Thesis (Ph. D.)--Faculty of Science, University of Oulo, Finland, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 218-236).

Au cours des 10 dernières années, les téléphones mobiles ont considérablement évolué~: l'apparition des écrans tactiles et la disparition des claviers physiques ont changé la façon dont nous interagissons au quotidien avec ces dispositifs. Pourtant, la saisie de texte demeure toujours une tâche importante avec des activités telles que la prise de notes, l'envoi de messages textuels ou la communication sur les réseaux sociaux. Cependant, bien que l'utilisation du tactile ait de grands avantages en termes de dynamicité de l'interface et de personnalisation, de tels dispositifs ne sont pas forcément accessibles pour tous. En effet, pour 39 millions de personnes dans le monde touchés par la cécité, les difficultés sont nombreuses avec ces dispositifs du fait que toutes les interactions se fassent au moyen de l'écran dépourvu de tout repère tactile : les interactions avec le dispositif sont possibles, mais elles sont souvent laborieuses et répétitives, ce qui implique alors une charge cognitive trop importante et des problèmes de précision, de mémorisation, et de fatigue. Dans ce travail de doctorat, nous nous sommes intéressés à l'accessibilité de la saisie de texte dans le contexte de la déficience visuelle. Dans un premier temps, nous avons étudié les différentes solutions actuellement existantes pour les utilisateurs en situation de déficience. La problématique principale de ces recherches était d'améliorer la saisie de texte pour permettre aux utilisateurs d'avoir de meilleures performances de saisie. Pour cela, nous avons conçu une solution déductive, appelée DUCK. Cette solution permet aux déficients visuels, de saisir rapidement du texte sans se soucier de la précision de leurs frappes. Un système à base de connaissances linguistiques permet à chaque fin de mot de déduire le mot que l'utilisateur a voulu saisir. Ce dispositif a ensuite été testé auprès d'un échantillon de déficients visuels afin de vérifier l'efficacité de notre solution. La suite des travaux s'est ensuite focalisée sur deux principales optimisations. La première concerne les listes de mots. Nous avons étudié et comparé différentes interactions pour permettre à l'utilisateur de naviguer et choisir des mots de façon efficace et simple lorsqu'il est face à une liste de mots proposée par un système de prédiction ou de déduction. La seconde se focalise sur la saisie des mots couramment utilisés. Nous avons également mené une étude comparative entre différentes propositions d'interaction permettant de saisir un mot court de façon efficace sans avoir recours au système de déduction, trop coûteux en temps pour ce type de mots. Enfin, nous terminons ce projet de doctorat par une étude longitudinale qui présente le clavier DUCK avec l'intégration de ces optimisations. Ce nouveau système a été utilisé par des déficients visuels sur une période de deux semaines afin d'étudier l'efficacité du clavier une fois ce dernier pris en main sur le long terme. / Over the past 10 years, mobile phones have evolved considerably : the advent of touch screens and the disappearance of physical keyboards have changed the way we interact with these devices in our daily lives. However, text input is still an important task though activities such as taking notes, sending text messages or communicating on social networks. However, while using touch screen has great advantages in terms of dynamical interfaces and customization, such devices are not necessarily accessible to all. Indeed, for 39 million people worldwide affected by blindness, there are many difficulties related to the devices that will make such interactions difficult due to the lack of tactile reference: interactions with the device are possible but they are often laborious and repetitive, which then implies a lot of cognitive load, accuracy, memory and fatigue related problems. In this PhD thesis, we focused on the accessibility of text input interactions in the context of visual impairment. First, we studied the currently existing solutions designed for impaired users. The main issue of this research was to improve text input so that users have a better typing experience. As such, we designed a deductive solution called DUCK. This solution allows visually impaired to quickly enter text without worrying about how accurate their input is. A basic language-based modelling system allows at the each end of a word what the user wanted to type. This device was then tested with a sample of visually impaired people to assess the effectiveness of our solution. Further work was subsequently focused on two main optimizations. The first work focused on word lists. We studied and compared different interactions to allow the user to navigate and choose words effectively and easily when faced with a list of words proposed by a predictive or deductive system. The second optimization focuses on entering commonly used words. We also conducted a comparative study of different interactions models to type a short word efficiently without using the deduction system, which would be too time consuming for such words. Finally, we finish this PhD project by a longitudinal study that shows the DUCK keyboard with the integration of these optimizations. This new system has been used by visually impaired over a period of two weeks to study the effectiveness of the keyboard over the long term.

The management of long term chronic conditions is a complex and challenging task. The process relies on individuals engaging in regular recording of factors that affect their health. Yet currently, the mobile tools that people carry with them are not being fully utilised to assist in this process. This Thesis reports on research that has been completed to understand the role that mobile technologies can have in supporting people with chronic conditions. An individual engaging in personal monitoring is concerned with the data they collect, not the process used to capture the data. The results of the research conducted contribute to an advancement of knowledge around how mobile technologies can assist in personal reflection on health information to provide greater understanding of chronic disease management This understanding of the role of reflection in chronic condition management can then be used as a platform to improve the mobile interventions in future implementations. These findings are arrived at by conducting an initial investigation into the usage of existing health monitoring devices and an evaluation of these devices is detailed. The results of this early work suggests there exists a gap between real practice and the role that mobile technologies can play in assisting with the process. A deeper understanding of the management practices of people with diabetes is then achieved through a set of interviews with individuals with diabetes. The findings then define a model of chronic disease management, named the 'Diabetes Management Cycle.' Following the definition of the cycle, a mobile application was implemented and deployed during a four week evaluation with individuals with type 1 diabetes. This system was designed to support existing management practices and implemented simple methods of information capture. A second application was then developed to enable increased monitoring and subsequent reflection amongst individuals with cardiovascular conditions. The application was deployed in a six week in-situ evaluation and it was discovered a personalised 'tagging' mechanism allowed for the discovery of patterns affecting health. Based on the findings of the studies, the Thesis concludes by presenting definitions of ready- to-hand in the short- and long-term contexts of mobile health management. These ready-to-hand guidelines provide a platform for future research projects to build upon.

Submitted by Irene Nascimento (irene.kessia@ufpe.br) on 2016-08-30T17:34:37Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) Janiel - Dissertação.pdf: 4742603 bytes, checksum: bfac90cf32cb35cdd6dd087a3a4bae21 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-30T17:34:37Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) Janiel - Dissertação.pdf: 4742603 bytes, checksum: bfac90cf32cb35cdd6dd087a3a4bae21 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-08-25 / FACEPE / Um novo conceito de interação tem se estabelecido pelas desenvolvedoras de jogos digitais, que adotam o uso dos gestos sendo o intermediário entre o jogador e o jogo. O presente trabalho tem como objetivo um estudo detalhado sobre quais são os gestos mais utilizados nos jogos para dispositivos móveis, analisados categoricamente por gêneros. Para execução do presente estudo, foi utilizado o método GOP (Game Ontology Project), no intuito de identificar as principais tendências nos jogos analisados e suas relações. A proposta é criar um mapa de gestos de comandos e ações completo o suficiente para indicar os gestos mais adequados a serem utilizados em um novo jogo. Os resultados possibilitaram a identificação dos tipos de gestos mais comuns nos jogos para dispositivos móveis, abrindo a oportunidade de construção de um mapeamento de gestos em situação de jogo, podendo ser útil às desenvolvedoras como uma ferramenta de orientação e de criação de jogos. / A new concept of interaction has been established by digital game developers, which adopt the use of gestures as interface between the player and the game. This work aims a detailed study of the most used gestures in games for mobile devices, categorically analyzed by gender. In this study, we used the method GOP (Game Ontology Project) in order to identify the main trends in the analyzed games and their relationships. The proposal is to create a map between command gestures and actions, complete enough to indicate the most appropriate gestures to be used in a new game. The results allowed the identification of the most common types of gestures in games for mobile devices, opening the opportunity to build a gesture mapping in game situations, which can be useful to developers as an orientation tool for creating games.

Universities should strive to educate students by applying new learning environments where students are given the opportunity to explore the world of education by the use of mobile devices. These technologies and mobile devices are already second nature to them and applying these devices in a learning environment will improve the students’ learning experience. It is sensible to make use of these new technologies to get students attention, since students will find learning interesting and more enjoyable. Students’ attitude towards a mobile learning environment and learning with mobile devices has already received much attention in existing literature. This study aimed to determine whether South African, University students will welcome the use of mobile devices during their studies, especially in the field of Taxation. The study also focussed on students’ attitudes towards using e-books instead of the hardcopy textbooks during their studies and during open-book assessments. This longitudinal study made use of two questionnaires to obtain the feedback on students’ perception on what they believe mobile learning to be, their acceptance and willingness to engage with a mobile learning environment and to determine whether their attitudes towards mobile learning have change over two academic years. Furthermore, statistical analysis of the data was done to determine whether a significant difference exists between the responses between male and female students. The results indicated that more males are interested in using mobile technologies for educational purposes, however, it is not significant. It was concluded that students, when given the opportunity, are interested to engage with a mobile learning environment. It was lastly concluded that no significant change in acceptance and willingness of engaging with a mobile learning environment exists over two academic years. / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / lmchunu2014 / Taxation / unrestricted

A new economic order has developed that is referred to as the New Economy and has brought about a shift in focus from manufactured goods and services to an economy that places emphasis on knowledge and the application thereof within a specific context (Leung, 2002). Furthermore, this economy places emphasis on the saliency of information and how it can be used as a competitive and commercial tool. The New Economy is characterised by a unique consumer that functions within it called the New Consumer and this individual functions as a ubiquitous entity that is always on as this individual uses mobile devices that enables them to conduct business and communicate anywhere and at any time. The New Consumer is characterised by being individualistic, involved, independent and informed but also suffers from scarcities such as time, attention and trust. In view hereof, value has become a pivotal matter that all organisations should place emphasis on when delivering products and services to this consumer. Furthermore, Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) has brought about a technological revolution in the New Economy and has changed the way in which the consumer works and conducts business. Mobile devices form an important component of the New Economy as it also offers organisations the opportunity to adopt new business models, using wireless technology, that enable mobile business (m-business) solutions. M-business refers to the purchasing of information, goods and services via a mobile device (Anon., 2000c) and organisations offering m-business in the New Economy are enabled to offer the advantages such as delivering just the right information, to just the right people at just the right time which means that convenient and personalised location-based information can be delivered to the individual. One industry that has adopted the m-business solution, as a value-added service, is the banking industry and various banks are offering the mobile financial solution to consumers meaning that they can access their accounts, pay their bills and make transfers using a mobile device. As many banks have adopted m-banking, as a value-added m-business offering, a credible source that elaborates on the implementation of m-banking and the industry requirements pertaining to the implementation process is Mobey Forum who has published the Mobey Forum White Paper (Anon., 2004p) that explains the implementation requirements of mobile financial services such as customer proposition, business priorities, technical issues and implementation issues. This study focuses on the industry requirements of m-banking, as set out by the Mobey Forum White Paper (Anon., 2004p). Absa, a South African bank, has been utilised as a one-shot case study todetermine how the industry requirements of mobile banking, as a value-added m-business offering, is implemented by the bank. / Ms. Andrea Crystal,

Current trends in libraries require that students are able to access information and services beyond library buildings. Makerere University Library (Maklib) faces a number of challenges with regard to online and remote access to library resources and services. One possible solution to this problem lies in the use of mobile technologies. This study attempted to investigate how mobile technologies can be used to provide mobile-based library services at Makerere University library. A pilot study was conducted involving 31 postgraduate and 37 undergraduate students using questionnaires as the data collection tool. Qualitative data was collected and analyzed using Google Drive and was presented in form of text and graphs. Findings indicate that majority of Makerere University students own mobile phones that are internet enabled and those who do not own them have expressed interest in acquiring them in order to stay abreast with new technology. Although students owned internet enabled phones, they mainly used these devices to make and receive calls, and access different kinds of information ranging from news, social media to academic information. The services that students wanted to access using their mobile devices were: search the catalogue, request an e-book, request an item, chat with a librarian, view library news, access subject guides, search the library database, view library opening hours, View library contact information, Quick response, renew library items, book study group rooms, text messaging, book computer labs and view library map. There are also various resources that students expressed interest in and these include: Google searches, Google scholar, e-books, reference materials and e-journals. Convenience, flexibility, time saving, affordability are some of the reasons for acceptability of Mobile library services and resources. The majority of the respondents were positive about the implementation of the mobile services at Maklib however, some of the challenges mentioned by students include high cost of the devices and the ability to access internet services while in office. The study concludes that:  Mobile technology awareness is rapidly increasing among Ugandans especially students in higher education such as those at Makerere University.  Ownership of mobile devices is widespread among both the postgraduate and undergraduate students.  Both postgraduate and undergraduate students expressed their interest in accessing mobile library services and resources. Recommendations that ought to be adopted by Maklib and any other academic library willing to implement mobile library services are discussed. / Mini Dissertation (MIT)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / Information Science / Dissertation (MIT)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / Unrestricted

This project investigated how to develop a mobile intervention to support medication compliance for patients with chronic and acute diseases. Chronic diseases cannot be cured but can be controlled, usually by taking medication every-day. Therefore, it is very crucial for a patient with a chronic disease to take their medication on time to prevent complications or negative impact on their health. Due to the widespread use of mobile phones, having an automated mobile mechanism to remind patients to take medication is regarded as an effective way of supporting medication compliance. The focus of the research was on investigating how mobile health applications can be used to support patients with chronic and acute diseases in South Africa. Literature identified that medication compliance is low and that a need exists for an intervention to increase compliance. The main goal of this research was to produce a mobile health application to assist medication compliance and support patients with chronic and acute diseases in South Africa and investigate its perceived usefulness. The project made use of two field studies to substantiate its results. The first field study involved patients with chronic diseases and the second one involved patients with acute diseases. The feedback from the first field study and from a literature review was used to redesign the mobile application. The project also investigated the attitude of patients taking medication over a short period of time as well as how such patients compared with those taking chronic medication. The project identified the benefits and disadvantages of using an m-health application to support medication compliance based on the participants’ feedback and behaviour observed in using the application.

Network decontamination is a well known mobile agent problem with many applications. We assume that all nodes of a network are contaminated (e.g., by a virus) and a set of agents is deployed to decontaminate them. An agent passing by a node decontaminates it, however a decontaminated node can be recontaminated if any of its neighbours is contaminated. In the vast literature a variety of models are considered and different assumptions are made on the power of the agents. In this thesis we study variation of the decontamination problem in mesh and tori topologies, under the assumption that when a node is decontaminated, it is immune to recontamination for a predefined amount of time t (called immunity time). After the immunity time is elapsed, recontamination can occur. We focus on three different models: mobile agents (MA), cellular automata (CA), and mobile cellular automata (MCA). The first two models are commonly studied and employed in several other contexts, the third model is introduced in this thesis for the first time. In each model we study the temporal decontamination problem (adapted to the particular setting) under a variety of assumptions on the capabilities of the decontaminating elements (agents for MA and MCA, decontaminating cells for CA). Some of the parameters we consider in this study are: visibility of the active elements, their ability to make copies of themselves, their ability to communicate, and the possibility to remember their past actions (memory). We describe several solutions in the various scenarios and we analyze their complexity. Efficiency is evaluated slightly differently in each model, but essentially the effort is in the minimization of the number of simultaneous decontaminating elements active in the system while performing the decontamination with a given immunity time.

M.Ing. (Electrical And Electronic Engineering) / Patient safety in healthcare is sometimes compromised due to medical and clerical errors. These errors can increase the operational cost of healthcare if not identified and rectified speedily. They can also result in misdiagnosis, wrong treatment options being provided to patients and in the worst case may result in fatalities. Healthcare errors in medication documentation, administration, and prescription can cause incorrect medicine administration and dosage instructions for patients. Sub-Saharan Africa has the lowest percentage (adults is 59% and youth is 70%) of literacy compared to other regions of the world sitting at (adults is 84% and youth is 89%). The challenge facing illiterate patients is that they can easily make the same mistakes and may not take their medication correctly. The application of Near Field Communication (NFC) technology in healthcare has demonstrated some advantages of security, accuracy and effectiveness over other technologies. The availability of NFC in some smartphones has also encouraged the development of more applications. The main objective of this thesis is to present a solution using an Android based NFC application that enables a NFC enabled smartphone to read NFC tags placed on medication containers and be able to play the audio instructions to illiterate patients. Based on a comprehensive review of the literature on NFC applications in healthcare, this solution is the first of its kind. A set of experiments were done in an effort to understand the operation of NFC phones under different environments. The proposed application reads the NFC tag placed on the medicine container. The data read from the NFC tag is used to identify the audio file corresponding to the particular patient’s medicine instructions. If the audio instructions are not available, on the phone, it is fetched from a remote server database using an Internet connection. The application automatically plays the audio file to the patient. Three research hypotheses were tested and it was confirmed that (H1), modified NFC antenna can reduce the level of induced power in it; (H2), the NFC technology is faster and more accurate in reading tag code that Barcode technology reading the barcode; (H3), the NFC reading process of NFC tag code is not negatively affected by the amount of light in the environment it is operated in. The Barcode reading accuracy was 10% errors when operating in the environment with light brightness of 128000 lumens. When the light brightness was reduced to 8900 lumens, the Barcode accuracy errors increased to 45%.