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Measuring neurodevelopment of inhibitory control in children using naturalistic virtual reality
Get PDFInhibitory control develops over time and is linked to fronto-striatal maturation. Traditional computerised assessments often lack ecological validity and are not age appropriate. Here, we developed a naturalistic, age-appropriate paradigm using a cave automatic virtual environment (CAVE) and mobile functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to measure response inhibition in children aged 3–7-years. The new task was validated in adults (N = 24, Mage = 30.38, SD = 10.54), and children (N = 36, Mage = 4.44, SDage = 1.11 years). Participants completed two Go/No-Go tasks: a standard computer-based version and an adapted CAVE version, while fNIRS recorded brain activity in the bilateral dorsolateral frontal cortices. The aims were to compare behavioural performance in the CAVE and computer tasks, establish if the tasks capture developmental differences in inhibitory control, assess their psychometric properties (convergent and divergent validity), determine the feasibility and acceptability of the multimodal CAVE-fNIRS setup in early childhood, and characterise the neural correlates of response inhibition in both 2D and 3D tasks. Consistent with typical Go/No-Go tasks, we found higher error rates in mixed blocks compared to Go-only blocks. No significant correlations were found between self-reported (adults) or parent-reported (children) inhibition measures and task performance, nor between performance metrics across the CAVE and computer tasks, though children generally exhibited poorer performance across most metrics compared to adults, reflecting the prolonged developmental trajectory of inhibitory control. The novel CAVE task proved feasible and acceptable, with high completion rates and absent or minimal virtual reality-induced symptoms. Specific to the early childhood sample, Go/No-Go blocks in the CAVE task elicited higher activity in the left inferior frontal gyrus. This study shows the brain correlates of response inhibition during unrestricted movement in 2D and 3D settings in young children, integrating age-appropriate fNIRS with an immersive CAVE, opening potential new approaches to studying neurodevelopment
Crafting a Culturally-Situated Demand: A Microhistory of Market Sub-Segmentation in Chile and Peru between 1845-1855
Get PDFThis paper will examine how textile traders incorporated cultural and political changes into their information-gathering process through a detailed analysis of a set of letters and swatches exchanged between two agents in Lima and Valparaiso, and between them and the Manchester-based commission merchant Crafts & Stell. This correspondence highlights two distinct markets and the varied, evolving conditions impacting Chilean and Peruvian consumers. The cultural instructions each agent provided to Crafts & Stell were not interchangeable. While Chilean markets were subdivided by social class, the agent in Lima divided the Peruvian markets according to urban and rural areas. As this paper will explore, this sub-segmentation reflected each region’s particular geography and economic context, which was relevant only to their specific circumstances and the challenges each one faced.
The limited literature on the nineteenth-century Anglo-Hispanic textile trade agrees that local knowledge was a premium asset for success. Still, it has often approached nineteenth-century Latin American consumers as a sole, somewhat homogeneous market. This paper will show that agents, even if they worked for the same mercantile house, divided the Latin American market into different segments that can only be understood by examining their individual socio-cultural contexts. It will also highlight how British-based merchants needed the support of agents on the spot, not only for logistical reasons but especially to help them interpret the cultural and political realities that influenced demand.
In summary, this paper explores the notion of space by highlighting the importance of locality in textile trade, analysing how British-based merchants navigated and responded to the distinct fashion preferences of Peruvian and Chilean consumers in the second half of the nineteenth century
Seaming fragments: exploring patchwork and embodied research
No full textThis talk will connect practices of autoethnography, textile research and design practices, in a discussion about the role of embodied research. It will foreground my own positionality as a British-Canadian woman of the Korean diaspora in a decolonial reading of Korean womanhood through patchwork. Initially, we will focus in on the seam – the seam that connects two fragments composing the foundation of a patchwork cloth. Describing how my own experiences as a textile practitioner have shaped the lens of my research, I unpack how the structures of threads, fabric compositions and techniques reveal a rich material world of modernity encroaching upon Korea at the turn of the 20th century. It is from the interstitial space, that both postcolonial and decolonial theorists describe the borderlands of being, and knowing, which are mapped onto my own histories of diasporic belonging. From the material to the personal, this talk will explore both the object studies of my own research, as well as an overview of my pathways as a designer working in luxury fashion to academia
Maternal Love and Taiwanese Cultural Practices through Visual Autoethnography
Get PDFThis visual artwork explore digital fashion design, cultural heritage, and ethics through a multidisciplinary approach. Using autoethnography, it examines maternal love in Taiwanese culture and asks: what shared understanding exists in cultural expressions of care? Accompanied by a short film, the work integrates Taiwanese temple motifs and rituals into contemporary digital fashion, employing Clo3D and Unreal Engine. The film presents themes of care, family, and community through eight meticulously designed virtual garments inspired by Taiwanese rituals, where mothers often pray for blessings.
As a bilingual designer, entrepreneur, and educator, I express the embodied dimensions of maternal love and challenge conventional fashion narratives by integrating East Asian aesthetics with Western European traditions. The project highlights the social architecture of rituals at Wanheng Temple in Taichung, including prayer, divining blocks, and burning incense. These practices illustrate high-context East Asian cultural ethics, emphasizing interdependencies between living and non-living forces.
Through this work, I propose that fashion’s cultural narratives—articulated visually and linguistically—can reshape global perspectives. Grounded in neo-materialism and kinship theory, this research challenges Western norms, showcasing how digital fashion can preserve cultural heritage and inspire sustainable, inclusive practices within the global fashion ecosystem
“How Does the Other Half Tweet?”: Analyzing the Construction of “Otherness” During the 2022 Brazilian Presidential Campaign
Get PDFThis study focuses into the dynamics of discursive othering and populist mobilization in Brazilian politics, specifically focusing on the highly contentious 2022 presidential election between Jair Bolsonaro and Lula da Silva. Drawing from a dataset of tweets from Bolsonaro's and Lula's official accounts during the crucial second round of the campaign, we employ a comparative approach to elucidate how these candidates leveraged social media platforms to construct and legitimize discourses of “Otherness”. Through qualitative analysis, we explore (1) the nuanced strategies employed by each campaign to otherize opponents and their supporters; (2) the role of discursive othering in reinforcing polarization within Brazilian society; and (3) the nexus between discursive othering and populist rhetoric in the context of the 2022 election
Retrospective
No full textRetrospective of my films + q and a's and discussion on my practice on the 18 and 19 January after each screening. My film Wayfaring Stranger was showing until the 20th February. As part of Jocelyn Saab's retrospective starting in February, I was invited to present and discuss work in progress from my four year residency in Ramallah, Palestine, on 9 February.
I presented Art Class, Civil Rites, Erase and Forget, Estate, a Reverie, Taskafa, Stories of the Street, Wayfaring Stranger and Palestine, rushe
Listening to People with Dementia
No full textWhat does it mean to listen to people with dementia and why is this important? These are questions that are still urgent and are at the centre of my presentation. There has been a gradual acknowledgement that people with dementia should be included in research and policymaking for and about their conditions. Yet for the most part those living with dementia continue to be seen as passive objects of study – not as individuals who can play an active role in either society or research. This continues to be reinforced by wider cultural narratives that equate ‘dementia’ with hopelessness and disaster. It follows that people with this condition often feel helpless in the face of encroaching catastrophe and are unable to participate meaningfully in society or even make decisions in their own lives. Consequently, until recently, there has been a tendency to prioritise the views and experiences of carers over those with dementia, themselves. However, if the human rights of people with dementia are to be fully realised, this must involve working alongside them and actively listening to their views, even (and especially) when these are challenging. People with dementia must be listened to at both personal and societal levels and this will start to widen our perception of people as much more than passive patients or sufferers. Society may even start to recognise the contribution that individuals with dementia can continue to make. This presentation will draw closely on a project that I recently collaborated on with members of DEEP and with Professor Tom Shakespeare. DEEP is the UK Network of Dementia Voices, comprising approximately 80 local groups throughout the United Kingdom. The voices that emerge from the different local and national DEEP groups are saying things which the rest of society needs to listen to. Our evaluation demonstrated the importance of hearing the many and diverse voices of people with dementia and paying attention to the similarities and differences in what these voices are saying. Above all, if we listen with care and attention, this can help to dissolve some of the fear generated by persistent tropes of decline and despair and offer glimmers of hope and inspiration
Leveraging small datasets for ethical and responsible AI music making
Get PDFThe impact of Artificial Intelligence is felt on every stage of ccontemporary musicking and is shaping our interaction with sound. Deep learning Generative AI (GenAI) systems for high-quality music generation rely on extremely large musical datasets for training. As a result, AI models tend to be trained on dominant mainstream musical genres, such as Western classical music, where large datasets are more readily available. In addition, the reliance on extremely powerful computing resources for deep learning creates barriers to use and negatively impacts our environment. This paper reports on contemporary concerns and interests of musicians, researchers, and music industry stakeholders in the responsible use of GenAI models for music and audio. Through analysis of focus group discussions and exemplar case studies of the use of GenAI in music making at a hybrid workshop of 148 participants, we offer insights into current discourses about the use of GenAI beyond dominant musical styles and suggest ways forward to increase creative agency in music making beyond the mainstream. Our findings highlight the value of small datasets of music for GenAI, the suitability of AI models for working with small datasets of music, and pose questions around what constitutes a ‘small’ dataset of music
Learning to Compute: An Overview of Computing Education in England from 1970 to 2014
Get PDFThis paper will present a brief history of computing education in England from 1970 to 2014. It sets out to provide the context which shaped the 2014 computing curriculum. After this curriculum had been in place for almost a decade, the paper provides an opportunity to see how computing skills, including information communications technology (ICT), have been taught in England and how that shifted towards a more computer-science-focused curriculum in 2014. This paper gives a brief overview of how the formal subjects of information technology (IT), ICT, and computing became a strategic part of UK compulsory education. It examines the introduction of computers into schools in the 1980s, what computing in schools looked like, and how different forms of computing were variously integrated into the national curriculum for England and Wales
Peckham Phygital: Weaving new narratives of South London's urban fabric
No full textThe Presentation reports on 'Peckham Phygital' a project by CLUB VIRTual: a group of staff and students from the MA Interior and Spatial Design at Camberwell College of Arts, University of the Arts London. The project seeks to record and preserve the cultural heritage of Peckham in South London through the use of LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) scanning technology.
Peckham Phygital builds upon the project ‘What a Mess’ by Hugo Pilate and Pedro Gil Pharias in 2023. Members of Club Virtual will conduct walks through Peckham, creating LiDAR scans of the urban fabric, a process which Pharias and Pilate poignantly connect to the impressionist method of painting ‘en plein air’ (thus bringing together pointillism and the point cloud). The project reflects the growing use of LiDAR technology within creative practice growing from fields such as architecture, heritage, design and the locative arts as practitioners seek to build digital worlds that cross spaces and times, simultaneously conserving pasts, critiquing presents and speculating futures.
The use of Peckham reflects its focus as a site of rapid development through gentrification and globalisation. Its use as a site for the recent RomCom ‘Rye Lane’ (2023) suggesting it may be the next ‘Notting Hill’. This paper will discuss the project within this critical context, using creative cross disciplinary digital practices to weave new narratives between the actual and the virtual, between shifting presents and speculative futures of this vibrant South London district, currently one of the most ethnically diverse areas of the UK