Technology Cost Reduction Research Articles

Inclusive Immersion: a review of efforts to improve accessibility in virtual reality, augmented reality and the metaverse

Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) afford new forms of work and leisure. While affordable and effective VR and AR headsets are now available, neither technology has achieved widespread user adoption. However, we predict continual technological advances and cost reductions are likely to lead to wider diffusion in society. Bridging the chasm from the early adopters to the early majority will require careful consideration of the needs of a more casual and diverse user population. In particular, it is desirable to minimise the exclusion of potential users based on their unique needs and maximise the inclusion of users in these novel immersive experiences. Ensuring equitable access to the emerging metaverse further reinforces the need to consider the diverse needs of users. We refer to this objective of maximising the accessibility and enjoyment potential of users of VR, AR and the metaverse as Inclusive Immersion. This paper reviews the research and commercial landscape seeking to address the accessibility needs of users in VR and AR. The survey provides the basis for a synthesis of the emerging strategies for maximising the inclusiveness of VR and AR applications. Finally, we identify several unaddressed accessibility challenges requiring further research attention. Our paper consolidates disparate efforts related to promoting accessible VR and AR and delivers directions for advancing research in this area.

Dynamic response of floating offshore renewable energy devices: Sensitivity to mooring rope stiffness

The offshore renewable energy sector has seen a rise in floating devices, all of which require mooring and anchoring systems. Synthetic ropes have emerged as a promising technology for cost reduction in this system. However, characterising the behaviour of these materials, which exhibit complex non-linear, visco- elastic and plastic structural properties, presents challenges. Numerical modelling and tank testing are the available tools for developers to overcome these challenges, however, there is a lack of guidelines for test facilities regarding the design of tank-scale mooring systems. The present work focuses on the numerical design of a typical semi-taut mooring system using synthetic materials suitable for future-generation floating offshore wind turbines. A coupled time-domain hydrodynamic model was employed to explore the dynamic sensitivity of the device to changes in mooring rope stiffness. The results demonstrate that changes in line axial stiffness have a greater impact on platform surge and mooring line tension than on heave and pitch responses. These findings establish preliminary margins for target stiffness values, which are valuable for selecting mooring materials for scaled tank test models. Although the case study was floating wind, the results have broader applicability to wider floating marine energy device design.

Remote Sensing and Geovisualization of Rock Slopes and Landslides

Over the past two decades, advances in remote sensing methods and technology have enabled larger and more sophisticated datasets to be collected. Due to these advances, the need to effectively and efficiently communicate and visualize data is becoming increasingly important. We demonstrate that the use of mixed- (MR) and virtual reality (VR) systems has provided very promising results, allowing the visualization of complex datasets with unprecedented levels of detail and user experience. However, as of today, such visualization techniques have been largely used for communication purposes, and limited applications have been developed to allow for data processing and collection, particularly within the engineering–geology field. In this paper, we demonstrate the potential use of MR and VR not only for the visualization of multi-sensor remote sensing data but also for the collection and analysis of geological data. In this paper, we present a conceptual workflow showing the approach used for the processing of remote sensing datasets and the subsequent visualization using MR and VR headsets. We demonstrate the use of computer applications built in-house to visualize datasets and numerical modelling results, and to perform rock core logging (XRCoreShack) and rock mass characterization (EasyMineXR). While important limitations still exist in terms of hardware capabilities, portability, and accessibility, the expected technological advances and cost reduction will ensure this technology forms a standard mapping and data analysis tool for future engineers and geoscientists.

Demand Projection of Pulses in India

The paper attempted to make the demand projection of pulses in India. Though; pulses production and productivity have increased over the years, the country still has to import pulses to meet the demand of its growing population. The study is based on the NSSO data of the last six rounds. The three-stage demand model was used for computing the elasticities of pulses. Demand was projected using income and population growth data, while 2011 NSS round data was used as the base year. The study revealed that the consumption and expenditure of pulses increased over the years. The positive expenditure elasticity of pulses indicated a positive relationship between income and pulse consumption. The own price elasticity of pulses was negative, indicating that the pulses were highly responsive to their own prices. The demand for pulses is projected to increase over the years. The main reason for these increases was positive elasticity, increasing population, and higher projected GDP. It implied that production needs to be improved to achieve self-sufficiency. It is suggested to use cost reduction and high production technology so the prices should be stable in future and demand also fulfilled.

Artificial intelligence-assisted auto-optical inspection toward the stain detection of an organic light-emitting diode panel at the backplane fabrication step

This paper attempts to implement an auto-optical inspection (AOI) system using artificial intelligence (AI) technology for cost reduction in the production of organic light emitting diode (OLED) panels, specifically at the production stage of the thin film transistor (TFT) . Further, to improve the accuracy of mura detection, the possible causes of mura were properly identified, and a model to control and predict mura occurrence was realized based on the sufficient analysis of these causes. More specifically, an explainable AI (XAI) prediction model was developed using the fab image and test element group (TEG) engineering methods, which could be applied as input data for the circuit simulations to improve the accuracy of the overall simulations. Initially, we attempted to predict backplane stain using only the TFT width, length dimension, and resistance–capacitance (RC) extraction data, but the results were not accurate. Consequently, we identified, via sufficient analysis, that the correlation between the dehydrogenation and stain, and introduced an AI model. As a result, the accuracy was improved from 50 to 80%, which is more effective in terms of time and cost, compared to conventional simulation through the TCAD analysis. Overall, by implementing the inspection method described in this paper, it was possible to detect stains at the backplane stage, which was only possible during the final test stage, thereby resulting in significant cost savings.

On a road map for technology qualification, innovation and cost reduction in floating offshore wind: learning from Hywind and Norwegian approach

The main aim of this paper is to synthetize and to learn from the existing road maps and the Norwegian approach on the floating offshore wind. It targets to identify main priorities, key challenges, and technological qualification for the floating offshore wind development. The Norwegian approach is evaluated in the view of the key success factors of the offshore wind market highlighted by the World Bank. One particularity of the national Norwegian offshore landscape is the usage of the Norwegian floating wind for decarbonification and “greenification” of the oil and gas industry. Learning from the Hywind projects and Norwegian approaches and experiences for the floating offshore wind on the national and international level has potential in contributing to enhance the road maps for floating offshore wind in terms of technology qualification, innovation and cost reduction. This article offers a handful of key take away points for industry and decision makers about development of the floating offshore wind.

Effects of adopting mobile technologies on the managerial competencies of construction firms

Background: The extensive utilisation of mobile technologies (MTs) for cost reduction and improving organisational efficiency is widely acknowledged in the entrepreneurship literature. Despite the fact, the effect of adopting MTs on the managerial competencies of small, micro and medium enterprises (SMMEs) remains incomprehensible by emerging construction firms (ECFs).Objectives: This study contributes to the theory and practise of competency development in project management (PM) by exploring how MT adoption intensity during project execution affects the perceived managerial competencies of owners/project managers of ECFs.Method: This quantitative study employed the perspectives of 222 ECF owners/managers surveyed in the Free State province of South Africa. It established how the adoption of MTs during project execution impacted the perceived managerial competencies of these entrepreneurs.Results: The results indicated that the adoption of MTs during project execution has a positive and significant effect on the communicative and social competencies of ECF owners and managers, with MT adoption explaining 88.0% of the variance in communicative competencies and 87.9% in social competencies. The results further demonstrate that the type of device used (laptops and tablets) moderated the strength of the MT adoption – managerial competencies relationship.Conclusion: The study recommends targeted and strategic wider rollout of specific MTs that improve managerial competencies to optimise the efficiency of project-related operations.Contribution: The article contributes to the broader PM theory and literature especially competency-based project execution by exploring how MT adoption can facilitate greater communication and social competencies that improve the organisational efficiency of ECFs.

The Slippery Slopes of Climate Engineering Research

Climate engineering research attracts Slippery Slope concerns – the idea that initial research will inevitably lead to inappropriate deployment. Some have dismissed it as an unrealistic, unproductive critique. However, extant climate engineering discussions of the Slippery Slope discuss an unorganised set of different causal mechanisms with little detail. These range from technological cost reduction, to the creation of special interest lobby groups, to normalisation across society and policymakers. Dismissing the Slippery Slope may be premature if its causal nature is unclear, especially given the potentially high impacts and controversy of global climate engineering deployment. Disaggregating and clarifying the Slippery Slope can reduce unnecessary ambiguity, promote productive debate, and highlight risks that require further attention. Drawing on previous Slippery Slope literature and mechanisms of change from range of disciplines, this paper creates a typology of Slippery Slopes for application to stratospheric aerosol injection and other emerging technologies. Initial research can lead to deployment by 1) sparking price-performance improvements and sunk cost biases, 2) contributing to normalisation and legitimisation, 3) altering power structures, 4) sparking hype, and 5) incrementally progressing development. These feedback loops may currently seem unlikely, but unforeseen dynamics could still trigger rapid development and implementation of stratospheric aerosol injection. Conversely, there is no guarantee one of these Slippery Slopes will occur. The point is that they could – the future is too uncertain to fully dismiss non-linear change, particularly for high impact and accessible technologies like stratospheric aerosol injection. This can provide direction and clarity for effective technology governance and Slippery Slope discussion. Furthermore, this typology differentiates the Slippery Slope from lock-in and highlights their interaction points. Slippery Slope dynamics are processes that can (but are not guaranteed to) lead to different types of lock-in. Lock-in is when a technology is entrenched in existing sociotechnical systems. Given the risks of unchecked undesired lock-in, lock-in is a state to be encouraged instead of avoided.

A Study on Flexible Transparent Electrode Materials for Touch Sensor

<div class="section abstract"><div class="htmlview paragraph">As the AVN display in the car interior becomes larger and located above the center fascia, the driver's visual visibility is becoming important. In addition, since an expensive touch sensor is installed, a transparent electrode cost reduction technology for a display touch sensor that can replace an indium material, which is an expensive rare metal, is required. In this paper, we developed new transparent electrode materials and manufacturing methods for the touch sensor film which light reflectance is low and flexible without a separate low-reflection multi-layer, so that the design freedom is high and the material cost is low. By optimizing the amount of fluorine doping ratio in tin oxide, excellent electrical conductivity and high optical transmittance are secured, and the surface reflectance is reduced by adjusting the diameter and length of the silver nanowire. As a result, it was shown that the AVN display image and font readability was improved. In addition, we verified that the material has probability to adoption to a curved and flexible display applications for future mobility based on autonomous driving.</div></div>

Technological tools for project management in the digital transformation context

This article aims to identify the technological tools described in patents that present the relationship between Project Management (PM) and Digital Transformation (DT). The research is characterized as exploratory, with a qualitative approach, and investigates patents in public access bases. The research was carried out in the databases of the office of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the European Patent Office (EPO), bringing a set of 45 patents that addressed technological tools together with the relationship between PM and DT. The results show a great concentration in the patent classification groups G (Physics) and H (electricity), with predominance in the G group. The results also show that, in the context of DT and PM, individuals and teams capable of working with digital technologies and tools are more willing in scenarios of technological automation, process rationalization, agility, cost reduction, and value creation. This research contributes to expanding the knowledge in the use of technological tools in patents in a DT and PM context. In addition, evidence demonstrates that patents require technological capabilities with competent individuals to use technological tools and innovations.

Scheduling a multi-agent flow shop with two scenarios and release dates

Cloud computing is widely applied in modern industrial areas due to its technological advancement, cost reduction, and applicability. Packets (tasks) belonging to different applications (agents) compete to share the common cloud resource through a series of edge nodes (processors) in pursuit of fast transmission. This paper abstracts the cloud computing system as a multi-agent flow-shop scheduling (MAFS) problem. The objective is to minimise the total completion time of several agents with the restriction that the maximum lateness cannot exceed a given bound. Given the complexity of the considered problem, a branch and bound algorithm combined with several pruning rules and lower bounds is proposed to obtain optimal solutions. Furthermore, the considered problem is generalised to a bi-scenario version, and a bi-population cooperative co-evolutionary (BCCE) algorithm is proposed to solve it. A reinforcement learning-based method is presented to generate the initial population. Several problem-specific intensification strategies are constructed to explore promising solutions. Comprehensive experiments verified the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms. The industrial data from the China Earthquake Network Centre further confirmed the superiority of the BCCE algorithm. Overall, the MAFS model and the proposed algorithms effectively enhance the user experience and reasonably guarantee revenue.

Distributionally Robust Coordinated Expansion Planning for Generation, Transmission, and Demand Side Resources Considering the Benefits of Concentrating Solar Power Plants

Renewable energy has gradually increased its investment and penetration due to technology innovation and cost reduction, turning power system expansion planning problem (SEP) into a complex task. Under this circumstance, this paper presents a long-term distributionally robust optimization (DRO) based planning model for power systems, which minimizes the total investment and operation costs along with expected penalty cost of load shedding and wind curtailment, while considering load and wind uncertainties from the data-driven ambiguity set. Besides generating units and transmission lines, demand side resources (DSR) and concentrating solar power (CSP) plants are also considered as investment candidates to meet the load growth and effectively alleviate load and wind uncertainties. Furthermore, the principal component analysis method is used to capture the generalized moment information of historical data to reduce conservativeness of planning decisions. The proposed model is recast as a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) model via duality theory and affine decision rules. Numerical case studies illustrate the effectiveness and scalability of the proposed DRO-based coordinated expansion planning model.

How to balance economic profits and environmental protection: The impacts of cash hedging on remanufacturing firms

The popularity of the circular economy attracts more attention to balance environmental and economic impacts. Many supply chain remanufacturing firms have started to use the cash flow to invest in cost-reduction technologies to increase profits. However, the uncertainty of cash flow significantly affects the technology investment effectiveness, and therefore, some firms attempt to adopt cash hedging strategies to mitigate the uncertainty. This study investigates the impacts of cash hedging on remanufacturing firms' profits and the environment through the lenses of cost-reduction technologies investments. The proposed nonlinear programming models were drawn on cash hedging and risk management theory. Empirical regression analysis was conducted using longitudinal datasets of listed Chinese remanufacturing firms for ten years ranging from 2010 to 2019. Different from the traditional wisdom which argues that cash hedging has a single effect (i.e., positive, negative, or no impact) on corporate economic performance, this paper's results indicate that the impact of cash hedging on corporate profits varies in different conditions; Further, this study is one of the first to identify some interesting conditions, in which cash hedging can bring along remanufacturing firms with profits while protect environment. This study provides insightful suggestions for the manufacturer's and government's policy design.

Analysis of The Role of Smart Grids in Renewable Energy

The global energy landscape has always been dominated by fossil fuels, but with the intensification of climate change and environmental issues, people realize that the traditional energy system must be transformed. In order to integrate renewable energy and improve the sustainability and resilience of the energy system, smart grids have emerged. Smart grid is a modern grid system based on advanced communication, control and information technology, which can integrate renewable energy more effectively. As one of the renewable energy sources, solar energy plays an important role in the smart grid. It has the advantages of wide distribution, environmental protection, and renewable, and with technological progress and cost reduction, solar power generation is widely used in smart grids. Similarly, wind energy, another important renewable energy source, also plays an important role in the smart grid. The continuous development of wind turbine technology has made wind power generation more efficient and reliable, and the integration with smart grid infrastructure has further improved the efficiency of wind energy utilization. In addition, hydrogen energy has great potential as a clean energy carrier, but the storage and distribution of hydrogen energy in smart grid systems still face challenges.

Integrating Blockchain in Various Organizational Models Pave the Path to Sustainable Development Goals

Blockchain is considered one of the most significant technological advances integrated into the Business Process Management (BPM) systems of various organizations over the past decade. The introduction of blockchain technologies is changing the way traditional supply chains are managed. In this sense, blockchain technologies have the potential to revolutionize complex supply chains in stability, traceability, and accountability. Since Blockchain technology has fostered the development of trust between many different parties, not just leaders and followers, it is assumed that Blockchain will give its adapters revolutionary characteristics. Upon a systematic bibliometric review that determined the impact of introducing Blockchain technology into the BPM, on the basis of previous research and scientific papers published in academic journals, it was found that most of the studies highlight the significance of Blockchain and its impact on the supply chain and financial sectors. However, this article aims to identify new characteristics of Blockchain’s impact on the BPM in various other sectors, especially in the telecommunications, non-governmental organizations, industrial, and banking sectors. The statistical analysis of the collected data examines the intermediate variables of the introduction of Blockchain technology (trust, immutability, transparency, and cost reduction) and its impact on increasing sustainability (economic, ecological, and social resilience) as a dependent variable. As a result of the study, the authors concluded that Blockchain has the potential to enhance the revolutionary characteristics of trust, immutability, cost reduction, and reliability in a business process model, accelerating the path to achieving sustainable development.

The role of innovative technologies in the development of the fuel and energy industry of the Russian Federation

The efficiency of fuel and energy companies depends to a large extent on the level of automation of technological processes, information security, and cost reduction through the introduction of innovative technologies. The article considers the problems of using innovation in the enterprises of the fuel and energy sectors, the analysis of the main indicators of the level of their development. The article offers directions for the introduction of innovations in the fuel and energy complex of the country. The influence of the use of innovative technologies on the process of drilling wells was studied. A model for cost optimization based on the use of innovative technologies to automate the processes of collecting and processing information obtained during drilling was developed.

The Research on Decisions of Carbon Neutral Technology in A Retailer-led Green Supply Chain Based on Cost Reduction and Carbon Trading

In this paper, based on the concept of green supply chain management, we construct a two-level supply chain game model consisting of an upstream manufacturer and a downstream retailer, where the downstream retailer is the leader and the upstream manufacturer is the follower. In addition, the upstream manufacturer in this model invests in carbon-neutral technology innovations that reduce production costs, lower carbon emissions, and increase market demand for their products. Based on this game model, the optimal equilibrium outcome of the supply chain is solved, and the influences of the carbon-neutral sensitivity coefficient, the investment coefficient for carbon-neutral technology innovation, carbon emission reduction efficiency, and the carbon-neutral technology cost reduction efficiency on the operation decision of supply chain firms are examined. The results show that (1) the consumer carbon neutrality sensitivity factor has a positive impact on the carbon neutral strategy, product ordering, and performance of supply chain firms. (2) The investment factor of carbon-neutral technology innovation hurts the carbon-neutral decision, product ordering, and performance of supply chain firms, while the pricing strategy also has a positive correlation impact with the carbon-neutral sensitivity factor of consumers as the carbon-neutral technology innovation investment factor increases. (3) The cost reduction efficiency of carbon-neutral technologies promotes carbon-neutral decisions, product ordering, and performance of supply chain firms. However, the pricing strategy is also closely related to market size and correlates negatively. (4) The carbon emission reduction efficiency per unit product is positively correlated with the carbon neutral decision, product ordering, and performance of supply chain firms, while the pricing strategy is also linked to market size and has a negative correlation.

A Review of the Challenges Facing Global Commercialization of the Artificial Meat Industry.

The sustained growth of global meat consumption incentivized the development of the meat substitute industry. However, long-term global commercialization of meat substitutes faces challenges that arise from technological innovation, limited consumer awareness, and an imperfect regulatory environment. Many important questions require urgent answers. This paper presents a review of issues affecting meat substitute manufacturing and marketing, and helps to bridge important gaps which appear in the literature. To date, global research on meat substitutes focuses mainly on technology enhancement, cost reduction, and commercialization with a few studies focused on a regulatory perspective. Furthermore, the studies on meat substitute effects on environmental pollution reduction, safety, and ethical risk perception are particularly important. A review of these trends leads to conclusions which anticipate the development of a much broader market for the meat substitute industry over the long term, the gradual discovery of solutions to technical obstacles, upgraded manufacturing, the persistent perception of ethical risk and its influence on consumer willingness to accept meat substitutes, and the urgent need for constructing an effective meat substitute regulatory system.

Two‐level trout supply chain's economic efficiency analysis in Iran: Trout egg import subsidies role

AbstractIran has subsidised trout egg imports due to the lower feed conversion ratio of most imported trout eggs. However, the rainbow trout industry is divided on whether to allocate or abolish imported trout subsidies. The elimination of such support would lead to a three‐fold rise in the price of imported trout eggs (which are already more expensive than domestic trout eggs). Furthermore, the economic performance of the domestic trout supply chain over the imported trout supply chain remains yet to be clarified. The present study seeks to evaluate whether imported trout egg subsidies should be continued. Economic efficiency and network data envelopment analysis are used to evaluate the performance and role of subsidies in trout supply chains in Mazandaran, one of the largest trout farming provinces as a new case study in the aquaculture sector, in 2018. Farms that used imported trout eggs were found to have lower economic efficiency and higher dependence on import subsidies. Feed costs were identified to be the most important explanation for poor economic efficiency of trout production. Finally, the results reveal that the development of domestic trout propagation supply chains with integrated forward vertical structures could improve efficiency in the system. The re‐distribution of imported trout egg subsidies to fund feed cost reduction technologies could provide effective solutions to enhance economic efficiency, production sustainability and food security.

En route to automated maintenance of industrial printing systems: digital quantification of print-quality factors based on induced printing failure

Abstract. Tracking and tracing are a key technology for production process optimization and subsequent cost reduction. However, several industrial environments (e.g. high temperatures in metal processing) are challenging for most part-marking and identification approaches. A method for printing individual part markings on metal components (e.g. data matrix codes (DMCs) or similar identifiers) with high temperatures and chemical resistance has been developed based on drop-on-demand (DOD) print technology and special ink dispersions with submicrometer-sized ceramic and glass particles. Both ink and printer are required to work highly reliably without nozzle clogging or other failures to prevent interruptions of the production process in which the printing technology is used. This is especially challenging for the pigmented inks applied here. To perform long-term tests with different ink formulations and to assess print quality over time, we set up a test bench for inkjet printing systems. We present a novel approach for monitoring the printhead's state as well as the print-quality degradation. This method does not require measuring and monitoring, e.g. electrical components or drop flight, as it is done in the state of the art and instead uses only the printed result. By digitally quantifying selected quality factors within the printed result and evaluating their progression over time, several non-stationary measurands were identified. Some of these measurands show a monotonic trend and, hence, can be used to measure print-quality degradation. These results are a promising basis for automated printing system maintenance.