Research Colloquium at SFU’s School of Interactive Arts and Technology in Surrey presents SIAT Graduate Students

BEN BOGART

JACK STOCKHOLM

HECTOR LARIOS

February 27, 2008 at 2:30 pm

SFU Surrey Campus, Room 5380 (5th Floor Galleria)

BEN BOGART

Title: What is an Artist Doing Here?

Abstract:

Part I: Is the Research in the Artifact or the Artifact in the Research?

Part II: A Formalization of Creative Process.

Part III: Can a Machine Create its own Meaning?

Part IV: The Question of Materiality

Bio:

Ben Bogart is an artist working in installation, audio-visual improvisation and software development. His installations create content live in response to their sensed environment. He works in an Open Source context and makes all the software he develops that is of general use available under the GPL. Physical modeling, chaos, feedback systems, evolutionary algorithms and artificial intelligence have been used to inform and engage in his creative process. In collaboration with the Pure-Data Documentation Project (PDDP), Ben is working on a curriculum for electronic media arts based solely around Open Source tools. Ben is now a graduate student in the School of Interactive Arts and Technology at Simon Fraser University where his current work deals with computational implementations of embodied creativity and memory.

JACK STOCKHOLM

Title: Eavesdropping: Networked Performance in Social Space

Abstract:

Musical performance has migrated to social networks providing an opportunity for interaction between audience members formerly unavailable in broadcast media. The interactions available in Internet audio reflect many of the social interactions of the concert hall but the specifics of the medium also allow for a variety of new and global articulations. Additionally, the ubiquitous nature of the Internet and connectivity of Internet devices provides for a pairing of network connectedness and physical social spaces, allowing an overlap of both interactive environments. This presentation explores the network audio project Eavesdropping, an Internet-based audio system designed to mix networked performance with live social interaction in a public space. Compositions are created in advance and designed as a sequence of overlapping moods. Playback occurs on individual user's laptops in a social space, like a café, where there will be a strong association between the audio playing from each laptop and the individual user sitting at the machine.P>

Bio:

Jack Stockholm is a musician, artist, and researcher, currently studying audio gesture and performance for networked environments at SFU’s School of Interactive Arts and Technology. His work explores the spontaneous musical invention that occurs in social spaces and how individuals express themselves in the acoustic ecology present in an environment. He has spent the last 15 years developing tools to support network collaboration and communication for both the software industry and media arts. Jack has performed and presented art works at various locations in North and South America and Europe including Canada, the U.S., Brazil and Italy. His current work focuses on designing an audio system which can express the moods of a group of networked participants.

HECTOR LARIOS

Title: Gender differences in route-learning strategies as gleaned from eye movements and written directions

Abstract:

Research shows that men and women navigate routes using different strategies. On average, women rely on concrete features of the environment (landmarks) and men rely on abstract orientation information (cardinal directions). It is not known whether these differences stem from differential scanning behavior or direction giving strategies, nor is it known if they extend to digital environments.

As part of my thesis, I conducted a study in which male and female participants were asked to learn routes in a digital environment while their eye movements were monitored. The presentation will focus on the quantitative and qualitative data collection methodologies (i.e., eye tracking, cognitive tests, and written reports). Contributions of this study to the interaction design/HCI/psychology communities will also be discussed.

Bio:

Hector Larios holds a degree in Psychology from UBC and is also a graduate of the TechBC University Interactive Arts program. He is currently completing a Masters of Science Degree at SIAT. He has carried out eye tracking research in cross-cultural web design, online shopping, and concept maps. He's currently investigating the role of spatial cognition in virtual environments.