Thesis (Ed. D.)--Illinois State University, 2006. / Title from title page screen, viewed on May 11, 2007. Dissertation Committee: Dent Rhodes (chair), Janice Neuleib, Barbara Nourie, Gary O'Malley. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 159-167) and abstract. Also available in print.

This is a PhD by practice that explores how people’s experiences of digital systems can be made physically and visually apparent using models and activities I have designed. The theoretical context for this PhD centres on internal and external models of people’s experiences with digital systems. This is an AHRC funded PhD written as part of the Creative Exchange, which supports collaborative research projects conducted with industry and academic partners. The way people experience digital systems can be dif cult to observe, and is experienced via complex, fragmented interfaces with hidden effects. We often nd that digital systems have a attening effect, and are frustrating and confusing to use, while our actions and behaviours are invisibly tracked and analysed. There is thus a need for people to gain awareness of the ways they experience digital systems. My primary research question focuses on the design characteristics of visual and physical models that externalise individual and group experiences of digital systems. Secondary questions include: What effects do the material properties of externalising models have on how digital systems are represented? and What types of activities externalise representations of digital systems? These questions are explored through case studies that focus on a set of digital systems identi ed through the research including web browsing, digital social networks, and image metadata. The first two case studies are exploratory, the third is applied. I completed these case studies in three collaborative settings, employing qualitative data collection methods including drawing, physical modelling and semi-structured interviews. I draw on theories of representation and cognition, and Dix and Gongora’s theory of externalisation in design, and apply them to new contexts and situations. My units of analysis are the externalising models and participants’ spoken accounts of making them. The ndings include: externalising experiences of digital systems using diverse materials is a way of countering attening effects; deploying new non-linguistic metaphors to represent experiences of digital systems is an important way of understanding and communicating them; and designing situations where people can create self-constructed representations of their experiences of digital systems enables narrative sequences, tangible expressions, and shared descriptions. My research is useful for the insight it provides participants into their own experiences with everyday digital systems, giving them better ways of understanding how digital systems shape their lives. It is also useful for designers working with people to nd out about their experiences of digital systems, and design researchers who are developing novel elicitation methods. My original contributions to knowledge include new contexts for externalising models, applying externalisation to experiences of digital systems, and recommendations for how designers can create objects and activities to externalise the experiences of digital systems of non- designers.

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This thesis concerns a particular relationship between music practice, computer technology and the importance of rhythm as a vehicle of musical expression. The intention is to explore new technology to allow for computer-mediated improvisation of rhythmic forms that are derived from a consideration of West African drumming. In developing the thesis an analysis of personal practice is used to reveal the role of music technology and the musical aims implicit behind its adoption. The exploration of rhythm is seen as important both compositionally and as a means of mediating collaborative musical expression, and can be understood as the exploration of a particular form of complexity. In considering its importance, the idea of music as 'embodied action' is discussed and music is considered as a form of knowledge and communication equal to spoken language but different from it. These considerations form the background for a discussion of the musical potential that may lie within certain key developments in artificial life, situated robotics, and the computer modelling of perception. These technologies are looked at for their ability to recognize rhythmic complexity and to be able to suggest subtle adaptations of complex rhythmic forms. A proposal of an 'adaptive rhythm synthesis' is put forward. In its consideration, the rhythmic structures and improvisational styles found in West African music are seen to pose particular challenges for computer modelling and a range of possible solutions is explored. A consideration is also given to the nature of machine 'autonomy'. It is suggested that the progress may lie in some combination of these solutions. Finally, some thoughts about the relationship between art, music and science are discussed.

This thesis addresses the problem of using qualitative descriptions produced from naturalistic field studies to inform the design of interactive technologies. Specifically, it describes the use of a conceptual framework conceived to bridge the divide between naturalistic field studies and design. The presented framework is based on activity theory and its foundations in cultural historical psychology. The thesis begins with an overview of the trend amongst researchers and practitioners to use naturalistic studies in the human-computer interaction and computer-supported collaborative work design fields. It focuses on the use of such studies in mobile device design. In doing so, it outlines the problems faced in drawing on the naturalistic descriptions produced from fieldwork studies to inform design. From a review of existing design approaches, activity theory is shown to offer several characteristics that may be useful in modelling naturalistic descriptions for the purposes of design. The thesis describes the theoretical underpinnings of activity theory and its relationship to design. This is followed by a closer inspection of the activity theory framework. It is revealed that the framework lacks a systematic means to incorporate naturalistic descriptions. An expanded conception of the framework is thus described that draws on some elements of ethnomethodology to orient naturalistic descriptions so that they are commensurate to activity theory's nomenclature. As a proof of principle, the application of the expanded framework is undertaken using the results from an empirical investigation of teenagers and their use of mobile telephones. Two interpretations of the fieldwork data are presented; one indicates that teenagers use their mobile phones to participate in the social practices of exchange and the second views the use of phones as contributing to localised forms of subversion. Both interpretations are modelled using the framework and subsequently used to outline a number of design implications. To conclude, the thesis summarises the overall success of the expanded activity theory framework. It is suggested the framework has sufficient means to model naturalistic descriptions but in practical terms it is likely to be overly demanding. It is argued that the need to adhere to the overarching theoretical framework is impractical in workaday design. An alternative toolbox approach is proposed that is able to draw upon some of the methods made available in activity theory. An argument is also put forward to draw on more general forms of sociological inquiry for the purposes of design.

SAMPAIO, Artur Pereira. Temporally coherent sculpture of composite objects. 2017. 67 f. Tese (Doutorado em Ciência da Computação)-Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza, 2017. / Submitted by Jonatas Martins (jonatasmartins@lia.ufc.br) on 2017-09-26T19:48:12Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2017_tese_apsampaio.pdf: 73477614 bytes, checksum: 49861ce00f0635a78ad41b8260e6be32 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Rocilda Sales (rocilda@ufc.br) on 2017-09-27T11:14:56Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 2017_tese_apsampaio.pdf: 73477614 bytes, checksum: 49861ce00f0635a78ad41b8260e6be32 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-09-27T11:14:56Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2017_tese_apsampaio.pdf: 73477614 bytes, checksum: 49861ce00f0635a78ad41b8260e6be32 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017 / We address the problem of sculpting and deforming shapes composed of small, randomly placed objects. Objects may be tightly packed - such as pebbles, pills, seeds and grains, or may be sparsely distributed with an overarching shape - such as flocks of birds or schools of fishes. Virtual sculpture has rapidly become a standard in the entertainment industry, as evidenced by the extensive use of software such as ZBrush Pixologic (2017b). Composites, though, are still usually created in a static way by individually placing each object or by sculpting a support surface and procedurally populating the final shape, which raises problems for the generalization of evolving shapes with visual continuity of the components. Large amounts of geometrical data are generated that must be maintained and processed, both by the CPU and by the GPU. Whenever the shape is stretched, pressed or deformed, one has to define how these compositing objects should turn, displace or disappear inside the volume, as well as how new instances should become visible to the outside. It is difficult to rely on a physical system to perform that task in real time. The system we suggest can be constructed upon any uniform mesh-based representation that can be deformed and whose connectivity can be updated by operations such as edge splits, collapses, and flips. We introduce the notion of CompEls as composing elements used to populate the mesh, with aperiodic distribution. These can be automatically updated under deformation. The idea is to sculpt the shape as if it were filled with little objects, without handling the complexity of manipulating volumetric objects. For this purpose, we suggest exploiting the properties of the uniform sampling of the surface with distances between vertices greatly exceeding the CompEls distances. Both the surface and the CompEls are immersed into deformation fields, such that the update of the uniform sampling can be used to track the movement of the CompEls, to identify those which should disappear inside the shape, and empty areas where further CompEls should be generated. This system uses GPU optimizations to efficiently perform the rendering of individual components. To our knowledge, no previous sculpting system allows the user to simultaneously see and sculpt agglomerates in such a fast and reliable fashion. / Esta tese trata do problema da escultura e deformação de formas compostas de pequenos objetos aleatoriamente distribuídos. Objetos podem estar fortemente agrupados - como pedregulhos, pílulas, sementes e grãos - ou estar escassamente distribuídos ao longo de uma forma global - como bandos de aves ou escolas de peixes. Escultura virtual tornou-se rapidamente o padrão na indústria de entretenimento, como evidenciado pelo extenso uso de aplicativos como o ZBrush. Objetos compostos, por outro lado, ainda são usualmente criados de maneira estática, por meio do posicionamento individual de cada objeto; ou por meio da escultura de uma superfície de suporte a ser povoada de maneira procedural. A generalização dessa abordagem é problemática quando se considera formas dinâmicas e a necessidade de continuidade visual dos elementos componentes. Uma grande quantidade de dados geométricos é gerada, que precisa ser mantida e processada, tanto pela CPU como pela GPU. Sempre que a forma é esticada, pressionada ou deformada, é necessária a definição de como esses objetos componentes devem girar, se deslocar ou desaparecer dentro do volume, assim como de que maneira novas instâncias devem se tornar visíveis na superfície. Depender de um sistema físico para a tarefa em tempo real é inviável em função da quantidade de dados. A técnica que propomos pode ser implementada sobre qualquer representação baseada em malhas uniformes, que possam ser deformadas, e cuja conectividade possa ser atualizada por meio de operações como colapso, subdivisão e rotação de arestas. Nós introduzimos o conceito de CompEls como elementos componentes utilizados para povoar a malha, com distribuição aperiódica. A ideia é esculpir a forma como se ela estivesse repleta de pequenos objetos, sem a preocupação com a complexidade da manipulação de objetos compostos. Para este fim, propomos explorar a as propriedades da amostragem uniforme da superfície, com distâncias entre vértices excedendo em grande medida as distâncias entre CompEls. Ambos, superfície e CompEls, são imersos em campos de deformação, de tal forma que a atualização da amostragem uniforme possa ser utilizada para rastrear o deslocamento de CompEls, para identificar aqueles que devem desaparecer no interior do objeto, e para identificar áreas vazias onde novos CompEls devem ser gerados. Esse algoritmo se utiliza de otimizações de GPU para realizar a rasterização eficiente de componentes individuais. Até onde sabemos, nenhum sistema anterior de escultura virtual permite que o usuário, de forma simultânea, veja e esculpa aglomerados de maneira simples e confiável.

This practice-based research investigates how projection mapping develops a distinctive relationship between screen, moving image, and space in projected moving-image art. Despite projection mapping’s growing popularity, little in-depth research has been conducted on this medium. This lack of research and the superficial nature of many projects have led artists and researchers to regard the medium as a mere technique that serves only to decorate three-dimensional surfaces. Rather than view projection mapping simply as a digital technique, my research situates it in the continuum of projected moving-image installation artwork. To do this, I examine projection mapping’s screen, narrative, and surrounding space—the constituents of all projected moving-image installation art—through the lenses of surface and depth. In addition to considering cinematic frames, I analyse these traits through artistic lenses such as painting, site-specific art, and architecture to investigate how projection mapping reconfigures the constituents that comprise all screen-based projected moving-image works. In so doing, I define the ways which projection mapping develops its distinctive relationship among these constituents. I conducted three projects in a cyclical developmental process using a reflective methodology derived from case study research: defining the question, recording the process, analysing, and reflecting. My practices as case studies are integral parts of this thesis investigation of how projection mapping generates a distinctive relationship. This study aims to contribute to the body of knowledge about an under-researched area, projection mapping, by providing an in-depth conceptual and practical analysis of this medium. The knowledge resulting from the research is embodied in findings from contextual reviews and original artworks produced as case studies.

The thesis called ``Employing Interactive Whiteboard Effectively in German Lessons at Basic School{\crqq} introduces a modern gadget {--} an interactive whiteboard {--} and the possibilities of it´s usage in German classes at basic school. Technological development has progressed and interactive whiteboards have brought new teaching methods. In the theoretical part producers and types of interactive whiteboards and their accessories are mentioned. Reference to interactive textbooks, portals and materials and thein availibility on-line are described. The service instructions should ease the first encounter with an interactive whiteboard. The aims of this thesis are to find out if it is possilble to use an interactive whiteboard while teaching effectively and what the benefit of it´s usage is.

Class of 2014 Abstract / Specific Aims: To create and implement an educational presentation on polypharmacy using interactive strategies. Secondly, to assess the effectiveness of the interventional presentation by evaluating its helpfulness in improving polypharmacy awareness among older adults as measured by a retrospective pre-post participant survey. Methods: Residents of select independent senior living facilities in Tucson, Arizona were invited to attend an interactive, educational program entitled "What is Polypharmacy?" presented by fourth-year Doctor of Pharmacy students. This program consisted of a 30-minute PowerPoint presentation, which included various interactive learning approaches, followed by a 10-minute question and answer period. An anonymous retrospective pre-post survey was distributed to the participants after the presentation to evaluate the effectiveness and helpfulness of the program, as determined by the participants’ ratings on Likert-type scales and willingness to confidently engage in medication self-management. Main Results: Of the 73 participants from the six independent living facilities, 55 surveys were collected from the residents and 54 surveys were included in the data analysis. The retrospective pre-post data analysis found that familiarity with the definition of polypharmacy increased (p<0.001), understanding of the risks of polypharmacy increased (p<0.001), and the willingness to manage one’s own medications increased (p=0.045). Overall, 95.9% of the participants found this educational program to be helpful, and 95.8% of the participants would recommend this program to a friend. Conclusion: The interactive, educational program about polypharmacy, created and presented by pharmacy students, was helpful and effective in increasing polypharmacy awareness among older adults residing in independent senior living facilities.

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