This report provides a description of the development and implementation of an Exoplanet visualization within the interactive astro-visualization software OpenSpace. Orbital Data from The Exoplanet Orbit Database were used to render the planetary systems around stars known to have exoplanets in orbit. The uncertainties of the data in the database were incorporated into the design of the visualization. A feature that visualizes the discovery method of exoplanets was also implemented.

This research looks at the Hotel Yeoville (2010) public digital art project and offers an analysis towards understanding how through this creative intervention a public discourse can be inclusive of marginalised African immigrant groups living in South Africa. The marginal status of African immigrant groups in South Africa, is consistently similar in the digital arts field where there is no evident critique of the public art methods employed by art practitioners in engaging these marginalised groups. The agenda of Hotel Yeoville was particularly an attempt to counter the marginalising brutal and muted representations of these groups in mainstream media. In order for this creative intervention to effect such change, its public element needed to display a public vibrancy that was inclusive of the pluralistic opinions and voices of the African immigrant groups. However this public art project revealed paradoxes and complexities that are at the core of public art practise, and also highlighted the ambivalence of a strong creative product with an uncertain public‐ness.

This work is a study with the question What are important qualities within a dialogue system for RPG games? About dialogue systems in RPG games to try to identify important qualities to find out what it is that creates a good dialogue system. In the background, research on dialogue systems, dialogues with NPCs, other forms of dialogue systems and game design is observed. The study resulted in a ready-made analysis model that can be used for RPG games within the same genre and a number of important attributes that a dialogue system should have in order to be defined as good. The question is answered using a content analysis of three RPG games, selected with the help of an expert panel consisting of skilled in the field, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2, Oxenfree and Life is Strange. In order to analyze the results of the content analysis, previous research and theories like agency, the Eliza effect and what will be called Freemans techniques have been used to form an analysis model that has been used to carry out a content analysis. The result shows both similarities and differences in the dialogue between different games within the genre RPG-games. A good dialogue system contains qualities that have a good level of agency to give the player the opportunity to choose what the character should say to create emotions. Also opportunities not to participate in a dialogue was found extra interesting as several games do not have that option. The game's dialogue should be perceived as complex, realistic and personal to the player so that it can be taken seriously and convincingly create emotions.

No description available.

No description available.

Thesis: S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, 2017 / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 41-45). / Video game players experience opposing motivations to cooperate and compete in multiplayer games. The most pervasive multiplayer games today-massively multiplayer role playing and team-based competitive games-rely on a common compromise: they stratify players by their skill and in-game resources. This design choice limits a player's most meaningful forms of cooperation: participating in novel tactics and strategies, writing her own story, and being part of another player's journey towards greatness in the game. This thesis presents "Minionate," a digital collectible card game that transforms one-versus-one competitive matchups into a multiplayer experience. It introduces new mechanics that enable meaningful and asynchronous interactions between players of different skills; a radical improvement on existing competitive games. Based on an analysis of cards using these mechanics, Minionate gives players new ways to interact in highly competitive games. / by Benjamin S. Berman. / S.M. / S.M. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences

The distribution of mobile applications is evolving, and the developers are seeking to gain economic advantages, as well as reaping the benefits of the current market opportunities. But studies show that a majority of the mobile users are not willing to pay for a mobile application. This dilemma complicates the economic gain for the developers and for the brands behind the mobile application. But is there a solution for this dilemma, for the developers to obtain? This paper investigates what aspects affects people’s willingness to pay for application and what factors increases people’s willingness to pay for applications. By combining a scientific literature review followed by semi-structured interviews with 19 participants, 8 guidelines were formed in order to answer what affects people’s willingness to pay for a mobile application and what aspects increases people’s willingness to pay for mobile applications.

This dissertation interrogates how Florida’s major electric utility companies actively suppressed the nascent solar energy industry in their effort to consolidate solar energy production into their hands during the 2015-2016 election cycle. Along with this, newspaper coverage of this issue was analyzed to determine how the fight was presented to the public and whether prevailing commercial pressures that influence the news production process affected the coverage of this issue. Finally, audience commentary about this issue was explored to determine how Facebook users made sense of this issue and whether the commentary reflected the prominent themes that were also present in the news coverage. Results highlight the economic and political ties between the utility companies and their support network as well as the solar supporters and their affiliated network that squared off in this fight. Additionally, findings reveal that commercial pressures to the news production process resulted in news coverage that portrayed this issue this to the public from a small handful of viewpoints, limiting the range of perspectives from which this issue may legitimately be discussed. Furthermore, results indicate that Facebook users who commented on this issue largely reflected the same perspectives and concerns that were present in the news coverage. Final conclusions and recommendations for changes to the news production process are provided. / A Dissertation submitted to the School of Communication in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester 2018. / April 12, 2018. / Environmental Communication, Newspapers, Political Economy, Social Media, Solar Energy / Includes bibliographical references. / Jennifer M. Proffitt, Professor Directing Dissertation; Michelle M. Kazmer, University Representative; Andy Opel, Committee Member; Brian Graves, Committee Member.

Thesis: S.M. in Comparative Media Studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Humanities, 2017. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references. / Utilizing critical and feminist science and technology studies methods, this thesis offers a new framework, called critical breaking, to allow for reflective and critical examination and analysis of instances of error, breakdown, and failure in digital systems. This framework has three key analytic goals: auditing systems, forging better relationships with systems, and discovering elements of the context in which these systems exist. This framework is further explored by the examination of three case studies of communities of breaking practice: video game speed-runners, software testers, and hacktivists. In each case, critical breaking is further developed in reflection of resonant and dissonant elements of each practice with critical breaking. In addition, artistic productions related to these case studies are also introduced as inflection points and potential alternative expressions of critical breaking analysis. The goal of this thesis is to provide a way to engage with breakdown and error and more than simply the negation of the good or as a sensationalist talking point, and instead use it as a fecund place for reflective, analytic growth. / by Christopher Kerich. / S.M. in Comparative Media Studies

Thesis: S.M. in Comparative Media Studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Humanities, 2017. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 73-79). / This thesis develops an intersectional, critical analysis of the field of practice known as Civic Tech and highlights other relevant community-organizing and activist practices that utilize technology as a central component. First, I develop critiques of Civic Tech as a dominant technocratic, neoliberal approach to democracy and bureaucracy and trace the history and intellectual genealogy of this specific movement. I then highlight civic technologies outside of the field of Civic Tech that have resulted in more redistributive and democratic outcomes, especially for Black people and other people of color. Finally, I define a research and design practice called Critical Community Technology Pedagogy that is demystificatory, multi-directional, transferable, and constructive, and draws upon examples from the Civic Lab for Environmental Action Research (CLEAR) in Newfoundland, Data DiscoTechs in Detroit, and the Center for Urban Pedagogy in New York City. / by Maya M. Wagoner. / S.M. in Comparative Media Studies