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Consumers are increasingly present in multiple spaces. For instance, many people choose to browse their smartphones for product reviews, while shopping at the traditional brick-and-mortar store. How is their presence affected in such scenarios? Can they be fully present in the store? How is their overall consumption experience impacted? This chapter addresses such questions and explores the nature and role of presence, which is defined as the “feeling of ‘being there’ in the present, the here and now of the physical or a virtual world” (Waterworth & Waterworth, 2006, p. 82).

Drawing on findings from different literatures (e.g., marketing, communications), a conceptual approach is used to identify the underlying components of presence and to explore how this construct relates to customer experience.

Preliminary assertions suggest that presence has a spatial structure. It is concerned with two distinctions. First, presence may vary depending on the level of physicality or virtuality. Second, presence may change based on whether someone is perceiving stimuli in the external environment (what is happening around us in the physical or virtual space) or is lost (i.e., absent) in the internal world of dreams, thoughts, and imaginations.

From a theoretical perspective, this research introduces the presence construct from communications to the marketing literature. Studying consumption experiences through the lens of presence contributes to our understanding of how they are affected by simultaneous activities of customers in physical and virtual spaces.

From a managerial perspective, marketers are encouraged to develop new strategies that account for customers’ presence in various spaces, in order to gain their attention.

In this chapter, the authors explore how the academic work on VR has defined presence to better understand what elements of that theoretical mire are practically useful for designers. The authors scope out the word ‘presence’ as distinct from related terms like immersion and embodiment. The authors unpack the layers of what it means to be present in an experience, connecting that theory to practice with case studies of three games – Assetto Corsa, Dungeons of Eternity and A Fisherman's Tale. The goal of this analysis is to integrate academic insights with practical design strategies, offering a comprehensive approach to enhancing player experience in VR. Presence in VR is a multifaceted concept encompassing self, physical and social dimensions. This chapter aims to translate these academic insights into actionable design principles. By examining how different types and layers of presence manifest in actual games, the authors provide a framework that designers can use to create more engaging and immersive VR experiences. The analysis of the selected games highlights the importance of narrative coherence, realistic interactions and player agency in fostering a sense of presence. Ultimately, this chapter bridges the gap between theory and practice, helping designers to craft VR games that not only engage but also deeply immerse players in their virtual worlds.

THE problem of oxidation is one that is an ever‐present source of trouble to the welder. It is particularly the case in aircraft construction, where light‐gauge metals are most frequently employed. There is also the complementary, though less obstinate, problem of carburization. Elimination of these can be effected to a certain extent by one or more of several methods. However, before dealing with their cure, some notes on the nature of oxidation and carburization may lead to a better understanding of the processes.

WHILE in the previous articles the materials of construction were dealt with, no reference was made to the quality of the metal introduced by application of the filler rod.

THE materials commonly employed in the fabrication of aircraft structures are confined for the main part to steels of low carbon content (i.e., mild steel, manganese steels of a medium carbon) and chrome‐molybdenum steels. The content of carbon steels that are weldable cannot be exactly laid down, since the amount which can be contended with by the oxy‐acetylene process may rise to as much as 0.8 per cent, although this does not occur in the examples given here where only steels within the region of 0.3 per cent carbon exists.

With the emergence of digital twins, the construction industry is looking toward improving the inspection and maintenance of all kinds of assets, such as bridges, roads and utilities. The purpose of this paper is to provide insights into how the development of an interactive digital twin creates a variety of interactions between users of this technology and assets to be monitored.

The development of a digital twin inspection model, focusing on the specific case of a sewage pumping station, is chosen as the subject of a case study. Through the development of this model, this study explores the various user–technology interactions that can be designed in a digital twin context.

Users interact with digital twins by following virtual instructions in a certain way, which creates a “quasi-other” relationship. A digital twin based on virtual reality (VR) also make users feel as if they are within the created VR of an inspection site, thereby immersing them in the VR environment. The design of a VR-based digital twin, which is determined by decisions made during the development process, shapes the context in which users interact with the technology and assets.

This study shows that a digital twin in construction practice may play different “actant” roles having different types of influences. Analyzing these actant roles and influences in terms of force and visibility adds a new perspective on the interaction between users and digital twins in construction and asset monitoring practice.

No. 1 of the year 1939. Civil Specification Memorandum No. 21 Civil Specifications No. 19 (Accumulator Cutouts or Reverse Current Relays), No. 20 (Absolute Atmospheric Pressure Gauges), and No. 21 (Voltage Regulators) have now been issued and can be purchased, price 6d. net per copy or 7d. post free, either direct from His Majesty's Stationery Office at any of the following addresses:—York House, Kingsway, London, W.C.2; 120, George Street, Edinburgh, 2; 26, York Street, Manchester, 1; 1, St. Andrew's Crescent, Cardiff; 80, Chichester Street, Belfast; or through any bookseller.

Is collaborative story production (CSP) a useful method to collaborate with bereaved families to record their reflections on the end of life circumstances and care of people of advanced age? The paper aims to discuss this issue.

Drawing from Te Pākeketanga, a bicultural study involving 58 bereaved Māori and non-Māori families on behalf of 52 older relatives, the authors describe the CSP method. Researchers and participants co-created personalised written stories about the older person and their end of life experiences, supported with photographs of family, friends and memorabilia. The authors aimed to uplift the status of the older person and their family by tangibly reflecting the significance and magnitude of what had been shared and to strengthen the research analysis.

CSP supported member checking, promoted a robust understanding of participants’ narratives and increased the trustworthiness of data and strengthened the Kaupapa Māori and social constructivist analysis. However, some participants experienced difficulty revisiting painful memories when reading their story. CSP took longer than anticipated, was labour intensive and required a highly skilled and resourced team to ensure participants benefitted.

Using the CSP method with a bicultural cohort of bereaved families who had provided care to someone over the age of 80 was very helpful in assisting the researchers to gather narrative information and present it back to participants in a story format for their comment and feedback. The method contributed a useful way to partner with bereaved family caregivers following the death of an older family member. The authors needed a way to record the participants’ narratives of the older person’s end of life circumstances and end of life care experiences. This was very important, particularly for grieving families and indigenous families who may have felt vulnerable engaging with research, and with the research processes. The approach provided a helpful and non-intrusive member-checking process. The unique bicultural study approach deliberately utilised the CSP method to assist the researchers to work safely with bereaved families as the participants reflected upon and explored not only the end of life circumstances of the older person, but they also focused on the “death” and their own bereavement experiences. CSP also provided a helpful member-checking method; the authors were working with highly sensitive information and wanted to ensure that the authors as researchers understood and interpreted the families’ narrative data correctly, according to their perspectives.

Although the benefits of strategic alliances are well documented, whether strategic alliances can be a viable entry strategy option for small and medium‐size enterprises (SMEs) to successfully penetrate markets held by major incumbent suppliers is less clear. In this paper, strategic alliances are shown to be an effective entry‐cum‐deterrence strategy for SMEs to successfully penetrate markets that are well established and dominated by major corporations. In addition, the conditions under which SMEs can use strategic alliances as an entry strategy without restricting themselves to target only those markets ignored by bigger firms are identified. In terms of methodology, this paper follows a deductive approach – one based on game theory, to examine explicitly the reactions of bigger firms to the entry of SMEs into their markets, specifically taking into account the resource limitations faced by SMEs. To verify that the theoretical arguments presented are consistent with practice, two cases of the use of strategic alliances by SMEs as an entry strategy to penetrate markets dominated by major corporations are examined. The practices and experiences of these SMEs were found to be consistent with the theoretical arguments presented here.

In this paper I will discuss definitions of hypermedia, multimedia and hypertext. Hypertext is the grouping of relevant information in the form of nodes. These nodes are then connected together through links. In the case of hypertext the nodes contain text or graphics. Multimedia is the combining of different media types for example sound, animation, text, graphics and video for the presentation of information by making use of computers. Hypermedia can be viewed as an extension of hypertext and multimedia. It is based on the concept of hypertext that uses nodes and links in the structuring of information in the system. In this case the nodes consist of all the different data types that are mentioned in the multimedia definition above. The ‘node‐and‐link’ concept is used in organisation of the information in hypermedia systems. The ‘book’ metaphor is an example of the way these systems are implemented. This concept is explained and a few advantages and disadvantages of making use of hypermedia systems are discussed. A new approach for the development of hypermedia systems, namely the knowledge‐based approach is now looked into. Joel Peing‐Ling Loo proposed this approach because he thought that it is the most effective way for handling this kind of technology. A semantic‐based hypermedia model is developed in this approach to formulate solutions for the restrictions in presenting information authoring, maintenance and retrieval. The knowledge‐based presentation of information includes the use of conventional data structures. These data structures make use of frames (objects), slots and the inheritance theory that is also used in expert systems. Relations develop between the different objects as these objects are included in the database. Relations can also exist between frames by means of attributes that belong to the frames.