Search

VR (virtual reality) is rapidly gaining attention from academia and the business world. The cost for hardware is diminishing, and consumer HMDs (head-mounted displays) are becoming increasingly affordable, thereby driving the popularity of this technology. Because immersive experiences can foster positive emotions, VR has also gained the attention of marketing departments. However, the virtual world comes with a risk of systems akin to motion sickness, and in VR, this is known as “cybersickness”. In this study, cybersickness and its effects on customer-related constructs such as trust, customer value, cross- and up-selling, and NPS (net promoter Score) are experimentally tested. The IPD (interpupillary distance) is manipulated, and an SSQ (simulator sickness questionnaire) is used to test for sickness. Since cybersickness negatively affects customer value, NPS, and consumer trust in the vendor, we conclude that it is necessary to prevent this to ensure monetary and non-monetary customer values remain high.

Food waste is an important issue in the global warming debate. In this study, a virtual reality (VR) application was built from the insights and requirements of a focus group. The VR prototype was then validated using A/B-testing in an online experiment due to COVID-19 restrictions. VR is considered suitable for transferring information and building awareness regarding the topic of food waste. However, it is necessary to maintain the right balance between an informative and a serious gaming application. VR scenarios that people enjoy using have positive learning effects. Furthermore, scenarios that feature gamification elements are rated more highly regarding intention to use, which, in turn, benefits learning.

Are narrative scenarios effective artifacts to trigger an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary discourse that results in actionable design criteria for the future co-existence of humans and intelligent machines? To answer this question, a multilinear narrative illustrating the impact of emerging technologies on the future of vocational education was developed, and a small field study was conducted to evaluate its effects. The findings support the hypothesis that narratives can trigger a reflection about new and disruptive technologies and can thereby help to propagate a humanistic view of our ever more technology-driven world.

Affective Computing refers to a subfield of Artificial Intelligence that aims to recognize, interpret, and adequately respond to human emotions. Human-machine interactions should thus become more individual and emotionally appealing. But what would our everyday life look like if such an emotionally intelligent artificial being became our best friend? This question was addressed by a multilinear development scenario that lets the reader experience different stages in the life of the protagonist from the first day in secondary school to the loss of a loved one in midlife. The subject of this sci-fi prototyping was the progressive power of emotional artificial intelligence, which becomes tangible in this multilinear story in four fictional stages in the future. In each stage, the reader is presented with a decision that affects the role of the artificially intelligent being in the protagonist's life. In this way, different versions of our digital future can be experienced with affective computing.

The research presented in this paper explores the potential of narrative scenarios to underpin a discourse on the designability of Smart Farming from the farmer's perspective. The systematic approach to create and validate the multilinear interactive scenario is described and the results of an online field experiment with 56 Swiss farmers are presented.

Ecological intensification (EI) could help return agriculture into a ‘safe operating space’ for humanity. Using a novel application of meta-analysis to data from 30 long-term experiments from Europe and Africa (comprising 25,565 yield records), we investigated how field-scale EI practices interact with each other, and with N fertilizer and tillage, in their effects on long-term crop yields. Here we confirmed that EI practices (specifically, increasing crop diversity and adding fertility crops and organic matter) have generally positive effects on the yield of staple crops. However, we show that EI practices have a largely substitutive interaction with N fertilizer, so that EI practices substantially increase yield at low N fertilizer doses but have minimal or no effect on yield at high N fertilizer doses. EI practices had comparable effects across different tillage intensities, and reducing tillage did not strongly affect yields.

Horst Junginger, Richard Faber (Hrsg.): Politologische und soziologische Religionskritik: Von Hobbes und Schmitt über Max Weber bis zu Adorno und Horkheimer. Würzburg: Königshausen & Neumann 2021. 978-3-8260-7355-7

The local lattice strain evolution during electrochemical hydrogen charging and mechanical loading in 25Cr-7Ni super duplex stainless steel were measured in-situ using synchrotron high-energy x-ray diffraction. Post-mortem electron backscattered diffraction analysis showed that the austenite phase underwent plastic deformation in the near-surface due to hydrogen-enhanced localized plasticity, where the ferrite phase experienced hardening. In bulk regions, the ferrite was the softer phase, and the austenite remained stiff. Digital image correlation of micrographs recorded, in-situ, during mechanical tensile testing revealed intensified plastic strain localization in the austenite phase, which eventually led to crack initiation. The absorption of hydrogen caused strain localization to occur primarily in austenite grains., QC 20220315

Devices with tunable magnetic noncollinearity are important components of superconducting electronics and spintronics, but they typically require epitaxial integration of several complex materials. The spin-polarized neutron reflectometry measurements on La1-xSrxMnO3 homojunction arrays with modulated Sr concentration reported herein have led to the discovery of magnetic fan structures with highly noncollinear alignment of Mn spins and an emergent periodicity twice as large as the array's unit cell. The neutron data show that these magnetic superstructures can be fully long-range ordered, despite the gradual modulation of the doping level created by charge transfer and chemical intermixing. The degree of noncollinearity can be effectively adjusted by low magnetic fields. Notwithstanding their chemical and structural simplicity, oxide homojunctions thus show considerable promise as a platform for tunable complex magnetism and as a powerful design element of spintronic devices.

The degradation of soil from agricultural land is a major threat to food security and a driver of global changes. Soil conservation systems are thus being promoted and/or adopted worldwide. In this on-farm study conducted in Switzerland, we compared the effect of three cropping systems – conventional with tillage, conventional without tillage (i.e. no-till) and organic farming with tillage – on soil quality. Samples from 60 winter wheat fields belonging to these three systems were analysed for soil carbon concentration, soil aggregate distribution and soil biological properties (microbial carbon and mycorrhizal biomarkers), at three different depths (0–5 cm, 5–20 cm and 20–50 cm). Information about cropping practices was collected through surveys. The main differences in soil properties between systems occurred for the surface layer (0–5 cm depth), with increased soil organic carbon concentration and stock under no-till compared to the conventionally tilled fields. No-till and organic fields showed a higher mean aggregate size and proportion of macroaggregates in the surface layer compared to tilled conventional fields, with a greater amount of carbon in the large macroaggregates. However, large within-system variability was also observed, which tended to override differences between systems. Across systems, clay content, microbial carbon, and the mycorrhizal PFLA biomarkers were the major drivers of soil organic carbon concentration, clay to carbon ratio and carbon accumulation in the large macroaggregate fraction. Aggregation at 0–5 cm was mostly related to tillage depth, while climate variables and especially clay content played a major role for deeper layers. Our results demonstrate that within the constraints set by soil texture and climate, organic agriculture and no-till can contribute to improved soil carbon and aggregation properties. Thus, we advocate for the identification of the main drivers of soil quality in order to inform management and improve soil

Previous work introduced the concept of progress states. After expanding a progress state, a greedy best-first search (GBFS) will only expand states with lower heuristic values. Current methods can identify progress states only for a single task and only after a solution for the task has been found. We introduce a novel approach that learns a description logic formula characterizing all progress states in a classical planning domain. Using the learned formulas in a GBFS to break ties in favor of progress states often significantly reduces the search effort.

It was essential in the European Technical Specification for the Design of Fibre- Polymer Composite Structures (prCEN/TS 19101) to provide an Ultimate Limit State design procedure for a failure criterion for multi-ply laminates subjected to in-plane combined actions, which will give a generically applicable and a simple design procedure. This paper will discuss the rationale for the project team (of Working Group 4 to CEN/TC250) deciding that the resistance formula is to satisfy a linear interaction failure criterion., Steel & Composite Structures

Challenges of reliable prediction of resistance of bonded joints lie in the complexity of stress concentrations, multiple crack paths, mode-mixity and sudden crack propagation. The new Technical Specification for Design of fibre-polymer composite structures (TS) is bridging this gap by providing comprehensive sets of design recommendations and analyses to be used for the verification of adhesive joints. Two design approaches in the TS, based on stress analysis and fracture mechanics, are summarized and basic design assumptions on allowed failure conditions and partial factors in relation to execution and maintenance are highlighted. The application of the design recommendations is shown on the example of determining the design value and the ultimate resistance of a simple double lap joint. FE models built in Abaqus are used to analyse stress concentrations and crack initiation and propagation based on material level experiments. Variability of the material properties are taken into account through partial safety factors. Joint resistances obtained by the stress-based approach and fracture-mechanics approach are compared., Steel & Composite Structures

Background: Regenerative agriculture has gained attention in mainstream media, academic literature, and international politics in recent years. While many practices and outcomes relate to RA, there is no uniform definition of the term, and only a few comprehensive scientific studies exist of “real-life” farms and the complexity of what is considered regenerative management and its impact on soil health. Aims: This study aimed to relate the impact of single and various combinations of regenerative management practices to soil health indicators on Gotland, Sweden. Methods: Soil health of 17 farm fields and six gardens was assessed on 11 farms that had applied regenerative agricultural practices for zero to 30 years. We measured a variety of physical (bulk density, infiltration rate, wet aggregate stability, root depth and abundance, penetration resistance), chemical (pH, electric conductivity, C:N ratio, total organic carbon) and biological (earthworm abundance, active carbon, microbial biomass carbon) soil indicators. These parameters were related to regenerative practices (reduced tillage, application of organic matter, livestock integration, crop diversity, and share of legumes and perennials) through a combination of hierarchical clustering, Analysis of Variance and Tukey's tests, principal component analysis, and multiple linear regressions. Results: At our study sites, the application of organic matter had a positive impact on bulk density, carbon-related parameters, wet aggregate stability, and infiltration rate, while reduced tillage and increased share of perennials combined had a positive impact on vegetation density, root abundance and depth, and wet aggregate stability. The field plots were divided into four clusters according to their management, and we found significantly higher values of total organic carbon (*), C:N (*), infiltration rate (**), and earthworm abundance (*) for crop-high-org-input, the management cluster with highest values of organic

Mechanization in agriculture has greatly improved the efficiency of field operations, but also resulted in heavier agricultural vehicles, which has led to increased risks of soil compaction. Hence, farmers benefit from machinery with higher capacity but may suffer from decreased yields caused by compaction. Compaction may result in further environmental costs to society. We present a framework that relates the machinery capacity to soil compaction and its impacts on crop yields and environmental disservices, and associated revenues and costs for farmers and society. We combined simulations using a soil compaction model and a soil-crop model with simple economic analyses. We applied the framework to a case study of cereal production in Sweden, to derive the optimal combine harvester size that maximizes the farmer's private profit and the societal net benefit, respectively. Increased machinery size decreased harvesting costs, but also reduced simulated crop yields and thus crop revenue as a result of soil compaction. Furthermore, in the model simulations, compaction also increased surface run-off, nitrogen leaching and greenhouse gas emissions. Intermediate machinery size maximized the farmer's net revenue. Net benefits for society were highest for the lowest possible compaction level, due to the considerable external costs from soil compaction. We show that the optimal machinery size and thus compaction level for maximum farmer revenue would decrease if either producer prices were higher, harvesting costs savings from larger machinery were smaller, or if farmers were charged for (part of the) environmental costs., Soil structure and soil degradation: improved model tools to meet sustainable development goals under climate and land use change.

While virtual reality technology is already widely used in business and culture for immersion in new worlds of experience, virtual reality (VR) in the field of special and inclusive education is still not widespread. Students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) are often externally determined to various degrees in their lives. To cope with everyday life independently, practicing action skills is necessary. In a real-world physical environment, this is not always easy. Virtual reality offers a possibility to acquire skills without restrictive conditions.Within the project “Virtual Reality for Children with Special Needs” the potentials of virtual reality for students with IDD are explored. This research and development (R&D) project is a collaborative effort of the University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW Winterthur), the University of Teacher Education in Special Needs (HfH Zürich), and Vivala as the Foundation which supports persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Virtual Reality as a learning technology has been indicated numerous times to be an evident improvement over conventional learning methods. This work-in-progress paper describes and analyses the didactic and design factors for an effective use of virtual reality for basic vocational training. Guided by pedagogical principles for effective teaching and learning, a prototype of a virtual learning unit for apprentices in the field of electrical installation was developed. The impact of this learning unit on learning success is to be evaluated in an ongoing field study in Switzerland.

Für viele Lehrbetriebe ist es schwierig, Berufslernenden genügend Situationen zu ermöglichen, in denen sie die vorgesehenen beruflichen Handlungskompetenzen erlernen und üben können. Die Anreicherung der betrieblichen Ausbildung mit technologiegestützten Erfahrungswelten auf der Basis von Virtual Reality (VR) ist deshalb vielversprechend. VR wird in der betrieblichen Ausbildung jedoch kaum systematisch angewandt, was u.a. auf eine geringe Erfahrungs- und Forschungslage zurückgeführt werden kann. Daher wurde in einem Projekt auf Basis des Design-Based Research-Ansatzes die Erstellung und Anwendung einer VR-Lernumgebung für angehende Elektrofachpersonen aufgenommen. Dieser Beitrag stellt die aus pädagogischer und technologischer Sicht herausfordernde Auswahl einer Handlungssituation, die für die Möglichkeiten einer VR-Simulation prädestiniert ist, und deren sinnvolle pädagogische Rahmung in den Mittelpunkt. Zudem werden Ergebnisse der Evaluation des erstellten Prototyps mittels einer Interventionsstudie bei Schweizer Montage-Elektriker:innen und Elektroinstallateur:innen im letzten Ausbildungsjahr präsentiert.