Does the uncanny valley exist? An empirical test of the relationship between eeriness and the human likeness of digitally created faces

The uncanny valley theory (UVT) (Mori, 1970) proposes that when stimuli are defined by a near-perfect resemblance to humans they cause people to experience greater negative affect relative to when they have perfect human likeness (HL) or little to no HL. Empirical research to support this non-linear relationship between negative affect and HL has been inconclusive, however, and a satisfactory causal explanation has not yet emerged to explain existing findings. In two studies, we examined the relationship between HL and eeriness using digital human faces. First, we examined the relationship between HL and eeriness while controlling for extraneous variation in stimulus appearance. We created two HL continua by manipulating the facial proportions and polygon count of several digital human models. Second, we proposed and tested two causal hypotheses regarding the uncanny valley phenomenon that we refer to as category conflict and feature atypicality. We created two additional HL continua by manipulating the skin coloration and category membership of models. Across these continua we introduced an atypical feature. Our results suggest that HL is linearly related to emotional response, except under conditions where HL varies by category membership, suggesting that previous empirical findings might be explained as a category conflict.     

An empirical study of managers’ usage intention in BI

In a changing business environment, data within and around organizations rapidly accumulate. In recent years, many organizations have implemented business intelligence (BI) to manage and refine the vast stocks of data. The effective use of BI can support managers to make faster and better decisions. The goal of this study is to investigate how to increase a manager’s intention to read information and to create reports. Based on the technology acceptance model, a research model is developed and tested to assess the factors (i.e., usefulness and ease of use) affecting a manager’s intention to use BI. In addition, the relationship between the intention to read information and the intention to create reports is linked using Dholakia and Bagozzi (D&B) model. A survey of 271 managers supports the proposed model. The empirical results show that the usefulness of BI directly and indirectly affects the intention to read information. Both the reading and creating interfaces of BI affect the intention to read information and the intention to create reports, respectively. The intention to read information positively and significantly affects the intention to create reports. Given the empirical findings, this study provides theoretical and managerial insights for organizations and managers.     

An experimental test of Occam’s razor in classification

A widely persisting interpretation of Occam’s razor is that given two classifiers with the same training error, the simpler classifier is more likely to generalize better. Within a long-lasting debate in the machine learning community over Occam’s razor, Domingos (Data Min. Knowl. Discov. 3:409–425, 1999) rejects this interpretation and proposes that model complexity is only a confounding factor usually correlated with the number of models from which the learner selects. It is thus hypothesized that the risk of overfitting (poor generalization) follows only from the number of model tests rather than the complexity of the selected model. We test this hypothesis on 30 UCI data sets using polynomial classification models. The results confirm Domingos’ hypothesis on the 0.05 significance level and thus refutes the above interpretation of Occam’s razor. Our experiments however also illustrate that decoupling the two factors (model complexity and number of model tests) is problematic.     

An information theory consideration of a design of test input signals†

A problem of determining optimal periodic test input signals for estimating weighting functions of continuous-time systems is considered by an information theory approach. Under appropriate assumptions, the amount of information provided by the measurements in a period is calculated in terms of the corresponding periodic test input signals. By taking the amount of information as a criterion function, the existence of optimal test input signals and the condition for optimality are studied under energy constraint. It is shown that, in the case of observing sampled outputs, an input signal of as small auto-correlation as possible and, at the same time, of as largo energy as possible is optimal, while, in the case of observing outputs continuously, an input signal of as flat a spectrum as possible and, at the same time, of as large energy as possible is optimal. As an example, the optimality of an M-sequence signal is examined.     

An empirical study of customers’ perceptions of security and trust in e-payment systems

It is commonly believed that good security improves trust, and that the perceptions of good security and trust will ultimately increase the use of electronic commerce. In fact, customers’ perceptions of the security of e-payment systems have become a major factor in the evolution of electronic commerce in markets. In this paper, we examine issues related to e-payment security from the viewpoint of customers. This study proposes a conceptual model that delineates the determinants of consumers’ perceived security and perceived trust, as well as the effects of perceived security and perceived trust on the use of e-payment systems. To test the model, structural equation modeling is employed to analyze data collected from 219 respondents in Korea. This research provides a theoretical foundation for academics and also practical guidelines for service providers in dealing with the security aspects of e-payment systems.     

What are the roles of software product managers? An empirical investigation

Software product management covers both technical and business activities to management of products like roadmaps, strategic, tactical, and release planning. In practice, one product manager is seldom responsible for all these activities but several persons share the responsibilities. Therefore, it is important to understand the boundaries of product managers’ work in managing software products, as well as the impact a product manager has on the company business. The purpose of the study is to clarify what roles of software product managers exist and understand how these roles are interrelated with each other and the whole structure and business of an organization. The study is designed as an interpretative qualitative study using grounded theory as the research method. Based on the gathered data we developed a framework that reveals the role of a product manager in the organization and shows how this role can evolve by extending the level of responsibilities. Using the framework, we identified four stereotypical roles of product managers in the studied organizations: experts, strategists, leaders, and problem solvers. The presented framework shows that product managers’ roles are not limited to the conception of the “mini-CEO.” The results allow product managers and top management to collaborate effectively by assigning responsibilities and managing expectations by having a common tool for understanding the role of product managers in the organization.     

What do web users do? An empirical analysis of web use

This paper provides an empirical characterization of user actions at the web browser. The study is based on an analysis of 4 months of logged client-side data that describes user actions with recent versions of Netscape Navigator. In particular, the logged data allow us to determine the title, URL and time of each page visit, how often they visited each page, how long they spent at each page, the growth and content of bookmark collections, as well as a variety of other aspects of user interaction with the web. The results update and extend prior empirical characterizations of web use. Among the results we show that web page revisitation is a much more prevalent activity than previously reported (approximately 81% of pages have been previously visited by the user), that most pages are visited for a surprisingly short period of time, that users maintain large (and possibly overwhelming) bookmark collections, and that there is a marked lack of commonality in the pages visited by different users. These results have implications for a wide range of web-based tools including the interface features provided by web browsers, the design of caching proxy servers, and the design of efficient web sites.     

Information or attention? An empirical study of user contribution on Twitter

Social broadcasting services, such as Twitter and YouTube, are revolutionizing the way we access information and publish our own content. What is the key innovation of such services? We argue that the key innovation of social broadcasting services is recognizing and connecting people’s need for information and attention. While the value of information is widely studied, the importance of attention is less well understood. We use a collection of nearly 3 million Twitter user profiles to study the cross-sectional characteristics of user behavior; we also monitor 521 active Twitter users over a period of 282 days to carry out time-series analyses and a panel data analysis of user behavior. The empirical results consistently suggest that people’s search for attention is an important motivation for them to contribute content on Twitter. This finding supports our conceptual view of social broadcasting services as innovative platforms connecting people’s need for information and attention. It also has important implications for practitioners in this booming field.     

Longitudinal test of ePortfolio continuous use: an empirical study on the change of students’ beliefs

The electronic portfolio (ePortfolio) is learner-centred, and its effectiveness depends on the learners’ long-term use. Thus, it is proper to conduct the study from the learners’ perspectives. Currently, most research on the use of the ePortfolio is in the form of cross-sectional studies, and it is difficult to find the reasons for the changes in students’ beliefs with regard to the long-term use of the ePortfolio. Based on the longitudinal test, this study explained the students’ continuous use of ePortfolio and the changes in their beliefs. With 122 samplers in the adoption–continuous stage (t ₁–t ₂) and 117 samplers in the continuous stage (t ₂–t ₃), this study demonstrates that in continuous use stage (t ₂–t ₃), perceived ease of use still influences the users’ perceived usefulness (PU) and attitude towards the ePortfolio. Attribution significantly moderates the users’ beliefs from the adoption stage (t ₁) to the continuous use stage (t ₂). However, the moderating effect of attribution in the continuous use stage (t ₂–t ₃) is insignificant; satisfaction and attribution are the key factors driving the users’ continuous intention towards the ePortfolio rather than PU and attitude. Meanwhile, satisfaction and attribution will change because of the users’ expectation disconfirmation, and it will influence the users to continue using ePortfolio.     

Leveraging business-IT alignment through enterprise architecture—an empirical study to estimate the extents

Achieving business-IT alignment (BITA) as a long-term and appraising management issue can be accomplished in a few ways, enterprise architecture (EA) being one of them. This paper attempts to give a critical understanding of the effects of performing EA on different aspects of BITA maturity through a global survey. A total of 236 respondents from 60 countries, a relatively large response for a survey, were selected. The main purpose of the research is to examine these impacts and to identify directions for innovative practices in the future, the unique contributions of this work. A questionnaire designed on the Luftman’s maturity model as well as various other statistical methods, including PLS path modeling, Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks test and Mann–Whitney U test, are applied to understand how the EA can deliver benefits. The implications of our findings in this study as well as its limitations are discussed from different viewpoints to enable both academics and practitioners to detect the flaws in the existing EA frameworks and propose improvements.     

Ignorance is bliss? An empirical analysis of the determinants of PSS usefulness in practice

Planning support systems (PSS) enabled by smart city technologies (big data and information and communication technologies (ICTs)) are becoming more widespread in their availability, but have not yet been fully recognized as being useful in planning practice. Thus, a better understanding of the determinants of PSS usefulness in practice helps to improve the functional support of PSS for smart cities. This study is based on a recent international questionnaire (268 respondents) designed to evaluate the perceptions of scholars and practitioners in the smart city planning field. Based on the empirical evidence, this paper recommends that it is imperative for PSS developers and users to be more responsive to the fit for task-technology and user-technology (i.e., utility and usability, respectively) since they positively contribute to PSS usefulness in practice and to be more sensitive to the potential negative effects of contextual factors on PSS usefulness in smart cities. The empirical analyses further suggest that rather than merely striving for integrating smart city technologies into advancing PSS, the way that innovative PSS are integrated into the planning framework (i.e., how well PSS can satisfy the needs of planning tasks and users by considering context-specificities) is of great significance in promoting PSS's actual usefulness.     

An empirical study of the Cobb–Douglas production function properties of software development effort

In this paper we study whether software development effort exhibits Cobb–Douglas functional form with respect to team size and software size. We empirically test this relationship using real-world software engineering data set containing over 500 software projects. The results of our experiments indicate that the hypothesized Cobb–Douglas function form for software development effort with respect to team size and software size is true. We also find increasing returns to scale relationship between software size and team size with software development effort.     

Are you ready for knowledge sharing? An empirical study of virtual communities

This study aimed to explore the relationship between knowledge sharing intentions and the perceptions of individual technology users who are members of virtual communities. We characterized learners' perceptions of new technological products or services by including both an individual's psychological state of readiness to accept technology and also compatibility as factors affecting technology acceptance. By adopting virtual communities as samples for this empirical study, the Technology Acceptance Model, Technology Readiness Index, and the factor of compatibility were integrated in order to explore users' perceptions of technology. We analyzed the responses of 218 participants from these virtual communities using structural equation modeling. The empirical results showed that an individual's positive attitude, such as optimism, toward the Technology Readiness Index positively affects acceptance of technology; an individual's negative perception of the Technology Readiness Index, such as discomfort, has a negative effect on his or her sense of the perceived ease of technology and compatibility in regard to prior experience and technology. A sense of insecurity toward the new technology also showed a significant effect on the individual's perceptions of the usefulness of technology. The results of this research demonstrated that improving an individual's degree of adaptability to technology could increase knowledge-sharing intentions in virtual communities. Meanwhile, the degree of the individual's discomfort with technology did not hinder knowledge-sharing intentions.     

Pair programming in software development teams – An empirical study of its benefits

We present the results of an extensive and substantial case study on pair programming, which was carried out in courses for software development at the University of Dortmund, Germany. Thirteen software development teams with about 100 students took part in the experiments. The groups were divided into two sets with different working conditions. In one set, the group members worked on their projects in pairs. Even though the paired teams could only use half of the workstations the teams of individual workers could use, the paired teams produced nearly as much code as the teams of individual workers at the same time. In addition, the code produced by the paired teams was easier to read and to understand. This facilitates finding errors and maintenance.     

What should developers be aware of? An empirical study on the directives of API documentation

Application Programming Interfaces (API) are exposed to developers in order to reuse software libraries. API directives are natural-language statements in API documentation that make developers aware of constraints and guidelines related to the usage of an API. This paper presents the design and the results of an empirical study on the directives of API documentation of object-oriented libraries. Its main contribution is to propose and extensively discuss a taxonomy of 23 kinds of API directives.     

An empirical investigation linking learners’ adoption of blended learning to their intention of full e-learning

Learning management system (LMS) is playing a major role in higher academic institutions worldwide. Even though full e-learning is becoming a feasible strategy for a number of institutions in the world, some institutions, especially those in developing countries, are resisting a full e-learning environment. Consequently, these academic institutions initially adopt LMS for blended learning to assess their readiness for full e-learning transformation. There are a number of studies that investigate the determinants of full e-learning, but very limited studies investigate the link between learners’ perception of blended learning and full e-learning. The objective of this study was to link learners’ adoption (perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness (PU) and satisfaction) of LMS in blended learning and their personal characteristics (self-efficacy, technology experience and personal innovativeness) to their intention to use full e-learning. Data were collected through a questionnaire from 512 learners in Oman. The study found that personal innovativeness, PU and satisfaction of LMS in blended learning are significant to learners’ intention to engage in full e-learning. Thus, learners’ adoption of LMS in blended learning boosts their intention to full e-learning. The results provide useful insights for practitioners and researchers on full e-learning planning and strategy.     

Investigating healthcare professionals’ decisions to accept telemedicine technology: an empirical test of competing theories

The proliferation of information technology (IT) in supporting highly specialized tasks and services has made it increasingly important to understand the factors essential to technology acceptance by individuals. In a typical professional setting, the essential characteristics of user, technology, and context may differ considerably from those in ordinary business settings. This study examined physicians’ acceptance of telemedicine technology. Following a theory comparison approach, it evaluated the extent to which prevailing intention-based models, including the technology acceptance model (TAM), the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and an integrated model, could explain individual physicians’ technology acceptance decisions. Based on responses from more than 400 physicians, both models were evaluated in terms of overall fit, explanatory power, and their causal links. Overall, findings suggest that TAM may be more appropriate than TPB for examining technology acceptance by individual professionals and that the integrated model, although more fully depicting physicians’ technology acceptance, may not provide significant additional explanatory power. Also, instruments developed and repeatedly tested in prior studies involving conventional end-users and business managers may not be valid in professional settings. Several interesting implications are also discussed.