Liberated pixels : alternative narratives for lighting future cities

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, 2010.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 165-171).Lighting and illuminated displays shape our relations to urban environments and to one another at night and increasingly during the day by transforming what Kevin Lynch referred to as the "image of the city" (1964). Today, the wide-spread availability of LEDs (light-emitting diodes) in combination with embedded, miniaturized computation offers different ways of designing ambient infrastructures. In this dissertation, I explore these alternatives by exploiting the programmable and responsive capabilities of LED-based, low-resolution systems. In short, I examine the alternative aesthetic and communications opportunities afforded by a new generation of lighting and display technologies in the city. I investigate the origins of lighting and displays to illustrate how they have evolved through a complex interleaving of the social and the material. This grounding leads me to develop three design explorations that focus on programmability, addressability, responsiveness, mobility and ad-hoc control. The first of these explorations, Urban Pixels, presents a wireless network of individual, autonomous physical pixels that can be deployed on any surface in the city. The second, Light Bodies, reconnects with the history of lights-on-people like lanterns that travel through the city with their users. The third, Augmented-reality (AR) Street Light, provides a layer of programmability for existing infrastructural networks. Together the historical perspective and design interventions lead to a framework of what I call "liberated pixels", a new generation of lighting and display technologies. Liberated pixels can be placed flexibly within any context and recruited in different situations for aesthetic and ambient information purposes. This vision captures the contingent and emergent nature of "sociomaterial assemblages" (Suchman 2007) to chart holistic technical, aesthetic, and social directions for future infrastructures of "imageability" (Lynch 1964) in the city.by Susanne SeitingerPh.D

Animated props for responsive playspaces

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, 2006.Includes bibliographical references (p. 89-93).Playgrounds are special places within the urban landscape specially designed for children. Here, they encounter the outdoors and the physical properties of large spaces through play, which allows children to develop their physical skills, explore the natural and built environment as well as interact with their peers. Even more importantly, children direct their own play activities in playgrounds in an open-ended way. As digital technologies become increasingly present in children's lives an important question arises regarding their role in playgrounds. This thesis contributes to playground design in a meaningful way by exploring how digital technologies can enhance children's open-ended and physically active play in outdoor settings. Can animated playground props support and possibly enhance open-ended and physically active play in playgrounds? This thesis expands the repertoire of objects conceived specifically for children's outdoor play environments through a review of existing technologies and designs followed by a design exploration with a new category of animated playground prop. I develop an ecological approach to children's digital playground props which takes into account the links among children props play settings.In playing with objects, children gather information about the physical characteristics and embedded meanings of their three-dimensional surroundings. In other words, children's interactions with play props are one lens for experiencing the world. This theoretical framework leads me to a new category of animated prop called "space explorer". The thesis describes a design process for one prop, an autonomous, pneumatic playground ball which is part of the "space explorers" category. The method combines design development with input from children in two workshops about their playground and specific objects. The design and research exploration concludes with reflections and recommendations for future attempts to design more autonomous and responsive objects which can enrich children's outdoor play experiences.by Susanne Seitinger.S.M

Spaces of innovation : 21st century technopoles

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2004.Page 129 blank.Includes bibliographical references (p. 121-128).Public authorities and private developers around the world are attempting to create and sustain hubs within the innovation-based economy by fostering successful urban environments. These large-scale developments succeed an earlier generation of post-industrial "technopoles" named after the French word popularized by Castells and Hall in Technopoles of the World (1994). In the 1990s, most planned technopoles resembled suburban office environments with generous landscaping, wide roads, and automobile-focused circulation systems. In contrast, today's economic development experts are increasingly emphasizing the need for interaction and cross-fertilization among companies and institutions in an attempt to foster innovation, from which successful communities are assumed to derive their competitive edge in an information- based economy. Parallel shifts in live-work patterns among creative talent groups are being documented in social science and anecdotal observations. These trends have heightened competition for qualified individuals and initiated a talent war among cities globally. And these individuals are living footloose lifestyles supported by mobile devices and wireless connectivity. Entrepreneurial public agencies and private developers have recognized the potential for reconceiving live-work environments as economic hubs. These holistic projects are identified as 21st century technopoles because they directly address and capitalize on the socio-economic shifts described above leading to vastly different ideal urban configurations. The thesis asks how urban form is expected to contribute to innovation; and, how urban form is being reconceptualized in turn at the neighborhood scale.(cont.) Four case studies provide a rich narrative that begins to sketch the range of proposed urban developments: Cyberjaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Digital Media City, Seoul, Korea; one-north, Singapore; Lower Manhattan, New York. A narrative ties the four cases together providing "thick descriptions" as a base-line study for a new mode of technopole development. The analysis reaches from (1) "hardware" or the urban built environment and (2) "wiring" or the embedded and supported technologies to (3) "software" or the actors involved. The case studies indicate several emergent themes that are rescripting our urban environments. Dense urban zones with a high level of sensory diversity are being proposed for emerging technopoles that capitalize on the city as a metaphor for human interaction and exchange. Real estate value in this system is measured by the number of serendipitous encounters it facilitates. The dichotomous relationship between spaces of places and spaces of flows set forth by Castells seems inapplicable within the boundaries of these zones that are at once core and periphery, local and global. Finally, these developments are living laboratories for the technologies that support new live-work preferences and shifting lifestyles. Several contradictions become apparent in delving more deeply into the examples, which are still under development. In the promotional materials, diversity - demographic and physical - is embraced, but it is not clear how it will contribute to innovation. More generally, the projects plan for often unpredictable "knowledge accidents." ...by Susanne Seitinger.M.C.P

Empowering Minds: Using Young Adult Literature to Promote Critical Thinking on Gender and LGBTQ+ Issues in Secondary Education

Die folgende Masterarbeit befasst sich mit der Förderung von kritischem Denken über Gender und LGBTQ+-Aspekten mit Hilfe von Jugendliteratur im Englischunterricht der Sekundarstufe. Ziel dieser Arbeit ist es herauszuarbeiten, inwiefern literarische Texte als Grundlage für Reflexion aber auch Diskussion über Geschlechterrollen, Normen und Identitäten dienen können.Dazu wurde die Forschungsfrage: Wie kann Jugendliteratur genutzt werden, um kritisches Denken über Gender bei Lernenden zu entwickeln? formuliert, die in der Masterarbeit beantwortet wird. Die Hypothese besagt, dass eine gezielte Auseinandersetzung mit Gender beziehungsweise LGBTQ+-Themen in der Literatur zu einem tieferen Verständnis gesellschaftlicher Strukturen und zu einer differenzierteren Meinungsbildung beitragen kann.Die Methodik umfasst eine theoretische Analyse von Jugendliteratur, wobei der Fokus auf LGBTQ+-Thematiken sowie dem Unterrichtsprojekt liegt. Dabei wurde das Werk Straight Expectations (2023) von Calum McSwiggan als Ausgangspunkt genutzt, um geschlechtsspezifische Fragen zu behandeln. Ergänzend wurden didaktische Konzepte wie Bloom’s Taxonomy herangezogen, um die Entwicklung höherer kognitiver Fähigkeiten gezielt zu fördern.Die Ausarbeitung des Projekts zeigt, dass Jugendliteratur als wirksames Medium zur Förderung kritischen Denkens über Gender und LGBTQ+ eingesetzt werden kann. Die Analyse befürwortet, dass durch reflektierte Diskussionen, Debatten und kreative Aufgaben Geschlechternormen kritisch hinterfragt werden und dadurch auch die Strukturen der Gesellschaft verstanden werden können.This master's thesis examines the promotion of critical thinking on gender and LGBTQ+ aspects through young adult literature in secondary school English classes. Its aim is to explore the extent to which literary texts can serve as a basis for reflection and discussion about gender roles, norms, and identities.The research question: In what ways can Young Adult Literature be used to develop critical thinking skills on gender in learners? was formulated, which is answered in the master's thesis. The hypothesis is that a targeted examination of gender and LGBTQ+ issues in literature can contribute to a deeper understanding of social structures and more differentiated opinion formation.The methodology includes a theoretical analysis of young adult literature, focusing on LGBTQ+ topics and the classroom project. Calum McSwiggan's Straight Expectations (2023) was used as a starting point to address gender-specific issues. In addition, didactic concepts such as Bloom's Taxonomy were used to specifically promote the development of higher cognitive skills.The project's findings demonstrate that young adult literature can be used as an effective medium to promote critical thinking on gender and LGBTQ+ issues. The analysis supports the idea that reflective discussions, debates, and creative tasks can help learners to critically question gender norms and therefore also contribute to an understanding of social structures.Automatisch erstellte Titelanzeige – Daten nicht geprüftMasterarbeit Universität Graz 202

DEA-Model specifications and their meaning in the context of hospital efficiency studies

Der größte Anteil der österreichischen Gesundheitsausgaben fließt in die Krankenanstalten, daher ist es von besonderer Bedeutung für diese, eine optimale Transformation der eingesetzten Mittel zu erzielen. Um diese bewerten zu können, werden Effizienzmessungen durchgeführt, was im Rahmen dieser Arbeit mithilfe der Data Envelopment Analysis geschieht. Diese ist ein nichtparametrisches Verfahren, mit dem mehrere Inputs sowie mehrere Outputs verglichen werden können. Um Effizienzmessungen durchführen zu können, muss zu Beginn eine Modellspezifikation gewählt werden. Dies betrifft sowohl die Wahl der Projektion (Effizienzmaß) als auch die Wahl der Beurteilungskriterien, für die ein Verbesserungspotential ermittelt werden soll (Orientierung). In der Literatur wird speziell für die Analyse von Krankenanstalten am häufigsten das äquiproportionale (radiale), inputorientierte Modell verwendet, wobei sich allerdings die Frage stellt, ob diese Wahl oftmals zu leichtfertig getroffen wird und ein anderes Modell eventuell besser geeignet wäre. So wird durch eine empirische Effizienzstudie der österreichischen landesgesundheitsfondsfinanzierten Krankenanstalten geklärt, welche DEA-Modellspezifikation (Effizienzmaß/Orientierung) unter welchen Rahmenbedingungen beziehungsweise mit welchen Begründungen gewählt werden können und welche Rückschlüsse daraus in Bezug auf die Effizienzwerte gezogen werden können. Weiters wird durch eine Analyse der jeweiligen Modelle gezeigt, dass die Wahl der Modellspezifikation für die Durchführung von Effizienzstudien entscheidend ist, da sich aufgrund unterschiedlicher Modellspezifikationen die Effizienzwerte der Krankenanstalten erheblich verändern können. Außerdem werden einzelne ineffiziente Krankenanstalten genau betrachtet, um mögliche Ursachen der Ineffizienzen in den verschiedenen Modellen diskutieren zu können.The majority of the Austrian health expenses flows into the hospital sector which makes it particularly important to achieve an optimum transformation of the resources. In order to evaluate the efficiency of this process in this master thesis the data envelopment analysis is used. This is a non-parametric method, which allows the use of multiple inputs and multiple outputs. To perform efficiency measurements a model specification must be chosen first. This affects the choice of projection (efficiency measure) as well as the choice of inputs and outputs for which a potential of improvement (orientation) should be calculated. In the literature especially for the analysis of the efficiency of hospitals most often the equiproportional (radial) input-oriented model is used. However, the question arises whether this decision is often made too easily and another model might be more suitable. An empirical efficiency study of the Austrian state health fund hospitals shows which DEA model specifications (efficiency measure/orientation) can be selected under which conditions respectively with which arguments. Thus, the analysis presents which conclusions can be drawn from the different model specifications in respect of the efficiency. Furthermore, by an analysis of the respective models it is shown that the choice of model specifications is decisive to the implementation of efficiency studies since these can significantly change the efficiency of the hospital. In addition, individual inefficient hospitals are scrutinized in order to discuss possible causes for the inefficiencies in the different models.Martin Seitinger, BScAbstracts in Deutsch und EnglischAbweichender Titel laut Übersetzung des Verfassers/der VerfasserinMasterarbeit Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz 2016 D1032

Media coverage of the documenta

Die Berichterstattung zur documenta bietet einen breitgefächerten Überblick über die Reaktionen der Presse auf die seit Mitte des 20. Jahrhunderts in regelmäßigen Abständen veranstaltete Ausstellung. Diese Arbeit hat sich zum Ziel gesetzt die Berichterstattung von der documenta I bis zur documenta 8 in Hinblick auf verwendete Fragestellungen, Kritikpunkte und bevorzugte Themen zu analysieren. Die Großausstellung erhob über einen langen Zeitraum den Anspruch eine Weltausstellung der aktuellen Kunst zu sein. Dadurch veränderten sich Themen, Darstellungsarten und Konzepte der einzelnen Ausstellungen und auch die Artikulationsweise der Presse passte ihre Schwerpunkte und Kritik entsprechend den Bedürfnissen und Anforderungen der Öffentlichkeit an die Kunst an. Die Veränderungen der Ansprüche an die documenta-Konzeption durch den Einfluss von sozialen, politischen und wirtschaftlichen Komponenten wurde durch die Presse ebenso formuliert wie die variierenden Anforderungen an die jeweiligen Ausstellungsleiter und Organisationsstrukturen. Diese Entwicklungen wurden durch Aufarbeitung von Presseartikeln untersucht und die daraus resultierenden Schlüsse mit Hilfe von Zitaten illustriert. Weiters wird der Einfluss der jeweiligen Mediensituation im Zusammenwirken mit historischen Veränderungen beleuchtet. Im Anschluss an eine Einteilung der documenta-Berichterstattung in Perioden im ersten Teil folgt eine detaillierte Aufarbeitung der Berichterstattung zu den einzelnen documentas und ein zusammenfassender Rückblick über die Veränderungen im Kontext der Ausstellungen.The media coverage of the documenta offers a widely veried review about the reactions of press on the exhibition which was organised periodically since the middle of 20th century. This thesis is dedicated to the coverage from documenta I to documenta 8 with reference to applied questions, criticism and prefered topics. The event raised the claim to be a world exhibition of modern art over a long time. Therefore topics, notations and concepts of every single exhibition changed and the manner of articulation of press adapted the focus to the needs and demands of the public sphere. The diversification of standards as requested from the documenta were influenced by social, politic and economic components. This claims and also the whishes and critics concerning future artistic directors and organisation structures were verbalised by the press. This developments were evaluated by reconditioning the press articles and the resulting conclusions are illustrated by quotations. Furthermore the influence of the current situation of media collaborating to historic changings are presented. Subsequently to a division of documenta coverage in periods during the first part of the thesis a detailed reprocessing of articles to every single documenta is made. The paper closes with a comprising review about the variances in context of the exhibition.vorgelegt von Denise SeitingerZsfassung in dt. und engl. SpracheGraz, Univ., Dipl.-Arb., 2014 2.023

DEA-Model specifications and their meaning in the context of hospital efficiency studies

Der gr\uf6 fte Anteil der \uf6sterreichischen Gesundheitsausgaben flie ft in die Krankenanstalten, daher ist es von besonderer Bedeutung f\ufcr diese, eine optimale Transformation der eingesetzten Mittel zu erzielen. Um diese bewerten zu k\uf6nnen, werden Effizienzmessungen durchgef\ufchrt, was im Rahmen dieser Arbeit mithilfe der Data Envelopment Analysis geschieht. Diese ist ein nichtparametrisches Verfahren, mit dem mehrere Inputs sowie mehrere Outputs verglichen werden k\uf6nnen. Um Effizienzmessungen durchf\ufchren zu k\uf6nnen, muss zu Beginn eine Modellspezifikation gew\ue4hlt werden. Dies betrifft sowohl die Wahl der Projektion (Effizienzma f) als auch die Wahl der Beurteilungskriterien, f\ufcr die ein Verbesserungspotential ermittelt werden soll (Orientierung). In der Literatur wird speziell f\ufcr die Analyse von Krankenanstalten am h\ue4ufigsten das \ue4quiproportionale (radiale), inputorientierte Modell verwendet, wobei sich allerdings die Frage stellt, ob diese Wahl oftmals zu leichtfertig getroffen wird und ein anderes Modell eventuell besser geeignet w\ue4re. So wird durch eine empirische Effizienzstudie der \uf6sterreichischen landesgesundheitsfondsfinanzierten Krankenanstalten gekl\ue4rt, welche DEA-Modellspezifikation (Effizienzma f/Orientierung) unter welchen Rahmenbedingungen beziehungsweise mit welchen Begr\ufcndungen gew\ue4hlt werden k\uf6nnen und welche R\ufcckschl\ufcsse daraus in Bezug auf die Effizienzwerte gezogen werden k\uf6nnen. Weiters wird durch eine Analyse der jeweiligen Modelle gezeigt, dass die Wahl der Modellspezifikation f\ufcr die Durchf\ufchrung von Effizienzstudien entscheidend ist, da sich aufgrund unterschiedlicher Modellspezifikationen die Effizienzwerte der Krankenanstalten erheblich ver\ue4ndern k\uf6nnen. Au ferdem werden einzelne ineffiziente Krankenanstalten genau betrachtet, um m\uf6gliche Ursachen der Ineffizienzen in den verschiedenen Modellen diskutieren zu k\uf6nnen.The majority of the Austrian health expenses flows into the hospital sector which makes it particularly important to achieve an optimum transformation of the resources. In order to evaluate the efficiency of this process in this master thesis the data envelopment analysis is used. This is a non-parametric method, which allows the use of multiple inputs and multiple outputs. To perform efficiency measurements a model specification must be chosen first. This affects the choice of projection (efficiency measure) as well as the choice of inputs and outputs for which a potential of improvement (orientation) should be calculated. In the literature especially for the analysis of the efficiency of hospitals most often the equiproportional (radial) input-oriented model is used. However, the question arises whether this decision is often made too easily and another model might be more suitable. An empirical efficiency study of the Austrian state health fund hospitals shows which DEA model specifications (efficiency measure/orientation) can be selected under which conditions respectively with which arguments. Thus, the analysis presents which conclusions can be drawn from the different model specifications in respect of the efficiency. Furthermore, by an analysis of the respective models it is shown that the choice of model specifications is decisive to the implementation of efficiency studies since these can significantly change the efficiency of the hospital. In addition, individual inefficient hospitals are scrutinized in order to discuss possible causes for the inefficiencies in the different models.Martin Seitinger, BScAbstracts in Deutsch und EnglischAbweichender Titel laut cbersetzung des Verfassers/der VerfasserinMasterarbeit Karl-Franzens-Universit\ue4t Graz 2016 D1032