A navigating rat animat

This paper presents a new rat animat, a rat-sized bio-inspired robot platform currently being developed for embodied cognition and neuroscience research. The rodent animat is 150mm x 80mm x 70mm and has a different drive, visual, proximity, and odometry sensors, x86 PC, and LCD interface. The rat animat has a bio-inspired rodent navigation and mapping system called RatSLAM which demonstrates the capabilities of the platform and framework. A case study is presented of the robot's ability to learn the spatial layout of a figure of eight laboratory environment, including its ability to close physical loops based on visual input and odometry. A firing field plot similar to rodent 'non-conjunctive grid cells' is shown by plotting the activity of an internal network. Having a rodent animat the size of a real rat allows exploration of embodiment issues such as how the robot's sensori-motor systems and cognitive abilities interact. The initial observations concern the limitations of the deisgn as well as its strengths. For example, the visual sensor has a narrower field of view and is located much closer to the ground than for other robots in the lab, which alters the salience of visual cues and the effectiveness of different visual filtering techniques. The small size of the robot relative to corridors and open areas impacts on the possible trajectories of the robot. These perspective and size issues affect the formation and use of the cognitive map, and hence the navigation abilities of the rat animat.

Full Circle : a collection of prototypes

This exhibition engages with one of the key issues facing the fashion textiles industry in terms of future sustainability: that of the well being of fashion industry workers in Australia and New Zealand (people). This collection formed the basis of my honours dissertation (completed in New Zealand in 2008) which examines the contribution that design can make to sustainable manufacturing; particularly design for local production and consumption. An important aspect this work is the discussion of source, the work suggests that the made in China syndrome (in reference to the current state of over-consumerism in Australia and New Zealand) could be bought to a close through design to minimize waste and maximize opportunity for ‘people’: in this case both garment workers and the SMEs that employ them. The garments reflect the possibilities of focusing on a local approach that could be put into practice by a framework of SMEs that already exist. In addition the design process is highly transferrable and could be put into practice almost anywhere with minimal set up costs and a design ethos that progresses at the same pace as the skills of workers. This collection is a physical and conceptual embodiment of a source local/make local/sell local approach. The collection is an example of design that demonstrates that this is not an unrealistic ideal and is in fact possible through the development of a sustainable industry, in the sense of people, profit and planet, through adoption of a design process model that stops the waste at the source, by making better use of the raw materials and labour involved in making fashion garments. Although the focus of this research appears to centre on people and profit, this kind of source local/make local/sell local approach also has great benefits in terms of environmental sustainability.

Querelle 2008

The 2008 issue of the Australian national queer student magazine, Querelle, edited by Amy Thomas and Jessica Rodgers. A collection of work by Australian queer students.

Technology, memory and experience : virtual reality, motion capture and early modern theatre

This paper investigates virtual reality representations of performance in London’s late sixteenth-century Rose Theatre, a venue that, by means of current technology, can once again challenge perceptions of space, performance, and memory. The VR model of The Rose becomes a Camillo device in that it represents a virtual recreation of this venue in as much detail as possible and attempts to recover graphic demonstrations of the trace memories of the performance modes of the day. The VR model is based on accurate archeological and theatre historical records and is easy to navigate. The introduction of human figures onto The Rose’s stage via motion capture allows us to explore the relationships between space, actor and environment. The combination of venue and actors facilitates a new way of thinking about how the work of early modern playwrights can be stored and recalled. This virtual theatre is thus activated to intersect productively with contemporary studies in performance; as such, our paper provides a perspective on and embodiment of the relation between technology, memory and experience. It is, at its simplest, a useful archiving project for theatrical history, but it is directly relevant to contemporary performance practice as well. Further, it reflects upon how technology and ‘re-enactments’ of sorts mediate the way in which knowledge and experience are transferred, and even what may be considered ‘knowledge.’ Our work provides opportunities to begin addressing what such intermedial confrontations might produce for ‘remembering, experiencing, thinking and imagining.’ We contend that these confrontations will enhance live theatre performance rather than impeding or disrupting contemporary performance practice. This paper intersects with the CFP’s ‘Performing Memory’ and ‘Memory Lab’ themes. Our presentation (which includes a demonstration of the VR model and the motion capture it requires) takes the form of two closely linked papers that share a single abstract. The two papers will be given by two people, one of whom will be physically present in Utrecht, the other participating via Skype.

Agency, tangible technology and young children

This paper explores the embodiment of agency concepts in tangible user interfaces to create meaningful learning experiences. Current notions of agent-based tangible technology are extended, through the development of low-fidelity prototypes, to include additional flexibility and adaptability. A study involving these prototypes was conducted in a kindergarten environment with nine four-year-old children. Observations of children's interactions with the prototypes produced insightful results which will be used to further refine the product under development.

Queering Paradigms II : Interrogating Agendas

This book offers a fundamental challenge to a variety of theoretical, social, and political paradigms, ranging from law and justice studies to popular culture, linguistics to political activism. Developing the intellectual project initiated in Queering Paradigms, this volume extends queer theorizing in challenging new directions and uses queer insights to explore, trouble, and interrogate the social, political, and intellectual agendas that pervade (and are often taken for granted within) public discourses and academic disciplines. The contributing authors include queer theorists, socio-linguists, sociologists, political activists, educators, social workers and criminologists. Together, they contribute not only to the ongoing process of theorizing queerly, but also to the critique and reformulation of their respective disciplines.

‘It’s not like we’re going to jump them’: how transgressing heteronormativity shapes police interactions with LGBT young people

This paper explores how visibly transgressing heteronormativity shapes police interactions with LGBT young people. While research evidences how sexually and gender diverse bodies can be abused in schools, policing is overlooked. Interviews with 35 LGBT young people demonstrate how bodies transgressing heteronormativity (that is, non-heteronormative bodies) mediate their policing experiences in Queensland, Australia. Drawing on Foucault, Butler, and others, the paper suggests police interactions and use of discretion with LGBT young people was informed by non-heteronormative bodies discursively performing queerness in ways read by police. The paper concludes noting tensions produced for youthful LGBT bodies in public spaces.

How to tell the difference between a positive image and a stereotype: reading Priscilla, Queen of the Desert

This paper intervenes in critical discussions about the representation of homosexuality. Rejecting the ‘manifest content’ of films, it turns to cultural history to map those public discourses which close down the ways in which films can be discussed. With relation to The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, it examines discussions of the film in Australian newspapers (both queer and mainstream) and finds that while there is disagreement about the interpretation to be made of the film, the terms within which those interpretations can be made are quite rigid. A matrix based on similarity, difference and value provides a series of positions and a vocabulary (transgression, assimilation, positive images and stereotypes) through which to make sense of this film. The article suggests that this matrix, and the idea that similarity and difference provide a suitable axis for making sense of homosexual identity, are problematic in discussing homosexual representation.

Resonance : a music director’s theomusicological study of ‘praise’ and ‘glory’ in a selection of four liturgical music excerpts

Some of my most powerful spiritual experiences have come from the splendorous and sublime sounding hymns performed by a choir and church organ at the traditional Anglican church I’ve attended since I was very young. In the later stage of my life, my pursuit of education in the field of engineering caused me to move to Australia where I regularly attended a contemporary evangelical church and subsequently became a music director in the faith community. This environmental and cultural shift altered my perception and musical experiences of Christian music and led me to enquire about the relationship between Christian liturgy and church music. Throughout history church musicians and composers have synthesised the theological, congregational, cultural and musical aspects of church liturgy. Many great composers have taken into account the conditions surrounding the process of sacred composition and arrangement of music to enhance the experience of religious ecstasy – they sought resonances with Christian values and beliefs to draw congregational participation into the light of praising and glorifying God. As a music director in an evangelical church this aspiration has become one I share. I hope to identify and define the qualities of these resonances that have been successful and apply them to my own practice. Introduction and Structure of the Thesis In this study I will examine four purposively selected excerpts of Christian church vocal music combining theomusicological and semiotic analysis to help identify guidelines that might be useful in my practice as a church music director. The four musical excerpts have been selected based upon their sustained musical and theological impact over time, and their ability to affect ecstatic responses from congregations. This thesis documents a personal journey through analysis of music and uses a context that draws upon ethno-musicological, theological and semiotic tools that lead to a preliminary framework and principles which can then be applied to the identified qualities of resonance in church music today. The thesis is comprised of four parts. Part 1 presents a literature study on the relationship between sacred music, the effects of religious ecstasy and the Christian church. Multiple lenses on this phenomenon are drawn from the viewpoints of prominent western church historians, Biblical theologians, and philosophers. The literature study continues in Part 2, where the role of embodiment is examined from the current perspective of cognitive learning environments. This study offers a platform for a critical reflection on two distinctive musical liturgical systems that have treated differently the notion of embodied understanding amidst a shifting church paradigm. This allows an in-depth theological and philosophical understanding of the liturgical conditions around sacred music-making that relates to the monistic and dualistic body/mind. Part 3 involves undertaking a theomusicological methodology that utilises creative case studies of four purposively selected spiritual pieces. A semiotic study focuses on specific sections of sacred vocal works that express the notions of ‘praise’ and ‘glorification’, particularly in relation to these effects,which combine an analysis of theological perspectives around religious ecstasy and particular spiritual themes. Part 4 presents the critiques and findings gathered from the study that incorporate theoretical and technological means to analyse the purposive selected musical artefact, particularly with the sonic narratives expressing notions of ‘Praise' and 'Glory’. The musical findings are further discussed in relation to the notion of resonance, and then a conceptual framework for the role of contemporary musicdirector is proposed. The musical and Christian terminologies used in the thesis are explained in the glossary, and the appendices includes tables illustrating the musical findings, conducted surveys, written musical analyses and audio examples of selected sacred pieces available on the enclosed compact disc.

‘Just stupid drama queens’ : how police constrain, regulate, and punish the public visibilities of sexual/gender diversity as out of place

Using interview data on LGBT young peoples’ policing experiences, I argue policing practices work to constrain public visibilities of sexual and gender diversity in public spaces. Police actions recounted by LGBT young people suggest the workings of a certain kind of visuality (Mason, 2002) and evidenced more subtle actions that sought to constrain, regulate, and punish public visibilities of sexual and gender diversity. Aligning with the work of sexualities academics and theorists, this paper suggests that, like violence is itself a bodily spectacle from which onlookers come to know things, policing works to subtly constrain public visibilities of “queerness”. Policing interactions with LGBT young people serves the purpose of visibly yet unverifiably (Mason, 2002) regulating displays of sexual and gender diversity in public spaces. The paper concludes noting how police actions are nonetheless visible and therefore make knowable to the public the importance of keeping same sex intimacy invisible in public spaces.

Boundary weaving : the social structure and processes of organizational boundaries

Boundaries are an important field of study because they mediate almost every aspect of organizational life. They are becoming increasingly more important as organizations change more frequently and yet, despite the endemic use of the boundary metaphor in common organizational parlance, they are poorly understood. Organizational boundaries are under-theorized and researchers in related fields often simply assume their existence, without defining them. The literature on organizational boundaries is fragmented with no unifying theoretical basis. As a result, when it is recognized that an organizational boundary is "dysfunctional". there is little recourse to models on which to base remediating action. This research sets out to develop just such a theoretical model and is guided by the general question: "What is the nature of organizational boundaries?" It is argued that organizational boundaries can be conceptualised through elements of both social structure and of social process. Elements of structure include objects, coupling, properties and identity. Social processes include objectification, identification, interaction and emergence. All of these elements are integrated by a core category, or basic social process, called boundary weaving. An organizational boundary is a complex system of objects and emergent properties that are woven together by people as they interact together, objectifying the world around them, identifying with these objects and creating couplings of varying strength and polarity as well as their own fragmented identity. Organizational boundaries are characterised by the multiplicity of interconnections, a particular domain of objects, varying levels of embodiment and patterns of interaction. The theory developed in this research emerged from an exploratory, qualitative research design employing grounded theory methodology. The field data was collected from the training headquarters of the New Zealand Army using semi-structured interviews and follow up observations. The unit of analysis is an organizational boundary. Only one research context was used because of the richness and multiplicity of organizational boundaries that were present. The model arose, grounded in the data collected, through a process of theoretical memoing and constant comparative analysis. Academic literature was used as a source of data to aid theory development and the saturation of some central categories. The final theory is classified as middle range, being substantive rather than formal, and is generalizable across medium to large organizations in low-context societies. The main limitation of the research arose from the breadth of the research with multiple lines of inquiry spanning several academic disciplines, with some relevant areas such as the role of identity and complexity being addressed at a necessarily high level. The organizational boundary theory developed by this research replaces the typology approaches, typical of previous theory on organizational boundaries and reconceptualises the nature of groups in organizations as well as the role of "boundary spanners". It also has implications for any theory that relies on the concept of boundaries, such as general systems theory. The main contribution of this research is the development of a holistic model of organizational boundaries including an explanation of the multiplicity of boundaries . no organization has a single definable boundary. A significant aspect of this contribution is the integration of aspects of complexity theory and identity theory to explain the emergence of higher-order properties of organizational boundaries and of organizational identity. The core category of "boundary weaving". is a powerful new metaphor that significantly reconceptualises the way organizational boundaries may be understood in organizations. It invokes secondary metaphors such as the weaving of an organization's "boundary fabric". and provides managers with other metaphorical perspectives, such as the management of boundary friction, boundary tension, boundary permeability and boundary stability. Opportunities for future research reside in formalising and testing the theory as well as developing analytical tools that would enable managers in organizations to apply the theory in practice.

Introduction : queering paradigms, interrogating agendas

The introduction to the first volume of Queering Paradigms suggested that to queer a paradigm is to of fer a challenge to “the hetero/homonormative and gender binarist assumptions of any given academic discourse.” As queer subjects defy the “seduction of identity by exclusion,” and celebrate “the whole potential of sexuality and gender fluidity and diversity,” any attempt to understand them through the lenses offered by standard discourse is destined to fail (Scherer 2010: 2). “Queer” is not simply a synonym for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex and Questioning/Queer (LGBTIQ) subjects, as common use might suggest. Rather, it ought to be read as a reference to all who defy being pigeon-holed, pushed to the margins, or being pressured to adopt common social narratives regarding gender and sexuality.

Using strategic movement to calibrate a neural compass : a spiking network for tracking head direction in rats and robots

The head direction (HD) system in mammals contains neurons that fire to represent the direction the animal is facing in its environment. The ability of these cells to reliably track head direction even after the removal of external sensory cues implies that the HD system is calibrated to function effectively using just internal (proprioceptive and vestibular) inputs. Rat pups and other infant mammals display stereotypical warm-up movements prior to locomotion in novel environments, and similar warm-up movements are seen in adult mammals with certain brain lesion-induced motor impairments. In this study we propose that synaptic learning mechanisms, in conjunction with appropriate movement strategies based on warm-up movements, can calibrate the HD system so that it functions effectively even in darkness. To examine the link between physical embodiment and neural control, and to determine that the system is robust to real-world phenomena, we implemented the synaptic mechanisms in a spiking neural network and tested it on a mobile robot platform. Results show that the combination of the synaptic learning mechanisms and warm-up movements are able to reliably calibrate the HD system so that it accurately tracks real-world head direction, and that calibration breaks down in systematic ways if certain movements are omitted. This work confirms that targeted, embodied behaviour can be used to calibrate neural systems, demonstrates that ‘grounding’ of modeled biological processes in the real world can reveal underlying functional principles (supporting the importance of robotics to biology), and proposes a functional role for stereotypical behaviours seen in infant mammals and those animals with certain motor deficits. We conjecture that these calibration principles may extend to the calibration of other neural systems involved in motion tracking and the representation of space, such as grid cells in entorhinal cortex.

Grounded Media: Expanding the Scope of Ecological Art Practices Within New Media Arts Culture

‘Grounded Media’ is a form of art practice focused around the understanding that our ecological crisis is also a cultural crisis, perpetuated by our sense of separation from the material and immaterial ecologies upon which we depend. This misunderstanding of relationships manifests not only as environmental breakdown, but also in the hemorrhaging of our social fabric. ‘Grounded Media’ is consistent with an approach to media art making that I name ‘ecosophical’ and ‘praxis-led’ – which seeks through a range of strategies, to draw attention to the integrity, diversity and efficacy of the biophysical, social and electronic environments of which we are an integral part. It undertakes this through particular choices of location, interaction design,participative strategies and performative direction. This form of working emerged out of the production of two major projects, Grounded Light [8] and Shifting Intimacies [9] and is evident in a recent prototypical wearable art project called In_Step [6]. The following analysis and reflections will assist in promoting new, sustainable roles for media artists who are similarly interested in attuning their practices.