RE-engineered factory acceptance testing under the new normal

Purpose Factory acceptance testing (FAT) in the construction industry has been severely hampered due to restrictions in cross-border travel resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Consequently, virtual FAT (vFAT) became a popular substitute for physical FAT. However, the credibility of vFAT is being questioned because it was adopted without much scrutiny. Hence, this study is aimed at investigating vFATs and re-engineering the FAT process to suit an effective vFAT environment.Design/methodology/approach A comprehensive literature search on FAT procedures was followed by two stages of expert interviews with eight leading subject experts and a case study. The findings were analysed using code-based content analysis on NVivo software.Findings Strengths of vFATs include “reduction in cost and time consumed”, “flexibility for more participants” and “faster orders”. Most emphasized weaknesses include “lack of reliability” and “lack of technology transfer”. vFAT has mostly increased test reliability by “improving accessibility” and has decreased reliability by “restricting physical touch and feel observation of the equipment”. A four-step vFAT process was developed with a noteworthy additional step called “Pre-FAT Meeting”.Research limitations/implications The scope of this study is limited to the Sri Lankan construction industry. Expansion of the geographical area of focus is recommended for future studies.Originality/value The findings of this study unveil a vFAT process, which is timely and beneficial for construction practitioners to optimize and enhance the effectiveness of vFATs which are currently conducted in a disarranged manner.

Environmental Concerns in Virtual Worlds: Interactive Experience of Ephemeral Life Beyond Borders

The Flutter of Butterflies Beyond Borders (2016) is an interactive digital installation by an interdisciplinary art collective teamLab based in Japan. The title of the artwork urges critical questions and implications such as, are the butterflies or the participants beyond the borders of digital technologies in this work? How and why are these borders shaped? If we consider the digital butterflies as the substitute for nature, who has control over nature beyond borders, digital technology, or human? The work situates the human body not only as a part of its natural environment but also as the dominant factor for shaping nature's future as well as the work's. Participants become gradually more aware of their behaviors that impact the continuity and well-being of the natural environment through the experience of intimate interaction with the artwork, particularly with their physical touch. By building a digitized nature installation, the artists create an experience not to prioritize the illusory sense of visuality but to increase and manipulate social awareness of the natural environment. This media artwork presents an exceptional and timely experience with its comments on the contemporary ecological turn through the entanglement of humans, nature, and technology.

Longitudinal Associations of Physical Touch with Loneliness among Older Adults

Older adults in the US face heightened risks for social disconnection, and the COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated this crisis. Physical touch is a key dimension of social connection that uniquely predicts physical and mental health benefits. However, most studies have been limited by cross-sectional designs, and no prior work has examined the long-term effects of physical touch on loneliness. To investigate the prospective association between physical touch and loneliness among older adults, this study utilized data from 1626 older adults (Mean age = 68, range = 57-85) who participated in Waves 1 and 2 of the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP). Participants reported on their loneliness and physical contact with family and friends, as well as with pets, at both waves. Results revealed that more frequent physical contact with family and friends predicted larger decreases in loneliness over the subsequent five years (p<.0001), controlling for age, race, gender, health conditions, marital status, frequency of social interaction, and baseline levels of loneliness. Physical contact with pets had no unique effect (p=.136). To further assess directionality, models tested whether lonelier people experienced decreased touch over time, and the effects were null (p>.250). Taken together, this longitudinal study is the first to identify the unique contribution of human physical touch to prospective changes in loneliness, beyond the well-established effects of covariates, including social interaction frequency. Touch represents a compelling mechanism by which social isolation may lead to loneliness, which in turn raises risks for poor health and premature mortality.

The influence of tactile information on the human evaluation of tactile properties

Virtual technologies such as haptic devices and virtual try-ons have been developed to bring more certainty to the non-touch shopping experience; however, they are still no substitute for the in-person experience. In order to resolve the current limitations of haptic technology, it is necessary to carry out fundamental research on the ways in which humans perceive and discern different tactile properties. This study investigated how vision and physical touch affect the evaluation of the tactile properties of knitwear and discovered factors that affect tactile evaluation in a non-touch environment. The result of this study proved that humans can perceive tactile properties similarly when they are able to physically touch the fabric, whether their vision is obstructed or not. However, participants were unable to accurately perceive the tactile properties of knitwear when they evaluated fabrics using only visual materials, especially stretchiness and flexibility. It is confirmed that a surface haptic experience could increase the accuracy of stretchiness and flexibility evaluations, but it did not help in the evaluations of fabric thickness and heaviness. Findings from interviews suggested that the shape, width and number of folds, density, and thickness of the yarn are all major factors that influence the tactile perception of knitwear when participants could only evaluate properties through on-screen visual materials. Findings from this study contributes to the improvement of the consumer experience in the contact-free shopping environment and can be used as a fundamental guide to human perception of clothing, which can support technologies such as haptic devices.

A gradual separation from the world: a qualitative exploration of existential loneliness in old age

This study sought to explore qualitatively experiences of existential loneliness (EL) in 80 older people living in retirement communities across the United Kingdom and Australia. Qualitative semi-structured interviews permitted in-depth exploration of issues such as biographical narrative, close relationships, loss, feelings of loneliness and retirement living. It was our intention to conduct a large-scale, deep-listening exercise that would provide further clues about EL in older people and the circumstances that give rise to such feelings. Data provided rich insight into older people's inner lives. Core themes identified loss of close attachments, lack of physical touch and intimacy, deterioration of health and body, and lack of an emotional language through which to express EL as central to older people's experiences. Furthermore, there was a suggestion that the move to retirement living was for many people inextricably connected to their experience of EL. Our data further support and extend the notion that EL can be thought of as a gradual sense of separation from the world and that ageing intensifies a myriad of social, emotional and physical circumstances that prompt its emergence. This sense of existential isolation need not be thought of as exclusive to those experiencing extreme frailty or who face death imminently – our data pointed to a clear and gradual emergence of EL throughout later life.

Covid 19 and Challenges in Higher Education: An Empirical Analysis

Over the years the global economy, including India, has undergone a profound change and observed a pioneer role of innovation and technology in every sector. Rapid technological dissemination has seen human or physical touch points being replaced by digital interface. With digitization happening everywhere, it becomes all the more important for the education sector to adapt it in order to keep pace with the challenging world. With the onset of the global pandemic of Covid-19, the only option left with the education sector is to switch to online classes for its smooth and continuous working. This research aims to investigate the challenges that are faced by the students and their level of satisfaction from these classes. The study is based on primary data collected from 700 students of various colleges across Universities in India. The study employs regression models, crosstabs, and various other descriptive statistics for analysis of the data. The findings of the study suggest that the students face a lot of glitches while learning from the online mode of education and would need time to adjust. The research also provides an insight on the scope and the future of online education.

Self-Esteem and Binge Eating among Adolescent Boys and Girls: The Role of Body Disinvestment

Although low self-esteem and body disinvestment have been recognized as potential risk factors for disordered eating, no studies have explored how these factors may work together to predict binge eating in adolescents. Therefore, we hypothesized a path model for girls and boys separately to investigate whether the body’s investment dimensions (feelings towards the body, physical touch, body care, body protection) mediate the relationship between self-esteem and binge eating, and age moderate such relationships. Participants were 1046 Italian students aged between 11 and 19 years (472 girls, Mage = 14.17; 574 boys, Mage = 14.60) screened through self-report measures. Both models showed an acceptable fit (males: χ2(22) = 30.441; RMSEA = 0.026; CFI = 0.99; TLI = 0.97; SRMR = 0.023; females: χ2(22) = 34.723; RMSEA = 0.35; CFI = 0.98; TLI = 0.95; SRMR = 0.029). Negative body feelings and reduced body protection fully mediated the relationship between self-esteem and binge eating, regardless of gender. Our findings highlight the importance of interventions promoting body emotional investment to reduce adolescents’ vulnerability to binge eating.

Jesus as News: Crises of Health and Overpopulation in Galilee

What made Jesus ‘news’? The key reason given in Mark and Matthew is that Jesus was an effective healer. In Q, likewise, Jesus fulfils John’s prediction of a Coming One who will baptize in Holy Spirit and fire by means of his healing mission. Luke complicates this slightly by emphasizing Jesus’ teaching on social justice, and John conceptualizes the healings as ‘signs’, but both also indicate that Jesus was news because he healed people. Thus, Galilee was in the grip of a chronic health crisis which people – both rich and poor – experienced as stress, and Jesus was news because he provided a solution. While being an exorcistic healer was not unusual, Jesus’ healing apparently was, both in its effectiveness and in its approach, involving physical touch. We now know that affective touch has a positive effect on the immune system. Disease crises in Galilee can be linked to the great density of its population, associated with widespread rural poverty and environmental degradation. Previous assessments of population in Galilee have hitherto been much too small.