Sonification for complex, mission-critical work environments. Human operators must often pay attention to an immediate task while monitoring background information, but intrusive alarms often capture operators' attention inappropriately. We investigate how continuous auditory information ("sonification") can provide low-level background information when all is normal, yet capture attention to abnormalities only when needed. The results of three experiments will determine the most effective combi ....Sonification for complex, mission-critical work environments. Human operators must often pay attention to an immediate task while monitoring background information, but intrusive alarms often capture operators' attention inappropriately. We investigate how continuous auditory information ("sonification") can provide low-level background information when all is normal, yet capture attention to abnormalities only when needed. The results of three experiments will determine the most effective combination of visual and auditory information delivery; how well sonification captures attention when needed; and whether sonification captures attention to deviations from expected changes. Our findings will help establish principles of attentional mapping that significantly extend current approaches to interactive systems design.Read moreRead less
Cooperation and reciprocity at the local scale enabled by social and mobile technologies: an empirically derived theoretical framework. The project aims to build new theories, design tools and social and mobile information technologies to support sharing of resources in local communities. Designs developed through agile software development will be built in communities to support new forms of community communication, agile ride sharing and distributed energy generation and use.
Earth soundscapes: A human-computer approach to environmental sound analysis. This project aims to visualise and analyse big sound data, to detect patterns of animal and bird calls at different temporal and spatial scales. Eco-acoustics are important for scaling environmental monitoring; since the resulting big sound data is opaque and its fully automated analysis is intractable, human-computer methods are needed to interpret the data. The project expects to deliver multi-scale sound visualisati ....Earth soundscapes: A human-computer approach to environmental sound analysis. This project aims to visualise and analyse big sound data, to detect patterns of animal and bird calls at different temporal and spatial scales. Eco-acoustics are important for scaling environmental monitoring; since the resulting big sound data is opaque and its fully automated analysis is intractable, human-computer methods are needed to interpret the data. The project expects to deliver multi-scale sound visualisation, end-user analytic tools and annotation and management methods so people can monitor the environment with insight and accuracy.Read moreRead less
Bio-Acoustic Observatory: Engaging Birdwatchers to Monitor Biodiversity by Collaboratively Collecting and Analysing Big Audio Data. This project will research how to crowd-source the collection and analysis of environmental animal sounds (for example, birds, frogs). This will enable a bio-acoustic observatory which provides a scalable, objective and permanent record of the environment, something hitherto impossible. The project will investigate how to engage the community of birdwatchers to exte ....Bio-Acoustic Observatory: Engaging Birdwatchers to Monitor Biodiversity by Collaboratively Collecting and Analysing Big Audio Data. This project will research how to crowd-source the collection and analysis of environmental animal sounds (for example, birds, frogs). This will enable a bio-acoustic observatory which provides a scalable, objective and permanent record of the environment, something hitherto impossible. The project will investigate how to engage the community of birdwatchers to extend their pastime online with new kinds of interactive tools to enable collaborative analysis of big audio data, and new kinds of birding experiences. Outcomes will be: new approaches to physical/virtual engagement in human-computer interaction; new approaches to analysing big data; a new validated ecological monitoring technique and concepts for sustainable knowledge generation communities.Read moreRead less
Cross-Community Information Systems: Understanding Technology-Practice Fit in Healthcare. This project addresses unsolved issues of usability of e-health information systems across diverse stakeholder communities that need to coordinate to deliver the expected revolution in patient-centred health care. The project will help realise the Nation's large investment in e-health by improving the likelihood of system acceptance, thus making a significant contribution to facilitating the important insti ....Cross-Community Information Systems: Understanding Technology-Practice Fit in Healthcare. This project addresses unsolved issues of usability of e-health information systems across diverse stakeholder communities that need to coordinate to deliver the expected revolution in patient-centred health care. The project will help realise the Nation's large investment in e-health by improving the likelihood of system acceptance, thus making a significant contribution to facilitating the important institutional transformations expected of these systems. The timeliness, depth and breadth of the study will yield outcomes that will enhance Australia's research reputation. This project directly addresses the 'smart information use' and 'promoting and maintaining good health' national research prioritiesRead moreRead less
Topological Approaches for Three Dimensional Graph Drawing. Human analysis of huge quantities of relational data in biotechnology, web engineering, social networks, and computer networks requires visualization. In recent years, three-dimensional visualisation has promised to give new insights into such abstract data. However the past ten years of visualization research has had very little impact on the industry; visualization software providers have not adopted visualization methods developed b ....Topological Approaches for Three Dimensional Graph Drawing. Human analysis of huge quantities of relational data in biotechnology, web engineering, social networks, and computer networks requires visualization. In recent years, three-dimensional visualisation has promised to give new insights into such abstract data. However the past ten years of visualization research has had very little impact on the industry; visualization software providers have not adopted visualization methods developed by academics. We hypothesise that current 3D relational visualization methods fail because they do not pay attention to the human perception of topology. In this project we will leverage mathematical topology to construct new methods for the 3D visualization of relational data.
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A Gesture-Based Interface for Designing in Virtual Reality. Many design professions including architecture, fashion, and engineering can benefit from the outcomes of this project and may return financial benefits to Australia, since they heavily rely on sketching in the conceptual design process. Other areas, such as films, computer games, user interface design that involves storyboarding and visualization may also benefit from sketching in virtual reality. Further research may be carried out us ....A Gesture-Based Interface for Designing in Virtual Reality. Many design professions including architecture, fashion, and engineering can benefit from the outcomes of this project and may return financial benefits to Australia, since they heavily rely on sketching in the conceptual design process. Other areas, such as films, computer games, user interface design that involves storyboarding and visualization may also benefit from sketching in virtual reality. Further research may be carried out using a variety of VR facilities and a responsive workbench (3D interactive table-top display) to allow distributed Virtual Prototyping between geographically separated design teams, to assemble the product drawn using a force feedback device to place Australia in a leading position.Read moreRead less
CoopEcoSafe: a new cooperative, green and safe driving system. Road transport plays a vital role in our economy but generates huge costs in road trauma and greenhouse gases. Eco-driving has been trialed as a cost-effective approach to reducing fuel consumption, but little research has examined its effects on safety. This research brings together disciplines of road safety, psychology and engineering to address the fundamental question: how can mobility be greener while being safer? It develops: ....CoopEcoSafe: a new cooperative, green and safe driving system. Road transport plays a vital role in our economy but generates huge costs in road trauma and greenhouse gases. Eco-driving has been trialed as a cost-effective approach to reducing fuel consumption, but little research has examined its effects on safety. This research brings together disciplines of road safety, psychology and engineering to address the fundamental question: how can mobility be greener while being safer? It develops: a new theoretical model that optimises environmental and safety outcomes; new persuasive in-vehicle Human Machine Interface supported by cooperative Intelligent Transport System; and, comprehensive benefits evaluation. This research will bring major improvements to both road safety and energy use. Read moreRead less
Understanding the design of exertion games to address Australia's obesity issue. In the face of an obesity epidemic, Australians have turned to physical computer games to address their weight issues. This research provides the first understanding of the role of the design of these games in motivating players to play harder, longer and more often, resulting in recommendations how to use and design games for health.
Facilitating intuitive interaction with complex devices for older users. Poorly designed interfaces impact more strongly on older people. Helping designers to make more intuitive interfaces for older community members has great potential for improving their lives and health, and thus benefiting the community generally. Making modern devices easier for older people to use will allow them to participate more fully in society and/or the workplace. This will also help to prevent them from becoming i ....Facilitating intuitive interaction with complex devices for older users. Poorly designed interfaces impact more strongly on older people. Helping designers to make more intuitive interfaces for older community members has great potential for improving their lives and health, and thus benefiting the community generally. Making modern devices easier for older people to use will allow them to participate more fully in society and/or the workplace. This will also help to prevent them from becoming isolated and possibly depressed. This project will apply intuitive interaction to healthcare devices that older people use, which can save costly mistakes and even lives.Read moreRead less