Chris Bloor

Converting relational database into XML document

XML (eXtensible Markup Language) has emerged and is gradually being accepted as the standard for data interchange in the Internet world. XML databases are packaged by the key relational database vendors in the market as the extender or cartridge to the relational database management system. Interoperation of relational database and XML database involves schema and data translations. The paper provides a methodology of translating the conceptual schema of a relational database into XML schema through EER (extended entity relationship) model. Physical data are then translated from relational table to XML document. The semantics of the relational database, captured in EER diagram, are mapped to XML schema using stepwise procedures. The physical data are then mapped to an XML document under the definitions of the XML schema.

Adoption and effectiveness of electronic banking in Kenya

A global explosion in the use of electronic commerce has been witnessed in recent times with the monetary value of products and services exchanged electronically being estimated at above US

Discrete acceleration and personalised tiling as brain?body interface paradigms for neurorehabilitation

7 trillion in the year 2004. Research has followed the same pattern especially in investigating factors influencing the adoption and effectiveness of e-commerce in retail businesses. However, little has been done to establish these factors in electronic banking (e-banking) in developing countries. The aim of this research was to investigate the factors influencing the adoption and effectiveness of e-banking in retail banking. Initial and follow-up surveys were carried out in the years 2005 and 2009, respectively, which involved banks controlling approximately 90% of formal retail banking in Kenya. The follow-up survey was meant to monitor trends between the periods of the two surveys. Results varied across the period.

Improving the performance of the cyberlink mental interface with “yes / no program”

We present two studies that have advanced the design of brain-body interfaces for use in the rehabilitation of individuals with severe neurological impairment due to traumatic brain injury. We first developed and evaluated an adaptive cursor acceleration algorithm based on screen areas. This improved the initial design, but was too inflexible to let users make the most of their highly varied abilities. Only some individuals were well served by this adaptive interface. We therefore developed and evaluated an approach based on personalized tile layouts. The rationales for both designs are presented, along with details of their implementation. Evaluation studies for each are reported, which show that we have extended the user population who can use our interfaces relative to previous studies. We have also extended the usable functionality for some of our user group. We thus claim that personalized tiling with discrete acceleration has allowed us to extend the usable functionality of brain-body interfaces to a wider population with traumatic brain injury, thus creating new options for neurorehabiliation.

Yes/No or Maybe - further evaluation of an interface for brain-injured individuals

We summarise the results of the first studies to investigate the Cyberlink brain body interface as an assistive technology. Three phases of studies and a contextual inquiry were performed with a range of users. A focus group was formed from brain-injured users with locked-in syndrome who have no other method of communication or control of a computer than the Cyberlink. Versions of a Yes/No program were then created to allow communication and have achieved some success with the focus group. The purpose of this paper is to discuss how this program has been improved and what steps need to be taken to create communication programs for persons with severe motor impairment. As a result of our experiences, we have been able to develop a set of design guidelines for brain-body interface operated Yes/No programs. These are presented and justified on the basis of our experiences. We also raise some general issues for assistive technologies of this nature.

Mixing oil and water: transcending method boundaries in assistive technology for traumatic brain injury

Brain–body interfaces (BBIs) have been shown through a number of studies to be useful assistive technology devices for recreation and communication. However, severely motor impaired persons with no other means of interacting with their environment have had difficulties using the standard communication software for the Cyberlink, the commercially available BBI device which we used in our studies. We have therefore developed a simple Yes/No program, drawing on a range of design and evaluation approaches from Human–Computer Interaction research. This paper presents the first extensive evaluation of this program. Its evaluation combines formal assessments with observations from users, carers and technology and mental health professionals who are involved in the research. Our conclusions are that the performance of severely impaired individuals cannot be readily separated from that of novice unimpaired users, that worthwhile results can be achieved with the Yes/No program, but at the moment the cost of using a Cyberlink is too high for most assistive technology contexts. However, for severely impaired individuals, Cyberlink use may be the only form of recreation and communication available to them, and thus the current limitations of the technology are acceptable for this user population.

Evaluation of information-seeking performance in hypermedia digital libraries

A prototype assistive technology for traumatic brain injury has been developed using a combination of formative experiments and contextual design. Both approaches have proved to be essential to the development of a simple communication program using a brain-body interface device. We describe the combination of these methods and their separate and joint contributions to the evolution and evaluation of an assistive technology. Our experience suggests that failure to use either research method in assistive technology development would result in critical oversights in design and evaluation.

Internet surfing for the blind: a prototype

Abstract Nowadays, we are witnessing the development of new information-seeking environments and applications such as hypermedia digital libraries. Information Retrieval (IR) is increasingly embedded in these environments and plays a cornerstone role. However, in hypermedia digital libraries IR is a part of a large and complex user-centred information-seeking environment. In particular, information seeking is also possible using non-analytical, opportunistic and intuitive browsing strategies. This paper discusses the particular evaluation problems posed by these current developments. Current methods based on Recall (R) and Precision (P) for evaluating IR are discussed, and their suitability for evaluating the performance of hypermedia digital libraries is examined. We argue that these evaluation methods cannot be directly applied, mainly because they do not measure the effectiveness of browsing strategies; the underlying notion of relevance ignores the highly interconnected nature of hypermedia information and misses the reality of how information seekers work in these environments. Therefore, we propose a new quantitative evaluation methodology, based on the structural analysis of hypermedia networks and the navigational and search state patterns of information seekers. Although the proposed methodology retains some of the characteristics (and criticisms) of R and P evaluations, it could be more suitable than them for measuring the performance of information-seeking environments where information seekers can utilize arbitrary mixtures of browsing and query-based searching strategies.

Robotics for the brain injured: an interface for the brain injured person to operate a robotic arm

The right of blind people to access the Internet is simply ignored in many countries because Web pages have been designed for normal people. As a result, many blind people are not enjoying the benefits of the Internet and the improvement in the quality of life that Internet use can bring. In order for visually impaired persons to surf the Internet, it is necessary to develop a special human‐computer interface (HCI) system. This paper presents the design of a Web project for the blind. The aim of this research is to develop a new HCI model and an associated computer system for visually impaired people so that they can browse the World Wide Web via Internet. An assessment of the potential of a wide range of applications and their impact are also presented.

Soft Keyboard for the Disabled

This paper discusses a pioneering area of research that is being carried out by Sunderland University that allows brain injured persons to do simple tasks using robotic arms. Although robotics have been used for helping disabled persons in various areas of disability, very little research has been done with the brain injured persons and robotics. This paper discusses the implementation of a simple model, which consists of brain body interface, a computer, an interface program, an electronic circuit to interface the computer to the robotic arm and a robotic arm. We hope to improve the lives of brain injured people once the pilot studies are completed.