213 research outputs found
Touching is Good: An Eidetic Phenomenology of Interface, Interobjectivity, and Interaction in Nintendo\u27s Animal Crossing: Wild World
Situating video games and the meaningful practice of playing video games for future study by the discipline of communication, this eidetic phenomenology centers the focus of such inquiry at the site of the body. As video game studies have heretofore largely ignored or presupposed a bifurcation between player and video game, a phenomenology is likewise crucial to investigating the lived experience of video gaming as an embodied activity by theoretically eschewing such subject/object distinctions and methodologically generating genuinely new, heuristic spaces for thinking about this phenomenon. In particular, the existential phenomenology of Maurice Merleau-Ponty, which emphasizes the body as necessarily enworlded, offers an insightful conceptualization of the video game playerâs intentional and meaningful endeavor. Merleau-Pontyâs latter work specifically details the intricacies of a bodyâs sense of touch, outlining three specific modalities: âa touching of the sleek and the rough,â a âtouching of the things,â and âa veritable touching of the touch.â The notion of touch is also key in portraying the already-imbricated nature of player and video game. Using these modalities as frames for organizing experience, I enact performative playings of the video game Animal Crossing: Wild World by Nintendo. This study proceeds methodologically by way of the three-step phenomenological method outlined by Merleau-Ponty â one that necessarily entails a description, a reduction, and an interpretation. Performative playings generate descriptive data later thematized as capta in order to synthetically produce acta, or an interpretive orientation toward the data/capta relationship. Each of three phenomenological reflections respectively examines one of these modalities. The first reflection (upon âa touching of the sleek and the roughâ) explores the ways in which the sensual touch of the player both intersects with a new material technology that facilitates game play (the Nintendo DS video game console) by way of a touch-sensitive interface, and âcrisscrossesâ with a playerâs embodied sense of sight. Framed by the human-technology-world relations outlined by technoscience philosopher Don Ihde, descriptions of these intersections and crisscrosses yield interpretations of a corporeal schema with specific embodied preferences for action in various gamic spaces: a being-in-the-(game)world. The second reflection (upon âa touching of the thingsâ) interrogates my interobjective relations with other enworlded body-objects. While I have a body that interacts with this technology, I also am a body â a material object grounded in the self-same flesh of the world. By way of Vivian Sobchackâs philosophy of interobjectivity, I recognize that I am a passionate video game player, and literally re- cognize my primordial, immanent and embodied abilities as both subjective object and objective subject to interpret my experiences being âtouchedâ by the objects of the game world (whose inhabitance I detailed in the first reflection). The third reflection (upon âa veritable touching of the touchâ) uses the first two as an experiential ground to explore the ways in which I and other players âkeep in touchâ by playing video games. My descriptions of these video gaming experiences indicate the presence of Roman Jakobsonâs six elements and correlative functions integral to an understanding of human communication, specifically situating video games for study by the discipline of communication. Playing video games is an interactive practice that synthesizes the analog (both/and) logic of human player-subjects and the digital (either/or) logic of game-objects as they emerge from an undifferentiated, chiasmic interrelationship. Operating from a digital-analog logic allows players to convert contexts of choice into choices of context
Characterizing the Effects of Local Latency on Aim Performance in First Person Shooters
Real-time games such as first-person shooters (FPS) are sensitive to even small amounts of lag. The effects of network latency have been studied, but less is known about local latency -- that is, the lag caused by local sources such as input devices, displays, and the application. While local latency is important to gamers, we do not know how it affects aiming performance and whether we can reduce its negative effects. To explore these issues, we tested local latency in a variety of real-world gaming systems and carried out a controlled study focusing on targeting and tracking activities in an FPS game with varying degrees of local latency. In addition, we tested the ability of a lag compensation technique (based on aim assistance) to mitigate the negative effects. To motivate the need for these studies, we also examined how aim in FPS differs from pointing in standard 2D tasks, showing significant differences in performance metrics. Our studies found local latencies in the real-world range from 23 to 243~ms that cause significant and substantial degradation in performance (even for latencies as low as 41~ms). The studies also showed that our compensation technique worked well, reducing the problems caused by lag in the case of targeting, and removing the problem altogether in the case of tracking. Our work shows that local latency is a real and substantial problem -- but game developers can mitigate the problem with appropriate compensation methods
Digital Games For 21st Century Learning: Teacher Librarians\u27 Beliefs And Practices
Digital games as tools for learning in Kâ12 have been a topic of intense discussion over the last 15 years. One area of focus has been on the integration of commercial off-the-shelf games in lesson plans. A predictive factor for the adoption and integration of digital games is the attitudes or readiness of teachers. Yet, while many studies have examined this with teachers themselves, teacher librarians (TLs) have largely been ignored, despite the key role they play in education and technology adoption in schools. This study attempted to determine TLsâ beliefs and practices about digital games as 21st century learning tools, to examine similarities and differences with those of classroom teachers, and to see if and how TLsâ pedagogical beliefs impacted their perceptions of barriers toward digital game adoption. The Teachersâ Attitudes Toward Games (TATG) Survey measured TLsâ perceptions of barriers to using digital games. Findings suggest that TLs tended to use digital games to address discrete library skillsâa behaviorist practiceâdespite the fact that they tended to hold constructivist pedagogical beliefs. Though, evidence showed that some were using games to integrate 21st century skills into classroom lessons. Similar to findings on classroom teachers, TLs perceived lack of time, lack of infrastructure, and lack of support as barriers to using digital games. Furthermore, TLs with behaviorist beliefs tended to perceive greater barriers to using digital games as compared to TLs with constructivist beliefs
'Sand in the hand': young people's relationships with commercial media in the digital age
This thesis explores young people's experiences of contemporary, commercial media.
It aims to provide a holistic understanding of new and more traditional media use.The study draws its theoretical framework from the fields of communication studies,
consumer behaviour, cultural studies, marketing, sociology and social psychology.
Despite several studies investigating young people and new media, a richer
understanding of media consumption is needed, located within an ever more
commercialised landscape. Assumptions of new media participation are frequently
taken for granted, with limited critical analysis of the consumer experience. Studies
from a marketing perspective have focused exclusively on managerial effectiveness to
the detriment of consumer realities. Moving beyond media effects, it takes an active
consumer-centered approach, contextualising new media consumption within the
everyday lives of young people. It compares and contrasts practitioner tactics with
young people's lived experiences of new and traditional media.Multiple methods of enquiry were used, informed by an interpretive approach. The
initial fieldwork consisted of 15 interviews with 'expert' agency practitioners,
investigating perceptions of youth marketing and the tactics deployed. Following a
pilot study, the main consumer phase explored the mediated experiences of
adolescents aged 13-17. A total of 175 secondary school pupils from three diverse
school settings participated. Each completed a self-completion questionnaire, a
smaller sample also contributing a time-based diary. 45 pupils participated in the
qualitative phase, guided by the principles of phenomenology. Photo-elicitation and
psycho-drawing techniques were utilised to enrichen discussions.The new media experiences of young people in this study were indeed bound up in
their everyday lives. Young people were found to have a complex range of 'newmedia'
experiences, embedded in their 'in home' and 'out of home' lifestyles. Their
active use of the internet, for mood enhancement, experiential learning, escapism and
communication, rarely encompassed commercial motivations. Of several barriers to
new media use, online practitioner tactics caused the greatest concern. For many
young people, such actions were deeply de-motivating, constituting an unwanted
intrusion, in contrast to the symbiotic relationship synonymous with traditional
advertising. Their consequent elusiveness is epitomised through the metaphor "sand
in the hand"
Copyright Protection of Software
Computer technology has developed within the last decades with many advancements which require intellectual property protections. This thesis addresses the need for the legal protection of software by the vast body of copyright laws. This thesis examines the history, nature, textual and practical compositions of copyright laws and their adaptability to computer technology. The thesis further analyses the scope of copyright protection with emphasis on the Computer Software Copyright Act of 1980 (CSCA), the regime of international conventions for the protection of software as well as other statutory protections for the owners and users of the software. The thesis concludes with recommendations for improving software protection as a national and international matter while retaining the current framework
Mustang Daily, May 9, 2007
Student newspaper of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA.https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/studentnewspaper/7603/thumbnail.jp
The End of Ownership: Personal Property in the Digital Economy
An argument for retaining the notion of personal property in the products we âbuyâ in the digital marketplace.
The open access edition of this book was made possible by generous funding from Arcadia â a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin.
If you buy a book at the bookstore, you own it. You can take it home, scribble in the margins, put in on the shelf, lend it to a friend, sell it at a garage sale. But is the same thing true for the ebooks or other digital goods you buy? Retailers and copyright holders argue that you don\u27t own those purchases, you merely license them. That means your ebook vendor can delete the book from your device without warning or explanationâas Amazon deleted Orwell\u27s 1984 from the Kindles of surprised readers several years ago. These readers thought they owned their copies of 1984. Until, it turned out, they didn\u27t. In The End of Ownership, Aaron Perzanowski and Jason Schultz explore how notions of ownership have shifted in the digital marketplace, and make an argument for the benefits of personal property.
Of course, ebooks, cloud storage, streaming, and other digital goods offer users convenience and flexibility. But, Perzanowski and Schultz warn, consumers should be aware of the tradeoffs involving user constraints, permanence, and privacy. The rights of private property are clear, but few people manage to read their end user agreements. Perzanowski and Schultz argue that introducing aspects of private property and ownership into the digital marketplace would offer both legal and economic benefits. But, most important, it would affirm our sense of self-direction and autonomy. If we own our purchases, we are free to make whatever lawful use of them we please. Technology need not constrain our freedom; it can also empower us.https://repository.law.umich.edu/books/1114/thumbnail.jp
Healthy Eyes, Healthy Life: The Viewing Distance Monitor
As we enter the era of technological advancements, our lives are becoming more convenient and connected than ever before. However, the health problems caused by technology must be addressed. In daily life, many people have the unhealthy habit of staring at screens for prolonged periods of time, which can lead to various health issues. These problems arise from two main issues: prolonged screen time and improper distance between the eyes and screen.
To address these issues, I have designed a distance monitoring system. This computer- vision-based system monitors the viewing distance of users in real-time and alerts them to maintain a healthy distance from the screen through prompts
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