Blockchain-based Continuous Timestamps Tracking System: Towards Ownership Information Believability

Ownership information of high value assets such as property is often concealed and fragmented, adversely affecting information believability. Following the design science research approach, we conceptualize believability as a data quality dimension that supports ownership traceability. We then investigate how blockchain technology might improve information believability in ownership traceability systems. We represent and address our findings via the development of a blockchain-based continuous timestamps tracking system model, framework and implementation for property ownership. A use case of banking transactional data for property ownership traceability is introduced to illustrate our workflow and system design. The proposed system takes advantage of blockchain technology such as traceability and irreversibility to support information believability in the design, management, and use of information systems

FILM PERFORMANCE : The role of the actor within cinematic expression

This work seeks to consider film acting as an integrated element of cinematic expression, a core aspect of film performance but one which gains additional meaning and commentary via combination and integration with the more traditionally considered aspects of filmmaking.Although ‘performance’ is a widely written and talked about aspect of cinema studies, a clear understanding of acting and performance, their relationship to one another and to the mechanism of filmmaking has until now been absent. When in recent years ‘film performance’ has been offered as an academic focus, the cynosure of the analysis has been the actions of the actor and a language to describe them, rather than the skills employed in relation to the specifically technical demands of the medium. What then do we gain when we consider in detail the organic relationship between those technical demands and the actor’s decisions? This foundational question is addressed here in a number of ways. A range of texts are accessed that purport to consider the discipline ranging between academic analysis and practitioner skills. This combination of approaches enables a rounded consideration of the work of the film actor absent from any one exploration of the field. To fully consider cinematic expression, the skills specific to the technical aspects of filmmaking must also be examined. Within these fields research exists which offers a wider integration of the technical and the aesthetic. However, the specific focus of the texts in question also prevents extended consideration of the integrated nature of the chosen code. To augment the initial research, in-depth analysis of a chosen film is presented to reveal the ways in which integration of raw material and post-production can produce a final realisation of ‘performance’. When acting is positioned as a part of cinematic expression the interrelationships of technical choices and their aesthetic application can be fully examined. By no longer positioning the actor as “doing nothing very well” we can begin to assess the ways in which adaptation and accommodation of the technical needs of cinema feed into the decisions and actions of the actor as they attempt to deliver their character in terms of the requirements of script and director. Defining acting and thus performance enables us to consider their place within a unified film product, one that demonstrates a distinct and essential skill set, a craft as central to filmmaking as cinematography, sound, and editing

Make-Believing Animated Films Featuring Digital Humans: A Qualitative Inquiry Using Online Sources

A qualitative inquiry of reviews of films featuring digital humanlike characters was performed by sampling user comments from three online reviewer aggregator sites: the Internet Movie Database, Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic. The movies chosen for analysis were: Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001), The Polar Express (2004), and Beowulf (2007), all produced using CGI animation, together with A Scanner Darkly (2006a) whose visuals are depicted by rotoscoping using Bob Sabiston’s Rotoshop software. Our analysis identified individual differences in the viewing experience, particularly in relation to the uncertain ontology of the humanlike characters created using CGI (CGI-Humans). We found examples of reviews indicating an inability to distinguish between real and CGI-Human actors, observations of characters transiently exhibiting realism before returning to their artifice, and of characters being viewed as eerie (analogous to the uncanny valley) thus illustrating a complex and dynamic response to this phenomenon. In some situations character uncanniness was related to the presence of an atypical feature such as movement of the eyes. Whilst specifically for Beowulf, perceptions became more problematic when there was familiarity with the actor playing the CGI-Human character, with some reviewers describing difficulties in categorising the character as either real or animated. CGI-Human performances were also characterised by a lack of, or inappropriate social interaction. Online reviewers did not perceive characters depicted using Rotoshop (Rotoshop-Humans) as eerie and rotoscoping was found to preserve, and possibly enhance, the natural social interactions between actors recorded from the live-action film used as the source for the animation. Our inquiry also identified user motivations for viewing these movies and the importance placed by reviewers on the form of display when viewing the CGI films. We situate our interpretation of these findings in relation to Walton’s make-believe theory (Mimesis as Make-Believe: On the Foundations of the Representational Arts, 1990) revealing its application to our understanding of the viewing experience of animated films featuring digital humans

An investigation of priming, self-consciousness, and allegiance in the diegetic camera horror film

The main research question underpinning this study asks why and how the diegetic camera technique has become so popular to both contemporary horror filmmakers and audiences. In order to answer this question, this thesis adopts a mainly cognitive theoretical framework in order to address the mental schemata and processes that are elicited and triggered by these films. The concept of the diegetic camera is explored by analysing specific films and constructing an argument for the effects that this aesthetic and narrational technique can have on the cognition of viewers. Applying theoretical notions such as schema, priming, identification, recognition, alignment, and allegiance to the analysis of the focus films, I examine how the viewer’s mind works when watching these films. Another central concern of this thesis is the way in which mediated realism is constructed in the films in order to attempt to make audiences either (mis)read the footage as non-fiction, or more commonly to imagine that the footage is non-fiction. I demonstrate that the films under scrutiny create a sense of increased immediacy and alignment with the characters through various techniques associated with the diegetic camera. The concepts of identification and character engagement are interrogated by using cognitive concepts such as recognition, alignment, and allegiance (Smith, 1995). These individual concepts break down the notion of identification into distinct processes, allowing for a more rigorous examination of the notion of character engagement. The thesis also considers how priming and self-consciousness eventually affect the audience’s perception and cognition of the films, most significantly in relation to the theory of personal imagining (Currie, 1995)

Blood Splats and Bodily Collapse: Reported Realism and the Perception of Violence in Combat Films and Video Games

A clear definition of realism is understandably difficult for critics and theorists to agree upon when applied to texts such as the war film or combat shooter, which can have a very direct connection to events that have actually taken place. In this paper, I use textual observation and analysis to advance the concept of “reported realism” as an alternate analytic tool to account for the impression of truth and authenticity produced by specific stylistic components of these representations of combat violence. Drawing upon cognitivist theories of meaning and the imagination (Torben Grodal, Stephen Prince) and neoformalist film studies (Kristin Thompson) this paper points toward some of the significant developments in the evolution of violence in war films as well as the adjacent genre of the first-person shooter video game. I show that the intensified audio-visual detail in contemporary screen representations of war enable film viewers and game players to construct more vividly imagined mental simulations, thus offering a greater affective realism

Implementation of digital role-playing games in Higher Education classrooms to accomplish learning outcomes

Industries have expectations that university graduates possess well-rounded theoretical and practical knowledge to be successful in their jobs. While effective teaching and learning are essential goals in higher education institutions, lessons and learning activities in traditional classroom settings are often out of context, presented to students with much theoretical generality and abstract representations. This leads to a disconnection between academia and industry, where students struggle to apply abstract principles and knowledge in a real-world context to perform effectively in their workplace. Live role-play has been traditionally used as an educational technique to engage students and provide them the opportunity to learn with a real-world context within classroom settings. While role-playing in the classroom encourages transfer of learning, one of its limitation is traditional role-play often does not provide an authentic and believable real-world experience to participants. The primary aim of this study is to converge the pedagogical benefits of role-playing, educational technology and digital games to investigate the effectiveness of using digital role-playing games in classrooms to achieve learning outcomes. Qualitative data were collected from digital media lecturers of a transnational university based in Vietnam and Australia to identify desirable learning outcomes and describe teaching and learning challenges of digital media courses. Through interviews, lecturers also discussed their perceptions of digital RPGs and their level of acceptance in using this educational technology as part of their teaching practice to accomplish learning outcomes. The results highlighted three key desirable learning outcomes: The first learning outcome is students should develop solid understanding of theoretical and foundational design knowledge, enabling effective application of theoretical knowledge to produce creative digital media outputs. The second learning outcome - students should speak the "design language". Students should develop the ability to articulate, critique and explain creative works using appropriate design vocabularies and terminologies, which are used by design practitioners in the industry. The third learning outcome indicated that students should be resourceful and self-sufficient to conceptualise and generate creative ideas. Using Bloom’s taxonomy categories, game characteristics and identified learning outcomes, a conceptual framework was developed for the design and use of digital RPGs to achieve learning outcomes for digital media education. In validating this conceptual framework, a 3d digital role-playing game, Virtual Designer was developed and implemented in classroom environment. A pre/post-test experimental setup was implemented, in which performance gains were measured and compared between control (conventional learning methods) and treatment group (played digital RPG) to determine the learning effectiveness of digital RPGs. Opinion-based survey and focus group interview was also conducted. Based on collected feedback, students find Virtual Designer an effective tool to assess their state of knowledge in different areas of design and apply theoretical knowledge into practical contexts. Students find the game to be an engaging alternative to conventional learning methods, but some have commented the game to be too difficult and at times frustrating to play. Lecturers have also play-tested Virtual Designer and provided favorable views on the overall feasibility of using similar digital RPGs as a teaching and learning tool to sustain students’ interest in learning their subjects – and successfully accomplishing learning outcomes

Procedural animation: towards studio solutions for believability

This thesis sets out to investigate the understanding of the relationship between key-frame movement performances and procedural animation. It is geared towards building a theory of practice that would help develop a succinct method for generating believable character animation using procedural animation. This research places an emphasis on a practical aproach to the theory of animation and movement, and investigates the historical development of character animation and the notion of believability. It uses Laban Movement Analysis as a method in the application of procedural animation. The study seeks to address the following objectives: (1) To examine what areas of procedural animation may enhance the believability of a key-framed movement performance; (2) To identify the areas of procedural animation that are or could be used within professional studio practice; (3) To examine the potential of procedural animation to help develop convincing and life-like character movements; (4) To identify where and how a keyframed character movement can be enhanced procedurally; (5) To carry out empirical studies in order to analyse the effects and possible benefits of procedural enhancements on a key-framed movement

Migrating characters: effective user guidance in instrumented environments

The work at hand deals with the conceptual design as well as with the realization of virtual characters, which, unlike previous works in this research area, are not limited to a use in virtual worlds. The presented Migrating Character approach on the contrary allows virtual characters to act and interact with the physical world. Different technical solutions allowing a Migrating Character to move throughout physical space, either completely autonomously or in conjunction with a user, are introduced and discussed as well as resulting implications for the characters behavior. While traditional virtual characters are acting in a well defined virtual world, Migrating Characters need to adapt to changing environmental setups in a very flexible way. A Migrating Character must be capable of determining these environmental changes by means of sensors. Furthermore, based on this data, an adequate adaptation of the characters behavior has to be realized. Apart from a theoretical discussion of the necessary enhancements of a virtual character when taking the step from virtual to real worlds, different exemplary Migrating Character implementations are introduced in the course of the work.Die vorliegende Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit dem konzeptuellen Entwurf und der technischen Realisierung von virtuellen Charakteren, die im Gegensatz zu bisherigen Arbeiten auf diesem Gebiet nicht auf den Einsatz in virtuellen Welten beschränkt sind. Der vorgestellte Migrating Character Ansatz erlaubt virtuellen Charakteren vielmehr in der physikalischen Welt zu agieren und zu interagieren. Verschiedene technische Lösungen, welche es einem Migrating Character ermöglichen sich in der physikalischen Welt autonom bzw. in Abhängigkeit vom Benutzer zu bewegen, sind ebenso Gegenstand der Arbeit wie eine ausführliche Diskussion der daraus für das Verhalten des virtuellen Charakters resultierenden Implikationen. Während sich traditionelle virtuelle Charaktere in einer wohl definierten virtuellen Umgebung bewegen, muss ein Migrating Character flexibel auf sich ändernde Umgebungsbedingungen reagieren. Aus sensorischer Sicht benötigt ein Migrating Character also die Fähigkeit eine sich ändernde physikalische Situation zu erkennen. Basierend auf diesen Daten muss weiterhin eine adäquate Anpassung des Verhaltens des Migrating Characters geschehen. Neben einer theoretischen Diskussion der notwendigen Erweiterungen eines virtuellen Charakters beim übergang von virtueller zu realer Umgebung werden auch exemplarische Migrating Character Implementierungen vorgestellt