FundaÃÃo Cearense de Apoio ao Desenvolvimento Cientifico e TecnolÃgico / CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeiÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior / A diminuiÃÃo dos custos de hardware associado ao aumento da capacidade de processamento dos dispositivos portÃteis tem causado um crescimento muito acelerado do mercado consumidor no Brasil e no mundo, de maneira que estes dispositivos tornaram-se uma parte indispensÃvel no nosso cotidiano. Contudo, o crescente fator de miniaturizaÃÃo de componentes gerou problemas em relaÃÃo à interaÃÃo eficiente com perifÃricos de entrada e saÃda tradicionais, como os cursores e o teclado. Assim, para evitar custos adicionais, uma alternativa à utilizar componentes jà existentes no dispositivo, como sua cÃmera integrada. Neste contexto, o objetivo geral desta tese à o desenvolvimento de um novo algoritmo para a interaÃÃo humano-dispositivo portÃtil multiplataforma baseado em fluxo Ãptico. Embora o fluxo Ãptico de Horn (1981) ser conhecido por ser um algoritmo de extrema complexidade computacional, nesta tese à proposto um conjunto de adaptaÃÃes neste algoritmo para tornar possÃvel seu processamento em tempo real em dispositivos portÃteis. O algoritmo proposto à desenvolvido em C ANSI e embarcado em dispositivos com sistemas operacionais Qualcomm REX, Symbian e Android. O algoritmo implementado à comparado com mÃtodos presentes na literatura especializada para detecÃÃo de movimentos atravÃs de simulaÃÃes computacionais e testes de usabilidade. Os resultados mostram que o algoritmo proposto possui um baixo esforÃo computacional associado a uma efetiva detecÃÃo de movimentos, mostrando que à possÃvel o uso do mÃtodo de Fluxo Ãptico como sensor para interaÃÃo em sistemas embarcados. AlÃm disto, atravÃs da metodologia de implementaÃÃo proposta nesta tese, à possÃvel utilizar as funcionalidades desenvolvidas em diversos tipos de sistemas operacionais. / The decrease in hardware costs associated with improvement of processing power of embedded devices has caused a rapid growth of the consumer market, which make these devices an indispensable part of our daily life. However, the miniaturization of these components leads to problems in the usability of mobile devices, especially with traditional input interfaces, such as the cursors and keyboard. One solution to avoid this kind of problem without increase production cost of these devices is use resources available, like the embedded camera. Following this idea, the objective of this thesis is the development of a new multi-platform human-handheld interaction algorithm based in optical flow. Although the traditional optical flow algorithms have high computational effort, in this thesis, adaptations and optimizations of this algorithm are proposed to overcome hardware limitations of embedded systems. The proposed algorithm is implemented in ANSI C and is embedded at devices with Android, Rex and Symbian OS. The implemented algorithm is compared with traditional motion detection algorithm through computational simulations and usability tests. The results shown that the proposed algorithm associates a low computational effort associated with effective motion detection. So it is possible to use the optical flow as sensor to interact with handheld devices. Furthermore, through the implementation methodology of this thesis, is possible use the developed functionalities in various operational systems.

<p>In healthcare settings, administrative routines have been made more efficientthrough digitalization of information and the introduction of stationary computers.This situation is especially true when it comes to radiology, where pictures,referrals and patient information now is completely managed by advanced stationarycomputer systems. However, studies have shown that these rationalizationsdo not support flexible and mobile work routines.PocketRIS is a prototype illustrating a mobile terminal for radiology that hasbeen designed to simplify workflow and reduce the cognitive workload of healthcarepersonnel. PocketRIS includes a visualization of the clinicians work situationincluding a personal referral list that can make the user attentive of importantevents.Contextual Design has been used to elicit the basic system requirements for thesystem; 19 contextual inquires was conducted with physicians, nurses and assistantnurses at two different radiology clinics in Sweden during six days. The purposeof the study was also to identify the groups that have the greatest need for amobile terminal. The study was concerned with design and evaluation of differentsolutions with healthcare personnel.The result shows that physicians and assistant nurses have the greatest need ofa mobile terminal. Especially important for a mobile system is that it supportsevent-based work and provides a good overview over patients and the work situation.PocketRIS is an example of how these requirements this can be met at theradiology unit.</p> / <p>Genom effektiviseringar har en stor del av sjukvårdens administrativa rutiner digitaliseratsoch stationära arbetstationer införts på våra kliniker. Speciellt på röntgenavdelningarhanteras numera bilder, remisser och annan patientinformationmed hjälp av avancerade stationära datorsystem. Studier har dock visat att dessarationaliseringar ofta inte stödjer sjukvårdspersonalens flexibla och rörliga arbetsrutiner.PocketRIS är en prototyp för en mobil arbetsterminal som utvecklats specielltför att effektivisera arbetsflödet på röntgenavdelningar samt minska den kognitivabelastningen på sjukvårdspersonalen. PocketRIS innehåller en visualisering avklinikerns arbetssituation samt en personlig remisslista som kan göra denne uppmärksampå viktiga händelser.Contextual Design användes för att ta fram grundkraven på systemet; 19 styckencontextual inquirys genomfördes med läkare, sjuksköterskor och undersköterskorpå två olika röntgenkliniker i Sverige under totalt sex dagar. Arbetsplatsstudiensyftade även till att identifiera vilka grupper som har störst behov av en mobilarbetsterminal. Den senare delen av studien bestod av design och utvärdering avolika lösningsförslag tillsammans med sjukvårdspersonal.Resultatet av studien visar att det är läkare och undersköterskor som har störst behovav en mobil terminal. Speciellt viktigt för ett mobilt system är att det stödjerhändelsedrivet arbete och ger god överblick över patienterna och arbetssituationen.PocketRIS är ett exempel på hur detta kan uppfyllas för röntgenavdelningar.</p>

Despite the increase in popularity of handheld devices, text entry on such devices is becoming more difficult due to reduced form factors that limit display size, input modes, and interaction techniques. In an effort to circumvent these issues, research has found that five-key methods are effective for text entry on devices such as in-car navigation systems, television and gaming controllers, wrist watches, and other small devices. Five-key text entry methods use four directional keys to move a selector over an on-screen keyboard and an Enter key for selection. Although other researchers have described five-key character layouts using alphabetical order and predictive layouts based on digraph frequencies, there is considerable latitude in designing the rest of a comprehensive on-screen keyboard. Furthermore, it might be possible to capitalize on the relative strengths of the alphabetic and predictive layouts by combining them in a hybrid layout. Thus, this research examines the design of alternative keyboard layouts for five-key text entry techniques. Three keyboard layouts (Alphabetical, Predictive, and Hybrid) were selected to represent standard and less familiar arrangements. The analysis centered on a series of controlled experiments conducted on a research platform designed by the author. In this work, when the immediate usability of three alternative keyboard layouts for supporting five-key text entry was investigated, results indicated no statistically significant differences in performance across the tested keyboards. Furthermore, experimental results show that following immediate usability, but still at the onset of learning, there was no overall difference in performance among the three keyboard layouts across four text types. However, the Alphabetical keyboard surpassed both the Predictive and Hybrid keyboards in text entry speed in typing Web addresses. The nonstandard keyboards performed superior to the Alphabetical keyboards in typing Words/Spaces and Sentences, but performed no better in typing Address strings than the Alphabetical. Use of mixed effects modeling suggested that the longitudinal data was best fitted by a quadratic model. Text entry performance on all three layouts improved as a function of practice, demonstrating that participants could learn the unfamiliar layouts to complete text entry tasks. Overall, there was no indication that use of nonstandard layouts impedes performance. In fact, trend in time data suggests that the learning rates were greater for the nonstandard keyboards over the standard layout. Overall, participants preferred the Hybrid layout. In summary, this dissertation focused on creating and validating novel and effective five-key text entry techniques for constrained devices.

Defence Research and Development Canada - Atlantic is currently under a project arrangement with Sweden and Holland to investigate new or emerging fire suppression technologies in naval applications. One possible outcome of this project arrangement could be the identification of a safe and effective Halon 1301 replacement suppression agent within the respective navies. The subject area Canada has agreed to investigate is aerosol fire extinguishing agent technologies. Although aerosols have been shown to be effective in suppressing demonstration fires, to date there has been little systematic scientific research into fire suppression using aerosol particulates. Therefore, there is a need for more in depth investigation of some of the commercial aerosol products available on the market to determine their fire suppression efficacy in naval applications, as well as any potential negative impacts that the aerosol may have on personnel, equipment and the environment. Aerosol suppression systems range from small handheld grenade extinguishers to large fitted and remotely activated aerosol dispersal units. The fire research and testing presented in this thesis looks specifically at the efficacy and safe use of two variants of the small handheld aerosol extinguishers, while also assessing aerosol agent suppression technologies overall. The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) currently uses a two tiered response to fire, consisting of first response by a Rapid Response Team (RRT), followed by full response by an Attack Team (AT). A Rapid Attack Team (RAT) has been introduced as an intermediate response team. To enhance efficiency of the RRTs or RATs, handheld aerosol units, in this evaluation the Dry Sprinkler Powder Aerosol (DSPA) and StatX fire knock down aerosol extinguishers, could potentially be stored throughout the ship or transported by the teams to a fire scene and used to control, suppress or even extinguish a fire prior to the AT arriving on the scene, particularly in the case of smaller enclosure fires. To fully evaluate their potential for use in this capacity, it is important to carefully study the suppression efficacy of these units under conditions similar to those in which they would be deployed, as well as to better understand their impact on a fire environment in terms of important parameters such as compartment temperature reduction, visibility, oxygen concentration, aerosol particulate dwell time, and toxicity. In terms of operational issues related to deployment of these pyrotechnic tools onboard RCN vessels, it is critical to assess the requirements for extinguisher safe storage and to gain an understanding of the incendiary potential of the units, as well as post suppression overhaul, smoke/agent clearing and compartment gas free certification. The thesis includes a description of the experimental design, measurement techniques, and key results and conclusions for each of the 26 full-scale simulated marine enclosure live fire tests that were conducted. In general, handheld aerosol extinguishers have proven to be effective for fire control and even suppression under certain circumstances. They can improve the fire safety of RCN vessels when used correctly. Experimental data measured that relate to the consequences of accidental discharge and incendiary potential can also be used to ensure naval applications are safe and effective.

In this thesis, we address the question of gesture interaction on mobile device. These devices, now common, differ from conventional computers primarily by the input devices the user interact with (screen size small but tactile, various sensors such as accelerometers) as well as the context in which they are used. The work presented here is an exploration of the vast area of interaction techniques on these mobile devices. First we try to structure this space by focusing on the techniques based on accelerometers for which we propose a taxonomy. Its descriptive and discriminant power is validated by and the classification of thirty-seven interaction techniques in the literature. Second we focus on the achievement of gestural interaction techniques for these mobile devices. With TouchOver, we show that it is possible to take advantage of complementary two-channels input (touch screen and accelerometers) to add a state to the finger-drag, thus enriching the interaction. Finally, we focus on mobile device menus and offer a new form of sign language menus. We discuss their implementation with the GeLATI software library that allows their integration into a pre-existing GUI toolkit.

Ad-hoc wireless networking has recently become a standard feature of handheld video gaming systems. This capability, along with the portability of the devices, increases the number of places where people can easily engage in multiplayer games. The Nintendo DS, a handheld gaming system with ad-hoc wireless networking, has sold 64 million units worldwide. Its feature set, combined with its ubiquity, enable new forms of multiplayer gaming to emerge. Understanding how people adopt this technology is important for proposing how future handheld gaming systems could be better designed. This thesis reports findings from a qualitative study investigating the collocated multiplayer gaming practices of Nintendo DS users. Through interviews with fifteen DS owners and observations of seven organized public gaming events we examined why, where, and who participants played with, as well as the details of how games were formed, carried out, and experienced as social activities. With this data it is possible to describe how the DS's unique characteristics impact multiplayer gaming practices and the social gaming experience. From our data, we identified three major themes surrounding the social, multiplayer gaming practices of DS users: renegade gaming, or the notion that users reappropriate locations and contexts for multiplayer gaming, and social boundaries on multiplayer gaming contexts; practical and social barriers to the formation of pick-up games; and private gaming spheres, or the individualized gaming contexts that the handheld device's form factor creates within larger social contexts. These findings lead us to propose a set of design implications for future handheld gaming systems in order to better support pick-up gaming and sharing experiences with groups and crowds.

Remote Explosives Scent Tracing (REST) is the concept of bringing the mine field to Mine Detection Dogs or Rats, instead of vice versa. This is done by collecting air or dust from minefields, and taking these samples to a laboratory environment, where they are subsequently analysed by the detection animals. REST has previously proven to be very fast and cost effective, but one of the issues facing the method is that there is yet no reliable tool for sampling dust. In earlier sampling units, air has been collected in filters. However, the concentration of scents related to mines has been seen to be a million times higher in dust particles than in air sampled from above the ground. The aim of this project was to evaluate and improve a dust sampling prototype constructed in the beginning of 2010. The project was initiated in cooperation with the GICHD (Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian demining), and carried out in cooperation with APOPO (Anti-Personnel Landmines Detection Product Development). During this project, information was gathered on the samplers that have previously been used for REST. A new prototype was made in Trondheim in cooperation with NTNU (Norwegian University of Science and Technology). With this new sampler prototype, tests were made in a laboratory environment at NTNU as well as at APOPO’s test mine field in Morogoro, Tanzania. Several obstacles were faced, such as difficulties to test and evaluate the sampler during the rainy season, insufficient air supply for the prototype, and issues with the laboratory equipment in Morogoro. Due to this, the number of tests performed and the number of repetitions of each test was not as high as would have been desired. The results of the information gathering and the tests are presented in this report, and the knowledge and experience gained resulted in several suggestions for improvements for the sampler prototype. A suggestion for a grid design that would cover the entire mouth piece, with a built-in distance to the suction inlet, in order to avoid both clogging of the grid and that too much dust is sucked in if the mouth piece touches the ground and a fully adjustable sampling unit. Several other recommendations are given that would reduce cross contamination risks and improve ergonomics and other aspects of the sampler prototype.

Ad-hoc wireless networking has recently become a standard feature of handheld video gaming systems. This capability, along with the portability of the devices, increases the number of places where people can easily engage in multiplayer games. The Nintendo DS, a handheld gaming system with ad-hoc wireless networking, has sold 64 million units worldwide. Its feature set, combined with its ubiquity, enable new forms of multiplayer gaming to emerge. Understanding how people adopt this technology is important for proposing how future handheld gaming systems could be better designed. This thesis reports findings from a qualitative study investigating the collocated multiplayer gaming practices of Nintendo DS users. Through interviews with fifteen DS owners and observations of seven organized public gaming events we examined why, where, and who participants played with, as well as the details of how games were formed, carried out, and experienced as social activities. With this data it is possible to describe how the DS's unique characteristics impact multiplayer gaming practices and the social gaming experience. From our data, we identified three major themes surrounding the social, multiplayer gaming practices of DS users: renegade gaming, or the notion that users reappropriate locations and contexts for multiplayer gaming, and social boundaries on multiplayer gaming contexts; practical and social barriers to the formation of pick-up games; and private gaming spheres, or the individualized gaming contexts that the handheld device's form factor creates within larger social contexts. These findings lead us to propose a set of design implications for future handheld gaming systems in order to better support pick-up gaming and sharing experiences with groups and crowds.

The innovation of technology and product has made uncertain highly of the beginnings of emerging industry. Smart phone industry belongs to emerging industry. The manufacturers in Taiwan of smart phone include HTC, Quanta, Innopac, Asus, and Arimacomm etc. and HTC is the maximum of shipment of smart phone with Microsoft platform. Therefore, it is necessary that we study the purchasing strategies of smart phone industry. The research methodologies applied to this study are literature review, case study and deep interview. It applies purchasing portfolio model to classify components come from different industries, and it is proposed different purchasing strategies. The conclusions of this study reveal as follows: 1. Early Purchasing Involvement (EPI) will help to get external advanced technology resource so that we can improve the competitive advantage of the corporate in emerging industry. 2. Different purchasing strategies and relationship management can be applied to different component industry and suppliers respectively. 3. The performance evaluation, remediation, and selection of suppliers can be adopted into the management cycle in A company, and the standards will depend on industry environment and the resource A company has.

This thesis includes two topics. The first one is a low-power double-edge triggered flip-flop.The other is a orthogonal frequency division multiplex (OFDM) demodulator compliant with the Digital Video Broadcasting Handheld (DVB-H). Low-power double-edge triggered flip-flop (DETFF) is based on multi-Vth transistors technique. Since low threshold voltage transistors are able to generate large leakage current, they are suitable to drive big loads. By contrast, high threshold voltage transistors are more appropriate to latch data due to their low leakage. Therefore, a single latch double-edge triggered flip-flop utilizing multi-Vth transistors can be a low power and high speed design without paying the price of large area. The proposed OFDM demodulator is compliant with the DVB-H standard. The received DVB-H signal is processed by an RF front-end and the following analog-to-digital converter. Then, the digital signal is fed into the demodulator to adjust and calibrate the frequency, timing offset and channel estimation. The proposed DVB-H demodulator is mainly composed of five blocks : symbol timing synchronization block, carrier frequency offset compensation block, fast Fourier transform block, scatter pilot detection block and channel compensation block.