Amidst the emergence of powerful intelligent technologies such as LLMs and text-to-image AIs that promise to enhance creative processes, designers face the challenges of remaining empowered and creative while working with these foreign digital partners. While generative AIs offer versatile, informative, and occasionally poetic outcomes, their lack of embodied knowledge presents an even greater challenge to designers in gaining fruitful outcomes, such as in the field of Digital Craftsmanship. In this project, three designers embarked on a three-month experimental journey with an intention to co-create with Google's LLM as a potential intelligent partner to investigate how it will influence the designers' creativity. We found that a power dynamic of agencies exists between the LLM and the designer, in which the designer can easily lose their creative agency. Regaining the designer's creative agency involves introspection into their own creative process, a structural understanding of the specific emerging technology involved, and deliberate adjustments to the dynamics of the human-technology relationship. We propose paying attention to the designer's inner world and parties of agencies when engaging with emerging intelligent technologies through three aspects: the sensitivity towards a creative process as cognitive activities; the active investigation into specific technology's capability; and the adjustment towards an appropriate working relationship between the designer and the emerging technology.
Alfonso Freire-Sánchez, Jesús López-González, Montserrat Vidal-Mestre
Este estudio propone una taxonomía de los estilos artísticos en videojuegos premiados en The Game Awards (2014-2023) mediante la introducción de una propuesta de análisis interdisciplinar que integra perspectivas estéticas, narrativas y mecánicas jugables. Se ha desarrollado un diseño metodológico basado en el análisis multimodal de 18 obras galardonadas, evaluando dimensiones visuales (diseño de personajes, iluminación), influencias culturales (literatura, cine) y simbología. Los resultados identificaron 16 estilos artísticos, entre los que destacan el pixel art (nostalgia retro), el hiperrealismo (detalle fotorrealista) y el surrealismo (simbolismo abstracto), a menudo combinados con referentes mitológicos o cinematográficos. Esto permite debatir si la identidad artística de los videojuegos radica en su capacidad para fusionar influencias diversas en una experiencia interactiva singular, confrontando así las categorizaciones tradicionales del arte. Se concluye que, pese a la recurrencia de ciertos elementos, cada obra analizada conserva una singularidad que otorga al medio un arte irrepetible, efímero y carente de un sello autoral tan definido como en otras disciplinas artísticas.
Анотація. У статті розглянуто проблеми перетинання автомобільних доріг і залізничних колій з точки зору безпеки та економічних показників. Надано рекомендації стосовно принципів прийняття проєктних рішень при будівництві транспортних розв’язок в різних рівнях та підвищенні рівня облаштування залізничного переїзду. Мета роботи полягає у дослідженні умов безпеки на переїздах при різних розмірах руху поїздів та автотранспортних засобів, а також розробки рекомендацій щодо доцільності улаштування розв’язок у різних рівнях з урахуванням експлуатаційних та економічних факторів. Методологія. Методи дослідження: аналіз літературних джерел, статистичних і експериментальних даних стосовно впливу затримок транспортних засобів на експлуатаційні та економічні показники, а рівня облаштування переїздів – на показники безпеки. Результати. Розглянуто показники, які впливають на рівень безпеки перетинань автомобільних доріг із залізницями. Досліджено вплив затримок на залізничних переїздах на показники безпеки, екологічні показники, додаткові витрати на утримання автотранспортних засобів та обслуговування дорожнього одягу. Запропоновано методику оцінки перетинів, які потребують розділення у вертикальній площині першочергово. Наукова новизна. У статті вперше запропоновано комплексний підхід при оцінці ефективності будівництва розв’язок у різних рівнях на перетині автомобільних доріг із залізничним коліями з урахуванням показників безпеки, експлуатаційних та економічних показників. Отримані результати корисні для планування розвитку міст та магістральних автомобільних доріг. Практична значущість. Результати роботи можуть застосовуватися для оцінки рівня безпеки перетинань автомобільних доріг із залізницями, а також прогнозування економічних втрат від наявних залізничних переїздів та обґрунтованості будівництва шляхопроводів.
Eduardo Augusto Monteiro de Almeida, Guillaume Thomann, Angelina Dias Leão Costa
Navigation in new or unknown environments is vital, especially for visually impaired individuals. While many solutions exist, few are tailored to specific disabilities, often due to limited collaboration with handicap users in the design process. This article examines 7 tools that enable visually impaired users to participate in design, selected through a systematic review and analyzed for affinities, differences, and applications. The study suggests correlations among the tools, offering a foundation for a methodology that enhances inclusive design and accessibility.
In this article, we will look closer at the kitchen ‘backend’, which contains the tools necessary for practical food preparation. These objects are usually invisible to guests–but also, as we will prove, to the design discourse. An object that illustrates the function of cookware is a tool for washing rice before cooking: Lavarroz (Washrice) by Brazilian dentist Therezinha Beatriz Alves de Andrade Zorowich. This tool has been part of the standard equipment of a Brazilian (and not only) kitchen since 1959. We will look at the importance of Lavarroz and similar tools in a social context, including culture and history. We will show the differences in social communication using tableware and kitchenware by comparing the features of objects and the media communication accompanying them. We will consider how deep the roots of disregard for kitchen tools are in culture. There were also periods and places in history where tools from the back of the kitchen were displayed in the limelight. What conditions must be met for the kitchen utensils to appear in the museum? We will also try to answer why, in the public discourse, Lavarroz is called an ‘invention’ and not a ‘project’.
Assistive technology (AT) is any artefact that enables participation in activities usually limited by disability. Frequently, AT suffers from poor design engagement and utilisation. Moreover, up to 30% of all AT is abandoned within a year, negatively impacting users. This presents an ongoing challenge for occupational therapists (OTs) who work with assistive technologies. A literature review was conducted using a Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis protocol to understand this issue and its implications for the design community. This study explores current themes of AT abandonment and the role of OT within the lens of design thinking. Studies, including design intervention in AT, were subsequently highlighted. This led to comparing this literature with more traditional health literature, exploring the potential enablers and barriers for design in engaging with AT. This evidenced the benefits of collaboration between design and OT disciplines to improve the product and reduce abandonment issues.
Мета статті полягає у з’ясуванні ступеню впливу ШІ на графічний дизайн на прикладі операціоналізації нейромереж, які уможливили генеративну графіку, дозволили використовувати високу варіативність параметрів, також регулювати кольорову гаму, контраст та геометричні пропорції об’єктів, що створюються. Методи дослідження. Застосовано емпіричний метод, метод аналізу та синтезу, а також якісні методи дослідження, які зокрема передбачають опрацювання наукових, популярних і веб-джерел, присвячених використанню генеративних мереж і ШІ у графічному дизайні; проаналізовано особливості та функціональні параметри окремих нейромереж у контексті теми статті. Крім цього, поряд з оглядом останніх досліджень, присвячених даній темі, прояснено і взаємозв’язок між експериментально-науковими дослідженнями графічного дизайну сьогодні та розвитком генеративного дизайну як перспективної технології з широкою сферою застосування та методу проєктування функціональних конструкцій графічного дизайну, UI/UX дизайну, анімації тощо. Наукова новизна. В статті вперше представлено комплексний підхід до проблеми застосування ШІ та генеративних нейромереж у графічному дизайні, а також розглянуто, зокрема на прикладі таких нейромереж як DALL-E, DALL-E 2, Stable Diffusion, MidJourney та Craiyon, потенціал, переваги та недоліки конкретних нейромереж під час генерування композиційно-графічних рішень. Висновки. З’ясовано, що генеративні нейромережі є одним із найпопулярніших видів ШІ у дизайн-індустрії у першій чверті ХХІ ст. Такі нейромережі, як DALL-E, DALL-E 2, Stable Diffusion, MidJourney та Craiyon, або професійні програми InDesign чи Illustrator, однозначно стали сьогодні незамінними помічниками для багатьох дизайнерів-графіків, які з їхньою допомогою відтворюють, трансформують і синтезують зображення, варіюють елементи відповідно до потреб користувачів, отримують змогу покращувати і редагувати варіації згенерованих зображень, а також регулювати геометричні пропорції, кольорову гаму і контраст об’єктів, використовувати високу варіативність параметрів.
For a journal that deals with architectural drawing and representation, the topic of this issue No. 14, Analog Models, edited by Alberto Sdegno and Pedro Manuel Cabezos-Bernal, is certainly of great appeal, and this is demonstrated by the high number of contributions arrived at the editorial office at the end of the call for papers. [read more]
This paper explores a novel research direction where a digital twin is leveraged to assist the beamforming design for an integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) system. In this setup, a base station designs joint communication and sensing beamforming to serve the communication user and detect the sensing target concurrently. Utilizing the electromagnetic (EM) 3D model of the environment and ray tracing, the digital twin can provide various information, e.g., propagation path parameters and wireless channels, to aid communication and sensing systems. More specifically, our digital twin-based beamforming design first leverages the environment EM 3D model and ray tracing to (i) predict the directions of the line-of-sight (LoS) and non-line-of-sight (NLoS) sensing channel paths and (ii) identify the dominant one among these sensing channel paths. Then, to optimize the joint sensing and communication beam, we maximize the sensing signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) on the dominant sensing channel component while satisfying a minimum communication signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) requirement. Simulation results show that the proposed digital twin-assisted beamforming design achieves near-optimal target sensing SNR in both LoS and NLoS dominant areas, while ensuring the required SINR for the communication user. This highlights the potential of leveraging digital twins to assist ISAC systems.
The diversity and multiplicity of interactions between comics (as a cultural object produced for children) and children’s drawings (both as objects of adult discourses and as children’s productions) offer a vast field of inquiry. This introduction to the special issue on children’s drawings in comics puts forward three interlocking angles to describe interactions between comics and children’s drawings.
Drawing. Design. Illustration, Literature (General)
Inspired by the recent success of large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, researchers start to explore the adoption of LLMs for agile hardware design, such as generating design RTL based on natural-language instructions. However, in existing works, their target designs are all relatively simple and in a small scale, and proposed by the authors themselves, making a fair comparison among different LLM solutions challenging. In addition, many prior works only focus on the design correctness, without evaluating the design qualities of generated design RTL. In this work, we propose an open-source benchmark named RTLLM, for generating design RTL with natural language instructions. To systematically evaluate the auto-generated design RTL, we summarized three progressive goals, named syntax goal, functionality goal, and design quality goal. This benchmark can automatically provide a quantitative evaluation of any given LLM-based solution. Furthermore, we propose an easy-to-use yet surprisingly effective prompt engineering technique named self-planning, which proves to significantly boost the performance of GPT-3.5 in our proposed benchmark.
Luigi Capogrosso, Federico Cunico, Michele Lora
et al.
Many recent pattern recognition applications rely on complex distributed architectures in which sensing and computational nodes interact together through a communication network. Deep neural networks (DNNs) play an important role in this scenario, furnishing powerful decision mechanisms, at the price of a high computational effort. Consequently, powerful state-of-the-art DNNs are frequently split over various computational nodes, e.g., a first part stays on an embedded device and the rest on a server. Deciding where to split a DNN is a challenge in itself, making the design of deep learning applications even more complicated. Therefore, we propose Split-Et-Impera, a novel and practical framework that i) determines the set of the best-split points of a neural network based on deep network interpretability principles without performing a tedious try-and-test approach, ii) performs a communication-aware simulation for the rapid evaluation of different neural network rearrangements, and iii) suggests the best match between the quality of service requirements of the application and the performance in terms of accuracy and latency time.
This study aims to evaluate the structures of Azeroth, the fictional built world of the World of Warcraft video game, as samples of vernacular architecture. Therefore, the scope of the study contains video game architecture, vernacular architecture, and structure samples from the mentioned video game. For the methods of the study, first, the storytelling and worldbuilding concepts are investigated. Then, the use of architecture in video games is analyzed in the light of pioneer academic studies. Moreover, the term vernacular architecture is introduced to name the structure of World of Warcraft as samples of it. The elements affecting the design of vernacular architecture samples are mentioned. Finally, in the case study, the settlements and the structures of the fictional races with distinct cultures, from the mentioned video game, are studied in detail. And in result, some unique determinations of mentioned game’s use of architecture, in both video game architecture and fictional vernacular architecture terms, are proposed.
Nell’era della connessione digitale, il settore delle costruzioni sta attraversando una transizione che coinvolge numerosi aspetti, anche legati alla rappresentazione del manufatto edilizio. Le Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) nel processo edilizio stimolano l’adozione di metodi e strumenti innovativi orientati alla comunicazione di un’idea progettuale, spostando l’attenzione dal tecnigrafo digitale al modello informativo. L’adozione del Building Information Modelling (BIM) sta innescando un’inversione radicale di prospettiva, tale per cui lo sviluppo di un modello 3D parametrico consente la generazione di una serie di elaborati grafici coordinati, evitando ridondanza informativa e conseguenti incoerenze. Tradizionalmente, la produzione di contenuti progettuali sfrutta standard e convenzioni grafiche, ereditate dagli strumenti di modellazione informativa. Il contributo mira a sviluppare un approccio critico sulle capacità attuali dei modelli collaborativi BIM di produrre tali elaborati, nell’ambito del processo edilizio. Tale studio si inserisce all’interno di un ampio ambito di ricerca focalizzato sull’ottimizzazione del processo edilizio migliorando la connessione fra tradizione e innovazione nella scienza del disegno.
Michael Saidani, Harrison Kim, Nawres Ayadhi
et al.
Online product reviews are a valuable resource for product developers to improve the design of their products. Yet, the potential value of customer feedback to improve the sustainability performance of products is still to be exploited. The present paper investigates and analyzes Amazon product reviews to bring new light on the following question: ``What sustainable design insights can be identified or interpreted from online product reviews?''. To do so, the top 100 reviews, evenly distributed by star ratings, for three product categories (laptop, printer, cable) are collected, manually annotated, analyzed and interpreted. For each product category, the reviews of two similar products (one with environmental certification and one standard version) are compared and combined to come up with sustainable design solutions. In all, for the six products considered, between 12% and 20% of the reviews mentioned directly or indirectly aspects or attributes that could be exploited to improve the design of these products from a sustainability perspective. Concrete examples of sustainable design leads that could be elicited from product reviews are given and discussed. As such, this contribution provides a baseline for future work willing to automate this process to gain further insights from online product reviews. Notably, the deployment of machine learning tools and the use of natural language processing techniques to do so are discussed as promising lines for future research.
The article dwells on the study of the image of a prehistoric man portrayed in children books illustrations and museum exhibitions’ design (paintings, sculptures) in 1920-1930s using the example of works from the State Darwin Museum funds. During this period, famous artists of children's books Vasily Vatagin and Mikhail Ezuchevsky worked at the State Darwin Museum. They were also well versed in anthropology and ethnography. Their drawings were the first Soviet illustrations for the book by Ernest d'Hervilly “The Adventures of a little prehistoric boy”, which became a popular science book for children in the USSR about prehistoric people. V.A. Vatagin, M.D. Ezuchevsky and A.N. Komarov created a number of paintings and sculptures about the life of prehistoric people for the exposition of the State Darwin Museum in the first half of the XX century. Illustrations and artworks introduced the element of entertainment and emotional appeal to the museum’s exhibitions, which otherwise were purely informative and rather cold-eyed.