Aided by advances in information technology, decision support systems (DSS) are widely used throughout organizations. These DSS are limited to support of specific structured and semi-structured management tasks for individual decision-makers and use primarily quantitative models. The next step in the evolution of DSS is to support complex, unstructured decision processes using qualitative, creativity enhancement models. The purpose of this research was to design, implement and evaluate an automated system to support complex, unstructured group decision processes. Idea generation and management in organization planning has been chosen as the domain for the system. A DSS architecture has been developed that includes a process management system component in addition to traditional data, dialogue and model management components. A group DSS and knowledge-based management system approach are central features of the system architecture. Software engineering methods were used to design, implement and evaluate the technical feasibility of the prototype system. Action research using participant and structured observation methods was used to study the (1) dynamics of the idea generation process during automated brainstorming, (2) influence of the technology on the idea generation process and (3) satisfaction of the planners with automated brainstorming for idea generation in a group setting. The findings of the research indicate that automated, networked idea generation can assist groups of planners in generating ideas during planning sessions. These ideas were accurately represented and stored and efficiently retrieved using a semantic inheritance network and frame knowledge management system implemented using a specially-designed knowledge representation language developed by the author. Over 100 planners from a variety of organizations used the system. Data indicated that computer brainstorming changed group dynamics, especially group interaction and participation. The anonymity provided by EBS neutralized social inhibitions and, in combination with the capability for parallel idea generation on the computer network, helped equalize participation. Minimal group interaction occurred. Planners using interactive computer brainstorming reported high levels of satisfaction with the process and outcome of the planning session.

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Arts, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfillment of the requirements of the Degree of Masters of Arts. / Technological advancement has changed the nature of interactions within modern man-machine systems, with workload becoming more a load on the mental capacities of the human systems component than on his/her physical capabilities. Moreover increased system capabilities may have disproportionately reduced the time available to perform these mental operations, thereby adding new and more complex cognitive tasks. A concept crucial to the evaluation of modern man-machine systems is that of the resulting implications of loading and overloading the cognitive capabilities of the human systems component, namely the measurement of mental workload. ( Abbreviation abstract ) / AC2017

A project report submitted to the Faculty of Engineering, University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Engineering. Johannesburg 1995. / Advances in digital computing technology make it possible to improve the design of the Man Machine Interface (MMI), SCADA and ALARM modules used in electrical utility control centres. to overcome the problem of control staff data overloading. A possible solution is proposed, based on-an explicit representation of a disturbed power system state in addition to quiescent conditions. The structure of modem SCADA, installations is analysed in terms of the computing power of full graphic workstations, the quantities of element data delivered to the control room and the capabilities of intelligent remote terminal units. This analysis indicates that existing designs for the presentation of SCADA data need to change to solve the data overloading-problem. The proposed philosophy moves the focus of attention from the element level up to the device level by grouping and dividing all elements into categories at the RTU and linking them to their parent device, Control staff are notified graphically on the one-line displays, next to the device in question, of the existence of abnormal elements by category. The element state details for the device are only displayed on demand, resulting in a 95% reduction of alarm text messages. Suggestions are made as to the software functions needed at tbe RTU and the workstation to assist with the display of system data. Lastly racommendations are offered to reduce maintenance by standardising and pre-ordering device element data. / AC2017

Trust and speech are both essential aspects of human interaction. On the one hand, trust is necessary for vocal communication to be meaningful. On the other hand, humans have developed a way to infer someone’s trustworthiness from their voice, as well as to signal their own. Yet, research on trustworthiness attributions to speakers is scarce and contradictory, and very often uses explicit data, which do not predict actual trusting behaviour. However, measuring behaviour is very important to have an actual representation of trust. This thesis contains 5 experiments aimed at examining the influence of various voice characteristics — including accent, prosody, emotional expression and naturalness — on trusting behaviours towards virtual players and robots. The experiments have the "investment game"—a method derived from game theory, which allows to measure implicit trustworthiness attributions over time — as their main methodology. Results show that standard accents, high pitch, slow articulation rate and smiling voice generally increase trusting behaviours towards a virtual agent, and a synthetic voice generally elicits higher trustworthiness judgments towards a robot. The findings also suggest that different voice characteristics influence trusting behaviours with different temporal dynamics. Furthermore, the actual behaviour of the various speaking agents was modified to be more or less trustworthy, and results show that people’s trusting behaviours develop over time accordingly. Also, people reinforce their trust towards speakers that they deem particularly trustworthy when these speakers are indeed trustworthy, but punish them when they are not. This suggests that people’s trusting behaviours might also be influenced by the congruency of their first impressions with the actual experience of the speaker’s trustworthiness — a "congruency effect". This has important implications in the context of Human–Machine Interaction, for example for assessing users’ reactions to speaking machines which might not always function properly. Taken together, the results suggest that voice influences trusting behaviour, and that first impressions of a speaker’s trustworthiness based on vocal cues might not be indicative of future trusting behaviours, and that trust should be measured dynamically.

Touch is one of the less exploited sensory channels in human machine interactions. While the introduction of the tactile feedback would improve the user experience in several fields, such as training for medical operators, teleoperation, computer aided design and 3D model exploration, no interfaces able to mimic accurately and realistically the tactile feeling produced by the contact with a real soft object are currently available. Devices able to simulate the contact with soft bodies, such as the human organs, might improve the experience. The existing commercially available tactile displays consist of complex mechanisms that limit their portability. Moreover, no devices are able to provide tactile stimuli via a soft interface that can also modulate the contact area with the finger pad, which is required to realistically mimic the contact with soft bodies, as needed for example in systems aimed at simulating interactions with virtual biological tissues or in robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery. The aim of this thesis is to develop such a wearable tactile display based on the dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs). DEAs are a class of materials that respond to an electric field producing a deformation. In particular, in this thesis, the tactile element consists of a so-called hydrostatically coupled dielectric elastomer actuator (HC-DEAs). HC-DEAs rely on an incompressible fluid that hydrostatically couples a DEA-based active part to a passive part interfaced to the user. The display was also tested within a closed-loop configuration consisting of a hand tracking system and a custom made virtual environment. This proof of concept system allowed for a validation of the abilities of the display. Mechanical and psychophysical tests were performed in order to assess the ability of the system to provide tactile stimuli that can be distinguished by the users. Also, the miniaturisation of the HC-DEA was investigated for applications in refreshable Braille displays or arrays of tactile elements for tactile maps.

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 1982. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ENGINEERING. / Vita. / Bibliography: leaves 122-124. / by Frederich Nelson Tou. / M.S.

Thesis. 1975. B.S.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. / Includes bibliographical references. / by George Fawcett, Jr. / B.S.

Thesis. 1978. Ph.D. cn--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering. / Vita. / Bibliography: p. 208-212. / Ph.D.cn

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 1981. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ENGINEERING. / Bibliography: leaves 75-77. / by Bradley L. Hunter. / M.S.

Thesis (B.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 1981. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ENGINEERING. / Bibliography: leaves 46-47. / by Paul Byers Trevithick. / B.S.