Human-Machine Communication: Complete Volume. Volume 6

his is the complete volume of HMC Volume 6

Proceedings ICPW'07: 2nd International Conference on the Pragmatic Web, 22-23 Oct. 2007, Tilburg: NL

Proceedings ICPW'07: 2nd International Conference on the Pragmatic Web, 22-23 Oct. 2007, Tilburg: N

Ambiguous Science and the Visual Representation of the Real

The emergence of visual media as prominent and even expected forms of communication in nearly all disciplines, including those scientific, has raised new questions about how the art and science of communication epistemologically affect the interpretation of scientific phenomena. In this dissertation I explore how the influence of aesthetics in visual representations of science inevitably creates ambiguous meanings. As a means to improve visual literacy in the sciences, I call awareness to the ubiquity of visual ambiguity and its importance and relevance in scientific discourse. To do this, I conduct a literature review that spans interdisciplinary research in communication, science, art, and rhetoric. Furthermore, I create a paradoxically ambiguous taxonomy, which functions to exploit the nuances of visual ambiguities and their role in scientific communication. I then extrapolate the taxonomy of visual ambiguity and from it develop an ambiguous, rhetorical heuristic, the Tetradic Model of Visual Ambiguity. The Tetradic Model is applied to a case example of a scientific image as a demonstration of how scientific communicators may increase their awareness of the epistemological effects of ambiguity in the visual representations of science. I conclude by demonstrating how scientific communicators may make productive use of visual ambiguity, even in communications of objective science, and I argue how doing so strengthens scientific communicators\u27 visual literacy skills and their ability to communicate more ethically and effectively

Osobni prostor i njegove transformacije u tehnološkom kontekstu

Context and relevance of the research: The creation of autonomous computer agents and humanoid robots is becoming a priority subject of research in various fields of knowledge such as evolutionary psychology, cognitive science, neurobiology, engineering, social robotics, linguistics, philosophy, etc. The gap between technological, natural science and humanitarian-scientific discourse reveals the need for dialogue, scientific discussions, and the development of a common conceptual-categorical system in information technology and humanitarian knowledge. The expansion of the continuum of artificial realities actualizes anthropological problems, including the question of a new ontological status of human, of personal space, within which all aspects and projections of human existence undergo significant changes. Personal space as an ontological phenomenon of Self interacts with different environments (nature, society, culture, extended reality (XR)) has borders with them and in each partially functions. The research aims to develop methodological foundations for the study of personal space, formulate the author’s definition of personal space, and identify conceptual methodological constructs to analyze the transformation of personal space in the development of information technology and social robotics. Used methodology: the principle of integrity, the principle of duality of being, typology of relations I-Thou and I-It by Martin Buber and Semyon L. Frank, system analysis, convergent approach. Key findings: The development of information technologies and social robotics has opened a new stage in forming the technological context of human entry into symbiotic relations, where the boundaries between the natural and the artificial are blurred, which indicates the need to elaborate a convergent approach to studying interdisciplinary problems in technological and humanitarian knowledge. The author’s definition of personal space as a holistic phenomenon of Self is offered for use as a methodological tool to study its changes in the technological context.Kontekst i važnost istraživanja: Stvaranje autonomnih računalnih agenata i humanoidnih robota postaje prioritetna tema istraživanja u raznim poljima znanja. Jaz između tehnološkog i humanitarnog diskursa pokazuje potrebu za dijalogom i razvojem zajedničkog pojmovno-kategorijskog sustava u informacijskoj tehnologiji i humanitarnom znanju. Širenje kontinuuma umjetne stvarnosti aktualizira antropološke probleme, uključujući pitanje novog ontološkog statusa osobe, osobnog prostora, unutar kojeg svi aspekti i projekcije ljudskog postojanja prolaze kroz značajne promjene. Osobni prostor kao ontološki fenomen sebstva komunicira s različitim okruženjima (priroda, društvo, kultura, proširena stvarnost [extended reality – XR]), ima granice s njima i djelomično funkcionira u svakoj. Svrha studije: razviti metodološku osnovu za proučavanje osobnog prostora, formulirati autorovu definiciju osobnog prostora i identificirati konceptualne metodološke konstrukcije za analizu transformacije osobnog prostora u razvoju informacijske tehnologije i socijalne robotike. Upotrijebljena metodologija: načelo integriteta, načelo dualnosti bića, tipologija odnosa (M. Buber, S. Frank), sistemska analiza, konvergentni pristup. Glavni zaključci: Razvoj informacijske tehnologije i socijalne robotike otvorio je novu fazu u formiranju tehnološkog konteksta ulaska čovjeka u simbiotske odnose, gdje su granice između prirodnog i umjetnog nejasne, što ukazuje na potrebu za razvojem konvergentnog pristupa proučavanju interdisciplinarnih problema tehnološkog i humanitarnog znanja. Autorska definicija osobnog prostora kao integralnog fenomena sebstva predlaže se kao metodološki alat za proučavanje njegovih promjena u tehnološkom kontekstu

Animal Umwelten in a Changing world: Zoosemiotic Perspectives

The book raises semiotic questions of human–animal relations: what is the semiotic character of different species, how humans endow animals with meaning, and how animal sign exchange and communication has coped with environmental change. The book takes a zoosemiotic approach and considers different species as being integrated with the environment via their specific umwelt or subjective perceptual world. The authors elaborate J. v. Uexküll’s concept of umwelt to make it applicable for analyzing complex and dynamical interactions between animals, humans, environment and culture. The opening chapters of the book present a framework for philosophical, historical, epistemological and methodological aspects of zoosemiotic research. These initial considerations are followed by specific case studies: on human–animal interactions in zoological gardens, communication in the teams of visually disabled persons and guiding dogs, semiotics of the animal condition in philosophy, historical changes in the role of animals in human households, the semiotics of predation, cultural perception of novel species, and other topics. The authors belong to the research group in zoosemiotics and human–animal relations based in the Department of Semiotics at the University of Tartu in Estonia, and in the University of Stavanger in Norway

Human-Machine Communication: Complete Volume. Volume 1

This is the complete volume of HMC Volume 1

Proceedings of the Inaugural Meeting ofAIS SIGPrag

The Special Interest Group on Pragmatist IS Research (SIGPrag) was approved by the Association for InformationSystems (AIS) council at its June 2008 meeting in Gallway. The motivation for this initiative is the growingrecognition of the importance of theorizing the IT artifact and its organizational and societal context from apragmatic and action-oriented perspective. SIGPrag\u27s mission is to provide a much-needed centre of gravity and tofacilitate exchange of ideas and further development of this area of IS scholarship.In summary, pragmatist IS research rests on the following set of assumptions: * Human life is a life of activity.* Humans do things that effect changes in their environment and/or within themselves.* Doing permeates thinking, conceptualizations and language use.* Human consciousness is a practical one that is in constant interplay with interventive, investigative, andevaluative actions.* Practical consciousness is formed by experience from previous actions and participation in social contexts.* IT and information systems are fundamentally symbolic language systems.* Linguistically expressed collective presuppositions, norms and categories (such as those embedded in ITand information systems) serve human activity and life.* The true value of IT and information systems lies in their potential to support human communication andcollaboration central to human activity and life.For more information about SIGPrag, its mission and current activities, please visit http://www.sigprag.org/The inaugural meeting of SIGPrag is to be held in Paris on Dec 14, 2008, in conjunction with the InternationalConference on Information Systems (ICIS). The meeting will consist of two parts, a scientific meeting and abusiness meeting. For the scientific meeting a call for position papers was issued in the summer of 2008, whichresulted in the following papers being selected for presentation:• What Kind of Pragmatism in Information Systems Research? by Göran Goldkuhl.• Pragmatic Approach in IS Projects Grounded on Recognised Frameworks by Raija Halonen.• Co-Design as Social Constructive Pragmatism by Mikael Lind, Ulf Seigerroth, Olov Forsgren, and AndersHjalmarsson.• Pragmatism and Information Systems (IS): Neurophilosophical approach by Garikoitz Lerma Usabiagaand Francesc Miralles.• Sustainability Communication: A role for IT and IS in relating business and Society by Mark Aakhus andPaul Ziek.• Managing Ambiguity while Reducing Uncertainty by Gianni Jacucci and Mike Martin.• A Pragmatic Conception of Service Encounters by Mikael Lind and Nicklas Salomonson.• Making the Web More Pragmatic: Exploring the Potential Of Some Pragmatic Concepts For IS ResearchAnd Development by Jens Allwood and Mikael Lind.• Introducing Human in Complex System: A Cognitive Pragmatics Based Model by G. Lortal.• The Pragmatic Web: An Application View by Mareike Schoop.• Design Research from a Communicative Perspective: How to Design Things with Words by Hans Weigand.• Representation and Correspondence: On the Validity of the Representation Assumption in InformationSystem Design by Pär J. Ågerfalk and Owen Eriksson.• Habermas’ theory in action by Jan L.G. Dietz.• Challenges to Information Systems Development by Roland Kaschek.The idea behind this inaugural meeting was to bring together people that share an affinity with pragmatist ISresearch and to initiate a scientific discussion about the role of pragmatist research in IS. We certainly hope that thisdiscussion will continue over the years to come. The papers are freely available for download athttp://www.sigprag.org