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Article
Publication date: 25 September 2019

Watthanasak Jeamwatthanachai, Mike Wald and Gary Wills

The purpose of this paper is to validate a framework for spatial representation, aka the spatial representation framework (SRF), to define spaces and building information required…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to validate a framework for spatial representation, aka the spatial representation framework (SRF), to define spaces and building information required by people with visual impairment as a foundation of indoor maps for indoor navigation systems.

Design/methodology/approach

The SRF was first created with seven main components by a review of the relevant literature and state-of-the-art technologies shown in the preliminary study. This research comprised of two tasks: investigating problems and behaviors while accessing spaces and buildings by visually impaired people (VIP) and validating the SRF where 45 participants were recruited (30 VIP and 15 experts).

Findings

The findings revealed a list of problems and challenges were used to validate and redefine the spatial representation, which was validated by both VIP and experts. The framework subsequently consisted of 11 components categorized into five layers, each layer of which is responsible for a different function.

Research limitations/implications

This framework provides essential components required for building standard indoor maps as a foundation for indoor navigations systems for people with visual impairment.

Practical implications

This framework lays the foundation for a range of indoor-based applications by using this SRF to represent indoor spaces. Example applications include: indoor navigation by people with disabilities, robots and autonomous systems, security and surveillance, and context and spatial awareness.

Originality/value

This paper presents the validated spatial representation for indoor navigation by people with visual impairment with its details and description, methodology, results and findings of the validation of the SRF.

Details

Journal of Enabling Technologies, vol. 13 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2398-6263

Keywords

Abstract

Details

Threats from Car Traffic to the Quality of Urban Life
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-08-048144-9

Article
Publication date: 3 September 2020

Xu Huang and Yuanyuan Gu

Compared to other areas in China, Chaoshan region in Guangdong province has a more developed clan system set within a rural landscape. This paper aims to explore the relationship…

Abstract

Purpose

Compared to other areas in China, Chaoshan region in Guangdong province has a more developed clan system set within a rural landscape. This paper aims to explore the relationship between the social structure (family–clan) and spatial form (housing settlement) of clan-organized rural China to understand the spatial form represented by “family and clan.”

Design/methodology/approach

By examining Dongli village and Huayao village, this paper outlines the typical path of spatial representation: dwelling of individual’s core family → mansion of the big family → settlement of a single clan → co-settlement of several clans. Moreover, it identifies three critical elements of the spatial representation: prototype (the spatial representation of the etiquette system); order (a hierarchical space set by the patriarchal system); and boundary (constructed on both physical and mental facts).

Findings

All elements indicate that descendants of migrants from the North maintain their self-identity and discipline clan members by planning the ideal space.

Research limitations/implications

The findings contribute to the ongoing discussions regarding how local cultural and historical experiences can influence renewed designs of traditional settlement areas (Aksulu and Eryildiz, 2003) and how digital means can facilitate updating designs of traditional buildings (Han et al., 2017). Such planning and design should involve greater public participation, considering the impact on residents’ daily lives (Pandya, 2005).

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the understanding of the relationship between cultural values and the spatial form of residential settlements in Chinese history.

Article
Publication date: 31 December 2006

Akio Sashima, Noriaki Izumi and Koichi Kurumatani

In the vision of pervasive computing, numerous heterogeneous devices, various information services, and users performing daily activities are physically co‐located in a…

Abstract

In the vision of pervasive computing, numerous heterogeneous devices, various information services, and users performing daily activities are physically co‐located in a environment. How can we coordinate the services and devices to assist a particular user in receiving a particular service so as to maximize the user’s satisfaction? To solve this human‐centered coordination issue, we propose an agent‐based service coordination framework for pervasive computing. It is called location‐aware middle agent framework. The middle agent takes account of the user location in cognitive way (based on location‐ontology), and determines best‐matched services for the user. Based on this coordination framework, we have developed a multi‐agent architecture for pervasive computing, called CONSORTS (Coordination System of Real‐world Transaction Services). In this paper, we first outline some requirements of the human‐centered service coordination in pervasive computing. Secondly, we describe location‐aware middle agent framework to fill the requirements. Lastly, we outline CONSORTS, an prototype of location‐aware middle agent framework, and two applications of CONSORTS, location‐aware information assistance services in a museum and wireless‐LAN based location systems on FIPA agent Networks.

Details

International Journal of Pervasive Computing and Communications, vol. 2 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1742-7371

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 February 1998

C.K. Chua, V. Narayanan and J. Loh

The spatial representation technique is an efficient method for packing boxes into a container; however, it has a limitation in dealing with constraints. For practical…

Abstract

The spatial representation technique is an efficient method for packing boxes into a container; however, it has a limitation in dealing with constraints. For practical applications, there are however limitations when dealing with constraints. These constraints provide flexibility for the user to decide which boxes should be placed first. After imposing the initial conditions, the optimisation packing algorithm based on the spatial representation technique ensures that the boxes remaining in the item list are packed as efficiently as possible into the container. The packing plan is then generated during the run time to provide visualisation of the result of actual packing sequences. It also simultaneously outputs a graphical file to the Autocad software for printing and detailed study. The program can be implemented under either the DOS platform or the Windows platform on an IBM PC. The performance is evaluated using data from another algorithm. The results confirm that the enhanced algorithm can manage the user‐specified constraints with good volume utilisation.

Details

Integrated Manufacturing Systems, vol. 9 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0957-6061

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 31 July 2023

Jinzhong Li, Ming Cong, Dong Liu and Yu Du

Robots face fundamental challenges in achieving reliable and stable operations for complex home service scenarios. This is one of the crucial topics of robotics methods to imitate…

Abstract

Purpose

Robots face fundamental challenges in achieving reliable and stable operations for complex home service scenarios. This is one of the crucial topics of robotics methods to imitate human beings’ advanced cognitive characteristics and apply them to solve complex tasks. The purpose of this study is to enable robots to have the ability to understand the scene and task process in complex scenes and to provide a reference method for robot task programming in complex scenes.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper constructs a task modeling method for robots in complex environments based on the characteristics of the perception-motor memory model of human cognition. In the aspect of episodic memory construction, the task execution process is included in the category of qualitative spatio-temporal calculus. The topology interaction of objects in a task scenario is used to define scene attributes. The task process can be regarded as changing scene attributes on a time scale. The qualitative spatio-temporal activity graphs are used to analyze the change process of the object state with time during the robot task execution. The tasks are divided according to the different values of scene attributes at different times during task execution. Based on this, in procedural memory, an object-centered motion model is developed by analyzing the changes in the relationship between objects in the scene episode by analyzing the scene changes before and after the robot performs the actions. Finally, the task execution process of the robot is constructed by alternately reconstructing episodic memory and procedural memory.

Findings

To verify the applicability of the proposed model, a scenario where the robot combines the object (one of the most common tasks in-home service) is set up. The proposed method can obtain the landscape of robot tasks in a complex environment.

Originality/value

The robot can achieve high-level task programming through the alternating interpretation of scenarios and actions. The proposed model differs from traditional methods based on geometric or physical feature information. However, it focuses on the spatial relationship of objects, which is more similar to the cognitive mechanism of human understanding of the environment.

Abstract

Details

Handbook of Transport Geography and Spatial Systems
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-615-83253-8

Article
Publication date: 9 March 2012

Tuomo Peltonen

The purpose of this paper is to advance the methodological self‐understanding of the emerging field of organizational space and architecture by employing concepts and frameworks…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to advance the methodological self‐understanding of the emerging field of organizational space and architecture by employing concepts and frameworks from multi‐paradigm and mixed methods research.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper presents a methodological re‐reading of a recent research process that analyzed the spatial and architectural dynamics in a Finnish university organization.

Findings

While the analysis of architectural meanings is often grounded in researcher‐participants auto‐ethnographic experiences, triangulating personal insights with other methods is important for the validity and richness of the subsequent description of spatial dynamics and its outcomes. Especially, the incorporation of architectural visions and representations into the analysis is argued to enhance our understanding of the emergence of particular social‐material collectives.

Originality/value

Although there is a steady stream of empirical studies on the meanings of organizational space and architecture, rigorous accounts of the methodological challenges of spatial analyses have so far been scarce. This paper aims to partially fill this gap.

Details

International Journal of Organizational Analysis, vol. 20 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1934-8835

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 June 2015

Robin Schaeverbeke, Hélène Aarts and Ann Heylighen

Teaching drawing in architectural education raises questions regarding the representation of spatial experiences: to what extent can sensory experiences of space be intensified…

Abstract

Teaching drawing in architectural education raises questions regarding the representation of spatial experiences: to what extent can sensory experiences of space be intensified through observing and drawing and, perhaps equally important, what those drawings would look like?

In the context of their drawing classes, the authors started to inquire the discrepancy between conceiving and perceiving space, and the aptitude of representing spatial concepts upon a two dimensional surface. Through observation and translating observation into drawings, students discover that conventionalised ways of drawing, such as linear perspective, only reveal part of the story. While linear perspective remains the dominant way of representing space, obviously visible in photography, film, 3D-imaging and architectural impressions, the authors started looking for ways of drawing which inquire possibilities of expressing spatial experiences. Drawing as an activity which is able to enhance spatial understanding, rather than as a tool to communicate virtual spaces. Next to drawing as a ‘skill’, which can be learnt, the drawing classes started to inquire non-visual aspects of space by analysing attributes of spatiality, which are difficult to convey through two dimensional drawings.

Starting from a contextualisation of spatial drawing within architectural practice, the article examines the discrepancy between geometric space and lived space, in order to reveal the dubious role of linear perspective within (architectural) culture and history. After a brief return to how we imagined and represented space in our childhood, the article presents a series of practice based examples. Drawing on the authors’ teaching practice, it illustrates possibilities to expand our visual language by exploring space and spatiality through observing and drawing.

Details

Open House International, vol. 40 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0168-2601

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 July 2014

Richard J. Dunning and Andrew Grayson

The purpose of this paper is to renew a research agenda considering the impact that information providers’ processes are having on the housing market; in particular to develop a…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to renew a research agenda considering the impact that information providers’ processes are having on the housing market; in particular to develop a research agenda around the role of the Internet in shaping households’ perceptions of the spatial nature of housing markets.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper reviews the existing literature. It uses preliminary extensive survey findings about the role of the Internet in housing search to hypothesise ways in which households may be affected by this transition.

Findings

Not applicable – other than evidence for the growth in the importance of the Internet in shaping households’ housing search.

Practical implications

First, the academy needs to readdress the theory surrounding information acquisition and use insights from economics, sociology and psychology to understand these processes. Second, local authorities and academics should analyse the impact of Internet use on housing market boundaries (and the profound subsequent impact on policy traction). Third, estate agents should reconsider the role of the Internet in shaping housing markets and provide a critical response to the large property search engines.

Originality/value

This paper reviews the literature and explores the necessity of a renewed interest in research on the role of information sources in framing and constraining housing search behaviour.

Details

International Journal of Housing Markets and Analysis, vol. 7 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1753-8270

Keywords

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