Artefacts in the digital era

Conferência realizada na Universidade Aberta em Lisboa, de 16-17 de novembro de 2018.Artefacts of the digital culture and art are digital or computerbased in essence. They aim at enhancing meaningful experiences to the observer/user/enjoyer alone or in groups. In their most striking essence, these artefacts are not only objects to be passively appreciated, but bring virtual characteristics, eventually immersive, boosting interaction, leading the user/enjoyer to embark on a journey of aesthetic contemplation of a polysemic nature. A meaningful experience occurs when the subject classifies it as relevant and rewarding, embracing various kinds of experiences (aesthetic-contemplative, educational, playful, entertaining, historical, social, etc.).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

“Reality is in the air”: concept of perceived augmentation and exploration of its impact on consumer experience

Augmented reality (AR) technology is becoming increasingly used in marketing as a tool for enhancing consumer experience. Developed and defined in the fields of computer science and human-computer interaction, AR technology simulates an overlay of virtual annotations in the physical environment and interacts with it in real- time (Azuma et al., 2001). Some popular examples of AR include virtual mirrors (Ray Ban, ModiFace) and smartphone applications that simulate products such as furniture (IKEA). Despite its increasing deployment in marketing, related academic research about the significance of AR for consumer experience and its impact on consumer behavior has been scarce. This thesis approaches this gap in the literature by studying media characteristics of AR and examining their impact on consumer affective, cognitive and behavioral responses, following the approach of Theory of Interactive Media Effects by Sundar et al. (2015). Throughout a series of four articles, it aims to define salient media characteristics of AR technology and evaluate how they alter consumer experience. The 1st article examines to which extent AR shares media characteristics of other interactive technologies and how these characteristics – namely interactivity, modality, hypertextuality, connectivity, location-specificity, mobility, virtuality – influence consumer responses. Based on a literature review, a research agenda is proposed that identifies the knowledge gaps related to the impact of AR on various types of consumer responses. For example, it suggests that future research should investigate: how lower levels of hypertextuality in an AR app influence consumer satisfaction and exploratory behavior; how can AR represent a social experience, given that little connectivity is present in the current AR apps; what combinations of modality in terms of text, visuals and audio are most effective for AR; to which extent consumers perceive AR apps to be interactive and how that impacts their experience. Finally, the research agenda also underlines the importance of investigating the AR media characteristic augmentation (Preece et al., 2015), absent in previous interactive technologies. The 2nd article focuses on two salient media characteristics of AR apps – interactivity and augmentation. It shows that the presence of AR does not translate into an app being perceived as more interactive in comparison to a non-AR app in terms of control and responsiveness. On the other hand, the study offers first evidence that perceived augmentation is significantly higher for AR apps than for non-AR apps and that it represents a suitable psychological correlate (Sundar et al., 2015) for measuring the perception of AR characteristics that set it apart from other technologies. Two experimental studies demonstrate that perceived augmentation impacts the level of immersion into flow, which then mediates the impact of perceived augmentation on consumer attitude towards the app and behavioral intentions to use it again and talk about it. Based on the previous study, the 3rd article further develops the measurement items of perceived augmentation and investigates its impact on consumer experience. An in-the-wild study (Rogers, 2012) was conducted in a retail store, where we observed consumers’ interaction with an AR make-up try-on application. The findings show that such an application creates a playful experience and that shoppers would use such tool to narrow their consideration set or, in some cases, to even choose products to purchase. Furthermore, the survey study confirms that perceived augmentation significantly relates with playfulness, perceived convenience and behavioral intentions. Finally, a more complete scale for perceived augmentation is developed and validated in the 4th article. Items are refined through several qualitative studies, based on which we propose that perceived augmentation is comprised of two dimensions – virtual enhancement and virtual- physical congruency. An online study with 213 participants confirms this dimensionality and, furthermore, shows that virtual-physical congruency elicits significant impact on enjoyment and perceived informedness, which further impacts future use and purchase intention, while virtual enhancement does not yield a similar impact. The contribution of this thesis lies in defining perceived augmentation as the psychological correlate of AR’s unique media characteristic, augmentation, and in proposing and validating its measurement items. Furthermore, a series of three larger studies, all situated in different contexts (in a lab, in a retail store, online), explain how perceived augmentation yields a significant impact on consumer affective responses and behavioral intentions, and in some cases also on cognitive responses such as perceived convenience and informedness. It also highlights the importance of AR app integration in a specific context, which can prevent it from being perceived as gimmicky. The results of this work have implications for both practitioners and academics and offer numerous directions for future research

Playful Materialities

Game culture and material culture have always been closely linked. Analog forms of rule-based play (ludus) would hardly be conceivable without dice, cards, and game boards. In the act of free play (paidia), children as well as adults transform simple objects into multifaceted toys in an almost magical way. Even digital play is suffused with material culture: Games are not only mediated by technical interfaces, which we access via hardware and tangible peripherals. They are also subject to material hybridization, paratextual framing, and processes of de-, and re-materialization

Playful Materialities: The Stuff That Games Are Made Of

Game culture and material culture have always been closely linked. Analog forms of rule-based play (ludus) would hardly be conceivable without dice, cards, and game boards. In the act of free play (paidia), children as well as adults transform simple objects into multifaceted toys in an almost magical way. Even digital play is suffused with material culture: Games are not only mediated by technical interfaces, which we access via hardware and tangible peripherals. They are also subject to material hybridization, paratextual framing, and processes of de-, and re-materialization

Flowing through virtual animated worlds – Perceptions of the metaverse

In our daily lives in modern societies, our reality and the perceptions and perspectives that we have about it, are constantly being transformed or shaped by technology. Different types of technology influence our representations, whether physical, social, or virtual. So, we must learn to live along with it. How far and how deep can we go? How aware are we of the time we spend in virtual immersion, and of the significance of the metaverse? To find out possible answers to these questioning, we need to consider a previous and critical question: How do we perceive the metaverse? This is our starting point - or research question. (To go further, we should also research about how we are linked (or submerged) in the metaverse.) The aim of the present study is to explore how the metaverse is present in our everyday - considering an adult population - and what are our perceptions about it. It consists on a documental analysis - or meta-analysis - of 15 of the most relevant scientific papers (according to some inclusion criteria), published in the last 2 years, using the Iramuteq and WordCloud MonkeyLearn Software to determine and model the main themes and associated concepts with the metaverse, linked to virtual reality, animation or gaming - this is important in order to establish possible associations between these topics, and analyze, in a broader way, the metaverse. Initial results suggest that people use and consider virtual reality - and the metaverse - as a means of socializing and communicating, inseparable from their daily lives, whether at a playful, learning or even professional level. This exploratory study gave us important findings about the perceptions of the metaverse and clues to verify links between it and the associated themes. Our results will not just help us understand which topics can be more deeply investigated, but also be useful for us to verify the most relevant research items to be considered in a PhD project in preparation.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Situating approaches to interactive museum guides

This paper examines the current state of museum guide technologies and applications in order to develop an analytical foundation for future research on an adaptive museum guide for families. The analysis focuses on three critical areas of interest in considering group and social interaction in museums: tangibility the role of tangible user interfaces; interaction visit types and visit flows; and adaptivity user modeling approaches. It concludes with a discussion of four interrelated trajectories for interactive museum guide research including embodied interaction, gameplay, transparent and opaque interaction and the role of personal digital assistants

Performing Posthuman Spectatorship: Contemporary Technogenesis and Experiential Architectures of Exchange

The project offers an analytical lens for use when studying the operations and aesthetics of contemporary spectatorship. This lens is informed by the ecological and relational methodology found in critical posthumanism and is useful when considering the relationships between spectatorship, contemporary performance, and digital media/technology under paradigms of deep mediatization. The form of spectatorship considered involves active participation and relational exchange between event and individual. The project argues for an interdisciplinary model for looking at the influence of digital technologies on the subjective condition of human beings who perform the role of spectator in various performative events. As a perpetually evolving form of embodied performativity, posthuman spectatorship develops at the convergence of media environments, communications technologies, and narratives and performance events and is conditioned by contemporary politics and ethics. Due to the deeply interactive nature of contemporary technologies, posthuman spectators become evolve to perform as co-producers of their own daily realities through their deeply enmeshed relationship with media and mediatization opening-up radical new opportunities for political and ethical response, activism, and world building. The foundation for a posthuman model of spectatorship extends the analytical scope beyond unidirectional modes of reception to encompass a multitude of relational activities undertaken by contemporary spectators

Employee engagement in virtual teams: The role of gamification

Dissertation presented as the partial requirement for obtaining a Master's degree in Information Management, specialization in Marketing IntelligenceRemote and hybrid work were already becoming increasingly popular, but due to the global pandemic, it has become the new normality. To best navigate this new norm, we need to understand what can influence job engagement and consequently performance and what new factors we can use to further enhance these aspects. We study the antecedents of job performance and satisfaction, the impact of gamification and team virtuality and its influence on job performance. A survey across 323 individuals with some degree of team virtuality, found that job engagement is a relevant indicator of job performance, that gamification has potential to positively influence engagement and satisfaction and that higher team virtuality can lead to enhanced job performance. This study extends previous research on job engagement by combining it with its antecedents, team virtuality and gamification into a single model. While it is acknowledged that further research is required, this study provides relevant insights for managers and organizations aiming for higher job engagement and performance in this new working environment

Playful Materialities

Game culture and material culture have always been closely linked. Analog forms of rule-based play (ludus) would hardly be conceivable without dice, cards, and game boards. In the act of free play (paidia), children as well as adults transform simple objects into multifaceted toys in an almost magical way. Even digital play is suffused with material culture: Games are not only mediated by technical interfaces, which we access via hardware and tangible peripherals. They are also subject to material hybridization, paratextual framing, and processes of de-, and re-materialization