Co-created Mobile Narratives

FM Marjo Mäenpään Turun yliopiston Humanistisen tiedekunnan Kulttuurituotannon ja maisemantutkimuksen digitaalisen kulttuurin oppialalle valmistunut väitöskirja Co-created Mobile Narratives tarkastetaan Porin yliopistokeskuksessa 27. huhtikuuta 2013. Marjo Mäenpää tutkii, kuinka ihmiset tarinallistavat elämänsä, kuvittavat ja jakavat kokemuksiaan toisten ihmisten kanssa mobiilin median avulla. Elämänjulkaisemisesta on tullut ihmisten arkista toimintaa. Mäenpää lähestyy jaettuja kännykkävideotarinoita kolmesta eri näkökulmasta. Hän tutkii tarinoiden rakennetta, julkaisemista ja julkaisevia yhteisöjä narratologian, yhteisöjen toiminnan ja mediantutkimuksen valossa. Teoreetikot aina Aristoteleesta klassisen narratologian tutkijoihin ovat esittäneet erilaisia tarinallisuuden kaavoja ja rakenteita, joita on havaittavissa myös yhteisössä tuotetuista videotarinoista. Myöhemmän alan tutkimustradition, mm. kognitiivisen narratologian mukaan ihmiset hahmottavat tarinallisia kokonaisuuksia pienemmistäkin fragmenteista ja vihjeistä. Elämän tarinaa, käännekohtia ja elämyksiä kerrotaan usein – esimerkiksi Facebookissa – yksittäisillä, sattumanvaraisilla kuvilla. Yhteisöllinen tuotanto edellyttää luottamusta. Yhteisö jakaa tarinoita, jotka voivat olla hyvinkin fragmentaarisia, mutta saavat merkityksensä yhteisestä kokemusmaailmasta ja kulttuurista. Julkaiseminen on sattumanvaraista, luovaa toimintaa, jonka lopputulos voi olla ennalta arvaamaton. Kuitenkin julkaiseminen edellyttää jonkinlaista aktiivista toimijaa tai tuottajaa. Rakenteen julkaisemiselle voi antaa tuottaja, moderaattori tai hyvin rakennettu teknologinen julkaisualusta. Monitieteisen väitöstutkimuksen aineisto on peräisin Turun yliopiston, Tampereen teknillisen yliopiston ja Aalto- yliopiston Porin yksiköiden yhteisestä Mobile Social Media -tutkimushankkeesta. Vuosina 2008-2010 hankkeessa suunniteltiin MoViE (Mobile Video Experience) -sovellusta, jonka avulla ihmiset voivat julkaista omia lyhyitä videoitaan ja jakaa niitä toisten käyttäjien kanssa. MoViE-sovelluksen avulla käyttäjät voivat editoida omia ja toisten kuvaamia videoita sekä julkaista kuvallisia tarinoita yhteisöllisistä kokemuksista. MoViE-sovellusta kokeiltiin mm. Pori Jazz -konserteissa. Samasta konsertista taltioitui kännykkävideoille useita näkökulmia, ja testikäyttäjäryhmä koosti useita erilaisia videotarinoita yhteisestä konserttikokemuksestaan. Marjo Mäenpää (1959) työskentelee opetus- ja kulttuuriministeriössä kulttuuriasiainneuvoksena. Hän on toiminut mm. kustantajana, multimedian dramaturgian opettajana Teatterikorkeakoulussa, digitaalisen mediatuotannon professorina Aalto-yliopiston Taiteen ja suunnittelun korkeakoulussa vuosina 2006-2012 sekä Taiteen edistämiskeskuksen väliaikaisena johtajana vuonna 2013.Siirretty Doriast

Supporting the Mobile In-situ Authoring of Locative Media in Rural Places: Design and Expert Evaluation of the SMAT app

Providing users with carefully authored Locative media experiences (which can be consumed via their GPS equipped smartphones or tablets) has significant potential for fostering a strong engagement with their current surroundings. However, the availability of mobile tools to support the authoring of locative media experiences in-situ, and by non-technical users, remains scarce. In this article we present the design and field-trial expert evaluation of a mobile app developed under the SHARC project (Investigating Technology Support for the Shared Curation of Local History in a Rural Community). The app is named SMAT (SHARC Mobile Authoring Tool) and supports the authoring of Locative Media experiences with a focus on the creation of POIs (Points of Interest) and associated geo-fences which trigger the pushed delivery of media items such as photos, audio clips, etc. One important requirement of SMAT is the ability to support authoring in places where connectivity is intermittent or unavailable, e.g. many rural areas

FYP AR Book: Let’s Recycle

Learning on how to recycle is to be considering as one of the basic knowledge that children should have. Plus, with rapid evolve of technology nowadays mobile applications and augmented reality are merged together that it could be used as one of learning tools for children age of 7 to 9 years old to learn recycling. This document outlines the introduction of the project, literature review study of recycling and augmented reality, methodology and project activities, result and discussion and conclusion of this project. Various methods have been used to introduce the concept of recycling to young children which includes advertisements on different types of media such as television, billboard on highway, newspapers, seminar and talks. Despite these efforts, level of awareness among them is still considerably low. Thus, the habit of recycling, i.e. the transformation of awareness into action among them is almost virtually none. Children still do not know the correct way (how) and the purpose they need to recycle (why). Moreover, interesting tools for the children to learn about recycling is very much lacking. Learning through practical experience is an effective approach to learning. Thus, the main objective of this project is to create awareness among children on the importance of recycling. Furthermore, it is also to evaluate the learning of recycling using an augmented reality and traditional storybook and to introduce the augmented reality to the children. Additionally, this project aims to create recycling awareness through the development of an Augmented Reality (AR) book on Recycling. A mobile AR application and an AR book on recycling were developed using combination of a few different software and open source websites for the project. When both of the mobile application and AR book are used simultaneously, together they creates a fun and interactive environment for learning the concept of recycling which includes “practical experience” through games

Using Dual-Language Books to Preserve Language & Culture in Alaska Native Communities

“Children learn their language on their mother’s lap.” This conventional wisdom from a Cup’ik Elder describes the approach used by many Alaska Native peoples to promote native language acquisition. Presumably, the children learn by listening to stories and tales from a trusted parent or caregiver. However, what happens when the caregiver does not speak the native language? This chapter describes an effort to address this issue while also promoting better educational outcomes by providing access to diverse dual-language books in Alaska Native languages through the use of a digital children’s library. Potential benefits from these efforts include an increase in resources for schools, a revitalization of Indigenous languages, and an increase in access, with hopes that future work will show evidence that using these dual-language books encourage greater parent support and involvement in education, support second language acquisition, and promote a strong sense of identity. Implications and future efforts follow.Ye

Micro-spatial and urban ephemera: bottom-up and temporary initiatives in public space

The concept of adaptation currently seems to best embody the specific nature of contemporary transformations of urban structures within the context of concurrent changes generally taking place in civilization, economics, and society. Cities since their very beginnings have adapted and transformed their structures to the current needs and conditions of every era. Today however it is difficult to conceive of broad, all-inclusive improvement projects: the focus has shifted in the direction of creating strategies, laying out goals and their means of achievement, and then the flexible adaptation of said means to the dynamically changing conditions of cities. In the transformations of today's Western cities the voice of urban residents has become louder and louder over the years, and the practice of participation has been known for decades. This issue has only recently become publicized in Poland. The author of this article would like also to bring attention however to other types of citizen participation in the transformation of public spaces, a kind of micro-adaptation, actions by which people spontaneously on their own initiative have always adapted to and adapt to the space that surrounds them. The following article discusses selected Polish and foreign examples of grassroots movements in the process of the “production” and adaptation of urban space, in addition to diverse ephemera: spatial events initiated by bottom-up community users of public urban space. The author's contention is that in today's intensely expanding urban structures, which often tend to lose their human scale, an important aspect of the development of public space will not only be the voice of users, but also bottom-up micro adaptations and often temporary social-space interventions whose growth are a sign of our times

Portuguese cultural standards from the Chinese perspective

O objetivo da tese é identificar os padrões culturais portugueses a partir da perspectiva chinesa. A metodologia da tese usa o Método de Padrões Culturais, que é uma abordagem qualitativa inovadora de pesquisa transcultural e particularmente usada para estudar as diferenças culturais entre duas culturas específicas. O método dos padrões culturais consiste em três fases principais: entrevistas narrativas, análise e categorização, bem como feedback e discussão. Os principais dados da tese foram recolhidos de trinta entrevistados chineses que têm experiência de viver e trabalhar em Portugal. Os resultados foi confirmado pelo feedback e discussão dos entrevistados e de terceiros. Os padrões culturais portugueses na perspectiva chinesa são identificados a seguir: Orientação do ritmo lento, Falta de ambições no desempenho profissional, Importância do tempo de lazer, Cultura alimentar diferente, Conservadorismo, Relacionamento social entusiasta e superficial. Os resultados da tese pode servir como base para o treino especial de interações transculturais para ajudar os chineses a entender melhor as diferenças culturais com os portuguêses e diminuir os choques culturais resultantes de diferenças culturais. Dois estudos de caso baseados nas experiências reais são apresentados como exemplos da aplicação do resultado.The completion of the thesis is attributed to many people's support and encouragement. First and foremost, I want to extend my heartfelt gratitude to my supervisor, Professor António Robalo, whose gentle guidance and constant encouragement make me accomplish this dissertation. When I was an exchange student in ISCTE three years ago, Professor António Robalo got me very interested in cross-cultural research through his brilliant lectures and profound knowledge. When I decided to study cross-cultural interactions as my final thesis, Professor António Robalo was very friendly to accept me to be my supervisor, gave me a lot of help and encouragements during the whole process of my studying. I am very grateful for Professor António Robalo to lead me into the cross-cultural research and provide a lot of guidelines so that I could finish my dissertation successfully. Secondly, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all the professors who have taught me during my master stage. Their instructions have helped broaden my horizon and have provided me with a solid foundation to accomplish this dissertation, which will also be greatly helpful for my future career and academic research. Moreover, I would like to thank all the interviewees who were willing to share their time and experiences for me to accomplish my research. Last but not least, I would like to express my special thanks to my parents, whose care and support motivate me to move on and make me want to be a better person

Creating an Immersive and Entertaining Game for Raising Internet Privacy Awareness

The continuous evolution in the pervasiveness and connectedness of technology is a subject of growing concern. Databases, smartphones, tablets, laptops, wearables are all united through a single global network—the Internet. This growth has resulted in social networks and other data-collecting applications becoming a major part of life for many people. To address emerging threats and growing concerns, our goal is to present internet users with a simulation that helps them consider the actions that they take when online. To do so, we have created a narrative game, Immaculacy, which is intended to raise awareness in common privacy issues that many internet users encounter. Immaculacy is an interactive story that is set in a slightly dystopian future with a world that is littered with privacy issues. We have completed the prologue and first act of the game to serve as a demonstration for testing purposes. The demo consists of twenty- five scenes, three mini-games, and features twenty-one unique characters. Events unfold within the game based on hidden scores that are maintained throughout gameplay. In total, there are four scoring scales that we maintain: data leaking, government suspicion, character morality, and reputations with other major characters. These scores are calculated based on specific decisions made by the player both in dialogue and in interactions with the world. Throughout the narrative, we allow the player to experience many privacy issues through their explorations of a world filled with hyper surveillance and connectivity. To verify the entertainment value of Immaculacy, demonstrations and informal playtesting have been conducted in which feedback was received in improvements that can be made to the game mechanics and interface. Additionally, we are beginning formal user tests to test the educational value of the game and to further test how entertaining Immaculacy is. Ultimately, we aim to create an engaging environment which presents players with situations and choices intended to encourage them to consider their own personal behavior when using online services

Spartan Daily, September 13, 2016

Volume 147, Issue 6https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/spartan_daily_2016/1046/thumbnail.jp