Design as a means of exploring the emotional component of scent

This paper demonstrates how industrial designers can generate engaging solutions by applying new technology to the area of scent-delivery through the use of practice-based research. It discusses works by Jason Morenikeji, Nick Rhodes and other designers contrasting these with developments in the scent and nano-technology industries. The paper also presents a series of designs by industrial designer Ben Hughes, namely ‘Fontenay aux Roses.’ It also includes a collection of wearable, smart interactive scent delivery devices designed for Jenny Tillotson’s e-Scent research project at CSM. 'Fontenay aux Roses 1' is a wearable bag-type device that houses a battery and pump unit to deliver three types of scent, controllable by the user. The prototype was made by award-winning bag designer Ann Chui. Fontenay is a brooch -type device that attaches to a garment with a magnetic snap-fastening. Three different snap-on covers show how the device might be customised by the user, branded by the scent manufacturer, or added to by a third-party. In both its design and its co-engineering by Murray Tidmarsh and Ben Hughes, it is an exploration of the use of rapid-manufacturing technology for this type of object. This work has evolved to incorporate devices for insect repellent under the title “E.Mos”, two of which Ben Hughes designed and created the prototype for

Pedagogic approaches to using technology for learning: literature review

This literature review is intended to address and support teaching qualifications and CPD through identifying new and emerging pedagogies; "determining what constitutes effective use of technology in teaching and learning; looking at new developments in teacher training qualifications to ensure that they are at the cutting edge of learning theory and classroom practice and making suggestions as to how teachers can continually update their skills." - Page 4

Surviving in Manchester: Naratives on Movement from the Men's Room

The Men’s Room is an arts and social care agency that works creatively with young men, offering them opportunities to get involved in arts projects whilst accessing support for challenges they may be facing in their lives. The project engages different constituencies of young men experiencing severe and multiple disadvantage, including those involved with sex work or with experience of sexual exploitation, and those with experience of homelessness and/or the criminal justice system. ‘Surviving in Manchester’ was commissioned by the Lankelly Chase Foundation (LCF) and aimed to explore young men’s routes into the Men’s Room as well as how they defined successful service provision. The research included ethnographic fieldwork, walking tours led by young men to sites that they connected with their survival in the city, and a Visual Matrix conducted with staff and volunteers. It argues that the relational approach of the Men’s Room is a key organisational strength. This approach combines informal and formal support, unconditional acceptance, clear ground rules, and gauging of supportive interventions in ways that are sensitive to the young men’s readiness and ability to ‘move on’. It also includes valuable opportunities for social gathering, creative expression and public storytelling and image-making that extend the artistic and imaginative capacities of the young men and celebrate their abilities and experiences

Impurity and danger: the need for new barriers and bridges in the prevention of sexually-transmitted disease in the Tari Basin, Papua New Guinea

The Huli of the Tari Basin have a serious problem with the spread of STDs following the opening of the Highlands Highway from Mendi in the early 1980s. Huli territory is now the site of huge mineral exploration and development and fears are held by health officers that the diseases may soon become an epidemic. The likelihood of AIDS entering the area in the near future provides a further need for all available barriers to be erected against the diseases and new bridges constructed to better health practices. Traditional teaching among the Huli emphasized the polluting effects of sexual contact. Missionary activity and the increasing commercialization of Huli culture have combined to weaken deterrents to premarital and extramarital sexual experiences. Traditionally, men believed that dangers of pollution came from two sources; women and outsiders. Only the Huli elders held these beliefs in the 1990s and little heed is paid to their warnings. Travel for work or pleasure has greatly increased among Huli men who no longer fear the outside world but rather wish to be part of it. Thus the traditional barriers which minimized infectious diseases have been demolished. The traditional Huli health-belief model is discussed and the possibility of harnessing traditional taboos in the fight against the spread of STDs is explored

Doing the Arts Justice: A Review of Research Literature, Practice and Theory

Researched and written by Jenny Hughes, this review of research literature, practice and theory is a must for anyone working on evaluation and research within the arts in social inclusion.It is full of useful examples of the methodologies of recent arts projects that have taken place within criminal justice and social inclusion settings, and packed with statistics and findings relating to the impact of the arts in areas such as prevention of offending and within custodial and community sentencing

Theatre in Towns

Theatre in Towns offers a contemporary perspective on the role of theatre in the cultural life of towns in England. Exploring volunteer-led, professional and community theatres, this book investigates the rich and diverse ways that theatres in towns serve their locality, negotiate their civic role, participate in networks of mutual aid and exchange, and connect audiences beyond their geographical borders. With a geographical focus on post-industrial, seaside, commuter and market towns in England, the book opens questions about how theatre shapes the narratives of town life, and how localism, networks and partnerships across and between towns contribute to living sustainably. Each chapter is critically and historically informed, drawing on original research in towns, including visits to performances and many conversations with townspeople, from theatre-makers, performers, set-builders, front-of-house volunteers, to audience members and civic leaders. Theatre in Towns asks urgent questions about how the relationships between towns and theatres can be redefined in new and equitable ways in the future. Theatre in Towns brings new research to scholars and students of theatre studies, cultural geography, cultural and social policy and political sociology. It will also interest artists, policy-makers and researchers wanting to develop their own and others’ understanding of the value of active theatre cultures in towns

Kinesin-II is required for axonal transport of choline acetyltransferase in Drosophila

KLP64D and KLP68D are members of the kinesin-II family of proteins in Drosophila. Immunostaining for KLP68D and ribonucleic acid in situ hybridization for KLP64D demonstrated their preferential expression in cholinergic neurons. KLP68D was also found to accumulate in cholinergic neurons in axonal obstructions caused by the loss of kinesin light chain. Mutations in the KLP64D gene cause uncoordinated sluggish movement and death, and reduce transport of choline acetyltransferase from cell bodies to the synapse. The inviability of KLP64D mutations can be rescued by expression of mammalian KIF3A. Together, these data suggest that kinesin-II is required for the axonal transport of a soluble enzyme, choline acetyltransferase. in a specific subset of neurons in Drosophila. Furthermore, the data lead to the conclusion that the cargo transport requirements of different classes of neurons may lead to upregulation of specific pathways of axonal transport

Theatre in Towns

Theatre in Towns offers a contemporary perspective on the role of theatre in the cultural life of towns in England. Exploring volunteer-led, professional and community theatres, this book investigates the rich and diverse ways that theatres in towns serve their locality, negotiate their civic role, participate in networks of mutual aid and exchange, and connect audiences beyond their geographical borders. With a geographical focus on post-industrial, seaside, commuter and market towns in England, the book opens questions about how theatre shapes the narratives of town life, and how localism, networks and partnerships across and between towns contribute to living sustainably. Each chapter is critically and historically informed, drawing on original research in towns, including visits to performances and many conversations with townspeople, from theatre-makers, performers, set-builders, front-of-house volunteers, to audience members and civic leaders. Theatre in Towns asks urgent questions about how the relationships between towns and theatres can be redefined in new and equitable ways in the future. Theatre in Towns brings new research to scholars and students of theatre studies, cultural geography, cultural and social policy and political sociology. It will also interest artists, policy-makers and researchers wanting to develop their own and others’ understanding of the value of active theatre cultures in towns

Design and scent

Scent provides an important, but poorly understood, component of our perception of our surroundings. It is clear that while many human scent responses to do with danger are universal, or instinctive, others, particularly pleasurable aromas, are linked to memories, which are highly specific and individual. What these responses have in common above all else is their emotional component. Along with every other living organism, our ability to detect chemical changes to our environment is extremely important. This may enable us to avoid poisonous, diseased or decaying sources of food, but equally may help us locate a genetically compatible mate (Vroon et al. 1997). The most easily identifiable and universally replicated responses are linked to survival, and have been shown to be “hard-wired” to some of the oldest (in evolutionary terms) parts of the brain, but this limbic system, or area, is also that most closely associated with the management of memory and emotion. Beyond this, the scientific understanding of human responses to scent stimulus remains extremely limited. Many studies have been undertaken, but the subjective nature of results makes the elimination of variation through control samples practically impossible. There are specific areas in the brain where smell memories are received and stored. Smell information goes from the olfactory bulb to centres of the brain that handle strong emotions like aggression, fear and sexual arousal. This centre also plays a significant role in selecting and transmitting information between our short-and long-term memories, evoking memories from the past. Smells arouse emotions of sadness, loss, love, disgust, longing and passion, buried deep in our sub-conscious. Only a few molecules from an odour are required to convey a message to brain, creating a smell image. This can come from a flower, a memory or place, a person, or time, an olfactive evocation, or alternatively an aggression alarm or warning signal of danger. For artists and designers this powerful sense gives rise to an equally powerful medium of expression. Whilst the incorporation of scent technology has suffered from numerous set-backs, from early gimmicks such as Smell-o-Vision of the early 1960s to the collapse of Digiscents in 2001, designers have started to take on the task of translating this technology for a consumer audience. Whilst Disney continues to “imagineer” additional sensory forms to its theme park rides, and supermarkets and shopping malls continue to pump out odours approximating to freshly-ground coffee or freshly-baked bread to its customers, there remains a question mark over the physical form, and mode of interaction this technology may take in the near future. Introduction to book by editors Pieter M.A. Desmet, Jeroen Van Erp and Marianne Karlsson: Eighteen authors who presented their research at the 5th international Design & Emotion conference were invited to write a chapter that shares their research approaches to and insights into the domain of design & emotion. The result is this book, an attempt to present a cross section of current developments in design & emotion research activities. Please do not let the word “emotion” mislead you. Strictly speaking, the concept of emotion refers to a particular and specific affective phenomenon: a relatively brief episode of coordinated brain, autonomic, and behavioural changes that facilitate a response to an external or internal event of significance for the organism (see Scherer et al. 2001). Readers will find, however, that many chapters do not actually discuss emotions. This is because in this book –as in the design (research) discipline in general– the word emotion is used to represent a perspective that is much wider than the formal definition would strictly allow for. What all the chapters do have in common is that their focus always includes some kind of affective aspect involved in the user-product relationship. Emotion is an affective phenomenon, but so are moods, feelings, experiences, and general pleasure. Although all of these phenomena are represented by design & emotion research, the term emotion is used because it clearly expresses, without requiring lengthy explanations, the affective basis of the research domain. This justifies the suggestion to characterise design & emotion as a research domain rather than a research topic, emphasizing its multifaceted and multidisciplinary nature. In spite of the wide variety of themes, angles and approaches, all research activities in this domain share the basic proposition that in order to understand users (or consumers) and the users’ behaviour, one must understand the affective responses that are involved in the processes of buying, using, and owning products. This proposition represents the backbone of this book. Consequently, all the chapters report and discuss (the development) of methods, theories, or tools that can assist those who want to understand the affective impact of design, and those who want to explore the use of structured approaches to design for emotion activities. This book was presented at the 2008 Design & Emotion conference, which was hosted by Hong Kong Polytechnic University on October 6-9