Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2003. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 202-209).

The problem investigated in this study is the following: What is a valid interpretation and translation of µέλη άσθνέρα in 1 Corinthians 12:22? This problem can only be solved if Paul's body metaphor in 1 Corinthians 12 is investigated grammatical-historically, applying a valid theory of metaphor. The state of research on metaphors is established in order to determine a suitable theory of metaphor. Further, the state of research regarding Paul's use of the body metaphor in 1 Corinthians 12 and specifically 1 Corinthians 12:22 is determined. And 1 Corinthians 12:l-31 is interpreted applying the grammatical-historical method of De Klerk and Janse van Rensburg (2004). The theory of metaphor of Van der Watt (2000) and the accompanying method is chosen as suitable theory of metaphor. In terms of this theory, the presentation and representation of the body metaphor in 1 Corinthians 12 are determined by way of the grammatical-historical method. This determination leads the interpreter to a valid interpretation and translation of µέλη άσθνέρα in 1 Corinthians 12:22. It transpires that the presentation of the body metaphor is the living human body and the members/organs of the body, and that the representation is the church of Christ, i.e. the members of the church. The presentation of µέλη άσθνέρα in 1 Corinthians 12:22 is members of the body which are physically weaker, and the representation is members of the church who are perceived to be weak in faith because they are supposed to have received lesser gifts from the Spirit. On the basis of this interpretation, the presentation of the body metaphor is translated as follows in English: "the (seemingly) weaker members". The representation of the body metaphor is translated as follows in English: "the members who are seemingly weaker in faith. / Thesis (M.A. (Greek))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2005.

Many virtual environments like interactive computer games, educational software or training simulations make use of speech to convey important information to the user. These applications typically present a combination of background music, sound effects, ambient sounds and dialog simultaneously to create a rich auditory environment. Since interactive virtual environments allow users to roam freely among different sound producing objects, sound designers do not always have exact control over what sounds a user will perceive at any given time. This dissertation investigates factors that influence the perception of speech in virtual environments under adverse listening conditions. A virtual environment was created to study hearing performance under different audio-visual conditions. The two main areas of investigation were the contribution of "spatial unmasking" and lip animation to speech perception. Spatial unmasking refers to the hearing benefit achieved when the target sound and masking sound are presented from different locations. Both auditory and visual factors influencing speech perception were considered. The capability of modern sound hardware to produce a spatial release from masking using real-time 3D sound spatialization was compared with the pre-computed method of creating spatialized sound. It was found that spatial unmasking could be achieved when using a modern consumer 3D sound card and either a headphone or surround sound speaker display. Surprisingly, masking was less effective when using real-time sound spatialization and subjects achieved better hearing performance than when the pre-computed method was used. Most research on the spatial unmasking of speech has been conducted in pure auditory environments. The influence of an additional visual cue was first investigated to determine whether this provided any benefit. No difference in hearing performance was observed when visible objects were presented at the same location as the auditory stimuli. Because of inherent limitations of display devices, the auditory and visual environments are often not perfectly aligned, causing a sound-producing object to be seen at a different location from where it is heard. The influence of audio-visual integration between the conflicting spatial information was investigated to see whether it had any influence on the spatial unmasking of speech in noise. No significant difference in speech perception was found regardless of whether visual stimuli was presented at the correct location matching the auditory position, at a spatially disparate location from the auditory source. Lastly the influence of rudimentary lip animation on speech perception was investigated. The results showed that correct lip animations significantly contribute to speech perception. It was also found that incorrect lip animation could result in worse performance than when no lip animation is used at all. The main conclusions from this research are: That the 3D sound capabilities of modern sound hardware can and should be used in virtual environments to present speech; Perfectly align auditory and visual environments are not very important for speech perception; Even rudimentary lip animation can enhance speech perception in virtual environments.

There are a growing number of mobile phones being used in developing contexts, such as Africa. A large percentage of these phones have the capability to take photographs and transmit them freely using Bluetooth. In order to provide people with media on their mobile phones public displays are becoming more common. Three problems with current public displays – cost, security and mobility – are discussed and system proposed that uses a mobile phone as a server. Media is displayed on specially designed paper posters, which users can photograph using their mobile phones. The resulting photographs are sent, via Bluetooth, to the server, which analyses them in order to locate a specially designed barcode, representing the media, which is then decoded and the requisite media returned to the user. Two barcoding systems are tested in laboratory conditions, and a binary system is found to perform best. The system is then deployed on a campus transportation system to test the effects of motion. The results show that the system is not yet ready for deployment on moving transport.

The preferred method of communication amongst Deaf people is that of sign language. There are problems with the video quality when using the real-time video communication available on mobile phones. The alternative is to use text-based communication on mobile phones, however findings from other research studies show that Deaf people prefer using sign language to communicate with each other rather than text. This dissertation looks at implementing a gesture-based interface for an asynchronous video communication for Deaf people. The gesture interface was implemented on a store and forward video architecture since this preserves the video quality even when there is low bandwidth. In this dissertation three gesture-based video communication prototypes were designed and implemented using a user centred design approach. These prototypes were implemented on both the computer and mobile devices. The first prototype was computer based and the evaluation of this prototype showed that the gesture based interface improved the usability of sign language video communication. The second prototype is set up on the mobile device and it was tested on several mobile devices but the device limitation made it impossible to support all the features needed in the video communication. The different problems experienced on the dissimilar devices made the task of implementing the prototypes on the mobile platform challenging. The prototype was revised several times before it was tested on a different mobile phone. The final prototype used both the mobile phone and the computer. The computer served to simulate a mobile device with greater processing power. This approach simulated a more powerful future mobile device capable of running the gesture-based interface. The computer was used for video processing but to the user it was as if the whole system was running on the mobile phone. The evaluation process was conducted with ten Deaf users in order to determine the efficiency and usability of the prototype. The results showed that the majority of the users were satisfied with the quality of the video communication. The evaluation also revealed usability problems but the benefits of communicating in sign language outweighed the usability difficulties. Furthermore the users were more interested in the video communication on the mobile devices than on the computer as this was a much more familiar technology and offered the convenience of mobility.

Chongilala – a long time ago – says Mama Rhoda of Adiedo, Kenya. She looks deeply into our eyes. We record her rhythms and rhymes as she sings and tells a story about her grandparents. She shows us the exact spot where her great-grandfathers and his friends used to sit and drink and how her grandmother used to dance. This thesis situates digital storytelling in rural African communities to enable rural people, like Mama Rhoda, to record and share their stories and to express their imaginations digitally. We explore the role of design, and the methods and perspectives designers need to take on to design across cultures and to understand the forms and meanings behind rural African interpretations of digital storytelling. These perspectives allow us to 'unconceal' how our Western storytelling traditions have influenced design methods and obscure the voices of ‘other’ cultures. By integrating ethnographic insights with previous experiences of designing mobile digital storytelling systems, we implement a method using cell-phones to localize storytelling and involve rural users in de- sign activities – probing ways to incorporate visual and audio media in storytelling. Products from this method help us to generate design ideas for our system, most notably flexibility. Leveraging this prototype as a probe and observing villagers using it in two villages in South Africa and Kenya, we report on situated use of our prototype and discuss, and relate to usage, the insights we gathered on our prototype, the users, their needs, and their context. We use these insights to uncover further implications for situating digital storytelling within those communities and reflect on the importance of spending time in-situ when designing across cultures. Deploying our prototype through an NGO, we stage first encounters with digital storytelling and show how key insiders can introduce the system to a wider community and make it accessible through their technical and social expertise. Our mobile digital storytelling system proved to be both useable and useful and its flexibility allowed users to form their own interpretations of digital storytelling and (re)appropriate our system to alternative ends. Results indicate that our system accommodates context and that storytelling activities around our system reflect identity. Our activities in communities across Africa also show that our system can be used as a digital voice that speaks to us, by allowing users to express themselves – through digital stories – in design.

The problem investigated in this study is the following: What is a valid interpretation and translation of µέλη άσθνέρα in 1 Corinthians 12:22? This problem can only be solved if Paul's body metaphor in 1 Corinthians 12 is investigated grammatical-historically, applying a valid theory of metaphor. The state of research on metaphors is established in order to determine a suitable theory of metaphor. Further, the state of research regarding Paul's use of the body metaphor in 1 Corinthians 12 and specifically 1 Corinthians 12:22 is determined. And 1 Corinthians 12:l-31 is interpreted applying the grammatical-historical method of De Klerk and Janse van Rensburg (2004). The theory of metaphor of Van der Watt (2000) and the accompanying method is chosen as suitable theory of metaphor. In terms of this theory, the presentation and representation of the body metaphor in 1 Corinthians 12 are determined by way of the grammatical-historical method. This determination leads the interpreter to a valid interpretation and translation of µέλη άσθνέρα in 1 Corinthians 12:22. It transpires that the presentation of the body metaphor is the living human body and the members/organs of the body, and that the representation is the church of Christ, i.e. the members of the church. The presentation of µέλη άσθνέρα in 1 Corinthians 12:22 is members of the body which are physically weaker, and the representation is members of the church who are perceived to be weak in faith because they are supposed to have received lesser gifts from the Spirit. On the basis of this interpretation, the presentation of the body metaphor is translated as follows in English: "the (seemingly) weaker members". The representation of the body metaphor is translated as follows in English: "the members who are seemingly weaker in faith. / Thesis (M.A. (Greek))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2005.

Thesis (M.F.A)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2008. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on September 2, 2008) Includes bibliographical references.

The purpose of this study was to ascertain whether or not presentation and testing methods, conducted in traditional and gamified manners, would affect the scores or mastery of information for college students. This study was conducted using a participant pool of 100 students from a public Midwestern university, though 9 were dropped from analyses. An MANOVA was run on the data collected, and while the overall model was not significant, presentation and testing methods were found to affect participants first attempts on a test, as well as the covariate of Cognitive Engagement was found to have an effect on the highest score participants would earn in up to five attempts on a test.

No description available.