Introducing Multi-modality in Persuasive Task Oriented Virtual Sales Agent

An attempt has been made to evaluate the feedbacks of library users of four different libraries by using neural network based data mining techniques. This paper presents the results of a survey of users’ satisfactory level on four different libraries. The survey has been conducted among the users of four libraries of educational institutions of Kovai Medical Center Research and Educational Trust. Data were collected through questionnaires. Artificial neural network based data mining techniques are proposed and applied to assess the libraries in terms of level of satisfaction of users. In order to assess the users’ satisfaction level, two neural network techniques: Modified Multilayer Perceptron Network-Supervised and Modified Multilayer Perceptron Network-Unsupervised are proposed. The proposed techniques are compared with the conventional classification algorithm Multilayer Perceptron Neural Network and found better in overall performance. It is found that the quality of service provided by the libraries is highly good and users are highly satisfied with various aspects of library service. The Arts and Science College Library secured the maximum percent in terms of user satisfaction. This shows that the users’ satisfaction of ASCL is better than the other libraries. This study provides an insight into the actual quality and satisfactory level of users of libraries after proper assessment. It is strongly expected that the results will help library authorities to enhance services and quality in the near future.

In this paper an innovative Radio Resource Management (RRM) algorithm is proposed with the purpose of increasing High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) performances, in terms of system capacity and service quality, when the Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Services (MBMS) is supplied. The proposed RRM algorithm exploits channel quality indications to set up point-to-multipoint connections to subgroups of multicast users and to select the proper modulation and coding schemes on the downlink. The number of subgroups is determined through an optimization technique that also takes into account the user satisfaction. An exhaustive simulation campaign is conducted to compare the proposed algorithm with the most promising approaches in the literature. Comparisons aim to assess the capability of the proposed RRM algorithm to efficiently manage group oriented services by providing an increment in terms of user satisfaction.

PurposeSchools struggle with sustaining their educational innovations (Cohen and Mehta, 2017; Askell-Williams and Koh, 2020) and may benefit from concrete and practical guidance (Askell-Williams and Koh, 2020). A dialogue between staff within schools can be a way to promote self-evaluation regarding the innovation. Therefore, a self-evaluation tool for educators was developed: The Sustainability Meter (TSM). The purpose of the tool is to gain insight into the different perspectives and experiences of stakeholders within the school organization regarding the innovation, as a basis for improvement-directed actions to promote sustainable educational innovation.Design/methodology/approachIn this small-scale study, the authors explored conceptual and instrumental use of the Sustainability Meter in two phases, and also examined user satisfaction. In phase 1, the tool was used under the guidance of the researcher (first author), who supported the chairs in taking steps before the group dialogue took place, and who then guided the dialogue itself as a moderator. In phase 2, work with TSM was organized independently by the schools themselves, supported by the manual. Data were collected in the form of observations of the dialogue, group interviews and documents generated by the participants.FindingsIn terms of conceptual use, in general, participants gained better understanding of each other's perspectives and backgrounds with regard to the (sustainability of the) innovation. The dialogue also led to insights into challenges for growth toward sustainable innovation. For instrumental use, the results of the analysis were incorporated in a plan of action in the majority of the participants' schools. In terms of user satisfaction, participants in all groups perceived TSM as an enjoyable support for high-quality dialogue. This research provides some indications that the tool might lead to sustainable educational innovations.Originality/valueNext to developing an action plan based on the results of the school, the tool also appeared to help breaking up the process in smaller, clearer and more feasible improvement-directed actions. The results of this study further show that the authors could distinguish between three types of instrumental use. The improvement-directed actions in this research often were a combination of this three types: initial solutions, short-term and longer-term measures. This research provides some indications that the tool might lead to sustainable educational innovations.

The rise of mobile computing for Group Decision Support Systems: A comparative evaluation of mobile and desktop

Bhayangkara Hospital Lumajang is one of SNARS accredited health agencies and SISMADAK is used in the reporting process to KARS. The problems is still found in its application, which resulted in staff being less satisfied with SISMADAK. The aims of this study was to evaluate SISMADAK in terms of user satisfaction using the PIECES method. The study was quantitative descriptive study, which is described as a descriptive evaluation by comparing user satisfaction with information systems. The result of description evaluate of SISMADAK using PIECES method in Bhayangkara Hospital Lumajang about satisfaction percentage found 81% of performance variable was showed very good, 81% of information variable was stated very good, 69% of economic variable was good, 76% control variable was stated very good, 70% of efficiency variable was stated very good, and 80% of service variable was responded very good. For further advices were the planned of SISMADAK users need related information that is not yet available, beside the staff should increase the confidentiality of data on SISMADAK. The conclusion of this study is SISMADAK able to facilitate users in the hospital accreditation process of KARS.

Evaluation of Educational Authoring Tools for Teachers Stressing of Perceived Usability Features

Summary: This work provides a methodology to analyze user preferences regarding the components that a judicial search engine should include. We validate this methodology by developing a search system. Starting from initial characteristics, we designed a search prototype. A test was then applied to identify whether the search engine meets the user's needs. The prototype developed was compared to other next-generation search engines in terms of user satisfaction and accuracy. The results show that our proposal outperforms other search engines. Objective: Define and implement the components for the development of a judicial search engine. Methodology: The methodology consists of in: Definition: Includes a review of the state of the art of the technologies associated with the project. Prototype development: Different modules and components of the system are developed here. Evaluation: focused on usability and user satisfaction. Results: The characteristics and elements necessary for the search engine were identified. To this end, Benchmarking on general aspects and components of jurisprudence search engines was carried out. Additionally, a survey was conducted with 79 legal experts. Finally, a use test was carried out. Conclusions: A prototype of the search engine was designed according to the characteristics declared by the users. This prototype showed optimal usability and navigation because it was designed considering the needs of the user's jurisprudence. Its interfaces are easy to understand and its filters make the search process more agile and precise. Finally, the developed search engine offers a good experience to the users.

The high mobility of people in Indonesia encourages innovation in the transportation sector. Innovation in the transportation sector, namely online transportation applications, transportation applications aim to simplify and expedite all user activities from the application. Previous research has not discussed the effectiveness of E-transportation based on user satisfaction by testing and assessing the effect of self-efficacy, Perceived Risk and Attitude on E-transportation usage intention using the TAM method. The use of the TAM method to find out about user behavior in accepting new technology (Lestariningsih, Tri, Budi Artono, 2020). The results of the study stated that the perceived usefulness variable was the most dominant variable in influencing the use intention of the go-jek application, which was 0.513 and the least dominant variable was perceived risk, namely with a small original sample estimate of 0.046.

With the increasing demand for computationally intensive services like deep learning tasks, emerging distributed computing platforms such as edge computing (EC) systems are becoming more popular. Edge computing systems have shown promising results in terms of latency reduction compared to the traditional cloud systems. However, their limited processing capacity imposes a trade-off between the potential latency reduction and the achieved accuracy in computationally-intensive services such as deep learning-based services. In this paper, we focus on finding the optimal accuracy-time trade-off for running deep learning services in a three-tier EC platform where several deep learning models with different accuracy levels are available. Specifically, we cast the problem as an Integer Linear Program, where optimal task scheduling decisions are made to maximize overall user satisfaction in terms of accuracy-time trade-off. We prove that our problem is NP-hard and then provide a polynomial constant-time greedy algorithm, called GUS, that is shown to attain near-optimal results. Finally, upon vetting our algorithmic solution through numerical experiments and comparison with a set of heuristics, we deploy it on a testbed implemented to measure for real-world results. The results of both numerical analysis and real-world implementation show that GUS can outperform the baseline heuristics in terms of the average percentage of satisfied users by a factor of at least 50%.

Virtual assistants are improving and providing consumers with greater advantages. The comprehension and fulfilment of requests by virtual assistants will increase as voice recognition and natural language processing continue to grow. Virtual assistants are projected to be employed in more commercial activities as speech recognition technology advances. The main goal of developing personal assistant software (virtual assistant) is to use web-based semantic data sources, user-generated content, and knowledge from knowledge libraries. Basically, main objective of making this Voice-Based Virtual Assistant is to make life easier and having a personal assistant to everyone which can perform many tasks. As the end user interacts with a virtual assistant, the AI programming learns from the data provided and improves its ability to forecast the end user's needs. Virtual assistants are often used to do things like add tasks to a calendar, provide information that would normally be found in a website, and operate and monitor Smart Home devices like lighting and cameras and thermostats. Massive volumes of data are required to fuel virtual assistant technologies, which feed Artificial Intelligence (AI) platforms such as machine learning, natural language processing, and speech recognition. Speech recognition has a lengthy history and has seen several key advancements. On smartphones and wearable devices, speech recognition for dictation, search, and voice commands has become a standard feature. Design of a small, large vocabulary speech recognition system that can run quickly, accurately, and with minimum latency on mobile devices.

Virtual humans (VHs) are gaining increasing attention in various fields, including games and cultural heritage and technological contexts including virtual reality and augmented reality. Recently, since VHs can simulate human-like behavior, VHs have been proposed as virtual assistants (VAs) for all sorts of education and training applications, including applications focused on the improvement of quality of life (QoL) and well-being. In this research work, we consider the quality and efficiency of VHs implemented as part of the MyHealthWatcher project, which focuses on the monitoring of health-related parameters of elder users to improve their QoL and self-management of chronic conditions. To validate our hypothesis that the increased quality of the VH has a positive effect on user satisfaction and user quality of interaction with the system, we developed and integrated into the MyHealthWatcher system two VH variations. The first was developed with mainstream technologies and the second was developed using a professional pipeline. The two variations developed were assessed by representative target users through a between-subject focus group study. The development and validation process of the two variations allowed us to draw valuable conclusions, which are discussed in this paper.

PurposeTo examine the service performance of a number of internet retailers and to identify differences (if any) in internet retailers' service performance across a series of attributes based on consumers' assessments.Design/methodology/approachTo compare the perceived service performance across internet retailers with respect to several areas: core service performance, web site features, recovery service, consumer satisfaction and intentions. A structured questionnaire was used to gather the data. The internet retailers are two budget airline retailers, a book retailer, and a multi‐channel bank.FindingsInternet retailers' service performance was generally at an acceptable level. The variation of their online service performance was dependent on industry factors and the effectiveness of online service management. Consumers' perceptions of the internet retailers' performance were significantly different on several service attributes. However, consumer online service satisfaction levels across internet retailers were similar.Research limitations/implicationsConvenience sampling and the limited number of internet retailers do not permit results to be generalised to the larger population. Future investigation with a larger sample could provide a more comprehensive coverage.Practical implicationsProvide useful information for internet retailers who plan to improve their service performance. This study indicated that retailers' experience from managing the physical store‐based retail service might not contribute towards their online service performance.Originality/valueThis paper analyses service performance of different retailers in the same industry or across industries to provide valuable indication of online service performance and attributes that contribute to differential performance levels.

Libraries are important structures for graduate students in research intensive universities, such as Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN). Given the complex needs of those students, it is crucial to have an updated glimpse into what works and does not work for students. The objectives of this survey were to investigate graduate students’ awareness and use of library services and resources at MUN and to explore how important and adequate existing services and resources seemed to MUN graduate students. Fortunately, the survey findings showed favourably in terms of user satisfaction, with many of the library services and resources that were rated as very important also being rated as very satisfactory. Other findings indicated that respondents placed increased importance on access to comprehensive collections of E-resources, which is not surprising given the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic. Also found was an increased need for writing resources and literature search strategies. Overall, a recurring theme for improvement was an increased promotion of our services and resources so that we can better reach our students. The insights gained from the survey will help us target this area of improvement and direct future development of graduate student-focused services and resources.

This research includes the study of the existing head-mounted display (HMD)enabled interface program and suggests improved interface scheme of HMD-enabled virtual reality (VR) games. The traditional keyboard and mouse based input schemes need to be replaced by user-friendly interface scheme such as the HMD. The higher the immersion degree of game users is expected, the less user intervention is desired to capture a user input and to give an output to users. For this reason, a user-centric VR environment has been built, where users’ motions such as turning head and raising hands are recognized as meaningful input to the system with the wellknown contact type, Hydra, and non-contact type, Kinect system. Especially, three multiple Kinects are arranged to improve the motion recognition rate. The proposed HMD interface not only aims to increase the degree of mutual interaction between game players and VR games, but also enhances usability of the HMD. Diverse users’ gestures are recognized in combination with newly suggested interfaces. The improved interfaces have been integrated with both representative testbed games which belong to action and sports genres. Action game has been developed and interfaced with non-wearable (non-contact) interface, whereas sports game has been integrated with both contact and non-contact interfaces. After then, the effectiveness and usability of the interface have been assessed according to the empirical evaluation scheme with modified system usability scale (SUS) statements. The SUS test result shows that the proposed interface enhanced the system usability as well as the system interactivity in terms of user satisfaction.

Planning quality is a key aspect for the development of sustainable buildings. This particularly applies to mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) systems, which have a high impact on the building performance. The design of these systems considerably affects construction and operational costs. Moreover, it has a substantial impact on the consumption of resources such as energy or water and also on the building quality in terms of user satisfaction. Building information modeling (BIM) is a method capable of substantially improving the quality of MEP design. This requires adequate component models as well as processes describing the proper use of these models in a BIM project. This paper presents a Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) model which describes the required interactions between project stakeholders during the design phase of a geothermal heat pump system. It describes the roles, tasks and responsibilities of the involved stakeholders and outlines which kind of information is required from whom at which point of time. The specific activities of the stakeholders are linked by information flows. In addition to the process model, a set of parameters describing a heat pump is presented. The parameters can be used as attributes in a BIM model. Each parameter is assigned to the design phase in which it is needed for the first time. This establishes a link between the attributes in the BIM model and the process model. Both, the process model and the parameter set were evaluated by MEP experts.