Reasons to Be Satisfied or Dissatisfied With a Virtual Coach for Quitting Smoking and Becoming More Physically Active: A Mixed-Methods Analysis

A virtual coach, Sam, was created by the Perfect Fit project to aid users in establishing a foundation to stop smoking via the means of making them more physically active. Data from 500 users had been collected from them during stages which start with a pre-screening phase until a post-questionnaire phase. In the latter stage, they provided a...

Studying the Anthropomorphic Visual Cues in Conversational Agents

With the increase of anthropomorphic conversational agents, the research on the effects of anthropomorphism in conversational agents is on the rise. However the studies cannot seem to agree on many of the raised questions and the research on the proper design of conversational agents is still lacking. This research paper attempted to contribute...

State of the Art and Potentials of Additive Manufactured Earth (AME)

Additive production techniques such as 3D printing and robotics enable new production methods and possible uses for earth, as one of the most ancient building materials in the building industry. This study examines the potential of different building elements and components and their possible combinations made of or containing earthen building...

Office-user oriented façade design: an interactive/adaptive design approach

Users in traditional office buildings often experience discomfort with the indoor environment and have issues with how this is being regulated. Research has shown that users’ satisfaction in an office building, which consists of their comfort and health, reflects on their work productivity. Therefore, necessary measures need to be taken in order...

Evaluating Explanations for different Relationship Strengths

People like to travel in groups to visit places. Group recommendation systems can be used to recommend an itinerary of "places of interests" (POIs) in an ordered sequence. The order of POIs in the sequence can be explained to group members to increase acceptance of the recommended items. There is a possibility that explanations which reveal...

Towards an optimal thermal comfort and energy efficient workplace

We, humans, spend 80-90% of our lives indoors. Thereby the building has two main functions, namely: protect their occupants and provide the occupants a comfortable indoor environment. However, the last one seems a big challenge, since every individual is different from each other, based on the factors as age, gender, clothing, activity,...

Personal control and environmental user satisfaction in office buildings: Results of case studies in the Netherlands

Personal control is one of the influential factors for user satisfaction and environmental comfort due to its physical and psychological impacts. This paper aims to identify the relationship between the degree of personal control over indoor environmental conditions and user satisfaction with thermal and visual comfort. Trying to answer the...

User-focused office renovation: a review into user satisfaction and the potential for improvement

Purpose: This paper highlights the importance of user satisfaction in office renovation. A user-focussed renovation approach can enhance user satisfaction in offices and their functional quality while meeting energy performance goals. The purpose of this paper is to investigate users’ needs and the physical and psychological factors affecting...

Influential design factors on occupant satisfaction with indoor environment in workplaces

Occupant satisfaction with IEQ (indoor environmental quality) is influenced by many physical and psychological factors. This paper reports the results of a study that investigate influential office design factors on occupant satisfaction relating environmental dimensions such as thermal and visual comfort in workplaces and predicting which...

Leveraging Social Information To Improve Recommendation Novelty

In today’s digital world, users are often confronted with an abundance of information. Whether the user is looking to compare online prices for products, searching for new movies to watch or music to listen, the available information at hand exceeds the amount of information which the user wants to consider before making a choice. For this,...

MovieTweeters: An Interactive Interface to Improve Recommendation Novelty

This paper introduces and evaluates a novel interface, MovieTweeters. It is a movie recommendation system which incorporates social information with a traditional recommendation algorithm to generate recommendations for users. Few previous studies have investigated the influence of using social information in interactive<br/>interfaces to...

Evaluating an mHealth App for Health and Well-Being at Work: Mixed-Method Qualitative Study

Background: To improve workers’ health and well-being, workplace interventions have been developed, but utilization and reach are unsatisfactory, and effects are small. In recent years, new approaches such as mobile health (mHealth) apps are being developed, but the evidence base is poor. Research is needed to examine its potential and to assess...

User-focused design factors of workspace for nearly zero energy office renovation: findings from literature review

This paper highlights the importance of considering user satisfaction in office renovation. Userfocused design approach in nearly zero energy office (nZEO) renovation is a way to increase user satisfaction and the value of office quality while meeting energy efficiency goal. The purpose of this paper is to investigate considerable measurement...

User-focused design factors of workspace for nearly zero energy office renovation: findings from literature review

This paper highlights the importance of considering user satisfaction in office renovation. Userfocused design approach in nearly zero energy office (nZEO) renovation is a way to increase user satisfaction and the value of office quality while meeting energy efficiency goal. The purpose of this paper is to investigate considerable measurement...

The relationship between user satisfaction and sustainable building performance: The case study of Leiderdorp’s Town Hall