My thesis explores the profound impact of contemporary residential architecture on social interaction and a sense of belonging among dwellers. Based on personal experiences in the United States, a critical examination reveals a prevailing trend towards isolation within modern living spaces, fostering disconnection and loneliness. As an architect, I have tried to investigate the spatial and architectural barriers that hinder social cohesion, emphasizing the vital role of "pauses" in facilitating human interaction and community engagement within built environments. Drawing inspiration from historical precedents and vibrant urban settings like the North End in Boston and plazas in Paris, this study advocates for a transformative approach to residential design. By integrating elements reminiscent of lively streets into vertical housing projects, the aim is to create opportunities for spontaneous human interactions. The research delves into specific examples, such as the Foxridge apartments in Blacksburg, to identify and address architectural deficiencies that inhibit verbal and non-verbal communication. Through innovative design interventions and strategic placement of communal spaces, my thesis proposes a paradigm shift towards architecture that fosters community bonds and enriches daily life experiences. It underscores the inherent potential of architecture to bridge societal divides and counterbalance the pervasive trend towards digital engagement, promoting holistic well-being through meaningful human connections. Ultimately, my thesis advocates for a human-centric architectural ethos, envisioning spaces that not only accommodate but actively cultivate a sense of belonging and social connectivity. / Master of Architecture / As Frank Lloyd Wright has told, "We create our buildings and then they create us. Likewise we construct our circle of friends and our communities and then they construct us." Humans are social beings and we have an inert need for social connections and interactions with other humans and nature. We crave the warmth of human connection, the solace of shared laughter, and the embrace of understanding souls. Lack of social interactions and sense of belonging can lead to social isolation and loneliness, and can have really detrimental effects on one's physical and mental health and also on a society as a whole. As Patricia Churchland has told "We long to belong, and belonging and caring anchors our sense of place in the universe." Architecture of the community has the potential or obligation to create a sense of community and belonging by providing opportunities for human interactions, celebrating gathering spaces and visual communication within the community. In the midst of the urban sprawl, the need for community is palpable, like a silent cry echoing through the concrete jungle. With the more vertical the residential units get the social interactions are almost completely lost as it is only double loaded corridors with houses on either sides with uncomfortable, awkward to almost zero human interactions. Even in vertical living we need to keep in mind that those beautiful views from the 12th floor have no value if you are still feeling socially isolated. My thesis focuses on tackling loneliness through the Built Environment and understanding what are the architecture barriers of social interaction. Through my thesis I have explored different strategies developed through my research to foster the sense of community and belonging. I am exploring these ideas in the context of Washington D.C. which is claimed to be one of the loneliest cities in the United States.

This dissertation utilizes three independent research projects to examine one overarching theoretical question: How do people understand, contest, negotiate, and / or rationalize the ways in which bodies-human, animal, and microbial - are socially constructed as commensurate, or not, in science? Using three unique projects focusing on either the human, animal, or microbial body, this dissertation broadly explores the social processes inherent in the construction of "bodies" for scientific research. This dissertation explores the complexity of how bodies are used in science, how this is understood by individuals, and the impacts this has not only on science but also the intertwined lives of animals, humans, and their microbes. Each paper explores a key set of questions drawing from a shared set of theoretical lenses, including local biology and biolooping, commensuration, the biovalue of bodies, and the microbiome. Specifically this dissertation presentation will explore these questions: 1) How are Japanese bodies socially constructed as different from other bodies in ethnobridging clinical trials?; 2) How is local biology employed as a technique of commensuration at the site of the Japanese body, by the government, and the global pharmaceutical industry and what does this mean for scientific studies utilizing it in this way?; 3) How do scientists construct nonhuman primates as appropriate proxies for humans in biomedical research experiments?; 4) How do individuals understand themselves and their health in relation to pet dogs and microbes?; and 5) How do humans understand the ways in which humans, animals, and microbes co-create their biological and social worlds? This dissertation shows how the construction of the body as an object of scientific study is negotiated, contested, and taken up in daily life, and how this is flexible, malleable, and not at all uniform. It explores the ways in which biomedical knowledge of the body is socially constructed and how it co-creates the animal, microbial, environmental, and cultural worlds in which it circulates. Through doing so and using techniques and lenses grounded in biosocial anthropology, this dissertation adds to the literature on the body in both medical and multispecies anthropology.

Computer-Support Cooperative Work (CSCW) reflects the change in emphasis from using computers to solve problems to using computers to facilitate human interactions. Most studies, however, have focused on the use of the technology rather than on the human-human interaction (HHI) in these environments due to: the varied perspectives of the investigators; and the lack of a consistent variables. Although numerous studies exist on a variety of products, only limited research has been conducted with the most prevalent of the technologies in the marketplace, Lotus Notes™. This field study, conducted using Lotus Notes™, operationalizes a model proposed, but not tested, for the study of group decision-making in CSCW environments put forth by Kraemer and Pinsonneault (1990). This study examines the use of CSCW in the group decision-making process, the participation rate for group decision-making in CSCW environments, and the criteria for determining quality in group decisions in CSCW environments. The study also proposes a new perspective for examining technology using the human context, recommends extensions for the group study framework and explores areas for future research.

Information and communication technologies (ICT) such as cell phone and the Internet have extended opportunities of human activities and interactions from physical spaces to virtual spaces. The relaxed spatio-temporal constraints on individual activities may affect human activity-travel patterns, social networks, and many other aspects of society. A challenge for research of human activities in the ICT age is to develop analytical environments that can help visualize and explore individual activities in virtual spaces and their mutual impacts with physical activities. This dissertation focuses on extending the time-geographic framework and developing a spatio-temporal exploratory environment in a space-time geographic information system (GIS) to facilitate research of human interactions in both physical and virtual spaces. In particular, this dissertation study addresses three research questions. First, it extends the time-geographic framework to assess the impacts of phone usage on potential face-to-face (F2F) meeting opportunities, as well as dynamic changes in potential F2F meeting opportunities over time. Secondly, this study extends the time-geographic framework to conceptualize and represent individual trajectories in an online social network space and to explore potential interaction opportunities among people in a virtual space. Thirdly, this study presents a spatio-temporal environment in a space-time GIS to facilitate exploration of the relationships between changes in physical proximity and changes in social closeness in a virtual space. The major contributions of this dissertation include: (1) advancing the time-geographic framework in its ability of exploring processes of virtual communication alerting physical activity opportunities; (2) extending some concepts of the classical time geography from a physical space to a virtual space for representing and exploring virtual interaction patterns; (3) developing a space-time GIS that is useful for exploring patterns of individual activities and interactions in both physical and virtual spaces, as well as the interactions between these two spaces.

abstract: Understanding human-human interactions during the performance of joint motor tasks is critical for developing rehabilitation robots that could aid therapists in providing effective treatments for motor problems. However, there is a lack of understanding of strategies (cooperative or competitive) adopted by humans when interacting with other individuals. Previous studies have investigated the cues (auditory, visual and haptic) that support these interactions but understanding how these unconscious interactions happen even without those cues is yet to be explained. To address this issue, in this study, a paradigm that tests the parallel efforts of pairs of individuals (dyads) to complete a jointly performed virtual reaching task, without any auditory or visual information exchange was employed. Motion was tracked with a NDI OptoTrak 3D motion tracking system that captured each subject’s movement kinematics, through which we could measure the level of synchronization between two subjects in space and time. For the spatial analyses, the movement amplitudes and direction errors at peak velocities and at endpoints were analyzed. Significant differences in the movement amplitudes were found for subjects in 4 out of 6 dyads which were expected due to the lack of feedback between the subjects. Interestingly, subjects in this study also planned their movements in different directions in order to counteract the visuomotor rotation offered in the test blocks, which suggests the difference in strategies for the subjects in each dyad. Also, the level of de-adaptation in the control blocks in which no visuomotor rotation was offered to the subjects was measured. To further validate the results obtained through spatial analyses, a temporal analyses was done in which the movement times for the two subjects were compared. With the help of these results, numerous interaction scenarios that are possible in the human joint actions in without feedback were analyzed. / Dissertation/Thesis / Consent form / Masters Thesis Bioengineering 2016

FundaÃÃo de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Cearà / Nesta dissertaÃÃo tive como objetivo principal desvelar o cotidiano das interaÃÃes humano-lixo no assentamento Boa EsperanÃa-Lagoa da Manga, com o intuito de compreender os aspectos histÃricos, afetivos, sÃcio-culturais e formativos que estÃo imbricados nas prÃticascotidianas de cuidado que os assentados estabelecem com o espaÃo pÃblico e o lixo. Paraisto, optei por uma pesquisa qualitativa, inspirada na etnografia, que, a partir da observaÃÃo in loco, da escuta do outro, da descriÃÃo dos hÃbitos e costumes e, ao mesmo tempo, da interpretaÃÃo dos mÃltiplos aspectos envolvidos nas prÃticas, de trÃs marcadores do discurso do lugar, com o lixo domÃstico, chegou-se a uma visÃo de que os assentados manifestam um sentimento intrÃnseco de amorosidade pelo lugar onde vive e pelas pessoas com as quais convivem, revelados atravÃs da valorizaÃÃo das lutas e conquistas histÃricas de seu povo, assim como do sentir-se pertencente e de umbigo enterrado a terra. AlÃm disso, os marcadores consideram apenas a sujeira (fezes e restos de comida) como lixo, diferentemente da conceituaÃÃo de lixo para o Ãmbito acadÃmico. As fezes e restos de comida sÃo reaproveitados, respectivamente, para adubo da terra e complementaÃÃo alimentar dos animais domÃsticos. Esta à a matriz representacional sÃcio-cultural que organiza e influencia as prÃticas cotidianas dos assentados quanto ao prÃprio lixo produzido; inclusive, o lixo industrializado como os sacos, sacolas, papel, garrafas nÃo servÃveis no momento, ou sÃo acondicionados na despensa, ou reutilizados nas atividades cotidianas do campo, o que demonstra um gerenciamento do lixo no prÃprio domicÃlio, sendo a mulher a gestora do mesmo e responsÃvel pela limpeza dos espaÃos pÃblicos, atravÃs da prÃtica de varriÃÃo que à repassada de mÃes para filhas e se inicia no domicÃlio, vai ao terreiro e se estende aos espaÃos pÃblicos, configurando-se como um espaÃo sÃcio-cultural-afetivo informal de ensino. No entanto, este espaÃo de ensino das tradiÃÃes culturais de cuidado e limpeza ambiental frente ao lixo està sendo ameaÃado, pois as mulheres estÃo se afastando paulatinamente das atividades de varriÃÃo, haja vista que o tempo disponÃvel para esta prÃtica està sendo reduzido e substituÃdo pelo trabalho assalariado na cooperativa de castanha, recÃm instalada no assentamento. Sendo assim, faz-se necessÃrio nesse momento um fazer pedagÃgico-ambiental que privilegie os saberes e as prÃticas histÃricas, sÃcio-culturais e formativas dos assentados frente ao lixo, pautados na afetividade pelo lugar com o intuito de mitigar os modos de vida subalternizantes que buscam tornar o homem do campo mero reprodutor de prÃticas colonializantes, tÃpicas do sistema capitalista. / This dissertation had as main objective to reveal the daily life of human interactions trash in the settlement Boa EsperanÃa - Lagoa da Manga, in order to understand the historical, emotional, social, cultural and training that are embedded in the daily practices of care that settlers lay with the public space and "trash." For this, we opted for a qualitative research, inspired by ethnography, that by observing the spot, listening to the other, describing the habits and customs and at the same time, the interpretation of the multiple aspects involved in practices, three discourse markers of place, with the trash home. Came to a view that the settlers expressed a feeling of intrinsic loveliness by the place where he lives and the people with whom they live, as revealed through the enhancement of historic struggles and achievements of its people, as well as the feeling of belonging and umbilicus buried the land. Also, consider just dirt (feces and uneaten food) as garbage, unlike the concept of junk to the academic realm. The feces and food scraps are reused, respectively, for compost earth food supplementation and domestic animals. This is the representational matrix that organizes socio-cultural influences and the daily practices of the settlers as the actual garbage produced, even the junk such as sacks and bags, paper, bottles etc. not servive at the time, or are put in the pantry, or reused in daily activities of the field, which shows a management junk in your own home, the woman is the manager of it and responsible for the cleanliness of public spaces through the practice of sweeping that is passed from mothers to daughters and starts at home, going to the yard and extends to public spaces, becoming a space-socio-cultural affective informal education. However, this area of teaching cultural traditions of care and environmental cleanup against the "garbage" is being threatened because women are moving away gradually sweeping activities, considering that the time available for this practice is being reduced and replaced by employment in the cooperative brown, newly installed in the settlement. Therefore, it is necessary at this time a do-teaching environment that promotes the knowledge and practices historical, socio-cultural and training of the settlers against the "garbage" lined on affection for the place, in order to mitigate the lifestyles subalternizantes seeking to make the rural man a mere player colonializantes practices, typical of the capitalist system.

Användningen av informations- och kommunikationsteknik (IKT) ökar kraftigt och påverkar både samhället och människan. Smartphonen är en del av denna teknik och har påverkat människan samt samhället i ännu större utsträckning på grund av sin portabilitet. Denna påverkan är viktig att belysa då den innebär nya utmaningar som måste hanteras för att kunna bibehålla ett hållbart samhälle. Denna studie har undersökt hur smartphones påverkar människor i deras vardagliga liv med en djupare inblick i de sociala sammanhangen. Teorier inom IKT, smartphoneanvändning, samt beroende har legat till grund för det teoretiska ramverket medan observationer samt en enkätundersökning har legat till grund för empirin. Fokus har legat på unga vuxna och datan som samlats in har analyserats kvalitativt och sedan diskuterats utifrån teorin. Undersökningen visade på ett tydligt mönster gällande negativ inverkan på sociala konversationer. Det framgick tydligt att mycket fokus tillägnades smartphonen istället för konversationen i sig. Förutom en identifikation kring att de sociala sammanhangen påverkades negativt så gick det även att påvisa andra faktorer som påverkades. Det är tydligt att lagar har brutits, sömn påverkats och att individer har blivit överväldigade av information på grund av smartphonen. Sammanfattningsvis så är det viktigt att lyfta fram den psykiska påverkan som studien påvisar att smartphones haft på människor, så att medvetenheten gällande detta kan öka. / The use of information and communication technology (ICT) is evolving in a fast pace and effects both society and humans. Smartphones is a part of this technique and effects even more due to its portability. It is important to shed light on this effects as it poses new challenges which needs to be handle in order to maintain a sustainable society. This thesis has explored the growing problem of smartphones and how they affect the ordinary life of humans. Theories within ICT, smartphone usage and addiction were the foundation of the theoretical framework while observations and a questionnaire was used to collect the empirical data. The focus has been on young adults and the collected data were analyzed qualitatively and thereafter discussed on the theoretical framework as basis. The study showed a pattern regarding negative impact on social conversations due to the smartphone. It was clear that a lot of focus were dedicated to the smartphone instead of the conversation. Aside from that it was clear that laws been broken, sleep affected and that people have become overwhelmed by information due to the smartphone. In conclusion, it is important to highlight the psychological impact that the study shows that smartphones had on people, so that the awareness regarding this can increase.

Human interactions with Information Technology tools are reproducing organisational cultural patterns in a process similar to the evolution of human tools and language. A multidisciplinary research in tool-mediated activity, culture, language and cognition will examine new concepts that can be important for the design of organisationally fit Information Technology interface tools. By using qualitative and quantitative analysis together with the fields of anthropology, philosophy, cognitive sciences and human computer interaction this thesis shows that cultural fitness is an important variable that can determine in a substantial degree the rejection or adoption of a tool in organisational environment. Qualitative and quantitative data collected from organisational simulations at the Faculty of Information Sciences and Engineering of the University of Canberra during the period 1995-1997 has been used and analysed.

nÃo hà / O presente trabalho tem como objetivo apresentar as dinÃmicas dos modos de convivÃncia democrÃtico e autoritÃrio e averiguar a expressÃo de alunos e professores da Escola Municipal de Ensino Fundamental Desembargador Amorim Lima, no que se refere à convivÃncia democrÃtica e Ãs relaÃÃes de paz e conflito na escola. Esta comunidade escolar tem, como um de seus princÃpios, a democraticidade. Por adotar um modo diferenciado de ensino que modifica as relaÃÃes com os estudantes, escolhemos esta instituiÃÃo como locus de nossa investigaÃÃo. Verificamos, tambÃm, a satisfaÃÃo ou insatisfaÃÃo dos jovens com a instituiÃÃo. RelaÃÃes aluno-professor no contexto da democraticidade, satisfaÃÃo dos alunos com a escola e a resoluÃÃo dos conflitos sÃo o foco da pesquisa.A Escola Amorim Lima adotou um modelo inspirado na Escola da Ponte, em Portugal. Fizemos uma pesquisa de campo, com enfoque qualitativo para anÃlise dos dados. Utilizamos a observaÃÃo sistemÃtica, entrevistas e pesquisa bibliogrÃfica e documental. Cremos que os resultados serÃo um contributo para os estudos sobre democracia na escola e esclarecimento de fatores que favorecem ou obstaculizam a EducaÃÃo para Paz no ambiente escolar. Os marcos teÃricos que norteiam esta pesquisa sÃo a Cultura de Paz e a Biologia do Conhecimento. Esta teoria lanÃa luz sobre modos de convivÃncia, provÃ-nos uma compreensÃo sobre conflitos e propicia uma base teÃrica Ãs prÃticas pedagÃgicas que compreendem a liberdade, o respeito e o amor como fundamentais no ato educativo. A Cultura de Paz oferece-nos um entendimento sobre paz e conflitos e aponta-nos caminhos para uma EducaÃÃo para a Paz. Os resultados demonstraram que os alunos sentem satisfaÃÃo com seu ambiente escolar. AtribuÃmos isto à existÃncia da democraticidade, exercida pela participaÃÃo e Rodas de Conversa. O estudo demonstrou que a democracia nÃo impede conflitos, mas gera relaÃÃes humanas nas quais hà maior possibilidade de resoluÃÃo nÃo-violenta e que quando nÃo hà encontro na emoÃÃo, hà problemas relacionais. Percebemos que a existÃncia das Tutorias à um fator que favorece a relaÃÃo entre professores e alunos e pode amenizar ou impedir conflitos.

What attributes can make a street become more sociable and create a vibrant streetscape where people feel comfortable spending time? The purpose of this study is to find these attributes and apply this knowledge in a case study on Drottninggatan and Strøget to identify their strengths and weaknesses as well as providing recommendations on how the streets can become more sociable public spaces. To achieve this a diverse selection of methods will be used. A literature review with emphasis on theories by Mehta (2013), Jacobs (1995) and Whyte (1980) will form the foundation for the study. Furthermore a combination of conventional methods such as observations and counting/tracking and more experience-based methods as City Walks and storytelling will form the core of the case study. During the case study a number of important urban elements arose with the key features being the use of open spaces, urban furniture and their positioning, the use of green structure and the presence of events on the street. The architectural ensemble is to be considered important for the framing of the public realm to a certain degree since it has a strong effect on how a space is perceived and the fact that if inappropriately used it can give rise to negative experiences of the street. Strøget and Drottninggatan show examples of both good and bad practice and both have aspects to improve to support a more sociable public space, even though Strøget have to be considered as being a few steps ahead. / Vilka attribut kan få en gata att bli mer socialt tilltalande och skapa ett levande gaturum där människor trivs att vara? Syftet med denna studie är att finna dessa attribut och tillämpa detta i en fallstudie om Drottninggatan och Strøget för att identifiera deras styrkor och svagheter samt ge rekommendationer på hur dessa gator kan bli mer välkomnande och socialt tilltalande. Olika typer av metoder kommer att genomföras under denna studie. En litteraturstudie med tyngdpunkt på teorier av Mehta (2013), Jacobs (1995) och Whyte (1980) kommer att utgöra grunden för denna studie. Utöver detta kommer också en kombination av konventionella metoder som observationer och räkning/spårning och mer upplevelsebaserade metoder som City Walks och historieberättande att vara kärnan fallstudien. Under fallstudien uppkom ett antal viktiga attribut, men de viktigaste var användandet av öppna ytor, gatumöbler och hur dessa är placerade, användandet av grönstruktur och närvaron av olika event i gaturummet. Arkitekturens utformning är en till en viss grad en viktig aspekt när det gäller inramningen av det offentliga rummet eftersom den har en stark påverkan på hur gaturummet upplevs och det faktum att olämpligt användande kan resultera i negativ påverkan. Strøget och Drottninggatan visar båda prov på både bra och dåliga exempel, och båda har aspekter som behöver förbättras för att kunna främja ett mer socialt tilltalande gaturum, även om Strøget måste ses som att ha kommit längre i processen.