Cultural Presence in Virtual Archaeology: An Exploratory Analysis of Factors

2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 247-263 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laia Pujol-Tost

Shared between Human-Computer Interaction and Cultural Heritage, the concept of Cultural Presence may provide an encompassing theoretical and methodological framework for Virtual Archaeology. The factors underlying presence have been extensively investigated, by means of both particular analyses as well as general statistical approaches. Yet, Cultural Presence has mostly been defined theoretically, and there are no global empirical examinations of it. The goal of this study is to verify the validity of the concept and to understand its underlying factors in the field of Virtual Archaeology. To that end we established an operational definition of Cultural Presence, we built a virtual reconstruction of an archaeological site based on it, and we evaluated the environment by means of self-reports and exploratory factor analysis. The general conclusion is that the concept of Cultural Presence is sound and composed of three main factors (cultural representation and engagement, social presence, and communicational aspects of technology); yet, it is not universal, but influenced by purpose and demographic variables.

2001 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 121-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
SCOTT T. FITZGERALD ◽  
MACK C. SHELLEY ◽  
PAULA W. DAIL

The difficulties surrounding research on homelessness are numerous and substantial. Using a statewide census of homelessness, this article analyzes and critiques common methodological techniques employed in that study. In addition, using cross-tabulation and loglinear modeling, the relationship between key demographic variables and the cited primary cause of homelessness, as well as the types of housing needed, are assessed. Through a multiphased process, which isolates the effects of the operationalized definition of homelessness, significant changes emerge. The operational definition of homelessness is found to affect the demographic composition of the sample, the estimation of annual incidents of homelessness, and the estimation of the statewide number of homeless individuals. The impact of the uncertainty surrounding research on homelessness on policy formation is addressed.


Author(s):  
S. Pratali Maffei ◽  
E. Canevese ◽  
T. De Gottardo

<p><strong>Abstract.</strong> The twenty-year and interdisciplinary research activity carried out by Virtualgeo has focused on the development of new methods and tools for 3D modeling that go beyond the simple digital-virtual reconstruction of solid modelling, in order to realize three-dimensional informative and photogrammetric representations that faithfully reproduce reality. These so called Advanced 3D models are the basis for carrying out metrological investigations to support the design and the BIM database population. In particular, in this paper we will deal with the segmentation tool, which allows the classification of the photogrammetric 3D model (material, degradation and chronological features). In detail, we will illustrate the collaboration experience between Virtualgeo and the University of Trieste, course in Technologies for the conservation and enhancement of architectural heritage of the Master's Degree in Architecture. The experience focused on the study of the archaeological site of the Roman river port of Aquileia, which Advanced 3D model was supplied by Virtualgeo. Firstly, the work focused on the informative contents necessary for the subsequent elaborations (different types of materials, alteration/degradation forms), starting from the use of coded lexicons (UNI 11182/2006). Subsequently, the quantitative data were associated to each category of homogeneous elements, obtainable from the segmentation (“mapping”) of the 3D model. This experience gave the chance to test the EasyCUBE PRO software: it was gradually adapted to the specific needs emerged both during the analysis of the site and the definition of conservation interventions, so as the outputs that can be generated after the elaboration of the Advanced 3D model.</p>


Author(s):  
Jessica Lynn Campbell

This chapter provides an operational definition of, “effective communication,” that instructors and scholars can utilize to measure successful online graduate course pedagogy strategies. There is not a drought of research on online graduate courses, including studies that focus specifically on communication within the online environment. However, in this chapter a detailed analysis from aggregated research was performed in order to offer new knowledge and insight on how to successfully increase effective online graduate student communication. By the end of this chapter, several questions will be answered: What online instructional technologies do instructors utilize in online graduate courses? What assignments and activities do instructors include in online graduate course curriculum? What level of social presence helps create a learning environment that facilitates effective online graduate communication?


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 5206
Author(s):  
Emanuel Demetrescu ◽  
Daniele Ferdani

This article is framed into the theoretical and methodological background of virtual archaeology. The advantages of virtual archaeology and its weak points have long been discussed in academia, formulating theoretical foundations and principles to be followed in order to guarantee scientific results, where data are traceable, transparent and verifiable. Gathering the inheritance of the last 30 years of debates and research, this work proposes implementing these principles through the formulation of a methodological approach, to virtual reconstruction of archaeological contexts, consisting of an application protocol articulated in five steps. In particular, the proposed methodology is grounded in the Extended Matrix (EM), a formal language and tools entirely developed and tested by the Virtual Heritage lab of the CNR ISPC. The EM takes its cue from the Matrix of Harris and adapts its system to the specific needs arising in the fields of virtual reconstruction and scientific visualisation. This protocol, which ranges from fieldwork to the publication of scientific data, has been tested and systematised in over ten years of activity on various complex and significant archaeological contexts. In the article, each methodological step is supported by case studies described in detail and accompanied by a graphic apparatus that clearly illustrates the results obtained. These case studies led to the definition of version 1.2 of the EM as described in the methods section.


2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-122
Author(s):  
Aleksandar Bulajić ◽  
Miomir Despotović ◽  
Thomas Lachmann

Abstract. The article discusses the emergence of a functional literacy construct and the rediscovery of illiteracy in industrialized countries during the second half of the 20th century. It offers a short explanation of how the construct evolved over time. In addition, it explores how functional (il)literacy is conceived differently by research discourses of cognitive and neural studies, on the one hand, and by prescriptive and normative international policy documents and adult education, on the other hand. Furthermore, it analyses how literacy skills surveys such as the Level One Study (leo.) or the PIAAC may help to bridge the gap between cognitive and more practical and educational approaches to literacy, the goal being to place the functional illiteracy (FI) construct within its existing scale levels. It also sheds more light on the way in which FI can be perceived in terms of different cognitive processes and underlying components of reading. By building on the previous work of other authors and previous definitions, the article brings together different views of FI and offers a perspective for a needed operational definition of the concept, which would be an appropriate reference point for future educational, political, and scientific utilization.


2010 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 193-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisabeth Norman

A series of vignette examples taken from psychological research on motivation, emotion, decision making, and attitudes illustrates how the influence of unconscious processes is often measured in a range of different behaviors. However, the selected studies share an apparent lack of explicit operational definition of what is meant by consciousness, and there seems to be substantial disagreement about the properties of conscious versus unconscious processing: Consciousness is sometimes equated with attention, sometimes with verbal report ability, and sometimes operationalized in terms of behavioral dissociations between different performance measures. Moreover, the examples all seem to share a dichotomous view of conscious and unconscious processes as being qualitatively different. It is suggested that cognitive research on consciousness can help resolve the apparent disagreement about how to define and measure unconscious processing, as is illustrated by a selection of operational definitions and empirical findings from modern cognitive psychology. These empirical findings also point to the existence of intermediate states of conscious awareness, not easily classifiable as either purely conscious or purely unconscious. Recent hypotheses from cognitive psychology, supplemented with models from social, developmental, and clinical psychology, are then presented all of which are compatible with the view of consciousness as a graded rather than an all-or-none phenomenon. Such a view of consciousness would open up for explorations of intermediate states of awareness in addition to more purely conscious or purely unconscious states and thereby increase our understanding of the seemingly “unconscious” aspects of mental life.


2000 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 325-341 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather M. Hermanson

The purpose of this study is to analyze the demand for reporting on internal control. Nine financial statement user groups were identified and surveyed to determine whether they agree that: (1) management reports on internal control (MRIC) are useful, (2) MRICs influence decisions, and (3) financial reporting is improved by adding MRICs. In addition, the paper examined whether responses varied based on: (1) the definition of internal control used (manipulated as broad, operational definition vs. narrow, financial-reporting definition) and (2) user group. The results indicate that financial statement users agree that internal controls are important. Respondents agreed that voluntary MRICs improved controls and provided additional information for decision making. Respondents also agreed that mandatory MRICs improved controls, but did not agree about their value for decision making. Using a broad definition of controls, respondents strongly agreed that MRICs improved controls and provided a better indicator of a company's long-term viability. Executive respondents were less likely to agree about the value of MRICs than individual investors and internal auditors.


Author(s):  
Flavio Mercati

This chapter explains in detail the current Hamiltonian formulation of SD, and the concept of Linking Theory of which (GR) and SD are two complementary gauge-fixings. The physical degrees of freedom of SD are identified, the simple way in which it solves the problem of time and the problem of observables in quantum gravity are explained, and the solution to the problem of constructing a spacetime slab from a solution of SD (and the related definition of physical rods and clocks) is described. Furthermore, the canonical way of coupling matter to SD is introduced, together with the operational definition of four-dimensional line element as an effective background for matter fields. The chapter concludes with two ‘structural’ results obtained in the attempt of finding a construction principle for SD: the concept of ‘symmetry doubling’, related to the BRST formulation of the theory, and the idea of ‘conformogeometrodynamics regained’, that is, to derive the theory as the unique one in the extended phase space of GR that realizes the symmetry doubling idea.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christophe Amiot ◽  
Cyntia Cavalcante Santos ◽  
Damien Arvor ◽  
Beatriz Bellón ◽  
Hervé Fritz ◽  
...  

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