Conference Programme FULL (1)

Entanglements in the computer club: learning as non-compliant and ‘in the making’
Lucy Caton
Participatory research for children within school enrichment activities is often located in utilitarian approaches where
children’s participation is intertwined with the ideas and practices of knowing and representing children’s experiences
and thought processes (Elwick and Sumsion 2013). However, concerns that such approaches may obscure and perpetuate
the ever-present realities of power within the researcher ‘gaze’ for children and their learning. This has led to calls for the
need to broaden and deepen theoretical understanding of child participation within visual research.
The purpose of this research is to contribute to ongoing discussions about children, and their entanglements with the
material world. I offer a new methodological approach in capturing events in a school based computer club, filmed from
two different camera perspectives (a body harness and a static camera). The research uses Deleuze and Guatarri’s (1987)
concept of ‘haptic thinking’ and ‘smooth and striated’ space to think differently and move beyond fixed narratives of
children and their learning. I move away from the boarders and boundaries of traditional representational explanations
of images and towards an approach that changes and affects how viewers experience seeing, going beyond conventional
meaning. I look to the perceptual-sensory experience created as digital images and viewers come into being with one
another (Otterstad & Waterhouse, 2016) in an attempt to change the way researchers situate themselves within an
ontology of becoming.
I present several images that allow us to explore elements such as vitality, reverberation and movement that challenge
what constitutes data but also changes how we think about the data analysis process.
A new approach to understanding the factors affecting myoelectric prosthesis user functionality and everyday
usage.
Alix Chadwell
The absence of a hand either from birth or through amputation can have a significant impact on a person’s life. Not only
are daily tasks more difficult, but overuse injuries in the remaining muscles and joints are common. The provision of a
myoelectric prosthesis can help to restore some functionality to the user. These devices use electrical impulses generated
within the muscles of the residual arm to control motors which allow the prosthetic hand to be opened and closed.
Unfortunately, there have not been any significant advances in clinically available prostheses since their introduction in
the 1960’s. It is therefore unsurprising that rejection of myoelectric prostheses is reasonably high leading us to question
whether technology driven approaches are not the way forward. Instead we suggest looking at the existing control chain
in order to understand where it would benefit from improvement.
Research has identified a number of factors which can make myoelectric prostheses difficult for users to control; these
factors include the skill of the user in generating the correct muscle signals, the reliability with which the socket mounted
electrodes detect the signals, and the speed the hand responds. This will be the first study to bring these factors together
into one experiment.
To understand how each of these factors impacts on the user, I am assessing their performance using their prosthesis on
a series of structured tasks in the laboratory and also, for the first time, recording data on their use of their device in
everyday life.