Sitting with mobile devices In my major work I explore how people sit more hunched with a small screen in hand, despite the existence of ergonomic office chairs and other seating options. My question is if I can impact the user, and encourage them to obtain a better posture with the help of the armchairs rests, and in this way minimize the impact on the neck. As a designer I want to comment on, but also highlight our use of mobile devices by adapting the shape of the armchair to fit this need. / Ett sittande med mobila enheter I mitt examensarbete undersöker jag som designer hur människan sitter allt mer hopkrupet med en liten skärm i handen trots att det finns ergonomiska kontorsstolar och andra sittartefakter. Jag undrar om jag kan påverka användaren genom att hitta en ny form i karmstolens armstöd och på såsätt undvika eventuella låsningar och smärtor i nacke. Jag som designer vill kommentera, och även främja vårt användande av mobila enheter genom att förändra karmstolen så att armstöden passar vårt sittandet idag.

The purpose of this theoretical thesis is to research the problem: producing optimized content for handheld real-time CG applications. This thesis is based on existing literature studiesregarding the subject. It will explore the topic on how to deal with draw calls, shaderoptimizations, hard/smooth edges and how engines deal with polygons and textures and howthis correlates with current technical limitations of current game engines for handheld realtime applications such as the iPhone. On these grounds, the thesis will expand on the subject of how those topics affect the hardware; more specifically targeted the GPU and CPU onmobile devices. Today, the hardware used on mobile devices on the market is limited; it is important tounderstand that a lot of factors come in to play and making optimization a part of the design, not a final step regarding the creation of content is vital when creating CG applications formobile devices. A closer look at the available evidences suggests that when dealing with the limited resources available every performance aspect should be closely looked into. It is vital to optimize the content and correlate your game budget accordingly to the marketed device. In the end it will make for a better game. This thesis sheds a light on the development strategiesfor CG applications on handheld devices.

Darbe yra apžvelgiamos NURBS paviršių atvaizdavimo realizavimo problemos mobiliesiems įrenginiams. Pagrindinis darbo tikslas yra įsitikinti tokios realizacijos galimumu, bei surasti kiek įmanoma efektyvesnį būdą, išsprendžiantį mobiliųjų platformų realizacijų problemas. Dar vienas tikslas, sukurti prototipinį sprendimą, padengiantį NURBS standartą. Analizei pasirinkta M3G mobiliosios grafikos standartas, kuris šiuo metu yra labiausiai paplitęs. Realizacijų palyginimui buvo pasirinkti du algoritmai: Oslo ir tiesioginis. Atlikus veikimo analizę nustatyta, jog tiesioginis algoritmas yra efektyvesnis, kurio pagrindu buvo išbaigtas NURBS standartas, realizuojant Trimmed NURBS modelius. / In the thesis it is analyzed the problems related with NURBS rendering implementation for mobile devices. The main goal of the thesis is to make find out if such implementation is possible at all and to find most effective way to implement it. One more goal is to create a prototype implementation for NURBS standard including Trimmed NURBS. M3G mobile graphics platform was chosen for analysis, which is mostly adopted across the vendors nowadays. There was chosen two rendering algorithms for analysis purposes: Oslo and directional. During analysis it was discovered, that Directional algorithm is more effective than Oslo, and it was adapted to prototype solution – Trimmed NURBS.

Is There an App for That? The Usage of Mobile Technology for the Purposes of Teaching Health Education in Grade 4 and 5. Wahid Khan. Master of Arts. Curriculum, Teaching and Learning. University of Toronto. Year of Convocation: 2014. The use of mobile devices in elementary schools has steadily increased in the last few years. These mobile devices harness many tools that can help teachers teach classroom material and help students become better students academically. The research question was “How can mobile devices be used to teach health education?” Research was conducted in a grade 4 and 5 classroom to see which mobile apps worked best among teachers and students in conveying health education. Anecdotal notes and daily journaling over a two-month period documented how the students enjoyed playing games and also how engaged they were when they subsequently used the devices for non-gaming purposes. It is still unknown how well these apps conveyed messages of health. How the mobile apps are being used in the classroom and the content inside the mobile apps largely dictates the messages they can convey to the students.

In this thesis, I propose an algorithm for optimizing the cost involved with synchronizing the data contained in mobile wireless devices, named Expedient Trickle Sync (ETS). In this thesis, I focus on two significant cost factors: firstly, that of the cost of transmitting information across the network, and secondly, the cost associated with user access to out-of-date information. The ETS algorithm attempts to balance these two cost factors via a simple set of heuristics which calculate at regular intervals a test value, based on a variety of observations, and a threshold value which is recalculated on a daily basis. Additionally, the ETS algorithm will prioritize records based on their probability of access and the cost associated with synchronizing them, thus possibly deferring the synchronization of records with a low probability of access until it is possible to resolve their replication in a lower-cost network environment. This thesis evaluates the ETS algorithm alongside other optimistic replication algorithms in a custom developed simulation environment, the results of which show that in many use scenarios, the ETS algorithm can indeed reduce the cost of data synchronization.

Mobile devices are increasingly becoming essential in people's lives. The advancement in technology and mobility factor are allowing users to utilize mobile devices for communication, entertainment, financial planning, fitness tracking, etc. As a result, mobile applications are also becoming important factors contributing to user utility. However, battery capacity is the limiting factor impacting the quality of user experience. Hence, it is imperative to understand how much energy impact do mobile apps have on the system relative to other device activities. This thesis presents a systematic studying of the energy impact of mobile apps features. Time-series electrical current measurements are collected from 4 different modern smartphones. Statistical analysis methodologies are used to calculate the energy impact of each app feature by identifying and extracting mobile app-feature events from the overall current signal. In addition, the app overhead energy costs are also computed. Total energy consumption equations for each component is developed and an overall total energy consumption equation is presented. Minutes Lost (ML) of normal phone operations due to the energy consumption of the mobile app functionality is computed for cases where the mobile app is simulated to run on the various devices for 30 minutes. Tutela Technologies Inc. mobile app, NAT, is used for this study. NAT has two main features: QoS and Throughput. The impact of the QoS feature is indistinguishable, i.e. ML is zero, relative to other phone activities. The ML with only the TP feature enabled is on average 2.1 minutes. Enabling the GPS increases the ML on average to 11.5 minutes. Displaying the app GUI interface in addition to running the app features and enabling the GPS results in an average ML of 12.4 minutes. Amongst the various mobile app features and components studied, the GPS consumes the highest amount of energy. It is estimated that the GPS increases the ML by about 448%. / Graduate / 0544 / mustafa.abousaleh@gmail.com

Die rasante Weiterentwicklung der Technik eröffnet vielen Lebens- und Wirtschaftsbereichen völlig neue Möglichkeiten. So ist die stetige Verbesserung von mobilen Geräten auch ein Gewinn für die Kartographie. Im Bereich der erweiterten Realität sind dazu schon einige Anwendungen entwickelt worden. Diese Arbeit stellt verschiedene Augmented Reality Anwendungen vor, nicht nur aus dem Gebiet der Kartographie, sondern aus allen Lebensbereichen. Ein besonderes Augenmerk soll dabei auf der Anwendung mit mobilen Endgeräten liegen. Entstanden ist aus dieser Arbeit ein Campusführer, der nur die Namen der Gebäude anzeigt, welche der Nutzer von seiner Position aus auch tatsächlich sehen kann. Hierfür werden in der Arbeit Sichtbarkeitsanalysen im Allgemeinen und im Speziellen für GIS-Programme untersucht und vorgestellt. Auch die Beschriftung im dreidimensionalen Raum und auf dem Bildschirm von mobilen Geräten wird überblickshaft dargestellt. Abschließend wird der Campusführer getestet und bewertet sowie ein Fazit zum Thema Augmented Reality auf mobilen Endgeräten gegeben. / Undreamed-of possibilities in many areas of life and also in different economic sectors emerge owing to the rapid enhancement of technology. The constant advancement of mobile devices is also a gain for cartography. In this field some augmented reality applications have already been developed. In this thesis some augmented reality applications, not only with cartographic references, are introduced. Special attention is paid to their use on mobile devices. Furthermore a campus-guide is developed, which only displays the points of interest actually seen from the user's position. For this purpose the concept of viewsheds is introduced and examined both in general terms and especially in the use of GIS-programs. The labeling in a three-dimensional scene and on the screen of mobile devices is shortly discussed as well. Moving on, the campus-guide is tested and evaluated. Also a conclusion on the topic of augmented reality with mobile devices is given.

Society is increasingly on the move, mobile devices are commonly being used to coordinate group actions, and group communication features are rapidly being added to existing technologies. Despite this, little is known about how mobile groups act, or how communications technologies should be designed to augment existing behaviour. This is partially due to minimal research being done on the topic, but also to the lack of research methods available to study the topic with. Mobile groups are challenging to study because of frequent and long-duration movement, frequent distribution, and the rapidly changing environments they operate within. To address these issues, this research focuses on methodological issues surrounding the development of mobile devices for mobile groups and communities. More specifically it addresses backpackers, who are a relevant example of this type of community. The research primarily explores the convergence of computer supported cooperative work (CSCW) and the field of mobile device development. This enables the combination of emphasis on designing technologies for groups, social implications, mobile device design, and mobile settings. Major research outcomes presented in this thesis lie in three areas: 1) methods, 2) technology designs, and 3) backpacker culture. Five studies of backpacker behaviour and requirements form the core of the research. The methods used are in-situ and exploratory, and apply both novel and existing techniques to the domain of backpackers and mobile groups. Methods demonstrated in this research include: field trips for exploring mobile group behaviour and device usage, a social pairing exercise to explore social networks, contextual postcards to gain distributed feedback, and blog analysis which provides post-hoc diary data. Theoretical contributions include: observations on method triangulation, a taxonomy of mobility research, method templates to assist method usage, and identification of key categories leading to mobile group requirements. Design related outcomes include: 57 mobile tourism product ideas, a format for conveying product concepts, and a design for a wearable device to assist mobile researchers. Our understanding of backpacker culture has also improved as a consequence of the research. It has also generated user requirements to aid mobile development, methods of visualising mobile groups and communities, and a listing of relevant design tensions. Additionally, the research has added to our understanding of how new technologies such as blogs, SMS and iPods are being used by backpackers and how mobile groups naturally communicate.

In this thesis, I propose an algorithm for optimizing the cost involved with synchronizing the data contained in mobile wireless devices, named Expedient Trickle Sync (ETS). In this thesis, I focus on two significant cost factors: firstly, that of the cost of transmitting information across the network, and secondly, the cost associated with user access to out-of-date information. The ETS algorithm attempts to balance these two cost factors via a simple set of heuristics which calculate at regular intervals a test value, based on a variety of observations, and a threshold value which is recalculated on a daily basis. Additionally, the ETS algorithm will prioritize records based on their probability of access and the cost associated with synchronizing them, thus possibly deferring the synchronization of records with a low probability of access until it is possible to resolve their replication in a lower-cost network environment. This thesis evaluates the ETS algorithm alongside other optimistic replication algorithms in a custom developed simulation environment, the results of which show that in many use scenarios, the ETS algorithm can indeed reduce the cost of data synchronization.

The broad objective of the thesis is make implementation of CityScrabble, a network multiplayer game, for mobile devices based on the Android platform, using the programming language Java for Android. The specific objectives of this study were outlined as follows: a) To improve the communications protocol. b) To make the design, interface and the user interaction better. c) To correct errors in the last game. d) To implement new features. e) Evaluation session The idea to develop this game begins in a previous game that was developed by Diego Rodriguez Puerto, a student from University of Valladolid. He implemented the game using a Web service based on REST architecture, so the main aim of my project was replace the existing protocol and implement XMPP. It is an open and extensible protocol based on XML, originally designed for instant messaging. This is the protocol selected for Google messaging service Google Talk, Facebook and Myspace and other for chat. For this, I have integrated a Smack library that allows connecting, sending and receiving messages between the players’ devices and XMPP server. The most important reason why it was decided to change the protocol of the game is that if we have more than one scenario (more than a group of People playing CityScrabble at the same moment), we need to create another chat room in the server in order to differentiate between different kinds of games that are being run on the same server. In order to improve the design, as the last interface was adequate and worked property, some parts have been modified to optimize the game and make it more intuitive. A login screen, a progress dialog, a new toggle button and toasts have been integrated to correct errors in the system and improving the Diego Rodriguez version. Others objectives were also correct errors in the last application and implement new features. Some of these features have been proposed is the method of unlocking the game elements using GPS integrated in Android devices, a new login design that allows create and join games, different options depending of the scenario and program a real communications server. After completing the application, we have prepared an evaluation session in a real scenario with a group of people in order in order to see if the end user like the application has been designed and consider proposals to improve it in the future. / -