On the Politics of Chrono-Design: Capture, Time and the Interface

This article makes a contribution to interface criticism through the notion of chrono-design: the deliberate shaping of experiences of temporality and time through contemporary software techniques and digital technologies. This notion is articulated through discussions of network optimisation, user experience design, behavioural tracking, Hansen’s work on 21st-century media and Hayles’ framework of cognitive assemblages. In particular, the argument considers how contemporary user interfaces complicate conventional notions of the rational, self-reflexive subject by operating beyond consciousness at vast environmental dimensions and accelerated micro-temporal speeds. These conditions, we argue, provide opportunities for new forms of behavioural suspense and captivation best exemplified through the figure of the trap. The politics and aesthetics of captivation, accordingly, should be considered as central to any expanded ecology of cognition. The article then concludes with a short demonstration of experimental uses of chrono-design methods applied critically to political economies of user tracking and data capture as a prompt for further interdisciplinary applied research in this domain.

Internet Gambling: A Critical Review of Behavioural Tracking Research

This paper reviews and analyzes studies that are focused on Internet gambling with the use of behavioural tracking and big data to identify gambling behaviour. The behaviour of gamblers has been extensively studied and much has been published on the subject. The vast majority of research has relied on self-reported gambling behaviour or case study research. With the advent of the Internet, however, it has become possible for researchers to remotely study the real behaviour of gamblers. The goal has been to empirically describe playing behaviour in several conditions and contexts. Existing research, conducted since the 2000s, focuses on several forms of gambling such as sports betting, casino, poker, and lottery, but there is still only a concise body of research on gambling behaviour with the use of Internet gambling tracking data. Most studies are based on the same databases, meaning that a few companies and websites were the basis for most of the research produced so far. It is important to explore new sources of information, methodologies, and approaches to enrich discussion and contribute to a better understanding of this field. The empirical analysis of gambling behaviour with the use of tracking data was found to greatly contribute to the understanding of player behaviour, despite existing limitations and problems. Considering that Internet gambling behavioural tracking is still a fairly recent phenomenon, much can still be done to further develop this field of research.Cet article examine et analyse les études axées sur le jeu en ligne qui recourent au suivi comportemental et aux mégadonnées pour cerner le comportement lié au jeu. Or, on a souvent étudié le comportement des joueurs et on a beaucoup publié sur le sujet, mais jusqu’à présent, la majeure partie de la recherche repose sur le comportement autodéclaré ou la recherche fondée sur les études de cas. Avec l’avènement d’Internet, il est dorénavant possible pour les chercheurs d’étudier à distance le comportement réel des joueurs. L’objectif a donc consisté à décrire de manière empirique le comportement lié au jeu dans plusieurs conditions et contextes. La recherche existante, menée depuis les années 2000, se concentre sur plusieurs formes de jeux de hasard tels que les paris sportifs, le casino, le poker et la loterie. Mais à ce jour, il n’existe qu’un corpus de recherches très concis sur le comportement lié au jeu qui utilise des données de suivi sur le jeu par Internet. La plupart des études sont fondées sur les mêmes bases de données, car seulement quelques entreprises et sites Web ont servi de base à la plupart des recherches produites jusqu’à maintenant. Il est donc important d’explorer de nouvelles sources d’information, méthodologies et approches pour pouvoir enrichir les discussions et améliorer la compréhension de ce domaine. L’analyse empirique du comportement lié au jeu à l’aide de données de suivi a ainsi largement contribué à la compréhension du comportement du joueur en dépit des limites et problèmes existants. Si l’on tient compte du fait que le suivi comportemental du jeu sur Internet est un phénomène encore assez récent, il reste beaucoup à faire pour exploiter davantage ce domaine de recherche.

Internet Gambling: A Critical Review of Behavioural Tracking Research

This paper reviews and analyzes studies that are focused on Internet gambling with the use of behavioural tracking and big data to identify gambling behaviour. The behaviour of gamblers has been extensively studied and much has been published on the subject. The vast majority of research has relied on self-reported gambling behaviour or case study research. With the advent of the Internet, however, it has become possible for researchers to remotely study the real behaviour of gamblers. The goal has been to empirically describe playing behaviour in several conditions and contexts. Existing research, conducted since the 2000s, focuses on several forms of gambling such as sports betting, casino, poker, and lottery, but there is still only a concise body of research on gambling behaviour with the use of Internet gambling tracking data. Most studies are based on the same databases, meaning that a few companies and websites were the basis for most of the research produced so far. It is important to explore new sources of information, methodologies, and approaches to enrich discussion and contribute to a better understanding of this field. The empirical analysis of gambling behaviour with the use of tracking data was found to greatly contribute to the understanding of player behaviour, despite existing limitations and problems. Considering that Internet gambling behavioural tracking is still a fairly recent phenomenon, much can still be done to further develop this field of research.Cet article examine et analyse les études axées sur le jeu en ligne qui recourent au suivi comportemental et aux mégadonnées pour cerner le comportement lié au jeu. Or, on a souvent étudié le comportement des joueurs et on a beaucoup publié sur le sujet, mais jusqu’à présent, la majeure partie de la recherche repose sur le comportement autodéclaré ou la recherche fondée sur les études de cas. Avec l’avènement d’Internet, il est dorénavant possible pour les chercheurs d’étudier à distance le comportement réel des joueurs. L’objectif a donc consisté à décrire de manière empirique le comportement lié au jeu dans plusieurs conditions et contextes. La recherche existante, menée depuis les années 2000, se concentre sur plusieurs formes de jeux de hasard tels que les paris sportifs, le casino, le poker et la loterie. Mais à ce jour, il n’existe qu’un corpus de recherches très concis sur le comportement lié au jeu qui utilise des données de suivi sur le jeu par Internet. La plupart des études sont fondées sur les mêmes bases de données, car seulement quelques entreprises et sites Web ont servi de base à la plupart des recherches produites jusqu’à maintenant. Il est donc important d’explorer de nouvelles sources d’information, méthodologies et approches pour pouvoir enrichir les discussions et améliorer la compréhension de ce domaine. L’analyse empirique du comportement lié au jeu à l’aide de données de suivi a ainsi largement contribué à la compréhension du comportement du joueur en dépit des limites et problèmes existants. Si l’on tient compte du fait que le suivi comportemental du jeu sur Internet est un phénomène encore assez récent, il reste beaucoup à faire pour exploiter davantage ce domaine de recherche.

The speed–curvature power law in Drosophila larval locomotion

We report the discovery that the locomotor trajectories of Drosophila larvae follow the power-law relationship between speed and curvature previously found in the movements of human and non-human primates. Using high-resolution behavioural tracking in controlled but naturalistic sensory environments, we tested the law in maggots tracing different trajectory types, from reaching-like movements to scribbles. For most but not all flies, we found that the law holds robustly, with an exponent close to three-quarters rather than to the usual two-thirds found in almost all human situations, suggesting dynamic effects adding on purely kinematic constraints. There are different hypotheses for the origin of the law in primates, one invoking cortical computations, another viscoelastic muscle properties coupled with central pattern generators. Our findings are consistent with the latter view and demonstrate that the law is possible in animals with nervous systems orders of magnitude simpler than in primates. Scaling laws might exist because natural selection favours processes that remain behaviourally efficient across a wide range of neural and body architectures in distantly related species.

Evaluation of flow-rate dynamics in the simultaneous photocatalytic treatment of multichlorinated substituted phenols in continuous-flow systems

The project investigated the simultaneous degradation of chlorophenols dissolved in aqueous systems. The photocatalysis advanced oxidation process was the technology applied to achieve treatment. Chemical behavioural tracking was performed using the chloride dehalogenation sequence dynamics. The study recorded reductive dehalogenation chemical transformation kinetics of multi-substituted chlorinated phenolics in continuous flow reactor systems. This was performed by manipulation of liquid flow-rates in the photocatalytic oxidations process using suspended and immobilised catalyst applications. A modified Langmuir-Hinshelwood kinetic model was proposed that explained the oxidation transformational behaviour of the dehalogenation process derived intermediates. Complementary photocatalytic performance matrices were established for each flow regime; model parameters were calculated and estimated for behavioural profiles of all compounds under scrutiny.

Is "pop-up" messaging in online slot machine gambling effective as a responsible gambling strategy?

Certain gambling operators now provide social responsibility tools to help players gamble more responsibly. One such innovation is the use of pop-up messages that aim to give feedback to the players about the time and money they have thus far spent gambling. Most studies of this innovation have been conducted in laboratory settings, and although controlled studies are indeed more reliable than real-world studies, the non-ecological validity of laboratory studies is still an issue. This study investigated the effects of a slot machine pop-up message in a real gambling environment by comparing the behavioural tracking data of two representative random samples of 400,000 gambling sessions before and after the pop-up message was introduced. The study comprised approximately 200,000 gamblers. The results indicated that, following the viewing of a pop-up message after 1000 consecutive gambles on an online slot machine game, nine times more gamblers ceased their gambling session than did those gamblers who had not viewed the message. The data suggest that pop-up messages can influence a small number of gamblers to cease their playing session, and that pop-ups appear to be another potentially helpful social responsibility tool in reducing excessive play within session.