E-Pad: Large Display Pointing in a Continuous Interaction Space around a Mobile Device

International audienceRelative pointing through using tactile mobile device (such as tablets of phones) on a large display is a viable interaction technique (that we call Pad in this paper) which permits accurate pointing. However, limited device size has consequences on interaction. Such systems are known to often require clutching, which degrades performances. We present E-Pad, an indirect relative pointing interaction technique which takes benefit of the mobile tactile surface combined with its surrounding space. A user can perform continuous relative pointing starting on the pad then continuing in the free space around the pad, within arm's reach. As a first step toward E-Pad, we first introduce extended continuous relative pointing gestures and conduct a preliminary study to determine how people move their hand around the mobile device. We then conduct an experiment that compares the performance of E-Pad and Pad. Our findings indicate that E-Pad is faster than Pad and decreases the number of clutches without compromising accuracy. Our findings also suggest an overwhelming preference for E-Pad

An Investigation of Holographic Technologies Applied to Contemporary Art Practice A new approach to temporal aesthetics

The works of contemporary art using audio, 35mm slide, video, film and computer- based technologies are commonly referred to as time-based media, since they have duration as a dimension. By looking at artworks which are classified in this category, it appears that temporal visual perceptual interpretations are mainly created through the use of the illusion of movement, which is primarily constituted by sequential images. In art holography, the light-based characteristic qualities of this medium compose a kinetic and interactive visual syntax, which are not seen in other imaging technologies, stating its unique creative possibilities. Thus, this study intends to employ holography as an art medium to explore its temporal properties in order to establish a new approach to time-based media art practice. To review the practice and artworks created for this study, the author recognises that the characteristic qualities of a medium is key for the development of its own aesthetic culture. Moreover, the author also identifies that the combination of both the slips form of a hologram and a portable lighting device would be fundamental elements of the suggested new approach. This approach integrates the holographic image replaying process and the Chinese bamboo slips structure to create a scroll form of an artwork presentation, which suggests a viewer to observe with an unrolling activity, section by section. The role of light in this approach is essential as it not only reconstructs the image, but also acts as an intangible guide to indicate the viewing direction, which forms a directional linear temporal expression. This study combines the suggested approach with classical Chinese poetry to create a series of experimental artworks, demonstrating that the literal and figurative meaning of the poem could possibly be elevated through the manipulation of the light source and the scroll from of the image presentation, as the former creates the holographic kinetic expression and the latter reinforces the poetic linearity. This approach could be interpreted as a time-based holographic manifestation, as it unfolds the art to the viewer over time. Furthermore, in terms of the characteristic qualities of holography, the visual expressive techniques and aesthetic features created for this study indicate that such works cannot be recreated without the use of holography. This study reveals that the irreplaceable aesthetic qualities of holography, suggesting that it could expand and diversify the creative potential of time-based media art; and the discussion of this category would not be comprehensive unless taking this medium into consideration. This study establishes a creative possibility of holography and expects the finding to lead to a greater appreciation for future time-based media art practice, thus enriching the temporal artistic expressions. Moreover, as it is practice-based, the process of the research is primarily expressed through a series of holographic artworks, and combined with written format of discussion, which is presented in this thesis. For comprehensive understanding, reading the thesis in conjunction with viewing the artworks in person is suggested, as the photographic reproduction of the holographic images in this thesis is only for illustration purpose

Design Strategies for Adaptive Social Composition: Collaborative Sound Environments

In order to develop successful collaborative music systems a variety of subtle interactions need to be identified and integrated. Gesture capture, motion tracking, real-time synthesis, environmental parameters and ubiquitous technologies can each be effectively used for developing innovative approaches to instrument design, sound installations, interactive music and generative systems. Current solutions tend to prioritise one or more of these approaches, refining a particular interface technology, software design or compositional approach developed for a specific composition, performer or installation environment. Within this diverse field a group of novel controllers, described as ‘Tangible Interfaces’ have been developed. These are intended for use by novices and in many cases follow a simple model of interaction controlling synthesis parameters through simple user actions. Other approaches offer sophisticated compositional frameworks, but many of these are idiosyncratic and highly personalised. As such they are difficult to engage with and ineffective for groups of novices. The objective of this research is to develop effective design strategies for implementing collaborative sound environments using key terms and vocabulary drawn from the available literature. This is articulated by combining an empathic design process with controlled sound perception and interaction experiments. The identified design strategies have been applied to the development of a new collaborative digital instrument. A range of technical and compositional approaches was considered to define this process, which can be described as Adaptive Social Composition. Dan Livingston

Purple Patcher 1972

This is a digitized version of the 1972 Purple Patcher. Physical copies of the Purple Patcher are held by the College of the Holy Cross Archives.https://crossworks.holycross.edu/purple_patcher/1030/thumbnail.jp

Technoeconomic and whole-energy system analysis of low-carbon heating technologies

Despite developments in renewable electricity production, space heating and hot-water provision still account for a high proportion of the total greenhouse gas emissions in the world. Decarbonising heating requires an in-depth understanding of the candidate technology options. Should investments in energy systems focus on large-scale/centralised options, or small-scale/distributed ones? How should end-users operate their heating systems to maximise economic and environmental benefits? Should manufacturers design high-performance yet high-cost technologies and reduce the transition cost to the wider electricity system infrastructure, or should they promote more affordable, lower-performance end-use alternatives at a cost to the wider system? In this thesis, technoeconomic models that capture the cost and performance characteristics of heating technologies are developed and used to analyse the design and operation of competing solutions from the perspectives of different stakeholders. An extensive analysis of commercially available air-source and ground-source heat pumps, combined heat and power systems, district heating infrastructure and thermal energy storage systems on the UK market is first conducted. Fitting techniques are used to determine relationships arising from the collected data and quantify the related uncertainty in technology characteristics between the data and fitted relationships. Then, thermodynamic and component-costing models are developed for technologies for which there is a substantial spread in the available data, or for which data are not available. These include electricity- and hydrogen-driven heat pumps and involve dedicated compressor efficiency maps, heat exchanger models, and equipment-costing methods. The resulting technoeconomic models are first used to assess the economic and environmental performance of different centralised and distributed low-carbon heat provision pathways, with a London district as a case study. Centralised gas-fired combined heat and power systems are found to be favourable in terms of annual total cost. However, in recent years, the carbon footprint of grid electricity has reduced significantly, meaning that heat pumps installed at household or community level achieve a higher degree of decarbonisation. Furthermore, an uncertainty propagation analysis reveals the significance of properly accounting for technology performance and cost variations when modelling energy systems. In fact, the use of technoeconomic models is shown to reduce the uncertainty in the results by more than 75% compared to the use of black-box approaches. Two different optimisation studies are then conducted to investigate smart operation strategies of heating technologies in the domestic and commercial sectors. First, thermal network models of a domestic electric heat pump coupled to a hot-water cylinder or to two phase-change material thermal stores are developed and used to optimise heat pump operation for different objective functions. As demonstrated, smart heat pump operation can lead to a decrease in operational costs of more than 20% and an increase in self-sufficiency by up to four times. For the commercial sector, a multi-objective control framework is designed and installed on an existing combined heat and power system that provides heat and electricity to a supermarket. By using a stochastic optimisation approach and considering the uncertainty related to the price of exporting electricity, energy savings higher than 35% can be achieved compared to using a typical gas boiler. The integration of technoeconomic models of technologies within whole-energy system models can be used to extend the capabilities of the latter, so that they can, apart from optimising network infrastructures, provide explicit information about future technology design. Thermodynamic and component-costing models of a domestic electric heat pump, a hydrogen boiler and a hydrogen-driven absorption heat pump, as well an existing whole-energy system model of the UK, are used to compare electrification and hydrogen pathways for the domestic sector. The technologies are compared for different weather conditions and fuel-price scenarios, first from a homeowner’s and then from a whole-energy system perspective. It is shown that, in the UK, hydrogen technologies can be economically favourable only if hydrogen is supplied to domestic end-users at a price below half of the electricity price. From a whole-energy system perspective, electric heat pumps are the least-cost decarbonisation pathway under the investigated scenarios. Lastly, this thesis includes an effort to demonstrate how different component choices when designing domestic electric heat pumps can influence the national energy generation mix and heat-decarbonisation transition cost. Using the developed electric heat pump model, a set of optimal heat pump configurations representing competing components is obtained. The size of heat exchangers and the choice of compressor type and working fluid are shown to have a remarkable influence on the technology’s performance and cost. These configurations are integrated into an existing whole-energy system capacity-expansion and unit-dispatch model, to show that, from a UK energy system perspective, although high-performance heat pumps enable a reduction in the required installed electricity generation capacity by up to 50 GW, low-to-medium performance heat pumps can lead to a reduction of more than 10% in the total system transition cost and end-user investment requirements.Open Acces

Never stationary: examining the influence of creative destruction in the work of Jack Kerouac and Gary Snyder

In this research I examine the influence that creative destruction had upon the work of Jack Kerouac and Gary Snyder. My research aims to extend the work done by Philip Fisher in Still the New World: American Literature in a Culture of Creative Destruction, by interrogating how Kerouac and Snyder’s work was influenced by creative destruction in the post-war American economic climate. I will suggest that both the form and the content of Kerouac’s prose replicate these economic patterns, reflecting his complicity with American consumer culture. Adequately analysing Kerouac’s relationship with capitalist consumerism has enabled me to revaluate critical portrayals of the author as a countercultural icon. However, my simultaneous examination of Gary Snyder’s writing reveals a successful resistance to the corporate liberal culture of overconsumption, and to the cycles of creative destruction that created it. I suggest that Snyder’s immersion in ancient or so-called “primitive” cultures informed his rejection of capitalist socio-economic patterns, and that this rejection shaped the economical poetic form that reflects his political beliefs. Following these arguments, my research demonstrates that whilst Snyder’s political outlook led to an economical poetic style via an immersion in alternative cultures, Kerouac’s proximity to the corporate liberal culture of overconsumption limited his countercultural potential, but also shaped the content and from of his spontaneous prose

A Peer-reviewed Newspaper About_ Excessive Research

Research on machines, research with machines, and research as a machine. Publication resulting from research workshop at Exhibition Research Lab, Liverpool John Moores University, organised in collaboration with Liverpool John Moores University and Liverpool Biennial, and transmediale festival for art and digital culture, Berlin

Life Expansion: Toward an Artistic, Design-Based Theory of the Transhuman / Posthuman

The thesis’ study of life expansion proposes a framework for artistic, design-based approaches concerned with prolonging human life and sustaining personal identity. To delineate the topic: life expansion means increasing the length of time a person is alive and diversifying the matter in which a person exists. For human life, the length of time is bounded by a single century and its matter is tied to biology. Life expansion is located in the domain of human enhancement, distinctly linked to technological interfaces with biology. The thesis identifies human-computer interaction and the potential of emerging and speculative technologies as seeding the promulgation of human enhancement that approach life expansion. In doing so, the thesis constructs an inquiry into historical and current attempts to append human physiology and intervene with its mortality. By encountering emerging and speculative technologies for prolonging life and sustaining personal identity as possible media for artistic, design-based approaches to human enhancement, a new axis is sought that identifies the transhuman and posthuman as conceptual paradigms for life expansion. The thesis asks: What are the required conditions that enable artistic, design-based approaches to human enhancement that explicitly pursue extending human life? This question centers on the potential of the study’s proposed enhancement technologies in their relationship to life, death, and the human condition. Notably, the thesis investigates artistic approaches, as distinct from those of the natural sciences, and the borders that need to be mediated between them. The study navigates between the domains of life extension, art and design, technology, and philosophy in forming the framework for a theory of life expansion. The critical approach seeks to uncover invisible borders between these interconnecting forces by bringing to light issues of sustaining life and personal identity, ethical concerns, including morphological freedom and extinction risk. Such issues relate to the thesis’ interest in life expansion and the use emerging and speculative technologies. 4 The study takes on a triad approach in its investigation: qualitative interviews with experts of the emerging and speculative technologies; field studies encountering research centers of such technologies; and an artistic, autopoietic process that explores the heuristics of life expansion. This investigation forms an integrative view of the human use of technology and its melioristic aim. The outcome of the research is a theoretical framework for further research in artistic approaches to life expansion

The selection and evaluation of a sensory technology for interaction in a warehouse environment

In recent years, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) has become a significant part of modern life as it has improved human performance in the completion of daily tasks in using computerised systems. The increase in the variety of bio-sensing and wearable technologies on the market has propelled designers towards designing more efficient, effective and fully natural User-Interfaces (UI), such as the Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) and the Muscle-Computer Interface (MCI). BCI and MCI have been used for various purposes, such as controlling wheelchairs, piloting drones, providing alphanumeric inputs into a system and improving sports performance. Various challenges are experienced by workers in a warehouse environment. Because they often have to carry objects (referred to as hands-full) it is difficult to interact with traditional devices. Noise undeniably exists in some industrial environments and it is known as a major factor that causes communication problems. This has reduced the popularity of using verbal interfaces with computer applications, such as Warehouse Management Systems. Another factor that effects the performance of workers are action slips caused by a lack of concentration during, for example, routine picking activities. This can have a negative impact on job performance and allow a worker to incorrectly execute a task in a warehouse environment. This research project investigated the current challenges workers experience in a warehouse environment and the technologies utilised in this environment. The latest automation and identification systems and technologies are identified and discussed, specifically the technologies which have addressed known problems. Sensory technologies were identified that enable interaction between a human and a computerised warehouse environment. Biological and natural behaviours of humans which are applicable in the interaction with a computerised environment were described and discussed. The interactive behaviours included the visionary, auditory, speech production and physiological movement where other natural human behaviours such paying attention, action slips and the action of counting items were investigated. A number of modern sensory technologies, devices and techniques for HCI were identified with the aim of selecting and evaluating an appropriate sensory technology for MCI. iii MCI technologies enable a computer system to recognise hand and other gestures of a user, creating means of direct interaction between a user and a computer as they are able to detect specific features extracted from a specific biological or physiological activity. Thereafter, Machine Learning (ML) is applied in order to train a computer system to detect these features and convert them to a computer interface. An application of biomedical signals (bio-signals) in HCI using a MYO Armband for MCI is presented. An MCI prototype (MCIp) was developed and implemented to allow a user to provide input to an HCI, in a hands-free and hands-full situation. The MCIp was designed and developed to recognise the hand-finger gestures of a person when both hands are free or when holding an object, such a cardboard box. The MCIp applies an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) to classify features extracted from the surface Electromyography signals acquired by the MYO Armband around the forearm muscle. The MCIp provided the results of data classification for gesture recognition to an accuracy level of 34.87% with a hands-free situation. This was done by employing the ANN. The MCIp, furthermore, enabled users to provide numeric inputs to the MCIp system hands-full with an accuracy of 59.7% after a training session for each gesture of only 10 seconds. The results were obtained using eight participants. Similar experimentation with the MYO Armband has not been found to be reported in any literature at submission of this document. Based on this novel experimentation, the main contribution of this research study is a suggestion that the application of a MYO Armband, as a commercially available muscle-sensing device on the market, has the potential as an MCI to recognise the finger gestures hands-free and hands-full. An accurate MCI can increase the efficiency and effectiveness of an HCI tool when it is applied to different applications in a warehouse where noise and hands-full activities pose a challenge. Future work to improve its accuracy is proposed