2264317
Web Mash-ups and Patchwork Prototyping: User-driven technological innovation with Web 2.0 and Open Source Software
The recent emergence of Web mash-ups and open source software is driving the development of new practices in software and systems development. In this paper we explore novel practices of user-driven innovation through an examination of several case studies which illustrate how users and developers are exploiting the proliferation of open APIs and open source systems. Developers can rapidly create proofs of concept that are robust enough for actual use by combining preexisting software components. The underlying programming processes involved make use of tried-and-true software development techniques, and may not appear innovative at first. However, the application of these practices and techniques to problem solving by non-programmers shows a high degree of creative innovation, giving rise to new ways of thinking about technology design and production
6541426
Wikifying your interface: facilitating community-based interface translation
We explore the application of a wiki-based technology and style of interaction to enabling the incremental translation of a collaborative application into a number of different languages, including variant English language interfaces better suited to the needs of particular user communities. The development work allows us to explore in more detail the design space of functionality and interfaces relating to tailoring, customization, personalization and localization, and the challenges of designing to support ongoing incremental contributions by members of different use communities.
23406227
Toward an understanding of similarity judgments for music digital library evaluation
This paper presents an analysis of 7,602 similarity judgments collected for the Symbolic Melodic Similarity (SMS) and Audio Music Similarity and Retrieval (AMS) evaluation tasks in the 2006 Music Information Retrieval Evaluation eXchange (MIREX). We discuss the influence of task definitions, as well as evaluation metrics on user perceptions of music similarity, and provide recommendations for future Music Digital Library/Music Information Retrieval research pertaining to music similarity.
15786317
Bringing the C Libraries With Us into a Multi-Threaded Future
Textile materials such as fiber and cloth can be dyed more satisfactorily with sulfur dyes or sulfurized vat dyes by allowing an organic mercapto compound and/or an organic sulfur compound capable of generating mercapto groups under dyeing conditions to be present in dye baths. Still more improved dyeing results may be obtained by allowing a sulfite salt compound to be further present in such dye baths.
17471768
Navigation via continuously adapted music
Listening to music on personal, digital devices while mobile is an enjoyable, everyday activity. We explore a scheme for exploiting this practice to immerse listeners in navigation cues. Our prototype, Ontrack, continuously adapts audio, modifying the spatial balance and volume to lead listeners to their target destination. An initial lab-based evaluation has demonstrated the approach's efficacy: users were able to complete tasks within a reasonable time and their subjective feedback was positive. Encouraged by these findings, we are building a pocket-sized prototype for further testing.
7232664
Designing in the dark: the changing user-developer relationship in information systems development
Although user involvement can be problematic for all types of information systems development, the situation has become even more difficult with the recent spread of information technology to senior organizational levels. Better theoretical conceptualization of the dynamic relationship between developers and users in systems development is needed to understand how this relationship shapes, and is shaped by, various constraints. Drawing on Giddens’ work on constraints on human action and interaction, a theoretical conceptualization of the dynamic relationship between developers and executive users is proposed. This is grounded in empirical studies of the executive information systems development process in two organizations. The paper seeks to illustrate the “enabling” properties of the constraints and their ongoing production and reproduction. Such constraints may vary in their malleability and some appear to be relatively resistant to change by developers. Nevertheless, through improvisation and ingenuity, developers can often find ways to overcome them.
153985
Facial Reconstruction Using Volumetric Data
In this paper we demonstrate computer aided techniques in the area of the reconstruction of facial features from skeletal remains. We outline the desired features of a system for skull identification, and demonstrate our progress in the area which builds upon our previous work on distance fields for volumetric data. In addition to the application we demonstrate an accurate 3D closing operator in practise on large data sets, cross correlation for automatic feature detection, and the current output from the technique which uses a 2D warp of the 3D distance field.
12155836
Using parameterized signatures to express modular structure
Module systems are a powerful, practical tool for managing the complexity of large software systems. Previous attempts to formulate a type-theoretic foundation for modular programming have been based on existential, dependent, or manifest types. These approaches can be distinguished by their use of different quantifiers to package the operations that a module exports together with appropriate implementation types. In each case, the underlying type theory is simple and elegant, but significant and sometimes complex extensions are needed to account for features that are important in practical systems, such as separate compilation and propagation of type information between modules.This paper presents a simple type-theoretic framework for modular programming using parameterized signatures. The use of quantifiers is treated as a necessary, but independent concern. Using familiar concepts of polymorphism, the resulting module system is easy to understand and admits true separate compilation. It is also very powerful, supporting high-order, polymorphic, and first-class modules without further extension.