New Media and Interactivity

Digital/video games1 have entertained for 40 years and are a medium with the ability to reach a vast audience. In an article published in the Sydney Morning Herald, Charles Purcell reports that; “Globally, Halo 2 has sold more than 7 million copies. Both in the US and Australia it broke the film box-office record for the most earnings in the first 24 hours of release. The worldwide Halo 2 community on X-box Live has about 400,000 players… at the World Cyber Games in Seoul. Last year, gold medallist Matthew Leto won $US20,000 ($AUS27,0000) after his second consecutive Halo title.” 2. Game consoles have become a part of many lounge rooms just as the television did before them. Games are even commonplace in many coat pockets and carrying bags. This dissertation is concerned with the medium of digital/video games in relation to its effect on Game Art. It is also concerned with the concept of my studio work that deals with “evil” and the “uncanny” which are discussed in chapter four. My research looks at games and how they have developed and the relationship to contemporary art. A history of this development is explored in chapter two. My research will help me in developing an interactive piece. Throughout my current research the thoughts of author of The Second Self: Computers and the Human Spirit Sherry Turkle resonate: “…not what will the computer be like in the future, but instead, what will we be like? What kind of people are we becoming?” 3 It is interesting to consider the video/digital games as experiments of who we are or who we would like to be, little fantasies of empowerment. In a game we are able to live out our frustrations or fantasies in a closed and predictable experience

Product liability for ADAS; legal and human factors perspectives

A variety of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) has been and is still being developed, aiming to make car driving more comfortable and safe, while at the same time enhancing traffic efficiency. However, the successful implementation of ADAS is affected by a variety of technical and non-technical issues, one of them being possible implications in the field of legal liability. Potential liability of system developers and car manufacturers is often labelled as a barrier for the rapid deployment of new technology. In the present contribution the European Product Liability Directive’s concept of a defective product is described and analysed from both a legal and a human factors perspective. In legal debates concerning product liability, generally two different approaches can be distinguished, one which is based on consumer expectations and a second which focuses, rather, on a risk-benefit analysis. As will be explained, the two may be seen as complementary and not as being mutually exclusive.Both tests can only be properly applied with the help of human factor expertise

The University-Industry Demonstration Partnership: An Incremental Improvement to University-Industry Collaboration

The cover of the July/August 2007 issue of the Harvard Business Review has two phrases that sum up the goals of university-industry collaboration: ‘Managing for the Long Term’ and ‘Going the Distance’. Although those phrases were meant for companies, these phrases accurately reflect what university-industry collaborations and the University-Industry Demonstration Partnership (UIDP) are all about. Put another way, university-industry collaborations are critical long-term infrastructure developments. Managing for the long term should be a goal for all managers of these partnerships. This chapter addresses a number of topics. First, it discusses recent initiatives in the United States to strengthen these collaborations, particularly the University-Industry Partnership Project (UIPP). Then, it transitions to discuss the UIDP and its first demonstration project— TurboNegotiator (TN). Lastly, the chapter makes some concluding observations about the UIDP, TN, and university-industry collaborations in general

Warble infestations in some Canadian caribou and their significance

Warble fly larvae (Oedemagena tarandi) occurred in 97-100% of barren-ground caribou (R.t. groen-landicus) sampled in March from the Beverly herd. In December, they occurred in 98% of males and 75% of females. Larvae numbers increased up to several-fold from December to March. Within age classes, males generally were more heavily infected than females. Annual differences were small. Larvae occurred in 14 and 26% of two populations of Peary caribou (Rangifer tarandus pearyi) on the Canadian Arctic Islands. In them, incidences of larvae were unrelated to sex or age. Greater than average numbers of larvae in barren-ground caribou sometimes were associated with females in relatively poor condition and therefore less fecund. These results are discussed in relation to current hypotheses of the factors that affect warble infections

Introducing Advanced Driver Assistance Systems

The introduction of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) in road traffic induces many complex questions. One of them is whether or not present legislation frameworks are able to accommodate a smooth development and market implementation of ADAS. This is strongly related to the aspect of traffic safety. The various aspects related to this issue are categorised based on an exploration of the functionality and possible failure of ADAS. Next, some problem categories are more in-depth elaborated. In particular attention is paid to the need for establishing safety requirements to the design and marketing of ADAS as well as the issue of liability regulation. It is concluded that decision making on safety requirements mainly takes place at an international level. However, so far hardly any requirements regarding ADAS have been laid down in compulsory rules yet. It is further concluded that current legal frameworks in both the fields of vehicle safety standards and liability provide for (some) flexibility towards technical developments regarding ADAS, i.e. these frameworks do not contain many ‘hard rules’ obstructing the introduction of ADAS. Concerning the safety regulation of ADAS it is argued that the speed of technological developments and the innovative and specific nature of ADAS technology generate various tensions. These tensions should have consequences for the weight that is put on public and private intervention mechanisms and the relation between preventive safety standards and reactive regimes such as product liability and post-market controls

Naar een toekomstbestendig compensatiesysteem voor verkeersongevallen:Over zelfrijdende auto’s, herstelgerichte schadeafwikkeling en de mogelijkheden van een systeem van directe schadeverzekering

Nieuwe ontwikkelingen, zoals de opkomst van de zelfrijdende auto en het groeiende inzicht in het anti-therapeutische effect van de afwikkeling van letselschade, leiden tot het hernieuwd overdenken van ons compensatiesysteem voor verkeersongevallen. Het verbond van verzekeraars begint in 2021 met WA-direct, een eerste innovatieve stap, nog op basis van het huidige aansprakelijkheidsrecht maar met het oog op meer. In dit artikel worden deze ontwikkelingen besproken en met elkaar in verband gebracht. De mogelijkheden van een stelsel van directe schadeverzekering worden vergeleken met die van het aansprakelijkheidsrecht en WA-direct