A pragmatic method for designing compliant mechanisms is developed in this thesis, by selecting among existing mechanisms one that may be modified as required. This method complements existing techniques by answering questions of the existence and multiplicity of solutions for the given specifications of a practical problem. The premise for the method is a 2D map that juxta- poses the problem-specifications and the characteristics of compliant mechanisms in a database. The selection of the most suitable mechanisms is similar to Ashby's method of material selection. In our method, stuffiness, inertia, and the inherent kinematic characteristics of compliant mechanisms are analogous to material properties in Ashby's method. These characteristics capture the lumped behavior of compliant mechanisms in static and dynamic situations using spring-lever (SL) and spring-mass-lever (SML) models. The work includes the development of computation- ally efficient methods to compute the SL and SML model characteristics of single-input and single-output compliant mechanisms. Also developed in this work is a method to determine a feasible map by solving the governing equations of equilibrium and several inequalities pertaining to problem- specifications. The map helps not only in assessing the feasibility of the specifications but also in re-designing the mechanisms in predetermined ways to nd multiple solutions, all of which account for practical considerations. The method pays due attention to the overall size, strength considerations, manufacturability, and choice of material. It also enables minimal alterations of the problem-specifications when the user prefers a particular mechanism in the database. All these features are implemented in a web-based Java program with a graphical user interface that can be accessed at http://www.mecheng.iisc.ernet.in/ m2d2/CM design. Six case- studies that include micro machined inertial sensors, miniature valve mechanisms, ultra-sensitive force sensors, etc., are documented in detail to demonstrate the usefulness of the method in practice.

International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 28-31, 1996 / Town and Country Hotel and Convention Center, San Diego, California / The ever-increasing power of PC hardware combined with the new operating systems available make the PC an excellent platform for a telemetry system. For applications that require multiple users or more processing power than a single PC, a network of PCs can be used to distribute data acquisition and processing tasks. The focus of this paper is on a distributed network approach to solving telemetry test applications. This approach maximizes the flexibility and expandability of the system while keeping the initial capital equipment expenditure low.

The familiar computer graphic user interface (GUI) makes extensive use of visually representative devices such as folders and files. These symbols help the user deal with computer data and operations that otherwise have little or no physical form. The computer’s underlying complexity is symbolised for the user, who is then able to manipulate the computer by interacting directly with the interface. The early development of computer interface design was largely the domain of software and hardware developers. Many sound principles of user interaction and testing were established and provided essential guidance for new generations of interface designers. As computer technology and its tools became more widely available, a broader range of designers began contributing, including those from product design and visual communication. This study is written from the point of view of a “visual designer” – a designer who began his career in graphic design and who has moved towards interface design out of curiosity and a desire to proffer a different attitude and approach to interface issues. The study therefore will demonstrate a design process that many visual designers will be able to identify with. The process includes research, analysis, methodical progression and artistic inspiration. The artistic inspiration in this case comes from the Constructivist artist El Lissitzky, and will illustrate the significant contribution that art can make to interface design. This art-influenced design process was presented at the 2005 Ed-Media World Conference on Educational Multimedia, (Montreal, 2005). The enthusiastic response and discussion provided encouragement to continue in this direction. In the following year another presentation, which included the working prototype, was presented as part of a keynote speaker presentation at the 2006 Siggraph Taipei Conference, National Chiao Tung University, Taipei. The specific task chosen to work with in this study is that of Web browser history. As a user browses the Web the computer records a list of visited websites. The first few generations of browsers presented this information as a simple list, but this approach incorporated many flaws and caused problems for users. More recent browsers provide more options, but significant issues remain. This study offers solutions to several of these problems. The resulting design prototype is named “isoBrowser”. It is the result of the alternative design process outlined above and offers alternative methods of visualising, organising and manipulating data. The prototype is not intended to be fully functional nor “live”. However, it is sufficiently operable so as to test interface interaction and user response. A fully functional version, operably and aesthetically complete, would be the subject of further development.

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.

In the context of building software systems, Service-oriented Systems (SOS) have become one of the major research topics in the past few years. In SOS, services are basic functional units that can be created, invoked, composed, and if needed deleted on-the-fly. Since these software systems are composed of different services there is no easy way to assure the Quality of Service (QoS), therefore, formal specification of both functional and extra-functional system behaviour, compatibility, and interoperability between different services have become important issues. As a way to address this issues, resource-aware timing behavioural language REMES was chosen to be extended towards service-oriented paradigm with service specific information, such as type, capacity, time-to-serve, etc., as well as Boolean predicate constraints on control flow guarantees. In this thesis we present a design framework that provides a graphical user interface for behaviour modelling of services based on REMES language. NetBeans Visual Library API is used to display editable service diagrams with support for graph-oriented models. A textual dynamic service composition language was implemented, together with means to automatically verify service composition correctness. We ensure also an automated traceability between service specification interfaces, where both modelling levels are combined in an efficient tool for designing SOS.

Graphical user interfaces for high-assurance systems must fulfill a range of security requirements such as protected and reliable presentation, prevention of unauthorized cross-domain talk, and prevention of user-input eavesdropping. Additionally, it is desirable to support legacy applications running in confined compartments. Standard isolation methods such as virtual-machine monitors provide one frame buffer per security domain, where each frame buffer is managed by one legacy window system. This raises the question of how to safely integrate multiple (legacy) window systems and protect the displayed data while preserving the usability of modern user interfaces. Our paper describes the OverlayWindow System, a general mechanism for multiplexing windows of multiple distinct window systems into the host frame buffer. Thus, each legacy window appears to the user as one corresponding host window that can be moved and resized. To achieve this, only slight modifications of the legacy window system are required whereby, the source code does not have to be available. Our implementation of an Overlay Window System successfully multiplexes Linux, GEM and native L4 applications.

This paper is a study of the aspects that are important to consider when designing an unobtrusive interaction for wearable devices in the area of extreme sports. The work is based on an analytical study of seemly-unrelated areas with the common facet that they all call for an unobtrusive interaction in their devices. The findings of the analysis conclude that it is necessary a change of direction in the design because it is not possible to design an unobtrusive interaction that relies on active manipulation. Activity theory and affective computing present theoretical principles with the potential to be used as a framework for HCI and solve the mentioned issues. Finally, I design the user interface of a specific case in the areas of mountain biking and skiing to use it as design-oriented research. An essential aspect of this case is the use of expert feedback and video simulations to drive the design process. Another important point is the definition of the situations and variables that will be observed by the system to adapt itself so it is able to continue being unobtrusive and helpful through the changes.

Denna undersökning syftar till att undersöka vilka attribut som ska tas hänsyn till vid skapande av ikoner. Undersökningen utgår från en taiwanesisk undersökning där attribut har identifierats och undersökts med hjälp av grafiska designers. Som grund för ikonförståelse appliceras semiotik och Charles Sanders Peirces triadiska modell på ikoner. Intervjuer och enkäter har utförts för att rangordna attribut, samt diskutera dess relevans vid ikonskapande. Resultatet visar att kontext (kultur, ikonens placering, medium etc.) och målgrupp har mycket stor betydelse vid ikonskapande och respondenterna uppvisade därför svårigheter med att rangordna attributen. / This study aims to investigate what attributes to take into consideration when designing computer icons. The study is based on a Taiwanese study where attributes are identified and investigated by Taiwanese graphic designers. The theoretical basis is semiotics, Charles Sanders Peirces triad model in particular, applied on icons. Interviews and surveys has been executed to rate attributes as well as discussing their relevance to icon design. The results shows that context (culture, the placement of the icon, medium etc.) and target group is a high priority when creating icons and the respondents showed difficulties with rating the attributes.

Σκοπός της παρούσας διπλωματικής εργασίας είναι η ταξινόμηση κλινικών περιπτώσεων κοιλιακών αλγών και συγκεκριμένα περιπτώσεων σκωληκοειδίτιδας σε παιδιά ηλικίας μέχρι 14 ετών μέσω ενός εργαλείου που υλοποιούμε. Βασικός λόγος για τη κατασκευή αυτού του εργαλείου αποτέλεσε η δυσκολία στη πρόβλεψη της ασθένειας από τους ειδικούς (κατά μέσο όρο γίνονται 20% - 30% αχρείαστες εγχειρήσεις), η συχνή σύγχυσή της με άλλες περιπτώσεις κοιλιακών αλγών ενώ το ποσοστό θνησιμότητας στα παιδιά με σκωληκοειδίτιδα ποικίλλει από 0,1% - 1%. Βασισμένοι σε ένα σύνολο δεδομένων από τη Παιδοχειρουργική Κλινική του Πανεπιστημιακού Νοσοκομείου της Αλεξανδρούπολης, διεξάγουμε αναζήτηση των καλύτερων παραμέτρων για τη κατασκευή μοντέλων ταξινομητών βασισμένων στις τρεις παρακάτω τεχνικές Υπολογιστικής Νοημοσύνης: α) τα Τεχνητά Νευρωνικά Δίκτυα, β) τις Μηχανές Διανυσμάτων Υποστήριξης και γ) τα Τυχαία Δάση. Χρησιμοποιώντας ένα σύνολο 14 κλινικών και εργαστηριακών παραγόντων, υλοποιούμε μοντέλα ταξινομητών. Η βασική ιδέα για την υλοποίηση τους είναι η αντιμετώπιση των παρακάτω προβλημάτων: : α) έχει το παιδί σκωληκοειδίτιδα ή όχι; β) Αν έχει σκωληκοειδίτιδα, ποιος τρόπος αντιμετώπισής της ενδείκνυται: χειρουργική επέμβαση ή συντηρητική αγωγή; Μετά την εύρεση των βέλτιστων μοντέλων από κάθε μία από τις μεθόδους Υπολογιστικής Νοημοσύνης που χρησιμοποιήθηκαν, υλοποιήθηκε ένα εργαλείο εύχρηστης διεπαφής χρήστη στο προγραμματιστικό περιβάλλον της Matlab 2012a το οποίο ευελπιστούμε ότι θα υποβοηθήσει τους ειδικούς στη λήψη απόφασης για τη πορεία ενός νεαρού ασθενούς που εισέρχεται στο νοσοκομείο παραπονούμενος για σκωληκοειδίτιδα. Το εργαλείο αυτό ελέγχθηκε με καινούργια πραγματικά κλινικά δεδομένα από το Καραμανδάνειο Νοσοκομείο Παίδων Πατρών και η απόδοσή του ήταν ενθαρρυντική. / The purpose of this paper is the classification of clinical cases of abdominal pain and, to be more precise, the prediction of cases with acute appendicitis at children aged up to 14 years old through a tool that we implement. The main reasons for the construction of this tool are: a) the difficulty in the prediction of the appendicitis since the 20%-30% of the operations made from the experts for this disease are gratuitous, b) the frequent confusion that there is with other diseases that cause abdominal pain and c) the mortality rate at children with appendicitis varies from 0,1% to 1%. Based on a data set from the Department of the Child Surgery of the Hospital of the University of Alexandroupolis, we conduct a search of the best parameters for the construction of model classifiers based on the three following techniques of the Computational Intelligence: a) the Artificial Neural Networks, b) the Support Vector Machines and c) the Random Forests. The basic idea for the implementation of these models is, based on a sum of 14 clinical and laboratory factors, facing the following questions: a) if a child has appendicitis or not?, b) and if it does have appendicitis, which way should we follow to cure it: operational surgery or medication? After finding these best models, we implement a tool which is actually a Graphical User Interface of Matlab 2012a which we hope that will assist the experts in making the correct decision about a young patient that goes to the hospital complaining for appendicitis. This tool was tested on new real clinical data of patients of the Child Hospital of Patras and its performance was found really encouraging.