With this article, we aim to increase our understanding of how mobile virtual reality exposure therapy (VRET) can help reduce speaking anxiety. Using the results of a longitudinal study, we examined the effect of a new VRET strategy (Public Speech Trainer, PST), that incorporates 360° live recorded VR environments, on the reduction of public speaking anxiety. The PST was developed as a 360° smartphone application for a VR head-mounted device that participants could use at home. Realistic anxiety experiences were created by means of live 360° video recordings of a lecture hall containing three training sessions based on graded exposure framework; empty classroom (a) and with a small (b) and large audience (c). Thirty-five students participated in all sessions using PST. Anxiety levels were measured before and after each session over a period of 4 weeks. As expected, speaking anxiety significantly decreased after the completion of all PST sessions, and the decrement was the strongest in participants with initially high speaking anxiety baseline levels. Results also revealed that participants with moderate and high speaking anxiety baseline level differ in the anxiety state pattern over time. Conclusively and in line with habituation theory, the results supported the notion that VRET is more effective when aimed at reducing high-state anxiety levels. Further implications for future research and improvement of current VRET strategies are discussed.
For German-speaking tourists, an Oriental market (in Arabic: souq) is an exotic place representing the ‘Otherness’. Referring to this Oriental context, the article aims to answer the following questions: What are the tourists’ imaginaries and social narratives and what is the role that cultural brokers play? Gaining insight into the imaginaries and on-site performances of German-speaking tourists of a mega-cruise liner will contribute to the discussion of imaginaries and embodied performances in general as well as the mediation and the construction of space. The research reported upon in the article is part of a larger field study (2012–2014) in Souq Muttrah, the oldest and formerly main market in Oman. Participant observation, photography and in-depth interviews with different types of tourists, local customers, cultural brokers and on-board employees were conducted and marketing material was analysed. Results indicate that in the marketing material, the tourists are already beginning to travel backwards in time. During their visit to the souq, the multi-sensory performances and embodied imaginaries are enhanced by stories of the Arabian Nights. Cultural brokers play an essential role in ‘localizing’ the tourist experience. They adjust their own identities and direct the tourists’ performances at different stages, similar to an Oriental theme park, for example, they stop at a frankincense shop.
AIMS: The aim of this study was to obtain normative nasalance values for typically developing Ugandan English-speaking children as a reference point for clinical practice and further research. METHODS: Sixty-nine typically developing Ugandan children (35 males and 34 females, 2.7-13.5 years of age) participated in the study. Nasalance scores were obtained with the Nasometer while children repeated 4 sustained sounds, 14 repeated syllables, 15 sentences (12 oral, 3 nasal) and 2 texts ('Rainbow Passage' and 'Zoo Passage'). Data were analyzed for gender and age dependence. RESULTS: No significant effects of age or gender on nasalance values were obtained; hence, normative values for the overall group were reported. The average nasalance scores for Ugandan English-speaking children were 17 and 64% for the oral and nasal sentences and 33 and 14% for the oronasal and oral text, respectively. CONCLUSION: The normative values are important as a reference point to assess the impact of several surgical procedures and several surgical timing strategies on speech in Uganda.
Even though considerable amounts of valuable wood are collected at waste collection sites, most of it remains unused and is burned: it is too labor-intensive to sort, process and upcycle useable parts. Valuable wood thus becomes worthless waste, against circular economy principles. In MoBot-Wood, waste collection organizations HVC and the municipality of Amsterdam, together with Rolan Robotics, Metabolic and AUAS investigate how waste wood can be sorted and processed at waste collection sites, using an easy-to-deploy robotic solution. In various preceding and on-going projects, AUAS and partners are exploring circular wood intake, sorting and processing using industrial robots, including processes like machine vision, 3D scanning, sawing, and milling. These projects show that harvesting waste wood is a challenging matter. Generally, the wood is only partially useable due to the presence of metal, excessive paint, deterioration by fungi and water, or other contamination and damages. To harvest useable wood thus requires intensive sorting and processing. The solution of transporting all the waste wood from collection sites to a central processing station might be too expensive and have a negative environmental impact. Considering that much of collected wood will need to be discarded, often no wood is harvested at all, due to the costs for collection and shipping. Speaking with several partners in related projects, the idea emerged to develop a mobile robotic station, which can be (temporarily) deployed at waste collection sites, to intake, sort and process wood for upcycling. In MoBot-Wood, research entails the design of such station, its deployment conditions, and a general assessment of its potential impact. The project investigates robotic sorting and processing on location as a new approach to increase the amount of valuable, useable wood harvested at waste collection sites, by avoiding material transport and reducing the volume of remaining waste.
Being objective as a journalist indicates a distance to your sources and maintaining the role of a neutral bystander. This principle echoes in journalism education; generally speaking, to call something objective is a compliment and to say something is subjective is a warning. This journalistic role perception faces criticism since the late twentieth century. There’s extensive scholarly research looking to bridge the gap between objectivism and subjectivism, but journalistic education still widely prioritizes a binary perception of these principles, putting a strong emphasis on objective reporting. This PD aims to integrate artistic practices into journalism education that advocate a more balanced approach of the assumed objective-subjective dichotomy. One such approach is live journalism, where the artistic method extends to productional outcome, usually in the form of a journalistic narrative brought before a live audience. Research shows that, whereas visitors still think such productions should be fact-based, the fact that journalists had (made) a personal connection to their subject was seen as essential to the credibility of their work. This presupposes that journalism in this context is not merely a profession, but rather a person carrying out a profession. This PD intends to not only accept a certain subjectivity, but to explore its potential in journalism education. It plays with the concept not as being or becoming personally opinionated as a journalist, but as subjecting the self as a reporter. Research shows that for journalists, such an active connection to a target audience and an attitude to want to hear more than an answer to a question leads to a more representative understanding of the position and predicaments of a social group. In this light, the objective and subjective do not present themselves as a T-junction where the journalist chooses either one or the other; they appear in mutuality.
The primary objective of this research is to develop the new practical methodology of "Vocalising Resonance", as a development of existing methods. The approach intends to involve artists and citizens in a multi-sensory engagement with their surrounding environment, by collectively utilizing the 'physical', non-semantic voice as a tool for communication. This methodology's creation is rooted in the application of artistic research to well-formulated arguments within contemporary humanities studies. It also incorporates existing approaches for engaging with sound and voice in a multisensory and multidisciplinary manner. Musicologist, Nina Eidsheim argues that music research should not solely focus on the figure of sound, but should also delve into the materiality of sound as vibration (Eidsheim, Sensing Sound). Similarly, this research aims to explore the voice as an experience connected to the whole body and senses, rather than simply hearing. Several existing strategies offer starting points. The second objective of this research is to investigate how the proposed methodology of "Vocalising Resonance" may have a transformative impact on participants' consciousness, by increasing their exposure to diversity and facilitating their realisation that persons in the literal meaning of the word are “the speaking through - sonare + per- the masks that make up our social selves”(Scapp, A Question of Voice). Broadening the scope beyond traditional norms, the project paves the way for a more inclusive, sensorially rich understanding of performing arts, inviting a holistic approach that goes beyond typical categorisations, enhancing the immersive nature of performances. It prompts reflections on the significance of an audience to define a voice, the essence of a voice irrespective of language, and how the non-semantic use of voice serves as a powerful interdisciplinary communication tool within abstract performance contexts. This process seeks to offer a new perspective and transform our practices.
