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Ivan Illich famously coined the term «tools for conviviality» in which he refers to tools that encourage individual creativity and expression, and that can be adapted to people’s needs and situations. This paper describes the design of an interactive adaptable tool, whose applications include education and game play, and contextualizes it within Illich’s framework. The Collaborative Interactive Tabletop for Education (CITE), currently being developed at SUNY Polytechnic, allows users to manipulate digital information through the manipulation of hand-held tabletop objects. Such interfaces, known as Tangible User Interfaces (TUI), are believed to have significant advantages over traditional screen-based interfaces. For example, they have been shown to measurably increase collaborative behavior among users. However, TUIs have not been widely adopted, perhaps because most current TUI designs require some kind of specialized hardware. Our approach is to instead create a system, a set of verified instructions along with open-license software packages, for adapting any combination of standard computer hardware into a highly customizable interactive tabletop.

The author presents a method to simulate facial character development by accumulating an expressive history onto a face. The model analytically combines facial features from Paul Ekman’s seven universal facial expressions using a simple Markov chain algorithm. The output is a series of 3D digital faces created in Blender with Python. The results show that systematically imprinting features from emotional expressions onto a neutral face transforms it into one with distinct character. This method could be applied to creative works that depend on character creation, ranging from figurative sculpture to game design, and allows the creator to incorporate chance into the creative process. The author demonstrates the method’s application to sculpture with ceramic casts of generated faces.

We present a method by which to convert a large corpus of website traffic data into interactive and practical taste graph visualizations. The website traffic data lists individual visitors' level of interest in specific pages across the website; it is a tripartite list consisting of anonymized visitor ID, webpage ID, and a score that quantifies interest level. Taste graph visualizations reveal psychological profiles by revealing connections between consumer tastes; for example, an individual with a taste for A may be also have a taste for B. We describe here the method by which we map the web traffic data into a form that can be displayed as interactive taste graphs, and we describe design strategies for communicating the revealed information. In the context of the publishing industry, this interactive visualization is a tool that renders the large corpus of website traffic data into a form that is actionable for marketers and advertising professionals. It could equally be used as a method to personalize services in the domains of government services, education or health and wellness.

Resumen tomado de la publicación Monográfico con el título, Educación para la ciudadanía : significado y experiencias Título, resumen y palabras clave en español e inglés Se parte de la premisa de que la alfabetización informativa es una faceta de la educación ciudadana en la era de la información, y que el compromiso ciudadano en una democracia no sólo requiere de acceso a la información, sino también de la capacidad de manipular y examinar la información desde diferentes perspectivas. La visualización de información dilucida tendencias y patrones dentro del fenómeno que representa la información, y abre la posibilidad de acceder a la compleja comprensión por medio de los conjuntos de datos de los procesos humanos y naturales. La investigación señala que la interacción con una visualización amplifica la cognición y el análisis. Una visualización simple puede mostrar solo una faceta de la información. Para analizar la información desde múltiples perspectivas, los ciudadanos comprometidos necesitan ser capaces de construir su propia visualización a partir del conjunto de datos. Muchas herramientas para la visualización de información han respondido a esta necesidad, permitiendo a inexpertos en el manejo de la información, manipular y ganar conocimiento sobre su información, aunque la mayoría de estas herramientas se restringen a la pantalla del ordenador, el teclado y el ratón. La cognición y el análisis pueden ser fortalecidos aún más mediante la interacción del cuerpo y la información. Por ejemplo, con un sistema que te deje explorar datos digitales en una pantalla con el reordenamiento de objetos concretos, o con gestos expresivos. Se presenta el desarrollo lógico para el diseño de una herramienta que permita a los usuarios poner a prueba el conjunto de información mediante interacciones con objetos tridimensionales tangibles, que permitan ir más allá de la interacción con el teclado y el ratón del ordenador. Se argumenta que el uso de objetos tangibles facilita la comprensión de conceptos abstractos, y hace accesibles escenarios de aprendizaje concretos. Otra ventaja de usar objetos tangibles en comparación con el uso de herramientas propias de la pantalla del ordenador es que fomentan la colaboración, lo cual puede promover un contexto de trabajo y aprendizaje productivo. Lo cual lleva a pensar que abordar la información desde una perspectiva colaborativa puede ser una actividad educativa productiva para los ciudadanos en sus comunidades y en el aula escolar, y se proponen nuestras herramientas como un medio para hacer esto. ESP

The Sophi Heads-up Display (HUD) is an analytics tool developed for editors at Canada's The Globe and Mail newspaper that overlays relevant data about articles' performances onto The Globe and Mail website. We describe the motivation for our research, our design process (which includes initial needs assessment through semi-structured interviews with editors, and job shadowing), and the validation of features with users. We then discuss the ongoing iterations of the Sophi HUD and how its design was informed through collaboration with The Globe and Mail employees.

Visualization scientists seek means to inspire insights from data, which require creative thinking on the part of analysts as well as cognitive reasoning. In information visualization a focus on the user has proven highly effective in the design of usable and engaging interfaces, although it has been argued that such a focus limits innovation in insights about the data and in the creation of metaphors for visualization. If a user-centered design recapitulates existing knowledge, then a design approach which derives exclusively from the data may provide more innovative results. Our approach considers both the designers and the users, whereby our goal is to elicit creativity in both the design of visualization tools and in their application. We compare user-centered design and data-driven design through tool sets that emerged from each of these methods. User-centered design methodologies were used in the creation of a custom interface for editors at a major national newspaper that visualizes measures of each story’s popularity. Data-driven design methodologies were used to create a tangible user interface for data visualization. With UCD we built a tool that supported the use of data in editorial decisions and deployed familiar metaphors to encourage significant change in workplace practice. With DDD we unleashed creativity on the part of analysts which resulted in a more innovative approach on the part of designers and a gateway to new user communities. We compare strengths and weaknesses of each methodology through a reflection of our design outcomes.

Background: Stigma towards severe mental illness manifests in different ways across cultures and only recently has a theoretical perspective emerged to understand such cultural differences. The ‘What Matters Most’ framework identifies culturally specific dimensions of stigma by identifying the interactions between cultural norms, roles, and values that impact personhood. Objective: This study explores the cultural underpinnings that create and maintain stigmatizing attitudes towards severe mental illness in Chile. Methods: In-depth interviews developed using the ‘Scale of Perceived Discrimination and Devaluation’, and the ‘What Matters Most’ framework were conducted with twenty people identified as having a severe mental illness. Interviews were coded and discussed until agreement was reached, then analyzed by an independent reviewer to determine inter-rater reliability. Results: A key factor shaping stigma among women was the loss of capacity to accomplish family roles (i.e. take care of children).or men, cultural notions of ‘Machismo’ prevented them from disclosing their psychiatric diagnosis as a means to maintain status and ability to work. A protective factor against stigma for men was their ability to guide and provide for the family, thus fulfilling responsibilities attributable to ‘Familismo’. Social appearances could play either a shaping or protecting role,contingent on the social status of the individual. Discussion: In Chilean culture, stigma is rooted in gendered social characteristics and shared familial roles. Interventions should aim to address these norms and incorporate culturally salient protective factors to reduce stigma experienced by individuals with serious mental illness in Chile and other Latin American settings. Resumen Antecedentes: Estigma hacia la enfermedad mental se manifiesta en diferentes formas dependiendo de la cultura, sin embargo solo recientemente se ha desarrollado una perspectiva teórica para entender dichas diferencias culturales. El abordaje de ‘what matter most’ es capaz de identificar dimensiones culturalmente específicas relativas al estigma por medio de la identificación y extracción de las normas culturales, roles y valores que impactan la identidad de las personas. Objetivo: El presente estudio explora los cimientos culturales que crean y mantienen las actitudes estigmatizantes hacia las enfermedades mentales en Chile. Métodos: Se desarrollaron 20 entrevistas en profundidad en personas con trastorno mental severo utilizando la ‘Escala de Discriminación y Devaluación Percibida’ y orientadas por el enfoque ‘What Matter Most’. Las entrevistas fueron codificadas y discutidas hasta alcanzar grados de acuerdo apropiados, cuestióndeterminada por un revisor independiente que calculó el grado de acuerdo inter-jueces. Resultados: Un aspecto clave para moldear la expresión del estigma entre mujeres fue la pérdida de la capacidad para cumplir con su rol de dueña de casa (i.e. cuidar de sus hijos), mientras en los hombres nociones culturales asociadas al ‘Machismo’ impidieron que ellos develaran sus respectivos diagnósticos psiquiátricos para mantener su estatus social y habilidad para trabajar. Por otra parte, un factor protector en contra del estigma en hombres fue mantener su habilidad para guiar y proveer a su familia, y así cumplir plenamente con las responsabilidades atribuidas al ‘Familismo’. Finalmente, las apariencias sociales pueden jugar tanto un rol moldeador o protector en contra del estigma, y esto parece ser contingente al estatus social del individuo. Discusión: Estigma se asocia a características sociales y roles familiares enraizadas en la cultura Chilena. Intervenciones deberían abordajes éstas dimensiones e incorporar aquellos factores protectores que son potenciales recursos para reducir el estigma hacia la enfermedades mentales en Chile y en otros contextos Latinoamericanos.

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We describe a novel method of generating monodisperse subfemtoliter aqueous droplets on demand by means of piezoelectric injection. Droplets with volumes down to 200 aL are generated by this technique. The droplets are injected into a low refractive index perfluorocarbon so that they can be optically trapped. We demonstrate the use of optical tweezers to manipulate and mix droplets. For example, using optical tweezers we bring two droplets, one containing a calcium sensitive dye and the other calcium chloride, into contact. The droplets coalesce with a resulting reaction time of about 1 ms. The monodispersity, manipulability, repeatability, small size, and fast mixing afforded by this system offer many opportunities for nanochemistry and observation of chemical reactions on a molecule-by-molecule basis.

We report on a new method to stabilize nanotube and vesicle structures created from amphiphilic diblock copolymers by means of photopolymerization. Cross-linking with UV light exposure minimizes fluid disruption during stabilization. Additionally, the spatial control afforded by focusing or masking the initiating light source enables stabilization of distinct segments of individual nanostructures. This contribution demonstrates (1) that vesicles and nanotubes formed from poly(ethylene oxide)-block-polybutadiene are stabilized by exposure to UV light in the presence of a water-soluble photoinitiator and (2) that new nanotube geometries can be constructed by means of spot-curing, and (3) it reveals an application for photopolymerized nanotubes by showing electrophoresis of DNA through a UV-stabilized nanotube.

The interactive visualization of topic models is a promising approach to summarizing large sets of textual data. Topicks is the working title for a means to visualize topic modelling outputs. Incorporating a radial layout, users can view the relationships between topics, terms and the corpus as a whole. Interacting with topic and term nodes, as well as a related bar chart, provides the user with various ways to manipulate the visualization and explore the data. We describe the visualization and potential user interactions before discussing future work.

Light pressure effect has been discovered long ago and has been used as an optical method to manipulate microand nanoparticles. It is usually considered as a nonresonant effect determined by the transfer of the momentum of light. However, recently we have observed that large polystyrene microspheres of 15-20 {\mu}m diameters supporting high quality whispering gallery resonances can be optically propelled in water at an extraordinary high velocity along tapered fibers under resonant conditions. In this work we compare on- and off-resonant optical forces in microspherical photonics by controlling the detuning between the laser emission line and whispering gallery resonances. Our approach involves manipulation with microspheres using conventional optical tweezers and their advanced spectroscopic characterization in fiber-integrated setups. We demonstrate dramatic difference in the optical forces exerted on microspheres in the on-resonant and off-resonant cases. This method can be used to study spectral properties of the resonantly enhanced forces in microspherical photonics., Comment: IEEE 2013 15th International Conference on Transparent Optical Networks (ICTON), June 2013, http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/articleDetails.jsp?tp=&arnumber=6602702&queryText%3D10.1109%2FICTON.2013.6602702

Tangible user interfaces and physical representations of data are both promising approaches to improving insights derived from large data sets. Interactive tangible representations of data, which seamlessly combine those two approaches, potentially take advantage of cognitive processes, data representations, and interactions not supported by current approaches and may enhance collaboration. This paper describes user evaluations of two sets of prototypes comprised of physical blocks to represent data. One set uses six blocks of identical dimensions and another set uses six blocks with different dimensions. The objectives of this pilot study include (i) making general observations on how users interact with the two prototypes, (ii) making observations on the role these tangible interfaces play in collaboration, and (iii) comparing the two sets of tangible interfaces. We report on the results of the study and discuss future work. make general observations on how users interacted with the tangible interfaces; two, to make observations on the role the tangible interfaces play in collaboration; and three, to compare the two sets of tangible interfaces with one another. We report on the results of the study and discuss future work.

En este artículo se presenta un estudio de caso dentro del marco de la pedagogía constructivista del curso libre de orientación a la física Science, Techonology, and Society. Ponemos especial atención en los desafíos que conlleva el uso de la pedagogía constructivista en la enseñanza de la ciencia, una materia cuya filosofía es inherentemente realista. Por otro lado, nuestro estudio de caso demuestra que un enfoque realista de la pedagogía no es siempre la forma más efectiva de enseñar ciencia. Siendo críticas con la filosofía constructivista, reconocemos que un enfoque constructivista de la pedagogía puede ser efectivo para la educación científica, especialmente en la medida en que ésta queda sujeta a cierto realismo. El estudio de caso consiste en tres preguntas realizadas a 234 alumnos de grado durante dos semestres consecutivos. Sus respuestas muestran el sesgo individual y cultural, así como la escasa formación en matemáticas que pueden impedir que se sientan atraídos por el pensamiento científico. El estudio de caso proporciona apoyo para poner en práctica una pedagogía constructivista enfocada a una formación científica realista, y pone de manifiesto los conflictos cognitivos que enfrentan algunos estudiantes cuando las creencias previas difieren de lo que está siendo enseñado en el aula como una realidad universal. Nuestro análisis de las respuestas explora la labor colaborativa que puede establecerse entre la filosofía realista y la pedagogía constructivista.

Two 25 base-pair cDNA strands are encapsulated within an optically trapped nanodroplet, and we observe the kinetics of their hybridization in dynamic equilibrium via single-molecule fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) as a function of temperature and of the solution's NaCl concentration. We have observed the duplex unfolding and refolding, and we have observed quasistable partially unfolded states under low salinity conditions. Furthermore, our measurements reveal that, even in conditions under which the duplex is stable, it undergoes conformational fluctuations in solution.

We describe a method for molecular confinement and single-fluorophore sensitive measurement in aqueous nanodroplets in oil. The sequestration of individual molecules in droplets has become a useful tool in genomics and molecular evolution. Similarly, the use of single fluorophores, or pairs of fluorophores, to study biomolecular interactions and structural dynamics is now common. Most often these single-fluorophore sensitive measurements are performed on molecules that are surface attached. Confinement via surface attachment permits molecules to be located and studied for a prolonged period of time. For molecules that denature on surfaces, for interactions that are transient or out-of-equilibrium, or to observe the dynamic equilibrium of freely diffusing reagents, surface attachment may not be an option. In these cases, droplet confinement presents an alternative method for molecular confinement. Here, we describe this method as used in single-fluorophore sensitive measurement and discuss its advantages, limitations, and future prospects.

We control and observe femtoliter volume reactions within aqueous nanodroplets. Chemical reagents sequestered in the nanodroplets mix when the nanodroplets are fused via optical manipulation. The subsequent reaction is probed by means of fluorescence excitation. (Optical Trapping Applications, 2009). Download original .PDF file here

We inertially inject and study the contents of optically trappable aqueous nanodroplets (hydrosomes) emulsified in a perfluorinated matrix. A new piezoelectric actuated device for production of single hydrosomes on demand is introduced. Hydrosomes containing enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) were injected, optically trapped, and held at the focus of an excitation laser in a confocal microscope, and single-molecule photobleaching events were observed. The rotational diffusion time of EGFP in trapped hydrosomes was measured using time-resolved fluorescence anisotropy. In free solution, the mean rotational diffusion time was determined to be 13.8 +/- 0.1 ns at 3 microM and 14.0 +/- 0.2 ns at 10 microM. In hydrosomes, the mean rotational diffusion time was similar and determined to be 12.6 +/- 1.0 ns at 3 microM and 15.5 +/- 1.6 ns at 10 microM. We conclude that the rotational motion inside the nanodroplets is consistent with rotation in free solution and that the protein therefore does not aggregate at the water-oil interface. Protein can be confined in hydrosomes with high efficiency using this technique, which provides an alternative to surface attachment or lipid encapsulation and opens up new avenues of research using single molecules contained in fluid nanovolumes.

We demonstrate a novel technique for creating, manipulating, and combining femtoliter to attoliter volume chemical containers. Possible uses include creating controlled chemical reactions involving small quantities of reagent, and studying the dynamics of single molecules. The containers, which we call hydrosomes, are surfactant stabilized aqueous droplets in a low index-of-refraction fluorocarbon medium. The index of refraction mismatch between the container and fluorocarbon is such that individual hydrosomes can be optically trapped by single focus laser beams, i.e. optical tweezers. Previous work on single molecules usually involved the tethering of the molecule to a surface, in order to interrogate the molecule for an extended period of time. The use of hydrosomes opens up the possibility for studying free molecules, away from any perturbing surface. We show that this is indeed true in the case of quantitative FRET with RNA. Furthermore, we demonstrate the controlled fusion of two hydrosomes for studying reactions, such as DNA binding kinetics, and single molecule dynamics under non-equilibrium conditions. We also show the applicability of our technique in analytical chemistry, such as for molecule identification and sorting.

We report on improvements and innovations in the use of hydrosomes to encapsulate and study single molecules. Hydrosomes are optically-trappable aqueous nanodroplets. The droplets are suspended in a fluorocarbon medium that is immiscible with water and has an index of refraction lower than water, so hydrosomes are stable and optically trapped by a focused laser beam (optical tweezers). Using optical tweezers, we hold the hydrosomes within a confocal observation volume and interrogate the encapsulated molecule by fluorescence excitation. This method allows for long observation times of a molecule without the need for surface immobilization or liposome encapsulation. We have developed a new way for creating hydrosomes on demand by inertially launching them into the fluorocarbon matrix using a piezo-activated micropipette. Time-resolved fluorescence anisotropy studies are carried out to characterize the effects of the hydrosome interface boundary on biological molecules and to determine whether molecules encapsulated within hydrosomes diffuse freely throughout the available volume. We measured the fluorescence anisotropy decay of 20mer DNA duplexes, and enhanced green fluorescent protein (GFP). We conclude that the molecules rotate freely inside the nanodroplets and do not stick or aggregate at the boundary.

We create long polymer nanotubes by directly pulling on the membrane of polymersomes using either optical tweezers or a micropipette. The polymersomes are composed of amphiphilic diblock copolymers and the nanotubes formed have an aqueous core connected to the aqueous interior of the polymersome. Stabilized membranes of nanotubes and vesicles were formed by the directed selfassembly of poly(ethylene oxide)-block-polybutadiene, followed by photopolymerization, initiated by UV light, to a maximum double bond conversion of 15%. The photopolymerized nanotubes are extremely robust. The applicability of photopolymerization for biophysics and bioanalytical science is demonstrated by electrophoresing DNA molecules through a stabilized nanotube with an integrated vesicle reservoir.

We create long polymer nanotubes by directly pulling on the membrane of polymersomes using either optical tweezers or a micropipette. The polymersomes are composed of amphiphilic diblock copolymers and the nanotubes formed have an aqueous core connected to the aqueous interior of the polymersome. We stabilize the pulled nanotubes by subsequent chemical cross-linking. The cross-linked nanotubes are extremely robust and can be moved to another medium for use elsewhere. We demonstrate the ability to form networks of polymer nanotubes and polymersomes by optical manipulation. The aqueous core of the polymer nanotubes together with their robust character makes them interesting candidates for nanofluidics and other applications in biotechnology.

We have developed and describe a method to generate monodisperse optically-trappable aqueous emulsion droplets (“hydrosomes”) on demand by piezoelectric injection. The droplets have been measured to have radii as small as 368 nm ± 16 nm, corresponding to a volume of 212 aL ± 27 aL. The hydrosomes are injected into a perfluorocarbon continuous phase. The refractive index of the perfluorocarbon is lower than that of water, rendering the hydrosomes trappable by a conventional optical tweezer. Using the injector and optical manipulation we demonstrate fusion of two hydrosomes, one containing a calcium-sensitive dye and the other containing calcium chloride, and we measure the mixing times to be on the order of 10 millisecond or less. The monodispersity, repeatability, small size, and fast mixing afforded by this system offer unprecedented opportunities for nanochemistry and single molecule or single nanoparticle studies.

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Two 25 base-pair complementary DNA strands are encapsulated within an optically trapped nano-droplet, and we observe the kinetics of their hybridization in dynamic equilibrium via single molecule fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) as a function of temperature and of the solution's NaCl concentration. We have observed binding and unbinding events between the two freely diffusing DNA strands, and our measurements reveal that the duplex can exist in multiple conformational states at elevated temperatures and low concentrations of NaCl.

We present metadata of labeled faces extracted from a Time magazine archive that contains 3,389 issues ranging from 1923 to 2012. The data we are publishing consists of three subsets: Dataset 1) the gender labels and image characteristics for each of the 327,322 faces that were automatically-extracted from the entire Time archive, Dataset 2) a subset of 8,789 faces from a sample of 100 issues that were labeled by Amazon Mechanical Turk (AMT) workers according to ten dimensions (including gender) and used as training data to produce Dataset 1, and Dataset 3) the raw data collected from the AMT workers before being processed to produce Dataset 2.

We create and observe controlled single molecule chemical reactions within femtoliter containers called hydrosomes. Hydrosomes are stable aqueous nanodroplets suspended in a low index-of-refraction fluorocarbon medium. The index of refraction mismatch between the nanodroplets and fluorocarbon is such that individual hydrosomes can be optically trapped. Using optical tweezers, the hydrosomes are held within a confocal observation volume, and we interrogate the encapsulated molecule by means of fluorescence excitation. Hydrosome encapsulation has an important advantage over liposome encapsulation techniques in that hydrosomes fuse on contact, thereby mixing the encapsulated components. Optical tweezers are used to manipulate the hydrosomes and to induce a fusion event. Custom fabricated microfluidic channels are used to sort the hydrosomes containing different molecule species. We demonstrate the use of hydrosomes as microreactors by fusing two hydrosomes, each containing a complementary single strand of DNA, and observing the subsequent hybridization via FRET (Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer).

We investigate the conformations of myosin V bound to ATP and to ADP via single molecule FRET measurements. The myosin V is labeled with FlAsH in the upper 50kDa domain, and the bound nucleotides are labeled with Rhodamine 101. We have carried out two types of single molecule FRET measurements on this complex: 1) we record the transit of single molecules diffusing through the focal region of a probe laser (473 nm); 2) we record the time trajectory of each molecule while it is encapsulated within an optically trapped femtoliter aqueous nanodroplet (hydrosome). In the latter measurements, an infrared (1064 nm) optical trap holds a single hydrosome within the focal region of the probe (473 nm) beam, which fluorescently excites the single molecule contained within the hydrosome. Our preliminary results to date indicate that our single molecule FRET measurements are consistent with each other and with previous ensemble measurements.