Mechanistic artefact explanation

One thing about technical artefacts that needs to be explained is how their physical make-up, or structure, enables them to fulfil the behaviour associated with their function, or, more colloquially, how they work. In this paper I develop an account of such explanations based on the familiar notion of mechanistic explanation. To accomplish this, I outline two explanatory strategies that provide two different types of insight into an artefact’s functioning, and show how human action inevitably plays a role in artefact explanation. I then use my own account to criticize other recent work on mechanistic explanation and conclude with some general implications for the philosophy of explanation.Keywords: Artefact; Technical function; Explanation; Levels of explanation; Mechanisms

The aesthetic zone of interaction. How are aesthetic design qualities experienced?

The aim of the present position paper is to raise issues concerning aesthetic experience in relation to an ongoing work of designing an artefact encouraging video reporting of personal experiences. The work serves as an example of a design experiment where aesthetic qualities are emphasized, but where the resulting interactions have not yet been analyzed in relation to these qualities. Our position is that the aesthetics of an interactive artefact evolves in the interactive zone between people who use it and the artefact itself. The aesthetic qualities are, thus, crystallized in the use of the artefact – whether it ranks high on a usability scale or not. Just as usability qualities, the aesthetic qualities contain contextual factors of its users, such as their pre-comprehension of the artefact, their cultural background and their emotional states. Furthermore, they include the context of the artefact, such as its physical design and the environment of its use. Our standpoint is consistent with Shusterman’s pragmatist approach to aesthetics, as related by Petersen et al. [2]. This approach promotes aesthetics of use rather than aesthetics of appearance. The experience of aesthetics lies in the interaction with the artefact rather than merely in the visual perception of it

Open-source artefact management

This paper presents the GENESIS project, which aims to develop an open-source, light-weight, process-aware (and process-neutral) workflow management system. In particukar OSCAR, the artefact repository, is discussed. The requirements of a system for artefact management and storage are described, and the concept of active artefacts is explained. The software engineering methods which will be used in the project are described and some examples of the open-source tooles which may be used are described

Active artefact management for distributed software engineering

We describe a software artefact repository that provides its contents with some awareness of their own creation. "Active" artefacts are distinguished from their passive counterparts by their enriched meta-data model which reflects the work-flow process that created them, the actors responsible, the actions taken to change the artefact, and various other pieces of organisational knowledge. This enriched view of an artefact is intended to support re-use of both software and the expertise gained when creating the software. Unlike other organisational knowledge systems, the meta-data is intrinsically part of the artefact and may be populated automatically from sources including existing data-format specific information, user supplied data and records of communication. Such a system is of increased importance in the world of "virtual teams" where transmission of vital organisational knowledge, at best difficult, is further constrained by the lack of direct contact between engineers and differing development cultures

Knowledge and the artefact

This paper discusses ways that knowledge may be found in or through artefacts. One purpose is to suggest situations where artefacts might be central to a narrative, rather than secondary to a text. A second purpose is to suggest ways that design and production of artefacts might be instrumental in eliciting knowledge. Four general situations are proposed: (1) Simple Forms - an artefact demonstrates or describes a principle or technique. (2) Communication of Process - artefacts arising from a process make the process explicit. (3) Artefacts Within the Research - artefacts are instrumental in advancing the research by communicating ideas or information. (4) Knowledge Elicited by Artefacts - artefacts provide a stimulus or context which enables information to be uncovered. .</p

A design view of capability

In order to optimise resource deployment in a rapid changing operational environment, capability has received increasing concerns in terms of maximising the utilisation of resources. As a result of such extant research, different domains were seen to endow different meanings to capability, indicating a lack of common understanding of the true nature of capability. This paper presents a design view of capability from design artefact knowledge perspective. Capability is defined as an intrinsic quality of an entity closely related to artefact behavioural and structural knowledge. Design artefact knowledge was categorised across expected, instantiated, and interpreted artefact knowledge spaces (ES, IsS, and ItS). Accordingly, it suggests that three types of capability exist in the three spaces, which can be used in employing resources. Moreover, Network Enabled Capability (NEC), the capability of a set of linked resources within a specific environment is discussed, with an example of how network resources are deployed in a Virtual Integration Platform (VIP)

Evaluation of measurement technique for a precision aspheric artefact using a nano-measuring machine

A precision aspheric artefact is measured in 3D by a commercially available nano-measuring machine (NMM) integrated with a contact inductive sensor as the probe. The mathematics of 3D compensation of the error caused by the probe radius is derived. The influence of the probe radius measurement uncertainty on the compensation errors for the 3D measurements is discussed. If the calibration uncertainty of probe radius is 1m and 0.1 m respectively, the compensation errors for a paraboloid artefact are within 100 nm and 10 nm respectively, and the artefact measurement uncertainties are 103 nm and 26 nm respectively. The artefact calibration uncertainty depends more on the uncertainty of the probe radius calibration than the probe radius

A note on an Umayyad carved ivory plaque kept at the Walters Art Gallery

This paper proposes an iconographical and stylistic analysis of a carved ivory plaque kept at the Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore (acc. no. 71.62). It will show that it is not a Coptic artefact featuring a Sasanian king, as assumed until now, but an Umayyad artefact which must be contextualised within a specific tradition of imagery related to the expression of the Umayyad concept of Caliphal authority

Topological acceleration in relativistic cosmology

Heuristic approaches in cosmology bypass more difficult calculations that would more strictly agree with the standard Einstein equation. These give us the well-known Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) models, and, more recently, the feedback effect of the global topology of spatial sections on the acceleration of test particles. Forcing the FLRW heuristic model on observations leads to dark energy, which, pending fully relativistic calculations, is best interpreted as an artefact. Could topological acceleration also be an artefact of using a heuristic approach? A multiply connected exact solution of the Einstein equation shows that topological acceleration is present in at least one fully relativistic case---it is not an artefact of Newtonian-like thinking.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, Multiverse and Fundamental Cosmology Conference, 10-14 September, 2012, Szczecin, Polan