BUDI (Building Urban Designs Interactively) is an integrated 3D visualization and remote collaboration platform for complex urban design tasks. Users with different backgrounds can remotely engage in the entire design cycle, improving the quality of the end result. In this paper, I consider the trade-offs encountered when trying to make spatial-based collaboration seamless. Specifically, I detail the multi-dimensional data visualization and interaction the platform provides, and outline how users can interact with and analyze various aspects of urban design. In $BUDI$, the display and interactive environment was designed to seamlessly expand beyond a traditional two-dimensional surface into a fully immersive three-dimensional space. Clients on various devices connect with servers for different functionalities tailored for different user groups. A demonstration with a local urban planning use-case shows the costs and benefits of $BUDI$ as a spatial-based collaborative platform. A performance evaluation with remote collaboration shows how the platform can meet the requirements for real-time and seamless collaboration. / Graduate

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Syftet med denna uppsats är att skapa en förståelse för hur svenska företag kan använda sig av omnikanal för att skapa en sömlös shoppingupplevelse för sina kunder genom att analysera hur företag kan integrera traditionella och digitala försäljningskanaler, vilka fördelar och nackdelar som integrationen medför, samt hur företag kan använda sig av innehållsmarknadsföring i sitt omnikanalsarbete för att förmedla personliga budskap till sina konsumenter. Med koppling till syftet har vi valt följande forskningsfråga: Hur kan företag inom detaljhandeln använda sig av omnikanal för att skapa en sömlös shoppingupplevelse för sina kunder? Denna uppsats är baserad på en kvalitativ forskningsmetod då vi ville skapa en djupare förståelse kring ämnet omnikanal. Under uppsatsen gång har vi arbetat parallellt med teori och empiri, vilket innebär att vi har haft ett växelspel mellan induktion och deduktion. Informationsinsamlingen har skett genom primärdata och sekundärdata där det empiriska materialet samlades in genom fem semistrukturerade intervjuer. Genom uppsatsens gång har vi insett att digitaliseringen av detaljhandeln är ett obestridligt fenomen. Dock får man inte glömma bort den fysiska butikens viktiga roll, i synnerhet som en marknadsföringskanal för dagens detaljhandlare. Konsumenter har blivit allt mer pålästa och förväntar sig idag en enhetlig shoppingupplevelse som rör sig genom samtliga försäljningskanaler. För att skapa förutsättningar för omnikanaler behöver företag ta till en kundcentrerad strategi där de satsar tid och resurser på strukturella förändringar och tekniska investeringar. Vi ser vidare att företag som inte väljer att anpassa sig till den moderna konsumenten och inte kan erbjuda en sömlös shoppingupplevelse riskerar att hamna på efterkälken. / The purpose of this study has been to create a deeper understanding of how Swedish companies can use omnichannel to create a seamless shopping experience for their customers by analyzing the integration between traditional and digital sales channels, the advantages and disadvantages the integration induce, as well as how companies can use content marketing when working with omnichannel to convey personalized messages to their consumers. In relation to the purpose, we have chosen the following research question: How can companies within retail use omnichannel to create a seamless shopping experience for their customers? This study has a qualitative research methodology due to the fact that we wanted to create a deeper understanding of the subject omnichannel. We have during the process of the study worked in parallel with our theoretical and empirical information, which has led to interplay between induction and deduction. The information has been collected through primary and secondary sources and the empirical material has been collected by conducting five semi-structured interviews. We have, in our analysis, pointed out that while the digitalization of the retail industry is an indisputable phenomenon, there is a need to emphasize that physical stores still play an important role for retailers today, particularly in acting as a marketing channel for their brand. Customers are getting smarter with more access to information and the modern customer expects a seamless shopping experience across all sale channels. To create conditions for an omnichannel outlook, companies need to take on a customer-centric strategy where they invest time and resources in structural changes and technical investments. We also emphasize that companies risk falling behind if they choose not to adapt to the modern customer and are unable to offer a seamless shopping experience.

<p>This thesis is a collection of seven papers reporting a research effort that started in January 1999. The theme of the thesis is interaction support for mobile CSCW (Computer Supported Cooperative Work). The interest in this theme is motivated by the trend towards a networked and nomadic society, the technical trends towards embedded, ubiquitous, and mobile technology, and the emergence of mobile CSCW settings. It is also motivated by current trends within the area of CSCW to focus on actual work practices, invisible and ubiquitous computer support, and mobile work settings where interaction with others is critical to get the work done.</p><p>For some time now mobile technology has been widely used to support dispersed mobile interaction, and recently the importance of co-located ”mobile meetings” to get the work done, has been recognized in the area of CSCW. However, current technology is not well suited when it comes to support interaction in mobile work settings across co-located and dispersed settings. Here, this problem is approached from an informatics perspective. Informatics can be described as a theory and design oriented study of information technology use. The scope of this thesis can be defined as understanding transformations of work practice through the use of mobile technology, and how it might be supported. The overall research question is: What are the specific needs of interaction support related to mobile meetings and dispersed interaction, how might these be supported, and what are the implications for current interaction models and support within CSCW? To answer this question several activities have been undertaken. This thesis contains empirical studies of mobile work among service technicians at Telia Nära, models of mobility and mobile meetings, and design and evaluations of a prototype system called RoamWare.</p><p>The overall conclusions related to the question stated in this thesis are that mobile interaction can be described as ongoing across mobile meetings, including both co-located face-to-face and dispersed interaction. Further, the interaction is maintained by the mobile workers through their efforts of re-establishing different threads of interaction across co-located and dispersed settings. Overall: There is a need to bridge co-located and dispersed meetings with sustained interaction support. Concerning the second part of the overall research question one conclusion is that sustained interaction across co-located and dispersed settings can be supported with mobile physical/virtual meetings support systems through the use of personal and public interaction histories. To illustrate and test this idea a prototype system called RoamWare was developed. However, evaluations of RoamWare revealed that synchronous support for sustained interaction divides users’ attention between co-located and dispersed interaction. As a consequence a second version of RoamWare was developed as an unobtrusive support for sustained interaction in between mobile meetings through seamless reestablishment of different threads of interaction, by offering support for converting interaction histories into project contexts. Finally, and according to the last part of the question stated above, this thesis concludes that current session management models need to be extended to handle sustained and dynamic sessions of interaction across co-located and dispersed mobile meetings and that, techniques for addressing groups need to be extended to enable dynamic addressing of participants in co-located mobile meeting. Finally, the exploration of how to support sustained interaction in between mobile meetings reveals important aspects to consider when trying to automatically frame spontaneous interaction with mobile technology.</p><p>Directions for future work include questions of how to design filters to support: maintenance, participation in, and negotiation about participation in between, different mobile meetings. Further, more work is needed related to how to capture spontaneous face-to-face interaction technically. Finally, new methods are needed to enable good evaluations of the impact of IT in mobile work settings.</p>

This thesis is a collection of seven papers reporting a research effort that started in January 1999. The theme of the thesis is interaction support for mobile CSCW (Computer Supported Cooperative Work). The interest in this theme is motivated by the trend towards a networked and nomadic society, the technical trends towards embedded, ubiquitous, and mobile technology, and the emergence of mobile CSCW settings. It is also motivated by current trends within the area of CSCW to focus on actual work practices, invisible and ubiquitous computer support, and mobile work settings where interaction with others is critical to get the work done. For some time now mobile technology has been widely used to support dispersed mobile interaction, and recently the importance of co-located ”mobile meetings” to get the work done, has been recognized in the area of CSCW. However, current technology is not well suited when it comes to support interaction in mobile work settings across co-located and dispersed settings. Here, this problem is approached from an informatics perspective. Informatics can be described as a theory and design oriented study of information technology use. The scope of this thesis can be defined as understanding transformations of work practice through the use of mobile technology, and how it might be supported. The overall research question is: What are the specific needs of interaction support related to mobile meetings and dispersed interaction, how might these be supported, and what are the implications for current interaction models and support within CSCW? To answer this question several activities have been undertaken. This thesis contains empirical studies of mobile work among service technicians at Telia Nära, models of mobility and mobile meetings, and design and evaluations of a prototype system called RoamWare. The overall conclusions related to the question stated in this thesis are that mobile interaction can be described as ongoing across mobile meetings, including both co-located face-to-face and dispersed interaction. Further, the interaction is maintained by the mobile workers through their efforts of re-establishing different threads of interaction across co-located and dispersed settings. Overall: There is a need to bridge co-located and dispersed meetings with sustained interaction support. Concerning the second part of the overall research question one conclusion is that sustained interaction across co-located and dispersed settings can be supported with mobile physical/virtual meetings support systems through the use of personal and public interaction histories. To illustrate and test this idea a prototype system called RoamWare was developed. However, evaluations of RoamWare revealed that synchronous support for sustained interaction divides users’ attention between co-located and dispersed interaction. As a consequence a second version of RoamWare was developed as an unobtrusive support for sustained interaction in between mobile meetings through seamless reestablishment of different threads of interaction, by offering support for converting interaction histories into project contexts. Finally, and according to the last part of the question stated above, this thesis concludes that current session management models need to be extended to handle sustained and dynamic sessions of interaction across co-located and dispersed mobile meetings and that, techniques for addressing groups need to be extended to enable dynamic addressing of participants in co-located mobile meeting. Finally, the exploration of how to support sustained interaction in between mobile meetings reveals important aspects to consider when trying to automatically frame spontaneous interaction with mobile technology. Directions for future work include questions of how to design filters to support: maintenance, participation in, and negotiation about participation in between, different mobile meetings. Further, more work is needed related to how to capture spontaneous face-to-face interaction technically. Finally, new methods are needed to enable good evaluations of the impact of IT in mobile work settings.

Esta tesis doctoral aborda el problema de la definición de movimientos rápidos sin interrupciones (seamless handoffs) en redes heterogéneas de próxima generación (NGNs) mediante definición de un proceso de distribución de claves seguro, que habilite un proceso de re-autenticación rápida a la vez que un acceso autenticado anónimo y que no se pueda trazar. Concretamente, el sistema de control de acceso desarrollado ofrece un conjunto de características que, hasta la fecha, no han confluido en una misma solución: (1) aplicable a las futuras redes NGN basadas en EAP; (2) reducción de la latencia introducida por el proceso de autenticación en entornos móviles, con independencia del tipo de handoff realizado por el usuario; (3) que el proceso cumpla fuertes requisitos de seguridad; (4) fácil despliegue en redes existentes; (5) compatibilidad con las actuales tecnologías estandarizadas; y (6) soporte de protección de privacidad del usuario. / This PhD thesis deals with the problem of defining fast movements without interruptions (seamless handoffs) in the next generation of heterogeneous networks. This objective is achieved through a secure key distribution process, which enables a fast re-authentication process providing both user anonymity and untraceability. The developed access control system offers a set of features not covered so far by a single solution: (1) applicable for EAP-based NGNs; (2) reduction of the authentication latency in mobile environments irrespective of the type of handoff performed by the user; (3) provision of strong security properties; (4) easy deployment in current networks; (5) compatibility with current standardized technologies; and (6) user privacy support.

The master's thesis is devoted to the history and performance of non-contact temperature measurement, characterization of infrared cameras and infrared thermometers. Temperature is one of the most important physical quantities. Using an infrared camera we obtain information about the surface temperature in all picture. In the master's thesis is included the measurement and capturing the fatal defects on the punched billet, finding out the quality of temperature field and the quality of the overlapping work rolls. During the measurements were used infrared cameras TIM200, TIM400 from the company Micro-Epsilon and infrared cameras SC325, SC660 from the company Flir.

Stora förändringar inom detaljhandeln under de senaste åren har förändrat både hur företag arbetar och hur konsumenter beter sig som följd. Digitaliseringen av samhället har resulterat i att konsumenter numera är mer uppkopplade och handlar via fler kanaler än vad de tidigare gjort. Detta har ställt krav på företagen att kunna erbjuda en sömlös köpupplevelse för sina konsumenter - något som kallas för omnikanal. Det innebär att konsumenten ska kunna kommunicera med företaget när, var och hur den vill och kräver en integration av företagets samtliga kanaler. Företag som tidigare arbetat med fler kanaler var för sig, behöver nu utveckla och förbättra sina existerande affärsmodeller för att kunna möjliggöra detta. Syftet med denna studie är att skapa förståelse för vilka faktorer som är särskilt viktiga för företag inom detaljhandeln att ta hänsyn till vid utveckling av deras nuvarande affärsmodeller för att kunna erbjuda en enhetlig upplevelse mellan deras fysiska och digitala kanaler. Studien är baserad på en kvalitativ forskningsmetod där fem semistrukturerade intervjuer har genomförts med företag som på något sätt arbetar med omnikanal inom detaljhandeln. Slutsatsen visar att det finns tre faktorer som är särskilt viktiga att ta hänsyn till vid utvecklande av företagens affärsmodeller. Dessa tre faktorer har identifierats som implementering av teknologi i den fysiska miljön, en starkare relation till konsumenten samt ett behov av att organisera sig på ett nytt sätt. / Major changes in retailing in the recent years have changed how both companies work and how consumers behave as a result. The digitalization of the society has resulted in consumers who now are more connected and buy through more channels than they have before. Companies now have to offer a seamless shopping experience for their consumers - which is called omnichannel. This means that the consumer should be able to communicate with the company whenever, wherever and however it wants and requires an integration of all of the company’s channels. Companies that previously have worked with multiple channels as separated are now in the need of developing and improving their existing business models in order to make this possible. The aim of this study is to create an understanding of which factors that are particularly important for companies in retail to take into account in developing their current business models in order to offer a unified experience between their physical and digital channels. This study is based on a qualitative research method where five semistructured interviews have been conducted with companies that somehow work with omnichannel in retail. The conclusion shows that there are three factors of particular importance to consider when developing the companies business models. These three factors have been identified as implementation of technology in the physical environment, a stronger relationship to the customer and a need to organize in a new way.

E-government, electronic Public Administration, has led to streamlined work processes within and between government departments. As theories of administration and management seek to improve processes, electronic administration seeks to improve electronic processes in an effort to provide efficient services. The unique contribution of this study on Public Administration and the related e-government initiatives of the Government Employees Pension Fund is that none of this research has been documented before. Whilst e-government is not new, its application to the Government Employees Pension Fund is novel. E-government espouses integrated partnerships between governments and e-citizens by creating an understanding of electronic relationships between and within organisations. The thesis considers electronic Public Administrative service delivery in the Government Employees Pension Fund as it relates to civil pensions administration. Successful e-government needs a critical mass of users that is central to ensuring its sustainable and successful utilisation. If a critical mass of users is not ensured then e-government initiatives will not be successful. Attempts by the Government Employees Pension Fund to develop a customer relationship management approach are assessed. Sustainable and successful e-service delivery is about providing multi-nodal access to clients. An interactive web site, amongst others, will allow clients to access services remotely. Seamless government is developed around customers’ needs and is outward looking since it provides a single access point for all services offered by government. Gaining access to information and communications technologies is a challenge that many face, hence the digital divide is a stymieing factor in providing seamless, successful e-government services. Not all e-government initiatives are successful. Information and communications technology initiatives are not always implemented according to planned timelines and budgets. The case of the Government Employees Pension Fund proved to be no different given that not all the e-government initiatives embarked upon were successful. / Thesis (PhD (Public Affairs))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / School of Public Management and Administration (SPMA) / unrestricted