PROMOTING SCHOLARSHIP THROUGH DESIGN

How can new media positively transform scholarly practices? One possible way is for scholarly archives such as e-journals and digital libraries to better support the needs and practices of their users, instead of the publishing process. This article examines what it might mean to promote cognitive and social aspects of 'scholarship' through innovative archive design. Design requirements for supporting both scholarly tasks and scholarly communities are derived by analysing existing cognitive and social theories. A theoretical framework for guiding archive design is introduced: the contextually enriched document framework. This framework suggests that: document interfaces should enable practitioners to progressively enrich documents with important contextual information arising from social processes; and archive managers should engage in proactive practices to facilitate use and assist practitioners in realizing the benefits of the new technology. Both the design requirements and the framework are illustrated with examples from an existing electronic journal - The Journal of Interactive Media in Education .     

Exergames: the role of ergonomics and design in helping to control childhood obesity through physical and functional exercise program

In the area of the design and physiotherapy, the using of virtual technologies for immersion of users are spreading. And this affirmation extends to several areas of knowledge. In games, the quote is, resources are being used to work cognitive skills, attention, memory, among other factors beside the children. Currently, at the expense of usability, low cost, virtual technologies of perception and interaction, as Nintendo Wii, X-Box 360, among others, arises therefore a new class of games called Exergames, which is the union of physical activity the game. This fact gives users the development of sensory and motor skills through virtual reality mechanisms suitable for certain needs. This literature review aimed to provide an overview of the current context of Exergames, especially in use for controlling childhood obesity, which is growing alarmingly, with some features, applications and possibilities for use at the design and other areas such as physiotherapy.     

Avatarculture: Narrative, power and identity in virtual world environments

Drawing on the work of Raymond Williams, this paper examines avatar culture through the interplay of emergent and residual forces. A dual process is at work in the formation of cultural identities in which the enabling conditions of virtual worlds are understood alongside and in relation to pre-existing off-line phenomenon. Avatar culture confirms structure for participants, especially in relation to gender and sexuality, whilst at the same time providing a reflexive space to break with pre-existing features of social identity. Virtual environments are thus microcosms of a grounded cultural materiality that is simultaneously improvised on and transformed. With regard to the distinctive aspects of avatar culture the paper focuses on issues of narrative, representation, censorship and power relations and their formation within virtual worlds. It discusses how virtual worlds incrementally acquire a peculiar power and meaning in the lives of participants. The paper discusses the flows of social interaction in virtual environments and how intermittence best describes how users participate and withdraw from different encounters. Avatar culture binds people together temporarily and loosely and then frees them up to relocate themselves elsewhere. In this context, virtual environments might be regarded as putting structure and power into movement. The ethnographic approach adopted helps peel back the residue of social structure to reveal a virtual agency with its emerging shells of avatar-derived affiliations, tensions and conflicts.     

Three-dimensional virtual reality: Applications to the 12 grand challenges of social work

Abstract

The American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare (AASWSW) identified 12 Grand Challenges of Social Work to unify the profession with focused research, practice and policy applications for the most pressing social issues. Virtual Reality (VR), specifically three-dimensional immersive computer-generated environments, has a history of research and applications to address social and behavioral problems. VR is becoming more readily available, as the technology is becoming more common in mainstream platforms such as mobile technology. While social work interventions are often tailored for vulnerable populations that may not have access to VR computing, it appears that virtual reality is gaining accessibility with these advances. Within the framework of the 12 Grand Challenges of Social Work, researchers from three social work virtual reality laboratories in the United States, Texas State University, the University of Houston, and the University of Alabama, review applications previously tested and currently in development to focus future research and intervention in social work practice.     

Bridging Temporal and Spatial "Gaps": The role of information and communication technologies in defining communities

The diffusion and use of digitally based information and communication technologies (ICTs) offers the opportunity to redefine and reconceptualize 'community' both in terms of delineating the boundaries of community, as well as the modes of communication used between members. The creation of an electronic infrastructure, the Internet, permits the possibility of widespread public communication that is inexpensive and relatively easy to access. A second consequence builds on the first; the emergence of (virtual) communities based on geographically distributed sources of information production and exchange rather than the geographic proximity of community members to one another. An assessment of three cases of ICT-linked communities suggests that one component of sustainability of these virtual communities of interest may be a geographic linkage. While interests not based on geography are, at least at present, more transitory and less important than those created by the use of the Internet and similar kinds of ICTs. While we may join a virtual community because of an interest we have, unless that interest affects us in our daily lives, in our lives as physically-instantiated and geographically-centred individuals and citizens, there is no good reason to believe that we will long continue an active membership in the virtual community. Indeed, this is precisely what the three case studies presented in this paper suggest.     

Adaptive information design for outdoor augmented reality

Augmented Reality focuses on the enrichment of the user's natural field of view by consistent integration of text, symbols and interactive three-dimensional objects in real time. Placing virtual objects directly into the user's view in a natural context empowers highly dynamic applications. On the other hand, this necessitates deliberate choice of information design and density, in particular for deployment in hazardous environments like military combat scenarios. As the amount of information needed is not foreseeable and strongly depends on the individual mission, an appropriate system must offer adequate adaptation capabilities. The paper presents a prototypical, vehicle-mountable Augmented Reality vision system, designed for enhancing situation awareness in stressful urban warfare scenarios. Tracking, as one of the most crucial challenges for outdoor Augmented Reality, is accomplished by means of a Differential-GPS approach while the type of display to attach can be modified, ranging from ocular displays to standard LCD mini-screens. The overall concept also includes envisioning of own troops (blue forces), for which a multi-sensor tracking approach has been chosen. As a main feature, the system allows switching between different information categories, focusing on friendly, hostile, unidentified or neutral data. Results of an empirical study on the superiority of an in-view navigation cue approach conclude the paper.     

DHM and serious games: a case-study oil and gas laboratories

The aim in this paper is to present a research on the application of serious games for the design of laboratories in the oil and gas industries. The focus is in human virtual representation acquired from 3D scanning, human interaction, workspace layout and equipment designed considering ergonomics standards. The laboratory studies were simulated in Unity3D platform, which allows the users to control the DHM1 on the dynamic virtual scenario, in order to simulate work activities. This methodology can change the design process by improving the level of interaction between final users, managers and human factor teams. That helps to better visualize future work settings and improve the level of participation between all stakeholders.     

虚拟社会背景下的上海社区治理创新

社区是社会的基础和细胞。网络虚拟社会正以其信息多元性、交互性和去中心化等特点,使社区治理面临多方面的挑战。基于上海市6区15个街道(镇)39个社区(居委会)的实证调研表明,虚拟社会在丰富上海社区治理资源的同时,也给社区治理带来了严峻挑战。这主要表现在:虚拟社会的"参与式社区自治"难敌现实社会的"任务型社区自治";虚拟社会呼唤社区治理"崇尚自由"与现实社区治理强调"建构秩序"难以实现有机均衡;虚拟社会期待社区治理实现"多元共治"却遭遇了现实社区推行"自上而下"的治理。为此,网络虚拟社会背景下的上海社区治理创新需要明确的思路是:坚定一个模式——协商合作而不是"独自打保龄球";明确一个原则——强化政府对社区的有效治权而不是无原则的屈从"民意";正视一个态度:积极正视而不是有意回避网络社会给社区治理带来的风险。要做好"顶层设计",提高社区治理效能;尊重居民情感和地位,畅通网络民意渠道,保障居民的知情权、表达权和监督权;加强对网络舆论的引导,形成自觉、自主、自治的网络舆论平台;提升网络安全管理技术水平,完善社区网络预警及保障体系;重心下沉,努力探索社区公共服务新模式。     

Online youth work and eYouth — A guide to the world of the digital natives

Our society is often called the post-modern or information society to differentiate it from earlier structures. This distinction is justified by completely new circumstances which are perceptible on a daily basis. For example, the forms of establishing and maintaining communication have undergone fundamental changes. ICT-aided solutions are playing an ever greater role, replacing interpersonal communication. However, what must never be forgotten is that - although the medium is different - there is always a person behind the digital tools and this is why the tasks of youth work extend into virtual space. The study deals with youth work that can be and is to be carried out in various digital spaces. The authors will introduce the characteristic features of this new area, and focuses on the general rules that define it, as well as the various features of individual media (applications). The author also introduces practical examples, of which success should be followed as models. He will formulate general fundamental rules that are worth maintaining if we wish to pursue youth work in the virtual space.     

DHM simulation in virtual environments: a case-study on control room design

This paper will present the workflow developed for the application of serious games in the design of complex cooperative work settings. The project was based on ergonomic studies and development of a control room among participative design process. Our main concerns were the 3D human virtual representation acquired from 3D scanning, human interaction, workspace layout and equipment designed considering ergonomics standards. Using Unity3D platform to design the virtual environment, the virtual human model can be controlled by users on dynamic scenario in order to evaluate the new work settings and simulate work activities. The results obtained showed that this virtual technology can drastically change the design process by improving the level of interaction between final users and, managers and human factors team.     

Maboo wirriya,be healthy: Community-directed development of an evidence-based diabetes prevention program for young Aboriginal people in a remote Australian town

Supporting healthy lifestyle behaviours is a key aspect of preventing type 2 diabetes which disproportionately affects disadvantaged groups from a younger age. Formative participatory research was undertaken to design a program for young Aboriginal people in a remote town in North West Australia with a high level of health needs and relatively few prevention initiatives. Focus groups and advisory discussions with Aboriginal community members were used to determine the nature of the program. The need for a comprehensive program was consistently expressed and limited healthy lifestyle knowledge and difficulties with healthy eating influenced by food environments were noted to be important. With guidance from the Derby Aboriginal Health Service, findings were integrated with previous international research evidence to develop a program tailored to local Aboriginal people aged 15–25 years and refine it after piloting. This 8-session program, ‘Maboo wirriya, be healthy’ involved an education component consistent with the US Diabetes Prevention Program and practical activities including group exercise. Changes to program structure and documentation were made after piloting for future use. The community-directed approach used in this study is vital to ensure relevance of localised chronic disease prevention programs in a range of settings.     

Integrating community ergonomics with educational ergonomics--designing community systems to support classroom learning

This paper offers a conceptual framework, bolstered by empirical evidence, for two conclusions: (1) that variability in student learning is prominently influenced by ergonomic design features, not only of classrooms and school systems, but also of surrounding communities; and (2) a systems concept of learning environments therefore is required to support student learning, based on integrating educational with community ergonomics. Educational system design factors known to strongly influence student learning first are reviewed. One of the most prominent of these is the socioeconomic status of communities in which schools are housed. Independent lines of evidence then are introduced that may account for how and why community design affects learning. The paper closes with recommendations for persuading policymakers and educators that closer integration of school system operations and functions with those of the surrounding community, with a central goal of upgrading community design conditions, represents a highly promising opportunity for improving student learning performance. One major challenge is to heighten awareness that learning environments outside the classroom are as or more important as those inside, in terms of influencing not only test but broader educational and societal trajectories of children.     

The Twitter games: media education,popular culture and multiscreen viewing in virtual concourses

Interactive media and virtual environments give rise to transmedia and multiscreen viewing in a new popular and participatory culture. This in turn requires a new type of critical, reflective media education. This article reviews expert opinions on the educational potential of The Hunger Games (THG) and the use of Twitter during the viewing of films by young audiences. The study has the twofold goal of analysing whether the tweets include the topics of ideology and values mentioned in the selected articles and whether the conversations help build knowledge of the subjects that, according to the experts, are discussed in the literary trilogy. The method, based on discourse analysis, is twofold as well, comprising, on one hand, the discussion of 61 selected academic papers on THG and, on the other, 6000 tweets posted by youngsters while watching the films in the trilogy shown on TV. The tweets were analysed using the ‘coding and counting’ technique in computer-mediated discourse analysis. The results show a great chasm between academic or educational perspectives and what youngsters see in the films. Twitter interactions show that the virtual environments where these interactions take place are mere virtual concourses rather than affinity or learning spaces. This draws attention to the need for a new type of media education which not only includes the popular culture in formal education environments, but also uses the virtual concourses where youngsters gather around media products to transform mere coexistence into convergence of interests based on the meaning of these products.     

Cultural control within the virtual organization

New forms of information technology, together with recent developments in management theory and practice, have resulted in considerable debate concerning the social and technical implications of the emergent form of computer-dependent virtual organization. This paper identifies and reviews some theoretical developments central to the critical analysis of the use of combined computer-based systems and quality management applications. While the advocates of these trends propose that the emergent organizational configurations provide employees with the opportunity for participation in decision-making, resulting in ‘empowerment’ and the possibility of personal fulfilment, here it is argued that the virtual organization may result in a progressive formalisation of social relationships which will erode the meaning of true employee participation. It is suggested that the combination of networked computer-based systems and the psychological techniques which underpin the quality management methodologies, do not replace the technologies of control identifiable in the principles of scientific management and Fordism. Instead they provide an enhanced, more insidious form of technical and cultural control designed to engage the acquiescence of employees in order to maintain the efficiency of the organization.     

Negotiating the Digital Closet: Online Pseudonymity and the Politics of Sexual Identity

Online surveillance interferes with the individual's ability to control their expressive identity - to determine the scope of the social context in which their activities are to be seen and interpreted. Entrepreneurs have responded to these concerns by offering pseudonymizers, which employ cryptographic techniques to allow users to create several unlinkable personae and choose among them when engaging in various online interactions. This article investigates the tension between pseudonymity as a design paradigm for privacy technologies and as a lived practice for users. Because coming out - strategic revelation and the claiming of identity - has been at the core of the gay liberation movement, this article posits a politically and sexually active gay professional man as an ideal user of pseudonymity software, and places the design logic of pseudonymity within that particular set of social understandings. It reveals the conflicts, contradictions and trade-offs inherent in that use. Pseudonymity permits a very strong control of identity. It permits the user to segregate his public performances, and to engage in public debate without fear of bodily retribution. However, it is all but useless as a means of controlling the social context of those performances. It requires that decisions about self-presentation in certain contexts be made in ignorance of who is sharing that context, and with what resources or purpose. While it promotes the production of multiple selves, those selves are not easily lent to practices of intimacy or community. Pseudonymity also facilitates profiling practices that define and reify classes of people, even as it protects the individual from some of the repercussions of being defined as part of that class. In short, pseudonymity software is informed by a politics of heroics rather than of community.     

ON THE NATURE OF FUTURE WORLDS? - CONSIDERATIONS OF VIRTUALITY AND UTOPIAS

It has been a widespread belief that computers can create viable utopias, design the future and plan and co-ordinate things such that the world can be born anew. The exponential increase in computing power has allowed for interaction in imaginary places - utopian spaces - and the endless re-configuration of those places. There are then good reasons to make links between the realm of the virtual and the creation of utopian and future worlds. We explore some of these links in this article. Having offered a preliminary discussion of the nature of traditional utopian and future world thinking, we then draw a distinction between stable state and flexible utopias, the former characterized by structurally fixed blueprints, the latter by the possibilities of virtual technologies which allow us endlessly to re-configure virtual spaces. This distinction leads us on to a debate that is implicit in the writings of Sherry Turkle and Richard Coyne, namely the analysis of the virtual from a Husserlian, as opposed to the dominant Heideggerian view. We defend a Husserlian analysis which, it is shown, better satisfies the concept of 'flexible utopias'. The totalizing existential experience by a Heideggerian analysis corresponds well to 'immersion' technologies e.g. games and VR, utopias as ready-mades but, a Husserlian approach allows us to account for the creative process of making utopian or future worlds using software such as interior design when one changes items ad infinitum as part of the normal practices of being a designer. In the conclusion we will pull together the strands of the article and, end by noting how the contemporary theorist, Robert Nozick complements our arguments when he offers a version of utopia as a meta-utopia of flexible utopias or future worlds!     

MAPPING DIGITAL NETWORKS From cyberspace to Google

This paper examines how the metaphor of mapping has been formative in the public's apprehension of Internet technologies since the early 1990s. It explores how cyberspace was represented as a map in popular films and novels as well as by popular commentators and thought leaders. Jean Baudrillard's contention that the 'map precedes the territory' is indicative of a view of cyberspace or virtual reality that was contained and separate from lived experience. But with the introduction of Web 2.0 technologies, this began to change. Frederic Jameson's conception of the cognitive map better describes how users have come to order and plot their lives into dynamic interfaces. Google Maps and the myriad of applications that followed brought the physical location of users and data into clear view. While location has promised tremendous freedoms for users, this paper questions whether or not those freedoms are outside the significant constraints of the consumer network.     

Strategies for Creating MIS Technology to Improve Social Work Practice and Research

SUMMARY

This paper illustrates the potential for Management Information System (MIS) technology to integrate information collection, management and reporting within a single program or network of organizations. Properly devised and created, MIS applications can improve administration, service delivery and practice evaluation. Three strategies are offered to guide the design and development of MIS software. This paper is based on lessons from the production and implementation of MIS software that serves as a management and evaluation tool for a nationwide policy demonstration. Data from the MIS have helped to shape state and federal policy.     

The importance of user centered design methods applied to the design of a new workstation: a case study

This paper presents a case study of the application of user centered design methodologies in the product development for a line of ergonomic office furniture. The study aimed to analyze the experience of using a workstation from the perspective of two groups of users, installers and end users. The observation of users in their natural context of use not only allowed the development team to identify key needs and strategies of the users, transforming them into design solutions, but mainly it warned them of the importance and impact of user involvement in the product development cycle.