While the robots that most quickly come to mind to the general public are those with the most elaborate features and movements, those that are most useful in advancing the state of the art in artificial intelligence (AI) are very different. Minimalist robots are inexpensive and therefore more broadly available for research and educational purposes, but also force the researcher to rely on good,...

Plyometric training is used by athletes to promote strength and explosive power. However plyometric activities such as depth jumping are associated with a high incidence of injuries. This study examined the influence of minimalist and conventional footwear on the loads experienced by the patellofemoral joint and Achilles tendon. Patellofemoral and Achilles tendon forces were obtained from ten m...

In this paper we sketch a multi-step scenario of a teacher and her classroom, who uses a few computer-based learning tools and their attached teaching analytics views. The tools that are described are extensions of the toolset of the authors (ComIn-M and SMALA) and others; the scenarios should thus serve as user-story in the design of future analytical softwares that support the teacher’s manag...

Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet starts out as a classic love story: boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, boy and girl get married. Of course, it turns into a tragedy when they realize that their relationship is destined to fail. Surprisingly, many offices in corporate America follow a similar-though less morbid--trend. A 2005 survey revealed that 58% of employees had dated someone at wor...

Most current theories of text processing assume a constructionist view of inference processing. In this article, an alternative view is proposed, labeled the minimalist hypothesis. According to this hypothesis, the only inferences that are encoded automatically during reading are those that are based on easily available information, either from explicit statements in the text or from general kn...

Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS) have proven to be effective tools for teaching and training. However, ITSs have not become common in industrial and organisational settings, in part because their complexity has proven difficult to manage outside of the research lab. Minimalist ITSs are an attempt to bridge the gap between research and practical application; they simplify research techniques w...