Terapirommet er ikke et nøytralt rom. Om Friluftssykehuset og potensialet i de fysiske omgivelsene for barn og unge i behandling.

Background and aim: The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how we can use nature cabins and their natural surroundings therapeutically. Method: Published research of relevance for this therapeutic practice is discussed in relation to and informed by experiences from practice, collected through conversations with therapists using the Outdoor care retreat at Rikshospitalet in Norway. Results: The literature review demonstrates how therapy in nature cabins can influence cognitive and emotional processes. All physical environments carry symbolic meanings; therefore, no therapy setting is neutral, and the setting will affect the client and therapist. Place attachment may contribute to create a safe foundation for exploration and self-development. The experiences from practice demonstrate how nature and natural objects are rich in potential for the creative application of symbols in therapy and opens for different stories on growth and development. Conclusions and implications: The evidence-based approach of this article supplies a therapeutic rationale to use cabins in natural surroundings more strategically for positive therapeutic outcomes. Keywords: nature, architecture, therapy settings, hospital environments

Are there environments that help cultivate serendipity?

I think yes. Even though the serendipity moment is unexpected, many scientists advocate that serendipity can be cultivated in some specific environments. Cultural, digital, and physical environments are vital in increasing the chance of encountering the necessary pieces of information that can lead to serendipity moments.

Comparable human spatial memory distortions in physical, desktop virtual and immersive virtual environments

Boundaries define regions of space and are integral to episodic memories. The impact of boundaries on spatial memory and neural representations of space has been extensively studied in freely-moving rodents. But less is known in humans and many prior studies have employed desktop virtual reality (VR) which lacks the body-based self-motion cues of the physical world, diminishing the potentially strong input from path integration to spatial memory. We replicated a desktop-VR study testing the impact of boundaries on spatial memory (Hartley et al., 2004) in a physical room (2.4m x 2.4m, 2m tall) by having participants (N = 27) learn the location of a circular stool and then after a short delay replace it where they thought they had found it. During the delay, the wall boundaries were either expanded or contracted. We compared performance to groups of participants undergoing the same procedure in a laser-scanned replica in both desktop VR (N = 44) and freely-walking head mounted display (HMD) VR (N = 39) environments. Performance was measured as goodness of fit between the spatial distributions of group responses and seven modelled distributions that prioritised different metrics based on boundary geometry or walking paths to estimate the stool location. The best fitting model was a weighted linear combination of all the geometric spatial models, but an individual model derived from place cell firing in Hartley et al. 2004 also fit well. High levels of disorientation in all three environments prevented detailed analysis on the contribution of path integration. We found identical model fits across the three environments, though desktop VR and HMD-VR appeared more consistent in spatial distributions of group responses than the physical environment and displayed known variations in virtual depth perception. Thus, while human spatial representation appears differentially influenced by environmental boundaries, the influence is similar across virtual and physical environments. Despite differences in body-based cue availability, desktop and HMD-VR allow a good and interchangeable approximation for examining human spatial memory in small-scale physical environments.

Emerging Ecosystems Empowered by AI and IoT Technologies

As latest advancements signify the fourth industrial revolution, artificial intelligence (AI) and internet of things (IoT) became the focal points for innovators. IoT-enabled technology can be used to gather and explore huge amounts of data from both virtual and physical environments, and AI provides the means for effectively processing and manipulating resulting information to optimize or automate processes. In this chapter, the related state of the art is presented, along with the characteristics that enable the creation of hybrid innovation ecosystems. An overview of IoT and AI platforms is included, which can be utilized even by non-experts to compose advanced cost-effective services. Also, related notions such as interoperability and engagement are also discussed. Although such components can be applied in a multitude of domains, to provide a concrete example of innovation enablement, the smart grid ecosystem is employed. Here, participants, either from the supply or the demand side, take advantage of IoT and AI technology to address new business requirements that arise.

Challenges in a mobile English telecollaborative project: Towards a conceptual model

This paper, drawing upon a mobile telecollaborative project, resonates with the rapid development of technology in language learning. We employed the instant messaging app WeChat to create an English telecollaborative environment for two groups of Chinese students to communicate within. Interview data were triangulated with students’ chat transcripts and comments from a teacher’s reflective journal. A mixed-methods approach, including quantitative descriptive analysis, thematic analysis and content analysis, was used to investigate the challenges and the linguistic performance by applying the community of inquiry framework to the students’ chats. The analysis illustrates some of the complexities and challenges of using online apps as a way of communicating in a second language: students expected more teacher support, they struggled to use the app due to their physical environments and they felt that they were not sufficiently well prepared for chatting in an English medium environment. Based on the findings, a conceptual model is proposed for consideration when encouraging students to engage in telecollaborative learning. Implications for practice or policy: Teachers should enhance their visibility in mobile telecollaborative projects by promoting participants’ contribution through different facilitation techniques. Teachers and educators can capitalise on the proposed conceptual model to guide their own design of such online learning experiences for their learners. Telecollaborative learning can be improved by taking into account various factors such as physical environment, the medium of communication and the potential incentives.

Student Perspectives on Distraction and Engagement in the Synchronous Remote Classroom

Synchronous remote learning was adopted widely due to the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. To many educators and students, this was a new medium through which distraction could take place. The research described in this chapter investigates students' perceptions surrounding their engagement and distraction in the synchronous remote learning environment long after the chaos of the 2020 shutdown had eased. Drawing on 32 one-hour interviews conducted during the 2020-21 academic year of undergraduate students in remote classes, data were grouped into three major themes: social presence, cognitive load, and virtual and physical environments. These themes are described in depth in this chapter through discussion of interviewees' quotations. This study provides a nuanced view of students' experiences with synchronous remote learning and contributes to the theory of role strain.

A 12.2 GHz Methanol Maser Survey toward the 6.7 GHz Counterparts Associated with/without UC H ii Regions

We report a new survey of the 12.2 GHz Class II methanol masers toward a sample of 367 sources with the 6.7 GHz methanol masers conducted with the Shanghai 65 m Tianma Radio Telescope. This sample has been previously made with observations of the radio continuum emission of UC H ii regions by the VLA. A total of 176 sources were detected with the 12.2 GHz methanol maser, with a detection rate of 48%, including 8 new detections. A lower detection rate (<10%) was determined toward the sources in the Galactic longitude ranges of 60°–180°, revealing that the physical environments from those sources in the Local arm or the tails of Galactic arms do not easily excite the 12.2 GHz masers. In addition, two detections of highly excited-state OH masers at the 13.4 GHz transition were made, one of which is a new detection. Compared to previous surveys, one-third of the detected 12.2 GHz masers show considerable flux variations, implying the possible changes of their physical environments associated with variable radiation fields from their host high-mass young stellar objects. A positive log–log correlation is found between the luminosities of the 6.7 and 12.2 GHz masers in our observed sample, suggesting that both the transition masers have similar excitation conditions. The statistical analysis for the relationships between the methanol maser luminosity and UC H ii region spatial size indicates that the maser luminosities of both the 6.7 and 12.2 GHz transitions have a decreasing trend with the spatial sizes of the associated UC H ii regions, indicating that the Class II methanol masers might fade away with the H ii region evolution.

Designing the physical environment for inpatient palliative care: a narrative review

BackgroundIt is essential that the physical environments in which inpatient palliative care is provided support the needs of patients and the facilitate the multidimensional delivery of palliative care. This review aims to identify the features and characteristics of inpatient palliative care environments that enhance or detract from the patient experience; and identify opportunities for progress within this field.MethodThree databases were searched: MEDLINE (1946–2020), PsycINFO (1806–2020) and CINAHL (1937–2020). Articles were screened by title and abstract with included studies read in full for data extraction. Data synthesis involved thematic analysis informed by the findings of the included literature. Inclusion criteria were studies with empirical methodology examining adult palliative care in the hospital, hospice or nursing home environment. Studies that examined palliative care delivered within the emergency department, ICU or within the home were excluded, as were those related to paediatric palliative care.ResultsFour main themes were identified: the provision of privacy, facilitating interactions with family, facilitating comfort through homeliness and connections to nature.ConclusionsThe board acceptance of single rooms as the preeminent design solution for supporting privacy, dignity and family interaction, alongside current conceptions of homeliness that typically focus on matters of interior design, are limiting possibilities for further design innovation within palliative care settings. Research that investigates a broader set of design strategies through which the built environment can support care, alongside enhanced interdisciplinary collaboration, could positively contribute to patient and family experiences of inpatient palliative care.

Auditable Augmented/Mixed/Virtual Reality

Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality (XR) technologies are becoming increasingly pervasive. However, the contextual nature of XR, and its tight coupling of the digital and physical environments, brings real propensity for loss and harm. This means that auditability---the ability to inspect how a system operates---will be crucial for dealing with incidents as they occur, by providing the information enabling rectification, repair and recourse. However, supporting audit in XR brings considerations, as the process of capturing audit data itself has implications and challenges, both for the application (e.g., overheads) and more broadly. This paper explores the practicalities of auditing XR systems, characterises the tensions between audit and other considerations, and argues the need for flexible tools enabling the management of such. In doing so, we introduce Droiditor, a configurable open-source Android toolkit that enables the runtime capture of audit-relevant data from mobile applications. We use Droiditor as a means to indicate some potential implications of audit data capture, demonstrate how greater configurability can assist in managing audit-related concerns, and discuss the potential considerations that result. Given the societal demands for more transparent and accountable systems, our broader aim is to draw attention to auditability, highlighting tangible ways forward and areas for future work.