Flow- Digital Gestural Expression

Overwhelming emotions affect the performance, productivity, and mental well-being of an individual. This has been a rising trend in highly sensitive young adults. To maintain well-being one can work towards developing emotional intelligence. With a higher emotional intelligence (EQ) the capacity to be aware of, control and express one’s emotions is better [1]. We lack an engaging way to communicate self-expression that feels in sync with us. The main problem being addressed here is to help people recognize their own emotions, by themselves, and then effectively communicate them to other people. Flow is an interactive creative outlet that allows highly sensitive young adults to express and discover their emotions and communicate them with others. It uses Natural User Interface, a type of human-computer interface that the individual operates through intuitive actions related to natural, everyday human behavior [8]. Individuals interact with the tool using four primary gestures. These gestures are tracing, selecting, panning, swiping. Hand gestures further trigger colors and brushstrokes based on the user’s level of energy and amount of pleasantness [5] when portraying on a canvas. This tool thus facilitates the user to keep a track of their emotional journey as well as encourages them to share their journey of emotions with others to build relationships

Pocket transfers : Interaction techniques for transferring content from situated displays to mobile devices

We present Pocket Transfers: interaction techniques that allow users to transfer content from situated displays to a personal mobile device while keeping the device in a pocket or bag. Existing content transfer solutions require direct manipulation of the mobile device, making inter-action slower and less flexible. Our introduced tech-niques employ touch, mid-air gestures, gaze, and a mul-timodal combination of gaze and mid-air gestures. We evaluated the techniques in a novel user study (N=20), where we considered dynamic scenarios where the user approaches the display, completes the task, and leaves. We show that all pocket transfer techniques are fast and seen as highly convenient. Mid-air gestures are the most efficient touchless method for transferring a single item, while the multimodal method is the fastest touchless method when multiple items are transferred. We provide guidelines to help researchers and practitioners choose the most suitable content transfer techniques for their systems

Resistance in dystopian fiction

This thesis attempts to answer the fundamental question, "How does resistance function in dystopian fiction?" and considers the value of memory and technology within this context. It also articulates the themes of the research within a creative work, a dystopian novel titled The Department of Retribution. With the rising popularity of dystopian fiction, the findings of this project attempt to provide timely insight into why resistance is essential to the genre and how it can be employed via memory and technology. Within the scope of authoritarian structures and their ideological origins, this thesis examines the methods protagonists of dystopian fiction use to push back against oppressive means of control. It discusses memory and its value to characters who resist the state's official narrative of the past, and it examines the ways in which the pitfalls of humanity's reliance on technology are portrayed in dystopian works. The Department of Retribution takes place in a future United States where hard drugs such as methamphetamine have been legalized, fatal combat sports dominate television, and a fourth branch of government, the Corporate Council, wields dominant power. Seventeen-year-old Emile Winkler longs to avenge his little sister's death at the hands of a meth user, and when he turns eighteen he applies for a murder permit from the Department of Retribution that will allow him to achieve this. Legalized murder, however, has life-altering repercussions, and Emile sets out to discover the motivation behind the system that allows it. The exegetical discourse of technological hope and pessimism re-emerges in the novel as I explore the challenge of integrating androids into society as friends and companions, and the issues of equality that might arise. I also consider future psychological developments such as intra-cranial serotonin implants and a programmable re-prioritisation of thoughts and memories called amelioration that may help sufferers of trauma move on from painful, dominating thought patterns

Forced Entries: A Novel

The allure of a creative thesis for me was the unique blending of literary study and personal exploration. I have always felt my writing a cathartic activity as I grappled with the textual issues and gained personal insights through the struggle. For this reason, I chose the creative option as a culmination of my graduate studies at EIU. While I have dabbled in all three genres -- poetry, playwriting and fiction -- in my graduate career, it is the extended fiction genre of the novel that I have chosen to pursue in this project. The thesis is comprised of two major parts: an introduction and my novel, Forced Entries. In my introduction, I discuss my chosen genre and the literary influences and research that went into the formation of my novel. I have chosen to construct a novel similar in structure to Margaret Atwood\u27s Cat\u27s Eye and Kathryn Harrison\u27s Exposure. During my literary research, I explored both masculine and feminine versions of this genre, a genre generally concerned with an adult\u27s struggle to reconcile his or her present life through a confrontation with past wounds. Since most of these wounds tend to occur in the protagonist\u27s childhood or adolescence, elements of the traditional Bildungsroman are incorporated in the adult\u27s search for a present piece. I have labeled this emerging genre in contemporary literature the Retrospective Bildungsroman. In addition to these works, I have done research in both the traditional Bildungsroman and psychological/sociological studies on child abuse and sexual violence. The Bildungsroman works, J. D. Salinger\u27s The Catcher in the Rye, D. H. Lawrence\u27s Sons and Lovers, and John Knowles\u27 A Separate Peace were all part of my research. The psychological works, Michael Lew\u27s Victims No Longer and Mic Hunter\u27s Abused Boys: The Neglected Victims of Sexual Abuse, as well as the sociological work, Susan Brownmiller\u27s Victims No Longer, provided me with the psycho-social framework necessary for my construction of my protagonist, Neal Wilkinson\u27s, adult struggles. The original goal was to write a novel examining the complex issues of gender and sexuality through the eyes of my protagonist, Neal Wilkinson. As a victim of childhood sexual abuse and adolescent same-sex attempted rape, the adult Neal has suppressed most memories of his victimization. Due to his inability to maintain an emotionally fulfilling and intimate relationship with either a female or a male partner, Neal chooses to return to his community-of-origin and confront the mysteries of his past through examining his boyhood journals and surroundings. As Neal struggles to come to terms with his past, the issues of his rebellion against traditional gender confines and his sexual fluidity regarding preference and desire are exposed. His problems of assimilation are intensified by his alcoholic father and the conservative demands of his domineering mother. The two significant romantic relationships of Neal\u27s life, one with a male and one with a female, are also depicted in the work. As his painful memories become uncovered, Neal must accept his individual identity and lay to rest the self-criticism and judgment that have led to his present isolation

"It's Natural to Grab and Pull": Retrieving Content from Large Displays Using Mid-Air Gestures

©2017 IEE

The equipped explorer : virtual reality as a medium for learning

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

The battleground in kindergarten: a contrast between pretend aggression and real aggression in a full-day kindergarten classroom

The purpose of this study was to describe the real and pretend aggression exhibited by 20 middle-class children in a full-day kindergarten. A qualitative analysis was used to discover the sequence of aggressive episodes and how children executed aggressive acts within the episodes. Boys displayed the majority of aggressive behaviors, but only a small group of boys consistently participated in both real and pretend aggression. In episodes of pretend aggression, the aggressor was most likely to shoot, threaten, hit, or blow up a person, object, or imaginary character. In contrast, the aggressor was most likely to grab, taunt, name-call, push, or throw in episodes of real aggression. In both types of aggressive episodes, the target frequently provided the aggressor with information, but the target was also likely to move away from the aggressor or leave the play area in episodes of real aggression. Teachers intervened in more episodes of real aggression than in episodes of pretend aggression. In both pretend and real aggression, teachers intervened by providing directions, asking questions, and stating rules. Finally, the children were more likely to stay together than separate after an episode of pretend aggression, but they were just as likely to separate as they were to stay together in episodes of real aggression

Spatial embodied augmented reality: design of AR for spatial productivity applications

Recently there has been a growth in commercial systems for Augmented Reality (AR), such as the Microsoft HoloLens and Magic Leap, which aim to subsume traditionally 2D productivity tasks performed by previous technologies through the use of a 3D User Interface (3DUI). However, there is currently a lack of research into how to design effective AR interfaces and no consensus on how to design general purpose 3DUIs. Augmented reality is an emergent technology with little prior design precedent. As AR becomes more widespread, it becomes apparent that new design paradigms are required to translate potential benefits of these new interfaces. This thesis aims to explore the design of AR productivity software that can exploit the spatial nature of augmented reality to complement the spatial nature of human interaction. To investigate this, three user studies were performed using an email client as a use case scenario. Each study focused on a different aspect in the design of an augmented reality system starting with user elicitation using informance design methods. This progressed to testing of alternative interfaces for three-dimensional document presentation using a formal lab experiment, finally ending with an observation of how users arrange documents in a simulated limited prototype system. The findings of this thesis include: • A new method of user elicitation for augmented reality interface design called “spatial informance design”. • Design recommendations of spatial interface augmentations for email. • Data to support that space can be used to triage email more effectively. • Different layouts of documents in space provide greater or lesser time, accuracy and memorability. • Presentation of document layouts with either an ego or exocentric view alters performance. • Users have a preference to use space over colour to group documents. • Users take advantage of space when a 3rd dimension is available. The conclusion of this thesis is that augmented reality has the potential to improve the user experience over the traditional two-dimensional GUI for knowledge work tasks