Candidate:
Zafeiris Kokkinogenis

Date, time and place
23^rd September, 14:30, Sala de Atos FEUP

President of the Jury:

Carlos Manuel Milheiro de Oliveira Pinto Soares, PhD, Associate Professor, Departamento de Engenharia Informática, Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto

Members:

Alberto Fernandez Gil, PhD,  Associate Professor, Departamento de Ciencias de la Computación, Arquitectura de Computadores, Lenguajes y Sistemas Informáticos y Estadística e Investigación Operativa, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos;

Sandra Maria Monteiro de Melo, PhD, Main Researcher of the Business Unit INTELI – Policy & Intelligence for Sustainability, CEiiA – Centre of Engineering and Product Development;

Pedro José Ramos Moreira de Campos, PhD, Assistant Professor, Agrupamento Científico de Matemática e Sistemas de Informação, Faculdade de Economia da Universidade do Porto;

Rosaldo José Fernandes Rossetti, PhD, Associate Professor, Departamento de Engenharia Informática, Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto (Supervisor);

Ana Paula Cunha da Rocha, PhD, Associate Professor, Departamento de Engenharia Informática, Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto.

Abstract

Generally speaking, a large-scale socio-technical system is formed up of individual entities that are distributed along with the system’s space and act asynchronously in their decision making processes. Each of the individuals bears its own goals and tends to behave rather “selfishly” and “greedily” to maximise self-welfare utilities. However, this characteristic will generally affect negatively the global efficiency and the designed (expected) emergent behavior of the system. Indeed, private road transport imposes negative externalities on society, such as road capacity restrictions, accidents, congestion, etc. An efficient mobility model must take into account the real costs of transport, and its regulatory framework will need to produce the conditions for people to make sustainable transport choices. Economic theories offer two types of instruments for addressing the problem of transport externalities: command-and-control and incentive-based policies.

Command-and-control policies are government regulations which force users to change their behavior. In that sense, recent approaches to optimise the traffic network throughput and reduce traffic congestion basically rely on “road pricing”. However, this approach ends up penalising the user and creating social inequalities as it imposes a tax to be paid. Only those who are insensitive to the price will benefit. Also, a population may not be responsive to the defined penalties, and thus, the regulation may not be efficient.

On the other hand, an approach that has gained the community’s attention is based on the implementation and design of incentive schemes in public policy. Incentives are seen as those external measures that try to motivate a behavior change towards the objective of the system. It appears to be a “fairer” vision, as it does not discriminate the user but rather tries to bring the society into equilibrium.

The domain area on which this PhD thesis is focused concerns open and competitive multiagent systems, such as the Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) and the electricity markets. This thesis intends to address the issue of whether or not incentive-centred designs can favour the emergence of social-aware behavior in agents that have selfish tendencies for a (global) optimal evolution of a socio-technical system. Traditional transport planning tools using the four-step model combined with standard economic appraisal methods are not able to provide such analysis. Instead, a multi-agent system (MAS) social simulations can be used as it is argued in the literature of complex systems.

Keywords: Multi-Agent Systems, Incentive Mechanisms, Resource Markets, Policy Evaluation, Traffic Simulation.

Candidate:
Francisca Santos Silva Rocha Gonçalves

Date, time and place
22nd September, 10h00, Sala de Atos FEUP

President of the Jury
António Fernando Vasconcelos Cunha Castro Coelho, PhD, Associate Professor with Habilitation at Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto

Members
Angus Carlyle, PhD, Professor at University of Arts London, UK;
Isabel Maria Antunes Pires, PhD, Invited Assistant Professor at Universidade Nova de Lisboa;
Raquel Maria Lemos e Castro, PhD, Researcher at Universidade Lusófona de Humanidades e Tecnologias;
Rui Luís Nogueira Penha, PhD, Assistant Professor at Instituto Politécnico do Porto (Supervisor);
Gilberto Bernardes de Almeida, PhD, Assistant Professor at Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto.

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to connect people with underwater environments while creating awareness for the problem of anthropogenic noise pollution through artistic creation. This dissertation addresses the lack of information on underwater noise discourse, especially on the vibrational aspect of underwater sound. By asking how to convey the experience of underwater soundscapes and their human disruption, it proposes two major directions that inform and complement each other. First, several underwater soundscape recordings were realised. They provide an understanding of the ambience of places and allow attunement with the natural world. Second, six practice-based research artworks based on the soundscape recordings and methods from acoustic ecology and ecoacoustics, focusing on anthropogenic sounds aimed at improving inclusion with nature while creating awareness of the noise pollution problem. The revised strategies and concepts included place attachment, emotional affinity, nature-connectedness and ecology of æffect. These artworks provide the setting for challenging audiences to bond with underwater environments by listening to their soundscapes while revealing a particular aspect of underwater sound. Moreover, they explore creative strategies for developing sonic experiences with the introduction, experience and performance of underwater sounds in artistic creation. Additionally, the artworks introduce and approach a natural phenomenon related to underwater sound (Luciferina – bioluminescence; SINØ III – cymatics; #switchoffandlisten – noise awareness campaign; DIS_turbation – bioturbation; Munda – cavitation; 2182kHz – auditory masking). The insights from the artistic experiences proved critical to continue producing innovative contributions and to create knowledge while influencing the communities. The significance of this study is that it informs the theoretical understanding of noise pollution impacts on aquatic fauna and underwater acoustics by introducing a focus on the vibrational aspect of underwater sound: particle motion. In addition, it informs the empirical understanding of the practice-based research on developing the proposed artworks. The novelty lies in addressing biological phenomena as a creative resource to intervene in underwater noise dialogue, reveal hidden qualities of vibroscape ecology (such as particle motion) and translate them in a more grasping way through the artistic artworks. As underwater soundscapes are increasingly a topic of concern globally, they become crucial to fostering an emotional affinity between people and natural environments, promoting inclusion with nature.

Keywords: ecological sound art, acoustic ecology, underwater soundscapes, anthropogenic noise, vibroscape ecology, nature-connectedness, ecology of æffect.

Candidate:
Terhi Tuulikki Marttila

Date, Time and place:
June 27, 10:00, Sala de Atos of FEUP

 President:

António Fernando Vasconcelos Cunha Castro Coelho, PhD, Associate Professor with Habilitation, Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto.

Members:

Anne Karhio, PhD, Associate Professor, Faculty of education of Inland Norway, University of Applied Sciences;

Manuel José de Freitas Portela, PhD, Full Professor, Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Coimbra;

Vitor Manuel Pereira Duarte dos Santos, PhD, Assistant Professor, NOVA IMS da Universidade Nova de Lisboa;

José Miguel Santos Araújo Carvalhais Fonseca, Professor Auxiliar da Faculdade de Belas Artes da Universidade do Porto;

Diamantino Rui da Silva Freitas, PhD, Associate Professor, Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto (Supervisor).

Abstract:

In this artistic research we start from the idea that digital works can be utilized for imagining and playing with yet impossible realities, for asking questions, and for portraying aspects of life such that we can explore these from a distance. This dissertation consists of three browser-based artworks programmed by myself in HTML, Javascript and CSS. These art experiences unfold on the screen, asking the person to interact with them in order to complete their meanings. The works incorporate, among other things, voice interaction through synthetic speech and speech input, the uses of which form an essential component of the works meanings. Each work is concerned with very different types of questions around migration, but overall, and as a triptych, the works explore what the movement brought about by migration implies from a human standpoint. The themes encompassed extend from exploring perspectives on language, where movement results in linguistic accent which provokes a notion of the Other through external difference (in We cannot take them all), or exploring the movement induced by the tension between our body and our personal needs and desires, but that is governed by (shifting) borders (in Speak out) and finally, at exploring migratory movement through the ambivalent relationship between the here and the there, the simultaneous processes of (re-)rooting and of living with homesickness (in Transplanted). While this research may not depart from clear research questions, it nevertheless arrives at observations about the artistic strategies that emerge when migration is explored through notions of voice/interaction. The works themselves open up a space of contemplation about the respective themes, inviting participation through voice.

Keywords: migration, voice interaction, electronic literature, digital art, artistic research