User Preferences on Route Instruction Types for Mobile Indoor Route Guidance

Adaptive mobile wayfinding systems are being developed to ease wayfinding in the indoor environment. They present wayfinding information to the user, which is adapted to the context. Wayfinding information can be communicated by using different types of route instructions, such as text, photos, videos, symbols or a combination thereof. The need for a different type of route instruction may vary at decision points, for example because of its complexity. Furthermore, these needs may be different for different user characteristics (e.g., age, gender, level of education). To determine this need for information, an online survey has been executed where participants rated 10 different route instruction types at several decision points in a case study building. Results show that the types with additional text were preferred over those without text. The photo instructions, combined with text, generally received the highest ratings, especially from first-time visitors. 3D simulations were appreciated at complex decision points and by younger people. When text (with symbols) is considered as a route instruction type, it is best used for the start or end instruction.

Download Full-text

Using Conjoint Analyses to Improve Cable Yarder Design Characteristics: An Austrian Yarder Case Study to Advance Cost-Effective Extraction

Forests ◽

10.3390/f10020165 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 10 (2) ◽

pp. 165 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Martin Kühmaier ◽

Hunter Harrill ◽

Mohammad Ghaffariyan ◽

Manfred Hofer ◽

Karl Stampfer ◽

...

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

Environmental Sustainability ◽

Online Survey ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Timber Harvesting ◽

User Preferences ◽

Design Characteristics ◽

Steep Terrain ◽

Integrate Design

Steep country harvesting has been identified as the main bottleneck to achieving greater profitability in the forestry sector of New Zealand and Australia. An improvement of efficiency, work safety and environmental sustainability should be realized by developing an advanced steep terrain timber harvesting system based on innovative Austrian technology. To identify the best suitable configuration of a cable yarder for steep terrain harvesting, user preferences based on an online survey (conjoint analysis) have been evaluated to answer the following questions: (1) What attributes of a new yarder design are most important to consumers? (2) Which criteria do stakeholders consider when selecting a cable yarder? (3) What are the weights representing the relative importance of criteria? Using eight specific design scenarios a fourth question, being which cable yarder concept is the best, was also answered. This case study shows that conjoint analyses is an effective tool to assess, rate and subsequently integrate design characteristics. Based on the results of the analysis, a cable yarder prototype will be manufactured in Austria and transferred to New Zealand for testing and demonstration.

Download Full-text

Islamic and Jewish Religious Feminists Tackle Islamic and Jewish Oral Law: Maintenance and Rebellion of Wives

Comparative Islamic Studies ◽

10.1558/cis.31497 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 35-63

Author(s):

Ruth Roded

Keyword(s):

State Policy ◽

Political System ◽

Daily Life ◽

The State ◽

The Political ◽

Jewish Law ◽

Modern Times ◽

Parallel Case ◽

First Time

Beginning in the early 1970s, Jewish and Muslim feminists, tackled “oral law”—Mishna and Talmud, in Judaism, and the parallel Hadith and Fiqh in Islam, and several analogous methodologies were devised. A parallel case study of maintenance and rebellion of wives —mezonoteha, moredet al ba?ala; nafaqa al-mar?a and nush?z—in classical Jewish and Islamic oral law demonstrates similarities in content and discourse. Differences between the two, however, were found in the application of oral law to daily life, as reflected in “responsa”—piskei halacha and fatwas. In modern times, as the state became more involved in regulating maintenance and disobedience, and Jewish law was backed for the first time in history by a state, state policy and implementation were influenced by the political system and socioeconomic circumstances of the country. Despite their similar origin in oral law, maintenance and rebellion have divergent relevance to modern Jews and Muslims.

Download Full-text

STUDY OF PARENTS 'ATTITUDES ON FITNESS CHILDREN'S VISITS

Knowledge International Journal ◽

10.35120/kij28072567i ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 28 (7) ◽

pp. 2567-2572

Author(s):

Ivan Nedelchev

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Young People ◽

Online Survey ◽

Adult Obesity ◽

Compulsory Schooling ◽

Strict Diet ◽

Fitness Training ◽

First Time ◽

Active Training ◽

The Eu

The European report "Bulgaria - Health Profile for the Country 2017" reflects statistics on the obesity and immobilization of young people in the country. Although adult obesity levels are below the EU average, they have increased by 25% since 2008, with statistics showing that among young people they have risen by two-thirds in the 2005-2006 and 2013- 2014 and have reached 20%. Also, more than half of Bulgarian pupils in 1-12 grades (51%) are extremely immobilized, one of the reasons being rare visits to physical education classes and lack of interest in additional sport outside compulsory schooling. Separately, every third grader in Bulgaria has a problem with extra pounds, although in most cases it is the parents who refuse to accept that their child needs change and help, not to mention a strict diet and encouragement to exercise sports. More than 50% of the children who crossed the classrooms for the first time this year in Bulgaria are already having vertebral distortion. Only 3% of Bulgarian teenagers say they sometimes go to the gym because they want to look good and build up muscle mass.However, a positive aspect is that a higher percentage of girls and boys at 15 years of age in Bulgaria report regular physical activity than in other EU countries, although less than 25% report moderate exercise intensive physical activity on a daily basis.This study aims to analyze, on the basis of an authoritative survey, the opinions and the vision of active training parents as to whether their children should be attending fitness training. The survey was conducted within 2 months through an online survey of 21 questions, with a total of 187 active sporting parents. Questions concern both the sporting aspects, the healthy diet and the overall condition of the child, through the eyes of his/her parents.

Download Full-text

Coupling Fuzzy Multi-Criteria Decision-Making and Clustering Algorithm for MSW Landfill Site Selection (Case Study: Lanzhou, China)

ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information ◽

10.3390/ijgi10060403 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (6) ◽

pp. 403

Author(s):

Jiamin Liu ◽

Yueshi Li ◽

Bin Xiao ◽

Jizong Jiao

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Clustering Algorithm ◽

Fuzzy Membership Function ◽

Multi Criteria Decision Making ◽

Landfill Site Selection ◽

Spatial Distribution Characteristics ◽

Criteria Weights ◽

Spatial Decision Making ◽

Complex Decision

The siting of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) landfills is a complex decision process. Existing siting methods utilize expert scores to determine criteria weights, however, they ignore the uncertainty of data and criterion weights and the efficacy of results. In this study, a coupled fuzzy Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) approach was employed to site landfills in Lanzhou, a semi-arid valley basin city in China, to enhance the spatial decision-making process. Primarily, 21 criteria were identified in five groups through the Delphi method at 30 m resolution, then criteria weights were obtained by DEMATEL and ANP, and the optimal fuzzy membership function was determined for each evaluation criterion. Combined with GIS spatial analysis and the clustering algorithm, candidate sites that satisfied the landfill conditions were identified, and the spatial distribution characteristics were analyzed. These sites were subsequently ranked utilizing the MOORA, WASPAS, COPRAS, and TOPSIS methods to verify the reliability of the results by conducting sensitivity analysis. This study is different from the previous research that applied the MCDM approach in that fuzzy MCDM for weighting criteria is more reliable compared to the other common methods.

Download Full-text

Comparing respondents who passed versus failed an Instructional Manipulation Check: A case study about support for climate change policies

International Journal of Market Research ◽

10.1177/14707853211023039 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 63 (4) ◽

pp. 408-415

Author(s):

Maria Rubio Juan ◽

Melanie Revilla

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

External Validity ◽

Structural Equation ◽

Online Survey ◽

Equation Modeling ◽

Manipulation Check ◽

Climate Change Policies ◽

Instructional Manipulation ◽

Using Data

The presence of satisficers among survey respondents threatens survey data quality. To identify such respondents, Oppenheimer et al. developed the Instructional Manipulation Check (IMC), which has been used as a tool to exclude observations from the analyses. However, this practice has raised concerns regarding its effects on the external validity and the substantive conclusions of studies excluding respondents who fail an IMC. Thus, more research on the differences between respondents who pass versus fail an IMC regarding sociodemographic and attitudinal variables is needed. This study compares respondents who passed versus failed an IMC both for descriptive and causal analyses based on structural equation modeling (SEM) using data from an online survey implemented in Spain in 2019. These data were analyzed by Rubio Juan and Revilla without taking into account the results of the IMC. We find that those who passed the IMC do differ significantly from those who failed for two sociodemographic and five attitudinal variables, out of 18 variables compared. Moreover, in terms of substantive conclusions, differences between those who passed and failed the IMC vary depending on the specific variables under study.

Download Full-text

STANDARDISING MAINTENANCE JOBS TO IMPROVE GROUPING DECISION MAKING

Proceedings of the Design Society ◽

10.1017/pds.2021.531 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 1 ◽

pp. 2701-2710

Author(s):

Julie Krogh Agergaard ◽

Kristoffer Vandrup Sigsgaard ◽

Niels Henrik Mortensen ◽

Jingrui Ge ◽

Kasper Barslund Hansen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Tacit Knowledge ◽

True Variance ◽

Complex Decision ◽

Maintenance Decision ◽

Maintenance Activities

AbstractMaintenance decision making is an important part of managing the costs, effectiveness and risk of maintenance. One way to improve maintenance efficiency without affecting the risk picture is to group maintenance jobs. Literature includes many examples of algorithms for the grouping of maintenance activities. However, the data is not always available, and with increasing plant complexity comes increasingly complex decision requirements, making it difficult to leave the decision making up to algorithms.This paper suggests a framework for the standardisation of maintenance data as an aid for maintenance experts to make decisions on maintenance grouping. The standardisation improves the basis for decisions, giving an overview of true variance within the available data. The goal of the framework is to make it simpler to apply tacit knowledge and make right decisions.Applying the framework in a case study showed that groups can be identified and reconfigured and potential savings easily estimated when maintenance jobs are standardised. The case study enabled an estimated 7%-9% saved on the number of hours spent on the investigated jobs.

Download Full-text

Erratum: Gravrok, J., et al. Beyond the Benefits of Assistance Dogs: Exploring Challenges Experienced by First-Time Handlers. Animals 2019, 9, 203

Animals ◽

10.3390/ani11010237 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 237

Author(s):

Jennifer Gravrok ◽

Dan Bendrups ◽

Tiffani Howell ◽

Pauleen Bennett

Keyword(s):

Assistance Dogs ◽

First Time

The authors wish to make the following corrections [1]:In Table 1, under case study 4, the code was originally labeled as H8, P8 and ADI 8; these labels should be H4, P4 and ADI 4, respectively [...]

Download Full-text

Do different types of organizational trust matter to employees’ commitment? A case study from Oman

Human Systems Management ◽

10.3233/hsm-201065 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-11

Author(s):

Moaz Gharib ◽

Kamaal Allil ◽

Omar Durrah ◽

Mohammed Alsatouf

Keyword(s):

Online Survey ◽

Employee Commitment ◽

Decision Makers ◽

Design Strategies ◽

Food Sector ◽

Final Sample ◽

Organisational Trust ◽

Positive Effect ◽

Practical Implications

PURPOSE: Trust is vital to all positive relationships. This empirical study explores the effect of three facets of organisational trust (trust in supervisors, in co-workers and in the organisation) on employee commitment in Salalah Mills Co. in the food industry in the Sultanate of Oman. METHODOLOGY: Data were collected via an online survey sent to all employees working in Salalah Mills Co., Oman. The final sample consisting of 102 responses with a response rate of 54 percent were analysed using multiple regression analysis. RESULTS: The findings revealed that two facets of organisational trust (trust in co-workers and trust in supervisors) were found to have a significant positive effect on employee commitment, while trust in the organisation was found to have no significant effect. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: Trust in supervisors and trust in co-workers directly affect employee commitment. Therefore, managers should consider promoting both of these forms of trust to enhance employee commitment. VALUE: Although previous studies have examined the link between organisational trust and employee commitment, a focus on Oman and the food sector has been particularly rare, so this study offers new insights. The findings will help decision-makers on design strategies and policies to improve employee commitment through trust.

Download Full-text

Supporting User Onboarding in Automated Vehicles through Multimodal Augmented Reality Tutorials

Multimodal Technologies and Interaction ◽

10.3390/mti5050022 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 (5) ◽

pp. 22

Author(s):

Henrik Detjen ◽

Robert Niklas Degenhart ◽

Stefan Schneegass ◽

Stefan Geisler

Keyword(s):

Augmented Reality ◽

Task Performance ◽

Online Survey ◽

Smartphone Application ◽

Assistant Systems ◽

Vehicle Automation ◽

Hedonic Quality ◽

First Time ◽

Reducing Potential ◽

And Task

Misconceptions of vehicle automation functionalities lead to either non-use or dangerous misuse of assistant systems, harming the users’ experience by reducing potential comfort or compromise safety. Thus, users must understand how and when to use an assistant system. In a preliminary online survey, we examined the use, trust, and the perceived understanding of modern vehicle assistant systems. Despite remaining incomprehensibility (36–64%), experienced misunderstandings (up to 9%), and the need for training (around 30%), users reported high trust in the systems. In the following study with first-time users, we examine the effect of different User Onboarding approaches for an automated parking assistant system in a Tesla and compare the traditional text-based manual with a multimodal augmented reality (AR) smartphone application in means of user acceptance, UX, trust, understanding, and task performance. While the User Onboarding experience for both approaches shows high pragmatic quality, the hedonic quality was perceived significantly higher in AR. For the automated parking process, reported hedonic and pragmatic user experience, trust, automation understanding, and acceptance do not differ, yet the observed task performance was higher in the AR condition. Overall, AR might help motivate proper User Onboarding and better communicate how to operate the system for inexperienced users.

Download Full-text

Investigating the Concerns of First-Time Distance Education Instructors

The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning ◽

10.19173/irrodl.v20i5.4467 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 20 (5) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Halil Kayaduman ◽

Turgay Demirel

Keyword(s):

Distance Education ◽

Content Knowledge ◽

Stages Of Concern ◽

Concerns Based Adoption Model ◽

Descriptive Case Study ◽

Time Distance ◽

Adaptation Processes ◽

First Time ◽

Ongoing Concern

The purpose of the study is to investigate the concern developments of first-time distance education instructors using the concerns-based adoption model (CBAM). This study used stages of concern (SoC), a component of CBAM, as its theoretical framework. A descriptive case study was implemented, which focused on the adaptation processes of nine instructors lecturing for the first time via distance education. The instructors attended a two-day training, which was designed based on their initial concerns. Then instructors implemented their courses for four weeks via distance education. While the informational and personal stages (self-concerns) decreased compared to the initial findings, the consequence stage increased in intensity. However, self-concerns remained predominant in the process despite the reduction in self-concerns and increase in the consequence stage. Based on the findings, the implications for distance education and recommendations for addressing the instructors’ concerns are discussed. Recommendations for alleviating the concerns of first-time distance education instructors include: the provision of ongoing concern-based interventions that incorporate technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge; providing working examples related to distance education from which instructors can learn vicariously; and encouraging collaboration among instructors.

Download Full-text