This thesis research is concerned with the exploration, design, and validation of novel haptic technologies and signals that feel natural and meaningful in a calm and pleasant way. Our ultimate goal is to expand the possibilities of human-machine interaction by developing a single tactile display and a set of signals through a systematic design approach. It is generally a challenge to evoke a broad range of emotions with vibrotactile stimulation, especially at low signal intensities. During the first part of this thesis research, three types of prototypes were developed and explored using novel haptic technologies. The first was a circular array braille display consisting of eight small six-pin braille modules. The forty-eight pins were arranged in a circular shape to deliver circular tactile information such as time and direction. The second was a braille stick consisting of sixteen six-pin braille modules arranged in a row. The entire display could be easily grasped in the hand so that tactile information can be easily accessible. The third was a 3-by-3 electroactive polymer actuator array driven at high voltages that gives a subtle “tapping” feel on the skin. However, each of the three prototypes suffered from a limited range of expression and was not pursued further.<br> After the initial prototyping efforts, a 2-by-2 vibrotactile display, the palmScape, was conceived and developed. Custom-designed stimulation patterns based on natural phenomena that feel calm and pleasant were designed and implemented with the palmScape. We use text labels to set the context for the vibrotactile icons that attempt to capture and expresses natural metaphors through variations in signal amplitude, frequency, duration, rhythm, modulation, spatial extent, as well as slow movements. Fourteen participants evaluated twenty vibrotactile icons by rating the perceived valence and arousal levels. The twenty stimuli included sixteen custom-designed vibrotactile icons from this thesis research and four reference patterns from two published studies. The results show that our custom-designed patterns were rated at higher valence levels than the corresponding reference signals at similar arousal ratings. Five of the sixteen vibrotactile icons from this research occupied the fourth quadrant of the valence-arousal space that corresponds to calm and pleasant signals. These findings support the validity of the palmScape display and our signal design approach for achieving a calm and pleasant experience and the possibility of reaching a broader range of expressiveness with vibrotactile signals.<br> Future studies will continue with the design of signals that can express a broader range of metaphors and emotions through the palmScape, and build an emotional evaluation database that can be combined with other modalities. Our work can be further expanded to support an immersive experience with naturalistic-feeling vibrotactile effects and broaden the expressiveness of human-computer interfaces in media consumption, gaming, and other communicative application domains.

This thesis deals with designing of reality during the Ice Hockey World Championship 2011 in Bratislava, for which Robert Zaruba devised a unique project built on the myth of friendship and cohesion of the Czechs and the Slovaks.The theoretical basis of this work is the social construction of reality, according to which the reality in our minds is shaped by society. In the analysis of the structure of the broadcast channel CT 4, I am trying to find out how much does ice hockey push on viewer's mind and what is the amount of the Czech Republic and Slovakia national teams involvement. As a means of construction and reconstruction of the fictional world, the world created by its author, narrative is applied. The narratives typical for the structure of the CT4 are descibed in the next part in order to find a narrative that could serve as a template for the narrative of the championship. The final form of the narrative is shaped both by the narrator (presenter,commentator), who verbally describes what is happening and also the director whois responsible for the visual composition of the story. Features used in brodcasting, whose final analysis leads to the ability of distinction of the characters creating on the basis of similarity and context of highlighted object or those having arisen from anagreement among...

L’intérêt porté aux filmographies de cinéastes russes aussi différents qu’Andreï Tarkovski, Andreï Zviaguintsev et Kira Mouratova aboutit à la découverte d’une quête esthétique commune propre aux trois réalisateurs : l’élaboration d’une image cinématographique modelée par le temps autant dans sa matérialité filmique que dans sa puissance métaphorique. Cette approche artistique semble cristallisée dans le terme "kinoobraz" théorisé par Andreï Tarkovski qui s’impose dès lors comme un médium entre la recherche théorique et le champ d’expérimentation analytique de ce travail. Le terme russe "kinoobraz" traduit en français par « image cinématographique » recèle autant de problèmes que de potentiel théorique et analytique. La nature de cette recherche consiste donc en une appropriation, une réinvention et une mise à l’épreuve d’une notion ("kinoobraz"), trois opérations menées simultanément dans un parcours multiple. D’abord, une étude à la fois historique et théorique des conceptions russo-soviétiques de l’"obraz" (théologie des icônes orthodoxes à travers les textes de Pavel Florensky, l’"obraz" selon Sergueï Eisenstein, le "kinoobraz" de Tarkovski) révèle toute une série de résonances conceptuelles avec les théories françaises du figural (à partir du texte "Discours, figure" (1971) de Jean-François Lyotard). Cette confrontation entre la généalogie russe du "kinoobraz" et les propriétés esthétiques du figural, alimentée par la pratique de l’analyse filmique comparée, permet la redéfinition du "kinoobraz" comme un outil opératoire d’analyse. Ainsi, la mise à l’épreuve du "kinoobraz" dans le champ d’expérimentations analytiques sur le corpus de référence composé des films d’Andreï Tarkovski, Andreï Zviaguinstev et Kira Mouratova explore la spécificité temporelle de la matière filmique et du dispositif cinématographique. / Focusing on the cinema of three Russian different filmmakers such as Andreï Tarkovski, Andreï Zviaguintsev and Kira Mouratova, we discover a common aesthetic thread: the development of a film image molded by time both in film's materiality and in its metaphorical power. This artistic approach is crystallized by the term kinoobraz theorized by Andreï Tarkovski, whose ideas and films serve as a link between the theoretical research and the analytic experimentation of the present work. The Russian word "kinoobraz" is usually translated into English as “film image” but this translation does not reveal its full theoretical and analytic potentials. Our research aims at giving this notion its proper place, its reinvention and its use as a tool, all three conducted simultaneously on parallel tracks. Our exploration of this notion includes both historical and theoretical study of the Russian and Soviet conceptions of "obraz" through the theology of orthodox icons found in Pavel Florensky’s texts, its definition by Sergueï Eisenstein, and Tarkovski’s refinement as "kinoobraz". This study reveals a series of conceptual resonances with the French theories of figural (starting with Jean-François Lyotard’s work "Discours, figure" (1971)). The juxtaposition of the Russian genealogy of "kinoobraz" and the aesthetic traits of figural, nurtured by comparative film analysis, allows us to redefine kinoobraz as an analytic tool. Using this tool in the analytic experimentation based on the reference corpus of the films of Andreï Tarkovski, Andreï Zviaguintsev and Kira Mouratova leads us to a deeper understanding of the time specificity of the film matter and the cinematic "dispositif".

圖例選單自80年代麥金塔電腦中開始使用後，由於Windows作業系統的普及，愈來愈多的應用軟體採用圖例選單或圖例加文字選單。本研究試圖加入一些可能會影響使用效果的使用者特質變數：如年齡、性別、電腦使用者經驗、使用者對工作熟悉度等，及工作性質變數：如工作複雜度高低，來探討三種不同之人機介面呈現方式：文字選單、圖例選單、文字加圖例選單的客觀使用績效及主觀滿意度。 　　本研究以自行發展之三種不同的選單軟體為實驗工具，選用二種不同之工作性質：文書處理（複雜度較高）及圖書查詢（複雜度較低），分別以政大及政大實小的242位學生為受試者進行實驗。全部測驗時間約一個小時至一個半小時，每班同學隨機分為三組，分別使用某一種選單的實驗工具，測驗只分五部份：事前說明、利用選單完成指定工作、記憶性測驗、滿意度測量、及使用者特質問卷。除事前說明外，其他部份均採線上作業，所有結果均自動記錄在電腦檔案中。 　　本研究結論可分三方面：(1)使用不同的選單在使用績效（完成工作所需時間、正確性、重複處理次數）、記憶性及主觀滿意度 （系統學習性、系統使用性、文字或圖例安排恰當、文字或圖例幫助記憶、及有趣性上）呈顯著差異，顯示三種不同之選單確實對客觀使用績效及主觀滿意度有影響。(2)使用者特質如性別、過去使用電腦的經驗、學歷、對測驗工作的熟悉程度會影響使用績效，但使用者特質並不會間接影響三種選單的使用績效。(3)工作性質的複雜度，影響選單的複雜度，而由於螢幕畫面大小固定，選單的複雜度會影響選單中每一選項所能佔用之位置大小，選項佔用位置的大小對圖例加文字選單之使用績效及滿意度影響最大，對圖例選單次之，文字選單又次之。所以不同的工作性質，三種選單之使用績效及滿意度表現呈不同方式。但是在記憶性測量及主觀有趣性判斷上，圖例選單或圖例加文字選單的表現卻不受工作性質影響，始終優於文字選單。

本研究的主要目的有二：一為探討多媒體軟體使用者介面的螢幕標示效果 與使用者反應時間之間的關係，另一為探討多媒體軟體使用者介面的螢幕 標示效果與使用者主觀態度之間的關係。實驗中根據物件文字標示與表徵 圖文字標示兩個變數，分為實驗組與控制組，其中實驗組具備物件文字標 示與表徵圖文字標示，而控制組則不具備物件文字標示與表徵圖文字標示 。本實證研究中，對二百零三位大學商學院一、二年級生進行測試，包括 線上雛型系統軟體測試與使用者主觀評估問卷兩部份。其中線上雛型系統 軟體測試的主要收集資料為使用者反應時間，而使用者主觀評估問卷則收 集系統內記憶性問題及使用者主觀態度等資料。研究進行方法如下：．依 學生隨機安排在電腦教室內上機，由預先安裝好的軟體來決定實驗組與控 制組。．首先系統將顯示中文之遊戲說明，以及各功能鍵所代表之意義， 使用者按滑鼠鍵即可進入遊戲。．於遊戲結束後，系統以自動方式展示一 段與先前系統不同的示範，在實驗組中，系統提供的是不具圖件文字標示 ╱表徵圖文字標示的展示，而在控制組中，系統提供的是具備圖件文字標 示╱表徵圖文字標示的展示。 ．自動展示停止之後，使用者始填答問 卷。 ．進行問卷評估與線上資料收集。實證研究結果顯示，在使 用者反應時間方面，實驗組與控制組之間確實有顯著差異 (P = 0.01)， 而在使用者性別與使用者年級方面， 使用者反應時間的差異性則並不明 顯 ( P of GRADE = 0.3348, P of GENDER = 0.2975)。至於主觀評 估問卷方面，大部分受測者皆肯定螢幕上圖件文字標示與表徵圖文字標示 存在的必要性，認為確實對系統進行有幫助，其中又以對於表徵圖文字標 示表示肯定者較多。

Investigación hemerográfica avalada por la reconstrucción y la deconstrucción de documentos portadores del eco social de un personaje, Francisco Rabal, que ni pasó desapercibido por la sociedad, los escenarios y los platós, ni puede ser ignorado por la historia y los anales del cine, el teatro y la interpretación en general. Han sido utilizados métodos concretos de investigación social de carácter cualitativo, descriptivo e interpretativo; análisis de contenidos de prensa en una investigación rigurosa sobre el tratamiento periodístico visto aquel en el escenario del universo del mensaje y contemplado éste tanto por sí solo como desde la perspectiva hemerográfica, en la que adquiere una importancia extrema la comunicación no verbal, el valor de lo icónico. Los interesados en estas investigaciones encontrarán una herramienta muy válida: la conjunción de periodismo y sociología para que el resultado ofrezca esa visión transversal solamente presente en el ámbito contextualizado de las Ciencias Humanas. / Newspaper investigation guaranteed by the construction and the desconstruction of documents , bearers of the social echo of a character, Francisco Rabal, who neither went unnoticed by the society, the stages and the sets, nor can be ignored by the cinema history and annals, the theatre and the performance in general. Specific methods of social investigation of qualitative, descriptive and interpretative nature have been used: press contents analysis in a rigorous research about the journalistic processing, seen the former in the scene of the universe of the message and considered the latter so much by itself as from the newspaper prospect, in which the non verbal communication, the value of the icon acquires an extreme importance.People interested in these investigations will find a very valid tool: the conjunction of journalism and sociology for the result to offer that cross view only set in the context of Human Sciences.

In this dissertation on Nat Nakasa I argue, in Chapter 1, that he is one of South Africa's first literary flaneurs. Walking the city as an urban spectator, part journalist, part sociologist, his modernist writings of the metropolis celebrate Johannesburg and also place him in a broad international context. His `tactics of the habitat', in Foucault's phrase, become subversive ruses, a navigation through the cultural seam of South Africa in the 1960s, and this approach offers an alternative to a reductionist anti-apartheid critique. Chapter 2 analyses the excavation of his memory and subsequent elevation to media icon, with the naming of the SANEF Award for Media Integrity after him. Chapter 3 discusses how his auto/biographical writings and representation of self and other contribute to `making history's silences speak'. Finally in chapter 4, I discuss his elusive identity as part of the Drum generation, an insider/outsider, and his exile and suicide in America. / English Studies / M.A. (English)

Saint Francis' quest for the Crucified through the San Damiano Cross Abstract The encounter with the Crucified is the constitutive element of the spirituality of Saint Francis of Assisi. The objective of my thesis is finding the deeper understanding of Francis' perception of the cross. The topic should be elucidated by the San Damiano Cross Icon and other moments of the Saint of Assisi's life. The study of Francis' relation to the cross will be put into an appropriate context: the theology of the cross is mainly ingrained in the Jesus Christ's Mystery of Easter. This knowledge is deepened in life of the Early Church and, through the enriching epoch-making interposition even the "poor little" of Assisi may experience its fruits. In the fundamental part of the text I will organize the key materials for the study of Francis' relation to the crucified Christ contained in the franciscan sources with the help of the newest literature. Therefore the thesis will offer a complex view to one of the crucial moments of Francis' conversion. Keywords Saint Francis of Assisi, San Damiano, icon, cross, theology of the cross, The Crucified, history of the cross, speaking cross, franciscan sources, St. Paul, St. Bonaventure

The aim of this study is to create and evaluate a grammar for a visual language, which is to be used in the medical domain. The grammar was created with gestalt laws in mind. The grammar must also fit, in part, with the ontology of the clinical terminology SNOMED CT. Evaluation was conducted with think aloud tests and with complementary semi-structured interviews. The participants overall believed that a complementary visual language for patient journals would be useful, and the majority understood the logic behind the grammar. Most complaints were about some of the pictograms in the icons of the grammar, which were unclear, and some requested a clear time axis to be included. Another suggestionwas to add pop-up boxes with more detailed information. This is only the first step in a big project and there is potential for many improvements - future development of this visual language should be done in iterations by teams of complementing competencies.

Den här uppsatsen fokuserar på autenticitet inom rapp: hur den skapas och bibehålls. Först introduceras genren ”gangsterrapp” och därefter analyseras en uppsättning av låtar inom genren både text-, ljud- och bildmässigt. Därefter följer en diskussion om mina undersökningsresultat och slutsatsen att svenska gangsterrappare skapar autenticitet genom att vara kriminella. Oavsett var de kommer från eller vilka de känner presenterar gangsterrapparna sig som frontfigurer för stora kriminella nätverk och använder sina texter som en slags ”gangsters dagbok”. Teman såsom polishat, drogförsäljning och kallblodigt mord förekommer ofta och är till och med förväntade. / This paper focuses on authenticity in rap: how it is created and maintained. First, I introduce the subgenre of “gangsta rap” and how it is defined. Then, I continue by analyzing a set of songs both lyrically, audibly and visually, and while direct audible differences are included, they are deemed less important than the social aspect of said songs. Subsequently follows a discussion of my findings and the conclusion that Swedish gangster rappers create authenticity by being criminals. No matter where they come from, or who they know they will always present themselves as the front figure of vast criminal networks and use their lyrics as a form of “gangster diary.” Themes such as hating the police, selling drugs and killing in cold blood are commonplace and are even expected.