Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

This thesis investigates the effect of incorporating various information visualisation techniques and non-speech sounds (i.e. auditory icons and earcons) in email browsing. This empirical work consisted of three experimental phases. The first experimental phase aimed at finding out the most usable visualisation techniques for presenting email information. This experiment involved the development of two experimental email visualisation approaches which were called LinearVis and MatrixVis. These approaches visualised email messages based on a dateline together with various types of email information such as the time and the senders. The findings of this experiment were used as a basis for the development of a further email visualisation approach which was called LinearVis II. This novel approach presented email data based on multi-coordinated views. The usability of messages retrieval in this approach was investigated and compared to a typical email client in the second experimental phase. Users were required to retrieve email messages in the two experiments with the provided relevant information such as the subject, status and priority. The third experimental phase aimed at exploring the usability of retrieving email messages by using other type of email data, particularly email threads. This experiment investigated the synergic use of graphical representations with non-speech sounds (Multimodal Metaphors), graphical representations and textual display to present email threads and to communicate contextual information about email threads. The findings of this empirical study demonstrated that there is a high potential for using information visualisation techniques and non-speech sounds (i.e. auditory icons and earcons) to improve the usability of email message retrieval. Furthermore, the thesis concludes with a set of empirically derived guidelines for the use of information visualisation techniques and non-speech sound to improve email browsing. / Taibah University in Medina and the Ministry of Higher Education in Saudi Arabia.

No / As the Internet and World Wide Web continue to influence corporate and private activities, systems are needed that mimic human-to-human interface, to simplify the human-to-computer interface. Intelligent Agents are likely to play a significant role in the design of such interfaces, and this book explores how they could influence media-based systems. Throughout, the text maps out the considerable advances that have already been made, paving the way toward a future where computers will be truly described as an intelligent aid to our personal and business lives.

Data visualisation can provide a user-friendly way to observe and understand data. It can make is easier to make well-informed decision and communicate findings in data. This study aims to research how to effectively structure and visualize a complex data sets in order to improve a battery discharge process. By implementing a dashboard and visualising a data set from electrical battery discharging, the following objectives are considered; analyse and identify which parameters and variables are most important in the battery discharging process. Analyse how data transformation and cleaning can support data visualisations. Define an interface that visualises the trends, anomalies and correlations of the data set. Evaluate how the visual representation is perceived by users in the battery recycling process?The study followed the User Centered Design method, which consist of five phases that are iterated. During the phases Identify needs and Specify context of use six stake holder interviews was held, theses were analysed through an Affinity diagram and Personas. In the phase Specify requirements requirements are established by conducting a user journey mapping. The data and insights from the previous phases was turned into ideas and solutions in the phase Produce design solutions. In total three low-fidelity and one high-fidelity prototype were created, as well as one implemented solution. In the last phase Evaluate design the design solutions were tested though, interviews, usability test and a survey. The result of the study strengthens the theory that data visualisations can be used to provide insights. The findings show that visualisation to some extent could help detect abnormalities, patterns and correlation between variables, which could be useful in improving a process.

Humans are very good at conveying when something is lost or misinterpreted in communication by using social cues like facial expressions or changes in prosody. However, these methods are usually not applicable for most robots, which are appearance constrained and vocality constrained. This is also one of the key factors that restrain the efficiency of Human-Robot Interaction (HRI). In this project, we explore a novel paradigm for enhancing the perception of the robot’s internal states using augmented reality (AR). A series of visualization interfaces augmenting either the environment, robot, or target object are implemented and evaluated through a user study. We found that AR visualization improved efficiency and motion predictability over a control group in which there is no visualization. The project shows not only the potential of AR visualizing as a bridge coordinating human and robot, but also a promising future of applications visualising robot’s internal states. / Människor är mycket bra på att förmedla när något går förlorat eller tolkas felaktigt i kommunikationen genom att använda sociala ledtrådar som ansiktsuttryck eller förändringar i prosodi. Dessa metoder är dock vanligtvis inte tillämpliga för de flesta robotar, vilka är begränsade till utseendet och begränsad vokalitet. Detta är också en av nyckelfaktorerna som begränsar effektiviteten i Human-Robot Interaction (HRI). I detta projekt utforskar vi ett nytt paradigm för att förbättra uppfattningen om robotens interna tillstånd med hjälp av augmented reality (AR). En serie visualiseringsgränssnitt som förstärker antingen miljön, roboten eller målobjektet implementeras och utvärderas genom en användarstudie. Vi fann att AR-visualisering förbättrade effektiviteten och rörelsesförutsägbarheten över en kontrollgrupp där det inte finns någon visualisering. Projektet visar inte bara potentialen för AR- visualisering som en bro som koordinerar människa och robot utan också en lovande framtid för applikationer som visualiserar robotens interna tillstånd.

The mining industry uses vehicles for a wide range of applications, including excavation and transportation of rock and soil. Currently, this requires a lot of human labour, mainly drivers, but efforts are being made to increase automation, e.g. using autonomous vehicles. In order for a vehicle to reach any level of autonomy, it needs to be aware of its surroundings, for instance by using sensors. The placement of the sensors is a difficult problem. The goal of this project was to create a tool that would simplify the sensor placement process. The tool should simulate sensors on autonomous vehicles, both by visualizing their field of view and by generating synthetic data. The tool was created, including simulation environments, models of different types of sensors and tools to analyze the results of the simulation. Both the field of view visualization and the data analysis tools were shown to be powerful tools for evaluating sensor placements. All of the sensor models are able to generate data, with different levels of realism. The radar model and the camera model give a good estimation of what the sensors can detect, while the lidar model is capable of generating realistic data. / Gruvindustrin använder fordon till ett stort antal olika uppgifter, bland annat till att gräva ut och förflytta sten och jord. Detta kräver för tillfället mycket manuellt arbete, framförallt förare, men försök att automatisera delar av arbetet utförs, till exempel genom att använda autonoma fordon. För att ett fordon ska kunna bli autonomt krävs det att det kan känna av sin omgivning, exempelvis genom att använda sensorer. Sensorplacering är ett svårt problem. Målet med projektet var att skapa ett verktyg för att förenkla sensorplaceringsprocessen. Verktyget skulle simulera sensorer på autonoma fordon, både genom att visualisera deras synfält och genom att generera syntetisk data. Verktyget skapades, inklusive simuleringsmiljöer, modeller av olika typer av sensorer, och verktyg för att analysera genererad data. Både synfältsvisualiseringen och datagenereringen visades vara användbara verktyg för att utvärdera sensorplaceringar. Alla sensormodellerna kan generera data, med olika realistiska resultat. Radarmodellen och kameramodellen ger en bra uppskattning av vad sensorerna kan detektera, medan lidarmodellen kan generera realistisk data.

A digital twin project is launched by the Integrative Systems Biology (ISB) research team and led by Gunnar Cedersund. The digital twin project is based on biological models of physiological processes, that can interact and be tailored for a specific person. However, the digital twin can currently not analyse movements of a human body. In this master thesis, the aim was to create a useful pipeline that expands the digital twin project with biomechanical modelling of movements, and also visualises the twins by letting the concept take human form. The biomechanical analysis was done in the software OpenSim, where the movements of a motion captured dance were analysed. To generate a simulation of the motion with an acceptable error in a reasonable computation time, a musculoskeletal model was created in OpenSim and scaled to best fit the anthropometry of the dancer. Then, the motion was estimated with an optimised procedure by using the scaled model and the motion capture data. The Root-Mean Squared (RMS) error of the estimated dance with accuracy 10-6 was 2.39 cm. In this thesis, the torque in each joint for the dance motion was estimated. The loads and muscle forces can also be estimated in OpenSim. One useful application is for calculating energy consumption. In order to calculate muscle forces, external forces needs to be measured while recording motion capture. This is something that will be focused on in the future, when continuing with this project. The visualisation of the digital twins were made in Unreal Engine with MetaHuman avatars. The dance recorded in motion capture, were applied to the avatars in order to make them dance. The recorded dance was the same for both OpenSim and Unreal Engine, so the dance could both be viewed and analysed. In conclusion, we have added a new feature to the existing digital twin technology: movements and simulation of the musculoskeletal system. This new feature can in the future be used for both medical purposes such as movement-based rehabilitation as well as for integration into dance performances.

With the rapid development and increased use of technology, making technology accessible for every user is becoming even more important. A vital part in the process of achieving this is evaluating products as part of the development process. This design-oriented study explores how a visualisation of a product’s accessibility performance can aid in creating a more inclusive and accessible product by increasing awareness and understanding amongst product stakeholders. To explore the requirements of such a visualisation a prototype was developed for a music streaming service’s desktop application and evaluated through a study with six stakeholders. All participants had a positive attitude towards the prototype and expressed that it helped them find accessibility issues. Five out of six participants felt they understood what an issue entailed and whom it could affect. Several different areas of usage were proposed by the participants, who also believed a broad group of different stakeholders could benefit from using a tool like this. The results showed that the proposed design could increase awareness and create a deeper understanding for accessibility issues amongst stakeholders. No specific part of the design could be identified as more valuable than the other, which indicated that the value lied within the prototype as a whole. Together all parts created a versatile tool that could be used to fulfil different users’ need in different situations. / Den snabba utvecklingen och det ökande användandet av teknik ökar vikten av att göra teknik tillgänglig för alla användare. En vital del I denna process är att integrera utvärdering av produkter i utvecklingsprocessen. Denna designorienterade studie utforskar hur en visualisering av en produkts prestation med avseende på tillgänglighet kan underlätta skapandet av mer inkluderande och tillgängliga produkter, genom att öka medvetenhet och förståelse hos intressenter i produktutvecklingen. För att utforska kraven på en sådan visualisering utvecklades en prototyp för ett musikstreamingföretags skrivbordsapplikation och utvärderades genom en studie med sex deltagare. Alla deltagare visade en positiv attityd mot prototypen och uttryckte att den hjälpte dem hitta problem med tillgänglighet. Fem av sex deltagare kände att de förstod vad ett problem innebar och vem det kunde påverka. Flera olika användningsområden föreslogs av deltagarna, som också menade att en bred grupp användare kunde gynnas av att använda ett verktyg som detta. Studiens resultat visade att den föreslagna designen kunde öka medvetenhet och skapa en djupare förståelse för tillgänglighetsproblem hos intressenter i produktutvecklingen. Ingen specifik del av designen kunde identifieras som mer värdefull än någon annan, vilket indikerade att prototypens värde ligger i dess helhet. Tillsammans skapade alla delar ett mångsidigt verktyg som kan fylla olika användares behov i olika typer av situationer.