Sensational In(ter)⇒action: Designing Creative Learning Environments

Emotion plays an important role in life, both in personal and work life. In fact, it is part of almost everything we do, including artwork, decision-making and interpreting reality in general. Recently developed information technology may create emotionally-arousing sensations in the user, producing motivation and interest, but on the other hand too much emotion can impede use of devices, everyday creativity and learning. In this paper, we discuss how emotion can be used in design in order both to increase engagement and support creative learning. The idea is based on the notion of Perceptually-Seductive Technology (PST, outlined in Waterworth, 2001) and how PST can be applied to support creative learning in classrooms and other settings. Creative learning is characterised as the intersection of creativity (the production of novel and adaptive ideas) and learning (change persisting over time). Sensational in(ter)⇒action alludes to the need for frequent switches between presence and absence, action and inaction, and between the real and virtual worlds according to a design space defined by the three-dimensional Focus, Locus and Sensus model (Waterworth and Waterworth, 2001a)

The Presence of Emotion: Designing the Feeling of Being There in Interactive Media Experiences

We discuss key psychological factors relevant to the design of interactive experiences with intended specific emotional impacts: the sense of presence, reality judgement, and awareness of the need for embodied responses. The extent to which a participant experiences a sense of presence (the feeling of being there) within an external environment is particularly important, but is complicated by the fact that mediated experiences are influenced by many other factors, including mental media schemata, which vary across cultures, across historical timescales, and within and between individuals. We expand on these factors in relation to three example interactive environments, each designed to invoke specific emotional responses and types of experience

The Psychosocial Reality of Digital Travel

This open access book takes a fresh look at the nature of the digital travel experience, at a time when more and more people are engaged in online social interaction, games, and other virtual experiences essentially involving online visits to other places. It examines whether these experiences can seem real to the virtual traveller and, if so, under what conditions and on what grounds. The book unpacks philosophical theories relevant to the feeling of being somewhere, emphasising the importance of perception and being-in-the-world. Notions of place are outlined, based on work in tourism studies, human geography, and other applied social fields, with an aim to investigate how and when different experiences of place arise for the traveller and how these relate to telepresence – the sense of being there in another place through digital media. Findings from recent empirical studies of digital travel are presented, including a survey from which the characteristics of “digital travellers” are identified. A review of selected interactive design trends and possibilities leads to the conclusion, which draws these strands together and looks to the future of this topical and expanding field

The Psychosocial Reality of Digital Travel

This open access book takes a fresh look at the nature of the digital travel experience, at a time when more and more people are engaged in online social interaction, games, and other virtual experiences essentially involving online visits to other places. It examines whether these experiences can seem real to the virtual traveller and, if so, under what conditions and on what grounds. The book unpacks philosophical theories relevant to the feeling of being somewhere, emphasising the importance of perception and being-in-the-world. Notions of place are outlined, based on work in tourism studies, human geography, and other applied social fields, with an aim to investigate how and when different experiences of place arise for the traveller and how these relate to telepresence – the sense of being there in another place through digital media. Findings from recent empirical studies of digital travel are presented, including a survey from which the characteristics of “digital travellers” are identified. A review of selected interactive design trends and possibilities leads to the conclusion, which draws these strands together and looks to the future of this topical and expanding field

Southerly winds increase the electricity generated by solar photovoltaic systems

The urgent need to decarbonise energy supplies has prompted exponential growth of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems across the world. As the penetration of renewable energy sources increases, the need to accurately forecast electricity output heightens to ensure efficient energy system operation. While exposure to high temperatures and moisture are known to significantly reduce PV panel efficiency, the effects of wind on both PV panel temperature and electricity output are poorly resolved. Here, meteorological and PV panel production data from Westmill Solar Park, Oxfordshire, were examined to determine the influence of wind, cloud, ambient temperature and relative humidity. We found that, after solar radiation, relative humidity and cloud cover were the dominant controls of PV electricity output; increases in relative humidity and cloud cover were associated with decreased electricity outputs. However, when all other variables were held constant, the mean electricity generated under southerly winds was 20.4 – 42.9% greater than under northerly winds, with the difference greater at higher electricity outputs and attributable to differences in surface cooling capabilities caused by the PV array asymmetry. This finding suggests that PV electricity output predictions could be improved by incorporating wind direction into computer models. Moreover, there is potential to modify solar park design and deployment location to capitalise on wind benefits, especially in areas where panel temperatures are a leading cause of efficiency loss. Ensuring deployments are optimised for site environmental conditions could boost electricity outputs, and therefore profitability, with implications for system viability in post-subsidy markets

An analysis of liquidity skewness for European sovereign bond markets

We examine liquidity skewness by providing an analysis of bid-ask spreads for a comprehensive high-frequency dataset comprising Eurozone countries’ sovereign bonds. European sovereign bond markets exhibited increasing positive skewness over the sample period which was most extreme for Greece, Ireland and Portugal. We argue that positive skewness reflects decreased liquidity during volatile periods. We also report negative skewness in 2007. This can be explained by a feature of the limit-order book rubric of the MTS market where market-makers can submit limit-orders that are more competitive than the current best-price to reduce unwanted inventory without having to execute a market-order