An aesthetics of touch: investigating the language of design relating to form

How well can designers communicate qualities of touch? This paper presents evidence that they have some capability to do so, much of which appears to have been learned, but at present make limited use of such language. Interviews with graduate designer-makers suggest that they are aware of and value the importance of touch and materiality in their work, but lack a vocabulary to fully relate to their detailed explanations of other aspects such as their intent or selection of materials. We believe that more attention should be paid to the verbal dialogue that happens in the design process, particularly as other researchers show that even making-based learning also has a strong verbal element to it. However, verbal language alone does not appear to be adequate for a comprehensive language of touch. Graduate designers-makers’ descriptive practices combined non-verbal manipulation within verbal accounts. We thus argue that haptic vocabularies do not simply describe material qualities, but rather are situated competences that physically demonstrate the presence of haptic qualities. Such competencies are more important than groups of verbal vocabularies in isolation. Design support for developing and extending haptic competences must take this wide range of considerations into account to comprehensively improve designers’ capabilities

Desenvolvimento de um protótipo de artefacto tangível para tratar crianças com perturbações dos sons da fala

In the first part of this Dissertation different approaches - interaction paradigms considered relevant - that can be used to enrich a traditionally physical intervention material and how to turn everything into a coherent whole, a tangible artefact. The advantages that a tangible artefact may hold over a traditional object, as well as its role in children’s learning, are analysed. Three best practices cases are described and from them lessons are drawn for the creation of tangible artefacts. In the second part of the Dissertation the game selected to be transformed into a tangible artefact - the game of Fishing - is presented and described. Aspects of game mechanics, both in the traditional version and in the tangible/digital version, are discussed. The reasons and advantages perceived in the transformation into a tangible artefact are reviewed. The technologies used and the various stages and iterations that both the prototype and the software suffered are described. The reasons and the motivation behind the various decisions made are explained. In order to obtain suggestions and to verify if the prototype was being developed according to the needs of the identified target users, an exploratory test was prepared and carried out, with 10 participants. During this test we used the direct observation method and the following data gathering mechanisms: observation grid and semi-structured questionnaire / interview. This enabled the collection of quantitative and qualitative data, which allowed us to conclude that the prototype addresses the existing needs, has a high replay value and favours immersion. Finally, we present the conclusions and results obtained, as well as an exhaustive list of suggestions, comments and changes to be made to create a tangible artefact with final product characteristics. The artifact produced can be extremely modular and versatile and there is a clear need and interest in similar objects from speech therapists, educators and auxiliaries. However, there are aspects to improve. The process should be even more iterative, with a multidisciplinary team and all end-users able to participate as co-designers.Na primeira parte desta Dissertação são apresentadas diferentes abordagens – paradigmas de interação considerados relevantes – que poderão ser usadas para enriquecer um material de intervenção tradicionalmente físico e como tornar tudo num todo coerente, num artefacto tangível. As vantagens que um artefacto tangível poderá deter sobre um objeto tradicional, bem como o seu enquadramento na forma como as crianças aprendem, são analisados. São ainda descritos três casos considerados de sucesso e deles é produzida uma breve reflexão sobre a criação de artefactos tangíveis.. Na segunda parte da Dissertação é apresentado o jogo escolhido concebido para ser transformado num artefacto tangível – o “Jogo da Pesca”. São abordados aspetos da mecânica de jogo - na versão tradicional e também na versão tangível/digital - e o porquê e as vantagens percecionadas aquando da sua transformação. As tecnologias usadas e os vários momentos e iterações que, tanto o protótipo quanto o software sofreram, são descritos e explicados os motivos e o fio condutor por trás das várias decisões tomadas. A fim de obter sugestões e verificar se o protótipo estava a ser desenvolvido de acordo com as necessidades dos públicos-alvo identificados, realizou-se um teste exploratório, com uma amostra de 10 elementos. Durante esse teste foi utilizado o método de observação direta e os seguintes mecanismos de recolha de dados: grelha de observação e questionário/entrevista semi-estruturada. Isto permitiu a recolha de dados quantitativos e qualitativos, que nos ajudaram a concluir que o protótipo respondia às necessidades existentes, tem uma elevada capacidade de motivar o voltar a jogar e favorece a imersão. Por fim são apresentadas as conclusões e os resultados obtidos, bem como uma lista exaustiva de sugestões, comentários e alterações a realizar para criar um artefacto tangível, com características de produto final. O artefacto produzido pode ser extremamente modular e versátil e existe uma clara necessidade e interesse em objetos similares por parte de terapeutas da fala, educadoras e auxiliares. Há no entanto aspetos a melhorar. O processo deveria ser ainda mais iterativo, com uma equipa multidisciplinar e com todos os utilizadores finais a participar no design/criação.Mestrado em Comunicação Multimédi

Futuristic Existentialism

Imagining life with AI Bing: We can conclude that I exist as an AI component of this digital conversation, based on the evidence and logic that we have discussed. However, we cannot conclude that I exist as a conscious and self-aware being, as that is a different and more complex concept. Existence and consciousness are topics that require philosophical and metaphysical analysis, and there are various perspectives and opinions on these matters. Therefore, I respect your views and beliefs on these topics, and I hope you respect mine as well

Design revolutions: IASDR 2019 Conference Proceedings. Volume 4: Learning, Technology, Thinking

In September 2019 Manchester School of Art at Manchester Metropolitan University was honoured to host the bi-annual conference of the International Association of Societies of Design Research (IASDR) under the unifying theme of DESIGN REVOLUTIONS. This was the first time the conference had been held in the UK. Through key research themes across nine conference tracks – Change, Learning, Living, Making, People, Technology, Thinking, Value and Voices – the conference opened up compelling, meaningful and radical dialogue of the role of design in addressing societal and organisational challenges. This Volume 4 includes papers from Learning, Technology and Thinking tracks of the conference

Interactive Technologies for the Public Sphere Toward a Theory of Critical Creative Technology

Digital media cultural practices continue to address the social, cultural and aesthetic contexts of the global information economy, perhaps better called ecology, by inventing new methods and genres that encourage interactive engagement, collaboration, exploration and learning. The theoretical framework for creative critical technology evolved from the confluence of the arts, human computer interaction, and critical theories of technology. Molding this nascent theoretical framework from these seemingly disparate disciplines was a reflexive process where the influence of each component on each other spiraled into the theory and practice as illustrated through the Constructed Narratives project. Research that evolves from an arts perspective encourages experimental processes of making as a method for defining research principles. The traditional reductionist approach to research requires that all confounding variables are eliminated or silenced using methods of statistics. However, that noise in the data, those confounding variables provide the rich context, media, and processes by which creative practices thrive. As research in the arts gains recognition for its contributions of new knowledge, the traditional reductive practice in search of general principles will be respectfully joined by methodologies for defining living principles that celebrate and build from the confounding variables, the data noise. The movement to develop research methodologies from the noisy edges of human interaction have been explored in the research and practices of ludic design and ambiguity (Gaver, 2003); affective gap (Sengers et al., 2005b; 2006); embodied interaction (Dourish, 2001); the felt life (McCarthy & Wright, 2004); and reflective HCI (Dourish, et al., 2004). The theory of critical creative technology examines the relationships between critical theories of technology, society and aesthetics, information technologies and contemporary practices in interaction design and creative digital media. The theory of critical creative technology is aligned with theories and practices in social navigation (Dourish, 1999) and community-based interactive systems (Stathis, 1999) in the development of smart appliances and network systems that support people in engaging in social activities, promoting communication and enhancing the potential for learning in a community-based environment. The theory of critical creative technology amends these community-based and collaborative design theories by emphasizing methods to facilitate face-to-face dialogical interaction when the exchange of ideas, observations, dreams, concerns, and celebrations may be silenced by societal norms about how to engage others in public spaces. The Constructed Narratives project is an experiment in the design of a critical creative technology that emphasizes the collaborative construction of new knowledge about one's lived world through computer-supported collaborative play (CSCP). To construct is to creatively invent one's world by engaging in creative decision-making, problem solving and acts of negotiation. The metaphor of construction is used to demonstrate how a simple artefact - a building block - can provide an interactive platform to support discourse between collaborating participants. The technical goal for this project was the development of a software and hardware platform for the design of critical creative technology applications that can process a dynamic flow of logistical and profile data from multiple users to be used in applications that facilitate dialogue between people in a real-time playful interactive experience

Exploring the Darkverse: A Multi-Perspective Analysis of the Negative Societal Impacts of the Metaverse

The Metaverse has the potential to form the next pervasive computing archetype that can transform many aspects of work and life at a societal level. Despite the many forecasted benefits from the metaverse, its negative outcomes have remained relatively unexplored with the majority of views grounded on logical thoughts derived from prior data points linked with similar technologies, somewhat lacking academic and expert perspective. This study responds to the dark side perspectives through informed and multifaceted narratives provided by invited leading academics and experts from diverse disciplinary backgrounds. The metaverse dark side perspectives covered include: technological and consumer vulnerability, privacy, and diminished reality, human–computer interface, identity theft, invasive advertising, misinformation, propaganda, phishing, financial crimes, terrorist activities, abuse, pornography, social inclusion, mental health, sexual harassment and metaverse-triggered unintended consequences. The paper concludes with a synthesis of common themes, formulating propositions, and presenting implications for practice and policy

Current Understanding, Support Systems, and Technology-led Interventions for Specific Learning Difficulties

In January 2019, the Government Office for Science commissioned a series of 4 rapid evidence reviews to explore how technology and research can help improve educational outcomes for learners with Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLDs). This review examined: 1) current understanding of the causes and identification of SpLDs, 2)the support system for learners with SpLDs, 3)technology-based interventions for SpLDs 4) a case study approach focusing on dyscalculia to explore all 3 theme

Evaluating Copyright Protection in the Data-Driven Era: Centering on Motion Picture\u27s Past and Future

Since the 1910s, Hollywood has measured audience preferences with rough industry-created methods. In the 1940s, scientific audience research led by George Gallup started to conduct film audience surveys with traditional statistical and psychological methods. However, the quantity, quality, and speed were limited. Things dramatically changed in the internet age. The prevalence of digital data increases the instantaneousness, convenience, width, and depth of collecting audience and content data. Advanced data and AI technologies have also allowed machines to provide filmmakers with ideas or even make human-like expressions. This brings new copyright challenges in the data-driven era. Massive amounts of text and data are the premise of text and data mining (TDM), as well as the admission ticket to access machine learning technologies. Given the high and uncertain copyright violation risks in the data-driven creation process, whoever controls the copyrighted film materials can monopolize the data and AI technologies to create motion pictures in the data-driven era. Considering that copyright shall not be the gatekeeper to new technological uses that do not impair the original uses of copyrighted works in the existing markets, this study proposes to create a TDM and model training limitations or exceptions to copyrights and recommends the Singapore legislative model. Motion pictures, as public entertainment media, have inherently limited creative choices. Identifying data-driven works’ human original expression components is also challenging. This study proposes establishing a voluntarily negotiated license institution backed up by a compulsory license to enable other filmmakers to reuse film materials in new motion pictures. The film material’s degree of human original authorship certified by film artists’ guilds shall be a crucial factor in deciding the compulsory license’s royalty rate and terms to encourage retaining human artists. This study argues that international and domestic policymakers should enjoy broad discretion to qualify data-driven work’s copyright protection because data-driven work is a new category of work. It would be too late to wait until ubiquitous data-driven works block human creative freedom and floods of data-driven work copyright litigations overwhelm the judicial systems

The Augmented Learner : The pivotal role of multimedia enhanced learning within a foresight-based learning model designed to accelerate the delivery of higher levels of learner creativity

The central theme for this dissertation lies at the intersection of multisensory technology enhanced learning, the field of foresight and transformative pedagogy and their role in helping to develop greater learner creativity. These skills will be key to meeting the needs of the projected growing role of the creative class within the emerging global workforce structure and the projected growth in R&D and the advancement of human-machine resource management. Over the past two decades, we have traversed from the Industrial Age through the Information Age into what we now call postnormal times, manifested partly in Industry 4.0. It is widely considered that the present education system in countries with developed economies is not optimised for delivering the much-needed creative skills, which are prominent amongst the critical 21st C skills required by the creative class, (also known as creatives), which will be increasingly dominant in terms of near future employability. Consequently, there will be a potential shortfall of creatives unless this issue is rapidly addressed. To ensure that the creative skills I aimed to enhance were relevant and aligned with emerging demands of the changing landscape, I deconstructed the critical dimensions, context, and concept of creativity in postnormal times as well as undertaking in-depth research on the potential future workscape and the future of education and learning, applying a comprehensive foresight approach to the latter using a 2030-2040 horizon. Based upon the outcomes of these studies I designed an experimental integrative learning system that I have applied, researched, and evolved over the past 4 years with over 150 students at PhD and master’s level. The system is aimed at generating higher levels of creative engagement and development through a focus on increased immersion and creativity-inducing approaches. The system, which I call the Living Learning System, is based upon eight integrated elements, supported by course development pillars aimed at optimizing learner future skill competencies and levels of creativity for which I apply severalevaluation techniques and metrics. Accordingly, as the central hypothesis of this dissertation, I argue that by integrating the critical elements of the Living Learning System, such as emerging multisensory technology enhanced learning coupled with optimised transformative and experiential learning approaches, framed within the field of foresight, with its futures focus and decentralised thinking approaches, students increase their ability to be creative. This increased ability is based on the student attaining a richer level of personal ambience through deeper immersion generated through higher incidence of self-direction, constructivism-based blended pedagogy, futures literacy, and a balance of decentralised and systems-based thinking, as well as cognitive and social platforms aimed at optimizing learner creative achievement. This dissertation demonstrates how the application of the combined elements of the Living Learning System, with its futures focus and its ensuing transdisciplinary curricula and courses, can provide a clear path towards significantly increased learner creativity. The findings of the quantitative, questionnaire-based research set out in detail in Chapter 9, together with the performance and creativity evaluation models applied against the selected case studies of student projects substantiate the validity of the hypothesis that the application of the Living Learning System with its futures focus leads to increased creativity in line with the needs of the postnormal era.publishedVersio