Old Atrocities, New Media: Terror Images and the Visual-Military Complex. This research centres on the relations between twenty-first century visual technologies and the age-old practice of the massacre-atrocity. It takes as its major case study the atrocities at the end of the war in Sri Lanka in 2009. The most graphic form of knowledge about these mass deaths and rapes was produced through digitally transmitted visual images. The research asks how new forms of recording and circulating images ....Old Atrocities, New Media: Terror Images and the Visual-Military Complex. This research centres on the relations between twenty-first century visual technologies and the age-old practice of the massacre-atrocity. It takes as its major case study the atrocities at the end of the war in Sri Lanka in 2009. The most graphic form of knowledge about these mass deaths and rapes was produced through digitally transmitted visual images. The research asks how new forms of recording and circulating images of atrocity, whether in the form of trophy photographs or other digital documents, shape the reception of, and responses to, atrocity. These questions are contextualised against a broader examination of the historical and evolving relations between visual media and atrocity images from the Holocaust to Abu Ghraib.Read moreRead less
Representation of gender and sexual diversity in Australian film and television. This project aims to investigate the cultural, health and identity impact of gender/sexually-diverse characters, themes and narratives in Australian film and television from 1990 to present. The project expects to generate new knowledge by providing the first comprehensive account of Australian media production’s contribution to sexual minority representation, in the context of its importance for fostering healthy i ....Representation of gender and sexual diversity in Australian film and television. This project aims to investigate the cultural, health and identity impact of gender/sexually-diverse characters, themes and narratives in Australian film and television from 1990 to present. The project expects to generate new knowledge by providing the first comprehensive account of Australian media production’s contribution to sexual minority representation, in the context of its importance for fostering healthy identities, and acceptance of minorities to mainstream audiences in a digital media era. This knowledge will provide significant benefit to the mental health, wellbeing and social harmony for both minority and mainstream Australians and help showcase an important aspect of Australian media inclusivity and diversity in international scholarship.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE130101712
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$369,706.00
Summary
Disability and digital TV: access, representation and reception. Digital television has the potential to lesson the social exclusion of people with disability, if it is made accessible. This project will provide a much-needed user-focused analysis of two areas of key concern to Australians with disability as the nation switches over to digital TV - access and representation.
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR0564565
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$100,000.00
Summary
A Web-Based Humanities Image Database and Descriptive Catalogue for Academic, Industry and Community Application. This research develops a web-based visual database and catalogue with associated, annotatable explanatory text files, that is suitable for input and access by academics, industry and the general community. The catalogue’s information input and search mechanisms will respond to the needs of relevant Humanities disciplines for which image collection and analysis is a critical research ....A Web-Based Humanities Image Database and Descriptive Catalogue for Academic, Industry and Community Application. This research develops a web-based visual database and catalogue with associated, annotatable explanatory text files, that is suitable for input and access by academics, industry and the general community. The catalogue’s information input and search mechanisms will respond to the needs of relevant Humanities disciplines for which image collection and analysis is a critical research tool. Its design aims to encourage user communities to contribute images and text efficiently, effectively and confidently, and guarantees the security of their images through application of a tag system. The collaboratively authored image catalogue would facilitate national and international research projects using visual resources.Read moreRead less
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR0354753
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$10,000.00
Summary
MESH: amalgamating innovative teams of cross-disciplinary collaborators for creativity in Media-arts, E-culture, Science and Humanities. MESH is a cross-disciplinary network that amalgamates a national array of sub-networks of research in digital arts, ICT and cross-cultural and policy negotiation. It boosts Australia's existing cross-disiciplinary strengths in Media-arts, E-culture, Science and Humanities by encouraging existing digital sub-networks to grow together via well-brokered communic ....MESH: amalgamating innovative teams of cross-disciplinary collaborators for creativity in Media-arts, E-culture, Science and Humanities. MESH is a cross-disciplinary network that amalgamates a national array of sub-networks of research in digital arts, ICT and cross-cultural and policy negotiation. It boosts Australia's existing cross-disiciplinary strengths in Media-arts, E-culture, Science and Humanities by encouraging existing digital sub-networks to grow together via well-brokered communications and demonstrations online and on-location. Progressively, MESH participants will discover existing harmonies whilst also inventing new languages and protocols leading to breakthroughs in cross-disciplinary collaboration and innovation. MESH encourages a 'paradigm shift' in digital research, realising the extraordinary potential that is ready but latent across Australia's arts and sciences.Read moreRead less
Touching scenes: intelligent haptic guidance for supporting learning with complex graphic displays. Complex visual information is a defining feature of 21st Century life because advances in graphics display technology permeate all aspects of our society. For Australian citizens to prosper in a world reliant on rich informational graphics, they must be able to use these depictions effectively and efficiently. Touch-based approaches, using a haptic tablet, could facilitate processing of key visual ....Touching scenes: intelligent haptic guidance for supporting learning with complex graphic displays. Complex visual information is a defining feature of 21st Century life because advances in graphics display technology permeate all aspects of our society. For Australian citizens to prosper in a world reliant on rich informational graphics, they must be able to use these depictions effectively and efficiently. Touch-based approaches, using a haptic tablet, could facilitate processing of key visual information in challenging circumstances where displays are complex or vision is limited. Improving visually-based performance and learning will benefit education and training, increase productivity and safety across the industrial, professional and service sectors, enhance security monitoring, and broaden community information access.Read moreRead less
Utilitarian Filmmaking in Australia 1945 - 1980. The project plans to discover, document, analyse and compile a lasting archive of utilitarian filmmaking in Australia. 'Utilitarian' describes client-sponsored, instructional and governmental filmmaking existing outside the conventional theatrical contexts by which cinema is usually defined. Focused on the post-World War Two decades before the proliferation of video in the late 1970s, the project aims to highlight previously-unstudied aspects of t ....Utilitarian Filmmaking in Australia 1945 - 1980. The project plans to discover, document, analyse and compile a lasting archive of utilitarian filmmaking in Australia. 'Utilitarian' describes client-sponsored, instructional and governmental filmmaking existing outside the conventional theatrical contexts by which cinema is usually defined. Focused on the post-World War Two decades before the proliferation of video in the late 1970s, the project aims to highlight previously-unstudied aspects of the media industries. This is designed to deliver new knowledge of the skills and subject matter that sustained filmmaking, communication and education in Australia during a time when conventional scholarship assumes there was almost no significant filmmaking.Read moreRead less
Envisaging Citizenship: Australian Histories and Global Connections. This project aims to investigate the ways that visual images have defined, contested and advanced ideas of Australian citizenship and rights from European settlement to the present. Responding to the lack of a shared mainstream understanding of Australian citizenship, it looks beyond legal definitions to explore cultural and especially visual views of citizenship over time. Through collaboration with museum, media and education ....Envisaging Citizenship: Australian Histories and Global Connections. This project aims to investigate the ways that visual images have defined, contested and advanced ideas of Australian citizenship and rights from European settlement to the present. Responding to the lack of a shared mainstream understanding of Australian citizenship, it looks beyond legal definitions to explore cultural and especially visual views of citizenship over time. Through collaboration with museum, media and education sectors, it will provide a forward-looking and accessible public history, and utilise the potential of images to broaden contemporary debates about citizenship. Expected outcomes include a better public understanding of the pathways to citizenship, and enhanced engagement with Australian values and identity.Read moreRead less
A 'smarter image' for educational multimedia: Improving learning of dynamic content with animated and static graphics. Animated images were once used largely for entertainment but are now increasingly a feature of multimedia information and education systems. However, recent research casts doubt on animation's assumed superiority over static pictures for facilitating understanding. This project aims to find how animations should be designed, supported, and used in order to fulfill their vast pot ....A 'smarter image' for educational multimedia: Improving learning of dynamic content with animated and static graphics. Animated images were once used largely for entertainment but are now increasingly a feature of multimedia information and education systems. However, recent research casts doubt on animation's assumed superiority over static pictures for facilitating understanding. This project aims to find how animations should be designed, supported, and used in order to fulfill their vast potential for explaining and instructing. It will examine in fine detail how people with different backgrounds actually use animations when trying to comprehend familiar and unfamiliar topics. Research-based guidelines will be produced on how to design effective animations and animated-static graphic blends for use in multimedia. Read moreRead less