Tuesday, December 31, 2019

Literary Analysis Of Great Expectations - 1443 Words

Charles Dickens is a well-known author famous for his skillful and distinctive writing style. One of the novels in which Dickens best demonstrates his masterful style is Great Expectations. In this book, many literary elements are employed to develop a cleverly blended story. To create a unique effect, comedy, tragedy, and garish features are mixed together throughout. The wide array of writing patterns used by Dickens can be found over the course of the entire book and exemplified in many different chapters. From the instant this novel starts, Dickens establishes himself as a valid writer and his work as a piece worth literary attention. He accomplishes this by first making his story seem grim, as Pip describes the gravestones of his†¦show more content†¦The inclusion of elaborate details of this seemingly harmful man is also another strategy Dickens uses to help readers sympathize with Pip as he faces a more imminent problem. The reader is already invested in Pip after hearing about the fate of his family. Putting Pip in harm’s way not only creates even more sympathy, but also adds the new aspect of suspense. As Pip describes the situations he encounters, he manages to do so in a very unique way. The narration of this story is in first person, but it is told as an aged Pip reflects back on his younger years. This narration gives the novel dramatic irony; the narrator and the reader know what will happen before the actual characters. This irony is typically apparent when Pip comments on his current state, revealing that he is telling this story as an older person. Although this point of view has an influence on the entire book, it serves a unique purpose in the first chapter specifically. The grave situations in chapter one give the story a very serious tone, but this irony helps to give the chapter a lighthearted note as well. At first the situations being described seem urgent but then Pip gives the reader hints that he is older and has survived the situation. Knowing that Pip survives into adulthood helps make some of the descriptions come across as less somber. For example, the scene where the convict is threatening Pip by hanging him by his feet is very intense, but it is made lighter by the reader’sShow MoreRelatedGreat Expectations - Literary Analysis1674 Words   |  7 PagesAn Evaluation of Pip, and His Great Expectations In the year 1860, author Charles Dicken’s began his thirteenth novel, Great Expectations. The work is a coming-of-age novel, which tells the life story of an orphan boy named Pip, who much like Dickens’ in his earlier years is unhappy with his current life. A number of Charles Dickens’ personal life events are mirrored in the novel, leaving Great Expectations to be one of his most autobiographical works. Young Pip, the protagonistRead MoreGreat Expectations1707 Words   |  7 PagesGreat Expectations Human nature is the psychological and social qualities that characterize humankind. Human nature separates humans from the rest of the animal kingdom. The underlining theme of human nature is evident in Great Expectation by Charles Dickens use of his characters. A main characteristic that Dickens displays is friendship. The friendship between Pip and Herbert is strong. Herbert was significant to Pip’s growth in social class and eventual to his revelation. â€Å"Friendship was oneRead More Harry Potter is a Classic Essay1699 Words   |  7 PagesNarnia or Great Expectations? Does Harry Potter have what it takes to be worthwhile to teach in schools, or is it just a temporary fad that individuals will look back on and remark: â€Å"Oh yeah, I remember when those books were popular?† The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines â€Å"classic† as â€Å"a work of enduring excellence.† Harry Potter’s popularity has lasted since 1998, when the first book came out. Granted Harry Potter is a series, but seven years is a long time for a book or literary piece toRead MoreAnalysis Of Mark Twain s The Five Boons Of Life 1091 Words   |  5 PagesValue in Life Mark Twain was one of many great authors of his time. Twain was born November 30, 1835 (â€Å"Literary Analysis†).Twain had grown up in Missouri, one of only fifteen slave states, during the Civil War. He was one of eleven children. He spent most of his childhood ill and confined to bed (â€Å"Literary Analysis†).Twain’s father died when he was twelve, leaving him to have to search for a job to care for his family (â€Å"Literary Analysis†). During these times all were experiencing, racism, lynchRead MoreEssay on Henry James The Art of Fiction647 Words   |  3 Pagespoint: [T]he only condition that I can think of attaching to the composition of a novel is†¦that it be sincere (161) There is point in which over-analysis takes away from the intention, the point in which talk of theory wanders away from the actual work of art. This is as true today in the critique of fiction as it was in James time. In analysis we often place requirements of a piece of work. We state that for something to be this, it must then have that. These restrictions and guidelines canRead MoreAnalysis Of The Metamorphosis1501 Words   |  7 PagesBeveridge, A. (2009). Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka. Advances in psychiatric treatment, 15(6), 459-461. This brief article is written from the psychiatric perspective, pointing out that Kafka has always been of great interest to the psychoanalytic community; this is because his writings have so skillfully depicted alienation, unresolved oedipal issues, and the schizoid personality disorder and The Metamorphosis is no exception to this rule. While this writer tends to think that psychiatrists shouldRead MoreFailure Of The American Dream In The Writings Of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Zora Neale Hurston, And August Wilson1418 Words   |  6 PagesThis literary study will define the failure of the †American Dream† in the writings of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Arthur Miller, Zora Neale Hurston, and August Wilson. Fitzgerald’s account of the Jay Gatsby s rise to fame in the 1920s defines the failure of financial success as part of the American Dream. Gatsby will eventually die due to his excessive greed, which is not unlike the emotional death of Willy Loman as he fails to become a successful salesman in Author Miller’s Death of a Salesman. MoreRead MoreEdna Pontellier and Elizabeth Bennet: Challenge of 19th Century Conventional Methods1344 Words   |  6 PagesKate Chopin and Jane Austen could readily be referred to as literary heroines of the nineteenth century. Both women often challenged conventional societal methods within their works, which inherently caused these literary geniuses to write in complete secrecy. Chopin and Austen gave birth to characters such as Edna Pontellier in The Awakening, and Elizabeth Bennett, the renowned protagonist of Austen’s novella Pride and Prejudice. While noble in their respective ways one can easily mistake Edna andRead Morefeatures of Victorian novel750 Words   |  3 Pagesï » ¿ The Victorian Novel: main features First of all in the Victorian Age the dominating literary form was the novel. It was in fact easier to be read and understood by simple people, its plot was more interesting than any other literary forms, the main protagonists of the novel were the same people who read it so that they felt deeply involved in the adventure told, the writer and his readers shared the same opinions, values and ideals because they belonged to the same middle class, the setting

Monday, December 23, 2019

Title The Abortion Issue. Analyzes both sides of the...

The Abortion Issue Introduction Abortion has been a very controversial subject over these past few decades. Every time you pick up a paper or magazine it seems there is always some protest regarding abortion, whether it be for fetal rights or womens rights. According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica the definition of abortion is the expulsion of a fetus from the uterus before it has reached the stage of viability (in human beings, usually about the 20th week of gestation). An abortion may occur spontaneously, in which case it is also called a miscarriage, or it may be brought on purposefully, in which case it is often called an induced abortion. This paper will focus only on those abortions which are considered to be induced and will†¦show more content†¦All people have a right to live and under the pro-life view this includes a fetus from the moment of conception. Some argue that the unborn fetus has a right to its mothers body if that woman voluntarily indulges in intercourse (Jarvis Thomson, p.405). They argue that when the women engages in sexual intercourse she is fully aware of the consequences and the possibility that she might conceive a child. For this they say she is responsible for that life that is living inside her. This argument gives the unborn person a right to the mothers body and gives the mother a responsibility for the life because it is dependent on her (Jarvis Thomson, p.405). It should be noted however, that a fetus conceived through rape could not use this defence due to the fact that the sexual intercourse was not voluntary. Judith Jarvis Thomson in her article A Defense of Abortion has noted that pro-life activists have been so concerned with establishing the independence of the fetus that that have missed the fact that they could argue that the fetus is dependent on the mother and through this she has a special respon sibility to it. Pro-Choice Argument On the other side of the abortion issue are those who recognize the right of the woman to choose whether or not she wants to give birth to the fetus in her womb. There are both feminist and nonfeminist approaches to the pro-choice argument. The feminist perspectiveShow MoreRelatedOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words   |  656 Pages E SSAYS ON TWENTIETH-C ENTURY H ISTORY In the series Critical Perspectives on the Past, edited by Susan Porter Benson, Stephen Brier, and Roy Rosenzweig Also in this series: Paula Hamilton and Linda Shopes, eds., Oral History and Public Memories Tiffany Ruby Patterson, Zora Neale Hurston and a History of Southern Life Lisa M. Fine, The Story of Reo Joe: Work, Kin, and Community in Autotown, U.S.A. Van Gosse and Richard Moser, eds., The World the Sixties Made: Politics and CultureRead MoreDeveloping Management Skills404131 Words   |  1617 Pages(David Allred) Developing management skills /David A. Whetten, Kim S. Cameron.—8th ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-13-612100-8 1. Management—-Study and teaching. 2. Management—Problems, exercises, etc. Kim S. II. Title. HD30.4.W46 2011 658.40071 173—dc22 I. Cameron, 2009040522 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 ISBN 10: 0-13-612100-4 ISBN 13: 978-0-13-612100-8 B R I E F TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S Preface xvii Introduction 1 PART I 1 2 3 PERSONAL SKILLS Read MoreManagement Course: Mba−10 General Management215330 Words   |  862 PagesValue I. Valuation 229 229 253 279 1. The Value−Based Management Framework: An Overview 2. Why Value Value? 4. The Value Manager Harvard Business Review Finance Articles Eclipse of the Public Corporation 308 308 323 323 330 330 Article How I Learned to Live with Wall Street Article Second Thoughts on Going Public Article Reed−Lajoux †¢ The Art of M A: Merger/Acquisitions/Buyout Guide, Third Edition 10. Postmerger Integration 336 336 Text Hodgetts−Luthans−Doh †¢ InternationalRead MoreStephen P. Robbins Timothy A. Judge (2011) Organizational Behaviour 15th Edition New Jersey: Prentice Hall393164 Words   |  1573 PagesCataloging-in-Publication Data Robbins, Stephen P. Organizational behavior / Stephen P. Robbins, Timothy A. Judge. — 15th ed. p. cm. Includes indexes. ISBN-13: 978-0-13-283487-2 ISBN-10: 0-13-283487-1 1. Organizational behavior. I. Judge, Tim. II. Title. HD58.7.R62 2012 658.3—dc23 2011038674 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 ISBN 10: 0-13-283487-1 ISBN 13: 978-0-13-283487-2 Brief Contents Preface xxii 1 2 Introduction 1 What Is Organizational Behavior? 3 The Individual 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 DiversityRead More_x000C_Introduction to Statistics and Data Analysis355457 Words   |  1422 Pageswritten permission of the publisher. Thomson Higher Education 10 Davis Drive Belmont, CA 94002-3098 USA For more information about our products, contact us at: Thomson Learning Academic Resource Center 1-800-423-0563 For permission to use material from this text or product, submit a request online at http://www.thomsonrights.com. Any additional questions about permissions can be submitted by e-mail to thomsonrights@thomson.com. Printed in the United States of America 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 11 10

Sunday, December 15, 2019

Manufacturing System Free Essays

AA Toy Manufacturing Company Introduction Observed that the flow of information and logistics management between the client AA Toy Manufacturing Company and its partners are not yet optimal, it is decided to recommend some information software to the client. As the company still adopting manual accounting system, it caused messy collection of financial and accounting data and human errors. The above problems would be burdens that affect managers’ decision making. We will write a custom essay sample on Manufacturing System or any similar topic only for you Order Now In the hope of solving these problems an Accounting Information System (AIS) would be recommend to AA Toy Manufacturing Company. The client has few employees, so it does not hold a well-structured system to management the employees. The following problems were observed: incomplete labor record, overlapped job duties and difficulties in calculating MPF. To improve human resource management of the client, a Human Resources Management System (HRIS) would be recommended. As the company is not using a well Logistic Information System (LIS), the schedule of importing raw materials is messy; communication with customers is also poor. It is decided to recommend a Logistic Information System to tackle the problems stated above. The lack of Manufacturing Information System (MFIS) created difficulties like volume of inventory has not clearly stated and a scheduled operation is unable to run. A manufacturing information system can hopefully solve the difficulties. It is going to recommend Accounting Information System (AIS), Human Resources Management System (HRIS), Logistic Information System (LIS) and Manufacturing Information System (MFIS) for AA Toy Manufacturing Company to improve their daily operation. Methods used to tackle the project Firstly, we drafted a project outline by brainstorming. Secondly, we discussed on the type of product that the manufacturing company produced. Thirdly, according to the nature of toy manufacturing company, we picked 4 information systems which benefit for the operation of the business. Based on the toy manufacturing company, we have to state what problems that a toy manufacturing company always faced. Lastly, we have to find the information on the selected 4 information systems that helps to tackle the above problems. In the process of doing the project, we faced a lot of difficulties. Then we sought help from our lecturer. So, the project can be finished on time. Our group found a lot of relevant information on the Internet, especially from wiki. Abundant of information are provided to be reference for our project. Logistic Information System (LIS) The logistics Information System is the system managing and controlling information handling processes optimally with respect to flow time and capacity, storage, distribution and presentation in such a way that it contributes to company results in concurrence with the costs of capturing like creation, searching and maintenance. The Logistics Information System is made up of the following information systems: * Sales Information System Purchasing Information System * Inventory Controlling * Shop Floor Information System * Plant Maintenance Information System * Quality Management Information System Function of Logistic Information System (LIS) * Correct information product at the accurate point of time * Correct format / quality * Create planning data * Provide an easy-to-use planning functions to su pport forecasting function * Plan, control, and monitor business events at different stages in the decision-making process * Flexible tools for collecting, aggregating and analyzing data from the operative applications Situation: AA Toy Manufacturing Company has faced several problems nowadays. It has a poor management in logistic. First, the schedule of importing raw materials is messy. The company does not have a well-organized to manage the inventory stock. It is time-consuming and inefficient for the production line to spend large amount of time in making phone calls to confirm the arriving times of the raw materials. The arriving time is unclear and inaccurate. It is difficult for the company to have an accurate schedule to finish output in production stage under this situation. Secondly, the company does not have well-communicate with customers. They have not set up an accurate date and time to deliver finish goods to customers. It may have to delay or reschedule in the transaction. Therefore, customers always ask about this. It is ineffective and increases the cost to communicate with them. Overall, the logistic management of planning, organization and control of goods and material in AA Toy Manufacturing Company are chaotic. Logistics information system is needed to solve problem that the company has. Application: Under the situation of the company, Logistics information system is important for achieving the efficiency and effectiveness. First, using information technology in Logistics information systems can well connect with consumers and suppliers. Time cost is decrease by communicate via Email or websites. The date and time for the raw material arrived and deliver product are more accurate than before. It reduces the redundancy of the transaction. Second, it reduces the requirements of inventory and human resources by enabling requirements planning. Logistics Data Warehouse is using for manage the inventory. It is clear and organizes for the company to update and group relevant data. Human resources reduce and bring effective to the company to make the decision. Third, delivery the finish goods to customers are effective by using logistics information system. The transportation of products improves because the company can plan the routes before they send the product to customers. The routes will be simplify and delivery conveniently. The transportation cost decrease. Fourth, it helps to enlarge scales of business through logistics information system. The manufacturing company is clearer idea about storage of raw materials and finish goods, it is easily to order raw materials from suppliers or deliver finish goods to customers in a right time. They have a good management in inventory. It helps enlarge capacity of receiving order or storage. Software 1. Logistics Information Management System Features * Dispatch container * Invoicing * Driver and owner operator payments * By move or hourly * Driver profile * Trailer and Truck information Easy data search and retrieval: Invoices, containers, bookings, receipts, payments and vendors * Generate Reports: A/R / Invoicing / A/P / Truck / Trailer / Customer 2. Customs Intelligenceâ„ ¢ Features * Handles commercial and casual imports. * External document management * Client management and billing * Design your own reports Criteria| Logistics Information Management System (LIMS)| Customs Intelligence↞ ¢| Preference| User-friendly | Fair| Fair| Fair| Mobile Access| No| Yes| Customs Intelligenceâ„ ¢| Cost| CAD $1500| CAD $ 1699. 95| LIMS| Support after sales| Yes| Yes| Fair| RFID| Yes| No| LIMS| By comparing the above criteria, Logistics Information Management System would be recommended. Firstly, both of the system is using graphical user interface (GUI), employees can easily pick up the new system. In case, encountered any problems both of the systems have supporting team to help the employees. The systems have a fair performance on the user-friendly aspect. Secondly, only Customs Intelligenceâ„ ¢ provided the mobile access function to keep check the inventories location, the predicted time of arriving. LIMS and only perform this function on computers. Thirdly, the RFID tags, only LIMS supported RFID tags to manage the inventory that in the warehouse. With RFID technology it can easily locate the location of the stocks in the warehouse and know the quantity of the stocks. It would be helpful to the business. To conclude, LIMS is cheaper and offered RFID technology, which is a useful tool. Although it does not preform mobile access function, it is not a must to have it. Employees can also know the raw materials location and predicted arrival time from computers. It is enough to fix the messy of making phone calls all the time to know the rrival time. LIMS would be recommended as it can fix the company’s obstacles and have an RFID function which can further help the business to improve. Accounting Information System (FIS) Accounting Information System is a system of collection, storage and processing of financial and accounting data. An accounting Information system is a computer-based method. The resulting financial reports a re useful for the internal management and external parties such as investor. It benefits the management to make decision. Functions of Financial Information System (FIS) Collects relevant financial and accounting data * Stores the financial and accounting data * Transfers the financial and accounting data into information, such as financial reports * Provides information to financial executives * Provides timely financial information Situation After working with different functional units of AA Toy Manufacturing Company for a while, I have observed that the company still adopting manual accounting system. This creates abundant of problems. Firstly, manual accounting system leads to the messy collection of financial and accounting data from different departments. With lots of missing data and the mistakes made by the accountants, it produces incomplete and inaccurate financial reports to the management. Secondly, manual accounting system leads to the wasting time in processing the data into information. After collection of data, the accountants have to record those transactions in to ledger by hand. It is really time consuming. Some of the final financial reports may be out of dated for decision making. Thirdly, the management make decision depends heavily on the financial reports produced by the accountants. As the incomplete and inaccurate provided to management, the management will make a wrong decision. To conclude, manual accounting system produces incomplete, inaccurate and out of dated financial reports. The process of processing the financial and accounting data into information is messy and time consuming. Application Applying computerize accounting information system can help to improve the financial operation of the company. It brings several advantages to the company. Firstly, computerize accounting information system is automate and streamline reporting. The accountants just have to input the necessary data into the software. It will generate those requested accurate financial reports automatically by the accountants. Secondly, computerize accounting information system can generate financial reports automatically. So it is less time consuming. The accountants no need to record each transaction. The financial reports must be timely as the computerize system can generate reports in fast rate. Thirdly, computerize accounting information system can generate timely, accurate, relevant, integrated financial. It can avoid human mistakes. Therefore, the management can make the correct decision for the business. Fourthly, computerize accounting information system can store the past data and reports. So the data and reports will be more organized and tidy. The probability of losing data will become low. To conclude, computerize accounting information system benefits the operation of business. It is less time consuming in generating timely, accurate, relevant, integrated financial reports in a short period. So, the financial and accounting data can be more organized and tidy. It monitors the cash flow closely in the company. Also, those qualified reports can truly reflect the profitability and liquidity of the company. The management can make the best decision. Software 1. Front Accounting Features: Advanced GST (VAT) handling * several GST (VAT) definitions with GST (VAT) groups * definition of GST (VAT) included * GST (VAT) can be selected on per customer, supplier or item level advanced GST (VAT) inquiry and report showing details and outputs/inputs. Full currency support * historical currency rates * Multi-currency bank accounts, customers and suppliers. 2. Intuit QuickBooks Features: * Allow multiple users to work off the same, up-to-date QuickBooks company file at the same time. Create professional-looking invoices and forms * Customize contact information fields in the Customer, Vendor, Employee Centers * Downloading transactions from financial institution Criteria| FrontAccounting| Intuit QuickBooks| Preference| User-friendly | Fair| Good| Intuit QuickBooks| Mobile Access| No| Online access(extra cost needed)| Intuit QuickBooks| Multiple user | No| Yes| Intuit QuickBooks| Cost| None| USD $1 99. 96| FrontAccounting| Updating| Yes| Yes| Fair| Support after sales| No| Yes (Extra Charges needed)| Intuit QuickBooks| By comparing the above criteria, Intuit QuickBooks would be recommended. Firstly, as AA Toy Manufacturing Company is using manual accounting system, a user-friendly system is needed for employees start to pick up. Intuit QuickBooks is more user-friendly than FrontAccounting as it uses graphical user interface (GUI). Employees can get used to the new system soon. Moreover, if the employees encounter any problem, they can seek help from the Intuit hotline. While FrontAccounting just provided some common QA sections on the web, it is not specific even cannot help the employee. It would be a waste of human resource. Thirdly, as the managers or the owners may need to preform decision making outside the office, it would be better to have mobile accessing function for their convenience. Intuit QuickBooks provided this function while FrontAccounting does not. Although extra charges are needed for this function, managers could still have the right to consider use it or not. Fourthly, employees may need to access to the same document at one time, Intuit QuickBooks can support multiple users to work on the same time. It would be more convenient for the employee. Time would be wasted if the employees need to do the job one by one. Fifthly, both of the software have updating to introduce new functions of fix some bugs. They have fair performance on this criterion. Sixthly, FrontAccounting is free of charge, while Intuit QuickBooks cost almost USD$200, it is expensive to the AA Toy Manufacturing Company. However good AIS could help the company a lot in saving cost and present accurate information for decision making purpose. As, the performance of Intuit QuickBooks is better than FrontAccounting and the cost is for permanent use, thus it is still worthy. To conclude, Intuit QuickBooks would be recommended to AA Toy Manufacturing Company. Manufacturing Information System (MFIS) Manufacturing Information System is a computer-based system that works in conjunction with other functional information systems to support the firm’s management in solving problems that relate to manufacturing the firm’s products. Manufacturing information provide services to support the manufacturing function, such as the inventory control and order processing for the company. The company may benefit by reducing the manufacturing costs, increasing products quality, and improving inventory decisions. Functions of Manufacturing Information System * Manages manufacturing resources * Enhances the availability of information * Collects and organizes manufacturing quality data in a straight-forward manner * Support inventory decision-making Situation After working with different functional units of AA Toy Manufacturing Company, our team found that the company was operating with poor information and logistics management. Firstly, without a suitable manufacturing information system, the volume of inventory has not clearly stated during the daily operation. The staffs have to use extra time and manpower to check-up the inventory stock. In case, the staffs of production lines have to check that regularly, this may lower the efficiency since it wasted a lot of company’s resources. Secondly, the company cannot run a scheduled operation since the delivery of raw materials is not on-time. Moreover, the company does not have any concept on managing the manufacturing resources; as a result, the late delivery of raw materials may lead to poor shipment arrangement and customers-relation. Also, the above actions may delay the manufacturing processing, and lower the effectiveness. Application For the suitable manufacturing information system used by the AA Toy Manufacturing Company, it may turns into conceptual and strategic tool for competitive advantage. Firstly, a manufacturing information system may help in organizing to resources’ data, such as the inventory stock. The system may help the company to keep track on the resources’ states and adjust the internal settings automatically. The usage of the report and control system of manufacturing information system is sophisticated. These kind of high-tech system can reduce the manpower wasted and duplicated use of resources; it may achieves maximum efficiency with minimum error. Secondly, the manufacturing information system includes managing the raw materials needed to be used. A good manufacturing information system can help in arranging the delivery of stocks and the processing tasks. Thus, the system may enhances the effectiveness in terms of ensure to do the processing tasks on-schedule and use the materials with high attainment. Software | Manufacturing Information System (Erp) Software| Company name| Softcore Infotech Private Limited| Features| * Auto Production Planning Purchase Order prepared based on delivery date while considering available raw finished stocks. * Production inspection * Final inspection of finished good| As AA Toy Manufacturing Company doesn’t has a suitable manufacturing information system, the staffs have to use extra time and manpower to check-up the inventory stock and lower the efficiency because of wasted a lot of company’s resources, we suggest the Manufacturing Information System (Erp) Software. Manufacturing Information System (Erp) Software offers auto Production Planning Purchase Order prepared based on delivery date while considering available raw and finished stocks, it can help to reduce the manpower to check-up the inventory stocks. Besides, it also can help to enhance their shipment arrangement and customers-relation. Manufacturing Information System (Erp) Software also offers product and final goods inspection, to help AA to control the quality of the raw and finished stocks. Human Resource Information System (HRIS) Human Resource Information System enables users to perform standard reporting from all Human Resource areas and process personal information, it provided information that helps decision makers define their own report quickly and efficiently. Functions of Human Resource Information System * Manage all employee information * Report and analysis of employee information * Developing online data bases of employee information * Benefits administration (enrollment, status changes, personal information updating) * Developing online searchable data bases of applicant resumes * Training record maintenance Situation AA Toy Manufacturing Company with the small scale of operation and few of employees, all the information of labor only recorded by the application form individually so there is no complete labor record. This policy caused different management problems of the company: Firstly, without complete labor record, it is difficult for the company to specify labor’s strength and abilities. As a result, the supervisors cannot allocate the most suitable workers to carry out specific job duties. Secondly, as the company didn’t clearly give any instructions to labor that they have to do of their positions. So, their job duties may be overlapped. For instance, both salespersons and customer services need to answer lots of queries from their customers regarding the shipment arrangement, delivery status as well as warranty issues of their finished products. It will lower the efficiency of division of labor. Thirdly, with incomplete labor record, the company cannot recruit qualified candidates to satisfy the need of labor force in different departments. Fourthly, the calculation of Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes (MPF) of labor will be messy, the company cannot certainly calculate accumulate mandatory provident fund of each labor without complete labor record. Application of Human Resource Information System Firstly, Human Resource Information System helps the company to manage and record all employees’ information, Manager can clearly know all the information of labor including their strength, abilities and training record from the Human Resource Information System. Secondly, in order to give instructions to labor, they can have a clearer idea what to do of their positions; manager can offer different jobs according to their strength and abilities. Thus, it can avoid the problem of overlapping job duties. Thirdly, company can develop online database of employees’ information and nline searchable database of applicant resumes, so that the manager can review all the records easily. With online searchable database of applicant resumes, the company can easily search for the qualified candidates from received application form to satisfy the shortage of labor force in different departments. Fourthly, Human Resource Information Sys tem can be reconfigured to suit for different kinds of payroll, the system can record their payroll automatically with flexible payroll adjustment, the company can accurately calculate accumulate Mandatory Provident Fund of labor. Software Microsoft Office Access| BambooHR| Cost| * A one-time payment, $139. 99| * Monthly payment * Depends on the number of employees| User-friendly| * Involves graphical user interfaces(GUI)| * Involves tools (e. g. Power Edit)| Update frequency| * Constantly update| * Constantly update| Security| * Fair| * Fair| As a small-sized company, cost is one of the main concerns. To choose the proper system for the human resource information system, we prefer the Microsoft Office Access. Firstly, BambooHR costs monthly and the price is based on the number of labors. As a company with the small scale of operation, although AA Toy Manufacturing Company only has a few of employees, monthly cost is a liability to them. MS Access only costs $139. 99 and for permanent use, it will reduce the burden of the company on the system. Secondly, MS Access and BambooHR are fair in the user-friendly section, but BambooHR involves some tools for the users to use easily, but they are only helpful in editing and filling the data in it after setting up the database. MS Access involves the graphical user interfaces (GUI), it can help the managers to set up the database of the employees easily. Besides, AA is the company with the small scale of operation and few of employees, it may not have the senior programmers, MS Access offers many features for junior programmers, it is easy to use for AA. Lastly, BambooHR and MS Access have fair performance on the update frequency and the security, two of these systems constantly update to meet customers’ needs and make the system more efficiency. Because of all the people are concerned about the security of the information systems, include the HRIS, two of these systems have a fair performance in security. For example, they use the firewall to protect the information in the database, and use some software to protect the information when they are in the backup process, such as SSL. To conclude, we suggest AA Toy Manufacturing Company to use Microsoft Office Access as their human resource information system. Conclusion To conclude, we suggested four types of information system for AA Toy Manufacturing Company to use and help them to improve their existing state. We recommended Logistic Information System (LIS), Accounting Information System (AIS), Human Resource Information System (HRIS) and Manufacturing Information System(MFIS). Firstly, for Logistic Information System, we recommended AA to use Logistics Information Management System (LIMS) to help to solve the exist problems such as reduces the requirements of inventory and human resources. LIMS supported RFID tags that can easily locate the location of the stocks in the warehouse and know the quantity of the stocks. Employees can also know the raw materials location and predicted arrival time from computers, it can help to decrease the human resource needed of the inventory management and making calls. Secondly, for Accounting Information System, we suggested Intuit QuickBooks. It uses graphical user interface (GUI) to help the employees to pick up the system easily. Besides, Intuit QuickBooks can support multiple users to work on the same time, it would be more convenient for the employees to access to the same document at one time. Use computerize accounting information system instead of manual accounting system can reduce the probabilities of error and help the managers to make the best decisions to the company. Thirdly, for Human Resource Information System, we recommended Microsoft Office Access. Access only costs $139. 9 and for permanent use, it will reduce the burden of the company on the system. It also involves the graphical user interfaces (GUI), it can help the managers to set up the database of the employees easily. It can help the manager to manage the data of employees more convenient and efficiency. The managers can clearly know all the strength, abilities and training record of labor from the system and avoid the problem of overlapping job duties. Fourthly, for the manufacturing information system, we recommended Manufacturing Information System (Erp) Software. AA can use this software to solve their problem. It offers auto Production Planning Purchase Order prepared, it helps AA to reduce the manpower to check-up the inventory stocks and enhance their shipment arrangement and enhance customers-relation. In addition, it also provides the product and final goods inspection, it can help the managers to control the quality of the raw and finished stocks. The above information systems with software can help to solve the difficulties. It helps to enhance the management in different departments to be optimal. Our team believes that those software can enhance the profitability in a foreseeable future. How to cite Manufacturing System, Essay examples

Saturday, December 7, 2019

Organizational Behaviour Operations of Organization

Question: Describe about the Organizational Behaviour for Operations of Organization. Answer: Introduction The structure and operations of an organization can affect the behavior of employees within an organization. Thus, the study of organizational behaviors entails investigation on how the structure, individuals, and groups affect the human behavior in an organization. According to Argote and Ingram, (2014) creation and transfer of knowledge is a vital factor for establishing a competitive advantage in a firm. In this regard, the Big Energy case study outlines a retrenchment program for employees of XYZ Energy after complete integration of the two companies. Nonetheless, through organizational behavior we can be able to analyze the impact of the decision made by Big Energy on the employees that remain to facilitate the integration. Moreover, according to Singh and Srivastava, (2016) organizational behavior helps in analyzing job satisfaction, motivational impacts, emotions, psychology, attitude towards their job, the personality of employees. Thus, it is appropriate to understand the co ncepts of organizational behavior before making decisions that affect employees of an absorbed organization. The aim of this study is to ascertain the effects of the integration model utilized by Big Energy when it acquired XYZ Energy on the values, attitudes, and overall behavior of the individuals and groups of employees absorbed from XYZ Energy. Effects of the Absorption of XYZ Energy by Big Energy The global economy has changed the operations of many businesses in the current business environment. Although successful organization witnesses continuous success, they are often faced with continuous changes that are marked by changing tactics to respond to the changing economic conditions. Some organizations opt to merge or acquire other organization in the same industry like the case of XYZ Energy and Big Energy. Regardless of the strategy employed by the company, there are associated effects that come with the decision or strategy employed. In this case, the effects include loss of identity and status. However, these changes can have different effects on the level of employee engagement and behavior. This is because the organizational changes can result in changes in the expectation of the employees that can affect their careers. Moreover, organizational changes can have adverse effects on the business model, employees performance, and attitudes. Nonetheless, the effects of the integration model utilize by Big Energy is analyzed based on several factors that include; Sociology Analysis: According to Macionis (2007), sociology analysis is conducted to analyze and identify the behavior of the different groups that exist within an organization. In this case, both organizations had similar roles with different employees working on them. This similarity can result in confusion and retrenchment of employees. Psychological Analysis: According to Glaveanu (2008), psychological analysis helps in an analyzing the change in the behavior of an individual and its impact on employee performance during an absorption process. Moreover, this analysis can show the problems experienced by XYZ Energy employees due to changes in the working strategy of Big Energy. These changes can have adverse effects on the performance of employees and the organizational in general. Social psychological analysis: social psychological analysis portrays the positive and negative effects of organizational changes and culture integration. Ideally, when different groups of people with different working strategies working towards a common goal, they should have proper coordination and understanding among the employees. This is because if the coordination and understanding of employees are not good, this can have drastic effects on the performance of an organization. Having mentioned that is important to note that the goal of Big Energy after acquiring XYZ Energy should be managing the old and new employees since they both have the abilities to develop the organization and have a common goal. According to Hartnell, Ou, and Kinicki (2011), after absorption, an organization should strive to manage the diversity of employees that result from an acquisition by improving their work culture, organizational strategies, work model, and management systems to suit the perspective of both group employees. Moreover, according to Thompson and McHugh (2009), during an acquisition an organization is aware of the organizational behavior of the employees that is, employees behavior, thoughts, beliefs, working style among other factors. However, after an acquisition, an organization like Big Energy should conduct an analysis or study to ascertain the behavior, personality, thoughts, and beliefs of new employees expected to work with Big Energy. Nevertheless, Biswa s (2009) outlined that to maintain the status and position of a company in the market after an acquisition; the company should consider the ability, working style, and beliefs of both employees. This can enable the organization to understand the challenges and the positive attributes the employees can bring to the organization and create a positive working environment that can sustain the growth of the organization. Thus, Big Energy should be an analysis of the organizational behavior of XYZ Energy employees to ascertain their commitment and loyalty level and from this analysis; the company can be able to ascertain the attributes they see fit for Big Energy. Effects of Big Energy Model on the Attitude of XYZ Energy According to Ajzen (2011) to understand the effects of an integration model on the attitude of employees, a company must assign the roles and responsibility of different employees to ascertain the satisfaction level of the employees. Thus, Big Energy should assign the employees their duties and responsibility to ascertain their productivity and determine their job satisfaction level. Ideally, due to the shift of working environment from XYZ Energy to Big Energy, employees can experience environmental problems (Card and Giuliano, 2011). Thus, the organization should ascertain if the environmental problem affects the commitment of the employees and affect their job satisfaction level. Moreover, due to the diversity of employees working for the same goal or objective, the company should conduct a meeting to ascertain the problems facing the employees. Effects of Big Energy Integration Model on Employee Values Hoffman et al. (2011) stated that the effects on employees values could be assessed using the McGregor Theory X and Theory Y. Theory X outlines that the dissatisfaction level exists in employees and when provided a chance they can leave their job. Thus, Big Energy should utilize Theory X to ascertain the satisfaction level of employees. This is because the employees can be affected by the new environment and loss of fellow employees. On the other hand, Theory Y entails the commitment of employees to their job description and how they perform these duties. Moreover, the model utilized by Big Energy can result in loss of important and experienced employees, who cannot be replaced easily. This can result in loss of morale and job commitment for employees that the company intends to keep. Additionally, the model utilized by Big Energy can result to loss of vital employees that hold the organization together. This can result in the disruption of the organization culture that motivates and enhance the satisfaction level of employees. Thus, the model can result to employee demotivation due to loss of key employees. Nonetheless, this can result in a negative attitude towards the job as outlined by Theory X of McGregor. Moreover, according to Valle and Garcia (2006), it is important to set clear the values and beliefs of an organization before an acquisition process to focus a common goal in both employees of an acquisition. This can affect the performance of the employees because value changes can take a while to integrate into the employee's systems. According to Hargreaves (2011), organization culture is an important factor to consider during an acquisition. This is because different individuals have different abilities and expertise that can contribute to the development of the organization. However, the model utilized by Big Energy does not take into consideration the organizational culture and the abilities of the employees during the integration process. This is because the company laid off the employees without considering their abilities and how it can contribute to the development of the company. This can result to unprofessionalism in the retained employees since they might feel the company does not uphold professionalism and competitiveness. This is because the company did not assess the qualifications of their fellow employees before laying them off. Having mentioned that is important to note that the outlined methods of McGregor can help the company ascertain the thoughts, attitudes, and behavior of the individuals or groups of employees. According to Wolf (2009), after an acquisition there are management changes that face the human resource managers, these problems are termed as merger syndrome in which the change of management affects the values if the employees due to management change. However, the company can overcome the merger syndrome problem by conducting employee motivation programs like technical games or other forms of competition (Korzynski, 2013). Korzynski (2013) further states that the motivational activities can also help the company understand the qualitative behaviors of the employees. Moreover, to motivate the employees to work in a new environment due to acquisitions, the company must understand their qualitative behaviors (Eatough et al., 2011). Effects on Employee Behaviour The absorption of XYZ Energy by Big Energy can result in changes in the behavior of employees due to changes in management, changes in organization culture, loss of a fellow employee, and change in working environment among other factors. Moreover, organizational changes can result in changes in the attitude of employees towards the company that can de-motivate the employees. According to Kehoe and Wright (2013), after an acquisition, the cultural and behavioral values of both companies are combined to strengthen the ability of the company in achieving its goals. However, this move can result in negative effects on the behavior of the employees because of value and culture changes. In addition to this, the model utilized by Big Energy can result in even drastic effects because of the loss of fellow employees and friends. Furthermore, the model utilized by Big Energy does not take into consideration the values and culture of XYZ Energy, which can result in negative effects on the empl oyees absorbed by the company. Additionally, the model utilized by Big Energy can result in communication barriers within the organization because of the new environment, which can lead to demotivation and behavior changes in the organization. Ideally, demotivation can result to absenteeism of employees due to various reasons outlined by McGregors Theory X. However, conducting an organizational behavior study can help a company understand the interpersonal behavior of the employees that can help in the integration process of the employee and help in the motivation of the employees (Chiang and Hsieh, 2012). Nonetheless, Big Energy has employees from with different personality, attitude, and cultural difference. Thus, understand the interpersonal relationship can help in motivating the employees and maintaining good behaviors in the employees. Recommendations The main aim of an integration model is to find best approach and strategy that gives a company a competitive advantage over its competitors in the market. Moreover, a company should employ an integration model that best suits the needs of the company. From the above discussion, it is evident that the model employed by Big Energy is not effective in maintaining the productivity and motivation of the new employees and old employees in the company. Furthermore, the model is not effective in achieving the long-term competitive in the market because the company did not evaluate the organization behavior that would enable them to recruit the best and competent employees to deliver the objectives of the company. In this regard, there are various models that Big Energy could have used to achieve its long-term goals. Collegial Model: This model focus on the teamwork of the Thus it could have enabled the company to integrate the best employees from both companies. According to Suppiah and Singh Sandhu, (2011) and OShaughnessy (2013), this model can enable the company to coordinate a good team that can achieve the goals of the company. Autocratic Model: This model focus on the roles and responsibilities of the employees and their expertise. Miner (2007) states that the model can enable the company to recruit employees based on their expertise towards achieving the goals of the organization. References Argote, L. and Ingram, P. (2014). Knowledge Transfer: A Basis for Competitive Advantage in Firms. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 82(2), pp.150-169. Chiang, C. F., and Hsieh, T. S. (2012). The impacts of perceived organizational support and psychological empowerment on job performance: The mediating effects of organizational citizenship behavior.International Journal of Hospitality Management,31(1), 180-190. Eatough, E. M., Chang, C. H., Miloslavic, S. A., and Johnson, R. E. (2011). Relationships of role stressors with organizational citizenship behavior: A meta-analysis.Journal of Applied Psychology,96(3), 619 Gl?veanu, V. (2008). Research Methods in Social Psychology: A Comparative Analysis. EuropesJournal of Psychology, 4(1). Hargreaves, T. (2011). Practice-ing behavior change: Applying social practice theory to pro-environmental behavior change.Journal of Consumer Culture,11(1), 79-99. Hoffman, B. J., Bynum, B. H., Piccolo, R. F., and Sutton, A. W. (2011). Person-organization value congruence: How transformational leaders influence work group effectiveness.Academy of Management Journal,54(4), 779-796. Kehoe, R. R., and Wright, P. M. (2013). The impact of high-performance human resource practices on employees attitudes and behaviors.Journal of Management,39(2), 366-391. Korzynski, P. (2013). Employee motivation in new working environment. International Journal of Academic Research, 5(5), pp.184-188. Macionis, J. (2007).Sociology.Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson/Prentice Hall. Miner, J. (2007).Organizational behavior4. Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe. Singh, U. and Srivastava, K. (2016). Organizational Trust and Organizational Citizenship Behaviour. Global Business Review, 17(3), pp.594-609. Suppiah, V., and Singh Sandhu, M. (2011). Organizational culture is influence on tacit knowledge-sharing behavior.Journal of knowledge management,15(3), 462-477. Thompson, P., and McHugh, D. (2009).Work organizations. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Valle Santos, M. and Teresa Garcia, M. (2006). Organizational change: The role of managers mental models.Journal of Change Management, 6(3), pp.305-320. Wolf, W. (2009). Book Review: Human Resources, Personnel, and Organizational Behavior: Encyclopedia of Organizational Change Methods. ILR Review, 42(4), pp.308-309.

Friday, November 29, 2019

Writing and Media

Writing is the act of organizing one’s thoughts on a paper or any other object. It is one of the biggest inventions of humanity dating back thousands of years. It has revolutionized the world in an uncountable number of ways. Since the days the writing was discovered, the man’s way of thinking has changed due to scholars like Plato and Socrates; the new world was beginning to take shape, namely, the world of literacy and knowledge.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Writing and Media specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Writing came about and altered the way people used to think. First of all, Ong explained that â€Å"writing has enabled our thought processes to grow† (79). Although our mind usually grows through oral processes, it is further enriched and broadened by writing. The writing has changed over time from the early writings of Plato to Shakespeare’s works till the modern times allow ing us to trace and compare the way writers think and express their views. According to Plato, writing destroys the memory (Ong 79). The logic consists in the fact that the more one becomes reliant on external sources, the more he or she becomes forgetful and undermines his or her internal resource which is the mind. According to Ong ‘writing weakens the mind’ (79) and Hieronimo Squarcifaco also argued that ‘abundance of books makes men less studious’ (Ong 80) meaning that books enfeeble the mind. Ong further counterargues that books create a field where everyone can become wiser (80). Ong further explains that intelligence is reflexive in that fact that it can internalize the external tools that it uses (81). The first known scripts were discovered dating back to 3500 B.C, and it was suggested that the writing on it was a record kept by Sumerians at the time. This shows that the Sumerians saw it important to keep records and transform their memory into wri ting to preserve the necessary information. This, in turn, has helped our generation to learn more about Sumerian culture hence broadening our minds. According to Ong, writing was seen as an instrument of secret and magical powers in the early days (Goody 236) because of the permanence it had on the paper it was written, and the fact that it was perceived as magical amulets (Ong 93). Illiterate societies thought that writing was dangerous and that powerful intermediaries were required to decipher the information on the written texts. Written texts like orders and receipts were viewed by the illiterates as magical pieces of writings that brought ships from the sea to their lands. Ong explained that it was only during Plato’s time that the Greek were able to get access to writings and internalized them to affect their thought processes (94).Advertising Looking for essay on communications media? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn M ore The hopes and fears that surrounded writing are similar to those that surround modern technology today. The hope was that writing would revolutionize the world to form a new world with literate people; the fear was like that of Plato and Hieronimo Squarciafico’s that writing would weaken the mind. So far, writing has indeed formed a new world and has strengthened the mind of most people contrary to the views of Plato and Hieronimo Squarciafico. On the other hand, writing has brought about the emergence of computers and the internet which others may argue has diminished the value of hard work in the society because everything nowadays seems to be only one click away. Works Cited Ong Walter J.†Writing restructures Consciousness.† Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word.Ed .Taylor and Francis Group. London and New York: Routledge, 2002. 76- 116. Print. This essay on Writing and Media was written and submitted by user Hayden B. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Monday, November 25, 2019

Problem of Slaves and The Article Notes on Virginia Written by Thomas Jefferson essays

Problem of Slaves and The Article Notes on Virginia Written by Thomas Jefferson essays In this article, Jefferson discusses the problems that the institution of slavery created in Virginia and how it affected the slaves. The notes were written while Jefferson was the Governor of Virginia and were based on an inquiry made by the French legation in Philadelphia and discussed several different aspects of life in Virginia. The article explains the reasons why Jefferson believes that freeing blacks would be detrimental to the state. Jefferson begins by explaining that it would be difficult to incorporate the slaves into the state because of the racism that the institution of slavery had caused. Jefferson argues that "Deep rooted prejudices entertained by the whites; ten thousand recollections, by the blacks, of the injuries they have sustained; new provocations, the real distinctions which nature has made; and many other circumstances, will divide us into parties, and produce convulsions, which will probably never end but in the extermination of one or the other race." (Jefferson 182) Jefferson also asserts that the Black race is inferior to the white race on many different levels. He explains that this inferiority would make it difficult for the slaves to function in society. The notions of black inferiority abound throughout the article and the Governor asserts that blacks are inferior intellectually and in the arts, lack physical attractiveness and lack the ability to reason. Jefferson attempts to parallel Roman slaves with American slaves and concludes that the inferiority that he saw in black was not a result of their condition, but instead a result of nature. Because of this perceived "inferiority", Jefferson believes that abolishing slavery would be difficult asserting that the "unfortunate difference of color, and perhaps of faculty, is a powerful obstacle to the emancipation of these pe...

Friday, November 22, 2019

International Business Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

International Business Strategy - Essay Example This paper illustrates that Shell has not been successful in ensuring that its stakes are completely secured. The later developments in the project suggested that the Shell has not been able to maintain the same level of control in the project. The overall bargaining power of Shell continuously declined to owe to different factors despite the fact that it has been able to secure the relative favor from the government in the initial phase of the project. What is also important to understand that the negotiation process does not involve all the stakeholders in the project and resultant the take-off of the project fell victim of the pressure to the various stakeholders involved in the project? One of the essential elements of the good negotiation process is to ensure that a win-win situation emerges for every player involved in the negotiation process. In these negotiations, both the parties to the negotiation were given the share in the project in such a manner that both the parties we re better off at the end of a negotiation. Not only the Shell and the Gazprom would benefit from the deal but Russia as a State also because the success of the project would allow the smooth entry for the foreign firms in the country as well as the rapid expansion of the exploration facilities of the country. Overall the negotiations only involved the limited number of stakeholders and therefore the project not only resulted in the cost overruns but also delayed the project. This was only the direct result of not involving all the stakeholders during the negotiation process. The overall shift in the bargaining power from Shell to the Russian government, therefore, was owing to the fact that all the stakeholders were not adequately involved in the process thus resulting into a shift towards the greater bargaining power for the Russian government. This shift was also a result of the Russian policy of gaining direct control of the oil and gas exploration facilities while at the same ti me allowing foreign firms to actively involved in the exploration services while remaining under the direct control or supervision of State-owned organizations such as Gazprom.

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Brand Extension Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Brand Extension - Essay Example The strength of a brand is determined by the degree of positive attitudes that the consumers possess about it which needs to be transitioned very carefully in the new markets - like innovation, value for money, shorter order fulfilment time, effective customization as per customer needs, rewarding premium customers, etc. Loken and John (1993) argued that brand extension planning should comprise of extensive risk assessment of threats to the existing brand equity of the organization. The organization should be specifically cautious about risk of dilution of certain beliefs that the customers may be possessing about the original brand because the extended brand may contain attributes that may be incompatible with those of the established brand. Loken & John et al. ... Example, if a CRT based television manufacturer introduces computers and fails miserably, there are lesser chances of their flagship brand getting diluted. The researchers focussed on the flagship brand of Johnson's Baby Shampoo and studied impact of extended product line comprising of baby powder, baby oil, baby lotion, bandages & dental floss with respect to brand dilution due to reduced hygiene. They discovered that perception of reduced hygiene in any of these will result in dilution of all other brands including the flagship brand of baby shampoo. Yueng and Wyer (2005) probably have the answer to this phenomenon because they could prove through a complex research that "When a brand spontaneously elicits affective reactions, consumers appear to form an initial impression of the brand's new extension based on these reactions". Volkner and Sattler (2006) could establish determinants of brand extension success as - parent brand characteristics, marketing context of the target brand extension, relationship between parent brand & the brand extension and product category & characteristics of the brand extension in terms of perceived risk & consumer innovativeness. They gave special emphasis to management wisdom in mediating and moderating effects. Author's Perspective on Brand Extensions The author hereby argues that brand extension is an important brand growth strategy but needs specialist class analytics and intensive market research before arriving at the characteristics of the extended branding. This definitely should not be viewed as the short cut to success by using the existing established brand as the vehicle that is easy to

Monday, November 18, 2019

Themes of tradition Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Themes of tradition - Essay Example As a result of these factors, there has been significant changes in the size, height, shape and design; both internal and external, of buildings. These changes have led to many architectural debates. Some architects argue that modern architectural designs are inspired by the traditional themes while others argue that today’s designs are original and are a result of improved technology and skills and knowledge taught in the schools today. Others argue that modern architecture is a combination of both traditional architectural and modern architectural themes. The progress of today’s architectural industry has become a debate to many and there is therefore the need to analyze how both the traditional and modern themes influence the buildings we see today. Traditional themes as depicted in architectural projects Traditional themes in architecture are based on three design values; traditional based design value, design value of restoration and preservation and the vernacular design value. Under the design value of restoration and preservation, architects believe that there is need to preserve the best of their structures and products for upcoming generations. They therefore work towards ensuring that even when a building is being redesigned; it is restored to its original design. Such architects hold on to three perspectives. The first one is the archeological perspective which holds that it is important to preserve buildings and products as part of our history. The artistic perspective holds on to the need to reserve something that is reckoned as beautiful and a masterpiece. The social perspective on the other hand is built on the need to hold on to familiarity and reassurance. The traditional based design value is based on the belief that traditional designs depict something good and functional. This value is based on three strategies; the first one is the revivalist strategy where an architect sticks to traditional forms of design. The contextualist strategy is where historical forms of design are used when the surroundings demand for such. The critical traditional strategy is based on the interpretation of traditional designs and applying them in modern architecture. Lastly, the vernacular design value is based on the belief that a simple and traditional design is more superior to the modern designs. This operates under four key concepts. The reinvigorating concept is calls for the use of traditional designs and themes in modern times whereas the reinventing concept is where architects go out in search of new archetypes. The extending concept implies the use of traditional designs in a more modern manner while the reinterpreting concept involves the use of modern and recent expressions of architecture. With these design aspects in mind, let us take a look at some of architectural projects that have traditional insights in them. Our study case shall be in Japan since it is one of the countries with a rich, traditional out view of architecture and it still builds on these views up to date. The first project is the Gender Equality Center (GEC). Fumihiko Maki, the architect behind this project, believes that an architect has to rely on his innate aesthetic preferences, ethical and traditional principles as he designs his buildings. In the designing of the center, Maki observed his traditional design values since the building reflects Japanese concepts of architecture. He

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Augmented Reality Ar Is A Live Media Essay

Augmented Reality Ar Is A Live Media Essay Hardware components for augmented reality are: processor, display, sensors and input devices. Modern mobile computing devices like smartphones and tablet computers contain these elements which often include a camera and MEMS sensors such as accelerometer, GPS, and solid state compass, making them suitable AR platforms.[8] [edit] Display Various technologies are used in Augmented Reality rendering including optical projection systems, monitors, hand held devices, and display systems worn on ones person. [edit] Head-mounted A head-mounted display (HMD) is a display device paired to a headset such as a harness or helmet. HMDs place images of both the physical world and virtual objects over the users field of view. Modern HMDs often employ sensors for six degrees of freedom monitoring that allow the system to align virtual information to the physical world and adjust accordingly with the users head movements.[9][10][11] HMDs can provide users immersive, mobile and collaborative AR experiences.[12] [edit] Eyeglasses AR displays can be rendered on devices resembling eyeglasses. Versions include eye wear that employ cameras to intercept the real world view and re-display its augmented view through the eye pieces[13] and devices in which the AR imagery is projected through or reflected off the surfaces of the eye wear lens pieces.[14][15][16] [edit] Contact lenses Contact lenses that display AR imaging are in development. These bionic contact lenses might contain the elements for display embedded into the lens including integrated circuitry, LEDs and an antenna for wireless communication.[17][18][19][20] Another version of contact lenses, in development for the U.S. Military, is designed to function with AR spectacles, allowing soldiers to focus on close-to-the-eye AR images on the spectacles and distant real world objects at the same time.[21][22] [edit] Virtual retinal display A virtual retinal display (VRD) is a personal display device under development at the University of Washingtons Human Interface Technology Laboratory. With this technology, a display is scanned directly onto the retina of a viewers eye. The viewer sees what appears to be a conventional display floating in space in front of them.[23] [edit] EyeTap The EyeTap (also known as Generation-2 Glass[24]) captures rays of light that would otherwise pass through the center of a lens of an eye of the wearer, and substituted each ray of light for synthetic computer-controlled light. The Generation-4 Glass[24] (Laser EyeTap) is similar to the VRD (i.e. it uses a computer controlled laser light source) except that it also has infinite depth of focus and causes the eye itself to, in effect, function as both a camera and a display, by way of exact alignment with the eye, and resynthesis (in laser light) of rays of light entering the eye.[25] [edit] Handheld Handheld displays employ a small display that fits in a users hand. All handheld AR solutions to date opt for video see-through. Initially handheld AR employed fiduciary markers,[26] and later GPS units and MEMS sensors such as digital compasses and six degrees of freedomaccelerometer-gyroscope. Today SLAM markerless trackers such as PTAM are starting to come into use. Handheld display AR promises to be the first commercial success for AR technologies. The two main advantages of handheld AR is the portable nature of handheld devices and ubiquitous nature of camera phones. The disadvantages are the physical constraints of the user having to hold the handheld device out in front of them at all times as well as distorting effect of classically wide-angled mobile phone cameras when compared to the real world as viewed through the eye.[27] [edit] Spatial Spatial Augmented Reality (SAR) augments real world objects and scenes without the use of special displays such as monitors, head mounted displays or hand-held devices. SAR makes use of digital projectors to display graphical information onto physical objects. The key difference in SAR is that the display is separated from the users of the system. Because the displays are not associated with each user, SAR scales naturally up to groups of users, thus allowing for collocated collaboration between users. SAR has several advantages over traditional head-mounted displays and handheld devices. The user is not required to carry equipment or wear the display over their eyes. This makes spatial AR a good candidate for collaborative work, as the users can see each others faces. A system can be used by multiple people at the same time without each having to wear a head-mounted display. Examples include shader lamps, mobile projectors, virtual tables, and smart projectors. Shader lamps mimic and augment reality by projecting imagery onto neutral objects, providing the opportunity to enhance the objects appearance with materials of a simple unit- a projector, camera, and sensor. Handheld projectors further this goal by enabling cluster configurations of environment sensing, reducing the need for additional peripheral sensing.[28][29] Other tangible applications include table and wall projections. One such innovation, the Extended Virtual Table, separates the virtual from the real by including beam-splitter mirrors attached to the ceiling at an adjustable angle.[30] Virtual showcases, which employ beam-splitter mirrors together with multiple graphics displays, provide an interactive means of simultaneously engaging with the virtual and the real.[31][32] Altogether, current augmented reality display technology can be applied to improve design and visualization, or function as scientific simulations and tools for education or entertainment. Many more implementations and configurations make spatial augmented reality display an increasingly attractive interactive alternative.[11] Spatial AR does not suffer from the limited display resolution of current head-mounted displays and portable devices. A projector based display system can simply incorporate more projectors to expand the display area. Where portable devices have a small window into the world for drawing, a SAR system can display on any number of surfaces of an indoor setting at once. The drawbacks, however, are that SAR systems of projectors do not work so well in sunlight and also require a surface on which to project the computer-generated graphics. Augmentations cannot simply hang in the air as they do with handheld and HMD-based AR. The tangible nature of SAR, though, makes this an ideal technology to support design, as SAR supports both a graphical visualisation and passive haptic sensation for the end users. People are able to touch physical objects, and it is this process that provides the passive haptic sensation.[7][33][34][35] [edit] Tracking Modern mobile augmented reality systems use one or more of the following tracking technologies: digital cameras and/or other optical sensors, accelerometers, GPS, gyroscopes, solid state compasses, RFID and wireless sensors. These technologies offer varying levels of accuracy and precision. Most important is the position and orientation of the users head. Tracking the users hand(s) or a handheld input device can provide a 6DOF interaction technique.[36] [edit] Input devices Techniques include speech recognition systems that translate a users spoken words into computer instructions and gesture recognition systems that can interpret a users body movements by visual detection or from sensors embedded in a peripheral device such as a wand, stylus, pointer, glove or other body wear.[37][38][39][40] [edit] Computer The computer analyzes the sensed visual and other data to synthesize and position augmentations. [edit] Software and algorithms A key measure of AR systems is how realistically they integrate augmentations with the real world. The software must derive real world coordinates, independent from the camera, from camera images. That process is called image registration which uses different methods of computer vision, mostly related to video tracking.[41][42] Many computer vision methods of augmented reality are inherited from visual odometry. Usually those methods consist of two parts. First detect interest points, or fiduciary markers, or optical flow in the camera images. First stage can use feature detection methods like corner detection, blob detection, edge detection or thresholding and/or other image processing methods.[43][44] The second stage restores a real world coordinate system from the data obtained in the first stage. Some methods assume objects with known geometry (or fiduciary markers) present in the scene. In some of those cases the scene 3D structure should be precalculated beforehand. If part of the scene is unknown simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) can map relative positions. If no information about scene geometry is available, structure from motion methods like bundle adjustment are used. Mathematical methods used in the second stage include projective (epipolar) geometry, geometric algebra, rotation representation with exponential map, kalman and particle filters, nonlinear optimization, robust statistics. [edit] Applications Augmented reality has many applications, and many areas can benefit from the usage of AR technology. AR was initially used for military, industrial, and medical applications, but was soon applied to commercial and entertainment areas as well.[45] [edit] Archaeology AR can be used to aid archaeological research, by augmenting archaeological features onto the modern landscape, enabling archaeologists to formulate conclusions about site placement and configuration.[46] Another application given to AR in this field is the possibility for users to rebuild ruins, buildings, or even landscapes as they formerly existed.[47] [edit] Architecture AR can aid in visualizing building projects. Computer-generated images of a structure can be superimposed into a real life local view of a property before the physical building is constructed there. AR can also be employed within an architects work space, rendering into their view animated 3D visualizations of their 2D drawings. Architecture sight-seeing can be enhanced with AR applications allowing users viewing a buildings exterior to virtually see through its walls, viewing its interior objects and layout.[48][49] [edit] Art AR technology has helped disabled individuals create art by using eye tracking to translate a users eye movements into drawings on a screen.[50] An item such as a commemorative coin can be designed so that when scanned by an AR-enabled device it displays additional objects and layers of information that were not visible in a real world view of it.[51][52] [edit] Commerce ViewAR BUTLERS App Placing furniture using AR AR can enhance product previews such as allowing a customer to view whats inside a products packaging without opening it.[53] AR can also be used as an aid in selecting products from a catalog or through a kiosk. Scanned images of products can activate views of additional content such as customization options and additional images of the product in its use.[54][55] AR is used to integrate print and video marketing. Printed marketing material can be designed with certain trigger images that, when scanned by an AR enabled device using image recognition, activate a video version of the promotional material.[56][57][58] [edit] Education Augmented reality applications can complement a standard curriculum. Text, graphics, video and audio can be superimposed into a students real time environment. Textbooks, flashcards and other educational reading material can contain embedded markers that, when scanned by an AR device, produce supplementary information to the student rendered in a multimedia format.[59][60][61] Students can participate interactively with computer generated simulations of historical events, exploring and learning details of each significant area of the event site.[62] AR can aide students in understanding chemistry by allowing them to visualize the spatial structure of a molecule and interact with a virtual model of it that appears, in a camera image, positioned at a marker held in their hand.[63] Augmented reality technology also permits learning via remote collaboration, in which students and instructors not at the same physical location can share a common virtual learning environment populated by vi rtual objects and learning materials and interact with another within that setting.[64] [edit] Everyday 30 years of Augmediated Reality in everyday life. Since the 1970s and early 1980s, Steve Mann has been developing technologies meant for everyday use i.e. horizontal across all applications rather than a specific vertical market. Examples include Manns EyeTap Digital Eye Glass, a general-purpose seeing aid that does dynamic-range management (HDR vision) and overlays, underlays, simultaneous augmentation and diminishment (e.g. diminishing the electric arc while looking at a welding torch).[65] [edit] Industrial design AR can help industrial designers experience a products design and operation before completion. Volkswagen uses AR for comparing calculated and actual crash test imagery.[66] AR can be used to visualize and modify a car body structure and engine layout. AR can also be used to compare digital mock-ups with physical mock-ups for efficiently finding discrepancies between them.[67][68] [edit] Medical Augmented Reality can provide the surgeon with information, which are otherwise hidden, such as showing the heartbeat rate, the blood pressure, the state of the patients organ, etc. In particular AR can be used to let the doctor look inside the patient by combining one source of images such as an X-ray with another such as video. This helps the doctor to identify the problem with the patient in a more intuitive way than looking at only type of image data. This approach works in a similar as the technicians doing maintenance work. Examples include a virtual X-ray view based on prior tomography or on real time images from ultrasound and confocal microscopy probes[69] or visualizing the position of a tumor in the video of an endoscope.[70] AR can enhance viewing a fetus inside a mothers womb.[71] See also Mixed reality. [edit] Military In combat, AR can serve as a networked communication system that renders useful battlefield data onto a soldiers goggles in real time. From the soldiers viewpoint, people and various objects can be marked with special indicators to warn of potential dangers. Virtual maps and 360Â ° view camera imaging can also be rendered to aid a soldiers navigation and battlefield perspective, and this can be transmitted to military leaders at a remote command center.[72] [edit] Navigation Augmented reality map on iPhone AR can augment the effectiveness of navigation devices. Information can be displayed on an automobiles windshield indicating destination directions and meter, weather, terrain, road conditions and traffic information as well as alerts to potential hazards in their path.[73][74][75] Aboard maritime vessels, AR can allow bridge watch-standers to continuously monitor important information such as a ships heading and speed while moving throughout the bridge or performing other tasks.[76] [edit] Office workplace AR can help facilitate collaboration among distributed team members in a work force via conferences with real and virtual participants. AR tasks can include brainstorming and discussion meetings utilizing common visualization via touch screen tables, interactive digital whiteboards, shared design spaces, and distributed control rooms.[77][78][79] [edit] Sports and entertainment AR has become common in sports telecasting. Sports and entertainment venues are provided with see-through and overlay augmentation through tracked camera feeds for enhanced viewing by the audience. Examples include the yellow first down line seen in television broadcasts of American football games showing the line the offensive team must cross to receive a first down. AR is also used in association with football and other sporting events to show commercial advertisements overlaid onto the view of the playing area. Sections of rugby fields and cricket pitches also display sponsored images. Swimming telecasts often add a line across the lanes to indicate the position of the current record holder as a race proceeds to allow viewers to compare the current race to the best performance. Other examples include hockey puck tracking and annotations of racing car performance and snooker ball trajectories. [41][80] AR can enhance concert and theater performances. For example, artists can allow listeners to augment their listening experience by adding their performance to that of other bands/groups of users.[81][82][83] The gaming industry has benefited a lot from the development of this technology. A number of games have been developed for prepared indoor environments. Early AR games also include AR air hockey, collaborative combat against virtual enemies, and an AR-enhanced pool games. A significant number of games incorporate AR in them and the introduction of the smartphone has made a bigger impact.[84][85] [edit] Task support Complex tasks such as assembly, maintenance, and surgery can be simplified by inserting additional information into the field of view. For example, labels can be displayed on parts of a system to clarify operating instructions for a mechanic who is performing maintenance on the system.[86][87] Assembly lines gain many benefits from the usage of AR. In addition to Boeing, BMW and Volkswagen are known for incorporating this technology in their assembly line to improve their manufacturing and assembly processes.[88][89][90] Big machines are difficult to maintain because of the multiple layers or structures they have. With the use of AR the workers can complete their job in a much easier way because AR permits them to look through the machine as if it was with x-ray, pointing them to the problem right away.[91] [edit] Tourism and sightseeing Augmented reality applications can enhance a users experience when traveling by providing real time informational displays regarding a location and its features, including comments made by previous visitors of the site. AR applications allow tourists to experience simulations of historical events, places and objects by rendering them into their current view of a landscape.[92][93][94] AR applications can also present location information by audio, announcing features of interest at a particular site as they become visible to the user.[95][96] [edit] Translation AR systems can interpret foreign text on signs and menus and, in a users augmented view, re-display the text in the users language. Spoken words of a foreign language can be translated and displayed in a users view as printed subtitles How Augmented Reality Works Video games have been entertaining us for nearly 30 years, ever since Pong was introduced to arcades in the early 1970s. Computer graphics have become much more sophisticated since then, and game graphics are pushing the barriers of photorealism. Now, researchers and engineers are pulling graphics out of your television screen or computer display and integrating them into real-world environments. This new technology, called augmented reality, blurs the line between whats real and whats computer-generated by enhancing what we see, hear, feel and smell. On the spectrum between virtual reality, which creates immersive, computer-generated environments, and the real world, augmented reality is closer to the real world. Augmented reality adds graphics, sounds, haptic feedback and smell to the natural world as it exists. Both video games and cell phones are driving the development of augmented reality. Everyone from tourists, to soldiers, to someone looking for the closest subway stop can now benefit from the ability to place computer-generated graphics in their field of vision. Augmented reality is changing the way we view the world or at least the way its users see the world. Picture yourself walking or driving down the street. With augmented-reality displays, which will eventually look much like a normal pair of glasses, informative graphics will appear in your field of view, and audio will coincide with whatever you see. These enhancements will be refreshed continually to reflect the movements of your head. Similar devices and applications already exist, particularly on smartphones like the iPhone. In this article, well take a look at where augmented reality is now and where it may be headed soon. Augmenting Our World The basic idea of augmented reality is to superimpose graphics, audio and other sensory enhancements over a real-world environment in real time. Sounds pretty simple. Besides, havent television networks been doing that with graphics for decades? However, augmented reality is more advanced than any technology youve seen in television broadcasts, although some new TV effects come close, such as RACEf/x and the super-imposed first down line on televised U.S. football games, both created by Sportvision. But these systems display graphics for only one point of view. Next-generation augmented-reality systems will display graphics for each viewers perspective. Some of the most exciting augmented-reality work is taking place in research labs at universities around the world. In February 2009, at the TED conference, Pattie Maes and Pranav Mistry presented their augmented-reality system, which they developed as part of MIT Media Labs Fluid Interfaces Group. They call it SixthSense, and it relies on some basic components that are found in many augmented reality systems: Camera Small projector Smartphone Mirror These components are strung together in a lanyardlike apparatus that the user wears around his neck. The user also wears four colored caps on the fingers, and these caps are used to manipulate the images that the projector emits. SixthSense is remarkable because it uses these simple, off-the-shelf components that cost around $350. It is also notable because the projector essentially turns any surface into an interactive screen. Essentially, the device works by using the camera and mirror to examine the surrounding world, feeding that image to the phone (which processes the image, gathers GPS coordinates and pulls data from the Internet), and then projecting information from the projector onto the surface in front of the user, whether its a wrist, a wall, or even a person. Because the user is wearing the camera on his chest, SixthSense will augment whatever he looks at; for example, if he picks up a can of soup in a grocery store, SixthSense can find and project onto the soup information about its ingredients, price, nutritional value even customer reviews. By using his capped fingers Pattie Maes says even fingers with different colors of nail polish would work a user can perform actions on the projected information, which are then picked up by the camera and processed by the phone. If he wants to know more about that can of soup than is projected on it, he can use his fingers to interact with the projected image and learn about, say, competing brands. SixthSense can also recognize complex gestures draw a circle on your wrist and SixthSense projects a watch with the current time. Mistry demonstrates SixthSense Photo courtesy Sam Ogden, Pranav Mistry, MIT Media Lab The SixthSense augmented reality system lets you project a phone pad onto your hand and phone a friend without removing the phone from your pocket. See more gadget pictures. Photo courtesy Lynn Barry, Pranav Mistry, MIT Media Lab Augmented Reality on Cell Phones While it may be some time before you buy a device like SixthSense, more primitive versions of augmented reality are already here on some cell phones, particularly in applications for the iPhone and phones with the Android operating system. In the Netherlands, cell phone owners can download an application called Layar that uses the phones camera and GPS capabilities to gather information about the surrounding area. Layar then shows information about restaurants or other sites in the area, overlaying this information on the phones screen. You can even point the phone at a building, and Layar will tell you if any companies in that building are hiring, or it might be able to find photos of the building on Flickr or to locate its history on Wikipedia. Layar isnt the only application of its type. In August 2009, some iPhone users were surprised to find an augmented-reality easter egg hidden within the Yelp application. Yelp is known for its user reviews of restaurants and other businesses, but its hidden augmented-reality component, called Monocle, takes things one step further. Just start up the Yelp app, shake your iPhone 3GS three times and Monocle activates. Using your phones GPS and compass, Monocle will display information about local restaurants, including ratings and reviews, on your cell phone screen. You can touch one of the listings to find out more about a particular restaurant. There are other augmented reality apps out there for the iPhone and other similar phones and many more in development. Urbanspoon has much of the same functionality as Yelps Monocle. Then theres Wikitude, which finds information from Wikipedia about sites in the area. Underlying most of these applications are a phones GPS and compass; by knowing where you are, these applications can make sure to offer information relevant to you. Were still not quite at the stage of full-on image recognition, but trust us, people are working on it. Weve looked at some of the existing forms of augmented reality. On the next page, well examine some of the other applications of the technology, such as in video games and military hardware An iPhone user displays the augmented reality app Monocle, which combines the phones camera view with tiny tags indicating the names, distances and user ratings of nearby bars, restaurants and more. AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez Augmented Reality in Video Games and the Military Video game companies are quickly hopping aboard the augmented-reality locomotive. A company called Total Immersion makes software that applies augmented reality to baseball cards. Simply go online, download the Total Immersion software and then hold up your baseball card to a webcam. The software recognizes the card (and the player on it) and then displays related video on your computer screen. Move the card in your hands make sure to keep it in view of the camera and the 3-D figure on your screen will perform actions, such as throwing a ball at a target. Total Immersions efforts are just the beginning. In the next couple of years, well see games that take augmented reality out into the streets. Consider a scavenger-hunt game that uses virtual objects. You could use your phone to place tokens around town, and participants would then use their phones (or augmented-reality enabled goggles) to find these invisible objects. Demos of many games of this order already exist. Theres a human Pac-Man game that allows users to chase after each other in real life while wearing goggles that make them look like characters in Pac-Man. Arcane Technologies, a Canadian company, has sold augmented-reality devices to the U.S. military. The company produces a head-mounted display the sort of device that was supposed to bring us virtual reality that superimposes information on your world. Consider a squad of soldiers in Afghanistan, performing reconnaissance on an opposition hideout. An AR-enabled head-mounted display could overlay blueprints or a view from a satellite or overheard drone directly onto the soldiers field of vision. Now that weve established some of the many current and burgeoning uses of augmented reality, lets take a look at the technologys limitations and what the future holds. Augmented reality can breathe a little life into your sports trading cards. Photo courtesy Total Immersion Limitations and the Future of Augmented Reality Augmented reality still has some challenges to overcome. For example, GPS is only accurate to within 30 feet (9 meters) and doesnt work as well indoors, although improved image recognition technology may be able to help [source: Metz]. People may not want to rely on their cell phones, which have small screens on which to superimpose information. For that reason, wearable devices like SixthSense or augmented-reality capable contact lenses and glasses will provide users with more convenient, expansive views of the world around them. Screen real estate will no longer be an issue. In the near future, you may be able to play a real-time strategy game on your computer, or you can invite a friend over, put on your AR glasses, and play on the tabletop in front of you. There is such a thing as too much information. Just as the CrackBerry phenomenon and Internet addiction are concerns, an overreliance on augmented reality could mean that people are missing out on whats right in front of them. Some people may prefer to use their AR iPhone applications rather than an experienced tour guide, even though a tour guide may be able to offer a level of interaction, an experience and a personal touch unavailable in a computer program. And there are times when a real plaque on a building is preferable to a virtual one, which would be accessible only by people with certain technologies. There are also privacy concerns. Image-recognition software coupled with AR will, quite soon, allow us to point our phones at people, even strangers, and instantly see information from their Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, LinkedIn or other online profiles. With most of these services people willingly put information about themselves online, but it may be an unwelcome shock to meet someone, only to have him instantly know so much about your life and background. Despite these concerns, imagine the possibilities: you may learn things about the city youve lived in for years just by pointing your AR-enabled phone at a nearby park or building. If you work in construction, you can save on materials by using virtual markers to designate where a beam should go or which structural support to inspect. Paleontologists working in shifts to assemble a dinosaur skeleton could leave virtual notes to team members on the bones themselves, artists could produce virtual graffiti and doctors could overlay a digital image of a patients X-rays onto a mannequin for added realism. The future of augmented reality is clearly bright, even as it already has found its way into our cell phones and video game systems. For more information about the subject and where its headed, take a look at the links on the next page Augmented Reality Augmented reality (AR) is a live, direct or indirect, view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are augmented by computer-gener