Zugl.: Wien, University, Diss., 2006. / Description based on print version record.

Thesis (Ph.D)--Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2009. / Committee Chair: MacIntyre, Blair; Committee Member: Bolter, Jay; Committee Member: Guzdial, Mark; Committee Member: Mateas, Michael; Committee Member: Mynatt, Elizabeth. Part of the SMARTech Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Collection.

Thesis (M. Sc.)--Acadia University, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 106-108). Also available on the Internet via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M. Arch.)--University of Washington, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves [47]-50). Issued also electronically via World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.S.C.I.T.)--Regis University, Denver, Colo., 2006. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on Aug. 30, 2006). Includes bibliographical references.

Οι επιχειρηματικές οργανωτικές δομές ιστορικά έχουν πάρει πολλαπλές μορφές. Η πολυμορφία αυτή που παρουσιάζεται στο πέρασμα του χρόνου είναι αποτέλεσμα της προσπάθειας των επιχειρήσεων να ανταποκριθούν στις αλλαγές που προέκυπταν κάθε φορά στο επιχειρηματικό περιβάλλον και στις απαιτήσεις του καταναλωτικού κοινού καθώς και να ικανοποιήσουν τις οργανωτικές και διοικητικές ανάγκες που έθετε η συνεχής και ραγδαία εξέλιξη της τεχνολογίας και κατ’ επέκταση της παραγωγικής διαδικασίας. Κραταιά θέση κατείχε παραδοσιακά το πυραμιδικό ιεραρχικό μοντέλο που χαρακτηριζόταν από την κάθετη ολοκλήρωση του έργου και ανταποκρινόταν επαρκώς στην ανάγκη της μαζικής παραγωγής και του συντονισμού των ιδιαιτέρως σύνθετων παραγωγικών διαδικασιών. Το μοντέλο αυτό γνώρισε συνεχή εξέλιξη στην διάρκεια των δεκαετιών από το τέλος του Β 'Παγκοσμίου Πολέμου μέχρι και τον 20ο αιώνα. Με το πέρασμα των χρόνων εμφανίζονται διάφορες νέες παραλλαγές του παραδοσιακού προτύπου οι οποίες διακρίνονται για τις πεπλατυσμένες δομές τους. Αυτά τα μοντέλα πέρα από την ενθάρρυνση και προώθηση της εξειδίκευσης, εισάγουν την συμμετοχική λήψη αποφάσεων και την αυξημένη αυτονομία ακόμη και σε κατώτερα οργανωτικά στρώματα. Σαν αποτέλεσμα της ανάπτυξης του συγκεκριμένου προτύπου οργάνωσης προκύπτει η σημαντική μείωση της γραφειοκρατίας, η ευελιξία και η ταχύτερη απόκριση των επιχειρήσεων αλλά κυρίως παρατηρείται το φαινόμενο της γεωγραφικής και οργανωτικής διασποράς των εργαζομένων. Ακολούθως, τα νέα απαιτητικά επιχειρηματικά δεδομένα που κάνουν την εμφάνισή τους στις αρχές του 21ου αιώνα σε συνδυασμό με την ταυτόχρονη ραγδαία τεχνολογική εξέλιξη αναδεικνύουν το εικονικό οργανωτικό μοντέλο, το οποίο απαντά στην πολυπλοκότητα και τον ‘άγριο’ ανταγωνισμό, αναπτύσσοντας δίκτυα συμμαχικών επιχειρήσεων, ομάδων και ατόμων, με σκοπό να εκμεταλλευτούν Ακολούθως, τα νέα απαιτητικά επιχειρηματικά δεδομένα που κάνουν την εμφάνισή τους στις αρχές του 21ου αιώνα σε συνδυασμό με την ταυτόχρονη ραγδαία τεχνολογική εξέλιξη αναδεικνύουν το εικονικό οργανωτικό μοντέλο, το οποίο απαντά στην πολυπλοκότητα και τον ‘άγριο’ ανταγωνισμό, αναπτύσσοντας δίκτυα συμμαχικών επιχειρήσεων, ομάδων και ατόμων, με σκοπό να εκμεταλλευτούν νεοεμφανιζόμενες ευκαιρίες, εκμεταλλευόμενες τους κοινούς πλέον πόρους του εικονικού δικτύου. Έτσι λοιπόν το εικονικό οργανωτικό μοντέλο διαμορφώνει Εικονικές Επιχειρήσεις (Virtual Firms) (Virtual Organizations) (Virtual Enterprises). Αναφορικά με τον ορισμό της Εικονικής Επιχείρησης οι απόψεις δεν εμφανίζουν ομοφωνία συγκλίνοντας όμως στα κοινά χαρακτηριστικά που αναπτύσσονται από τους διαφωνούντες θεωρητικούς, η εικονική επιχείρηση αποτελεί ένα δίκτυο ανεξάρτητων επιχειρήσεων με τη σύνθεση του οποίου επιδιώκεται να αναπτυχθούν συνέργιες, οι εταιρίες του δικτύου λειτουργικά συνδέονται με ένα κεντρικό εκτελεστικό φορέα λόγω της εκτεταμένης ανάπτυξης των Τηλεπικοινωνιών και της Πληροφορικής για την επίτευξη ενός κοινού σκοπού. Η θεωρία που σχετίζεται με την εικονικότητα και ειδικότερα με την συγκεκριμένη υβριδική μορφή επιχείρησης παρουσιάζει και προσεγγίζει τα ιδιαίτερα χαρακτηριστικά. Συμπερασματικά και με γνώμονα την μακροσκελή ανάλυση που έγινε τόσο αναφορικά με την εικονική μορφή οργάνωσης, τα πλεονεκτήματα και τις συνέργειες που μπορεί να δημιουργηθούν στα πλαίσιά της, όσο και αναφορικά με την οικονομική θεωρία και τα μεγέθη που παρουσιάζουν αδυναμία και επομένως χρειάζονται υποστήριξη ακολουθεί η παρατήρηση ορισμένων κοινών σημείων. / The business organizational structures historically have taken multiple forms. This diversity presented in the passage of time is a result of the efforts of companies to respond to changes resulting each time in the business environment and demands of consumers and to meet the organizational and management needs posed by the continuous and rapid development of technology and hence the production process. The result of the increasing demand of the business world is the creation and development a virtual model of organization. The purpose of this study is documentation of the ways in which the virtual model of organization can contribute to the effort of modern economic units to survive in times of economic crisis, as these units are formed in globalized markets. Mighty position was held traditionally by the hierarchical pyramid model characterized by vertical integration of the project and adequate response to the needs of mass production and coordination of the highly complex production processes. This model has seen continuous development during the decades since the end of WWII until the 20th century. Over the years there were displayed several new variants of the traditional pattern which were characterized by their flat structures. These models except of encouraging and promoting specialization they introduced participatory decision making and increased autonomy, even at lower organizational strata., new demanding business data that m As a result of the development of that certain organization model, occurs a significant reduction of bureaucracy, flexibility and faster response to business but mainly the phenomenon of geographical and organizational dispersion of employees. Subsequentlyake their appearance in the early 21st century along with the rapid technological developments highlight the virtual organization model, which responds to the complexity and 'wild' competition, developing networks of allied businesses, groups and people in order to exploit emerging opportunities, exploiting the most common resources of the virtual network. So the virtual organizational model creates (Virtual Firms) or (Virtual Organizations) or (Virtual Enterprises). Regarding the definition of the virtual enterprise views show no consensus, however, converging on common characteristics developed by dissident theorists, the virtual enterprise is a network of independent firms whose synthesis seeks to develop synergies, the companies operating the network are associated with a central executive body due to the extensive development of Telecommunications and Information Technology in order to achieve a common goal. The theory associated with virtualization and especially with this hybrid form of business presents approximate characteristics. In conclusion and having regard to the lengthy analysis in relation to both the virtual form of organization, the benefits and synergies that may arise, and also in terms of economic theory and its weak figures that need support, an observation of some common points will follow. These common findings emerge and are documented as a result of the study one can leverage the operational and strategic business development in times of economic crisis and also constitute the most characteristic features of virtual enterprises and forms that can be taken.

Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro Tecnológico. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Engenharia de Produção. / Made available in DSpace on 2012-10-16T23:53:59Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 186625.pdf: 2291439 bytes, checksum: ca2d17491ec1f525ad9856a53906210b (MD5) / A realidade virtual (RV) tem seus primeiros trabalhos há quase tanto tempo quanto a computação, mesmo parecendo ser uma tecnologia nova. Os primeiros trabalhos foram desenvolvidos no final da década de 60. A sua falta de destaque deveu-se ao custo elevado dos equipamentos e ao seu principal campo de aplicação ser o militar, e por esta razão ser de divulgação restrita. Nos últimos anos a RV ganhou destaque principalmente pela promessa de difusão a diversas áreas do conhecimento humano, associado à redução dos custos dos sistemas desenvolvidos. Atualmente está disponível uma linguagem para RV chamada VRML, destinada a Internet, que permite a criação de mundos virtuais não imersivos dos mais variados tipos. A criação destes ambientes é realizada, utilizando-se desde softwares para modelagem tridimensional que exportam seus arquivos para esta linguagem, como pacotes específicos para o desenvolvimento destes ambientes. Inexistem plataformas de fácil utilização que possam gerar ambientes virtuais imersivos de baixo custo baseados em padrões abertos, isto é, que aceitem a criação de sistemas utilizando equipamentos especiais para a RV e uma linguagem padronizada e de domínio público. Esta inexistência foi reconhecida com a experiência adquirida durante a realização de projetos no Laboratório de Realidade Virtual/PPGEP/UFSC, sendo que a principal foi a do desenvolvimento do projeto intitulado Virtual Lab. Esta dissertação apresenta uma proposta para especificação de uma plataforma de desenvolvimento de ambientes virtuais de baixo custo. O sistema proposto neste estudo segue os padrões VRML e Java.

Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro Tecnológico. Programa de Pós-graduação em Arquitetura e Urbanismo / Made available in DSpace on 2012-10-23T00:15:21Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 249112.pdf: 35636638 bytes, checksum: 5e616e130bb414d96bdf6a80731f9d83 (MD5) / A sinalização de um ambiente deve orientar o usuário a encontrar o seu caminho em um entorno desconhecido. A representação gráfica empregada por arquitetos e designers para apresentar os projetos de sinalização tem se mostrado deficiente, pois diferentes de profissionais treinados, as pessoas possuem dificuldades em entender (ou imaginar) espaços e elementos tridimensionais através de desenhos bidimensionais. A pesquisa demonstra o uso da realidade virtual como ferramenta de representação em projetos de sinalização. Essa técnica permite inserir o profissional dentro de um cenário virtual para que ele possa desenvolver uma proposta de projeto e trazer o cliente para vivenciá-la virtualmente antes de executá-la no mundo real. Com os estudos prévios, eventuais falhas podem ser previstas economizando tempo e dinheiro na execução do projeto, além de poder adequar melhor a proposta a seus usuários. A realidade virtual também pode ser aplicada no processo de ensino através dos ambientes virtuais de aprendizagem. Utilizando arquivos tridimensionais em formato VRML, os aprendizes podem não apenas trocar informações, mas também reconstruir significados, rearticular projetos e partilhar novas idéias com outras pessoas através da rede. O AVA-AD, diferente da linguagem puramente textual aplicada por alguns ambientes virtuais, se utiliza da linguagem gráfico-visual na estruturação de conteúdos específicos das áreas de Arquitetura e Design. Através do AVA-AD, este trabalho desenvolve um módulo de sinalização que pretende, através do uso da técnica de RV e das convergências de mídias, dos conteúdos hipertextuais e interativos - característicos dos AVA, reunir teorias, experimentos e discussões a respeito de projetos de sinalização, explorando o relacionamento entre os usuários de modo que eles se socializem na resolução de problemas. The signaling of an environment must guide the user to find its way in a unknown place. The graphical representation used by architects and designers to present their signaling projects has been presented in a deficient way, therefore different of trained professionals, people possess difficulties to understand (or to imagine) three-dimensional spaces and elements through bidimensional drawings. The research demonstrates the use of the virtual reality as a representation tool in signaling projects. This technique allows to put the professional inside of a virtual scene in a way that he can develop a project proposal and bring the customer to experience it virtually before executing it in the real world. With the previous studies, eventual imperfections can be foreseen saving time and money in the execution of the project, beyond to be able to adjust the proposal better to its users. The virtual reality also can be applied in the process of education through virtual learning environments. Using three-dimensional files in VRML format, the apprentices can do much more than just change information, they can also reconstruct meanings, rearticulate projects and share new ideas with other people through the net. The AVA-AD, does not use just textual language like some virtual environments, it uses the graphical/ visual language to design specific contents of the areas of Architecture and Design. Through the AVA-AD, this work develops a signaling module that intends, through the use of the technique of VR and the convergences of medias, of hypertexts and interactive contents - characteristic of the AVA, to group theories, experiments and discussions regarding signaling projects, exploring the relationship between users in a way they socialize themselves in the resolution of problems.

Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Comunicação e Expressão, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Design e Expressão Gráfica, Florianópolis, 2011 / Made available in DSpace on 2012-10-26T07:23:28Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 296921.pdf: 4174386 bytes, checksum: 219e4ad9e210a191c50f56e146631d15 (MD5) / imersão pode ser atingida de diversas formas, como por exemplo, pela utilização de displays imersivos que vão de duas pequenas telas em frente aos olhos de um usuário, até a projeção em domos para diversas pessoas. Os locais onde se aplicam esses displays recebem várias designações, entre elas virtuário, cyber theater, cyber dome e, a mais popular, caverna digital. O presente trabalho busca realizar um estudo sobre a criação de animações a serem utilizadas em displays imersivos, sejam elas utilizadas para o entretenimento, sejam para a educação. Em comum, temos o interesse de colocar o espectador em um ambiente imersivo, tridimensional, que prenda a sua atenção e consiga aumentar o grau de compreensão do que está sendo apresentado. Este trabalho tem um foco na análise dos diferentes displays imersivos e outra na criação de conteúdo a ser exibido por estes, com os métodos e possibilidades disponíveis. Os estudos foram realizados no planetário da UFSC que, embora seja chamado de planetário digital, constitui de fato uma caverna digital que possibilita a exibição de qualquer tipo de conteúdo. / Immersion can be achieved in several ways, including through the use of immersive displays ranging from two small screens in front of the eyes of a user, to the projection domes for different people. The places where they apply these displays receive several designations, including virtuary, cyber theater, cyber dome, and the most popular digital cave. This study aims to conduct a study on creating animations for use in immersive displays, whether used for entertainment or for education. In common, there is the interest in putting the viewer in an immersive environment, three dimensional, that holds their attention and can increase the degree of understanding of what is being presented. This work has focused on an analysis of the different immersive displays and another in the creation of content to be displayed by them, on the methods and possibilities available. The studies were conducted in UFSC#s planetarium that even though it is called a digital planetarium, is actually a cave that allows the digital display of any type of content.Immersion can be achieved in several ways, including through the use of immersive displays ranging from two small screens in front of the eyes of a user, to the projection domes for different people. The places where they apply these displays receive several designations, including virtuary, cyber theater, cyber dome, and the most popular digital cave. This study aims to conduct a study on creating animations for use in immersive displays, whether used for entertainment or for education. In common, there is the interest in putting the viewer in an immersive environment, three dimensional, that holds their attention and can increase the degree of understanding of what is being presented. This work has focused on an analysis of the different immersive displays and another in the creation of content to be displayed by them, on the methods and possibilities available. The studies were conducted in UFSC#s planetarium that even though it is called a digital planetarium, is actually a cave that allows the digital display of any type of content.Immersion can be achieved in several ways, including through the use of immersive displays ranging from two small screens in front of the eyes of a user, to the projection domes for different people. The places where they apply these displays receive several designations, including virtuary, cyber theater, cyber dome, and the most popular digital cave. This study aims to conduct a study on creating animations for use in immersive displays, whether used for entertainment or for education. In common, there is the interest in putting the viewer in an immersive environment, three dimensional, that holds their attention and can increase the degree of understanding of what is being presented. This work has focused on an analysis of the different immersive displays and another in the creation of content to be displayed by them, on the methods and possibilities available. The studies were conducted in UFSC#s planetarium that even though it is called a digital planetarium, is actually a cave that allows the digital display of any type of content.

For children, high quality friendships are associated with adaptive social, emotional and academic functioning. There is also evidence that children experience real and imaginary friendships in similar ways, and that imagined relationships could have an impact on development. However, less is known about the relationships made possible by virtual agents in digital media. This dissertation research was designed to provide preliminary data about children’s concepts of virtual agents, and the social opportunities they attribute to such entities. In Studies 1 and 2 (combined N = 48), preschool aged children differentiated the social affordances of a stuffed dog and a virtual dog. Participants played a game in which they guessed whether a child in a video was referring to a stuffed dog or a virtual dog in a series of statements. Items designed to assess high quality friendships, such as comfort, protection and love, were attributed more to the stuffed dog than the virtual dog. Studies 3 and 4 examined adult and child concepts of a virtual child, and how concepts of this entity might differ from a real child, a child on a video chat program (e.g., Skype™) and an inanimate doll. Adults and children attributed a range of properties to each child agent, including biological, psychological and social properties, as well as opportunities for relationships. In Study 3 (N = 144), adults did not differentiate between the virtual child and the doll on the social property; however, they favored the doll on opportunities for unilateral relationships. In Study 4 (N = 30), five to eight-year-old children indicated an overall preference for the doll on the social property, as well as on opportunities for reciprocal relationships. Children also favored the doll on opportunities for love, companionship, and intimate disclosure. Altogether, these findings suggest that virtual agents afford more limited social opportunities than inanimate artifacts, and they are less likely to be loved by children and adults alike. These results raise important questions about the design goals for virtual agents, and the functions they are intended to serve in our everyday lives. This dissertation includes both previously published and co-authored material.