Thin lenses in geometrical optics: An interactive graphics program

An interactive program with output to a low cost graphics terminal has been developed for use in an undergraduate physics laboratory. This program provides a good exercise training the student in principal ray tracing in geometrical optics.     

An online collaborative document creation exercise in an ODL research project module

Online technologies to support collaborative learning provide lecturers in distance higher education with ever more opportunities to extend their teaching in beneficial ways. Students are also increasingly familiar with the online environment via social networking sites. How well this familiarity with online environments translates into the online collaborative learning space in an open distance learning context was examined. We report here on one cycle of an action research project involving 11 fourth-year computing students producing shared survey questionnaires and interview questions collaboratively online. Feedback on the collaboration exercise was obtained by means of a questionnaire which was analysed using grounded theory techniques. The expectation was that collaborative text creation software would be used but somewhat surprisingly, given their academic background, the students used email as the tool of choice. The students' reflections on the collaborative process showed that they noted and appreciated the benefits of collaborative work but also confirmed some of the previously reported frustrations of online collaborative work – in particular differences in levels of commitment and effort, and the free rider effect. Overall, the results pointed to the need for lecturers to be involved in a collaborative process to critically question and guide choices being made.     

An approach to multi-agent interactive control in an intelligent space

International Journal of Control, Automation and Systems - A new type of multi-agent interactive control is proposed in an intelligent space system, which is based on heterogeneous multiple vision...     

An exercise in the transportation of an operating system

An attempt lo transport an operating system and some associated software from one machine to another is described. Some comments are made on the suitability of the system for such a task, and some recommendations are put forward to future operating system writers to assist in making their systems more portable.     

Files in an interactive environment

A well designed file system can significantly simplify the design of and increase the reliability of interactive programs. A summary of the specifications of a convenient file system that is substantially independent of the host operating system and some experiences using the system are described.     

PEP: An interactive programming system with an Algol-like programming language

PEP (Program Editor and Processor) is an interactive programming system based on an Algol-like language. It is intended to replace BASIC as a system for interactive program development on small computers (LSI-11). The language processed by the system allows declaration of variables, constants and procedures; it has structured statements for conditional and repetitive execution of program parts. We describe design and implementation of the system and give our impressions after 1 year of experience with the system.     

An interactive 3D movement path manipulation method in an augmented reality environment

In this paper, we evaluate a path editing method using a tangible user interface to generate and manipulate the movement path of a 3D object in an Augmented Reality (AR) scene. To generate the movement path, each translation point of a real 3D manipulation prop is examined to determine which point should be used as a control point for the path. Interpolation using splines is then used to reconstruct the path with a smooth line. A dynamic score-based selection method is also used to effectively select small and dense control points of the path. In an experimental evaluation, our method took the same time and generated a similar amount of errors as a more traditional approach, however the number of control points needed was significantly reduced. For control manipulation, the task completion time was quicker and there was less hand movement needed. Our method can be applied to drawing or curve editing methods in AR educational, gaming, and simulation applications.     

Holophrasted displays in an interactive environment

This article presents a general algorithm for prettyprinting and holophrasting interactively created objects. It is shown how an environment with knowledge of the entities it manipulates can automatically produce cathode-ray tube displays with more helpful contextual information for the user than a traditional display of contiguous lines from a source file.     

An interactive service customization model

Mass customization has become one of the key strategies for a service provider to differentiate itself from its competitors in a highly segmented global service market. This paper proposes an interactive service customization model to support individual service offering for customers. In this model, not only that the content of an activity is customizable, but the process model can also be constructed dynamically according to the customer's requirements. Based on goal ontology, the on-demand customer requirements are transformed into a high-level service process model. Process components, which are building blocks for reusable standardized service processes, are designed to support on-demand process composition. The customer can incrementally define the customized service process through a series of operations, including activation of goal decomposition, reusable component selection, and process composition. In this paper, we first discuss the key requirements of the service customization problem. We then present in detail a knowledge-based customizable service process model and the accompanying customization method. Finally we demonstrate the feasibility of the our approach through a case study of the well-known travel planning problem and present a prototype system that enables users to interactively organize a satisfying travel plan.     

An interactive network graphics system

This paper discusses a number of issues relevant to the design of systems for performing interactive graphics over a computer network such as the ARPA Network. We then describe a working implementation of such a system and an example of its use.     

An interactive data visualization system

GRAFANA is an interactive program, which allows the user to produce drawings based on data stored on a disk file. The major advantage and originality of the system is that the user can interactively determine the visual effect of a drawing and immediately see it on the screen. Moreover, any drawing produced by GRAFANA can still be edited by a generalpurpose graphics editor. This system allows the user to obtain precisely the right drawing for any book, paper or report. GRAFANA has been implemented in MIRA-2D, a graphical Pascal extension. It is available for different machines and kinds of graphical devices.     

An interactive visual protocol simulator

A flexible protocol simulator is presented that supports interactive visual experimentation with protocols. The simulator is modular and allows ready addition of new protocols. Use of Java permits protocol simulations to be delivered via the web, and also to be developed in an object-oriented manner. A range of simulations is presented, covering link-level protocols to application-oriented protocols. The Trivial File Transfer Protocol is used to illustrate in detail how a protocol simulation is implemented.     

An interactive image processing system

A multiuser multiprocessing image processing system has been developed. It is an interactive picture manipulation and enhancement facility which is capable of executing a variety of image processing operations while simultaneously controlling real-time input and output of pictures. It was designed to provide a reliable picture processing system which would be cost-effective in the commercial production environment. Additional goals met by the system include flexibility and ease of operation and modification.     

An interactive teaching experiment in materials science

In the light of current staffing problems in Universities there is a need to examine to what extent the principles of computer aided learning can be applied objectively in small group activities where repetitive tuition is necessary. In the Engineering curricula this approach is particularly relevant to laboratory classes where much of the information to be communicated often relates to the use of complex testing equipment and where it is desirable that a full understanding of the instrumentation is obtained before testing commences. Such stringent requirements lead to the concept of an un-manned supervising computer, with which the students interact, and which can monitor learning rates and reiterate instructions if wrong responses are obtained.This paper examines current teaching psychology and concludes that there are certain vital elements in CAL. Firstly a need to recognise that students are individuals and learn at different rates, and, in particular, need to be motivated to learn. Secondly that the design of instructions should take into proper account the level of entry from previous knowledge.The laboratory experiment chosen was the uniaxial tensile testing of different engineering materials to obtain comparative data on strengths, ductility and modes of failure.A comprehensive software package was developed to run on a BBC micro-computer. The program contains all the information previously included in laboratory handouts together with question and answer routines which test understanding and control the rate of progress. Extensive use is made of graphics to represent the instrumentation in symbolic form and the computer monitors the behaviour of the apparatus and warns of improper use. Plotting of data is performed automatically.The effectiveness of the new teaching technique was examined quantitatively by obtaining critical reactions from individual students.It is concluded that student understanding and report quality is greatly improved within the original time slot for the experiment by the use of CAL techniques and that considerable savings in staff time could be obtained if such techniques were applied across the board.     

网络教育交互平台的探讨

交互是网络教育体系的一项重要内容,对网络教育的效果产生直接的影响,网络教育的交互是以媒体为中介的交互,目前常用的网络交互平台还无法满足学习性交互的需要,研究和探索适应于网络教育的交互平台是网络教育向深度发展的迫切需要.基于网络的维客和播客是新型的网络交互平台,其内在的特点决定了其将成为构建网络教育交互平台的最佳选择之一.     

Designing an interactive modelling environment

A number of desirable characteristics and facilities of interactive modelling systems, designed to assist concept learning, are identified. These are discussed, first in general terms and then with reference to one particular system, the aim of which is to assist students' understanding of fundamental concepts in computer architecture.