Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Comparative Media Studies, 2010. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 127-131). / At the heart of this thesis is a desire to understand the evolving and situated relationship between humans and computers. Looking to a specific kind of computer at a specific moment in history, I analyze the ways in which advertising played a role in socially constructing an individual's relationship to the personal computer in the home. Based an analysis of over 500 advertisements in widely circulated magazines during 1984-1987, this thesis examines through emblematic examples how advertisements during this period positioned the personal computer as a domestic machine. In observing the means of socially constructing the personal computer in the mid -1980s, we come to understand the role and potential implications of advertising in socially constructing meaning, as well as gain a deep perspective on how the personal computer was constituted in the early years of its introduction into the home. Taken together, these advertisements present a portrait of a technology's evolution and begin to reveal how personal computers took on the meaning and place that they now occupy in contemporary life. Once embodiments of military and corporate de-humanizing control, computers are now accepted as evocative, social extensions of individual selves that represent individual freedom and power. With personal computers as our contemporary companions, at home, at work and in our laps, this thesis tells a history of how our relationship began. / by Madeleine Clare Elish. / 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 159-167). / There are many health-related risks associated with chronic stress. One approach for addressing this issue comes from strengthening inside self-regulation abilities rather than eliminating outside sources of stress. However, technology has not been explored to its full potential for delivering calming interventions. While many of the persuasive technologies developed for fostering behavior change focus on cognitive processes, little attention has been given to influencing behavior through automatic processes of the brain. Considering the bidirectional relationship between psycho-physiological signals and self-reported emotional states, manipulating the physiological signals that a human being has voluntary control over is promising for achieving a desired emotional state. In this work, we focus on respiration due to the fact that it is both a voluntary and involuntary response of the body. It is a good indicator of stress, but can also be manipulated to induce calmness. This thesis introduces BrightBeat: a set of seamless visual, auditory, and tactile interventions that mimic a calming breathing oscillation with the aim of influencing physiological syncing and consequently bringing a sense of focus and calmness. These interventions are designed to run easily on commonplace personal electronic devices, respect the user's privacy, and to not require constant focus or attention in order to be effective. We have designed BrightBeat interventions iteratively and have examined both objective and subjective measures of impact through a series of studies with N=54 users in total. From an objective perspective, BrightBeat interventions significantly influenced calmer (slower) breathing and had a lasting influence. From a subjective perspective, considering the individual differences, these interventions have been shown to improve self-reported calmness and focus. Also, participants reported high preference for using them in the future. This work has been supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the MIT Media Lab Consortium. / by Asma Ghandeharioun. / 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 67-70). / We are in constant symbiosis with the 100 trillion microbes in our gut and the complex system of bacteria around us in our environment. Within the field of metagenomics, it's clear that understanding the built environment is necessary in order to learn more about ourselves as participants in this microbial ecosystem. By understanding the cities which we inhabit in from a bacterial point of view we can begin to discern the invisible qualities of cities. I want to understand the city as a biological organism, understand its bacterial ecosystem and visualize the invisible microbial world within the built environment. I propose a method of sampling biological material from cities by using honeybees (Apis mellifera) as a proxy to swab-based sampling methods. / by Miguel Perez. / 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 100-107). / Recent developments in digital fabrication tools and materials have pushed how fast, how well, and in what forms products can be made. The construction industry has been interested in using these automated technologies, however, material and machine constraints prevent them from being adopted at the scales that are demanded. This thesis is focused on how we might automate construction, especially when physical human intervention may be difficult. What approaches can we pursue now? What approaches should we aim for in the future? How can we achieve high scalability and maintain sustainability throughout? I will focus on how methodologies in controls and design must shift, but will also discuss how materials, sensors, and structural and machine morphologies inform these decisions and must be jointly developed to create robust autonomous construction systems. Climate change has instituted the need to reduce waste and use environmentally-friendly materials. Refugee crises have created severe housing shortages in remote and dangerous parts of the world. Growing curiosity about extra-terrestrial exploration have captured our imaginations about fabricating off-world habitats. These scenarios have further encouraged the development of novel platforms, that are not only autonomous, but can fabricate site- and task-specific structures, on-site and in unstructured environments. I present a pathway through which we can explore and feasibly implement this research at every step. I propose we begin by (1) modifying and automating combinations of existing construction processes and materials. These systems, however, are not simply scaled, for which I present (2) strategies for developing new types of inherently parallelizable systems that use different materials, and are designed from scratch. And finally, inspired by nature, I speculate about (3) a truly sustainable, scalable, and inter-species cooperative future for construction. For this I explore the relation of social behaviors to fabrication and how to create them in both biological and artificial contexts, in the present. / by Levi Cai. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Comparative Media Studies, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves [61]-63). / How can concepts from literature and technology design combine to create new forms of storytelling on mobile devices? This paper examines the theory and practice of bringing literary techniques into mobile technology design. First I present a model of media technology evolution which is not progressive, but atemporal-grounded in the ongoing expressive challenges of the humanities. This theory forms the basis for what I call the exchange: temporary collaborations between creative writers and interaction designers which lead to new forms of fiction and communications technology. I promote close readings of literature as a starting point for the exchange, examining specific passages for mobile storytelling inspiration and innovative means of modeling users. I then look at nascent efforts in storytelling over mobile devices, focusing on museum tours, grassroots organizations, artist collectives, research groups, and, lastly, my own work. In the end, I advocate a hybrid form of "Moving Fiction," combining mobile media characters with live actors, music, and sensory input from the surrounding environment. / by Michael Epstein. / S.M.

Thesis: Ph. D., 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 215-219). / In recent years the world became mostly urban, communication untethered and objects surpassed humans connected to the Internet. We are being shaped by the intersection of urbanization and ubiquitous computing. "Smart Cities" offer an efficiency-driven solution by "programming" the city, but this centralized approach forgets that it is the people that make the city and that playing is central to being human. Digital or physical, play is an act of creation and appropriation, a respite in a world geared towards consumption, efficiency and technological determinism. Simultaneously, playgrounds are suffering abandonment. Poorly designed, they are deemed childish and boring, the streets insecure and parents too busy. Portable computing devices have taken over most of the playtime and confined it to human-screen interaction. With less time spent outdoors, social networks and video games have become important hubs where we converge to play-mediated, across distance, with people we might never meet. This dissertation proposes that the advantages of connected play need not be exclusive to the indoors, and that playgrounds today need no real estate. Additionally, it hypothesizes that connected play in the public space enhances the social integration function that playgrounds as architectural constructs have previously served. Drawing from research in play, cognitive development, ubiquitous computing, architecture, telepresence and urban planning, this dissertation posits the redesign of playgrounds into Networked Playscapes. Grounded in the public space, they take existing urban affordances and add largely invisible technological underpinnings so as to support connected play. Deployed in Mexico City, Networked Playscapes is illustrated through three experiments: Triciclo, Andamio and ListenTree. Placed at highly marginalized areas and designed with a broad definition of play, they provide infrastructure for connection at different scales while centering on ludic interaction as the purpose to come together across social and geographic divisions. Space informs play as much as play can inform space. This thesis will discuss design guidelines driven by local idiosyncrasies and physical affordances for grounding and place making, and proposes taking the telepresent quality of imaginative play as the parameter to make congruous use of physical computing embedded in architectural constructs and nature itself. / by Edwina Portocarrero Navarro. / Ph. D.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Comparative Media Studies, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 86-89). / Secrets are a ubiquitous part of contemporary videogame design, yet are largely unexplored within academic discourse and often dismissed as extras. I contend that secrets play a fundamental and influential role within a given gamespace in terms of the way they affect a videogame design and player experience. As such this paper will investigate the nature of secrets in videogames. I shall find where secrets exist in a game and how they function as moments of gameplay. Then I will explore secrets historically and look at how the meaning of secrets have changed and evolved over time. It will be shown that secrets create a window to an underlying structure of gameplay, a meta-level that subverts the regular play of a videogame. Further, I will argue that secrets are a space where players engage in unstructured play, free from the constraints of a game design. Finally I will demonstrate how secrets can be used to personalize or redesign the experience of a videogame and/or remake the game design itself. In order to make this argument I will break down what secrets can mean specifically to players through two very differently structured games: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Animal Crossing. Knowing why secrets matter in a gamespace will reveal a reason for why videogames are compelling as a brave new form of media. / by Kristina Lynn Drzaic. / 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 153-162). / We design, implement, and test a wearable object identification system which allows users to "hover" their hands over objects of interest and get access to contextual information that may be tied to them, through an intelligent personal assistant. The system uses a fusion of sensors to be able to perform the identification of an object under a variety of conditions. Among these sensors there is a camera (operating in the visible and infrared spectrum), a small solid-state radar, and multi-spectral light spectroscopy sensors. Users can interact with contextual information tied to an object through conversations with an intelligent assistant to permit a hands-free, non-obtrusive, and personalized experience. The system explores audio interfacing with augmented reality content without the hassle of phones or head mounted devices. / by Pedro A. Colón-Hernández. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Comparative Media Studies, 2010. / This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections. / Cataloged from student submitted PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 121-125). / The ubiquity of camera phones, coupled with the increasing mobility of citizens and the rise of digital production as an embedded technosocial practice, is creating incentives for many people around the globe to engage in media creation. Mobile phone users are beginning to explore personal broadcasting through live-streaming video, but little is known about the type of content being produced or how much of that content has civic or community value. At this technological and cultural moment, there is an opportunity to learn not only what is being created, but also how the medium can be embraced as a means of civic participation. This thesis analyzes overall production trends through a content analysis of 1,000 mobile videos on Qik.com, and goes on to investigate the motives and practices behind the production of civic content specifically. Looking at live-streaming mobile video production as a social practice through the lens of civic engagement, it analyzes how and why people are beginning to use this medium to become active citizens for the sake of educating or inspiring others. Research includes mobile production by general users but focuses more narrowly on those who self-identify as activists, journalists, educators and community leaders. / by Audubon McKeown Dougherty. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Comparative Media Studies, 2009. / "June 2009." Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 215-217). / In designing DwarfFortress as part roguelike and part simulation, Tarn and Zach Adams of Bay 12 Games drew on a tradition of game genres that used proceduralism and simulation to give players unique paths through the game. The specific choices in their design served their goal of "giv[ing] rise to some really awesome stories from the players themselves," I argue, because it took advantage of what Henry Jenkins calls "narrative architecture." Expanding on Jenkins' idea to examine narrative architectures of space, code, and player choice, the thesis shows how Bay 12 not only encouraged players to view the game as a world full of stories, but also gave players tools to craft their own kinds of tellable moments through the game. Tellable moments, as described by Marie-Laure Ryan and Lisbeth Klastrup, are events which, because they either create or break expected patterns, are well-suited to use in plots, and serve as resources for storytelling. As players became authors, they engaged in a sort of 'narrative play' through the game's affordances (and tools created in the community) in order to craft more elaborate and specific story arcs within the general confines of the game. This narrative play is a gameplay strategy in which players use the game's narrative architecture in order to goad the game's code into producing certain kinds of outcomes, outcomes which they aim to use for storytelling. Three different stories provide us with a set of tellable moments in which narrative play alternatively responds to gameplay challenge, creates an environment that embodied and staged story, and reconfigures code in order to create new types of tellable moments. / by Joshua Lindsay Diaz. / S.M.