Digital Commons Network^™

The Comforting Potential Of A Social Robot, Regardless Of Looks And Designed Affordances, Peggy Van Minkelen, Elly A. Konijn

Human-Machine Communication

Two field studies examined the comforting potential of an autonomously functioning humanoid robot and whether participants formed an affective bond with it, guided by a new Human-Robot Bonding framework. We designed a 2 (Designed Humanness: high versus low) × 2 (Designed Affordances: high versus low) mixed-factorial repeatedmeasures field experiment. Participants completed a stress-inducing task, followed by an interaction with the robot, which provided comfort. We measured participants’ stress levels (objectively via heart rate and subjectively via perceived stress) and their level of Bonding with the robot. Results showed that perceived stress, but not heart rate, decreased after human-robot interaction across …

Gender And Task Alignment Influences The Credibility Of Feminine But Not Masculine Ai Conversational Assistants, Joana Videira, David Deandrea

Human-Machine Communication

The present study investigated how the perceived gender of AI conversational assistants and the tasks they perform combine to influence perceptions of AI competence, trustworthiness, and goodwill (i.e., credibility). Participants evaluated AI assistants that appeared female or male and varied in the task they performed (stereotypically feminine or masculine task). Findings did not support an overall preference for female AI assistants over male AI assistants. Rather, perceived AI gender interacted with gender stereotypes associated with the task performed to affect perceptions of AI credibility. Notably, AI perceived to be very feminine had the highest credibility when performing stereotypically feminine tasks …

10 Questions To Fall In Love With A Chatbot: An Experimental Study On Interpersonal Closeness With Large Language Models (Llms), Jessica M. Szczuka, Lisa Mühl, Paula Ebner, Simon Dubé

Human-Machine Communication

Large language models (LLMs), like ChatGPT, are able to compute affectionately nuanced text, which can be deployed in online dating or power artificial companions. This study explores whether people can experience intimate interest and interpersonal closeness toward a potential human or AI partner, based on such text. In a mock matchmaking scenario, 307 participants rated 10 text responses to the Interpersonal Closeness Generation Task from the dating profile of their potential partner, unaware that all were LLM-generated. Surprisingly, the source label (human or AI) had no significant impact on intimate interest and interpersonal closeness. Instead, the perceived quality and human-likeness …

The Right Kind Of Human-Like: Measuring And Testing Human-Likeness Perceptions Of Text-Based Conversational Agents, Carolin Ischen, Elizabeth Wang, Edith G. Smit

Human-Machine Communication

While conversational agents are designed with human-like features to facilitate interaction, the scholarly understanding of users’ perception of human-likeness as a key concept in human-machine communication remains underexplored. This paper provides a threelegged typology of human-likeness perceptions of text-based conversational agents, including the dimensions of appearance, capacity, and personality. Based on responses of 373 participants, the paper identifies measurement instruments for the different dimensions. Furthermore, it tests to what extent social cues commonly applied in customer service chatbots influence the different dimensions of human-likeness perception. Next to a set of direct measurements, factor analysis confirmed two indirect measurements for appearance-based …

Unexpected Encounters With Spot In The Wild: Sensemaking As Communicative Boundary Work With Robots, Annette Markham, Constanze M. Leeb, Brooke Ann Coco, Daniel Kirby, Lu Liu, Edoardo Lomi, Lucy Thornton, Kelly Ka-Lai Chan, Bradley R. Crammond

Human-Machine Communication

As near-autonomous and AI-embedded robots continue to appear in public settings, their sociality and interactivity is a critical part of the social fabric. This article presents emerging themes from a large-scale ethnographic study of granular-level public interactions between more than 400 people who have an unexpected encounter with Boston Dynamics’ robot “Spot” in a public square in Melbourne. Conceptualizing Spot as a boundary object enables us to highlight patterns of sensemaking as people grapple with ontological disruptions through micro-level interactions; within the self, with other people, or between the self and the robot. Based on thematic analysis of multimedia data …

From Burnout To Belonging: Reintroducing Joy Through Collaborative Library Culture Change, Jason D. Phillips, Chereeka Garner, Cindy Dancel

Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Libraries are often expected to create joy for others, yet many library workers continue to experience burnout, dissatisfaction, and disconnection. This session explores how one academic library implemented a staff-led, administration-supported approach to rebuilding workplace culture through collective, low-cost, and capacity-aware strategies. Centered on the work of an internal advisory group, this model creates structured opportunities for feedback, collaboration, and shared decision-making while introducing small, intentional interventions that foster connection, recognition, and belonging. Rather than relying on individual resilience or one-time morale boosts, this approach emphasizes sustainable, iterative practices that respond to staff needs and organizational realities. Attendees will leave …

C.S.A. Assessment - Tamp Family Health Center Portal, Delante Clark

Graduate Scholarship and Creative Works

This C.A.S. assessment evaluates how the Tampa Family Health Centers website influences userattention, cognitive processing, information accessibility, navigation efficiency, and digital user experience.The assessment examines whether the platform supports intentional engagement and informed decision-making while minimizing cognitive overload, distraction, confusion, and unnecessary attentional demands.

TFHC serves as a healthcare access portal providing appointment scheduling, patient resources, providerinformation, healthcare services, MyChart access, payment services, and community health resources.These functions make attention management and information clarity critical to successful user outcomes.

Zeus Network And The Commercialization Of Conflict: A Critical Analysis Of Exploitation, Representation, And Reality Television, Delante Clark

Graduate Scholarship and Creative Works

This study examines Zeus Network as a prominent example of the commercialization of conflict within contemporary digital media. Through reality based programming that frequently emphasizes confrontation, public humiliation, emotional volatility, and interpersonal disputes, the network has cultivated a profitable entertainment model built upon spectacle and controversy. Drawing upon conflict theory, critical race theory, and media sociology, this paper investigates whether Zeus functions as a platform for cultural representation and economic opportunity or as a system that monetizes dysfunction for audience consumption. Particular attention is given to the portrayal of Black women and Black communities, whose experiences often become central to …

Ucf Libraries 2026 Faculty Research Showcase, Thomas R. Caswell, Patrick D. Green, Rae Mair, Yuqing Li, Athena Hoeppner, Sai Deng, Jeanne Piascik, Nokimul Hasan Arif, Peter Spyers-Duran, Tina Buck

Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

The University of Central Florida (UCF) Libraries’ Faculty Research Showcase is an annual tradition that celebrates the scholarly achievements, research, and creative work of library faculty.

The 2026 Showcase took place on August 4, 2026, and features six engaging presentations covering a diverse range of topics:

• Thomas Caswell – UCF Libraries Faculty Scholarship: Growth & Impact

• Patrick Green – Making Moves: A Cross-Institutional Presentation on Library Skill Transference

• Rae Mair & Yuqing Li – Generative AI as Peer Tutor: Designing & Evaluating a Prompt to Support Source Identification & Evaluation

• Athena Hoeppner – Have you ever …

Evidence In Action: Community Schools, Volume 1, Ucf Center For Community Schools

Community Schools Research

No abstract provided.

The Scoop, Vol. 13 Issue 5, August 2026, Health Sciences Library

Volume 13

Latest news and updates from the Health Sciences Library in our monthly newsletter for August 2026. Please see page 2 for a text-only version of this issue!

University Of Central Florida Undergraduate Catalog, 2025-2026, University Of Central Florida

UCF Catalogs

No abstract provided.

Behavioral Analysis Of Cryptoprocta Ferox At The Central Florida Zoo And Botanical Gardens, Rita R. Albert

The Pegasus Review: UCF Undergraduate Research Journal

The fossa, Cryptoprocta ferox, is the largest carnivorous mammal endemic to the island of Madagascar. C. ferox is currently listed as a vulnerable species by the IUCN Red List (2015) due to deforestation. Most fossas are now located in zoos for breeding and repopulation purposes, but research on captive mating has been limited due to the low numbers of successful breeding attempts in captivity. The Central Florida Zoo and Botanical Gardens is home to two fossas, one male and one newly introduced female. This study notes behavioral changes in captive mating fossas, with a focus on the male fossa …

Novel Ultrasonic Shearing For Monodisperse And Size-Controllable Nanobubble Manufacturing In Therapeutic Delivery Systems, Margaret G. Nanfria, Pedram Sotoudehbagha, Elayaraja Kolanthai, Abhijith Rangavajjula, Sun Latt, Andres Alayon Mata, Sudipta Seal, Melanie Coathup, Mehdi Razavi

Research Data and Datasets

This dataset corresponds to the original data for the manuscript titled Nanobubbles for Novel Ultrasonic Shearing for Monodisperse and Size-Controllable Nanobubble Manufacturing in Therapeutic Delivery Systems.

Data For Meta-Analysis Of Personalized Adaptive Learning In Undergraduate Mathematics, Debbie Hahs-Vaughn, Patsy Moskal, Katiuscia Teixeira, Tammy Muhs, Oluwaseun Farotimi, Christina Carassas, Corinne Bishop

Research Data and Datasets

No abstract provided.

Who Is A Good Kid: Perceived Parenting Styles And Altruism, Brianna Guinigundo

Undergraduate Scholarship and Creative Works

The purpose of this research was to evaluate the correlation, if any, between perceived parenting styles and altruism scores among students at the University of Central Florida (UCF). The quasi–independent variable, perceived parenting styles, refers to how an individual personally believes their relationship with their parent to be. The four types of parenting styles include negligent, permissive, authoritarian, and authoritative. The classification of one’s perceived parenting style was based on their scores for parental control (i.e. how overbearing they believed their parent to be) and parental responsiveness (i.e. how warm and engaged they felt their parent was). The quasi-dependent variable …

"The First Web Novel At 30: The Collection And The Creative Process", Robert Arellano, Scott Rettberg

ELO (un)supervised 2026

Summer 2026 marks the 30th anniversary of Sunshine '69, recognized as the first novelistic hypertext fiction published on the web. While the full work remains accessible online—an "(un)supervised" preservation achievement in itself—the archive remains split between boxes and memory. This conversation between the work's creator and a major scholar in electronic literature documents both specific preservation challenges and systemic patterns in what the field chooses to preserve.

Topics include: figuring out web-born composition before established methodologies existed; the three decades of technical decisions that kept a 1996 work alive through format obsolescence and server migrations; and what gets lost …

The Female Voice, The Male Gaze: Ai Colonial Paradox And African Feminist Futures, Aishat Olayetunde Isiaq Mrs

ELO (un)supervised 2026

At ELO 2026, I propose to examine the feminization of artificial intelligence as a deliberate design choice rooted in a long history of technology and service labour. From the “Hello Girls” of early telephone switchboards to the default female voices of Siri, Alexa, and contemporary chatbots, technology has repeatedly been paired with performed femininity, framing assistance as innate, emotional, and subservient. This paper will critically analyze the paradoxical gendering of artificial intelligence, in which AI assistants are feminized to evoke care and service, while the algorithmic structures behind these systems remain embedded in patriarchal and colonial logics. Drawing on African …

The Question Is A Node: Online Quizzes As Interactive Non-Fiction, Michael Merriam

ELO (un)supervised 2026

The quiz is the most widely deployed form of interactive text in education. Even when it is not digitally administered, it presents a prompt, receives a response, and contains within it a formula determining the consequences of that response. A wrong answer is taken as a failure of learning (not mere recall) and, by virtue of their quasi-digital objectivity, a batch of low quiz scores might warn of difficulty in reaching benchmarks. Ergo, quizzes embody the automation of the supervisory function of the instructor, and the supervision of curricula. 

Quiz questions have something in common with nodes in digital interactive …

Reacting To Electronic Literature In Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria, Faith Samuel Bassey

ELO (un)supervised 2026

Electronic literature is still quite new in our country, and we do not have enough manpower to drive a literary or scholarly movement.  We need to introduce these concepts to many people; however, we do not have the people we need who know the field well enough to pass on their passion and prowess to get others enthused about electronic literature.

In this talk, I will describe the ways that I have presented my work, The Water Seller, Mai Ruwa, with Deena Larsen. In October 2025,  I presented this work in an in-person conference in Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra …

Vibe Coding: Ai, Digital Text Recycling, And The Remediation Of Digital Poetry, Yohanna Joseph Waliya

ELO (un)supervised 2026

This paper theorises Vibe Coding as a novel method of AI-assisted creative practice within electronic literature. Vibe Coding describes an affective mode of communication with AI that enables coding via natural-language prompts, in which the author collaborates with generative AI systems to recycle, remediate, and reconfigure existing digital texts into new poetic forms, including interactive animations. Rather than treating code as a fixed procedural logic, Vibe Coding focuses on rhythm, intuition, and affect as central compositional forces shaping both textual production and computational interaction. Relying on theories of remediation, digital recycling, and posthuman authorship, the paper examines how AI functions …

Man.A.Machine.Txt, James H. Pardue

ELO (un)supervised 2026

man.A.machine.txt is an audiovisual composition generated in real time through a real-time multimedia system that remediates the words of Julien Offray de La Mettrie’s Man a Machine, a foundational text of eighteenth-century materialist philosophy. The system produces cut-up poetry and a particle cloud, transforming the original text into a shifting field of language and data. In Man a Machine, La Mettrie argues that body and soul are inseparable, proposing sleep as the moment in which their unity becomes undeniable. By remediating this text, I seek to reactivate its materialist concerns within our present technological condition—one increasingly defined by …

Archival Storytelling: Remembering Our Digital History, Dene Grigar

ELO (un)supervised 2026

In When We Are No More: How Digital Memory Is Reshaping Our Future, Abby Smith Rumsey argues that memory is required for survival and impacts not only the survival of a species but of that species’ culture. Needed in this “Age of Matter,” as she calls it, are documentation practices that address the way in which physical and digital memory systems can be combined and harnessed to preserve human experience (13).

This paper addresses Rumsey’s challenge. Using the physical and digital archives held in The NEXT’s collections, it introduces archival storytelling as a method for documenting and, thus, remembering …

“Huir Sí Es Mejor Plan”: Rethinking The Subject In Digital Literature, Fernanda Mugica

ELO (un)supervised 2026

As an extension of my research on contemporary appropriative practices that experiment with deviant uses of technology, this paper explores the question of subjectivity in digital literature. My aim is to examine how a set of contemporary works of electronic literature problematize the relationships between writing, technology, and subject formation. Within this framework, I propose a reading of Huir sí es mejor plan (2020), a work created in Twine by Argentine writer Valeria Mussio. To address the question of the subject in an algorithmic culture, it is essential to attend to the spatial modulations (Angeliki 2021) that traverse it: media …

(Un)Supervised Translation: How Fans Fill In The Gaps In Visual Novel Localization, Sara Raffel, Mónica G. González Burgos

ELO (un)supervised 2026

A translator must consider multiple cultural contexts when translating a work of electronic literature; no longer concerned only with the text, they might need to examine images, platform, interactivity, and the code itself. As identified by Przbyszewska, translating works of e-lit can require attention to the code and platform of a work, with the extent dictated by “the interaction inherent in the semantics of the text” (28). Meanwhile, Marecki and Montfort differentiate e-lit translation from its traditional literary counterpart because the translator is no longer “invisible” where e-lit is involved (90). This presentation extends this discussion of e-lit translation to …

Electronic Literature In Ai Data Work, Mihai Bacaran

ELO (un)supervised 2026

This paper is based on my personal experience of working as a transcriber for AI projects between 2023 and 2025 in a Business Process Outsourcing company located in Eastern Europe. The job of transcribers is to listen to audio recordings provided by The Client (a major tech company whose name cannot be mentioned due to nondisclosure agreements) and either transcribe them from scratch or correct an AI generated transcription. The recordings are gathered from users of digital devices, many of whom appear unaware of being recorded.

During the transcription work, probably due to the excruciating boredom of performing the same …

Migritude In The Digital Space: An Analysis Of Migration Narratives In Twenty-First-Century Electronic Literature, Ruth Oluyemi Akande

ELO (un)supervised 2026

The study examines the concept of migritude in the field of digital literature, highlighting the importance of African and diasporic movements in the development of modern electronic narratives studies. Drawing upon digital humanities, postcolonial theory, and African literary studies, the study posits that electronic literature transcends mere representation of migration; it actively enacts migritude through its formal, procedural, and interactive design.

This research will  careful analyse the specific electronic literary works, demonstrates how nonlinear narratives, hypertextual fragmentation, and reader involvement reflect the inherent discontinuities of migratory experiences, while also highlighting African epistemologies, linguistic hybridity, and cultural memory. These digital narratives, …

Hacking Stone Moons: Or, A Re-Viving A Still Born Child A Behind-The-Scenes Melodrama In Three Acts., Deena Larsen, Claire Leyden, Quinn Carrick, Jenn Duyen

ELO (un)supervised 2026

ELO 2026 Performance proposal

Hacking Stone Moons: Or, a Re-viving a still born child A behind-the-scenes melodrama in three acts. We will bring you a feat so audacious, so deliriously intricate, it defies the very laws of preservation, coding, and creation.   Program Notes From 2023- 2025, Claire Leyden, Jenn Nguyen, and Quinn Carrick resurrected Deena Larsen’s 1995-1999 Stone Moons saga, written to pour out the frustrations of an ongoing struggle that her friend was undergoing to get support for her  pre-verbal autistic child. Since this was an organic work, deftly mirroring reality and fantasy, this classic hypertext’s nodes and links …

Remaking The Red Death: An Interactive Fiction Post-Mortem, Kenton T. Howard

ELO (un)supervised 2026

This individual talk provides a post-mortem discussion of an interactive fiction game the author created, ReMasque of the Red Death, for the Electronic Literature Collection Volume 5. The game is a web-based interactive fiction recreation of Edgar Allan Poe’s classic short story “The Masque of the Red Death” built using ink and Inky, an interactive fiction scripting engine, with 2D art assets created in Sketchpad, a mobile-based digital drawing app. The game was produced entirely without the usage of AI tools. This talk will cover the initial ideation for the game, creating a basic prototype of the game’s core systems, …

Compressed Cinema As A Study In Llm Latent Spaces, Mallen Clifton

ELO (un)supervised 2026

In his article “Spec Acts” (2021), Matthew Kirschenbaum analyzes the AI-generated novel 1 the Road to develop his titular concept of the spec act, “the future in its multitudes collapsing into an actionable present.” With the proliferation of texts produced by generative AI and subsequent critical analyses of them, one element in particular calls for further theorization: “the future in its multitudes,” or more directly, the latent space. This echoes arguments by critics such as Antonio Somaini, who offered his own “Theory of Latent Spaces” last year. However, where Somaini’s attention is towards visual culture, I turn mine to the …