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    Fuzzy neural network interface : development and application : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering in Information Engineering at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2003) Todd, Greg
    This project is concerned with the development and application of an interface for a fuzzy neural network (FuNN). The original program, for which the interface was written, is a tool to research the mapping of problem knowledge to initialize the weights of a FuNN. The interface concentrates on allowing the user to efficiently manipulate network settings and to be able to easily perform large numbers of experiments. After the interface was completed, the new integrated application was used to investigate the use of problem knowledge on FuNN training in specific image processing problems.
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    Making waves : a design concept for reactive tsunami education : an exegesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the Master of Design at the Institute of Communication Design, Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2013) Kremer, Klaus
    In New Zealand the public has access to a range of educational material to assist with understanding tsunamis and their inundation zones. However much of this material is hard to find, is of limited availability, and is also likely to be limited in its effectiveness because of its non-interactive design. This applied design research project explores the capacity of communication design to deliver clearer information about tsunamis to the general public. It uses animated information graphics and mobile media in the design of an educational tool for disaster awareness. The new tool developed during the project offers the current generation of technologically-enabled users more ways to learn, and access to more information, about tsunamis. The tool also combines an educational function and a warning function. Design aspects are based on an evaluation of how warning messages are received and understood by intended audiences. The project has focused on the use of existing warning material for visual communication. The project is based on research into information design theory: how a rich texture of data in a comparative context can be implemented in a complex arena such as disaster education, and how good design can cater for diverse cognitive reception or learning styles. The project incorporates this theory into the design of an interface with the objectives of (I) offering an alternative and attractive way of visualising inundation zones and other information to an audience that may be indifferent to existing information and advice about tsunamis, and (II) utilising mobile devices and its distinct technological advantages of location and communication access to enable the dissemination of warning messages. These objectives combine to offer future potential as an additional communication channel for a directed and immediate warning through use of GPS data and geo location, plus reactive user interface design adapting to an emergency situation.
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    Developing an extramural e-learning environment to bridge the digital divide : a dissertation presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2005) Johnson, Russell Stewart
    The research presented in this thesis conceptualises a strategy for designing e-learning systems to bridge the digital divide between those who have access to - and know how to use - high performance information technology, and those whose do not. It describes the prototyping of a system to test this conceptualisation, and the subsequent evaluation of the prototype in a realistic setting. From a review of existing research, eight guidelines were synthesised for developing effective extramural e-learning environments. In addition, three broad user-centred strategies were identified as showing promise as possible ways to implement such an environment. These strategies emphasised localised over centralised functionality, specialised over general-purpose tools, and user-initiated adaptability over system-initiated adaptivity. It was hypothesised that by following the design guidelines and combining these three strategies - without making any presumptions about technological platform - a workable way could be found to meet all the requirements for an extramural e-learning environment that offers a significant improvement over correspondence-based courses. Incremental prototyping was used to evaluate and refine the main elements of the design specification and then to integrate them into an operational system. This prototyping confirmed that the method proposed for developing a computer-based learning environment was workable. The prototype was then installed and tested, first over a LAN, and then over a rural telephone-based communication system where it was tested it with users. The system performed very favourably under these conditions. The volunteers' response to the learning computer was enthusiastic, contrasting what they could accomplish with it to the difficulties they faced with conventional systems. It was concluded that the user testing gave strong support to the thesis that distributive, specialised and adaptable strategies can be successfully combined to provide a widely-accessible and usable computer-based learning environment.
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    A near touch user interface for touch screen based systems : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering in Electronics and Computer Systems Engineering at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2012) Taylor, Nicholas John
    Industry has been heavily pushing for new methods of human-computer interaction in the last several years and this has seen many different technologies move into the mainstream, from infrared sensors[1] and z-cameras[2] to touch screens[3]. Because touch screens are a more mature and developed technology they provide an ideal platform for mainstream technology development, but their level of interactiveness is limited, and these limitations must be overcome or compensated for with clever interface design. In this thesis, a solution to these inherent limitations in touch screen interface design is proposed by augmenting the touch screens interaction capabilities with one or two cameras to enable a near touch user experience on top of the standard touch screen. This offers flexibility in system design (the near touch is implemented as an extra layer, and can be activated only if present) as well as providing an inexpensive solution. Several Image processing algorithms relevant to this task are also discussed and their implementation evaluated.
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    Applying bifocal displays to data visualisation : a dissertation presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science at Massey University, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 1995) Leung, Ying Keung
    Rapid advances in communications and computer technologies in recent years have provided users with greater access to large volumes of data from computer-based information systems. The issue of the relatively small window through which an information space can be viewed brings with it two associated problems: presentation and navigation. This research is based on an approach called the Bifocal Display proposed by Spence and Apperley to address these inherent difficulties common in large information spaces in modern computing environments. The essence of this presentation technique is to provide the user with detailed local content as well as a global context to facilitate navigation. In this research, the original one-dimensional Bifocal Display concept has been extended in two-dimensional form to deal with two fundamental types of large information spaces: those with a high information density, for example, large databases and spreadsheets, and those with inherent spatial relationships, such as topographic maps and networks. An experimental study has been carried out to study the usability of the Bifocal Display and other presentation techniques based on various implementations of the London Underground map. Results have shown that the Bifocal Display is a usable and effective approach for the presentation of large information spaces. Presentation techniques can be broadly classified into distortion-oriented and non-distortion-oriented; the former generally requires more computational resources than the latter. With the increasing processing power of personal computers, researchers have developed a variety of novel distortion-oriented presentation techniques. Unfortunately, the distorting appearance resulting from the application of these techniques, coupled with the growing number of new terminologies used by researchers, has caused some confusion to the graphical user interface designer. A taxonomy of distortion-oriented techniques based on their magnification functions has been proposed to facilitate the identification of the similarities and differences of these techniques. A conceptual model has also been put forward to unveil the underlying principles which govern their operations. Despite the variety of novel presentation techniques currently available, the choice of a technique in a particular application remains very subjective; there is a general lack of selection guidelines or methodologies. An evaluation framework E3 has been developed to provide a basis for the comparison of different presentation techniques, given the nature and characteristics of the data to be presented, and the interpretation required. E3 focuses on three aspects of graphical data presentation: expressiveness, efficiency and effectiveness. This framework lays the foundation for the development of a set of metrics to facilitate an objective assessment of presentation techniques. A general visualisation tool, the InfoLens, has been designed based on the theoretical framework of this research. The design of the InfoLens has further demonstrated that the Bifocal Display is an effective approach to visualising large information spaces.
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    Dialogue activation : an approach to user centred constructional modelling of direct manipulation interfaces : a dissertation presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1995) Anderson, Paul Stuart
    Early stages in the development of interfaces involve the construction of models that aid interface analysis prior to construction. These behavioural models generally take a user-centred perspective. In contrast, subsequent implementation models tend to take a system-centred view of the interface. As a consequence of this change in viewpoint, the task of translating an analysis model into its implementation equivalent is extremely difficult. This thesis proposes a constructional modelling approach for direct manipulation user interfaces (DMUI) that takes a user action viewpoint. Based on a hierarchy of dialogue groups and the notion of dialogue activation, sequence and concurrency within the interface can be described. Dialogues can be in one of two possible states, active or inactive. An active dialogue is one with which the user is able to interact. A dialogue becomes active only if its parent is active, and it receives one of a set of possible activating events. A second set of deactivating events can also exist. In this way a dialogue can be specified in terms of both a user's actions and the sequences in which those actions may be carried out. Dialogue Activation Language (DAL), a language for describing such models is developed, and shown to be applicable to a range of interaction styles. An architecture capable of implementing the dialogue activation model is proposed, and a user interface development system (PIPS), based on this architecture and using DAL is described. It is argued that DAL takes the same view of an interface as would be used in its initial analysis, and as a consequence, facilitates the translation of these early interface models into working prototypes. In addition, it is proposed that taking the DAL approach to modelling DMUI allows great flexibility in describing interaction and encourages experimentation with entirely new interaction styles.