An integration framework for managing rich organisational process knowledge

The problem we have addressed in this dissertation is that of designing a pragmatic framework for integrating the synthesis and management of organisational process knowledge which is based on domain-independent AI planning and plan representations. Our solution has focused on a set of framework components which provide methods, tools and representations to accomplish this task.In the framework we address a lifecycle of this knowledge which begins with a methodological approach to acquiring information about the process domain. We show that this initial domain specification can be translated into a common constraint-based model of activity (based on the work of Tate, 1996c and 1996d) which can then be operationalised for use in an AI planner. This model of activity is ontologically underpinned and may be expressed with a flexible and extensible language based on a sorted first-order logic. The model combines perspectives covering both the space of behaviour as well as the space of decisions. Synthesised or modified processes/plans can be translated to and from the common representation in order to support knowledge sharing, visualisation and mixed-initiative interaction.This work united past and present Edinburgh research on planning and infused it with perspectives from design rationale, requirements engineering, and process knowledge sharing. The implementation has been applied to a portfolio of scenarios which include process examples from business, manufacturing, construction and military operations. An archive of this work is available at: http://www.aiai.ed.ac.uk/~oplan/cpf

Social interactions of computer games : an activity framework

With the advent of computer games, the Human Computer Interaction (HCI) community has begun studying games, often with the intention of uncovering useful information to inform the design of work-based software. However, most HCI research on computer games focuses on the use of game technologies, often overlooking the fairly large amount of classic game literature. Despite the potential importance of computer game studies in HCI, there is a lack of frameworks that could guide such studies especially with regard to sociability. I believe that sociability is one of the most important criteria game developers may want to apply to game design as computer games are becoming more socialoriented due to the inception of the Internet. Therefore, the main aim of the thesis is to develop a play activity framework with an emphasis on social interactions. To achieve this, first, a comprehensive body of game literature was reviewed as a step to provide a solid foundation for the construction of the framework. Through the extensive review of literature, I chose Activity Theory as the foundation for the framework development. In order to demonstrate the applicability of Activity Theory in analysing computer-mediated social interactions, an exploratory study of online activities in a game community was conducted. Then, two studies were undertaken to formulate the framework by modelling play activities in the social game context. The first study was centred on the individual and collective play activities that take place within the game virtual world. The second study focused on games as a whole participatory culture, in which playing games is not just confined to within the game space but also includes other playful activities governed by norms and specific identities around the game. Through these studies, a play activity framework consisting of three play mode/s was developed: intrinsic, reflective and expansive play models, which are inter-related. The framework provides a vocabulary to describe the component, the motivation and the process of game play. The framework was then operationalised into methodological guidelines with a set of heuristic questions grouped into different categories. The guidelines were applied to analyse two issues, namely community building and social learning, in a Massively Multi-player Online Game (MMOG). As a conclusion, the framework has expanded conventional game studies by emphasising the socio-cultural context. It provides a different perspective on analysing computer games particularly the social aspects of gaming. Game researchers could use the framework to investigate play activities within and beyond the game and how they are related. The framework offers a theoretical explanation of various social activities observed in computer games. Finally, the methodological guidelines derived from the framework are useful as they give directions to analyse play activities particularly social interactions and game communities

The interpretation of copyright protection in video game streaming in Europe

This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University LondonVideo games play an important role in the economic and cultural landscape in Europe and have been the basis for user-generated content of all kinds. Online video gaming in particular has become very popular worldwide. One of the reasons for the ever-increasing popularity of the online video game is that it is available for live game streaming. ‘Let’s Play’ (LP) videos, is a term originated by the gaming community to refer to videos of someone playing a video game, with their audio commentary of the gameplay, which is edited to entertain the audience. LP videos are ‘episodic accounts of a player’s journey’, are very entertaining in nature, and can be broadcasted as pre-recorded videos on video-sharing platforms as well as live streamed. There are three types of LP videos: reviews, playthrough videos with commentary, and playthrough videos without commentary. The first category constitutes reviews of video games. In the second category a viewer can watch the entire or part of the video game being played, while the gamer gives his/her commentary on their experience. In the third category, viewers can watch videos of the entire game being played, with no commentary of the gamer. There is a debate about whether streaming video games online constitutes an act of communication to the public and as such, an online copyright infringement. Article 3 of the Directive 2001/29/EC provides that Member States shall provide authors with the exclusive right to authorise or prohibit any communication to the public of their works, by wire or wireless means, including the making available to the public of their works in such a way that members of the public may access them from a place and at a time individually chosen by them. Given that gamers communicate to the public whole or part of a video game, without the authorisation of the rightholder, it constitutes an unauthorised act of communication to the public. However, economic and strategy reasons have led video game developers to tolerate streaming activity, leaving streamers and platforms that host streaming videos at an uncertain stage regarding the lawfulness of their activities. While review LP videos fall under the exceptions and limitations to the communication to the public right, for the purposes of criticism or review, playthrough videos with and without commentary do not. The thesis interprets the communication to the public right in video game streaming, explores whether hosting service providers (platforms) can effectively take down infringing content as well as whether Internet Service Providers (ISPs) can effectively block access to infringing content. With the deployment of doctrinal and comparative analysis, the thesis brings to the surface the limitations of current online copyright enforcement methods and proposes ways to overcome those obstacles. In an effort to strike a fair balance between the rightholders’ rights, the right to conduct a business, and the freedom of expression, the thesis contributes that for LP videos and live streams to continue to exist, without the risk that they will be taken down after a request made by the rightholders, licence agreement is an alternative and feasible solution. In light of the DSM Directive 2019/790, streaming platforms, such as YouTube and Twitch.tv, perform an act of communication to the public or an act of making available to the public when give the public access to copyright-protected works or other protected subject matter uploaded by its users. Platforms shall be liable for unauthorised act of communication to the public, unless they obtain authorisation from the rightholder, by concluding a licence agreement, or they demonstrate that they have made their best efforts to obtain authorisation. The DSM Directive requires a licence agreement between rightholders and service providers (platforms). It is proposed that the licence agreement, which would allow the streaming of video game content, should be restricted to certain types of video games. Meanwhile, the thesis explores the potential of blockchain technology for the facilitation of the licence agreement. The potential of blockchain technology to process huge amounts of data, to issue digital certificates and the track of the use of non-licensable works would benefit the rightholders, intermediaries, and users

Media Space: an analysis of spatial practices in planar pictorial media.

The thesis analyses the visual space displayed in pictures, film, television and digital interactive media. The argument is developed that depictions are informed by the objectives of the artefact as much as by any simple visual correspondence to the observed world. The simple concept of ‘realism’ is therefore anatomised and a more pragmatic theory proposed which resolves some of the traditional controversies concerning the relation between depiction and vision. This is then applied to the special problems of digital interactive media. An introductory chapter outlines the topic area and the main argument and provides an initial definition of terms. To provide a foundation for the ensuing arguments, a brief account is given of two existing and contrasted approaches to the notion of space: that of perception science which gives priority to acultural aspects, and that of visual culture which emphasises aspects which are culturally contingent. An existing approach to spatial perception (that of JJ Gibson originating in the 1940s and 50s) is applied to spatial depiction in order to explore the differences between seeing and picturing, and also to emphasise the many different cues for spatial perception beyond those commonly considered (such as binocularity and linear perspective). At this stage a simple framework of depiction is introduced which identifies five components or phases: the objectives of the picture, the idea chosen to embody the objectives, the model (essentially, the visual ‘subject matter’), the characteristics of the view and finally the substantive picture or depiction itself. This framework draws attention to the way in which each of the five phases presents an opportunity for decision-making about representation. The framework is used and refined throughout the thesis. Since pictures are considered in some everyday sense to be ‘realistic’ (otherwise, in terms of this thesis, they would not count as depictions), the nature of realism is considered at some length. The apparently unitary concept is broken down into several different types of realism and it is argued that, like the different spatial cues, each lends itself to particular objectives intended for the artefact. From these several types, two approaches to realism are identified, one prioritising the creation of a true illusion (that the picture is in fact a scene) and the other (of which there are innumerably more examples both across cultures and over historical time) one which evokes aspects of vision without aiming to exactly imitate the optical stimulus of the scene. Various reasons for the latter approach, and the variety of spatial practices to which it leads, are discussed. In addition to analysing traditional pictures, computer graphics images are discussed in conjunction with the claims for realism offered by their authors. In the process, informational and affective aspects of picture-making are distinguished, a distinction which it is argued is useful and too seldom made. Discussion of still pictures identifies the evocation of movement (and other aspects of time) as one of the principal motives for departing from attempts at straightforward optical matching. The discussion proceeds to the subject of film where, perhaps surprisingly now that the depiction of movement is possible, the lack of straightforward imitation of the optical is noteworthy again. This is especially true of the relationship between shots rather than within them; the reasons for this are analysed. This reinforces the argument that the spatial form of the fiction film, like that of other kinds of depiction, arises from its objectives, presenting realism once again as a contingent concept. The separation of depiction into two broad classes – one which aims to negate its own mediation, to seem transparent to what it depicts, and one which presents the fact of depiction ostensively to the viewer – is carried through from still pictures, via film, into a discussion of factual television and finally of digital interactive media. The example of factual television is chosen to emphasise how, despite the similarities between the technologies of film and television, spatial practices within some television genres contrast strongly with those of the mainstream fiction film. By considering historic examples, it is shown that many of the spatial practices now familiar in factual television were gradually expunged from the classical film when the latter became centred on the concerns of narrative fiction. By situating the spaces of interactive media in the context of other kinds of pictorial space, questions are addressed concerning the transferability of spatial usages from traditional media to those which are interactive. During the thesis the spatial practices of still-picture-making, film and television are characterised as ‘mature’ and ‘expressive’ (terms which are defined in the text). By contrast the spatial practices of digital interactive media are seen to be immature and inexpressive. It is argued that this is to some degree inevitable given the context in which interactive media artefacts are made and experienced – the lack of a shared ‘language’ or languages in any new media. Some of the difficult spatial problems which digital interactive media need to overcome are identified, especially where, as is currently normal, interaction is based on the relation between a pointer and visible objects within a depiction. The range of existing practice in digital interactive media is classified in a seven-part taxonomy, which again makes use of the objective-idea-model-view-picture framework, and again draws out the difference between self-concealing approaches to depiction and those which offer awareness of depiction as a significant component of the experience. The analysis indicates promising lines of enquiry for the future and emphasises the need for further innovation. Finally the main arguments are summarised and the thesis concludes with a short discussion of the implications for design arising from the key concepts identified – expressivity and maturity, pragmatism and realism

Dictionaries in the European Enlightenment: a testimony to the civilization of its time and the foundations of modern Europe

The text presents a plan for an international and multidisciplinary research project that is under preparation now and which is looking for collaborators from other universities or research centers. It aims to investigate the role that played monolingual, bilingual, and multilingual dictionaries published in the 18th century in the constitution of modern Europe as we know it now. It is well known that in the 18th century there appeared many dictionaries in various European countries. These dictionaries were mainly monolingual but there appeared many bilingual or plurilingual ones as well. They had a wide range of functions: linguistic (to write and understand texts), but also symbolic, representing the development and the level of civilization and prestige that a given language of culture had in times previous to 19th-century European linguistic nationalisms. Another aspect is text-oriented and text-based: the 18th-century dictionaries used to be built on relatively large sources of contemporary texts and they reflected the level of knowledge in various subjects. Therefore, they can be considered testimonies of contemporary linguistic thinking and the applied linguistics, but at the same time, they resume the development of science, legal thought, political science, etc., illustrating how knowledge spread in the Enlightenment at the international level. The project seeks to unite researchers dedicated to the linguistic historiography of philologies of European languages, historians of natural sciences, law, and social and political history, among other disciplines. It aims to offer a map of the intellectual and political globalization that began to take place in the 18th century as it is reflected in its dictionaries. The project currently counts with a small group of researchers from linguistic historiography of Romance languages. Researchers of the historiography of other European philologies are welcome and needed, and so are historians of natural and social sciences specialized in the 18th century. The main aim of the project is to stop working in parallel, horizontal and vertical, tunnels and to form a network, necessary for this type of transdisciplinary research