Friedrich Nietzsche classified all precepts which were imposed upon us by human intervention as idols; his aim was to instigate “a revaluation of all values”, through the irrefutable sounding out of these idols. Armed with a tuning fork, his intention was to strike them so as to illicit a hollow reverberation. With a mischievous contentment he declared, “. . . that which would like to stay silent has to become audible.” Our faith in technology, consumption and our economic system, like our faith in the gods of the past, has facilitated and encouraged our adoption of destructive behaviours which position cultural ideals at war with nature. In the pursuit of profit and growth disguised as a commitment to progress, we have built a manufactured landscape which denies its connection or responsibility to our natural environment. Since the consequences of our disregard for nature have become undeniable, it is now necessary to reassess the hollow foundations of our cultural practices. The thesis imagines a narrative series of four underground rooms constructed to house four video installations. Each piece attempts to provoke an internal revolution, a reinstatement of our mental faculties through a shifting of perception both within the work and through paralleling the conditions of its installation with our own elaborately manufactured reality. The four galleries juxtapose the generative video pieces with corresponding case studies and stories that echo the themes of each piece. Through the study of unique practices in Slavjansk, Ukraine, the history of the North American lawn, current construction efforts in Dubai, UAE and Walt Disney World, USA, recent developments in China, and the past civilizations of Easter Island and the Greenland Norse, the thesis attempts to expose, through irony and juxtaposition, the absurd tragedy of our delusions. 1 . Nietzsche, Frederich. Twilight of the Idols and The Anti-Christ. Toronto: Penguin Books Canada Ltd. 2003. p 31.

I allt högre utsträckning väljer konsumenter att undvika TV-reklam som företag exponerar dem för, alternativet har således blivit att integrera produkter och varumärken i TV-serier för att göra den omöjligt för konsumenter att zappa bort. Denna uppsats syftar till att undersöka produktplacering i TV-serier och vilka faktorer i marknadskommunikationsprocessen, individers perception och kognition som företag bör ta i beaktning när de använder sig av produktplacering för att exponera sitt varumärke. Genom att be ett antal respondenter se ett avsnitt av en svensk TV-serie och sedan besvara frågor relaterade till produktplacering och avsnittets innehåll, urskiljs de faktorer som ligger till grund för erinran av varumärken. Resultatet visar på att bruset i marknadskommunikationsprocessen inte påverkar respondenterna i den grad teorin beskriver och den enda faktorn där samband uppvisades rörde individens sinnesstämning. Dessutom fann vi att respondenterna uppmärksammade varumärken i högre utsträckning om dessa var integrerade i handlingen, verbalt exponerades samt om det exponeras både verbalt och visuellt. Det visades även att respondenternas intressen var korrelerade med vilka varumärken som uppfattades samt att varumärken som exponerades vid upprepade tillfällen lättare kunde urskiljas. Företag bör därför ta dessa undermedvetna faktorer i beaktning när de använder sig av produktplacering som marknadsföringsmedel.

Citizens’ perceptions of the risk associated with various kinds of disasters are important. Public opinion on these matters can both compel and constrain political, economic and social efforts to address issues related to these hazards. Starting with the observation from surveys that there appears to strong public disagreement over the risk posed by various disasters, this thesis sets out to explain these observations. Three different kinds of disasters are selected as cases: terrorist attacks, oil spills, and long-term power blackouts. Although past research has identified a number of factors which may be relevant to the understanding of risk perceptions, there has been relatively little research on variations in risk perception within the public and even less on how these variations vary across different kinds of hazards. Drawing on relevant literature, a questionnaire was designed and administered by telephone to a nationally representative sample of 901 respondents. By means of multivariate regression analyses it is demonstrated that public perceptions of the risk associated with disasters are shaped by a number of factors, including values, political orientation, trust in risk management, as well as socio-demographic characteristics such as gender and age. Importantly, however, the way in and the extent to which each of these factors influences risk perceptions is highly dependent upon the particular hazard under consideration. While this was expected with regard to the effect of values and political orientation, it is much more difficult to explain why the effect of trust in risk management as well that of socio-demographic characteristics varies across hazards. Implications of findings to both risk managers and risk perception research is discussed.

Friedrich Nietzsche classified all precepts which were imposed upon us by human intervention as idols; his aim was to instigate “a revaluation of all values”, through the irrefutable sounding out of these idols. Armed with a tuning fork, his intention was to strike them so as to illicit a hollow reverberation. With a mischievous contentment he declared, “. . . that which would like to stay silent has to become audible.” Our faith in technology, consumption and our economic system, like our faith in the gods of the past, has facilitated and encouraged our adoption of destructive behaviours which position cultural ideals at war with nature. In the pursuit of profit and growth disguised as a commitment to progress, we have built a manufactured landscape which denies its connection or responsibility to our natural environment. Since the consequences of our disregard for nature have become undeniable, it is now necessary to reassess the hollow foundations of our cultural practices. The thesis imagines a narrative series of four underground rooms constructed to house four video installations. Each piece attempts to provoke an internal revolution, a reinstatement of our mental faculties through a shifting of perception both within the work and through paralleling the conditions of its installation with our own elaborately manufactured reality. The four galleries juxtapose the generative video pieces with corresponding case studies and stories that echo the themes of each piece. Through the study of unique practices in Slavjansk, Ukraine, the history of the North American lawn, current construction efforts in Dubai, UAE and Walt Disney World, USA, recent developments in China, and the past civilizations of Easter Island and the Greenland Norse, the thesis attempts to expose, through irony and juxtaposition, the absurd tragedy of our delusions. 1 . Nietzsche, Frederich. Twilight of the Idols and The Anti-Christ. Toronto: Penguin Books Canada Ltd. 2003. p 31.

The current study aims to provide insight into future business people’s perception of Social Responsibility topics in news media generated in the European Union. Furthermore, the study develops an understanding of the link between the perception of future business people and the three CSR-dimensions in media. These three dimensions include ‘opinion forming’, ‘opinion illustrating’ and ‘responsibility for own business actions’, emphasizing the media’s responsibility towards its stakeholders in order to act in line with socially responsible business actions. In news media, CSR is rather complex and sensitively linked to agenda setting, democracy, and transparency issues as well as accountability and one-way communication. The study focuses on future business people’s perceptions based on how they are affected by a media company’s commitment to the three CSR-dimensions since opinions are formed through media within society as a whole. Furthermore, the current study is conducted with qualitative research in order to gain deeper insight into the sample group’s in-depth feelings, experiences and opinions. Focus groups are conducted in order to achieve a thorough understanding of their perceptions. The analysis of the current study is based on thematic analysis enabling a systematic approach in order to provide the reader a clear overview. Moreover, findings are discussed and implications for management of media companies and society are demonstrated. A number of differing opinions become evident through the study among future business people. Their perceptions towards SR topics in news media emphasize the importance of the topic in today’s business environment and society as well as a subject that needs attention in news media. Moreover, future business people share a concern regarding news media’s agenda setting and illustrating, which in turn has an effect on the way they perceive a media company’s social responsibility processes. At the same time, SR topics in news media are intended to be taken into consideration for future decision-making.

Att filmmusiken är en viktig del i en film nog de flesta beredda att hålla med om. Men vad har musiken egentligen för betydelse för hur vi som åskådare upplever film? Med hjälp av två visuellt identiska filmer vars enda skillnad är filmmusiken undersöker jag hur olika typ av musik kan ge en annorlunda upplevelse av samma film. Ett antal personer får ta del av filmerna och svara på frågor i enkätundersökning, vars resultat sammanställs och analyseras. Med hjälp av det slutgiltiga resultatet kan jag avgöra om frågeställningen är besvarad och vad det får för betydelse för forskningen inom ämnet, och inte minst hur man kan bygga vidare på undersökningen för att få en djupare förståelse för filmmusik och hur den påverkar åskådarens upplevelse av film.

Given the high prevalence of automobile collisions in the United States, the need for collision prevention research is evident. To understand the complete cause of these incidents, it is critical to examine the drivers perception of these situations. This study involved simulations of multiple driving situations variant on luminance, rate of closure, and vehicle motions. Findings suggest changes in brake onset times of younger drivers based on roles of a lead vehicle. Multiple perceptually different rear end collisions caused participants to alter their brake onset times. The brake onset times were used to analyze braking models, including constant distance and constant tau. Additional analysis included correlations of the effects Useful Field of View and Test Anxiety on brake onset times. Effects identified not only aid in the general understanding of driving behavior, but also facilitate the application of driver assistive systems, which are currently being integrated into production vehicles.

The thesis discusses the characteristics of natural light that are visible inside concrete buildings designed in the late twentieth century. The study addresses three major objectives. First is to identify the characteristics of natural light visible inside these spaces. Second is to understand the use of natural light to illuminate different spaces. Third is to explore the relation between the characteristics of natural light and the overall perception of the space. With these objectives in mind, a comprehensive literature review was done to develop the hypotheses for this thesis. The first hypothesis states that the overall perception of a space is affected by certain basic characteristics of natural light. The second hypothesis suggests that the overall character of a space can be enhanced by emphasizing the source of natural light as a visual element. To test these hypotheses, this thesis studies the effect of natural light in three buildings made out of reinforced concrete in the late twentieth century. The three buildings are the Chapel of Notre Dame du Haut Ronchamp by Le Corbusier, the Kimbell Art Museum by Louis I. Kahn and the Church of the Light by Tadao Ando. The method of analysis is based on the selection of a spatial envelope in each building that helps to provide an ideal framework for studying the effects of light. The method takes into consideration the principles of visual perception and the use of images depicting the varied effects of light inside the spatial envelope. The results of the analysis show that the three projects employ similar design principles to achieve some of the common effects of light, and the listed characteristics of light in relation to the overall perception of the space do not vary to a great extent when moving from one project to another. The emphasis on the source of natural light is a common and recurring theme in all three buildings. The thesis concludes that the results support the hypotheses, and that the quality of a space is dependent upon the way a designer brings natural light into the space.

In visualization problems, surface shape is often a piece of data that must be shown effectively. One factor that strongly affects shape perception is texture. For example, patterns of texture on a surface can show the surface orientation from foreshortening or compression of the texture marks, and surface depth through size variation from perspective projection. However, texture is generally under-used in the scientific visualization community. The benefits of using texture on single surfaces also apply to layered surfaces. Layering of multiple surfaces in a single viewpoint allows direct comparison of surface shape. The studies presented in this dissertation aim to find optimal methods for texturing of both single and layered surfaces. This line of research starts with open, many-parameter experiments using human subjects to find what factors are important for optimal texturing of layered surfaces. These experiments showed that texture shape parameters are very important, and that texture brightness is critical so that shading cues are available. Also, the optimal textures seem to be task dependent; a feature finding task needed relatively little texture information, but more shape-dependent tasks needed stronger texture cues. In visualization problems, surface shape is often a piece of data that must be shown effectively. One factor that strongly affects shape perception is texture. For example, patterns of texture on a surface can show the surface orientation from foreshortening or compression of the texture marks, and surface depth through size variation from perspective projection. However, texture is generally under-used in the scientific visualization community. The benefits of using texture on single surfaces also apply to layered surfaces. Layering of multiple surfaces in a single viewpoint allows direct comparison of surface shape. The studies presented in this dissertation aim to find optimal methods for texturing of both single and layered surfaces. This line of research starts with open, many-parameter experiments using human subjects to find what factors are important for optimal texturing of layered surfaces. These experiments showed that texture shape parameters are very important, and that texture brightness is critical so that shading cues are available. Also, the optimal textures seem to be task dependent; a feature finding task needed relatively little texture information, but more shape-dependent tasks needed stronger texture cues.

This dissertation counters the visual bias, and the simplistic approach to the senses, in architectural thought, by investigating the connections among different sense modalities (sight, sound, smell, taste and touch). Literature from the cognitive sciences shows that sensory modalities are connected perceptually; what we see affects what we hear, what we smell affects what we taste, and so on. This has a direct impact on the perceptual choices we make in our day-to-day lives. A case study conducted in an urban plaza investigates the perceptual choices people make (or what they attend to) as they explore their physical environment. Results show that people construct subjective and embodied mental maps of their environments where sensory impressions are integrated with cognitive concepts such as emotions or object recognition. Furthermore, when one sense is muted (such as closing the eyes) other senses are prioritized. A theoretical framework termed as the "Sensthetic Model" is developed illustrating the interdependence of sensory, kinesthetic and cognitive factors, and the hierarchical and lateral relationship between sense-modalities. The latter is the focus of studies with architecture students in abstract thinking exercises: a) Hierarchical: Students perceive a hierarchy of senses (sensory order) when they think about different places. Vision is primary, but not always. Touch, classically relegated to the bottom of the hierarchy, is often higher in the hierarchy and coupled with sound. b) Lateral: Students associate colors with different sounds, smells, textures, temperatures, emotions and objects and cross over modalities conceptually, with a degree of consistency. There are more associations with emotions and objects (which are not constrained to a single sense-modality), than with purely sensory images. Finally, the theoretical model is further developed as a tool to think "across" modalities (crossmodally) based on the identification of sensory orders and sensory correspondences. By focusing on the sensory modalities (nodes) and the relationships among them (connections), the model serves as a conceptual tool for professionals to create sensory environments. This dissertation is an initial step beyond the aesthetics of appearance, towards the Sensthetics of experience.