Scholarly Works, School of Visual Arts

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Teaching Sustainable Creative Technologies
Thompto, Chelsea (2025-07-07)
Artists and especially new media artists contribute to public perceptions and adoption of new technologies through their own use of emerging media technologies such as augmented and virtual reality, generative image systems, and high-resolution displays in the production of their work. In this way, art and media production can be understood as part of the larger issue of unsustainable computational consumption. As such, it is critical for artists to develop, share, and promote new and more sustainable methods of engaging with technology, especially within the context of higher education. This paper will explore how artists might implement more sustainable methods by considering the relationship between the technical approaches of compute reuse, sustainable web development, and frugal computing, and the concepts of material specificity , futurity, and media archaeology . Proposing three methods of less carbon-intensive artistic production and a set of guidelines for introducing sustainable methods into arts and technology curriculum, this paper will outline not only the technical viability of these approaches but also the rich conceptual opportunities these approaches might offer to artists and viewers alike. For each method, models for pedagogical implementation will be explored with an emphasis on how local resources and sustainability contexts should play a role.
Addressing uncertainty in LLM outputs for trust calibration through visualization and user interface design
Armstrong, Helen; Anderson, Ashley Lynne; Planchart, Rebecca; Baidoo, Kweku; Peterson, Matthew (Visible Language Consortium, 2025-08-15)
Large language models (LLMs) are becoming ubiquitous in knowledge work. However, the uncertainty inherent to LLM summary generation limits the efficacy of human-machine teaming, especially when users are unable to properly calibrate their trust in automation. Visual conventions for signifying uncertainty and interface design strategies for engaging users are needed to realize the full potential of LLMs. We report on an exploratory interdisciplinary project that resulted in four main contributions to explainable artificial intelligence in and beyond an intelligence analysis context. First, we provide and evaluate eight potential visual conventions for representing uncertainty in LLM summaries. Second, we describe a framework for uncertainty specific to LLM technology. Third, we specify 10 features for a proposed LLM validation system — the Multiple Agent Validation System (MAVS) — that utilizes the visual conventions, the framework, and three virtual agents to aid in language analysis. Fourth, we provide and describe four MAVS prototypes, one as an interactive simulation interface and the others as narrative interface videos. All four utilize a language analysis scenario to educate users on the potential of LLM technology in human-machine teams. To demonstrate applicability of the contributions beyond intelligence analysis, we also consider LLM-derived uncertainty in clinical decision-making in medicine and in climate forecasting. Ultimately, this investigation makes a case for the importance of visual and interface design in shaping the development of LLM technology.
The Pictorial Trapezoid: Adapting McCloud’s Big Triangle for creative semiotic precision in generative text-to-image AI
Peterson, Matthew; Anderson, Ashley Lynne; Rondinelli, Kayla; Armstrong, Helen (Myron E. Ullman Jr. School of Design at the University of Cincinnati, 2025-12-01)
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly being adopted in diverse research contexts that, given the specificity of theoretical frameworks and research objectives, require a high degree of semiotic precision in AI output. With text-to-image generative models, the selection of subject matter and subsequent stylistic variation both have the potential to influence measur- able desired outcomes. A major challenge in using generative models in design research is achieving a form of fidelity between a visual representa- tion and a corresponding concept that must be conveyed. Scott McCloud’s Big Triangle categorizes a broad range of visual representational stylistic variation, largely based on comic art. We extend the Big Triangle with a more systematically described framework called the Pictorial Trapezoid, which offers greater control in producing new pictures with generative AI. We provide a case study of the process by which we developed the Pictorial Trapezoid, and demonstrate its efficacy for an additional two research use cases. In each case we differentiate project-specific criteria for selecting what is being represented and visualizing that selection. Finally, we describe how an AI might be trained for semiotic precision in distinct research contexts using the Pictorial Trapezoid.
Requirements Elicitation for Memory Preserving User Interfaces
Anderson, Ashley Lynne; Rathore, Surbhi; A, Claine; V, Tom; Evans, Melissa J. (Laborator for Analytic Sciences, 2025-01-13)
Through semi-structured interviews with analysts, this project aims to identify key requirements and desired features for user interface designs that support analyst memory traces. By investigating analysts’ current memory strategies and gathering their insights on pain points and opportunities for improvement, the work seeks to collect valuable input directly from the analysts. These findings highlight important considerations for creating user interfaces that better align with analysts’ cognitive processes and enhance their workflow. More specifically, this project identified the need for personalized memory supports and robust documentation systems that capture detailed information and provide context to aid memory retention and recall. Additionally, the collaborative nature of analytic work necessitates appropriately effortful documentation methods to prevent memory-related information loss. Lastly, the work suggests that analysts are open to using AI as a dynamic teammate to reduce cognitive load and support memory, provided they have access to the relevant information and the opportunity to understand the AI’s reasoning.
Evaluating Automated Summarization with Analyst Memories
Evans, Melissa J.; Anderson, Ashley Lynne; Rathore, Surbhi; A, Claine; Crouser, R. Jordan; Harrison, Lane (Laboratory for Analytic Sciences, 2025-01-13)
Automatic summarization remains a challenging area in natural language processing, particularly in the development of robust evaluation metrics. In this work we attempted to develop a task-specific summarization evaluation method by examining intelligence analyst memories for documents and summaries. We ran a feasibility study to see if analyst memories for full texts one day later compare to what is included in automatic summaries as a way of measuring summary quality. We find memories are comparable to summaries, but that methodology tweaks are likely necessary before that comparison can serve as an evaluation of varied summaries. We also compared analyst memories for full texts versus summary texts to see the impact summarization has on memory. We indeed see different information is retained based on what document analysts saw - particularly more details were recalled from full texts while summary texts were more often incorporated into broad statements about multiple documents. We conclude that there is merit to examining memory as a form of summary evaluation - both as a way of thinking about how to summarize and how to incorporate summaries into analyst workflows.
Communicating Trust in Recommended Articles to Analysts
De, Ankolika; Rathore, Surbhi; P, Amanda; Crouser, R. Jordan; Anderson, Ashley Lynne; Harrison, Lane (Laboratory for Analytic Sciences, 2025-01-13)
In this project, we aim to elucidate the mechanisms through which trust is conveyed via recommendation systems for analysts. Utilizing formative interviews, we engage in a focused discovery-based design elicitation exercise with analysts to answer the following research questions- RQ1: How is trust in recommendations perceived by analysts? RQ2: In what ways can this perception be manifested through recommendation system design?
The Material Culture of Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century Dutch Dollhouses: Replication, Reproduction & Imitation
Moseley-Christian, Michelle (MDPI, 2025-11-25)
A number of collector's cabinets known as pronk or luxury dollhouses were formed in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries by women in the Netherlands. The present study examines the dollhouse cabinets as exemplars of material culture collections assembled by female collectors. Primary sources give outsized attention to the materiality of these structures, often noting types of substance, quality, and craft. Despite what appears to be a straightforward transcription of the domestic world in miniature, the dollhouses are a multifaceted intersection of authentic materials as well as clever imitations or substitutions. The dollhouse collections are themselves predicated on the notion of reproduction as they replicate the home in small scale. Documents from the period provide a rich source from which to probe the meanings invested in the materiality of these dollhouses as sources of wonder. Economic theory from the period sheds new light on the dollhouses as forums for imitation and novelty, concepts that inform the innovative nature of these collections as it intertwined with issues of multiples and miniaturization.
Connecting to Antiquity Through Touch: Gem Impressions in the Long Eighteenth Century
DiSalvo, Lauren Kellogg (MDPI, 2025-11-19)
This article seeks to understand what an approach grounded in materiality and tactile engagement can offer to our understanding of why collectors might have been drawn to gem impressions in the long eighteenth century. Instead of looking to a specific collector or producer of gem impressions, this study examines interactions with gem impressions from a more general perspective. I speculate how, through touch, antiquarians may have used gem impressions as an aide-mémoire to bridge connections between eighteenth-century gem impressions and Greco-Roman gem traditions through shared function, materiality, production techniques, and signatures.
Mixed-reality art as shared experience for cross-device users: Materialize, understand, and explore
Moon, Hayoun; Saade, Mia; Enriquez, Daniel; Duer, Zachary R.; Moon, Hye Sung; Lee, Sang Won; Jeon, Myounghoon (Academic Press - Elsevier, 2024-10)
Virtual reality (VR) has opened new possibilities for creative expression, while the 360-degree head-worn display (HWD) delivers a fully immersive experience in the world of art. The immersiveness, however, comes with the cost of blocking out the physical world, including bystanders without an HWD. Therefore, VR experiences in public (e.g., galleries, museums) often lack social interactivity, which plays an important role in forming aesthetic experiences. In the current study, we explored the application of a crossdevice mixed reality (MR) platform in the domain of art to enable social and inclusive experiences with artworks that utilize VR technology. Our concept of interest features co-located audiences of HWD and mobile device users who interact across physical and virtual worlds. We conducted focus groups (N=22) and expert interviews (N=7) to identify the concept’s potential scenarios and fundamental components, as well as expected benefits and concerns. We also share our process of creating In-Between Spaces, an interactive artwork in MR that encourages social interactivity among crossdevice audiences. Our exploration presents a prospective direction for future VR/MR aesthetic content, especially at public events and exhibitions targeting crowd audiences.
Introduction: Trans New Media Art as Embodied Practice
Lehner, Ace; Thompto, Chelsea (University of Illinois Library, 2024-02-09)
Guest edited by Ace Lehner (University of Vermont) and Chelsea Thompto (Virginia Tech) this special issue of Media-N titled Trans New Media as Embodied Practice asks: How do trans artists engage generatively with new media? In what ways does lived trans experience inform artistic practices? How do trans new media practices diverge and intersect with queer practices? The articles, artist projects, interview, and review in this issue engage with the political and embodied experience of making and engaging with new media as a trans person.
Examining Pair Dynamics in Shared, Co-located Augmented Reality Narratives
Connor, Cherelle; Schoenborn, Eric; Hu, Sathaporn; Porcino, Thiago; Moore, Cameron; Reilly, Derek; Lages, Wallace (ACM, 2024-10-07)
Augmented reality (AR) allows users to experience stories together in the same physical space. However, little is known about the experience of sharing AR narratives with others. Much of our current understanding is derived from multi-user VR applications, which can differ significantly in presence, social interaction, and spatial awareness from narratives and other entertainment content designed for AR head-worn displays. To understand the dynamics of multi-user, co-located, AR storytelling, we conducted an exploratory study involving three original AR narratives. Participants experienced each narrative alone or in pairs via the Microsoft Hololens 2.We collected qualitative and quantitative data from 42 participants through questionnaires and post-experience semi-structured interviews. Results indicate participants enjoyed experiencing AR narratives together and revealed five themes relevant to the design of multi-user, colocated AR narratives. We discuss the implications of these themes and provide design recommendations for AR experience designers and storytellers regarding the impact of interaction, physical space, spatial coherence, and narrative timing. Our findings highlight the importance of exploring both user interactions and pair interactions as factors in AR storytelling research.
Transforming food waste into natural pigments: Raising community school awareness of food waste recycling opportunities through co-design methods
Choi, Yoon Jung; Okumura, Hiromi; Kennedy, Brook; Lee, Chang Hee; Gendell, Avery (DRS Digital Library, 2024-06)
In a world grappling with ongoing food scarcity, the issue of food waste in US school cafeterias remains a pressing concern, often without sufficient attention given to recycling. School communities play a pivotal role in shaping behaviors, as individuals are significantly influenced by their peers' actions and opinions, making them more open to positive reinforcement. This research explores design opportunity to raise awareness and encourage food waste recycling behaviors through a co-design approach. Students are invited to participate in the interactive exhibitions, where they learn and provide feedback about the pigment-making process from food waste using a toolkit for art painting. Through sharing their experiences, students help spread awareness and foster a commitment to recycling behaviors among their peers. Engaging students as active participants in these activities shows promise as a strategy to increase awareness of food waste recycling opportunities and empower school communities to support circular food systems.
The Inclusive World of Multisensory Typography
Dee, Meaghan A. (2022-03-07)
Handwriting is Dying. What Does That Mean For Design?
Dee, Meaghan A. (2021-10-13)
Prioritizing Our Values: A Case-Study Report that Examines the Efforts of a Group of University-Level, Communication Design Educators to Collectively Construct Inclusive and Equitable Design Teaching Practices in a (Post-) Pandemic Era
Berry, Anne H.; Dee, Meaghan A.; Laker, Penina; Tegtmeyer, Rebecca L. (University of Michigan Library, 2023-12-13)
The Value Design Education Pledge was co-developed by the co-authors of this article: Associate Professor Anne H. Berry, Associate Professor Meaghan A. Dee, Assistant Professor Penina Laker, and Associate Professor Rebecca Tegtmeyer, with contributions by Kelly Walters (Assistant Professor, Communication Design, Parsons, The New School, New York City, N.Y., U.S.A.), to develop and promote long-term, inclusive, and equitable teaching practices that could positively affect design education. The pledge was initiated in the wake of events that transpired during the spring and summer of 2020—namely, the COVID-19 global pandemic and the Black Lives Matter protests, both of which evolved across the United States during that time. It was also undertaken in recognition of 1) the changes and challenges that evolved as a result of remote and online learning having to be implemented across most U.S.-based, university-level and K-12 design education programs, and 2) the need for pedagogic accountability when decisions have been taken by faculty and administrators to commit to inclusive and equitable teaching practices. This case study provides an overview of the timeline of events and the decision-making that preceded the development of the pledge, including the first AIGA (the professional association for design, and the primary funder of this journal) Design Educators Community (DEC) virtual roundtable in May 2020 that spawned a draft of actionable items and outcomes from educators (working at K-12, non-traditional, undergraduate, and post-graduate levels) who participated in the pledge initiative. As a key point of planning and emphasis, the Value Design Education Pledge was developed to meet two key goals. The first was to facilitate manageable and sustainable commitments to students and communities for design educators already overburdened by the strain of adapting curricula and the course materials that support them. The second was to encourage remote and online learning in ways that could effectively provide emotional and academic support to design students throughout the progression of the global COVID-19 pandemic and the social, political, and cultural upheavals that accompanied it. The authors research fueled the generation of ideas for further exploration of initiatives that could effectively support these goals, including:developing mechanisms for measuring students’ learning before and after they leave particular classes and programs identifying ways to emphasize that the outcomes of design processes can provide humanistic, tangible, and positively transformative products, services, and systems; and building better mentor models that could be facilitated inside and outside of a variety of types of design classrooms. While the disciplinary focus of the pledge as it was initially developed was centered on design education, the authors believe that several items and ideas that emerged from operating it can be adapted to benefit education across a broader array of disciplines.
dAnCing LiNes
Emanuele, Ella; Hunter, David; Duer, Zachary R.; Birch, Simon (ACM, 2023-06-19)
How do we interpret a multi-participant choreographed performance in the public domain through digital technologies? In collaboration with data visualisation expert David Hunter from University of Colorado at Boulder, and visual artist Zach Duer from Virginia Tech, dAnCing LiNes explores how dance can generate a choreographic view of drawing through mediated representation. In this respect the artwork produced for dAnCing LiNes is not intended as a means of documentation of the live events but as a tool for new artistic production. The intention is to rethink performative drawing beyond the gestural trace of the body in movement through the use of data visualisations. Capturing chorographic scores and task-based instructions through digital technologies, the data visualisations explore how the agency of dance moves from the performative to the visual via technological means by using combinations of established computer vision techniques from OpenCV [1] like Optical Flow, Blob Detection. The visualisations not only reveal the rules of the underlying choreography in each location but also computationally play with and exemplify those rules on a per location basis (five in total).
Titian and textile: Rediscovering the Loredan collection between Venice and Brescia
Jewitt, James R. (Oxford University Press, 2022-11)
This essay presents the first critical overview of the collection and display of art objects acquired by the Venetian nobleman Andrea di Nicolo Loredan (1450-1513). It focuses on the decoration of three key sites maintained by the Loredan clan: the governor's palace in Brescia, the location and contents of which are here identified for the first time; the Loredan palace on the Grand Canal in Venice; and the Loredan funerary chapel in the church of San Michele in Isola in the Venetian lagoon. Examination of Titian's grandiose easel painting the 'Flight into Egypt' (c.1507), recently discovered to have played a crucial role within the Loredan palace, helps to elucidate the range of material and devotional agendas of the art possessed by Andrea. Critical reconstruction of the Loredan collection is achieved through fresh attention to archival records, and a little-known panegyric (1504) by the Brescian friar Martino Codagnello.
Echofluid: An Interface for Remote Choreography Learning and Co-creation Using Machine Learning Techniques
Wang, Marx; Duer, Zachary R.; Hardwig, Scotty; Lally, Sam; Ricard, Alayna; Jeon, Myounghoon (ACM, 2022-10-29)
Born from physical activities, dance carries beyond mere body movement. Choreographers interact with audiences’ perceptions through the kinaesthetics, creativity, and expressivity of whole-body performance, inviting them to construct experience, emotion, culture, and meaning together. Computational choreography support can bring endless possibilities into this one of the most experiential and creative artistic forms. While various interactive and motion technologies have been developed and adopted to support creative choreographic processes, little work has been done in exploring incorporating machine learning in a choreographic system, and few remote dance teaching systems in particular have been suggested. In this exploratory work, we proposed Echofuid-a novel AI-based choreographic learning and support system that allows student dancers to compose their own AI models for learning, evaluation, exploration, and creation. In this poster, we present the design, development and ongoing validation process of Echofluid, and discuss the possibilities of applying machine learning in collaborative art and dance as well as the opportunities of augmenting interactive experiences between the performers and audiences with emerging technologies.
I Am So Sorry
Dee, Meaghan A. (University of Michigan Library, 2022-11-08)
Processing the Pandemic
Dee, Meaghan A. (2021)

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