Aesthetic experience of or in the city

UIDB/00183/2020 UIDP/00183/2020 DL 57/2016/CP1453/CT0098 PTDC/FER-FIL/32042/2017The notion of aesthetic experience attempts to account for an important part of human experience and, although it embraces an immense and multifaceted variety, the complexity and vagueness of which have been an authentic challenge to its definition (to the point that some suggest its conceptual uselessness), it is still crucial and decisive for an entire philosophical discipline: aesthetics – which is not to be confused with the philosophy of art, although it often intersects with it. This chapter considers the case of the city – which is not so much an object as a multifaceted and fragmented environment where aesthetic experiences can occur – in order to attempt to elucidate (or at least to make a contribution to the elucidation of) the meaning and scope of this philosophical topic.publishersversionpublishe

building cinematic urban space through sound

UID/EAT/00693/2013 UID/FIL/00183/2013publishersversionpublishe

Hitting the “play” button: the aesthetic values of videogame experience

In just a few decades, there's been the birth and fast rise of a recreational activity that implies the interaction between one or multiple players with electronic devices, normally, known as videogames. Being a very complex process and a multi-sensorial practice, playing with videogames produces intense and fulfilling experiences for all those who engage in such activity. Here, I intend to show how those experiences entail relevant aesthetic – and also cognitive and ethical – values for philosophical discussion

Pós-processamento de fibras óticas para aplicações de sensores

In this work optical fiber post-processing techniques are proposed in order to produce optical fiber sensors (OFS) with lower costs, simplicity and with competitive characteristics compared with their counterparts. The first device was based on multimode interferometers. Those were fabricated by fusing multimode (MM) glass silica fibers (GOF) and MM polymer optical fibers (POF) between two single mode GOFs. For the GOF-based sensor, it was obtained a sensitivity of 4.6 pm/bar. Regarding the POF-based multimodal interferometer, a sensitivity of 58 pm/bar was reached, which corresponds to an enhancement of the sensitivity of twelve times when compared to the one obtained for GOF. Additionally, this sensitivity is five times higher than the one obtained for the POF Bragg grating technology. This improvement in sensitivity makes this sensor very promising since it can reach higher resolutions. The second fiber optic sensor discussed in this work consisted of mechanically induced long period gratings. These were obtained through very simple fabrication methodologies, which consisted of a periodical distribution of photopolymerizable resin onto a single mode GOF, followed by chemical corrosion, which allowed to periodically modulate the fiber diameter. This production method is more advantageous than its direct rivals since it applies cheap and easy to reproduce production techniques and does not require the use of photolithography or chemical vapor deposition technologies. The characterization of this structure to external parameters, such as: longitudinal strain, displacement and temperature revealed promising capabilities, since they allowed, not only the wavelength tuning of the spectral band, but also the optical power coupling strength. The results were very promising, as far as the displacement characterizations are concerned, since a measurement range of 0 - 60 mm was obtained, which is larger than those reported in the literature (i.e. up to 2 mm).Neste trabalho são propostas técnicas de pós-processamento de fibras óticas com o intuito de produzir sensores de fibra ótica de fácil fabrico, com baixo custo e com características competitivas comparadas com os demais sensores. O primeiro dispositivo baseou-se em interferómetros multimodais. Estes foram feitos através da fusão de fibras óticas multimodo tanto de vidro (GOF) como de polímero (POF) entre duas fibras óticas monomodo de vidro. Para o sensor à base de GOF foi obtida uma sensibilidade de 4.6 pm/bar. Já para o interferómetro multimodal baseado em POF, foi obtida uma sensibilidade de 58 pm/bar, que corresponde a uma melhoria da sensibilidade de doze vezes quando comparada com o sensor baseado em GOF. Além disso, esta é cinco vezes superior à obtida para tecnologia de redes de Bragg em POF. Esta melhoria na sensibilidade torna este sensor muito promissor, uma vez que permite obter resoluções muito maiores. O segundo sensor de fibra ótica abordado neste trabalho consistiu em redes de período longo mecanicamente induzidas. Estas foram obtidas através de metodologias de simples fabricação, que consistiam em distribuir periodicamente resina fotopolimerizável numa GOF-monomodo, seguido de um processo de corrosão química que permitiu modular periodicamente o diâmetro da fibra. Este método de produção é muito mais vantajoso comparado com os seus rivais diretos, uma vez que aplica técnicas de produção baratas e de simples reprodução, não exigindo a utilização de tecnologias de fotolitografia ou de deposição química de vapor. A caraterização desta estrutura a parâmetros externos, tais como: tensão longitudinal, deslocamento e temperatura revelaram capacidades promissoras, uma vez que permitiram não só a sintonização da banda espetral tanto em comprimento de onda como também em potência ótica de acoplamento. Os resultados foram bastante promissores no que concerne às caraterizações do deslocamento, uma vez que se obteve uma gama de medição de 0 - 60 mm, o que é maior que aquelas reportadas na literatura (i.e. até 2 mm).Mestrado em Engenharia Físic

Functions as types or the "Hoare logic" of functional dependencies

Inspired by the trend on unifying theories of programming, this paper shows how the algebraic treatment of standard data dependency theory equips relational data with functional types and an associated type system which is useful for type checking database operations and for query optimization. Such a typed approach to database programming is then shown to be of the same family as other programming logics such as eg. Hoare logic or that of strongest invariant functions which has been used in the analysis of while statements. The prospect of using automated deduction systems such as Prover9 for type-checking and query optimization on top of such an algebraic approach is considered.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT

"Bagatelle in C arranged for VDM SoLo"

This paper sketches a reverse engineering discipline which combines formal and semi-formal methods. Central to the former is denotational semantics, expressed in the ISO/IEC 13817-1 standard specification language (VDM-SL). This is strengthened with algebra of pro- gramming, which is applied in “reverse order” so as to reconstruct formal specifications from legacy code. The latter include code slicing, a “shortcut” which trims down the complexity of handling the formal semantics of all program variables at the same time. A key point of the approach is its constructive style. Reverse calculations go as far as absorbing auxiliary variables, introducing mutual recursion (if applicable) and reversing semantic denota- tions into standard generic programming schemata such as cata/paramorphisms. The approach is illustrated for a small piece of code already studied in the code-slicing literature: Kernighan and Richtie’s word count C programming “bagatelle”.FC

Towards a linear algebra of programming

The Algebra of Programming (AoP) is a discipline for programming from specifications using relation algebra. Specification vagueness and nondeterminism are captured by relations. (Final) implemen- tations are functions. Probabilistic functions are half way between relations and functions: they express the propensity, or like- lihood of ambiguous, multiple outputs. This paper puts forward a basis for a Linear Algebra of Programming (LAoP) extending standard AoP towards probabilistic functions. Because of the quantitative essence of these functions, the allegory of binary relations which supports the AoP has to be extended. We show that, if one restricts to discrete probability spaces, categories of matrices provide adequate support for the extension, while preserving the pointfree reasoning style typical of the AoP.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT

Metaphorisms in programming

This paper introduces the metaphorism pattern of relational specification and addresses how specification following this pattern can be refined into recursive programs. Metaphorisms express input-output relationships which preserve relevant information while at the same time some intended optimization takes place. Text processing, sorting, representation changers, etc., are examples of metaphorisms. The kind of metaphorism refinement proposed in this paper is a strategy known as change of virtual data structure. It gives sufficient conditions for such implementations to be calculated using relation algebra and illustrates the strategy with the derivation of quicksort as example.The author wishes to thank the anonymous referees for their comments and suggestions. This work is funded by ERDF - European Regional Development Fund through the COMPETE Programme (operational programme for competitiveness) and by National Funds through the FCT - Funda¸c˜ao para a Ciˆencia e a Tecnologia (Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology) within project FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-02053

"Explosive" programming controlled by calculation

In the design of a functional library in the area of data-mining several algorithmic patterns have been identified which call for generic programming. Some of these have to do with flattening functions which arise in a particular group of hierarchical systems. In this paper we describe our efforts to make such functionalities generic. We start by a generic induc- tive construction of the intended class of hierarchical types. We conclude by relating the structure of the relevant base-functors with the algebraic structure which is required by the generic flattening functionality, in particular concerning its “deforestation” towards a linearly complex implementation. The instances we provide as examples include the widely known bill of materials “explode” operation.FC