approached previously by both Harry Partch and Ben Johnston, and proposes the decoupling of interface and sound production as a way forward. The design and implementation of a software instrument and a hardware prototype are described, both using a simple API for variable tuning instruments. The hardware prototype uses physical computing techniques to control the tuning of a string with a servo motor, while the software instrument exists entirely in a web browser. Finally, potential algorithms for clients of the API are presented, and the effectiveness of the hardware prototype is evaluated by measuring its pitch accuracy.

Thesis advisor: C. Patrick . Proctor / The demand for talent in the technology sector and the notion of computational thinking as everyday skills propel computing to enter middle school classrooms. The growing popularity of physical computing in educational spaces also infuses computing with elements of creativity and joy. Despite these recent movements, computing remains primarily in informal spaces due to a shortage of computer science teachers and the increasing focus on standardized testing. Arguing that computing and science share practices, this study views computing as problem-solving tools for science and proposes an integrated approach to teaching computing in science classrooms that takes advantage of the affordances of modern physical computing devices. Based on this perspective, a set of physical computing tools was developed to de-emphasize the mechanisms of computer science and shift focus to problem-solving and authentic scientific practices. This study aims to investigate the experiences of two science teachers and 16 students who learned to build self-regulated smart tabletop greenhouses with these tools as complete novices and critically evaluate the principles that undergird the design of the tools. With a qualitative, multiple case study design, this study answers two questions: 1) how did the teachers implement and reflect on their instruction? 2) how did the students engage with computing and science? Data from interviews and observations suggest that although the teachers shared similar instructional practices, their conceptualizations of the interplay between computing and science differed initially. They also had different instructional focuses and followed different trajectories in teaching, which may have produced subtly different understandings of computing-science relationships from their students. Despite these differences, all participants’ understandings of computing-science relationship conformed to a reciprocal pattern, which augmented the shared-practice argument for the integrated approach found in the literature. The challenges that the participants experienced contributed to the revision of the design of the computing tools. Based on these findings, the study recommends future directions in disambiguating the role of computing in middle school classrooms and in working with science teachers who are often simultaneously content experts and computing novices. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2019. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction.

This thesis is a design study of how everyday objects with embedded digital emotionality can be expected to be accepted into peoples lives. Through the design and evaluation of a chair and a stool with digital emotional features, the project explores the way these objects are given presence, and let into peoples lives. By placing them in the homes of volunteers for a shorter time, the project zooms in on the initial meeting with more emotional everyday objects. The project defines the creation of personality and narratives around the objects as being good design assets in designing for emotional relations. Further it states, and discusses, how balancing detailing and open/ended design features are important in both a general design perspective and when creating personality and narratives.

Physical-Computing-Geräten wie Robotern und Mikrocontrollern wird eine wichtige Rolle als Lernmedium für Schülerinnen und Schüler zugesprochen. Zu lernende Kontexte sind ähnlich vielfältig wie die inzwischen existierenden Geräte. Die Komplexität der Systeme ist mannigfaltig und bisherige Forschung geht zumeist von dem Gerät als Forschungsgegenstand aus. Im Rahmen dieser Dissertation wird von einem geräteunabhängigen Physical- Computing-Prozess als Problemlöseprozess ausgegangen, um ein Fundament für nachhaltige und geräteunabhängige Forschung zu schaffen sowie Physical Computing als Unterrichtsgegenstand zu beschreiben. Aufgrund von Merkmalen, wie der Arbeit mit Sensorik und Aktuatorik sowie dem iterativen Testen und Evaluieren, scheint Physical Computing Ähnlichkeiten zu dem naturwissenschaftlichen Experiment aufzuweisen. Dieser Zusammenhang und die potentiellen Auswirkungen auf die Informatikdidaktik werden in den folgenden drei Ausprägungsformen untersucht. Basierend auf Modellen aus der Literatur wird ein Modell des Physical-Computing- Prozesses abgeleitet und mithilfe empirischer Studien adaptiert. Bei dem Vergleich der Prozesse der wissenschaftlichen Erkenntnisgewinnung und des Physical Computing können diverse Gemeinsamkeiten festgestellt werden. Insbesondere verlaufen die Prozesse parallel zueinander, was die Grundlage für einen MINT-Problemlöseprozess bildet. Bislang wurden konkrete Probleme von Schülerinnen und Schülern bei der Interaktion mit den Geräten peripher beschrieben. In dieser Arbeit wird eine Analyse von Problemursachen vorgenommen und auftretende Probleme werden kategorisiert. Probleme, die gleichzeitig mehrere Problemursachen haben, werden aufgedeckt und eine Problemtaxonomie zur Beschreibung von Problemursachen abgeleitet. Ein mehrstufiges Feedback-Modell zur Unterstützung des Problemlösens in Physical- Computing-Aktivitäten wird basierend auf der Problemtaxonomie entwickelt. Durch eine empirische Untersuchung wird es als unterstützend für den Physical-Computing-Prozess evaluiert und bildet damit ein Modell zur Entwicklung von kognitiven Tutorensystemen für Physical Computing. / Physical computing devices like robots and microcontrollers play an important role as learning devices for students. These devices as well as the learning contexts are multifaceted. The complexities of the systems are diverse and the existing research is usually concentrated on the devices. This thesis develops as a starting point a device-independent physical computing process by seeing it as problem-solving process. The goal is to construct a base for sustained and device-independent physical computing research and to describe physical computing as a school subject. The physical computing process seems to share similarities with the scientific inquiry process, because of characteristics like working with sensors and actuators and iterativ testing and evaluating. This relation and the implications on computer science education are explored in the following three facets. Based on existing literature, a model of the physical computing process is derived and supplemented by empirical data. In the comparison of the scientific inquiry and the physical computing processes substantial commonalities are identified. Hence, a base for a joint STEM problem-solving process is built. So far, concrete students’ problems during the activities with physical computing devices are described as a side product. In this thesis problem sources are uncovered and occurring problems categorized. Problems having more than one problem source are uncovered and a problem taxonomy is derived from that. Based on the problem taxonomy, a multilevel feedback model to support problem solving during physical computing activities is developed. With an empirical exploration, the taxonomy is evaluated. Results indicate that the taxonomy is supportive for achieving the physical computing process. Finally a model for a cognitive tutoring system for physical computing is outlined.

With the increasing ubiquity of networked “smart” devices that read and gather data on the physical world, the disembodied, cognitive realm of cyberspace has become “everted,” as such technologies migrate the communications networks and data collection of the Internet into the physical world. Popular open-source “maker” practices—most notably the practice of physical computing, which networks objects with digital environments using sensors and microcontrollers—increasingly push human-computer interaction (HCI) into the physical domain. Yet such practices, as political theorists and some philosophers of technology argue, bypass the very question of subjectivity, instead lauding the socioeconomic liberation of the individual afforded by open-source hardware practices. What is missing across these discourses is a technocultural framework for studying the material ways that everted technologies articulate subjects. I argue that examining the various, contradictory forms of interface that emerge from physical computing provides such a framework. To support this claim, I focus on several case studies, drawn from popular physical computing practices and communities, and analyze the particular ways that these devices articulate subjectivity. I conclude by linking my technocultural framework with various feminist theories of boundary transgression and hybridity, and end by suggesting that, in an everted landscape, the subject is politically constituted by a proximity to present time and space. / Graduate / 0585 / shaunmac@uvic.ca

With the increasing ubiquity of networked “smart” devices that read and gather data on the physical world, the disembodied, cognitive realm of cyberspace has become “everted,” as such technologies migrate the communications networks and data collection of the Internet into the physical world. Popular open-source “maker” practices—most notably the practice of physical computing, which networks objects with digital environments using sensors and microcontrollers—increasingly push human-computer interaction (HCI) into the physical domain. Yet such practices, as political theorists and some philosophers of technology argue, bypass the very question of subjectivity, instead lauding the socioeconomic liberation of the individual afforded by open-source hardware practices. What is missing across these discourses is a technocultural framework for studying the material ways that everted technologies articulate subjects. I argue that examining the various, contradictory forms of interface that emerge from physical computing provides such a framework. To support this claim, I focus on several case studies, drawn from popular physical computing practices and communities, and analyze the particular ways that these devices articulate subjectivity. I conclude by linking my technocultural framework with various feminist theories of boundary transgression and hybridity, and end by suggesting that, in an everted landscape, the subject is politically constituted by a proximity to present time and space. / Graduate / 2015-04-21 / 0585 / shaunmac@uvic.ca

As the rise of Industry 4.0 sheds light on many emerging technologies, oursociety will change with it. While it brings forth many positive aspects, itcannot be ignored the socio-economic problems we may face in the future.Many jobs will be transformed, manual labour such as order picking, forkliftdriving will be vanishing, and humanity will have to adapt, as we have for theprevious industrial revolutions.Educating the industrial workers that face unemployment due to automationis an important ethical matter, but can we as humans develop our knowledgewith the technology, as opposed to adapting to it? This thesis uses methodsof interaction design to create an alternative educational format, forindustrial workers to learn about the Internet of Things, an essentialcomponent of Industry 4.0.The result of this is TIOTTA (Teaching Internet of Things ThroughApplication), a contextual learning material designed together with industrialworkers.

Sveriges barnbibliotek tappar besökare. Allt runt omkring oss förändras, men barnbiblioteken ser likadana ut. Vi vill i detta examensarbete ändra hur barn och ungdomar ser på biblioteket, så att de känner sig mer hemma i biblioteksmiljön och som följd av detta möjligtvis ökar barnens läslust. I stort vill vi göra biblioteket mer attraktivt och tilltalande för barnen. Vi har i tidigare projekt uppmärksammat att många barn och unga har intresse för teknik och detta valde vi att dra nytta av i Bokdjungeln. Vi har med hjälp av barn i åldern nio till tolv utvecklat två prototyper som vi kallar Bokbläddraren och Sagoslottet. / The children libraries in Sweden are losing visitors. Everything around us is changing but the children’s library stays the same. Our aim with this master’s thesis was to make kids from nine to twelve to visit the library more often and hopefully develop a higher interest of borrowing and reading books. Our goal is to make the library more attractive and appealing for children. We have seen a common interest of electronics and high-tech stuff among children during our former projects and field studies and we decided to use this to make the environment for children more appealing. We will do this thru two prototypes that we have developed. We call them The Storytellingtent and The Bookbrowser.

The sense of smell is crucial to everyday activities that make life pleasurable, such as eating, and it is also key to detecting danger, such as fire or rotten food. In addition, it is strongly linked with memory retrieval, it can induce affective states, and may even enhance the sense of presence in immersive environments. Furthermore, it is argued that olfaction holds promise as an art material. Despite all that, olfaction is often neglected, underestimated, or considered a lesser human sense in Western societies. In addition, the sense of smell is often overlooked in the fields of art education and HCI. Therefore, the field of olfactory interaction design could benefit from further inquiry, especially in relation to its potential to enrich learning in art education, a topic that has not been widely explored.   This thesis project aims to employ olfactory interaction design to enrich learning with smell in art education, all while helping art students become more aware of their sense of smell. The project is situated in the domains of embodied interaction and physical computing, and its final outcome is the prototype of an interactive system for learning with smell in art class while helping the users become more aware of their sense of smell. The prototype consists of two components: a mobile app and an olfactory display. It is targeted to art students, and more specifically, adults who attend art classes for leisure. This thesis project intends to contribute to the field of embodied interaction design, and more specifically, olfactory interaction design. In order to do that, a research-through-design approach is used in order to produce knowledge through an iterative process of design activities, and in order to develop a prototype that embodies this knowledge. Moreover, this project finds its theoretical grounding in the Constructivist theory of education, as well as in embodied interaction theory, phenomenology, and a contemporary view of the self as mind and body united into a whole.

Liminal Perspective refers to an alternative theoretical framework for understanding the interpretation of pictorial space in visual art when influenced by new technologies. Creating the illusion of depth on a two-dimensional surface has relied on the theory of linear perspective created in the renaissance. Leon Battista Alberti, in his landmark work De Pictura, created a geometric system for the illusion of deep space that uses orthogonals and a vanishing point to allow objects to diminish as they move backwards in space. This theory placed humans at the center of perception and the singular vantage point of pictorial space. Alberti's theory marked a huge philosophical shift from a god-centric worldview to a human-centric one. Technology, however, is rapidly changing our functional relationship to perspective and allows an expanded understanding of perception. Humans are no longer single vantage points but rather exist in tandem with technological augmentations like smart phones. The body of work discussed in this paper imagines alternative artwork-viewer relationships to what have been historically proposed by still-life painters in classical history such as those in the Dutch Golden Age. Using 3D animation in combination with computer vision and physical computing, Liminal Perspective explores new interpretations of pictorial space and how our perceptual philosophies might evolve to keep up with technology's evolution. / Master of Fine Arts / Liminal Perspective is a paper and body of visual art that uses interactive 3D animation to examine the historical genre of still-life painting. Creating the illusion of depth on a two-dimensional surface has relied on the theory of linear perspective created in the renaissance. This theory placed humans at the center of perception and the singular vantage point of pictorial space. Technology, however, is rapidly changing our functional relationship to perspective and allows an expanded understanding of perception. Humans are no longer single vantage points but rather exist in tandem with technological augmentations like smart phones. The body of work discussed in this paper imagines alternative artwork-viewer relationships to what have been historically proposed by still-life painters in classical history such as those in the Dutch Golden Age. Using 3D animation in combination with computer vision and physical computing, Liminal Perspective explores new interpretations of pictorial space and how our perceptual philosophies might evolve to keep up with technology's evolution.