The telematic dress: Evolving garments and distributed proprioception in streaming media and fashion performance

Centered around several short films from streaming performances created in 2005, this paper explores new ideas for movement technologies and garment design in an arts and digital research context. The "telematic dress" project, developed at the DAP Lab in Nottingham, involves transdisciplinary intersections between fashion and live performance, interactive system architecture, electronic textiles, wearable technologies, choreography, and anthropology. The concept on an evolving garment design that is materialized (moved) in live performance originates from DAP Lab's experimentation with telematics and distributed media (http://art.ntu.ac. uk/performance_research/birringer/dap.htm] addressing "connective tissues" through a study of perception/proprioception in the wearer (tactile sensory processing) and the dancer/designer/viewer relationship. This study is conducted as cross-cultural communication with online performance partners in Europe, the US, Brazil and Japan. The inter-active space is predicated on transcultural questions: how does the movement with an evolving design and wearable interactive sensors travel, how does movement - and capturing of movement - allow the design to emerge toward a garment statement, and how are bodies-in-relation-to sensory fabrics affected by the multidimensional kinesthetics of a media-rich, responsive environment

Designing an interactive visualization for intrusion detection systems with video game theory and technology

With an ever increasing number of attacks on networks that have an even more increasing amount of information being communicated across them, the old means of examining network data for intruders and malicious acts through text no longer works. Even with the help of filters and data aggregation there is too much for a person to read through and get a clear understanding of what is happen across a network, causing security officers to many times miss intrusions. With an overwhelming amount of false alerts from incorrectly setup Intrusion Detection Systems and not enough time to sift through them all, a new means of displaying and interacting with the network data presented by intrusion detection system is needed. That is why there has been an increase in research about how to create visualizations for networks that will allow someone to better understand what is happening across a network. Using previous research as well as a study of the theory and architecture used by the video game industry on interactive environments, it is possible to create an intuitive interactive visual environment of network data that will help network administrators more effectively understand their networks and where potential threats may lurk. Therefore, this proposed design attempts to help solve the problem of network communication comprehension

Bringing tabletop technologies to kindergarten children

Taking computer technology away from the desktop and into a more physical, manipulative space, is known that provide many benefits and is generally considered to result in a system that is easier to learn and more natural to use. This paper describes a design solution that allows kindergarten children to take the benefits of the new pedagogical possibilities that tangible interaction and tabletop technologies offer for manipulative learning. After analysis of children's cognitive and psychomotor skills, we have designed and tuned a prototype game that is suitable for children aged 3 to 4 years old. Our prototype uniquely combines low cost tangible interaction and tabletop technology with tutored learning. The design has been based on the observation of children using the technology, letting them freely play with the application during three play sessions. These observational sessions informed the design decisions for the game whilst also confirming the children's enjoyment of the prototype

Factors shaping the evolution of electronic documentation systems

The main goal is to prepare the space station technical and managerial structure for likely changes in the creation, capture, transfer, and utilization of knowledge. By anticipating advances, the design of Space Station Project (SSP) information systems can be tailored to facilitate a progression of increasingly sophisticated strategies as the space station evolves. Future generations of advanced information systems will use increases in power to deliver environmentally meaningful, contextually targeted, interconnected data (knowledge). The concept of a Knowledge Base Management System is emerging when the problem is focused on how information systems can perform such a conversion of raw data. Such a system would include traditional management functions for large space databases. Added artificial intelligence features might encompass co-existing knowledge representation schemes; effective control structures for deductive, plausible, and inductive reasoning; means for knowledge acquisition, refinement, and validation; explanation facilities; and dynamic human intervention. The major areas covered include: alternative knowledge representation approaches; advanced user interface capabilities; computer-supported cooperative work; the evolution of information system hardware; standardization, compatibility, and connectivity; and organizational impacts of information intensive environments

An interactive tool for the identification of airborne and food fungi

The growth of fungi may result in several kinds of food-spoilage: off-flavours, discolouration, rotting and formation of pathogenic or allergenic propagules. Moreover many foodborne fungi produce mycotoxins and thus fungal growth in foods and feeds should be avoided. Much interest has also grown for the fungi present in indoor environments, since exposure to airborne biological agents in both the occupational and residential environments could be associated with a wide range of adverse health effects with major public health impact, including infectious diseases, acute toxic effects, allergies and cancer. An interactive identification tool was created for food- and airborne microfungi at the genus and/or species level, based on morphological and physiological data, using the software FRIDA. The interactive key can also be stored on CD- or DVD-roms, or used on media such as PocketPCs of Smartphones. Our key allows the identification of 59 genera/groups and 217 species belonging mainly to Zygomycota and anamorphic and teleomorphic Ascomycota. The database comes with a set of detailed descriptions of each genus and species, a rich archive of images, a glossary of the most frequent mycological terms, and references to descriptions; in addition, culture condition requirements for identification are provided