International Journal of Design Sciences & Technology

The Indefinite Idea Plane Artistically Considered

Mark Bernstein — Wed, 25 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0200

Some computational tools intended to educate, illuminate, persuade, or to facilitate scholarship create diagrammatic representations of concepts and ideas. This abstraction, which I call the “indefinite idea plane,” often consist of boxes and arrows. Alternative approaches that have been neglected may be found in art and architecture. If an office building “must be every inch a proud and soaring thing,” what should we expect of an idea plane unfettered by material physics?

CO2 Emissions and Road Traffic in Paris: Study, Modelling and Visualisation for a Better Environmental Understanding

Youssef Mekouar, Imad Saleh, Karim Mohammed — Wed, 25 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0200

The environmental impact of human activities is a major problem in today's society, attracting increasing attention in the world of research. Among these activities, road traffic stands out for its significant contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, particularly carbon dioxide (CO2). These emissions play a crucial role in global warming, which is why it is so important to understand and quantify them. We have conducted an in-depth study to estimate CO2 emissions from road traffic in the Paris metropolitan area and developed an intuitive visualization tool for these data. Our ultimate goal is to develop an eco-friendly navigation application guiding users along the most ecological routes. For this, we are planning to implement a hybrid deep learning (CNN-LSTM) model [16], whose architecture was outlined in our previous work. This model aims to use both historical and real-time traffic data for predictions. Yet, understanding the factors affecting CO2 emissions on Paris streets, and how traffic reshapes these emissions, is an essential preliminary step. This article focuses on our algorithm for estimating CO2 emissions in relation to road traffic in Paris. This in-house developed algorithm is used to generate data that we then analyse and visualise to derive meaningful information. We describe in detail the process of creating this algorithm: from the definition of the input parameters, through the various stages of calculation, to the management of the challenges associated with its construction.

However, the purpose of our prediction model is to provide more accurate interpretations of the data generated using our algorithm. Additionally, data visualization tools are crucial to make this information understandable and actionable. In order to better understand this data, we are using several types of visual representation. We will also show how these generated estimates are integrated into our visualisation application, providing users with an intuitive visual representation of the distribution of CO2 emissions along the different roads in the city. Finally, we will discuss how our visualisation tool can be improved to enhance the user experience, improve understanding of the data and raise awareness of the environmental footprint of urban traffic.

Minority Languages on the Web: Digital Literacy in Indigenous Communities

Cécile-Marie Martin — Wed, 25 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0200

In spite of the declarations of proponents of a Web understood as a global space, governed by laws aiming to ensure universal access, the question of the representativeness of linguistic minorities remains eminently political. From there, it is legitimate to ask to what extent the Web can be a place for indigenous communities expressing themselves through minority languages. In order to question the presence of minority languages on the Web, this paper will focus on different projects developed by or with indigenous communities. Through these examples, the possibilities of mutualisation and the transferability of these innovations will be discussed.

Mexican College Teacher’s Job Satisfaction During the Covid-19 Pandemic Represented Through a Technostress Matrix

Eduardo Portas Ruiz, Luis Felipe Ramírez Alvarado — Wed, 25 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0200

The Covid-19 pandemic that swept through higher education institutions between 2020-2021 forced a number of different changes in Mexican university teachers. A digital survey with an ad hoc technostress scale was responded by 176 Mexican higher education teachers to measure their perceived technostress levels. The quantitative results were then used to create a simple classification matrix were the teachers were categorically divided in four different groups so as to identify which group was the most and least technostressed as well as most and least satisfied with their jobs.

Designing Cultural Participatory Platforms as Multi-Space Environments: A Cross-Media Approach

Marta Severo, Céline Morin — Wed, 25 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0200

This paper explores the evolving landscape of cultural participatory platforms. Scientific research on this subject tends to identify and describe two opposing phenomena: on the one hand, amateur platforms rooted in participatory culture, and on the other, institutional platforms, often embodied as crowdsourcing tools. We argue for the interest in overcoming this opposition and for studying the circulation across distinct digital spaces with diverse affordances. Based on the concept of ‘cross-media,’ we aim to propose a new theoretical and empirical approach for analyzing and designing cultural participatory platforms. A complex methodology, combining quantitative and qualitative techniques, is defined to analyze the different digital (amateur and institutional) spaces related to the 1 Day 1 Soldier project. Building upon this case study, this paper contributes a theoretical and empirical framework for understanding participatory platforms as dynamic, multi-space environments that accommodate diverse collective and individual needs.

A Premediation of Brexit: Genesis, Circulation and Naturalization of an Emblem

Matteo Treleani, Dario Compagno — Wed, 25 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0200

How does an image become an emblem representing an event? What is the process that allows a visual form to incarnate and reduce the complexity of an event? The paper explores the transformation of a stock shot (the lowering of the Union Jack in front of the European Commission) into a visual form representing the event of Brexit in its entirety. The image circulated widely on TV and on the Web between 2016 and 2021, as observed in the database of the research project CROBORA. We traced the genealogy of this sequence, employing diverse analytical perspectives and methods, including video detection tools. A Sherlock Holmes-style indexical investigation–as Carlo Ginzburg would say–that enabled us to study the path going from genesis to naturalization. Particularly, the circulation of the image is associated with the emotional effects it triggered. Interestingly, the sequence of the Union Jack that circulates most often in the European media is not that of the recording of a ceremony intentionally designed to decree the exit of the UK from the EU, but a generic shot realized several month before the Brexit referendum itself, thus anticipating the event and “premediating” it by waving its specter in front of the public. We show how its circulation creates an emblem by its vast mediatization through the screens.