Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Comparative Media Studies, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves [133]-[150]). / Media policy in the United States has, since its inception, been governed by the principle that infrastructure providers should serve "the public interest." The Federal Communications Commission has traditionally been charged with enforcing various obligations on businesses under this principle. Policymakers have developed different regimes for different media, but these distinctions no longer make sense in a technologically converged environment. This study draws upon the historical origins of the principle in order to inform contemporary debates in communication policy. It recovers some of the normative meaning behind "the public interest" phrase, and identifies the several dimensions in which it remains relevant today. The thesis argues that universal access, platform innovation, and general-purpose technologies should inform network-aware media policy. / by Stephen James Schultze. / S.M.

Thesis: Ph. D., 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. / In order to map the dynamics of neural circuits in mammalian brains, there is a need for tools that can record activity over large volumes of tissue and correctly attribute the recorded signals to the individual neurons that generated them. High-resolution neural activity maps will be critical for the discovery of new principles of neural coding and neural computation, and to test computational models of neural circuits. Extracellular electrophysiology is a neural recording method that has been developed to record from large populations of neurons, but well-known problems with signal attribution pose an existential threat to the viability of further system scaling, as analyses of network function become more sensitive to errors in attribution. A key insight is that blind-source separation algorithms such as Independent Component Analysis may ameliorate problems with signal attribution. These algorithms require recording signals at much finer spatial resolutions than existing probes have accomplished, which places demands on recording system bandwidth. We present several advances to technologies in neural recording systems, and a complete neural recording system designed to investigate the challenges of scaling electrophysiology to whole brain recording. We have developed close-packed microelectrode arrays with the highest density of recording sites yet achieved, for which we built our own data acquisition hardware, developed with a computational architecture specifically designed to scale to over several orders of magnitude. We also present results from validation experiments using colocalized patch clamp recording to obtain ground-truth activity data. This dataset provides immediate insight into the nature of electrophysiological signals and the interpretation of data collected from any electrophysiology recording system. This data is also essential in order to optimize probe development and data analysis algorithms which will one day enable whole-brain activity mapping. / by Jacob G. Bernstein. / Ph. D.

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 177-183). / What opportunities does virtual reality offer to improve the way we learn? In this thesis, I investigate the ways that constructivist approaches, in particular exploratory and experiential learning, can be uniquely supported by immersive virtual worlds. Against the background of these learning theories, I introduce a design framework that centers around defining a medium of virtuality that is fundamentally social, and uses capture of movement and interaction as a key means for creating interactive scenarios and narrative. Within the world conjured by this medium, the Equipped Explorer learns, reviews, creates and communicates using tools that I propose and classify according to a taxonomy. A series of prototypes and design explorations are used as proofs of concept for aspects of the design framework. Experimental studies are used to investigate foundational questions concerning the learning benefits of using VR over 2D interactive media, and the viability of social interaction and collaboration in VR. I reflect on the implications of this framework and my experimental results to extrapolate how they might impact the future classroom and the practice of learning and discovery more broadly. Finally, I discuss what kinds of research might be needed to maximize that impact moving forward. / by Scott Wilkins Greenwald. / Ph. D.

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 151-160). / When we listen closely, there is a pervading sense that we could hear more if we could only focus a little more intently. Our own perceptual limits are a moving target that we cannot delineate and rarely reach. This dissertation introduces technologies that operate at that mysterious boundary. I envision sensor(y) landscapes, physical sites that meld distributed sensing and sensory perception to afford new perceptual sensibilities. Today's mainstream technologies are well designed for rapid consumption of information and linear, sequential action. A side effect of their effectiveness to task, however, is a loss of undirected, curiosity-driven exploration in the world. I propose alternative technologies that would extend perceptual presence, amplify attention, and leverage intuitions. My focus is on turning rich sensor data into compelling sensory input, and as such, a substantial component of my work involved deploying sensor infrastructure in beautiful places. My projects center on a wetland restoration site, called Tidmarsh, where environmental data are densely and continuously collected and streamed. Using sound and vibration as the medium and nature as the setting, I undertook this work in two steps. The first constructs environments suffused with sensing and built for being present in. My projects in this space comprise sensor-driven virtual worlds, glass elevator sound installations, and vibrating forests that give oral histories. Building on lessons and infrastructure from the first approach, my culminating work uses non-occluding spatial audio to create situated perceptions of data. I developed a bone-conduction headphone device, called HearThere, that renders a live soundscape from distributed microphones and sensors, fully merged with the user's natural hearing. HearThere combines its wearer's inferred listening state with classification output from an Al engine to adjust the mix and spatial parameters of virtual audio sources. The device was developed based on findings from lab studies into spatial hearing and attention, and evaluated in a human subjects study with a panel of experts. Through these projects, I found that deriving meaning in the medium is a matter of possessing or developing perceptual sensibilities, intuitions for how the permeated data can be teased out and contemplated. Carefully composed perceptual confusion-a blurring of place and distributed media-becomes an opportunity for the development of new transpresence sensibilities. How do users make sense of these new dimensions of perception, and how can technologies be designed to facilitate perceptual sense-making? / by Gershon Dublon. / Ph. D.

It was the purpose of this study to determine what effect intrinsic motivation in software programs using graphics and non-graphics has on the achievement, attitudes, attendance and depth-of-involvement of 65 underachieving students. The study was conducted in the natural school setting over the period of a semester. Data was collected on three groups, the control group (n = 33), the alternate treatment group in which students were exposed to CAI without the use of graphics as a part of the instruction, and the experimental group in which students were exposed to CAI with graphics for at least 20 minutes three times per week. An ANCOVA was done on the pre and posttest Math Computation scores of the SAT and the pre and posttest weighted raw scores of the Motivation for Schooling subtest of the SAM. An ANOVA was done on attendance data and a measure of depth-of-involvement defined as time-on-task.;Results indicated that there was no statistically significant difference in the academic achievement, attitudes or attendance among the three groups. However, gains in academic achievement did approach statistical significance. Results for the measure of time-on-task did achieve statistical significance indicating greater involvement with graphic programming.;It was concluded that the use of CAI with or without graphics does not substantially improve the achievement, attitudes or attendance of underachieving students significantly more than other intensive remedial instructional techniques.

A 3D recreation of the interior of the main hall of the Union Station train station in Washington DC.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether teaching critical thinking skills with the microcomputer produces a greater increase in the thinking skills of middle school students than teaching critical thinking skills with conventional methods.;The sample consisted of ten intact classes (N = 204) of seventh grade students who had registered for a class called, "Problem Solving with the Microcomputer." Five of the classes were assigned at random to two treatment groups and five classes served as the control group. Trained teachers instructed the treatment groups in a nine week course in critical thinking and problem solving consisting of four learning modules: analogous reasoning, logical reasoning, inductive/deductive reasoning, and problem analysis. Both treatment groups were alternately taught two of the learning modules with the aid of the microcomputer and two of the modules taught with conventional methods. The control group received no special instruction in critical thinking skills. The conventional instruction consisted of lecture, discussion, and paper-and-pencil worksheets covering the same instructional objectives presented by the microcomputer software. All classes met daily for 50 minute periods. Selected subtests from the Ross Test of Higher Cognitive Processes and from the Test of Cognitive Skills were administered to all students as pretest-posttest measures of critical thinking skills. The Otis-Lennon Mental Ability Test was administered as a pretest-posttest measure of scholastic aptitude.;The major findings of the study were: (1) Students in both treatment groups, microcomputer and control, who received instruction in verbal analogies achieved significantly higher gains (p < .01) than the control group who received no instruction. A close match between the instruction and the assessment instrument seemed to be a contributing factor to this result. (2) No significant differences (p < .05) were found between the control, microcomputer, and conventional groups on logical reasoning, inductive/deductive reasoning, or problem analysis skills. (3) No significant differences (p < .05) in scholastic aptitude were found between the three groups as a result of instruction in critical thinking skills.

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Visuell kommunikation är viktigt för att underlätta förståelsen hos läsaren, samt lösa avancerade problem inom vetenskap och matematik. Trots denna kunskap används den knappt vid läromedelsformgivning av exempelvis matematiska läroböcker. Tidigare forskning har gjort undersökningar om visuell kommunikation i ämnet matematik som främst involverat låg- och mellanstadieelever, samt högre gymnasiala- och högskoleutbildningar. Instruktioner är fortfarande dock väldigt begränsade vad gäller att använda visuella modeller och strategier från läromedel. Att tillverka tydlig visualisering utifrån data är dock tidskrävande samt kräver stor ansträngning. Däremot är visuell kommunikation nödvändigt för att minska otydligheter samt konsekvenser. Denna studie har därför undersökt hur visuell kommunikation kan utformas i matematiska problemformuleringar, samt hur detta uppfattas hos matematikintresserade elever på högstadienivå. En kvalitativ undersökning har genomförts via ett matematiktest som utformats på 3 olika sätt. Matematiktestet utformades utifrån teorier om grafiska designelement som används ofta i visuell kommunikation. Målgruppen bestod av 6 matematikintresserade elever från 2 klasser i årskurs 7. Testet innehöll 5 problemformuleringar varav 2 personer fick göra varsitt matematiktest av de 3 utformningarna. Matematiktestets utformningar bestod av ett bildbaserat, ett textbaserat, samt ett text- och bildbaserat. Dessa 3 utformningars kommunikation jämfördes sedan i form av en semistrukturerad intervju med målgruppen efter testet. Målgruppens åsikter analyserades i förhållande till testerna. Slutsatserna av analysen resulterade i en majoritet som uppskattade det text- och bildbaserade testet. De gemensamma designelementen bild, förklarande text, samt rödmarkerad text underlättade förståelsen hos målgruppen för denna studies undersökning. Det text- och bildbaserade testet underlättade därför förståelsen för problemformuleringarna. Det textuella och bildbaserade testet hade bristande kommunikation och uppfattades därför som svårt. Kombinationen av både text och bild gav  motivation till att vilja lösa problemet i jämförelse med de test som enbart bestod av text eller bild. Text och bild kan därmed användas av, eller enbart inspirera, lärare inom ämnet matematik vid framtida utformning av problemformuleringar. / Visual communication is necessary in order to gain a better understanding for the reader, and also to solve difficult scientific and mathematical problems. Though, this knowledge is rarely used in the design of educational materials, mathematical educational books as an example. Earlier reasearch has been investigating visual communication in mathematic, which has involved primary- and upper primary school, including investigations at high school and university level. Still, instructions is very limited when it comes to the use of visual models and strategies from educational materials. It is very time consuming and requires great effort in order to create comprehensible visualization from raw data. Though, visual communication is necessary in order to decrease vaguenesses and consequences. This study has therefore investigated how visual communication can be designed in mathematical problems, and what  the experience of it is according to secondary school students that have an interest for mathematic. A qualitative investigation has been done through a mathematic test that has been designed in 3 different ways. The design of the test was based on theory involving graphical design elements that is often used in visual communication. The target group consisted of 6  mathematical interested students from 2 classes in the 7th grade. The test contained 5 problems, where 2 students each got to make one of the tests from the 3 designs. The designs of the test contained one picturebased, one textbased, and one text- and picturebased. These 3 designs’ communication was therefore compared in a semistructured interview together with the target group, after the test. The tests got analyzed by the target groups’ opinions. The conclusions from the analyze resulted in a majority that appreciated the text- and picturebased test the most. The common design element pictures, explanatory text, and the redmarked text helped to understand the problems in the test. The test that was textbased and picturebased lacked in communication and therefore seemed difficult by the target group. Compared to the test involving only text or pictures, the combination of both text and pictures gave motivation to solve the problem. At last, text and pictures can thereby be used by, or only in order to inspire, teachers in mathematic when designing mathematical problems in the future.