This thesis argues that contemporary visual media culture is characterised by unique forms that enable and increasingly demand qualitatively distinct viewing relations. I offer historical and theoretical explorations of various media technologies and genres, and propose that todays visual culture may be described as participatory, primarily in the sense that its modes of address function to blur the line between the production and consumption of imagery. Furthermore, I suggest that these participatory relations, underpinned by real time media, are productive of performative subjects composed, under the prevailing media imaginary, of increasingly individualised exchanges. Thus, I argue that the phenomenon of media participation must be considered in relation to defining characteristics of contemporary capitalism namely its user-focused, customised and individuated orientation. Organised in terms of historical, theoretical and generic sections, two opening chapters establish, respectively, the technological and theoretical context of the inquiry, preparing for four subsequent chapters concerned with media genres. Chapter 1 argues that contemporary media are home to new image forms that are, as a result of their participatory and networked character, more performative than merely representational. Chapter 2 introduces the concept of indivisualisation referring to participatory visual environments in which the performance of the individual viewing subject is crucial to the nature of the viewing relationship. Drawing on a wide range of media theorists including Jonathan Crary, Margaret Morse, Lev Manovich and Manuel Castells, as well as contemporary sociologists Ulrich Beck and Zygmunt Bauman, I make a connection between the personalised address and coextensive temporal performances characteristic of participatory media and a pervasive social demand for compulsory, ongoing self-transformation. Performative subjectivity, I argue, is the logical counterpart to real-time screens, and its prevailing mode is individualised. The remaining four chapters seek to elaborate and substantiate the dynamics of participation and indivisualisation by exploring a series of exemplary real-time media genres,news media, reality entertainment media (reality television and webcams), computer games, and media art. As these chapters demonstrate by a breadth of example, what is at stake in contemporary realtime media may be nothing less than our relation to mortality and otherness.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Melbourne, Dept. of English with Cultural Studies, 2004. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 208-228).

The convergence of inexpensive video-enabled mobile phones, high-speed mobile data networks and ubiquitous sensing devices opens up a new design space called “live mobile video interaction”. It gives rise to a new genre of applications concerning live mobile video production, which can be seen as an instance of the said space. In this work we are particularly interested to explore potential technical challenges and opportunities presented by “live mobile video interaction”. We started our investigation by studying two existing prototypes from the said genre i.e. the Instant Broadcasting System (IBS) and the Mobile Vision Mixer (MVM). We studied their applicability for amateur users of collaborative mobile video production tools and the problems caused by inherent communication delays in the Internet. We acquired initial user feedback and conducted technical tests on Instant Broadcasting System (IBS) and Mobile Vision Mixer (MVM). Our results indicate that lack of synchronisation among video streams causes problems for directors in such systems that were not present in professional systems. We also identified two distinct video production modes depending on visual access of the director to the event that is being filmed. Based on our study we proposed technical design suggestions and indications on how to solve the synchronisation problems in respective mixing modes. We also proposed an algorithm for frame-rate exclusive synchronisation management of live streams in a collaborative mobile production environment. We further probed the design space using the research through design method, which resulted in a fully functional prototype system called “Livenature” that would incite an emotional connection that exists between people and the places they cherish. Further investigation of Livenature allowed us to produce detailed studies about experiential and technical aspects of the system, thus revealing phenomenological and technical dimensions of the design space.

Thesis (MPhil)--University of Stellenbosch, 2003. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In this work I explore the use of sound as a means of presenting news to the user of the Internet. I accept that news sound as such, as it is presented on radio, is an effective mass communication medium. From there I ask the question if this sound, with the same underlying principles used in radio, can be effectively used on the Internet. This opposed to real changes made in the gathering, preparation and presentation of sound to be effective on the Information Superhighway. In the first chapter I look at the methods (good and bad) utilized to present sound on the radio. When I present a model for Internet use later in the work (chapter 5) I use these as a starting point. Some definitions are formulated, which also become important in chapter 5. In the second chapter I touch on the origins of the Internet and the use of web sites to provide a news service. I explore the methods employed by news specific sites to communicate information to Internet users and I compare that to uses on a non-news site, in this case National Geographic.com. Again I use the positive aspects of the study of these sites to form part of the model presented in chapter 5. Chapter 3 is dedicated to the technological development of the Internet and the use of multimedia to convey information. I also touch on the future of the information system and the expectations and requirements these developments would put on journalists working on the medium. In chapter 4 I compare the way in which three news sites handled the covering of the terrorist attack on America. Because of the territorial advantage, I choose to look at the coverage one year after the event. The positive use of text, video, sound and images on these three sites are used to format the model in the next chapter. As said previously, chapter 5 contains a model for the use of multimedia, specifically sound, to convey news information on the Internet. While the focus is on sound, I suggest here that the model is applicable to all the aids available to the Internet producer. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In hierdie werkstuk ontleed ek die gebruik van klank as 'n werktuig om nuus aan die Internetgebruiker oor te dra. Ek gaan van die beginsel af uit dat nuusklank op sy eie, met ander woorde soos dit op die radio uitgesaai word, wel 'n effektiewe, vinnige metode is om nuus aan massas mense oor te dra. Die vraag word gevra of klank op dieselfde manier, met dieselfde grondbeginsels en gebruike, 'n effektiewe medium is om nuus op die Internet aan te bied. Dié vraag word in teenstelling geplaas met die moontlikhede dat klank liefs op die radio hoort en nie deel behoort te wees van nuuswebtuistes nie, of dat daar wesenlike veranderinge gemaak behoort te word aan die nuus wat op die radio aangebied word, voor dit effektief op die Internet gebruik kan word. In die eerste hoofstuk kyk ek na die oorsprong en geskiedenis van radio en daarna na die ontwikkeling van nuus op radio. Ek behandel die beginsels van radionuus, met die doelom hierdie kenmerke dan later in die werkstuk (hoofstuk 5) te gebruik as die grondbeginsels vir 'n model vir die gebruik van klank om nuus op die Internet oor te dra. Ek kyk na die goeie en slegte praktyke wat in die oordrag van nuus op radio ontstaan het en probeer hierdeur sif om nie dieselfde swakplekke by die bogenoemde model in te sluit nie. In hierdie hoofstuk formuleer ek dan definisies vir die verskillende gebruike van klank om nuus oor die radio oor te dra. Hierdie definisies word ook later gebruik in die model vir die effektiewe gebruike van nuusklank op die Internet. In die tweede hoofstuk kyk ek na die oorsprong van die Internet, en dan (in meer detail) na die ontstaan van nuuswebtuistes. Ek ontleed die manier waarop inligting aan Internetgebruikers oorgedra word, op webtuistes wat spesifiek vir nuus geskep is, maar ek vergelyk dit ook met 'n webtuiste wat na my mening die Internet se kenmerke behoorlik aanwend om inligting oor te dra, nl. NationaIGeographic.com. Die goeie en slegte punte van die oordrag van inligting op die medium word ontleed, om ook later deel te vorm van die model in hoofstuk 5. Ek kyk in die derde hoofstuk na die tegnologiese ontwikkeling van die Internet en die gebruik van multimedia op die netwerk. Daar word ook geraak aan die toekomsmoontlikhede van die oordrag van groot hoeveelhede data (soos klank en video) op die netwerk. Soos die tegnologie ontwikkel, moet die persoon wat die produk daarstelontwikkel, en ek kyk na die vereistes wat aan joernaliste/vervaardigers van Internetnuus gestel word. In die vierde hoofstuk vergelyk ek die Internetaanbiedings van 'n spesifieke nuusgebeurtenis, die aanval op Amerika op 11 September 2001, van drie nuuswebtuistes. Ek kyk na die aanbiedings van die BBC, CNN en die SAUK, spesifiek na die gebruik van teks, grafika, video en klank om nuus aan Internetgebruikers oor te dra. Die (goeie en minder goeie) gebruik van klank op dié drie webtuistes vorm dan die basis van die model wat ek in hoofstuk 5 aanbied. Die vyfde hoofstuk word gewyaan die daarstelling van 'n model om klank as nuusmedium op die Internet te gebruik. Ek kyk na die beginsels van die goeie gebruik van klank wat in die eerste hoofstuk daargestel is en probeer dit verwerk vir gebruik op die Internet. Hoewel ek nie spesifiek die gebruik van ander media, soos teks, video en grafika, behandel nie, doen ek in hoofstuk 5 voor dat die model vir al die hulpmiddels op die Internetnuuswebtuiste kan geld.

The aim of the diploma thesis "The Role of Multimedia in Educational Support Systems" is to analyze the current role of multimedia in information systems and to explore the existent use of multimedia in the educational process at VŠE. By doing so, the reader will be presented with a comprehensive roundup of the current technological tendencies concerning multimedia and their use in the educational environment. Among the topics analyzed within the scope of the technological foundations establishing chapters are the current role of multimedia, data types, transmission channels and the digitizing process. In the subsequent section, multimedia is being perceived as a concrete tool supporting the educational process. Based on the research conducted at VŠE that analyzed the technological, financial and personnel conditions, a concept of multimedia learning model was proposed in the eighth and final chapter. The current state analysis and the proposed multimedia education model at VŠE constitute the author's principal contribution to the educational field and at the same time a starting point for a future melioration of multimedia education deployment at VŠE.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-26T18:18:03Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Johan Cavalcanti van Haandel.pdf: 1998712 bytes, checksum: 208cad61d2ab422d9484c67e1d70027c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-05-22 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / In the last years the transmission of audio is being transformed for the new technologies of the digital support, which had generated new processes and products, among them is the sonorous webcasting. This work investigates the creation of content of the four existing formats of sonorous webcasting: web radio, playlist, on demand audio and the audio portal, which comprises the corpus of the research. As methodological strategy, firstly, examples of the sonorous webcasting formats and of others transmission processes for the digital support had been observed, to distinguish them; the second step was to observe the assembly of audio of the sonorous webcasting formats and the third step was to investigate its graphical interfaces. With basis in the methodological strategy, the research presents itself in three stages: in the first one, it was outlined a mapping of the existing digital transmissions of audio and a classification of sonorous webcasting formats, in which the main authors of reference are Trigo-De-Souza and Kischinhevsky, among others; in the second stage, the construction of the transmission of sonorous webcasting through audio assembly is investigated with data based on Ferraretto, Cyro César, Barbosa Filho and McLeish, among others; and in third stage, it is investigated the construction of the transmission of sonorous webcasting through the graphical interface, where the hypermedia interfaces study referring data are based on Beiguelman, Manovich and Johnson. It is concluded that sonorous webcasting consists of a transmission process of audio that does not have to be confounded with radio and it sets up a new type of content reading, mediated by texts and images, implying, therefore, in studies of audio assembly and graphical interface / Nos últimos anos a transmissão de áudio está sendo transformada pelas novas tecnologias do suporte digital, as quais geraram novos processos e produtos, entre eles o webcasting sonoro. A presente pesquisa investiga a criação de conteúdo dos quatro formatos existentes do webcasting sonoro: a web rádio, a playlist, o áudio on demand e o portal de áudio, os quais compõem o corpus da pesquisa. Como estratégia metodológica, primeiro foram observados exemplos dos formatos do webcasting sonoro e de outros processos de transmissão pelo suporte digital, para particularizá-los; o segundo passo foi observar a montagem de áudio dos formatos do webcasting sonoro e o terceiro passo foi investigar as suas interfaces gráficas. Baseada na estratégia metodológica, a pesquisa se apresenta em três etapas: na primeira, há um mapeamento das transmissões digitais de áudio existentes e uma classificação dos formatos do webcasting sonoro, em que os principais autores de referência são Trigo-De-Souza e Kischinhevsky, entre outros; na segunda, é investigada a construção da transmissão do webcasting sonoro através da montagem de áudio, com dados baseados em Ferraretto, Cyro César, Barbosa Filho e McLeish, entre outros; e na terceira, é investigada a construção da transmissão do webcasting sonoro através da interface gráfica, em que os dados referentes ao estudo de interfaces da hipermídia são baseados em Beiguelman, Manovich e Johnson. Conclui-se que o webcasting sonoro consiste em um processo de transmissão de áudio que não deve ser confundido com rádio e que institui um novo tipo de leitura de conteúdo, mediado por textos e imagens, implicando, por isso, em estudos de montagem sonora e de interface gráfica

Multimedia applications such as video streaming and Voice over IP are becoming common today with the tremendous growth of the Internet. General purpose operating systems thus are required to support these applications. These multimedia applications have some timing constraints that need to be satisfied for good quality. For example, video streaming applications require that each video frame be decoded in time to be displayed every 33.3 milliseconds. In order to satisfy these timing requirements, general purpose operating systems need to have fine-grained scheduling. Current general purpose operating systems unfortunately are designed to maximize throughput to serve traditional data-oriented applications and have coarse-grained scheduling and timers. Time Sensitive Linux (TSL), designed by Goel, et al., solves this problem with fine-grained timers and schedulers. The scheduler for TSL is implemented at a very low level. The controller that implements the algorithm for resource allocation is implemented at a higher level. This controller can easily be modified to implement new control algorithms. Successful implementation of resource allocation to satisfy timing constraints of multimedia applications requires two problems to be addressed. First, the resources required by the application to satisfy the timing constraints should not exceed the total available resources in the system. Second, the controller must adapt to changing needs of the applications and allocate enough resources to satisfy the timing constraints of each application over time. The first problem has been addressed elsewhere using intelligent data dropping with TSL. We focus on the second problem in this thesis. We design a proportion-period controller in this thesis for allocating CPU to multimedia video applications with timing constraints. The challenges for the controller design include the coarse granularity of the time-stamp markings of the video frames, the unpredictable decoding completion times of the frames, the large variations in the decoding times of the frames, and the limit of the control actuation to positive values. We set up the problem in a state space. We design a predictive estimating controller to allocate the proportion of the CPU to a thread when its long term error is small. When the decoding process is running behind by more than a certain threshold, we switch to a different controller to drive the error back to a small value. This controller is the solution to a dynamic optimization LQR tracking problem. / Graduation date: 2003

This master’s thesis presents a study on the mediated negotiation between radio broadcasting and digital media. During the last decade, digitalisation has become unanimous with changing media structures, and has fundamentally altered the way radio is mediated by broadcasters and perceived by listeners. This study delves deeper into specialist music radio, more specifically, the London-based UK club music station Rinse FM. The study investigates how developments in digital media have influenced the way Rinse FM is reached and utilised by listeners, and how its implementation of digital media has affected its position as a cultural intermediary within the UK club music community. The investigation was carried out though a survey, and subsequent interviews, with members of Dubstepforum; an online forum, host to a substantial quantity of UK club music listeners. The research provides interesting results on listeners’ contemporary experience of Rinse FM, and outlines pivotal functions of specialist music radio in a digital age of free-flowing music content. The results explore participants’ digital listening habits in relation to Rinse FM; as well as the role of Rinse FM as cultural intermediary and community institution, depicted through the mediated experiences of Dubstepforum members. The study concludes with reflections upon specialist music radio’s continued development, and cultural position in the digital media environment.

Thesis (M.S. Ed.) - - Bank Street College of Education, New York, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 27-29) and abstract.

The purpose of this paper is to study the process of audio information in an online education course at the Federal University of Alagoas (UFAL), which is a federal public university in Brazil. The study was conducted in the second school term of 2010 and in the first school term of 2011, in the Bachelor degree Pedagogy course online education model. Case study was chosen as the method to examine the use of web radio and audio webcasting podcasts in online education, with the UFAL Moodle virtual learning environment. The hypothetical-deductive method was adopted for reasoning and the quali-quantitative method was used for data collection. These data are shown in the reports written during the two research phases exploratory and experimental. The experimental phase was conducted with the subject Knowledge and Methods for Teaching Natural Sciences 1 , which had 176 enrolled students, from different UFAL units of several cities in Alagoas Maceió, Maragogi, Santana do Ipanema and Olho d´Água das Flores. As a reception study, students who composed the audience of live transmissions and the recording of live transmissions could communicate in a synchronous and in an asynchronous way with the tutor. Such communications were mainly conducted in forums. Then the audio information was evaluated with an online questionnaire. The main objective was to find how the formats could be associated with the Moodle Virtual Learning Environment, with the Pedagogical Project and with the online education course. The results were satisfactory in terms of acceptance of both formats by the audience group, which shows that the associations proposed are possible. However, such associations need to be part of a plan that includes forms of evaluating audio information. The results also point to the need for better infrastructure regarding technical support for faculty members including tutors in order to create, produce and transmit didactic materials. Moreover, we found that wideband services need improvement in the State. Our main conclusion is that the formats studied should be created, produced and/or selected by the course for educational purposes. They should also present characteristics of radio phonic language, including sound and web graphic interface, aligned with the education design of the course, especially in the Moodle virtual learning environment. It is also necessary to identify the target audience, their level of digital fluency, and their conditions for accessing computers and the Internet, in order to promote the interaction with the most adequate technologies and tools for audio webcasting. This study is based on theories by Moore and Kearsley (2008), Peters (2004), Haandel (2009), Martín-Barbero (2009), Jacks and Escosteguy (2005), Reyzábal (1999), Machado (2009), Silva (2006; 2010), among others. / O presente trabalho tem por finalidade tratar do processo de transmissão de mídia sonora na educação a distância on-line da Universidade Federal de Alagoas, integrante da Universidade Aberta do Brasil, nos períodos letivos de 2010.2 e 2011.1, no curso de Pedagogia Licenciatura, na modalidade a distância. O estudo de caso foi escolhido como método de abordagem do objeto de estudo e teve por objetivo investigar a utilização dos formatos web rádio e podcasts do webcasting sonoro na educação a distância, no ambiente virtual de aprendizagem Moodle UFAL. Adotou-se o raciocínio do método hipotético-dedutivo e foi utilizado o método quali-quantitativo durante a coleta de dados, os quais são apresentados nos relatos das fases da pesquisa. Esta foi desenvolvida em duas fases: a exploratória e a experimental, tendo como campo de atuação experimental a disciplina Saberes e Metodologias do Ensino de Ciência Naturais 1, a qual possuía 176 estudantes matriculados, vinculados aos polos das cidades alagoanas de Maceió, Maragogi, Santana do Ipanema e Olho d´Água das Flores. Como estudo de recepção, os estudantes que formaram a audiência das transmissões ao vivo e das gravações dessas transmissões puderam se comunicar de forma síncrona e assíncrona com o professor, por meio principalmente de fóruns, e posteriormente avaliaram a mídia sonora por meio de questionário on-line. A questão norteadora foi: como esses formatos poderiam ser associados ao ambiente Virtual de Aprendizagem Moodle, ao Projeto Pedagógico e à dinâmica da modalidade a distância do curso? Os resultados foram satisfatórios em termos de aceitação dos dois formatos pelo grupo-escuta, mostrando que as associações da questão norteadora são possíveis, mas precisam fazer parte de um planejamento que inclua também as formas de avaliação da mídia sonora, além de apontarem para a necessidade de maior infraestrutura do curso em termos de suporte técnico para o corpo docente, incluindo os tutores, no sentido de criação, produção e transmissão de material didático e também para a necessidade de melhoria na condição de banda larga do Estado. A conclusão principal é a de que esses formatos devem: ser criados, produzidos e/ou selecionados pelo curso para fins educativos; apresentar características da linguagem radiofônica, incluindo a montagem sonora, e interface webgráfica aliada ao design educacional do curso, especialmente no ambiente virtual de aprendizagem Moodle; e identificar seu público-alvo, incluindo seu nível de fluência digital, além das condições de acesso a computadores e internet, de forma a promover o diálogo interativo pelas tecnologias e ferramentas mais adequadas ao uso do webcasting sonoro. Como aporte teórico: Moore e Kearsley (2008), Peters (2004), Haandel (2009), Martín-Barbero (2009), Jacks e Escosteguy (2005), Reyzábal (1999), Machado (2009) e Silva (2006; 2010), entre outros.