7 An Interactive Installation: Explorations In The Digital, The Spiritual, And The Uncanny

This thesis explores the application of digital technologies in the creation of visionary or transformative artwork. The installation emphasizes number, color, symmetry, and the human form to create symbolic compositions patterned after ancient archetypes. Background research was done to inform the work through studies of the principles of visionary and transformative artwork as practiced by Ernst Fuchs, De Es Schwertberger, and Alex Grey. Connections between art and spirituality as explained by Kandinsky were studied to augment these principles. The sequence of artwork within the installation is comprised of both digital paintings and interactive triptych panels. To convey a sense of the mystical or sacred, the Rothko Chapel was used to inform the installation and serve as an artistic precedent. As the interactive work is created using realistically-modeled, computer generated characters, special consideration was given to understanding the uncanny valley and its potential effect in the interpretation of the installation. Interactivity is achieved through the use of ultrasonic sensors and Arduino prototyping boards

The Addlestone Improvement Project: Challenges, solutions, and experiences during renovation

Brandon Lewter, Interlibrary Loan and Reference Librarian at College of Charleston reports on the challenges and experiences of a large library renovation project undertaken by the Addlestone Library at the College of Charleston

Flow and the college experience

Flow experiences are described as a state of consciousness where a person becomes totally absorbed in the experience. If college students experience flow, these experiences might impact their engagement, retention, academic progress, and graduation. The purpose of this study was to describe the flow experiences of undergraduate college students across the total college experience. The research questions guiding the study were: 1) To what extent do undergraduate college students report having flow experiences? 2) How do undergraduate college students describe their flow experiences? 3) How have flow experiences affected undergraduate college student\u27s college experience? A total of 24 undergraduate college students from seven different subcultures participated in one of six focus groups. During the focus groups, the participants were given four written examples of flow experience and asked to write down examples of any similar experiences in their own lives.Then participants were asked a series of semistructured, open-ended questions using an interview guide related to the research questions. A three level qualitative analysis was used to interpret each participant\u27s responses. The major findings of this study were: 1) All 24 participants experienced flow and associated that experience with 39 different flow activities. 2) Participants described their flow experiences as absorbing, an escape from their daily lives, having a positive affect on them, and feeling like they lost track of time. They also described flow was occurring more often during performance than during practice. 3) Flow experiences impacted the out of class experience of the participants, but not their in class experience. Two themes ( flow as an escape and flow more common during performance than during practice ) emerged that had not appeared in the existing literature and may be idiosyncratic to the population studied or may have wider relevance.Based on the findings it is reasonable to conclude that college students do experience flow in a wide variety of activities outside the classroom and they see their flow experiences as positive, absorbing, and a much needed escape from the stress of college life

Phenotypic and Genotypic Studies in the Peach [Prunus persica (L.) Batsch] and Muscadine Grape (Vitis rotundifolia Michx.)

Peach: Peaches [Prunus persica (L.) Batsch] are routinely chilled to increase shelf-life. Exposure to temperatures of 5° C for two weeks can induce chilling injury (CI) symptoms, including flesh mealiness (or wooliness) and a lack of juiciness. Phenotypic data were collected on seven biparental F1 peach populations maintained at the University of Arkansas Fruit Research Station. A genome wide association study (GWAS) was performed using TASSEL 5 which identified four quantitative trait loci (QTLs) associated with expressible juice, four QTLs for mealiness, five QTLs for soluble solids, and three QTLs for fruit weight. Exploiting these genetic markers could help breeders identify fruit quality traits in seedlings through marker-assisted selection (MAS). Muscadine: Two biparental F1 muscadine (Vitis rotundifolia Michx.) populations were phenotyped for flower sex and berry color, and genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) was performed to produce high-density genetic linkage maps. A total of 1244 SNP markers in population Black Beauty [BB] x Nesbitt [N] and 2069 SNP markers in population Supreme [S] x Nesbitt [N] were mapped to 20 linkage groups (LG) for each population. The results support previous studies revealing an evolutionary bifurcation of V. vinifera chromosome 7 into two independently segregating linkage groups in the muscadine, or, conversely, a possible fusion of muscadine-derived chromosomes into chromosome 7 of V. vinifera. The locus controlling flower type in muscadine mapped to a region spanning 4.6 – 5.1 Mbp on chromosome 2, while the berry color locus mapped to a region spanning 11.1-11.9 Mbp on chromosome 4. These high-density linkage maps lay the groundwork for marker-assisted selection (MAS) in muscadine and provide clues to the evolutionary relationship of the muscadine with V. vinifera. Colorimetry: Precise color identification is critical in many scientific fields, and horticulture is no exception. Plant breeders must be able to effectively discern colors among plant parts and provide accurate descriptions when applying for legal protections. The RHS Colour Chart is currently recognized as the most universally accepted method of assigning color descriptions in horticulture. The RHS Colour Chart relies on manually matching plant parts with the labeled color chips provided. Color perception in humans is complicated by many factors, including the type and quantity of illumination available as well as the individual’s own physiological abilities and limitations. Scientific colorimeters have been developed to serve as an objective way to study color, and many hypothetical color space models have been created to enhance this field of study. The CIE 1976 L*a*b* (CIELAB) color space is widely recognized as a scientific standard and was used in this study. Traditional colorimeters have been bulky and expensive lab equipment, but a new, portable, inexpensive LED-based color scanner called the Nix Pro Color Sensor™ has recently become available. Multiple studies were conducted comparing the Nix Pro with the Konica Minolta CR-400 colorimeter and the RHS Colour Chart paint chip system. The results indicate the Nix Pro, which is inexpensive, yields consistent results, and features built-in color matching capabilities, could be a very useful tool for horticulturists and plant breeders

How Your Decisions can Effect Your Life

In this activity the user will be picking which pathway Andy Bernard will be taking from his childhood to his senior years of life. In these pathways there will be decision that are about tobacco products and how they can be risk factors for developing chronic lung diseases. Each pathway is unique, there are good as well as bad pathways for the user to go through to see what happens when each decision is made

Understanding How White Allies In The Struggle Against Racism Unveil And Deconstruct Whiteness

Despite claims of a post-racial society, racism is still alive and well in America and whiteness remains invisible or unseen (Delgado & Stefanic, 2012). To a great extent the invisibility of whiteness serves to preserve and perpetuate racism in our society (Wildman, 2005). Efforts to eradicate racism need to shift from focusing on people of color to the task of unveiling and calling out whiteness. Doing away with norms that traditionally benefit White people and disenfranchise people of color could prove productive in combatting socio-cultural patterns and conditions that maintain White privilege and racial inequalities (Peterson & Hamrick, 2009). This phenomenological study was purposed to learn more about Whites who have critically examined whiteness and taken efforts to transform themselves. This doctoral research project describes this phenomenon by investigating the lived experiences of White anti-racist allies serving as community organizers in the Piedmont region of North Carolina

Programmable Vibration Table Retrofit with Eagle Medical

This project aimed to repair and upgrade a vibration table used for package testing for the sponsor, Eagle Medical - a medical packaging and sterilization company based in Paso Robles, California. The current vibration table is not programmable and lacks circuit diagrams, making it difficult to repair. In addition, it is not functional due to internal circuitry issues and power requirements. To address these issues, the team will implement several upgrades to improve the product and allow for better random cyclic vibration testing. A full assessment of the existing vibration table will be conducted to ensure the viability of these proposed modifications for a successful outcome. The document provides information on the project\u27s background, objectives, and project management, including the design process, project timeline, and Gantt chart. Additionally, the document will provide information regarding our morphology, conceptual designs/evaluation, and failure analysis. This document also includes the detailed design, manufacturing plans, testing plans, and testing data/analysis, and instructions for use. We followed a 5-phase design process typically employed in industry: product discovery, project planning, product definition, conceptual design, and product development. During the Winter Quarter, we went through the first 4 phases, and all of Spring Quarter was spent in product development. In product discovery, we identified the needs of Eagle Medical and investigated other vibration tables on the market. During project planning, we mapped out our key deadlines using a Gantt chart. In product definition, we created the scope of the project and began creating our engineering specifications. In conceptual design, we took those specifications and started evaluating possible concepts using morphology. During product development, we built our prototype and tested it against our engineering specifications. The key customer requirements were that the new vibration table vibrates according to given standards, outputs frequency data, has vibration schedules, uses microcontrollers, has easily accessible data, updated/reliable electronics, and has a human-machine interface. The customer additionally wanted a circuit diagram, an easily serviceable table, and asked that we salvaged as much of the old table as possible. Our test plan revealed key results. The aesthetic satisfaction scored a 10. The vibration table achieved our max vibration goal of 18 m/s^2. We showed that the vibration table does have accurate control of the rotations per minute. We also showed that the motor wire temperature did not change, indicating that our wires are properly specified. We showed that the power supply had very little variance, so our electronics should be safe from voltage spikes. We showed that it takes approximately 5.2 seconds to upload a vibration test. We also showed that the emergency stop works with 100% certainty. Finally, we performed GUI unit testing and all units passed