118 research outputs found
Authoring Culture Video, Chapter 07: Field
No full textA student video offering insight and explanation of the material in Authoring Culture, Chapter 7, Field. The author is Taryn Yahn with collaborator MacKenzie Oberlin. The piece was produced in the Foundation of Twenty-First Century Writing class during the Spring semester, 2025, taught by Dr. Brendan Riley. Length: 04:41.https://digitalcommons.colum.edu/authoring_culture/1021/thumbnail.jp
The History of Motion Capture Within The Entertainment Industry
No full textThis thesis is intended to go over the compact history of motion captures development. Motion capture is a rapidly developing technology in the animation world and is constantly evolving, meaning that there is a lot of history to cover and that it is constantly updating. The goal of this paper is to cover some of the most historical occurrences within the development of motion capture, starting with when movement was first being tracked to produce other moving images, right up to when you can simply track and apply data to a model using a mobile phone. Some of the difficulties that were predicted to be encountered were that a lot of the technology nowadays is not publically released, as there is a strong market and competition regarding the technology. Development from early on was mostly conducted by universities, and was detailed and widely available. Now that there is a competitive market (mostly due to the entertainment industry) Many discoveries, while announced with great publicity, are often lacking in-depth descriptions of the actual mechanics and developmental processes. While researching for this paper it was found to be true that much of the data was unavailable, the more modern the technology the harder it was to find data on how things were created. Fortunately, the author of this paper works for a well-regarded entertainment studio that has access to their own large motion capture studio and veteran professionals. It was also a benefit that the name of the company had influence when contacting other professionals about motion capture
Exploring personality: the impact of impulsivity on decision making and reward processing
No full textImpulsivity is a common and multifaceted personality trait that is characterized by the presence of heightened reward sensitivity, novelty seeking, lack of premeditation, and behavioural and emotional inhibition deficits (Leshem, 2016a). These behaviours are often associated with substance abuse, gambling disorders, obesity, abnormal time perception, and other psychological and neurological conditions (Bari & Robbins, 2013; Berlin & Rolls, 2004). Reward processing deficits have also been well documented, with many researchers finding an association between impulsivity and the inclination towards smaller, immediate, rewards over larger, delayed rewards (Petry, 2001). Additionally, a larger reward positivity amplitude – an event-related potential component associated with rewards and expectancy – was found for the immediate rewards, relative to delayed rewards in high impulsivity individuals (Cherniawsky & Holroyd, 2013; B. Schmidt, Holroyd, Debener, & Hewig, 2017). The purpose of this thesis was to replicate and extend previous findings, by having participants complete two tasks: delayed gratification and time estimation. In the time estimation task, participants estimated the length of one second. The first task, a replication, assesses subject’s preference for immediate rewards; moreover, the second task extended previous research and functioned as an additional way of assessing reward processing and examined participant’s ability to estimate time. Abnormal time perception in impulsive individuals is thought to contribute to atypical delay gratification behaviour (Wittmann & Paulus, 2008). Electroencephalography (EEG) was recorded from participants during both tasks. Based on previous research on impulsivity (Cherniawsky & Holroyd, 2013; Coull, Cheng, & Meck, 2011; Holroyd & Krigolson, 2007; B. Schmidt et al., 2017), I predicted that impulsivity would affect performance on the time estimation task (which is novel in its use with impulsivity and EEG), and response times and reward positivity amplitudes on both tasks. Counter to my hypothesis, I found that response times and task performance were not affected by impulsivity levels. I also observed that the reward positivity was mediated by impulsivity in the delayed gratification task, but not in the time estimation tasks, suggesting that the tasks activate different neural pathways for reward processing. My results indicate that impulsivity can influence the amplitude of the reward positivity, but that different neural pathways are associated with distinct tasks. Further investigation into quantifiable measures of impulsivity and their effect on various reward processing tasks needs to be conducted. Graduate2020-04-2
Mediating Architecture, Spatial Perception & Memory Through Simulation and Digital Fabrication
No full textThis thesis outlines an exploration of the relationship between memory and architecture through the lens of technology. I discuss how memory and knowledge have become outsourced into computers and devices which can change our perception of reality, in particular the architectural spaces we inhabit. The research explores the following questions to a variety of degrees: What is the relationship between space, memory and technology? What are the deeper impacts of simulations on our understanding of space? How can a digital to analog process shed new light on the way digital culture has changed our perception of space? Working from the perspective of my background in architecture, I describe my foundational understanding of the built environment and its’ ability to reflect meaning beyond its functionality and communicate the desires of others. This is related through an anecdotal architectural history of late modern architecture pertaining to the region where I spent the formitive part of my life. I introduce the philosophical concept of Metamodernism and demonstrate how it applies to our understanding of the built environment and how it explains some of the phenomena I encountered in my architectural practice, specifically the idea of depth and authenticity as it relates to our perception of space. I outline the relationship between space and memory with references to Gaston Bachelard and Rebecca Solnitt and discuss how my experience in designing for late life has led to a new understanding of the perception of space and how this is a flexible concept that changes throughout our lives. The methodology I have developed for this research is presented in a discussion about the Digital to Analog process and how that process leads to the production of new knowledge and insights about materials. I demonstrate the process of reconstructing memories of architectural spaces using computer modelling and then the mediation of those models into analog form. The methodology shows how mediation is used to emphasize the gap or fault in memory that occurs over time, and how the medium alters the original. Key concepts that emerged in this research are situated in the theoretical works of architectural scholar Anthony Vidler, new media scholar Timotheas Vermeulen and philosopher Jean Baudrillard. Further contextualizing of the work is found in a comparative discussion about the work of contemporary artists Sabrina Ratte, Jon Rafman and Thomas Demand. The body of work that is supported by this thesis document investigates a range of subjects that, when combined together reflect a larger societal phenomena of Metamodernism and the concurrent idea of ‘creation of depth as a performative act’. The concepts and methodologies examined throughout include the manifestation of memory through digital fabrication, elements of postmodern architecture and the formal language of architectural space, and the attempt to portray the depth of memory but inhibiting that process by imposing mediation strategies
Habitat use and response of freshwater turtles to human presence in an urban canal of central New Jersey
No full textPressures of urbanization and rapid development continue to increase and recreational activities are becoming a prominent force in many urban wildlife communities. Many urban environments are home to freshwater turtles and little attention has been given to the impact of human recreation upon these communities. We examined the response of basking turtles to observer presence along the towpath of a canal in central New Jersey. All four species, except K. subrubrum, were more frequently observed basking on log substrate and on substrate with less than 50% canopy cover. Along the towpath, 100% of K. subrubrum responded to observer presence by retreating (swimming away), while over 75% of observations on C. picta, T.s. elegans, and P. rubriventris responded to by retreating. There was a highly significant correlation between the distance from the towpath the turtle was first seen basking by the observer and the distance at which the turtle first responded to the observer. Nearly 80% of the variability in distance to first respond to the observer for K. subrubrum was accounted for by including the percent canopy cover, percent cloud cover, and height basking above the water, while less than 30% of the variability was accounted for C. picta, T.s. elegans, and P. rubriventris.M.S.Includes bibliographical referencesby Taryn N. Pittfiel
Localized vs. Systematic Neurodegeneration: A Paradigm Shift in Understanding Neurodegenerative Diseases
No full textLocalized vs. Systematic Neurodegeneration: A Paradigm Shift in Understanding Neurodegenerative Diseases
No full textDe-labeling captured figures. : Visual criminology and mistrusting of images in the work of Taryn Simon
No full textInternational audienceAs accurate historians have sufficiently exposed, photographic techniques were more than often improved by (or for) Scientific Police, which, in turn, based and built its “scientific value” on the photographic ability to describe and measure man’s physiognomy, consequently provoking the nearly permanent faith in the self-sufficient evidentiary and objective character of photography, which also popularized the medium. If photography was defined as the first apparatus who could express, retain and fix the human trace (Walter Benjamin referring to Bertillon’s invention of ‘metric’ photography), and it’s still considered as the medium capable “to certify the human presence” (Barthes, Camera Lucida), in visual criminology photographs and mug-shots represent indeed an expressions of the self, by some means becoming extorted confessions, or uncontrolled self-revelatory forms.In our peculiar epoch, where photographs are more and more entrusted with the task of furthering and expanding the self, we would therefore like to question photography as “self-confession”, by analyzing the work of some artists whose starting point is the mistrusting of images.I intend to evocate some paradigmatic examples, The Innocents (2003) of the American photographer Taryn Simon in particular. Strongly supporting The Innocence Project (which discloses “disturbing fissures” in the US criminal justice system, such as incentivized informants, improper forensic science, procedural errors, government misconduct, false confessions and inadequate defense, finally denouncing eyewitness misidentification as “the greatest contributing factor to wrongful convictions”), the Simon’s photographic project displays in texts and images the true stories of some victims of wrongful conviction. The portraiture formula of Simon’s photographs brings to light the problematical relationship between photographic truth and photographic fiction, that the author highlight by showing the pseudo-evidence not merely involved in photo array procedures, sketches, live lineups and rogue’s galleries, but in every single portrait, in every mise en scène of a “guilty person”
A cross-sectional study of postpartum depressive symptoms and infant weight outcomes: do well-child visits make a difference?
No full textBackground: Maternal postpartum depression affects 10% to
20% of new mothers, but little research has examined its
relationship with weight outcomes during infancy and whether
clinical interventions can mitigate this relationship. This study
investigated the associations of postpartum depressive
symptoms with infants’ weight-for-length z-scores, obesity, and
overweight at 9 months of age; and whether the number of
well-child visits moderated these associations.
Methods: We used data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal
Study-Birth Cohort (ECLS-B), a nationally representative
sample of approximately 10,700 children born in the U.S. in
2001.
Results: At 9 months postpartum, 6% of the mothers were
considered severely depressed, and 18.2% either moderately
or severely depressed, on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies
Depression Scale. Approximately 15% of the infants were
obese and 29% were overweight (at or above the 95th or 85th
percentiles for weight and length, respectively). Higher
maternal depression scores were associated with lower odds of
obesity (OR=0.997, 95% CI: 0.970-0.994) and overweight
(OR=0.990, 95% CI: 0.981-0.999) among their infants, and
higher numbers of well-child-visits were associated with even
lower odds of child overweight among mothers with higher
depression scores (OR=0.996, 95% CI: 0.993-0.999).
Depressive scores had no associations with infants’ continuous
weight-for-length z-scores.
Conclusion: While the causal directions and mechanisms
remain unclear, findings suggest that well-child visits may
provide an opportunity to address mothers’ depressiv
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