Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Visual notation'

Development of advanced techniques for biological network visualisation is crucial for successful progress in the areas of systems-level biology and data-intensive bioinformatics. However, current techniques for biological network visualisation fall short of expectations for representing extensive biological networks. In order to provide really useful network visualisation tools, new approaches have to be proposed and applied alongside with those most powerful features of current visualisation systems. The resulting representation techniques have to be tested by applying to large-scale examples that would include metabolic, signaling and gene expression events. User survey should also be carried out to further prove the advantages of the new techniques. The present thesis describes an attempt to achieve the above objectives, by performing the following steps: 1) existing approaches in the area of network representation were analyzed and their shortcomings and advantages were defined; 2) new notation has been developed, in which, the defined best features of the existing systems were integrated with newly introduced potent features such as compact visualization, ‘functional gate’ and ‘identity gate’, 4) new framework was developed that allows managing large-scale networks that are represented on different levels of details and different levels of constrains, while keeping each diagram semantically unambiguous, 5) extensive examples, including genome-scaled human metabolic network and TNF-alpha receptor signalling network, were used to prove that the designed notation and the framework can be applied efficiently, and, finally, 6) a notation survey has been carried out to validate the advantages of the newly developed notation over the existing ones.

This practice-based thesis examines ways in which the cultural patterning of greetings can be understood through their visualisation. The graphic design practice uses a range of digital tools and software to develop an animated graphic notation system for analysing nonverbal aspects of greetings both within and across cultures. The thesis explicates the process of this development and outlines its context and significance. Previous systems of visualisation devised by anthropologists for the study of greetings have stopped short of using contemporary digital technology. Further, although intercultural contact has increased, most existing greetings studies still focus on intracultural greetings.

There are three main results in this dissertation. The first result is the construction of an abstract visual space for rational numbers mod1, based on the visual primitives, colour, and rational radial direction. Mathematics is performed in this visual notation by defining increasingly refined visual objects from these primitives. In particular, the existence of the Farey tree enumeration of rational numbers mod1 is identified in the texture of a two-dimensional animation. ¶ The second result is a new enumeration of the rational numbers mod1, obtained, and expressed, in abstract visual space, as the visual object coset waves of coset fans on the torus. Its geometry is shown to encode a countably infinite tree structure, whose branches are cosets, nZ+m, where n, m (and k) are integers. These cosets are in geometrical 1-1 correspondence with sequences kn+m, (of denominators) of rational numbers, and with visual subobjects of the torus called coset fans. ¶ The third result is an enumeration in time of the visual hierarchy of the discrete buds of the Mandelbrot boundary by coset waves of coset fans. It is constructed by embedding the circular Farey tree geometrically into the empty internal region of the Mandelbrot set. In particular, coset fans attached to points of the (internal) binary tree index countably infinite sequences of buds on the (external) Mandelbrot boundary.

System operation contracts were introduced by C. Larman as an application of the notion of Design by Contract (DbC) to the description of high-level system operations derived from requirements. A system operation contract specifies an operation in terms of changes induced in the domain. In the Responsibility Driven Development (RDD) process proposed by Larman, operation contracts play an important role in identifying and assigning systems' responsibilities, and help construct a sound design in later phases. Larman's notation for operation contracts is textual. In this thesis, we propose an alternative visual notation for operation contracts. As part of the process for the definition of this visual notation, we extended and clarified some informal aspects of Larman's notation in order to better accurately capture important aspects of system operations. Our extension allows the specification of data constraints, alternatives, and the temporal dimension of created domain objects, in addition to the description of changes in the state and associations of domain objects. The syntax of the visual notation for operation contracts aims to be cognitively effective and to reuse available UML notation. New visual elements were introduced only in the absence of corresponding elements in the UML. Elements reused from the UML are slightly modified to enhance their cognitive effectiveness. The introduced elements, on the other hand, are designed with the goal of not conflicting with the general theme of the UML. We used The Physics of Notations as a general guide and evaluation criteria. The Physics of Notations is a leading evaluation and design theory for visual models in software engineering. We propose a prototype tool (ViOpContract) that implements the proposed visual notation for operation contracts. ViOpContract is an Eclipse plug-in tool that helps to draw and manage visual operation contracts. The tool provides the capability to generate contracts in textual form from visual contracts.

Recently cognitive principles have been discussed for Conceptual Modeling with the aim to increase domain understanding, model comprehension and modeling efficiency. In particular, the principle of Perceptual Discriminability, which discusses the visual differences of modeling constructs, reveals potential for model comprehension if human attention is influenced in a way that important modeling constructs are more easily detected, and can hence faster be processed. Yet, so far no conditions how the human gaze can be influenced have been defined and evaluated for Conceptual Modeling. This dissertation extends Perceptual Discriminability for conditions to attract human attention for those constructs that are important for model comprehension. Furthermore, these conditions are applied to constructs of two different modeling grammars in general as well as to elements of the process flow of Business Process Models. To evaluate the results a laboratory experiment of extended Perceptual Discriminability is described in which significant differences have been identified for process flow comprehension. For the demonstration of the potential of extended Perceptual Discriminability BPMN secondary notation is improved by emphasizing those constructs that are most important for model comprehension. Therefore, those constructs that are important for model comprehension have been identified within a content analysis and have been worked on according to the conditions of extended Perceptual Discriminability for those visual variables that are free for an application in secondary notation.

This thesis argues that a performer’s relationship with a musical score is an interaction largely defined by social and cultural parameters, but also examines whether disparate musical traditions show any common underlying tendencies regarding the perceived relationship between musical sound and visual representation. The research brings a novel, cross-cultural perspective to bear on the topic, combining a systematic, empirical study with qualitative fieldwork. Data were collected at five sites in three countries, involving: classically-trained musicians based in the UK; traditional Japanese musicians both familiar and unfamiliar with western standard notation; literate Eastern Highlanders from Port- Moresby, Papua New Guinea; and members of the BenaBena tribe, a non-literate community in Papua New Guinea. Participants heard short musical stimuli that varied on three musical parameters (pitch, duration and attack rate) and were instructed to represent these visually so that if another community member saw the marks they should be able to connect them with the sounds. Secondly, a forced-choice design required participants to select the best shape to describe a sound from a database. Interviews and fieldwork observations recorded how musicians engaged with the visual representation of music, considering in particular the effects of literacy and cultural parameters such as the social context of music performance traditions. Similarities between certain aspects of the participants’ responses suggest that there are indeed some underlying commonalities among literate participants of any cultural background. Meanwhile, the overall variety of responses suggests that the association between music and its visual representation (when it takes place) is strongly affected by ever-altering socio-cultural parameters.

This thesis discusses my new sound drawing practice and its development throughout the course of my practice-based PhD research at Brunel School of Arts. “Sound drawing” is a general term that I have chosen to use to describe a body of visual artworks that instigated the composition of soundscapes as well as the design of an audiovisual performance instrument. I will start by giving a clear picture of the musical and visual arts background that led up to my current sound drawing practice. Then I will go through the individual works created between 2008 and 2012 that have contributed the most to the development of sound drawing. I will discuss how performance sketches ... (2009) instigated the shift from composing graphic scores to sound drawing when I was confronted with drawing my graphic scores in real time. In 31 (sound) studies on paper (2010-2011), the sound drawing process began to mature through a closer examination of the visual imagery, drawing materials, physical gestures and the overall sound production. As I started to develop solo performance projects based on my sound drawing practice, I looked back to the compositions projection-reaction (2008-2009) and de (re)construction (2009) which suggested how I might return to using the medium of video. My most recent work, drawalineandlistentoit and R=15 (2012), seems to constitute a point where all the different strands in my works of the preceding four years come together to produce an intricate collaboration between sound, image and performer. Working with the sound drawings within a performance context, a registration of the sonic event occurs, a form of score is created – and at the same time sound is mixing and moving into the space through the audio software Plogue Bidule, while a visual projection is constructed in realtimev through the VPT software.

Dissertação de Mestrado em Design, com a especialização em Design de Comunicação apresentada na Faculdade de Arquitetura da Universidade de Lisboa para obtenção do grau de Mestre.
A comunicação visual desempenha um papel fundamental na compreensão de múltiplas realidades, sobretudo quando esta tem a capacidade de modificar a perceção das mesmas. Na dança, este tipo de comunicação torna-se essencial para interpretar corretamente as diversas obras, bem como os movimentos que lhes são inerentes. O presente projeto de investigação tem como objeto de estudo a notação de dança. A dança não possui um sistema de notação de universalmente padronizado, fator que condiciona o seu desenvolvimento a nível criativo, educativo e profissional, bem como a documentação de movimento coreográfico que assegure a sobrevivência do trabalho desenvolvido neste âmbito e a sua preservação histórica. O principal objetivo desta investigação consiste em compreender os sistemas de notação de dança considerados casos de referência, identificando os principais problemas e qualidades dos mesmos. O processo investigativo segue uma metodologia não intervencionista de base qualitativa. A abordagem tomada no processo da revisão da literatura abrangente de diversas áreas de conhecimento do campo investigativo do design de comunicação, como a semiologia e a semiótica, o design gráfico, a notação, bem como as áreas da música e da dança, conduziu a uma compreensão das mesmas. Por sua vez, esta permitiu realizar uma análise de casos de estudo relevantes, possibilitando a recolha de informações fundamentais para percecionar a realidade e o contexto do ambiente e do espaço em investigação, assim como as principais problemas e qualidades dos mesmos. Deste modo, foi possível avaliar os resultados obtidos. O principal resultado desta investigação consiste num contributo para o desenvolvimento da comunicação visual na dança, bem como para o conhecimento da área em questão.
ABSTRACT: Visual communication plays a fundamental role in the comprehension of multiple realities, particularly when it has the capacity to modify their perception. In dance, this type of communication becomes essential to correctly interpret the multiple works, as well as the movement inherent to them. This investigation project’s subject of analysis is the notation of dance. Dance does not have a universally standardized system of notation, a factor which conditions it’s development on a creative, educational and professional level, as well the documentation of choreographic movement which would ensure the survival of the work developed in this context and its historical preservation. The main goal in this research is to understand the dance notation systems considered as reference cases and identifying their main problems and qualities. The investigative process follows a non-interventionist, qualitative based methodology. The approach taken in the process of literature revision, which spans multiple areas of knowledge from the investigational field of communication design, like semiology and semiotics, graphical design, notation, as well as some fields of music and dance, has led to comprehension of these.In turn, it has allowed a relevant case study analysis to be made, enabling the gathering of information vital to perceiving the reality and the context of the environment and the space being investigated, as well as the main issues and qualities of these. This allowed for the analysis of the obtained results. The main result of this investigation consists of a contribution to the development of visual communication in dance, as well as to the knowledge of the field in question.
N/A

Resources Events Agents (REA) ontology is a profound business modeling ontology that was developed to define the architecture of accounting information systems. Nevertheless, REA did not manage to get the same attention as other business modeling ontologies. One reason of such abandon is the absence of a meaningful visual notation for the ontology, which has resulted in an abstruse ontology to non-academic audience. Another reason for this abandon is the fact that REA does not have a standard formal representation. This has resulted in a humble amount of researches which have focused on defining meta-models of the ontology while neglecting the wider purpose of REA-based information systems development. Consequently, the ontology was deviated away from its original purpose, and rather used in business schools. To solve the aforementioned issues, this research presents a Model Driven Development (MDD) technique in the form of a REA-based Domain Specific Visual Language (DSVL) that is implemented within a modeling and code generation editor. This effort was taken in order to answer the question of “How would a REA-DSVL based tool make the REA ontology implementable in the domain of information systems development?” In order to answer the research question, a design science methodology (DSRM) was implemented as the structure of this research. The DSRM was chosen because this research aims to develop three main artifacts. These are; a meta-model of REA, a visual notation of REA, and a REA-DSVL-based modeling and code generation tool. The first phase of the DSRM was to identify the problems which were mentioned earlier, followed by the requirements identification phase which drew the outline of the; meta-model, the visual notation, and the tool. After that, the development phase was conducted in order to develop the aforementioned artifacts. The editor was then demonstrated using a case study of a local company in Stockholm-Sweden. Finally, the resulted artifacts were evaluated based on the collected requirements and the results from the case study. Based on the analyses of the artifacts and the case study, this research was concluded with the result that a REA-based DSVL tool can help in boosting the planning and analysis phases of the software development lifecycle (SDLC). This is achieved by automating some of the conventional software planning and design tasks, which would lead to more accurate systems’ designs; thus, minimizing the time of the planning and design phases. And it can be achieved by abstracting the direct logic of REA through providing functionalities that help users from different backgrounds (academic and professional) to embrace a business modeling editor rather than an ontology; thus, attracting a wider users base for implementing REA.

Orientador: Claudiney Rodrigues Carrasco
Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Artes
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Resumo: O presente trabalho foi motivado pela experiência pessoal de sua autora como musicista com deficiência visual e representa a continuidade da Dissertação de Mestrado intitulada "Leitura musical na ponta dos dedos: caminhos e desafios do ensino da musicografia braille na perspectiva de alunos e professores", defendida no Departamento de Música,do Instituto de Artes da Unicamp. Nele são abordados aspectos relativos ao ensino e à difusão do código musical em braille, enfatizando-se, sobretudo,as concepções subjacentes à Educação Inclusiva. Esta pesquisa possui um enfoque qualitativo, pois visa apreender as percepções dos indivíduos frente aos desafios da alfabetização musical em braille. A coleta de dados foi realizada por meio do acompanhamento e estudo de três casos, nos quais três sujeitos experienciaram o processo de aprendizado da notação musical desenvolvida para os cegos. Além disso, foi realizada uma investigação acerca dos meios utilizados para a transcrição de partituras em Braille, delineando-se as peculiaridades desse processo. Na análise dos dados coletados, discute-se o papel do educador musical, do aluno com deficiência visual e do especialista em aplicações da musicografia braille. Como desdobramentos deste trabalho, há a produção de um áudio-documentário que retrata o desenvolvimento da pesquisa e a implantação de um acervo musical que contém obras em braille. São, por fim, levantadas questões relevantes, que podem resultar em novas investigações sobre o tema e na implementação de iniciativas favoráveis ao ensino e a difusão da musicografia braille. A pesquisa contou com o apoio da FAPESP e com a infraestrutura do Laboratório de Acessibilidade da Biblioteca Central Cesar Lattes da UNICAMP
Abstract: The current study was motivated by the author's life experience being both blind and a musician. It covers different aspects of Braille Music teaching and diffusion, emphasizing the concept of an inclusive education. Using a qualitative approach, three cases were studied and followed, in which three people experienced the process of Braille music learning. The resources available for Braille music transcription were also investigated, and it supported the creation of a Braille music collection. In the data analysis, the roles of music educator, of blind students and of experts are discussed. An audio documentary was developed as a representation of this study. Some questions are also placed in order to favour future investigations
Doutorado
Doutor em Música

The thesis describes research into graphical notations for software engineering, with a principal interest in ways of formalizing them. The research seeks to provide a theoretical basis that will help in designing both notations and the software tools that process them. The work starts from a survey of literature on notation, followed by a review of techniques for formal description and for computational handling of notations. The survey concentrates on collecting views of the benefits and the problems attending notation use in software development; the review covers picture description languages, grammars and tools such as generic editors and visual programming environments. The main problem of notation is found to be a lack of any coherent, rigorous description methods. The current approaches to this problem are analysed as lacking in consensus on syntax specification and also lacking a clear focus on a defined concept of notated expression. To address these deficiencies, the thesis embarks upon an exploration of serniotic, linguistic and logical theory; this culminates in a proposed formalization of serniosis in notations, using categorial model theory as a mathematical foundation. An argument about the structure of sign systems leads to an analysis of notation into a layered system of tractable theories, spanning the gap between expressive pictorial medium and subject domain. This notion of 'tectonic' theory aims to treat both diagrams and formulae together. The research gives details of how syntactic structure can be sketched in a mathematical sense, with examples applying to software development diagrams, offering a new solution to the problem of notation specification. Based on these methods, the thesis discusses directions for resolving the harder problems of supporting notation design, processing and computer-aided generic editing. A number of future research areas are thereby opened up. For practical trial of the ideas, the work proceeds to the development and partial implementation of a system to aid the design of notations and editors. Finally the thesis is evaluated as a contribution to theory in an area which has not attracted a standard approach.

Orientador: Claudiney Rodrigues Carrasco
Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Artes
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Resumo: O presente estudo foi motivado pela experiência pessoal de sua autora,musicista com deficiência visual. Ele aborda aspectos referentes ao ensino da Musicografia Braille, que por sua vez, consiste na notação musical criada por Louis Braille para uso de pessoas cegas. A partir de um enfoque qualitativo, buscou-se investigar a percepção de estudantes de Música com deficiência visual e de seus respectivos professores acerca das condições atuais de aplicação da Musicografia Braille ao campo da educação musical. Por meio de entrevistas e questionários, os sujeitos relataram suas experiências, a partir das quais se pôde estabelecer um panorama sobre o ensino desse sistema de escrita. Para análise dos dados, foi utilizada a técnica de formulação do Discurso do Sujeito Coletivo, que visa apreender os pensamentos e as crenças comuns a uma dada população. Os dados colhidos foram discutidos mediante o stabelecimento de categorias e subcategorias concebidas a partir dos depoimentos. Nesse estudo, buscou-se também investigar e avaliar as ferramentas tecnológicas atualmente utilizadas para a produção de partituras em Braille e, de acordo com essa avaliação, foram criados procedimentos que otimizassem a transcrição de obras musicais. Com base na realização desse estudo, concluiu-se que, na atualidade, há muitos obstáculos que impedem o acesso ao ensino da Musicografia Braille, dos quais decorre a grande desinformação por parte de alunos e professores. Apontou-se para a necessidade de uma maior difusão da notação musical em Braille, tanto através de novas produções acadêmicas, quanto através de iniciativas que facilitem a implantação de acervos musicais transcritos para esse Sistema
Abstract: The current study was motivated by the author's life experience being both blind and a musician. It covers different aspects of Braille Music Writing, which is the musical notation created by Louis Braille for blind musicians. Using a qualitative approach, this study investigates the opinion of blind music students and their teachers regarding the current application of Braille Music Writing in musical education. Subjects described their experiences with Braille Music Writing through interviews and questionnaires, enabling the researcher to establish a panorama of music teaching in Braille. Data was analyzed using the technique of formulation of the General Subject Discourse that aims to extract and summarize thoughts and beliefs of a given population. Subjects' opinions were divided into categories and results were drawn from each category. In his study, the author also investigated current technological tools commonly used to produce Braille music sheets, and created a protocol to optimize musical transcription into Braille. The author concluded that there are many obstacles that currently obstruct the access of blind students and their professors to Braille Music Writing, and therefore generates misinterpretation of its potential and usage. As a consequence, the author emphasizes the need for diffusion of information regarding Braille Music writing both through its use within the university and the establishment of Braille music sheets libraries
Mestrado
Mestre em Música

La vision à travers un verre progressif est un processus dynamique tout particulièrement en vision de près lors de la lecture. Le porteur est amené à regarder dans les parties latérales du verre. Or ces zones contiennent de l’astigmatisme qui peut être particulièrement gênant. Il existe différents types de verres progressifs qui se caractérisent par une répartition spécifique de l’astigmatisme en périphérie. L’objectif, à terme, serait de permettre une sélection du verre progressif en présentant au futur porteur des images simulées pour lesquelles il devrait donner des notes liées à la qualité de l’image perçue. A l’aide d’un calcul optique (i.e., convolution entre un objet et une fonction d’étalement du point), nous pouvons simuler l’apparence d’une image vue à travers une certaine optique. L’objectif de ce travail est donc de valider la possibilité de simuler la vision à travers un verre progressif et de faire le lien entre qualité de vision et choix du porteur. Dans un premier temps, nous avons comparé la qualité de vision à travers une optique adaptative simulant des défauts sphériques et cylindriques avec des images simulées rendant compte des mêmes défauts optiques. Une différence de qualité de vision entre 20 (i.e. flou sphérique) et 35% (i.e. flou astigmate) entre flou simulé et optique a été observée. Le flou simulé était toujours plus important que le flou optique. Néanmoins, ces différences demeuraient inférieures à la différence cliniquement significative. Dans un second temps, nous avons directement utilisé un verre progressif. Les défauts optiques testées étaient alors des combinaisons sphériques et cylindriques correspondants à des points précis du verre progressif le long de l’axe horizontal passant par le centre optique de vision de près. Nous avons considéré dans la simulation de nos images que le sujet pouvait plus ou moins accommoder. Nous avons observé que l'accommodation jouait un rôle lors de la comparaison entre le flou optique et le flou simulé. Les sujets presbytes semblent capables de produire un faible niveau d'accommodation qui contrebalance une partie de l'effet délétère de l'astigmatisme sur la qualité de l'image. Nous avons ensuite mis en place un dispositif plein champ d’analyse d’un verre progressif conduisant au choix d’un type de verres progressifs par différents porteurs. Parallèlement, nous avons mesuré la qualité de vision (i.e., notation d’images simulées et mesure d’acuité visuelle) le long de l’axe horizontal de vision de près de ces mêmes sujets. Les résultats de cette dernière étude ont montré que l’acuité visuelle n’est pas un bon test pour prédire la qualité de vision à travers des verres progressifs, le test n’a fonctionné que pour 65% des sujets. Au contraire, le test de notation d’images subjectives a permis de prédire le choix final du design pour 90% des sujets. Bien que les résultats statistiques obtenus pour les différentes conditions d’images simulées montrent une réelle différence entre la condition réelle et simulation, nous observons que les images simulées prenant en compte une part d’accommodation (i.e., changement de sphère dans la simulation) sont plus proches de la réalité. L’accommodation semble donc bien jouer un rôle important lorsqu’un astigmatisme est introduit. L’étude de l’accommodation en présence d’astigmatisme permettrait d’optimiser la simulation des images
Vision through a progressive addition lens is a dynamic process especially in near vision when reading. The wearer is led to look into the side parts of the lens. These areas contain astigmatism, which can be particularly annoying. There are different types of progressive addition lenses that are characterized by a specific distribution of astigmatism around the periphery. The objective, in the long term, would be to allow a selection of progressive addition lenses by presenting the future wearer with simulated images for which he or she would have to give notes related to the quality of the perceived image. Using an optical calculation (i.e., convolution between an object and a point spread function), we can simulate the appearance of an image seen through an optic. The objective of this work is therefore to validate the possibility of simulating vision through a progressive addition lens and to make the link between vision quality and wearer choice. In a first step, we compared the quality of vision through adaptive optics simulating spherical and cylindrical defocus with simulated images showing the same optical defects. A difference in vision quality between 20 (i.e. spherical blur) and 35% (i.e. astigmatic blur) between simulated and optical blur was observed. The simulated blur was always greater than the optical blur. These differences were less than the clinically significant difference. In a second step, we directly used a progressive addition lens. The optical defocus tested were then spherical and cylindrical combinations corresponding to specific points of the progressive addition lens along the horizontal axis passing through the near vision optical center. We considered in the simulation of our images that the subject could accommodate. We observed that accommodation played a role when comparing the optical blur with the simulated blur. Presbyopic subjects appear to be able to produce a low level of accommodation that offsets some of the deleterious effect of astigmatism on image quality. We then set up a full-field progressive addition lens analysis device leading to the choice of a type of progressive lens by different wearers. At the same time, we measured vision quality (i.e., simulated image scoring and visual acuity measurement) along the horizontal axis of near vision for these same subjects. The results of the latter study showed that visual acuity is not a good test for predicting vision quality through progressive lenses; the test only worked for 65% of the subjects. On the contrary, the subjective image scoring test predicted the final design choice for 90% of the subjects. Although the statistical results obtained for the different simulated image conditions show a real difference between the real and simulated conditions, we observe that simulated images taking into account some accommodation (i.e., change of sphere in the simulation) are closer to reality. Accommodation thus seems to play an important role when astigmatism is introduced. The study of accommodation in the presence of astigmatism would make it possible to optimize the simulation of the images

The introduction of learning technologies into education is making the design of courses and instructional materials an increasingly complex task. Instructional design languages are identified as conceptual tools for achieving more standardized and, at the same time, more creative design solutions, as well as enhancing communication and transparency in the design process. In this article we discuss differences in cognitive aspects of three visual instructional design languages (E²ML, PoEML, coUML), based on user evaluation. Cognitive aspects are of relevance for learning a design language, creating models with it, and understanding models created using it. The findings should enable language constructors to improve the usability of visual instructional design languages in the future. The paper concludes with directions with regard to how future research on visual instructional design languages could strengthen their value and enhance their actual use by educators and designers by synthesizing existing efforts into a unified modeling approach for VIDLs.

Visualizations in the most general sense of external, physical representations of information are older than the invention of writing. Generally, external representations promote external cognition and visual thinking, and humans developed a rich set of skills for crafting and exploring them. Computers immensely increased the amount of data we can collect and process as well as diversified the ways we can represent it visually. Computer-supported visualization systems, studied in the field of information visualization (infovis), have become powerful and complex, and sophisticated interaction techniques are now necessary to control them. With the widening of technological possibilities beyond classic desktop settings, new opportunities have emerged. Not only display surfaces of arbitrary shapes and sizes can be used to show richer visualizations, but also new input technologies can be used to manipulate them. For example, tangible user interfaces are an emerging input technology that capitalizes on humans' abilities to manipulate physical objects. However, these technologies have been barely studied in the field of information visualization. A first problem is a poorly defined terminology. In this dissertation, I define and explore the conceptual space of embodiment for information visualization. For visualizations, embodiment refers to the level of congruence between the visual elements of the visualization and their physical shape. This concept subsumes previously introduced concepts such as tangibility and physicality. For example, tangible computing aims to represent virtual objects through a physical form but the form is not necessarily congruent with the virtual object. A second problem is the scarcity of convincing applications of tangible user interfaces for infovis purposes. In information visualization, standard computer displays and input devices are still widespread and considered as most effective. Both of these provide however opportunities for embodiment: input devices can be specialized and adapted so that their physical shape reflects their functionality within the system; computer displays can be substituted by transformable shape changing displays or, eventually, by programmable matter which can take any physical shape imaginable. Research on such shape-changing interfaces has so far been technology-driven while the utility of such interfaces for information visualization remained unexploited. In this thesis, I suggest embodiment as a design principle for infovis purposes, I demonstrate and validate the efficiency and usability of both embodied visualization controls and embodied visualization displays through three controlled user experiments. I then present a conceptual interaction model and visual notation system that facilitates the description, comparison and criticism of various types of visualization systems and illustrate it through case studies of currently existing point solutions. Finally, to aid the creation of physical visualizations, I present a software tool that supports users in building their own visualizations. The tool is suitable for users new to both visualization and digital fabrication, and can help to increase users' awareness of and interest in data in their everyday live. In summary, this thesis contributes to the understanding of the value of emerging physical representations for information visualization.

Ce travail est dédié à l’analyse des partitions graphiques et de l’interaction son-image qui en résulte. Notre corpus de recherche comprend aussi bien des partitions qui utilisent une notation plus plastique que le sous-type textuel ou verbal et quelques partitions mixtes lesquelles permettent un regard sur la relation établie entre le texte et l'image; comme la musique instrumentale est un art performatif, nous examinerons également les aspects énonciatifs présents dans l’écriture de l’œuvre menée par le compositeur et dans son interprétation, au moment de sa lecture et de son exécution par l’instrumentiste. La méthodologie consiste à élaborer et appliquer les concepts d’intersémioticité, en insistant sur leurs base linguistique, et ceux de linéarité et tabularité dans l’énoncé visuel. Nous voulons aussi rapporter ces concepts à la façon dont l’énoncé se produit dans les différentes instances du texte musical. En outre, cette thèse aura également un biais diachronique, dans le sens que nous voulons aborder certains types de notation utilisés tout au long de l’histoire de la musique et la façon dont s'est passée la transition d’un système à l’autre
The purpose of this research is to analyse graphic scores and the sound-image interaction arising thereform. The research corpus includes both scores that use a notation of a more plastic caracter like the subtype textual or verbal, and some mixed scores, which allow a glimpse into the text-image relationship established. Once the instrumental music is a performative art, we will also deal with some enunciative aspects presents both in writing the work, carried out by the composer, as in his interpretation, during reading and performance of the work for the interpreter. The methodology consist in developing and applying the concepts of intersemioticity, emphasizing its linguistic basis, and linearity and tabularity in visual enunciated. We also intend to relate these concepts to the way occurs the enunciation in different instances of the musical text. Moreover, this research will also have a diachronic bias, in the sense that we intend to address some types of notation used throughout music history and how the transition between systems of notation occurred

This project describes the processes and procedures used in planning and writing a braille music program specifically to assist teachers of visually impaired students instruct their students in basic braille music notation. The experiment was conducted over two terms of the school year with an Itinerant Teacher and her 9 year old braille student. The program was based on a direct instruction model, and material included a Teachers Manual (in print and braille), plus examples and exercises recorded on tape. The recordings emphasised and developed aural skills in pitch and rhythm, ensuring that the subject matter was learned musically. The experiment was a single-case study (A-B-A design) using pre-tests, probes and post tests. The final post test was administered six weeks after the completion of the program.
Master of Education

Le présent travail s’inscrit dans une perspective descriptive analytique des comportements des pianistes aveugles et déficients visuels durant la mise en mémoire et la restitution au piano de diverses tâches présentées à l’oreille ou sur un support écrit adapté au handicap visuel de ceux-ci. Cette adaptation qui consiste à transcrire en braille pour les aveugles ou à imprimer en gros caractères pour les malvoyants des partitions ordinaires, se révèle lourde de conséquences. Ainsi, deux conditions font qu’un travail mental d’intégration et de synthèse très coûteux s’impose à ces musiciens : d’un côté la complexité du braille musical due à un degré d’abstraction très élevé et à une linéarité spatiale permanente, de l’autre la non-conformité de la technique d’agrandissement des textes ordinaires avec une lecture synthétique et avec un champ visuel très réduit. De telles circonstances invitent à s’interroger sur les effets de la structure de ces notations musicales et des représentations mentales qu’elles génèrent sur la conduite de mémorisation en l’absence totale ou partielle de la vision. L’objectif principal est de relever la spécificité des processus qui sous-tendent l’assimilation des données inscrites sur le matériau de la lecture. Pour ce faire, j’ai mené une étude de cas portant sur des jeunes pianistes aveugles et malvoyants non professionnels utilisant des procédures de déchiffrage diverses
The present work involves an analytical description of the behaviors of blind and visually impaired pianists when memorizing and rendering on the piano various tasks presented to the ear or on written material adapted to their visual disability. This adaptation, which consists in transcribing ordinary music scores in braille, for the blind, or in large print, for the visually impaired, entails important consequences. Two conditions result in those musicians having to perform a very difficult integrating and synthesizing task: on the one hand, musical braille is complex, being highly abstract and characterized by permanent spatial linearity; on the other hand, the technique for enlarging ordinary texts is not compatible with synthetic reading and a very restricted visual field. Those circumstances lead us to investigate how those musical notations and the mental representations they generate affect the memorizing process when vision is totally or partially lacking. The main objective is to pinpoint the specific processes underlying the assimilation of the data inscribed on the reading material. To this end, I have carried out a case study involving young non-professional blind and visually impaired pianists using diverse reading procedures

Usability aspects of programming languages are often overlooked, yet have a substantial effect on programmer productivity. These issues are even more acute in the field of Inductive Synthesis, where programs are automatically generated from sample expected input and output data, and the programmer needs to be able to comprehend, and confirm or reject the suggested programs. A promising method of Inductive Synthesis, CombInduce, which is particularly suitable for synthesizing recursive programs, is a candidate for improvements in usability as the target language Combilog is not user-friendly. The method requires the target language to be strictly compositional, hence devoid of variables, yet have the expressiveness of definite clause programs. This sets up a challenging problem for establishing a user-friendly but equally expressive target language. Alternatives to Combilog, such as Quine's Predicate-functor Logic and Schönfinkel and Curry's Combinatory Logic also do not offer a practical notation: finding a more usable representation is imperative. This thesis presents two distinct approaches towards more convenient representations which still maintain compositionality. The first is Visual Combilog (VC), a system for visualizing Combilog programs. In this approach Combilog remains as the target language for synthesis, but programs can be read and modified by interacting with the equivalent diagrams instead. VC is implemented as a split-view editor that maintains the equivalent Combilog and VC representations on-the-fly, automatically transforming them as necessary. The second approach is Combilog with Name Projection (CNP), a textual iteration of Combilog that replaces numeric argument positions with argument names. The result is a language where argument names make the notation more readable, yet compositionality is preserved by avoiding variables. Compositionality is demonstrated by implementing CombInduce with CNP as the target language, revealing that programs with the same level of recursive complexity can be synthesized in CNP equally well, and establishing the underlying method of synthesis can also work with CNP. Our evaluations of the user-friendliness of both representations are supported by a range of methods from Information Visualization, Cognitive Modelling, and Human-Computer Interaction. The increased usability of both representations are confirmed by empirical user studies: an often neglected aspect of language design.

There are three main results in this dissertation. The first result is the construction of an abstract visual space for rational numbers mod1, based on the visual primitives, colour, and rational radial direction. Mathematics is performed in this visual notation by defining increasingly refined visual objects from these primitives. In particular, the existence of the Farey tree enumeration of rational numbers mod1 is identified in the texture of a two-dimensional animation. The second result is a new enumeration of the rational numbers mod1, obtained, and expressed, in abstract visual space, as the visual object coset waves of coset fans on the torus. Its geometry is shown to encode a countably infinite tree structure, whose branches are cosets, nZ+m, where n, m (and k) are integers. These cosets are in geometrical 1-1 correspondence with sequences kn+m, (of denominators) of rational numbers, and with visual subobjects of the torus called coset fans. The third result is an enumeration in time of the visual hierarchy of the discrete buds of the Mandelbrot boundary by coset waves of coset fans. It is constructed by embedding the circular Farey tree geometrically into the empty internal region of the Mandelbrot set. In particular, coset fans attached to points of the (internal) binary tree index countably infinite sequences of buds on the (external) Mandelbrot boundary.

碩士
長庚大學
商管專業學院碩士學位學程在職專班資訊管理組
101
Goal-oriented modeling languages are one of the most important areas in requirements engineering. Almost all requirements are described in graphical languages to facilitate communication and representation. The i* language can be used in the early phase in modeling requirements to analyze and describe the goals and intentions of system stakeholders. The i* goal-oriented language has received much attention from academics but few real-world projects have conducted goal-oriented requirements analysis using the language. Therefore, some scholars have tried to improve the i* language from the perspective of cognitive effectiveness. Moody proposes some propositions based on the visual notations of the i* language. Since these propositions are not validated, this study aims to empirically compare cognitive effectiveness between two designs of visual notations for the i* language. The results revealed that there were significant differences in comprehension correctness and perceived ease of use between the two groups. Although reading time did not significantly differ, reading time by the participants learning the visual design proposed by Moody was shorted than reading time by the other group learning the original i* language.

During the early modern period, practitioners in oftentimes unrelated arts and sciences began to experiment with transcribing and disseminating technical information by means of new symbolic notations. Algebra, music, chemistry, dance—whole fields of knowledge were quite literally rewritten with plus signs, treble clefs, affinity tables, and step symbols. “The Art of Signs” examines why early modern people working within and across disciplinary boundaries converged on the idea that developing complex symbolic notations would ultimately be worthwhile by reconstructing the reasons that they gave for doing so. It argues that symbolic notations appealed because they enabled powerful techniques of “visual thinking” that had no analogue in more conventional methods of inquiry. Notations transformed problems of information into problems of visualization whose solutions could then be derived by manipulating the properties of the drawn, two-dimensional plane. Indeed, early modern proponents of notations frequently described them in terms of vision, of being able to “see” things with them that they had not recognized before. However, because established methods of reasoning were predominantly verbal or empirical, symbolic notations and the visual thinking that they entailed necessarily challenged received ideas about how information ought to be represented and how knowledge ought to be discovered. Critics of the new notations argued that, at best, they amounted to a form of intellectual obscurantism that stymied rather than facilitated the circulation of knowledge. At worst, notations harbored disturbing implications for human ingenuity if the generation of new ideas truly could be reduced to the ranging and rearranging of symbols on a piece of paper. All told, “The Art of Signs” argues that early modern debates about the use and abuse of symbolic notations represent an underappreciated component of the epistemological ruptures that characterize the Scientific Revolution. Moreover, by recovering early modern understandings of symbolic notation, this dissertation demonstrates that a historical treatment of early modern semiotic thought can be leveraged to take a fresh look at perennial questions of representation that concern scholars across the humanities.

Recently cognitive principles have been discussed for Conceptual Modeling with the aim to increase domain understanding, model comprehension and modeling efficiency. In particular, the principle of Perceptual Discriminability, which discusses the visual differences of modeling constructs, reveals potential for model comprehension if human attention is influenced in a way that important modeling constructs are more easily detected, and can hence faster be processed. Yet, so far no conditions how the human gaze can be influenced have been defined and evaluated for Conceptual Modeling. This dissertation extends Perceptual Discriminability for conditions to attract human attention for those constructs that are important for model comprehension. Furthermore, these conditions are applied to constructs of two different modeling grammars in general as well as to elements of the process flow of Business Process Models. To evaluate the results a laboratory experiment of extended Perceptual Discriminability is described in which significant differences have been identified for process flow comprehension. For the demonstration of the potential of extended Perceptual Discriminability BPMN secondary notation is improved by emphasizing those constructs that are most important for model comprehension. Therefore, those constructs that are important for model comprehension have been identified within a content analysis and have been worked on according to the conditions of extended Perceptual Discriminability for those visual variables that are free for an application in secondary notation.:Preface ii Abstract iii Table of contents iv Table of Figures v List of Tables vi List of Abbreviations vii Part 1 - Summary Paper 1 1. Motivation 2 2. Research design 7 2.1 Research objectives 7 2.2 Scope 9 2.3 Research method 11 3. Structure of the dissertation 13 4. Contribution to theory and practice 17 5. Future Research Ideas 19 Part 2 - Publications 20 Publication 1 21 Publication 2 22 Publication 3 23 Publication 4 24 Publication 5 25 Publication 6 26 Literature 27 Part 3 - Appendix 30

Dissertation presented as the partial requirement for obtaining a Master's degree in Information Management, specialization in Information Systems and Technologies Management
Hoje em dia, as mudanças organizacionais são caracterizadas pela rapidez com que acontecem. Cada vez mais, a tomada de decisão tem de ser suportada por ferramentas, métodos e abordagem que permitam uma tomada de decisão rápida e que esteja em sintonia com os objetivos traçados pela organização. Devido ao mencionado, o presente estudo apresenta uma comparação de softwares BPMN que estão incorporadas na abordagem BPMN, que ajuda na tomada de decisões pelas organizações, decompondo o nível de complexidade existente nas organizações de forma a ser mais fácil o entendimento dos processos de negócio. Por fim, após a comparação dos softwares são feitas recomendações para ajudar na modelação de processos, tais como, uma base de informação onde as organizações podem validar os recursos de cada software e recomendação dependendo do problema que a organização pretende resolver.

La « pensée mixte » est une approche de la composition caractérisée par l’interaction de trois pensées: la pensée instrumentale, la pensée électroacoustique et la pensée informatique. Elle prend la forme d’un réseau où le compositeur fait des aller-retours entre les trois pensées et réalise des équivalences paramétriques. La pensée instrumentale se rattache à la tradition de l’écriture occidentale, la pensée électroacoustique fait allusion aux pratiques du studio analogique et de la musique acousmatique, et la pensée informatique fait référence aux pratiques numériques de la programmation visuelle et de l’analyse spectrale. Des lieux communs existent où s’opèrent l’interaction des trois pensées: la notion du studio instrumental de Ivo Malec, la notion de musique concrète instrumentale de Helmut Lachenmann, la composition assistée par ordinateur, la musique spectrale, l’approche instrumentale par montage, la musique acousmatique s’inspirant de la tradition musicale écrite et les musiques mixtes. Ces domaines constituent les influences autour desquelles j’ai composé un corpus de deux cycles d’œuvres: Les Larmes du Scaphandre et le Nano-Cosmos. L’analyse des œuvres met en évidence la notion de « pensée mixte » en abordant la pensée électroacoustique dans ma pratique instrumentale, la pensée informatique dans ma pratique musicale, et la pensée instrumentale dans ma pratique électroacoustique.
“Mixed-method thinking” is an approach to composition characterized by the interaction of three streams of compositional thought: instrumental, electroacoustic and computing-based. It takes the form of a network within which the composer goes back and forth between these three types of conceptualization and succeeds in finding equivalences between parameters. Instrumental thinking is connected to the Western notated compositional tradition, electroacoustic thinking alludes to practices derived from the analog studio environment and the acousmatic music tradition, and computing-based thinking refers to visual programming and spectral analysis practices. Common areas exist where all three forms of thinking interact: Ivo Malec’s notion of the instrumental studio, Helmut Lachenmann’s notion of musique concrète instrumentale, computer-assisted composition, spectral music, the montage approach to instrumental composition, acousmatic music inspired by the written musical tradition and genres combining instruments with fixed media or electronics. These areas comprise the influences around which I composed a corpus of two cycles of works: Les Larmes du Scaphandre and Nano-Cosmos. Analysis of these works demonstrates the notion of “mixed-method thinking” through the adoption of electroacoustic thinking in my instrumental composition practice, computational thinking in my musical practice, and instrumental thinking in my electroacoustic practice.