The Interactive Experience: Exploring Technologies for Creating Touchscreen Exhibits

Presentation from the MARAC conference in Roanoke, VA on October 7–10, 2015. S7 - The Interactive Experience: Exploring Technologies for Creating Touchscreen Exhibits.

The Interactive Experience: Exploring Technologies for Creating Touchscreen Exhibits

Presentation from the MARAC conference in Roanoke, VA on October 7–10, 2015. S7 - The Interactive Experience: Exploring Technologies for Creating Touchscreen Exhibits.

Augmenting spaces and creating interactive experiences using video camera networks

This research addresses the problem of creating interactive experiences to encourage people to explore spaces. Besides the obvious spaces to visit, such as museums or art galleries, spaces that people visit can be, for example, a supermarket or a restaurant. As technology evolves, people become more demanding in the way they use it and expect better forms of interaction with the space that surrounds them. Interaction with the space allows information to be transmitted to the visitors in a friendly way, leading visitors to explore it and gain knowledge. Systems to provide better experiences while exploring spaces demand hardware and software that is not in the reach of every space owner either because of the cost or inconvenience of the installation, that can damage artefacts or the space environment. We propose a system adaptable to the spaces, that uses a video camera network and a wi-fi network present at the space (or that can be installed) to provide means to support interactive experiences using the visitor’s mobile device. The system is composed of an infrastructure (called vuSpot), a language grammar used to describe interactions at a space (called XploreDescription), a visual tool used to design interactive experiences (called XploreBuilder) and a tool used to create interactive experiences (called urSpace). By using XploreBuilder, a tool built of top of vuSpot, a user with little or no experience in programming can define a space and design interactive experiences. This tool generates a description of the space and of the interactions at that space (that complies with the XploreDescription grammar). These descriptions can be given to urSpace, another tool built of top of vuSpot, that creates the interactive experience application. With this system we explore new forms of interaction and use mobile devices and pico projectors to deliver additional information to the users leading to the creation of interactive experiences. The several components are presented as well as the results of the respective user tests, which were positive. The design and implementation becomes cheaper, faster, more flexible and, since it does not depend on the knowledge of a programming language, accessible for the general public.

Online brands: Branding, possible worlds, and interactive grammars

This paper proposes to reflect from a semiotic perspective on the transformation that brands have undergone since the rise of the Internet. After a brief theoretical introduction to digital communication and the semiotics of brands, the case of the Google brand is analyzed by applying concepts of generative and interpretive semiotics. The paper holds that the iconic and linguistic enunciations are secondary with respect to interaction. In digital media interaction — the interactive experience that the Internet user lives — is a fundamental component of the hypermedia cocktail and occupies a central position in the brand building process. The article concludes with some of the questions and special characteristics raised by so-called eBranding.

Adopting the Vaadin Java framework to rebuild VTT’s Web Interfaces and Database Applications

With the growth in new technologies, using online tools have become an everyday lifestyle. It has a greater impact on researchers as the data obtained from various experiments needs to be analyzed and knowledge of programming has become mandatory even for pure biologists. Hence, VTT came up with a new tool, R Executables (REX) which is a web application designed to provide a graphical interface for biological data functions like Image analysis, Gene expression data analysis, plotting, disease and control studies etc., which employs R functions to provide results. REX provides a user interactive application for the biologists to directly enter the values and run the required analysis with a single click. The program processes the given data in the background and prints results rapidly. Due to growth of data and load on server, the interface has gained problems concerning time consumption, poor GUI, data storage issues, security, minimal user interactive experience and crashes with large amount of data. This thesis handles the methods by which these problems were resolved and made REX a better application for the future. The old REX was developed using Python Django and now, a new programming language, Vaadin has been implemented. Vaadin is a Java framework for developing web applications and the programming language is extremely similar to Java with new rich components. Vaadin provides better security, better speed, good and interactive interface. In this thesis, subset functionalities of REX was selected which includes IST bulk plotting and image segmentation and implemented those using Vaadin. A code of 662 lines was programmed by me which included Vaadin as the front-end handler while R language was used for back-end data retrieval, computing and plotting. The application is optimized to allow further functionalities to be migrated with ease from old REX. Future development is focused on including Hight throughput screening functions along with gene expression database handling

Entre danser pour soi et danser pour les autres : la construction de l'expérience dans le processus de socialisation des danseurs de tango argentin de Montréal

Cette étude ethnographique porte sur le réseau social du tango argentin à Montréal, les valeurs esthétiques du tango, l’interprétation de l’expérience de la danse acquise au cours du processus de socialisation et les différents agents de socialisation. Dans un contexte de réappropriation et de déterritorialisation d’un savoir-faire comme le tango, les références symboliques relatives à son contexte d’origine, son imaginaire collectif et son contexte sociohistorique sont moins accessibles. Ceci semble appeler chez les danseurs montréalais une sorte de surdétermination de l’expérience immédiate, concrète et interactive de la danse dans la construction d’un sens collectif. Cette recherche s’intéresse plutôt à la transposition dans le réseau montréalais de certaines normes esthétiques en lien avec les modalités interactives de la danse. Ces normes esthétiques induisent une attention particulière portée à la qualité de l’expérience se reflétant dans les pratiques et les discours. Ces valeurs esthétiques remontent au contexte d’origine du tango et à la rencontre entre différents univers socialisateurs transnationaux à différentes étapes de son évolution. De ce type de rencontres «transesthétiques», s’est développé un dualisme entre le danser pour les autres et le danser pour soi, dans les représentations et la mise en forme d’une expérience dansée. À Montréal, c’est avec emphase qu’on observe la cohabitation de ces deux systèmes de valeurs en apparence antagonistes où, d’une part, est valorisé l’exhibition du soi et, d’autre part, sont priorisés l’intériorité et l’expérience subjective. En bref, ce mémoire explore les relations complexes qui existent entre les processus culturels et leurs produits, l’expérience et le sens, entre la subjectivité individuelle et la collectivité, et redéfinit l’agentivité des acteurs sociaux en étudiant les modes spécifiques de production du sens dans un art comme la danse.

ARTINTEC S.A.S.: propuestas interactivas con contenido educativo

ArtInTec es una organización creativa que ofrece servicios complementarios de apoyo pedagógico mediante instalaciones artísticas que integran arte y tecnología, unión que permite abarcar tres conceptos fundamentales: interactividad, lograda a través de herramientas tecnológicas convencionales y no convencionales; experiencias cognitivas significativas, mediante la generación de procesos de aprendizaje innovadores que permitan la construcción de saberes de trascendencia, y desarrollo de contenidos de diferentes temáticas que fortalezcan el aprendizaje. En su primera etapa, ArtInTec estará enfocada en el diseño, producción, comercialización, divulgación y venta de servicios transversales de apoyo pedagógico que impliquen la intermediación del arte y la tecnología, partiendo del concepto de instalación artística como género del arte contemporáneo que utiliza directamente el espacio de exposición como escenario para ser transitado por el espectador, logrando así una experiencia interactiva. Los tres servicios comparten características que se constituyen como columna vertebral de su naturaleza: tienen un objetivo altamente pedagógico, las temáticas son desarrolladas previo consenso entre la institución y ArtInTec, su componente artístico es el hilo conductor de la experiencia y se desarrollan en las instalaciones de la institución contratante. A continuación se enuncia cada uno de los servicios ofrecidos: a. Taller asistido por nuevas tecnologías. b. Instalación interactiva en gran formato. c. Instalación interactiva para dispositivos móviles.

Avaliação do Uso de Smartphones na Interação com as Aplicações da Televisão Digital Brasileira

Brazil is going through the process from analogical transmission to digital transmission. This new technology, in addition to providing a high quality audio and video, also allows applications to execute on television. Equipment called Set-Top Box are needed to allow the reception of this new signal and create the appropriate environment necessary to execute applications. At first, the only way to interact with these applications is given by remote control. However, the remote control has serious usability problems when used to interact with some types of applications. This research suggests a software resources implementation capable to create a environment that allows a smartphone to interact with applications. Besides this implementation, is performed a comparative study between use remote controle and smartphones to interact with applications of digital television, taking into account parameters related to usability. After analysis of data collected by the comparative study is possible to identify which device provides an interactive experience more interesting for users

A sinalização do enfermeiro entre os papéis de familiares visitantes e acompanhante de adulto e idoso

Trata-se de um estudo qualitativo, utilizando-se, como referencial teórico, o Interacionismo Simbólico e, como referencial metodológico, a Grounded Theory, visando: compreender a experiência interacional de familiares visitantes e acompanhantes de adultos e idosos hospitalizados, há mais de sete dias, em um Hospital Universitário de grande porte do Estado de São Paulo, e desenvolver um modelo teórico representativo dessa experiência. As estratégias para obtenção dos dados foram a observação e a entrevista. Dos resultados, emergiram dois fenômenos: vivendo a expectativa pela internação no Hospital Universitário e assumindo o papel de familiar visitante ou de familiar acompanhante. A compreensão da experiência nos permitiu ampliar o conhecimento, referente ao movimento que eles empreenderam na vivência denominada como movendo-se perante a sinalização do enfermeiro entre os papéis de familiar visitante e familiar acompanhante: compartilhando uma experiência de poucos prazeres em solidariedade ao adulto e ao idoso hospitalizados.

Estratégias de Comunicação e Ativismo Feminino na Esfera Pública Midiática: Estudo sobre a participação de jovens negras no hip-hop, a construção de identidades e sua presença na internet.

Estudo sobre as experiências vividas por mulheres negras que participam do movimento cultural hip-hop. Em particular, buscou-se discutir sobre a organização dos arranjos interativos e as relações de pertencimento, presença e empoderamento, tendo como elo a produção musical e as Tecnologias da Informação e Comunicação (TICs).Desvendar as implicações que as TICs têm com as práticas culturais juvenis contemporâneas de periferia, que funcionam como referência no combate às desigualdades de gênero e do racismo. Investigar as conexões entre as interações sociais, a cultura e ação política na esfera pública. A experiência de identidade, gênero e participação no universo on-line foi construída a partir de leituras sobre as políticas identitárias, teorias feministas e das interações sociais proporcionadas pelas TICs. Os procedimentos metodológicos incluem a pesquisa bibliográfica, entrevistas semi-estruturadas, aplicação de formulários, observação a partir da participação em eventos, além de estudo de sites dos grupos estudados e participação nas redes sociais. Entre os resultados, destaca-se que há o fortalecimento das ações e de ícones na disseminação da cultura hip-hop e que a proposição sobre o ativismo político e social das jovens envolvidas no hip-hop.

Estratégias de Comunicação e Ativismo Feminino na Esfera Pública Midiática: Estudo sobre a participação de jovens negras no hip-hop, a construção de identidades e sua presença na internet

Estudo sobre as experiências vividas por mulheres negras que participam do movimento cultural hip-hop. Em particular, buscou-se discutir sobre a organização dos arranjos interativos e as relações de pertencimento, presença e empoderamento, tendo como elo a produção musical e as Tecnologias da Informação e Comunicação (TICs).Desvendar as implicações que as TICs têm com as práticas culturais juvenis contemporâneas de periferia, que funcionam como referência no combate às desigualdades de gênero e do racismo. Investigar as conexões entre as interações sociais, a cultura e ação política na esfera pública. A experiência de identidade, gênero e participação no universo on-line foi construída a partir de leituras sobre as políticas identitárias, teorias feministas e das interações sociais proporcionadas pelas TICs. Os procedimentos metodológicos incluem a pesquisa bibliográfica, entrevistas semi-estruturadas, aplicação de formulários, observação a partir da participação em eventos, além de estudo de sites dos grupos estudados e participação nas redes sociais. Entre os resultados, destaca-se que há o fortalecimento das ações e de ícones na disseminação da cultura hip-hop e que a proposição sobre o ativismo político e social das jovens envolvidas no hip-hop.

Nowhere Landscape, for Clarinets, Trombones, Percussion, Violins, and Electronics and “The Map and the Territory: Documenting David Dunn’s Sky Drift”

1. nowhere landscape, for clarinets, trombones, percussion, violins, and electronics

nowhere landscape is an eighty-minute work for nine performers, composed of acoustic and electronic sounds. Its fifteen movements invoke a variety of listening strategies, using slow change, stasis, layering, coincidence, and silence to draw attention to the sonic effects of the environment—inside the concert hall as well as the world outside of it. The work incorporates a unique stage set-up: the audience sits in close proximity to the instruments, facing in one of four different directions, while the musicians play from a number of constantly-shifting locations, including in front of, next to, and behind the audience.

Much of nowhere landscape’s material is derived from a collection of field recordings

made by the composer during a road trip from Springfield, MA to Douglas, WY along US- 20, a cross-country route made effectively obsolete by the completion of I-90 in the mid- 20th century. In an homage to artist Ed Ruscha’s 1963 book Twentysix Gasoline Stations, the composer made twenty-six recordings at gas stations along US-20. Many of the movements of nowhere landscape examine the musical potential of these captured soundscapes: familiar and anonymous, yet filled with poignancy and poetic possibility.

2. “The Map and the Territory: Documenting David Dunn’s Sky Drift”

In 1977, David Dunn recruited twenty-six musicians to play his work Sky Drift in the

Anza-Borrego Desert in Southern California. This outdoor performance was documented with photos and recorded with four stationary microphones to tape. A year later, Dunn presented the work in New York City as a “performance/documentation,” playing back the audio recording and projecting slides. In this paper I examine the consequences of this kind of act: what does it mean for a recording of an outdoor work to be shared at an indoor concert event? Can such a complex and interactive experience be successfully flattened into some kind of re-playable documentation? What can a recording capture and what must it exclude?

This paper engages with these questions as they relate to David Dunn’s Sky Drift and to similar works by Karlheinz Stockhausen and John Luther Adams. These case-studies demonstrate different solutions to the difficulty of documenting outdoor performances. Because this music is often heard from a variety of equally-valid perspectives—and because any single microphone only captures sound from one of these perspectives—the physical set-up of these kind of pieces complicate what it means to even “hear the music” at all. To this end, I discuss issues around the “work itself” and “aura” as well as “transparency” and “liveness” in recorded sound, bringing in thoughts and ideas from Walter Benjamin, Howard Becker, Joshua Glasgow, and others. In addition, the artist Robert Irwin and the composer Barry Truax have written about the conceptual distinctions between “the work” and “not- the-work”; these distinctions are complicated by documentation and recording. Without the context, the being-there, the music is stripped of much of its ability to communicate meaning.

Pulse Room ou comment réécrire son environnement en rendant une matérialité à la trace numérique

Pour respecter les droits d’auteur, la version électronique de ce mémoire a été dépouillée d'un document visuel. La version intégrale du mémoire a été déposée au Service de la gestion des documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

Pulse Room ou comment réécrire son environnement en rendant une matérialité à la trace numérique

Pour respecter les droits d’auteur, la version électronique de ce mémoire a été dépouillée d'un document visuel. La version intégrale du mémoire a été déposée au Service de la gestion des documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

Metrics for Predicting User Behavior and Experience in an Interactive Storytelling System

In much of the previous research into the field of interactive storytelling, the focus has been on the creation of complete systems, then evaluating the performance of those systems based on user experience. Less focus has been placed on finding general solutions to problems that manifest in many different types of interactive storytelling systems. The goal of this thesis was to identify potential candidates for metrics that a system could use to predict player behavior or how players experience the story they are presented with, and to put these metrics to an empirical test. The three metrics that were used were morality, relationships and conflict. The game used for user testing of the metrics, Regicide is an interactive storytelling experience that was created in conjunction with Eero Itkonen. Data, in the forms of internal system data and survey answers, collected through user testing, was used to evaluate hypotheses for each metric. Out of the three chosen metrics, morality performed the best in this study. Though further research and refinement may be required, the results were promising, and point to the conclusion that user responses to questions of morality are a strong predictor for their choices in similar situations later on in the course of an interactive story. A similar examination for user relationships with other characters in the story did not produce promising results, but several problems were recognized in terms of methodology and further research with a better optimized system may yield different results. On the subject of conflict, several aspects, proposed by Ware et al. (2012), were evaluated separately. Results were inconclusive, with the aspect of directness showing the most promise.