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
Gesture-controlled interaction to enrich information access. This project is a study of gestural computing (enabled by sensors such as pressure mats, infra-red sensors and video tracking) which aims to move away from desk-bound, restrictive computing environments and towards computing that is more integral to the building structure and space itself. Linking gesture controllers and information sonification delivers a unique bridge between data and human interaction. Enriching the capacity to acce ....Gesture-controlled interaction to enrich information access. This project is a study of gestural computing (enabled by sensors such as pressure mats, infra-red sensors and video tracking) which aims to move away from desk-bound, restrictive computing environments and towards computing that is more integral to the building structure and space itself. Linking gesture controllers and information sonification delivers a unique bridge between data and human interaction. Enriching the capacity to access information in dense workplace environments is central to improved efficiency across the Australian workforce. Greater accuracy and enhanced techniques for controlling information in visually-overloaded work environments contribute to Australia's competitive leadership in a global marketplace.Read moreRead less
Situated Design Computing: A New Paradigm to Support Design Using Situated Reasoning. A country like Australia with its twin disadvantages of distance from its large markets and small population as its own market has to found its goals in its wealth production on its ability to compete at the high value-adding loci of the economy. Design is a precursor to superior products and is one of the nation's high value-adding wealth generating activities. This project aims to lay the foundations for a ....Situated Design Computing: A New Paradigm to Support Design Using Situated Reasoning. A country like Australia with its twin disadvantages of distance from its large markets and small population as its own market has to found its goals in its wealth production on its ability to compete at the high value-adding loci of the economy. Design is a precursor to superior products and is one of the nation's high value-adding wealth generating activities. This project aims to lay the foundations for a new class of design support tools that have the capacity to be used at a variety of stages in the design process including those stages where major decisions are being taken. This will have the potential to improve the efficacy and the efficiency of Australian design and hence make it more globally competitive.Read moreRead less
Operator Decision Modelling in Autonomous Systems. The incorporation of humans as decision-makers into a complex system comprising of many autonomous agents is becoming increasingly important in areas such as defence, search-and-rescue, special emergency services, bush-fire and ecology management. This project will address how human decisions are made in such systems through the formulation and demonstration of innovative algorithms which model the operator decision making process. Generating so ....Operator Decision Modelling in Autonomous Systems. The incorporation of humans as decision-makers into a complex system comprising of many autonomous agents is becoming increasingly important in areas such as defence, search-and-rescue, special emergency services, bush-fire and ecology management. This project will address how human decisions are made in such systems through the formulation and demonstration of innovative algorithms which model the operator decision making process. Generating solutions to this increasingly important area will provide Australia's industry and community services the necessary knowledge for deploying such systems and thus improving service effectiveness, as well as the implementation of autonomous systems into new areas and thus increasing economic growth.Read moreRead less
Biomolecular surface interactions with smart biomaterials. Current materials used for medical implants are often recognised by the body as foreign materials causing implant rejection or encapsulation. Research into the interactions between biological molecules and chemically and topographically modified materials will aid in the development of new materials and devices that optimise the body's response to the implanted material. The new materials and surfaces developed from this research will pr ....Biomolecular surface interactions with smart biomaterials. Current materials used for medical implants are often recognised by the body as foreign materials causing implant rejection or encapsulation. Research into the interactions between biological molecules and chemically and topographically modified materials will aid in the development of new materials and devices that optimise the body's response to the implanted material. The new materials and surfaces developed from this research will provide longer lasting implants and reduce the need for repeated operations. This will improve the quality of life for implant recipients and reduce health care costs.Read moreRead less
Heparan sulfate complexes with VEGF for control of angiogenesis in tissue engineered constructs. The national/community benefits that will arise from this work include, the generation of knowledge related to the growth of blood vessels in the presence of a synthetic polymer that has been made to look like the natural polymers present in the body. This will lead to an understanding of the underlying mechanisms involved that may have down stream effects relevant to the replacement of many types o ....Heparan sulfate complexes with VEGF for control of angiogenesis in tissue engineered constructs. The national/community benefits that will arise from this work include, the generation of knowledge related to the growth of blood vessels in the presence of a synthetic polymer that has been made to look like the natural polymers present in the body. This will lead to an understanding of the underlying mechanisms involved that may have down stream effects relevant to the replacement of many types of tissues being generated for clinical applications, including possible applications in the treatment of heart disease, the largest killer of people in the Western world. Read moreRead less
Coordination and communication in critical care: Assessing potential technology support. This project will examine temporal coordination demands of busy critical care environments, with the goal of developing better models and tools for evaluating the impact of information and communication technology (ICT) innovation. Millions of dollars can be wasted on healthcare ICT updates when the nature of critical care work, the means of communication, and temporal coordination demands are not fully unde ....Coordination and communication in critical care: Assessing potential technology support. This project will examine temporal coordination demands of busy critical care environments, with the goal of developing better models and tools for evaluating the impact of information and communication technology (ICT) innovation. Millions of dollars can be wasted on healthcare ICT updates when the nature of critical care work, the means of communication, and temporal coordination demands are not fully understood. The outcome of this project will be better conceptual and computational tools for assessing the impact of ICT innovation on safety-critical systems such as healthcare, so providing more cost-effective ICT solutions where there is rapidly-evolving ICT innovation.Read moreRead less
The School: Designing a dynamic venue for the new knowledge environment. This project addresses a problem of real concern in relation to national and state government policies for promoting an innovation culture and economy. This project does this at the base level of schools by creating effective education learning environments that will encourage creative and innovative citizens of the future. This detailed examination of the collaborative design process and the day to day functioning of the p ....The School: Designing a dynamic venue for the new knowledge environment. This project addresses a problem of real concern in relation to national and state government policies for promoting an innovation culture and economy. This project does this at the base level of schools by creating effective education learning environments that will encourage creative and innovative citizens of the future. This detailed examination of the collaborative design process and the day to day functioning of the physical setting, including the use of smart technologies, focusing on stakeholder needs for 21st Century success, will assist in identifying the role of intelligent design in assisting a schools to deliver education for innovation.Read moreRead less
Characterization and optimisation of Myomatrix: A novel extracellular matrix hydrogel from muscle. This project would have several sources of benefit for the community. Foremost we will have produced a product that will have a strong commercial application in several fields including basic science and bioengineering. If its full potential were achieved, the development of this innovative new hydrogel would strengthen Australia's standing in the biotechnology field and also enrich specific applic ....Characterization and optimisation of Myomatrix: A novel extracellular matrix hydrogel from muscle. This project would have several sources of benefit for the community. Foremost we will have produced a product that will have a strong commercial application in several fields including basic science and bioengineering. If its full potential were achieved, the development of this innovative new hydrogel would strengthen Australia's standing in the biotechnology field and also enrich specific applications. The knowledge gained from the characterization of this product could also be of benefit to several areas including chemical engineering, tissue engineering, tissue repair, polymer chemistry and food manufacture. The expertise generated and the possibility of collaboration, both academic and with industry would also benefit the community. Read moreRead less
Mimetics and small chemical compounds for hemopoietic stem cell mobilisation. This project will result in the design and synthesis of new chemical compounds that could be used clinically to help collect blood stem cells for bone marrow transplantation. For patients this will mean more effective and less painful ways to collect stem cells and better transplant outcomes. There is a large, ongoing international market for this type of drug and likelihood of significant financial benefit.