Science fiction reduces the eeriness of android robots: A field experiment

As suggested by the uncanny valley hypothesis, robots that resemble humans likely elicit feelings of eeriness. Based on the psychological model of meaning maintenance, we expected that the uncanny valley experience could be mitigated through a fictional story, due to the meaning-generating function of narratives. A field experiment was conducted, in which 75 participants interacted with the humanlike robot Telenoid. Prior to the interaction, they either read a short story, a non-narrative leaflet about the robot, or they received no preliminary information. Eeriness ratings were significantly lower in the science fiction condition than in both other conditions. This effect was mediated by higher perceived human-likeness of the robot. Our findings suggest that science fiction may provide meaning for otherwise unsettling future technologies.     

Toward TechnoAccess: A narrative review of disabled and aging experiences of using technology to access the arts

This paper presents a narrative literature review that addresses the issue of how disabled and aging people access the arts through technology. Our review synthesized 56 studies about disabled and aging people's experiences of access through technology, with a focus on methods used and accounts of user experiences/stories to inform a Canadian research and development initiative called Accessing the Arts. We urge designers and developers to consider the complex, multimodal sociotechnical relationships surrounding technology and access—or TechnoAccess—as they develop technology with disability, aging and access in mind. Although existing evidence offers ways to improve everyone's access to the arts, recommendations are provided for research around access and technology as an inherently politicized topic that must be informed by disabled and aging people's intersectional cultural experiences, including how they wish to use technology to access the arts.     

空间的叙事--对张应鹏无锡南洋学院的一种阅读

空间不是一种苍白的存在,它直指建筑的生命意识;空间不是设计者的附庸,它以独立的思想与情感讲诉自己的故事。这种叙事是开放的,任何空间的参与者可以融入自己的话语,进行自己的解码与编排;这种叙事是流动的,无休无止,没有确切的来龙去脉;这种叙事是透明的,活动于空间内的人和物永远是真实的展露;这种叙事是感性的,只有善感的心灵才能感知它的存在。     

自然·意境·人文--关于电影与建筑的敘事性同构现象的思考

在喧闹的电影市场,电影《刺客聂隐娘》诗意般的叙事给观众巨大的感染。电影所具有的这种感染力,在建筑中常常也会出现。电影与建筑都有的这种感染作用,其根源是两者都具备一种共同的基本属性,即叙事性。本文通过对《刺客聂隐娘》和建筑案例叙事手法的比较,对建筑叙事性属性展开研究,抑或建筑创作可以从电影中获取灵感,并在建筑的创作中能实现其终极的价值——人文关怀。     

Another look at ‘being there’ experiences in digital media: Exploring connections of telepresence with mental imagery

Substantial multidisciplinary research has established foundational support for the consumer behaviour phenomenon that underlies the experience of telepresence within online social networks and other digital media products that provide hedonistic value. A review of major perspectives in this field provides justification of the important role mental imagery processes play in the phenomenon of telepresence. In line with this, we propose to extend existing approaches to mental imagery to reach the context of user experiences in digital media, and to theoretically connect telepresence with mental imagery. On this basis, and in conjunction with investigations bringing to light processes that intervene in the terrain of mental imagery, we present an integrative conceptual framework concerned with telepresence, and discuss the role of telepresence within a user’s hedonistic usage of digital media products.     

New Active Tools for Supporting Narrative Structures

Constructing stories is a type of playing that involves mobilizing the storyteller’s imagination and finding original ways to convey narrative intentions. When a child invents a story, there is a natural interaction with the local environment and the use of various means of expression. We adopted a user-centered approach to design POGO, a playful environment which utilizes the child’s physical environment and sensory modalities. Pogo is a system of active tools that enable children to create stories by connecting physical and virtual environments. By providing children with the possibility of capturing and manipulating images and various media, and combining them in sequential form, Pogo triggered new strategies in the construction of narrative logic, time and space, in the construction of the episodes and in the visual narration. Correspondence to: Fran?oise Decortis, Psychology and Education Sciences Department, University of Liege, 4000 Liege, Belgium. Email:francoise.decortis@ulg.ac.be     

Narrative scenario development based on cross-impact analysis for the evaluation of global-warming mitigation options

Social, technological, economic and environmental issues should be considered comprehensively for the evaluation of global-warming mitigation options. Existing integrated assessment models include assessment of quantitative factors; however, these models do not explicitly consider interactions among qualitative factors in the background – for example, introductions of nuclear power stations interact with social acceptability. In this paper, we applied a technological forecasting method – the cross-impact method – which explicitly deals with the relationships among relevant factors, and we then developed narrative scenarios having consistency with qualitative social contexts. An example of developed scenarios in 2050, assuming the global population and the gross domestic product are the same as those of the A1 scenario of the IPCC Special Report on Emissions Scenarios, tells us that: (1) the Internet will be extensively used in all regions; (2) the global unified market will appear; (3) regional cultures will tend to converge; (4) long-term investments (of more than 30 years) will become difficult and therefore nuclear-power stations will not increase so remarkably; (5) the self-sufficient supply and diversification of primary energy sources will not progress so rapidly; and (6) due to the widespread use of the Internet, people will be more educated in global environmental issues and environmental costs will be more socially acceptable.     

An empirical study of narrative imagery in implicit and explicit contexts

This study investigates if imagery is an inherent construct to narrative by playing a role in storytelling and comprehension. Visualization activities consist of ones that depend on pictures or physical objects and those do not depend on extraneous visual artifacts. The understandings of both types of visualization will contribute to their application and integration. In light of rapid development of technology and drastic increase of multimedia representations in social communication, applying storytelling approach to system design is increasingly relevant to many researchers who are eager to bring visual thinking to the classroom, alternative to applying physical visual artifacts. In this study, we looked into the cognitive process evoked in the comprehension of narrative and its similarity to imagery as an individual cognition. We transformed a course into conversational narrative and participants were randomly assigned into three sections, two were in narrative text and one was in expository text. Sections 1 and 2 were in narrative text, but only participants from section 1 were prompt for image creation before writing essays. Section 3 was in expository text and participants were also prompt for image creation before writing essays. The independent samples t-test was used to compare the mean scores of three groups on creativity score and word total across the sections. Our study found that narrative was able to activate the imagery world of the participants without giving them further instructions explicitly suggesting so. The implicit imagery context created by reading narratives had a stronger impact on creativity than that of explicit imagery creation context that did not involve of narrative comprehension. The study suggests that narrative innately provides some sort of control to its user cognitively and can be integrated with other types of media in design.     

Using narratives in conferences to improve the CMC learning environment

Abstract This paper reports on the use of short stories in Internet discussions to promote student learning. It describes off-campus teacher education students CMC discussions of short stories concerning issues in human development. The content of students' discussions is analysed, as is their perceptions of the value of the discussion stories. The results indicate that the use of narratives can improve the social environment of online conferences and contribute to collaborative student learning.