-evolution of floral traits and pollinator types, with flowers displaying adaptations that match the morphologies and energy requirements of the most abundant pollinators in any particular season. Spatial variation in flowering patterns was evident at several levels. This is likely to occur because of variation in climate, weather patterns, soil types, degrees of disturbance and biotic associations, which vary across the Box-Ironbark region. There was no consistency among sites between years in flowering patterns suggesting that factors affecting flowering at this level are complex. Blossom-feeding animals are confronted with a highly spatially and temporally patchy resource. This patchiness has been increased with human exploitation of these forests leading to a much greater abundance of small trees and fewer large trees. Blossom-feeding birds are likely to respond to this variation in different ways, depending upon diet-breadth, mobility and morphological and behavioural characteristics. Future conservation of the blossom-feeding fauna of Box-Ironbark forests would benefit from the retention of a greater number of large trees, the protection and enhancement of existing remnants, and revegetation with key species, such as E. leucoxylon, E. microcarpa and E. tricarpa. The selective clearing of summer flowering species, which occur on the more fertile areas, may have negatively affected the year-round abundance and distribution of floral resources. The unpredictability of the spatial distribution of flowering patches within the region means that all remnants are likely to be important foraging areas in some years.

Crossing the bridge: the first-person and time

Personal identity theory has become increasingly sensitive to the importance of the first-person perspective. However, certain ways of speaking about that perspective do not allow the full temporal aspects of first-person perspectives on the self to come into view. In this paper I consider two recent phenomenologically-informed discussions of personal identity that end up yielding metaphysically divergent views of the self: those of Barry Dainton and Galen Strawson. I argue that when we take a properly temporally indexical view of the first-person perspective, and thereby resist the assumption that phenomenally figured and theoretically-figured identity claims must have a common object, the metaphysically awkward accommodations each of these authors is compelled to make cease to be necessary.

Spatial and temporal disparities in aurally aided visual search

Research over the last decade has shown that auditorily cuing the location of visual targets reduces the time taken to locate and identify targets for both free-field and virtually presented sounds. The first study conducted for this thesis confirmed these findings over an extensive region of free-field space. However, the number of sound locations that are measured and stored in the data library of most 3-D audio spatial systems is limited, so that there is often a discrepancy in position between the cued and physical location of the target. Sampling limitations in the systems also produce temporal delays in which the stored data can be conveyed to operators. To investigate the effects of spatial and temporal disparities in audio cuing of visual search, and to provide evidence to alleviate concerns that psychological research lags behind the capabilities to design and implement synthetic interfaces, experiments were conducted to examine (a) the magnitude of spatial separation, and (b) the duration of temporal delay that intervened between auditory spatial cues and visual targets to alter response times to locate targets and discriminate their shape, relative to when the stimuli were spatially aligned, and temporally synchronised, respectively. Participants listened to free-field sound localisation cues that were presented with a single, highly visible target that could appear anywhere across 360° of azimuthal space on the vertical mid-line (spatial separation), or extended to 45° above and below the vertical mid-line (temporal delay). A vertical or horizontal spatial separation of 40° between the stimuli significantly increased response times, while separations of 30° or less did not reach significance. Response times were slowed at most target locations when auditory cues occurred 770 msecs prior to the appearance of targets, but not with similar durations of temporal delay (i.e., 440 msecs or less). When sounds followed the appearance of targets, the stimulus onset asynchrony that affected response times was dependent on target location, and ranged from 440 msecs at higher elevations and rearward of participants, to 1,100 msecs on the vertical mid-line. If targets appeared in the frontal field of view, no delay of acoustical stimulation affected performance. Finally, when conditions of spatial separation and temporal delay were combined, visual search times were degraded with a shorter stimulus onset asynchrony than when only the temporal relationship between the stimuli was varied, but responses to spatial separation were unaffected. The implications of the results for the development of synthetic audio spatial systems to aid visual search tasks was discussed.

Temporal PDMs for gait classification

Gait classification is a developing research area, particularly with regards to biometrics. It aims to use the distinctive spatial and temporal characteristics of human motion to classify differing activities. As a biometric, this extends to recognising different people by the heterogeneous aspects of their gait. This research aims to use a modified deformable model, the temporal PDM, to distinguish the movements of a walking and miming person. The movement of 2D points on the moving form is used to provide input into the model and classify the type of gait present.