University of Lapland

About: University of Lapland is a education organization based out in Rovaniemi, Finland. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Arctic & Indigenous. The organization has 665 authors who have published 1870 publications receiving 39129 citations. The organization is also known as: University of Rovaniemi & Lapin yliopisto.

Windows to other places: exploring solutions for seeing through walls using handheld projection

Abstract: Mobile projection offers an interesting technology for creating displays on any surface without a situated screen. In this paper, we investigate two concepts that use handheld projection to see to other places through a virtual window. Firstly, we present a projector phone based prototype which, when pointed to the walls of a room, reveals images and a video stream from the physical space on the other side of the wall. Secondly, a novel handheld dual-display virtual reality browser that opens a virtual window to a remote location is presented. This prototype combines two displays, a screen and a projected display. Both concepts were evaluated in user studies (n=22 and n=23). We report, for example, that mobile projector based browsing was considered more fun and inspiring than a screen and mouse format, and that the horizon level of the projected image should be kept horizontal when browsing.

Exploring Head Mounted Display based Augmented Reality for Factory Workers

Abstract: We present our prototype application of head mounted display (HMD) based augmented reality (AR) for use in in factory contexts. The prototype was evaluated in a focus group based user study held at an industrial production line. The prototype was implemented using a Microsoft HoloLens, and supported placing different AR notifications, such as machinery fault or maintenance messages, in the environment. The prototype was used as a stimulus in the focus group consisting of factory workers (n = 6) for exploring the potential use of HMD AR in the industrial production line context. As the main findings, we identified two themes where factory workers saw HMD AR as a potential technology: in task instruction, and in confirming correct functionality. The technology was seen as having potential for collaborative tasks, especially for receiving instructions. Hands-free usage and ability to interact whilst wearing gloves were highly appreciated.

Race to Resources in the Arctic: Have We Progressed in Our Understanding of What Takes Place in the Arctic?

Abstract: This article examines how we have progressed in our understanding of what is unfolding in the Arctic in regard to non-renewable natural resource exploitation. It first demonstrates how the Arctic expert community developed its understanding of what is happening in the offshore Arctic, as regards oil and gas exploitation. The aim is to enquire over the way the expert community has progressed in its analysis of what is driving natural resource development, and in what manner. It is shown that because of this learning process taking place in the expert community, we can nowadays ask more nuanced questions in regard to the operation of extractive industries in the Arctic. The final part of the article focuses especially on the main drivers of mining activity in the Arctic, and studies the kind of questions we can ask about how mining can be undertaken in a sustainable manner.

Gaps in International Regulatory Frameworks for the Arctic Ocean

Abstract: When an area is about to transform in a dramatic manner, we can expect that policy analysts and legal scholars aim to identify whether there are gaps in governance of the region. After all, the status quo does not seem anymore plausible solution for such a place. This is particularly the case in regards to the Arctic Ocean, which is changing due to economic globalisation and climate change with an accelerating speed. The article will first look at what types of normative “gaps” we might observe in the gradually emerging new Ocean and then how the Arctic policy actors have planned to respond to these. It was two unrelated events – the Russians planted their flag underneath the North Pole on the Lomonosov ridge in August 2007 and 1 month later satellite imagery confirmed that the extent of summer sea ice on the Arctic Ocean had decreased to a record low – that triggered a serious discussion on how to best to govern a region that was seen by many as inaccessible desert without any need for governance. Yet, gradually, the region’s states and other actors have identified the “gaps” that need to be addressed, together with procedures for filling them in. The article will finally examine whether the current consensus between the region’s actors can be seen as the best possible approach to governing the Arctic Ocean.

Morality, Practice, and Economy in a Commercial Sealing Community

Abstract: In small social groups dependent on specific resources, it is difficult to separate actions, moral understandings, and the resource itself. It is the response to the affordances of a given environment that shapes the moral framework of social interaction. Therefore, changes in the market sphere also impact the conscious and unconscious actions relating to the affordances of the environment, as well as a community’s socioeconomic values. It is argued that moral relativism is justified when it is approached through an “affordance lens,” meaning that if the role and relevance of a resource for a community is not understood, its moral environment cannot be understood either. With ethnographic data stemming from the 2013 sealing season in a fishing-and- sealing community in northern Newfoundland, this interplay of morality, practices, and socioeconomic values is documented.