Siri Fagernes

Westerdals Oslo School of Arts, Communication and Technology · Faculty of Technology

Cervical cancer consumes many lives around the world. Many of these lives could be saved if more women were screened for cervical cancer. This study explored the potential of digital nudging through short electronic messages as a means of increasing women’s participation in cervical screening programs. A questionnaire-based study was designed to ex...

Dyslexia is a common reading disorder that typically affects reading, concentration and short-term memory. Consequently, for people with dyslexia, reading fictional books might be challenging. Several studies have addressed layout and typography of digital texts. Less attention has been directed towards printed books. It has been suggested that e-r...

In recent years, the ultra-wideband (UWB) radar technology has shown great potential in monitoring activities of daily living (ADLs) for smart homes. In this paper, we investigate the significance of using non-wearable UWB sensors for developing non-intrusive, unobtrusive, and privacy-preserving monitoring of elderly ADLs. A controlled experiment w...

In this paper, we present the PMdata dataset that aims to combine the traditional lifelogging with sports activity logging. Such a dataset enables development of several interesting analysis applications, e.g., where additional sports data can be used to predict and analyze everyday developments like a person's weight and sleep patterns, and where...

Health expenditures in Norway amounted to 10,2 percent of GDP in 2018, and the budget was dedicated predominantly to treating disorders and maintaining support functions. Only 3 percent of the budget went to preventive health, despite the fact that preventive measures hold the greatest promise. At the same time, computer-based technology enables me...

We study a scenario for cloud services based on autonomous resource management agents in situations of competition for limited resources. In the scenario, autonomous agents make independent decisions on resource consumption in a competitive environment. Altruistic and selfish strategies for agent behaviour are simulated and compared with respect to...

A significant portion of the population have dyslexia, which is commonly associated with reading and writing difficulties. In the context of developing materials well-suited for users with reading disorders, one solution has been to develop materials especially targeted at dyslexic users. However, how are the attitudes among users with dyslexia tow...

This study focuses on how a real-life assignment may enhance students´ learning. Twenty-nine students completed an assignment to test a usability framework that small to medium enterprises (SMEs) in Nordic and Baltic countries can use to evaluate the usability of their website. The overall feedback from the students was that a real-life assignment...

We study a scenario of autonomous resource management agents, aiming for fulfilling a management goal of balancing value of service with cost. We aim for a model of management based on fully distributed knowledge, avoiding traditional challenges associated with centralized approaches. Our results indicate that lack of information about the actions...

Current accessibility research shows that in the web development, the process itself may lead to inaccessible web sites and applications. Common practices typically do not allow sufficient testing. The focus is mainly on complying with minimum standards, and treating accessibility compliance as a sort of bug-fixing process, missing the user perspec...

We study the problem of information exchange between coordinated autonomous resource management agents. We limit information to that which can be directly observed by each agent. While exchanging all relevant observables leads to near optimal management, leaving out information leads to ”hidden variable” problems that affect only part of the overal...

This paper presents the results of an interview-based study of the use of virtual learning environments (VLEs) among dyslexic students. Interviews were carried out with 12 informants who had been formally diagnosed as dyslexic. The informants were either enrolled in a university or college programme, or had graduated less than a year before the int...

We aim to reduce the overhead of information gathering and updates in a scenario of semi-autonomous resource management agents in a multi-agent environment. We investigate the importance of coordinating timing of events compared with the level of information exchange among the agents; and how this affects deviations from best-case management as pre...

In an environment of autonomous agents, it is advantageous for agents to function with as little information exchange as possible. Although zero information exchange is impractical, a small amount of information exchange is sufficient for coordinated management of two resources. At minimum, cooperating agents need to be able to operate alone for sh...

A central issue in autonomic management is how to coordinate several autonomic management processes, which is assumed to require significant knowledge exchange. This study investigates whether two autonomic control units, which control the same system, can achieve some level of self-coordination with minimal knowledge exchange between them. We pres...

This paper describes a position for work in progress. We offer a definition of a “swarm” using the management concepts of promises and information rather than the programmed rules commonly used to mimick swarm behaviour. We look for a general and underlying meaning to swarms as a form of organization. Noting that swarms lead to an autonomous reduct...

Can the whole be greater than the sum of its parts? The phenomenon of emergence claims that it can. Autonomics suggests that emergence can be har-nessed to solve problems in self-management and behavioural regulation without human involvement, but the definitions of these key terms are unclear. Using promise theory, and the related operator theory...

The theory of promises describes policy governed services, in a framework of completely autonomous agents, which assist one another by voluntary cooperation alone. We propose this as a framework for analysing realistic models of modern networking, and as a formal model for swarm intelligence

We present a simplified example of a pervasive computing scenario using promises to model the interaction policies between the agents. We examine how the autonomic nodes stabilize into a robust functional system in spite of their autonomous decision making. We use promises both as a means of modelling a potential specification and as a complementar...

We consider some implications of non-linear feedback, due to policy combinatorics, on policy-based management of net- worked services. We pay special attention to the case where the monitoring of certain aspects of Service Level Agreements is used to alter future policy dynamically, according to a control feedback scheme. Using two simple models, w...

Abstract Systems with decentralized authority are sometimes,considered to be ‘unmanaged’ or even unman- ageable. Promise theory is an approach to policy that assumes complete,decentralization of authority. Cooperation between agents or systems is entirely voluntary, so why would agents cooperate in forming policy? By exhibiting the relationship bet...

Abstract We present a model for policy based management, stressing the role of decisive autonomy in generalized networks. The organization and consistency of agent cooperation is discussed within a cooperative network. We show that some simple rules can eliminate formal inconsistencies, allowing robust approximations to management. Using graph theo...

Systems with decentralized authority are sometimes considered to be 'unmanaged' or even unmanageable, but we propose that they can be guided by economic incentives. Promise theory is an approach to policy that assumes complete decentralization of authority: cooperation between agents or systems is entirely voluntary. By exhibiting the relationship...

We present a model for policy based management , stressing the role of decisive autonomy in generalized networks. The organization and consistency of agent cooperation is discussed within a cooperative network. We show that some simple rules can eliminate formal inconsistencies, allowing robust approximations to management. Using graph theoretical...

We consider the implications of feedback on policy-based management of networked services, paying special attention to the case where monitoring of service level agreements is used to alter policy dynamically. Using a simple model, we show that there are policies that are unstable under service provision, i.e. provide no reliable service levels (Qo...

A distributed simulation environment for training and evaluation of medical trauma teams is presented. Connected through the Internet, the geographically remote team members can communicate and interact using the clinically realistic environment provided by the MATADOR simulator. The scenario demonstrates an injured person's arrival at the hospital...

We consider a model for the spread of unwanted E-mail or other identifiable traffic (worms etc) under various network policies, as a simple model of adaptive access policy. We consider phase transitions of the network from percolation to non-percolation as the changes in policy spread throughout various types of network.

This chapter outlines some of the most important laws, ethical principles, and guidelines that may assist the system administrator in fulfilling his or her professional duties. Technology has brought many benefits, but is also the cause of many social and ethical concerns: system failures, the destruction of property, the so-called digital divide,...

We begin with two axioms: that system behaviour is an empirical phenomenon and that organization is a form of behaviour. We derive laws and characterizations of behaviour for generic systems. In our view behaviour is not determined by internal mech- anisms alone but also by environmental forces. Systems may 'announce' their internal expectations by...

We present a simplified example of a pervasive computing scenario using promises to model the interaction policies between the agents. We examine how the autonomic nodes stabilize into a robust functional system in spite of their autonomous decision making. We use promises both as a means of modelling a potential specification and as a complementar...