Non-Linear Contact Sound Synthesis for Real-Time Audio-Visual Applications using Modal Textures

Sound design is an integral part of making a virtual environment come to life. Spatialization is important to theperceptual localization of sounds, while the quality determines how well virtual objects come to life. The implementation of pre-recorded audio for physical interactionsin virtual environments often requires a vast library of audio files to distinguish each interaction from the other.This paper explains the implementation of a modal synthesis toolkit for the Unity game engine to automaticallyadd impact and rolling sounds to interacting objects. Position-dependent sounds are achieved using a custom shaderthat can contain textures with modal weighting parameters.The two types of contact sounds are synthesized using amechanical oscillator describing a mass-spring system. Wedescribe the discretization methods adopted, the solutionof the nonlinear interaction and an implementation in theUnity game engine

SketchyTuna:Exploring A Design For Screenless Creativity

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Responsible Innovation of Touchless Haptics: A Prospective Design Exploration in Social Interaction

The rapid development of touchless systems has introduced many innovations in social interaction scenarios in recent years. People now can interact with touchless systems in social applications that are aimed to be used in everyday situations in the future. This accelerated development makes us ask, what will the next generation of touchless systems be like? How can we responsibly develop new touchless technologies in the future? To answer the first question, we brought together 20 experts to ideate, speculate, and evaluate possible touchless applications for social interactions. A total of 48 ideas were generated from two consecutive workshops. Then, to answer the second question, we critically analyzed those ideas through a thematic analysis using a responsible innovation (RI) framework, and identified key ethical considerations to guide developers, practitioners when designing future touchless systems. We argue that the social scenarios described, and the RI framework proposed in this paper are a useful starting point for responsibly designing the next generation of touchless systems

TOUCHLESS: Demonstrations of Contactless Haptics for Affective Touch

A set of demonstrators of contactless haptic principles is described in this work. The technologies are based on electrostatic piloerection, chemical compounds and ultrasound. Additionally, applications related to affective touch are presented, ranging from storytelling to biosignal transfer, accompanied with a simple application to edit dynamic tactile patterns in an easy way. The demonstrators are the result of the Touchless project, which is a H2020 european collaborative project that integrates 3 universities and 3 companies. These demostrators are contactless haptic experiences and thus facilitate the come-and-interact paradigm, where users can approach the demo booth and directly experience the applications without having to wear devices, making the experience fast and hygienic

TOUCHLESS: demonstrations of contactless haptics for affective touch

A set of demonstrators of contactless haptic principles is described in this work. The technologies are based on electrostatic piloerection, chemical compounds and ultrasound. Additionally, applications related to affective touch are presented, ranging from storytelling to biosignal transfer, accompanied with a simple application to edit dynamic tactile patterns in an easy way. The demonstrators are the result of the Touchless project, which is a H2020 european collaborative project that integrates 3 universities and 3 companies. These demostrators are contactless haptic experiences and thus facilitate the come-and-interact paradigm, where users can approach the demo booth and directly experience the applications without having to wear devices, making the experience fast and hygienic.Funded by EU Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme grant agreement No 101017746 TOUCHLESS

Judges Assessing the Independence of Judges. Historical Foundations and Practical Procedures in Facing the Threats against the Rule of Law in Europe

The existence of impartial and independent courts is a cornerstone of the success of the European project. The recent renaissance of “illiberal States” jeopardises the application of the rule of law and risks destroying the foundations of the EU legal order. In 2018, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) began developing two new lines of case-law. Firstly, the CJEU found itself to be competent to rule on matters regarding the independence of the judiciary, which used to be part of the purely internal competence of the Member States. Secondly, the CJEU empowered national courts to perform a “rule-of-law check” of courts in other Member States by assessing the independence and impartiality of judicial authorities having issued a European Arrest Warrant (EAW). This represents a new task for what are often courts of first instance. The impartiality and independence of judges is a cornerstone of the rule of law and the “Rechtsstaat” and of the right to a fair trial according to Article 6 ECHR and Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (CFR). This article provides a theoretical basis for the understanding of the principles of the rule of law and the Rechtsstaat, in the form of Kaarlo Tuori’s theory about the layers of the law. Further, it provides a summary of developments as regards the rule of law in Europe in recent years – especially as regards the two new lines of case-law of the CJEU – as well as summaries of the articles included in this issue of the «Journal of Constitutional History» that form part of the project «Judges Assessing the Independence of Judges. Historical Foundations and Practical Procedures in Facing the Threats against the Rule of Law in Europe»