Affective evaluation of user impressions using virtual product prototyping

This study aims to develop an effective and efficient method of analyzing user impressions of a product using virtual prototyping. A method to analyze the relationship between user impressions and design elements of a product using virtual prototyping was proposed, and then the method was applied to the case study of automobile interior design. Thirty‐two participants in the experiment evaluated 32 different virtual prototypes of automobile interiors generated from the combination of 17 design elements. The results of the case study showed that user impressions can be well explained by design elements. Physically large design elements, such as the shapes of frontal area, center fascia, door trim, and steering wheel, were critical areas of automobile interior design. The proposed method is expected to be an effective and efficient alternative for industrial practitioners to analyze user impressions of design alternatives at the early stage of the design process. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Using evolutionary design to interactively sketch car silhouettes and stimulate designer's creativity

An Interactive Genetic Algorithm is proposed to progressively sketch the desired side-view of a car profile. It adopts a Fourier decomposition of a 2D profile as the genotype, and proposes a cross-over mechanism. In addition, a formula function of two genes' discrepancies is fitted to the perceived dissimilarity between two car profiles. This similarity index is intensively used, throughout a series of user tests, to highlight the added value of the IGA compared to a systematic car shape exploration, to prove its ability to create superior satisfactory designs and to stimulate designer's creativity. These tests have involved six designers with a design goal defined by a semantic attribute. The results reveal that if “friendly” is diversely interpreted in terms of car shapes, “sportive” denotes a very conventional representation which may be a limitation for shape renewal.     

浅析视错觉在景观设计中的运用

文章通过对于视错觉的形成因素和在景观设计中与其相关的视错觉运用加以分析。总结出视错觉在景观设计中的运用类型、表达形式以及相应的作用。希望设计师在今后的景观设计中可以对于视错觉有更多的考量。     

Impossible spaces: maximizing natural walking in virtual environments with self-overlapping architecture

Walking is only possible within immersive virtual environments that fit inside the boundaries of the user's physical workspace. To reduce the severity of the restrictions imposed by limited physical area, we introduce "impossible spaces," a new design mechanic for virtual environments that wish to maximize the size of the virtual environment that can be explored with natural locomotion. Such environments make use of self-overlapping architectural layouts, effectively compressing comparatively large interior environments into smaller physical areas. We conducted two formal user studies to explore the perception and experience of impossible spaces. In the first experiment, we showed that reasonably small virtual rooms may overlap by as much as 56% before users begin to detect that they are in an impossible space, and that the larger virtual rooms that expanded to maximally fill our available 9.14 m x 9.14 m workspace may overlap by up to 31%. Our results also demonstrate that users perceive distances to objects in adjacent overlapping rooms as if the overall space was uncompressed, even at overlap levels that were overtly noticeable. In our second experiment, we combined several well-known redirection techniques to string together a chain of impossible spaces in an expansive outdoor scene. We then conducted an exploratory analysis of users' verbal feedback during exploration, which indicated that impossible spaces provide an even more powerful illusion when users are naive to the manipulation.     

The impact of poor assembly ergonomics on product quality: A cost–benefit analysis in car manufacturing

The study aimed at analyzing the relationship between assembly ergonomics, assemblability (“ease of assembly”), and product quality and at quantifying these relationships in economic terms. This was in order to better to support the development of more ergonomic product and assembly solutions, particularly at early stages of the car development process. The assembly of 24,443 cars was studied for 8 weeks in an assembly plant and for another 16 weeks as factory‐complete vehicles. The results show increased risks for quality errors of 3.0 and 3.7 times and total action costs that were 8.7 times and 8.2 times higher for high and medium physical load assemblies compared to low physical load assemblies for 55 tasks assessed. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

基于用户心理的铁路客车内装系统和谐性研究

发展铁路客车内装系统设计是提高铁路运输服务质量的一个重要方面。以用户心理分析为基础,统筹考虑人、设施、环境为要素的铁路客车内装系统设计,可以更好的确保达到人、机、环境系统总体性能的最优化,有效的促进铁路客车内装系统的设计工作。以实际案例为基础具体分析了和谐性在铁路客车内装设计中的运用要点,总结了基于用户心理的铁路客车内装设计方法要点。     

Mona Lisa alive

This paper presents a novel approach for creating self-moving objects using hollow-face illusion. Given a clip of character animation, our approach generates a static object. Looking at the object at different views, a similar deformation can be observed. To accomplish this challenging mission, we give qualitative and quantitative analysis of hollow-face illusion. Methodology in computer vision and human perception are utilized to design the algorithm. A static object is first generated to satisfy the relative motion illusion constraints. The illusion is then strengthened by back projecting the object to the 3D face space. Considering both “bottom-up” visual signal and “top-down” knowledge, the intended illusion can be generated. Experiments have shown the effectiveness of our algorithm. For example, expression varying illusion on an oil painting can be created by our method. The self-moving objects can be used in applications such as design, entertainment, advertisement, and public safety.     

Tuning space mapping: The state of the art

The electromagnetic (EM)‐simulator‐based tuning process for rapid microwave design can combine EM accuracy with circuit‐design speed. Our own approach is based on the intuitive engineering idea of “space mapping.” In this article, we explain the art of microwave design optimization through “tuning space mapping” procedures. We list various appropriate types of models (called “surrogates”). We demonstrate the implementation of these surrogates through a simple bandstop filter. We provide application examples using commercial simulation software. Our purpose is to help microwave engineers understand the tuning space mapping methodology and to inspire new implementations and applications. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE 22: 639–651, 2012.     

3D television: Developing a multi‐modal multi‐viewer TV system of the future

Abstract— Under the European Union funded Advanced Three‐dimensional Television System Technologies (ATTEST) project, De Montfort University (DMU) is developing a 3D display system targeted specifically at domestic television applications. This system uses a modified transmissive LCD panel together with novel backlighting and optics to project multiple viewing regions, or exit pupils, into the viewing space. These exit pupils are located in space using a head tracker. The display accommodates multiple viewers simultaneously and imposes no physical constraints, such as special eyewear. Viewers may move freely over a “typical” room‐sized area. The design of the backlighting facilitates many other display regimes beyond the “standard” 3DTV mode in which each viewer sees the same image pair.     

Exploring the Relationship Between Green Consumption Value,Satisfaction, and Loyalty to Hybrid Car in Elderly Consumers

The study aimed to examine the relationship between green consumption value, satisfaction, and loyalty of driving hybrid cars among elderly consumers. Data were collected from a cross‐sectional survey of 314 elderly consumers who purchased hybrid cars in the United States. A partial least squares analysis revealed that elderly consumers’ social, price, and quality values positively influenced the satisfaction of their hybrid car experience, and their satisfaction significantly influenced their loyalty of hybrid car. The relationship between green consumption value, satisfaction, and loyalty toward driving hybrid cars among elderly consumers revealed insight into their value orientations toward the hybrid car. Special efforts are suggested in promoting hybrid car use to elderly consumer groups. Marketers should pay attention to changing beliefs and increasing perceived values of driving a hybrid car for consumers to encourage them to use green products.     

Dynamic Multi‐View Exploration of Shape Spaces

Statistical shape modeling is a widely used technique for the representation and analysis of the shapes and shape variations present in a population. A statistical shape model models the distribution in a high dimensional shape space, where each shape is represented by a single point. We present a design study on the intuitive exploration and visualization of shape spaces and shape models. Our approach focuses on the dual‐space nature of these spaces. The high‐dimensional shape space represents the population, whereas object space represents the shape of the 3D object associated with a point in shape space. A 3D object view provides local details for a single shape. The high dimensional points in shape space are visualized using a 2D scatter plot projection, the axes of which can be manipulated interactively. This results in a dynamic scatter plot, with the further extension that each point is visualized as a small version of the object shape that it represents. We further enhance the population‐object duality with a new type of view aimed at shape comparison. This new “shape evolution view” visualizes shape variability along a single trajectory in shape space, and serves as a link between the two spaces described above. Our three‐view exploration concept strongly emphasizes linked interaction between all spaces. Moving the cursor over the scatter plot or evolution views, shapes are dynamically interpolated and shown in the object view. Conversely, camera manipulation in the object view affects the object visualizations in the other views. We present a GPU‐accelerated implementation, and show the effectiveness of the three‐view approach using a number of real‐world cases. In these, we demonstrate how this multi‐view approach can be used to visually explore important aspects of a statistical shape model, including specificity, compactness and reconstruction error.     

Style synthesis and analysis of car designs for style quantification based on product appearance similarities

Understanding how similar design appears is a key element to understanding companies’ design strategies. However, it is difficult to evaluate companies’ design strategies with conventional style measurement methods since they only taxonomically measure whether a specific characteristic is included in a specific style. This study numerically measured car design similarities to synthesize and analyze car brand styles, thereupon discovering the design trends among car brands for strategic design positioning. This paper aims to find methods for quantifying style differences and identifying unique design elements of car designs among 23 automobile manufacturers based on design similarities of a large quantity of car designs (N = 119). To achieve this goal, a hybrid style quantification methodology – a mixture of Fourier decomposition, eye tracker, and shape grammar – was created to evaluate similarities, visual significance, and combinations of 19 car design elements. Fourier decomposition was incorporated to find the quantifiable values of design similarities of car design elements. Visual significance analysis was also conducted for each car design element through eye tracker to measure the importance of certain design elements for weighting factors. Then, each combination of design elements was compared with car design elements of other cars for similarity calculations. Finally, car design alternatives were synthesized, and transitions of design positioning were analyzed based on the similarity values weighed by the visual significance results. Using the suggested methods, alternate designs can be synthesized while preserving brands’ design styles, and design trends can be analyzed for strategic evaluation.     

Relationship between perceived problem‐solving skills and academic performance of novice learners in introductory programming courses

Past research has shown that student problem‐solving skills may be used to determine student final exam performance. This study reports on the relationship between student perceived problem‐solving skills 1 1 Henceforth, for brevity, we drop the word “perceived” in “student perceived problem‐solving skills” and use either “student perceived problem solving” or simply “student PSS.”
and academic performance in introductory programming, in formative and summative programming assessment tasks. We found that the more effective problem solvers achieved better final exam scores. There was no significant difference in formative assessment performances between effective and poor problem solvers. It is also possible to categorize students on the basis of problem‐solving skills, in order to exploit opportunities to improve learning around constructivist learning theory. Finally, our study identified transferability skills and the study may be extended to identify the impact of problem solving transfer skills on student problem solving for programming.     

The Structure of Visual Spaces

The “visual space” of an optical observer situated at a single, fixed viewpoint is necessarily very ambiguous. Although the structure of the “visual field” (the lateral dimensions, i.e., the “image”) is well defined, the “depth” dimension has to be inferred from the image on the basis of “monocular depth cues” such as occlusion, shading, etc. Such cues are in no way “given”, but are guesses on the basis of prior knowledge about the generic structure of the world and the laws of optics. Thus such a guess is like a hallucination that is used to tentatively interpret image structures as depth cues. The guesses are successful if they lead to a coherent interpretation. Such “controlled hallucination” (in psychological terminology) is similar to the “analysis by synthesis” of computer vision. Although highly ambiguous, visual spaces do have geometrical structure. The group of ambiguities left open by the cues (e.g., the well known bas-relief ambiguity in the case of shape from shading) may be interpreted as the group of congruences (proper motions) of the space. The general structure of visual spaces for different visual fields is explored in the paper. Applications include improved viewing systems for optical man-machine interfaces.     

The addition of stripes (a version of the ‘horizontal-vertical illusion’) increases foot clearance when crossing low-height obstacles

Trips over obstacles are one of the main causes of falling in older adults, with vision playing an important role in successful obstacle negotiation. We determined whether a horizontal-vertical illusion, superimposed onto low-height obstacles to create a perceived increase in obstacle height, increased foot clearances during obstacle negotiation thus reducing the likelihood of tripping. Eleven adults (mean ± 1?SD: age 27.3 ± 5.1 years) negotiated obstacles of varying heights (3, 5, 7 cm) with four different appearance conditions; two were obstacles with a horizontal-vertical illusion (vertical stripes of different thickness) superimposed on the front, one was a plain obstacle and the fourth a plain obstacle with a horizontal black line painted on the top edge. Foot clearance parameters were compared across conditions. Both illusions led to a significant increase in foot clearance when crossing the obstacle, compared to the plain condition, irrespective of obstacle height. Superimposing a horizontal-vertical illusion onto low-height obstacles can increase foot clearance, and its use on the floor section of a double-glazing door frame for example may reduce the incidence of tripping in the home.

Practitioner Summary: Low-height obstacles such as the floor section of a double-glazing door frame are potential tripping hazards. In a gait lab-based study we found that a horizontal-vertical illusion superimposed onto low-height obstacles led to significantly higher foot clearances; indicating their potential as a useful safety measure.     

Tuning space mapping with tuning exponent of T‐matrix

Tuning space mapping (TSM) with tuning exponent parameter of T‐matrix is proposed. A section of design interest in the electromagnetic (EM) model is replaced by “n” pieces cascaded T‐matrixes, and each T‐matrix is the EM‐simulated T‐parameter of preassigned unit cell circuit (PUCC). Finally the optimal exponent parameter of T‐matrix is transferred to original design variables. The proposed TSM not only inherits the advantages of circuit tuning element‐less (CTEL) TSM in prior art but also overcome the number range limitation that the tuning parameter must be positive for tuning in CTEL TSM. The proposed method has the minimal specification error and lowest simulation time comparing with other TSM methods. Verification examples, comparisons and discussions are also implemented. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE 26:232–239, 2016.     

A REGION‐BASED MULTI‐ISSUE NEGOTIATION PROTOCOL FOR NONMONOTONIC UTILITY SPACES

Nonmonotonic utility spaces are found in multi‐issue negotiations where the preferences on the issues yield multiple local optima. These negotiations are specially challenging because of the inherent complexity of the search space and the difficulty of learning the opponent’s preferences. Most current solutions successfully address moderately complex preference scenarios, while solutions intended to operate in highly complex spaces are constrained by very specific preference structures. To overcome these problems, we propose the Region‐Based Multi‐issue Negotiation Protocol (RBNP) for bilateral automated negotiation. RBNP is built upon a nonmediated recursive bargaining mechanism which efficiently modulates a region‐based joint exploration of the solution space. We empirically show that RBNP produces outcomes close to the Pareto frontier in reasonable negotiation times, and show that it provides a significantly better performance when compared to a generic Similarity‐Based Multi‐issue Negotiation Protocol (SBNP), which has been successfully used in many negotiation models. We have paid attention to the strategic issues, proposing and evaluating several concession mechanisms, and analyzing the equilibrium conditions. Results suggest that RBNP may be used as a basis to develop negotiation mechanisms in nonmonotonic utility spaces.     

光电传感器在停车场车位信息指示系统中的应用

车辆的增加和停车场的停车位的数量缺少,使得北京繁华地区停车难。有空车位信息指示系统的停车场可以提高停车场的使用效率,特别是车位引导指示和空车位数量显示功能。本文从总体设计、传感器设计及其调理电路、地标引导灯、车位显示进行了论述,并在实际应用中得到了验证。     

Transaction controls: Steps to take after the equipment has been secured

No one can question the importance of limiting access to computer equipment in establishing a security system. However, with the door to the equipment locked, any potential perpetrator will naturally look for alternative ways of gaining access to the system. This paper looks at ways fraudulent data entry can be accomplished when physical access to data entry devices is denied and offers suggestions for securing those “windows” to the system.