Five commercially available touch entry devices (TEDs) were the  subject of a four-phase comprehensive assessment. Phase I consisted of the quantification of CRT-TED optical quality involving photometric measurements. Phase II involved the measurement and analysis of interactive operator performance in three generic tasks. Phase II was followed by the recording of subjective assessments of TED utility (Phase III). In Phase IV correlational analyses were conducted to relate CRT-TED system optical quality to the interactive performance measures and subjective assessments of TED utility collected in Experiment 1 of Phases II and III. A methodology for determining display quality of CRTTED systems in a quantitative manner as well as the operational and subjective utility of TEDs is presented. The results point out that large difference in resolution and noise levels exist among the various TEDs examined. Four of the devices tended to reduce overall display resolution and three reduced display noise levels. Large differences in interactive operator performance scores and ratings of subjective utility exist as well. There is some relationship between CRT-TED optical quality and both operator performance and subjective assessments of TED utility. Moreover, the suggested quantifications of the findings should facilitate comparisons among other touch entry device systems. / M.S.

As an object at the boundary between virtual and physical reality, the screen exists both as a displayer and as a thing displayed, thus functioning as a mediator. The screen's virtual imagery produces a sense of immersion in its viewer, yet at the same time the materiality of the screen produces a sense of rejection from the viewer's complete involvement in the virtual world. The experience of the screen is thus an oscillation between these two states of immersion and rejection. Nowadays, as interactivity becomes a central component of the relationship between viewers and many artworks, the viewer experience of the screen is changing. Unlike the screen experience in non-interactive artworks, such as the traditional static screen of painting or the moving screen of video art in the 1970s, interactive media screen experiences can provide viewers with a more immersive, immediate, and therefore, more intense experience. For example, many digital media artworks provide an interactive experience for viewers by capturing their face or body though real-time computer vision techniques. In this situation, as the camera and the monitor in the artwork encapsulate the interactor's body in an instant feedback loop, the interactor becomes a part of the interface mechanism and responds to the artwork as the system leads or even provokes them. This thesis claims that this kind of direct mirroring in interactive screen-based media artworks does not allow the viewer the critical distance or time needed for self-reflection. The thesis examines the previous aesthetics of spatial and temporal perception, such as presentness and instantaneousness, and the notions of passage and of psychological perception such as reflection, reflexiveness and auratic experience, looking at how these aesthetics can be integrated into new media screen experiences. Based on this theoretical research, the thesis claims that interactive screen spaces can act as a site for expression and representation, both through a doubling effect between the physical and virtual worlds, and through manifold spatial and temporal mappings with the screen experience. These claims are further supported through exploration of screen-based media installations created by the author since 2003.