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

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 74-79). / Scientific visualizations are central to the representation and communication of data in ways that are at once efficient and effective. Numerous data types have established unique formats of representation. In the context of three-dimensional (3D) data sets, such information is often presented as a 3D rendering, a video or an interactive application. The purpose of such visualization is often to emulate the physical, three-dimensional world; however, they remain inherently virtual. Recent advancements in additive manufacturing are making it possible to 'physicalize' three-dimensional data through 3D printing. Still, most 3D printing methods are geared towards single material printing workflows devoid of the ability to physically visualize volumetric data with high fidelity matching their virtual origin. As a result, information and detail are compromised. To overcome this limitation, I propose, design and evaluate a workflow to 'physicalize' such data through multi-material 3D printing. The thesis focuses on methods for voxel-based additive fabrication at high spatial resolution of three-dimensional data sets including - but not limited to point clouds, volumes, lines and graphs, and image stacks. This is achieved while maintaining the original data with high fidelity. I demonstrate that various data sets - often visualized through rasterization on screen - can be translated into physical, materially heterogeneous objects, by means of multi-material, voxel-based 3D printing. This workflow - its related tools, techniques and technologies contained herein - enables bridging the gap between digital information presentation and physical material composition. Developed methods are experimentally tested with various data across scales, disciplines and problem contexts - including application domains such as biomedicine, physics and archeology. / by Dominik Kolb. / S.M. / S.M. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences

Thesis: S.M., 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 97-103). / Microblogging services, most notably Twitter, have become popular avenues to voice opinions and be active participants of discourse on a wide range of topics. As a consequence, Twitter has become an important part of the political battleground that journalists and political analysts can harness to analyze and understand the narratives that organically form, spread and decline among the public in a political campaign. A challenge with social media is that important discussions around certain issues can be overpowered by majoritarian or controversial topics that provoke strong reactions and attract large audiences. In this thesis we develop a method to identify the specific ideas and sentiments that represent the overall conversation surrounding a topic or event as reflected in collections of tweets. We have developed this method in the context of the 2016 US presidential elections. We present and evaluate a large scale data analytics framework, based on recent advances in deep neural networks, for identifying and analyzing election- related conversation on Twitter on a continuous, longitudinal basis in order to identify representative tweets across prominent election issues. The framework consists of two main components, (1) a dynamic topic model that identifies all tweets related to election issues using knowledge from news stories and continuous learning of Twitter's evolving vocabulary, (2) a semantic model of tweets called Tweet2vec that generates general purpose tweet embeddings used for identifying representative tweets by robust semantic clustering. The topic model performed with an average F-1 score of 0.90 across 22 different election topics on a manually annotated dataset. Tweet2Vec outperformed state-of-the- art algorithms on widely used semantic relatedness and sentiment classification evaluation tasks. To demonstrate the value of the framework, we analyzed tweets leading up to a primary debate and contrasted the automatically identified representative tweets with those that were actually used in the debate. The system was able to identify tweets that represented more semantically diverse conversations around each of the major election issues, in comparison to those that were presented during the debate. This framework may have a broad range of applications, from enabling exemplar-based methods for understanding the gist of large collections of tweets, extensible perhaps to other forms of short text documents, to providing an input for new forms of data-grounded journalism and debate. / by Prashanth Vijayaraghavan. / 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 61-69). / The miracle of life is only possible thanks to a wide range of biochemical interactions between assortments of molecular agents. Amidst these agents, which enable all cellular activities, proteins are undoubtedly among the most important groups. Proteins facilitate countless intra- and inter-cellular functions, from regulation of gene expression to immune responses to muscle contraction, but they rarely act in isolation. These are the interactions between proteins, known as protein-protein interactions or PPIs, which sustain the fundamental role of proteins in all living organisms. PPIs are also central to the study of diseases and development of therapeutics. Aberrant human PPIs are the primary cause of many life-threatening conditions, such as Alzheimer, Creutzfeldt-Jakob, and cancer; making the regulation of PPI activities a promising direction for pharmaceutical development. Despite the indisputable importance of PPIs, so far only a tiny fraction of all human PPIs has been discovered, and our current understanding of the core mechanisms and primary functionalities is insufficient. While computational methods in general and machine learning in particular showed encouraging potential to address this challenge, their application in real-life has been limited. To mitigate this gap and make sure computational results perform as well in real-life, we introduce a set of gold-standard machine learning practices called NetPPI. The contributions of this thesis include NetPPI, a minimally-biased, carefully curated dataset of experimentally detected PPIs for training and evaluation of machine learning models; a comprehensive study of protein sequence representations for use with discriminative models; and data splitting methodology for machine learning purposes. We also present the Bilinear PPI model for state-of-the-art PPI prediction. Finally, we propose fundamental biological insight on the nature of PPIs, based on performance analysis of different prediction models. / by Kfir Schreiber. / S.M.

Thesis: S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, September 2016. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 86-89). / Years after the inception of the Radical Atoms vision, significant advances in technology have seen to dynamic tangible interfaces that bridge the biological and micromechanical to enable radical physical interaction with computation. With an increasing multi-modal complexity in such interfaces, this thesis explores a new methodologies and frameworks to designing input/output coincident and physically embodied computers. New types of Shape Changing Interfaces introduce physical perception of material properties to dynamic shape with physically accurate force feedback and introduce Radical Materiality as a way to afford physical interactions with a rendered object. Finally, the Radical Reality Test is proposed as an objective for such interfaces to eventually become indistinguishable from the physical entity or behavior they are computationally and dynamically imitating. / by Luke Vink. / 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 143-150). / Rapid prototyping has been in the limelight for the past decade. 3D printers have an evocative name that promises production of complex parts on demand. Yet current practice doesn't quite deliver on these promises of advanced manufacturing. Existing digital fabrication tools enable repeatability and precision by using codes to describe machine actions. But the infrastructure used for digital fabrication machines is difficult to extend, modify, and customize. It is very difficult for the end-user to incorporate more forms of control into the workflow. Machine design today is largely the same as it was 50 years ago, despite decades of progress in other fields such as computer science and network engineering. I argue that we need to transition from rapid prototyping to rapid prototyping of rapid prototyping. To make diverse goods, we need diverse tools. To develop diversity in digital fabrication tools, we need reconfigurable and extensible infrastructure for machine building. Using insights from object-oriented programming, end-to-end principles in network design, and the open system interconnection model, I propose a new paradigm for machine building called object-oriented hardware. In this paradigm, software objects and hardware objects are peers that have procedures, methods, ports, and presentations. Machine building modules are available as software libraries are to programmers. A machine instantiation is an assembly of objects situated in a particular context. Using this approach, a thing together with the machine that makes it becomes an application. This method transcends the additive versus subtractive manufacturing comparisons by considering both types of rapid automation. Development work is divided into infrastructural engineering, which develop modules for use in any machine, and application development, which develop specific machine instantiations. Here I present technical implementations of machine building infrastructure first. These include distributed networked controls, reconfigurable software interfaces, and modular mechanical machine components. Then I present machine instantiations that use this infrastructure to demonstrate its capability. Finally to evaluate the object-oriented hardware paradigm in the wild, I observe machine building novices using these tools in both a workshop format and in the Fab Lab network for machine building. To make the modular components for machine building accessible in this context, I developed an extensible toolkit for machine building-the Cardboard Machine Kit. Using this toolkit, novices were able to make a wide range of machines, demonstrating the power of this method. / by Nadya Peek. / 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. / The police are designed. Their tools, policies, and human services are all products of deliberation and choice, and therefore open to consideration and re-consideration in an era that has seen widespread abuse of power. This thesis takes up one element of the designed police system in the United States: its material culture-from vehicles, to uniforms and badges, to weapons. The physical tools and devices that the police force use are emblematic of explicit and implicit values. These values make certain conditions and encounters possible, and other scenarios impossible. What is behind these tools, and how might our culture see them anew? How might we re-imagine them in the civic act of designing a future? Oversight, transparency, and accountability are a critical piece of the civic fabric. In order for law enforcement to reflect the needs and expectations of citizens, it is in part, our responsibility to interrogate the designs of the key institutions we rely on. But agency in the design space of the police has not been encouraged. This thesis presents one example of how a dialogue around design is a form of productive civic activity and a check against state violence. In it, I offer a complementary set of tools for imagining possible futures of policing that reconsider scenarios for law enforcement, with a provisional freedom from its current form. Problematizing the physical designs of the police, it focuses on the values, priorities, and politics that are inevitably imbued in these objects. This practice-led research draws from interviews with both citizens and law enforcement, design research, and participatory, critical making. It makes a case for citizen engagement and civic imagination in the proactive design of the police. This speculative design approach fosters understanding and agency, and suggests one way in which the design of the police could be a more inclusive and collaborative project. / by Sands A. Fish, II. / 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 46-47). / Cities and spaces are often examined with a focus on amenities or attributes that can be quantified or explained through patterns and movements by people. There are even numerous apps and services (Yelp, FourSquare, Google Maps to name a few) that provide platforms for adults to express their subjective feelings and opinions about restaurants, bars, landmarks, and public places, but as researchers have shown', these apps don't quite capture the full picture of meaningful places or spaces for people. Consequently, urban planners and architects designing cities take a specific, commercial viewpoint into perspective, with a bias towards the response of professional adults. As adults are not the only population living in cities, it is important and interesting to understand how people of different ages and socioeconomic classes-children, teenagers, and adults-and with different goals-learning, having fun, working-perceive the city and spaces around them in contrast or similarly to each other. This thesis uses Kendall and Harvard Squares to explore methodologies intended to capture the subjective perspectives and impressions of the city by children and adults alike. Specifically, methodologies that could elicit responses about perception relating to memory, culture, state of mind, and social interactions were explored. Participants were given a series of descriptive words and were asked to record an image in the Square that matched the word. They were also asked to express their impressions of places with their own words and playfulness. The results of the methodologies helped to form potential larger scale studies that would provide a deeper view of how a wider cross-section of the population perceive the city in terms of spaces they find creative, inspirational, and playful. Ultimately, this research seeks to understand the intangible qualitative perception of people in spaces and cities. / by Laya Anasu. / 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 99-101). / Currently, many introductory coding activities for children focus on engaging them in solving puzzles. This thesis explores a different approach to introducing coding that engages children in creating projects based on their interests. I present the iterative design and testing of Scratch Microworlds, simplified versions of the Scratch coding environment that contain a small set of blocks for making projects based on a theme, such as dance, soccer, or music. I use a design-based research approach to iteratively design, implement and evaluate Scratch Microworlds. The design of Scratch Microworlds is guided by three questions: (1) how to simplify initial experiences while still supporting creativity, (2) how to provide scaffolding while maintaining learners' agency, and (3) how to provide starting points that spark rather than limit the imagination. This thesis describes the design process, and analyzes the results of user-testing with children and educators. It concludes with a set of guidelines for the design of newcomer experiences into coding that support children as creative thinkers, informed by constructionist learning theory. / by Moran Tsur. / S.M.

Thesis: Ph. D., 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 145-155). / Computation is a powerful medium for art creation. Procedural art, or artwork defined by a computationally represented system of rules, relationships, and behaviors, enables creation of works that are flexible, adaptable, and capable of systematic revision. Yet the medium for creating procedural art, computer programming, can pose significant barriers for manual artists. Programming can be challenging to learn, and programming tools can restrict the concrete practices of manual art. An analysis of the creative opportunities of procedural art and the conflicts programming poses for manual artists raises these questions: (1) How can we create procedural art systems that are accessible and expressive for manual artists? (2) How can we support different ways of thinking and creating with representational mediums? (3) How can procedural art systems contribute to the process of learning and understanding representational mediums? This dissertation explores these questions through two new systems that integrate manual and procedural creation. Para is a digital illustration tool that enables artists to produce procedural compositions through direct manipulation. Dynamic Brushes is a system that enables artists to create computational drawing tools that procedurally augment the process of manual drawing. Para and Dynamic Brushes were informed through interviews with artists and evaluated through multi-week open-ended studies in which professionals created polished artwork. These evaluations provided a framework for developing creative tools through extended work with creative professionals. Comparison of artwork produced with Para and Dynamic Brushes revealed specific trade-offs in expressiveness, ease of entry, and working style for direct manipulation and representational procedural tools. Overall, this research demonstrates how integrating manual and procedural creation can diversify the kinds of outcomes people can create with procedural tools and the kinds of people who can participate in procedural art. / by Jennifer Jacobs. / Ph. D.