In today's interconnected world, where countries’ borders blur and cultural identities mix together, the digital landscape presents both opportunities and challenges. This thesis focuses on the design of a mobile application tailored to engage a culturally diverse user base, with a focus on Sweden’s multicultural landscape. By synthesizing insights from cultural theories and design principles, the study addresses the need for practical guidance in crafting culturally sensitive interfaces. Through iterative design and empirical research, key factors influencing user engagement are identified, and strategies for integrating cultural awareness into design choices are proposed. The collaboration with Svensk Form, the Swedish Society of Crafts and Design, highlights the project's real-world relevance and practical application. The study contributes to User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX) design and cultural studies by providing practical insights for designing for multicultural audiences. By navigating the complexities of Sweden's multicultural landscape, the research offers a roadmap for creating mobile applications that resonate with culturally diverse users.

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The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between self reported exposure to sources of electromagnetic fields, frontal left and right hemisphere absolute and relative power EEG measurements, and a measure of depression. Thirty-three male undergraduates with varying degrees of EMF exposure assessed by cell phone and computer use were participants in the study. Results indicated that there were significant relationships between long term computer use, indicated by years of use, total Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) scores, and suicidal thoughts or wishes. There were significant positive relationships between both long term and current computer use, indicated by minutes per month, and eyes open delta (,5-3.5Hz) absolute power in both hemispheres. Significant negative relationships were found between computer use and eyes open absolute power and relative power in the 12-15Hz EEG band. Also, significant positive and negative relationships were found between several delta, alpha, and theta absolute power and/or relative power EEG measurements and total and item scores on the BDI.

Affective computing, the study of giving computers the ability to perceive human emotions and of endowing computers with synthetic emotions, has recently become an area of great activity. With the work of Mayer and Salovey, as well as that of Goleman, suggesting that emotions are to some extent quantifiable and can be studied with due rigor, work in the field of psychology has produced a large number of emotional models. Many computational architectures have been developed with the goal of synthesizing emotions for an artificial agent. These range from the affective dimensions in Breazeal's work to the goal based architecture developed by Michaud. The emotion-based architecture described in this thesis builds on previous work by Lisetti, combining scripts for emotion concepts based on semantic primitives and computational scripts based on the componential appraisal theory of emotions. The thesis describes some aspects of one implementation of the architecture on a specific platform as an emotional state generator for a robotic office assistant. The architecture itself, though, is not platform specific and could be implemented on different types of autonomous agents.

The research presented in this thesis concerns the contribution of virtual human (or avatar) fidelity to social interaction in virtual environments (VEs) and how sensory fusion can improve these interactions. VEs present new possibilities for mediated communication by placing people in a shared 3D context. However, there are technical constraints in creating photo realistic and behaviorally realistic avatars capable of mimicking a person's actions or intentions in real time. At the same time, previous research findings indicate that virtual humans can elicit social responses even with minimal cues, suggesting that full realism may not be essential for effective social interaction. This research explores the impact of avatar behavioral realism on people's experience of interacting with virtual humans by varying the interaction fidelity. This is accomplished through the creation of Cinemacraft, a technology-mediated immersive platform for collaborative human-computer interaction in a virtual 3D world and the incorporation of sensory fusion to improve the fidelity of interactions and realtime collaboration. It investigates interaction techniques within the context of a multiplayer sandbox voxel game engine and proposes how interaction qualities of the shared virtual 3D space can be used to further involve a user as well as simultaneously offer a stimulating experience. The primary hypothesis of the study is that embodied interactions result in a higher degree of presence and co-presence, and that sensory fusion can improve the quality of presence and co-presence. The argument is developed through research justification, followed by a user-study to demonstrate the qualitative results and quantitative metrics.This research comprises of an experiment involving 24 participants. Experiment tasks focus on distinct but interrelated questions as higher levels of interaction fidelity are introduced.The outcome of this research is the generation of an interactive and accessible sensory fusion platform capable of delivering compelling live collaborative performances and empathetic musical storytelling that uses low fidelity avatars to successfully sidestep the 'uncanny valley'. This research contributes to the field of immersive collaborative interaction by making transparent the methodology, instruments and code. Further, it is presented in non-technical terminology making it accessible for developers aspiring to use interactive 3D media to pro-mote further experimentation and conceptual discussions, as well as team members with less technological expertise. / Master of Science / The work presented in this thesis explores social interactions and collaboration between users within the context of an immersive game platform. Improving the quality of these interactions is often challenging in terms of creating relatable virtual representations of the user that can also accurately capture user performances and behavioral intentions in real time. This research focuses on changing modes of performance capture to affect the quality of interactions between users. The immersive game platform, Cinemacraft, uses a Minecraft style game engine to propose how interaction qualities of a shared virtual space can be used to further involve a user as well as simultaneously offer a stimulating experience. The platform can accurately capture the users’ posture, limb movement, facial expressions and lip-synced mouth states and comes with an array of live cinematic production tools. The primary hypothesis of the study is that more natural modes of performance capture would result in a higher quality of interaction. Also, an additional level of intelligence to incorporate voice capture to improve tracking of users’ facial performance would yield the highest quality of interactions. The argument is developed through research justification, followed by a user-study involving 24 participants, to demonstrate the qualitative results and quantitative metrics. The outcome of this research is the generation of an interactive and accessible immersive game platform capable of delivering compelling live collaborative performances and empathetic musical storytelling. This research contributes to the field of immersive collaborative interaction by making transparent the methodology, instruments and code. Further, it is presented in non-technical terminology making it accessible for developers aspiring to use interactive 3D media to promote further experimentation and conceptual discussions, as well as team members with less technological expertise.

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A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Arts, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, for the Degree of Master of Arts / This dissertation explores the mental models applied when computers are used by tertiary sector 'clerical' employees from different backgrounds and with different levels of experience with, and knowledge of computers. The study was conducted in three stages. In STAGE 1, interviews were conducted to categorise the level of knowledge and experience of the users, and to establish their socio-cultural backgrounds. STAGE 2 established their 'mental models' of the inside of a computer by means of sketches. STAGE 3 assessed sketches of subjects' mental models of the dynamic operations of the computer saving a file. Cluster analysis was conduded to establish groupings of subjects with similar usership background and sketches. Further analysis was conducted on the resulting cluster solutions. (Abbreviation abstract) / Andrew Chakane 2018

As access to information changes with increased use of technology, privacy becomes an increasingly prominent issue among technology users. Privacy concerns should be taken seriously because they influence system adoption, the way a system is used, and may even lead to system disuse. Threats to privacy are not only due to traditional security and privacy issues; human factors issues such as unintentional disclosure of information also influence the preservation of privacy in technology systems. A dual pronged approach was used to examine privacy. First, a broad investigation of younger and older adults' privacy behaviors was conducted. The goal of this study was to gain a better understanding of privacy across technologies, to discover the similarities, and identify the differences in what privacy means across contexts as well as provide a means to evaluate current theories of privacy. This investigation resulted in a categorization of privacy behaviors associated with technology. There were three high level privacy behavior categories identified: avoidance, modification, and alleviatory behavior. This categorization furthers our understanding about the psychological underpinnings of privacy concerns and suggests that 1) common privacy feelings and behaviors exist across people and technologies and 2) alternative designs which consider these commonalities may increase privacy. Second, I examined one specific human factors issue associated with privacy: disclosure error. This investigation focused on gaining an understanding of how to support privacy by preventing misclosure. A misclosure is an error in disclosure. When information is disclosed in error, or misclosed, privacy is violated in that information not intended for a specific person(s) is nevertheless revealed to that person. The goal of this study was to provide a psychological basis for design suggestions for improving privacy in technology which was grounded in empirical findings. The study furthers our understanding about privacy errors in the following ways: First, it demonstrates for the first time that both younger and older adults experience misclosures . Second, it suggests that misclosures occur even when technology is very familiar to the user. Third, it revealed that some misclosure experiences result in negative consequences, suggesting misclosure is a potential threat to privacy. Finally, by exploring the context surrounding each reported misclosure, I was able to propose potential design suggestions that may decrease the likelihood of misclosure.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2008. / Title from first page of PDF file (viewed April 28, 2008). Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 198-209).

Thesis (M.A.)--Carleton University, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 71-72). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.