Developing a hybrid video synthesiser for audiovisual performance and composition

This thesis presents the development process and analysis of a hybrid video synthesiser that was designed towards use in audiovisual performance and composition. Though there are various instruments, platforms, and approaches towards audiovisual performance and composition, this practice-based thesis, through the development of an instrument, addresses a very specific gap – the lack of a hybrid, i.e., a software-based physical modular video synthesiser. This thesis will trace the historical origins of the video synthesiser, contextualise audiovisual performance and composition, and discuss the development of this hybrid video synthesiser. This thesis will document the iterative development process, provide key takeaways from performances and finally, provide a discussion, certain recommendations, and contributions that this instrument makes within the field of video synthesisers and audiovisual performance

Source Code Interaction on Touchscreens

Direct interaction with touchscreens has become a primary way of using a device. This work seeks to devise interaction methods for editing textual source code on touch-enabled devices. With the advent of the “Post-PC Era”, touch-centric interaction has received considerable attention in both research and development. However, various limitations have impeded widespread adoption of programming environments on modern platforms. Previous attempts have mainly been successful by simplifying or constraining conventional programming but have only insufficiently supported source code written in mainstream programming languages. This work includes the design, development, and evaluation of techniques for editing, selecting, and creating source code on touchscreens. The results contribute to text editing and entry methods by taking the syntax and structure of programming languages into account while exploiting the advantages of gesture-driven control. Furthermore, this work presents the design and software architecture of a mobile development environment incorporating touch-enabled modules for typical software development tasks

Visual exploration of large geolocation-rich data sets using formal concept analysis

Information Scienc

Man as product and producer of vitreous optic: from the mirror phase to the monitor phase, with particular reference to Martin Jay, Bergson, Deleuze and Baudrillard

Drawing an arc from Narcissus’ encounter with his own reflection, tracking through varieties and modalities of glassy surfaces and technologies through history, from the mirror to the lens, microscope and telescope, camera obscura and panopticon, to contemporary techno-cultural phenomena of the ‘digital age’ the concern of this work is to determine how mirrors, lenses, screens and monitors have shaped our social and conceptual modes of existence. The four parts of this dissertation all illustrate how glass technology modalities of vitreous optic has contributed to the development of the various spheres of our life, and vice versa. The general hypothesis shows how intertwined we are with our material production beyond the reductive perspectives of technological determinism and social constructivism; and, more specifically, the thesis argues that the vitreous optics of the contemporary age –the computer game, the smartphone, social media platforms and networks- have profound ramifications that are redefining ‘intelligence’, ‘things’, and ‘technology