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This dissertation describes research in the application and evaluation of a Kohonen Self-Organizing Map (SOM) to the problem of classification of Electronic Brainstorming output. Electronic Brainstorming is one of the most productive tools in the Electronic Meeting System called GroupSystems. A major step in group problem solving involves the classification of Electronic Brainstorming output into a manageable list of concepts, topics, or issues that can be further evaluated by the group. This step is problematic due to the information overload and cognitive load of the large quantity of data. This research builds upon previous work in automating the classification process using a Hopfield Neural Network. Evaluation of the Kohonen output in comparison with the Hopfield and human expert output over the same set of data found that the Kohonen SOM performed as well as a human expert in the recollection of associated term pairs and outperformed the Hopfield Neural Network algorithm. Using information retrieval measures, recall of concepts using the Kohonen algorithm was equivalent to the human expert. However, precision was poor. The graphical representation of textual data produced by the Kohonen SOM suggests many opportunities for improving information management of textual electronic information. Increasing uses of electronic mail, computer-based bulletin board systems, and world-wide web textual data suggest an overwhelming amount of textual information to manage. This research suggests that the Kohonen SOM may be used to automatically create "a picture that can represent a thousand (or more) words."

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Although emerging technologies offer the construction industry many opportunities for IT-enabled collaboration environments, the companies adopting these technologies usually fail. in achieving the full benefits from their implementations. The reason for this is found as focusing too much on the technical factors and ignoring or underestimating the factors related to change, implementation, human and organizational factors, and the roles of the management and end-users. Each new information technology implementation involves some change for the organization and the employees, and is therefore a source of resistance and confusion unless special attention is paid to managing this change. This research aims to find how to introduce collaboration environments to construction organizations and how to manage the changes required in order to obtain the full benefits from their implementation. In order to achieve this aim, the theoretical concepts and previous work on collaboration environment implementations in construction industry, and change management with a focus on organizational change management are reviewed. The perspective of the construction organizations on the implementation of collaboration environments are investigated conducting case studies. Based on the findings from the literature review and the case studies, an organizational change management framework is developed for implementing collaboration environments. A computer based prototype is also developed in order to automate the framework. The framework and the prototype are evaluated by the industry professionals.

Gender is among the most influential of the factors underlying differences in spatial abilities, human communication and interactions with and through computers. Past research has offered important insights into gender differences in navigation and language use. Yet, given the multidimensionality of these domains, many issues remain contentious while others unexplored. Moreover, having been derived from non-interactive, and often artificial, studies, the generalisability of this research to interactive contexts of use, particularly in the practical domain of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), may be problematic. At the same time, little is known about how gender strategies, behaviours and preferences interact with the features of technology in various domains of HCI, including collaborative systems and systems with natural language interfaces. Targeting these knowledge gaps, the thesis aims to address the central question of how gender differences emerge and operate in spatial navigation dialogues with computer systems. To this end, an empirical study is undertaken, in which, mixed-gender and same-gender pairs communicate to complete an urban navigation task, with one of the participants being under the impression that he/she interacts with a robot. Performance and dialogue data were collected using a custom system that supported synchronous navigation and communication between the user and the robot. Based on this empirical data, the thesis describes the key role of the interaction of gender in navigation performance and communication processes, which outweighed the effect of individual gender, moderating gender differences and reversing predicted patterns of performance and language use. This thesis has produced several contributions; theoretical, methodological and practical. From a theoretical perspective, it offers novel findings in gender differences in navigation and communication. The methodological contribution concerns the successful application of dialogue as a naturalistic, and yet experimentally sound, research paradigm to study gender and spatial language. The practical contributions include concrete design guidelines for natural language systems and implications for the development of gender-neutral interfaces in specific domains of HCI.

Situation Awareness (SA) is critical commodity for teams working in complex sociotechnical systems and is thus a fundamental consideration in collaborative system design and evaluation. Despite this, SA remains predominantly an individual construct, with the majority of models and measures focused on SA from an individual perspective. In comparison, team SA has received much less attention and this thesis argues that further work is required in the area both in relation to the development of theoretical perspectives and of valid measures, and to the development of guidelines for system, training and procedure design. This thesis advances team SA theory and measurement by further investigating a recently proposed model of SA in complex collaborative environments, the Distributed Situation Awareness (DSA) approach, and by testing a new methodology for representing and analysing DSA during real world collaborative activities. A review of SA theory and SA measurement approaches is presented. Following this, the DSA theory and propositional network assessment methodology are outlined and a series of case studies on DSA during real world collaborative activities in the military and civil domains are presented. The findings are subsequently used to explore the concept of DSA and the sub-concepts of compatible and transactive SA. In conclusion, a model of DSA in complex collaborative systems is presented, and a series of system design guidelines for supporting DSA are outlined.

There is a growing population of older people around the world and the population of older drivers is increasing in parallel. UK government figures in 2012 reported that there were more than 15 million people with a driving license aged over 60; more than 1 million of these were over 80. The aim of this thesis is to determine the requirements of older users for an improved driving experience leading to recommendations for the automotive industry. Initially it was necessary to understand some of the key issues concerning the driving experiences of older drivers; therefore a questionnaire survey of drivers of all ages (n=903) was conducted supplemented by interviews with drivers aged ≥ 65 years (n=15). Areas covered included: musculoskeletal symptoms, the vehicle seat, driving performance and driving behaviour. Respondents reported that they were dissatisfied with adjusting specific seat features, for example the head rest height and distance from the head; females reported more difficulty than males. Reaching and pulling the boot door down to close was difficult for 12% of older females. Older males and females also reported more difficulties with parallel parking and driving on a foggy day than younger drivers (p < 0.01). Nearly half of the sample (47%) reported that other drivers lights restrict their vision when driving at night. An in depth study was conducted to compare participants own vehicle (familiar) and a test vehicle (unfamiliar) to understand how design of the vehicle cab impacts on posture, comfort, health and wellbeing in older drivers (n=47, ≥ 50 years). The study involved functional performance assessments, seat set-up process evaluation (observations and postural analysis), ergonomics and emotional design based evaluations of car seat controls. Many issues were identified related to the seat controls such as operating, accessing, reaching and finding, particularly for the head rest height and lumbar support adjustments. Approximately 40% of the participants had difficulty turning their head and body around to adjust the head rest height, and the majority of these were over 80. This led to a series of workshops (including a participatory design exercise) with 18 participants (4 groups, ≥ 65 years).The aim was to explore the optimum positioning and operation of controls for older drivers. This research has provided foundational data and makes design recommendations for the automotive industry with a focus on making seat controls more inclusive (operation, location, type, size, colour and materials) and meet the requirements of older drivers.

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L'Algérie fait partie des pays qui subissent un risque important en matière d'incendies de forêts, elle perd en moyenne 30 000 ha de sa couverture végétale annuellement. Ce chiffre montre, à lui seul, le niveau du risque incendie de forêt dans ce pays et suscite une inquiétude concernant les conséquences de cet aléa à plus longue échéance. Afin de cerner les enjeux environnementaux actuels et futurs, nous avons opté pour l'étude de l'effet des incendies sur les écosystèmes forestiers algériens et la mise en relief des tendances actuelles. Dans cette perspective, nous avons choisi comme objet d'étude les forêts de la Kabylie maritime (nord algérien) qui connaissent des fréquences assez élevées d'incendies et une importante vulnérabilité, depuis maintenant plusieurs années. L'étude consiste à retracer l'évolution du risque incendie dans cet espace forestier et mettre en évidence les changements morphologiques, structuraux et floraux qui y sont intervenus à travers le temps, mais aussi à analyser les changements du climat et de l'occupation de l'espace par l'homme. Ceci, afin de saisir l'influence future du changement climatique et des comportements sociaux sur l'évolution de la forêt algérienne et de tenter d'esquisser des scénarios possibles permettant d'anticiper sur des situations à risques. / Algeria is among the countries that undergo a significant risk in terms of forest fires, it loses an average of 30 000 ha of its land cover annually. This figure shows, in itself, the forest fire risk level in this country and raises a concern about the consequences of this hazard in the longer term. To identify current and future environmental issues, we decided to study the effect of fires on forest ecosystems and Algerian highlighting current trends. In this perspective, we have chosen as a case study the forests of maritime Kabylia (Algeria North) experiencing relatively high frequency of fires and a significant vulnerability for several years now. The study is to trace the evolution of the fire risk in this forest area and highlight the morphological, structural and floral changes that have occurred there over time, but also to analyze climate change and occupation space by man. This, to capture the future impact of climate change and social behavior on the evolution of the Algerian forest and attempt to outline possible scenarios to anticipate risk situations.

<p>General Aviation (GA) is the foundation of most flying activities and the training ground for civilian pilots, both recreational and professional. However, the safety record for GA is lacking compared to that of commercial aviation. Approximately 75% of accidents each year involve personnel factors, that is, even if the pilot was not the cause of the accident, they could have done something to either prevent it or improve the outcome.<br></p> <p> </p> <p>In this research, I aim to improve GA safety through safety-driven post-flight debrief that encourages pilots to consider the risk in their flights and identify behavioral changes that could make their flying safer. Providing pilots with a debrief tool that they can use with or without a flight instructor requires that we know both what to communicate, and how to communicate it. Risk communication heuristics and biases have not been researched in the context of aviation and flight training and we therefore do not know how pilots understand or respond to debrief.</p> <p> </p> <p>To achieve the goals of this work, I used a three-step process: (1) identify events that may put the safe outcome of a flight at risk, (2) detect those events in flight data, and (3) inform the pilot in a way that helps them improve in their future flights. I use a state-based representation of historical aviation accidents to define a list of events or behaviors that need to be communicated to the pilots, in the form of states and triggers. I use flight data to retrospectively detect these behaviors upon completion of the flight, by mapping parameters or combinations of parameters that can be calculated and tracked in the flight data to the hazardous states and triggers defined. To present these events to pilots, I created a prototype interactive debrief tool with risk information that I use in a survey to evaluate the effectiveness of feedback in different representation formats. Specifically, I evaluate the impact of three factors: representation method (graphical and numerical), parameter type (safety and performance parameters), and framing language (risk-centric and safety-centric). </p> <p> </p> <p>I disseminated the survey via aviation mailing lists, type groups, flying clubs, and flight training providers, end received 268 responses. The survey analysis showed that the feedback representation does affect its effectiveness in terms of risk perception, but not when it comes to pilots’ motivation to change. The lessons learnt from this survey can be used in creating additional surveys that delve further into risk communication biases and our understanding of how pilots perceive risk and feedback.</p>