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Gromala walking through a VR simulation I think what Diane Gromala had to say about using biofeedback and virtual reality as a way to combat chronic pain was absolutely fascinating. I have looked into biofeedback myself and although I have never received this treatment I remember being very interested in the process. There are biofeedback specialists in Seattle that work with people who are unable to stop registering pain signals from an area of the body, even if that area is not hurt. This can often come as a result of preexisting injury or illness.The doctors attach sensors to the patient to track indicators of stress and pain through brain waves, heart function, breathing, muscle activity, and skin temperature. The sensors are then hooked up to screens so the patients can see how their body is reacting to stimuli or thought. The doctors have their patients look at their individual data and use visual cues to coach the patient into a state of reduced stress and use it to retr...

For my first event, I attended Collective Bread Diaries: A Taste of Protest. This was a presentation held on campus by Haytham Nawar, a professor at The American University in Cairo. Over the span of a few years, Nawar collected drawings of bread from all over the world. He would accept drawings from anyone willing to send them as long as they followed a few guidelines: they must only use structural lines, no shading was allowed, and they must be black and white. He later put all of these drawings into a book detailing where the drawings were from and what kind of bread each drawing represented. His overarching vision was that bread unites people in times of strife and has frequently been used as a symbol of revolution. He wanted to capture that desire for independence and freedom from all over the world. Unfortunately this was the only photo I took with Hatham Nawar What I found most interesting about his project was the way Nawar collected the drawings. He used an online cont...

The birth of a Replicant in Bladerunner 2049 Display of more Replicants After watching the lecture videos this week I was inspired to check out a few clips from Bladerunner 2049, the sequel to the original starring Harrison Ford. In the world created in the second Bladerunner, there are two separate categories: Humans and Replicants. Alike to humans in almost every way, replicants are still considered to be of a lower class then real humans because they are manmade. They are used as slave laborers and said to be soulless. The creator of the replicants, Wallace, laments that replicants cannot reproduce, as he can only make so many. If these sub-humans were able to procreate, it would provide an unlimited resource of workers for him and the rest of humanity. He cannot make the replicants at a fast enough pace all by himself. The Ted-Talk by Hod Lipson explores a similar concept. He also wishes to see a world where robots can reproduce. Lipson thinks that we need to steer aw...

Through this weeks readings I have realized what a critical part math plays in art. I have seen the image of image of the Vitruvian Man by Leonardo da Vinci, but I had not assigned any meaning to it until learning about his admiration of the architect Vitruvius's definition of the perfect dimensions of the human form and proportions of architecture. This inspired him to draw the ideal man as Vitruvian saw him, and his drawing has become somewhat of a symbol for the combination of art, math and science. This chain of inspiration led to the works Piet Mondrian, who believed that very basic shapes, lines, and primary colors could be used to represent the world around us. His notion that any shape could be formed with a combination of simpler shapes was revolutionary during the early 20th century. Yet another man inspired by the works of Vitruvius was architect Charles Edouard Jeanneret, who used his principles and proportions of classical architecture in new ways and is now conside...

After reading  “Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution” and “Third Culture: Being in Between” I realized how much it reinforced a concerning trend I noticed in my transition from high school to college. As a student at a small private school, there was plenty of room to explore whatever fields I wanted. I was able to take the math and science AP’s to prepare for university but I was still encouraged and given the opportunity to enjoy english and art.  Granted, this was through classes I was required to take but in high school I had the time and classes were not as difficult. I have included a video from my school to give you an idea of where I went to high school. One of my favorite books in high school. I picked this up after reading other Salinger books for school.  Coming here, obviously studies require a greater level of focus. The entire campus is laid out to maximize a students efficiency, with Arts on North Campus and Sciences on South Campus.  I th...