Entanglements of creative agency and digital technology : a sociomaterial study of computer game development

Digital technology, with its distinctive characteristics that result from the fundamental process of digitalization that underpins it, is seen as fundamentally altering processes of creativity. However, we currently have limited understanding of creativity in relation to the development of digital technology. Computer game development, with its combination of esthetic, affective and cultural use features and highly sophisticated digital technologies, is a valuable setting for investigating these issues. In this paper, we explore how computer games are shaped through the interplay between the creative intentions of developers and the digital technologies involved in their production and playing. Drawing on in-depth studies conducted at three leading computer game development studios and a leading producer of the software system used in game development, this paper shows how the game developers' creative ideas for imagined novel game-playing experiences relate to a) the development of relevant digital technologies, and b) the emergence of new game development practices. The article goes on to propose a view of creativity as an on-going flow that, following an initial ‘creative impulse’, ripples through the sociomaterial entanglements of a particular setting, reconfiguring them in the process and spreading out in time and space in often unexpected ways

The Evolution of First Person Vision Methods: A Survey

The emergence of new wearable technologies such as action cameras and smart-glasses has increased the interest of computer vision scientists in the First Person perspective. Nowadays, this field is attracting attention and investments of companies aiming to develop commercial devices with First Person Vision recording capabilities. Due to this interest, an increasing demand of methods to process these videos, possibly in real-time, is expected. Current approaches present a particular combinations of different image features and quantitative methods to accomplish specific objectives like object detection, activity recognition, user machine interaction and so on. This paper summarizes the evolution of the state of the art in First Person Vision video analysis between 1997 and 2014, highlighting, among others, most commonly used features, methods, challenges and opportunities within the field.Comment: First Person Vision, Egocentric Vision, Wearable Devices, Smart Glasses, Computer Vision, Video Analytics, Human-machine Interactio

Information technologies as instruments of social transformation : the computerization of classical scholarship

Computer-based technologies are often seen as instruments that effect radical transformation within workplaces; these transformations are expressed through utopian or dystopian visions of empowered knowledge workers or electronic sweatshops. Visions, however, do little to examine the evidence for and the nature of such transformations. In what ways do new computer-based technologies re-form and reshape the nature, stucture, and organization of work? In particular, how do these technologies affect a domain of work which is abstract in nature and consists of the evaluation and amalgamation of many diverse information sources?This dissertation reports on an empirical study of the impact of information technologies on a specific class of knowledge workers, classical scholars. My goal is to understand the phenomenon of change due to increased use of information technologies from the point of view of the members of this social world. In order to do this, I will follow the procedures for data collection and analysis of the grounded theory approach as developed by Anselm Strauss and his associates. I employ the social worlds perspective as an organizing framework.In subsequent chapters, I consider the diffusion of a particular set of computer-based research tools within the discipline and subsequent changes to individuals' work patterns, task definition and interactions within and without the discipline. I further evaluate changes in the accessibility of information and the attendent impact on social and organizational, structures. Finally, I describe the emergence of electronic communities and new domains of work as information and communication technologies become more prevalent

Hacking Blind Navigation

Independent navigation in unfamiliar and complex environments is a major challenge for blind people. This challenge motivates a multi-disciplinary effort in the CHI community aimed at developing assistive technologies to support the orientation and mobility of blind people, including related disciplines such as accessible computing, cognitive sciences, computer vision, and ubiquitous computing. This workshop intends to bring these communities together to increase awareness on recent advances in blind navigation assistive technologies, benefit from diverse perspectives and expertises, discuss open research challenges, and explore avenues for multi-disciplinary collaborations. Interactions are fostered through a panel on Open Challenges and Avenues for Interdisciplinary Collaboration, Minute-Madness presentations, and a Hands-On Session where workshop participants can hack (design or prototype) new solutions to tackle open research challenges. An expected outcome is the emergence of new collaborations and research directions that can result in novel assistive technologies to support independent blind navigation

Nous paradigmes en l'ensenyament de la història. New paradigms in teaching history

This paper provides a vision of both digital society and new information and communication technologies in education in relation to the teaching of history. It explains how culture has built extensions of us and reviews the value that has been given to memory up to the ability for abstraction, relating it to the learning of history. Learning patterns vary with the emergence of the mobile phone, a new intelligence that incorporates telephone and computer and represents the largest extension of human beings, that is, a digitally based mind with multiple intelligences. The authors defend the importance of disseminating and implementing the use of new technologies in the teaching of history as well as the aims related to the learning of this social science. The paper ends with a reflection on disciplinary knowledge, which includes the method, since the practice of methodological skills is only learned exercising them

Cinematic virtual reality as a new narrative form

Over the past three decades, digital information technologies have rapidly transformed our means of communication and introduced new media forms. Some of the most recent developments in this respect are the emergence of 360-degree video cameras (both at the consumer level and for industrial production), the introduction of computer applications to process 360-degree video images, and wide-scale adoption of head-mounted displays (HMD). These technologies, all working together, seem to provide us with a new form of filmmaking, new potentials for cinematic storytelling, and in fact, a new form of cinematic experience. Although 360-degrees films that are produced to be watched on HMDs have immensely evolved in the past decade, the creative projects produced in this field remains relatively experimental. Cultivating the widespread adoption of VR headsets towards developing new narrative forms and exploiting the potentials of this new medium towards storytelling remains as challenging yet promising task. This paper will examine the narrative potentials of a new media form, which is called Cinematic Virtual Reality (CVR).Publisher's Versio

Cyborgs and The Americans With Disabilities Act

Medical technology is advancing at lightning speed with the potential to drastically benefit the disabled. These new technologies will result in humans who will use a wide array of assistive technologies and will likely be labelled as Cyborgs. Assistive technologies such as self-driving cars, robots, computer chip implants, insertable medical hardware, and exoskeletons are already well developed. The day is rapidly approaching when Cyborgs as a class will be large and influential. Critically, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the judges tasked with enforcing this legislation, and the legislature itself are all ill equipped to handle the speed of this coming change and the emergence of this Cyborg class. This paper points to the flaws around the ADA and the upcoming judicial quagmire due to a world that is being utterly transformed by the emergence of the Cyborgs. The epicenter of this new legal battle will be the legal determination of what constitutes a reasonable accommodation under the ADA. It is therefore of paramount importance that the courts anticipate these coming changes and prepare our legal system for such coming battles. Further questions as to where the legal border between a human and machine are increasingly being asked due to these technological and medical advances. Future political divisions regarding this new type of mechanical person are also touched upon and speculated about in this paper. There seems to be little written in anticipation of the emergence of a new class of Cyborgs and the legal problems this may yet pose under the ADA. The author hopes to shed light on this critical area of the law. The author himself is a proud “Cyborg” having had five open heart surgeries and numerous artificial as well as animal heart valves installed throughout his life. This author considers it time that this class of person and citizen receive greater scholastic and legal consideration. This author also hopes that many of the potential upcoming issues created by the emergence of the Cyborg class can be addressed and discussed ahead of time

Principi i modaliteti primene novih medija u arhitekturi

The contemporary age is marked by the rapidly advanced digital revolution, unstoppable rise of computer technologies and omnipresence of technological advancements in all aspects of everyday life. In the information era, computer technologies have become pervasive, ubiquitous and dominant. Their hybridization with previously present media forms resulted in the emergence of a new and exuberant field of new media and technologies. New media is a hybrid field of computer based technological forms, which are used in contemporary practice, not only as tool, but also as an expressive medium. Because of the complex nature of new media, the field is extremely hybrid, positioned at the intersection of art, science and culture. Its emerged cultural paradigm is scientific culture, in which dominant characteristics are technological art and cultural forms, as well as information and techno society. In this overall context, architecture is not an isolated phenomenon. The new media have influenced the field of architecture too, offering new possibilities, features, design methodologies and principles for conceptualizing and developing architectural space. In architectural practice different modalities of the new media are being used. These modalities initiated the emergence of the field of new media architecture. The distinction of these state-of-the-art types of architectural space, together with the principles and concepts they rely on, were the main focus and main contribution of the research presented in this paper.Savremeno doba obeleženo je digitalnom revolucijom, rapidnim usponom računarskih tehnologija, kao i opštom tehnologizacijom svakodnevice. U informatičkoj eri, računarske tehnologije postale su dominantne, a uparene sa ranije prisutnim medijskim formama, oformile su bujno polje novih medija i tehnologija. Novi mediji predstavljaju hibridnu oblast računarski zasnovanih tehnoloških formi u kojima se tehnologije pojavljuju i u ulozi ekspresivnog medija. Zbog kompleksne prirode novih medija oblast predstavlja izrazito interdisciplinarno polje na preseku umetnosti, nauke i kulture, a kulturološka paradigma koju je ovo polje ustanovilo odlikuju izrazito naučna kultura, tehnologizovana umetnost i informaciono društvo. U ovakvoj situaciji, ni arhitektura nije izolovan fenomen, pa je prodor novih medija ustanovio nove pojave, postupke, kao i principe za konceptualizaciju i realizaciju prostora u arhitekturi. Pojava novih medija u arhitekturi podrazumeva njihove različite modalitete primene, koji su uslovili razvoj novih i specifičnih tipova prostora. Specificiranje tipova ovakvih prostora, zajedno sa principima i konceptima na kojima se zasnivaju, predmet je istraživanja koje je predstavljeno u radu koji sledi

A Cram of E-Learning Advantages and Disadvantages

In today’s society, following the exponential development of ICT, the classical method of learning has undergone numerous changes. The emergence of the Internet has accelerated these changes due to its capacity to offer multiple possibilities of access to information, instruction, all based on dynamic technologies, transparency and open dialogue. It can be well said that the Internet is turning into an arbiter for the access to education and culture, while eLearning is a new form of education that suggests itself as an alternative with a view to the needs of continuing training and knowledge. The most widely known results of this change are obvious in two learning models mediated by ICT: eLearning and Computer-assisted learning. As well as the classical models, these models imply an efficient learning process based on well-grounded cooperation and communication activities. Moreover, these models require appropriate technology and equipment. It is also important for the eLearners to have knowledge of the new technologies. The great advantage of eLearning is the abolition of formal barriers by eliminating distances, by introducing temporal flexibility and the creation of a new type of student-teacher relationship. The authors have asked the question whether the greatest advantages of this new way of learning and refreshing will still hold for those of a higher educational and financial status, thus deepening unequal opportunity of chances. A team of members of the teaching staff of "Alexandru Ioan Cuza" University of Iasi (UAIC) and the Academy of Economic Studies of Bucharest (ASE) have carried out a survey among the students of the two institutions regarding the students' perceptions, expectations and attitudes related to eLearning and the identifi-cation of the profile of the student with access to this form of education. The paper presents some of the most important findings of this research.e-learning, Internet, survey, educational process