Dynamical Interactions with Electronic Instruments

This paper examines electronic instruments that incorporate dynamical systems, where the behaviour of the instrument depends not only upon the immediate input to the instrument, but also on the past input. Five instruments are presented as case studies: Michel Waisvisz’ Crackle-box, Dylan Menzies’ Spiro, no-input mixing desk, the author’s Feedback Joypad, and microphone-loudspeaker feedback. Links are suggested between the sonic affordances of each instrument and the dynamical mechanisms embedded in them. These affordances are contrasted with those of non-dynamical instruments such as the Theremin and sample-based instruments. This is discussed in the context of contemporary, material-oriented approaches to composition and particularly to free improvisation where elements such as unpredictability and instability are often of interest, and the process of exploration and discovery is an important part of the practice

Ideas for the Arcturus personal workstation

In order to achieve more effective use of interpersonal collaboration, management lifecycle activities, and dynamic retrieval of as well as for ordinary programming chores, it may be useful to take a fresh look at the devices we use to help us conduct our transactions with computers.This paper presents some new ideas for using large flatscreen displays and dedicated computers as personal workstations

An Experimental Approach to a Rapid Propulsion and Aeronautics Concepts Testbed

Modern aircraft design tools have limitations for predicting complex propulsion-airframe interactions. The demand for new tools and methods addressing these limitations is high based on the many recent Distributed Electric Propulsion (DEP) Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) concepts being developed for Urban Air Mobility (UAM) markets. We propose that low cost electronics and additive manufacturing can support the conceptual design of advanced autonomy-enabled concepts, by facilitating rapid prototyping for experimentally driven design cycles. This approach has the potential to reduce complex aircraft concept development costs, minimize unique risks associated with the conceptual design, and shorten development schedule by enabling the determination of many "unknown unknowns" earlier in the design process and providing verification of the results from aircraft design tools. A modular testbed was designed and built to evaluate this rapid design-build-test approach and to support aeronautics and autonomy research targeting UAM applications utilizing a complex, transitioning-VTOL aircraft configuration. The testbed is a modular wind tunnel and flight model. The testbed airframe is approximately 80% printed, with labor required for assembly. This paper describes the design process, fabrication process, ground testing, and initial wind tunnel structural and thermal loading of a proof-of-concept aircraft, the Langley Aerodrome 8 (LA-8)

Paper-based Mixed Reality Sketch Augmentation as a Conceptual Design Support Tool

This undergraduate student paper explores usage of mixed reality techniques as support tools for conceptual design. A proof-of-concept was developed to illustrate this principle. Using this as an example, a small group of designers was interviewed to determine their views on the use of this technology. These interviews are the main contribution of this paper. Several interesting applications were determined, suggesting possible usage in a wide range of domains. Paper-based sketching, mixed reality and sketch augmentation techniques complement each other, and the combination results in a highly intuitive interface

Gender and Posture are Significant Risk Factors to Musculoskeletal Symptoms during Touchscreen Tablet Computer Use

[Purpose] To investigate the prevalence of neck and shoulder symptoms during the use of tablet computer, and to identify the risk factors associated with these symptoms. [Subjects and Methods] A cross-sectional survey was conducted to study tablet computer usage, posture during use, and neck and shoulder symptoms in 412 participants in a school setting. Significant risk factors for musculoskeletal symptoms during tablet computer use were identified. [Results] Overall prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms during tablet computer use was 67.9% with greater prevalence of neck symptoms (neck: 84.6%; shoulder/upper extremity: 65.4%). Significant risk factors associated with symptoms during use were: current musculoskeletal symptoms, gender, roles, and postural factors including: sitting without back support, sitting with device in lap, and lying on the side and on the back during tablet computer use. A multivariate analysis further showed that the odds for females to have symptoms were 2.059 times higher than males. [Conclusion] The findings revealed that female gender and other postural factors were significantly associated with musculoskeletal symptoms during the use of tablet computer. Among all postural factors, sitting without back support was identified as the most important risk factor for having musculoskeletal symptom

Frequency Domain Functional Near-Infrared Spectrometer (fNIRS) for Crew State Monitoring

A frequency domain functional near-infrared spectrometer (fNIRS) and accompanying software have been developed by the NASA Glenn Research Center as part of the Airspace Operations and Safety Program (AOSP) Technologies for Airplane State Awareness (TASA)SE211 Crew State Monitoring (CSM) Project. The goal of CSM was to develop a suite of instruments to measure the cognitive state of operators while performing operational activities. The fNIRS was one of the instruments intended for the CSM, developed to measure changes in oxygen levels in the brain noninvasively

Research Achievements Review Series no. 20 - Mathematics and computation research

Computational mathematics, perturbed orbit three-body problem, and periodic trajectories solutions through computer method

Information Outlook, October 2003

Volume 7, Issue 10https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/sla_io_2003/1009/thumbnail.jp

The Data Egg: A new solution to text entry barriers

A unit that allows text entry with only one hand has been developed, and holds the promise of allowing computers to be truly portable. It is unique in that it allows operation in any position, freeing the user from the traditional constraints of having to be seated near a desk. This hand held, chord-key-based unit can be used either autonomously for idea capturing, or tethered to a personal computer and used as an auxiliary keyboard. Astronauts, journalists, the bedridden, and anyone else normally barred from using a computer while on the job could also benefit from this form of man-machine interface, which has been dubbed the 'Data Egg'