Bigging up the railway : Experiencing the past to understand the present

Treball desenvolupat en el marc del programa "European Project Semester".This report is the methodology of how this EPS group of students came together to create an app for the railway museum of Catalonia. We have been asked to do this to allow their visitors to have a better experience of the museum. The app will not only serve as a comprehensive resource for visitors, but it will also offer practical functionalities. By incorporating these features, we aim to make the museum more accessible and engaging, improving the overall visitor experience. Extensive research has been conducted on existing apps and interactive games to inform the app's layout and interactive elements. In summary, the Railway Museum Project focused on developing a user-friendly app that enhances the Vilanova Railway Station's visitor experience. By providing comprehensive information, interactive features, and practical functionalities, we aimed to make the museum more accessible and engaging for a wider audience and believe this report shows that.Incomin

Updating of user requirements of elderly and disabled drivers and travellers

The user requirements have been reassessed in the light of the results from the collaborative evaluations with other Transport Telematics Projects, as well as data and expertise gathered from the literature and other experts in the field. The user requirements identified are also the fundamental base for the development of different parts of the TELSCAN project. User requirements cover, of course, a multitude of different aspects, and to demonstrate how they have been integrated into the project’s output, they have been grouped into the following categories: • System function requirements • Interface requirements • Information requirements • Protocol requirements

Playing bilingual : interweaving deaf and hearing cultural practices to achieve equality of participation in theatrical performance processes

This thesis aims to interrogate the potential for equality of participation in theatrical performance for deaf and hearing actors and spectators. The research builds on earlier work by the author that reveals that existing methods employed to provide accessibility for deaf people are widely considered by deaf spectators to be ineffective in offering equality of participation. It sits within an interdisciplinary theoretical frame that draws from Deaf Studies, Performance Studies and Bourdieu’s field theory. Methodologically the research is grounded in Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed and draws on the principles of Participatory Action Research, guidelines for ethical practice when working with deaf people, and Applied Theatre practice as research. Knowledge is generated by a group of ten actors, five who self-identify as deaf and five as hearing. They are tasked with identifying techniques for creating performances that might be equally accessible to deaf and hearing audiences. Over five days they devise nine new scenes, the primary data of the project. The scenes are shown to a mixed deaf/hearing audience, and metadata concerning audience response to the scenes are generated in focus groups. Further metadata concerning the creative process are generated by the actors, using reflective diaries and small group reflexive interviews. Throughout the project, the lead researcher predominantly adopts the role of participant observer; his field notes also form part of the metadata. The scenes created employ a variety of cross-cultural and bilingual performance techniques. Despite the ensemble’s view that each scene will be successful in offering access, the response of the spectators suggests that equality of participation is not achieved; the societal frames of each group create different expectations and prejudices that influence the receptive process. Socio-analysis of the metadata concerning the creative process reveals a similar situation. Examples of practice do occur, however, in which equality of participation is achieved. This is dependent on participants over-riding their own ideological positions, particularly those concerning language and translation, to create a third space where practice is not determined by field conditions, but instead where participants who draw from both oppressor and oppressed groups work together to create a utopia of Freirean equality

A Framework for Site-Specific Spatial Audio Applications

As audio recording and reproduction technology has advanced over the past five decades, increasing attention has been paid to recreating the highly spatialised listening experience we understand from our physical environment. This is the logical next step in the quest for increasing audio clarity, particularly as virtual reality gaming and augmented reality experiences become more widespread. This study sought to develop and demonstrate a technical framework for the production of site-specific audio-based works that is user-friendly and cost effective. The system was intended to be used by existing content producers and audio programmers to work collaboratively with a range of site-based organisations such as museums and galleries to produce an audio augmentation of the physicality of the space. This research was guided by four key aims: 1. Demonstrate a compositional method for immersive spatial audio that references the novel physical environment and the listener’s movement within it. 2. Describe a framework for the development and deployment of a spatial audio visitor technology system. 3. Prototype a naturalistic method for the delivery and navigation of contextual information via audio. 4. Deploy, demonstrate, and evaluate a spatial audio experience within a representative environment. The resulting system makes use of a range of existing technologies to provide a development experience and output that meets a clearly defined set of criteria. Furthermore, a case study application has been developed that demonstrates the use of the system to augment a selection of six paintings in a gallery space. For each of these paintings, a creative spatial composition was produced that demonstrates the principles of spatial composition discussed in this thesis. A spoken informational layer sits on top of this acting as a museum audio guide, featuring navigation using head gestures for a hands-free experience. This thesis presents a detailed discussion of the artistic intentions and techniques employed in the production of the six soundscapes, as well as an evaluation of the resulting application in use in a public gallery space

From Culture Shock to Cultural Adaptation: A Workbook for International Students

San Francisco’s complex communal tapestry can lead to cultural disorientation, dislocation, and unfamiliarity for recently arrived F-1 and M-1 international students, a series of events that when related to problematic adaptation issues and negative adjustment implementations is known as culture shock. Easing the adaptation process for this population is considered to be of academic importance from a progressive, economic, sociocultural, and intercultural perspective. Thus, the organizing purpose and principle of the project is to enable cultural adaptation for students who reside in San Francisco by instilling in them proximal, behavioral, and situational safety awareness. The project takes the form of a visually oriented workbook structured around the notion of authentic learning materials that have been designed to establish sociocultural adaptation skills and acculturation strategies for students that are based upon culturally specific tasks. In practice, these behavioral and intercultural learning tasks are derived from the Multiple Intelligences learning model of variable learning styles and modalities, and incorporate real-life scenarios such as the logistics involved in living within an urban environment, methods of traveling via various modes of public transportation, and the importance of the establishment of friendship networks for international students. It is to be hoped that by effectively utilizing the project, students will become equipped with the essential skill sets necessary to participate productively in socio-emotional and multicultural interactions, and be able to navigate the daunting task of learning a non-native language and a new culture simultaneously, thereby improving their chance at cultural adjustment and adaptation at the personal, academic, and sociocultural level

Production thesis : Ernest in love

The purpose of this thesis was to compile a practical manuscript for directing a production of the musical Ernest In Love by Anne Croswell and Lee Pockriss. This specific purpose was achieved by studying the script, producing the play, and evaluating the production after a series of public performances. Part One includes the following: (1) brief biographies of the authors, (2) history of previous performances, (3) a synopsis of the script, (4) character descriptions and analyses, (5) a discussion of the function and mood of the sets, lights and costumes, and (6) justification for the director's choice of the script. Part Two is the director's prompt book for the production of Ernest In Love which was performed on July 7, 8, and 9, 1969, on the main stage of the W. Raymond Taylor Speech and Drama Building at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. In addition to the production plates and photographs, this chapter includes notation on (1) blocking, (2) composition, (3) details of characterizations, (4) stage business, and (5) timing