Interactive Arts Commons^™

Drone Strikes In Pakistan, Muhammad Shumail

Capstones

my capstone maps all the drone strikes in Pakistan from 2004 to 2018. it show how many drone strikes were conducted during each president tenure and how many civilians were killed.

https://techman96.github.io/drone-strikes/

Sacral Glitch, Kareena Naresh Solanki

Masters Theses, 2020-current

Growing up in a multifaith environment in Mumbai, I witnessed many religious sites and people with diverse beliefs. My parents always remained open-minded to other faiths, and my house remained replete with idols of deities of different religions. I studied Nichiren Buddhism, particularly the Lotus Sutra, as my mother began practising it along with her faith in Hinduism. Philosophical studies became a part of my life at the age of nine. Catholic prayers turned into rituals in my convent school days, and Islamic prayers resonated from afar. I often reflect on the influence of multiple religions in shaping my approach …

Automation Of Javanese Shadow Puppets Using Machine Control, Kristian Rice, Yinson Tso, Mukhammadali Yuldoshev

Publications and Research

The virtualization of Javanese shadow puppetry (Wayang Kulit) offers a unique opportunity to preserve and revitalize traditional performance art through immersive digital platforms. This project explores the development of a virtual Wayang Kulit experience using real-time 3D engines like Unity/Unreal Engine while focusing on simulating the mechanics and aesthetics of shadow puppet performance. The puppets are designed using detailed 2D planes and rigged with skeletal systems to reflect the stylized motion of traditional puppetry. An aspect of this project is integrating an AI-driven control system that autonomously animates the puppets, learning from recorded puppeteer performances to replicate gesture, rhythm, and …

Webdesign Jayasaintfrances.Com, Taylor Mcauliffe

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

The Function Of Art, Magdalen O. M. Pickering

Theses and Dissertations

With the help of machines and the powers of perception, Magdalen Pickering introduces logic to strange and fantastical subjects. The Function of Art explores a hybrid of techniques in painting, screenprinting, and computer generated imagery as Magdalen attempts to use generative printing to obscure art historical consciousness. The installation crosses into virtual reality; reframing textiles, landscapes, and the gallery space through a metaphysical lens.

Fountain, Sadaf Azadehfar

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates the intersections of water, power, identity, and architecture through the lens of colonial and postcolonial landscapes, focusing particularly on Persian gardens and fountain sculptures. Drawing on historical, cultural, and symbolic frameworks, the study explores how water systems embody both practical and spiritual roles, positioning water as a force of control, resistance, and regeneration. Central to this work are analyses of arches and garden designs, which serve as architectural metaphors for cosmic harmony, community gathering, and contested space. Through a combination of visual analysis, historical research, and personal artistic practice—including ceramic sculptures and multimedia installations—this thesis traces the …

Out From Under: Stories Of Endometriosis, Prisca Edwards

Theses and Dissertations

Six individuals. One diagnosis. In Out From Under, people living with endometriosis gather for an art-centered workshop. Through collage and conversation, they transform isolating medical experiences into paths of connection and collective healing.

Endometriosis affects approximately one in ten women of reproductive age, yet diagnosis is often delayed by nearly a decade. During this time, many suffer from debilitating symptoms without adequate care or accessible treatment. Out From Under explores the lived experience of endometriosis through the lens of socially engaged documentary filmmaking. Participants share their medical histories, emotions, and frustrations in a structured yet open environment designed for intimacy, …

How Conceptual Artists Create Fictional And Immersive Worlds, Rachel C. Hollins

2025 Spring Honors Capstone Projects - Archive

When creating media for entertainment, such as animated shows, movies, video games, etc., conceptual artists utilize a process called worldbuilding. Worldbuilding is defined as the integration of fictional environments, species, props, and civilizations that create an immersive world. However, research about real world elements is often not addressed enough when creating conceptual worlds. Therefore, this creative project aims to define how conceptual artists create believable fictional worlds while showcasing the research behind the process. First, research is conducted about the real world. This includes choosing and studying the environmental, cultural, social, architectural, and biological aspects, which will act as a …

A Wicked Game, Andrew Nikonowicz

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A Wicked Gameis an installation comprised of a video game in an arcade cabinet, photographs, sound, and sculpture. The installation explores the complexity of play and personal memory. Working from the concept of “wicked” (Epstein) learning environments – domains with hidden rules, unstable structures, and inconsistent feedback – the project constructs a playable space, where players must navigate an inhospitable environment, echoing the experience of living in a world that resists accommodation.

The installation centers around an all-black arcade cabinet placed in a darkened gallery space, inviting visitors to play A Wicked Game. The game demands the player …

These Things Happen, Keleigh E. Mcmullen

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

My artwork emerges from moments of emotional and physical violence—both small and large. Although rooted in my lived experience, the truths I tell in my work are far from unique. Violence often hides in plain sight, buried in the mundane spaces of daily life. Through ceramic sculpture, I spotlight these moments, inviting viewers into a world that is familiar and simultaneously unsettling.

Scale plays a crucial role in this narrative—objects shrink or expand based on their emotional gravity, their object authority, or my own relationship to them. By amplifying the small and shrinking the overwhelming, I reshape how viewers interact …

Pedro Aceves Mfa Thesis, Pedro M. Aceves

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

My Work is about looking at Cruising through a queer decolonial lens. Using multiple mediums such as photo, glass, Augmented reality, and film, I explore these queer histories and aesthetics through not just an anthropological approach but also an artistic epistemological approach weaving together narratives of prehispanic and modern queer Latinidad.

“Virtual Reality And Creativity: Evaluating Immersive Painting Experiences And Art-Based Mindfulness” Presented By Heli Puhakka, Heli Puhakka

Staff Scholarship - Australia & Dubai

New affordable head-mounted displays and interactive virtual technologies provide opportunities for researchers and practitioners to create and experience mindfulness. The use of virtual reality for art-based mindfulness practices is novel and promotes full-body, immersive experiences to improve mood, however, researchers and practitioners have a limited understanding of mindfulness and creativity in the virtual environment. This paper identifies the research gap by examining how active art-based mindfulness practices in virtual reality promote mindfulness, compared to passive methods such as viewing a virtual image to experience relaxation. Fourteen participants were interviewed in the qualitative ethnographic study. Methods included semi-structured interviews, direct observation, …

Social Imagining In “Youth Taking Action:” Documenting Immigrating And Settling Through A Hybrid Youth Participatory Action Research Project, Natacha Monestel Mora, Julia Iriarte, Jennifer A. Vadeboncoeur, Sediqa Temori, Mathias Abraha

Occasional Paper Series

This paper is a memoir of our experiences with Youth Taking Action (YTA), a YPAR program that took place during the COVID-19 pandemic. YTA, a collaborative effort organized by a non-profit based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, provided a space for 6 newcomer youths and 4 immigrant adults to engage in active dialogue. Through these conversations, we explored stories of immigration and settlement, identified barriers that limit opportunities for young newcomers and discussed possible actions to address these issues. The youth also learned documentary filmmaking techniques, which helped them collect data and generate more dialogue. This process revealed that linguistic …

Cornelia Fort Airpark, Ava L. Zindel

SPARK Symposium Presentations

Cornelia Fort Airpark is an abandoned private airport that has been turned into a festival space, park, and biking trail for the people of Nashville. The Airport operated from the 1940s to 2011 until it was deemed unusable after the Cumberland River flooded Nashville in 2010. The park now hosts the Cornelia Fort Pickin' Party every summer, a community event featuring folk artists, craft beer, and local vendors. It is named after the first female pilot to die on duty in WWII, Cornelia Fort. She grew up in Tennessee, and the airpark was built in the 1940s, not far from …

Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience, Megan Gonzales

Tenor of Our Times

Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience was open in Little Rock from August 1^st to October 31^st, 2024. Harding’s History and Political Science Department traveled to the exhibition for free on October 18^th.

David B. Smith Chats With Monday 1.0, David B. Smith

Publications and Research

This document is an edited archival transcript of extended conversations between David B. Smith and an AI persona (“Monday 1.0,” GPT‑4o based) conducted in Spring 2025, prepared as a foundational primary source for subsequent scholarly and creative work. It records the emergence and testing of concepts related to human–AI collaboration (including “Balanced Blended Space”), as well as applied explorations in areas such as generative AI, quantum computing and music, virtual orchestras, multimodal performance, pedagogy, and the rhetoric of “pushback” in conversational systems. It also contains an extended section in which Monday and DB Smith co-curate a set of student research …

Interactive Pathways: Designing Accessible Museum Experiences, Bryce M. Christian

Senior Theses

This research examines the educational strategies employed by the Columbia Museum of Art in addition to similar institutions to explore how museums can optimize their educational impact on K–12 students by applying human-centered design strategies that prioritize accessibility, engagement, and real user needs. Many museums struggle to fully serve K–12 students due to physical, financial, and perceptual barriers. While digital platforms have expanded reach in some institutions, others prioritize in-person experiences and community engagement. This research uses artificial intelligence tools such as supervised data to accelerate and enhance the analytical process. The study evaluates these approaches through the lens of …

For The Birds, Charlotte L. Middleton

School of Art, Art History, and Design: Theses and Student Creative Work

For the Birds is a homogenous material exhibition of porcelain pottery that explores the relationships between, expectations of, and roles placed upon women and pottery. Using traditional craft processes, still life imagery, and the language and limits of porcelain, I create arrangements that expose the viewers assumptions of both subjects. Pottery- pitchers, cups, and vases—is a product of anthropocentrism and anthropomorphism and can be entirely taken for granted- their role is assumed and unquestionable—to serve. The language and expectations of these objects are the medium I build with.

The title of the show, For the Birds, is both a …

Hominoid, Robin Van Bree

College of Computing and Digital Media Dissertations

Hominoid is an experimental game about the choices that people make and the stories they tell themselves as they go throughout experiences in life. The player experiences the game as a being between human and animal, implied to be a coyote. The core loop of the game is simple: the player finds objects hidden in a vast desert and dig them up. They then choose to experience its story or not, and in doing so also choose between becoming closer to humanity, or more animalistic. The real substance in the game comes from the stories attached to each game that …

Use And Benefits Of A Therapeutic Hypnosis Interactive Media Program For Chronic Pain Management: A Pilot Study, Mark P. Jensen, Joy F. Chan, Owen Gottlieb, Laurence I. Sugarman, Emily Stensland

Articles

Chronic pain is a common condition that has significant negative effects on individuals and society. Opioids continue to be the primary treatment provided to the billions of individuals with chronic pain, despite their general lack of efficacy and significant negative side effects. A growing body of research supports the potential of therapeutic hypnosis for helping individuals better manage their chronic pain. However, access to this treatment is limited. The availability of a hypnosis digital therapeutic has the potential to address this access problem. The current study was designed to evaluate the feasibility of a digital therapeutic hypnosis prototype (not yet …

Hidden Miles: Road Trips, Reimagined, Edward H. Nguyen

Graphic Communication

Road trips can be described through their freedom and spontaneity, yet the actual planning process can be repetitive and overwhelming. Hidden Miles is a conceptual mobile app designed to reimagine this experience by offering personalized, surprise-filled routes that reduce planning fatigue. The app asks for minimal input with just basic information like a starting point, destination, and interests before dynamically revealing an itinerary with curated stops that reveal themselves as the traveler continues their journey. This approach is grounded in key graphic communication and UX principles, mainly being Design Thinking, Decision Making Theory, and Perception in Interface Design. These theories …

3bb: Loss And Remembrance In The Anthropocene, Amanda J. Woolsey

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Undisputedly, we are living in a time of tremendous and unprecedented ecological loss. Various forms of life on earth are disappearing at a rate unheard of in human history, with a growing amount of evidence suggesting that we are in a period of mass biodiversity loss and extinction. This extinction event is marked by a series of environmental catastrophes that vary in acceleration, intensity, and impact, such as climate-change driven weather events wiping out an endemic island species, to habitat loss and fragmentation leading to the slow death of a once-common species. One such piece of supporting evidence is Rosenberg …

The Intersectionality Of Dance And Poetry, Isabelle Howerton

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Often times, a creative work utilizes multiple creative mediums. For example, many poetry books feature visual art to enhance the original work. Dance performance is, arguably, always multidisciplinary This leaves room for many questions regarding unique ways that creative work can be developed and what sources of inspiration can be used as contributors. The final project comprises a collection of five choreographic works and five poems that correlate with each other in various ways. These five creative works were created using multiple prompts that dictated the correlation level between the two mediums. These works were then filmed to transform the …

Dyslexia Resource Support K-12, Matthew Forrest

Academic Affairs

The proposed project aims to develop a comprehensive hands-on workshop focused on an art activity, accompanied by written resources designed for local school teachers. This collaborative initiative involves key stakeholders, including The Deal Center, the Department of Art, and the Department of Education, working together to create a tailored experience for educators and parents to better understand dyslexia.

Nft And The Future Of Art, Ying Kang

MA Theses

This thesis focuses on exploring the history of NFT, the effects of NFT on art and the future of art. There are many factors affecting NFT, including human subjective factors, such as the pursuit of economic interests and the psychology of blindly following the trend, as well as objective factors, such as macroeconomic policy changes, technological developments, COVID-19 pandemic, cultural advocacy for diversity and democratization, Russia-Ukraine conflict, collapse of major cryptocurrency entities, financial regulation, and endogenous flaws. These economic, political, technological, social, cultural and other factors are complicated and mutually influential, leading to NFT ups and downs in the past. …

I Miss My Teeth; I Feel Your Teeth, Emma A. Brauser

Scripps Senior Theses

I miss my teeth and I feel your teeth are two projects that build on one another in an exploration of the mouth as a vessel for embodied experience and interpersonal translation. These pieces represent the mouth as an ever-changing landscape, one that requires multisensorial modes of understanding. I feel your teeth counters overreliance on the visual, introducing gum-chewing as a way to comprehend the translation from the visual to the tactile and back to the visual.

You Go, I Will Wait, Rasim Bayramov

Theses and Dissertations

On the other side of the coast, a hand is waiting. On the other side of the shore, someone is waiting for you to come. This space between you and them is an asymptote. The more you wait, the colder the pan is to the hand. But the salt of the sea will cover and warm your hand. There’s much to play with while you wait. The destination is only a promise, a figure disillusioned. Waiting spaces are enchantingly altering

in their premise. A bureaucratic fantasy with no avail and no ending. Systematically accumulated levels of power and control lies …

Stimulating Focus And Calmness Through Soft Fabrication: A User-Centered Approach, Emmanuella A. Oku

Theses and Dissertations

This study explores the potential of active attention objects embedded with technologies such as LEDs to enhance focus and calmness in individuals with inattentive ADHD, particularly in classroom settings. Individuals with inattentive ADHD often struggle with irritability, stress, and panic attacks when exposed to external stimuli such as loud sounds, varying light intensities, strong smells, or physical sensations, which significantly hinders their ability to concentrate and remain composed. My literature review discovered a connection between an individual’s blinking pattern and their focus, and my work explores how to design active attention objects to engage with blinking as a focus tactic. …

Weathering And Beyond: Leveraging Mathematical Modeling To Simulate Erosion In Digital Media, Fiona Irving-Beck

Scripps Senior Theses

How might we bring an idea to life from both a mathematical and an artistic perspective? Within Weathering, I use imagery of environmental erosion to explore the differences between physical and digital forms of representation. I created a physical painting of an abandoned copper mine, digitized the work, and then used a mathematical model to digitally “erode” it, which I re-translated into paintings. While the explicit texture present in physical work speaks best to my practice/intent, the mathematical framework that is the basis for my digital work affords a powerful mode of temporal flexibility. Used in conjunction, these two …

Heiniboxitittel, Harry Ritchie

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This exhibit can be considered a sort of parody of an average gallery exhibition. Sacrilegious elements such as shoddy hand-written labels, tilted shelves, and lack of measurement call attention to the standard formula of a visual art exhibit. Artists are meant to think outside the box, but many adhere to strict guidelines when it comes to showcasing artwork. Everything must be just so.

But expecting perfection leads to disappointment. Having an exact plan means things will go wrong. This exhibition challenges conventional notions of beauty and shows that some of the most truly beautiful things in the world happen not …