Proceedings of the 6th international conference on disability, virtual reality and associated technologies (ICDVRAT 2006)

The proceedings of the conference

Proceedings of the 5th international conference on disability, virtual reality and associated technologies (ICDVRAT 2004)

The proceedings of the conference

Slogger: a profiling and analysis system based on semantic web technologies

Increasingly, distributed systems are being used to host all manner of applications. While these platforms provide a relatively cheap and effective means of executing applications, so far there has been little work in developing tools and utilities that can help application developers understand problems with the supporting software, or the executing applications. To fully understand why an application executing on a distributed system is not behaving as would be expected it is important that not only the application, but also the underlying middleware, and the operating system are analysed too, otherwise issues could be missed and certainly overall performance profiling and fault diagnoses would be harder to understand. We believe that one approach to profiling and the analysis of distributed systems and the associated applications is via the plethora of log files generated at runtime. In this paper we report on a system (Slogger), that utilises various emerging Semantic Web technologies to gather the heterogeneous log files generated by the various layers in a distributed system and unify them in common data store. Once unified, the log data can be queried and visualised in order to highlight potential problems or issues that may be occurring in the supporting software or the application itself.

Special Issue on Virtual Reality Technologies for Disability and Rehabilitation

The papers presented in this issue provide a glimpse of the International Conference on Disability, Virtual Reality and Associated Technologies (ICDVRAT) research community, illustrating advances in virtual reality and associated technologies facilitating interaction in physical and digital environments for individuals and practitioners in disability and rehabilitation. We hope that you will find this issue of interest and recommend this journal and use it to communicate this research to a broader public.

A decade of research and development in disability, virtual reality and associated technologies: review of ICDVRAT 1996−2006

The International Conference (series) on Disability, Virtual Reality and Associated Technologies (ICDVRAT) this year held its sixth biennial conference, celebrating ten years of research and development in this field. A total of 220 papers have been presented at the first six conferences, addressing potential, development, exploration and examination of how these technologies can be applied in disabilities research and practice. The research community is broad and multi-disciplined, comprising a variety of scientific and medical researchers, rehabilitation therapists, educators and practitioners. Likewise, technologies, their applications and target user populations are also broad, ranging from sensors positioned on real world objects to fully immersive interactive simulated environments. A common factor is the desire to identify what the technologies have to offer and how they can provide added value to existing methods of assessment, rehabilitation and support for individuals with disabilities. This paper presents a brief review of the first decade of research and development in the ICDVRAT community, defining technologies, applications and target user populations served.

Invasive neural prosthesis for neural signal detection and nerve stimulation

This paper specifically examines the implantation of a microelectrode array into the median nerve of the left arm of a healthy male volunteer. The objective was to establish a bi-directional link between the human nervous system and a computer, via a unique interface module. This is the first time that such a device has been used with a healthy human. The aim of the study was to assess the efficacy, compatibility, and long term operability of the neural implant in allowing the subject to perceive feedback stimulation and for neural activity to be detected and processed such that the subject could interact with remote technologies. A case study demonstrating real-time control of an instrumented prosthetic hand by means of the bi-directional link is given. The implantation did not result in infection, and scanning electron microscope images of the implant post extraction have not indicated significant rejection of the implant by the body. No perceivable loss of hand sensation or motion control was experienced by the subject while the implant was in place, and further testing of the subject following the removal of the implant has not indicated any measurable long term defects. The implant was extracted after 96 days. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Pseudogene rescue: an adaptive mechanism of codon reassignment

Alterations to the genetic code – codon reassignments – have occurred many times in life’s history, despite the fact that genomes are coadapted to their genetic codes and therefore alterations are likely to be maladaptive. A potential mechanism for adaptive codon reassignment, which could trigger either a temporary period of codon ambiguity or a permanent genetic code change, is the reactivation of a pseudogene by a nonsense suppressor mutant transfer RNA. I examine the population genetics of each stage of this process and find that pseudogene rescue is plausible and also readily explains some features of extant variability in genetic codes.

Lesbian and gay parents and reproductive technologies: The 2008 Australian and UK reforms

This article analyses the laws that govern the allocation of parental responsibility for children conceived through non-coital reproduction by lesbians and gay men in England/Wales and Australia. In 2008 both jurisdictions introduced important reforms affecting this area of law, providing new options for the legal recognition of parent–child relationships in lesbian and gay households. However, the practical usefulness or effectiveness of the reforms may be limited by the excessive complexity or obscurity of the system of parental responsibility thus introduced. Furthermore, the reform Acts encourage the formation of some family structures—especially homonuclear families—while discouraging the emergence of more imaginative and cooperative parenting configurations at odds with heteronormative parenting scripts. Only through a clearer commitment to intentionality as a ground for the allocation of parental responsibility will future reform be likely to adequately protect the interests of lesbian and gay parents and their children.

Occupants' adaptive responses and perception of thermal environment in naturally conditioned university classrooms

A year-long field study of the thermal environment in university classrooms was conducted from March 2005 to May 2006 in Chongqing, China. This paper presents the occupants’ thermal sensation votes and discusses the occupants’ adaptive response and perception of the thermal environment in a naturally conditioned space. Comparisons between the Actual Mean Vote (AMV) and Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) have been made as well as between the Actual Percentage of Dissatisfied (APD) and Predicted Percentage of Dissatisfied (PPD). The adaptive thermal comfort zone for the naturally conditioned space for Chongqing, which has hot summer and cold winter climatic characteristics, has been proposed based on the field study results. The Chongqing adaptive comfort range is broader than that of the ASHRAE Standard 55-2004 in general, but in the extreme cold and hot months, it is narrower. The thermal conditions in classrooms in Chongqing in summer and winter are severe. Behavioural adaptation such as changing clothing, adjusting indoor air velocity, taking hot/cold drinks, etc., as well as psychological adaptation, has played a role in adapting to the thermal environment.