Artificial Horizon. Blind Flight in the History of Virtual Reality

Histories of virtual reality (VR) usually place its origins in computing. But this can be pushed back even further by considering early experiments in flight, principally in the endeavour to fly by instrument, that took place in the late 1920s and throughout the 1930s. This essay positions blind flight in the history of virtual reality and other immersive media in order to understand what sensory deprivation has to do with proprioception. Deprived of visual and aural senses, pilots were taught to reorient their perception of space using the artificial horizon as their guide. This essay uses the metaphor of the artificial horizon to discuss the relationship between sensory deprivation and sensory overload, both of which disturb the internal process that makes proprioception possible. Applying the method of media archeology places this study among others that have sought to historicise contemporary immersive media in unique ways, often with unexpected outcomes.&nbsp

There is More to Vision than Seeing Clearly

Vision is not simply the ability to read a certain size letter at a distance of 20 feet. Vision is a complex and adaptable information gathering and processing system which collects, groups, analyzes, accumulates, equates, and remembers information (American Optometric Association, 2005, p.1). The purpose of this project is to develop a parent/caregiver handbook that will educate parent/caregivers with children who have visual deficits and to benefit the Vision Therapy Project, which is located in Casper, Wyoming. This project is a non-profit organization dedicated to provide assistance and education to parents/caregivers with children in need of vision therapy. Information for The Vision Therapy Project Parent/Caregiver Handbook was gathered from an extensive review of literature and research. The findings from this review demonstrated a high percentage of school-aged children entering the school system do not receive a comprehensive visual screen to detect visual deficits therefore many school-aged children are being misdiagnosed or labeled with learning disorders by educators and parents/caregivers. This handbook is intended to be used by an occupational therapist to facilitate parental involvement, address areas which are impacting children\u27s learning, and to develop a better understanding of the vision therapy treatment being provided to their child. The parent/caregiver educational handbook contains information regarding the development of the visual system; visual deficits and disorders that result from a dysfunction within the visual system; how other senses work together in conjunction with vision; what is occupational therapy (OT) and vision therapy (VT) and the services provided; parents/caregivers roles with therapy in the home and office; and resources for parents/caregivers to access. The Vision Therapy Project parent handbook will allow parents/caregivers to become effective advocates, and increase the child\u27s success within their academic environment as well as independence with their occupational performance

Back to the Future: Aesthetics Today

This paper originated as the keynote address at the conference “Aesthetics Today” organized by the Finnish Society of Aesthetics to mark its 40th anniversary and was delivered at the University of Helsinki on March 1, 2012. Written for that particular occasion the sense of an oral presentation has been maintained. Shusterman’s point of departure is the thesis that contemporary aesthetics can be characterized by a number of leading themes that mark a return to older aesthetic perspectives, after these perspectives have been neglected in modern philosophical discussions. The  paper briefly outlines and explores three of these themes whose increasing importance in current aesthetics can appeal to historical antecedents, namely: a focus on perception, the expansion of the aesthetic field beyond the philosophy of fine art, and the close connection of the aesthetic and the practical. After that, Shusterman formulates a fourth theme in aesthetics today which incorporates the first three and whose value for contemporary  aesthetics he seeks to highlight, namely: the somatic, as exemplified by somaesthetics

Six-degree of freedom device for natural model creation

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, 2007.Includes bibliographical references (p. 75-78).This thesis presents a novel input device, called SP3X, for the creation of digital models in a semi-immersive environment. The goal of SP3X is to enable novice users to construct geometrically complex three-dimensional objects without extensive training or difficulty. SP3X extends the ideas of mixed reality and partial physical instantiation while building on the foundation of tangible interfaces. The design of the device reflects attention to human physiologic capabilities in manual precision, binocular vision, and reach. The design also considers cost and manufacturability. This thesis presents prior and contributing research from industry, biology, and interfaces in academia. A study investigates the usability of the device and finds that it is functional and easily learned, and identifies several areas for improvement. Finally, a Future Work section is provided to guide researchers pursuing this or similar interfaces. The SP3X project is a result of extensive collaboration with Mahoro Anabuki, a visiting scientist from Canon Development Americas, and could not have been completed without his software or his insight.Richard Henry Whitney, III.S.M

Immersive Participation:Futuring, Training Simulation and Dance and Virtual Reality

Dance knowledge can inform the development of scenario design in immersive digital simulation environments by strengthening a participant’s capacity to learn through the body. This study engages with processes of participatory practice that question how the transmission and transfer of dance knowledge/embodied knowledge in immersive digital environments is activated and applied in new contexts. These questions are relevant in both arts and industry and have the potential to add value and knowledge through crossdisciplinary collaboration and exchange. This thesis consists of three different research projects all focused on observation, participation, and interviews with experts on embodiment in digital simulation. The projects were chosen to provide a range of perspectives across dance, industry and futures studies. Theories of embodied cognition, in particular the notions of the extended body, distributed cognition, enactment and mindfulness, offer critical lenses through which to explore the relationship of embodied integration and participation within immersive digital environments. These areas of inquiry lead to the consideration of how language from the field of computer science can assist in describing somatic experience in digital worlds through a discussion of the emerging concepts of mindfulness, wayfinding, guided movement and digital kinship. These terms serve as an example of how the mutability of language became part of the process as terms applied in disparate disciplines were understood within varying contexts. The analytic tools focus on applying a posthuman view, speculation through a futures ethnography, and a cognitive ethnographical approach to my research project. These approaches allowed me to examine an ecology of practices in order to identify methods and processes that can facilitate the transmission and transfer of embodied knowledge within a community of practice. The ecological components include dance, healthcare, transport, education and human/computer interaction. These fields drove the data collection from a range of sources including academic papers, texts, specialists’ reports, scientific papers, interviews and conversations with experts and artists.The aim of my research is to contribute both a theoretical and a speculative understanding of processes, as well as tools applicable in the transmission of embodied knowledge in virtual dance and arts environments as well as digital simulation across industry. Processes were understood theoretically through established studies in embodied cognition applied to workbased training, reinterpreted through my own movement study. Futures methodologies paved the way for speculative processes and analysis. Tools to choreograph scenario design in immersive digital environments were identified through the recognition of cross purpose language such as mindfulness, wayfinding, guided movement and digital kinship. Put together, the major contribution of this research is a greater understanding of the value of dance knowledge applied to simulation developed through theoretical and transformational processes and creative tools