Much has been written about theory and practice in the law, and the tension between practitioners and theorists. Judges do not cite theoretical articles often; they rarely "apply" theories to particular cases. These arguments are not revisited. Instead the Essay explores the working and interaction of theory and practice, practitioners and theorists. The Essay starts with a story about solving a legal issue using our intellectual tools - theory, practice, and their progenies: experience and "gut." Next the Essay elaborates on the nature of theory, practice, experience and "gut." The third part of the Essay discusses theories that are helpful to practitioners and those that are less helpful. The Essay concludes that practitioners theorize, and theorists practice. They use these intellectual tools differently because the goals and orientations of theorists and practitioners, and the constraints under which they act, differ. Theory, practice, experience and "gut" help us think, remember, decide and create. They complement each other like the two sides of the same coin: distinct but inseparable.

Of Theory and Practice

Exoskeleton robots for upper-limb rehabilitation: State of the art and future prospects

https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00907787/document

Special Section on Touching the 3rd Dimension: A survey of 3D object selection techniques for virtual environments

Few research in multiple sclerosis (MS) has focused on physical rehabilitation of upper limb dysfunction, though the latter strongly influences independent performance of activities of daily living. Upper limb rehabilitation technology could hold promise for complementing traditional MS therapy. Consequently, this pilot study aimed to examine the feasibility of an 8-week mechanical-assisted training program for improving upper limb muscle strength and functional capacity in MS patients with evident paresis. A case series was applied, with provision of a training program (3×/week, 30 minutes/session), supplementary on the customary maintaining care, by employing a gravity-supporting exoskeleton apparatus (Armeo Spring). Ten high-level disability MS patients (Expanded Disability Status Scale 7.0-8.5) actively performed task-oriented movements in a virtual real-life-like learning environment with the affected upper limb. Tests were administered before and after training, and at 2-month follow-up. Muscle strength was determined through the Motricity Index and Jamar hand-held dynamometer. Functional capacity was assessed using the TEMPA, Action Research Arm Test (ARAT) and 9-Hole Peg Test (9HPT). Muscle strength did not change significantly. Significant gains were particularly found in functional capacity tests. After training completion, TEMPA scores improved (p = 0.02), while a trend towards significance was found for the 9HPT (p = 0.05). At follow-up, the TEMPA as well as ARAT showed greater improvement relative to baseline than after the 8-week intervention period (p = 0.01, p = 0.02 respectively). The results of present pilot study suggest that upper limb functionality of high-level disability MS patients can be positively influenced by means of a technology-enhanced physical rehabilitation program.

/pdf/the-armeo-spring-as-training-tool-to-improve-upper-limb-5e5lmqw7d1.pdf

The Armeo Spring as training tool to improve upper limb functionality in multiple sclerosis: a pilot study

Serious games present a promising opportunity for learning, but the genre still lacks methodologies and tools for efficient and low-cost production, particularly for teacher and domain experts This article gives an authoring framework that aims to provide structured support, from content design to final implementation In particular, we have abstracted a conceptual model—the SandBox Serious Game - which relies on a generalization of task-based learning theory The model invites players to perform cognitive tasks contextually while exploring information-rich virtual environments We consider it particularly suited for cultural heritage entertainment applications The model defines games that are set in realistic virtual worlds enriched with embedded educational tasks, which we have implemented as minigames This approach simplifies the authoring work, which can easily be supported by visual authoring tools for ontology-based urban 3D modeling and implementation tasks, thus allowing an approach similar to the mind-maps concept We propose a top-down methodology for content preparation, starting from a city-level analysis down to the single points of interest and associated tasks, which are instances of simple predefined minigame/quiz typologies We provide examples and discuss criteria for selecting task typologies according to the authors' cognitive targets Finally, we discuss the results of a user test, which took place in a lab, aimed at verifying the acquisition of cultural heritage knowledge in a pleasant and engaging way Games appear particularly suited for supporting the study of images, especially of iconography Compared to reading text, a game forces the player to focus more strongly on problems, which favors knowledge acquisition and retention Learning complex concepts requires an investigative attitude, which can be spurred by well-designed games Good design involves usability, graphic appeal, appropriate content, and the presence of connections which a player must discover in the content Players should be asked to pay attention to and reason about their whole game activity - including the relationships between the game content, the brief introduction, and concluding texts More comprehensive tests are needed to better investigate the educational effectiveness—however, the first results are promising, especially in terms of user motivation and creation of new opportunities for learning about CH

A serious game model for cultural heritage

The complex nature of virtual environments customarily hinders users to interact in a natural, intuitive and optimal way. Different user characteristics are hardly taken into account when designing 3D user interfaces for virtual environments. We envision that user interaction in virtual environments can be enhanced by integrating adaptation and personalization into 3D user interfaces. Through our research, we aim to provide adaptive and personalized 3D user interfaces for enhancing user interaction in virtual environments. The establishment of a user model becomes an important first step to facilitate adaptation and personalization to the user. In order to partly construct the user model, we carried out an experiment on 3D target acquisition task with four user groups (differing in experience level and gender). In this paper, we present a general user model that will enable first-time users to benefit instantly from adaptation and personalization in virtual environments.

Investigating the Possibility of Adaptation and Personalization in Virtual Environments

A Framework for Networked Interactive Surfaces

Speech interfaces are becoming more and more popular as a means to interact with virtual environments but the development and integration of these interfaces is usually still ad hoc, especially the speech grammar creation of the speech interface is a process commonly performed by hand. In this paper, we introduce an approach to automatically generate a speech grammar which is generated using semantic information. The semantic information is represented through ontologies and gathered from the conceptual modelling phase of the virtual environment application. The utterances of the user will be resolved using queries onto these ontologies such that the meaning of the utterance can be resolved. For validation purposes we augmented a city park designer with our approach. Informal tests validate our approach, because they reveal that users mainly use words represented in the semantic data, and therefore also words which are incorporated in the automatically generated speech grammar.

/pdf/automatic-speech-grammar-generation-during-conceptual-2tcjjp3oed.pdf

Automatic speech grammar generation during conceptual modelling of virtual environments

This workshop brings together a number of researchers that are involved in the design, engineering, evaluation and applicability of game-like virtual and multimodal environments. It is a forum to discuss experiences, best practices, and design and engineering approaches with a particular focus on those aspects that are related to the interactivity of the game.

/pdf/design-and-engineering-of-game-like-virtual-and-multimodal-aokbixxovx.pdf

Design and engineering of game-like virtual and multimodal environments

When interacting in a virtual environment, users are confronted with a number of interaction techniques. These interaction techniques may complement each other, but in some circumstances can be used interchangeably. Because of this, it is difficult for the user to determine which interaction technique to use. Furthermore, the use of multimodal feedback, such as haptics and sound, has proven beneficial for some, but not all, users. This complicates the development of such a virtual environment, as the designers are not sure of the implications of the addition of interaction techniques and multimodal feedback.A promising approach for solving these problems lies in the use of adaptation and personalization. By incorporating knowledge of a user’s preferences and habits, the user interface should adapt to the current context of use. This could mean that only a subset of all possible interaction techniques is presented to the user. Alternatively, the interaction techniques themselves could be adapted, e.g. by changing the sensitivity or the nature of the feedback. In this paper, we propose a conceptual framework for realizing adaptive personalized interaction in virtual environments. Furthermore, we discuss how a user model can be built, as this model forms the important first step in implementing the conceptual framework.

/pdf/a-conceptual-framework-for-adaptation-and-personalization-in-33bstva759.pdf

Chris Raymaekers

Papers

Investigating the Possibility of Adaptation and Personalization in Virtual Environments

A Framework for Networked Interactive Surfaces

Automatic speech grammar generation during conceptual modelling of virtual environments

Design and engineering of game-like virtual and multimodal environments

A Conceptual Framework for Adaptation and Personalization in Virtual Environments