Matching Items (60)
Description
Distant is a Game Design Document describing an original game by the same name. The game was designed around the principle of core aesthetics, where the user experience is defined first and then the game is built from that experience. Distant is an action-exploration game set on a huge megastructure floating in the atmosphere of Saturn. Players take on the role of HUE, an artificial intelligence trapped in the body of a maintenance robot, as he explores this strange world and uncovers its secrets. Using acrobatic movement abilities, players will solve puzzles, evade enemies, and explore the world from top to bottom. The world, known as the Strobilus Megastructure, is conical in shape, with living quarters and environmental system in the upper sections and factories and resource mining in the lower sections. The game world is split up into 10 major areas and countless minor and connecting areas. Special movement abilities like wall running and anti-gravity allow players to progress further down in the world. These abilities also allow players to solve more complicated puzzles, and to find more difficult to reach items. The story revolves around six artificial intelligences that were created to maintain the station. Many centuries ago, these AI helped humankind maintain their day-to-day lives and helped researchers working on new scientific breakthroughs. This led to the discovery of faster-than-light travel, and humanity left the station and our solar system to explore the cosmos. HUE, the AI in charge of human relations, fell into depression and shut down. Awakening several hundred years in the future, HUE sets out to find the other AI. Along the way he helps them reconnect and discovers the history and secrets of the station. Distant is intended for players looking for three things: A fantastic world full of discovery, a rich, character driven narrative, and challenging acrobatic gameplay. Players of any age or background are recommended to give it a try, but it will require investment and a willingness to improve. Distant is intended to change players, to force them to confront difficulty and different perspectives. Most games involve upgrading a character; Distant is a game that upgrades the player.
ContributorsGarttmeier, Colin Reiser (Author) / Collins, Daniel (Thesis director) / Amresh, Ashish (Committee member) / School of Arts, Media and Engineering (Contributor) / Computing and Informatics Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
This study focused on the connection between the EnvZ/OmpR two-component regulatory system and the iron homeostasis system in Escherichia coli, specifically how a mutant form of EnvZ11/OmpR is able to reduce the expression of fepA::lacZ, a reporter gene fusion in E. coli. FepA is one of several outer membrane siderophore receptors that allow extracellular siderophores bound to iron to enter the cells to power various biological processes. Previous studies have shown that in E. coli cells that expressed a mutant allele of envZ, called envZ11, which led to altered expression of various iron genes including down regulation of fepA::lacZ. The wild type EnvZ/OmpR system is not considered to regulate iron genes, but because these envz11 strains had downregulated fepA::lacZ, this study was undertaken to understand the connection and mechanisms of this downregulation. A large number of Lac+ revertants were obtained from the B32-2483 strain (envz11 and fepA::lacZ) and 7 Lac+ revertants that had reversion mutations not directly correcting the envZ11 allele were further characterized. With P1 phage transduction genetic mapping that involved moving a kanamycin resistance marker linked to fepA::lacZ, two Lac+ revertants were found to have their reversion mutations in the fepA promoter region, while the other five revertants had their mutations mapping outside the fepA region. These two revertants underwent DNA sequencing and found to carry two different single base pair mutations in two different locations of the fepA promoter region. Each one is in the Fur repressor binding region, but one also may have affected the Shine-Dalgarno region involved in translation initiation. All 7 reveratants underwent beta-galactosidase assays to measure fepA::lacZ expression. The two revertants that had mutations in the fepA promoter region had significantly increased fepA activity, with the revertant with the Shine-Dalgarno mutation having the most elevated fepA expression. The other 5 revertants that did not map in the fepA region had fepA expression elevated to the same level as that found in the wild type EnvZ/OmpR background. The data suggest that the negative effect of envZ11 can be overcome by multiple mechanisms, including directly correcting the envZ11 allele or changing the fepA promoter region.
ContributorsKalinkin, Victor Arkady (Co-author) / Misra, Rajeev (Co-author, Thesis director) / Mason, Hugh (Committee member) / Foy, Joseph (Committee member) / Biomedical Informatics Program (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
The objective of this project concentrates on the game Defense of the Ancients 2 (Dota 2). In this game, players are constantly striving to improve their skills, which are fueled by the competitive nature of the game. The design influences the community to engage in this interaction as they play the game cooperatively. This thesis illustrates the importance of player interaction in influencing design as well as how imperative design is in affecting player interaction. These two concepts are not separate, but are deeply entwined. Every action performed within a game has to interact with some element of design. Both determine how games become defined as competitive, casual, or creative. Game designers can benefit from this study as it reinforces the basics of developing a game for players to interact with. However, it is impossible to predict exactly how players will react to a designed element. Designers should remember to tailor the game towards their audience, but also react and change the game depending on how players are using the elements of design. In addition, players should continue to push the boundaries of games to help designers adapt their product to their audience. If there is not constant communication between players and designers, games will not be tailored appropriately. Pushing the limits of a game benefits the players as well as the designers to make a more complete game. Designers do not solely create a game for the players. Rather, players design the game for themselves. Keywords: game design, player interaction, affinity space, emergent behavior, Dota 2
ContributorsLarsen, Austin James (Author) / Gee, James Paul (Thesis director) / Holmes, Jeffrey (Committee member) / Kobayashi, Yoshihiro (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Computing and Informatics Program (Contributor) / School of Arts, Media and Engineering (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
Bots tamper with social media networks by artificially inflating the popularity of certain topics. In this paper, we define what a bot is, we detail different motivations for bots, we describe previous work in bot detection and observation, and then we perform bot detection of our own. For our bot detection, we are interested in bots on Twitter that tweet Arabic extremist-like phrases. A testing dataset is collected using the honeypot method, and five different heuristics are measured for their effectiveness in detecting bots. The model underperformed, but we have laid the ground-work for a vastly untapped focus on bot detection: extremist ideal diffusion through bots.
ContributorsKarlsrud, Mark C. (Author) / Liu, Huan (Thesis director) / Morstatter, Fred (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Computing and Informatics Program (Contributor) / Computer Science and Engineering Program (Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
Translating research has been a goal of the Department of Health and Human Services since 1999. Through two years of iteration and interview with our community members, we have collected insights into the barriers to accomplishing this goal. Liberating Science is a think-tank of researchers and scientists who seek to create a more transparent process to accelerate innovation starting with behavioral health research.
ContributorsRaghani, Pooja Sioux (Author) / Hekler, Eric (Thesis director) / Buman, Matthew (Committee member) / Pruthi, Virgilia Kaur (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (Contributor) / Biomedical Informatics Program (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
In 2010, two gamma-ray /x-ray bubbles were detected in the center of the Milky Way Galaxy. These bubbles extend symmetrically ≈ 30, 000 light years above and below the Galactic Center, with a width of ≈ 27, 000 light years. These bubbles emit gamma-rays at energies between 1 and 100 giga-electronvolts, have approximately uniform surface brightness, and are expanding at ≈ 30, 000 km/s. We believe that these Fermi Bubbles are the result of an astrophysical jet pulse that occurred millions of years ago. Utilizing high-performance computing and Euler’s Gas Dynamics Equations, we hope to find a realistic simulation that will tell us more about the age of these Fermi Bubbles and better understand the mechanism that powers the bubbles.
ContributorsWagner, Benjamin Leng (Author) / Gardner, Carl (Thesis director) / Jones, Jeremiah (Committee member) / Computing and Informatics Program (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
Along with the number of technologies that have been introduced over a few years ago, gesture-based human-computer interactions are becoming the new phase in encompassing the creativity and abilities for users to communicate and interact with devices. Because of how the nature of defining free-space gestures influence user's preference and the length of usability of gesture-driven devices, defined low-stress and intuitive gestures for users to interact with gesture recognition systems are necessary to consider. To measure stress, a Galvanic Skin Response instrument was used as a primary indicator, which provided evidence of the relationship between stress and intuitive gestures, as well as user preferences towards certain tasks and gestures during performance. Fifteen participants engaged in creating and performing their own gestures for specified tasks that would be required during the use of free-space gesture-driven devices. The tasks include "activation of the display," scroll, page, selection, undo, and "return to main menu." They were also asked to repeat their gestures for around ten seconds each, which would give them time and further insight of how their gestures would be appropriate or not for them and any given task. Surveys were given at different time to the users: one after they had defined their gestures and another after they had repeated their gestures. In the surveys, they ranked their gestures based on comfort, intuition, and the ease of communication. Out of those user-ranked gestures, health-efficient gestures, given that the participants' rankings were based on comfort and intuition, were chosen in regards to the highest ranked gestures.
ContributorsLam, Christine (Author) / Walker, Erin (Thesis director) / Danielescu, Andreea (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering (Contributor) / School of Arts, Media and Engineering (Contributor) / Department of English (Contributor) / Computing and Informatics Program (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
The proliferation of interconnected and networked medical devices has resulted in the development of innovative Medical Cyber-Physical Systems (MCPS). MCPS are life-critical, distributed systems that are utilized to monitor and control healthcare organizations in order to provide a more coordinated, cohesive care-continuum focused on the whole patient resulting in better outcomes, and a happier, healthier patient. Medical Cyber Physical (MCPS) systems are life-critical, networked systems used to monitor and control healthcare and medical devices in order to provide more coordinated and cohesive care for the patient. Cyber-securing MCPS is difficult due to their complex and interconnected nature, and this project sets about analyzing current security requirements for MCPS using an ontology and exploration techniques, and developing a risk assessment and monitoring framework to better secure such systems.
ContributorsLamp, Josephine Ann (Author) / Ahn, Gail-Joon (Thesis director) / Rubio-Medrano, Carlos (Committee member) / School of Film, Dance and Theatre (Contributor) / Biomedical Informatics Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
Title: A Mobile Health Application for Tracking Patients' Health Record Abstract Background: Mobile Health (mHealth) has recently been adopted and used in rural communities in developing countries to improve the quality of healthcare in those areas. Some organizations use mHealth application to track pregnancy and provide routine checkups for pregnant women. Other organizations use mHelath application to provide treatment and counseling services to HIV/AIDs patients, and others are using it to provide treatment and other health care services to the general populations in rural communities. One organization that is using mobile health to bring primary care for the first time in some of the rural communities of Liberia is Last Mile Health. Since 2015, the organization has trained community health assistants (CHAs) to use a mobile health platform called Data Collection Tools (DCTs). The CHAs use the DCT to collect health data, diagnose and treat patients, provide counseling and educational services to their communities, and for referring patients for further care. While it is true that the DCT has many great features, it currently has many limitations such as data storage, data processing, and many others. Objectives: The goals of this study was to 1. Explore some of the mobile health initiatives in developing countries and outline some of the important features of those initiatives. 2. Design a mobile health application (a new version of the Last Mile Health's DCT) that incorporates some of those features that were outlined in objective 1. Method: A comprehensive literature search in PubMed and Arizona State University (ASU) Library databases was conducted to retrieve publications between 2014 and 2017 that contained phrases like "mHealth design", "mHealth implementation" or "mHealth validation". For a publication to refer to mHealth, the publication had to contain the term "mHealth," or contains both the term "health" and one of the following terms: mobile phone, cellular phone, mobile device, text message device, mobile technology, mobile telemedicine, mobile monitoring device, interactive voice response device, or disease management device. Results: The search yielded a total of 1407 publications. Of those, 11 publications met the inclusion criteria and were therefore included in the study. All of the features described in the selected articles were important to the Last Mile Health, but due to issues such as internet accessibility and cellular coverage, only five of those features were selected to be incorporated in the new version of the Last Mile's mobile health system. Using a software called Configure.it, the new version of the Last Mile's mobile health system was built. This new system incorporated features such as user logs, QR code, reminder, simple API, and other features that were identified in the study. The new system also helps to address problems such as data storage and processing that are currently faced by the Last Mile Health organization.
ContributorsKarway, George K. (Author) / Scotch, Matthew (Thesis director) / Kaufman, David (Committee member) / Biomedical Informatics Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
This project serves as an extra learning tool for students enrolled in HEB 101 (Hebrew) at Arizona State University. This tool was developed using Axure Prototyping Software and can be used by anyone. The tool follows the HEB 101 course curriculum which also works alongside the textbook for the class (Hebrew From Scratch part 1). The tool fully covers the seven units that students learn in HEB 101. Each unit follows a standard structure. There is a unit title page which lays out the major concepts covered in the unit (i.e. personal pronouns, question words, prepositions, etc.) and links to different pages within the unit. Each unit has seven to ten lesson pages which introduce Hebrew concepts and provide exercises and examples to help the students practice the material they learned both in class and in the tool. Each unit also has links to Quizlet pages that have the units' vocab set up in a flashcard format so that they can study for upcoming quizzes and exams in the class. The Quizlet page for each unit also provides a randomly generated vocab quiz for the students. There is also a unit quiz for every unit which tests the students on the major concepts of the unit. There are also unit vocab pages that provide all the vocab covered in the unit. This tool provides students with numerous ways of practicing and mastering the material covered in the lectures. The main benefit of this tool for students is that it provides audio files for each vocabulary word learned in HEB 101 which will allow them to have quick access to the pronunciation of the words they are learning. This tool will be used in future HEB 101 classes.
ContributorsOsuna, Esteban Rene (Author) / Shemer, Judith (Thesis director) / Mirguet, Francoise (Committee member) / Computing and Informatics Program (Contributor) / Computer Science and Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05