Självbiografiskt skapande

Licentiatuppsatsen handlar om självbiografiskt skapande och tar utgångspunkt i tre huvudspår. Det första är den egna positionens roll och hur man skulle kunna argumentera för en individuell objektivitet. Det andra behandlar medieringen av jaget oc

Design side by side

The starting point for most of what is written here is people with disabilities. Situations of great difficulty need to be highly prioritized, for their own sake and also because that which first appears to be “special” sooner or later comes to benefit s

A socio-material ecology of the distributed self

When distributed to different artefacts, the self appears in a multitude of shapes, characterized not only by its materiality but also by the necessity to preserve at least an illusion of a core self. The experience of a continuous evolution of these overlapping “selves”, many of which are materialized together with others’ overlapping selves, cannot be captured by traditional design approaches, nor can ethical aspects and conflicts of the right to express yourself through artefacts. This article, with its empirical basis in an interdisciplinary EU funded project, PalCom, is an attempt to test both ecological concepts and relationships and sociological (actants, actor-network-theory) ones. No meaningful separations are observed between the human ecology and sociology and the artefactual ones. Instead, it is the whole system of people, practices, values, and technologies in a particular situatedness that is meaningful to pinpoint and elaborate. In this text, the notion of the distributed self will be discussed. By this I mean the way artefacts are included in the study of an individual. There are many things to be considered when thinking of the socio-materiality of this distributed self. Here, two different approaches are tested, separately and intertwined: a sociological and an ecological

Mina medicinska bilder

Medicin, sett som ett epistemologiskt system, har delat upp kunskapen om människan och hennes sjukdomar i ett allt större antal mindre delar. Detta har visat sig vara både ett effektivt och nödvändigt sätt att skapa och använda kunskap. Det är givetvis b

Studies of Phonons and Phase Transitions by Time-Resolved X-ray Diffraction

When light is used to study structures, the wavelength limits the size of the details that can be resolved. Visible light can be used to investigate structures as small as a micrometre in size. To study smaller structures a shorter wavelength is required. The wavelength of hard X-ray radiation is much shorter than that of visible light, and is comparable to the distance between atoms in solids and liquids, which is a few tenths of a nanometre. X-ray diffraction can thus be used to study structures on the atomic scale, and by conducting the measurements with high time resolution the atomic motion can be mapped. The absorption of intense ultrashort laser pulses in solid materials can trigger a multitude of processes. Heating arising from the deposition of energy leads to rapid expansion, creating coherently excited phonons. The properties of the material are changed by the large number of excited carriers, for instance enhancement of the heat conductivity. Very intense pulses may even induce melting. Time-resolved X-ray diffraction can then be used to directly measure the changes in the structure. As the material cools down the molten material solidifies, and the surface can develop sub-micrometre periodic structures. Not only laser pulses induce structural changes. Electric pulses can generate largeamplitude acoustic pulses in piezoelectric materials, which can then trigger phase transitions between different solid structures. Using time-resolved X-ray diffraction it is possible to follow the transition in real time. The work described in this thesis has been focused mainly on experimental studies of structural dynamics with picosecond time resolution. The results obtained have, among other things, helped in the understanding of the various processes involved in the melting and subsequent regrowth of semiconductors, as well as the dynamics of the photocarriers following intense laser excitation

The I in Design

This thesis describes the relations between objects, practices, and individuals. The main objective is to explore the role of artefacts in user-centred participatory design research, specifically for expressing and communicating personal experiences and creating meaning. In a broad sense I draw on experiences from three practices in order to define the scope of the thesis. The first is practice-led research, the second is design research specifically in the user-centred and participatory design traditions, and the third is concerned with the ways lay persons in general express themselves by and through objects and technology. The focus will be on the exchange of knowledge and experiences between two individuals: the researcher and the informant. One issue of interest is how communication can be made possible. Another is the use of artefacts for personal expression. A third is the constant balancing act when using the experiences and knowledge of a single or a few informants in design research. The first half of the thesis is based on two design cases. Their common denominator is the exploration of how people can introduce their personal perspectives on their health situation into the medical context through the use of expressive artefacts. The first is a study of personal visualisations of experienced health (papers I, II). A future practice of routinely creating and using (instrumental) images based on emotions, meaning and subjectivity in rehabilitation and healthcare is proposed. The second case describes the development of a personal digital device, the Memory Stone used for storing and sharing personal and clinical information (papers III, IV). The case involves pregnant women but the device can be used wherever there is an interest in keeping personal diaries, handling medical information in novels ways, and interacting with information technology at home and in healthcare. The second half of the thesis is an explorative venture grounded partly in the empirical work described in the first half, partly in extensive reading of literature from a wide range of disciplines. Three main areas have been included to discuss the relationship between humans, objects, technology, and self-narratives: a technology of the self (the self as image and data), a science of the self (autoethnography), and autobiographies. The intention is to set the stage for a critical and productive discussion on how the notion of autobiographic practice can inform and enrich design research methodology

Emotional images in medicine

This paper introduces ideas for future research that explore non-diagnostic uses of images in medicine. The dynamics are studied from a subjective and emotional perspective, a standpoint common in art and design but rarely considered relevant in academic medicine and science. The fundamental aim of the project is to study how images can influence and alter the afflicted individuals’ experiences of body and health, and contribute to enhanced feelings of well-being, participation and joy in everyday life. There is a growing public interest in medical images, both in popular science but also in the private and personal spheres, one example being the controversial use of foetal keepsake videos as recreational images. There seems to be an increasing need for people being able to see, and consequently know, more about themselves and their medical situations. Emotionally and individually designed images will probably play an important role in future healthcare, both as an integrated part of regular medicine and as private emancipative artefacts. A series of design criteria are discussed concerning the format of the images, i.e. original or modified clinical images and individually designed images based on personal demands and needs. Different modes of use are discussed, ranging from informational, educational and communicative to emotional and recreational, with the experiences of well-being and emancipation as common denominators. An outline for future research is presented discussing potential user groups, functional specifications including accessibility and flexibility as well as questions of ethics, economics, intellectual property rights and confidentiality