Adaptive Layout for Interactive Documents

This thesis presents a novel approach to create automated layouts for rich illustrative material that could adapt according to the screen size and contextual requirements. The adaption not only considers global layout but also deals with the content and layout adaptation of individual illustrations in the layout. An unique solution has been developed that integrates constraint-based and force-directed techniques to create adaptive grid-based and non-grid layouts. A set of annotation layouts are developed which adapt the annotated illustrations to match the contextual requirements over time

Analysis of selected aspects and visual elements of cookbooks from XIX and XX century printed in Warsaw, Poland.

Cookbooks are special types of books instructing the user how to prepare a specific dish. By constant changes of technology as well as human consciousness cookbooks are in unceasing development, trying to understand its user and respond to his needs. Visual language of cookbooks have been changing throughout centuries. Besides that, cookbooks provide information about history and cultural habits. These types of instructions are excellent mines of knowledge about society. Given that times have been changing in cultural, social and historical aspects, the recipes and their visual representations had been evolving with them. The main objective of this investigation is to analyze and trace those changes on examples of Polish culinary books from XIX and XX century printed in Warsaw, Poland. The research deals with analyzing visual elements of cookbooks such as binding, typography and composition as well as illustrative and photographic elements

Investigating human-perceptual properties of "shapes" using 3D shapes and 2D fonts

Shapes are generally used to convey meaning. They are used in video games, films and other multimedia, in diverse ways. 3D shapes may be destined for virtual scenes or represent objects to be constructed in the real-world. Fonts add character to an otherwise plain block of text, allowing the writer to make important points more visually prominent or distinct from other text. They can indicate the structure of a document, at a glance. Rather than studying shapes through traditional geometric shape descriptors, we provide alternative methods to describe and analyse shapes, from a lens of human perception. This is done via the concepts of Schelling Points and Image Specificity. Schelling Points are choices people make when they aim to match with what they expect others to choose but cannot communicate with others to determine an answer. We study whole mesh selections in this setting, where Schelling Meshes are the most frequently selected shapes. The key idea behind image Specificity is that different images evoke different descriptions; but ‘Specific’ images yield more consistent descriptions than others. We apply Specificity to 2D fonts. We show that each concept can be learned and predict them for fonts and 3D shapes, respectively, using a depth image-based convolutional neural network. Results are shown for a range of fonts and 3D shapes and we demonstrate that font Specificity and the Schelling meshes concept are useful for visualisation, clustering, and search applications. Overall, we find that each concept represents similarities between their respective type of shape, even when there are discontinuities between the shape geometries themselves. The ‘context’ of these similarities is in some kind of abstract or subjective meaning which is consistent among different people

Motivating change: An Interactive journey in sustainability in environmental concerns

Despite the grave environmental issues facing the world, little is being done to educate our future generation of consumers on resource consumption and waste generation. There is a need for major change in the approach to education about sustainability. In the classroom, environmental education has been presented statically through traditional teaching methods. Environmental education is evolving to include information on how a person\u27s efforts and behavior can affect global change. However, changes in education are not happening as rapidly as the deterioration of the environment. The sustainability of the environment requires action and reaction, therefore it requires a more interactive approach to education. Can education through interactivity result in major changes? Can the inclusion of computer graphics as an alternative approach to education promote and motivate change in a person\u27s behavior in relation to the environment? This thesis is an exploration of the role Computer Graphics can play in environmental education. It is divided into two main components, Design Center and Action Toolkit. Through interactive engagement of the user this thesis offers experiential learning that successfully communicates the issue of sustainability of the environment, creating the opportunity to develop a lasting change in their daily behavior

Kalaia: branding through emerging technologies

Companies have existed for thousands of years all over the world, however, brands are the personality of a company, and as people, a broad range of personalities can be found, just like brands. The choice and use of the appropriate brand language according to the business’s vision, mission and value create the correct perception to its targeted customers. The name, the logo, the colours, the imagery chosen is the face of the brand. This thesis presents how and why to choose appropriate brand language, bringing to it added value, such as understanding why purple is more than mixing red and blue, or why choosing a particular shaped letter is more than a angled line. Just as brands change, times change as well; it is important to take into consideration the era we live in and the eras your brand will live in, this being longer than its founders. With this is mind, it was important to understand what the technological trends of the decade are, and what to expect as the billboards of tomorrow. Augmented reality was a trend which caught my attention and decided to investigate and implement while projecting creation of the brand. Considering the objective of creating a fashion brand in a technological era, it was important to conduct case studies of fashion brands, understand brand language and how augmented reality is implemented in their advertisement. Kalaia, a swimwear brand, I created with the development of this thesis is the ensemble of both theoretical and projection components form this course. Kalaia, selling products made in Portugal, intends to sell more than swimsuits but a lifestyle, for daring, irreverent and adventurous women.Empresas existem há centenas de anos, no entanto, as marcas são a personalidade de uma empresa e, como pessoas, uma grande variedade de personalidades pode ser encontrada em diferentes marcas. A escolha e o uso da linguagem visual apropriada, de acordo com a visão, missão e valores da empresa criam a perceção correta paro o público-alvo pretendido. O nome, o logotipo, as cores, as imagens escolhidas são a personalidade que encontramos nas marcas. Esta tese apresenta escolher a linguagem apropriada da marca para lhe acrescentar valor, tal como perceber que o roxo é mais do que a mistura de vermelho e azul ou que uma letra é mais que linhas angulares. Assim como as marcas mudam, os tempos também e é importante levar em consideração a época em que vivemos e as épocas em que uma marca ir permanecer. Com isso em mente, era importante entender quais são as tendências tecnológicas da década e o que esperar da publicidade de amanhã. A realidade aumentada foi uma tendência que me chamou à atenção e decidi investigar e implementar para a projeção e criação da marca. Considerando o objetivo de criar uma marca de moda durante uma era tecnológica, era importante realizar estudos de caso de marcas de moda, e compreender a linguagem visual utilizadas assim como a realidade aumentada implementada nas suas publicidades. Kalaia, uma marca de moda de praia que criei com o desenvolvimento desta tese, é o conjunto de componentes teóricos e práticos deste curso. A Kalaia, que vende produtos fabricados em Portugal, pretende vender mais do que fatos de banho, mas um estilo de vida para mulheres ousadas, e irreverentes

Copyright in an Era of Information Overload: Toward the Privileging of Categorizers

Environmental laws are designed to reduce negative externalities (such as pollution) that harm the natural environment. Copyright law should adjust the rights of content creators in order to compensate for the ways they reduce the usefulness of the information environment as a whole. Every new work created contributes to the store of expression, but also makes it more difficult to find whatever work one wants. Such search costs have been well-documented in information economics. Copyright law should take information overload externalities like search costs into account in its treatment of alleged copyright infringers whose work merely attempts to index, organize, categorize, or review works by providing small samples of them. They are not free riding off the labor of copyright holders, but rather are creating the types of navigational tools and filters that help consumers make sense of the ocean of expression copyright holders have created. By modeling information overload as an externality imposed by copyrighted works, this article attempts to provide a new economic justification for more favorable legal treatment of categorizers, indexers, and reviewers. Information overload is an unintended negative consequence of copyright law\u27s success in incentivizing the production and distribution of expression. If courts grant content owners the right to veto categorizers\u27 efforts to make sense of given fields of expression, they will only exacerbate the problem. Designed to promote the progress of the arts and sciences, copyright doctrine should privilege the efforts of those who make that progress accessible and understandable. Categorizers fill both those vital roles

Paint on Any Other Canvas: Closing a Copyright Loophole for Street Art on the Exterior of an Architectural Work

Street art is having a moment. Once criminalized and ardently combatted by city governments, street art has become a persistent presence in metropolitan cities, social media feeds, and even art galleries. Often coming in the form of graffiti murals applied to the exterior-facing walls of a building, these works are racking up significant price tags at auction houses and are raising property values in proximate areas. And yet, despite street art’s recent legitimization by the Second Circuit in a historic decision allowing the recovery of significant statutory damages upon the destruction of a work of recognized stature, a loophole in U.S. copyright law threatens to jeopardize these strides. This Note delves into the conflict between the copyright protections of buildings and the copyright protections for the street art painted on them. A relatively underused amendment to the Copyright Act that provides copyright protections for buildings—the Architectural Works Copyright Protection Act (“AWCPA”)—has jeopardized copyright protections for street artists. It has allowed companies to prominently feature and profit off of the artists’ work in advertising campaigns without the artists seeing any financial return for the use. Two recent cases have tested this legal loophole, with companies weaponizing the AWCPA—to varying degrees of success—as an affirmative defense to a copyright infringement claim brought on by the use of street art in their advertisements without permission from the artists themselves. These cases represent a significant threat to the financial interests of street artists—and in a way that was not specifically considered by Congress because street art lacked institutional legitimacy at the time of the AWCPA’s enactment. This Note argues the proper way forward is for Congress to amend the AWCPA to create a level playing field for artists, regardless of the medium on which their work exists

Electronic Imaging & the Visual Arts. EVA 2019 Florence

The Publication is following the yearly Editions of EVA FLORENCE. The State of Art is presented regarding the Application of Technologies (in particular of digital type) to Cultural Heritage. The more recent results of the Researches in the considered Area are presented. Information Technologies of interest for Culture Heritage are presented: multimedia systems, data-bases, data protection, access to digital content, Virtual Galleries. Particular reference is reserved to digital images (Electronic Imaging & the Visual Arts), regarding Cultural Institutions (Museums, Libraries, Palace - Monuments, Archaeological Sites). The International Conference includes the following Sessions: Strategic Issues; New Science and Culture Developments & Applications; New Technical Developments & Applications; Cultural Activities – Real and Virtual Galleries and Related Initiatives, Access to the Culture Information. One Workshop regards Innovation and Enterprise. The more recent results of the Researches at national and international level are reported in the Area of Technologies and Culture Heritage, also with experimental demonstrations of developed Activities

NASA Tech Briefs, December 1992

Topics include: Electronic Components and Circuits; Electronic Systems; Physical Sciences; Materials; Computer Programs; Mechanics; Machinery; Fabrication Technology; Mathematics and Information Sciences; Life Sciences