Can you remember the last time the ground gave way beneath you? When you thought the ground was stable, but for some reason it wasn’t? Perhaps you encountered a pothole on the streets of Amsterdam, or you were renovating your house and broke through the floor. Perhaps there was a molehill in a park or garden. You probably had to hold on to something to steady yourself. Perhaps you even slipped or fell. While I sincerely hope that nobody here was hurt in the process, I would like you to keep that feeling in your mind when reading what follows. It is the central theme of the words that will follow. The ground beneath our feet today is not as stable as the streets of Amsterdam, your park around the corner or even a poorly renovated upstairs bedroom. This is because whatever devices we use and whatever pathways we choose, we all live in hybrid physical and digital social spaces (Kitchin and Dodge 2011). Digital social spaces can be social media platforms like Twitter or Facebook, but also chat apps like WhatsApp or Signal. Crucially, social spaces are increasingly hybrid, in which conversations take place across digital spaces (WhatsApp chat group) and physical spaces (meeting friends in a cafe) simultaneously. The ground beneath our feet is not made of concrete or stone or wood but of bits and bytes.
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Social work in the Netherlands is attracting an increasing number of Turkish and Moroccan Dutch professionals, mostly second-generation migrant women from a Muslim background. Inspired by Amartya Sen’s capability approach, this article presents the findings of a qualitative content analysis of 40 interviews with professionals by peers from the same background. The question is, what kind of professionals do these newly started social workers desire to be and what hindrances do they encounter? The professionals challenge the dominance of Western beliefs and values. This becomes tangible in their desires and constraints and especially in the process of choice.
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Solomon Islands has relied on highly unsustainable industrial logging since the 1980s. While the development narrative around logging emphasizes its macro-economic importance, it structurally overlooks the impacts on local people's lives. Based on 200 qualitative interviews conducted in 25 villages and 14 logging operations in Malaita Province between 2016 and 2019, this paper demonstrates that the impacts of logging on subsistence and social relations are systemic rather than incidental. By making use of interview quotes, the paper gives voice to rural Solomon Islanders. The results show that the logging industry fails to generate lasting local benefits, while unsustainable logging practices undermine subsistence livelihoods, especially fisheries. Logging triggers conflict that long outlasts the operations themselves, causes sexual exploitation, facilitates excessive alcohol use and reinforces gender disparities by structurally excluding women from decision-making and benefit-sharing. This paper calls for a stronger focus on the social impacts of logging in forestry science, policy and practice.
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Creating and testing the first Brand Segmentation Model in Augmented Reality using Microsoft Hololens. Sanoma together with SAMR launched an online brand segmentation tool based on large scale research, The brand model uses several brand values divided over three axes. However they cannot be displayed clearly in a 2D model. The space of BSR Quality Planner can be seen as a 3-dimensional meaningful space that is defined by the terms used to typify the brands. The third axis concerns a behaviour-based dimension: from ‘quirky behaviour’ to ‘standardadjusted behaviour’ (respectful, tolerant, solidarity). ‘Virtual/augmented reality’ does make it possible to clearly display (and experience) 3D. The Academy for Digital Entertainment (ADE) of Breda University of Applied Sciences has created the BSR Quality Planner in Virtual Reality – as a hologram. It’s the world’s first segmentation model in AR. Breda University of Applied Sciences (professorship Digital Media Concepts) has deployed hologram technology in order to use and demonstrate the planning tool in 3D. The Microsoft HoloLens can be used to experience the model in 3D while the user still sees the actual surroundings (unlike VR, with AR the space in which the user is active remains visible). The HoloLens is wireless, so the user can easily walk around the hologram. The device is operated using finger gestures, eye movements or voice commands. On a computer screen, other people who are present can watch along with the user. Research showed the added value of the AR model.Partners:Sanoma MediaMarketResponse (SAMR)
Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a pattern of alcohol use that involves having trouble controlling drinking behaviour, even when it causes health issues (addiction) or problems functioning in daily (social and professional) life. Moreover, festivals are a common place where large crowds of festival-goers experience challenges refusing or controlling alcohol and substance use. Studies have shown that interventions at festivals are still very problematic. ARise is the first project that wants to help prevent AUD at festivals using Augmented Reality (AR) as a tool to help people, particular festival visitors, to say no to alcohol (and other substances). ARise is based on the on the first Augmented Reality Exposure Therapy (ARET) in the world that we developed for clinical treatment of AUD. It is an AR smartphone driven application in which (potential) visitors are confronted with virtual humans that will try to seduce the user to accept an alcoholic beverage. These virtual humans are projected in the real physical context (of a festival), using innovative AR glasses. Using intuitive phone, voice and gesture interactions, it allows users to personalize the safe experience by choosing different drinks and virtual humans with different looks and levels of realism. ARET has been successfully developed and tested on (former) AUD patients within a clinical setting. Research with patients and healthcare specialists revealed the wish to further develop ARET as a prevention tool to reach people before being diagnosed with AUD and to extend the application for other substances (smoking and pills). In this project, festival visitors will experience ARise and provide feedback on the following topics: (a) experience, (b) awareness and confidence to refuse alcohol drinks, (c) intention to use ARise, (d) usability & efficiency (the level of realism needed), and (e) ideas on how to extend ARise with new substances.
Dit promotieproject richt zich op Conversational Agents en hun rol in de dienstverlening in het publieke domein. Geautomatiseerde vormen van communicatie komen steeds vaker voor. Dit roept vragen op over het opbouwen van relaties, vertrouwen, vormen van servicegebruik en data-ethiek.Doel De interdisciplinaire studie onderzoekt kritisch hoe de interacties van burgers met Conversational Agents het vertrouwen in publieke organisaties vormgeven. Resultaten Inzichten over huidig en eerder onderzoek naar vertrouwen en Conversational Agents door middel van een systematisch literatuuronderzoek Identificatie van ‘trust markers’ in gebruikersinteracties met bots Inzichten over opvattingen en reacties van burgers op verschillende gradaties van antropomorfisering in CA-design Begrip over de rol van Conversational Agents in de citizen journey Looptijd 01 januari 2023 - 01 januari 2027 Aanpak Er zullen vier onderzoeken worden uitgevoerd, afgestemd op dimensies van vertrouwen. Deze studies gaan over concepten van vertrouwen, identificeren ‘trust markers’ in mens-bot-dialogen, voeren experimenten uit rond mens-bot-relaties en onderzoeken de rol van CA's in de burgerreis door digitale diensten. Afstudeerproject Chatbots en Voice assistants Tijdens het onderzoeksproject Bots of Trust (BOT) zijn er verschillende mogelijkheden om met studenten samen te werken aan een gerelateerd vraagstuk zoals chatbots en/of voice assistants en hoe deze vorm geven aan vertrouwen in verschillende sectoren.
