Ideas are formed in a process of idea generation that includes creation, development, and communication of new ideas. Drawing has been used as a support for ideation for centuries. Today, computerized tools are commonly used for drawing. Such tools form a user interface between the human and the resulting drawing presented on the screen. The interface may come between the user and the drawing in a disruptive way also affecting the ideation process. Using controlled laboratory studies, this thesis investigates the consequences of drawing with different user interfaces in two types of tasks: creative drawing tasks (based on a standardized test of creativity) and non-creative drawing tasks (i.e. shape-tracing tasks where no new idea is created). The goal was to identify and evaluate the consequences of the several issues originating from the use of different input devices, the functionality of the graphical user interfaces, the formulation of the drawing task, and the user’s previous experience. The results showed that drawing tasks are oriented toward quality of outcomes and that higher input accuracy led to higher quality of outcomes of both creative and non-creative drawing tasks. This came with a trade-off between the quantity and quality. In ideation, less accurate input devices facilitated significantly more ideas but these were of lower quality. In non-creative tracing, higher speeds caused lower quality of outcomes. The users subjectively preferred higher accuracy, also when an inaccurate user interface offered an eraser function. However, using the eraser allowed avoiding reinterpretations of ideas and led to ideation strategies characterized by laborious drawing that negatively affected the quality and quantity of the ideas produced. For non-creative drawing, the more difficult the shapes were, the lower the tracing accuracy. In the thesis a new framework for interaction analysis is introduced that improves the theoretical and practical understanding of computerized drawing tasks and the phenomena resulting from different aspects of the user interface design of computerized drawing tools. This thesis demonstrates that the inaccuracy of computerized tools cannot only make our drawings less aesthetically pleasing but also negatively affect ideas that are created in the process.

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User input has taken many forms since the conception of computers. In the past ten years, Tablet PCs have provided a natural writing experience for users with the advent of active pen input. Unfortunately, pen based input has yet to be adopted as an input method by any modern mobile operating system. This thesis investigates the addition of active pen based input to the Android mobile operating system. The Android input framework was evaluated and modified to allow for active pen input events. Since active pens allow for their position to be detected without making contact with the screen, an on-screen pointer was implemented to provide a digital representation of the pen's position. Extensions to the Android Software Development Kit (SDK) were made to expose the additional functionality provided by active pen input to developers. Pen capable hardware was used to test the Android framework and SDK additions and show that active pen input is a viable input method for Android powered devices. Android was chosen because it is open source and therefore available to modify and test on physical hardware. Gingerbread (Android 2.3) was used as the code base for this thesis. All modifications to the Android framework that are detailed in this thesis will be made available online. The goal of this thesis is to explore methods of integrating and exposing active pen input in Android and encourage the implementation and adoption of active pen input by Google as a standard input method in Android.

Η παρούσα διπλωματική εκπονήθηκε στο εργαστήριο Αλληλεπίδρασης Ανθρώπου Υπολογιστή του τμήματος Ηλεκτρολόγων Μηχανικών και Τεχνολογίας Υπολογιστών του Πανεπιστημίου Πατρών. Σα στόχο είχε τη μελέτη της αλληλεπίδρασης σε ομάδες συνεργασίας με τη χρήση φορητών υπολογιστών, και εστίασε στις δυνατότητες που παρέχει ο υπολογιστής ταμπλέτας με σκοπό τη βελτιστοποίηση της ποιότητας διδασκαλίας. Η εφαρμογή η οποία χρησιμοποιήθηκε αρχικά ήταν το Synergo Supervisor Station, το οποίο αποτελεί εργαλείο της γενικότερης πλατφόρμας Synergo. Επανασχεδιάστηκαν ορισμένα τμήματα της διεπιφάνειας της εφαρμογής αυτής αλλά και υλοποιήθηκε ένα νέο εργαλείο για την παρακολούθηση των επιφανειών εργασιών των ομάδων συνεργασίας σε πραγματικό χρόνο. Το εργαλείο αυτό ονομάζεται Synergo Vision και είναι και αυτό μέρος της γενικότερης πλατφόρμας Synergo. Το Synergo Vision μπορεί να λειτουργήσει και αυτόνομα αλλά και ως πρόσθετο στο Synergo Supervisor Station. Με το Synergo Vision ο καθηγητής μπορεί να βλέπει σε πραγματικό χρόνο τους χώρους εργασίας των συνεργαζόμενων ομάδων, τις κινήσεις των μελών κάθε ομάδας, να αποστέλλει δραστηριότητες στις ομάδες, να επικοινωνεί μαζί τους μέσω μηνυμάτων, εκμεταλλευόμενος τις δυνατότητες που του προσφέρει η πένα των υπολογιστών ταμπλέτας αλλά και ο προβολέας σαν εναλλακτική μορφή διαδραστικού πίνακα. Κατά τη διαδικασία ανάπτυξης ακολουθήθηκε επαναληπτική διαδικασία σχεδίασης με διαδοχικούς σχεδιασμούς, υλοποιήσεις και αξιολογήσεις. / This diploma thesis was prepared for the Human – Computer Interaction (HCI) Group of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department of University of Patras. The main object of this thesis was the study of the interaction on collaborative groups using portable computers, and focused on the possibilities provided by the tablet computer to optimize the teaching process. The application that was used firstly was Synergo Supervisor Station, which is part of the wider platform Synergo. Some parts of its user interface were redesigned, and a new application was developed for watching the workspaces of collaborative groups in real time. That application is called Synergo Vision and it is part of the wider platform Synergo, as well. Synergo Vision can run as a standalone application and as plug-in for Synergo Supervisor Station. Using Synergo Vision the teacher is able to watch in real time the workspaces of the collaborative groups, the moves of each group member, send activities to the groups, communicate with them using text messages, taking the advantages of the table computers’ stylus and the use of the projector as an alternative form of an interactive whiteboard. During the development phase, we use recursive design with consecutive design, implementation and evaluation strategies.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / Dasyphyllum brasiliense has two sexual systems: monoecious and gynodioecious, being the studied population characterized as gynodioecy, constituted by complete and pistilated individuals. The evolution of this system depends on the influence of the medium on the morphology and biology of the different floral types. Studies that unite these areas are extremely important in understanding the evolution of gynodioecy. In this way, the objective of this work was to compare the floral morphology, the development of stamens / staminodes and ecological aspects in a population of the species. The different individuals have clear differences in flower size and morphology. Floral pieces are larger in whole individuals except stigma, which has larger lobes, in addition to containing more trichomes and a wider degree of aperture. The anthers of complete flowers have common development for the family and the abortion in the other morph occurs during the development of the parietal layers, what establishes these individuals like pistillates. The complete individuals have a greater diversity of floral visitors, but the species that participates most in pollination in both is Apis melifera. Through these data and phenology, which shows a higher percentage of phenophases in complete individuals in the population, it can be thought that these have a greater advantage over the others, but the pistillates individuals occur in greater numbers in the population, a fact that must have relation with the high predation of the seeds, probably due to attractiveness such as greater floral size and presence of pollen grains as food resources. This predation is part of the evolutionary process, allowing the population control, in order to keep the individuals pistillates. Thus, the theory of resource allocation can be established in the evolutionary process of the species. / Dasyphyllum brasiliense possui dois sistemas sexuais: monoico e ginodioico, sendo a população estudada caracterizada como ginodioica, constituída por indivíduos completos e pistilados. A evolução desse sistema depende da influencia do meio sobre a morfologia e biologia dos diferentes tipos florais. Estudos que unam estas áreas são extremamente importantes no entendimento da evolução da ginodioicia. Desta forma, este trabalho teve por objetivo comparar a morfologia floral, o desenvolvimento dos estames/estaminódios e aspectos ecológicos em uma população da espécie. Os diferentes indivíduos possuem claras diferenças de tamanho e morfologia das flores. As peças florais são maiores nos indivíduos completos, exceto ao estigma, que possui lobos maiores, além de conter mais tricomas e um grau de abertura mais amplo. As anteras de flores perfeitas possuem desenvolvimento comum para a família e o abortamento no outro morfo ocorre durante o desenvolvimento das camadas parietais, o que estabelece estes indivíduos como pistilados. Os indivíduos completos tem maior diversidade de visitantes florais, porém a espécie que mais participa da polinização em ambos é Apis melifera. Através destes dados e da fenologia, que mostra maior percentagem de fenofases em indivíduos completos na população, pode ser pensado que estes têm maior vantagem sobre os demais, porém os indivíduos pistilados ocorrem em maior número na população, fato que deve ter relação com a alta predação das sementes, provavelmente devido a atrativos como maior tamanho floral e presença de grãos de pólen como recurso alimentar. Esta predação faz parte do processo evolutivo, permitindo o controle populacional, de forma a manter os indivíduos pistilados. Sendo assim a teoria da alocação de recursos pode se estabelecer no processo evolutivo da espécie.

We present SetPad, a new application prototype that lets computer science students explore discrete math problems by sketching set expressions using pen-based input. Students can manipulate the expressions interactively with the tool via pen or multi-touch interface. Likewise, discrete mathematics instructors can use SetPad to display and work through set problems via a projector to better demonstrate the solutions to the students. We discuss the implementation and feature set of the application, as well as results from both an informal perceived usefulness evaluation for students taking a computer science foundation exam in addition to a formal user study measuring the effectiveness of the tool when solving set proof problems. The results indicate that SetPad was well received, allows for efficient solutions to proof problems, and has the potential to have a positive impact when used as as an individual student application or an instructional tool.

Cette thèse, motivée par les recherches récentes sur la « rhétorique musicale », étudie le nombre éloquent, notion aux nombreuses ramifications dans les domaines oratoire et poétique, encore peu examinée dans le champ musical. L’approche est philologique, comparatiste et historique, et vise à déterminer dans quelle mesure, entre 1600 et 1750, les modes d’approche et de perception du nombre en poésie et dans l’art oratoire ont eu leur équivalent en musique, en Italie (jésuite essentiellement) et en Allemagne. Après une mise en perspective de la culture des spécialistes de musique, partagée entre rhétorique scolaire et éloquence adulte, l’examen du découpage conceptuel opéré par les Anciens entre oratio vincta et soluta permet d’identifier des modes de composition, d’écoute et de prononciation du discours musical vocal et instrumental. La perception de la stricte récurrence propre à la musique métrique (vincta) contraste avec celle de la bigarrure variée de la musique « en prose » (soluta), et les approches érudites et néophytes diffèrent. Au plan micro-structurel, les périodes musicales sont abordées à l’instar des périodes oratoires. Selon qu’elles sont « arrondies » ou « articulées », elles mettent en œuvre le nombre grâce aux rythmes, à la conduite harmonieuse et à un travail de structuration par amplification. L’écriture périodique apparaît comme un principe fondamental de composition. La réflexion sur l’éloquence du nombre en musique s’inscrit finalement dans le débat touchant le meilleur style. Tenants de la brièveté musicale et partisans de l’abondance s’opposent, appliquant au domaine musical les réflexions sur le laconisme, l’atticisme et l’enflure. / This dissertation was undertaken in the wake of the recent research about musical rhetoric and focuses on the rhetorical number, a concept of acknowledged significance in the field of oratory and poetry that as yet has seldom been examined in the field of music. Following a philological, comparative and historical approach, the present study aims at determining to what extent the modes of perception and approach of the numerus in poetry and rhetoric had counterparts in music in Italy (mainly among the Jesuits) and Germany between 1600 and 1750. The study first deals with the culture of music specialists, which relates partly to scholastic rhetoric and partly to mature eloquence, and then investigates the conceptual division set by the Ancients between oratio vincta and soluta, so as to show that such division makes it possible to delineate the composition and listening and pronunciation processes of musical discourse, both vocal and instrumental. Perception of the strict recurrence that is specific to metrical music (vincta) contrasts with the heterogeneous variety of « prose »music (soluta) and it differs among scholars and novices. As for the microstructures of discourse, musical periods are tackled similarly to oratorical periods. Whether they are « rounded » or « articulated », they become rhythmical thanks to metrical feet or harmonious structure as well as processes of amplification. Periodical style appears fundamental to composition. The present dissertation eventually shows that the discussion of musical oratio numerosa is related to the impassioned debate over the best musical style (brevity, abundance, laconism, atticism and bombast).

We investigate, model, and design interaction techniques for hand occlusion with direct pen input. Our focus on occlusion follows from a qualitative and quantitative study of direct pen usability with a conventional graphical user interface (GUI). This study reveals overarching problems relating to poor precision, ergonomics, cognitive differences, limited input, and problems resulting from occlusion. To investigate occlusion more closely, we conduct three formal experiments to examine its area and shape, its affect on performance, and compensatory postures. We find that the shape of the occluded area varies across participants with some common characteristics. Our results provide evidence that occlusion affects target selection performance: especially for continuous tasks or when the goal is initially hidden. We observe how users contort their wrist posture during a simultaneous monitoring task, and show this can increase task time. Based on these investigations, we develop a five parameter geometric model to represent the shape of the occluded area and extend this to a user configurable, real-time version. To evaluate our model, we introduce a novel analytic testing methodology using optimization for geometric fitting and precision-recall statistics for comparison; as well as conducting a user study. To address problems with occlusion, we introduce the notion of occlusion-aware interfaces: techniques which can use our configurable model to track currently occluded regions and then counteract potential problems and/or utilize the occluded area. As a case study, we present the Occlusion-Aware Viewer: an interaction technique which displays otherwise missed previews and status messages in a non-occluded area. Within this thesis we also present a number of methodology contributions for quantitative and qualitative study design, multi-faceted study logging using synchronized video, qualitative analysis, image-based analysis, task visualization, optimization-based analytical testing, and user interface image processing.

We investigate, model, and design interaction techniques for hand occlusion with direct pen input. Our focus on occlusion follows from a qualitative and quantitative study of direct pen usability with a conventional graphical user interface (GUI). This study reveals overarching problems relating to poor precision, ergonomics, cognitive differences, limited input, and problems resulting from occlusion. To investigate occlusion more closely, we conduct three formal experiments to examine its area and shape, its affect on performance, and compensatory postures. We find that the shape of the occluded area varies across participants with some common characteristics. Our results provide evidence that occlusion affects target selection performance: especially for continuous tasks or when the goal is initially hidden. We observe how users contort their wrist posture during a simultaneous monitoring task, and show this can increase task time. Based on these investigations, we develop a five parameter geometric model to represent the shape of the occluded area and extend this to a user configurable, real-time version. To evaluate our model, we introduce a novel analytic testing methodology using optimization for geometric fitting and precision-recall statistics for comparison; as well as conducting a user study. To address problems with occlusion, we introduce the notion of occlusion-aware interfaces: techniques which can use our configurable model to track currently occluded regions and then counteract potential problems and/or utilize the occluded area. As a case study, we present the Occlusion-Aware Viewer: an interaction technique which displays otherwise missed previews and status messages in a non-occluded area. Within this thesis we also present a number of methodology contributions for quantitative and qualitative study design, multi-faceted study logging using synchronized video, qualitative analysis, image-based analysis, task visualization, optimization-based analytical testing, and user interface image processing.

<p>This thesis was performed at the research centre CINECA in Bologna, Italy. An interface with six degrees of freedom, 6DOF, to be used in a virtual environ- ment for the positioning of medical components was developed in co-operation with IOR, one of the most important orthopaedic hospitals in Italy. The main reason for doing this was to find out whether or not a virtual en-viron-ment and 6DOF interaction could make the pre-operative planning of an ope-ration more efficient compared to other techniques. Is it easy to posi-tion an object using stereovision and a 6DOF tracker tool? Further-more, the interface might also be used in other applications and areas in the future. </p><p>Described is the development of an interaction class especially constructed for the use of a tracking tool called a stylus pen. This tool takes advantage of all 6DOF, i.e. it recognises movements in the x, y and z directions and likewise the orientation of the tool around the three axis. Moreover, an application which uses the interaction class was created in order to evaluate its usefulness. The application enables the user to load, save and position objects within a virtual environment. The result of this evaluation is then described and discussed. </p><p>In the evaluations it was shown that the stylus pen with 6DOF is an intuitive in-ter-action tool which works well for positioning. The stereovision also seems to further improve the users ability to position objects. However, the created interaction class needs to be further developed before itcan be implemented in a pre-operative planning tool.</p>