This chapter describes a technique that utilises established usability evaluation techniques to d... more This chapter describes a technique that utilises established usability evaluation techniques to discover a range of accessibility requirements for digital TV (DTV) viewers with low vision. A study was reported in which two “stalking horse” prototype conditions were tried by subjects performing interactive tasks. These prototypes were not developed technologies but Wizard-of-Oz style conditions. In one condition subjects were asked to use gestures to interact with DTV services, with the screen responding to their hand movements. The other condition used a static keyboard display placed on the table in front of them. Their role was both to probe the efficacy of these approaches and to prompt rich information relating to the subjects abilities, lifestyles, and strategies for interaction. The reported study analyses four viewers with differing types of sight impairment. .The reported study was successful in yielding both general concerns about current approaches to DTV display and inter...
In this paper we present CODMAPS, a COst Distribution Method for Agent Planning Systems. The stra... more In this paper we present CODMAPS, a COst Distribution Method for Agent Planning Systems. The strategy is based on individual distribution of cost and competitive behaviour. Our model emulates how human agents work in expert groups. They all share a common objective but also have individual interests and try to steer the planning process towards their own goals. Two opposing trends coexist within the set: global co-operation and individual utility maximisation. External evaluation must guarantee the validity of the final plan at global level but a negotiation and cost distribution strategy must ensure that cost is adequately shared throughout the agent set. We introduce the concept of reluctance as a regulation mechanism to facilitate it. A statistical model allows agents to adapt their attitude towards negotiation depending on their negotiation state vector, which encompasses all history of previous negotiations by the agent. Previous research into this problem had taken the "r...
Contemporary developments in digital and interactive television in the UK are reviewed to assess ... more Contemporary developments in digital and interactive television in the UK are reviewed to assess their accessibility implications for viewer/users with low vision. Of particular significance is the likelihood of divergence between sectors of the population receiving digital television in an enhanced form through new broadband distribution (thin client) technology and those remaining with older broadcast set-top-box (thick client) technology, comprising proportionately more visually disabled viewers. With this second segment particularly in mind, and utilising findings from our previous research with visually disabled people, we examine the applicability of the W3C web accessibility guidelines to interactive television. We conclude that, while technical limitations may prevent their wholesale adoption, guidelines relating to the display of interactive features, and brightness and contrast may be directly interpreted for this medium, whilst other guidelines involving magnification and audio equivalence and feedback are highly relevant and should inform technical developments in set-top box functionality.
Observational techniques are now well established as tools for evaluating the usability and accep... more Observational techniques are now well established as tools for evaluating the usability and acceptability of desktop systems such as interactive applications and web sites, whether in the user's own setting or in a usability lab. When interactive elements such as games, electronic programme guides and voting mechanisms began to be integrated into broadcast television programmes and the need arose for tools to gauge the usability of these elements, it was natural to turn to observational techniques to supplement the survey-based techniques more familiar to researchers from the broadcast TV world. In this paper, we explore how the observational techniques familiar to HCI practitioners can be used to study viewers' interactions with interactive and enhanced television. We describe the setting up of a usability lab for domestic products such as interactive television and consider the implications of this new application area for the conduct of usability studies, the analysis of ...
CHI '00 extended abstracts on Human factors in computer systems - CHI '00, 2000
The language, and the processes which stem from it, merely release the funda-mental order which ... more The language, and the processes which stem from it, merely release the funda-mental order which is native to us. They do not teach us, they only remind us of what we know already, and of what we shall discover time and time again, when we give up our ideas and opinions, ...
The majority of current text based search engines do not consider the semantic content of a docum... more The majority of current text based search engines do not consider the semantic content of a document when they perform the process of indexing. As a result of this, retrieval is based on Boolean matches between the user's query and a set of loose terms that do not convey semantic meaning. In this paper we have used a partitioning type clustering algorithm to study the feasibility of recovering 'topic' information from an unstructured collection of terms.
We present a technique for utilising agent technology to solve planning problems. Our aim is to s... more We present a technique for utilising agent technology to solve planning problems. Our aim is to show how the problem of complexity can be tackled via decomposition and merger of local solutions. In our system a task is partitioned among a series of independent planning agents. These software entities are capable of solving problems in a particular field and integrating them to form a composite global solution. Throughout the planning process these agents join one or several negotiation groups. They express their intentions and participate in a negotiation process where their constraints, goals and preconditions are exchanged in order to reach a globally suitable solution to the conflict. They possess the necessary expertise to evaluate, modify and compare other agents' proposals resulting in a consensus as a group decision We introduce a framework, communication protocol and internal architecture to construct agent-based planning systems. Our protocol allows agents to exchange ...
This chapter describes a technique that utilises established usability evaluation techniques to d... more This chapter describes a technique that utilises established usability evaluation techniques to discover a range of accessibility requirements for digital TV (DTV) viewers with low vision. A study was reported in which two “stalking horse” prototype conditions were tried by subjects performing interactive tasks. These prototypes were not developed technologies but Wizard-of-Oz style conditions. In one condition subjects were asked to use gestures to interact with DTV services, with the screen responding to their hand movements. The other condition used a static keyboard display placed on the table in front of them. Their role was both to probe the efficacy of these approaches and to prompt rich information relating to the subjects abilities, lifestyles, and strategies for interaction. The reported study analyses four viewers with differing types of sight impairment. .The reported study was successful in yielding both general concerns about current approaches to DTV display and inter...
In this paper we present CODMAPS, a COst Distribution Method for Agent Planning Systems. The stra... more In this paper we present CODMAPS, a COst Distribution Method for Agent Planning Systems. The strategy is based on individual distribution of cost and competitive behaviour. Our model emulates how human agents work in expert groups. They all share a common objective but also have individual interests and try to steer the planning process towards their own goals. Two opposing trends coexist within the set: global co-operation and individual utility maximisation. External evaluation must guarantee the validity of the final plan at global level but a negotiation and cost distribution strategy must ensure that cost is adequately shared throughout the agent set. We introduce the concept of reluctance as a regulation mechanism to facilitate it. A statistical model allows agents to adapt their attitude towards negotiation depending on their negotiation state vector, which encompasses all history of previous negotiations by the agent. Previous research into this problem had taken the "r...
Contemporary developments in digital and interactive television in the UK are reviewed to assess ... more Contemporary developments in digital and interactive television in the UK are reviewed to assess their accessibility implications for viewer/users with low vision. Of particular significance is the likelihood of divergence between sectors of the population receiving digital television in an enhanced form through new broadband distribution (thin client) technology and those remaining with older broadcast set-top-box (thick client) technology, comprising proportionately more visually disabled viewers. With this second segment particularly in mind, and utilising findings from our previous research with visually disabled people, we examine the applicability of the W3C web accessibility guidelines to interactive television. We conclude that, while technical limitations may prevent their wholesale adoption, guidelines relating to the display of interactive features, and brightness and contrast may be directly interpreted for this medium, whilst other guidelines involving magnification and audio equivalence and feedback are highly relevant and should inform technical developments in set-top box functionality.
Observational techniques are now well established as tools for evaluating the usability and accep... more Observational techniques are now well established as tools for evaluating the usability and acceptability of desktop systems such as interactive applications and web sites, whether in the user's own setting or in a usability lab. When interactive elements such as games, electronic programme guides and voting mechanisms began to be integrated into broadcast television programmes and the need arose for tools to gauge the usability of these elements, it was natural to turn to observational techniques to supplement the survey-based techniques more familiar to researchers from the broadcast TV world. In this paper, we explore how the observational techniques familiar to HCI practitioners can be used to study viewers' interactions with interactive and enhanced television. We describe the setting up of a usability lab for domestic products such as interactive television and consider the implications of this new application area for the conduct of usability studies, the analysis of ...
CHI '00 extended abstracts on Human factors in computer systems - CHI '00, 2000
The language, and the processes which stem from it, merely release the funda-mental order which ... more The language, and the processes which stem from it, merely release the funda-mental order which is native to us. They do not teach us, they only remind us of what we know already, and of what we shall discover time and time again, when we give up our ideas and opinions, ...
The majority of current text based search engines do not consider the semantic content of a docum... more The majority of current text based search engines do not consider the semantic content of a document when they perform the process of indexing. As a result of this, retrieval is based on Boolean matches between the user's query and a set of loose terms that do not convey semantic meaning. In this paper we have used a partitioning type clustering algorithm to study the feasibility of recovering 'topic' information from an unstructured collection of terms.
We present a technique for utilising agent technology to solve planning problems. Our aim is to s... more We present a technique for utilising agent technology to solve planning problems. Our aim is to show how the problem of complexity can be tackled via decomposition and merger of local solutions. In our system a task is partitioned among a series of independent planning agents. These software entities are capable of solving problems in a particular field and integrating them to form a composite global solution. Throughout the planning process these agents join one or several negotiation groups. They express their intentions and participate in a negotiation process where their constraints, goals and preconditions are exchanged in order to reach a globally suitable solution to the conflict. They possess the necessary expertise to evaluate, modify and compare other agents' proposals resulting in a consensus as a group decision We introduce a framework, communication protocol and internal architecture to construct agent-based planning systems. Our protocol allows agents to exchange ...
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