Generative lexicon principles for machine translation: A case for meta-lexical structure

This paper addresses two types of mismatches in the translation of reported speech between German and English. The first mismatch is between the repeated use of the reported speech construction in English and the use of subjunctive in German used to indicate continued attribution. The second mismatch concerns the difference in usage of metonymic extensions in the subject position of reported speech. Examples show the different styles of reporting the utterances of somebody else. A well-structured lexicon is presented as one step to the solution of the problems presented. One key feature of the proposed lexicon is a meta-lexical organization of basic word entries, which is shown to facilitate the translation process. We contrast our notions of lexical structure with different recent proposals in machine translation.     

The design and realization of CoViD: a system for collaborative virtual 3D design

Many important decisions in the design process are made during fairly early on, after designers have presented initial concepts. In many domains, these concepts are already realized as 3D digital models. Then, in a meeting, the stakeholders for the project get together and evaluate these potential solutions. Frequently, the participants in this meeting want to interactively modify the proposed 3D designs to explore the design space better. Today’s systems and tools do not support this, as computer systems typically support only a single user and computer-aided design tools require significant training. This paper presents the design of a new system to facilitate a collaborative 3D design process. First, we discuss a set of guidelines which have been introduced by others and that are relevant to collaborative 3D design systems. Then, we introduce the new system, which consists of two main parts. The first part is an easy-to-use conceptual 3D design tool that can be used productively even by naive users. The tool provides novel interaction techniques that support important properties of conceptual design. The user interface is non-obtrusive, easy-to-learn, and supports rapid creation and modification of 3D models. The second part is a novel infrastructure for collaborative work, which offers an interactive table and several large interactive displays in a semi-immersive setup. It is designed to support multiple users working together. This infrastructure also includes novel pointing devices that work both as a stylus and a remote pointing device. The combination of the (modified) design tool with the collaborative infrastructure forms a new platform for collaborative virtual 3D design. Then, we present an evaluation of the system against the guidelines for collaborative 3D design. Finally, we present results of a preliminary user study, which asked naive users to collaborate in a 3D design task on the new system.     

The challenge of interface design for communication theory: from interaction metaphor to contexts of discovery

Those who study interface design still have not resolved the issue of whether the computer is a passive medium or a communicative participant with which we can hope to ‘engage in conversation’. The authors think that this controversy reflects an inadequate philosophy of interface design, which cannot account for what purpose a medium serves in a human communication. In a short history of humancomputer interface research, we trace the development of this philosophy through three generations of computer interface technology and find that its failure lies in the conceptual limitations of its driving concept of interaction.

Just as the concept of interaction provided the transition from the past (command-line interface) to the present (desktop metaphor interface), perhaps, the concept of engagement can provide the transition from our present understanding of the ‘interactive desktop’ interface to multimedia's ‘contexts of discovery’.

The development of multimedia gives interface designers the ultimate challenge to develop interface technology that will simulate human-to-human communication. Should human communication theory be able to treat the conceptual deficiencies of interface design philosophy? The authors find fundamental challenges here and briefly indicate what Charles S. Peirce's semiotic might offer as an age-old remedy.     

Hierarchical clustering: A structure for scalable multiprocessor operating system design

We introduce the concept ofhierarchical clustering as a way to structure shared-memory multiprocessor operating systems for scalability. The concept is based on clustering and hierarchical system design. Hierarchical clustering leads to a modular system, composed of easy-to-design and efficient building blocks. The resulting structure is scalable because it 1) maximizes locality, which is key to good performance in NUMA (non-uniform memory access) systems and 2) provides for concurrency that increases linearly with the number of processors. At the same time, there is tight coupling within a cluster, so the system performs well for local interactions that are expected to constitute the common case. A clustered system can easily be adapted to different hardware configurations and architectures by changing the size of the clusters. We show how this structuring technique is applied to the design of a microkernel-based operating system calledHurricane. This prototype system is the first complete and running implementation of its kind and demonstrates the feasibility of a hierarchically clustered system. We present performance results based on the prototype, demonstrating the characteristics and behavior of a clustered system. In particular, we show how clustering trades off the efficiencies of tight coupling for the advantages of replication, increased locality, and decreased lock contention.     

Identifying competences for the design of systems supporting complex decision-making tasks: a managerial planning application

The work presented in this paper is addressed to the front-end phases of the development of a system supporting a complex decision-making task: high-level managerial planning in small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs). It attempts to identify characteristics of the competences possessed by experienced managers and used when taking high-level managerial planning decisions, and to assess their potential implications for system design. The work is based on the assumption that the design of effective systems supporting complex decision-making tasks in a specific domain, would require elicitation of competences possessed by experienced persons in the domain, especially those related to the mental processes followed when confronting the cognitive constraints involved in the specific decision-making environment. Such an investigation would lead to the development of systems improving decision making since they would (1) respond to the difficulties met by potential users in performing complex decision-making tasks; (2) reduce possible negative consequences of users' decision-making competences; and (3) at the same time they would achieve the required compatibility with users' mental processes. The research methodology was based on a planning scenario and on an analysis of verbal protocols obtained from a sample of small-enterprise managers confronted with this scenario. Results provide evidence about (1) the type of decisions and actions taken by experienced managers when confronted with the cognitive constraints involved in managerial planning situations; (2) phases and sequence of the process of arriving at planning decisions; and (3) data used and types of analyses performed. Some general implications are drawn from these results with respect to the configuration of a system aiming at supporting managerial planning. These refer to the type of support to be provided at various phases of the planning process, possible features of the human-computer interface, and generic or task/user specific aspects of the system.     

Compound fabrication: A multi-functional robotic platform for digital design and fabrication

Supporting various applications of digital fabrication and manufacturing, the industrial robot is typically assigned repetitive tasks for specific pre-programmed and singular applications. We propose a novel approach for robotic fabrication and manufacturing entitled Compound Fabrication, supporting multi-functional and multi-material processes. This approach combines the major manufacturing technologies including additive, formative and subtractive fabrication, as well as their parallel integration. A 6-axis robotic arm, repurposed as an integrated 3D printing, milling and sculpting platform, enables shifting between fabrication modes and across scales using different end effectors. Promoting an integrated approach to robotic fabrication, novel combination processes are demonstrated including 3D printing and milling fabrication composites. In addition, novel robotic fabrication processes are developed and evaluated, such as multi-axis plastic 3D printing, direct recycling 3D printing, and embedded printing. The benefits and limitations of the Compound Fabrication approach and its experimental platform are reviewed and discussed. Finally, contemplation regarding the future of multi-functional robotic fabrication is offered, in the context of the experiments reviewed and demonstrated in this paper.     

A new design concept: 3D to 2D textile pattern design for garments

‘The word “fashion” is synonymous with the word “change”. Fashion begins with fabrics and fabrics begin with colour’. This famous remark/definition of ‘fashion’ must now be revised in the era of digital technology. In this paper, we propose a novel print design concept, from 3D garments to 2D textiles. By taking advantage of the cutting-edge developments in surface parameterisation, cloth simulation and texture assignment, we develop a computer system that allows designers to create figure-flattering prints directly onto 3D garments, and will output 2D pattern pieces with matched texture that are ready for digital printing and garment production. It reverses the traditional design process from 2D fabrics to 3D garments. The results produced by the proposed method guarantee textural continuity in both garment and pattern pieces. It not only releases apparel makers from the tedious work of matching texture along seams, but also provides users with a new tool to create one-of-a-kind fashion products by designing personalised prints.     

When paradigms collide at the road rail interface: evaluation of a sociotechnical systems theory design toolkit for cognitive work analysis

The Cognitive Work Analysis Design Toolkit (CWA-DT) is a recently developed approach that provides guidance and tools to assist in applying the outputs of CWA to design processes to incorporate the values and principles of sociotechnical systems theory. In this paper, the CWA-DT is evaluated based on an application to improve safety at rail level crossings. The evaluation considered the extent to which the CWA-DT met pre-defined methodological criteria and aligned with sociotechnical values and principles. Both process and outcome measures were taken based on the ratings of workshop participants and human factors experts. Overall, workshop participants were positive about the process and indicated that it met the methodological criteria and sociotechnical values. However, expert ratings suggested that the CWA-DT achieved only limited success in producing RLX designs that fully aligned with the sociotechnical approach. Discussion about the appropriateness of the sociotechnical approach in a public safety context is provided.

Practitioner Summary: Human factors and ergonomics practitioners need evidence of the effectiveness of methods. A design toolkit for cognitive work analysis, incorporating values and principles from sociotechnical systems theory, was applied to create innovative designs for rail level crossings. Evaluation results based on the application are provided and discussed.     

Impact of working environments upon human-machine dialogues: a formal logic for the integrated specification of physical and cognitive ergonomic constraints on user interface design

A range of techniques have been developed to improve the integration of computer systems into complex working environments. For instance, computer aided design tools can be used to simulate operators' posture at a particular workstation. Fitting studies can then be used to validate potential layouts. Unfortunately, few of these techniques can also be used to support the development of interactive dialogues. This is a critical problem for systems where designers must distribute application data amongst a number of different presentation devices. The position of these displays can be used to reflect the salience and priority of information. This paper presents techniques that support both user interface development and workstation layout. First order logic can be used to represent and reason about constraints on the design of human computer dialogues. The same formalism can also be used to identify appropriate locations for presentation devices within their working context; control rooms and offices. The findings of ergonomic studies can then be applied to analyze the mental and physical demands imposed by the interactive dialogues that are supported by particular devices. Unfortunately, formal specifications provide little impression of what it would be like to interact with a system within a particular environment. We have developed simulation tools to address this problem. Prototype displays can be presented within three dimensional models of their working context. The resulting simulations are directly derived from formal specifications and can be shown to members of concurrent design teams. They also provide a medium for communication with potential operators.     

ArchiDNA: An interactive system for creating 2D and 3D conceptual drawings in architectural design

We present an interactive system called ArchiDNA for creating 2D and 3D conceptual drawings in architectural design. We developed a novel principle of shape generation called match-and-attach by analyzing drawing styles of a contemporary architect, Peter Eisenman. The process consists of user interaction techniques and a set of rules that decide how one or more shapes attach to another shape. One key ingredient of our process is a unique concept for the interactive semi-automatic shape generation that uses the combination of algorithmic rules of a computer and designers’ manual inputs. These techniques enable designers to use CAD software in the early stages of architectural designs to explore conceptual building forms. ArchiDNA dynamically responds to drawing inputs, configures 2D shapes, and converts them to 3D shapes in a similar style. We intend to complement existing CAD software and computational drawing pipelines for intuitive 2D and 3D conceptual drawing creation.