Ubiquitous computing systems aim to assist us as we go about our daily lives, whilst at the same time fading into the background so that we do not notice their presence. To do this they need to be able to sense their surroundings and infer context about the state of the world. Location has proven to be an important source of contextual information for such systems. If a device can determine its own location then it can infer its surroundings and adapt accordingly. Of particular interest for many ubiquitous computing systems is the ability to track people in indoor environments. This interest has led to the development of many indoor location systems based on a range of technologies including infra-red light, ultrasound and radio. Unfortunately existing systems that achieve the kind of sub-metre accuracies desired by many location-aware applications require large amounts of infrastructure to be installed into the environment. This thesis investigates an alternative approach to indoor pedestrian tracking that uses on-body inertial sensors rather than relying on fixed infrastructure. It is demonstrated that general purpose inertial navigation algorithms are unsuitable for pedestrian tracking due to the rapid accumulation of errors in the tracked position. In practice it is necessary to frequently correct such algorithms using additional measurements or constraints. An extended Kalman filteris developed for this purpose and is applied to track pedestrians using foot-mounted inertial sensors. By detecting when the foot is stationary and applying zero velocity corrections a pedestrian's relative movements can be tracked far more accurately than is possible using uncorrected inertial navigation. Having developed an effective means of calculating a pedestrian's relative movements, a localisation filter is developed that combines relative movement measurements with environmental constraints derived from a map of the environment. By enforcing constraints such as impassable walls and floors the filter is able to narrow down the absolute position of a pedestrian as they move through an indoor environment. Once the user's position has been uniquely determined the same filter is demonstrated to track the user's absolute position to sub-metre accuracy. The localisation filter in its simplest form is computationally expensive. Furthermore symmetry exhibited by the environment may delay or prevent the filter from determining the user's position. The final part of this thesis describes the concept of assisted localisation, in which additional measurements are used to solve both of these problems. The use of sparsely deployed WiFi access points is discussed in detail. The thesis concludes that inertial sensors can be used to track pedestrians in indoor environments. Such an approach is suited to cases in which it is impossible or impractical to install large amounts of fixed infrastructure into the environment in advance.

Le sol en tant que support de la vie urbaine est encore peu pensé par la recherche architecturale et urbaine. Dans un monde où la concurrence entre villes se joue entre autres sur la qualité des espaces publics, il est pourtant un élément essentiel des usages pédestres. Le pied le foule, l’œil le fait entrer dans l’horizon perceptif sans qu’on s’y attarde, et sans qu’une recherche approfondie nous en ait montré toutes les dimensions sensibles.Après un rappel historique des enjeux de l’aménagement du sol urbain, nous nous penchons sur la façon dont celui-ci est très tôt intégré dans la structuration de l’expérience vécue par tout un chacun, notamment lors de l’apprentissage de la marche. Le sol est une donnée première de l’environnement et joue un rôle dans la formation de l’équilibre, du sens de la proprioception. Il participe ainsi à l’arrière-plan corporel de l’expérience, en même temps qu’il est une surface d’échanges. En matière d’architecture et d’urbanisme, nous faisons l’hypothèse que le sol fait partie du fond de l’ambiance : il contribue à l’arrière-plan ambiantal de l’expérience sensorielle des espaces publics. Pour avancer sur ces hypothèses, trois corpus sont constitués : le premier, à partir d’une écoute réactivée de vingt sons enregistrés à Paris, analyse la part du sol dans la qualité sonore de l’ambiance vécue ; le second, issu d’observations et de relevés vidéo sur deux terrains comparés à Barcelone et La Défense, permet d’évoquer les relations entre topographie et mobilité ; le troisième, issu de l’expérimentation de dix parcours commentés effectués les yeux fermés sur une partie du site de La Défense, tente d’approcher l’expérience somatique dans le rapport au sol : comment se joue la relation entre le sol et le « soma » ? Pour conclure, nous discutons les apports réciproques entre Ambiances et Somatiques, deux disciplines au cœur desquelles le sentir est exploré. Que peuvent apporter les somatiques aux ambiances en terme de méthode d’étude, du point de vue théorique et pour l’approche du projet ? / The ground as a support for urban life remains a largely understudied topic in architectural and urban research. In a world where towns compete to offer a better quality of public spaces, pedestrian use is considered as an essential aspect. Felt underfoot and seen on the perceptual horizon without being consciously considered, very little in-depth research has revealed its sentient dimensions.After some brief historical considerations on the importance of urban ground, the study focuses on how the ground is integrated into the lived experience of our environment, beginning with how we learn to walk. The ground is a fundamental dimension and plays an essential role in keeping balance and creating a sense of proprioception. It participates as a basis for bodily experience by providing a surface of exchange. In terms of architecture and urban design, this study posits the ground as part of the ambiance as it constitutes the ambient background of the sensory experience of public spaces. In order to develop this hypothesis three case studies are considered: the first, based on a reactivated listening of twenty sounds recorded in Paris to provide an analysis of the role that the ground plays in experiencing the ambiance; the second, a comparative set of observations and video recordings taken in two sites in Barcelona and La Défense in Paris; the third, is based on ten blind-folded commented walks carried out at La Défense. It tries to examine what the somatic experience of the ground entails, how does the relationship between the ground and the “soma” take place? In conclusion, the reciprocal contributions of Ambiances and Somatics are considered in relation to this material as we ask what new theoretical approaches these disciplines can provide in exploring body experience.

<p>Growing up as a child, we had a Dog. To us, it was like a means to an end. That is, hunting other animals for food and for protection, with no special care and treatment given to this animal. Butas days passed by I began to witness a wind of change against such actions. I was made to understand that we were committing two crimes-: using the Dog as a means to an end (for hunting and for eating animals). Today almost every newspaper has something to say about the treatment of animals by humans, especially in their use as experimentation subjects. This has led to the wide spread arguments about “Animal right” and “Animal equality” Advocates of the above arguments hold that just like humans, animals too have rights and are in many ways like humans. There also exist animal right groups. Organisations and countries now have laws regulating animal used in the laboratory. If I may be permitted, I will want to say that the world is in a state of dilemma regarding animal experimentation. While some argue against it, based on the claim that these animals have no right and are not equal to humans, others argue in favour of it on claims that animals have moral rights, feel pain and suffer just like humans and should not be subjected to painful experiments. I then begin to wander how research on animals to improve human health should not be undertaken just because it is claimed that these animals have rights and are in many ways equal to humans. It is the contention of this paper to find out the extent to which animal rights and animal equality justifies the fight against animal experimentation.</p>

Growing up as a child, we had a Dog. To us, it was like a means to an end. That is, hunting other animals for food and for protection, with no special care and treatment given to this animal. Butas days passed by I began to witness a wind of change against such actions. I was made to understand that we were committing two crimes-: using the Dog as a means to an end (for hunting and for eating animals). Today almost every newspaper has something to say about the treatment of animals by humans, especially in their use as experimentation subjects. This has led to the wide spread arguments about “Animal right” and “Animal equality” Advocates of the above arguments hold that just like humans, animals too have rights and are in many ways like humans. There also exist animal right groups. Organisations and countries now have laws regulating animal used in the laboratory. If I may be permitted, I will want to say that the world is in a state of dilemma regarding animal experimentation. While some argue against it, based on the claim that these animals have no right and are not equal to humans, others argue in favour of it on claims that animals have moral rights, feel pain and suffer just like humans and should not be subjected to painful experiments. I then begin to wander how research on animals to improve human health should not be undertaken just because it is claimed that these animals have rights and are in many ways equal to humans. It is the contention of this paper to find out the extent to which animal rights and animal equality justifies the fight against animal experimentation.

Författarna av Zoopolis – A Political Theory of Animal Rights, Sue Donaldson och Will Kymlicka, anser att djurrättsrörelsen idag har stagnerat till följd av den bristfälliga utformningen av traditionell djurrättsteori. Även om vissa framgångar har uppnåtts så är avsaknaden av offentlig opinion och verkliga politiska förändringar ett avgörande problem för djurrättsrörelsen. De anser att djurrättsteorin har misslyckats med att identifiera de mest allvarliga etiska utmaningarna när det gäller våra relationer till icke-mänskliga djur. Donaldsons och Kymlickas avsikt med Zoopolis är att vidareutveckla och utvidga traditionell djurrättsteori genom att utforma ett nytt ramverk som ska kunna svara på de utmaningar som vi står inför när det gäller icke-mänskliga djurs välfärd. Genom att utgå från modern politisk teori så delar författarna in icke-mänskliga djur, härefter refererade till som ”djur” för enkelhetens skull, i tre övergripande kategorier. Dessa är baserade på djurens relationella förhållande till människor, grundat på geografiska och historiska faktorer som har påverkat hur olika grupper av människor och djur samverkar. De visar hur de olika grupperna ger upphov till olika moraliska förpliktelser och ger sedan förslag på vilken politisk status vi bör ge respektive grupp och vad denna status kan komma att betyda för oss människor och vårt politiska system. De tre kategorierna är: domesticerade djur, liminala djur (sådana djur som delar livsmiljö med människan men som lever oberoende av dessa, till exempel duvor och råttor) och vilda djur. Den sista gruppen, vilda djur, är sådana djur som flyr mänsklig kontakt och som lever utanför människans bosättningar. Dessa kan själva tillfredsställa sina behov av föda, skydd, och social struktur, de skyr människans bosättningar och upprätthåller en oberoende existens. Denna uppsats kommer att fokusera på denna kategori samt Donaldsons och Kymlickas förslag om hur vi bör förhålla oss till denna grupp. Deras förslag är att vi bör anta en generell princip om icke-ingripande för att måna om vilda djurs välfärd och att vi bäst gör detta genom att utvidga suveränitetsbegreppet och erkänna vilda djur suveränitet. Jag kommer att undersöka Donaldsons och Kymlickas suveränitetsmodell i ljuset av kritik som har formulerats av Andrée-Anne Cormier och Mauro Rossis i deras artikel ”The Problem of Predation in Zoopolis”. De anser också att vi bör följa en generell princip för icke-ingripande när det gäller vilda djur, men att denna inte kan legitimeras med hjälp av en suveränitetsmodell. De anser att Donaldsons och Kymlickas teori faller offer för vad de kallar predationsproblemet. De menar att fenomenet predation, alltså företeelsen att rovdjur måste döda andra djur för att överleva, visar att vilda djur inte har tillräcklig kompetens för att inneha suveränitet. På grund av avsaknaden av denna kompetens så kan inte en suveränitetsmodell användas som belägg för en generell princip om icke-ingripande i vilda djurs livsmiljö. Jag vill undersöka om predationsproblemet utgör ett allvarligt problem för Donaldson och Kymlickas teori om en suveränitetsmodell för vilda djur och huruvida dessa skulle kunna svara på kritiken. Detta leder oss fram till frågeställningen: Är Cormiers och Rossis kritik, att vilda djur inte kan utgöra suveräna samhällen på grund av avsaknad av kompetens, mot Donaldsons och Kymlickas teori om vilda djurs suveränitet, övertygande? Min tes är att kritiken är övertygande. Donaldson och Kymlicka verkar inte kunna svara på kritiken på ett tillfredställande sätt och samtidigt vara konsekventa mot sin teori. Det verkar som att de bedömer människan och djur olika, trots att deras teori gör anspråk på att inte göra detta.

This project describes the role of ritual in the basic entrainment processes of Canadian soldiers. Building on the ecological systems theories of Urie Bronfenbrenner and Roy Rappaport, this project construes human adaptation to occur within multiple interdependent planes of ordered biological, sociostructural, psychosocial and symbolic (even transcendent) meanings and interactions within integrated social ecologies or “living systems.” Rappaport’s theory supports the argument that invariant, embodied actions and impulses not encoded by ritual performers establish social order, values, motivations, competencies, dispositions and representational or symbolic meanings—understood within this project as worldview—circulating within and regulating integrated human ecologies. Ordered sequences of invariant actions and impulses have also come to be conveyed within human phylogenic and ontogenetic developmental processes. This project specifically explores the hypothesis that embodied ritual dynamics pervade the basic entrainment rite of Canadian soldiers. The analysis draws on the ritual theory of Rappaport and the psychosocial developmental theory of Erik Erikson to describe the manner in which innate social regulating impulses and liturgically ordered ritual processes are exploited, in conjunction with predictable human psychosocial developmental imperatives, to build foundational martial dispositions, a spontaneous impulse to radical solidarity and a robust, homogeneous and multivocalic worldview in Canadian soldiers. Such a worldview is adaptive to all aspects of service within the Canadian Armed Forces. The rudimentary martial worldview inscribed upon recruit soldiers and officer candidates forms the foundational background to all subsequent martial meaning and adaptation in so far as it is collectively maintained throughout the military career. This argument maintains that a ritual analysis of adaptive meaning and solidarity among soldiers has profound implications for the structure and direction of future research investigating the persistent and well documented rates of distress, maladaptation and health pathology among serving members of the Canadian Armed Forces.