Implementing Social Norms using Policies

Abstract-Multi-agent systems are difficult to develop. One reason for this is that agents are embedded in a society where all agents must agree to obey certain social norms in order for the society to function. Thus, different programmers, writing different agents, must carefully obey certain agreed-upon protocols. This problem is difficult enough due to the complexity of the interactions, but it is exacerbated by the asynchronous and eventbased nature of agent-based systems: agents must asynchronously respond to incoming conversational messages, and may carry on several simultaneous conversations. Several large projects address these issues. Examples are Jade (Telecom Italia) and Cougaar (DARPA). Jade is strictly compliant with the well-known FIPA standard, which makes it useful for commercial agent development and research not directed at certain fundamental aspects of multi-agent systems. Cougaar was developed as a defense agent infrastructure, and while it is not tied to FIPA standards, it is quite prescriptive in both its interagent architecture, and its intra-agent architecture. The contribution of CASA (Collaborative Agent System Architecture) is an agent infrastructure that seeks to support agent development, but as much as possible, avoids restricting the interor intra-agent architecture or the agent interaction paradigm. This paper describes aspects of the CASA tool that mitigate the aforementioned problems for the research-oriented developer who wants to investigate deviations from standards or alternative architectures. CASA provides a policy descriptor language that abstracts the complexities of conversational interactions away from the programming level, and allows sharing of policies among different agents, even at run time. Thus, an agent programmer is free to concentrate on the properties of the agent, and not on the intricate mechanics of conversational protocols. In addition, policies may be easily modified and distributed as the need arises. Thus, a protocol researcher can concentrate on protocols without having to re-write agent behaviour each time the protocol changes. The policy approach is very flexible, and we have developed policies to support the social commitment paradigm, the BDI paradigm, as well as simpler ad-hoc protocols

Paradoxes of interactivity: perspectives for media theory, human-computer interaction, and artistic investigations

Current findings from anthropology, genetics, prehistory, cognitive and neuroscience indicate that human nature is grounded in a co-evolution of tool use, symbolic communication, social interaction and cultural transmission. Digital information technology has recently entered as a new tool in this co-evolution, and will probably have the strongest impact on shaping the human mind in the near future. A common effort from the humanities, the sciences, art and technology is necessary to understand this ongoing co- evolutionary process. Interactivity is a key for understanding the new relationships formed by humans with social robots as well as interactive environments and wearables underlying this process. Of special importance for understanding interactivity are human-computer and human-robot interaction, as well as media theory and New Media Art. "Paradoxes of Interactivity" brings together reflections on "interactivity" from different theoretical perspectives, the interplay of science and art, and recent technological developments for artistic applications, especially in the realm of sound

Paradoxes of Interactivity

Current findings from anthropology, genetics, prehistory, cognitive and neuroscience indicate that human nature is grounded in a co-evolution of tool use, symbolic communication, social interaction and cultural transmission. Digital information technology has recently entered as a new tool in this co-evolution, and will probably have the strongest impact on shaping the human mind in the near future. A common effort from the humanities, the sciences, art and technology is necessary to understand this ongoing co- evolutionary process. Interactivity is a key for understanding the new relationships formed by humans with social robots as well as interactive environments and wearables underlying this process. Of special importance for understanding interactivity are human-computer and human-robot interaction, as well as media theory and New Media Art. »Paradoxes of Interactivity« brings together reflections on »interactivity« from different theoretical perspectives, the interplay of science and art, and recent technological developments for artistic applications, especially in the realm of sound

SYNCRETIC PRACTICES BETWEEN ART AND ARCHITECTURE: TOWARDS A CRITICAL EPISTEMIC PRACTICE FOR SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT.

This thesis proceeds from an analysis and a critical assessment of socially engaged spatial practices that have arisen from the convergence, intersections and conflicts between public, social art, and architecture’s spatial practices; specifically, those situated within informal settlements of marginalized communities in Latin America. Through a literature review, the thesis identifies the persistence of a number of overarching misconceptions informing the design thinking of art and architecture’s spatial practices. This research is geographically framed in Latin America. The thesis develops within the contextual arena of informality as a vernacular practice in the informal settlements of marginalized communities at the borderlands of the Latin-American city. The thesis is informed by projects and interventions that artist and architects have developed and constructed within communities in these borderlands sites. The thesis contends that public and social art and architecture spatial practices in the site of poor marginalized communities perpetuate the colonizing attitudes and processes of extractivist capitalism. To substantiate this, claim the research has been informed by two case studies of art and architecture spatial practice. The projects this thesis focuses on are located in the informal settlements of La Perla in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and in Ciudad Bolivár, Bogotá, Colombia. These are the sites where the impact and effect of artists’ and architects’ spatial practices were observed. The content of this research results from conversations and observations within these communities, thus weaving a communal narrative of epistemic injustices, resistance, appropriation and place-making. The purpose of this thesis is to contribute to the decolonization of the working paradigms of art and architecture’s spatial practices. It begins by outlining a methodology for identifying epistemic and hermeneutical injustices in the design thinking of artists and architects; this is followed by the proposal for a critical epistemology to guide the design thinking of art and architecture’s spatial practices away from their epistemic errors. The thesis provides a model for further practical exploration by uncovering the epistemological problems in the design thinking of artist and architects. This research speculates a design-thinking solution of a critical epistemic methodology for artists and architects to develop a socially sensible epistemology of justice and solidarity for a socio-spatial practice that promotes social engagement in marginalized and disenfranchised communities

Designing Inclusive Playscapes Across Sensorial + Socio-Spatial Boundaries

Our emotional experience in public environments is considered to be superficial, although their configurations impact how well we can see, hear, move around, and interact in them daily. ‘Lonely, but not alone’ describes many of today’s urban dwellers. For some people, participation in civic life can be challenging, especially since the barriers (physical, psychological, etc.) faced by some are not always apparent to others, even to designers. This Major Research Project explores the relationship between the level of playfulness expressed in an urban space and user experience. Along with case study investigations and the Delphi method, 42 citizens (estimated to be 21 years of age or older) participated via interviews in Toronto, Canada. An urban design framework of 64 playful design features called The Multi-Playscape Toolkit, which can be used by urban designers and architects, has been developed and now contributes to the knowledge base. Using the Toronto context, recommendations are provided to promote more urban playfulness, more lenient policymaking, and more inclusive design practices in our public spaces

Violent frontier architecture and artistic re-appropriation of borders: the production of space in Palestine and Western Sahara

Tesis doctoral inédita leída en la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, Departamento de Estudios Árabes e Islámicos y Estudios Orientales. Fecha de lectura: 27-11-2019This PhD Thesis examines how frontier architecture functions, how it relates to artistic practices and what are the possibilities of an ethics of architecture. As argued by some authors, such as Bernard Tschumi, architectural structures are intrinsically performative and violent. Architecture becomes a violent event as soon as it intervenes in and obstructs life by preventing certain movements, by impossing certain choreographies or by avoiding access to certain spaces, for example. Architecture, then, performatively conditions and restricts the world. The border is the chosen landscape that I focus on, in order to theorize about the performativity and violence inherent to architecture. Two specific frontier contexts will be discussed to analyze how space is produced: the West Bank in Palestine, and Western Sahara. These borderlands are also addressed in relation to other borderscapes: the two fences of Ceuta and Melilla, the US-Mexico wall and the fences that are being built in Europe in order to manage the refugee crisis. The aim of looking at these different border structures is analyzing the similarities between them and discussing to what extent all these walls function similarly and are part of the same type of strategies for sociopolitical management. On the other hand, looking at the interaction between borders and bodies will allow to focus on techniques of resistance and re-appropriation that happen in these frontier contexts. Therefore, this PhD Thesis also explores the potential of artistic practices to intervene in border spaces both in Palestine and Western Sahara. As it has been previously mentioned, this research on borders is also used to rethink the discussion about an ethics of architecture and to argue that it is necessary to recognize that performativity and violence are intrinsic to architecture in order to develop such an ethics. Finally, this PhD Thesis develops artistic practice not only as one of its topics, but also as a research methodology with the aim of stressing the epistemological importance of the arts.Esta tesis examina el modo en el que la arquitectura opera, cómo se relaciona con prácticas artísticas, y cuáles son las posibilidades para desarrollar una ética de la arquitectura. Como algunos autores y autoras –como Bernard Tschumi– apuntan, las estructuras arquitectónicas son intrínsecamente performativas y violentas. La arquitectura se convierte en un evento violento tan pronto como interviene en y obstruye la vida, evitando ciertos movimientos, imponiendo coreografías o impidiendo el acceso a ciertos espacios, por ejemplo. Así, la arquitectura condiciona y restringe el mundo. La frontera es el paisaje elegido para teorizar sobre esta performatividad y violencias inherentes a la arquitectura. Dos contextos de frontera específicos serán discutidos con el objetivo de analizar el modo en el que el espacio se produce: Cisjordania, en Palestina, y Sáhara Occidental. Estos paisajes de frontera son abordados en relación con otros paisajes de frontera: las dos vallas de Ceuta y Melilla, el muro que separa EEUU de México y las vallas que están siendo construidas en Europa para afrontar la crisis de refugiadas. El objetivo en prestar atención a estas estructuras fronterizas tan diferentes es analizar las similitudes que pueda haber entre ellas y discutir hasta qué punto todas ellas funcionan de un modo semejante como parte del mismo tipo de estrategias de gestión sociopolítica. Por otro lado, analizar las interacciones entre fronteras y cuerpos permitirá centrar la atención en las formas de resistencia y re-apropiación que tienen lugar en estos contextos fronterizos. De este modo, esta tesis explora el potencial de las práctica artísticas para intervenir en las fronteras de Palestina y Sáhara Occidental. Como ha sido apuntado previamente, esta investigación sobre fronteras también sirve para repensar el debate acerca de una ética de la arquitectura y para sostener que es necesario reconocer que la arquitectura es intrínsecaemte performativa y violenta para desarrollar dicha ética. Finalmente, esta tesis desarrolla las prácticas artísicas no solo como uno de sus temas, sino también como metodología de investigación con el objetivo de enfatizar la importancia epistemológica de las artes

Creating Through Mind and Emotions

The texts presented in Proportion Harmonies and Identities (PHI) Creating Through Mind and Emotions were compiled to establish a multidisciplinary platform for presenting, interacting, and disseminating research. This platform also aims to foster the awareness and discussion on Creating Through Mind and Emotions, focusing on different visions relevant to Architecture, Arts and Humanities, Design and Social Sciences, and its importance and benefits for the sense of identity, both individual and communal. The idea of Creating Through Mind and Emotions has been a powerful motor for development since the Western Early Modern Age. Its theoretical and practical foundations have become the working tools of scientists, philosophers, and artists, who seek strategies and policies to accelerate the development process in different contexts

Association of Architecture Schools in Australasia

"Techniques and Technologies: Transfer and Transformation", proceedings of the 2007 AASA Conference held September 27-29, 2007, at the School of Architecture, UTS

Musicality and the act of theatre: developing musicalised dramaturgies for theatre performance

This research project is aimed at investigating musicality and theatre, and seeks to develop “musicalised dramaturgies” as dramaturgies for performances that venture beyond representation. The musical dimension is approached as an ontological aspect of theatre manifested in the work of the performer and in the process of dramaturgy as developed kinaesthetically with respect to the audience. The somatic dimension of the theatre act is investigated in terms of rhythmic and melodic associations which are proposed as sources of action in musicalised dramaturgies. The study looks at the conditions of musicality as dramaturgy by exploring the possibilities of developing performance processes generated by rhythms, tempos, and melodies as elements of the musical condition. The study acknowledges important developments that took place in the wake of theatre reforms at the turn of the twentieth century that gave more space to the presence of the actor in the creation of performance. These led to a ‘turn-to-performance’ in theatre which, since the 1960s, characterised practical research where practitioners challenged traditions and pushed boundaries in order to develop non-representational practices. Gradually the theatre event shifted from serving as a basic means of communication of messages to a process where experiences are shared by performers and audiences. Contemporary scholarship acknowledges these developments in terms of a postdramatic critical framework where hierarchies and subordinations in the organisation of the work give way to equality and simultaneity of means. The postdramatic context serves as a theoretical foundation around which this study is set. Investigations were conducted via practical and theoretical analysis. Practical research was done in collaboration with Italian professional theatre ensemble Laboratorio Permanente di Ricerca sull’Arte dell’Attore (Permanent Research Laboratory on the Art of the Actor), and followed two complementary strands, viz. preexpressive and performance work. The pre-expressive strand had two levels: i. daily work with the actors where the research issues were put into practice and developed with professional actors, and ii. workshops and stages for University students, amateur actors, and laypersons interested in the work. The performance strand developed as a theatre work entitled Welcoming the End of the World. The piece was premièred in Malta in July 2011, and served as context where musicalised dramaturgies were put into practice and used creatively as foundations for performance. Theoretical considerations are discussed in a written document accompanying video documentation of Welcoming the End of the World. The written part examines the work of Konstantin Stanislavsky on rhythm and tempo-rhythm, and contributions made by Jerzy Grotowski with respect to what I argue are ideas of “embodied musicality” in his theatre making. The work of Grotowski is discussed in light of the claim for an Apollonian-Dionysian bond proposed by Nietzsche in his The Birth of Tragedy Out of the Spirit of Music, published in 1872. The research also refers to recent developments in theatre practice including the work of Eugenio Barba, and critical discourses expounded by Henry Lefebvre, Gilles Deleuze, and Jean-Luc Nancy. In various ways their ideas inform the investigations and provide this research project with a critical foundation with respect to which musicality is proposed as dramaturgy for theatre performance