Applications of Blockchain for the Governance of Integrated Project Delivery: A Crypto Commons Approach

This paper outlines why and how blockchain can digitally support and evolve the governance of collaborative project deliveries, such as integrated project deliveries (IPDs), to provide the foundation for novel and disruptive forms of organizational collaboration in the construction industry. Previous work has conceptualized IPDs as a common pool resource (CPR) scenario, where shared resources are collectively governed. Through the use of blockchain and smart contracts for trustworthy peer-to-peer transactions and execution logic, Ostrom's design principles can be digitally encoded to scale CPR scenarios. Building on the identified connections, the paper 1) synthesizes fourteen blockchain-based mechanisms to govern CPRs, 2) identifies twenty-two applications of these mechanisms to govern IPDs, and 3) introduces a conceptualization of the above relationships towards a holistic understanding of collaborative project deliveries on the crypto commons for novel collective organization of construction project delivery between both humans and machines

Using gamification in teaching physical education: A survey review

Nowadays, the determining role that Physical Education (PE) assumes for cognitive, psychomotor and affective development is widely accepted. Even so, several investigations continue to report the difficulty in motivating children to be involved and participate in PE classes through traditional teaching methods. Thus, to combat this scourge, gamification has been suggested as a useful tool to increase students' motivation to practice PE. Based on these considerations, the main objective of this survey review was to critically analyze the potential impact of using gamification in PE classes. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses literature search extension (PRISMA-S) guidelines were advised for this survey review. After searching procedures, 68 articles remained for analysis. Traditional teaching models can be applied by using the direct instruction model, and teaching dominated approaches. By contrast, nowadays physical education and sports education have been based on game-based models. From this, gamification strategies seem to be valid and efficient as a contribute to the previous ones, applying game elements, mechanics, and principles to non-game contexts to enhance engagement and intrinsic motivation. Thus, gamification models extend to as fundamental element the theory of self-determination expressed by theory of gamified learning, dynamical model for gamification of learning, goal-access-feedback-challenge-collaboration, gamification, and virtual gamification. This investigation allows us to conclude that the inclusion of gamification in PE classes seems to translate into an increase in motivation in children and youth. For this reason the introduction of technology in classes seems to be a key factor to increase sports participation, regular physical activity and improve motor learning and control.Funding This project was supported by the National Funds through the FCT-Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (project UIDB04045/2020)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The Art of Tokenization: Blockchain Affordances and the Invention of Future Milieus

International audienceTen years after the introduction of the Bitcoin protocol, an increasing number of art-tech startups and more or less independent initiatives have begun to explore second-generation blockchains such as Ethereum and the emergent practice of tokenization (i.e., the issuance of new cryptoassets primarily to self-fund decentralized projects) as a means to intervene in the structures and processes underlying the rampant financialization of art. Yet amidst the volatility of the cryptocurrency market, tokenization has been critiqued as a way to reinscribe and proliferate current financial logics in this new space. Acknowledging such critiques, in this essay I foreground the novelty of cryptotokens and blockchains by exploring different examples of how tokenization has been deployed in the art market-milieu. In spite of recent attempts to extend the scarcity-based paradigm to blockchains, I argue that cryptotokens do introduce differences in kind in the ways in which value generation and distribution are expressed and accounted for in digital environments. In this context, artistic approaches to tokenization can illuminate new aspects of the affordances of these technologies, toward the disintermediation of art production and its networked value from the current institutional-financial milieu. This can open up new ways to reimagine and reprogram financial and social relations, and gesture toward new opportunities and challenges for a practice of digital design focused on the ideation and realization of cryptoeconomic systems

Public Philosophy of Technology

Philosophers of technology are not playing the public role which our own theoretical perspectives motivate us to take. A great variety of theories and perspectives within philosophy of technology, including those of Marcuse, Feenberg, Borgmann, Ihde, Michelfelder, Bush, Winner, Latour, and Verbeek, either support or directly call for various sorts of intervention—a call that we have failed to adequately heed. Barriers to such intervention are discussed, and three proposals for reform are advanced: (1) post-publication peer-reviewed reprinting of public philosophy, (2) increased emphasis on true open access publication, and (3) increased efforts to publicize and adapt traditional academic research

The production of digital public spaces

Digital media are noticeably changing the qualities of urban public spaces, which can no longer be considered a purely physical construct. Yet, the extent to which contemporary digital media can be used to promote other forms of spatial agency remains a critical issue. Whereas the impact of technology from a macro perspective offers a globalizing and homogenizing image, its role in the production of space at a local scale is less clear (Kirsch 1995). The aim of this study is to argue for digital public spaces as a concrete programme to support the articulation of a third notion of public space that emerges at the interface of physical–digital hybrid spaces (Stikker 2013). The project for digital public spaces is posed as one that pursues enabling citizens’ rights to participation and appropriation (Purcell 2002) of physical–digital hybrid spaces. It is argued that while physical and digital spaces do not stand in opposition, their operational models do not fit seamlessly either. Therefore, the research is particularly concerned with how to design for the conditions that allow a dialogical relation between physical and digital features of space, and enable citizens to actively participate in the production of physical–digital hybrid spaces, and for which a dialectical mode of analysis is required. Following a cumulative narrative, the study explores different characterizations of digital public spaces, which have been articulated through design-led action research projects conducted in collaboration with academia, creative industries, citizens and public authorities. The study accomplishes a novel application of the unitary theory of space proposed by the Marxist French philosopher and sociologist, Henri Lefebvre (1992), which is revisited to develop a novel framework to reveal the social production of physical–digital hybrid spaces. The framework is developed through practice, and extensively applied throughout the thesis illustrating three distinctive dominating perspectives of physical–digital hybrid spaces: substitution, co-evolution and recombination (Graham 1998). The framework has proved to be a flexible and insightful method of analysis that: enables approaching the social production of physical and digital spaces individually and in relation to one another; to understand how different spatial configurations allow for participation and appropriation; and in turn, to re-contextualize the right to the city (Lefebvre 1996) in digital public spaces

UMS Research Reinvestment Fund (RRF) Annual Report of Activities

The University of Maine System (UMS) is responsible for conducting research and development that supports and expands the Maine economy. These efforts are primarily led by the University of Maine (UMaine), the land grant, sea grant, and space grant university of the State. UMaine partners with the other system campuses to ensure that its efforts are indeed statewide in focus and impact. The purpose of the Research Reinvestment Fund (RRF) is to strengthen research and development activities that are tied to Maine businesses, and to industries that are critical to the future of Maine. The Board of Trustees (BOT) committed an initial $10.5MM for this initiative (2.1MM/year for 5 years, FY15 – FY19), from savings accruing from the UMS Administrative Reviews

SOCIAL AND CULTURAL VALUES IN ALASKAN SUBSISTENCE MANAGEMENT: RURALITY AND THE MEANING OF “MEANINGFUL” NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

In Alaska, subsistence is a way of life for some communities. The Federal Subsistence Board (FSB) oversees the Federal Subsistence Management Program. One of its responsibilities is to determine areas as subsistence or non-subsistence areas. This decision, in part, is based on whether subsistence is a “principal characteristic of the economy, culture, and way of life”. (James A. Fall, Division of Subsistence, 2018). The federal policy grants these communities priority in the taking of wild resources (Title VIII of the Alaska National Interests Lands Conservation Act). Interviews revealed factors of vulnerability and resilience, specifically in the context of subsistence. Scoones (1998) defines resilience simply as the capability of a person and their livelihood to cope with and recover from stresses and shocks.” Kirmayer et al. (2011) further define resilience in a cultural context as the “ability to do well despite adversity.” Interview findings revealed food insecurity in Ketchikan due to a lack of local production and unreliable supply lines from the lower 48 states. Further, some respondents mentioned uncertainty of supply longevity in grocery store shelves due to increases in tourist activity during the summer season. Priority harvest can serve as a livelihood supplement, buffering against food insecurity and creating strong social networks. It can also serve as a medium for the transmission of cultural values and practices. This research asks what role subsistence plays in an isolated, mixed community of Alaska Natives and non-Natives in Southeast Alaska, what pressures they experience on their livelihoods and the potential that a rural determination and subsistence priority have in sustaining quasi-rural livelihoods

The Metaverse: Survey, Trends, Novel Pipeline Ecosystem & Future Directions

The Metaverse offers a second world beyond reality, where boundaries are non-existent, and possibilities are endless through engagement and immersive experiences using the virtual reality (VR) technology. Many disciplines can benefit from the advancement of the Metaverse when accurately developed, including the fields of technology, gaming, education, art, and culture. Nevertheless, developing the Metaverse environment to its full potential is an ambiguous task that needs proper guidance and directions. Existing surveys on the Metaverse focus only on a specific aspect and discipline of the Metaverse and lack a holistic view of the entire process. To this end, a more holistic, multi-disciplinary, in-depth, and academic and industry-oriented review is required to provide a thorough study of the Metaverse development pipeline. To address these issues, we present in this survey a novel multi-layered pipeline ecosystem composed of (1) the Metaverse computing, networking, communications and hardware infrastructure, (2) environment digitization, and (3) user interactions. For every layer, we discuss the components that detail the steps of its development. Also, for each of these components, we examine the impact of a set of enabling technologies and empowering domains (e.g., Artificial Intelligence, Security & Privacy, Blockchain, Business, Ethics, and Social) on its advancement. In addition, we explain the importance of these technologies to support decentralization, interoperability, user experiences, interactions, and monetization. Our presented study highlights the existing challenges for each component, followed by research directions and potential solutions. To the best of our knowledge, this survey is the most comprehensive and allows users, scholars, and entrepreneurs to get an in-depth understanding of the Metaverse ecosystem to find their opportunities and potentials for contribution