Gravitating towards mobile phone (GoToMP) during lecture periods by students: Why are they using it? and how can it be measured?

With the growing amount of research on the use of technology, especially the mobile phones, the paucity of research in the area of mobile phone use that focus on the reasons why students use their mobile phones during lecture periods is somewhat surprising. Findings from the previous studies have documented that students continue to use their mobile phones during lecture periods even in classes where its use is banned. Thus, the motives that determine students' continued intention to use their mobile phones during lecture periods becomes an important issue that deserves urgent attention from researchers and education policymakers. In the present investigation, we tried to fill this gap by examining the determinants of students' continuance use of mobile phones during lecture periods. To achieve this, three stages of instrument development (item generation, scale development, and instrument testing) were undertaken through two studies. The results of the exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the existence of six dimensions in the proposed measurement instrument (which we referred to as gravitating towards mobile phone (GoToMP)); the dimensions are boredom, class-related use, social connection, emergency, addiction, and perceived behavioral control. The combined findings from the two studies reported here provide initial evidence that GoToMP exhibits excellent psychometric properties and can be used in future empirical research on mobile phone use behaviors of students.     

Hybrid recommendations for mobile commerce based on mobile phone features

Mobile data communications have evolved as the number of third generation (3G) subscribers has increased. The evolution has triggered an increase in the use of mobile devices, such as mobile phones, to conduct mobile commerce and mobile shopping on the mobile web. There are fewer products to browse on the mobile web; hence, one‐to‐one marketing with product recommendations is important. Typical collaborative filtering (CF) recommendation systems make recommendations to potential customers based on the purchase behaviour of customers with similar preferences. However, this method may suffer from the so‐called sparsity problem, which means there may not be sufficient similar users because the user‐item rating matrix is sparse. In mobile shopping environments, the features of users' mobile phones provide different functionalities for using mobile services; thus, the features may be used to identify users with similar purchase behaviour. In this paper, we propose a mobile phone feature (MPF)‐based hybrid method to resolve the sparsity issue of the typical CF method in mobile environments. We use the features of mobile phones to identify users' characteristics and then cluster users into groups with similar interests. The hybrid method combines the MPF‐based method and a preference‐based method that uses association rule mining to extract recommendation rules from user groups and make recommendations. Our experiment results show that the proposed hybrid method performs better than other recommendation methods.     

A model of the relationship between psychological characteristics,mobile phone addiction and use of mobile phones by Taiwanese university female students

While many researches have analyzed the psychological antecedents of mobile phone addiction and mobile phone usage behavior, their relationship with psychological characteristics remains mixed. We investigated the relationship between psychological characteristics, mobile phone addiction and use of mobile phones for 269 Taiwanese female university students who were administered Rosenberg’s self-esteem scale, Lai’s personality inventory, and a mobile phone usage questionnaire and mobile phone addiction scale. The result showing that: (1) social extraversion and anxiety have positive effects on mobile phone addiction, and self-esteem has negative effects on mobile phone addiction. (2) Mobile phone addiction has a positive predictive effect on mobile phone usage behavior. The results of this study identify personal psychological characteristics of Taiwanese female university students which can significantly predict mobile phone addiction; female university students with mobile phone addiction will make more phone calls and send more text messages. These results are discussed and suggestions for future research for school and university students are provided.     

Social networking on smartphones: When mobile phones become addictive

As the penetration of mobile phones in societies increases, there is a large growth in the use of mobile phones especially among the youth. This trend is followed by the fast growth in use of online social networking services (SNS). Extensive use of technology can lead to addiction. This study finds that the use of SNS mobile applications is a significant predictor of mobile addiction. The result also shows that the use of SNS mobile applications is affected by both SNS network size and SNS intensity of the user. This study has implications for academia as well as governmental and non-for-profit organizations regarding the effect of mobile phones on individual’s and public health.     

Scanning backlight for motion‐blur reduction on mobile displays

Abstract— Small‐form‐factor liquid‐crystal displays (LCDs) are mainly used in mobile applications (e.g., mobile phones, PDAs, and portable game consoles) but also in digital still cameras, video cameras, automotive applications, etc. Like all active‐matrix LCDs, mobile displays suffer from motion blur caused by the sample‐and‐hold effect. One option for improving the motion portrayal on active‐matrix LCDs is the use of a scanning backlight, which results in an imaging behavior similar to the one present in impulsive displays. In this paper, the realization of a scanning backlight for mobile displays is reported. This employs a backlight with seven individually lit segments for reducing the motion blur. Results of perception experiments performed with two identical displays confirm the benefit of using this technology. Optimal driving conditions result in a major improvement in motion portrayal on mobile LCDs.     

The Digital Divide Objectified in the Design: Use of the Mobile Telephone by Underprivileged Youth in Sri Lanka

Most discussions on the digital divide have predominantly focused on social disparities in the physical accessibility of information and communication technologies (ICT), and the proposed solutions are related to providing low cost access to the underprivileged. The mobile phone has been considered as a good solution due to its relatively low cost. This paper, based on an empirical study in Sri Lanka, demonstrates that even though the underprivileged population has adopted the mobile phone, most of the computer based communication facilities available in the phones are ‘inaccessible’ to such users due the objectification of broader social inequalities in the design of phones. In other words, the digital divide is objectified in the design.     

Comparative performance evaluation of CAR systems based on mobile phones and feature tracking

Collaborative Augmented Reality (CAR) systems based on mobile phones have experienced a huge expansion last years, since the hardware features of most mobile phones provide excellent multimedia services and wireless network capabilities. In previous works, we improved the performance of large-scale CAR systems based on mobile phones that use fiducial marker tracking. However, CAR systems based on natural feature tracking have just emerged, changing the way in which Augmented Reality applications work. In this paper, we propose the performance evaluation of CAR systems based on feature tracking when using mobile phones, and their comparison with CAR systems based on fiducial marker tracking. The evaluation of the whole CAR system includes the rendering of the virtual environment with Unity3D. The purpose is to provide the reader with a reference about the performance that can be achieved with each kind of CAR system. The evaluation results of client devices show that they work faster with natural feature (commonly denoted as markerless) tracking than with fiducial marker tracking, regardless of the phone model and the operating system considered. The evaluation results of the whole CAR system show that natural feature tracking provides similar performance than fiducial marker tracking when the system reaches saturation. However, the use of natural feature tracking allows better performance for low workloads or when the system approaches saturation, since, it provides similar response times at the cost of increasing the percentage of CPU utilization in the server, instead of dropping messages. These results validate natural feature tracking as the best option for CAR systems based on mobile phones.     

Comparative studies of perceived vibration strength for commercial mobile phones

A mobile phone, also known as cell phone or hand phone, is among the most popular electrical devices used by people all over the world. The present study examines the vibration perception of mobile phones by co-relating the relevant design parameters such as excitation frequency, and size and mass of mobile phones to the vibration perception survey by volunteers. Five popular commercially available mobile phone models were tested. The main findings for the perception surveys were that higher vibration frequency and amplitude of the peak acceleration would result in stronger vibration perception of the mobile phones. A larger contact surface area with the palms and figures, higher peak acceleration and the associated larger peak inertia force may be the main factors for the relatively higher vibration perception. The future design for the vibration alert of the mobile phones is likely to follow this trend.     

Investigating Modern‐Day Talaria: Mobile Phones and the Mobility‐Impaired in Singapore

Revisiting the medical and social models of disability, this study adopted the integrated biopsychosocial approach to examine experiences of 25 mobility‐impaired respondents in Singapore with using mobile phones. We found that mobile phones provided respondents a greater degree of mobility, a sense of control, and opportunities to escape the stigma of disability, thus challenging the boundaries between the able‐bodied and the disabled. Mobile phone appropriation allowed the management of personal identities and social networks, leading to a sense of empowerment. However, mobile phone usage might act as a double‐edged sword for disabled people, creating mobile dependencies and a spatial narrowing of social connections. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Collecting and Sharing Location-based Content on Mobile Phones in a Zoo Visitor Experience

The augmentation of visitor experiences with location-based technologies has been available for some time. Through in-depth studies of users during these experiences the field is building a rich picture of user behaviour in relation to certain location-based technologies. However, little work has explored the use of mobile camera phones and 2D barcodes on situated signs and their properties as a way of delivering such augmented visitor experiences. In this paper we present a study of people engaged in such a location-based experience at London zoo in which they use mobile camera phones to read 2D barcodes on signs at the animal enclosures in order to access related content. Through the fieldwork we highlight the social and collaborative aspects of the experience and how particular characteristics of the mobile phone and barcode technology shape these behaviours. The paper also highlights some of the non-instrumental aspects of the location-based experience, in particular in relation to the importance of collecting location-based content. We explore the social aspects of collecting as well as certain competitive elements it introduces into people’s behaviour. This creates an interesting tension in that aspects of the application encourage cooperation and sharing among the visitors whereas others encourage competition. In the course of presenting the fieldwork, we explore this tension further.     

The action of looking at a mobile phone display as nonverbal behavior/communication: A theoretical perspective

This study investigates the now-common action of looking at a mobile phone display, thereby offering insight into the present communication situation in an era in which the use of high-performance mobile phones has become ubiquitous. In this study, the action of looking at a mobile phone display is considered nonverbal behavior/communication. This study applies a basic, general model to elucidate the present situation of face-to-face communication in light of the increasing prevalence of social interaction via mobile phone use. The results derived from the model include mobile phone users’ increasing social power and an accumulation of potential discontent in relation to different interpretations. This study concludes that in an era of high-performance mobile phones, the social context in face-to-face communication can be influenced by the act of looking at a mobile phone display.     

Image Categorization using Color Blobs in a Mobile Environment

This paper generalizes the basic idea of blobs in preattentive perception using color information. This is usedas the base of a basic classification of low resolution pictures taken with mobile phones. This classification, theblob‐like representation of the image and other information in user's context, such as GPS information, can beused in the presented framework as the basis of a new graphical interface for HCI (Human Computer Interaction).Similar systems whether they work with global properties of the image, which leads to inaccurate results, or withcomplex segmentation process that fails to capture expected objects in the scene. Most of those systems do notpay attention on other information involved in the creation of the image, such as time or location. We describe asystem which uses geographical information associated with a picture in a mobile phone terminal, and with a fastsegmentation based on color categorization.     

Accompany Children's Learning for You: An Intelligent Companion Learning System

Nowadays, parents attach importance to their children's primary education but often lack time and correct pedagogical principles to accompany their children's learning. Besides, existing learning systems cannot perceive children's emotional changes. They may also cause children's self-control and cognitive problems due to smart devices such as mobile phones and tablets. To tackle these issues, we propose an intelligent companion learning system to accompany children in learning English words, namely the Intelligent Augmented Reality Educator (IARE). The IARE realizes the perception and feedback of children's engagement through the intelligent agent (IA) module, and presents the humanized interaction based on projective Augmented Reality (AR). Specifically, IA perceives the children's learning engagement change and spelling status in real-time through our online lightweight temporal multiple instance attention module and character recognition module, based on which analyses the performance of the individual learning process and gives appropriate feedback and guidance. We allow children to interact with physical letters, thus avoiding the excessive interference of electronic devices. To test the efficacy of our system, we conduct a pilot study with 14 English learning children. The results show that our system can significantly improve children's intrinsic motivation and self-efficacy.     

Measuring Mobile Phone Use: Self-Report Versus Log Data

Approximately 40% of mobile phone use studies published in scholarly communication journals base their findings on self-report data about how frequently respondents use their mobile phones. Using a subset of a larger representative sample we examine the validity of this type of self-report data by comparing it to server log data. The self-report data correlate only moderately with the server log data, indicating low criterion validity. The categorical self-report measure asking respondents to estimate “how often” they use their mobile phones fared better than the continuous self-report measure asking them to estimate their mobile phone activity “yesterday.” A multivariate exploratory analysis further suggests that it may be difficult to identify under- and overreporting using demographic variables alone.     

Configurations of Relationships in Different Media: FtF, Email, Instant Messenger, Mobile Phone, and SMS

This study analyzes the configurations of communication relationships in Korea through face-to-face, email, instant messaging, mobile phone, and short message service media. Through a web survey, we asked respondents to identify (1) for each of the five media (2) up to five of their most frequent communication partners, (3) the partner's social role (including colleagues, family, friends), and (4) their own employment category. Individual-level and network-level analyses were used to compare variations in communication relationships and configurations of relationships among social roles overall, within each medium, and for different employment categories, and to identify configurations of relationships across media. IM, SMS, and mobile phone are distinctive media for students, mobile phone for homeworkers, and email for organizational workers. Moreover, mobile phones tend to be used in reinforcing strong social ties, and text-based CMC media tend to be used in expanding relationships with weak ties. Finally, face-to-face (FtF) seems to be a universal medium without significant differences across respondents' employment categories.     

How do skilled and less‐skilled spellers write text messages? A longitudinal study

The link between students' spelling level and their text‐messaging practice gives rise to numerous questions from teachers, parents and the media. A corpus of 4524 text messages produced in daily‐life situations by students in sixth and seventh grade (n = 19, 11–12 years of age) was compiled. None of the participants had ever owned or used a mobile phone before the start of the study; their text messages were collected monthly over the course of a year. The comparison between the group with mobile phones and the control group without mobile phones (n = 30) showed no difference between the level of traditional writing at the beginning of the text‐message collection and during the collection. The results showed that the correlation between the level of traditional spelling and the density of textisms was dependent upon the type of textisms (consistent/breaking with traditional code), the type of spelling (usage‐based/rule‐based), the grades in French class and the duration of text‐messaging practice. On the whole, students who were skilled or less skilled in traditional writing at the beginning of the text‐message collection remained respectively skilled or less skilled throughout the year, despite their text‐messaging use (density and type of textisms). The discussion of this study's academic implications tends towards a complementarity between traditional writing and text messaging.     

The smart phone: a ubiquitous input device

We show how modern mobile phones (Weiser's tabs) can interact with their environment, especially large situated displays (Weiser's boards). Smart phones' emerging capabilities are fueling a rise in the use of mobile phones as input devices to such resources as situated displays, vending machines, and home appliances. Mobile phones' prevalence gives them great potential to be the default physical interface for ubiquitous computing applications. We survey interaction techniques that use mobile phones as input devices to ubiquitous computing environments. We use smart phone to describe an enhanced mobile phone. Our analysis blurs the line between smart phones and PDAs such as the Palm Pilot because the feature sets continue to converge.     

The Paradox of Mobility in the Kenyan ICT Ecosystem: An Ethnographic Case of How the Youth in Kibera Slum Use and Appropriate the Mobile Phone and the Mobile Internet

The Kenyan ICT ecosystem has attracted vast global media and policy attention because of notable mobile phone adoption in the country. However, empirical research of how Kenyans use and appropriate new media and ICTs in the diverse contexts within the country remains limited. In order to contribute to the emerging literature on Sub-Saharan Africa ICT ecosystems as well as the Mobility discussions within Mobiles for Development M4D and Information and Communication Technologies for Development ICT4D, this paper discusses an empirical case of how the youth of Kibera use and appropriate the mobile phone and the mobile Internet. The purpose of this critical realist ethnographic research article is to explicate the events in the historical development of the Kenyan ICT ecosystem as well as the components of social and physical structure in Kibera slum along with the relationships between them. This paper argues that the mobile phone eases communication and strengthens existent social ties for the youth of Kibera. However, it cannot bypass the hierarchical nature of Kenya where “class and place of residence are distinctive social markers in the process of social networking” [Wallis, C. (2011). Mobile phones without guarantees: The promises of technology and the contingencies of culture. New Media & Society, 13(3), 471–485. Wallis, C. (2013). Technomobility in China: Young migrant women and mobile phones. New York, NY: New York University Press]. Therefore, the young Kiberans predominantly use and appropriate the mobile phone to network with those in the same lower income strata. This is because they are widely perceived in Kenyan society as the “other and what does not belong” because they are slum residents [Hall, S. (2013). The spectacle of the other. In S. Hall, J. Evans, & S. Nixon (Eds.), Representation: Cultural representations and signifying practices (2nd ed., pp. 223–283). Sage. p. 257].