Using eye movements to model the sequence of text–picture processing for multimedia comprehension

This study used eye movement modeling examples (EMME) to support students' integrative processing of verbal and graphical information during the reading of an illustrated text. EMME consists of a replay of eye movements of a model superimposed onto the materials that are processed for accomplishing the task. Specifically, the study investigated the effects of modeling the temporal sequence of text and picture processing as shown in various replays of a model's gazes. Eighty‐four 7th graders were randomly assigned to one of the four experimental conditions: text‐first processing sequence (text‐first EMME), picture‐first processing sequence (picture‐first EMME), picture‐last processing sequence (picture‐last EMME) and no‐EMME (control). Online and offline measures were used. Eye movement indices indicate that only readers in the picture‐first EMME condition spent significantly longer processing the picture and showed stronger integrative processing of verbal and graphical information than students in the no‐EMME condition. Moreover, readers in all EMME conditions outperformed those in the control condition for recall. However, for learning and transfer, only readers in the picture‐first EMME condition were significantly superior to readers of the control condition. Furthermore, both the frequency and duration of integrative processing of verbal and graphical information mediated the effect of condition on learning outcomes.     

Factors of learner–instructor interaction which predict perceived learning outcomes in online learning environment

Interaction in the online learning environment has been regarded as one of the most critical elements that affect learning outcomes. This study examined what factors in learner–instructor interaction can predict the learner's outcomes in the online learning environment. Learners in K Online University participated by answering the survey, and data from 654 respondents were analysed for this study. Results showed that factors related to instructional interaction predicted perceived learning achievement and satisfaction better than factors related to social interaction. However, it was revealed that social interaction such as social intimacy could negatively affect perceived learning achievement and satisfaction. This study has value because it found factors under learner–instructor interaction which predict perceived learning achievement and satisfaction with empirical evidence.     

Human–battery interaction on mobile phones

Mobile phone users have to deal with limited battery lifetime through a reciprocal process we call human–battery interaction. We conducted three user studies in order to understand human–battery interaction and discover the problems in existing designs that prevent users from effectively dealing with the limited battery lifetime. The studies include a large-scale international survey, two long-term field trials including quantitative battery logging and qualitative inquiries, and structured interviews with twenty additional mobile phone users. We evaluated various aspects of human–battery interaction, including charging behavior, battery indicators, user interfaces for power-saving settings, user knowledge, and user reaction. We find that mobile phone users can be categorized into two types regarding human–battery interaction and often have inadequate knowledge regarding phone power characteristics. We provide qualitative and quantitative evidence that problems in state-of-the-art user interfaces have led to under-utilized power-saving settings, under-utilized battery energy, and dissatisfied users. Our findings provide insights into improving mobile phone design for users to effectively deal with the limited battery lifetime. Our work is the first to systematically address human–battery interaction on mobile phones and is complementary to the extensive research on energy-efficient design for a longer battery lifetime.     

Particle‐based realistic simulation of fluid–solid interaction

In this paper a novel method for simulating incompressible viscous fluid and solid coupling is presented. In the coupling model, a rigid object is treated as a special fluid constrained to rigid body motion. To animate the coupling model, the Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics method is used for solving the fluid motion equations. For keeping the rigidity of rigid objects, the total force and total torque exerted on solids is first worked out according to the impulse–momentum theorem, and then the movement of these rigid bodies is restricted to translations and rotations. Moreover, in order to prevent the fluids particles leaking into solids, a detection and correction procedure is presented, and the velocities of fluid particles will be tuned if the penetration is detected in this procedure. The proposed method can be implemented easily by extending the existing fluid solvers, the experimental results show that this method is capable of animating the realistic solid and fluid coupling. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Vehicle–pedestrian interaction for mixed traffic simulation

Simulation of real‐world traffic scenarios is widely needed in virtual environments. Different from many previous works on simulating vehicles or pedestrians separately, our approach aims to capture the realistic process of vehicle–pedestrian interaction for mixed traffic simulation. We model a decision‐making process for their interaction based on a gap acceptance judging criterion and then design a novel environmental feedback mechanism for both vehicles' and pedestrians' behavior‐control models to drive their motions. We demonstrate that our proposed method can soundly model vehicle–pedestrian interaction behaviors in a realistic and efficient manner and is convenient to be plugged into various traffic simulation systems. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Interactivity in human–computer interaction: a study of credibility, understanding, and influence

Advancements in computer technology have allowed the development of human-appearing and -behaving virtual agents. This study examined if increased richness and anthropomorphism in interface design lead to computers being more influential during a decision-making task with a human partner. In addition, user experiences of the communication format, communication process, and the task partner were evaluated for their association with various features of virtual agents. Study participants completed the Desert Survival Problem (DSP) and were then randomly assigned to one of five different computer partners or to a human partner (who was a study confederate). Participants discussed each of the items in the DSP with their partners and were then asked to complete the DSP again. Results showed that computers were more influential than human partners but that the latter were rated more positively on social dimensions of communication than the former. Exploratory analysis of user assessments revealed that some features of human–computer interaction (e.g. utility and feeling understood) were associated with increases in anthropomorphic features of the interface. Discussion focuses on the relation between user perceptions, design features, and task outcomes.     

Fluid–structure interaction simulation of aortic blood flow

The numerical tools to simulate blood flow in the cardiovascular system are constantly developing due to the great clinical interest and to scientific advances in mathematical models and computational power. The present work aims to address and validate new algorithms to efficiently predict the hemodynamics in large arteries. These algorithms rely on finite elements simulation of the fluid–structure interaction between blood flow and arterial wall deformation of a healthy aorta. Different sets of boundary conditions are devised and tested. The mean velocity and pressure time evolution is plotted on different sections of the aorta and the wall shear stress distribution is computed. The results are compared with those obtained with a rigid wall simulation. Pulse wave velocity is computed and compared with the values available from the literature. The flow boundary conditions used for the outlets are obtained using the solution of a one-dimensional model. The results of the simulations are in agreement with the physiological data in terms of wall shear stress, wall displacement, pressure waveforms and velocities.     

Particle‐based simulation of bubbles in water–solid interaction

In this paper, a particle‐based multiphase method for creating realistic animations of bubbles in water–solid interaction is presented. To generate bubbles from gas dissolved in the water on the fly, we propose an approximate model for the creation of bubbles, which takes into account the influence of gas concentration in the water, the solid material, and water–solid velocity difference. As the air particle on the bubble surface is treated as a virtual nucleation site, the bubble absorbs air from surrounding water and grows. The density and pressure forces of air bubbles are computed separately using smoothed particle hydrodynamics; then, the two‐way coupling of bubbles with water and solid is solved by a new drag force, so the generated bubbles’ flow on the surface of solid and the deformation in the rising process can be simulated. Additionally, touching bubbles merge together under the cohesion forces weighted by the smoothing kernel and velocity difference. The experimental results show that this method is capable of simulating bubbles in water–solid interaction under different physical conditions. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Towards a human–robot symbiotic system

Partnership between a person and a robot could be simplified if the robot were intelligent enough to understand human intentions and perform accordingly. During the last decade, we have been developing such an intelligent robot called ISAC. Originally, ISAC was designed to assist the physically disabled, but gradually became a test bed for more robust human–robot teaming (see http://eecs.vanderbilt.edu/CIS/). In this paper, we will describe a framework for human–robot interaction, a multi-agent based robot control architecture, and short- and long-term memory structures for the robot brain. Two applications will illustrate how ISAC interacts with the human.     

Application of the dynamic compliance method for fluid–structure interaction

This article is focused on application of the dynamic compliance method for fluid–structure interaction. The dynamic compliance method is in principle a method which provided reduction of the order in the frequency domain. This method has been implemented in MATLAB and tested on a relatively simple structure and fluid models. Results were compared with the exact solution and a good agreement was found.     

The development of a 3D-Navier–Stokes code for the simulation of an airbag inflation

The aim of this work is to develop a stable and fast algorithm for simulation of an airbag deployment. The mechanical structure problem is solved with commercially available finite element software. A 3D Navier–Stokes code for compressible fluids is developed to solve the fluid mechanic problem. For reasons of stability, a fixed rectangular grid is used. The contour adjustment is achieved by blocking off the outer cells, which can be switched on or off as the airbag surface passes by. To provide a conservative system during the contour adjustment, a method for the handling of the boundary was developed.     

Shifting viewpoints: Artificial intelligence and human–computer interaction

The AI and HCI communities have often been characterized as having opposing views of how humans and computers should interact. As both of them evolve, there is a deeper contrast that cuts across these communities, in how researchers conceive the relationship between knowledge and design. By examining the rationalistic and design orientations underlying bodies of work in both disciplines, we highlight relevant differences and possibilities for effective interaction with computers.     

Scalable large‐scale fluid–structure interaction solvers in the Uintah framework via hybrid task‐based parallelism algorithms

Uintah is a software framework that provides an environment for solving fluid–structure interaction problems on structured adaptive grids for large‐scale science and engineering problems involving the solution of partial differential equations. Uintah uses a combination of fluid flow solvers and particle‐based methods for solids, together with adaptive meshing and a novel asynchronous task‐based approach with fully automated load balancing. When applying Uintah to fluid–structure interaction problems, the combination of adaptive meshing and the movement of structures through space present a formidable challenge in terms of achieving scalability on large‐scale parallel computers. The Uintah approach to the growth of the number of core counts per socket together with the prospect of less memory per core is to adopt a model that uses MPI to communicate between nodes and a shared memory model on‐node so as to achieve scalability on large‐scale systems. For this approach to be successful, it is necessary to design data structures that large numbers of cores can simultaneously access without contention. This scalability challenge is addressed here for Uintah, by the development of new hybrid runtime and scheduling algorithms combined with novel lock‐free data structures, making it possible for Uintah to achieve excellent scalability for a challenging fluid–structure problem with mesh refinement on as many as 260K cores. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

‘I'm a completely different person at home’: using digital technologies to connect learning between home and school

This paper reports on a qualitative study exploring children's, parents', and teachers' experiences of communication between home and school and connections between children's learning at school and home in order to consider how using digital technologies to mediate the home–school relationship might support children's learning. Parents, teachers, and children welcomed the idea of using digital technologies to communicate between home and school, hoping that more timely communication could avoid problems at school. There were few connections between learning at home and in school; participants saw school and home as separate domains and the boundaries between the two were strongly maintained. It is argued that for connections to be made between learning at home and in school, elements of both need to be drawn together in a space in which both are valued, and that digital technologies could support the creation of such virtual third spaces.     

Design and development of a semi‐autonomous agricultural vineyard sprayer: Human–robot interaction aspects

This article presents the design aspects and development processes to transform a general‐purpose mobile robotic platform into a semi‐autonomous agricultural robot sprayer focusing on user interfaces for teleoperation. The hardware and the software modules that must be installed onto the system are described, with particular emphasis on human–robot interaction. Details of the technology are given focusing on the user interface aspects. Two laboratory experiments and two studies in the field to evaluate the usability of the user interface provide evidence for the increased usability of a prototype robotic system. Specifically, the study aimed to empirically evaluate the type of target selection input device mouse and digital pen outperformed Wiimote in terms of usability. A field experiment evaluated the effect of three design factors: (a) type of screen output, (b) number of views, (c) type of robot control input device. Results showed that participants were significantly more effective but less efficient when they had multiple views, than when they had a single view. PC keyboard was also found to significantly outperform PS3 gamepad in terms of interaction efficiency and perceived usability. Heuristic evaluations of different user interfaces were also performed using research‐based HRI heuristics. Finally, a study on participants’ overall user experience found that the system was evaluated positively on the User Experience Questionnaire scales.     

Assessment of the interaction between the Canadian Regional Climate Model and lake thermal–hydrodynamic models

This paper describes our preliminary assessment of the system requirements (data, interface and process) for implementation of terms describing lake effects in the Canadian Regional Climate Model. We demonstrate test results for one-dimensional (1-D) and three-dimensional (3-D) models for lake hydrodynamics that have been tested and prepared for interfacing with atmospheric circulation models. We discuss the use of a physical interface model, Canadian Land Surface Scheme (CLASS), that is under consideration for the air–water interface. Our preliminary assessment indicates that it is technically feasible to apply the combination of small shallow lake (slab) model, 1-dimensional vertical model and 3-dimensional circulation model (for very large lakes), together with the current land–air linkage used in regional climate modelling in Canada. Whether we can discern the necessary conditions for invoking each of the models to the lakes present in individual regional climate grid cells is still to be determined.     

Fitts’ law 50 years later: applications and contributions from human–computer interaction

Since the advent of graphical user interfaces, electronic information has grown exponentially, whereas the size of screen displays has stayed almost the same. Multiscale interfaces were designed to address this mismatch, allowing users to adjust the scale at which they interact with information objects. The technology has progressed quickly and the theory has lagged behind. Multiscale interfaces pose a stimulating theoretical challenge: reformulating the classic target-acquisition problem from the physical world into an infinitely rescalable electronic world. We address this challenge by extending Fitts’ original pointing paradigm: we introduce the scale variable, thus defining a multiscale pointing paradigm. This article reports on our theoretical and empirical results. We show that target-acquisition performance in a zooming interface must obey Fitts’ law and, more specifically, that target-acquisition time must be proportional to the index of difficulty. Moreover, we complement Fitts’ law by accounting for the effect of view size on pointing performance, showing that performance bandwidth is proportional to view size, up to a ceiling effect. Our first empirical study shows that Fitts’ law does apply to a zoomable interface for indices of difficulty up to and beyond 30 bits, whereas classical Fitts’ law studies have been confined in the 2–10 bit range. Our second study demonstrates a strong interaction between view size and task difficulty for multiscale pointing, and shows a surprisingly low ceiling. We conclude with implications of these findings for the design of multiscale user interfaces.     

Embodied experiences of place: a study of history learning with mobile technologies

This paper reports an empirical study that takes a multimodal analytical approach to examine how mobile technologies shape students' exploration and experience of place during a history learning activity in situ. In history education, mobile technologies provide opportunities for authentic experiential learning activities that have the potential to re‐mediate students' understanding of space and place through enacted interaction, and to make the learning more memorable. A key question is how learners work with the physical and digital information in the context of that learning experience, and how this supports new experiences and understanding of space and place. Findings suggest that embodied mobile experiences foster the creation of both physical and digital markers, which were instrumental in concretizing the history experience and developing new narratives. The findings also show how different representational forms of digital information mediated interaction in specific ways and how digital augmentation can lead to conflation in student understanding of space and time. These findings inform our understanding of the value of mobile applications in supporting embodied learning experiences and provide key implications for pedagogical design, both in situ and back in the classroom.