The MA Thesis makes a brief survey about one of interesting trends in museology - the interactivity. First part of the Thesis is devoted to the definition of interactivity in the relation with museums. Interactivity is understanded as a possibility for the visitors to be active and creative at the museum, to use more senses than only their eyes, the possibility to touch the exhibited objects. From all types of museums two are considered to be completely interactive or hands-on - Science Centers and Children's museums. The next part of the thesis is dedicated to the fundamental aspects of Arts Marketing and interactivity is assigned to the Product of museums as one of its aspects. An analyzis of some foreign and Czech interactive museums is also an important part of the Thesis.

by Tang Kai Hung. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references. / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Acknowledgements --- p.vi / Abstract --- p.1 / Chapter 1 --- Introduction / Chapter 1.1 --- Motivation --- p.3 / Chapter 1.2 --- Objective --- p.7 / Chapter 1.3 --- Outline --- p.9 / Chapter 2 --- Color Identification / Chapter 2.1 --- Grabbing --- p.11 / Chapter 2.2 --- Digital Image Representation --- p.13 / Chapter 2.3 --- Color Segmentation --- p.15 / Chapter 2.3.1 --- Fuzzy Rule-Based Method --- p.15 / Chapter 2.3.2 --- Fuzzy Clustering Method --- p.20 / Chapter 2.4 --- Conclusion --- p.25 / Chapter 3 --- Shape Recognition / Chapter 3.1 --- Labeling --- p.29 / Chapter 3.1.1 --- Pre-processing --- p.29 / Chapter 3.1.2 --- Connected Components --- p.30 / Chapter 3.2 --- Blob Analysis --- p.33 / Chapter 3.2.1 --- Characteristic Values --- p.33 / Chapter 3.2.2 --- Corner Detection --- p.35 / Chapter 3.3 --- Type Classification --- p.37 / Chapter 3.3.1 --- Standard Blob --- p.37 / Chapter 3.3.2 --- Non-standard Object --- p.39 / Chapter 3.4 --- Flow Chart --- p.39 / Chapter 3.5 --- Point Generation --- p.42 / Chapter 3.5.1 --- Draw the Boundary --- p.42 / Chapter 3.5.2 --- Filling in Color by Lines --- p.48 / Chapter 3.6 --- Conclusion --- p.50 / Chapter 4 --- Drawing / Chapter 4.1 --- Difficulties & Remedies --- p.54 / Chapter 4.1.1 --- Data Transmission Difficulty --- p.54 / Chapter 4.1.2 --- Robot Drawing Plane --- p.56 / Chapter 4.2 --- Coordinates Conversion --- p.59 / Chapter 4.3 --- Quantitative Performance Measure --- p.64 / Chapter 4.4 --- Conclusion --- p.66 / Chapter 5 --- Conclusions & Future Works --- p.69 / Appendix / Bibliography

Kwok, Ka Wai. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 113-116). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / ABSTRACT --- p.i / Chapter 1. --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Artistic robot in western art --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- Chinese calligraphy robot --- p.2 / Chapter 1.3 --- Our robot drawing system --- p.3 / Chapter 1.4 --- Thesis outline --- p.3 / Chapter 2. --- ROBOT DRAWING SYSTEM --- p.5 / Chapter 2.1 --- Robot drawing manipulation --- p.5 / Chapter 2.2 --- Input modes --- p.6 / Chapter 2.3 --- Visual-feedback system --- p.8 / Chapter 2.4 --- Footprint study setup --- p.8 / Chapter 2.5 --- Chapter summary --- p.10 / Chapter 3. --- LINE STROKE EXTRACTION AND ORDER ASSIGNMENT --- p.11 / Chapter 3.1 --- Skeleton-based line trajectory generation --- p.12 / Chapter 3.2 --- Line stroke vectorization --- p.15 / Chapter 3.3 --- Skeleton tangential slope evaluation using MIC --- p.16 / Chapter 3.4 --- Skeleton-based vectorization using Bezier curve interpolation --- p.21 / Chapter 3.5 --- Line stroke extraction --- p.25 / Chapter 3.6 --- Line stroke order assignment --- p.30 / Chapter 3.7 --- Chapter summary --- p.33 / Chapter 4. --- PROJECTIVE RECTIFICATION AND VISION-BASED CORRECTION --- p.34 / Chapter 4.1 --- Projective rectification --- p.34 / Chapter 4.2 --- Homography transformation by selected correspondences --- p.35 / Chapter 4.3 --- Homography transformation using GA --- p.39 / Chapter 4.4 --- Visual-based iterative correction example --- p.45 / Chapter 4.5 --- Chapter summary --- p.49 / Chapter 5. --- ITERATIVE ENHANCEMENT ON OFFSET EFFECT AND BRUSH THICKNESS --- p.52 / Chapter 5.1 --- Offset painting effect by Chinese brush pen --- p.52 / Chapter 5.2 --- Iterative robot drawing process --- p.53 / Chapter 5.3 --- Iterative line drawing experimental results --- p.56 / Chapter 5.4 --- Chapter summary --- p.67 / Chapter 6. --- GA-BASED BRUSH STROKE GENERATION --- p.68 / Chapter 6.1 --- Brush trajectory representation --- p.69 / Chapter 6.2 --- Brush stroke modeling --- p.70 / Chapter 6.3 --- Stroke simulation using GA --- p.72 / Chapter 6.4 --- Evolutionary computing results --- p.77 / Chapter 6.5 --- Chapter summary --- p.95 / Chapter 7. --- BRUSH STROKE FOOTPRINT CHARACTERIZATION --- p.96 / Chapter 7.1 --- Footprint video capturing --- p.97 / Chapter 7.2 --- Footprint image property --- p.98 / Chapter 7.3 --- Experimental results --- p.102 / Chapter 7.4 --- Chapter summary --- p.109 / Chapter 8. --- CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE WORKS --- p.111 / BIBLIOGRAPHY --- p.113

by Fung Wai Keung. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 146-151). / Acknowledgements --- p.viii / Abstract --- p.1 / Chapter 1 --- Overview --- p.3 / Chapter 1.1 --- Tactile Sensing in Human and Robot --- p.4 / Chapter 1.1.1 --- Human Hands and Robotic Hands --- p.4 / Chapter 1.1.2 --- Mechanoreceptors in skin and Tactile Sensor Arrays --- p.7 / Chapter 1.2 --- Motivation --- p.12 / Chapter 1.3 --- Objectives --- p.13 / Chapter 1.4 --- Related Work --- p.14 / Chapter 1.4.1 --- Using Vision Alone --- p.15 / Chapter 1.4.2 --- Integration of Vision and Touch --- p.15 / Chapter 1.4.3 --- Using Touch Sensing Alone --- p.17 / Chapter 1.4.3.1 --- Ronald S. Fearing's Work --- p.18 / Chapter 1.4.3.2 --- Peter K. Allen's Work --- p.22 / Chapter 1.5 --- Outline --- p.26 / Chapter 2 --- Geometric Models --- p.27 / Chapter 2.1 --- Introduction --- p.27 / Chapter 2.2 --- Superquadrics --- p.27 / Chapter 2.2.1 --- 2D Superquadrics --- p.27 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- 3D Superquadrics --- p.29 / Chapter 2.3 --- Model Recovery of Superquadric Models --- p.31 / Chapter 2.3.1 --- Problem Formulation --- p.31 / Chapter 2.3.2 --- Least Squares Optimization --- p.33 / Chapter 2.4 --- Free-Form Deformations --- p.34 / Chapter 2.4.1 --- Bernstein Basis --- p.36 / Chapter 2.4.2 --- B-Spline Basis --- p.38 / Chapter 2.5 --- Other Geometric Models --- p.41 / Chapter 2.5.1 --- Generalized Cylinders --- p.41 / Chapter 2.5.2 --- Hyperquadrics --- p.42 / Chapter 2.5.3 --- Polyhedral Models --- p.44 / Chapter 2.5.4 --- Function Representation --- p.45 / Chapter 3 --- Sensing Strategy --- p.54 / Chapter 3.1 --- Introduction --- p.54 / Chapter 3.2 --- Sensing Algorithm --- p.55 / Chapter 3.2.1 --- Assumption of objects --- p.55 / Chapter 3.2.2 --- Haptic Exploration Procedures --- p.56 / Chapter 3.3 --- Contour Tracing --- p.58 / Chapter 3.4 --- Tactile Sensor Data Preprocessing --- p.59 / Chapter 3.4.1 --- Data Transformation and Sensor Calibration --- p.60 / Chapter 3.4.2 --- Noise Filtering --- p.61 / Chapter 3.5 --- Curvature Determination --- p.64 / Chapter 3.6 --- Step Size Determination --- p.73 / Chapter 4 --- 3D Shape Reconstruction --- p.80 / Chapter 4.1 --- Introduction --- p.80 / Chapter 4.2 --- Correspondence Problem --- p.81 / Chapter 4.2.1 --- Affine Invariance Property of B-splines --- p.84 / Chapter 4.2.2 --- Point Inversion Problem --- p.87 / Chapter 4.3 --- Parameter Triple Interpolation --- p.91 / Chapter 4.4 --- 3D Object Shape Reconstruction --- p.94 / Chapter 4.4.1 --- Heuristic Approach --- p.94 / Chapter 4.4.2 --- Closed Contour Recovery --- p.97 / Chapter 4.4.3 --- Control Lattice Recovery --- p.102 / Chapter 5 --- Implementation --- p.105 / Chapter 5.1 --- Introduction --- p.105 / Chapter 5.2 --- Implementation Tool - MATLAB --- p.105 / Chapter 5.2.1 --- Optimization Toolbox --- p.107 / Chapter 5.2.2 --- Splines Toolbox --- p.108 / Chapter 5.3 --- Geometric Model Implementation --- p.109 / Chapter 5.3.1 --- FFD Examples --- p.111 / Chapter 5.4 --- Shape Reconstruction Implementation --- p.112 / Chapter 5.5 --- 3D Model Reconstruction Examples --- p.120 / Chapter 5.5.1 --- Example 1 --- p.120 / Chapter 5.5.2 --- Example 2 --- p.121 / Chapter 6 --- Conclusion --- p.128 / Chapter 6.1 --- Future Work --- p.129 / Appendix --- p.133 / Bibliography --- p.146

No description available.

This thesis discusses three projects that revolve around the central concept of the control of artificial hands. The first part of the thesis discusses the design of a museum exhibit for the South Florida Science Center that allows the public to control an i-limb Revolution prosthetic hand using electromyograph (EMG) sensors. A custom armature was designed to house the EMG sensors that are used to control the prosthesis. The top arm of the armature utilized a double rocker design for a greater range of motion which allows the display to accommodate arm sizes ranging from small children to large adults. This display became open to the public in March of 2019. The second part of the thesis describes a new concept for a simultaneous multi-object grasp using the Shadow hand robotic hand. This grasp is tested in an experiment that involves grasp and transportation tasks. This experiment also aims to analyze the benefit of soft robotic haptic feedback armband during the grasp and transportation tasks when a simulated break threshold is imposed on the objects. The usefulness of the haptic feedback was further tested with a guess the object task where the subjects had to determine which object was in the hand based solely off the armband. The new grasp synergy was deemed a success as all subjects were able to use the control method effectively with very little initial training. It was also found that the haptic feedback greatly aided in the successfully completing the transportation tasks. The human subjects were asked to rate the haptic feedback after each task, the overall rating for the helpfulness of the haptic feedback was rated as 4.6 out of 5. The final part of the thesis discusses an approach at gaining additional control signals for a dexterous artificial hand using a brain computer interface. This project seeks to investigate three neuromarkers for control which are: mu, xi and alpha. During analysis, the mu rhythm was not seen in our subject but alpha and xi were. Using deep learning approaches at classification, we were able to classify alpha and xi with at least a 90 percent accuracy. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2019. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

While simulators can be used in place of hands-on hardware, there was not a significant body of quantitative research supporting the use of simulators for college and career success at the secondary level in information technology (IT). The purpose of this quantitative, nonexperimental study was to determine if there was a significant difference in college and career readiness of New York state high school students in approved IT content cluster high school programs, between those who use simulations and those who use hands-on hardware. Kolb's theory of experiential learning was the theoretical foundation for this research. The research questions examined whether there was a significant difference in the written exam grades, the hands-on exam grades, and the certification pass rates of students, based on the percentage of simulation used in their coursework. A survey was used to collect data on 60 students. A one-way Welch ANOVA indicated no significant difference in written grades between groups. A Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA showed statistical significance between groups using all simulated labs and less than 50% simulated labs, as well as between all simulated labs and 50% or greater simulated labs for hands-on grades. Fisher's Exact Test indicated that the proportion of students in the less than 50% simulated labs group who earned industry-level certifications was statistically significantly higher than the 50% or greater simulated labs group or the all simulated labs group. Implications for social change are that workers with entry-level IT skills can fill jobs in the growing IT field that offers well-paying jobs with more promising futures.

Modern scholarly theories of oral folk narrative suggest that urban legends contain expressions of cultural beliefs that can be understood both through the contexts in which these stories are told and through the elements of the stories that remain constant across multiple tellings by various narrators. This study centers exclusively on stories and popular culture products that utilize missing or damaged fingers, hands, or arms, in order to identify the cultural values that are attached to hands in American culture. These stories in particular were chosen because the severed hand was perceived at the onset to be a common element within stories that had not been broadly analyzed. The particular theories that drive this study are drawn from the fields of folklore, disability studies, psychology, and neuroscience, and suggest that stories about severed hands express belief about the nature of humanity. Once the hypothesis was formed, I turned to the Fife Folklore Archives of the Merril-Cazier Library at Utah State University in order to collect transcripts of interviews in which severed hand legends had been told. Three hundred fifty potential texts were initially identified, and two hundred fifty featured a mention of severed hands. Those texts were then classified by what role the severed hand played in the course of the story into three distinct categories: villains with severed hands and prosthetics, victims who lose hands in the course of the narrative, and severed hands appearing in pranks or as contaminants. The narratives of each category were then analyzed, and themes of evil, risk, safety, and crossed boundaries began to emerge. To verify the cultural themes of the textual study, popular culture narratives were then analyzed to determine if similar themes were expressed. This set of narratives included movies, television, comic books, and novels. While the same themes were expressed in these narratives, the categories of evil and crossed boundaries each featured subverted forms of heroism and hands as characters as well, all of which supported the original interpretation. The results indicate that severed hands in American narratives represent lost humanity, and therefore that the hand is a vital part of how individuals within the culture might perceive their own humanity.

This experiment was designed to investigate the effectiveness of the CDROM hands on instruction program provided by the University of Canberra library by comparing it with demonstration only sessions and a group that received no instruction at all. The results indicated that the hands-on instruction program evaluated did not prove to be superior to a demonstration in providing students with necessary skills to search CDROM databases. A sample of 98 novice users enrolled in Research Skills were randomly allocated to three groups. The first group received hands on instruction on CD-ROM searching. The second group watched a demonstration using a liquid crystal display. The third group acted as a control group and received no instruction. Each group conducted a search on three pre-determined questions. The experiment was conducted in three stages. The first stage was a pretest in which students searched the three search questions. The second stage was instruction. Two groups of students were instructed, either hands on or demonstration. The final stage was a post-test which involved searching the three questions used in the pre-test. The following databases were used in the study: ERIC, MEDLINE and Sports Discus. The results were measured in terms of a number of search terms used, number of retrieved records, number of Boolean operators used, and a appropriate choice of a database. The statistical significance level among the groups was tested by the means of the technique of oneway analysis of variance to test The F test was used to compare differences between the different groups. The results of this experiment indicated that groups of students instructed on either method of instruction, hands-on and demonstration, performed significantly better than the control group. However, there was no significant difference between the two methods of instruction. This research confirms the need for CD-ROM instruction for novice users if CD-ROM databases are to be used effectively by students. Furthermore, this result shows that demonstrations can be used as alternative methods of instruction.

This report presents a system for generating a stable, feasible, and reachable grasp of a polyhedral object. A set of contact points on the object is found that can result in a stable grasp; a feasible grasp is found in which the robot contacts the object at those contact points; and a path is constructed from the initial configuration of the robot to the stable, feasible final grasp configuration. The algorithm described in the report is designed for the Salisbury hand mounted on a Puma 560 arm, but a similar approach could be used to develop grasping systems for other robots.