Puppets have been entertaining, educating, and mesmerizing American audiences since the birth of our nation. Both in live theatrical events and TV/film, audiences have watched puppeteers bring their puppet characters to life with clever voice quality choices, unique characterizations, and vivid visual designs. This thesis is a case study that first borrows insight from cartoon character designers, animators, and voiceover actors to provide considerations for voice quality choices, characterizations, and design elements when creating a new puppet character. It then investigates the connections that exist between those three elements once a puppet is fully realized. In order to identify these connections, a test was developed in which participants were asked to use a set of blank puppet heads/bodies and a variety of facial features to each build a unique character and then provide their puppets with a unique character voice. The data collected from the test was then deconstructed and analyzed by comparing each included design element to specific Estill Voice Training System™ vocal attributes identified within each individual puppet character's voice to find where connections occurred. The goal of this thesis is to provide a systematic method for creating vibrant and rich original puppet characters.

Efter min praktik år 2021 på det gymnasium jag själv studerade vid väcktes det intresse för rösthälsa jag alltid haft, men inte fördjupat mig i. Under praktikperioden träffade jag på ett flertal tjejer med mer eller mindre allvarliga röstproblem och det berörde mig att det fortfarande såg ut så, då jag under gymnasietiden också hade klasskompisar med röstproblem som förhindrade dem att delta i undervisningen. Studiens forskningsfråga formulerades på följande sätt för att söka förståelse angående vad som orsakar unga kvinnors röstproblem: Vilka biologiska och rösttekniska faktorer till röstproblem hos en ung kvinnlig sångerska framträder i forskning som väsentliga att beakta i sång- och musikundervisning? För att besvara forskningsfrågan utförde jag en systematisk litteraturstudie med kvalitativ ansats. Datainsamlingen gjordes från två databaser, JSTOR och EBSCO, vilket slutligen genererade totalt 12 vetenskapliga artiklar. Dokumenten analyserades och kodades först inom två huvudsakliga kategorier och sedan inom tio underkategorier. Resultatet visade att faktorerna är av komplex karaktär och att det oftast är en ansamling av faktorer som orsakar att en ung kvinnlig sångerska får röstproblem, men att konsekvenser av målbrottet och överansträngning var de, i litteraturen, oftast förekommande. Studien är utformad att ge en generell överblick över de biologiska och rösttekniska faktorer som tas upp i den utvalda litteraturen då tidigare forskning ofta är fördjupad i en eller några av faktorerna. En sammanställning, som jag försökt göra här, kan vara mer lättillgänglig och användbar i en musikpedagogs yrkesliv när denne möter en elev med röstproblem och inte har tid eller möjlighet att ge sig in i litteraturen för att börja hjälpa till.

Voice User Interfaces (VUI) are rapidly gaining popularity, revolutionizing user interaction with technology through the widespread adoption in devices such as desktop computers, smartphones, and smart home assistants, thanks to significant advancements in voice recognition and processing technologies. Over a hundred million users now utilize these devices daily, and smart home assistants have been sold in massive numbers, owing to their ease and convenience in controlling a diverse range of smart devices within the home IoT environment through the power of voice, such as controlling lights, heating systems, and setting timers and alarms. VUI enables users to interact with IoT technology and issue a wide range of commands across various services using their voice, bypassing traditional input methods like keyboards or touchscreens. With ease, users can inquire in natural language about the weather, stock market, and online shopping and access various other types of general information.However, as VUI becomes more integrated into our daily lives, it brings to the forefront issues related to security, privacy, and usability. Concerns such as the unauthorized collection of user data, the potential for recording private conversations, and challenges in accurately recognizing and executing commands across diverse accents, leading to misinterpretations and unintended actions, underscore the need for more robust methods to test and evaluate VUI services. In this dissertation, we delve into voice interface testing, evaluation for privacy and security associated with VUI applications, assessment of the proficiency of VUI in handling diverse accents, and investigation into access control in multi-user environments. We first study the privacy violations of the VUI ecosystem. We introduced the definition of the VUI ecosystem, where users must connect the voice apps to corresponding services and mobile apps to function properly. The ecosystem can also involve multiple voice apps developed by the same third-party developers. We explore the prevalence of voice apps with corresponding services in the VUI ecosystem, assessing the landscape of privacy compliance among Alexa voice apps and their companion services. We developed a testing framework for this ecosystem. We present the first study conducted on the Alexa ecosystem, specifically focusing on voice apps with account linking. Our designed framework analyzes both the privacy policies of these voice apps and their companion services or the privacy policies of multiple voice apps published by the same developers. Using machine learning techniques, the framework automatically extracts data types related to data collection and sharing from these privacy policies, allowing for a comprehensive comparison. Next, researchers studied the voice apps' behavior to conduct privacy violation assessments. An interaction approach with voice apps is needed to extract the behavior where pre-defined utterances are input into the simulator to simulate user interaction. The set of pre-defined utterances is extracted from the skill's web page on the skill store. However, the accuracy of the testing analysis depends on the quality of the extracted utterances. An utterance or interaction that was not captured by the extraction process will not be detected, leading to inaccurate privacy assessment. Therefore, we revisited the utterance extraction techniques used by prior works to study the skill's behavior for privacy violations. We focused on analyzing the effectiveness and limitations of existing utterance extraction techniques. We proposed a new technique that improved prior work extraction techniques by utilizing the union of these techniques and human interaction. Our proposed technique makes use of a small set of human interactions to record all missing utterances, then expands that to test a more extensive set of voice apps. We also conducted testing on VUI with various accents to study by designing a testing framework that can evaluate VUI on different accents to assess how well VUI implemented in smart speakers caters to a diverse population. Recruiting individuals with different accents and instructing them to interact with the smart speaker while adhering to specific scripts is difficult. Thus, we proposed a framework known as AudioAcc, which facilitates evaluating VUI performance across diverse accents using YouTube videos. Our framework uses a filtering algorithm to ensure that the extracted spoken words used in constructing these composite commands closely resemble natural speech patterns. Our framework is scalable; we conducted an extensive examination of the VUI performance across a wide range of accents, encompassing both professional and amateur speakers. Additionally, we introduced a new metric called Consistency of Results (COR) to complement the standard Word Error Rate (WER) metric employed for assessing ASR systems. This metric enables developers to investigate and rewrite skill code based on the consistency of results, enhancing overall WER performance. Moreover, we looked into a special case related to the access control of VUI in multi-user environments. We proposed a framework for automated testing to explore the access control weaknesses to determine whether the accessible data is of consequence. We used the framework to assess the effectiveness of voice access control mechanisms within multi-user environments. Thus, we show that the convenience of using voice systems poses privacy risks as the user's sensitive data becomes accessible. We identify two significant flaws within the access control mechanisms proposed by the voice system, which can exploit the user's private data. These findings underscore the need for enhanced privacy safeguards and improved access control systems within online shopping. We also offer recommendations to mitigate risks associated with unauthorized access, shedding light on securing the user's private data within the voice systems. / Computer and Information Science

Call number: LD2668 .R4 1975 L69 / Master of Music / Music, Theatre, and Dance

International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 25-28, 1993 / Riviera Hotel and Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada / This paper addresses the creation of a large virtual-range environment whereby multiple, geographically dispersed, test ranges may operate in concert to support test operations. The most significant benefit of the virtual range environment is the time-sharing of costly processing resources. Other benefits include improved reliability and responsiveness of inter-range data transfer. This paper will focus on existing and near-term technology that may be applied to create a virtual-range and will address the technological and economic advantages and disadvantages of TDM vs. ATM approaches.

International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 22-25, 1984 / Riviera Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada / The Digital Voice Network project is a 1984 IR&D program within the Microelectronic Systems Division of the Hughes Aircraft Company. The project is intended to advance the state-of-the-art in digital voice technology and demonstrate digital voice transmission using advanced microprocessor technology and token passing bus network architecture. This paper discusses the Digital Voice Network design architecture, voice terminal design and implementation, and finally future plans to satisfy digital voice requirements in a military environment.

John Musto (b. 1954) is a composer of many genres for voice including song, opera and chamber music. Influences of jazz, ragtime, blues, and popular music have strongly influenced Musto's unique compositional style, which often incorporates contemporary genres with formal classical techniques. Held in high esteem by his colleagues of fellow composers and performers, Musto is often commissioned to compose new works for specific artists and events. This document focuses on two of these compositions, River Songs (2002) and The Brief Light (2010). Examination of these two chamber cycles displays the composer's unique compositional style and lends insight into the choices made by Musto during the composing process. Performers can use this document to better understand Musto's use of harmony, poetry, and instrumentation to inform performances of these songs.

ITC/USA 2011 Conference Proceedings / The Forty-Seventh Annual International Telemetering Conference and Technical Exhibition / October 24-27, 2011 / Bally's Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada / Bidirectional networked radio frequency (RF) communications between the ground and test articles are quickly becoming a normal mode of operation. Not only can devices be remotely controlled, but other networking technologies are emerging into flight test. Voice over IP (VoIP) is ubiquitous in the workplace and in homes, but it presents unique challenges when used to communicate between test articles. This paper presents some issues to be considered and test results to help aid deployment of VoIP systems in network-based test systems such as iNET's Telemetry Network System (TmNS).

First year Humanities and Social Science students’ experiences of engaging with written feedback in a post- 1992 university This thesis examines students’ experiences of engaging with written formative feedback in a post-1992 university. A body of literature on ‘engagement with feedback’ in higher education presents the student as somehow lacking the motivation to engage with feedback. The principles of a feminist methodology were adopted in an attempt to present the underrepresented views of students on the issue of their engagement with feedback. Participants were from two first year undergraduate modules which provided formative feedback on assignments. Qualitative research methods were used: 24 semi-structured interviews, 50 reflective writing documents and 83 questionnaires were collated for open-ended responses and descriptive patterns. Following an analysis of this data, an innovative model was developed. The ‘Student perspective on engaging with feedback model’ was based on the three phases students moved through when engaging with feedback, which was influenced by the type and style of feedback they required at different stages of their transition. This transition involved a period of liminality (a state of betwixt and between) as individuals waited to go through a rite of passage, which often led to students finding themselves in ‘stuck places’ and experiencing feelings of ‘being wrong’. The model demonstrates how firstly, students used the feedback as a ‘sign’ to confirm their learner identities. Secondly, students used the feedback to improve. They valued a personalised dialogue to enable them to do this successfully. Thirdly, they focused on future-orientated feedback, relating to employability and grades. These findings provide the basis for recommendations to HE tutors suggesting that changes to assessment practices and feedback comments may be beneficial for first year undergraduates as they navigate their transition to learning in higher education. First year Humanities and Social Science students’ experiences of engaging with written feedback in a post- 1992 university This thesis examines students’ experiences of engaging with written formative feedback in a post-1992 university. A body of literature on ‘engagement with feedback’ in higher education presents the student as somehow lacking the motivation to engage with feedback. The principles of a feminist methodology were adopted in an attempt to present the underrepresented views of students on the issue of their engagement with feedback. Participants were from two first year undergraduate modules which provided formative feedback on assignments. Qualitative research methods were used: 24 semi-structured interviews, 50 reflective writing documents and 83 questionnaires were collated for open-ended responses and descriptive patterns. Following an analysis of this data, an innovative model was developed. The ‘Student perspective on engaging with feedback model’ was based on the three phases students moved through when engaging with feedback, which was influenced by the type and style of feedback they required at different stages of their transition. This transition involved a period of liminality (a state of betwixt and between) as individuals waited to go through a rite of passage, which often led to students finding themselves in ‘stuck places’ and experiencing feelings of ‘being wrong’. The model demonstrates how firstly, students used the feedback as a ‘sign’ to confirm their learner identities. Secondly, students used the feedback to improve. They valued a personalised dialogue to enable them to do this successfully. Thirdly, they focused on future-orientated feedback, relating to employability and grades. These findings provide the basis for recommendations to HE tutors suggesting that changes to assessment practices and feedback comments may be beneficial for first year undergraduates as they navigate their transition to learning in higher education. First year Humanities and Social Science students’ experiences of engaging with written feedback in a post- 1992 university This thesis examines students’ experiences of engaging with written formative feedback in a post-1992 university. A body of literature on ‘engagement with feedback’ in higher education presents the student as somehow lacking the motivation to engage with feedback. The principles of a feminist methodology were adopted in an attempt to present the underrepresented views of students on the issue of their engagement with feedback. Participants were from two first year undergraduate modules which provided formative feedback on assignments. Qualitative research methods were used: 24 semi-structured interviews, 50 reflective writing documents and 83 questionnaires were collated for open-ended responses and descriptive patterns. Following an analysis of this data, an innovative model was developed. The ‘Student perspective on engaging with feedback model’ was based on the three phases students moved through when engaging with feedback, which was influenced by the type and style of feedback they required at different stages of their transition. This transition involved a period of liminality (a state of betwixt and between) as individuals waited to go through a rite of passage, which often led to students finding themselves in ‘stuck places’ and experiencing feelings of ‘being wrong’. The model demonstrates how firstly, students used the feedback as a ‘sign’ to confirm their learner identities. Secondly, students used the feedback to improve. They valued a personalised dialogue to enable them to do this successfully. Thirdly, they focused on future-orientated feedback, relating to employability and grades. These findings provide the basis for recommendations to HE tutors suggesting that changes to assessment practices and feedback comments may be beneficial for first year undergraduates as they navigate their transition to learning in higher education.

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Education / Master / Master of Philosophy