Physical Computing Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

The aim of the present article is to analyze the relation of physical computing with the computational thinking dimensions and the transdisciplinary approach of STEM epistemology in inquiry-based learning environments, when the methodology of the computational experiment is implemented. We argue that computational science and computational experiment can be applied in connection with STEM epistemology, when physical computing activities are embedded in the curriculum for Higher Education students. In order to implement this connection, we present software applications that combine algorithms and physical computing. We believe that engaging students through their existing STEM courses in physical computing - in the form of the computational experiment methodology- is a strategy that is much more likely to succeed in increasing the interest and appeal of STEM epistemology. Different learning modules were designed, which covered the combination of easy java simulations (Ejs) with Ardui...

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- Computer Science Education, Physical Computing, STEM Education, Computational Thinking
- by Clara Mancini and +2
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- Interaction Design, Physical Computing, Animal Computer Interaction, Toy Design
- by Izzie Colpitts-Campbell and +3
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- Textiles, Wearable Computing, Telecommunications, Physical Computing

The field of electronic games is a great experimental area that contributes to the implementation of new technologies in a variety of applications. This article explores the field of mixed reality through the use of physical computing for the development of the electronic game Inside. In such an interactive environment, the physical and the virtual worlds coexist and interact with each other. A user can alter the virtual world's characteristics through a special controller designed for the game that contains electronic components that can sense real-world properties. The attention of the user is not focused only on the screen but also on the controller through which a two-way interaction is achieved. A virtual environment created by a game engine can receive messages from the controller and vice versa. Changes on the properties of the virtual world can be communicated to the controller aiming at the alteration of the characteristics of the physical world. As a result, the user experiences an immersion in an environment in which real and virtual objects coexist.

- by Dimitrios Margounakis and +1
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- Human Computer Interaction, Virtual Environments, Video Games, Augmented Reality

The PhD dissertation Cyberpunk and New Media Art: Digital Art and Performance aims to examine the literary and visual legacy of the Cyberpunk movement and to explore its ideas, concepts and methodologies in the context of New Media artistic practices. The goal of this work is to comment on a multidisciplinary level on the influence of Cyberpunk theory and aesthetics. Furthermore, it seeks to identify its practice in the construction of the creative mechanisms of contemporary digital art and media performance.
The Cyberpunk phenomenon is approached through the definition of its socio- historical, philosophical and aesthetic context as a science fiction genre. Likewise, New Media Art is defined through the characteristics of its language, its precursors, its pioneers and the state of the digital art currents. By focusing on the terminology and the creative expression of Cyberpunk and Media Art, this thesis sets off to examine the artistic results that emerge from their union. Special emphasis is given to the fields of virtual technologies, technology and mythology and the body as a technologically enhanced interface.

- by Afroditi Psarra
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- Mythology, New Media, Virtual Environments, Posthumanism

From its invention at the end of nineteenth century, cinema has been a composite art form, engaging with a multitude of art and design disciplines (costume, props, sets, credits, etc) often employed to fit or enhance a story. The aura that surrounds the narrative in cinema was created via a unique relationship with technology (filming, editing, projection) capable of creating and revealing a fictional world.

- by Nicolas Marechal
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- Design, Interaction Design, Physical Computing, Cinema

Robotics toolkits and physical computing devices have been used in educational settings for many decades. Based on a techno-historical analysis of the development of 30 years of development of these devices, this monograph examines their design principles and presents a framework for the analysis and future design, based on the analytic construct of “selective exposure,” which examines what is foregrounded or backgrounded in hardware and software design. Selective exposure has two sub-dimensions: usability, which examines how the material communicates rules for its use, and power, which looks at how cognitive and physical operations are mapped to each other, and how the design can make these connections more explicit. I show how these dimensions crucially impact what children can achieve with these materials, and make the case for the design of toolkits in synchrony with the child's developmental trajectory.

- by jason reizner
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- Physical Computing, Automotive Electronics

This paper presents The Quiet Walk, an interactive mobile artwork for sonic explorations of urban space. The goal of TQW is to find the “quietest place”. An interface on the mobile device directs the user to avoid noisy areas of the city, giving directions to find quiet zones. Data collected by the system generates a geo-acoustic map of the city that facilitates the personal recollection of sonic memories. The system is comprised of 3 components: a smartphone running a custom application based on libpd and openFrameworks, a web server collecting the GPS and acoustical data, and computer in an exhibition space displaying a visualisation of the sound map. This open- ended platform opens up possibilities of mobile digital signal processing, not only for sound art related artworks but also as a platform for data-soundscape compositions and mobile, digital explorations in acoustic ecology studies.

- by Alessandro Altavilla
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- Education, Music Technology, Mobile Technology, Sound and Music Computing

While existing analytical frameworks (Chion 1994, Coulter 2009) provide basic classification tools for experimental audiovisual works, they fall short in elaborating the variety of compositional possibilities falling within the notion of “synchresis” (Chion 1994). I propose to delineate the various shades of synchresis through a case study analysis of the somewhat simpler relations between light and sound in media installation works using luminosonic objects: objects which appear to emit both sound and light in an integrated manner.
I will suggest a graphical framework for the analysis and composition of audiovisual relations between sound media and self-illuminating light objects, detailing various forms of integrated audiovisual dynamics. The framework will relate the compositional concepts of vertical harmonicity and horizontal counterpoint (Chion 1994) to the perceptual notion of “cross- modal binding” (Whitelaw 2008), thus linking compositional dynamics to perceptual effects and affects.

- by Adam Basanta
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- Cultural Studies, Music, Musicology, Folklore

The paper describes an approach to the control of electromechanical devices for musical purposes (mainly, DC motors and solenoids) using audio signals. The proposed approach can be named ``audio physical computing'', i.e. physical computing oriented towards sound generation by means of audio signals. The approach has its origin in a previous physical computing project dedicated to music generation, the Rumentarium Project, that used microcontrollers as the main computing hardware interface. First, some general aspect of physical computing are discussed and the Rumentarium project is introduced. Then, a reconsideration of the technical setup of the Rumentarium is developed, and the audio physical computing approach is considered as a possible replacement for microcontrollers. Finally, a music work is described, in order to provide a real life example of audio physical computing.

- by Andrea Valle
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- Computer Music, Sound and Music Computing, Physical Computing

In the last decade, Single-Board Computers (SBCs) have been employed more frequently in engineering and computer science both to technical and educational levels. Several factors such as the versatility, the low-cost, and the possibility to enhance the learning process through technology have contributed to the educators and students usually employ these devices. However, the implications, possibilities, and constraints of these devices in engineering and Computer Science (CS) education have not been explored in detail. In this systematic literature review, we explore how the SBCs are employed in engineering and computer science and what educational results are derived from their usage in the period 2010-2020 at tertiary education. For that, 154 studies were selected out of n=605 collected from the academic databases Ei Compendex, ERIC, and Inspec. The analysis was carried-out in two phases, identifying, e.g., areas of application, learning outcomes, and students and researchers' perceptions. The results mainly indicate the following aspects: (1) The areas of laboratories and e-learning, computing education, robotics, Internet of Things (IoT), and persons with disabilities gather the studies in the review. (2) Researchers highlight the importance of the SBCs to transform the curricula in engineering and CS for the students to learn complex topics through experimentation in handson activities. (3) The typical cognitive learning outcomes reported by the authors are the improvement of the students' grades and the technical skills regarding the topics in the courses. Concerning the affective learning outcomes, the increase of interest, motivation, and engagement are commonly reported by the authors.

A critical commentary that presents and contextualizes a film and video making practice spanning three decades. It locates a contemporary visual music practice within current and emerging critical and theoretical contexts and tracks back... more

- by Nick Cope
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- Critical Theory, Cultural Studies, Music, Musicology
- by Paolo Di Pasquale
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- Discourse Analysis, History, Modern History, Cultural History

HAID'12.
Even though multisensory environments (MSE) incorporate artifacts and technology to provide sensory stimuli, most of these artifacts are non-interactive. Twenty-four children with profound developmental disabilities from three MSE institutions have been involved in a research study. A handful of interactive design artifacts, which have been developed as a tool for ideation and to enhance the use of MSE by promoting children’s engagement are presented. With these artifacts the children have shown us a vast topology of interaction and bodily engagement, showing a potential for haptic and audio interactive design fields to contribute to a more participatory MSE practice.

- by Jeremy Woodruff
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- Education, Cognition, Media Arts, Social Media

What is nontrivial digital computation? It is the processing of discrete data through discrete state transitions in accordance with finite instructional information. The motivation for our account is that many previous attempts to answer this question are inadequate, and also that this account accords with the common intuition that digital computation is a type of information processing. We use the notion of reachability in a graph to defend this characterization in memory-based systems and underscore the importance of instructional information for digital computation. We argue that our account evaluates positively against adequacy criteria for accounts of computation.

- by Nir Fresco and +1
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- Physical Computing, Philosophy of Computer Science, Philosophy of information, Philosophy of Information and Computing
- by Alejandro Restrepo Imery
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- Control, Physical Computing, Arduino, Automatización
- by Calum Scott
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- Music Technology, Installation Art, Sonic Art, Physical Computing

The ‘smart city’ is an oft-cited techno-urban imaginary promoted by businesses and governments alike. It thinks big, and is chiefly imagined in terms of large-scale information communications systems that hinge on the collection of real-time and so-called ‘big data’. Less talked about are the human-scale implications and user experience of the smart city. Much of the current academic scholarship on smart cities offers synoptic and technical perspectives, leaving the users of smart systems curiously unaccounted for. While they purport to empower citizens, smart cities initiatives are rarely focused at the citizen-scale, nor do they necessarily attend to the ways initiatives can be user-led or co-designed. Drawing on the outcomes of a university studio, this article rethinks the smart city as a series of urban scales—metropolis, community, individual, and personal—and proposes an analytical model for classifying smart city initiatives in terms of engagement. Informed by the theory of proxemics, the model proposed analyses smart city initiatives in terms of the scope of their features and audience size; the actors accountable for their deployment and maintenance; their spatial reach; and the ability of design solutions to re-shape and adapt to different urban scenarios and precincts. We argue that the significance of this model lies in its potential to facilitate modes of thinking across and between scales in ways that can gauge the levels of involvement in the design of digitally mediated urban environments, and productively re-situate citizens as central to the design of smart city initiatives.

- by Nicole Gardner
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- Architecture, Physical Computing, Proxemics, Computational Design
- by Holly Rogers
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- Cultural Studies, Information Technology, Music, Musicology

Combining practices of craft and interaction design opens up new opportunities for both domains but structuring such cross-domain collaboration poses challenges. How to set up a crafter-designer collaboration to utilize the different fields of expertise and include separate practices? We address this question through a co-design research approach. First, we present an overview over existing approaches. Then, we propose our perspective that builds on an initial distinction between the collaborators, repositions the construction of the brief, and culminates into a collaboration through the shared object. Finally, we describe a successful collaboration between an interaction designer and a ceramic artist to support our model. We present a collaboration model that builds on distinct expertise, evolves through a design-based brief, and realizes through a shared dialectic object. We present this through a case study in pottery but we argue that the model is not tied to a particular craft technique and transferable to other collaborative settings in this field.

- by michael nitsche
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- Interaction Design, Physical Computing, Craft

—The aim of the present article is to analyze the relation of physical computing with the computational thinking dimensions and the transdisciplinary approach of STEM epistemology in inquiry-based learning environments, when the methodology of the computational experiment is implemented. We argue that computational science and computational experiment can be applied in connection with STEM epistemology, when physical computing activities are embedded in the curriculum for Higher Education students. In order to implement this connection, we present software applications that combine algorithms and physical computing. We believe that engaging students through their existing STEM courses in physical computing-in the form of the computational experiment methodology-is a strategy that is much more likely to succeed in increasing the interest and appeal of STEM epistemology. Different learning modules were designed, which covered the combination of easy java simulations (Ejs) with Arduino and Raspberry pi.

- by alfance elric
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- Physical Computing, Gardening
- by Atau Tanaka
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- Education, Music Technology, Mobile Technology, Sound and Music Computing
- by Paulo Blikstein
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- Robotics, Interaction Design, Constructionism, Physical Computing

ABSTRACT This project investigates the potential for designing playful cognitive enrichment activities for captive elephants. We explore the usefulness of applying conceptual frameworks from HCI and game design to the problem of developing species-specific smart toys that promote natural behaviour and provide stimulation. Available: doc.gold.ac.uk/aisb50/AISB50-S14/AISB50-S14-French-extabst.pdf

- by Neil Smith
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- Interaction Design, Physical Computing, Animal Computer Interaction, Toy Design

- by Paulo Blikstein
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- Robotics, Human Computer Interaction, Educational Technology, Learning Sciences

The work presented in this paper investigates the potential of tangible interaction to setup algorithmic rules for creating computational models. The research proposes a workflow that allows designers to create complex geometric patterns through their physical interaction with design objects. The method aims to address the challenges of designers implementing algorithms for computational modeling. The experiments included in this work are prototype-based, which link a digital environment with an artifact-the physical representation of a digital model that is integrated with a Physical Computing System. The digital-physical workflow is tested through enabling users to physically setup the rules of a Cellular Automata algorithm. The experiments demonstrate the possibility of utilizing tangible interaction to setup the initial cell state and the rules of a CA algorithm to generate complex geometric patterns. INTRODUCTION The work presented in this paper explores the potential of tangible interaction to setup algorithmic rules for computational models. Algorithms enable designers to generate complex geometric compositions that are imbedded with design intents (Wood-bury 2010, Aish 2005). Algorithms for computational modeling are commonly created through declarative (graph-based) and/or imperative (text-based) programming methods (Appleby and VandeKopple 1997, Davis 2013). Both programming paradigms require designers to explicitly implement mathematical functions and geometrical algorithms to create computational models (Stavric and Marina 2011).

I explore the conceptual foundations of Alan Turing's analysis of computability, which still dominates thinking about computability today. I argue that Turing's account represents a last vestige of a famous but unsuccessful program in pure mathematics, viz., Hilbert's formalist program. It is my contention that the plausibility of Turing's account as an analysis of the computational capacities of physical machines rests upon a number of highly problematic assumptions whose plausibility in turn is grounded in the formalist stance towards mathematics. More speciÿcally, the Turing account conates concepts that are crucial for understanding the computational capacities of physical machines. These concepts include the idea of an " operation " or " action " that is " formal, " " mechanical, " " well-deÿned, " and " precisely described, " and the idea of a " symbol " that is " formal, " " uninterpreted, " and " shaped ". When these concepts are disentangled, the intuitive appeal of Turing's account is signiÿcantly undermined. This opens the way for exploring models of hypercomputability that are fundamentally dierent from those currently entertained in the literature.

- by Carol Cleland
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- Physical Computing, Turing machine

Why should we commune with the environment surrounding us? It’s because communing is the most ecological strategy for human beings, who coexist with other humans and even other creatures, whereas there is no way of knowing the experience of other creatures. Qualia’ are none other than relational properties in a complex system of human beings in nature. This article explores how to perceive others’ perception through a BirdMan experiment. The BirdMan, a halfman and half-beast creature, born in a subconsciousness, attempts to share its mind with others. As a venue for new experiences transforming and recreating human
perceiving experiences, the work becomes a meta-methodology exploring the meaning of other beings’ experience. While encountering in between different perceptions with hybrid perspectives, ecological narratives and empathy can be realised. It suggests to us that the way we perceive and understand this world is not the only way.

- by Jeong Han Kim and +1
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- Cognitive Science, Media Art, Physical Computing, Hybrid Perception

This project investigates the potential for designing playful cognitive enrichment activities for captive elephants. We explore the usefulness of applying conceptual frameworks from HCI and game design to the problem of developing... more

- by Helen Sharp
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- Interaction Design, Physical Computing, Animal Computer Interaction, Toy Design

The article summarizes the elaboration of a theoretical and projective body of work developed by the author through design studios VII and VII of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile’s Design School, as well as from work done at the Digital Fabrication Lab Santiago (Fab Lab Santiago). Diverse systems of personal digital fabrication are described, highlighting Sandbot. These systems seek to propose a new language around technologies oriented to digital fabrication of objects, gathering local contexts through materials, stimuli from the surroundings and interaction with users.

Bajo el título Material en (in): formación uno de tres articulos: el texto «Arquitectura en (in) formación. Sobre la naturaleza de la información en la arquitectura digital» es la reproducción (y traducción al español) de extractos del capítulo 5 «Extensive Material» del libro Architecture (In)Formation, publicado por Routledge/Taylor & Francis (Londres, 2013) y editado por Lorenzo-Eiroa y Sprecher.

- by Pablo Lorenzo-Eiroa
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- Robotics, Digital Media, Digital Fabrication, Physical Computing
- by Dimitris Papanikolaou
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- Human Computer Interaction, Game studies, Design, Digital Fabrication

The purpose of this paper is to argue against the claim that morphological computation is substantially different from other kinds of physical computation. I show that some (but not all) purported cases of morphological computation do not count as specifically computational, and that those that do are solely physical computational systems. These latter cases are not, however, specific enough: all computational systems, not only morphological ones, may (and sometimes should) be studied in various ways, including their energy efficiency, cost, reliability, and durability. Second, I critically analyze the notion of " offloading " computation to the morphology of an agent or robot, by showing that, literally, computation is sometimes not offloaded but simply avoided. Third, I point out that while the morphology of any agent is indicative of the environment that it is adapted to, or informative about that environment, it does not follow that every agent has access to its morphology as the model of its environment.

- by Marcin Miłkowski
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- Robotics, Physical Computing, Indeterminacy, Morphological Computation

ABSTRACT Digital media are central in almost every aspect of daily life, most notably in how we communicate, understand political issues, reflect (co-)produce, consume, and share knowledge. Perhaps nowhere is this digital influence contested more than in education, where questions arise about the ability of traditional systems to prepare young people for the social, economic, and political demands of a complex and connected new century. From these concerns springs an innovative approach to supporting the development of systems thinking in young people; one that allows them to see how systems are at play in the digital contexts they regularly engage and one that puts them in the position of designers of those systems. Soft Circuits: Crafting e-Fashion with DIY Electronics explores the field of electronics and "e-textiles," which involves making physical computing projects based in fabrics and other everyday materials. This volume incorporates microprocessors into these materials and programs them with an accessible tool called Modkit to further enhance e-fashions like light-up wristbands and t-shirts, as well as solar-powered backpacks.

- by Katie Salen Tekinbas
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- Engineering, Fashion design, Design education, Engineering Education

In this paper, I show how semantic factors constrain the understanding of the computational phenomena to be explained so that they help build better mechanistic models. In particular, understanding what cognitive systems may refer to is important in building better models of cognitive processes. For that purpose, a recent study of some phenomena in rats that are capable of ‘entertaining’ future paths (Pfeiffer and Foster 2013) is analyzed. The case shows that the mechanistic account of physical computation may be complemented with semantic considerations, and in many cases, it actually should.

The article describes the design, production and usage of the ‘Rumentarium’, a computer-based sound generating system involving physical objects as sound sources. The Rumentarium is a set of handmade resonators, acoustically excited by DC motors, interfaced to the computer by means of various microcontrollers. Following an ecological/anthropological approach, in the Rumentarium discarded materials are used as sound sources. Every instrument is ‘produced while designed’ in an improvisation-like manner, starting from available materials. In this way, hardware is ‘softened’: that is, it can be continuously modified as in software development. Analogously, the onsite setup is very light, so that components can be added or removed on the fly, even while the Rumentarium is at work. Differently from typical computer music, the Rumentarium, while entirely computationally controlled, is an acoustic sound generator. On one hand, the Rumentarium can be played like an instrument in conjunction with a MIDI controller, for use in live musical performance. On the other side, it can be driven by algorithmic strategies. In this way, the Rumentarium can be configured also as a sound installation, in a standalone mode. Some artistic works are discussed while introducing the various control modalities that have been specifically developed for the Rumentarium.

- by Andrea Valle
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- Electronic Music, Physical Computing, Audio Physical Computing

Latest hardware improvements on transceivers supporting Low Power Wide Area Networks (LPWAN) make it feasible to con- nect small battery powered devices hundred of meters or even km away. In this paper, we propose a physical computing paradigm fully exploiting this novel technology. Spatial physi- cal computing (SPC) leverages not only natural manipulation typically used on TUI and construction kits but also integrates the necessary deambulation (around a building or a city) in the process of creating, testing and tuning a distributed smart sensor/actuator network. The overall system is a compound of (an unlimited) set of independent data-processing nodes supporting an event-driven data-flow programming scheme. We demonstrate in a few examples how such networks can be deployed - spatially programmed - through intuitive physical actions, and discuss the unique qualities and challenges of Spatial Physical Computing.

- by Daniel Saakes
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- Physical Computing, Tangible User Interfaces, Programming

Multiple realizability (MR) is traditionally conceived of as the feature of computational systems, and has been used to argue for irreducibility of higher-level theories. I will show that there are several ways a computational system may be seen to display MR. These ways correspond to (at least) five ways one can conceive of the function of the physical computational system. However, they do not match common intuitions about MR. I show that MR is deeply interest-related, and for this reason, difficult to pin down exactly. I claim that MR is of little importance for defending computationalism, and argue that it should rather appeal to organizational invariance or substrate neutrality of computation, which are much more intuitive but cannot support strong antireductionist arguments.

- by Tamar Fuhrmann
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- Constructivism, Physical Computing, Computer Model, Science Learning