| A Discussion System for Knowledge Sharing and Collaborative Analysis of Incidents in Nuclear Power Plants | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 3-12 | |
| Saizo Aoyagi; Hidenori Fujino; Hirotake Ishii; Hiroshi Shimoda; Hiroshi Sakuda; Hidekazu Yoshikawa; Toshio Sugiman | |||
| Incident analysis is an important activity to maintain the safety of nuclear
power plants. Much discussion is required to utilize the collected incidents
effectively in the incident analysis activity. On-line Computer Mediated
Communication (CMC) activity is an appropriate circumstance for geographically
dispersed workers in nuclear power plants to discuss about the incident
analysis. Some studies, however, indicate that the discussion activity in CMC
tends to stagnate after a short period of time. For this study, the authors
developed a discussion system for knowledge sharing and collaborative analysis
of incidents, and proposed a method to promote discussion among users through
introduction of "Active Participant". The Active Participant always behaves
actively, and such behaviors are expected to promote the other members'
incident analysis in the discussion group. To evaluate the effectiveness of the
introduction of the Active Participant and obtain concrete guidance of the
Active Participant, an experiment was conducted with nuclear power plant
workers who were asked to evaluate the discussion system. The results of the
experiment show that Active Participant can promote discussion among group
members if enough number of incidents are submitted to the discussion system. Keywords: knowledge sharing; incidents analysis; online discussion and promotion of
discussion | |||
| Universal Navigation through Social Networking | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 13-22 | |
| Mahsa Ghafourian; Hassan A. Karimi; Linda van Roosmalen | |||
| In today's complex metropolitan and aging society, navigation, which is an
essential mobility activity, has become increasingly challenging for many
individuals. This is particularly true for individuals who are unfamiliar with
the area or require special navigation assistance due to visual, physical, or
cognitive impairments. While there have been much advancements in navigation
systems, they are one-size-fits-all and not universal. In this paper, we
present the concept of Universal NAVIgation Technology (UNAVIT), which is a
framework providing navigation assistance anywhere, anytime, and for any user
through social networking (UNAVIT-SN). We discuss UNAVIT-SN, its components and
features, and present key algorithms for providing suitable navigation
solutions both indoors and outdoors, at different times and for users with a
variety of needs and preferences. Keywords: Universal navigation; social networking; social matching; route recommender;
navigation assistance | |||
| Collaborative Work in 3D Virtual Environments: A Research Agenda and Operational Framework | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 23-32 | |
| Béatrice S. Hasler; Thierry Buecheler; Rolf Pfeifer | |||
| We propose a conceptual framework based on input-process-output models
adapted from traditional group research for the systematic analysis of virtual
teamwork. A research agenda contains a list of research questions that will be
investigated in a controlled field study in the context of "The ShanghAI
Lectures", a global teaching and international student collaboration project.
The research questions are formulated regarding processes and outcomes of
global virtual teamwork and focus on usability and sociability issues in
collaborative work in 3D virtual environments. An operational framework is
provided for collecting the relevant data in a structured manner by using
qualitative and quantitative process measures of group behavior. Keywords: Global virtual teams; 3D collaborative virtual environments; group
interaction processes; behavioral tracking | |||
| Workflow-Based Architecture for Collaborative Video Annotation | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 33-42 | |
| Cristian Hofmann; Nina Hollender; Dieter W. Fellner | |||
| In video annotation research, the support of the video annotation workflow
has been taken little into account, especially concerning collaborative use
cases. Previous research projects focus each on a different essential part of
the whole annotation process. We present a reference architecture model which
is based on identified phases of the video annotation workflow. In a first
step, the underlying annotation workflow is exemplified with respect to its
single phases, tasks, and loops. Secondly, the system architecture is going to
be exemplified with respect to its elements, their internal procedures, as well
as the interaction between these elements. The goals of this paper are to
provide the reader with a basic understanding of the specific characteristics
and requirements of collaborative video annotation processes, and to define a
reference framework for the design of video annotation systems that include a
workflow management system. Keywords: Video Annotation; Video Analysis; Computer-Supported Collaborative Work | |||
| Catalysing the Development of a Conference Workspace | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 43-52 | |
| Jukka Huhtamäki; Ossi Nykänen; Jaakko Salonen | |||
| Modern Web introduces new means to support conference information retrieval
and, moreover, social tools that enable conference delegates to actively
contribute to a conference. Simultaneously, existing case studies show that
collecting explicitly represented conference data is possible in real-life
settings. From these grounds, methods and tools of component-based information
visualisation can be used to process conference data, firstly, in order to
create visualisations of the conference data, and, secondly, to produce data
for populating interactive conference tools. We claim that when coupled with
usage tracking and analysis, the automated creation of visualisations and
population data can catalyse the iterative development of a conference
workspace. In this article, we present case OPAALS 2008 where formal conference
data was successfully harvested and utilised to partly automate the creation
workflow of the conference workspace. Moreover, we introduce the methods that
were used to gain insight on the dynamics of the workspace usage. Keywords: information visualisation; online communities; Semantic Web; information
modelling; social media | |||
| Dialogues of Locations: BlueSpot | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 53-61 | |
| András Kangyal; László Laufer | |||
| We designed and implemented an experimental communication system called
BlueSpot, which was functioning for 3 months in Budapest, Hungary. It was a
free communication system that connected nearly 50 geographical locations in
the city into a network. In BlueSpot users could send messages to localities
instead of people using the Bluetooth service of their mobile phones. Messages
were received by all users present at the target location. We are describing
the system architecture and our experiences with the interaction design of the
BlueSpot application. We also provide an analysis of the content of the
messages, revealing user experiences in a synchronous location based
communication system. Keywords: Location Based Services; Messaging system; Bluetooth; Interaction design | |||
| Instant Online Communities as a Means to Foster Conferences | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 62-71 | |
| Martin Christof Kindsmüller; Jan Milz; Johannes Schmidt | |||
| In this paper we introduce an instant online community (IOC) solution as an
add-on for existing websites. The IOC enables social interaction between the
main content provider and visitors of one or more websites. We present the
successful application of the sixgroups.com Livecommunity in the context of a
joint conference to support communication between organizers and attendees, and
attendees amongst each others. All stakeholders are supported throughout the
conference, from preparation until follow-up. Yet, the main focus lies in
accompanying them while they are attending the conference. The lessons learned
and conclusions from this application are discussed, as well as the steps to be
taken in improving the sixgroups.com Livecommunity. Keywords: Online Communities; Web 2.0; Conference Management | |||
| Mobile Social Service Design for Large-Scale Exhibition | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 72-81 | |
| Huanglingzi Liu; Ying Liu; Wei Wang; Bin Wang | |||
| In order to improve the exhibition service, technology enhanced visitor
experience is gradually gaining more attention. In this paper, we follow
user-centered design to explore the possibility of building a mobile social
service for a large-scale exhibition. User data from interviews, questionnaires
and field studies have been analyzed. Five factors influencing visitor's social
engagement are analyzed and implications for new mobile social service designs
in large-scale exhibitions are discussed: personal requirement on the knowledge
of exhibits, time cost of social interaction, exhibitor's requirement on
information distribution and collection, the maintenance of a temporary social
network and coordination with the exhibition environment. Keywords: user-centered design; social awareness; mobile social service; exhibition
service | |||
| Accessibility of Registration Mechanisms in Social Networking Sites | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 82-90 | |
| Gabriele Meiselwitz; Jonathan Lazar | |||
| This paper discusses the use of social networking sites in higher education
and the accessibility issues which arise for students using assistive
technologies when they register for these systems. Many instructors incorporate
social networking into their daily teaching by creating learning groups,
enabling collaborative work, or just by simply synchronizing course items with
students' personal sites within these networks. This study examines the
registration process for several social networking sites. Sites were evaluated
according to their compliance with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act;
evaluation also included the use of CAPTCHAs and the use of email for user
identification. The paper concludes with a summary of the current status of
registration processes for social networking sites and recommendations on how
to improve the situation considering their application in higher education. Keywords: social networking; accessibility; higher education | |||
| A Visualization Approach for Group Behaviors, Beliefs and Intentions to Support Critical Decisions | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 91-100 | |
| Colleen L. Phillips; Norman D. Geddes; Justin T. Simms | |||
| During persistent surveillance of a given population in a conflict
situation, data management can quickly become unwieldy due to the inundation of
low-level information from many, disparate sources. Computational population
models can easily fuse and aggregate information input, but there is still the
challenge of providing effective data visualization which minimizes information
overload and introduces misinterpretation by simplified visualization based on
aggregations. Visualizations of the actionable knowledge to the analyst based
on the population effects as evidenced by their stratagemical behaviors are
needed. Five model classes that study the beliefs of groups and how their
beliefs change as a result of events were evaluated for their potential for
visualization based on an analyst's cognitive model of the conflict situation.
A visualization approach was developed that can be used for all of the classes
of models based on frames of reference for time and physical location within
the environment. Keywords: data visualization; group modeling; stratagemical behaviors; beliefs | |||
| Measuring Usability via Biometrics | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 101-107 | |
| Anjali Phukan | |||
| This paper reviews some exploratory research focused on developing a
usability methodology based on objective biometrics computing using
physiological data (ECG, respiration, and GSR sensors, as well as an infrared
eye tracker) as well as behavior data (mouse and keystroke input). Following a
high level literature review, various biometrics are discussed with the goal of
motivating further study into the development of a methodology for usability
testing, including the assessment of user satisfaction. Lessons learned and
suggestions for future work were also discussed. Keywords: biometric; usability; testing; methodologies | |||
| Structuring the Social Subsystem Components of the Community Based E-Museum Framework | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 108-116 | |
| Suriyati Razali; Nor Laila Md. Noor; Wan Adilah Wan Adnan | |||
| The use of social spaces design in social computing has created an economic
value in the preservation of cultural heritage. This movement has now motivated
the museum community to provide a systematic establishment to support the
digital cultural heritage preservation through e-museum. However some of the
cultural heritage community knowledge sharing drivers has not been adequately
addressed. The significant growth of community based concept shows a great
economic importance in producing reliable digital object repositories. We
developed a conceptual framework of a community based e-museum (ComE) to
facilitate the design of community knowledge sharing in as an attempt to solve
the economic issues of sustaining a cultural heritage information system [1].
In this paper we further elaborate the framework by presenting the structural
knowledge modeling of the subsystem of the ComE framework within the social
technical system frame based on four components of community views. We
demonstrate the instantiation by using the traditional Malay textile (TMT) as
the cultural artifact as the case study. Keywords: Community based e-museum; social subsystem; community concept; cultural
heritage | |||
| Notice Board as Metaphor for Social Media Service in Chemical Factory | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 117-125 | |
| Sampo Teräs; Petri Mannonen | |||
| Work in paper and chemical factories include controlling several processes
and cooperating with several workers. This needs lots of awareness and
information sharing. Breakdowns in information sharing can lead to low quality
production and unsafe work situations. During last couple of years different
social media and web 2.0 applications and services have become popular ways of
sharing information in leisure environment. We created a prototype from social
media perspective to respond the needs in information sharing in factories. Our
electronic notice board prototype (El Nobo) uses a metaphor from process
operators' current work environment and is designed to face the specific needs
that occur in the chemical factory process operators' work. The prototype aims
to introduce social media type of working practices to process control work and
to test the possibilities of informal cross-organizational information sharing
in industrial settings. Keywords: Awareness; Control room; Factory work; Prototype; Process controlling;
Social media; User interface; Web 2.0 | |||
| A Study on the Interface for Viewing the Information Menu of a Town from Intersections Using a Digital Compass | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 126-133 | |
| Misa Tsuchihashi; Katsuhiko Ogawa | |||
| Recently, services providing information content that meet the needs of a
user's current location, based on location information obtained by mobile
terminals such as cell phones, have been increasing. In line with the
widespread use of these Location-Based Services (LBS), digital compasses that
obtain bearing information together with location information are also
emerging. By using the digital compass with the location information, a higher
level of information can be produced. In this paper, a "XingMenu Viewer" for
viewing the information menu of a town from intersections using a digital
compass is proposed. In the town exploration experiment using this viewer, it
was observed that the exminee's perception of the town had expanded. Keywords: Location-Based Services (LBS); Mobile Computing; Digital Compass; Augmented
Reality; Photo Sharing; Live Blog; Cognitive Map | |||
| Email Accessibility and Social Networking | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 134-140 | |
| Brian Wentz; Jonathan Lazar | |||
| Previous studies concerning the accessibility of social networking web sites
have revealed that there are components of such web sites which present
accessibility problems for users with disabilities, including blind users. This
paper discusses the intersection of e-mail accessible and social networking,
for blind users. Not only is e-mail an important component of social networking
sites, but often, an e-mail address is required for registration. The topic of
e-mail and social networking is being studied in the broader context of a
multi-stage research study of blind users and their e-mail usage. This
multi-stage study is being conducted to understand the usage patterns and
accessibility problems encountered by blind users in using both web-based and
application-based e-mail. Our hope is that the research study will result in
the proposal of new strategies and guidelines for accessible design. This
conference presentation will report on the status of the data collection. Keywords: social networking; blind users; email; web accessibility; CSCW | |||
| Why People Use Social Networking Sites | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 143-152 | |
| Petter Bae Brandtzæg; Jan Heim | |||
| One of the recent popular social media platforms is the social networking
site (SNS). Thus far, few previous studies have empirically investigated
people's motivations for SNS usage, especially not outside the U.S. This study
combines a large-scale quantitative and qualitative research design, by asking
1,200 SNS users an open question regarding their reasons for using SNSs. An
important conclusion drawn from a preliminary content analysis is that people
often report many motivational reasons for using SNSs. The most important
reason is to get in contact with new people (31%). The second most valued was
to keep in touch with their friends (21%), whereas the third was general
socializing (14%). A total of 11 different reasons and several sub-reasons were
identified; that all give insight into the personal incentives that drive
people to use SNSs and thus contribute to our understanding of how to develop
successful social networking online. Keywords: Social networking sites; user participation; friends; user motivation | |||
| Automatic Generation of Non-verbal Behavior for Agents in Virtual Worlds: A System for Supporting Multimodal Conversations of Bots and Avatars | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 153-161 | |
| Werner Breitfuss; Helmut Prendinger; Mitsuru Ishizuka | |||
| This paper presents a system capable of automatically adding gestures to an
embodied virtual character processing information from a simple text input.
Gestures are generated based on the analysis of linguistic and contextual
information of the input text. The system is embedded in the virtual world
called second life and consists of an in world object and an off world server
component that handles the analysis. Either a user controlled avatar or a non
user controlled character can be used to display the gestures, that are timed
with speech output from an Text-to-Speech system, and so show non verbal
behavior without pushing the user to manually select it. Keywords: Embodied Virtual Characters; Animated Agent Systems; Multimodal Output
Generation; Multimodal Presentations; Virtual Worlds | |||
| Preliminary Findings from a Cross Cultural Usability Study on the Internationalization of User Interfaces | | BIBA | Full-Text | 162-171 | |
| Joyram Chakraborty; Linda Hansen; Darren A. Denenberg; Anthony F. Norcio | |||
| This paper reports the findings from a second preliminary study concerning the Internationalization of User Interfaces. It is a follow up to an initial study conducted on American users [4]. Undergraduate Zambian subjects from the University of Zambia (UNZA) completed a web-based application to gauge their understanding of cultural variables commonly used in user interface development. In general, the findings indicate a distinct affinity towards culturally familiar attributes. The authors conclude that the use of culturally sensitive variables in development of user interfaces can have an affect on the acceptance of technologies. | |||
| Credibility On-Line: Quality Metrics for Evaluation | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 172-181 | |
| Francisco V. Cipolla Ficarra; Ernesto Vivas; Joaquim Romo | |||
| We present the results of the assessment of credibility of Information
Technology and Communications professionals through the application of a set of
heuristic techniques which make it possible to analyze different on-line
websites where their curricular data reside. The aim of the current research
work is to determine the quality of the public and private institutions through
the veracity of the on-line content. We also present a set of binary metrics of
quality, credibility and veracity of on-line information, called DECROL
(Destroy CRedibility On-Line). These metrics are the result of the comparison
of professionals or pseudo professionals in 50 public and private institutions
in Spain and Italy. Keywords: Veracity; Information; Assessment; Content; Multimedia; Education;
Semiotics; Linguistics | |||
| A Life-Like Agent Interface System with Second Life Avatars on the OpenSimulator Server | | BIBA | Full-Text | 182-190 | |
| Hiroshi Dohi; Mitsuru Ishizuka | |||
| This paper describes a design of a life-like agent interface system with Second Life avatars on a 3D virtual world. We have implemented our prototype system on the OpenSimulator server, instead of the Linden Lab's Second Life server. It is open source and a Second Life official viewer can connect it. Although it is still an alpha version and has various problems at present, it has many advantages. Our avatar can be controlled by event-driven. And the script is environment-independent since the other avatars might be changing the world. We have built up our portable experimental environment (our avatar controller, the OpenSimulator server, and the Second Life viewer) on an ordinary laptop PC (Windows Vista). It can run even if it is standalone, without an Internet connection. | |||
| Multi-dimensional Moderation in Online Communities: Experiences with Three Norwegian Sites | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 191-196 | |
| Gheorghita Ghinea; Bendik Bygstad; Christoph Schmitz | |||
| Online-communities and user contribution of content have become widespread
over the last years. This has triggered new and innovative web concepts, and
perhaps also changed the power balance in the society. Many large corporations
have embraced this way of creating content to their sites, which has raised
concerns regarding abusive content. Previous research has identified two main
different types of moderation; one where the users have most of the control as
in Wikipedia, and the other where the owners control everything. The media
industry, in particular, are reluctant to loose the control of their content by
using the member-maintained approach even if it has proven to cost less and be
more efficient.
This research proposes to merge these two moderation types through a concept called multidimensional moderation. To test this concept, two prototype solutions have been implemented and tested in large-scale discussion groups. The results from this study show that a combination of owner and user moderation may enhance the moderation process. Keywords: moderation; online communities; social media; prototype | |||
| Modding as Rating Behavior in Virtual Communities: The Case of Rooster Teeth Productions | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 197-206 | |
| Stefan Haefliger; Philip Reichen; Peter M. Jäger; Georg von Krogh | |||
| Virtual communities that make use of social network site features blend
known applications of virtual communities. These communities can be
simultaneously social and commercial, organization sponsored and heavily
relying on member interaction. We explore modding behavior that allows members
to evaluate other members' contributions both with numerical value and
qualitative rating. We show that approximately half of all members received
mods on their comments, that the majority of mods given were positive, and that
the amount of mods received for a comment was related to the position of the
comment in the community website's thread. Contributing to the emerging
literature of social network sites and virtual communities, we discuss
implications for theory, future research and management. Keywords: Virtual Communities; Communities of Consumption; Social Network Sites;
Machinima | |||
| Personalized and Deformed Avatars for Realizing Avatar-Mediated Real Person-to-Person Communication | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 207-215 | |
| Masayuki Heike; Kinya Fujita; Takahiro Tanaka | |||
| In avatar-mediated communication, there is a potential risk of familiarity
detraction caused by differences between the appearance of the user and the
avatar. However, the personalized avatars did not produce familiarity against
the expectation. In this study, deformation rules extracted independently of
the aspects of the models are discussed by comparing seven cartoon portraits to
the originals. An avatar personalizing tool based on the averaged deformation
proportions was developed. It was experimentally confirmed that the
personalized and deformed avatars produce more familiarity. Keywords: Communication; Avatar; Avatar Personalization; Deformation | |||
| Ghatcha: GHost Avatar on a Telework CHAir | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 216-225 | |
| Yutaka Ishii; Kouzi Osaki; Tomio Watanabe | |||
| There has been much discussion on remote communication support for a
telework that will enable employees to work at remote offices. We have already
developed a remote communication support system via embodied avatars based on
users' behaviors. However, there are various problems associated with an
avatar-mediated interaction, particularly with regard to the relation between
users and their avatars. In this study, we propose the concept of a presence
sharing system Ghatcha [GHost Avatar on a Telework CHAir] in which the users'
embodiment is not indicated by the avatars but by the chairs that suggest the
presence of avatars. This system provides the same communication space for the
users' embodiment, thus creating a feeling of working alongside remote workers.
In this paper, we propose the concept of this system and develop a prototype
system. Moreover, the effectiveness of the prototype system is confirmed in the
experiment. Keywords: Embodied Interaction; Avatar; Remote Communication; Telework; Remote
Operating Chair | |||
| Distributed Leadership, Trust and Online Communities | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 226-235 | |
| Jill Jameson | |||
| This paper analyses the role of distributed leadership and trust in online
communities. The team-based informal ethos of online collaboration requires a
different kind of leadership from that in formal positional hierarchies. Such
leadership may be more flexible and sophisticated, capable of encompassing
ambiguity and rapid change. Online leaders need to be partially invisible,
delegating power and distributing tasks. Yet, simultaneously, online
communities are facilitated by the high visibility and subtle control of expert
leaders. This paradox: that leaders need to be both highly visible and
invisible as appropriate, was derived from prior research and tested in the
analysis of online community discussions using a pattern-matching process. It
is argued that both leader visibility and invisibility are important for the
facilitation of trusting collaboration via distributed leadership. Advanced
leadership responses to complex situations in online communities foster
positive group interaction and decision-making, facilitated through active
distribution of specific tasks. Keywords: Distributed leadership; online communities; paradox; visibility;
invisibility; e-learning; case study; pattern-matching; ambiguity | |||
| Metacommunication Patterns in Online Communities | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 236-245 | |
| Arto Lanamäki; Tero Päivärinta | |||
| This paper discusses about contemporary literature on computer-mediated
metacommunication and observes the phenomenon in two online communities. The
results contribute by identifying six general-level patterns of how
metacommunication refers to primary communication in online communities. A
task-oriented, user-administrated, community (Wikipedia in Finnish) involved a
remarkable number of specialized metacommunication genres. In a centrally
moderated discussion-oriented community (Patientslikeme), metacommunication was
intertwined more with primary ad hoc communication. We suggest that a focus on
specialized metacommunication genres may appear useful in online communities.
However, room for ad hoc (meta)communication is needed as well, as it provides
a basis for user-initiated community development. Keywords: Online community; metacommunication; genre; computer-mediated communication | |||
| Collective Content as a Facilitator of Community Interaction: A User Study of Four Close-Knit Communities | | BIBA | Full-Text | 246-255 | |
| Thomas Olsson; Hannu Toivola; Minna Wäljas; Kaisa Väänänen-Vainio-Mattila; Jaakko Lehikoinen | |||
| Social online services offer communities means for creating and using media content together. The content is jointly used for maintaining relationships and constructing common memories and experiences. Thus, it is very collective by nature. However, few studies have focused on the ways in which communities interact with such collective content. We conducted a field study on how four communities create, share, and use content together in order to understand the role of content as part of the social interaction. As the main result, we present the snowball effect of interaction. It is based on the reciprocity of participating and giving feedback. We also found that the creation of light content plays a role in maintaining the active interaction with content. | |||
| Analysis of Information Disclosure on a Social Networking Site | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 256-264 | |
| Katherine Peterson; Katie A. Siek | |||
| We present a small study about information disclosure and awareness of
disclosure implications on Couchsurfing.com. Couchsurfing is an online social
networking site where users connect with others interested in traveling and
staying at each other's homes. Since users are looking for someone to stay or
travel with, they must develop a rapport and trust before traveling. This leads
users to share more information on their Couchsurfing profile than they
ordinarily would share on mainstream social networking sites such as Facebook
or MySpace. After a survey with twenty Couchsurfing users and semi-structured
interviews with nine participants, we found participants were generally not
concerned with the information they disclosed online and were not aware of how
this information could be used against them by malicious third parties. We
conclude the paper with a brief discussion of how designers and developers
could utilize personas to better inform participants of the implications of
their disclosure decisions. Keywords: Social Networking; Information Disclosure; Privacy | |||
| Attribution of Identity in Autonomous Action of Remotely Operated Robot | | BIBA | Full-Text | 265-271 | |
| Yugo Takeuchi; Hikaru Nakagami | |||
| This paper investigates how people attribute individual autonomy to a remotely operated robot. An experiment was conducted in which participants remotely operated a goalkeeper robot to defend its goal from the kicker robot. Participants were assigned to two types of experimental conditions. Participants assigned to the first condition watched video images that captured the motion of the kicker robot from behind the goal. Participants assigned to the second condition watched video images of the kicker robot from the position of the goalkeeper robot. The result suggests that people are not concerned with the avatar's autonomy when they are focused on the avatar's situation. | |||
| Supporting Acceptable Dialogue Start Based on User Uninterruptibility Estimation for Avatar-Mediated Multi-tasking Online Communication | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 272-281 | |
| Takahiro Tanaka; Kyouhei Matsumura; Kinya Fujita | |||
| Current users of real-time online communication tools have difficulty
recognizing the status of interaction partners. Therefore, initiation dialogue
has a risk of unintended interruption of the partner. To overcome the problem,
we focused on application-switching (AS) as a potential intelligent activity
discontinuity marker for uninterruptibility estimation. Preliminary experiments
revealed an uninterruptibility reduction effect of AS. Therefore, we prototyped
an acceptable dialogue start supporting agent system that allows users to
recognize the uninterruptibility of interaction partners naturally. The system
estimates uninterruptibility using AS, keystrokes, and mouse clicks, and
presenting the results by avatar posture and motion using overlapping
expressions to control the impression of uninterruptibility. Keywords: Multi-tasking; online communication; interruptibility | |||
| Developing Believable Interactive Cultural Characters for Cross-Cultural Training | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 282-291 | |
| Glenn Taylor; Ed Sims | |||
| One path to training for cross-cultural competency is through immersion in a
target culture, but real immersion can be expensive. Virtual immersion may be a
viable alternative, but only if the experience is realistic and compelling
enough. The characters in the virtual environment must embody the behaviors of
the people in that culture in a way that is realistic and believable to
facilitate training. In this paper, we describe a theory-based framework for
building interactive cultural characters for cross-cultural training. The
framework combines physical and cognitive aspects of behavior to enable more
realistic generation of cultural behavior. We describe the theoretical basis
for the framework, how it is being used to build interactive characters for
cross-cultural training, and reflect on the challenges we have faced and
lessons we have learned in doing this work. Keywords: Cross-Cultural Training; Online Communities and Social Computing | |||
| Weighting Structures: Evolutionary Dynamics of Innovation Networks in Virtual Communities | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 295-304 | |
| Vitaliano Barberio; Alessandro Lomi | |||
| We discuss and illustrate alternative analytical strategies for representing
coordination networks in innovative virtual communities bounded by production
relationships among participants. We use information on email communication
networks reconstructed using data from the Apache Open Source project to give
empirical contents to our arguments and to substantiate our claims that: (i)
Self-organizing networks provide the basic principles of coordination in such
communities; (ii) Once in place, deliberate governance arrangements affect
coordination patterns within virtual communities; (iii) Structural properties
of communication networks change significantly over time depending on their
internal organizational logics, and (iv) Affiliation (a.k.a. two mode) networks
provide a useful representation for detecting community structures. Keywords: distributed work; coordination; communication networks; open source
development | |||
| User Reputation Evaluation Using Co-occurrence Feature and Collective Intelligence | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 305-311 | |
| Jeong-Won Cha; Hyun-woo Lee; Yo-Sub Han; Laehyun Kim | |||
| It becomes more difficult to find valuable contents in the Web 2.0
environment since lots of inexperienced users provide many unorganized
contents. In the previous researches, people has proved that non-text
information such as the number of references, the number of supports, and the
length of answers is effective to evaluate answers to a question in a online
QnA service site. However, these features can be changed easily by users and
cannot reflect social activity of users. In this paper, we propose a new method
to evaluate user reputation using co-occurrence features between question and
answers, and collective intelligence. If we are able to calculate user
reputation, then we can estimate the worth of contents that has small number of
reference and small number of support. We compute the user reputation using a
modified PageRank algorithm. The experiment results show that our proposed
method is effective and useful for identifying such contents. Keywords: PageRank; User Reputation; Co-occurrence; Collective Intelligence | |||
| Innovation Networks: A Report on Creating a Specialist Professional Social Network, Offline and Online, to Foster Innovation in the New Media Sector | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 312-321 | |
| Bob Cotton | |||
| This paper is a report on the building of an online professional social
network (http://nm-x.com) supported by a programme of live events, focused on
innovation in the digital media content-design and development sector in
London, late 2006-present. Starting with a summary of the state of the digital
media design and development sector in this period, the Creative London
strategy and the development team, the Report then focuses on the interface
design issues, the creation of nm-x, and the supporting programme of live
events. A reflective conclusion summarises the development and poses some
questions and feedback that may be useful for others developing similar
projects. A new contribution, a 'Connections Module' (allowing semantic links
between nodes) is made to Drupal. Keywords: innovation; social network; interface-design; Drupal | |||
| The Innovation Architectures of Facebook | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 322-325 | |
| Susan Shepherd Ferebee; James Wayne Davis | |||
| User innovation is enabled through the existence of networks. This article
examines the architectures of the social network, Facebook, and provides a
theoretical discussion of why and how the architectures of Facebook can support
a user innovation environment and what factors of the architectures can improve
and enhance innovation. Keywords: innovation; user innovation; social networks; open source | |||
| Improving Personal Tagging Consistency through Visualization of Tag Relevancy | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 326-335 | |
| Qin Gao; Yusen Dai; Kai Fu | |||
| Tagging has emerged as a new means of organizing information, but the
inconsistency in tagging behaviors of users is a major drawback which degrades
both information organization and retrieval performance. The current study aims
to study how the intra-personal consistency of tagging can be improved by
proper tag visualization. The effects of visualization of tag frequency and
visualization of the relevancy among tags on personal tagging consistency are
empirically tested and compared through an experiment with 39 participants. The
results show that visualization of tag relevancy improves tagging consistency
significantly and reduces mental workload simultaneously; visualization of tag
frequency may alleviate perceived physical demand when tag relevancy is
visualized. The findings provide clear and meaningful implications for system
designers. Keywords: collaborative tagging systems; consistency; tagging; information
visualization; tag cloud | |||
| "I Heard It on the Grapevine" -- Blogging, Facebook, YouTube, and Student Self-organization during a Faculty Strike | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 336-345 | |
| Emilie West Gould | |||
| Before the web, a strike tended to be between two parties and the
communication rules for such crises were clear: the employer funneled all
messages through a single spokesperson to maintain control of its image while
the union focused most of its efforts on maintaining the morale and commitment
of its membership. The web enlarges the audiences for a strike and allows
stakeholders to build coalitions against both sides.
During a faculty strike at Acadia University in 2007, student stakeholders developed their own online channels of communication to respond to faculty and administration actions. While the professors walked the picket line and the administrators remained cloistered in University Hall, a lively discourse was taking place on the web in student blogs, facebook groups, and You-Tube. This reaction to this strike shows how new media can empower outsiders to make sense of events and organize themselves to put pressure on official social structures. In addition, it demonstrates the power of Millennial students to force others to take their views into account. Keywords: social networking; blogging; Facebook; You-Tube; rhetoric; strike
communication; crisis communication; Internet Crisis Potential; Millennial
generation | |||
| Evaluation of User Reputation on YouTube | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 346-353 | |
| Yo-Sub Han; Laehyun Kim; Jeong-Won Cha | |||
| In the Web 2.0 era, people not only read web contents but upload, view,
share and evaluate all contents on the web. This leads us to introduce a new
type of social network that is based on user activity and content metadata.
Moreover, we can determine the quality of related contents using this new
social network. Based on this observation, we introduce a user evaluation
algorithm for user-generated video sharing website such as YouTube. Keywords: user reputation; social network; YouTube | |||
| Critical Success Factors for Web 2.0 -- A Reference Framework | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 354-363 | |
| Pedro T. Isaías; Paula Miranda; Sara Pífano | |||
| The new generation of web-based communities, Web. 2.0, represents an
innovation in terms of users interaction as it becomes increasingly dependent
of it. It empowers users to create and manage content, placing them at the core
of its success. This paper will propose a Web 2.0 Critical Success Factors
(CSFs) theoretical framework. With the widespread popularity of these
applications it becomes important to analyze the source of their success and
unveil why some are more successful than others. More importantly, it may help
Web 2.0 start-ups to understand what features they need to develop to make
their applications succeed in an already very populated network. Keywords: Web 2.0; users; Critical Success Factors | |||
| User Innovation Networks and Research Challenges | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 364-373 | |
| Niki Lambropoulos; Pan Kampylis; Aneesha Bakharia | |||
| User Innovation Networks (UIN) has been considered the open innovation model
for this century as it functions entirely independently of manufacturers. This
paper discusses two UIN cases, Daz3D, as well as Linux Dell and IBM cooperation
as regards research challenges about the community of practice and interface
used. It concludes that current technology only now started touching global and
extreme collaboration for creativity and innovation. Keywords: User Innovation Networks; Hybrid Synergy; Collaborative Creativity; Design;
Social Network Analysis | |||
| Web Interface for Designing and Sharing Sound Space | | BIBA | Full-Text | 374-380 | |
| Seiya Matsuda; Shingo Ikeda; Tomohito Yamamoto | |||
| Services of sharing information such as videos or images become popular on the internet. Flickr or Youtube is one of the most successful websites. On the other hand, high quality contents created by professionals today use multi-surround audio or 3-Dimensional CG. On the internet, web services that consider spatiality of information also have appeared. However, up until now, 2-Dimensional display has been used to get or share the 3-Dimensional information of web services. As a result, its spatiality was lost and reality that information essentially had also was lost. To solve this problem, firstly we have developed low-cost and scalable 3-D auditory display. In this research, we developed the system for designing sound space that can be reproduced on our auditory display. This system gives us intuitive designing interface like general image processing tool and enables us to share sound space on the web. | |||
| Who Are the Web Composers? | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 381-390 | |
| Evandro Manara Miletto; Marcelo Soares Pimenta; Aurelio Faustino Hoppe; Luciano Vargas Flores | |||
| Web 2.0 with RIA (Rich Internet Applications) becomes a wide field for
social networks and new distributed collective practices. In this paper we
explain why and how CODES, a novice-oriented Web-based environment for
cooperative music prototyping, provides support to a new practice in which
novices in music may produce (not only consume) music cooperatively. CODES
stimulates the emergence of new user roles -- these users not only create and
edit cooperatively their own music but also may participate in discussions and
exchange ideas about their contributions. The implications of this Web-based
group music making and shared authorship -- some of them identified through
actual experiments -- are also presented. Keywords: cooperative music prototyping in the Web; Web composition; networked music;
novice-oriented interaction | |||
| Social Adaptation of ERP Software: Tagging UI Elements | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 391-400 | |
| Marcus Nitsche; Martin Christof Kindsmüller; Udo Arend; Michael Herczeg | |||
| In this paper we present a newly designed annotation and collaboration
component, which has been prototypically implemented on top of an ERP
(Enterprise Resource Planning) system. Standard ERP software is often described
as being inflexible in respect to personal needs of a single user or a user
group. To cope with this problem, theories, and principles from classical CSCW
research and design were combined with recent developments in Social Software
and what is now often summarized as Web 2.0. Our component is inspired by Web
2.0 principles like user generated content, information sharing, and harnessing
network effects. As the central paradigm we applied social tagging based on
folksonomies as e.g. used in del.ico.us, Flickr, and YouTube. In addition best
practices from research on online community building were used to design a
social annotating component for ERP systems. Keywords: Human-Computer Interaction; Social Software; Tagging; Social Bookmarking;
Social Annotating; Enterprise Resource Planning | |||
| Propagation Modeling and Analysis of Incidental Topics in Blogosphere | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 401-410 | |
| Li Zhao; Ruixi Yuan; Xiaohong Guan; Mingyang Li | |||
| Blog has become one of the most important media among the general public,
and the propagation modeling of incidental topics in blogosphere is of great
interest in social network studies. Most existing analysis methods are based on
the infection models in epidemiology. However, many of these models are
inconsistent with the widely observed power-law decay of the propagation
velocity. In this paper, the propagation of incidental topics is described by a
susceptible infection (SI) model based on the individual fitness. It is proved
that the propagation velocity will asymptotically drop with power-law if the
fitness density function satisfies certain conditions. Moreover, if the
individual fitness is of uniform distribution, analytical solution of
propagation velocity can be obtained based on our model. Model verifications
are performed on the data from several widely discussed popular topics in Sina
Blog and the results show that our model is consistent with the actual
propagations. Keywords: propagation modeling; blogosphere; SI model; fitness; power-law decay | |||
| The Coming Revolution in Competence Development: Using Serious Games to Improve Cross-Cultural Skills | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 413-422 | |
| Bjorn Andersen; Manuel Fradinho; Paul Lefrere; Veli-Pekka Niitamo | |||
| Approaches to competence development have tended to focus on training to
reach a required level of performance in simple and reproducible contexts,
rather than in the more complex and hard-to-replicate contexts that
characterize real-world projects, especially projects that involve people from
other cultures. This paper explores how the Serious Games approach can be
exploited to create skills in dealing with cross-cultural issues in project
management. The degree of difference this can make to real-world performance is
so dramatic that managers who have experienced it are seeing it not as a way to
add Incremental Improvements to TEL (Technology Enhanced Learning) but as more
of a Radical Innovation -- a revolutionary change. Some of the main skills
required in project management are reviewed, and different models of
cross-cultural analysis applied to understand how the challenges of managing
projects are increased by cultural issues. Our testbed for this is an EU
project TARGET that is developing the next generation TEL approach. We describe
its approach and look at how the TARGET serious game can be designed to achieve
enhanced cross-cultural skills in users. Keywords: Serious games; inter-cultural; role playing; competence development
environments | |||
| Learning Computer Science Fundamentals through Virtual Environments | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 423-431 | |
| James Braman; Giovanni Vincenti; Ana Maria Arboleda Diaz; Andrew Jinman | |||
| Utilizing the inherent visual qualities of immersive virtual environments
can be advantageous for educating students on particular topics. Basic
fundamentals in Computer Science curriculums often can be difficult for
students to grasp due to high levels of abstraction and various theoretical
frameworks used to describe important structures. Virtual worlds such as Second
Life® provide a unique medium for education, allowing for the visualization
of concepts coupled with the interaction potential that this environment
allows. Briefly discussing traditional methods for teaching fundamental topics
in several courses, we discuss how Second Life can be integrated into classroom
instruction for the benefit of student understanding of complex materials. We
outline some of our preliminary observations and student feedback as we begin
to use virtual environments in new innovative ways. Keywords: Virtual worlds; Immersive education; Second Life | |||
| A Discussion of Video Capturing to Assist in Distance Learning | | BIBA | Full-Text | 432-441 | |
| Michael Conlon; Vasos Pavlika | |||
| This paper discusses video capture as a medium for transferring and reinforcing knowledge using Distance Learning (to be denoted by DL for the remainder of this paper). The area of teaching delivered is computer programming in particular, to the Object Oriented language known as Java, however the techniques introduced are not limited to this sub-discipline of computer science and can be applied to lectures on the theory of databases, formal methods and/or algorithms etc. The software used in this paper is Camtasia which can be applied to the traditional programming languages, including: Java, C++, Visual Basic, C and to the mark-up languages i.e. the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) and to Javascript. The paper highlights ways of partitioning a teaching demonstration video into different components to achieve multiple views of a particular topic being discussed. This means that students and lecturers are able to view the demonstration repeatedly and more importantly whilst not in a lecture theatre. Once a video has been produced learners are able to follow lecture notes along with the lecturer's discussions at their leisure thus making this method of education a Distance Learning mode, capable of reinforcing learner knowledge. The authors have found that this continual exposure to the lecture material greatly enhances student comprehension, enjoyment and participation. These conclusions were ascertained by conducting experiments in which a comparison of student views (on lectures) were determined i.e. a comparison was made between students taking a class in which Camtasia was used with a class in which Camtasia was not used and the results of the questionnaire/survey are summarised in the conclusions. It was found that the students responded favourably to lectures delivered using the Camtasia environment as the programming ideas could be viewed repeatedly thus reinforcing their knowledge. This was mentioned by the majority of the students (in fact 72% of the students from a sample size of sixty students stated this) and it was felt by the authors that this statistic alone would make the creation and research into further applications of the Camtasia software a suitable, appropriate and worthwhile pursuit. In this paper many programming clips are included with the hope that this illustrates the versatility of Camtasia. The lectures delivered and consequently discussed were presented to a first year undergraduate class in Computer Science studying a variety of Computer Science disciplines including: Artificial Intelligence, Multimedia, Business Computing and e-Commerce. The paper commences with a discussion of two DL environments that the authors are associated with, highlighting points and facilities that are common to both, such as peer-peer discussions, lecturer-student discussions and chat rooms. The paper then goes on to include actual lecture material with associated screenshots using the Camtasia software. The screenshots commence with a demonstration of how to set up the JCreator editor on the University of Westminster server, followed by a demonstration of how the required paths must be set to enable the Java platform to locate all the required classes and libraries to function properly. This is followed by screenshots demonstrating the compilation procedure necessary to successfully run a Java program followed by screenshots on how to debug a typical Java program. In the "Time honoured" fashion the traditional HelloWorld program is also demonstrated and run. This is further complimented by demonstrating the recursive add function using the NetBeans editor. More advanced programming techniques are discussed later in the paper including: the creation of a singleton class with a private constructor and the illustration of the concept of inheritance in Java. Thus the programming techniques introduced are of the OO nature (where the OO denotes Object Oriented) subsequently after these topics have been introduced and discussed feedback from the students is obtained as to the success (or not as the case be) of the effectiveness of using such a method for the delivery of the afore mentioned topics. A discussion of a select few applications of each of these DL environments are also included. The paper reviews the advantages and disadvantages for both students and lecturers alike and the paper also considers many of the difficulties in the recording process that arose. Resource implications are also mentioned relative to the production, i.e. the recording, the delivery and the viewing of the demonstration. The paper concludes with comments from lecturers and students as to the suitability of Camtasia as a teaching method. | |||
| The Whole Story: Retrieving Narratives for Cross-Cultural Understanding | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 442-451 | |
| Alex Davis | |||
| We present a narrative-based approach to computer-mediated building of
cross-cultural competence, and describe work on a case-based approach to the
indexing and automated retrieval of culturally specific narratives. The
narrative approach to culture reflects an anthropological view of the
cross-cultural understanding problem, seeking understanding of cultural factors
by creating computational representations of observed and reported narratives
operant in various cultures, as well as narratives of cross-cultural
interaction. These narratives constitute cases which can be retrieved using
case-based reasoning, based on their applicability to a user's problem or
environment, in a particular cultural context. The use of narrative in its
original form has the advantage that it can be derived relatively intuitively
from experts, literature, and historical record, and in addition to its direct
suitability for gaining understanding, may be appropriate for adaptation to
social media and simulation through automated agents. Keywords: Cross-cultural understanding; case-based reasoning; narrative | |||
| When Social Worlds Collide: Charting the Intersection of Social Media and Courseware/Course Management Systems | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 452-461 | |
| Christopher A. Egert; Stephen Jacobs; Susan B. Barnes | |||
| Today's pre-college students have been immersed in Social Media Systems
(SMS) that mediate their everyday interactions. Before students arrive at
college they are using typically using blogs, wikis, forums, social connection
systems, digital asset sharing systems, and even community game systems to stay
connected. When students reach college, their social networks change in both
their function and structure. Institutional emphasis is placed upon Course
ware/ Course Management Systems (C/CMS) to augment lecture, classroom and
discussion section experiences. While a C/CMS may share similarities with their
favorite SMS, students do not always experience the same level of social
engagement from them as they do with the tools they use outside of the academic
experience. This paper examines how students perceive SMS, examines what
students consider SMS, and addresses feature differences between SMS and C/CMS
mechanisms. Keywords: Social Media Software; Courseware Systems | |||
| The First Two W's: Fostering Multicultural Awareness in Children | | BIBA | Full-Text | 462-470 | |
| Noah Falstein; Nicolle Ruetz | |||
| Online games and virtual worlds are playing an increasingly important role in many children's daily lives, while internet access continues to expand world wide. The confluence of these two trends is creating more opportunities to reach children of different cultural backgrounds throughout the world; to teach them in fun and engaging ways about cultural diversity, inspiring openness and acceptance of other ways of life. This goal lies along a path beset by many hurdles, but these can be overcome by significant technical, pedagogical, and business opportunities to create a positive social impact. | |||
| Creating Community through the Use of a Class Wiki | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 471-478 | |
| Kirsten A. Johnson; Jamie Bartolino | |||
| This study examines the use of a class wiki in a course offered to incoming
freshmen at a college in central Pennsylvania. The wiki was used to supplement
instruction in a classroom-based course. The study shows that the wiki was
helpful in building community among incoming students, and also helped them to
grow academically in the course. The class wiki also helped foster positive
feelings toward the course as well as students' first semester at the college. Keywords: Wiki; classroom; community building | |||
| Benefits and Challenges of Using Collaborative Development Environments with Social Software in Higher Computer Science Education | | BIBA | Full-Text | 479-487 | |
| Daniel Kadenbach; Carsten Kleiner | |||
| This paper addresses the question how to optimally support projects of students and employees of a higher education institution of computer science by means of a special software environment. At first the motivation to introduce such a supportive system is examined by describing the current situation in the authors' department of computer science, which is typical for many colleges and universities. On the one hand problems are pointed out, which hamper students and employees in their project work, on the other hand the additional possibilities of a supportive system, which far exceed the ones of a traditional approach, are drafted. The paper shows how a mutual value for students and employees can be generated from the projects by using social software. After the requirements are described we suggest an architecture for such a supportive system and finally the challenges for the implementation and application, which determine the success or failure of the system, are discussed. | |||
| Virtual Communities Adapted to the EHEA in an Enterprise Distance e-Learning Based Environment | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 488-497 | |
| Rafael Pastor; Timothy Read; Salvador Ros; Roberto Hernández; Rocael Hernández | |||
| This paper describes the e-learning architecture of the National Spanish
Distance Learning University of Spain (UNED). The UNED has more than 200,000
users of e-learning systems (most of them, students) so it needed an enterprise
architecture in order to ensure the performance of the virtual campus. The core
of virtual campus is aLF (active learning framework) supported by
dotLRN/OpenACS open source framework that provides the e-learning core
services. aLF is was modified to support the EHEA learning model, based in
activity curricula, providing full integration with the evaluation model of aLF
and three new tools to focus on the student tasks planning. Keywords: e-learning; virtual classroom; activity curricula; EHEA; activity focused
training | |||
| Evaluating the Social Dimension in Online Learning Communities | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 498-506 | |
| Francesca Pozzi | |||
| The social dimension is nowadays recognized as one of the main factors
influencing the learning process [1, 2]. In this paper we consider the social
dimension developed by a group of students during an online course. To do this,
we analyze their interactions during three different collaborative learning
activities, i.e. a Jigsaw, a Role Play and a Discussion. By looking at the data
showing the level and nature of the social dimension developed within each
activity, it is possible to compare the activities themselves, and to reflect
on their capacity to foster the social dimension in light of facilitating the
overall learning process. Keywords: CSCL; social dimension; collaborative techniques; Jigsaw; Discussion; Role
Play | |||
| Heuristics for Implementation of Wiki Technology in Higher Education Learning | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 507-514 | |
| Portia Pusey; Gabriele Meiselwitz | |||
| This paper discusses the use of wiki technology in higher education. Wikis
are simple online information systems which often serve user communities. In
higher education, wikis have been used in a supporting function to traditional
courses; however, there is little research on wikis taking on a larger role as
learning environments. This paper explores how wikis support goals of
constructivist learning environments, especially communal constructivism
theory. Further, it summarizes results of current research using wikis in the
classroom and considers elements which can improve the use of wikis for
learning. The paper concludes with a proposal of nine guidelines to improve the
use of wiki technology as learning environments in higher education. Keywords: Wiki; Wiki Learning; Wiki Learning Environment; Communal Constructivism | |||
| Mobile Phone Interfaces for Informal Education | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 515-524 | |
| Júlio Cesar dos Reis; Rodrigo Bonacin; Maria Cecília Martins | |||
| The mobile computing represents a new possibility for the people "learning
while doing" their everyday activities. The advent of mobile devices has
created new opportunities that go beyond the simple communication; their
software interfaces have a primary role in enabling the communication and
collaboration among the evolved parties. In a learning environment for informal
education, it is essential to design interfaces that minimize the interaction
difficulties and maximize the learning activities itself. To achieve this, in
this work is presented a design proposal and prototype of a mobile phone
interface for mobile collaborative discussion. The proposal combines mobile
learning with collaborative learning, stimulating the constitution of
communities of practice aiming to promote the informal education. Keywords: Mobile Collaborative Learning; Communities of Practice; Informal Education | |||
| A Proposed Movie Recommendation Method Using Emotional Word Selection | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 525-534 | |
| Mina Song; Hyun Namgoong; Hong-Gee Kim; JuHyun Eune | |||
| Many online movie sites or music sites offering recommendation services
employ a collaborative filtering technique archived by analyzing customers'
satisfaction rating, evaluation, search history, download records etc. This
approach, however, has difficulty with reflecting individuals' personalities
and their own taste for the recommendation. Exploiting such emotional data to a
film recommendation remains a challenge in the present. To solve this, we
propose an emotion words selection method usable for the collaborative
filtering. Through the proposed emotion-based collaborative filtering method, a
recommendation system can exploit individuals' emotional differences on the
movie items for the recommendation process. This approach was proven by
gathering users' emotion words selection and satisfaction rating data on
several films, and comparing them with MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator) that
is a representative psychometric test for measuring psychological preferences
and personalities. This study assumes that individual's movie taste is much
related to the personalities classifiable by MBTI types, because movie taste
and evaluation on a movie is influenced by individual's subjective matters. The
results of this study show that emotion words based collaborative filtering
method is appropriate for extracting users' MBTI types. Thus, if a
recommendation service offers users films based on their MBTI types, the users
can be recommended more customized films. Keywords: Emotion-Words; Emotion; MBTI; Collaborative Filtering; Movie; Recommendation
Service | |||
| Cultural Prescription vs. User Perception of Information Architecture for Culture Centred Website: A Case Study on Muslim Online User | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 535-544 | |
| Wan Abdul Rahim Wan Mohd Isa; Nor Laila Md. Noor; Shafie Mehad | |||
| This paper reports the overview for the understanding of Islamic culture
from the perspective of Islamic experts and Muslims based on the commonalities
found in Hofstede's cultural dimension and Islamic worldview values. The
understanding was gained from Wan Abdul Rahim et al. (2008) and a replication
survey of VSM '94. We used this understanding as the benchmark for conducting
experimental study to examine the time performance of Muslim online user in
searching and purchasing books from two separate websites. The two websites
were imposed with Islamic dimensions based from; (1) religious interpretation
and; (2) user perception. The results of the paired-samples t-test showed that
website imposed with Hofstede's dimension from religious interpretation is the
better ones. Thus provide the indication that website that displays the
cultural dimensions based on the religion prescriptions, will has a positive
affect on the performance level regardless the current changes of the state of
culture. Keywords: Website Information Architecture; Culture Centred Website; Muslim Online
User; Islamic Culture | |||
| Leveraging Mobile Devices to Develop Intercultural Competency for Digital Students | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 545-553 | |
| Matthew Willis; Elaine M. Raybourn | |||
| Mobile devices can help digital students reach out across cultures to
develop intercultural competence, improve learning, and provide course support
for a variety of course topics. Intercultural competence is expressed through
openness, cognitive adaptability, and behavioral flexibility toward unfamiliar
cultures. Digital students demonstrate a behavioral flexibility toward
technology use that can be leveraged to encourage students to embrace cultures
different from their own. This paper explores the feasibility of using mobile
devices as viable options for course support by utilizing traditional learning
styles and cultural learning styles. From the conducted survey preferred
networks are identified for creating a community to support mobile learning. Keywords: mobile device; eLearning; Diffusion of Innovations; mobile learning; online
community; intercultural competence; digital students | |||
| Game Usability Heuristics (PLAY) for Evaluating and Designing Better Games: The Next Iteration | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 557-566 | |
| Heather Desurvire; Charlotte Wiberg | |||
| Game developers have begun applying formal human-computer interaction (HCI)
principles in design. Desurvire et al [2] adapted a set of Heuristics for
productivity software to games. The resulting set, presented at CHI 2004, was
Heuristics to Evaluate Playability (HEP). Generalization of these heuristics is
required to make them applicable to a multiple of game genres and game
deliveries. This follow-up study focused on the refined list, Heuristics of
Playability (PLAY), that can be applied earlier in game development as well as
aiding developers between formal usability/playability research during the
development cycle. Heuristics were formed based on their efficacious scores on
the popular game review website, metacritic.com. Fifty-four gamers rated High
and Low ranked games on 116 potential heuristics. Implications for how these
Heuristics will help developers improve game quality are discussed. PLAY has
been found useful in design evaluation and elf-report survey format. Keywords: Usability; Heuristics; playability; play testing; design guidelines; video
games; computer games; games; evaluation; usability; user testing; HCI design
principles; Multimedia Information Systems-evaluation/methodology. | |||
| Cheating Behaviors in Online Gaming | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 567-573 | |
| Henry Been-Lirn Duh; Vivian Hsueh-hua Chen | |||
| Online game cheating is a rampant misbehavior in the domain of online
gaming. However, there is still lack of research in attempt to understand
online game cheating. Hence, this paper focuses on the available literature on
cheating and gaming to explore and understand the phenomenon of online game
cheating. This paper examines the frameworks of cheating and how virtual
community is affected by this misbehavior. This paper also explores the concept
of fairness in gaming. The implications are discussed in conclusion. Keywords: Online game cheating; cheating frameworks; online game fairness | |||
| Flow Experience in Second Life: The Impact of Telepresence on Human-Computer Interaction | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 574-583 | |
| Anthony Faiola; Olga V. Smyslova | |||
| Recent trends in computer-mediated communication research suggest that "flow
theory" may provide new applications of understanding within the field
human-computer interaction (HCI). Csikszentmihalyi [1] refers to flow as an
optimal experience issuing in a feeling of psychological immersion, energized
focus, absolute involvement, and change to positive emotions. This study hopes
to facilitate an understanding of flow and telepresence as applied to immersive
online virtual worlds such as Second Life (SL), where players may lose their
sense of time and connection with their present reality of space. Our study
tested two hypotheses: (1) that participants experience flow while playing SL
and (2) that flow can be correlated with telepresence. Based on our findings,
indicators suggest that flow was experienced in SL based on four controlling
factors related to being present in a virtual world and that there are
considerable correlations that can be drawn between flow and telepresence. Keywords: computer-mediated communication; usability; flow; telepresence | |||
| EmoHeart: Automation of Expressive Communication of Emotions in Second Life | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 584-592 | |
| Alena Neviarouskaya; Helmut Prendinger; Mitsuru Ishizuka | |||
| In this paper, we describe lexical rule-based approach to affect sensing
from text, and application of the developed Affect Analysis Model in 3D virtual
world Second Life. To enrich user experience in virtual environment, to
automate emotional behaviour of avatar and to avoid thus manual control by
user, we developed EmoHeart object that, driven by the result of Affect
Analysis Model, triggers animations of avatar facial expressions and visualizes
emotion by the heart-shaped textures. Keywords: Affective computing; affective user interface; avatar; emotions; online
communication; language parsing and understanding; text analysis | |||
| Antecedents of Attributions in an Educational Game for Social Learning: Who's to Blame? | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 593-602 | |
| Amy Ogan; Vincent Aleven; Julia Kim; Christopher Jones | |||
| Games are increasingly being used as educational tools, in part because they
are presumed to enhance student motivation. We look at student motivation in
games from the viewpoint of attribution theory, which predicts more learning by
students who make attributions along certain dimensions, and thus may provide a
way of examining this claim in more detail. We studied 13 students as they
played a game designed to teach negotiation skills in a cultural context.
Students' overall attributional style was surveyed, as well as their
achievement attributions following each meeting with a game character.
Correlational results show that unexpectedly, students' attributional style
does not predict in-game attributions. However, characteristics such as gender,
negotiation expertise, and frequency of game play are significantly correlated
with particular in-game attributions. Because attributions have been show to be
causally related to learning, with further study, such results might be used to
positively influence educational game design. Keywords: Virtual environments; motivation | |||
| Intercultural Competence Game That Fosters Metacognitive Agility and Reflection | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 603-612 | |
| Elaine M. Raybourn | |||
| In this paper we describe the development of a multi-player computer game
created to train the intercultural competence and metacognitive agility
(self-awareness and self-regulated learning) of United States Army Special
Forces team leaders. We describe a unique design that features a novel role for
real-time, in-game peer performance assessment and feedback to encourage user
reflection and self-explanation. We also discuss how the multiplayer game is
successfully used in Special Forces intercultural communication education and
offer user feedback results from a study conducted with 51 Special Forces
officers. Keywords: serious game; metacognitive agility; reflection; in-game performance
assessment; peer learning; intercultural competence | |||
| A Content Analysis of Interviews with Players of Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Play Games (MMORPGs): Motivating Factors and the Impact on Relationships | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 613-621 | |
| Jacqui Taylor; James Taylor | |||
| This paper explores the intrapersonal and interpersonal motivations involved
in the playing of MMORPGs, and the impacts of gaming on online and offline
relationships. Twenty-one participants completed an online synchronous
interview in which they discussed their personal experiences of playing
MMORPGs. An online survey was then developed to further explore the findings of
the interviews and this was completed by 52 participants. A content-analysis of
the interview transcripts showed that interpersonal factors (such as social
communication and group cohesion) were the strongest motivators for
game-playing, supporting previous research [1]. The interview data also showed
that there tended to be conflict, rather than integration, between online and
offline relationships, however the questionnaire data showed the opposite. This
was a small-scale pilot study and a further larger study is planned which will
investigate whether Social Identity Theory can be used to explain players'
perceptions of group and personal identity. Keywords: Content Analysis; MMORPGs; Social Psychology; Motivation; Relationships;
Social Identity Theory | |||
| Uncanny as Usability Obstacle | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 622-631 | |
| Angela Tinwell | |||
| The eerie feeling attributed to photo-realistic human-like video game
characters may serve as a usability obstacle leaving viewers dissatisfied with
a particular character for a video game. This study investigates the
relationships between user satisfaction and perceived strangeness and between
user satisfaction and human-like appearance for virtual characters. 65
participants were asked to rate 13 video clips of 12 different virtual
characters and one real human. The results indicate that the Uncanny Valley
does serve as a usability obstacle with a strong correlation between a user's
satisfaction rating and the perceived strangeness for a character, with the
characters rated the strangest being the least satisfactory. Whilst there was
still a positive correlation between human-like appearance for a character with
user satisfaction, this was not as significant, with stylised and
anthropomorphic characters perceived to be as satisfactory or more so than
those of a photo-realistic human-like appearance. Keywords: Video Games; Uncanny Valley; Photo-realistic; Usability Obstacle | |||
| Gamers' Implicit Knowledge on the Psychological Influence of Game-Playing | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 632-640 | |
| Alexander E. Voiskounsky; Olga V. Mitina; Anastasiya A. Avetisova | |||
| The paper presents the players' implicit views on psychological aspects of a
supposable influence of computer/online/video-games on human beings. And online
survey with 74 Likert-type questions were given to adults and older adolescents
(16+). The collected replies (N=437) were grouped into an eight-factor model.
The key implicit representations include the participants' belief that gaming:
(1) leads to positive self-development, (2) affects the players' somatics, i.e.
causes tiredness and stresses while gaming and in an after-game period, (3)
brings pleasing feelings while gaming, (4) stimulates cognitive processes, and
(5) supports players' relaxation and gives pleasure. Keywords: Psychology; computer games; adult players; implicit knowledge; online study Note: Best Paper Award | |||
| Intercultural Socializing via Mobile Games for Backpackers | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 641-650 | |
| Chui Yin Wong; Kimberly Chu; Chee-Weng Khong; Sheila A. Paul | |||
| Mobile phones are currently shipped with pre-installed games all around the
world. In most cases, these pre-installed games contain very little elements of
sharing local heritage, traditional values and beliefs. Naturally, such
pre-installed mobile games are provided with a different intent and under
various commercial contexts. This paper looks at the design and development of
intercultural mobile games aimed for backpackers. This is to allow backpackers
to socialize, to share and to learn new cultures during their travels. User
evaluation studies were conducted to collect the backpacker's feedback and to
improve on conceptualization during the design process. The results were used
collectively to provide input for improving the design concepts and interfaces.
Screenshots of the mobile games are provided. In general, the results highlight
important considerations when deploying an intercultural mobile game to
backpackers. Keywords: Mobile games; socialization; cultural games; backpackers; user experience | |||
| Designing Inclusive Social Networks: A Participatory Approach | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 653-662 | |
| Leonelo Dell Anhol Almeida; Vânia Paula de Almeida Néris; Leonardo Cunha de Miranda; Elaine Cristina Saito Hayashi; Maria Cecília Calani Baranauskas | |||
| The Brazilian society is characterized by vast differences with regard to
socio-economics, culture as well as access to technology and knowledge. In this
scenario, Information and Communication Technology, especially hypermedia
systems, could benefit citizen, allowing access to knowledge, communication and
collaboration. Current social networks systems were not conceived to address
the challenges of an inclusive society. In this paper, we discuss some relevant
design issues, elicited from a participatory approach, to the design of such
systems. The exploratory design process starts with the elicitation of the
different views among users, designers and developers, passes through design
concepts definition and gets to a first approximation to a user interfaces
design. Keywords: Inclusive social networks; participatory practices; design issues | |||
| City Ragas: Building an Intercultural Dialogue between People | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 663-672 | |
| Lipika Bansal | |||
| City Ragas is a photo exchange game in which people in different cities are
directly linked with each other through mobile phones and engage in a visual
dialogue. Every team has the goal to create a storyline by exchanging pictures.
This visual dialogue opens up avenues for cultural exchange and direct
interaction enhances understanding of each other and forms the basis for a
strong involvement between inhabitants of two possibly distant cities. The
intercultural mobile game, City Ragas, has been developed by Waag Society
(Amsterdam, The Netherlands) in collaboration with the media lab Sarai (New
Delhi, India). It uses mobile technology to disclose the themes of cultural
identity and heritage. Keywords: Mobile gaming; intercultural dialogue; non-verbal communication; visual
exchange; digital storytelling | |||
| Are Online Communities Good for the Civic Audit of Public Spaces, Services, and Officers? | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 673-681 | |
| Fiorella de Cindio; Cristian Peraboni | |||
| While, the need of assessing public spaces, services and officers becomes,
always more urgent and mandatory, a wide literature and extensive field
experience show that internal audit by the public sector itself is not
sufficient. There is the need to foster the civic accountability by integrating
an independent external evaluation in the audit process. The paper investigates
the possibility that online communities provide a suitable framework for
carrying on this external audit by supporting the so-called voice strategy in
the contexts (such as the public sector) where the exit strategy does not hold.
After envisaging the potential advantages coming from involving online
communities of users in the assessment of a public space, service or officer,
two early pilot experiments carried on to validate this assumption are
presented and discussed. They are neither sufficient to validate the assumption
nor sufficient to invalidate it, but provides hints helpful to pursue the
investigation. Keywords: Online Communities; Civic Accountability; Civic Audit; e-participation | |||
| Social Features in Online Communities for Healthcare Consumers -- A Review | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 682-689 | |
| Annie Y. S. Lau; Trevor M. Y. Kwok | |||
| This review provides a snapshot of the literature in online communities for
healthcare consumers. It summarizes the features commonly used by healthcare
consumers in online communities: seeking and sharing personal experiences,
opinions and answers, and exchanging social support. This review also
identifies behaviors that are commonly practiced by healthcare consumers but
are not readily supported in current online communities. These include
collaborative healthcare decision-making, conducting social comparison, and
lurking in online communities. This review concludes by emphasizing the
importance of trust, privacy and safety when designing an online community for
healthcare consumers, particularly in the age of Web 2.0. Keywords: Online community; healthcare consumer; social features | |||
| Usability and User Acceptance for Personal Health Records: A Perspective from Healthcare Citizens | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 690-699 | |
| A. Ant Ozok; Ayse P. Gurses; Huijuan Wu; Melissa Nelson; David Moen; June Wei | |||
| Personal Health Records (PHR) allow patients to carry their own health
records in some format for their own review purposes as well as across doctors
and other care providers. This study aimed at determining the usability and
user acceptance issues involving a Web-based personal health record system. The
study indicated that such a Web-based system was found useful by the patients
and they would be willing to enter and retrieve information regarding their own
health from the system. A usable interface allows mobility and ease of
information sharing using the system. Keywords: Personal health records system; usability; user acceptance; patients; health
care | |||
| Measuring E-Democracy Opportunities: A Global Perspective | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 700-709 | |
| Farid Shirazi | |||
| In recent years, several case studies have emerged illustrating the impact
of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and in particular the
expansion of the Internet and mobile cell phones on socio-political activities.
This paper investigates 146 economies and the relationship between the global
expansion of ICTs and the current degree of democracy within each nation by
constructing an index of e-democracy opportunities among them, for the period
of 1995 to 2005. The key findings in this study are (a) a notable progress in
e-democracy opportunity on the global stage; (b) the fact that in some
countries there is a rapid ICT expansion and global success in e-democracy, and
yet, there is a growing digital divide between the most and least developed
e-democratic nations. Keywords: Civil Liberties; Digital Divide; E-democracy; Economic Freedom; Filtering;
Freedom of Press; ICT; Ideology; Political Rights; Virtual Feudalism | |||
| Ethnographic User Study and Concept Design for Chinese Migrant Workers' Social Networks | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 710-718 | |
| Jie Wang; Wei Wang; Ying Liu; Xia Wang; Qiuhong Chen | |||
| Online social networking services are hot in the recent years, but most of
theses services in China aimed at the college students and business people,
ignoring that Chinese migrant workers could be one of the biggest potential
user groups of mobile social networking services in the future. This paper
presents an ethnographic user study on Chinese rural-urban migrant workers'
social networks in daily life and proposes a new mobile social networking
service concept design for helping them to improve their social networks in
daily life. Keywords: Ethnographic User Study; Concept Design; Chinese Migrant Worker; Social
Networks | |||
| Medication Adherence among the Elderly and Technology Aids: Results from an Online Survey Study | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 719-727 | |
| Huijuan Wu; A. Ant Ozok | |||
| Appropriate use of medications can improve the health of seniors and other
patients, but inappropriate use or misuse can lead to adverse side effects,
deterioration, and other conditions that may result in either more medical
visits, hospitalizations or even death. This study aimed at exploring how
senior people manage their daily medication and the acceptance towards the
medication management technology and the service in assisted living facilities.
Results of an online questionnaire survey with senior participants suggested
that the online senior communities manage their medication in three ways:
managed based on memory or routines, assisted by medication management tools,
or helped by other members in the family. Although medication management
technology is in low usage rate, participants showed positive attitude towards
medication management service and accepting technology as a method to improve
medication adherence, with the concerning issues on user acceptance, usability,
and user preference. Keywords: Medication adherence; medication management; medication compliance;
usability; technology acceptance | |||