Feasibility of Visualization and Simulation Applications to Improve Work Zone Safety and Mobility

Visualization is a relatively recent tool available to engineers for enhancing transportation project design through improved communication, decision making, and stakeholder feedback. Current visualization techniques include image composites, video composites, 2D drawings, drive-through or fly-through animations, 3D rendering models, virtual reality, and 4D CAD. These methods are used mainly to communicate within the design and construction team and between the team and external stakeholders. Use of visualization improves understanding of design intent and project concepts and facilitates effective decision making. However, visualization tools are typically used for presentation only in large-scale urban projects. Visualization is not widely accepted due to a lack of demonstrated engineering benefits for typical agency projects, such as small- and medium-sized projects, rural projects, and projects where external stakeholder communication is not a major issue. Furthermore, there is a perceived high cost of investment of both financial and human capital in adopting visualization tools. The most advanced visualization technique of virtual reality has only been used in academic research settings, and 4D CAD has been used on a very limited basis for highly complicated specialty projects. However, there are a number of less intensive visualization methods available which may provide some benefit to many agency projects. In this paper, we present the results of a feasibility study examining the use of visualization and simulation applications for improving highway planning, design, construction, and safety and mobility.

Feasibility of Visualization and Simulation Applications, Tech Transfer Summary, 2008

Visualization is a relatively recent tool available to engineers for enhancing transportation project design through improved communication, decision making, and stakeholder feedback. Current visualization techniques include image composites, video composites, 2D drawings, drive-through or fly-through animations, 3D rendering models, virtual reality, and 4D CAD. These methods are used mainly to communicate within the design and construction team and between the team and external stakeholders. Use of visualization improves understanding of design intent and project concepts and facilitates effective decision making. However, visualization tools are typically used for presentation only in large-scale urban projects. Visualization is not widely accepted due to a lack of demonstrated engineering benefits for typical agency projects, such as small- and medium-sized projects, rural projects, and projects where external stakeholder communication is not a major issue. Furthermore, there is a perceived high cost of investment of both financial and human capital in adopting visualization tools. The most advanced visualization technique of virtual reality has only been used in academic research settings, and 4D CAD has been used on a very limited basis for highly complicated specialty projects. However, there are a number of less intensive visualization methods available which may provide some benefit to many agency projects. In this paper, we present the results of a feasibility study examining the use of visualization and simulation applications for improving highway planning, design, construction, and safety and mobility.

Beaming into the rat world: enabling real-time intereaction between rat and human each at their own scale

Immersive virtual reality (IVR) typically generates the illusion in participants that they are in the displayed virtual scene where they can experience and interact in events as if they were really happening. Teleoperator (TO) systems place people at a remote physical destination embodied as a robotic device, and where typically participants have the sensation of being at the destination, with the ability to interact with entities there. In this paper, we show how to combine IVR and TO to allow a new class of application. The participant in the IVR is represented in the destination by a physical robot (TO) and simultaneously the remote place and entities within it are represented to the participant in the IVR. Hence, the IVR participant has a normal virtual reality experience, but where his or her actions and behaviour control the remote robot and can therefore have physical consequences. Here, we show how such a system can be deployed to allow a human and a rat to operate together, but the human interacting with the rat on a human scale, and the rat interacting with the human on the rat scale. The human is represented in a rat arena by a small robot that is slaved to the human"s movements, whereas the tracked rat is represented to the human in the virtual reality by a humanoid avatar. We describe the system and also a study that was designed to test whether humans can successfully play a game with the rat. The results show that the system functioned well and that the humans were able to interact with the rat to fulfil the tasks of the game. This system opens up the possibility of new applications in the life sciences involving participant observation of and interaction with animals but at human scale.

Technology educational affordance: Bridging the gap between patterns of interaction and technology usage

Peer-reviewed

Maahanmuuttajaoppilaat erityiskouluissa

Immigrant Pupils in Special Education Schools The study focused on the opinions of immigrant pupils in the 1st–9th grades of basic education in four special education schools of the City of Turku and in need of special support about the following: 1. Their difficulties in going to school in general education before the transfer to a special education school. 2. Their opinions about the transfer process to special education and the changes in their school practice after being transferred to a special education school. 3. Their experiences about their school and coping in special education school. The study strengthened the idea that immigrant pupils need positive special treatment, linguistic support, individual guidance, small teaching groups and operating models that promote well-being on their integration and education path. The central educational idea of inclusive education is based on deconstructing the power structures concerning gender, ethnicity and “race” and approval of differences in the pupils. Shifting the emphasis from the pupil to working on the learning environment has resulted in special education no longer being primarily separate special education tied to a certain place, but directing the teaching more towards individuality. The central dimension of intercultural competence of a teacher working in a multicultural class seems to be the attitudes and approaches to a different pupil; the teacher must be interculturally sensitive when facing children and young people from a foreign culture. Education and teaching affect every sector of the pupil’s well-being. Learning and learning results have a connection with teaching, education and well-being. Every sector is important for the going to school and integration of an immigrant pupil in need of special support. The basis of the study is the equality of opportunities and the humanistic idea of the human being in the Finnish education policy. The immigrant pupils selected for the study represented the following language groups: Arabian, Albanian, Somali, Russian and Vietnamese. In the four special education schools, the number of immigrant pupils belonging to these language groups (2004) totalled 104. A total of 89 pupils i.e. 86% answered the questionnaire, which is sufficient considering the generalisation of the study. Although this is basically a quantitative study, the interviewing method was used in part of the study, because the questionnaires were in Finnish and consequently, it was difficult for some immigrant pupils to understand them. Understanding the questions was also affected by the fact that the age distribution in the study was very wide (7–18). According to the results of the study, the immigrants felt that the biggest drawbacks in general education were their inability to speak Finnish and lack of concentration. The actual process of being transferred to a special education class remained unclear for immigrant pupils, and they could do very little about the transfer themselves. The results show that immigrant pupils coped well in special education school; they felt that their learning ability and concentration improved in the small groups of the special education school. They considered the individual support given in the special education schools to be useful. The lower-grade immigrant pupils had a more positive attitude towards special education school than the upper-grade immigrant pupils. In all the special education schools the immigrant pupils experienced that they were in a good position in the class; girls felt this even a little more strongly than boys. The teacher-pupil-relationship was felt to be good. School bullying being so common was a negative feature experienced by immigrant pupils, who were often targets or bullies themselves. Immigrant pupils believed in their success at school and in the opportunities offered by special education schools. Generally they were of the opinion that pupils are not labelled by special school; however, upper-grade immigrant pupils were more hesitant than lower-grade immigrant pupils. This study aimed at bringing out the immigrant pupils’ own opinions. Teaching immigrant pupils in special education schools has not been very much studied in Finland, which made the topic new and even more challenging.

Virtuaaliorganisaation toiminta innovaationäkökulmasta: kommunikaatio, tietojärjestelmät ja työkalut

Tutkimuksessa perehdytään virtuaaliorganisaatioiden ja virtuaalitiimien toimintaan sekä etsitään työkaluja, joilla maantieteellisesti hajallaan olevat ryhmät pystyvät kommunikoimaan ja jakamaan tietoa keskenään. Työssä käsitellään myös ympäristöjä, jotka tukevat virtuaaliyhteistyön syntyä. Lisäksi työssä etsitään keinoja, joilla yhteistyötä tekevät yritykset pystyvät yhdistämään tietojärjestelmiään ja luomaan niistä läpinäkyviä koko yhteistyöverkostossa. Tavoitteena on luoda laaja-alainen johdatuspaketti yhteistyötä aloittaville yrityksille ja esitellä keskeisiä virtuaalityöskentelyyn liittyviä elementtejä, kutenryhmädynamiikkaa, kollektiivista muistia, tiedon läpinäkyvyyttä, yhteistyöohjelmistoja ja yhteistyön syntyyn vaikuttavia tekijöitä. Työ on suurelta osin teoriapohjaista, mutta sen tukemiseksi on liitetty työtä varten hankittua empiiristä aineistoa. Empiria on koottu haastattelemalla yrityksiä ja asiantuntijoita. Työn tuloksena saatiin seuraavanlaisia johtopäätöksiä: virtuaalityöskentely eroaa perinteisestä tiimitoiminnasta siten, että suurin osa kommunikoinnista tapahtuu sähköisesti. Tähän tarvitaan työkaluja, joissa kuitenkin on vielä kehitettävää esimerkiksi standardoinnin suhteen. Yhteistyöohjelmistojen kehityksessä ja tietojärjestelmien yhdistämisessä on keskitytty vain sähköiseen tietoon, eikä olla kiinnitetty huomiota ihmisten osaamisen ja tietämyksen jakamiseen. Tätä varten viimeaikoina onkin alettu kehittämään erilaisia innovaatioympäristöjä, joista yksi on esitelty työssä. Virtuaalisesti toteutettavan yhteistyön keskeisenä elementtinä on luottamus kumppaneiden välillä ja tähän tulee kiinnittää erityistä huomiota. Innovaatioprosessin ja virtuaaliorganisaation tehokkuuden kannalta on tärkeää, että osapuolet ovat halukkaita jakamaan tietoa ja osaamista yhteisen päämäärän saavuttamiseksi. Tutkimus antaa viitteitä siitä, että pienet yritykset ovat halukkaampia jakamaan osaamistaan kuin suuret.

The building blocks of the full body ownership illusion

Previous work has reported that it is not difficult to give people the illusion of ownership over an artificial body, providing a powerful tool for the investigation of the neural and cognitive mechanisms underlying body perception and self consciousness. We present an experimental study that uses immersive virtual reality (IVR) focused on identifying the perceptual building blocks of this illusion. We systematically manipulated visuotactile and visual sensorimotor contingencies, visual perspective, and the appearance of the virtual body in order to assess their relative role and mutual interaction. Consistent results from subjective reports and physiological measures showed that a first person perspective over a fake humanoid body is essential for eliciting a body ownership illusion. We found that the illusion of ownership can be generated when the virtual body has a realistic skin tone and spatially substitutes the real body seen from a first person perspective. In this case there is no need for an additional contribution of congruent visuotactile or sensorimotor cues. Additionally, we found that the processing of incongruent perceptual cues can be modulated by the level of the illusion: when the illusion is strong, incongruent cues are not experienced as incorrect. Participants exposed to asynchronous visuotactile stimulation can experience the ownership illusion and perceive touch as originating from an object seen to contact the virtual body. Analogously, when the level of realism of the virtual body is not high enough and/or when there is no spatial overlap between the two bodies, then the contribution of congruent multisensory and/or sensorimotor cues is required for evoking the illusion. On the basis of these results and inspired by findings from neurophysiological recordings in the monkey, we propose a model that accounts for many of the results reported in the literature.

Turvallisuusosaamisen varmistaminen verkko-oppimistyökalun avulla metsäteollisuusyrityksessä

Diplomityön tavoitteena oli kehittää UPM-Kymmene Oyj:n turvallisuuskoulutukseen verkko-oppimistyökalu, jolla voitaisiin tehostaa yrityksen turvallisuuskoulutusta, ja näin parantamaan turvallisuusosaamista, ja sitä kautta vähentää tapaturmia ja sairaspoissaoloja. Työ toteutettiin pilottiprojektina UPM:n Kymin sellutehtaalla Kuusankoskella. Työtä lähestyttiinhuomioimalla mahdollisimman monipuolisesti ne eri osa alueet, jotka turvallisuuden verkko-oppimishankkeeseen liittyivät. Samalla selvitettiin verkko-oppimiseen liittyviä vahvuuksia ja heikkouksia sekä keinot vahvuuksien hyödyntämiseen ja heikkouksien välttämiseen. Teoreettisessa tarkastelussa painotettiin aikuisdidaktisia lähestymistapoja, järjestelmän käytettävyyttä sekä e-oppimismenetelmien erityispiirteitä. Työn tuloksena saatiin kehitettyä verkko-oppimisympäristö oppimateriaaleineen, joka on laajennettavissa muihin yksiköissä sekä kehitettävissä edelleen. Lisäksi saatiin tutkimustuloksia ja kokemuksia, joita voidaan hyödyntää hankkeen jatkokehityksessä.

Matemaattiset opetusympäristöt ja matemaattisen käyttöliittymän käytettävyys

Tämän diplomityön tarkoituksena on kuvata Lappeenrannan teknillisessä yliopistossa kehitetyn luentojen tueksi tarkoitetun Matematiikan virtuaalimateriaalin hallintaympäristön kehityskaari. Järjestelmä luotiin parantamaanopetuksen laatua siten, että sen avulla opiskelijat saavat helposti käyttöönsä suomenkielistä, laadukkaalla kirjoitusjäljellä olevaa opiskelumateriaalia 24 tuntia vuorokaudessa. Lisäksi järjestelmän tavoitteena oli helpottaa opettajien työtaakkaa siten, että he pystyvät luomaan viikoittaiset harjoitustehtäväpaketit sekä tentit suoraan tietokannasta. Järjestelmän kehitys alkoi vuonna 2001, jonka jälkeen sitä on jatkuvasti muokattu opettajien ja opiskelijoiden avustuksella yhäkäyttäjäystävällisempään suuntaan. Testausmenetelminä on käytetty asiantuntijatestausta, lomakkeita ja varsinaista loppukäyttäjätestausta. Kehityksen tuloksenaon saatu järjestelmä, joka voidaan ottaa käyttöön kaikessa matematiikan perusopetuksessa.

What makes one person paranoid and another person anxious? The differential prediction of social anxiety and persecutory ideation in an experimental situation

The study shows that social anxiety and persecutory ideation share many of the same predictive factors. Non-clinical paranoia may be a type of anxious fear. However, perceptual anomalies are a distinct predictor of paranoia. In the context of an individual feeling anxious, the occurrence of odd internal feelings in social situations may lead to delusional ideas through a sense of" things not seeming right". The study illustrates the approach of focusing on experiences such as paranoid thinking rather than diagnoses such as schizophrenia.

Beaming into the rat world: enabling real-time intereaction between rat and human each at their own scale

Immersive virtual reality (IVR) typically generates the illusion in participants that they are in the displayed virtual scene where they can experience and interact in events as if they were really happening. Teleoperator (TO) systems place people at a remote physical destination embodied as a robotic device, and where typically participants have the sensation of being at the destination, with the ability to interact with entities there. In this paper, we show how to combine IVR and TO to allow a new class of application. The participant in the IVR is represented in the destination by a physical robot (TO) and simultaneously the remote place and entities within it are represented to the participant in the IVR. Hence, the IVR participant has a normal virtual reality experience, but where his or her actions and behaviour control the remote robot and can therefore have physical consequences. Here, we show how such a system can be deployed to allow a human and a rat to operate together, but the human interacting with the rat on a human scale, and the rat interacting with the human on the rat scale. The human is represented in a rat arena by a small robot that is slaved to the human"s movements, whereas the tracked rat is represented to the human in the virtual reality by a humanoid avatar. We describe the system and also a study that was designed to test whether humans can successfully play a game with the rat. The results show that the system functioned well and that the humans were able to interact with the rat to fulfil the tasks of the game. This system opens up the possibility of new applications in the life sciences involving participant observation of and interaction with animals but at human scale.

Beaming into the rat world: enabling real-time intereaction between rat and human each at their own scale

Immersive virtual reality (IVR) typically generates the illusion in participants that they are in the displayed virtual scene where they can experience and interact in events as if they were really happening. Teleoperator (TO) systems place people at a remote physical destination embodied as a robotic device, and where typically participants have the sensation of being at the destination, with the ability to interact with entities there. In this paper, we show how to combine IVR and TO to allow a new class of application. The participant in the IVR is represented in the destination by a physical robot (TO) and simultaneously the remote place and entities within it are represented to the participant in the IVR. Hence, the IVR participant has a normal virtual reality experience, but where his or her actions and behaviour control the remote robot and can therefore have physical consequences. Here, we show how such a system can be deployed to allow a human and a rat to operate together, but the human interacting with the rat on a human scale, and the rat interacting with the human on the rat scale. The human is represented in a rat arena by a small robot that is slaved to the human"s movements, whereas the tracked rat is represented to the human in the virtual reality by a humanoid avatar. We describe the system and also a study that was designed to test whether humans can successfully play a game with the rat. The results show that the system functioned well and that the humans were able to interact with the rat to fulfil the tasks of the game. This system opens up the possibility of new applications in the life sciences involving participant observation of and interaction with animals but at human scale.

Mikroyritysten tietotekniikkataitojen osaamisen kehittämismalli

Tämän tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli tuottaa koulutuksen kehittämismalli mikroyritysten tietotekniikkataitojen kehittämiseen. Työssä tarkasteltiin myös mikroyritysten asenteita tietotekniikan oppimiseen. Tutkimus tehtiin EU-projektiin nimeltä 'Mikrotie', jonka tavoitteena on estää mikroyritysten tietotekninen syrjäytyminen. Työ koostuu teoreettisesta ja empiirisestä osasta. Teoriaosassa kerrotaan konstruktivistisesta oppimisprosessista ja sen ympärille rakennetaan teoriaviitekehystä niin kouluttajasta kuin oppimisympäristöstä. Teoria keskittyy myös erityisesti aikuisopiskelijoiden erityispiirteisiin. Empiirisen osan aloittaa lomakekyselynä toteutettu kvantitatiivinen tutkimus mikroyritysten asenteista, jonka jälkeen käsitellään haastattelututkimuksena tehtyä tarkempaa kvalitatiivista osaa palveluntarjoajien ja mikroyritysten suhtautumisesta tapahtuneeseen koulutukseen sekä heidän parhaaksi katsomistaan koulutustavoista. Johtopäätösten mukaan aikuisoppimisen ja kouluttamisen asiantuntijan tulisi suunnitella mikroyritysten tietotekniikan koulutus tukenaan koulutettaviin asioihin perehtyneet palveluntarjoajat. Pelkästään vikojen korjailun sijaan mikroyrityksiä tulisi kouluttaa suuremmista asiakokonaisuuksista. Opiskelutavoitteet saavutetaan parhaiten vierikoulutuksena ja yleisemmän peruskäytön osalta pienryhmissä. Parhaana oppimisympäristönä toimisi yrityksen oma työskentelytila ja pienryhmäkoulutuksessa tietokoneluokka. Oppimistapahtumat pitäisi jakaa alle neljän tunnin osiin, jotka sijoiteltaisiin niin että opiskelu ei haittaa mikroyrityksen liiketoimintaa.

Verkko-opetuksenhyödyntäminen uusien työntekijöiden koulutuksen haasteisiin vastaamisessa

Työn tarkoituksena oli kehittää verkko-oppimisympäristö sahatavaran jatkojalostusprosessien uusien ja työtehtävää vaihtavien työntekijöiden perehdytykseen. Työssä tutkittiin myös miten verkko-oppimisympäristöä voidaan käyttää osaamisen siirrossa. Työssä haastateltiin työnjohtajia ja työntekijöiden perehdyttämisestä vastaavia henkilöitä siitä, mitkä ovat ongelmat ja haasteet sahatavaran jatkojalostuksen alueella tietämyksen siirrossa uusille työntekijöille. Työssä tarkasteltiin tiedon syntymistä ja siirtämistä tietojohtamisen, sekä oppivan organisaation teorioiden avulla. Työssä selvitettiin myös mitkä ovat verkko-oppimisympäristöjen vahvuudet ja heikkoudet tiedonsiirrossa, sekä miten verkko-oppimisympäristö voisi toimia osana tiedonsiirtojärjestelmää. Haasteiksi uusien työntekijöiden koulutuksessa nousi esille neljä teemaa. Ne olivat laatutietous, turvallisuus, taloudellisuus jamotivaatio oppimiseen. Verkko-oppimisen vahvuuksia pyrittiin käyttämään mahdollisimman tehokkaasti hyväksi esiin nousseisiin haasteisiin vastaamisessa. Verkko-oppimisen vahvuuksia ovat eri mediaelementtien käyttö kuten kuvat, videot ja animaatiot. Työn tuloksia käytettiin hyväksi verkko-oppimisympäristön teossa. Lopuksi tehtiin myös ehdotus verkko-oppimisympäristön käytöstä osana tiedonsiirtojärjestelmää. Järjestelmän käyttö riippuu sen sisällön hyödyllisyydestä ja jatkuvasta päivityksestä.

Evaluation of the Development of Metacognitive Knowledge Supported by the KnowCat System

The aim of this study was to examine the development of the metacognitive knowledge of a group of higher education students who participated actively in an experiment based on a Computer Supported Collaborative Learning environment called KnowCat. Eighteen university students participated in a 12-month learning project during which the KnowCat learning environment was used to support scaffolding process among equals during problem-solving tasks. After using KnowCat, the students were interviewed over their work in this shared workspace. Qualitative analysis revealed that the educational application of KnowCat can favour and improve the development of metacognitive knowledge.