scenario-focused development method for a pen-based user interface: model and applications

Pen-based user interface (PUI) has drawn significant interest, owing to its intuitiveness and convenience. While much of the research focuses on the technology, the usability of a PUI has been relatively low since human factors have not been considered sufficiently. Scenario-centric designs are ideal ways to improve usability. However, such designs possess some problems in practical use. To cope with these design issues, the concept of “interface scenarios” is proposed in to facilitate the interface design, and to help users understand the interaction process in such designs. The proposed scenario-focused development method for PUI is coupled with a practical application to show its effectiveness and usability.

Supermedia User Interface for Scanning Probe Microscopy

当利用扫描隧道显微镜(SPM)作为一种纳米操作工具时,由于其缺乏实时的传感器信息反馈,而大大阻碍了它的广泛应用.利用超媒体人机交互接口可以解决这个问题.在纳米操作过程中,超媒体接口不但可以为操作者提供可实时更新的仿真操作场景,还可以通过力反馈手柄让操作者实时地感受到探针受到的三维纳米操作力.除此之外,操作者还可以通过该手柄直接控制探针的三维运动.最后在聚碳酸酯上进行了超媒体人机接口的纳米刻画实验.实验结果验证了该系统的有效性和效率.

The Behavior Language; User's Guide

The Behavior Language is a rule-based real-time parallel robot programming language originally based on ideas from [Brooks 86], [Connell 89], and [Maes 89]. It compiles into a modified and extended version of the subsumption architecture [Brooks 86] and thus has backends for a number of processors including the Motorola 68000 and 68HCll, the Hitachi 6301, and Common Lisp. Behaviors are groups of rules which are activatable by a number of different schemes. There are no shared data structures across behaviors, but instead all communication is by explicit message passing. All rules are assumed to run in parallel and asynchronously. It includes the earlier notions of inhibition and suppression, along with a number of mechanisms for spreading of activation.

Multiple-User Quantum Optical Communication

A fundamental understanding of the information carrying capacity of optical channels requires the signal and physical channel to be modeled quantum mechanically. This thesis considers the problems of distributing multi-party quantum entanglement to distant users in a quantum communication system and determining the ability of quantum optical channels to reliably transmit information. A recent proposal for a quantum communication architecture that realizes long-distance, high-fidelity qubit teleportation is reviewed. Previous work on this communication architecture is extended in two primary ways. First, models are developed for assessing the effects of amplitude, phase, and frequency errors in the entanglement source of polarization-entangled photons, as well as fiber loss and imperfect polarization restoration, on the throughput and fidelity of the system. Second, an error model is derived for an extension of this communication architecture that allows for the production and storage of three-party entangled Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger states. A performance analysis of the quantum communication architecture in qubit teleportation and quantum secret sharing communication protocols is presented. Recent work on determining the channel capacity of optical channels is extended in several ways. Classical capacity is derived for a class of Gaussian Bosonic channels representing the quantum version of classical colored Gaussian-noise channels. The proof is strongly mo- tivated by the standard technique of whitening Gaussian noise used in classical information theory. Minimum output entropy problems related to these channel capacity derivations are also studied. These single-user Bosonic capacity results are extended to a multi-user scenario by deriving capacity regions for single-mode and wideband coherent-state multiple access channels. An even larger capacity region is obtained when the transmitters use non- classical Gaussian states, and an outer bound on the ultimate capacity region is presented

Proceedings of the Second PHANToM User's Group Workshop

On October 19-22, 1997 the Second PHANToM Users Group Workshop was held at the MIT Endicott House in Dedham, Massachusetts. Designed as a forum for sharing results and insights, the workshop was attended by more than 60 participants from 7 countries. These proceedings report on workshop presentations in diverse areas including rigid and compliant rendering, tool kits, development environments, techniques for scientific data visualization, multi-modal issues and a programming tutorial.

The Proceedings of the First PHANToM User's Group Workshop

These proceedings summarize the results of the First PHANToM User's Group Workshop held September 27-30, 1996 MIT. The goal of the workshop was to bring together a group of active users of the PHANToM Haptic Interface to discuss the scientific and engineering challenges involved in bringing haptics into widespread use, and to explore the future possibilities of this exciting technology. With over 50 attendees and 25 presentations the workshop provided the first large forum for users of a common haptic interface to share results and engage in collaborative discussions. Short papers from the presenters are contained herein and address the following topics: Research Effort Overviews, Displays and Effects, Applications in Teleoperation and Training, Tools for Simulated Worlds and, Data Visualization.

Presentation Based User Interface

A prototype presentation system base is described. It offers mechanisms, tools, and ready-made parts for building user interfaces. A general user interface model underlies the base, organized around the concept of a presentation: a visible text or graphic for conveying information. Te base and model emphasize domain independence and style independence, to apply to the widest possible range of interfaces. The primitive presentation system model treats the interface as a system of processes maintaining a semantic relation between an application data base and a presentation data base, the symbolic screen description containing presentations. A presenter continually updates the presentation data base from the application data base. The user manipulates presentations with a presentation editor. A recognizer translates the user's presentation manipulation into application data base commands. The primitive presentation system can be extended to model more complex systems by attaching additional presentation systems. In order to illustrate the model's generality and descriptive capabilities, extended model structures for several existing user interfaces are discussed. The base provides support for building the application and presentation data bases, linked together into a single, uniform network, including descriptions of classes of objects as we as the objects themselves. The base provides an initial presentation data base network graphics to continually display it, and editing functions. A variety of tools and mechanisms help create and control presenters and recognizers. To demonstrate the base's utility, three interfaces to an operating system were constructed, embodying different styles: icons, menu, and graphical annotation.

NHS Wales user needs study including knowledgebase tools report. Report for Informing Healthcare Strategy implementation programme.

Thomas, R., Spink, S., Durbin, J. & Urquhart, C. (2005). NHS Wales user needs study including knowledgebase tools report. Report for Informing Healthcare Strategy implementation programme. Aberystwyth: Department of Information Studies, University of Wales Aberystwyth. Sponsorship: Informing Healthcare, NHS Wales

Animated virtual agents to cue user attention: comparison of static and dynamic deictic cues on gaze and touch responses

This paper describes an experiment developed to study the performance of virtual agent animated cues within digital interfaces. Increasingly, agents are used in virtual environments as part of the branding process and to guide user interaction. However, the level of agent detail required to establish and enhance efficient allocation of attention remains unclear. Although complex agent motion is now possible, it is costly to implement and so should only be routinely implemented if a clear benefit can be shown. Pevious methods of assessing the effect of gaze-cueing as a solution to scene complexity have relied principally on two-dimensional static scenes and manual peripheral inputs. Two experiments were run to address the question of agent cues on human-computer interfaces. Both experiments measured the efficiency of agent cues analyzing participant responses either by gaze or by touch respectively. In the first experiment, an eye-movement recorder was used to directly assess the immediate overt allocation of attention by capturing the participant’s eyefixations following presentation of a cueing stimulus. We found that a fully animated agent could speed up user interaction with the interface. When user attention was directed using a fully animated agent cue, users responded 35% faster when compared with stepped 2-image agent cues, and 42% faster when compared with a static 1-image cue. The second experiment recorded participant responses on a touch screen using same agent cues. Analysis of touch inputs confirmed the results of gaze-experiment, where fully animated agent made shortest time response with a slight decrease on the time difference comparisons. Responses to fully animated agent were 17% and 20% faster when compared with 2-image and 1-image cue severally. These results inform techniques aimed at engaging users’ attention in complex scenes such as computer games and digital transactions within public or social interaction contexts by demonstrating the benefits of dynamic gaze and head cueing directly on the users’ eye movements and touch responses.

Lord of The Rings database user guide

Sponsorship: This research was made possible by a grant from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC Grant No. 000-22-0323)