The quality of experience of next generation audio :exploring system, context and human influence factors

PhD ThesisThe next generation of audio reproduction technology has the potential to deliver immersive and personalised experiences to the user; multichannel with-height loudspeaker arrays and binaural techniques offer 3D audio experiences, whereas objectbased techniques offer possibilities of adapting content to suit the system, context and user. A fundamental process in the advancement of such technology is perceptual evaluation. It is crucial to understand how listeners perceive new technology in order to drive future developments. This thesis explores the experience provided by next generation audio technology by taking a quality of experience (QoE) approach to evaluation. System, context and human factors all influence QoE and in this thesis three case studies are presented to explore the role of these categories of influence factors (IFs) in the context of next generation audio evaluation. Furthermore, these case studies explore suitable methods and approaches for the evaluation of the QoE of next generation audio with respect to its various IFs. Specific contributions delivered from these individual studies include a subjective comparison between soundbar and discrete surround sound technology, the application of the Open Profiling of Quality method to the field of audio evaluation, an understanding of both how and why environmental noise influences preferred audio object balance, an understanding of how the influence of technical audio quality on overall listening experience is related to a range of psychographic variables and an assessment of the impact of binaural processing on overall listening experience. When considering these studies as a whole, the research presented here contributes the thesis that to effectively evaluate the perceived quality of next generation audio, a QoE mindset should be taken that considers system, context and human IFs.Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the British Broadcasting Corporation Research & Development department (BBC R&D

Technical Workshop: Advanced Helicopter Cockpit Design

Information processing demands on both civilian and military aircrews have increased enormously as rotorcraft have come to be used for adverse weather, day/night, and remote area missions. Applied psychology, engineering, or operational research for future helicopter cockpit design criteria were identified. Three areas were addressed: (1) operational requirements, (2) advanced avionics, and (3) man-system integration

Chemical Intimacies and Toxic Publics

In this dissertation, I detail how capitalism has turned pollution into a generally accepted form of violence perpetuated in the name of economic health. Complete with a corps of risk managers and environmental consultants, neoliberal capitalism has fashioned pollution into a universal standard that functions as an ambient form of socialization. Pollution, I contend, serves as a social apparatus, an atmospheric example of what Jacques Rancire refers to as distributing the sensible (2004). Instead of being simply a by-product or unavoidable consequence, pollution serves as a constant reminder of the production/flow of capital and of modernitys dependency on heavy industries. But beyond its obvious emissions, spills, dumps, and tailing ponds, much of the fallout of pollution remains hidden. Thus, in mapping the social significance of pollution, the dissertation stresses these two conflicting principles: pollution is constantly present but also invisible. Pollution exists in the form of microscopic particles that travel on the wind and in waterways, penetrating ecosystems, neighbourhoods, homes, and bodies so that people are exposed to its poisons as a matter of fact, as a condition of the everyday, as an emblem of ones modernity. To counter this general acceptance of pollution, I engage in an ecological storytelling that utilizes comic book imagery, along with a mixture of archival and everyday material (government reports, tourist guides, newspaper clippings, postcards, and childrens drawings), to situate the specific harm done by the ambient toxins, chemicals emitted from specific polluting industries and imposed on specific people and ecologies. I concentrate on two ethnographic sites and two polluting industries, as half of the dissertation examines the politics of lead in Toronto (tracing its historical influence and public acceptance in two working class neighbourhoods), while the other half focuses on a massive petrochemical corridor that is located in and around the small city of Sarnia (in southwestern Ontario) and immediately adjacent to the First Nation of Aamjiwnaang. In addition to the more traditional ethnographic methods adopted in the textual chapters, the comics provide a stream of countermemories that refute neoliberal capitalism and its demand for more of the same

Design and semantics of form and movement (DeSForM 2006)

Design and Semantics of Form and Movement (DeSForM) grew from applied research exploring emerging design methods and practices to support new generation product and interface design. The products and interfaces are concerned with: the context of ubiquitous computing and ambient technologies and the need for greater empathy in the pre-programmed behaviour of the ‘machines’ that populate our lives. Such explorative research in the CfDR has been led by Young, supported by Kyffin, Visiting Professor from Philips Design and sponsored by Philips Design over a period of four years (research funding £87k). DeSForM1 was the first of a series of three conferences that enable the presentation and debate of international work within this field: • 1st European conference on Design and Semantics of Form and Movement (DeSForM1), Baltic, Gateshead, 2005, Feijs L., Kyffin S. & Young R.A. eds. • 2nd European conference on Design and Semantics of Form and Movement (DeSForM2), Evoluon, Eindhoven, 2006, Feijs L., Kyffin S. & Young R.A. eds. • 3rd European conference on Design and Semantics of Form and Movement (DeSForM3), New Design School Building, Newcastle, 2007, Feijs L., Kyffin S. & Young R.A. eds. Philips sponsorship of practice-based enquiry led to research by three teams of research students over three years and on-going sponsorship of research through the Northumbria University Design and Innovation Laboratory (nuDIL). Young has been invited on the steering panel of the UK Thinking Digital Conference concerning the latest developments in digital and media technologies. Informed by this research is the work of PhD student Yukie Nakano who examines new technologies in relation to eco-design textiles

Liveness: an interactional account

PhDLive performances involve complex interactions between a large number of co-present people. Performance has been defined in terms of these performer–audience dynamics, but little is known about how they work. A series of live performance experiments investigate these dynamics, through teaching a humanoid robot some stagecraft, contrasting live and recorded performance, and spotlighting the audience. This requires the development of methods capable of capturing the fleeting responses of people within an audience and making sense of the resulting massed multi-modal data. The results show that in live events interaction matters. Extending the idea that our experience of performance is shaped by interactions with others, namely by talking with people afterwards, analogous social patterns are identified within the event. Specifically, some of the interactional dynamics well established for close, dyadic encounters extend to performers and audience members, despite the somewhat anonymised nature of massed audiences. While individual performer–audience effects were identified, the primary axis of social interaction is shown to be between audience members. This emphasises how it is being in an audience – common across diverse performance genres – that shapes the experience of live events. This work argues that the term liveness is ill-defined, but need not be. These interactional dynamics have a functional basis and depend solely on what is externally manifest. Understanding liveness in this way allows a perspicuous account – relating the perceptual environment within the event to the social contingency of experience – and can provide a systematic basis for design.Research Councils UK’s Digital Economy funding Queen Mary University of London Media and Arts Technology programm

Haptic Media Scenes

The aim of this thesis is to apply new media phenomenological and enactive embodied cognition approaches to explain the role of haptic sensitivity and communication in personal computer environments for productivity. Prior theory has given little attention to the role of haptic senses in influencing cognitive processes, and do not frame the richness of haptic communication in interaction design—as haptic interactivity in HCI has historically tended to be designed and analyzed from a perspective on communication as transmissions, sending and receiving haptic signals. The haptic sense may not only mediate contact confirmation and affirmation, but also rich semiotic and affective messages—yet this is a strong contrast between this inherent ability of haptic perception, and current day support for such haptic communication interfaces. I therefore ask: How do the haptic senses (touch and proprioception) impact our cognitive faculty when mediated through digital and sensor technologies? How may these insights be employed in interface design to facilitate rich haptic communication? To answer these questions, I use theoretical close readings that embrace two research fields, new media phenomenology and enactive embodied cognition. The theoretical discussion is supported by neuroscientific evidence, and tested empirically through case studies centered on digital art. I use these insights to develop the concept of the haptic figura, an analytical tool to frame the communicative qualities of haptic media. The concept gauges rich machine- mediated haptic interactivity and communication in systems with a material solution supporting active haptic perception, and the mediation of semiotic and affective messages that are understood and felt. As such the concept may function as a design tool for developers, but also for media critics evaluating haptic media. The tool is used to frame a discussion on opportunities and shortcomings of haptic interfaces for productivity, differentiating between media systems for the hand and the full body. The significance of this investigation is demonstrating that haptic communication is an underutilized element in personal computer environments for productivity and providing an analytical framework for a more nuanced understanding of haptic communication as enabling the mediation of a range of semiotic and affective messages, beyond notification and confirmation interactivity

The dynamics of influence : the video content production strategies used by fitness digital influencers on social media

Esta dissertação destaca o papel dos influenciadores digitais de fitness no que diz respeito às estratégias de produção de conteúdo de vídeos de treino no Instagram e no YouTube, com o intuito de persuadir pessoas a começarem ou a continuarem a praticar exercício físico. A revisão da literatura expõe os conceitos de Internet, world wide web e web 2.0 no contexto do sistema de comunicação contemporâneo; média digitais e redes sociais; user-generated content e produser; as plataformas Instagram e YouTube; o cenário do mobile; as características do vídeo, juntamente com os conceitos da economia da atenção e microvídeos; a revolução do fitness; e líderes de opinião, práticas de micro-celebridades e de selfbranding para explicar a figura do influenciador digital. De forma a responder à pergunta da pesquisa “quais são as estratégias de produção de vídeo utilizadas por influenciadores digitais de fitness nas redes sociais para persuadir o público a começar ou a continuar a praticar exercício físico?”, foram aplicados métodos qualitativos: entrevistas em profundidade a influenciadores digitais de fitness Portugueses e Americanos, análise de vídeos e análise de conteúdo categorial das entrevistas e dos vídeos selecionados. Ficou claro que, enquanto elas são transversais tanto a Portugal como aos Estados Unidos da América, foi possível distinguir várias estratégias diferentes, como o uso de micro-vídeos de “demonstrações de exercícios”; “how-to/ tutoriais”; e “motivacionais”, com a prática de exercícios físicos em ambientes de treino como o elo comum. Afinal, a melhor maneira de fazer com que alguém comece ou continue a treinar é, de facto, demonstrando que tipo de exercícios é que se pode fazer e como.This dissertation highlights the role of fitness digital influencers, regarding the content production strategies of workout videos on Instagram and YouTube, in order to convince people to start or continue to work out. The theoretical framework introduces the notions of the Internet, world wide web and web 2.0 in the context of the contemporary communication system; digital and social media; user-generated content and the produser; the platforms Instagram and YouTube; the mobile landscape; the characteristics of video along with the concepts of attention economy and micro-videos; the fitness revolution; and opinion leaders, micro-celebrity and self-branding practices to explain the figure of the digital influencer. As a means of answering the research question “which are the video production strategies used by fitness digital influencers on social media in order to persuade their audience into starting or continuing to work out?”, qualitative methods were applied: in-depth interviews to Portuguese and American fitness digital influencers, videos’ analysis, and categorial content analysis of the interviews and selected videos. It became clear that, while they were transversal to both Portugal and the United States of America, it was possible to distinguish several different strategies, such as the use of “exercise demonstrations”; “how-to/ tutorials”; and “motivational” micro-videos, with the practice of physical exercise in workout environments as the common feature. After all, the best way to get someone to start or continue to work out is, indeed, by demonstrating what type of exercises they can do and how

Fieldwork/fieldwalking: Art, sauntering and science in the walking country

fieldwork/fieldwalking is a contemporary art project exploring practices of walking and science in the field. 11 explores the themes of walking and-fieldwork in art, and as art. Whilst the. sociology of science in the laboratory has been well theorised, less has been said about the field in the natural sciences. And, equally, the most recent and provocative walking art is found in urban areas, in a fabric dominated by the patterns of human settlement. How could new walking art be made in non-urban places? The project set out to investigate how these two, fieldwork and walking, could be combined in artwork. The research question was: in the common ground shared between art and science, what are the connections between fieldwork and walking in the field? The project explored this and five sub-questions through photography, video, and the creation of installations and sound art walks. Much of the research revolved around one field location, the walkingcountry in the Kimberley of Western Australia that was visited six times over different seasons from 2004 to 2006. Activities included walking and general immersion in the place, scientific and artistic \u27fieldwork\u27 and the observation and documentation of the work of scientists at the site and in the Kimberley. Non-urban areas can offer intense and specific experiences with heightened materiality and direct engagement with nonhuman agents. This was borne out in the fieldwork undertaken in the project. However the artworks created are also set in contrast to the work of other walking artists such as Hamish Fulton and Richard Long that are often based on sublime wilderness experiences. Based on my experiences I formulated and applied the concept of \u27ordinary wilderness\u27: much of one\u27s time in the field is involved in pragmatic and bodily encounters. Some of the aesthetic experiences are local and ephemeral. Wildness and the delight of wonder are more appropriate than the fear and awe of the sublime. fieldwork/fieldwalking draws together threads from sources as diverse as recent scientific ecology, Ric Spencer\u27s (2004) conversational aesthetics and nonrepresentational theory in human geography to make art that questioned representational strategies and explored an expanded model of artworks where the relationships between the artist, the audience, the environment and the material art object are of equal importance. A significant issue was how to creatively transform the experience of elsewhere (the field) into artworks in a gallery. In the sound art walk To Meander and back (strange strolls, Moores Building Contemporary Art Gallery (MBCAG), 2005} the strategy was to fold and imbricate the walkingcountry, the gallery in Fremantle, and the space in-between together. This artwork also sought to reconcile the \u27emptiness\u27 of Euro-Australian belonging by encouraging via sound and silence an understanding of place that is more living, changing and performative. Other artworks included Zoo for the Species at the National Review of Life Art (Midland, 2003) , and works in the solo exhibitions Four Tales from Natural History (Perth Institute of Contemporary Art, 2004), Semi (Spectrum Project Space/Kurb Gallery, 2004} and fieldwork/fieldwalking (MBCAG, 2006)

Accelerated Culture: Exploring Time and Space in Cinema, Television and New Media in the Digital Age

This dissertation seeks to understand the impact of speed on the interrelation and the overlapping of the production and consumption of cinematic and televisual texts. It explores the immediacy of digital media and new economic processes, and how they are informing structures of perception, as well as lending themselves to new and different ways of seeing the moving image in the digital age. These visual expressions are evident in the changing perception of the long take; the increasing use of video gaming aesthetics and database narratives; new and variant forms of narrative and visual styles in television; and the speed of new media technology on new voices and avant-garde expressions in independent and DIY cinema (such as the Internet, personal camcorder, mobile screens, and desktop editing). Conversely, VCR, DVD, DVR devices (as well as online streaming and DVD and Blu-Ray rental sites) have transformed the consumption of the moving image. Time-shifting devices allow for halting and controlling the flow of passing time, permitting for greater textual analysis. And, reciprocally, these new perceptions of the moving image inform expressions of filmic time and space. The speed of digital media and new economic formations raise concerns about lived reality and the attenuation of time, place, and community. It brings forth questions of the waning of pastness and memory, the diminishing of critical distance, and the vanishing of slow time. I argue, however, these shifts that are occurring in cinema and television illustrate that processes of speed are not the prime determinant in the production and consumption of moving images. Rather, they are based on a contingent and open-ended model of articulation--sites where disparate elements are temporary combined, unified, and thus, practiced and lived under the ever-changing conditions of existence