Search results

1 – 10 of 20
Article
Publication date: 26 July 2010

Sam Waller, Pat Langdon and John Clarkson

This paper summarises the ‘what’, ‘why’ and ‘how’ of inclusive design, and presents key contributions of the 2006‐2010 i‐design research consortium, the third successive research…

Abstract

This paper summarises the ‘what’, ‘why’ and ‘how’ of inclusive design, and presents key contributions of the 2006‐2010 i‐design research consortium, the third successive research consortium funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council as part of the Extending Quality of Life initiative. Throughout 10 years of i‐design research, the overarching goals have been to provide industrial decision makers with mechanisms for understanding the significance of age‐ and capability‐related factors, and to provide the design community with the techniques and guidance required to deliver better products and services for people of all ages and abilities. In this latest period of research, the specific emphasis has been on quantifying design exclusion and enabling designers to work with users.

Details

Journal of Integrated Care, vol. 18 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1476-9018

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 September 2011

Pradipta Biswas and Pat Langdon

The purpose of this paper is to design an adaptation algorithm to facilitate pointing in electronic interfaces by users with motor impairment.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to design an adaptation algorithm to facilitate pointing in electronic interfaces by users with motor impairment.

Design/methodology/approach

First, the algorithm was optimized using a simulator, then the algorithm was validated through a user study involving seven motor‐impaired and six able‐bodied users and three different pointing devices.

Findings

The algorithm significantly reduces pointing time overall and most participants pointed quicker with the gravity well than without it.

Originality/value

The adaptation algorithm can significantly reduce pointing time for both motor and situational impairment.

Details

Journal of Assistive Technologies, vol. 5 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1754-9450

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 September 2013

Pradipta Biswas, Gokcen Aslan Aydemir and Pat Langdon

Hearing impaired users often find it difficult to listen to voice over television, computer or public announcement systems due to background noise, music or poor sound quality…

Abstract

Purpose

Hearing impaired users often find it difficult to listen to voice over television, computer or public announcement systems due to background noise, music or poor sound quality. This paper presents a hearing impairment simulator that can help digital content developers to understand the auditory perception of hearing impaired users. Existing hearing impairment simulations often fail to publish results on validation or running the system on stored files. The present work describes validation result on a hearing impairment simulator and link to download the system that can simulate any sound stored as a wav file.

Design/methodology/approach

This work presents a simulator with a downloadable link to the software and results on a couple of user trials involving users with varying degrees of hearing impairment validating the system. The simulator also simulates frequency smearing which is not available in most online hearing impairment simulators. The simulator is part of a bigger project which also involves simulating visual, cognitive and motor impairment.

Finding

The result shows the present implementation can accurately simulate hearing perception for spoken voice. It also demonstrates that both frequency attenuation based on audiogram response and smearing are needed for accurate simulation as random frequency attenuation does not distort the sound well enough to be inaudible.

Research limitations/implication

It should be noted that this simulation is not accurate enough to be used for medical purpose, rather aims to be an engineering tool to simulate approximately correct auditory perception of hearing impaired people. However, like other researches on user modelling and simulation in HCI, this simulator aims to enhance the design space where designers can optimize volume and quality of sound output and if necessary of background music or noise.

Practical implication

This paper presents a hearing impairment simulator that can help digital content developers to judge the sound quality of their content for hard of hearing users.

Originality/value

Existing literature on hearing impairment simulators either presents a software without detailed result on validation or focuses on detailed theoretical results on psychology without any easy deployable software. Most existing software also does not allow running simulation on stored file which limits their purpose. This work presents a simulator with a downloadable link to the software and results on a couple of user trials involving users with varying degrees of hearing impairment validating the system. The simulator also simulates frequency smearing which is not available in most online hearing impairment simulators.

Details

Journal of Assistive Technologies, vol. 7 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1754-9450

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 17 June 2011

Pradipta Biswas and Pat Langdon

This paper aims to present a new input interaction system for people with severe disabilities. The new system works based on eye gaze tracking and single switch scanning…

2121

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to present a new input interaction system for people with severe disabilities. The new system works based on eye gaze tracking and single switch scanning interaction techniques. It combines eye gaze tracking and scanning in a unique way which is faster than only scanning‐based systems while more comfortable to use than only eye gaze tracking‐based systems, which is also supported by a user study.

Design/methodology/approach

The aim was to design a new interaction technique combining eye tracking and scanning technique for severely disabled people. A comparative study with eight users involving only an eye tracking system and the system combining eye tracking and scanning was conducted.

Findings

The participants rated the new system easier and less strenuous to use than the eye gaze tracking‐based system, while the new system did not slow the speed of interaction.

Originality/value

This new method based on eye gaze tracking and single switch scanning interaction techniques has potential to be a new interaction technique combining free source eye tracker and scanning switches. It is hoped users who can move a limb to use a single switch‐based scanning system will be hugely benefitted by this new system.

Details

Journal of Assistive Technologies, vol. 5 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1754-9450

Keywords

Content available
Article
Publication date: 16 September 2011

Chris Abbott

318

Abstract

Details

Journal of Assistive Technologies, vol. 5 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1754-9450

Content available
Article
Publication date: 17 June 2011

Chris Abbott

385

Abstract

Details

Journal of Assistive Technologies, vol. 5 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1754-9450

Content available
Article
Publication date: 9 September 2013

Chris Abbott

3

Abstract

Details

Journal of Assistive Technologies, vol. 7 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1754-9450

Article
Publication date: 1 May 1993

Paul Blake

Hosts dive into PDAs, multimedia and the Internet. Major developments have been announced by several mass market hosts which could signal future trends for the information…

Abstract

Hosts dive into PDAs, multimedia and the Internet. Major developments have been announced by several mass market hosts which could signal future trends for the information industry as a whole. These include plans to offer multimedia news, online versions of popular newspapers, and access to services via Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs).

Details

Online and CD-Rom Review, vol. 17 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1353-2642

Article
Publication date: 8 November 2011

Peter Byrne, Pat McAllister and Peter Wyatt

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of choices of model structure and scale in development viability appraisal. The paper addresses two questions concerning the…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of choices of model structure and scale in development viability appraisal. The paper addresses two questions concerning the application of development appraisal techniques to viability modelling within the UK planning system. The first relates to the extent to which, given intrinsic input uncertainty, the choice of model structure significantly affects model outputs. The second concerns the extent to which, given intrinsic input uncertainty, the level of model complexity significantly affects model outputs.

Design/methodology/approach

Monte Carlo simulation procedures are applied to a hypothetical development scheme in order to measure the effects of model aggregation and structure on model output variance.

Findings

It is concluded that, given the particular scheme modelled and unavoidably subjective assumptions of input variance, that simple and simplistic models may produce similar outputs to more robust and disaggregated models. Evidence is found of equifinality in the outputs of a simple, aggregated model of development viability relative to more complex, disaggregated models.

Originality/value

Development viability appraisal has become increasingly important in the planning system. Consequently, the theory, application and outputs from development appraisal are under intense scrutiny from a wide range of users. However, there has been very little published evaluation of viability models. This paper contributes to the limited literature in this area.

Details

Journal of Financial Management of Property and Construction, vol. 16 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1366-4387

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 July 2003

Edilberto F. Montemayor

Employee dissatisfaction with merit pay is a long‐standing problem. This study introduces four explanatory constructs, based on decisional and interactional fairness notions, that…

Abstract

Employee dissatisfaction with merit pay is a long‐standing problem. This study introduces four explanatory constructs, based on decisional and interactional fairness notions, that describe how supervisors implement merit pay and predict merit pay satisfaction. Multigroup confirmatory factor analyses, applied to a sample of American employees (N = 415) and a sample of Venezuelan employees (N = 239), show that the five constructs introduced here are distinct from each other and that their measures generalize across countries (cultures and languages).

Details

Management Research: Journal of the Iberoamerican Academy of Management, vol. 1 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1536-5433

Keywords

1 – 10 of 20