Verifiability in computer-aided research: the role of digital scientific notations at the human-computer interface

Most of today’s scientific research relies on computers and software for processing scientific information. Examples of such computer-aided research are the analysis of experimental data or the simulation of phenomena based on theoretical models. With the rapid increase of computational power, scientific software has integrated more and more complex scientific knowledge in a black-box fashion. As a consequence, its users do not know, and do not even have a chance of finding out, which assumptions and approximations their computations are based on. This black-box nature of scientific software has made the verification of much computer-aided research close to impossible. The present work starts with an analysis of this situation from the point of view of human-computer interaction in scientific research. It identifies the key role of digital scientific notations at the human-computer interface, reviews the most popular ones in use today, and describes a proof-of-concept implementation of Leibniz, a language designed as a verifiable digital scientific notation for models formulated as mathematical equations

A cooperative-relational approach to digital libraries

Copyright @ 2007 Springer-Verlag, Berlin HeidelbergThis paper presents a novel approach to model-driven development of Digital Library (DL) systems. The overall idea is to allow Digital Library systems designers (e.g. information architects, librarians, domain experts) to easily design such systems by using a visual language. We designed a Domain Specific Visual Language for such a purpose and developed a framework supporting it; this framework helps designers by automatically generating code for the defined Digital Library system, so that they do not have to get involved into technical issues concerning its deployment. In our approach, both Human-Computer Interaction and Computer Supported Collaborative Work techniques are exploited when generating interfaces and services for the specific Digital Library domain

Template Mining for Information Extraction from Digital Documents

published or submitted for publicatio

Sketchy rendering for information visualization

We present and evaluate a framework for constructing sketchy style information visualizations that mimic data graphics drawn by hand. We provide an alternative renderer for the Processing graphics environment that redefines core drawing primitives including line, polygon and ellipse rendering. These primitives allow higher-level graphical features such as bar charts, line charts, treemaps and node-link diagrams to be drawn in a sketchy style with a specified degree of sketchiness. The framework is designed to be easily integrated into existing visualization implementations with minimal programming modification or design effort. We show examples of use for statistical graphics, conveying spatial imprecision and for enhancing aesthetic and narrative qualities of visual- ization. We evaluate user perception of sketchiness of areal features through a series of stimulus-response tests in order to assess users’ ability to place sketchiness on a ratio scale, and to estimate area. Results suggest relative area judgment is compromised by sketchy rendering and that its influence is dependent on the shape being rendered. They show that degree of sketchiness may be judged on an ordinal scale but that its judgement varies strongly between individuals. We evaluate higher-level impacts of sketchiness through user testing of scenarios that encourage user engagement with data visualization and willingness to critique visualization de- sign. Results suggest that where a visualization is clearly sketchy, engagement may be increased and that attitudes to participating in visualization annotation are more positive. The results of our work have implications for effective information visualization design that go beyond the traditional role of sketching as a tool for prototyping or its use for an indication of general uncertainty

Cultivating the Erratic: Architectural representation and materialisation after the digital turn

This thesis investigates representation and materialisation in contemporary architectural design. Due to cultural and technological shifts, the act of design is no longer squarely located in the abstract realms of drawings or digital geometries. Computer aided manufacturing, physics simulation, and 3d-scanning offer alternative possibilities for design by incorporating the often-erratic qualities of extant objects and materials. These developments call for architects to intervene in and theorise technological transfers between representation and material reality that might otherwise become matters of mere expediency. Spanning in scope from design to technology to theory, the thesis is developed through a combination of analytical enquiry and design driven research. The design works included, Erratic and Completions, explore materialisation and representation against a critical review of key concepts associated with the ‘digital turn’ in architecture during the 1990s and 2000s. The thesis interrogates how those concepts have been developed and challenged in the decades after this turn. Key to the analysis is a critical enquiry about the nature of architectural representation and the significance of theoretical frameworks gleaned from other areas of enquiry, including materialist and post-digital thinking. The implications of the design work are explored by positioning physics simulation and 3d-scanning as means of representation through an interlacing of thinking from such frameworks with detailed accounts of technical apparatuses involved in conception and production.Overall, the thesis aims to build a new position for architectural conception and production. It argues that the means of representation that facilitate architectural design have agency, and that simulation and scanning offer a contemporary context in which the effects of such agencies can be productively observed. This opens a disciplinary discussion on issues of projection, translation, and codification and their role in shaping the architectural imagination. The discussion also extends beyond such architectural concerns and into political critique, as practices, technicalities, and histories of representation condition how we view the world, how we operate in it, and might even modify how we view ourselves

Past, present and future of information and knowledge sharing in the construction industry: Towards semantic service-based e-construction

The paper reviews product data technology initiatives in the construction sector and provides a synthesis of related ICT industry needs. A comparison between (a) the data centric characteristics of Product Data Technology (PDT) and (b) ontology with a focus on semantics, is given, highlighting the pros and cons of each approach. The paper advocates the migration from data-centric application integration to ontology-based business process support, and proposes inter-enterprise collaboration architectures and frameworks based on semantic services, underpinned by ontology-based knowledge structures. The paper discusses the main reasons behind the low industry take up of product data technology, and proposes a preliminary roadmap for the wide industry diffusion of the proposed approach. In this respect, the paper stresses the value of adopting alliance-based modes of operation

Remote laboratories: new technology and standard based architecture

E-Laboratories are important components of e- learning environments, especially in scientific and technical disciplines. First widespread E-Labs consisted in proposing simulations of real systems (virtual labs), as building remote labs (remote control of real systems) was difficult by lack of industrial standards and common protocols. Nowadays, robotics and automation technologies make easier the interfacing of systems with computers. In this frame, many researchers (such as those mentioned in [1]) focus on how to set up such a remote control. But, only a few of them deal with the educational point of view of the problem. This paper outlines our current research and reflection about remote laboratory modelling

Eniatype: Transdisciplinary Practice for Methodologies of Communication

Full version unavailable due to 3rd party copyright restrictions.The thesis demonstrates a rethinking of methodologies of communication through ecological design. Human communication and ecological accountability are inextricably linked in architectural design: the current global ecological crisis underscores this fundamental connection. Within architectural practice the communication from architect to participant or environment is not at all straightforward. This is also true of the dyadic relation between context, design and communication in architectural education. Notational systems within architectural education used as a communication tool have made the composition of architecture an activity like the composition of fiction: the activity of communication. So deep is the connection between architecture and communication in our culture that for much of the time we ignore it and behave as if notation were really a transparent window – just as in reading a working drawing in architectural practice we may ignore the intermediacy of notation and imagine that thoughts are reaching us directly from the architect’s mind. The most important criterion of notational systems, whether literally or architectural, is precisely that it should not draw attention to itself, nor disturb the illusion of neutrality and faithfulness. Through original design exploration, this work proffers a critical vision towards the built environment. These conceptions challenge the everyday education of architectural design by offering a transdisciplinary framework for design production. The work concludes with the necessity for a new design field entitled ‘Eniatype’. Eniatype is still in its nascent stages. It has the potential to become a far-reaching awareness that bonds the disciplines of design ecologies, theory of notation, instructional design and aesthetics; together they form the acronym ENIA. The work establishes the theoretical foundation for Eniatype in four parts. Part one, ideation, is a survey of visions on architectural practice illustrating original concepts such as ‘Correalism‘, ’Reflexive Architecture‘ and ’Recursive Vision‘. Part two, Enia, illustrates the principles of design ecologies, theory of notation, instructional design and aesthetical strands in projects such as ’Basque Enia‘ and ’Beijing Enia‘. Part three, Type, conveys the principles of the logical theory of types in ’Working Drawing, Participant and Environment‘. Part four, Eniatype, synthesise these approaches through a series of research sessions towards a transdisciplinary idea of architectural education and practice. The work describes a burgeoning field, Eniatype, which promotes ecological transitions within local and global contexts through architectural education. By linking working drawing and environment within architectural education, unique ecological design proposals were produced, which promote a new role in defining the ciphers of future design thought