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 69

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.
Activity Scenario Modelling: An Emerging Method for Examining Human-artefact Interaction
(Design Research Society (DRS), 2020) Montiel, M; Sosa Medina, R; Hocking, D
Everyday activities are jointly shaped by people and artefacts. This points to the need for tools that designers can use to examine the joint agency of people and artefacts. This paper reports progress in developing Activity Scenario Modelling (ASM), a design approach that can be used for such purpose. ASM combines techniques of video analysis, discourse analysis and social network analysis. The paper provides an overview of the theoretical foundations of ASM and illustrates it by modelling an activity scenario from an online tutorial on tea-making. The paper also describes a research agenda to apply ASM in design for sustainability efforts.
Add to shopping basket
(DARC (Digital Aesthetics Research Centre), Aarhus University, School of Communication and Culture, 2015) Charlton, J
No abstract.
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.
But Can It Be Art? Kapa Haka As a Contemporary Indigenous Performance Practice
(Te Ara Poutama, AUT University, 2015) Mazer, S; Papesch, T R
This talk represents the latest stage in our ongoing conversation. As with our previously performed public dialogues such as ‘Crossing the Cultural Divide’ in 2001and ‘Stages of Pōwhiri’ in 2008, we’re staking positions that are to some degree more contrary than we might hold in private (see Papesch and Mazer 2001 & 2010). We do this for the sake of argument, to have a bit of a play with thinking out loud in ways that you may, or may not, find acceptable, and as such perhaps to spark controversy, because we believe that conscious contentiousness can be cheerful and also genuinely productive of new ideas about the relationship between culture and performance.
A Case for Creative Misunderstanding
(Te Ara Poutama, AUT University, 2015) Mazer, S
The differences between us necessitate the dialogue, rather than disallow it – a dialogue must take place, precisely because we don’t speak the same language. (Ahmed, 2000, p. 180, italics in the original) Human ways of life increasingly influence, dominate, parody, translate, and subvert one another. (Clifford, 1986, p. 22) I begin with an admission: I’m not Māori, not indigenous in any place or in any way that would allow me to speak and write with such authority. Nor, for that matter, am I a dancer. I’m an American theatre-trained, performance ethnographer. As a performance ethnographer, everywhere I go, everywhere I look, I see performances, and while I may not understand the language or conventions of the performances I see, even so I tell the story of my seeing performances to others.
Challenges in virtual reality exergame design
(Australian Computer Society, Inc. (ACS), 2015-01-30) Shaw, Lindsay Alexander; Wünsche, Burkhard Claus; Lutteroth, Christof; Marks, S; Callies, Rodolphe
Exercise video games have become increasingly popular due to their potential as tools to increase user motivation to exercise. In recent years we have seen an emergence of consumer level interface devices suitable for use in gaming. While past research has indicated that immersion is a factor in exergame effectiveness, there has been little research investigating the use of immersive interface technologies such as head mounted displays for use in exergames. In this paper we identify and discuss five major design challenges associated with the use of immersive technologies in exergaming: motion sickness caused by sensory disconnect when using a head mounted display, reliable bodily motion tracking controls, the health and safety concerns of exercising when using immersive technologies, the selection of an appropriate player perspective, and physical feedback latency. We demonstrate a prototype exergame utilising several affordable immersive gaming devices as a case study in overcoming these challenges. The results of a user study we conducted found that our prototype game was largely successful in overcoming these challenges, although further work would lead to improvement and we were able to identify further issues associated with the use of a head mounted display during exercise.
Collaborative Ecologies through Material Entanglements
(Estonian Academy of Arts, 2019-09-30) Smitheram, M; Joseph, F
This paper addresses aspects of collaboration and conceptual frameworks in practice that are central to our project, Phenomenal Dress. The research has been informed by material thinking, posthuman theory and New Zealand Māori perspectives, through processes of “making-with” (Haraway, 2016). Working with an ecosystem, engaging with localized non-human phenomena as well as cultural and scientific experts, mediated materials, textile surfaces as new forms of “dress-action” (Tiainen, Kontturi and Hongisto, 2015) have been developed through relational entanglement. The artefacts produced in the project are not functional or fashionable products, they are matter flows, formed through diverse perspectives and collaborative processes. They suggest a reconsideration of dress as material-aesthetic activations and pathway towards co-emergent understanding. Through this approach, the ecosystem is recognised as the primary collaborator, repositioning human and more-than-human relationships. This approach is informed by Māori knowledge and ways of knowing (mātauranga Māori), perspectives of kaitiakitanga (stewardship) and deeper relationship with the lifeworld through acts of sensing, noticing, making and following. The methodology is grounded in an ontological shift away from human-centredness, where matter and place have been positioned as object, to focus instead on matter as vital collaborator and place as habitat where the interconnections between things can be expressed.
Community Capacity Building: The Role of Design in Entrepreneurship
(FGCU Publishing Inc., 2019) Karmokar, S
Academic entrepreneurship refers to efforts undertaken by universities to promote commercialization, start-ups, technology transfer and university spin offs. A growing trend among tertiary students is to consider not only traditional ventures and new product initiatives but also expand to include social ventures that serve social needs. This paper builds upon the emerging interest and explores ways to connect academic entrepreneurship to external communities through design methods. We use design as a core component of all activities and observe how these activities foster ethnic entrepreneurship. The knowledge and application of design methods is transferred from product development to entrepreneurial capacity-building in the ethnic community. Ethnic entrepreneurship is a challenging process of identifying opportunities in a new market, and undertaking innovative projects. Small communities and minority groups often feel left out either because they come from a different background and culture, or because they are unfamiliar with approaches, and lack the necessary networks that are required to become entrepreneurs. This paper presents a pilot study in which we have addressed key entrepreneurial needs of a selected community, through a series of capacity-building workshops based on design methods.
A Computational Interrogation of “Big-C” and “Little-c” Creativity
(Informa UK Limited, ) Sosa, R; Dijck, MV
The distinction between “Big-C” and “little-c” creativity implies that the generative process of celebrated creators is of a special type or degree. Arguments for and against such a hierarchy of creativity are found in the literature, primarily built on rhetorical argumentation. The aim of this work is to examine the rationale behind Big-C and little-c creativity using explicit and more systematic means of inquiry. We employ computational agent-based simulations to study these constructs, their premises, and their logical implications. The results of this work indicate that hierarchies such as the Big-C and little-c of creativity fail to provide a consistent way to explain and distinguish the generative processes of individual creators. In these computational models of creative social systems, only about half of disruptive changes can be explained by the characteristics of individual agents. This shows how labels like Big-C that are dependent on evaluation outcomes can easily be misattributed by observers to individual creators. This work demonstrates how the use of computational simulations can be useful to examine fundamental ideas about creativity. It shows that the Big-C/little-c distinction is a false dichotomy that should be approached critically by scholars to avoid conflating generative and evaluative dimensions of creativity.
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.

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