687 research outputs found

    Planetary Hinterlands:Extraction, Abandonment and Care

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    This open access book considers the concept of the hinterland as a crucial tool for understanding the global and planetary present as a time defined by the lasting legacies of colonialism, increasing labor precarity under late capitalist regimes, and looming climate disasters. Traditionally seen to serve a (colonial) port or market town, the hinterland here becomes a lens to attend to the times and spaces shaped and experienced across the received categories of the urban, rural, wilderness or nature. In straddling these categories, the concept of the hinterland foregrounds the human and more-than-human lively processes and forms of care that go on even in sites defined by capitalist extraction and political abandonment. Bringing together scholars from the humanities and social sciences, the book rethinks hinterland materialities, affectivities, and ecologies across places and cultural imaginations, Global North and South, urban and rural, and land and water

    Voicing Kinship with Machines: Diffractive Empathetic Listening to Synthetic Voices in Performance.

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    This thesis contributes to the field of voice studies by analyzing the design and production of synthetic voices in performance. The work explores six case studies, consisting of different performative experiences of the last decade (2010- 2020) that featured synthetic voice design. It focusses on the political and social impact of synthetic voices, starting from yet challenging the concepts of voice in the machine and voice of the machine. The synthetic voices explored are often playing the role of simulated artificial intelligences, therefore this thesis expands its questions towards technology at large. The analysis of the case studies follows new materialist and posthumanist premises, yet it tries to confute the patriarchal and neoliberal approach towards technological development through feminist and de-colonial approaches, developing a taxonomy for synthetic voices in performance. Chapter 1 introduces terms and explains the taxonomy. Chapter 2 looks at familiar representations of fictional AI. Chapter 3 introduces headphone theatre exploring immersive practices. Chapters 4 and 5 engage with chatbots. Chapter 6 goes in depth exploring Human and Artificial Intelligence interaction, whereas chapter 7 moves slightly towards music production and live art. The body of the thesis includes the work of Pipeline Theatre, Rimini Protokoll, Annie Dorsen, Begüm Erciyas, and Holly Herndon. The analysis is informed by posthumanism, feminism, and performance studies, starting from my own practice as sound designer and singer, looking at aesthetics of reproduction, audience engagement, and voice composition. This thesis has been designed to inspire and provoke practitioners and scholars to explore synthetic voices further, question predominant biases of binarism and acknowledge their importance in redefining technology

    Unweaving complex reactivity: graph-based tools to handle chemical reaction networks

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    La informació a nivell molecular obtinguda mitjançant estudis "in silico" s’ha establert com una eina essencial per a la caracterització de mecanismes de reacció complexos. A més, l’aplicabilitat de la química computacional s’ha vist substancialment ampliada a causa de l’increment continuat de la potència de càlcul disponible durant les darreres dècades. Així, no només han augmentat la precisió dels mètodes a utilitzar o la mida dels sistemes a modelitzar sinó també el grau de detall que es pot aconseguir en les descripcions mecanístiques resultants. Tanmateix, aquestes caracteritzacions més profundes, usualment assistides per tècniques d’automatització que permeten l’exploració de regions més extenses de l’espai químic, suposen un increment de la complexitat dels sistemes estudiats i per tant una limitació de la seva interpretabilitat. En aquesta Tesi s’han proposat, desenvolupat i posat a prova diverses eines amb el fi de fer el processament d’aquest tipus de xarxes de reacció químiques (CRNs) més simple i millorar la comprensió de processos reactius i catalítics complexos. Aquesta col·lecció d’eines té com fonament la utilització de grafs per modelitzar les xarxes (CRNs) corresponents, per poder fer servir els mètodes de la Teoria de Grafs (cerca de camins, isomorfismes...) en un context químic. Més concretament, aquestes eines inclouen amk-tools, una llibreria per a la visualització interactiva de xarxes de reacció descobertes de manera automàtica, gTOFfee, per a l’aplicació del "energy span model" pel càlcul de la freqüència de recanvi de cicles catalítics complexos calculats computacionalment, i OntoRXN, una ontologia per descriure CRNs de forma semàntica, integrant la topologia de la xarxa i la informació calculada en una única entitat organitzada segons els principis del "Semantic Data".La información a nivel molecular obtenida por medio de estudios "in silico" se ha convertido en una herramienta indispensable para la caracterización y comprensión de mecanismos de reacción complejos. Asimismo, la aplicabilidad de la química computacional se ha ampliado sustancialmente como consecuencia del continuo incremento de la potencia de cálculo durante las últimas décadas. Así, no sólo han aumentado la precisión de los métodos o el tamaño de los sistemas modelizables, sino también el grado de detalle en la descripción mecanística. Sin embargo, aumentar la profundidad de la caracterización de un sistema químico, usualmente a través de técnicas de automatización que permiten explorar ecciones más extensas del espacio químico, supone un aumento en la complejidad de los sistemas resultantes, dificultando la interpretación de los resultados. En esta Tesis se han propuesto, desarrollado y puesto a prueba distintas herramientas para simplificar el procesado de este tipo de redes de reacción químicas (CRNs), con el fin de mejorar la comprensión de procesos reactivos y catalíticos complejos. Este conjunto de herramientas se basa en el uso de grafos para modelizar las redes (CRNs) correspondientes, con tal de poder emplear los métodos de la Teoría de Grafos (búsqueda de caminos, isomorfismos...) bajo un contexto químico. Concretamente, estas herramientas incluyen amk-tools, para la visualización interactiva de redes de reacción descubiertas automáticamente, gTOFfee, para la aplicación del “energy span model” para calcular la frecuencia de recambio de ciclos catalíticos complejos caracterizados computacionalmente, y OntoRXN, una ontología para describir CRNs de manera semántica, integrando la topología de la red y la información calculada en una única entidad organizada bajo los principios del “Semantic Data”.The molecular-level insights gathered through "in silico" studies have become an essential asset for the elucidation and understanding of complex reaction mechanisms. Indeed, the applicability of computational chemistry has strongly widened due to the vast increase in computational power along the last decades. In this sense, not only the accuracy of the applied methods or the size of the target systems have increased, but also the level of detail attained for the mechanistic description. However, performing deeper descriptions of chemical systems, most often resorting to automation techniques that allow to easily explore larger parts of the chemical space, comes at the cost of also augmenting their complexity, rendering the results much harder to interpret. Throughout this Thesis, we have proposed, developed and tested a collection of tools aiming to process this kind of complex chemical reaction networks (CRNs), in order to provide new insights on reactive and catalytic processes. All of these tools employ graphs to model the target CRNs, in order to be able to use the methods of Graph Theory (e.g. path searches, isomorphisms...) in a chemical context. The tools that are discussed include amk-tools, a framework for the interactive visualization of automatically discovered reaction networks, gTOFfee, for the application of the energy span model to compute the turnover frequency of computationally characterized catalytic cycles, and OntoRXN, an ontology for the description of CRNs in a semantic manner integrating network topology and calculation information in a single, highly-structured entity

    Measuring the Effects of Multi-Sensory Stimuli in the Mixed Reality Environment for Tourism Value Creation

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    This thesis explores the impact of technology-enhanced multisensory stimuli on visitors' value judgments and behavioural intentions at tourist attractions. The study is based on the Tourism Value Framework (Smith and Colgate, 2007), which examines the influence of tourism environment and experience cues on tourist behaviour. To achieve the objective, four key areas were critically reviewed: 1) value creation in attraction-based tourism, 2) multisensory experience literature including experiencescape research, 3) immersion, and 4) mixed-reality technology (Objective 1). Primary data collection involved two research phases. The first phase included ten semistructured focus group interviews with visitors at two multisensory mixed-reality tourism locations in Finland (Objective 2). These interviews provided insights into visitors' perspectives on value formation, immersive experiences, and mixed-reality technologies. Thematic analysis of the data revealed five themes and seventeen subthemes, including context-specific subthemes, which contributed to understanding the multisensory tourism experience and technology-enhanced experience. Based on ten hypotheses, a qualitative S-I-V-A value creation framework was developed for technology-enhanced multisensory mixed reality tourism environments. The second phase aimed to examine and validate the proposed model by collecting survey responses from 317 visitors to a multisensory mixed reality tourist environment. Covariance-based Structural Equation Modelling (CB-SEM) was used for data analysis (Objective 3). The research's significant achievement is the creation of the S-I-V-A value creation framework for technology-enhanced multisensory mixed reality tourist environments, derived from the study's discoveries (Objective 4). The thesis concludes by summarizing the theoretical contributions of this research and offering recommendations to developers and designers in the tourism and mixed-reality sectors. It acknowledges the study's limitations and suggests potential directions for future research

    Managing Fish or Governing Fisheries? An Historical Recount of Marine Resources Governance in the Context of Latin America – The Ecuadorian Case

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    The narratives and images about ocean and its resources governance, their use and value have deep roots in human history. Traditionally, the contemporary images of fish and fisheries have been shaped under the cultural construction of power, wealth and exclusion, and also as one of poverty and marginalization. This perception was formed on early notions of natural (marine) resources access and use that were born within the colonial machinery that ruled the world from the Middle Ages until late XVII. This research explores the historical overview of marine resources usage and governance in Latin America, from a ‘critical approach to development’ perspective, by following a narrative description based on a ‘three acts’ format. It illustrates how and to what extent politics, power and knowledge have deeply influenced policies and practices at exploring the marine and terrestrial resources and at managing fish and seafood, historically, and how the fisheries resources’ management practices are influenced by principles of appropriation, regulation and usage, put in place already in the XV century that were imposed at the conquering and colonization of the Americas, disregarded previous governance practices. This article argues that fisheries governance cannot be improved without some appreciation for the social, historical, geopolitical, and cultural significance of the fishing resources themselves, of the perceptions of them by humans, and of the interactions Global North-Global South. The analysis also opens the dialogue about what kind of ocean and governance “science” we want, to support decisions, policies and practices regarding fisheries governance. Final thoughts highlight a reflection about whose knowledge is created and used to support decision and policy making in Ecuador

    Desenvolvemento de modelos de información de infraestructuras segundo estándares abertos e parametrización automática a partir de datos xeomáticos.

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    It seeks to develop procedures that allow generating information models of these structures, created from the relevant information of the point clouds obtained with these systems. For this purpose, the BIM standards for civil engineering structures, both currently available and those that will be published for the duration of the thesis, will be exploited and adopted. Information modeling techniques will be used in these standards, with the aim of obtaining a system that allows modeling the structures automatically. The models will also be made compatible with other methodologies designed for BIM, whose purpose is to take full advantage of the information available for management and maintenance tasks. Meeting these objectives, an automatic modeling system will be developed according to the BIM standards for transport infrastructures, suitable for automatic feeding from geomatic data and remote sensing, which is in turn integrable into management and maintenance systems for these types of structures of civil engineering.Esta tesis busca el desarrollo de metodologías para la exportación de la información geomática de infraestructuras de transporte, particularmente estructuras ferroviarias y carreteras, obtenida mediante tecnologías de mapeado móvil. Se busca desarrollar procedimientos que permitan generar modelos de información de estas estructuras, creados a partir de la información relevante de las nubes de puntos obtenidas con estos sistemas. Con este propósito, se explotarán y adoptarán los estándares BIM para estructuras de ingeniería civil, tanto los actualmente disponibles como aquellos que serán publicados durante la duración de la tesis. Se utilizarán técnicas de modelado de información en estos estándares, con objetivo de obtener un sistema que permita realizar un modelado de las estructuras de manera automática. Se llevará a cabo también la compatibilización los modelos con otras metodologías diseñadas para BIM, cuyo propósito es el aprovechamiento total de la información disponible para tareas de gestión y mantenimiento. Cumpliendo estos objetivos se desarrollará un sistema automático de modelado según los estándares BIM para infraestructuras de transporte, apto para su alimentación automática a partir de datos geomáticos y teledetección, el cual es a su vez integrable en sistemas de gestión y mantenimiento para este tipo de estructuras de ingeniería civil.Esta tese busca o desenvolvemento de metodoloxías para a exportación da información xeomática de infraestruturas de transporte, particularmente estruturas ferroviarias e estradas, obtida mediante tecnoloxías de mapeado móbil. A tese busca o desenvolvemento de procedementos que permitan xerar modelos de información destas estruturas, creados a partir da información relevante das nubes de puntos obtidas con estes sistemas. Con este propósito, se explotarán e adoptarán os estándares BIM para estruturas de enxeñería civil, tanto os actualmente dispoñibles como aqueles que serán publicados durante a duración da tese. Utilizaranse técnicas de modelado de información nestes estándares, con obxectivo de obter un sistema que permita realizar un modelado das estruturas de maneira automática. Levarase a cabo tamén a compatibilización dos modelos con outras metodoloxías diseñadas para BIM, cuxo propósito é o aproveitamento total da información dispoñible para tarefas de xestión e mantemento. Cumplindo estes obxectivos se desenvolverá un sistema automático de modelado segundo os estándares BIM para infraestruturas de transporte, apto para a súa alimentación automática a partir de datos xeomáticos e teledetección, o cal é a súa vez integrable en sistemas de xestión e mantemento para este tipo de estruturas de enxeñería civil

    Deconstructing Decapitation in Late Roman Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire, UK

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    The Roman conquest in Britain (AD 43) led to significant changes in indigenous settlements and agricultural systems, population diversity, social organization, economic activities, and funerary traditions. Archaeological investigations of burials from the first to fifth centuries AD in Britain have revealed a complex array of burial treatments and attitudes toward the dead, including decapitation burials, which are the most common form of differential burial represented in this period. Traditional interpretations of these burials have included infanticide, punitive execution, trophy taking, fear of the dead, and veneration practices. This project investigates a sample of decapitation burials from Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire dating to the Late Roman Period (3rd-5th c. AD) using quantitative and qualitative comparisons of skeletal remains, grave goods and other associated materials. The multi-scalar analysis of bioarchaeological and mortuary treatments demonstrated that no specific variable automatically distinguished a decapitated individual as an outlier or social deviant, reinforcing the need for the systematic application of contextual analysis, including osteological profiles, in our methodological assessments of lived experiences and the expression of identity in Late Romano-British society. This project contributes to the growing cross-disciplinary literature on how ancient populations utilized the body as an instrument in the performance of ritual violence, allowing a more nuanced interpretation of the culturally constructed body as a salient material object category in the Roman Iron Age

    Digital writing technologies in higher education : theory, research, and practice

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    This open access book serves as a comprehensive guide to digital writing technology, featuring contributions from over 20 renowned researchers from various disciplines around the world. The book is designed to provide a state-of-the-art synthesis of the developments in digital writing in higher education, making it an essential resource for anyone interested in this rapidly evolving field. In the first part of the book, the authors offer an overview of the impact that digitalization has had on writing, covering more than 25 key technological innovations and their implications for writing practices and pedagogical uses. Drawing on these chapters, the second part of the book explores the theoretical underpinnings of digital writing technology such as writing and learning, writing quality, formulation support, writing and thinking, and writing processes. The authors provide insightful analysis on the impact of these developments and offer valuable insights into the future of writing. Overall, this book provides a cohesive and consistent theoretical view of the new realities of digital writing, complementing existing literature on the digitalization of writing. It is an essential resource for scholars, educators, and practitioners interested in the intersection of technology and writing

    Towards a new generation of geographical information systems

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