The Forking Paths revisited: experimenting on interactive film

Based on the triad film-interactivity-experimentation, the applied research project The Forking Paths, developed at the Centre for Research in Arts and Communication (CIAC), endeavours to find alternative narrative forms in the field of Cinema and, more specifically, in the subfield of Interactive Cinema. The films in the project The Forking Paths invest in the interconnectivity between the film narrative and the viewer, who is given the possibility to be more active and engaged. At same time, the films undertake a research on the development of audio-visual language. The project is available at an online platform, which aims to foster the creation and web hosting of other Interactive Cinema projects in its different variables. This article focusses on the three films completed up to the moment: Haze, The Book of the Dead, and Waltz.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Audiovisual research collections and their preservation

The basic problem of primary audio and video research materials is clearly shown by the survey: A great and important part of the entire heritage is still outside archival custody in the narrower sense, scattered over many institutions in fairy small collections, and even in private hands. reservation following generally accepted standards can only be carried out effectively if collections represent critical mass. Specialised audiovisual archives will solve their problems, as they will sooner or later succeed in getting appropriate funding to achieve their aims. A very encouraging example is the case of the Netherlands. The larger audiovisual research archives will also manage, more or less autonomously, the transfer of contents in time. For a considerable part of the research collections, however, the concept of cooperative models and competence centres is the only viable model to successfullly safeguard their holdings. Their organisation and funding is a considerable challenge for the scientific community. TAPE has significantly raised awareness of the fact that, unless action is swiftly taken, the loss of audiovisual materials is inevitable. TAPE’s international and regional workshops were generally overbooked. While TAPE was already underway, several other projects for the promotion of archives have received grants from organisations other than the European Commission, inter alia support for the St. Petersburg Phonogram Archive, and the Folklore Archive in Tirana, obviously as a result of a better understanding of the need for audiovisual preservation. When the TAPE project started its partners assumed that cooperative projects would fail because of the notorious distrust of researchers, specifically in the post-communist countries. One of the most encouraging surprises was to learn that, at least in the most recent survey, it became apparent that this social obstacle is fading out. TAPE may have contributed to this important development

IYL 2015 in Poland

Light plays a key role in human’s life. Without light there will be no human life environment. Technologies based on light, called photonics, decide of the development of our civilization. The role of photonics is constantly increasing, especially in such fields as energy, education, agriculture and health. The UN has established the International Year of Light and  Light - based Technologies – IYL2015 [1]. The organizers of IYL2015 events are professional organizations, communities, educational organizations, non-profit ones, technological clusters and platforms, but also private sector.  The aim is to increase the social consciousness about the role of light and photonics in building of our civilization. This sort of recognition is necessary as a needed component of the development process of the society. Introduction of new technologies, like completely new kind of lighting, new diagnostic and therapeutic methods, new sources of energy, etc.,  must meet with social acceptance. In the opposite case, isolated development of infrastructure, will meet with obstacles. In Poland, the professional events, technical, trade fairs and outreach ones, are organized in the framework of the IYL2015 by Photonics Society of Poland, Polish Physical Society, Polish Platform of Photonics Technologies, etc. The paper summarizes the issues combined with the organization of the IYL2015 globally and in Poland. Extended version of this paper was published in Polish [2]. The paper is a part of  a cycle of articles devoted to analysis of global processes of photonics development. Previous papers concerned initiatives Photonics21 in Europe [3-4], NPI – National Photonics Initiative in USA [5], and development of optical sciences in Poland [6-15]

German production networks in Central, Eastern Europe: between dependency and globalisation

This paper offers a first assessment of the contribution of international production to the dynamics of regional integration in Europe. After very high expectations, there is increasing scepticism concerning the role of foreign direct investment as an engine of growth in the region. On the basis of often implicit cross regional comparisons, it is argued that the level of foreign direct investment in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) is low, that it does not lead to significant technology transfers and backward linkages, and that the prospects for Cross national productions networks to develop continent-wide are at best uncertain. The paper argues that generalisations based on foreign direct investment figures hide more than reveal and looks at the development of Outward Processing Traffic between the European Union (EU) and CEE as an alternative source of evidence to characterise some of the transformations that the European model of integration is undergoing. It finds that EU firms, mainly medium sized German companies, make an important use of non equity forms of international production when expanding eastwards. The resulting patterns of cooperation are fluid, but not necessarily precarious. In fact, they are an ideal vehicle for implementing new flexible methods of production which have greater potentials for spillovers and multiplier effects. Overall, these patterns of cooperation give rise to different market linkages that hardly fit into static categories, a process in which policy makers have only little say. -- Die vorliegende Studie bietet eine erste Bewertung der Auswirkungen internationaler Produktion auf die Dynamik regionaler Integration in Europa. Was die Rolle ausländischer Direktinvestitionen angeht, so sind die anfänglich sehr hohen Erwartungen mittlerweile der Skepsis gewichen. Auf der Grundlage oftmals impliziter regionsübergreifender Vergleiche wird hier festgestellt, daß Direktinvestitionen in Zentral- und Osteuropa niedrig sind, daß sie keine nennenswerten Technologietransfers und backward linkages mit sich bringen, und daß die Aussichten für die europaweite Entwicklung transnationaler Produktionsnetzwerke bestenfalls unsicher sind. Es wird argumentiert, daß Verallgemeinerungen auf der Basis von Direktinvestitionsziffern mehr verschleiern als enthüllen. Daher wird hier die Entwicklung von Outward-Processing-Verkehr zwischen der Europäischen Union und Zentral- und Osteuropa als alternative Quelle herangezogen, um einige der Transformationen zu kennzeichnen, welche das europäische Integrationsmodell im Augenblick durchmacht. Eine Feststellung ist, daß EU-Firmen, insbesondere mittelständische deutsche Unternehmen, bei der Ausdehnung in Richtung Osten starken Gebrauch von internationalen Produktionsnetzen zwischen unabhängigen Firmen (non-equity forms of production) machen. Die daraus resultierenden Kooperationsmuster sind fließend, aber nicht unbedingt unsicher. Sie könnten sich im Gegenteil als ideales Vehikel für die Einführung neuer flexibler Produktionsmethoden erweisen, die größeres Potential für Spillovers und Multiplikationseffekte bieten. Insgesamt führen solche Produktionsnetze zwischen unabhängigen Unternehmen zu neuen Marktverbindungen, die sich kaum in feststehende Kategorien einordnen lassen. Auf diesen Prozeß haben Politiker nur wenig Einfluß.

Description and Experience of the Clinical Testbeds

This deliverable describes the up-to-date technical environment at three clinical testbed demonstrator sites of the 6WINIT Project, including the adapted clinical applications, project components and network transition technologies in use at these sites after 18 months of the Project. It also provides an interim description of early experiences with deployment and usage of these applications, components and technologies, and their clinical service impact

Astrophysics datamining in the classroom: Exploring real data with new software tools and robotic telescopes

Within the efforts to bring frontline interactive astrophysics and astronomy to the classroom, the Hands on Universe (HOU) developed a set of exercises and platform using real data obtained by some of the most advanced ground and space observatories. The backbone of this endeavour is a new free software Web tool - Such a Lovely Software for Astronomy based on Image J (Salsa J). It is student-friendly and developed specifically for the HOU project and targets middle and high schools. It allows students to display, analyze, and explore professionally obtained astronomical images, while learning concepts on gravitational dynamics, kinematics, nuclear fusion, electromagnetism. The continuous evolving set of exercises and tutorials is being completed with real (professionally obtained) data to download and detailed tutorials. The flexibility of the Salsa J platform tool enables students and teachers to extend the exercises with their own observations. The software developed for the HOU program has been designed to be a multi-platform, multi-lingual experience for image manipulation and analysis in the classroom. Its design enables easy implementation of new facilities (extensions and plugins), minimal in-situ maintenance and flexibility for exercise plugin. Here, we describe some of the most advanced exercises about astrophysics in the classroom, addressing particular examples on gravitational dynamics, concepts currently introduced in most sciences curricula in middle and high schools.Comment: 10 pages, 12 images, submitted to the special theme issue Using Astronomy and Space Science Research in Physics Courses of the American Journal of Physic

The Universe on a Desktop: Observational Astronomy Simulations in the Instructional Laboratory

Though the value of hands-on learning has long been recognised by educators, it is difficult to design laboratories in astronomy classes that present realistic astrophysical techniques to undergraduate students. Unlike most other sciences, astronomy is largely observational, not experimental, and making useful observations involves expensive equipment over time scales inconvenient for pedagogy. In recent years, however, astronomy has gone almost completely digital, and the advent of large on-line databases and fast personal computers has made it possible to realistically simulate the experience of research astrophysics in the laboratory. Since 1992, Project CLEA (Contemporary Laboratory Experiences in Astronomy) has been developing computer-based exercises aimed primarily at the introductory astronomy laboratory. These exercises simulate important techniques of astronomical research using digital data and Windows-based software. Each of the nine exercises developed to date consists of software, technical guides for teachers, and student manuals for the exercises. CLEA software is used at many institutions in all the United States and over 60 countries worldwide, in a variety of settings from middle school to upper-class astronomy classes. The current design philosophy and goals of Project CLEA are discussed along with plans for future development