This study aims at exploring the motivation that drives tourists to townships. The theories that were chosen as the theoretical base of this study were the push and pull theory, the Travel Career Ladder, authenticity and the tourist gaze. Three research questions were asked around the theory base and a survey was done of 100 tourists in selected locations within Soweto. Results obtained from the respondents allowed for statistical analysis. The results indicated that the township tourists were intrinsically motivated and were driven by affiliation needs. Furthermore, the tourists that initially visited Soweto were motivated by authenticity; however, as the amount of tourism in the area grew, the tourist gaze became the more dominant form of motivation. The implications of the study findings are discussed. Copyright / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

People with presbyacusis commonly report difficulties in conversation in everyday settings. Although previous research has focused on self-report inventories concerning conversation difficulties in age related hearing difficulties, there is a lack of published work describing the interactions between people with presbyacusis and their conversational partners. The aim of this study is to describe conversational interactions between people with presbyacusis and their main everyday conversational partner and to determine whether there is evidence of change in interaction before and after the fitting of hearing aids. Ten participants recruited from a larger cohort were included in this study, consisting of 5 participants with diagnosed presbyacusis and 5 frequent conversation partners. A battery of audiological assessments was completed for each participant with presbyacusis. Each participant with presbyacusis was videotaped in conversation at home with their main everyday conversational partner: once before hearing aid fitting and once two months following hearing aid fitting. The conversational interactions before and after hearing aid fitting were analysed using Conversation Analysis. The results of the study revealed that both the people with presbyacusis and the conversation partners used patterns of interaction in instances of mishearings in conversation. The person with presbyacusis shifted gaze direction to show a need for repair. In addition, the conversation partner used physical prompting to gain gaze directed attention from the person with presbyacusis. The person with presbyacusis also made verbal requests for a repair as a result of mishearings. These patterns in interaction showed co-ordination and timing of the repair recognition, initiation and completion by both parties. The phenomena uncovered in this study indicate that the responsibility to monitor and maintain conversation was increasingly placed on the conversation partner of the person with presbyacusis. This could explain why people with presbyacusis and their conversation partners frequently complain of frustration in conversation activities. In the postamplification conversations, no mishearings occurred, suggesting a trend towards fewer mishearings on conversation as a result of amplification of hearing. The research findings contribute to the evidence base concerning the real benefit of digital hearing aids to these elderly clients. The findings of this study can be used to design assessment and intervention tools in the future. / Dissertation (M (Communication Pathology))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology / M (Communication Pathology) / Unrestricted

Companies have long been interested in gauging the customer’s level of interest in their advertisements. By analyzing the gaze direction of individuals viewing a public advertisement, we can infer their level of engagement. Head pose detection allows us to deduce pertinent information about gaze direction. Using video sensors, machine learning methods, and image processing techniques, information pertaining to the head pose of people viewing advertisements can be automatically collected and mined. We propose a method for the coarse classification of head pose from low-resolution images in crowded scenes captured through a single camera and under different lighting conditions. Our method improves on the technique described in [1]; we introduce several modifications to the latter scheme to improve classification accuracy. First, we devise a mechanism that uses a cascade of three binary Support Vector Machines (SVM) classifiers instead of a single multi-class classifier. Second, we employ a bigger dataset for training by combining eight publicly available databases. Third, we use two sets of appearance features, Similarity Distance Map (SDM) and Gabor Wavelet (GW), to train the SVM classifiers. The scheme is tested with cross validation using the dataset and on videos we collected in a lab experiment. We found a significant improvement in the results achieved by the proposed method over existing schemes, especially for video pose classification. The results show that the proposed method is more robust under varying light conditions and facial expressions and in the presences of facial accessories compared to [1].

Cette thèse examine les transformations du regard en poésie à travers les imaginaires photographiques de la période moderniste. Le rôle de la photographie est étudié chez Apollinaire, Cendrars, Reverdy, Fargue, Mac Orlan, Albert-Birot, Morand, Larbaud, Soupault, Levet, Segalen ou Roussel et dans les revues littéraires de la période 1905-1930. Les rapports des poètes aux images photographiques sont d’abord concrets : pratiques d’amateurs, pratiques ludiques, usages iconographiques, activités de collections, etc. La photographie est aussi présente dans les textes poétiques, comme un autre du langage tour à tour magique, exotique, technique ou documentaire. Elle est alors source de transformations en interne : avec la radicalisation de la description, les effets de vécu et les dispositifs optiques, le visuel en poésie est envisagé à l’aune d’une vision photographique. En insistant sur la continuité entre l’époque moderniste et l’époque surréaliste, cette thèse établit le rôle de la photographie dans la définition d’une esthétique moderniste en poésie. / This dissertation examines the transformations of the poetic gaze through the prism of the photographic imaginary in the modernist age. Literary reviews and works by Apollinaire, Cendrars, Reverdy, Fargue, Mac Orlan, Albert-Birot, Morand, Larbaud, Soupault, Levet, Segalen or Roussel enable us to examine the role of photography between 1905 and 1930. The influence of photography is tangible in the realms of amateur and recreational practices, iconography or collections. Photography appears in poems as an external model, alternately magic, exotic, technical or documentary. Photography thus informs poetry from within: descriptions, real-life effects and optical devices show the link between the representations of the visual and the photographic gaze. This dissertation emphasizes the continuity between Modernism and Surrealism and demonstrates how photography redefined the modernist aesthetic in poetry.

Submitted by Renata Lopes (renatasil82@gmail.com) on 2015-12-09T18:43:10Z No. of bitstreams: 1 diegopereirarezende.pdf: 4374146 bytes, checksum: 1ff0f24a4bbb2102d15e9a2878ff5bb9 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2015-12-10T14:03:31Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 diegopereirarezende.pdf: 4374146 bytes, checksum: 1ff0f24a4bbb2102d15e9a2878ff5bb9 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-12-10T14:03:31Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 diegopereirarezende.pdf: 4374146 bytes, checksum: 1ff0f24a4bbb2102d15e9a2878ff5bb9 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-02-27 / CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Investigação sobre o “olhar” a partir de três deslocamentos teóricos: do retiniano ao conceitual, do Ser ao Haver e do “olhar” ao “voyeur”. O primeiro deslocamento busca o entendimento do flerte entre “olhar” e “imagem” segundo alguns escritores e filósofos do século XX. Isto atrelado à abordagem do processo de criação de determinados fotógrafos cegos ao redor do mundo: Evgen Bavcar, Pete Eckert, Gerardo Nigenda, Rosita McKenzie e do “Seeing with Photography Collective”, além das experiências vendadas do artista mineiro Cao Guimarães. Já o segundo movimento descreve a perspectiva teórica da Nova Psicanálise, criada em 1986, por MD Magno. Articulando, assim, à investigação sobre o “olhar”, algumas concepções da teoria: Haver e não-Haver, Cais Absoluto (termo de Fernando Pessoa), Prótese, Solércia, Mal-estar, Ato Poético e Cinco Impérios (Creodo Antrópico). Para, a partir disso, pensar a referência ao conceito de “indiferenciação” como possibilidade de criação de novas tecnologias visuais no século XXI, que vinculem neurociência, cosmologia, física quântica etc. E, em um terceiro passo, há o deslocamento da concepção do “olhar” para a do “voyeur” – a investidura do “olhante” como Tesão –, baseada na obra de Marcel Duchamp. Logo, a definição buscada aqui de “Voyeur Absoluto” (termo de Evgen Bavcar) é o resultado deste “Parangolé” (como descreve a Nova Psicanálise), da transa obtida nestes deslocamentos. O interesse, portanto, está no percurso, no movimento, no transe, na “indiferenciação” do “olhar” com o desígnio de refletir sobre um “voyeur protético”, análogo à Prótese inicial (abismo originário), que é anterior às oposições que se manifestam no campo do Ser (sujeito e objeto, corpo e mente, visível e invisível, luz e escuridão etc). / Investigation into the “gaze” according to three theoretical movements: from retinal to conceptual, from Being to “Haver” and from “gaze” to “voyeur”. The first movement seeks to understand the relation between “gaze” and “image” according to some writers and philosophers of the 20th century associated with the creation process of blind photographers around the world: Evgen Bavcar, Pete Eckert, Gerardo Nigenda, Rosita McKenzie and Seeing with Photography Collective; and also to the blindfolded experiences of the artist Cao Guimarães. The second movement describes the theoretical perspective of New Psychoanalysis, created by MD Magno in 1986, articulating some conceptions of this theory with the investigation into the “gaze”: Haver and não-Haver, Absolute Quay (Fernando Pessoa’s term), Prosthesis, Artifice, Discontentment, Poetic Act and the Five Empires. The reference to the concept of “undifferentiation” is considered as a basic condition of the creation of the 21st century visual technologies that bind neuroscience, cosmology, quantum physics… In the third movement we have the displacement from “gaze” to voyeur based on Marcel Duchamp’s work. So the definition of “Absolute Voyeur” (Evgen Bavcar’s term) is the result of this “Parangolé” (as described by New Psychoanalysis), i.e., of the transaction of these displacements. The interest is in the trajectory, in the trance, in the “undifferentiation” of “gaze” in order to ponder over the conception of a “prosthetic voyeur” analogous to an “initial Prosthesis” (original abyss) which is previous to the oppositions that take place in the realm of Being (subject and object, body and mind, light and darkness, visible and invisible…).

People with severe motor disabilities may communicate using their eye movements aided by a virtual keyboard and an eye tracker. Text entry by gaze may also benefit users immersed in virtual or augmented realities, when they do not have access to a physical keyboard or touchscreen. Thus, both users with and without disabilities may take advantage of the ability to enter text by gaze. However, methods for text entry by gaze are typically slow and uncomfortable. In this thesis we propose EyeSwipe as a step further towards fast and comfortable text entry by gaze. EyeSwipe maps gaze paths into words, similarly to how finger traces are used on swipe-based methods for touchscreen devices. A gaze path differs from the finger trace in that it does not have clear start and end positions. To segment the gaze path from the user\'s continuous gaze data stream, EyeSwipe requires the user to explicitly indicate its beginning and end. The user can quickly glance at the vicinity of the other characters that compose the word. Candidate words are sorted based on the gaze path and presented to the user. We discuss two versions of EyeSwipe. EyeSwipe 1 uses a deterministic gaze gesture called Reverse Crossing to select both the first and last letters of the word. Considering the lessons learned during the development and test of EyeSwipe 1 we proposed EyeSwipe 2. The user emits commands to the interface by switching the focus between regions. In a text entry experiment comparing EyeSwipe 2 to EyeSwipe 1, 11 participants achieved an average text entry rate of 12.58 words per minute (wpm) with EyeSwipe 1 and 14.59 wpm with EyeSwipe 2 after using each method for 75 minutes. The maximum entry rates achieved with EyeSwipe 1 and EyeSwipe 2 were, respectively, 21.27 wpm and 32.96 wpm. Participants considered EyeSwipe 2 to be more comfortable and faster, while less accurate than EyeSwipe 1. Additionally, with EyeSwipe 2 we proposed the use of gaze path data to dynamically adjust the gaze estimation. Using data from the experiment we show that gaze paths can be used to dynamically improve gaze estimation during the interaction. / Pessoas com deficiências motoras severas podem se comunicar usando movimentos do olhar com o auxílio de um teclado virtual e um rastreador de olhar. A entrada de texto usando o olhar também beneficia usuários imersos em realidade virtual ou realidade aumentada, quando não possuem acesso a um teclado físico ou tela sensível ao toque. Assim, tanto usuários com e sem deficiência podem se beneficiar da possibilidade de entrar texto usando o olhar. Entretanto, métodos para entrada de texto com o olhar são tipicamente lentos e desconfortáveis. Nesta tese propomos o EyeSwipe como mais um passo em direção à entrada rápida e confortável de texto com o olhar. O EyeSwipe mapeia gestos do olhar em palavras, de maneira similar a como os movimentos do dedo em uma tela sensível ao toque são utilizados em métodos baseados em gestos (swipe). Um gesto do olhar difere de um gesto com os dedos em que ele não possui posições de início e fim claramente definidas. Para segmentar o gesto do olhar a partir do fluxo contínuo de dados do olhar, o EyeSwipe requer que o usuário indique explicitamente seu início e fim. O usuário pode olhar rapidamente a vizinhança dos outros caracteres que compõe a palavra. Palavras candidatas são ordenadas baseadas no gesto do olhar e apresentadas ao usuário. Discutimos duas versões do EyeSwipe. O EyeSwipe 1 usa um gesto do olhar determinístico chamado Cruzamento Reverso para selecionar tanto a primeira quanto a última letra da palavra. Levando em consideração os aprendizados obtidos durante o desenvolvimento e teste do EyeSwipe 1 nós propusemos o EyeSwipe 2. O usuário emite comandos para a interface ao trocar o foco entre as regiões do teclado. Em um experimento de entrada de texto comparando o EyeSwipe 2 com o EyeSwipe 1, 11 participantes atingiram uma taxa de entrada média de 12.58 palavras por minuto (ppm) usando o EyeSwipe 1 e 14.59 ppm com o EyeSwipe 2 após utilizar cada método por 75 minutos. A taxa de entrada de texto máxima alcançada com o EyeSwipe 1 e EyeSwipe 2 foram, respectivamente, 21.27 ppm e 32.96 ppm. Os participantes consideraram o EyeSwipe 2 mais confortável e rápido, mas menos preciso do que o EyeSwipe 1. Além disso, com o EyeSwipe 2 nós propusemos o uso dos dados dos gestos do olhar para ajustar a estimação do olhar dinamicamente. Utilizando dados obtidos no experimento mostramos que os gestos do olhar podem ser usados para melhorar a estimação dinamicamente durante a interação.

Today, video communication is common in private and professional communication, and during corona pandemic 2020, its use has increased significantly. This has raised the issue on the fact that video communication is not as perceived as natural as a face-to-face conversation, and the lack of eye contact can be a contributing cause. This study has developed and evaluated a video communication design where it was possible for users to have eye contact. It was also possible to manipulate the camera position. The aim of the study was to evaluate the usefulness of the design in research on eye contact, which gave the opportunity to also investigate how this affects the experience of the conversation. The study also investigated how the self-view affects experience of conversations. Twelve persons participated in the study. After a relaxed conversation, a semi-structured interview was conducted on how they experienced the different camera angles. The participants eye movements were also recorded. The result shows a significant and consistent perceived difference between different camera positions. The usual camera position with 15° decentration felt familiar and the extreme decentration of 45° position felt unreal and abnormal. When given the opportunity for eye contact, the participants felt significantly more present in the conversation with increased sense of reality. The Self-view was perceived as an obstacle to feel present, but gave a sense of control. These results are discussed in relation to the need to adapt video communication to social processes and its biological origin, e.g. the eyes function for we-ness and the implication of seeing oneself during conversations.

Denna uppsats syftar till att diskutera vinylskivan och dess omslags estetiska utveckling under 1900-talet samt hur vinylskivan har fungerat som musikmedium. Vinylskivans omslag kommer att diskuteras utifrån hur det har påverkat skivmarknaden under tiden vinylskivan var det rådande musikformatet. Uppsatsen kommer också att undersöka tre skivomslag för att undersöka bruket av kvinnligt kodade kroppar inom populärmusik och varför dessa har blivit utvalda att representera musiken inom musikmediet “skivomslag”. Det kommer att ske en utvecklad version av Erwin Panofskys ikonografisk bildanalys med hjälp av Roland Barthes semiotiska metod.Jag kommer att använda Sébastien Telliers album Sexuality (2008), The Strokes album Is This It (2001) och Kesha’s album Rainbow (2017) i analysen. Jag kommer att ta hänsyn till skillnader och likheter av utförandet kring skivomslaget om det är en manlig upphovsperson respektive kvinnlig upphovsperson. I uppsatsen kommer det också ske en diskussion kring skivmediumet i sig och vad skivans förpackningen inom musikmarknaden har betytt för konsumtionen med dessa bildmotiv. Uppsatsen består av två kapitel, det första kapitlet fokuserar på vinylskivan och dess designutveckling och i kapitel två kommer den ikonografiska/semiotiska bildanalysen att avhandlas. Uppsatsen avslutas i en avslutande diskussion och en sammanfattning.

Denna uppsats har gjorts i syfte att undersöka relationerna som finns mellan den filmtekniska aspekten av tempo och porträttering av manlig intimitet. Musikvideon till låten Territory av The Blaze analyseras genom en filmsemiotisk analys ur ett genusperspektiv. Metoden utformas efter hur aktivitet är representerat genom icke-verbal kommunikation för att läsa av vart intimitet uppstår och uteblir. Kommunikations- och genusteorier appliceras sedan på materialet för att se hur det påverkas av valet att skildra representationen med slow-motion eller normalt tempo. Användningen av slow-motion bidrar till att sakta ner i narrativet där den manliga intimiteten kan liknas till det sätt som kvinnor vanligtvis porträtteras genom Mulveys teorier gällande den manliga blicken. / The purpose of this essay is to analyze the relations between the use of pace and representation of masculine intimacy. The music video to the song Territory by The Blaze is observed through a gender perspective in a film semiotic analysis. The method involves how intimacy is represented through non-verbal communication. The material will be analyzed through theories involving communication and gender identity to see how it is affected by pace. This leads to the result of a conclusion that slowing down the narrative contributes to a representation of male intimacy to have resemblance to how women are portrayed according to Mulvey’s theories about the Male gaze.

Denna studie undersöker hur kvinnor representeras i reklam. Syftet med denna studie är att ta reda på hur Lindex i två olika kampanjer representerar kvinnor i sin reklam för underkläder för kvinnor. Undersökningen fokuserar på om representationen i kampanjerna förhåller sig till stereotyper eller femvertising. Uppsatsen grundar sig på teorier om representation och semiotik samt vad stereotyper är. Metoden som har använts är en semiotisk analys. Resultatet visar att de två olika kampanjerna skiljer sig åt trots att de marknadsförts i samma produktkategori. Den första kampanjen visar många tecken som tyder på att reklamkampanjen är mer stereotypiskt, eftersom den representerar många förutfattade meningar om vad som är snyggt och attraktivt. Den andra kampanjen visar varierande kroppar och åldrar. Reklamen blir inte stereotypisk men är ändå inom ramen för vad som anses vara attraktivt, då alla kvinnor i bilden har fixat hår, har mjuk kropp, lagom mycket rynkor om de är äldre och så vidare. Detta tyder på att kvinnor måste vara attraktiva, för att representeras i reklam. Den första kampanjen blir en negativ syn hur kvinnor borde vara och upprätthåller kvinnliga skönhetsideal medan den andra kampanjen gör att fler kan relatera till personerna då de visar upp fler människor i olika kroppar, åldrar och etnicitet