2 Multimodal Man-Machine Interfaces for learning and working are getting more and more important if we foresee, as we do, a closer integration of different real and virtual realities, mixed realities. To make these multimodal interfaces, based on mechatronic principles easy to use as a developer and user, we need more general theoretical concepts and practical modules. A generalized concept to ...

This paper uses (tele)presence concepts to explore the practical and philosophical implications of the simulation argument: the notion that individuals may be trapped within manufactured realities. After describing a series of hypothetical simulation scenarios, key distinguishing dimensions of the scenarios are considered and implications for epistemology, religion and morality, mortality, and ...

This incorrect argument is often used, or accepted, because it seems at first sight to be so self-evident that we do not think about its validity. But in safety engineering we have to be concerned with hard physical realities, so we must be able to recognise incorrect statements and false arguments – like this one – even where we want to believe them because they give us a warm and fuzzy feelin...

Beings, animate or inanimate, are dynamical systems which continuously interact with the (external and /or internal) environment through the physical or physiologic interfaces of their Kantian (representational) realities. And the nature of their interactions is determined by the inner workings of their systems. It is from this perspective that this work attempts to address some of the long-hel...

Hierarchical models are one of the central tools of Bayesian analysis. They offer many advantages, including the ability to borrow strength to estimate individual parameters and the ability to specify complex models that reflect engineering and physical realities. Markov chain Monte Carlo is a set of algorithms that allow Bayesian inference in a variety of models. We illustrate hierarchical mod...

The present paper outlines the nature of a three-dimensional ontology and the place of psychological science within this ontology, in a way that is partly similar to and partly different from that of Pérez-Álvarez. The first dimension is the material realities, and involves different levels (physical, chemical, biological, psychological, etc.), where each level builds on a lower level but also ...

The realities of "natural" death and the alternative of a least worst death are explored in this article about the dilemmas faced by terminally ill patients and their doctors. Treatment refusal, the only legally sanctioned means of avoiding medically-prolonged death, may lead to distressing physical conditions that destroy patients' hopes for a dignified death. By functioning as strategists o...

Ambient Intelligence (AmI) promises future environments that support the well-being of their inhabitants through comfort and assistive environments. For the elderly users, ambient assisted living (AAL) scenarios are targeting safe and independent living at home. Especially the integration of home automation components, such as intelligent light, window, and climate controls seem promising for s...