It is imperative to know how violent material is perceived when presented over various media platforms and how acceptable these violent acts are in video games with different ESRB ratings. With the current debate surrounding the relationship between video games and violence, it is important to understand perception of violence in different media and acceptability of violent acts in video games of different ratings. This will allow a more accurate discussion on the impact of violent acts in video games as compared to other media which will help determine how to best proceed in eliminating causal factors of violence as well as influencing the production of new video games. It was expected that violent acts would be perceived as most violent in news, followed by movies, and least violent in video games. It was also expected that more violent acts would be seen as acceptable in video games rated mature rather than teen. Participants were gathered at University of Maryland from two classes and SONA. They were administered a survey to determine their video game usage and demographic information. Perception of violence in the news, movies, and video games was measured using a 9-point Likert Scale that ranged from 1-”harmless” to 9“horrifying.” Acceptability was measured by asking if particular violent acts were viewed as acceptable for teen ratings or mature ratings in video games. These acts ranged from mostly harmless to extremely brutal. In general, news was perceived as the most violent followed by movies then video games. The mean perceived violence in Video Games was 4.74 (SD=1.64), in Movies 5.05 (SD=1.68), and in News media 5.77 (SD=1.67). As expected, violent acts were better tolerated in games rated mature than games rated teen. The mean number of acts judged "unacceptable" (not marked as unacceptable) for Teen was 19.31 and for Mature it was only 8.81 (p<.001).

Master's thesis evaluates determined values of visibility from the motor vehicle on the pedestrian by reduced visibility distance when using halogen headlights, which are the results of experimental measurements a compare them with theoretical values determined by assistance of available software.

This Thesis presents an optimal framework with dynamic perceptibility and chaos compensation for the control of robot manipulators. The fundamental objective of this framework is to obtain a variety of control laws for implementing dynamic visual servoing systems. In addition, this Thesis presents different contributions like the concept of dynamic perceptibility that is used to avoid image and robot singularities, the framework itself, that implements a delayed feedback controller for chaos compensation, and the extension of the framework for space robotic systems. Most of the image-based visual servoing systems implemented to date are indirect visual controllers in which the control action is joint or end-effector velocities to be applied to the robot in order to achieve a given desired location with respect to an observed object. The direct control of the motors for each joint of the robot is performed by the internal controller of the robot, which translates these velocities into joint torques. This Thesis mainly addresses the direct image-based visual servoing systems for trajectory tracking. In this case, in order to follow a given trajectory previously specified in the image space, the control action is defined as a vector of joint torques. The framework detailed in the Thesis allows for obtaining different kind of control laws for direct image-based visual servoing systems. It also integrates the dynamic perceptibility concept into the framework for avoiding image and robot singularities. Furthermore, a delayed feedback controller is also integrated so the chaotic behavior of redundant systems is compensated and thus, obtaining a smoother and efficient movement of the system. As an extension of the framework, the dynamics of free-based space systems is considered when determining the control laws, being able to determine trajectories for systems that do not have the base attached to anything. All these different steps are described throughout the Thesis. This Thesis describes in detail all the calculations for developing the visual servoing framework and the integration of the described optimization techniques. Simulation and experimental results are shown for each step, developing the controllers in an FPGA for further optimization, since this architecture allows to reduce latency and can be easily adapted for controlling of any joint robot by simply modifying certain modules that are hardware dependents. This architecture is modular and can be adapted to possible changes that may occur as a consequence of the incorporation or modification of a control driver, or even changes in the configuration of the data acquisition system or its control. This implementation, however, is not a contribution of this Thesis, but is necessary to briefly describe the architecture to understand the framework’s potential. These are the main objectives of the Thesis, and two robots where used for experimental results. A commercial industrial seven-degrees-of-freedom robot: Mitsubishi PA10, and another three-degrees-of-freedom robot. This last one’s design and implementation has been developed in the research group where the Thesis is written.

La version intégrale de ce mémoire est disponible uniquement pour consultation individuelle à la Bibliothèque de musique de l ’Université de Montréal (www.bib.umontreal.ca/MU). / Les cinquante dernières années ont vues beaucoup de progrès dans la compréhension du comment nous comprenons et écoutons la musique. Malheureusement, la terminologie musicale ainsi que la philosophie de la composition n’ont pas évoluées en tenant compte de ces progrès. C’est en raison de ces obstacles, que la Theory of Patterns a été conçue et développée. La Theory of Patterns met l'accent sur la nature de la perception musicale ainsi que sur la façon d'assimiler les différents formes d’une œuvre. Cette philosophie propose une méthode de composition ou le sujet principal est la relation entre les différents motifs, avec comme objectif, une création musicale pure, vivante et sans ego. Cette philosophie a été développée et utilisée dans la création d'un nouvel opéra en un acte: The Beast in the Jungle. En analysant les différentes formes et motifs de l’œuvre, on retrouve les différents éléments pratiques de cette théorie. / The last fifty years has seen much progress made in the understanding of how we comprehend and hear music. Unfortunately, the terminology of music and philosophy of composition have not developed to reflect this progress. As a result of this obstacle the Theory of Patterns was conceived and developed. The Theory of Patterns focuses on the nature of musical perception, and the assimilation of patterns. This philosophy is meant to provide a method of composition in which the primary focus is the relationship of patterns with the objective of creating music that by fulfilling the pattern’s nature and tendencies, is full of life. This Philosophy was developed through, and used in the creation of, a new one act opera: The Beast in the Jungle. In analyzing the different forms and patterns found in the opera, the practical elements of the Theory of Patterns are judged and discussed.

Steel-deck composite floor systems are being increasingly used in high-rise building construction, especially in Australia, as they are economical and easy to construct. These composite floor systems use high strength materials to achieve longer spans and are thus slender. As a result, they are vulnerable to vibration induced under service loads. These floors are normally designed using static methods which will not reveal the true behaviour and miss the dynamic amplifications resulting in inappropriate designs, which ultimately cause vibration and discomfort to occupants. At present there is no adequate design guidance to address the vibration in these composite floors, due to a lack of research information, resulting in wasteful post event retrofits. To address this gap in knowledge, a comprehensive research project is presented in this thesis, which investigated the dynamic performance of composite floors under various human induced loads. A popular type of composite floor system was selected for this investigation and subjected to load models representing different human activities. These load models have variable parameters such as load intensity, activity type (contact ratio), activity frequency and damping and are applied as pattern loads to capture the maximum responses in terms of deflections and accelerations. Computer models calibrated against experimental results are used in the analysis to generate the required information. The dynamic responses of deflections and accelerations are compared with the serviceability deflection limits and human comfort levels (of accelerations) to assess these floor types. This thesis also treats the use of visco-elastic (VE) dampers to mitigate excessive vibrations in steel-deck composite floors. VE damper properties have been presented and their performances in reducing the excessive vibrations have been assessed this thesis. The results identified possible occupancies under different loading conditions that can be used in planning, design and evaluation. The findings can also be used to plan retrofitting measures in problematic floor systems.

No description available.

In this essay, The Politics of Sound on the Stage of Art. The Political Potential of Sound in Lawrence Abu Hamdan’s Saydnaya (the Missing 19dB), the aesthetical tensions between sound, art and politics are explored. The aim of this study is to examine the conditions and configurations of the perceptibility of sound within artistic contexts, and the political implications positioned therein. The inquiry is based on the ways in which sound is produced, theorized and negotiated in the sound installation Saydnaya (the Missing 19dB) by the artist Lawrence Abu Hamdan. This is conducted by analyzing the political problem of the whisper, as it is framed within the artwork, in correlation to Jacques Rancière’s notion of the voice as a division of phone and logos, as well as Brandon LaBelle’s concept of sonic agency. The essay also compares Earwitness Testimony to Rancière’s discussion of the sensorium of art, in order to examine the aesthetical conditions of the experience of art. I argue that sound entails different modes of perceptibility, due to its material conditions, and that it renegotiates visual representation within the conditions of the artistic scene. / Denna uppsats, Sonisk politik på konstens scen. Ljudets politiska potential i Lawrence Abu Hamdans ljudinstallation Saydnaya (the Missing 19dB), behandlar brytpunkterna mellan ljud, konst, och politik. Med utgångspunkt i gestaltningarna och tematiseringarna av ljud i Lawrence Abu Hamdans ljudinstallation Saydnaya (the Missing 19dB) syftar uppsatsen till att undersöka ljudets estetiska möjligheter och politiska implikationer. Detta görs genom en analys av den politiska potentialen i viskningen, såsom den gestaltas i verket, utifrån Rancières idé om rösten som uppdelad i läte och språk, samt Brandon LaBelles begrepp sonisk agens. Därtill undersöks öronvittnesmålets roll i relationen mellan konst och politik, utifrån Rancières idé om sensorium under konstens estetiska regim. Uppsatsen visar på hur ljudets materiella förutsättningar omförhandlar och problematiserar visuell representation, samt hur det inrättar en egen akustisk sfär genom vilken politik kan uppstå.