Creative Technologies

Permanent link for this collection

https://hdl.handle.net/10292/7318

Creative technologies is involved in research and development in areas of:

Serious games, augmented, pervasive, immersive, interactive and tangible technologies

Transmedia – multiple narrative strategies, cross platforms, mobile media

Making – materials, physical computing, post-digital craft, hacktivism and object-oriented research

Innovation in education

Social and Creative Entrepreneurship & Innovation

Neuroscience and Creativity (in association with KEDRI)

Big data, visualisation, software studies

Urban Futures

Sound, Light, Space

Critical interfaces, systems, networks

Methodologies for trans-disciplinary research and collaboration

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Now showing 1 - 20 of 39

60 years of creativity in business organizations
(Design Research Society 2016, 2016-06) Sosa Medina, R; Connor, AM; Rive, P
This paper analyses the role of creativity in business organizations by examining the core ideas of an article published sixty years ago as a way to elucidate how relevant they are today in view of the research literature. The paper proposes the use of computational social simulations to support systematic reasoning about some of these longstanding issues around organizational creativity. An example of an agent-based simulation to study team ideation is presented to support systematic reasoning about the role of creativity in business organizations and to articulate future lines of inquiry.
A comparison of two methods applied to the optimisation of fluid power circuits
(Research Studies Press, 1997-09-10) Connor, AM; Tilley, DG
This paper describes two optimisation methods which can be applied to the parameter selection stage of Fluid Power System design. These two methods used are a Genetic Algorithm (GA) and a Tabu Search method, both of which have been claimed to be truely global methods. GAs are a method inspired by natural selection and Darwinian evolution whilst Tabu Search is an aggressive search metaheuristic which guides local search methods towards the globally optimum solution. Results are presented for two different circuit optimisation tasks. These results show that each of the two methods have both advantages and disadvantages.
A multi-thread tabu search algorithm
(MCB University Press, 1999) Connor, AM
This paper describes a novel refinement to a Tabu search algorithm that has been implemented in an attempt to improve the robustness of the search when applied to particularly complex problems. In this approach, two Tabu searches are carried out in parallel. Each search thread is characterised by it's own short term memory which forces that point out of local optima. However, the two search threads share an intermediate term memory so allowing a degree of information to be passed between them. Results are presented for both unconstrained and constrained numerical functions as well as a problem in the field of hydraulic circuit optimization. Simulation of hydraulic circuit performance is achieved by linking the optimization algorithm to the commercial simulation package Bathfp.
The A-Z of creative technologies
(Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering (ICST), 2018-04-11) Connor, AM; Sosa Medina, R
This paper undertakes an initial critical analysis of Creative Technologies as a means to gain insight to the nature of this as an emerging field. The paper utilises an approach previously used in the design discipline to characterise the field through the embodiment of an alphabetised narrative. This is extended through an analysis of the inter-relationships between the identified elements. The outcomes of this work are useful both in terms of identifying outcomes of academic programmes related to Creative Technologies and also stimulating a wider debate around the nature of the field.
Activity Recognition Evaluation Via Machine Learning
(European Alliance for Innovation (EAI), 2019-11-15) Rameka, ANA; Connor, AM; Kruse, J
With the proliferation of relatively cheap Internet of Things (IoT) devices, smart environments have been highlighted as an example of how the IoT can make our lives easier. Each of these ‘things’ produces data which can work in unison to react to its users. Machine learning makes use of this data to make inferences about our habits and activities, such as our buying preferences or likely commute destinations. However, this level of human inclusion within the IoT relies on indirect inferences from the usage of these devices or services. Activity recognition is already a widely researched area and could provide a more direct way of including humans within this system. This research explores the feasibility of using a cost effective, unobtrusive, single modality ground-based sensor matrix to track subtle pressure changes to predict user activity, in an effort to assess its ability to act as an intermediary interface between humans and digital systems such as the IoT.
An extensible framework for automatic knowledge extraction from student blogs
(AIRCC Publishing Corporation, 2014-06-19) Connor, AM; Martin, M; Joe, S
This article introduces a framework for automatically extracting knowledge from student blogs and injecting it into a shared resource, namely a Wiki. This is motivated by the need to preserve knowledge generated by students beyond their time of study. The framework is described in the context of the Bachelor of Creative Technologies degree at the Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand where it is being deployed alongside an existing blogging and ePortfolio process. The framework uses an extensible, layered architecture that allows for incremental development of components in the system to enhance the functionality over time. The current implementation is in beta-testing and uses simple heuristics in the core components. This article presents a road map for extending the functionality to improve the quality of knowledge extraction by introducing techniques from the artificial intelligence field.
An intuitive tangible game controller
(ACM, 2014-12-02) Connor, AM; Foottit, J; Brown, D; Marks, S
This paper outlines the development of a sensory feedback device providing a low cost, versatile and intuitive interface for controlling digital environments, in this example a flight simulator. Gesture based input allows for a more immersive experience, so rather than making the user feel like they are controlling an aircraft the intuitive interface allows the user to become the aircraft that is controlled by the movements of the user's hand. The movements are designed to feel intuitive and allow for a sense of immersion that would be difficult to achieve with an alternative interface. In this example the user's hand can become the aircraft much the same way that a child would imagine it.
Augmented body: changing interactive body play
(ACM, 2014-12-02) Martin, M; Charlton, J; Connor, AM
This paper investigates the player’s body as a system capable of unfamiliar interactive movement through digital mediation in a playful environment. Body interactions with both digital and non-digital environments are suggested here as a perceptually manipulative exploration area, where by a player altering how they perceive of their body and its operations can create a new playful and original experience. It questions how player interaction can change as perception of the body changes using augmentative technology.
A computational intuition pump to examine group creativity: building on the ideas of others
(International Association of Societies of Design Research (IASDR) 2015, 2015-11) Sosa Medina, R; Connor, AM
This paper presents a computational approach to modelling group creativity. It presents an analysis of two studies of group creativity selected from different research cultures and identifies a common theme (“idea build-up”) that is then used in the formalisation of an agent-based model used to support reasoning about the complex dynamics of building on the ideas of others. The main observations of this model are centred on the effects of group formation in defining the interplay between idea-giving and idea-taking.
Creating Creative Technologists: playing with(in) education
(Springer, 2015-07-20) Walker, C; Connor, AM; Marks, S
Since the industrial revolution, the organization of knowledge into distinct scientific, technical or creative categories has resulted in educational systems designed to produce and validate particular occupations. The methods by which students are exposed to different kinds of knowledge are critical in creating and reproducing individual, professional or cultural identities. (“I am an Engineer. You are an Artist”). The emergence of more open, creative and socialised technologies generates challenges for discipline-based education. At the same time, the term “Creative Technologies” also suggests a new occupational category (“I am a Creative Technologist”). This chapter presents a case-study of an evolving ‘anti-disciplinary’ project-based degree that challenges traditional degree structures to stimulate new forms of connective, imaginative and explorative learning, and to equip students to respond to a changing world. Learning is conceived as an emergent process; self-managed by students through critique and open peer review. We focus on ‘playfulness’ as a methodology for achieving multi-modal learning across the boundaries of art, design, computer science, engineering, games and entrepreneurship. In this new cultural moment, playfulness also re-frames the institutional identities of teacher and learner in response to new expectations for learning.
Creative Technologies: A Retrospective
(Primrose Hall Publishing Group, 2020-06-22) Connor, AM
This paper undertakes an analysis of articles published in the area of Creative Technologies to inform the future development of the field. Articles were collated in a corpus and analysis conducted around keywords, content and authorship. The observations arising from the analysis is that there is some empirical evidence to support that Creative Technologies is an interdisciplinary field of research, with individuals having expertise across multiple domains having the potential to connect otherwise disparate disciplines. The results of the paper support some assertions around the nature of Creative Technologies, however it also suggests that more work is required to scope the field and change is required to secure a future for the Creative Technologies communities of practice.
Data stream mining for predicting software build outcomes using source code metrics
(Elsevier, 2014-02-01) Finlay, J; Pears, R; Connor, AM
Context: Software development projects involve the use of a wide range of tools to produce a software artifact. Software repositories such as source control systems have become a focus for emergent research because they are a source of rich information regarding software development projects. The mining of such repositories is becoming increasingly common with a view to gaining a deeper understanding of the development process. Objective: This paper explores the concepts of representing a software development project as a process that results in the creation of a data stream. It also describes the extraction of metrics from the Jazz repository and the application of data stream mining techniques to identify useful metrics for predicting build success or failure. Method: This research is a systematic study using the Hoeffding Tree classification method used in conjunction with the Adaptive Sliding Window (ADWIN) method for detecting concept drift by applying the Massive Online Analysis (MOA) tool. Results: The results indicate that only a relatively small number of the available measures considered have any significance for predicting the outcome of a build over time. These significant measures are identified and the implication of the results discussed, particularly the relative difficulty of being able to predict failed builds. The Hoeffding Tree approach is shown to produce a more stable and robust model than traditional data mining approaches. Conclusion: Overall prediction accuracies of 75% have been achieved through the use of the Hoeffding Tree classification method. Despite this high overall accuracy, there is greater difficulty in predicting failure than success. The emergence of a stable classification tree is limited by the lack of data but overall the approach shows promise in terms of informing software development activities in order to minimize the chance of failure.
Development of a wearable haptic game interface
(European Alliance for Innovation (EAI), 2016-04-11) Foottit, J; Brown, D; Marks, S; Connor, AM
This paper outlines the ongoing development of a wearable haptic game interface, in this case for controlling a flight simulator. The device differs from many traditional haptic feedback implementations in that it combines vibrotactile feedback with gesture based input, thus becoming a two-way conduit between the user and the virtual environment. The device is intended to challenge what is considered an “interface” and sets out to purposefully blur the boundary between man and machine. This allows for a more immersive experience, and a user evaluation shows that the intuitive interface allows the user to become the aircraft that is controlled by the movements of the user's hand.
Efficient optimisation of structures using tabu search
(MCB University Press, 1999) Connor, AM; Seffen, KA; Clarkson, PJ; Parks, GT
This paper presents a novel approach to the optimisation of structures using a Tabu search (TS) method. TS is a metaheuristic which is used to guide local search methods towards a globally optimal solution by using flexible memory cycles of differing time spans. Results are presented for the well established ten bar truss problem and compared to results published in the literature. In the first example a truss is optimised to minimise mass and the results compared to results obtained using an alternative TS implementation. In the second example, the problem has multiple objectives that are compounded into a single objective function value using game theory. In general the results demonstrate that the TS method is capable of solving structural optimisation problems at least as efficiently as other numerical optimisation approaches.
Embedding authentic practice based learning in engineering undergraduate courses
(School of Engineering, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia, 2017) Whittington, C; Anderson, T; Connor, AM
CONTEXT Authentic education, which connects the lessons with students' real lives and their prior knowledge, has the potential to create meaningful learning environments in which students see their lessons as meaningful, useful and relevant. Typically engineering undergraduate courses do not provide students with an opportunity to solve meaningful real life engineering problems that are beneficial for their lives and societies. Authentic engineering education has the potential to help students develop their creativity, problem solving and innovation skills. PURPOSE The focus of authentic education is to employ interdisciplinary ways in order to solve real-world problems. This study aims at inspiring other educators to integrate authentic scenarios into their teaching activities. APPROACH For this study projects and assignments with real life relevance were introduced for several courses across a semester for students enrolled in papers spanning a range of years and engineering disciplines. Students comments on their learning experience with this authentic approach vs. traditional lecture based teaching are included in this paper. RESULTS Early observations indicate an increased level of engagement with students more motivated to learn and displaying an enthusiastic positive approach to their study. It is also considerably more exciting and stimulating environment to teach in. CONCLUSIONS This paper outlines relatively early efforts to change the established learning paradigm in engineering classes and as such it is too early to draw firm conclusions. However, our experiences to date demonstrate that providing a more authentic education environment engages students more positively in their study. Creating such an environment connects theory and practice and exposes students to real life situations and should prepare them better for 21st century challenges.
Engaging Undergraduates with Research to Promote Cumulative Learning
(Consortia Academia, 2016-08-10) Connor, AM
This paper argues that academia is undergoing a crisis, particularly in terms of some institutions experiencing growing student disengagement. Many changes to curriculum design and delivery have been focused on the modularisation of degree programmes to promote greater flexibility for a changing student demographic. This paper suggests that modularisation has the potential to create segmented learning, where students learn particular content in isolation and do not create linkages between knowledge gained across different modules. It is suggested that blurring boundaries between modules can address concerns about segmentalism. It is also suggested that blurring boundaries between other academic structures can also add value, for example the distinction between teaching and research. This paper presents a number of examples of work-in-progress strategies for using the creation of a third space of learning where research is used to generate cumulative learning.
Engineering design optimisation using tabu search
(Professional Engineering Publishing, 2000) Connor, AM; Clarkson, PJ; Shahpar, S; Leonard, PJ
This paper describes an optimisation methodology that has been specifically developed for engineering design problems. The methodology is based on a Tabu search (TS) algorithm that has been shown to find high quality solutions with a relatively low number of objective function evaluations. Whilst the methodology was originally intended for a small range of design problems it has since been successfully applied to problems from different domains with no alteration to the underlying method. This paper describes the method and it’s application to three different problems. The first is from the field of structural design, the second relates to the design of electromagnetic pole shapes and the third involves the design of turbomachinery blades.
Entrepreneurial Ideation: Effects of Morphology and Complexity
(Cambridge University Press (CUP), 2019-07-26) Antonio, E; Sosa Medina, R; Connor, AM
Studies of product architecture identify a mirroring process between the product and the organisation. Parallel, empirical studies of effectual entrepreneurship show an accumulation of commitments between stakeholders while negotiating the features of the product in a similar fashion to product mirroring. This paper presents a study that looks at the effects of mirroring architectural complexity in early stages of entrepreneurship. The survey asked participants to interpret parametrically generated artefacts with the purpose of starting a new firm. Responses were analysed for complexity in the lexical semantic structure of ideas. Results show that the effects of artefact complexity are not as straightforward as hypothesised and provide evidence that suggests an important role of artefact morphology in entrepreneurial ideation. These findings support a model of product architecture mirroring that is filtered by design morphology.
Evaluating the impact of procedurally generated content on game immersion
(Springer, 2017-11-01) Connor, AM; Greig, TJ; Kruse, J
This paper describes a study that examines the impact that procedurally generated content has on the quality of gaming experience. To that end, an experimental study has been undertaken where gamers play two versions of an otherwise identical game, the only difference being that in one version the game levels are designed by a human designer and in the second version they are procedurally generated. A game immersion questionnaire is used to capture the quality of the gameplay experience and the results across the two groups compared. Whilst there are observable differences in perceived total immersion, statistical analysis using one way ANOVA testing suggests that the difference is not statistically significant. Detailed analysis of the questionnaire responses identifies where variation between the two groups is statistically significant.
Evaluating the quality of Drupal software modules
(World Scientific Publishing, 2018) Denham, B; Pears, R; Connor, AM
Evaluating software modules for inclusion in a Drupal website is a crucial and complex task that currently requires manual assessment of a number of module facets. This study applied data-mining techniques to identify quality-related metrics associated with highly popular and unpopular Drupal modules. The data-mining approach produced a set of important metrics and thresholds that highlight a strong relationship between the overall perceived reliability of a module and its popularity. Areas for future research into opensource software quality are presented, including a proposed module evaluation tool to aid developers in selecting high-quality modules.

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