Browsing by Subject "Interactive"
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Item 3D interactive pictorial maps(Texas A&M University, 2005-02-17) Naz, AsmaThe objective of my research is to revive and practice the art of traditional pictorial maps in 3D cartographic visualization. I have chosen to create both graphical and statistical pictorial maps which can be used for the purpose of tourism and data representation respectively. Some traditional hand-drawn and sculptural pictorial maps of famous artists have been picked out to start as a base for my work. The goal was to recreate or imitate the style, character and features of these traditional hand-drawn and sculptural maps with 3D computer graphics and to analyze how effectively 3D tools can be used to communicate map information. I also wanted to explore ways to make these maps interactive on the Web and have them accessible to a large number of viewers. The results show a number of interactive 3D pictorial maps of different countries and continents. These maps are initially built with Maya, a 3D modeling software, and converted into web pages using the Viewpoint Technology. For statistical maps, Mel scripts have been used in Maya to take input from the user and change the shape of models accordingly to represent data. These maps are interactive and navigable and are designed to be easily accessible on the Web.Item Beyond books : interactive lessons for the college biology classroom(2011-12) Londeore, Cynthia Fay; Jansen, Robert K., 1954-; Fischer, JaniceCollege level science is frequently taught as a recitation of facts in a lecture hall, and the students are expected to gain understanding and insight with their own study. Interactive learning is more effective than lecture based learning and more memorable for the students. Teaching with hands on models has been shown to specifically be beneficial in a college level molecular biology context. Included here is a guide for the instructor leading her through topic selection, activity development, and presentation to the class, as well as five complete and tested lesson plans with notes on alteration made and the reasons for them.Item Creating Automated Interactive Video Playback for Studies of Animal Communications(2010-01-16) Butkowski, TrishaVideo playback is a technique used to study the visual communication and behaviors of animals. While video playback is a useful tool, most experiments lack the ability for the visual stimulus to interact with the live animal. The limited number of experiments involving interactive video playback can be attributed partially to the lack of software available to conduct instructive interactive video playback experiments. To facilitate such interactive experiments, I have created a method that combines real-time animations with video tracking software. This method may be used to conduct interactive playback experiments. To demonstrate this method, a prototype was created and used to conduct automated mating choice trials on female swordtail fish. The results of the mating choice trials show that this prototype is able to create effectively interactive visual stimulus automatically. In addition, the results show that the interactive video playback has a measurable effect on the female swordtail fish, Xiphophorus birchmanni.Item Designing a Real-time Strategy Game about Sustainable Energy Use(2011-08-08) Doucet, Lars AndreasThis thesis documents the development of a video game about sustainable energy use that unites fun with learning. Many other educational games do not properly translate knowledge, facts, and lessons into the language of games: mechanics, rules, rewards, and feedback. This approach differs by using game mechanics in new ways to express lessons about energy sustainability. This design is based on the real time strategy (RTS) genre. Players of these types of games must manage economic problems such as extracting, refining, and allocating resources, as well as industrial problems such as producing buildings and military units. These games often use imaginative fantasy elements to connect with their audience, but also made-up economic numbers and fictional resources such as magic crystals which have little to do with the real world. This thesis' approach retains the fantasy elements and gameplay conventions of this popular genre, but uses numbers, resources, and situations based on research about real-world energy production. The intended result is a game in which the player learns about energy use simply by trying to overcome the game's challenges. In addition, a combined quantitative/qualitative study was performed, which shows that players of the game learned new things, enjoyed the game, and became more interested in the topic of energy use.Item Feminist performance pedagogy : theatre for youth and social justice(2013-05) Freeman, Emily Rachael; Alrutz, MeganThis thesis describes the use of feminist performance pedagogy in working toward a Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA) practice that engages youth in social justice. Drawing on feminist and pedagogical theories, this document explores the processes of writing, rehearsing, and touring a new social justice play for youth called 'And Then Came Tango.' The qualitative study outlined in this MFA thesis uses feminist research methodologies to analyze the engagement of the playwright, the artistic team working on the production of 'And Then Came Tango,' and the second and third grade audiences that participated in the touring production and post-show workshops. The author weaves personal story throughout the document in order to create new meaning around the research experiences as well as to illustrate the personal dimensions of engaging in the struggle around LGBTQ injustice. The discussion invites future artists, educators, and activists to imagine how theory, aesthetics, artists, and communities collaborate in order to work toward socially just and interactive TYA.Item Independence and integrity : a case study of KUT News 2002-2012(2016-05) Brown, Emily Donahue; Lasorsa, Dominic L.; Bock, Mary AngelaThis study employed in-depth interviews and autoethnography with reporters, supporters of and managers at KUT Radio, the NPR affiliate in Austin, as well as leaders in the public journalism movement and media watchers to ascertain the station’s sense of news mission, audience and public journalism’s potential for long-term relevance. KUT launched its newsroom with the public journalism goal to link the public with the civic process by involving them more deeply in the news gathering process. Early on, KUT staff believed strongly in the public journalism model. As the newsroom matured and pressure to produce more content with fewer resources increased, staff received less training in the model. Concurrent with the ascendance of digital technology, blogs and microblogs, the staff and news community adopted more public journalism tenets, which became less an operational guide and more like one element of the overall news mission.Item Singularity for wind ensemble and live electronics(2015-05) Fieldsteel, Eli; Pinkston, Russell; Pennycook, Bruce; Welcher, Dan; Hanna, Scott; Benedikt, MichaelThe combination of wind ensemble with electronic sound has revealed great potential as an expressive medium for music composition. Yet many such works follow a fixed media paradigm, in which the electronic sound is fully realized prior to the performance, often posing unusual or difficult challenges to the ensemble. Additionally, a number of these pieces require that the conductor adhere to a strict rhythmic pulse for a majority of the piece, necessitating an in-ear metronome. This requirement greatly reduces the allowable tempo flexibility, often desired for musical expression. Singularity for Wind Ensemble and Electronics follows a fundamentally different approach, which hybridizes aspects of the fixed media and live electronic music methods. The electronic part is notated on staff paper and distributed alongside the instrumental parts, to be performed on a laptop computer by a musician within the ensemble. The electronic sound is conceived as a collection of triggered musical events whose timings are often flexible or directly controlled by the laptop player. This approach helps to overcome many of the inherent challenges of mixing electronic sounds with acoustic instruments and minimizes logistical obstacles.Item Swimming upstream : a documentation of process(2011-05) Marks, Ilana Michelle; Isackes, Richard M.; Otte, Ray C.; Lynn, KirkSwimming Upstream is an original work written, directed, and designed by Ilana Marks. The script tells the story of a gay sperm on a journey through the female body. A fully produced workshop performance occurred in the Oscar Brockett Theatre as part of The University Co-op Presents the Cohen New Works Festival. The performance of an excerpt from the script incorporated live actors, puppetry, multimedia, and music, and transformed the audience members into sperm involved in the ultimate game of chance. The purpose of this work was to explore and develop a personal creative process of storytelling. This thesis documents the process that Ilana employed to create Swimming Upstream. She focuses on the incorporation of audience interaction into performance, looking to the work of performance artists, such as Julian Beck and Richard Schechner. In addition, she addresses the variation between the process and the final product, and the factors of the process that cultivated the disparity between the two.