Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, 2018. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 209-223). / Sensor device miniaturization and breakthroughs in novel materials are allowing for the placement of technology increasingly close to our physical bodies. However, unlike all other media, the human body is not simply another surface for enhancement - it is the substance of life, one that encompasses the complexity of individual and social identity. The human body is inseparable from the cultural, the social, and the political, yet technologies for placement on the body have often been developed separately from these considerations, with an emphasis on engineering breakthroughs. This dissertation investigates opportunities for cultural interventions in the development of technologies that move beyond wearable clothing and accessories, and that are purposefully designed to be placed directly on the skin surface. How can we design emerging on-body interfaces to reflect existing cultural practices of decorating the body, with the intent to expand the agency of self-expression? This dissertation looks at this question through the development of a series of research artifacts, and the contextualization of a design space for culturally sensitive design. In this dissertation, Body Craft is defined as existing cultural, historical, and fashion-driven practices and rituals associated with body decoration, ornamentation, and modification. As its name implies, Hybrid Body Craft (HBC) is an attempt to hybridize technology with body craft materials, form factors, and application rituals, with the intention of integrating existing cultural practices with new technological functions that have no prior relationships with the human body. With this grounding, HBC seeks to support the generation of future technologized customs in which technology is integrated into culturally meaningful body adornments. The artifacts in this dissertation encompass the integration of technologies such as flexible electronics, chemical processes, and bio-compatible materials into existing Body Craft customs. These artifacts contribute novel, culturally inspired form factors, and introduce unprecedented interaction modalities for on-body technologies. A design space is created in which to examine shifts in the communicative qualities of these Body Crafts due to the integration of technology, as well as new forms of self-expression that have emerged. This dissertation contributes a culturally sensitive lens to the design of on-body technologies. The intention is to expand their lifetimes and purposes beyond mere novelty and into the realms of cultural customs and traditions. / by Hsin-Liu (Cindy) Kao. / Ph. D.

Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, 2018. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 193-214). / Civic technology should empower us as citizens. Despite its breadth as a field, civic technology often takes its lead from Silicon Valley companies that espouse design goals potentially hazardous to participatory democracy. In this dissertation, I explore: How might we design civic technologies for citizen empowerment and evaluate their impact on this goal? With their growing role as mediators of democracy, it is insufficient for civic technology designers to evaluate their designs in terms of ease of use and increased engagement with their platform. Research from political and developmental psychology shows the importance to lifelong civic engagement of learning experiences that cultivate a citizen's perception they can make change (political efficacy) and their belief in having responsibilities to the public good (civic identity). To achieve these positive feedback loops, we need a richer framework for civic technology design. This dissertation proposes two solutions: 1) empowerment-based design principles for civic technology and 2) a prototype toolkit for evaluating the impact of civic technology on political efficacy. Because empowerment is contextual, the proposals here focus on tools and platforms built to support "monitorial citizenship," an increasingly popular form of civic engagement aimed at holding institutions accountable. To see these solutions in action, I report on a case study of SeeClickFix, a civic technology company that builds tools enabling citizens to report infrastructure problems to local governments. Two surveys of political efficacy and a randomized experiment with active users of SeeClickFix, followed by interviews with SeeClickFix staff, indicate the validity and utility of evaluating political efficacy as a measure of empowerment as well as the limitations of testing for incremental improvements. / by Erhardt Graeff. / Ph. D.

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 68-73). / Histopathology is the microscopic examination of processed human tissues to diagnose conditions like cancer, tuberculosis, anemia and myocardial infractions. The diagnostic procedure is, however, very tedious, time-consuming and prone to misinterpretation. It also requires highly trained pathologists to operate, making it unsuitable for large-scale screening in resource-constrained settings, where experts are scarce and expensive. In this thesis, we present a software system for automated screening, backed by deep learning algorithms. This cost-effective, easily-scalable solution can be operated by minimally trained health workers and would extend the reach of histopathological analyses to settings such as rural villages, mass-screening camps and mobile health clinics. With metastatic breast cancer as our primary case study, we describe how the system could be used to test for the presence of a tumor, determine the precise location of a lesion, as well as the severity stage of a patient. We examine how the algorithms are combined into an end-to-end pipeline for utilization by hospitals, doctors and clinicians on a Software as a Service (SaaS) model. Finally, we discuss potential deployment strategies for the technology, as well an analysis of the market and distribution chain in the specific case of the current Indian healthcare ecosystem. / by Mrinal Mohit. / S.M.

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 72-74). / A Sonic Artifact is a physical object that represents and contains a musical album and allows for real time interaction with the listener. We restore the association of music with the physical artifact of its delivery, a design of the music merchandise of the future, now with the ability to interact with the music in real time. Rather than the audio experience being delivered as a file via a centralized music streaming platform or other method, the music will reside in an active environment associated with the artist. The musical experience has the potential to be unique upon each listen and the total composition and is dependent on the actions of the listener. If the listener chooses, they get to be a part of the composition. / by Brian Tice. / S.M.

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 75-79). / This thesis lays the foundation for an integrated machine learning framework for the evolutionary analysis, search and design of proteins, based on a hierarchical decomposition of proteins into a set of functional motif embeddings. We introduce, CoMET - Convolutional Motif Embeddings Tool, a machine learning framework that allows the automated extraction of nonlinear motif representations from large sets of protein sequences. At the core of CoMET, lies a Deep Convolutional Neural Network, trained to learn a basis set of motif embeddings by minimizing any desired objective function. CoMET is successfully trained to extract all known motifs across Transcription Factors and CRISPR Associated proteins, without requiring any prior knowledge about the nature of the motifs or their distribution. We demonstrate that motif embeddings can model efficiently inter- and intra- family relationships. Furthermore, we provide novel protein meta-family clusters, formed by taking into account a hierarchical conserved motif phylogeny for each protein instead of a single ultra-conserved region. Lastly, we investigate the generative ability of CoMET and develop computational methods that allow the directed evolution of proteins towards altered or novel functions. We trained a highly accurate predictive model on the DNA recognition code of the Type II restriction enzymes. Based on the promising prediction results, we used the trained models to generate de novo restriction enzymes and paved the way towards the computational design of a restriction enzyme that will cut a given arbitrary DNA sequence with high precision. / by Thrasyvoulos Karydis. / S.M.

Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, 2016. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 127-132). / The ability to create, design, and express oneself with technology is an important fluency for full participation in today's digitally mediated society. Social support can play a major role in engaging and deepening what young people can learn and do with technology. In particular, parents can play many roles, such as being collaborators, resource providers, and co-learners with their kids. In this dissertation, I explore the possibilities of engaging kids and their families as computational creators - providing opportunities and support to enable them to create things they care about with computing, to see themselves as creators, and to imagine the ways they can shape their world. I especially focus on families with limited access to resources and social support around computing. I describe the design of a community-based outreach program called Family Creative Learning, which invites kids, their families, and other families in their community to create and learn together using creative technologies. I use a qualitative approach to document the complex and diverse learning experiences of families. Through studies of family participation, I examine how kids and their parents supported one another and how the Family Creative Learning environment, activities, tools, and facilitation supported families in their development as computational creators. As families built projects, they also built perspectives in how they saw themselves, each other, and computing - developing identities as computational creators. / by Ricarose Roque. / Ph. D.

Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, 2016. / This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections. / Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 137-145). / Many problems of economic and societal interest in today's world involve tasks that are inherently distributed in nature. Whether it be the efficient control of robotic warehouses or delivery drones, distributed computing in the Internet of things, or battling a disease outbreak in a city, they all share a common setting where multiple agents collaborate to jointly solve a larger task. he ability to quickly and effective solutions in such multiagent systems (MASs) forms an important prerequisite for enabling applications that require flexibility to changes in tasks or availability of agents. his thesis contributes to the understanding and efficient exploitation of locality for the solution of general, cooperative multiagent Markov Decision Processes (MDPs). To achieve this, the proposed approximation architectures assume that the solution of the overall system can be represented with sparsely interacting (i.e., local) value function components that -- if found -- approximate the global solution well. Locality takes on multiple interpretations, from its spatial sense to more general sparse interactions between subsets of agents, and the efficient representation of local effects in large planning problems. Developed in the thesis are computational methods for extracting sparse agent coordination structure automatically in general, cooperative MDPs. Based on novel theoretical insights about factored value functions, the proposed algorithms automate the search for coordination via principled basis expansion in the approximate linear program (ALP). We show that the search maintains bounded solutions with respect to the optimal solution and that the bound improves monotonically. Introduced then are novel solution methods that exploit "anonymous influence" in a particular class of factored MDPs. We show how anonymity can lead to representational and computational efficiencies, both for general variable elimination in a factor graph but also for the ALP solution to factored MDPs. he latter allows to scale linear programming to MDPs that were previously unsolvable. Complex MAS applications require a principled trade-off between complexity in agent coordination and solution quality. he thesis results enable bounded approximate solutions to large multiagent control problems -- e.g., disease control with up to 50 agents in graphs with 100 nodes -- for which previously only empirical results were reported. / by Philipp Robbel. / Ph. D.

Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, 2016. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 183-197). / The prosthetic socket, the mechanical interface between an amputated residuum and an external prosthesis, is of critical importance to the performance of a prosthetic limb system. Conventional prosthetic socket technology is derived using a non-quantitative, artisan methodology. Consequently, a comfortable socket interface cannot be made reproducibly, and persons with limb amputation too often experience discomfort. As a resolution to this difficulty, the field of digital prosthetic socket design seeks to advance a quantitative CAD/CAM methodology for socket production to produce reproducible and comfortable interfaces. Prosthetic researchers have proposed a digital socket production work flow comprising the steps of 1) assessment of residuum tissue biomechanics; 2) modeling optimization of the residuum-socket interface, and 3) fabrication of a variable-impedance socket system based upon these optimizations. In this thesis, two novel technologies are designed, built and evaluated at either end of this work flow, namely a multi-indenter device for in vivo biomechanical tissue measurement and a quasi-passive variable-impedance transtibial socket interface. An active indenter platform called the FitSocket is presented. To assess residual-limb tissue biomechanics, the FitSocket comprised 14 position and force controllable actuators that circumferentially surround a biological residuum to form an actuator ring. Each actuator is individually controllable in position (97.1?m accuracy) and force (330mN accuracy) at a PC controller feedback rate of 500Hz, allowing for a range of measurement across a residuum. At five distinct anatomical locations across the residual limb, force versus deflection data are presented, demonstrating the accuracy and versatility of the FitSocket for residual limb tissue characterization. A passive, single indenter version of the FitSocket, called the FitPen, is also presented. The FitPen is designed to be ultra-portable in order to take biomechanical measurements in the field outside the laboratory setting. A quasi-passive socket (QPS) is presented having spatially and temporally varying socket wall impedances. The QPS is an autonomous computerized transtibial prosthetic interface that can stiffen or become compliant using computer-controlled electrolaminate actuators. The QPS measures forces applied by the limb on the socket, 3-axis acceleration of the socket, and the position of the electrolaminates. On a test participant with transtibial amputation, the socket was evaluated through sit-to-stand tests to determine the viability of computer-controlled electrolaminate engagement, and through a walking study to evaluate the ability of the electrolaminates to maintain their clutched state during ambulation at a self-selected walking speed. The average deflections of forced tibia movement in the sit-to-stand tests were 7 ± 2 mm while sitting with the electrolaminates in an unclutched state, and 2.1 ± 0.6 mm while standing with the electrolaminates in a clutched state. Further, the walking study showed a maximum unclutched deflection (3.7 ± 0.9 mm)16 times larger than that of the maximum deflection while clutched. This work was supported by the United States Department of Veteran Affairs through the VA Innovation Initiative (VAi2) program. / by Arthur Joseph Petron. / Ph. D.

Thesis: S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, 2018. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 169-173). / Embodied voice-based agents, such as Amazon Echo, Google Home, and Jibo, are becoming increasingly present in the home environment. For most people, these agents represent their first experience living with artificial intelligence in such private and personal spaces. However, little is known about people's desires, preferences, and boundaries for these technologies. This thesis shares insights, learnings, methods, and tools from a journey with 69 children, adults, and older adults to help democratize the design of voice-based agents for the home. In the first study, participants interact with and discover various voice-based agents to capture first impressions of the technology. In the second study, participants engage in long-term encounters with agents in their home to experience and reflect upon their preferences, desires and boundaries for these devices. Qualitative and quantitative data from interview transcripts, card sorting, and deployed cultural and technology probes is used to identify agent action preferences, sociotechnical themes, daily usage trends, personality preferences, and future "wishes" for agents. This work culminates with participants designing their dream agents for the home through a structured ideation process. Throughout this work, a series of participatory design tools and methods are developed, iterated upon, and implemented to create a language of engagement with participants. These methods and tools are shared as an open-source design kit for others seeking to explore the domain. / by Nikhita Singh. / S.M.

Thesis: S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, 2018. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 157-162). / With recent developments in visual interface technologies, which are now capable of delivering rich and highly immersive experiences, the need has arisen to develop equally capable haptic-feedback technologies that can complement and be easily integrated with their visual counterparts to enable fully immersive, multimodal, interactive experiences. Moreover, with touchscreen devices rapidly replacing physical controls, as in the case of automobiles and industrial equipment, there has been a loss of natural haptic cues and an increased need for operators to divert their attention from the task at hand into the touchscreen just to find the locations of different controls - which previously they could feel by relying on haptic cues without having to employ the visual sense. This is especially concerning for drivers, where even a brief loss of attention could lead to catastrophic consequences. This work aims to begin addressing these problems by presenting an approach - based on air-vortex-ring, free-space haptics - that enables existing visual interfaces to be augmented with haptic feedback capabilities. After presenting our goals and motivations for this work, the latest approaches to haptic feedback interaction, and a discussion of the advantages and limitations of each approach, we describe the toroidal air-vortex approach to free-space haptics in full detail. We then present a multimodal interactive interface system that we built based on that approach, named AirTap, which is the main focus of this thesis. AirTap is an open-source system that uses 16 air-vortex-ring generators to deliver targeted, localized, unambiguous, free-space haptic feedback onto a user's hand when interacting with 3D virtual objects on a stereoscopic display. We show how AirTap can serve as a multimodal interactive interface, as a research tool for studying air-vortex-ring based haptics, and as an open platform for creative expressions. Finally, we provide an extensive discussion of how our system can be extended beyond its present form and adopted for automotive and other applications. / by Ali Shtarbanov. / S.M.