Jewellery theory and practice: an investigation into emotionally invested and mnemonic jewellery through sensitising materials

This research explores the capacity of jewellery to be emotionally embedded and to perform a mnemonic function. It investigates the work of European jewellers, jewellery design methods and thought-provoking ways of displaying jewellery in an atypical setting. It is situated in the context of contemporary jewellery design and practice and aims to expand our knowledge of the potential of materials and new technologies to advance opportunities for the making of jewellery as an artefact with the capacity to be a carrier of emotions and memories. Throughout, the author utilises concepts of sensitising materials and notions of narrative quality. A body of work comprising nineteen publications including a chapter from a monograph book by the author is presented. The academic outputs illustrate a range of approaches from the theoretical and the experimental to exploratory qualitative methods. The findings, testing innovative materials and new technologies contribute to our understanding of technical and aesthetic solutions to the problematics of investing jewellery with memories and emotions through the application of both digital technologies and traditional craft techniques. The results were then applied in qualitative contexts, firstly to explore their capacity to support the designing and making and secondly, in a collaborative setting to explore the capacity of this novel practice for enhancing well-being. The distinctive contribution to knowledge comprises, in part, reflections on the materiality of the object from the jewellery maker’s perspective. The purpose is to further an understanding of the role of emotionally and mnemonically embedded jewellery both in everyday life and as an agent of well-being. In doing so, it can be seen as: extending the work of anthropologist Ingold; informing the theory of jewellery initiated by Lindermann; and as refining conceptualisations of the capacity of emotionally charged jewellery for enhancing well-being.</div

Innovative Developments in HCI and Future Trends

The recent developments in technology have made noteworthy positive impacts on the human computer interaction (HCI). It is now possible to interact with computers using voice commands, touchscreen, eye movement etc. This paper compiles some of the innovative HCI progresses in the modern desktop and mobile computing and identifies some future research directions

The design of personal ambient displays

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Program in Media Arts & Sciences, 1999.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 58-59).The goal of this thesis is to investigate the design of personal ambient displays. These are small, physical devices worn to display information to a person in a subtle, persistent, and private manner. They can be small enough to be carried in a pocket, worn as a watch, or even adorned like jewelry. In my implementations, information is displayed solely through tactile modalities such as thermal change (heating and cooling), movement (shifting and vibration), and change of shape (expanding, contracting, and deformation). Using a tactile display allows information to be kept private and reduces the chance of overloading primary visual and auditory activities. The display can remain ambient, transmitting information in the background of a person's perception through simple, physical means. The specific focus of this thesis is to create a number of these tactile displays, to identify and implement applications they can serve, and to evaluate aspects of their effectiveness. I have created a group of small, wireless objects that can warm up and cool down or gently move or shift. Users can reconfigure each display so that information sources like stock data or the activity of people on the internet are mapped to these different tactile modalities. Furthermore, in this thesis I consider the implications that human perception have on the design of these displays and examine potential application areas for further implementations.Craig Alexander Wisneski.S.M

Architecture as friendly interface a digital information facility for the village of Islamorada

As the objects of technology advance, today’s ubiquitous computers may soon vacate our desktops to inhabit society as cultural artifacts. This thesis explores individual’s relationships with current communication technologies. The consideration of scale in future information systems opens the door to opportunities for improvement. Architecture becomes the medium to relieve the issues of misinformation in Islamorada, Florida. Future communication systems as conceptualized by the Cranbrook Academy of Art Industrial Design students, as well as similar systems implemented by M.l.T Media Lab students, were reviewed. Retrieving information will no longer be limited to the remote access of a computer. Information accessing will now involve interaction at an environmental scale, through the medium of walls, ceilings, furniture, etc. The examination of the Islamorada context reveals the challenge to design a progressive information facility, where island residents do not sense invasion by modern technology. The Information Facility that I am proposing for the Village of Islamorada can best be characterized as an interface, where relationships are mediated between the individual and the invisible information world. By recognizing opportunities within the concept of interface, a media center emerges, providing Islamorada residents non-intimidating access to the advanced world of digital information

Toward a social psychophysics of face communication

As a highly social species, humans are equipped with a powerful tool for social communication—the face, which can elicit multiple social perceptions in others due to the rich and complex variations of its movements, morphology, and complexion. Consequently, identifying precisely what face information elicits different social perceptions is a complex empirical challenge that has largely remained beyond the reach of traditional research methods. More recently, the emerging field of social psychophysics has developed new methods designed to address this challenge. Here, we introduce and review the foundational methodological developments of social psychophysics, present recent work that has advanced our understanding of the face as a tool for social communication, and discuss the main challenges that lie ahead