From action to sound : a challenging perspective for haptics

International audienceThe link from action to sound is under-explored in Virtual Realities. The article categorizes the action-sound relations, proposing the term "ergotic" to refer to the case when there is a mechanical interaction between the subject and the sound source. Force- feedback devices and physically-based models are indeed required for implementing virtual ergotic action-sound systems, able to engrave the energetic consistency of the physical action in the sound

Aerospace medicine and biology: A continuing bibliography with indexes (supplement 299)

This bibliography lists 96 reports, articles, and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system in June, 1987

Silent Light, Luminous Noise: Photophonics, Machines and the Senses

This research takes the basic physical premise that sound can be synthesized using light, explores how this has historically been, and still is achieved, and how it can still be a fertile area for creative, theoretical and critical exploration in sound and the arts. Through the author's own artistic practice, different techniques of generating sound using the sonification of light are explored, and these techniques are then contextualised by their historical and theoretical setting in the time-based arts. Specifically, this text draws together diverse strands of scholarship on experimental sound and film practices, cultural histories, the senses, media theory and engineering to address effects and outcomes specific to photophonic sound and its relation to the moving image, and the sculptural and media works devised to produce it. The sonifier, or device engendering the transformations discussed is specifically addressed in its many forms, and a model proposed, whereby these devices and systems are an integral, readably inscribed component - both materially and culturally - in both the works they produce, and via our reflexive understanding of the processes involved, of the images or light signals used to produce them. Other practitioners' works are critically engaged to demonstrate how a sense of touch, or the haptic, can be thought of as an emergent property of moving image works which readably and structurally make use of photophonic sound (including the author's), and sound's essential role in this is examined. In developing, through an integration of theory and practice, a new approach in this under-researched field of sound studies, the author hopes to show how photophonic sound can act as both a metaphorical and material interface between experimental sound and image, and hopefully point the way towards a more comprehensive study of both

Quantum Ontologies and Mind-Matter Synthesis

Aspects of a quantum mechanical theory of a world containing efficacious mental aspects that are closely tied to brains, but that are not identical to brains.Comment: 69 pages. Invited contribution to Xth Max Born Symposium: "Quantum Future". Published in "Quantum Future", eds. P. Blanchard and A. Jadczyk, Springer-Verlag, 1999, ISBN 3-540-65218-3. LBNL 4072

A tutorial example of stimulus sample discrimination in perceptual evaluation of synthesized sounds: discrimination between original and re-synthesized singing

Presented at the 7th International Conference on Auditory Display (ICAD), Espoo, Finland, July 29-August 1, 2001.Stimulus sample discrimination (SSD) is an objective psychophysical procedure, in which samples are drawn from various signal distributions for comparison and an index of discrimination is measured. A key feature of SSD is the use of samples from a context distribution, which act either as additional or as distracting sources of information with respect to the discrimination task. When the context distribution provides information about the natural variations in the sounds from a musical instrument, SSD may prove useful as a measure of the perceptual accuracy of a sound synthesis algorithm. We report on results from a study in which SSD is applied to measure the degree to which singer identity is preserved in loworder synthesis of the female singers

Oncology Section EDGE Task Force on Urogenital Cancer Outcomes: Clinical Measures of Lymphedema—A Systematic Review

Background: Valid and reliable tools to assess lymphedema are necessary to accurately evaluate status and to objectively document and measure the results of interventions. Understanding the advantages and disadvantages of each measure can inform the clinician\u27s choice of the appropriate tool to be used in the clinic or research setting. Purpose: To identify reliable and valid measurement techniques that are sensitive to change for assessing edema volume or soft tissue change in the lower extremities or genital region of patients with lymphedema. Methods: A systematic review of the literature was conducted to assess the published psychometric properties and clinical feasibility of each method identified. Task Force members independently reviewed each measure using the Cancer EDGE Rating Form. Results: Both water displacement and circumferential measurement methods by tape measure were rated as Highly Recommended to quantify lower-extremity limb volume. Water displacement was determined to be the criterion standard by which all other assessments of volume are benchmarked. Both optoelectric volumetry and bioelectric impedance analysis were rated as Recommended, and ultrasound was rated Not Recommended. Conclusion: The Urogenital Cancer EDGE Task Force highly recommends water displacement and circumferential tape measurement for use as reliable methods for assessment and documentation of change of limb volume in this patient population. Early detection of subclinical lower-extremity lymphedema in this patient population remains challenging, as there is no “index” limb that can be proven to be uninvolved in a patient population with documented pelvic node dissection/irradiation. No articles were found to support valid and reliable genital lymphedema volume measurement

The principles and practice of the Xylophone Bar Magnetometer

PhD ThesisThis thesis reports on work undertaken to analyse, design, optimise, and fabricate a high-Quality factor mechanical resonant magnetometer, based on a Xylophone Bar Resonator (XBR). The principle of operation is based on the use of nodal supports to mechanically isolate a transverse beam vibrating in its fundamental mode. A control model is developed for the device, incorporating the effect of electromechanical parametric amplification. The device response and performance is shown to be strongly dependent on the Q factor of the sense element. The need for a quantitative model of XBR dynamics in order to design an optimal XBR is thus established. Using a Rayleigh-Ritz based approach, a model of the modal dynamics of an XBR is developed for the first time. In order to examine the efficacy of the nodal supports, a new model for support loss for resonators with two supports is developed and presented. Analytical models for other sources of dissipation are adapted for the first time to the XBR case. Combining these developments with a system level model allows for the development of a quantitative predictor of the fundamental and electronic noise limits on performance for an XBR. The model is solved over the operational range of geometric parameters, yielding optimisation criteria for the geometry. Corresponding predictions for the force and magnetic field sensitivity are presented. Based on the results, an optimised XBR design is exhibited for a macroscopic metal flexural XBM to be fabricated via Wire EDM. The fabricated devices are characterised, constituting the first demonstration of a macroscopic flexural XBR. The resulting Q factors and sensitivities are shown to be in agreement with the predictions. Fruitful directions for further work are suggested throughout the thesis and summarised in the conclusions. The original contribution to knowledge made by the thesis can be summarised as the development of an original and detailed theory of the principles of XBR optimisation for high Q, and demonstration of an operational macroscopic flexural XBM for the first time

Multi-Sensory Interaction for Blind and Visually Impaired People

This book conveyed the visual elements of artwork to the visually impaired through various sensory elements to open a new perspective for appreciating visual artwork. In addition, the technique of expressing a color code by integrating patterns, temperatures, scents, music, and vibrations was explored, and future research topics were presented. A holistic experience using multi-sensory interaction acquired by people with visual impairment was provided to convey the meaning and contents of the work through rich multi-sensory appreciation. A method that allows people with visual impairments to engage in artwork using a variety of senses, including touch, temperature, tactile pattern, and sound, helps them to appreciate artwork at a deeper level than can be achieved with hearing or touch alone. The development of such art appreciation aids for the visually impaired will ultimately improve their cultural enjoyment and strengthen their access to culture and the arts. The development of this new concept aids ultimately expands opportunities for the non-visually impaired as well as the visually impaired to enjoy works of art and breaks down the boundaries between the disabled and the non-disabled in the field of culture and arts through continuous efforts to enhance accessibility. In addition, the developed multi-sensory expression and delivery tool can be used as an educational tool to increase product and artwork accessibility and usability through multi-modal interaction. Training the multi-sensory experiences introduced in this book may lead to more vivid visual imageries or seeing with the mind’s eye