This study investigates technology adoption behavior of Saudi Arabian knowledge workers using desktop computers within the context of TAM2, and the unique effects of Saudi culture on IT adoption within the developing, non-Western, country. Following the guidelines of the etic-emic research tradition, which encourages cross-cultural theory and framework testing, the study findings reveal that the TAM2 model accounts for 40.3% of the variance in behavioral intention among Saudi users, which contrasts Venkatesh and Davis’ (2000) explained 34-52% of the variance in usage intentions among U.S. users. The model’s explanatory power differs due to specific Saudi Arabian emic constructs, including its collectivist culture and the worker’s focus on the managerial father figure’s influence on individual performance, a stark difference from TAM findings in more individualistic societies. The authors’ findings contribute to understanding the effects of cultural contexts in influencing technology acceptance behaviors, and demonstrate the need for research into additional cultural factors that account for technology acceptance.

More powerful computer hardware and software has enabled the development of numerous depth-cue techniques to depict the three-dimensional (3D) characteristics of computer-generated imagery. Particularly, the role of stereoscopic viewing in promoting the depth perception of objects in 3D space has been widely studied. However, there has been little study of the use of cast shadows in this context, and few investigations of how computer-generated depth cues are perceptually integrated. To investigate these issues, subjects: 1) position a sphere to complete a directional vector/vector segment extending in space and 2) resize a sphere to match the perceived size of a second sphere displaced in space. Task accuracies and response times are recorded under the following conditions: 1) stereoscopic, and monoscopic, scene viewing; 2) objects casting zero, or one shadow; 3) flat, and zig-zag, background surface shapes; and 4) solid and checkerboard background surface textures. The results suggest that, of the cues considered, stereo viewing has a consistently beneficial effect on positioning and resizing spheres in depth. However, objects casting shadows improve positioning accuracy to a level afforded by stereo viewing. Finally, more complex scene backgrounds impair positioning and resizing task performances. Implications for the design of effective 3D user interfaces are discussed.

More powerful contemporary computer hardware has enabled the development and exploration of a wide variety of techniques to depict spatial characteristics of computer-generated objects in three-dimensional (3D) space.Particularly, the role of stereoscopic viewing and the use of object motion to reflect the position and size of objects in 3D space have been extensively studied.However, the effective use of computer-rendered object shadows to provide spatial information about the relative position and size of objects in virtual space has not.Subjects perform two tasks with 3D geometric patterns of objects presented on a computer screen: (1) positioning the object to complete a symmetrical geometric figure and (2) resizing the object to match the size of other objects.Performance accuracy and speed are recorded under the following conditions: (1) objects casting shadows on and off, (2) shadows from one or two light sources (nested within the shadows-on condition), (3) stereoscopic and monoscopic viewing, and (4) different scene backgrounds: flat plane (i.e., floor), "stair-step" floor with no walls, and floor with walls (i.e., room).The use of object shadows as depth cues enhances the accuracy (but not the speed) of object positioning, but does not enhance either the accuracy or the speed of object resizing.Moreover, the object shadows are not as effective as stereoscopic viewing in facilitating both positioning-task and resizing-task performances.Furthermore, task performances degrade with the stair-step scene background and when the number of shadowing light sources increases from one to two.