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.

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 53-55). / The development of fluorescence in situ nucleic acid sequencing (FISSEQ) will permit investigators to answer scientific questions in which the spatial context of gene expression rather than just identity and abundance - must be taken into account; recent progress in biological sample engineering, including physical expansion of tissue (i.e. Expansion Microscopy), will radically empower this technology (ExSEQ). However, in situ sequencing is technically difficult to implement, requiring an investigator to be familiar with a wide variety of techniques in molecular biology, microfluidics, fluorescence microscopy, image processing, and bioinformatics, and improvements are still needed before it is widely practicable. In this work, we investigate the use of sequencing by synthesis - as opposed to the currently practiced method of sequencing by ligation - in order to realize improvements in usability and performance. We demonstrate the viability of sequencing by synthesis reactions in situ, characterize their performance, and describe a route from demonstration to practice. / by Andrew C. Payne. / 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. "Some pages in the original document contain text that runs off the edge of the page"--Disclaimer Notice page. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 117-120). / AUFLIP describes an auditory feedback system approach for learning advanced movements, informed and motivated by established methods of implicit motor learning by analogy, our physiological constraints, and the state of the art in augmented motor learning by feedback. AUFLIP presents and validates a physics simplification of an advanced movement, the front flip, and details the implementation of a wearable system, optimized placement procedure, and takeoff capture strategy to realizes this model. With an audio cue pattern that conveys this high level objective, the system is integrated into a gymnastics training environment with professional coaches teaching novice adults how to perform front flips. A strategy, system, and application set building off AUFLIP for more general movement, and applications is further proposed. Lastly, this work performs a preliminary investigatation into the notion of Audio-Movement Congruence, and whether audio feedback for motor learning can be personally tailored to individuals' contextual experiences and background, and explores future applications of the discussed systems and strategies. / by Daniel Visan Levine. / 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 [69]-[75]). / Since the early twentieth century, mice have emerged as the standard mammalian model organism for biomedical research. When pain relief is provided during experimentation, it typically comes in the form of transient and sometimes ineffective analgesics or anesthesia. This thesis proposes an alternative to the current method of research in the form of an engineered mouse model in which pain sensing can be ablated before an experiment. An ERT2-inducible Cre recombinase under the Wntl promoter was designed to be combined with a floxed Nav1.7 ion channel mouse model. When a 4- hydrotamoxifan class small molecule is fed to the mouse, Cre recombinase expression in the peripheral nervous system will disrupt function of the ion channel involved in inflammatory and mechanosensory pain. Additional designs for floxed Nav1.6 ion channel and Nax ion-like channel were made to explore disruption of peripheral cancer-induced neuropathic pain. In parallel with mouse model development, a survey was conducted to understand the potential for adoption of this new animal model by researchers. The survey was sent to IACUC members questioning if this model was needed, as well as how it may be regulated under the existing protocol approval framework. Results indicated that there is a both a need and desire for further refinement strategies within animal research, and that this inducible painfree mouse model could be categorized as alternative analgesic upon sufficient characterization and peer-reviewed publications. Additional input was provided that will shape testing done on the generated animals to assure that this model can mitigate animal suffering while still recapitulating important biological processes investigated in biomedical research. / by Deborah Anne Najjar. / S.M.

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 113-118). / Digital fabrication aims to bring the programmability of the digital world into the physical world and has the potential to radically transform the way we make things. We are are developing a novel digital fabrication technique where a small basis set of discrete part types, called "digital materials", are reversibly joined into large assemblies with embedded functionality. Objects constructed this way may be programmed with exotic functional behavior based on the composition of their constituent parts. In this thesis I build an end-to end computer-aided design (CAD), simulation, and manufacturing (CAM) pipeline for digital materials that respects the discretization of the parts in its underlying software representation. I propagate the same abstract geometric "cell" representation of parts from the design workflow into simulation and path planning. I develop a dynamic model for simulating anisotropic, multimaterial assemblies of cells with embedded mechanical and electronic functionality based on local interactions. I demonstrate the similarities between my mechanical model and the Timoshenko Beam Element. I note an advantage of my model for simulating flexural joints is its non-linear treatment of angular displacements - allowing for large angular deformations to be simulated without costly remeshing. I implement this model in software and demonstrate its potential for parallelization by calculating each cell-cell interaction in a separate core of the GPU. I compare my simulation results with a professional multiphysics software package. I demonstrate that my tool facilitates rapid exploration of the design space around functional digital materials with several examples. / by Amanda Paige Ghassaei. / 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. / As cities become increasingly dense in the coming decades, they must turn to novel technologies and frameworks to address the imminent environmental, mobility, and public health issues that will arise with this population shift. The overwhelming use of single occupancy vehicles in the United States - they account for 76% of all trips - is a major contributor to pollution, traffic, and sedentary lifestyles. However, 50% of trips in the U.S. are less than 3 miles, and could likely be replaced by a more sustainable and space-efficient mode of transportation, such as bicycling, if effective policies and incentives were implemented. This thesis presents a blockchain-based financial incentives system where cyclists can leverage their activity and location data to receive financial compensation from organizations that would like to sponsor cycling activity. For example, an insurance company may want to reward its customers with lower premiums for partaking in healthy commuting behavior. A city government may wish to encourage cycling activity to mitigate urban congestion and pollution. A local business may sponsor bicycling activity in its vicinity to increase sales. The system presented in this thesis allows these organizations to internalize the positive externalities of cycling that have not historically been recognized or rewarded. This incentives system uses GPS data from sensors affixed to bicycles frames and powered by the cyclists themselves. The use of blockchain technology makes transactions in the marketplace secure, seamless, trustworthy, and transparent. Users are able to reveal "just enough" information about themselves to participate in the decentralized marketplace, instead of exposing their entire profile to a central entity. This market-driven system facilitates better matching between individuals and incentives, and delivers those incentives in a more timely, effective manner than current incentives programs. This thesis also envisions expanding this platform to include additional bicycle-based sensors that cyclists can leverage to collect and sell data, monetizing their commuting habits, and contributing to a scalable and stable solution for increasing the use of sustainable transportation in cities. / by Caroline Adair Jaffe. / 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 117-123). / Imagine traveling to a destination and, once you are there, hearing only car horns or seeing only a green sky. This project is an augmented reality experience in which you see and hear your current city while you are in another location through an immersive helmet. The multimodal experience includes augmented sounds and images that are generated by a semantic segmentation of your visual field. The segmentation produces overlaid sonic textures and superimposed visuals, modeling a newly perceived reality. The system presents cases where it is possible to imagine another place deeply and to become accustomed to a new location before being there physically. Moreover, one of the purposes of this thesis is to study the immersion of your current location but with distinct sounds and visuals from another location, for example, seeing colors and hearing sounds from Mexico City as if you were in Boston. The panoptic system aims to enhance human cognition and perception by using artificial intelligence through an immersive augmented reality device. Another goal is to augment your vision by knowing and understanding your surroundings. By using a Deep Learning model, the user's view is a "diminished" or an "augmented" reality, in which it is possible to manipulate and control physical reality in real time reality. In addition, the purpose is to offer a helpful, immersive, subjective - rather than a detached, observational - experience. / by Thomas Sanchez Lengeling. / 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. "Some pages in the original document contain text that runs off the edge of the page"--Disclaimer Notice page. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 199-204). / Conversational agents and intelligent toys are present in children's homes. This raises questions as to the impact of Al on their development. In this context, we explore how to educate the children that are growing up with Al and best prepare them for the future. Our prior studies showed that young people consider intelligent agents as friendly and trustworthy, and sometimes even defer to them when making decisions [16, 73]. This thesis explores how children, who are 7 to 14 years old, develop a better understanding of Al concepts and change their perception of smart agents by programming and teaching them with the Cognimates platform we developed. Variations between children of different nationalities and SES backgrounds are discussed together with the influence of their collaboration and communication skills. / by Stefania Druga. / 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 74-75). / In recent years, maker and coding movements have gained significant traction in learning communities around the world. To meet the needs of these movements, various forms of physical and digital construction kits have begun to emerge. Often times these construction kits facilitate creation in only one domain, either in the physical or virtual world, but not both. For my Master's thesis, I propose a new system, called the ScratchBit, that attempts to merge both physical and virtual making into a single cohesive experience. I am coining a new term, blended making, to describe the style of making that this system will enable. Blended making is the process of engaging in construction in both the physical and virtual world -- and with interplay between the two. Some examples could be designing a physical costume that allows the wearer to become an actor in a digital story, or creating a set of custom LEGO handlebars to control a flying bicycle video game on the screen. The ScratchBit is designed to enable young learners to engage in blended making. With an emphasis on composability, the ScratchBit allows almost any material -- such as cardboard, dolls, sneakers, or even swing sets - to be transformed into a physical interface for projects created with the Scratch visual programming language. This thesis presents analyses of projects that children created using the ScratchBit and discusses how these analyses influenced the iterative design of the ScratchBit. In addition to documenting and commenting on the iterative design process, this thesis also presents classifications of the types of ScratchBit projects that children created and guidelines for designing systems that support blended making. / by Kreg Hanning. / 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 36-37). / In this work, we designed and implemented several distinct and combined behavior stimuli experimental setups, which were used to characterize larval zebrafish behavior at various stimuli parameters. Tested stimuli was chosen from the perspective of eventual fluorescent neural imaging, so as to be both compatible with, and aware of the stimulating aspects of, a conventional florescence microscope incorporating an excitation laser. Despite the high variance of typical zebrafish behavioral responses, we were able to draw several conclusions. We characterized some optimal stimuli parameters for eliciting consistent responses, from time between stimuli trials to the speed at which a motion stimuli should be moved. We found that the presence of higher temperatures heavily mediates stimuli response, from startle to food-seeking behavior. We characterized a method of distinguishing between a behavioral movement response in reaction to an externally induced shock stimuli, and a directly-induced muscle contraction from the same stimuli. From an imaging perspective, when performing imaging using a typical, stimulating, florescence microscope laser, it appears that visual stimuli response is mediated, but not the nonvisual stimuli of a shock. In the future, observed transitions between behavioral states in response to thresholds of chosen stimuli parameters may be used as tools to explore how decisions are made at these junctures. / by Michael Alexander Skuhersky. / S.M.