Use of a reflective ultraviolet imaging system (RUVIS) on two-dimensional dust impressions created with footwear on multiple substrates

Footwear impression evidence in dust is often difficult to locate in ambient light and is a fragile medium that both collection and enhancement techniques can destroy or distort. The collection of footwear impression evidence always begins with non-destructive photographic techniques; however, current methods are limited to oblique lighting of the impression followed by an attempt to photograph in situ12,15,17. For the vast majority of footwear impressions, an interactive collection method, and thus a potentially destructive procedure, is subsequently carried out to gather the evidence18. Therefore, alternative non-destructive means for the preservation and enhancement of footwear impressions in dust merits further attention. Previous research performed with reflected ultraviolet (UV) photography and reflected ultraviolet imaging systems (RUVIS) has shown that there are additional non-destructive methodologies that can be applied to the search for and documentation of footwear impressions in dust34,36,37. Unfortunately, these prior studies did not include robust comparisons to traditional oblique white light, instead choosing to focus on different UV wavelengths. This study, however, seeks to evaluate the use of a RUVIS device paired with a 254 nanometer (nm) UV light source to locate 2-D footwear impressions in dust on multiple substrates against standard oblique white light techniques and assess the visibility of the impression and amount of background interference present. The optimal angle of incident UV light for each substrate was also investigated. Finally, this study applied an image enhancement technique in order to evaluate its usefulness when looking at the visibility of a footwear impression and the amount of background interference present for enhanced white light and RUVIS pictures of footwear impressions in dust. A collection of eight different substrate types was gathered for investigation, including vinyl composition tile (VCT), ceramic tile, marble tile, magazine paper, steel sheet metal, vinyl flooring, wood flooring, and carpet. Heel impressions were applied to the various substrates utilizing vacuum collected dust and normal walking pressure. Each substrate was then explored and photographed in ambient fluorescent light, oblique white light at 0, 15, 30, and 0 with the light source below the surface plane of the substrate, and 254 nm UV light at 0, 15, 30, 45, 60, 75, 90 and 0 with the light source below the surface plane of the substrate. All pictures were evaluated for clarity and visible detail of the footwear impression and the amount of background interference present, selecting for the best images within a lighting condition group. Additional intra- and intergroup comparisons were carried out to explore differences created by the various lighting conditions. Enhanced images were then created with the best scored pictures and evaluated for additional modifications in impression visibility and background interference. Photographs of footwear impressions in dust illuminated with ambient fluorescent light proved to be the most difficult conditions under which a footwear impression could be visualized. However, both oblique white light and 254 nm UV light lighting conditions showed improvements in either visualization or background dropout, or both, over ambient light conditions. An assessment of the white light and 254 nm UV light RUVIS images also demonstrated that the best angles for the light source for all substrates were oblique 0 and oblique 0 below the surface plane of the substrate lighting. It was found that white light photographs generally provided higher visibility ratings, while RUVIS 254 nm UV light photographs provided better grades for reducing background interference. Enhanced images of white light conditions provided generally poorer quality and quantity of details, while enhanced RUVIS images seemed to improve upon these areas. The use of a RUVIS to capture photographs of footwear impression evidence in dust was found to be a successful secondary non-destructive technique that can be paired with traditional oblique white light procedures. Additionally, the use of below the surface plane of the substrate lighting techniques were found to improve either visibility or background dropout, or both, over standard 0 oblique lighting, depending on the light source, and should be employed, when applicable. Finally, further investigation into digital photo-editing enhancement techniques for footwear impression evidence in dust is needed

Evaluation and improvement of the workflow of digital imaging of fine art reproduction in museums

Fine arts refer to a broad spectrum of art formats, ie~painting, calligraphy, photography, architecture, and so forth. Fine art reproductions are to create surrogates of the original artwork that are able to faithfully deliver the aesthetics and feelings of the original. Traditionally, reproductions of fine art are made in the form of catalogs, postcards or books by museums, libraries, archives, and so on (hereafter called museums for simplicity). With the widespread adoption of digital archiving in museums, more and more artwork is reproduced to be viewed on a display. For example, artwork collections are made available through museum websites and Google Art Project for art lovers to view on their own displays. In the thesis, we study the fine art reproduction of paintings in the form of soft copy viewed on displays by answering four questions: (1) what is the impact of the viewing condition and original on image quality evaluation? (2) can image quality be improved by avoiding visual editing in current workflows of fine art reproduction? (3) can lightweight spectral imaging be used for fine art reproduction? and (4) what is the performance of spectral reproductions compared with reproductions by current workflows? We started with evaluating the perceived image quality of fine art reproduction created by representative museums in the United States under controlled and uncontrolled environments with and without the presence of the original artwork. The experimental results suggest that the image quality is highly correlated with the color accuracy of the reproduction only when the original is present and the reproduction is evaluated on a characterized display. We then examined the workflows to create these reproductions, and found that current workflows rely heavily on visual editing and retouching (global and local color adjustments on the digital reproduction) to improve the color accuracy of the reproduction. Visual editing and retouching can be both time-consuming and subjective in nature (depending on experts\u27 own experience and understanding of the artwork) lowering the efficiency of artwork digitization considerably. We therefore propose to improve the workflow of fine art reproduction by (1) automating the process of visual editing and retouching in current workflows based on RGB acquisition systems and by (2) recovering the spectral reflectance of the painting with off-the-shelf equipment under commonly available lighting conditions. Finally, we studied the perceived image quality of reproductions created by current three-channel (RGB) workflows with those by spectral imaging and those based on an exemplar-based method

Factory as studio : a case study exploring critical issues and situated responses arising from artist residencies with manufacturing organisation communities

University of Technology, Sydney. Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building.In recent times, economists have highlighted the need to escalate innovation within organisations. Organisational researchers affirm that creativity and collaboration with skilled practitioners from outside these communities can be catalysts for innovative outcomes. This study focuses on a particular form of collaboration: artist residencies within manufacturing organisation communities. Research has suggested that artists acting as creative exemplars in action stimulate interest and motivation among members of an organisation. While there are studies that explore the positive dimension of these residencies from an organisational perspective, few studies examine the problematic effects of these collaborations and fewer still have provided a view of these engagements from the artists’ perspective. An aim of this thesis is to advance an understanding of the potentially pivotal role that the artist plays as exemplar in action in organisations. This research is motivated by two questions. The first question asks what critical issues emerge during a self-organised artist residency within a manufacturing organisation. Critical issues are distinct and recurring ideas or practices that present barriers to the success of the self-organised artist’s residency in a factory. The second question asks how artist-researchers can structure their practice in a way that overcomes these issues, allowing them to contribute to the culture (and/or products) of the factory. This action research case study focuses on a self-organised artist residency in a Belgian colourant factory in 2010. Each of the critical issues identified is illustrated with representative incidents from the case study or related previous residency material. The study also identifies actions that the artist took in working through these issues. The thesis includes a discussion of how each of these challenges was responded to in practice. The broad categories of issues identified include communication between the artist and the factory community; human, infrastructure and material resource implications; ethical issues, including intellectual property rights and protection for participants; and instances of potential emotional risk or harm to the organisational community and the artist. The principal outcome of this study is a framework that gives artists and organisational members specific understandings of each other’s domain. The framework provides a resource for artists seeking to expand their practice within organisations and for artist-educators who are preparing students for organisational collaborations. Ultimately it is anticipated that the framework will provide a basis for building deeper connections between these participants, facilitating sound preparation for future collaborations

TechNews digests: Jan - Nov 2009

TechNews is a technology, news and analysis service aimed at anyone in the education sector keen to stay informed about technology developments, trends and issues. TechNews focuses on emerging technologies and other technology news. TechNews service : digests september 2004 till May 2010 Analysis pieces and News combined publish every 2 to 3 month

Experimental Methodologies: Towards the Moving Image

The moving image - before it is anything else, before it delights an audience with beautiful stories, characters, before it communicates an idea - is the art of making us aware of movement; (Gunning 142) or, following Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, it is "the organization of light and shadow effects producing a new enrichment of vision."The methodologies in this thesis carry the legacy of experimental moving images, with its perspectives on formal aesthetics, emotion, and alternative modes of narrative. These methodologies informed my approach to physical interactions of objects and materials as a strategy to create unpredictable footage results - which through iterations yielded a poetic visual language from which I built a sequence focused on sensory impressions.These modes of inquiry and iterative experimentation generated two moving images - visualizing the human experiences from the current unstable immigration laws as manifested on the southern border with Mexico

Hands-on Science. Celebrating Science and Science Education

The book herein aims to contribute to the improvement of Science Education in our schools and to an effective implementation of a sound widespread scientific literacy at all levels of society

Honeybee-based biohybrid system for landmine detection

This research was funded in part by NATO Science for Peace and Security (SPS) Programme, project number SPS 985355, “Biological Method (Bees) for Explosive Detection”.Legacy landmines in post-conflict areas are a non-discriminatory lethal hazard and can still be triggered decades after the conflict has ended. Efforts to detect these explosive devices are expensive, time-consuming, and dangerous to humans and animals involved. While methods such as metal detectors and sniffer dogs have successfully been used in humanitarian demining, more tools are required for both site surveying and accurate mine detection. Honeybees have emerged in recent years as efficient bioaccumulation and biomonitoring animals. The system reported here uses two complementary landmine detection methods: passive sampling and active search. Passive sampling aims to confirm the presence of explosive materials in a mine-suspected area by the analysis of explosive material brought back to the colony on honeybee bodies returning from foraging trips. Analysis is performed by light-emitting chemical sensors detecting explosives thermally desorbed from a preconcentrator strip. The active search is intended to be able to pinpoint the place where individual landmines are most likely to be present. Used together, both methods are anticipated to be useful in an end-to-end process for area surveying, suspected hazardous area reduction, and post-clearing internal and external quality control in humanitarian demining.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Problem-finding as a research strategy connecting undergraduate learning with staff research in contemporary education institutions

While problem-solving is defined as a research method based on a number of givens in a linear process, problem-finding is an open-ended mode of design, actively engaging participants in a reciprocal discourse. This method of learning by doing is implicit in design education. To examine problem-solving in the context of undergraduate study a collaborative staff–student research project is presented in the form of a case study. By continuing to find ‘problems’, design educators and students alike are challenged to push the boundaries of the discipline and frame it more centrally as an agent of change in society and culture. In a development of my Ph.D. and HEA Teaching Fellowship the design process is framed as a bridge between academic research and student employability. In this context I suggest that research strategies developed through doctoral study extend and substantiate teaching and learning in design