普及计算及其应用模型

1.普及计算的基本概念 1.什么是普及计算? 我们当前所处的时代是计算机技术仍然复杂到让大部分人们难以学习的地步的时代。虽然目前计算机已经进入了许多人的家庭,但是真正能够发挥计算机全部能力的用户是很少的。计算机业界有许多的技术和专有名词,而且它们还随着时间的流逝不断发展变化。再者,过去所有的传统思路都是以计算机为中心,当计算机系统发生变化时,人们的思想也必须     

Acceptance of online banking information systems: an empirical case in a developing economy

This paper proposes an extended model of technology acceptance to understand potential users’ acceptance of online banking information systems (OBIS). The proposed model integrates key constructs from information systems and e-commerce acceptance research streams into the theoretical frame of the technology acceptance model. The model was tested on a sample of 353 Internet banking users in Pakistan. Using structural equation modelling with Analysis of Moment Structures software, data analysis showed considerable support for the extended hypothesised model. The results suggested that, in order of importance: perceived usefulness (PU), perceived ease of use (PEOU) and trust explained 45.7% of the variance in intended acceptance behaviour. Trust and technological self-efficacy (TSE) predicted 28.1% of the variance in PU. While in PEOU 21.8% of the variance was predicted by TSE, accessibility and terminology clarity. This study produced valuable insights into the factors that influence acceptance of OBIS by intended users and offers new ideas in understanding the acceptance of technology, especially in developing countries.     

Broadening our concepts of universal access

The universal accessibility movement has focused on solutions for people with physical limitations. While this work has helped bring about positive initiatives for this population, physical disabilities are just one of the many life situations that can complicate people’s ability to fully participate in an information economy and society. Other factors affecting accessibility include poverty, illiteracy, and social isolation. This paper explores how the universal accessibility movement can expand its efforts to reach other diverse populations. Four sets of resources are discussed—physical, digital, human, and social—that are critical for enabling people to use information and communication technology. Examples of how these resources can help people access, adapt, and create knowledge are provided.     

Exploring the relationship between web accessibility and user experience

Understanding the interplay between the user experience (UX) and Web accessibility is key to design Web sites that, beyond access, could provide a better UX for people with disabilities. In this paper we examine the relationship between UX attributes and Web accessibility. We measured accessibility in two ways: the perceived accessibility as reported by participants and accessibility in terms of conformance to guidelines. Findings uncover that perceived Web accessibility is significantly correlated with 27 of the 35 UX attributes analysed, suggesting these two qualities are closely related. The relationship between UX and conformance to WCAG 2.0 is more elusive: we only found significant correlations between the hedonic attributes original, innovative and exciting.     

An Accessible Platform for People With Disabilities

This article discusses a modular, accessible platform that provides a computing environment for people with disabilities accessible through adapted control devices and the television set at users’ homes. Relying on a standard television set as the presentation device allows dependent individuals, especially people with disabilities, to introduce new technological advances in communication and information management in their everyday lives. As a proof-of-concept, the solution presented offers a collection of educational and training services related to teleworking and the search of employment targeted to people with disabilities. A smart job advisor included among these services, which was designed to help our target users to locate job offers that best suit the abilities and disabilities of a particular individual, is also discussed to illustrate how semantic technologies can be applied to increase the perceived accessibility and inclusion by reducing the dependence from other persons. The platform developed, the introduction of semantic technologies, and the way adapted interfacing and presentation devices were integrated may also serve as inspiration to provide services to people with disabilities.     

Effects of accessible website design on nondisabled users: age and device as moderating factors

This study examined how implementing recommendations from Web accessibility guidelines affects nondisabled people in different age groups using different technical devices. While recent research showed positive effects of implementing such recommendations for nondisabled users, it remains unclear whether such effects would apply to different age groups and kind of devices. A 2 × 2 × 2 design was employed with website accessibility (high accessibility vs. very low accessibility), age (younger adults vs. older adults) and type of device (laptop vs. tablet) as independent variables. 110 nondisabled participants took part in a usability test, in which performance and satisfaction were measured as dependent variables. The results showed that higher accessibility increased task completion rate, task completion time and satisfaction ratings of nondisabled users. While user age did not have any effects, users showed faster task completion time under high accessibility when using a tablet rather than a laptop. The findings confirmed previous findings, which showed benefits of accessible websites for nondisabled users. These beneficial effects may now be generalised to a wide age range and across different devices.

Practitioner Summary: This work is relevant to the design of websites since it emphasises the need to consider the characteristics of different user groups. Accessible website design (aimed at users with disabilities) leads to benefits for nondisabled users across different ages. These findings provide further encouragement for practitioners to apply WCAG 2.0.     

Development and validation of a technology acceptance model for safety-enhancing,wearable locating systems

Events of disasters on passenger ships can never be completely excluded while numbers of passengers on cruises are continuously increasing. Innovations in ubiquitous and networked computing such as wearable locating systems for passengers could enable faster muster and more efficient search for missing people. As the safety enhancement depends on the effective usage of these technologies, passengers’ acceptance is crucial, though largely unknown, and infrastructure implies high costs for shipping companies. In order to investigate passengers’ acceptance, a context-specific technology acceptance model was developed based on a literature review and qualitative interviews with passengers. The model was validated by an online survey with 2086 passengers aged between 16 and 81 years. The context-specific factors social influence, expected usefulness, trust, privacy concern, and perceived security risk explain 95% of the variance in the target variable intention to use locating systems with social influence as the strongest predictor. The context-specific factors are most determined by the passenger characteristics age and need for safety. In conclusion, the model presents insights into the relationships between passenger characteristics and context-specific factors enabling systematic interventions to increase acceptance for locating systems and, thereby, contributes to enhance safety for the occurrence of an evacuation.     

A knowledge-based approach to user interface adaptation from preferences and for special needs

Moving between devices is omnipresent, but not for people with disabilities or those who require specific accessibility options. Setting up assistive technologies or finding settings to overcome a certain barrier can be a demanding task for people without technical skills. Context-sensitive adaptive user interfaces are advancing, although migrating access features from one device to another is very rarely addressed. In this paper, we describe the knowledge-based component of the Global Public Inclusive Infrastructure that infers how a device shall be best configured at the operating system layer, the application layer and the web layer to meet the requirements of a user including possible special needs or disabilities. In this regard, a mechanism to detect and resolve conflicting accessibility policies as well as recommending preference substitutes is a main requirement, as elaborated in this paper. As the proposed system emulates decision-making of accessibility experts, we validated the automatic deduced configurations against manual configurations of ten accessibility experts. The assessment result shows that the average matching score of the developed system is high. Thus, the proposed system can be considered capable of making precise decisions towards personalizing user interfaces based on user needs and preferences.     

Factors that affect visually impaired users' acceptance of audio and music websites

The number of users with visual impairments is on the rise. Companies have an opportunity to increase their reach and revenue by ensuring their websites are accessible to these users. Developing websites around the needs of those with visual impairments is especially critical as the affluent Baby Boomer generation ages and is faced with a multitude of vision problems. Despite this fast growing, web-reliant population, little work has been done to develop a behavioral model that addresses its needs. Grounded in accessibility and acceptance theories, this research proposes a model that predicts Web usage behavior of blind and low-vision users. Our results show that one of the most widely used acceptance models does not predict the adoption behavior of visually impaired users as effectively as a modified model that includes information accessibility. Those with visual impairments decide to revisit a website based, in part, on its accessibility as well as its ease of use and usefulness. These results suggest that traditional acceptance models may predict the behavior of users with visual impairments better when reliability and convenience of access to Information are also considered.     

Convenience and TAM in a ubiquitous computing environment: The case of wireless LAN

Ubiquitous computing technology is seen as an emerging new information technology with such potency that it has changed the way we view IT. Although perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness constructs have been considered important in determining the individuals’ acceptance and use of IT in the last few decades, factors contributing to the acceptance of a new IT are likely to vary according to the technological characteristics, the target users, and the context.In this study, we will introduce convenience as a new factor that reflects the characteristic of ubiquitous computing technology. In addition, we chose wireless LAN as an initial stage technology of ubiquitous computing to empirically validate the extended technology acceptance model (TAM) applied in a ubiquitous computing environment.     

Delineating the effects of general and system-specific computer self-efficacy beliefs on IS acceptance

This paper discusses extensions to previous research on computer self-efficacy (CSE) and systems acceptance by examining the impact of multilevel CSE on IS acceptance. Based on the technology acceptance model (TAM), we examined the effects of general and system-specific CSE on perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and behavioral intention to use a system. The results of a field experiment indicated that system-specific CSE represented a stronger predictor of perceived usefulness and behavioral intention than general CSE. In contrast, general CSE had a stronger effect on perceived ease of use. The research and practical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Determinants of employees’ intention to exert pressure on firms to engage in web accessibility

Web accessibility can help reduce the digital divide between persons with disabilities and the web by providing easy access to information on the Internet. Providing web accessibility can be an important element that manifests a firm's corporate social responsibility (CSR) and employees can play a vital role in this process. This paper examines how employees can impact a firm's decision to fulfil their CSR regarding web accessibility. We propose that employees’ intention to exert pressure on a firm is primarily influenced by three psychological needs, namely need for control, need for belonging, and need for meaningful existence. Additionally, perceived importance of CSR moderates the relationship between need for meaningful existence and intention. We empirically test the research model using data collected from 106 Chinese employees. The results suggest that for employees to pressure their firms to improve the accessibility of their websites, it is imperative to enhance their perceived importance of web accessibility, and their need for belonging and for a meaningful existence. We present the theoretical and managerial implications arising from our findings.     

Antecedents and consequences of e‐learning acceptance

Based on the technology acceptance model (TAM), this study uses the framework of the extended TAM to examine the antecedents and consequences for employees' acceptance of the e‐learning system within financial services organizations. The total of 328 useable responses collected from eight international or domestic financial services companies in Taiwan were tested against the model using structural equation modelling (SEM). The main research results are summarized as follows in terms of the antecedents of e‐learning acceptance and its impact on employees' perceived performance. Four types of determinants are demonstrated: individual factors, system factors, social factors and network externality factor. Finally, this study proposes relevant suggestions for practitioners and future researchers.     

Evaluating Initial Public Acceptance of Highly and Fully Autonomous Vehicles

ABSTRACT

The autonomous vehicle (AV) is expected to dramatically increase road safety. Understanding the public’s initial perceptions and acceptance of AV is imperative because these aspects are likely to determine the future evolution of AVs. This study focuses on public perceptions and acceptance of the two highest levels of vehicle automation – highly autonomous vehicle (HAV) and fully autonomous vehicle (FAV). We drew from the conversation on trust and developed a psychological model to explain three acceptance measures, namely, general acceptance, behavioral intention to use, and willingness to pay (WTP). Using a between-subject survey (N = 742), we determined that the respondents held a stronger belief of benefits from FAV than from HAV. Trust in AV retained a direct effect as well as an indirect effect (mainly through perceived benefit) on the three acceptance measures. In comparison with perceived risk, perceived benefit exerted a higher direct effect on AV acceptance and a higher mediating effect on the trust–acceptance relationship. A prediction analysis further demonstrated that the model exhibited acceptable predictive capability for public acceptance. We drew certain implications for increasing AV acceptance.     

The influences of system usability and user satisfaction on continued Internet banking services usage intention: empirical evidence from Taiwan

This study proposes an extended technology acceptance model to investigate the effects of system usability and satisfaction on users’ intention to continue using Internet banking services. Based on a survey data from 304 respondents, structural equation modeling technique was employed to validate the model. The empirical results found that users’ continuance usage intention is jointly determined by perceived usefulness, perceived compatibility and satisfaction level. The hypothesized model explains 48.2 % of the variance in continuous usage intention. Results of multi-group analysis reveal that there are different concerns and priorities between skilled and less skilled users. Given that the sample of this study is collected from a particular industry in Taiwan, the generalizability of the findings may be limited. However, the comprehensiveness and representativeness of the research sample is a major strength of this study.     

Evaluating gaze-based interface tools to facilitate point-and-select tasks with small targets

Gaze interaction affords hands-free control of computers. Pointing to and selecting small targets using gaze alone is difficult because of the limited accuracy of gaze pointing. This is the first experimental comparison of gaze-based interface tools for small-target (e.g. <12 × 12 pixels) point-and-select tasks. We conducted two experiments comparing the performance of dwell, magnification and zoom methods in point-and-select tasks with small targets in single- and multiple-target layouts. Both magnification and zoom showed higher hit rates than dwell. Hit rates were higher when using magnification than when using zoom, but total pointing times were shorter using zoom. Furthermore, participants perceived magnification as more fatiguing than zoom. The higher accuracy of magnification makes it preferable when interacting with small targets. Our findings may guide the development of interface tools to facilitate access to mainstream interfaces for people with motor disabilities and other users in need of hands-free interaction.     

Cultural Effects on Use of Online Social Media for Health-Related Information Acquisition and Sharing in Taiwan

The aims of this study were to use the technology acceptance model to examine how the cultural characteristics of social media users in Taiwan affect their use of social media for acquiring and sharing health-related information and to examine how their use of online social media benefits their social relationships and health self-efficacy. The research model in this quantitative cross-sectional study was tested with data collected from 321 active Facebook users in Taiwan. All three cultural characteristics/dimensions considered in the research model (masculinity, collectivism, and uncertainty avoidance) significantly affected the perceived usefulness and the perceived ease of using the online social media platform. However, masculinity had a significant positive effect on perceived usefulness but not on perceived ease of use. These results imply that technology tools for people in high masculinity cultures should be designed to maximize the effectiveness of the technology for achieving goals rather than to maximize the ease of using the technology. On the other hand, the use of online social media for acquiring and sharing health-related information significantly affected the social relationships of users but not their health self-efficacy. The results of this study imply that participants in online communities share health-related information not only to enhance their health but also to form strong social connections. This study proposes a new construct of technology acceptance, acquisition, and sharing of health-related information and investigates its effects on social relationships and health self-efficacy.     

Virtual user models for the elderly and disabled for automatic simulated accessibility and ergonomy evaluation of designs

This paper presents a framework for automatic simulated accessibility and ergonomy testing of virtual prototypes of products using virtual user models. The proposed virtual user modeling framework describes virtual humans focusing on the elderly and people with disabilities. Geometric, kinematic, physical, behavioral and cognitive aspects of the user affected by possible disabilities are examined, in order to create virtual user models able to represent people with various functional limitations. Hierarchical task and interaction models are introduced, in order to describe the user’s capabilities at multiple levels of abstraction. The use of alternative ways of a user task’s execution, exploiting different modalities and assistive devices, is supported by the proposed task analysis. Experimental results on the accessibility and ergonomy evaluation of different workplace designs for the use of a telephone and a stapler show how the proposed framework can be put into practice and demonstrate its significant potential.     

An empirical investigation of a modified technology acceptance model of IPTV

This study explores the factors influencing the adoption of IPTV, and tests the applicability of the technology acceptance model (TAM) in a new convergent technology. The behavioural constructs from TAM were tested for predicting user acceptance of IPTV. Structural equation modelling was used to analyse data and to design a theoretical model predicting the individual's intention to adopt IPTV. A modified TAM for IPTV proposes that new constructs determine user-perceived usefulness and enjoyment of using IPTV. Although this study confirms the impact of information quality and system quality on consumers' technology experience, it specifically shows that the perceived quality of content and system were found to have a significant effect on users' perceived usefulness and perceived enjoyment. In addition, social influences had a positive effect on the intention to use IPTV. These findings suggest an extension of the TAM model for convergence technologies. This research advances theory and contributes to the foundation for future research aimed at improving the understanding of users' adoption behaviour of convergence technologies. Implications of these findings for practice and research are examined.     

Smartphones as smart pedagogical tools: Implications for smartphones as u-learning devices

This study aims at understanding the fundamental factors influencing users’ intentions to continually use smartphones as a ubiquitous learning (u-learning) tool. This study examines consumers’ experiences with smartphone learning in order to investigate the areas of its development as a u-learning application. In this paper, the modified unified theory of acceptance and usage technology (UTAUT) model is used with constructs from expectation-confirmation theory (ECT). While the findings confirm the significant roles of users’ cognitive perceptions, the findings also shed light on the possibility of the smartphone serving as an enabler of u-learning. Users may want to use the smartphone as a telecommunication tool, as well as a u-learning application. The proposed model brings together extant research on smartphones and provides an important cluster of antecedents to eventual technology acceptance via constructs of continuance intention to use and actual usage of u-learning. The empirical findings demonstrate that employing perceived usability and perceived quality would be a worthwhile extension of the UTAUT/ECT in the smartphone learning context, as both were found to be influential in predicting smartphone users’ attitudes and behavioral intentions. Practical implications for industry can be drawn from these findings in terms of strategies and new models for u-learning and beyond.