To model objects in information systems and user interfaces: implications for object-oriented methods

Abstract. A general way of contrasting the object-oriented to the function-oriented approach, called 'object-order' and 'function-order', is proposed in this paper. In addition, when modelling information systems, there is a third principle of ordering, 'subject-order'. Object and function-order are used to define the two approaches to modelling information systems and in human-computer interaction, in ways that are compatible to the corresponding distinction in programming. The conditions for selecting either of the two approaches are, however, not discussed here.
By means of an object-ordered method, e.g. Jackson System Development (JSD), an object-ordered model is produced, and the user interface that can be derived from the model is object-ordered too. However, other guidelines in JSD support subject-order. A function-ordered interface can be derived from the subject-ordered model. A computer system designed by means of an object-organized method may therefore obtain an interface that is partially object-ordered and partially function-ordered. Other object-oriented methods give guidelines for designing function-oriented interfaces without relating these guidelines to the model.
The system designer may benefit from having three principles of ordering when modelling a system. However, a user may be confused by an interface that sometimes gives preference to objects, sometimes to functions.     

Distributed Augmented Reality for Collaborative Design Applications

This paper presents a system for constructing collaborative design applications based on distributed augmented reality. Augmented reality interfaces are a natural method for presenting computer-based design by merging graphics with a view of the real world. Distribution enables users at remote sites to collaborate on design tasks. The users interactively control their local view, try out design options, and communicate design proposals. They share virtual graphical objects that substitute for real objects which are not yet physically created or are not yet placed into the real design environment. We describe the underlying augmented reality system and in particular how it has been extended in order to support multi-user collaboration. The construction of distributed augmented reality applications is made easier by a separation of interface, interaction and distribution issues. An interior design application is used as an example to demonstrate the advantages of our approach.     

An Exploratory Study: Supporting Collaborative Multimedia Systems Design

Multimedia systems design generally requires a collaborative effort from a group of designers with a variety of backgrounds and tasks, such as content experts, instructional designers, media specialists, users, and so forth. However, currently available design tools on the market are mainly designed for a single user. Tools intended to support a collaborative design process should coordinate independent activities of individual designers.This research investigated support for work groups engaged in designing multimedia systems. Specifically, it discussed a new collaborative design environment, called the KMS (Knowledge Management System)-based design environment, in which multimedia designers could share their design knowledge freely. Through two experimental groups, the research investigated impacts of the KMS-based design environment on their collaborative design activities (knowledge creating, knowledge securing, knowledge distributing, and knowledge retrieving activities). The research findings showed that the KMS-based design environment was a promising environment for collaborative multimedia systems design. More specifically, the research findings indicated that the KMS-based design environment supported creating, securing, and retrieving knowledge, but it did not support distributing knowledge. In addition, the research found that the social interactions between group members played important roles in the success of the collaborative multimedia systems design and that the KMS-based design environment did not support the socialization of group members. Furthermore, the research found that the inability of the KMS-based design environment to support the socialization was linked to its low performance level in supporting the knowledge distributing activity. The research explored the desired features of a collaborative support tool for multimedia systems design.     

Sharing your view: A distributed user interface approach for reviewing emergency plans

Emergency planning is an ongoing activity in which a multidisciplinary group of experts intermittently collaborate to define the most appropriate response to risks. One of the most important tasks of emergency planning is the review of plans as a way of maintaining, refining, and improving them. This review of plans is based on exchanging knowledge and experiences in order to take into account different perspectives and generate alternative solutions. An exploratory case study carried out within municipal organizations has disclosed how the application of rigid plan reviewing practices hinders team creativity and, consequently, effective decision-making. This paper presents a computer-based collaborative environment aimed at supporting unstructured team discussion during the post-hoc review of emergency plan. This collaborative environment allows emergency planning team members to share their view in a free manner by interacting with user interface components distributed across several input and output dimensions. The usage of the environment has proved how the application of new interactive technologies can create more dynamic work settings, fostering team creativity.     

The CACHE Study: Group Effects in Computer-supported Collaborative Analysis

The present experiment investigates effects of group composition in computer-supported collaborative intelligence analysis. Human cognition, though highly adaptive, is also quite limited, leading to systematic errors and limitations in performance – that is, biases. We experimentally investigated the impact of group composition on an individual’s bias, by composing groups that differ in whether their members initial beliefs are diverse (heterogeneous group) or similar (homogeneous group). We study three-member, distributed, computer-supported teams in heterogeneous, homogeneous, and solo (or nominal) groups. We measured bias in final judgment, and also in the selection and evaluation of the evidence that contributed to the final beliefs. The distributed teams collaborated via CACHE-A, a web-based software environment that supports a collaborative version of Analysis of Competing Hypotheses (or ACH, a method used by intelligence analysts). Individuals in Heterogeneous Groups showed no net process cost, relative to noninteracting individuals. Both heterogeneous and solo (noninteracting) groups debiased strongly, given a stream of balanced evidence. In contrast, individuals in Homogenous Groups did worst, accentuating their initial bias rather than debiasing. We offer suggestions about how CACHE-A supports collaborative analysis, and how experimental investigation in this research area can contribute to design of CSCW systems.     

制造商与零售商应对产品评论智能协同决策机制研究综述

产品评论作为供应链中产品信息共享的一种新的途径正在变得日益流行与重要,供应链中制造商与零售商正面临考虑产品评论条件下如何利用智能群推荐的协同决策。首先分析了制造商与零售商应对产品评论智能协同决策机制起源于供应链协同决策、群推荐系统及产品评论;然后对现存的制造商与零售商应对产品评论智能协同决策机制进行概述,包括了理论、策略及实证方面的成果,并分析这些机制之间的关系;最后对制造商与零售商应对产品评论智能协同决策机制研究文献进行分析归纳,提出理论、策略及实证方面研究问题,并指出将来研究内容与方向。     

User modelling for adaptive computer systems: a survey of recent developments

User modelling is becoming an important sub-area of Artificial Intelligence with both theoretical and practical consequences. The theoretical foundations of user modelling are to be found in key areas of AI, such as knowledge representation and plan recognition, while its practical applications impinge on the construction of intelligent user interfaces and adaptive systems. This paper provides a survey of current work in user modelling. The paper begins by distinguishing between AI approaches, which are the subject of this survey, and those of HCI (Human-Computer Interaction) and then considers the major issues in user modelling such as: types of user modelling system, the sorts of information modelled, how the information is acquired, represented and used. The paper concludes by examining some of the more problematic aspects of user modelling as well as indicating areas for future research.     

Groupware Environments as Action Constitutive Resources: A Social Action Framework for Analyzing Groupware Technologies

Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) is a relatively new and dynamic field dealing with the development and use of groupware technologies in organizations. Several frameworks and models have been proposed for studying CSCW, each conveying a different perspective and theoretical basis. Although these frameworks have contributed much to our understanding of the field, they can be criticized for a lack of holistic understanding of the complex social activity that is constitutive of groupwork. This often leads to the failure of otherwise well designed CSCW applications. In this paper we take up this challenge and propose a social action framework for analyzing groupware technologies. The framework is based on Habermas's theory of social action and four action categories, and the idea that groupware applications serve as sets of rules and resources which mediate group interactions. We demonstrate the value of the framework by analyzing a wide range of existing groupware technologies for their appropriateness to specific groupwork situations in terms of their espoused or implicit assumptions of groupwork, and the action constitutive resources they provide. Our analysis points out that a host of current groupware applications can be fairly easily classified and examined by the way they are configured to support different types of social action. It also suggests that, when implementing groupware applications, developers should critically evaluate: (a) the need for supporting a rich variety of action types, (b) the possible role of computer support in the specific groupwork situations, and (c) the underlying assumptions of groupwork embedded in the groupware platform. Finally, we will discuss how the framework can inform future research and development in the field.     

A Framework for the Initialization of Student Models in Web-based Intelligent Tutoring Systems

Initializing a student model for individualized tutoring in educational applications is a difficult task, since very little is known about a new student. On the other hand, fast and efficient initialization of the student model is necessary. Otherwise the tutoring system may lose its credibility in the first interactions with the student. In this paper we describe a framework for the initialization of student models in Web-based educational applications. The framework is called ISM. The basic idea of ISM is to set initial values for all aspects of student models using an innovative combination of stereotypes and the distance weighted k-nearest neighbor algorithm. In particular, a student is first assigned to a stereotype category concerning her/his knowledge level of the domain being taught. Then, the model of the new student is initialized by applying the distance weighted k-nearest neighbor algorithm among the students that belong to the same stereotype category with the new student. ISM has been applied in a language learning system, which has been used as a test-bed. The quality of the student models created using ISM has been evaluated in an experiment involving classroom students and their teachers. The results from this experiment showed that the initialization of student models was improved using the ISM framework.     

Building KidPad: an application for children's collaborative storytelling

Collaborating in small groups can be beneficial to children's learning and socializing. However, there is currently little computer support for children's collaborative activities. This was our motivation for building KidPad, a collaborative storytelling tool for children. KidPad provides children with drawing, typing, and hyperlinking capabilities in a large, two-dimensional canvas. It supports collaboration by accepting input from multiple mice. In building KidPad, we developed solutions to problems common to all single-display groupware applications for children: using an intuitive user interface metaphor that can support collaboration, and obtaining input from multiple devices. We addressed the need for an appropriate user interface metaphor by using the local tools metaphor. In developing the concept of local tools we learned about the importance of addressing the issue of global modes. Our solution for obtaining input from multiple devices was MID, an architecture written in Java. In building MID, we learned about the importance of building flexible architectures that can support a wide range of applications and devices in a consistent manner, and that are easy to extend and use by programmers. This paper describes our work on local tools and MID in the context of building KidPad, and aims to provide developers with valuable insights into how to develop collaborative applications for children. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

协同项目成本计划与控制模式研究

协同项目管理是经济全球化形式下的一种新的生产管理模式,成本管理是其核心内容之一.本文针对协同项目管理的特点,建立了协同项目成本计划与控制模型,并阐明了其项目成本预算与分配的核心方法,为协同项目成本管理系统的实现提供依据.     

平行应急疏散系统:基本概念、体系框架及其应用

突发事件通常具有难以预测、多成因关联、危害性大及演变复杂等特点,应急情况下如何安全高效疏散人员是应急管控领域的重要研究内容.本文将基于人工系统（Artificial systems,A）、计算实验（Computational experiments,C）、平行执行（Parallel excution,P）方法的平行系统理论引入到应急管控领域,提出平行应急疏散系统（Parallel emergency evacuation systems,PeES）基本概念,构建系统体系框架及集成平台,并介绍人工应急疏散系统、计算实验、平行执行等主要功能模块的基本功能及实现方法.通过PeES能实现虚实应急疏散系统的管理与控制、应急方案的实验与评估以及相关人员的学习与培训.最后,以轨道交通枢纽站火灾场景下的乘客应急疏散为典型应用对平行应急疏散系统进行初步验证.     

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.     

I-Quiz: An Intelligent Assessment Tool for Non-Verbal Behaviour Detection

Electronic learning (e-learning) has become one of the widely used modes of pedagogy in higher education today due to the convenience and flexibility offered in comparison to traditional learning activities. Advancements in Information and Communication Technology have eased learner connectivity online and enabled access to an extensive range of learning materials on the World Wide Web. Post covid-19 pandemic, online learning has become the most essential and inevitable medium of learning in primary, secondary and higher education. In recent times, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have transformed the current education strategy by offering a technology-rich and flexible form of online learning. A key component to assess the learner’s progress and effectiveness of online teaching is the Multiple Choice Question (MCQ) assessment in most of the MOOC courses. Uncertainty exists on the reliability and validity of the assessment component as it raises a qualm whether the real knowledge acquisition level reflects upon the assessment score. This is due to the possibility of random and smart guesses, learners can attempt, as MCQ assessments are more vulnerable than essay type assessments. This paper presents the architecture, development, evaluation of the I-Quiz system, an intelligent assessment tool, which captures and analyses both the implicit and explicit non-verbal behaviour of learner and provides insights about the learner’s real knowledge acquisition level. The I-Quiz system uses an innovative way to analyse the learner non-verbal behaviour and trains the agent using machine learning techniques. The intelligent agent in the system evaluates and predicts the real knowledge acquisition level of learners. A total of 500 undergraduate engineering students were asked to attend an on-Screen MCQ assessment test using the I-Quiz system comprising 20 multiple choice questions related to advanced C programming. The non-verbal behaviour of the learner is recorded using a front-facing camera during the entire assessment period. The resultant dataset of non-verbal behaviour and question-answer scores is used to train the random forest classifier model to predict the real knowledge acquisition level of the learner. The trained model after hyperparameter tuning and cross validation achieved a normalized prediction accuracy of 85.68%.     

Adaptive systems: from intelligent tutoring to autonomous agents

Computer systems which can automatically alter aspects of their functionality or interface to suit the needs of individuals or groups of users have appeared over the years in a variety of guises. Most recently, attention has focused on intelligent interface agents, which are seen as specialised, knowledge-based systems acting on behalf of the user in some aspect of the interaction. Similar requirements for automatic adaptation have been noted in intelligent tutoring systems, natural-language systems and intelligent interfaces. The paper brings together the research which has emanated from a number of backgrounds, and provides a unifying perspective on adaptive systems in general. An architecture for adaptive systems and a methodology for their development are presented. The paper also describes software support for producing adaptive systems, and offers some experimental evidence to justify both the desirability and feasibility of exploiting an adaptive system approach to human-computer interaction     

A formal model for plastic human computer interfaces

The considerable and significant progress achieved in the design and development of new interaction devices between man and machine has enabled the emergence of various powerful and efficient input and/or output devices. Each of these new devices brings specific interaction modes.With the emergence of these devices, new interaction techniques and modes arise and new interaction capabilities are offered. New user interfaces need to be designed or former ones need to evolve. The design of so called plastic user interfaces contributes to handling such evolutions. The key requirement for the design of such a user interface is that the new obtained user interface shall be adapted to the application and have, at least, the same behavior as the previous (adapted) one. This paper proposes to address the problem of user interface evolution due to the introduction of new interaction devices and/or new interaction modes. More, precisely, we are interested by the study of the design process of a user interface resulting from the evolution of a former user interface due to the introduction of new devices and/or new interaction capabilities. We consider that interface behaviors are described by labelled transition systems and comparison between user interfaces is handled by an extended definition of the bi-simulation relationship to compare user interface behaviors when interaction modes are replaced by new ones.     

Tele-Graffiti: A Camera-Projector Based Remote Sketching System with Hand-Based User Interface and Automatic Session Summarization

One way to build a remote sketching system is to use a video camera to image what each user draws at their site, transmit the video to the other sites, and display it there using an LCD projector. Such camera-projector based remote sketching systems date back to Paul Wellner's (largely unimplemented) Xerox Double DigitalDesk. To make such a system usable, however, the users have to be able to move the paper on which they are drawing, they have to be able to interact with the system using a convenient interface, and sketching sessions must be stored in a compact format so that they can be replayed later. We have recently developed Tele-Graffiti, a remote sketching system with the following three features: (1) real-time paper tracking to allow the users to move their paper during system operation, (2) a hand based user interface, and (3) automatic session summarization and playback. In this paper, we describe the design, implementation, and performance of Tele-Graffiti.Supplementary material to this paper is available in electronic form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1023084706295     

A Visualization Framework and User Studies for Overloaded Orthogonal Drawings

Overloaded orthogonal drawing (OOD) is a recent graph visualization style specifically conceived for directed graphs. It merges the advantages of some popular drawing conventions like layered drawings and orthogonal drawings, and provides additional support for some common analysis tasks. We present a visualization framework called DAGView, which implements algorithms and graphical features for the OOD style. Besides the algorithm for acyclic digraphs, the DAGView framework implements extensions to visualize both digraphs with cycles and undirected graphs, with the additional possibility of taking into account user preferences and constraints. It also supports an interactive visualization of clustered digraphs, based on the use of strongly connected components. Moreover, we describe an experimental user study, aimed to investigate the usability of OOD within the DAGView framework. The results of our study suggest that OOD can be effectively exploited to perform some basic tasks of analysis in a faster and more accurate way when compared to other drawing styles for directed graphs.