Visual Concepts Research Articles

Language Learning through Thought, Memory, Imagination, and Reading

The present article aims to estimate the value of language learning through a quick review of the learning process and with a focus on “accumulated knowledge” and “the ability to learn.” Following the opinions of researchers and linguists, we can also argue that the whole history of human culture – “of intelligence and morality, folly and superstition, ritual, language, and the arts” – is what makes us human. The development of language is presented in its relation to thought, and memory, with the concept of imagination added to enhance their prowess. In other words, we might say that the cultivation of imagination should be the chief aim of education. One major idea in this context is that we can learn a lot from history, where language has been used to preserve old traditions and customs, and simultaneously foster new ideas. Another seemingly debatable approach would be the idea that clarity in teaching and learning might have a significant impact on learners, and at same time function as a springboard for other academic skills. In conclusion, teachers should encourage students to be inspired and motivated to discover the powers of wonder and imagination. Reading would be the one of the best ways to experience magic because books can inspire teachers to cultivate the same human values and life lessons in our students.

Visualisation of spheres of influence of distributed generation through critical line flow analysis

Power System around the world are transitioning into the phase of accommodating large scale and small scale Distributed Generation (DG). To harvest the benefits of DG, determining the most influential generator and associated network-wide impacts are crucial. This paper proposes a novel visualisation method to determine the sphere of influence of DG in the network using line current flows. The proposed visualisation technique trades off tedious calculations and provides information-rich overview of a network and enables distribution network service providers to make judicious decisions in order to determine sphere of influence of DG. The visualisation concept is tested on a 33 bus distribution network and implemented using DigSILENT Power Factory, Python and Matlab.

Cognitive-Semantic Concept Structuring in Visual Perception and Visual Imagery: Identifying a New Basic Top-Down Processing System for Visual Experience

Abstract Visual experience encompasses both visual perception and visual imagery. Using cognitive-semantic analysis, it is outlined how visual experience can be characterized as involving (among other top-down processes) a basic top-down-processing system that is organized by fundamental aspects of the four main Talmyan concept structuring systems (fundamental aspects of configurational structure, perspective, attention, and—not in principle, but quite often—force dynamics). It is proposed that this visual concept structuring represents a thus far unidentified basic top-down-processing system of visual experience which structures the conceptual content of the visual/imagistic stimulus. While Talmyan concept structuring has in the literature thus far mainly been applied to language, the main conclusion of this paper is that Talmyan concept structuring is a basic component of visual top-down processing even when language is not involved. Implications for sensory modalities other than the visual one are discussed, and possible future research is formulated.

(Practical) Theology: A story of doubt and imagination

Theology as a story of doubt and imagination is to be understood against the background of interdisciplinary social science and in contrast to the traditional paradigm of theology as a system of propositional certainty. The concepts of doubt and imagination are part and parcel of narrative research and can also be linked to postfoundational philosophy. The relevancy of this theological paradigm will be discussed on the basis of the following: (1) It is in touch with its own doubt, (2) It is in touch with its own story (tradition), (3) It can therefore interact with other stories, stories of hope and despair, stories of suffering, stories of power and of marginalisation, (4) It can also imagine alternative stories.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: The interaction with ‘other stories’, which is one of the important outcomes of this postfoundational approach, makes it possible for theology to be a humble but important participant at the interdisciplinary conversational table.

HyperCube4x: Exploring and Analyzing Data in Virtual Reality Using HyperRelational and HyperAnalyzer

Hypercube is a novel viewport management and information visualization system proposal that introduces three applications (called WorkScenes), focusing on interaction, immersive reading, data exploration, analysis, and visualization concepts. After presenting the conceptual description, interaction metaphors, and the prototype in a previous publication, this article presents HyperRelational and HyperAnalyzer, the WorkScenes focused on multidimensional data exploration, analysis, and visualization. First, the manuscript explores previous work on Human-Computer Interaction-related disciplines, such as cognitive psychology, cognitive engineering, and neuroscience. Then, we introduce HyperRelational and HyperAnalyzer, focusing on their fundamental concepts 1) Geometrical visualization; 2) mapping relationships among information as spatial dimensions. Also, the Screenshots help illustrate the mentioned concepts. Finally, the “Results and Discussion” section demonstrates how these features integrate with the flow, presence, and immersion of Virtual Reality, fit Shneiderman’s visual-information-seeking mantra and solve some desktop metaphor-related issues. Additionally, we present test results conducted with 26 participants that show an acceptability rate of 74% amongst users and highlight their positive feedback/experience regarding HyperAnalyzer. On the other hand, the System Usability Scale (SUS) evaluation scored 60.6731. The score demonstrates that HyperAnalyser scored a little better than Microsoft Excel. Therefore, we conclude that the concepts presented here are viable, but it is still necessary to evolve usability to make HyperCube commercially viable.

A metatheoretical framework for organizational wellbeing research: Toward conceptual pluralism in the wellbeing debate

The organizational wellbeing discourse has in the past decades gravitated toward two adversarial camps. The first camp draws increasingly from positive psychology and studies wellbeing as the presence of positive attributes centered around the individual. The second camp is critical toward the first one from a sociological standpoint by warning about its hidden tyranny and detrimental organizational consequences. In this paper we interrogate the conceptual foundations of the two camps and argue that the paradigmatic divide between them can be traced to their antithetical assumptions about the nature of human freedom. To move beyond the paradigmatic standstill, we suggest adopting Kenneth Burke’s dramatistic pentad as a metatheoretical framework for organizational wellbeing research. The pentad can help integrate concerns and viewpoints from both camps and facilitate the exploration of novel opportunities to conceptualize wellbeing in organizations. The proposed metatheoretical framework acknowledges the plural and essentially contested character of wellbeing whilst promoting theoretical pluralism in organizational wellbeing research. We also illustrate the use of the dramatistic pentad through three thought-provoking conceptualizations of organizational wellbeing. The illustrations show how the dramatistic pentad can be used to spur much needed conceptual imagination within organizational wellbeing research.

Improved insights into the SABIO-RK database via visualization

SABIO-RK is a database for biochemical reactions and their kinetics. Data in SABIO-RK are inherently multidimensional and complex. The complex relationships between the data are often difficult to follow or even not represented when using standard tabular views. With an increasing number of data points the mismatch between tables and insights becomes more obvious, and getting an overview of the data becomes harder. Such complex data benefit from being presented using specially adapted visual tools. Visualization is a natural and user-friendly way to quickly get an overview of the data and to detect clusters and outliers. Here, we describe the implementation of a variety of visualization concepts into a common interface within the SABIO-RK biochemical reaction kinetics database. For that purpose, we use a heat map, parallel coordinates and scatter plots to allow the interactive visual exploration of general entry-based information of biochemical reactions and specific kinetic parameter values. Database URL https://sabiork.h-its.org/.

Moral Imagination, the Collective Desirable, and Strategic Purpose

In contrast to the prevalent outside-in perspectives on corporate purpose as a response to competing normative demands of stakeholders, we introduce an inside-out perspective on purpose as based in firm-specific, agentic commitments to specific values, ideals, and societal goals. Drawing on moral philosophy, we propose how strategists can develop a strategic purpose through moral imagination that involves developing shaping intentions based in values and ideals, empathetic relating, and imaginativeness in stakeholder contexts. These processes support the generation of an emergent theory of value, which we term “the collective desirable.” This theory of value—a creative synthesis of the shaping intentions of the firm, and the interests and perspectives of stakeholders—provides the foundation of purpose, which is strategic, dynamic, and generative for the firm and its stakeholders. Such a strategic purpose becomes an organizational logic of action enacted through designated processes for articulation, maintenance, and evolvability, and through blueprints for credible commitments and resource allocations. By theorizing the microfoundations of an agentic, inside-out view of purpose, our theoretical framework articulates a set of mechanisms through which strategists can develop a strategic purpose that is tightly linked to the firm’s future-oriented strategy and the exercise of moral leadership. Our conception of moral imagination as a form of prosocial prospective cognition contributes a novel perspective to the socio-cognitive and subjectivist perspectives on strategy and extends the microfoundations of strategy.History: This paper has been accepted for the Strategy Science Special Issue on Corporate Purpose.

Topological Vision: The Artistic Thinking of Shigeru Onishi

Abstract This article examines the work of the Japanese mathematician and photographer Shigeru Onishi (1928–1994) and his topologically inspired photographic experiments. It considers how his painterly play with emulsion and coloration is a visual exploration of questions of process and continuous transformation and how these experiments can be understood in relation to more general discussions of mathematical and artistic “ways of knowing.” Building on ideas introduced by the French philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty in his work on late Paul Cézanne, the article introduces the concept of topological vision to describe and account for a particular way of seeing that considers the continual coming-into-being of a photographic motif.

Minecraft as a technology of postwar urban ordering: the situated-portable epistemic nexus of urban peacebuilding in Pristina

ABSTRACT In this article, I argue that a ‘situated-portable epistemic nexus’ characterizes postwar urban peacebuilding. The concept captures how knowledge in urban peacebuilding is produced by/productive of discursive and material conditions that are both, and simultaneously, situated in a particular urban environment and transnationally emergent and circulating. I illustrate this argument in an analysis of an urban peacebuilding project in postwar Pristina, Kosovo, that relied on the computer game Minecraft as the main technology. Despite a heterogeneous group of actors involved, and a primacy devoted to local perspectives, the at-once-situated and globally portable discourses, technologies and artefacts of the Pristina project conditioned the production of a relatively narrow urban knowledge and space that formed around a purely visual conception of the urban – overall limiting what the situated urban was and could become.

Pre-Islamic religious motifs (550 BC to 651 AD) on Iranian minor art with focus on rug motifs

This article reviewed the influence of pre-Islamic religions such as Mithraism and Zoroastrianism on decorative elements of ancient Persian rugs. The article then evaluated the effect of the Islamic religion on Persian rugs. This was examined through extant evidence from pre–Islamic empire artefacts and publications in Persian carpet history, iconography and religious studies. Using spiritual motifs on some ancient rugs results from the important position of rugs in ancient Iranians’ lives. Believing the existence of religious motifs on Persian carpets is because the first carpet in history (Pazyryk) was attributed to the ancient Achaemenians, decorated with symbolic motifs from Mithraism and Zoroastrianism. Pazyryk shows how rug-weaving evolved during the Achaemenids, and it represented spiritual foundations through visual concepts. This article reviewed the symbolic Persian rug motifs from ancient religions through Pazyryk, with support from museum collections. With the emergence of religions, these effects are seen in all aspects of life, including the production of rug design.Contribution: The main contribution of this research was that it investigated the effects of religion on Persian art focusing on the Persian rug. The findings showed that religion had directly influenced the decorative motifs of the Persian rug among high-class families that might have cascaded into visual elements found on commoners’ rugs.

Multimodal Interaction of MU Plant Landscape Design in Marine Urban Based on Computer Vision Technology

At present, there is a growing focus on the landscape and environment of ocean cities, with an increasing demand for improved ecological sustainability and aesthetic appeal. With the emergence of computer vision design technologies such as 3D and VR, people have overcome the limitations of traditional paper-based design materials. Through the use of computer software, various forms of expression, such as drawings and animations, can be produced, thereby meeting the diverse demands for showcasing plant landscapes. The purpose of this paper is to study the design of marine urban (MU) botanical landscapes based on computer vision technology (CVT) and multimodal interaction design (MID) theory, so that the design of MU botanical landscape can meet people's psychological behavior and visual needs, and at the same time enable people to participate in and experience the landscape, so as to better meet people's needs for viewing, leisure, and entertainment. At the same time, it is hoped that the research of this paper will play a role in promoting the innovation and development of the concept of MU landscape design (LD) in the future, specifically from two levels of theoretical and practical significance. First, at the level of theoretical research: Based on the theory of MID, this paper explores the application of communication and interaction among humans and between humans and the landscape in the design of MU planting, and tries to explore and summarize the content and methods of interactive LD in marine cities with a theoretical basis and research value. The goal is to both enhance the theoretical level of interactive LD, and also provide new reference for future marine city (MC) LD. Second, at the level of practical application: In the field of LD, the new concept of computer vision is introduced to fully understand the visual needs of people and increase the practicality and pleasantness of the MU landscape, hoping to attract more people to come to play and rest. Through the attraction of MU landscapes to tourists, the design and construction of the landscape no longer focus on its appearance, but rather on the participation and experience of people.

Spatial visualization for development of visual thinking and cognitive abilities among mechanical engineering students through tool design ideation

With the exposure of the mechanical engineering undergraduate students to the concepts of spatial visualization, this work assesses the effect of spatial visualization skills on the visual thinking abilities. Influence of spatial visualization on visual thinking and cognitive abilities like reasoning, abstract thinking, planning, comprehension of complex ideas, quick learning and learning from experience, is analysed through FMEA (failure modes and effects analysis). The RPNs (risk-priority-numbers) have been calculated and priority is set for proposing the corrective actions. Further to this, case studies in tool design have been picked for exhibition of spatial visualization skill set. Influence of tool design on visual thinking capability of the students is understood through various case-studies. Thus, tool, die and mold design ideation is used as a platform for the proposing improvements in visual thinking and cognitive abilities among mechanical engineering students.

Analysis of the new transportation and inspection mode of overhead transmission lines based on visual management

In the process of urban construction and development, there are more and more construction projects such as building houses and planting trees, digging ditches, building Bridges and paving roads. The number of large-scale mechanical operations around the transmission lines continues to rise, which not only increases the pressure of channel operation and maintenance, but also hinders the stable operation of the power system. In order to further improve the quality and efficiency of the operation and maintenance of overhead transmission lines, some scholars proposed to continuously promote the operation and inspection business of transmission lines and create a new operation and inspection mode based on the concept of visual management, which can not only change the traditional work mode, but also solve the problems existing in the conventional operation and inspection. On the basis of understanding the problems facing the overhead transmission line inspection work, this paper focuses on the main content of practical work by determining the transportation inspection platform system architecture with visual management concept as the core, and discusses the application effect of the new transportation inspection mode of overhead transmission line with visual management as the core combined with experimental cases.

An Investigation of Saudi Arabia’s Ambitious Reform Programme with Vision 2030 to Incentivise Investment in the Country’s Non-Oil Industries

Background/Objectives: Vision 2030 of Saudi Arabia is an important project that mainly targets the reduction in dependency on the oil economy through the growth of non-oil Industries. This study investigates Saudi Arabia’s effort for Vision 2030 to incentivise investment in the non-oil industry’s growth. Material and Methods:A sample of 225 employees of the non-oil industries of Saudi Arabia was selected as sample participants. A survey was conducted for data collection, and SPSS software was used to analyse the data. Findings:The findings indicate that sig values for all tests were 0.000 < 0.05 to support the selection of an alternative hypothesis. Therefore, it can easily be determined from the analysis that a more robust relationship is present between Vision 2030 with incentivised investment, economic stability, and financial accommodation.The advantages of reform programs have been effective in non-oil industries of Saudi Arabia to increase production standards and obtain more customer engagement.Conclusion: This research contributes to providing a straightforward concept in Vision 2030, which is Saudi Arabia’s reform program to develop the economic condition of Non-Oil Sectors. Hence, reform in the policy for economic stability can help to maintain the growth of different sectors and can further support financial assets.

ФИЛОСОФСКО-ИСКУССТВОВЕДЧЕСКИЙ АНАЛИЗ ХРАМА НОР-ДАМ-ДЮ-О В РОНШАНЕ

The XX century showed how fragile and changeable the environment of human existence is. Transformations took place in all spheres of life, but especially interesting is the reflection of changes in art, namely in the cult architecture of Western Europe. Through the method of philosophical and art criticism analysis, which consists in a step-by-step examination of the work in its material, index and iconic aspects, the structure designed and built by the architect Le Corbusier Notre-Dame du Haut in Ronchamp was studied. Based on this method, the deep content of the work of art was revealed, many visual concepts were identified, for example, such as: embeddedness in nature, light as a sign of the Divine principle, the connection of man with the divine through the double altar of the temple, the co-presence of the principles, saving faith, transformation and transfiguration, transition, connection and (or) fusion of the principles, purification, human aspirations, the descent of the divine, the ascent of the human. In addition, during the research, the main artistic idea of the work was revealed, which was designated as the establishment of harmony. It is realized in relation to the temple and nature through the signs of water, light and in the likening of the forms of the structure to the hill. In another aspect, the establishment of harmony is manifested at a deeper level of the relationship between man and the Divine. In interaction, a person achieves inner spiritual results, going beyond himself and correlating with the Higher. In other words, harmony is established through the descent of the Divine and the reverse ascent of man into the higher space, while additionally linking earthly existence. Thus, the highlighted visual concepts clearly show how a non-religious person Le Corbusier in his creation achieves an important attitude to the world for a believer.

The Influence of Light and Color in Digital Paintings of Environmental Issues on Emotions and Cognitions

This study aimed to examine the use of light and color in digital paintings and their effect on audiences’ perceptions of environmental issues. Five digital paintings depicting environmental issues have been designed. Digital painting techniques created black-and-white, monochrome, and color images. Each image used utopian and dystopian visualization concepts to communicate hope and despair. In the experiment, 225 volunteers representing students in colleges were separated into three independent groups: the first group was offered black-and-white images, the second group was offered monochromatic images, and the third group was offered color images. After viewing each image, participants were asked to complete questionnaires about their emotions and cognitions regarding environmental issues, including identifying hope and despair and the artist’s perspective at the end. The analysis showed no differences in emotions and cognitions among participants. However, monochromatic images were the most emotionally expressive. The results indicated that the surrounding atmosphere of the images created despair, whereas objects inspired hope. Artists should emphasize the composition of the atmosphere and the objects in the image to convey the concepts of utopia and dystopia to raise awareness of environmental issues.

Promoting moral imagination in nursing education: Imagining and performing.

Moral imagination is a central component of moral agency and person-centred care. Becoming moral agents who can sustain attention on patients and their families through their illness and suffering involves imagining the other, what moral possibilities are available, what choices to make, and how one wants to be. This relationship between moral agency, moral imagination, and personhood can be effaced by a focus on task-driven technical rationality within the multifaceted challenges of contemporary healthcare. Similarly, facilitating students' moral agency can also be obscured by the task-driven technical rationality of teaching. The development of moral agency requires deliberate attention across the trajectory of nursing education. To prepare nursing students for one practice challenge, workplace violence, we developed a multimodal education intervention which included a simulated learning experience (SLE). To enhance the realism and consistency of the educational experience, 11 nursing students were trained as simulated participants (SP). As part of a larger study to examine knowledge acquisition and practice confidence of learners who completed the SLE, we explored the experience of being the SP through interviews and a focus group with the SP students. The SP described how their multiple performances contributed to imagining the situation 'on both sides' prompting empathy, a reconsideration of their moral agency, and the potential to prevent violence in the workplace beyond technical rational techniques, such as verbal de-escalation scripts. The empirical findings from the SP prompted a philosophical exploration into moral imagination. We summarise the multimodal educational intervention and relevant findings, and then, using Johnson's conception of moral imagination and relevant nursing literature, we discuss the significance of the SP embodied experiences and their professional formation. We suggest that SLEs offer a unique avenue to create pedagogical spaces which promote moral imagination, thereby teaching for moral agency and person-centred care.

Fragmented and conflicted: folk beliefs about vision

Many philosophical debates take for granted that there is such a thing as ‘the’ common-sense conception of the phenomenon of interest. Debates about the nature of perception tend to take for granted that there is a single, coherent common-sense conception of vision, consistent with Direct Realism. This conception is often accorded an epistemic default status. We draw on philosophical and psychological literature on naïve theories and belief fragmentation to motivate the hypothesis that untutored common sense encompasses conflicting Direct Realist and Indirect Realist conceptions: there is no such thing as ‘the’ common-sense conception of vision that could enjoy epistemic default status. To examine this hypothesis, a survey administered an agreement rating task with verbal and pictorial stimuli to lay participants. We found many laypeople simultaneously hold conflicting Direct Realist and Indirect Realist beliefs about vision. Against common assumptions, Direct Realist beliefs are not clearly dominant, and consistent adherence to Direct Realism is not the norm, but the exception. These findings are consistent with recent accounts of belief fragmentation. They forcefully challenge common methodology in philosophical debates about the nature of perception and beyond.

Eye tracking: from affect to visual concept

Based on the classic eye tracking experiments of Russian psychologist Alfred L. Yarbus, which sought to determine visual attention by measuring eye position and eye movement, our paper posits an embodied empirical foundation for cognition, based on the Bergsonian concept of the image, contra the still widely-held, full-frame photographic conception of vision. Coupled to the thought of Spinoza, James, Bergson, Simondon, and Deleuze and Guattari, we aim to produce a speculative model of visual perception that harmonizes affective metaphysics with the production of concepts through vision.