Skip to main content

Javier Pereda

Liverpool John Moores University, Arts, Professional and Social Studies, Faculty Member

University of Southampton, Winchester School of Art, Graduate Student

University of Southampton, ECS Web Science, Graduate Student

University of Southampton, Archaeological Computing, Graduate Student

Liverpool John Moores University, Graphics Design and Illustration, Faculty Member

Liverpool John Moores University, Art and Design, Faculty Member

Liverpool John Moores University, Institute of Art and Technology, Faculty Member

Followers

278

Following

98

Co-authors

8

Public Views

I am a Web Scientist with a background in Design, Marketing, Multimedia and Television. My work focuses on Heritage Organisations and their data, primarily through Semantic Web technologies, and how that data can be facilitated to their communities through a wide range of User Interfaces.
I am currently a researcher in FACTLab Liverpool and a lecturer in Graphic Design and Illustration, where I am exploring the role of Interaction Design and Printmaking processes.

less

Kings College London

The British Museum

Akademie der Wissenschaften und Literatur Mainz

University College London

University of Kalyani

Parthasarathi Mukhopadhyay

University of Kalyani

InterestsView All (44)

Uploads

Papers by Javier Pereda

Unlocking the potential of digital collections. A call to action.

Towards a National Collection, 2024

This document presents the policy recommendations of Towards a National Collection (TaNC), a five... more This document presents the policy recommendations of Towards a National Collection (TaNC), a five-year, £18.9 million investment in the UK’s world-renowned museums, archives, libraries and galleries, with funding provided through UK Research and Innovation’s Strategic Priorities Fund and delivered by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).

The recommendations detail an end-to-end process, with case-study examples and supported by detailed training materials, which we ask UK cultural heritage institutions and their funders to adopt to help build a unified UK digital collection.

The adoption of these recommendations will take place as the AHRC develops options for a digital research infrastructure that would create the investment necessary to fund the elements of these recommendations beyond the capability and capacity of individual institutions.

TaNC believes that a unified UK digital collection will achieve transformational outcomes by breaking down the barriers that exist between the UK’s outstanding cultural heritage collections and unlocking their full potential for our cultural, social and economic good.

If the sector can adopt more common ways of working, ensuring their digital collections are created, stored and organised using agreed technical standards; protected with appropriate cybersecurity provisions; and preserved in ways that keeps them available for generations of users to come, they could be shared across a UK-wide technology infrastructure that would enable the public, specialist researchers and key communities of interest to access and engage with our cultural heritage in ways not yet even imagined.

Unlocking Nahua Cosmovision through Machine Learning

ICOFOM Materials for Discussion. Transnational Island Museologies, 2024

The tradition of writing in Mesoamerica was by painting. While most pre-Hispanic codices were des... more The tradition of writing in Mesoamerica was by painting. While most pre-Hispanic codices were destroyed during the Conquest, the tradition continued with colonial codices created by the tlacuiloque, where indigenous and Spanish techniques entangled while Indigenous scholars resisted, contested, and fought to maintain their own raditions. The shift from pre-Hispanic to colonial codices marked significant changes in aesthetics and purposes. Pre-Hispanic codices combined painting, oral, and performative traditions that served as mnemonic devices and held religious significance, connecting the diverse Indigenous knowledges and cosmovision. It is estimated that around 20 pre-Hispanic codices survive, and the tradition of writing by painting was substantially transformed while preserving their legal relevance. Nonetheless, the legacy continues with over 500 colonial codices documented (Valle, 1999), and more being discovered by the communities that created and sheltered them. Codices chronicle the cosmovision, history, and mythologies of Mexican people and many still constitute ‘live documents’, influencing modern social practices (Jiménez Padilla & Villela Flores, 1999).

An ontological approach for unlocking the Colonial Archive.

by Javier Pereda, Andres Villa Torres, and Patricia Murrieta-Flores

Journal on Computing and Cultural Heritage, 2023

Cultural Heritage institutions have been exploring new ways of making available their catalogues ... more Cultural Heritage institutions have been exploring new ways of making available their catalogues in digital format. Recently, new approaches have emerged as methods to reuse and make available the contents for computational purposes. This work introduces a methodology to transform digital collections into Linked Open Data following best practices. The framework has been applied to Indigenous and Spanish colonial archives based on the collection Relaciones Geográficas of Mexico and Guatemala provided by the LLILAS Benson Latin American Studies and Collections. The results of this work are publicly available. This work aims at encouraging Cultural Heritage institutions to publish and reuse their digital collections using advanced methods and techniques.

Latin American Young Researchers and the Academic Labour Market Employment. A Case Study Analysis

The neoliberal model that has permeated higher education, has instrumentalised and commodified kn... more The neoliberal model that has permeated higher education, has instrumentalised and commodified knowledge. This has forced academics to participate in the production of research to attract funding in the search of institutional stability. This paper problematizes the limited opportunities of integration of young Latin-American researchers in academic institutions. The purpose of this study is to explore the factors that hinder access to academia and unveil the weaknesses behind governmental policies for the development of employment programmes in both industry and academia. The methodology employed, is a critical discourse analysis of five biographies of Chilean and Mexican doctors. Results uncovered the use of discursive strategies that aim to legitimise reasons behind work fragility and the discursive construction of these actors. This article contributes to acknowledge similar patterns amongst Latin-American young researchers

Best practices in combining learner needs, lexicographic data and text editors to help learners write more idiomatically

The objective of the study was to determine the effectiveness of advice from medical professional... more The objective of the study was to determine the effectiveness of advice from medical professionals to overweight men. One hundred participants were randomly assigned to treatment and control groups. Healthcare professionals gave advice to men in the treatment groups. At one-year follow-up, when analysed according to intention to treat, the treatment group reported significant weight loss compared with the control group (p < 0.05). Open-ended questionnaires were administered to ascertain the influencing factors. Successful weight loss depends of factors such as motivation, diet, and exercise.

EXPERIENCIAS DE INVESTIGADORES NOVELES LATINOAMERICANOS EN LA REINSERCIÓN ACADÉMICO-LABORAL. UNA APROXIMACIÓN A PARTIR DE CASOS ESPECÍFICOS

by Jaime Andrés Gonzalez González, Javier Pereda, and Elizabeth Torrico Avila * Departamento de Idiomas *

ESPACIOS EN BLANCO. REVISTA DE EDUCACIÓN, 2022

El modelo neoliberal permea en la educación superior empujando a académicos a participar en la pr... more El modelo neoliberal permea en la educación superior empujando a académicos a participar en la producción de investigación
que permita su reinserción. Se problematiza las limitadas oportunidades de participación que tienen los investigadores noveles
latinoamericanos que buscan la reinserción. El objetivo de esta investigación es explorar las razones que dificultan su ingreso a la
academia y evidenciar las deficiencias de las políticas gubernamentales para el desarrollo de programas de absorción. La metodología
empleada es el análisis crítico del discurso de cinco biografías de doctores mexicanos y chilenos. Los resultados informan el empleo
de estrategias discursivas que apuntan a legitimar las razones de la precariedad laboral y la construcción discursiva de estos actores.
Este artículo contribuye a reconocer patrones similares en investigadores noveles latinoamericanos

Editorial. Lenguas Radicales Número 01. El Lenguaje Como Constructor de Realidad

Lenguas Radicales Número 01. El Lenguaje Como Constructor de Realidad, 2021

Mientras Latinoamérica continúa navegando a través de los mismos modelos de creación de conocimie... more Mientras Latinoamérica continúa navegando a través de los mismos modelos de creación de conocimiento colonizadores implementados y reafirmados por epistemologías occidentales que tienen influencia en la educación, economía, y cultura entre muchos otros, nos preguntamos si a pesar de los grandes movimientos sociales y reformas educativas que enfrenta la región actualmente se podría implementar un sistema de conocimiento que promueva la decolonización de las epistemes. En esa línea, se entiende la decolonialidad como una posibilidad de abrir puertas a nuevos métodos que sustituyan el razonamiento impuesto por la ideología y pensamiento occidental como la única forma de existir, pensar, analizar, o en este caso, de generar nuevos conocimientos (Mignolo & Walsh, 2018). Esto nos llama a pensar en aquellas estructuras heteropatriarcales, clasistas y raciales que han negado el conocimiento, espíritu y pensamiento de diversos grupos culturales y sus formas de interacción, y que han sido naturalizados y establecidos como fundamentos de la modernidad occidental y de la economía capitalista del mundo. En fin, a través del equipo que conforma la revista Lenguas Radicales, nos hemos dado a la tarea de discutir aquellas retóricas de modernidad, colonialismo, e imperialismo que nos atañen como latinoamericanos, academicistas, y exploradores de la cultura y de los leguajes como codificadora e interpretadora de la sociedad como constructo discursivo y comenzar a recuperar aproximaciones para la observación del problema que rescaten al sujeto subjetivado y su historicidad. Para ello, este primer número abre las puertas como una respuesta al empuje neoliberal en la academia latinoamericana con el modelo anglosajón de publicaciones, con la visión de facilitar el dialogo de problematización y difusión de ideas bajo una mirada crítica. De este modo proveemos una ruta para impugnar la modernidad y el colonialismo institucionalizado (Grovogui, 2018), la cual propone retóricas y narrativas que nos imponen una visión del mundo y generan representaciones sesgadas a catálogos universales homogeneizados, que instauran una manta que define y diseña el mundo según esos lineamientos. Lenguas Radicales, por su parte, nos invita a explorar nuevos espacios para descubrir y construir nuevas ideas y promover aquellas convivencias dialógicas que nos lleven a la desinstitucionalización y a la decolonización del saber, del conocer y del sentir.

Afrobits: An interactive installation of African music and the Trans-Atlantic slave trade

by Javier Pereda, Patricia Murrieta-Flores, and Lois South

EVA London 2020: Electronic Visualisation & the Arts. , 2020

This paper introduces Afrobits, an interactive installation about African music and the TransAtla... more This paper introduces Afrobits, an interactive installation about African music and the TransAtlantic slave trade. Its main aim is to bring to light invisible stories hidden behind geographic epistemologies. The installation highlights the contribution that African cultures had on the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of the world, such as popular music. Although it covers diverse countries, we focused on the Americas, placing emphasis on Latin-America as the biopolitical space that enabled the integration of native cultures with African peoples. As this project involved web scientists, graphic designers, historians, digital humanists and artists, we also discuss the benefits of interdisciplinary research; contributions from University researchers for the development of storytelling projects for the Cultural Heritage sector; and the implementation of complex technologies and research methods. Interaction Design. Digital Humanities. History. Cultural Heritage. Museum Studies.

First Thing, Everything: InterDesign Manifesto

Graphic Arts, Aug 2019

In this manifesto, we explore the idea that Design facilitates optimal interventions to any probl... more In this manifesto, we explore the idea that Design facilitates optimal interventions to any problem that relates to human activity. This could take the form of innovating communication or usability problems, critically engaging with a concept or idea, or selling a product or brand. As diverse as this sounds, this manifesto argues that Design is about innovation through informed processes while engaging with all areas of society.

Conductive Circuits

Printmaking Today, Mar 1, 2019

This article discusses how new technologies and research areas such as interaction design and new... more This article discusses how new technologies and research areas such as interaction design and new resources such as conductive materials can challenge the current perception and reach of prints. As part of the Design Lab and Print Lab at Liverpool John Moores University School of Art and Design, since …. we have been running a series of experiments and workshops with a wide range of artists, printmakers, designers and makers. We began by questioning the role of the print as part of an interactive system that uses functional materials. We started our exploration from an interdisciplinary perspective, where printmaking and digital technologies co-exist, thus the engagement with the print shares many of the properties and affordances1 of a wide range of user interfaces. Our research tested the role of functional materials and the ways in which they might be used in a printmaking environment for interactive outputs.

A TUI To Explore Cultural Heritage Repositories on The Web

Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction, Mar 16, 2019

This article presents a paper-based Tangible User Interface (TUI) that facilitates the production... more This article presents a paper-based Tangible User Interface (TUI) that facilitates the production of complex queries on a Cultural Heritage (CH) repository. The system helps to easily make use of the data elements and Boolean logic that describe the collections. This research presents a design methodology divided into two main phases: A User Experience (UX) and User Centred Design (UCD) where potential users’ behaviours are analysed, followed by the development and evaluation of the TUI prototype.
The TUI uses off the shelf electronics and a paper-based set of tokens to engage the user with the system, thus facilitating the exploration with CH collections through querying.

Tangible User Interfaces as a Pathway for Information Visualisation for Low Digital Literacy in the Digital Humanities

by Javier Pereda, Patricia Murrieta-Flores, Panagiotis Ritsos, and Jonathan Roberts

IEEE VIS 2017 - 2nd Workshop on Visualization for the Digital Humanities, 2017

Information visualisation has become a key element for empowering users to answer and produce new... more Information visualisation has become a key element for empowering users to answer and produce new questions, make sense and create narratives about specific sets of information. Current technologies , such as Linked Data, have changed how researchers and professionals in the Humanities and the Heritage sector engage with information. Digital literacy is of concern in many sectors, but is especially of concern for Digital Humanities. This is due to the fact that the Humanities and Heritage sector face an important division based on digital literacy that produce gaps in the way research can be carried out. One way to overcome the challenge of digital literacy and improve access to information can be Tangible User Interfaces (TUIs), which allow a more meaningful and natural pathway for a wide range of users. TUIs make use of physical objects to interact with the computer. In particular, they can facilitate the interaction process between the user and a data visualisation system. This position paper discusses the opportunity to engage with Digital Humanities information via TUIs and data visualisation tools, offering new ways to analyse, investigate and interpret the past.

Developing Downloadable TUIs for Online Pedagogic Activities

by Javier Pereda and Leif Isaksen

The Web has changed how we interact with the World’s information and knowledge. As a result there... more The Web has changed how we interact with the World’s information and knowledge. As a result there have been several changes to the education sector, especially in online distance learning. Nevertheless, most of the e-Learning activities struggle to break the GUI paradigm. The HCI community has focused on the use of Tangible User Interfaces (TUI) for pedagogic purposes thus producing some evidence of the potential that embodied cognition might bring to constructivist learning. New education movements such as the Edupunk movement argue for an empowerment of independent learners, following the constructivist perspective where learners have to have a more active role by experimenting and discovering concepts on their own. However, we think that accessing TUI systems via Web can lead to pedagogic activities that break the GUI paradigm in education on the Web. This paper presents a case study: three prototypes of TUIs for online learning and exploration were developed and tested, investigating the usability and engagement provided by this kind of interactive tools. In this document, we discuss firstly, the general processes and concepts that promoted the use of TUIs for constructivist learning, secondly, the approach followed to design the interfaces for the case study and finally, presents a comparative study of such interfaces and the results obtained.

Installation for Interpretation of Archaeological Sites. The Portus Visualisation Project

Archaeology in the Digital Era. Papers from the 40th Annual Conference of Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology (CAA). Printed Book & E-Proceedings, 2014

This project consist in the development of an installation involving several technological elemen... more This project consist in the development of an installation involving several technological elements which complement each other aiming to provide tools for interpretation and experimentation. Among other technologies, the installation uses Augmented Reality, 3D Modelling, Projection Mapping, and 3D Printing. Part of the archaeological site of Portus, Italy was presented as an example for the visualization, focusing primarily on one of the warehouses. The methodology developed here is transposable to many archaeological sites, and its main goal was to show the mentioned technology at work, which may be used to assist in the interpretation of the site. As we progressively become more multi-skilled, the boundaries between industries and disciplines become less visible and it is difficult to pre-plan when it will be required to bring other specialists into the field that is to be developed.

The Role of Lucha Libre in the Construction of Mexican Male Identity

by Javier Pereda and Patricia Murrieta-Flores

Lucha Libre has played an important role in Mexican culture since the late 1950s. The sport becam... more Lucha Libre has played an important role in Mexican culture since the late 1950s. The sport became famous mainly due to its masked wrestlers, who incorporated their own family traditions, beliefs and fears into the design of their masks, transforming an ordinary person into a fearless character.

After the introduction of the Monsters Cinema in the 1930s, Mexican audiences welcomed and adopted characters like Dracula, Nosferatu, Frankenstein and The Werewolf. The success of Monster Cinema in Mexican culture was based on the integration of national legends and beliefs, placing them in local and identifiable concepts in the Mexican popular imagination. Later, Lucha Libre Cinema mixed with Monster Cinema resulting in the birth of new heroes and myths.

These emergent paladins of the Mexican metropolis set the cultural and moral standards of that time and how Mexicans wanted to be perceived. Through an anthropological and historical analysis of Mexican Cinema and Lucha Libre, this
paper investigates the main social interaction of male wrestlers who perform as heroes inside the celluloid world and outside of it. We explore how masculinity and the male figure evolves in Lucha Libre Cinema, and the processes that wrestlers have to undergo in order to be able to portray themselves as superheroes of an evolving and fast growing Mexico.

The Role of Lucha Libre in the Construction of Mexican Male Identity

by Javier Pereda and Patricia Murrieta-Flores

Media, Communication and Cultural Studies Association, Jul 9, 2011

Lucha Libre has played an important role in Mexican culture since the late 1950s. The sport becam... more Lucha Libre has played an important role in Mexican culture since the late 1950s. The sport became famous mainly due to its masked wrestlers, who incorporated their own family traditions, beliefs and fears into the design of their masks, transforming an ordinary person into a fearless character.

After the introduction of the Monsters Cinema in the 1930s, Mexican audiences welcomed and adopted characters like Dracula, Nosferatu, Frankenstein and The Werewolf. The success of Monster Cinema in Mexican culture was based on the integration of national legends and beliefs, placing them in local and identifiable concepts in the Mexican popular imagination. Later, Lucha Libre Cinema mixed with Monster Cinema resulting in the birth of new heroes and myths. These emergent paladins of the Mexican metropolis set the cultural and moral standards of that time and how Mexicans wanted to be perceived.

Through an anthropological and historical analysis of Mexican Cinema and Lucha Libre, this paper investigates the main social interaction of male wrestlers who perform as heroes inside the celluloid world and outside of it. We explore how masculinity and the male figure evolves in Lucha Libre Cinema, and the processes that wrestlers have to undergo in order to be able to portray themselves as superheroes of an evolving and fast growing Mexico.""

Lucha Libre: Visualising Behind the Mask

Lucha Libre has played an important role in Mexican culture since the late 1950s. At its early st... more Lucha Libre has played an important role in Mexican culture since the late 1950s. At its early stage, wrestling from the United States and the French “Catch as Catch Can” blended within popular Mexican culture absorbing its social, political and mythical idiosyncrasy evolving later into what it would be known as Lucha Libre. This sport has become famous mainly due to its masked wrestlers which embed their family traditions, beliefs and fears into the design of their masks, allowing them to transform a regular person into a fearless character.

The objective of this project is to analyse and present how the visual elements within the masks are created and how they evolve through time. Utilising several visual communication methods I have been able to explore the ideas and processes behind the characters creation and its evolution inside the Lucha Libre media. This has been done through the implementation of diverse technologies which enables any user to be submerged into the world of Lucha Libre and witness that experience. Through the next interactive exhibitions, this project offers a mixture of visualisation, technology and social theory, looking to understand the anthropological complexity behind the design of the masks inside the Lucha Libre world.

What are the privacy implications of the online ‘data deluge’?

The ‘data deluge’ refers to the sheer speed and volume of new data generation, outrunning capacit... more The ‘data deluge’ refers to the sheer speed and volume of new data generation, outrunning capacities to manage and make use of it. A vast amount of that data is shared online in the advent of cheap internet access and a change in the attitude of both businesses and consumers to online interaction [1]. New web technologies also change how we collect, store and transmit data. While the online information explosion has the potential to transform business, government, academia and everyday lives in positive ways, risks are posed by the huge increase in the volume of personal data on the Web. In particular, personal data is increasingly being collected online in the pursuit of commercial advantage and at the risk of forsaking individual privacy.

We consider the implications of the data deluge focusing on this problem of privacy using Philosophy, Marketing and Law. We use a philosophical theory of privacy as ‘information control’ to highlight the tension between different claims over personal data. Then disciplinary perspectives of Marketing and Law have been chosen for discussion as they exemplify different mechanisms for exerting information control in the interests of different stakeholders.

Books by Javier Pereda

Exploración del Patrimonio Cultural a través de Interfaces Tangibles en la Red

Arqueologia Computacional. Nuevos enfoques para la documentación, análisis y difusión del patrimonio cultural, Dec 6, 2017

Este articulo presenta un nuevo marco de referencia para explorar contenido de patrimonio cultura... more Este articulo presenta un nuevo marco de referencia para explorar contenido de patrimonio cultural en la Red a través de objetos físicos, y su investigación se deriva a partir de un nuevo entendimiento interdisciplinario sobre el Patrimonio Cultural en la Red (PCR). Nuevas tecnologías en la Red han mejorado el acceso y la calidad de la información de colecciones digitales, y el uso de, por ejemplo, Linked Data y Datos Ontológicos ha permitido la conexión de metadatos a gran escala que permiten a los usuarios y organizaciones extender la complejidad y alcance de su información. Esta nueva complejidad de información tiene la capacidad de generar nuevas preguntas de investigación acerca de cómo los nuevos usuarios en las Redes Semánticas proceden a explorar y desarrollar preguntas sobre el contenido no solo del patrimonio cultural, sino también sobre todo tipo de información en la Red. A través de las disciplinas de Ciencias de la Información, Human Computer Interaction (HCI) y Pedagogía, entre otras, este estudio se enfoca en la creación y análisis de nuevos métodos dentro de estas disciplinas relacionados con el usuario y la importancia de los sistemas interactivos en la Red.

El propósito de esta investigación es la creación de un marco de referencia, teórico y metodológico novedoso para reducir brechas digitales generacionales y de información, donde se permita a usuarios de diferentes niveles desarrollar y elaborar preguntas complejas en las Redes Semánticas enfocadas en Patrimonio Cultural. Como resultado, este estudio presenta el proceso para resolver preguntas de investigación relacionadas con el acceso de información digital a través del uso de Interfaces Tangibles (Tangible User Interfaces/TUI). El prototipo aquí presentado hace uso de la cognición corpórea (embodied cognition) a través de actividades de naturaleza constructivista en las cuales los usuarios se acercan al PCR llevando a cabo preguntas sobre su contenido mediante la utilización de objetos físicos. La metodología utilizada se deriva de investigación previa donde se establecen diferentes niveles de necesidad de la información como un proceso de Interacción Humana con la Información (Human Information Interaction/HII) y a su vez, este proceso utiliza Diseño Centrado en el Usuario (User Centred Design/UCD). El sistema interactivo creado, permite formular preguntas complejas integrando información proveniente de un vasto grupo de diferentes organizaciones dentro del patrimonio cultural (ej. Museos, bibliotecas, archivos, universidades, etc.). El caso de estudio particular que aquí presentamos, se enfoca en Europeana (uno de los mayores proyectos de integración de información cultural digital en Europa) como proveedor de información. A través de su API (Interfaz de Programación de Aplicaciones), el sistema interactivo transforma los datos digitales en elementos físicos manipulables.

Talks by Javier Pereda

Unlocking Nahua Cosmovision through Machine Learning

The tradition of writing in Mesoamerica was by paining. Most pre-Hispanic codices, however, would... more The tradition of writing in Mesoamerica was by paining. Most pre-Hispanic codices, however, would be destroyed during the Conquest of America. The tradition continued with colonial codices created by the tlacuiloque, where indigenous and Spanish techniques entangled while indigenous scholars resisted, contested, and fought to maintain their own traditions. The shift from pre-Hispanic to colonial codices marked significant changes in aesthetics and purposes. Pre-Hispanic codices combined painting, oral and performative traditions that served as mnemonic devices and held religious significance, connecting the diverse indigenous knowledge and cosmovision. It is estimated that around 20 pre-Hispanic codices survive, and the tradition of writing by painting was substantially transformed while preserving their legal relevance. Nonetheless, the legacy continues with over 500 colonial codices documented (Valle, 1999), and more being discovered by the communities that created and sheltered them. Codices chronicle the cosmovision, history, and mythologies of Mexican people and many still constitute ‘live documents’, influencing modern social practices (Jiménez Padilla & Villela Flores, 1999).

Unlocking the potential of digital collections. A call to action.

Towards a National Collection, 2024

This document presents the policy recommendations of Towards a National Collection (TaNC), a five... more This document presents the policy recommendations of Towards a National Collection (TaNC), a five-year, £18.9 million investment in the UK’s world-renowned museums, archives, libraries and galleries, with funding provided through UK Research and Innovation’s Strategic Priorities Fund and delivered by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).

The recommendations detail an end-to-end process, with case-study examples and supported by detailed training materials, which we ask UK cultural heritage institutions and their funders to adopt to help build a unified UK digital collection.

The adoption of these recommendations will take place as the AHRC develops options for a digital research infrastructure that would create the investment necessary to fund the elements of these recommendations beyond the capability and capacity of individual institutions.

TaNC believes that a unified UK digital collection will achieve transformational outcomes by breaking down the barriers that exist between the UK’s outstanding cultural heritage collections and unlocking their full potential for our cultural, social and economic good.

If the sector can adopt more common ways of working, ensuring their digital collections are created, stored and organised using agreed technical standards; protected with appropriate cybersecurity provisions; and preserved in ways that keeps them available for generations of users to come, they could be shared across a UK-wide technology infrastructure that would enable the public, specialist researchers and key communities of interest to access and engage with our cultural heritage in ways not yet even imagined.

Unlocking Nahua Cosmovision through Machine Learning

ICOFOM Materials for Discussion. Transnational Island Museologies, 2024

The tradition of writing in Mesoamerica was by painting. While most pre-Hispanic codices were des... more The tradition of writing in Mesoamerica was by painting. While most pre-Hispanic codices were destroyed during the Conquest, the tradition continued with colonial codices created by the tlacuiloque, where indigenous and Spanish techniques entangled while Indigenous scholars resisted, contested, and fought to maintain their own raditions. The shift from pre-Hispanic to colonial codices marked significant changes in aesthetics and purposes. Pre-Hispanic codices combined painting, oral, and performative traditions that served as mnemonic devices and held religious significance, connecting the diverse Indigenous knowledges and cosmovision. It is estimated that around 20 pre-Hispanic codices survive, and the tradition of writing by painting was substantially transformed while preserving their legal relevance. Nonetheless, the legacy continues with over 500 colonial codices documented (Valle, 1999), and more being discovered by the communities that created and sheltered them. Codices chronicle the cosmovision, history, and mythologies of Mexican people and many still constitute ‘live documents’, influencing modern social practices (Jiménez Padilla & Villela Flores, 1999).

An ontological approach for unlocking the Colonial Archive.

by Javier Pereda, Andres Villa Torres, and Patricia Murrieta-Flores

Journal on Computing and Cultural Heritage, 2023

Cultural Heritage institutions have been exploring new ways of making available their catalogues ... more Cultural Heritage institutions have been exploring new ways of making available their catalogues in digital format. Recently, new approaches have emerged as methods to reuse and make available the contents for computational purposes. This work introduces a methodology to transform digital collections into Linked Open Data following best practices. The framework has been applied to Indigenous and Spanish colonial archives based on the collection Relaciones Geográficas of Mexico and Guatemala provided by the LLILAS Benson Latin American Studies and Collections. The results of this work are publicly available. This work aims at encouraging Cultural Heritage institutions to publish and reuse their digital collections using advanced methods and techniques.

Latin American Young Researchers and the Academic Labour Market Employment. A Case Study Analysis

The neoliberal model that has permeated higher education, has instrumentalised and commodified kn... more The neoliberal model that has permeated higher education, has instrumentalised and commodified knowledge. This has forced academics to participate in the production of research to attract funding in the search of institutional stability. This paper problematizes the limited opportunities of integration of young Latin-American researchers in academic institutions. The purpose of this study is to explore the factors that hinder access to academia and unveil the weaknesses behind governmental policies for the development of employment programmes in both industry and academia. The methodology employed, is a critical discourse analysis of five biographies of Chilean and Mexican doctors. Results uncovered the use of discursive strategies that aim to legitimise reasons behind work fragility and the discursive construction of these actors. This article contributes to acknowledge similar patterns amongst Latin-American young researchers

Best practices in combining learner needs, lexicographic data and text editors to help learners write more idiomatically

The objective of the study was to determine the effectiveness of advice from medical professional... more The objective of the study was to determine the effectiveness of advice from medical professionals to overweight men. One hundred participants were randomly assigned to treatment and control groups. Healthcare professionals gave advice to men in the treatment groups. At one-year follow-up, when analysed according to intention to treat, the treatment group reported significant weight loss compared with the control group (p < 0.05). Open-ended questionnaires were administered to ascertain the influencing factors. Successful weight loss depends of factors such as motivation, diet, and exercise.

EXPERIENCIAS DE INVESTIGADORES NOVELES LATINOAMERICANOS EN LA REINSERCIÓN ACADÉMICO-LABORAL. UNA APROXIMACIÓN A PARTIR DE CASOS ESPECÍFICOS

by Jaime Andrés Gonzalez González, Javier Pereda, and Elizabeth Torrico Avila * Departamento de Idiomas *

ESPACIOS EN BLANCO. REVISTA DE EDUCACIÓN, 2022

El modelo neoliberal permea en la educación superior empujando a académicos a participar en la pr... more El modelo neoliberal permea en la educación superior empujando a académicos a participar en la producción de investigación
que permita su reinserción. Se problematiza las limitadas oportunidades de participación que tienen los investigadores noveles
latinoamericanos que buscan la reinserción. El objetivo de esta investigación es explorar las razones que dificultan su ingreso a la
academia y evidenciar las deficiencias de las políticas gubernamentales para el desarrollo de programas de absorción. La metodología
empleada es el análisis crítico del discurso de cinco biografías de doctores mexicanos y chilenos. Los resultados informan el empleo
de estrategias discursivas que apuntan a legitimar las razones de la precariedad laboral y la construcción discursiva de estos actores.
Este artículo contribuye a reconocer patrones similares en investigadores noveles latinoamericanos

Editorial. Lenguas Radicales Número 01. El Lenguaje Como Constructor de Realidad

Lenguas Radicales Número 01. El Lenguaje Como Constructor de Realidad, 2021

Mientras Latinoamérica continúa navegando a través de los mismos modelos de creación de conocimie... more Mientras Latinoamérica continúa navegando a través de los mismos modelos de creación de conocimiento colonizadores implementados y reafirmados por epistemologías occidentales que tienen influencia en la educación, economía, y cultura entre muchos otros, nos preguntamos si a pesar de los grandes movimientos sociales y reformas educativas que enfrenta la región actualmente se podría implementar un sistema de conocimiento que promueva la decolonización de las epistemes. En esa línea, se entiende la decolonialidad como una posibilidad de abrir puertas a nuevos métodos que sustituyan el razonamiento impuesto por la ideología y pensamiento occidental como la única forma de existir, pensar, analizar, o en este caso, de generar nuevos conocimientos (Mignolo & Walsh, 2018). Esto nos llama a pensar en aquellas estructuras heteropatriarcales, clasistas y raciales que han negado el conocimiento, espíritu y pensamiento de diversos grupos culturales y sus formas de interacción, y que han sido naturalizados y establecidos como fundamentos de la modernidad occidental y de la economía capitalista del mundo. En fin, a través del equipo que conforma la revista Lenguas Radicales, nos hemos dado a la tarea de discutir aquellas retóricas de modernidad, colonialismo, e imperialismo que nos atañen como latinoamericanos, academicistas, y exploradores de la cultura y de los leguajes como codificadora e interpretadora de la sociedad como constructo discursivo y comenzar a recuperar aproximaciones para la observación del problema que rescaten al sujeto subjetivado y su historicidad. Para ello, este primer número abre las puertas como una respuesta al empuje neoliberal en la academia latinoamericana con el modelo anglosajón de publicaciones, con la visión de facilitar el dialogo de problematización y difusión de ideas bajo una mirada crítica. De este modo proveemos una ruta para impugnar la modernidad y el colonialismo institucionalizado (Grovogui, 2018), la cual propone retóricas y narrativas que nos imponen una visión del mundo y generan representaciones sesgadas a catálogos universales homogeneizados, que instauran una manta que define y diseña el mundo según esos lineamientos. Lenguas Radicales, por su parte, nos invita a explorar nuevos espacios para descubrir y construir nuevas ideas y promover aquellas convivencias dialógicas que nos lleven a la desinstitucionalización y a la decolonización del saber, del conocer y del sentir.

Afrobits: An interactive installation of African music and the Trans-Atlantic slave trade

by Javier Pereda, Patricia Murrieta-Flores, and Lois South

EVA London 2020: Electronic Visualisation & the Arts. , 2020

This paper introduces Afrobits, an interactive installation about African music and the TransAtla... more This paper introduces Afrobits, an interactive installation about African music and the TransAtlantic slave trade. Its main aim is to bring to light invisible stories hidden behind geographic epistemologies. The installation highlights the contribution that African cultures had on the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of the world, such as popular music. Although it covers diverse countries, we focused on the Americas, placing emphasis on Latin-America as the biopolitical space that enabled the integration of native cultures with African peoples. As this project involved web scientists, graphic designers, historians, digital humanists and artists, we also discuss the benefits of interdisciplinary research; contributions from University researchers for the development of storytelling projects for the Cultural Heritage sector; and the implementation of complex technologies and research methods. Interaction Design. Digital Humanities. History. Cultural Heritage. Museum Studies.

First Thing, Everything: InterDesign Manifesto

Graphic Arts, Aug 2019

In this manifesto, we explore the idea that Design facilitates optimal interventions to any probl... more In this manifesto, we explore the idea that Design facilitates optimal interventions to any problem that relates to human activity. This could take the form of innovating communication or usability problems, critically engaging with a concept or idea, or selling a product or brand. As diverse as this sounds, this manifesto argues that Design is about innovation through informed processes while engaging with all areas of society.

Conductive Circuits

Printmaking Today, Mar 1, 2019

This article discusses how new technologies and research areas such as interaction design and new... more This article discusses how new technologies and research areas such as interaction design and new resources such as conductive materials can challenge the current perception and reach of prints. As part of the Design Lab and Print Lab at Liverpool John Moores University School of Art and Design, since …. we have been running a series of experiments and workshops with a wide range of artists, printmakers, designers and makers. We began by questioning the role of the print as part of an interactive system that uses functional materials. We started our exploration from an interdisciplinary perspective, where printmaking and digital technologies co-exist, thus the engagement with the print shares many of the properties and affordances1 of a wide range of user interfaces. Our research tested the role of functional materials and the ways in which they might be used in a printmaking environment for interactive outputs.

A TUI To Explore Cultural Heritage Repositories on The Web

Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction, Mar 16, 2019

This article presents a paper-based Tangible User Interface (TUI) that facilitates the production... more This article presents a paper-based Tangible User Interface (TUI) that facilitates the production of complex queries on a Cultural Heritage (CH) repository. The system helps to easily make use of the data elements and Boolean logic that describe the collections. This research presents a design methodology divided into two main phases: A User Experience (UX) and User Centred Design (UCD) where potential users’ behaviours are analysed, followed by the development and evaluation of the TUI prototype.
The TUI uses off the shelf electronics and a paper-based set of tokens to engage the user with the system, thus facilitating the exploration with CH collections through querying.

Tangible User Interfaces as a Pathway for Information Visualisation for Low Digital Literacy in the Digital Humanities

by Javier Pereda, Patricia Murrieta-Flores, Panagiotis Ritsos, and Jonathan Roberts

IEEE VIS 2017 - 2nd Workshop on Visualization for the Digital Humanities, 2017

Information visualisation has become a key element for empowering users to answer and produce new... more Information visualisation has become a key element for empowering users to answer and produce new questions, make sense and create narratives about specific sets of information. Current technologies , such as Linked Data, have changed how researchers and professionals in the Humanities and the Heritage sector engage with information. Digital literacy is of concern in many sectors, but is especially of concern for Digital Humanities. This is due to the fact that the Humanities and Heritage sector face an important division based on digital literacy that produce gaps in the way research can be carried out. One way to overcome the challenge of digital literacy and improve access to information can be Tangible User Interfaces (TUIs), which allow a more meaningful and natural pathway for a wide range of users. TUIs make use of physical objects to interact with the computer. In particular, they can facilitate the interaction process between the user and a data visualisation system. This position paper discusses the opportunity to engage with Digital Humanities information via TUIs and data visualisation tools, offering new ways to analyse, investigate and interpret the past.

Developing Downloadable TUIs for Online Pedagogic Activities

by Javier Pereda and Leif Isaksen

The Web has changed how we interact with the World’s information and knowledge. As a result there... more The Web has changed how we interact with the World’s information and knowledge. As a result there have been several changes to the education sector, especially in online distance learning. Nevertheless, most of the e-Learning activities struggle to break the GUI paradigm. The HCI community has focused on the use of Tangible User Interfaces (TUI) for pedagogic purposes thus producing some evidence of the potential that embodied cognition might bring to constructivist learning. New education movements such as the Edupunk movement argue for an empowerment of independent learners, following the constructivist perspective where learners have to have a more active role by experimenting and discovering concepts on their own. However, we think that accessing TUI systems via Web can lead to pedagogic activities that break the GUI paradigm in education on the Web. This paper presents a case study: three prototypes of TUIs for online learning and exploration were developed and tested, investigating the usability and engagement provided by this kind of interactive tools. In this document, we discuss firstly, the general processes and concepts that promoted the use of TUIs for constructivist learning, secondly, the approach followed to design the interfaces for the case study and finally, presents a comparative study of such interfaces and the results obtained.

Installation for Interpretation of Archaeological Sites. The Portus Visualisation Project

Archaeology in the Digital Era. Papers from the 40th Annual Conference of Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology (CAA). Printed Book & E-Proceedings, 2014

This project consist in the development of an installation involving several technological elemen... more This project consist in the development of an installation involving several technological elements which complement each other aiming to provide tools for interpretation and experimentation. Among other technologies, the installation uses Augmented Reality, 3D Modelling, Projection Mapping, and 3D Printing. Part of the archaeological site of Portus, Italy was presented as an example for the visualization, focusing primarily on one of the warehouses. The methodology developed here is transposable to many archaeological sites, and its main goal was to show the mentioned technology at work, which may be used to assist in the interpretation of the site. As we progressively become more multi-skilled, the boundaries between industries and disciplines become less visible and it is difficult to pre-plan when it will be required to bring other specialists into the field that is to be developed.

The Role of Lucha Libre in the Construction of Mexican Male Identity

by Javier Pereda and Patricia Murrieta-Flores

Lucha Libre has played an important role in Mexican culture since the late 1950s. The sport becam... more Lucha Libre has played an important role in Mexican culture since the late 1950s. The sport became famous mainly due to its masked wrestlers, who incorporated their own family traditions, beliefs and fears into the design of their masks, transforming an ordinary person into a fearless character.

After the introduction of the Monsters Cinema in the 1930s, Mexican audiences welcomed and adopted characters like Dracula, Nosferatu, Frankenstein and The Werewolf. The success of Monster Cinema in Mexican culture was based on the integration of national legends and beliefs, placing them in local and identifiable concepts in the Mexican popular imagination. Later, Lucha Libre Cinema mixed with Monster Cinema resulting in the birth of new heroes and myths.

These emergent paladins of the Mexican metropolis set the cultural and moral standards of that time and how Mexicans wanted to be perceived. Through an anthropological and historical analysis of Mexican Cinema and Lucha Libre, this
paper investigates the main social interaction of male wrestlers who perform as heroes inside the celluloid world and outside of it. We explore how masculinity and the male figure evolves in Lucha Libre Cinema, and the processes that wrestlers have to undergo in order to be able to portray themselves as superheroes of an evolving and fast growing Mexico.

The Role of Lucha Libre in the Construction of Mexican Male Identity

by Javier Pereda and Patricia Murrieta-Flores

Media, Communication and Cultural Studies Association, Jul 9, 2011

Lucha Libre has played an important role in Mexican culture since the late 1950s. The sport becam... more Lucha Libre has played an important role in Mexican culture since the late 1950s. The sport became famous mainly due to its masked wrestlers, who incorporated their own family traditions, beliefs and fears into the design of their masks, transforming an ordinary person into a fearless character.

After the introduction of the Monsters Cinema in the 1930s, Mexican audiences welcomed and adopted characters like Dracula, Nosferatu, Frankenstein and The Werewolf. The success of Monster Cinema in Mexican culture was based on the integration of national legends and beliefs, placing them in local and identifiable concepts in the Mexican popular imagination. Later, Lucha Libre Cinema mixed with Monster Cinema resulting in the birth of new heroes and myths. These emergent paladins of the Mexican metropolis set the cultural and moral standards of that time and how Mexicans wanted to be perceived.

Through an anthropological and historical analysis of Mexican Cinema and Lucha Libre, this paper investigates the main social interaction of male wrestlers who perform as heroes inside the celluloid world and outside of it. We explore how masculinity and the male figure evolves in Lucha Libre Cinema, and the processes that wrestlers have to undergo in order to be able to portray themselves as superheroes of an evolving and fast growing Mexico.""

Lucha Libre: Visualising Behind the Mask

Lucha Libre has played an important role in Mexican culture since the late 1950s. At its early st... more Lucha Libre has played an important role in Mexican culture since the late 1950s. At its early stage, wrestling from the United States and the French “Catch as Catch Can” blended within popular Mexican culture absorbing its social, political and mythical idiosyncrasy evolving later into what it would be known as Lucha Libre. This sport has become famous mainly due to its masked wrestlers which embed their family traditions, beliefs and fears into the design of their masks, allowing them to transform a regular person into a fearless character.

The objective of this project is to analyse and present how the visual elements within the masks are created and how they evolve through time. Utilising several visual communication methods I have been able to explore the ideas and processes behind the characters creation and its evolution inside the Lucha Libre media. This has been done through the implementation of diverse technologies which enables any user to be submerged into the world of Lucha Libre and witness that experience. Through the next interactive exhibitions, this project offers a mixture of visualisation, technology and social theory, looking to understand the anthropological complexity behind the design of the masks inside the Lucha Libre world.

What are the privacy implications of the online ‘data deluge’?

The ‘data deluge’ refers to the sheer speed and volume of new data generation, outrunning capacit... more The ‘data deluge’ refers to the sheer speed and volume of new data generation, outrunning capacities to manage and make use of it. A vast amount of that data is shared online in the advent of cheap internet access and a change in the attitude of both businesses and consumers to online interaction [1]. New web technologies also change how we collect, store and transmit data. While the online information explosion has the potential to transform business, government, academia and everyday lives in positive ways, risks are posed by the huge increase in the volume of personal data on the Web. In particular, personal data is increasingly being collected online in the pursuit of commercial advantage and at the risk of forsaking individual privacy.

We consider the implications of the data deluge focusing on this problem of privacy using Philosophy, Marketing and Law. We use a philosophical theory of privacy as ‘information control’ to highlight the tension between different claims over personal data. Then disciplinary perspectives of Marketing and Law have been chosen for discussion as they exemplify different mechanisms for exerting information control in the interests of different stakeholders.

Exploración del Patrimonio Cultural a través de Interfaces Tangibles en la Red

Arqueologia Computacional. Nuevos enfoques para la documentación, análisis y difusión del patrimonio cultural, Dec 6, 2017

Este articulo presenta un nuevo marco de referencia para explorar contenido de patrimonio cultura... more Este articulo presenta un nuevo marco de referencia para explorar contenido de patrimonio cultural en la Red a través de objetos físicos, y su investigación se deriva a partir de un nuevo entendimiento interdisciplinario sobre el Patrimonio Cultural en la Red (PCR). Nuevas tecnologías en la Red han mejorado el acceso y la calidad de la información de colecciones digitales, y el uso de, por ejemplo, Linked Data y Datos Ontológicos ha permitido la conexión de metadatos a gran escala que permiten a los usuarios y organizaciones extender la complejidad y alcance de su información. Esta nueva complejidad de información tiene la capacidad de generar nuevas preguntas de investigación acerca de cómo los nuevos usuarios en las Redes Semánticas proceden a explorar y desarrollar preguntas sobre el contenido no solo del patrimonio cultural, sino también sobre todo tipo de información en la Red. A través de las disciplinas de Ciencias de la Información, Human Computer Interaction (HCI) y Pedagogía, entre otras, este estudio se enfoca en la creación y análisis de nuevos métodos dentro de estas disciplinas relacionados con el usuario y la importancia de los sistemas interactivos en la Red.

El propósito de esta investigación es la creación de un marco de referencia, teórico y metodológico novedoso para reducir brechas digitales generacionales y de información, donde se permita a usuarios de diferentes niveles desarrollar y elaborar preguntas complejas en las Redes Semánticas enfocadas en Patrimonio Cultural. Como resultado, este estudio presenta el proceso para resolver preguntas de investigación relacionadas con el acceso de información digital a través del uso de Interfaces Tangibles (Tangible User Interfaces/TUI). El prototipo aquí presentado hace uso de la cognición corpórea (embodied cognition) a través de actividades de naturaleza constructivista en las cuales los usuarios se acercan al PCR llevando a cabo preguntas sobre su contenido mediante la utilización de objetos físicos. La metodología utilizada se deriva de investigación previa donde se establecen diferentes niveles de necesidad de la información como un proceso de Interacción Humana con la Información (Human Information Interaction/HII) y a su vez, este proceso utiliza Diseño Centrado en el Usuario (User Centred Design/UCD). El sistema interactivo creado, permite formular preguntas complejas integrando información proveniente de un vasto grupo de diferentes organizaciones dentro del patrimonio cultural (ej. Museos, bibliotecas, archivos, universidades, etc.). El caso de estudio particular que aquí presentamos, se enfoca en Europeana (uno de los mayores proyectos de integración de información cultural digital en Europa) como proveedor de información. A través de su API (Interfaz de Programación de Aplicaciones), el sistema interactivo transforma los datos digitales en elementos físicos manipulables.

Unlocking Nahua Cosmovision through Machine Learning

The tradition of writing in Mesoamerica was by paining. Most pre-Hispanic codices, however, would... more The tradition of writing in Mesoamerica was by paining. Most pre-Hispanic codices, however, would be destroyed during the Conquest of America. The tradition continued with colonial codices created by the tlacuiloque, where indigenous and Spanish techniques entangled while indigenous scholars resisted, contested, and fought to maintain their own traditions. The shift from pre-Hispanic to colonial codices marked significant changes in aesthetics and purposes. Pre-Hispanic codices combined painting, oral and performative traditions that served as mnemonic devices and held religious significance, connecting the diverse indigenous knowledge and cosmovision. It is estimated that around 20 pre-Hispanic codices survive, and the tradition of writing by painting was substantially transformed while preserving their legal relevance. Nonetheless, the legacy continues with over 500 colonial codices documented (Valle, 1999), and more being discovered by the communities that created and sheltered them. Codices chronicle the cosmovision, history, and mythologies of Mexican people and many still constitute ‘live documents’, influencing modern social practices (Jiménez Padilla & Villela Flores, 1999).

Exploring Online Cultural Heritage. Integrating Queries Through Tangible User Interfaces on the Web.

The Web has changed the way that organisations work around the world and the case of CH is no exc... more The Web has changed the way that organisations work around the world and the case of CH is no exception. Many Web technologies such as the Semantic Web and Design protocols have helped managing vast sets of information. On one hand, there has been an immense progress in the way people (and computers) manage and produce information. Many CH organisations have adopted Linked Data Systems as well as Open Data policies backed up with ontologies to enhance inferences and accuracy of the knowledge depicted. Such methods are becoming more widespread across the CH sector with data models such as CIDOC, Dublin Core and EDM among others, allowing their collections to be interconnected through their metadata. On the other hand, people in CH have used a wide range of technologies to ingest, manage and engage with such knowledge. Interfaces have become the main pathway between the knowledge and the user. Nevertheless, in order to interact with such knowledge, particularly on the Web, users have to navigate through interactive methods widely monopolised by Graphical User Interfaces (GUI). Human Computer Interaction (HCI) research has introduced what can be suggested as novel and more optimal ways of interaction through Tangible User Interfaces (TUI). TUIs offer the opportunity to transform digital content into palpable objects. Therefore, TUIs offer physical manipulation of digital information and the user of sensory-motor skills.
This paper presents a Web based Tangible User Interface to explore Cultural Heritage knowledge. It discusses novel approaches to assist users to conceptualise and deliver complex queries to Linked Data repositories. The paper discusses information engagement challenges currently raised in the Cultural Heritage sector (CH) on the Web. Moreover, it introduces Europeana as a case study where Linked Data repositories are used to offer users the opportunity to explore vast sets of knowledge in museums, libraries, and archives across Europe.

Enhancing Engagement with Online Museums

Museums play a major role promoting knowledge about material culture. Museums usually share this ... more Museums play a major role promoting knowledge about material culture. Museums usually share this knowledge through displays. These displays occupy a physical location and are limited to the amount of information presented on them. For this reason museum displays have certain requirements and limitations. Nevertheless, when museums present knowledge on the Web, those requirements change.

One of the primary issues that needs highlighting is that all engagement with digital content occurs via an interface. Especially on the Web, experiences and learning objectives become increasingly dependant on interaction design. Interfaces have to provide all or most of the elements that museums offer to achieve a meaningful visitor experience.

There are several interaction methods that can help online museums (OM) to achieve their communication and pedagogic activities. This research focuses on understanding such interaction methods and how users might interact and learn with online cultural heritage. Moreover, it is also important to understand how online learners might approach a system when looking for a specific set of knowledge.

Although different groups are working to make museums’ digital content more accessible to the world, it is still difficult for many visitors to use it. Tangible user interfaces (TUI) may help to solve this issue. Nonetheless, TUIs are still on their infancy and require further study, especially on the Web. This research adopts TUIs as a primary method of interaction for asking questions in a linked data system provided by OMs. This provides an innovative and alternative method for interacting with knowledge.

Interactivity and Interfaces

New Online Museum – How to Enhance Engagement with Online Museum Content

The Web has changed how museums interact with audiences. This phenomenon has not yet been complet... more The Web has changed how museums interact with audiences. This phenomenon has not yet been completely understood due to the novelty of the Web and the use of many technologies that are continuously developed and implemented every day. Human Computer Interaction (HCI) combined with Museum Studies among others, can provide an interdisciplinary understanding of how users/visitors interact in the online museum (OM). Moreover, even though the application of new technologies represent big opportunities for the OM to engage with their audiences, it seems that there is a shortage of tools (and/or standards) to access collections from a wide variety of museums (Addis et al., 2005) and museum enthusiasts.

This research will address the different ways in which users can interact with online museums (OM) by studying new interaction technologies that can be applied through the Web. More specifically, on understanding how new interaction methods such as Tangible User Interfaces (TUI) can enhance engagement with the OM content. TUIs have been proven to facilitate interaction with computer applications especially with children and constructivist learning environments. Therefore TUIs present a positive environment where OM visitors can be empowered and motivated to engage with the content. By embedding interactivity and data to such embodied artefacts, new areas such as the Internet of Things (IoT) have risen innovating interaction methods where many Cultural Heritage areas can benefit from. Meanwhile TUIs behave as the ergonomic element for digital interaction (Fitzmaurice et al., 1995), IoT objects provide the inter- connectivity (communication) (Krannenburg, 2008) between the user and the museums’ content.

Lucha Libre. Society, Mexicanity and Digital Visualisations

Day 1 (Tuesday, 4 @ 4:00-5:00 PM). Lucha Libre and its socio-cultural impact As human beings we ... more Day 1 (Tuesday, 4 @ 4:00-5:00 PM). Lucha Libre and its socio-cultural impact
As human beings we have been always hiding behind masks.
They do not have to be face masks; they do not have to be made of wood, silk or even iron. However, society encourages us to wear a mask in order to be accepted into it. Using a physical mask enables us to represent something that we are not, or possibly something that we really want to be, or even something that we truly are and we are not even aware of it. What if we decide to use these masks, not because we have to, but because we want to? What kind of person would you become? A super hero? A villain? Well, this is what wrestlers do. They create their own costumes, their own masks and impregnate on them all their memories, their culture, their history and their deepest hopes and dreams in order to be somebody in their world. The use of masks comes from ancient traditions in diverse cultures and the design of them represent the most important part of a character because through it, is communicated the essence of the character. My research focused on understanding the background and history of each mask design through an extensive analysis in order to achieve a wider knowledge of how graphical components play fundamental roles in the identity construction of a character.

As a Mexican graphic designer, my work is imbued with a mixture of cultures, colours and ideologies. The collection produced during this research is a combination of art and technology which encompasses the identity of my culture. The idea itself was to present Mexican Lucha Libre and its mask designs. There is an immense cult following Lucha Libre in countris such as Japan, the United States and Mexico. My work introduces the audience to the hidden world behind the wrestling mask and furthermore, opens doors to the Mexican Lucha Libre world.

Day 2 (Thursday, 6 @ 3:00-4:00 PM). Visualising behind the mask
Lucha Libre has played an important role in Mexican culture since the late 1950s. At its early stage, wrestling from the United States and the French “Catch as Catch Can” blended within popular Mexican culture absorbing its social, political and mythical idiosyncrasy evolving later into what it would be known as Lucha Libre. This sport has become famous mainly due to its masked wrestlers which embed their family traditions, beliefs and fears into the design of their masks, allowing them to transform a regular person into a fearless character.

The objective of this project is to analyse and present how the visual elements within the masks are created and how they evolve through time. Utilising several visual communication methods I have been able to explore the ideas and processes behind the characters creation and its evolution inside the Lucha Libre media. This has been done through the implementation of diverse technologies which enables any user to be submerged into the world of Lucha Libre and witness that experience. Through the next interactive exhibitions, this project offers a mixture of visualisation, technology and social theory, looking to understand the anthropological complexity behind the design of the masks inside the Lucha Libre world.

Installation for Interpretation of Archaeological Sites. The Portus Visualisation Project

Visual communication tools help to convey a message between two subjects or targets. The visual c... more Visual communication tools help to convey a message between two subjects or targets. The visual communication process is not limited only to typographical or static imagery. I believe there are several disciplines that can benefit from an interdisciplinary approach by blending visual communication methods. In this case Archaeology and Museum Studies.

This project presents the designer’s interpretation of an archaeological site in order to produce material for the case study. The installation involves several technological elements that complement each other to provide the best interpretation and enhance experimentation. Among other technologies, the installation utilizes Augmented Reality, 3D Modelling, Projection Mapping and 3D Printing to assist in the interpretation of the site.

The project will be using the site of Portus, Italy as the example for visualization and will focus exclusively on one of the warehouses. The methodology developed for this project will be transposable to almost any archaeological site. The project attempts also to generalize and standardize a process for the development of these types of installations and interfaces. As we progressively become more multi-skilled, the boundaries between industries become less visible and it is difficult to pre-plan when we require to bring other specialists into the field. The familiarization with these types of projects can motivate other industries to become more open to collaborative research.

I believe that one of the main obstacles hindering the implementation of this technology is usually monetary. For this reason this project has promoted the idea of utilizing ‘open source’ and accessible technologies in order to facilitate the distribution of content. I am attempting to produce a minimum cost project in which open source elements like the Flash Spark Library or the Arduino chipset play essential roles.

I think this will motivate other researchers to start introducing this technology and implementing it within more projects, thus promoting interdisciplinarity. This is a project that can be used for experimentation (Archaeologists) or presentation (Museums).

Lucha Libre: visualising behind the mask

Lucha Libre has played an important role in Mexican culture since the late 1950s. At its early st... more Lucha Libre has played an important role in Mexican culture since the late 1950s. At its early stage, wrestling from the United States and the French “Catch as Catch Can” blended within popular Mexican culture, absorbing its social, political and mythical idiosyncrasy evolving later into what it would be known as Lucha Libre. This sport has become famous mainly due to its masked wrestlers which embed their family traditions, beliefs and fears into the design of their masks, allowing them to transform a regular person into a fearless character.

The objective of this project is to analyze and present how the visual elements within the masks are created and how they evolve through time. Utilizing several visual communication methods I have been able to design an explanation of the characters creation and its evolution inside the Lucha Libre media. This has been done through the implementation of diverse technologies which enables any user to be submerged into the world of Lucha Libre and witness that experience.

Through the next interactive exhibitions, this project offers a mixture of visualization, technology and social theory, looking to understand the anthropological complexity behind the design of the masks inside the Lucha Libre world.

Data Visualization 01 - Poster 13.2 cm x 19.2 cm
In Mexican Wrestling there are bets in which wrestlers gamble their masks against other masks, hair or even careers. This data visualization poster displays these complex relationships between wrestlers, depicting who has won against who.

Data Visualization 02 // Fractal Bets - Poster 200 cm X 100 cm
In this case the Social Networking in Mexican Wrestling is presented. The information displayed covers the wrestlers who lost the masks, hair or beard and who did they lost it against. Using over 120 wrestlers recorded on a database, the information is displayed like fractals in which the winning character behaves as a main cell from where the rest of the elements expand, representing the defeated making an exponential division for each wrestler. The poster contains a grid to allow the viewer to locate faster a desired wrestler and find its coordinates.

Data Visualization 03 // Bets Moowheel (Digital)
This is an interactive interface developed with Moowheel, a JavaScript library licensed under an MIT-style license.

Flash based mosaic generated video output (Digital)
This interface uses any kind of video input which is recognized by a Flash interface, and then translated into a mosaic build from over 150 mask icons that act like pixels to generate a brand new image.

The Mask Spinner (Digital)
This interface was developed to define the main styles of wrestling masks. After defining the main styles, a basic image identity was developed for each one of the wrestlers presented.

The Role of Lucha Libre in the Construction of Mexican Male Identity

by Javier Pereda and Patricia Murrieta-Flores

Lucha Libre has played an important role in Mexican culture since the late 1950s. At its early st... more Lucha Libre has played an important role in Mexican culture since the late 1950s. At its early stage, wrestling from the United States and the French “Catch as Catch Can” blended within popular Mexican culture absorbing its social, political and mythical idiosyncrasy, evolving later into what it would be known as Lucha Libre. This sport has become famous mainly due to its masked wrestlers which embed their family traditions, beliefs and fears into the design of their masks, allowing them to transform a regular person into a fearless character.

After the introduction of the Monsters Cinema in the 1930s, the Mexican audience started to adopt several characters like Lugosi’s Dracula, Nostradamus, Frankenstein and The Werewolf. The success of Monster Cinema in Mexican culture is based on the integration of national legends and beliefs, placing them in local and very identifiable places for the Mexican populous. Later, there was the introduction of La Llorona (The Crying Woman, 1933), La Mujer Sin Cabeza (The Headless Woman, 1944) and La Momia Azteca (The Aztec Mummy, 1957). The moment that Lucha Libre Cinema mixes with Monster Cinema, new heroes and myths were born. These emergent heroes of the Mexican metropolis were setting the standards of how Mexicans wanted to be perceived along with the cultural and moral standards of that time.

Although the Lucha Libre cinema portrays a very dominant masculine figure, in its beginning it was contradictory to the image of the traditional male depicted in the conventional Mexican cinema, which used to present authoritative “macho” characters. By 1965 there was an interesting addition with the movie Las Luchadoras vs. La Momia (The Wrestling Women vs. The Mummy, 1964), in which women were empowered and overtake the super hero lead in the Lucha Libre Cinema and the sport.

Through this paper we will present the main social interaction of male wrestlers who perform as heroes inside the celluloid and outside of it. We will explore how masculinity and the male figure evolves in Lucha Libre Cinema, and the processes they have to undertake in order to be able to still portray as superheroes of an evolving and fast growing Mexico.

Achieving representation in sustainable socio-technical infrastructures

ICOFOM - ICOM Conference, Prague, 2022

As technology advances, so does our understanding of the world. Technology can act as that great ... more As technology advances, so does our understanding of the world. Technology can act as that great disruptor which facilitates, (or hinders) access to cultural knowledge. Towards a National Collection (TaNC) is a 22m euro UK investment that aims to identify the pathways into such sustainable socio-technical infrastructures where all levels of knowledge and representation can be produced and used by diverse groups with different cultural needs of information, and therefore tools to make use of it.
The Museo Integrado calls for museums to “take part in bringing awareness into the societies to which it serves”. However, this can become challenging due to the alienation generated by Western and Anglo-centric epistemologies, cosmovision and technologic impositions. How are museums meant to represent knowledge when the systems used to describe such knowledge do not engage with the perspective of the communities they are meant to serve? How do we overcome the large digital divide within cultural institutions, their staff, and especially among communities, not only in the context of the Global South, but also evident within the UK. The Digital Humanities have provided a paradigm shift in how knowledge production can sustain (and disrupt) novel research methods in the historic and cultural sector. TaNC research aims to identify such novel methods and integrate them within a sustainable model accessible for the wide range of users and non-direct users of cultural heritage.

Delivering Technology Skills in the Creative Industries

This poster aims to present the complexity of teaching technology skills in the Creative Industri... more This poster aims to present the complexity of teaching technology skills in the Creative Industries. Such complexity rises from an extensive range of disciplines and sectors that are heavily affected by digital technologies. Students are shaped by the culture of the institutions, which aim to provide students with the core skills that do not commonly enable students the digital competence within a standard. This is reflected in the perspective on their needs as students aiming to achieve different levels of specialty in their own sub-dsiscipline.

Developing Downloadable Tangible User Interfaces for Online Pedagogic Activities

The Web has changed how we interact with the World’s information and knowledge. As a result there... more The Web has changed how we interact with the World’s information and knowledge. As a result there have been several changes to the education sector, especially in online distance learning. Nevertheless, most of the e-Learning activities struggle to break the GUI paradigm. The HCI community has focused on the use of Tangible User Interfaces (TUI) for pedagogic purposes thus producing some evidence of the potential that embodied cognition might bring to constructivist learning. New education movements such as the Edupunk movement argue for an empowerment of independent learners, following the constructivist perspective where learners have to have a more active role by experimenting and discovering concepts on their own. However, we think that accessing TUI systems via Web can lead to pedagogic activities that break the GUI paradigm in education on the Web.

Enhancing Engagement for Online Museums

Museums exist to disseminate information as well as to preserve knowledge, and these institutions... more Museums exist to disseminate information as well as to preserve knowledge, and these institutions have recognised the potential of the Web to support this role. The Web has opened up access to information and has allowed an increased number of ‘visitors’ to museums online. However, these online visitors do not have the same experience online than they would if they were to visit the actual museum (Proctor, 2010). Disseminating such information in a meaningful way has become one of the main challenges for the Online Museum (OM); for this reason, in the past few years museums have become increasingly concerned with the way the general public and particular sectors of it (e.g. children) acquire specific knowledge from their displays and collections (Hooper-Greenhill, 2004). It is nowadays accepted that learners should be active and not passive receptors of information, where the learner is involved in hands-on activities and participatory exhibitions. Learning is an activity where the mind and body are required to work together (Gray, 2010, Hooper-Greenhill and Moussouri, 2002).

As said, the Web started an on-going transformation on how museums interact with audiences and vice versa. The way in which this is happening has not been completely understood yet due to the novelty of the Web. In addition, due to this novelty, there are many new technologies that the OM could benefit from, but that nevertheless, haven’t been identified nor adopted by the museum sector. OMs have a big challenge to provide the best experience when visiting their collections. New technologies are being used and developed everyday and many of them can provide a pathway to promote engagement in the OM. No matter how the interaction occurs in the OM, it will always happen through a User Interface (UI). Therefore, it can be argued that Tangible User Interfaces (TUI) can provide a pathway for producing learning activities where users/visitors can be active, thus constructing knowledge. Nevertheless, it is necessary to study such tools in order to understand their impact in the several communities that embrace the OM, along with technological issues that may hinder its implementation by the museum community or enthusiasts.

Web-based Tangible User Interfaces for Constructivist Museums

Day of the Dead (poster)

During Mesoamerican times, before the Spanish colonies,Mexican civilizations believed that when s... more During Mesoamerican times, before the Spanish colonies,Mexican civilizations believed that when somebody died, their soul continued to live in a special place called Mictlán. The benevolent gods created this pleasant and peaceful ideal site, in which the souls waited to be called to go back to their former homes and visit their relatives on particular, traditionally defined, days. After the arrival of Catholicism the new customs were merged with the indigenous resulting in a mixture of Christian and Prehispanic customs and beliefs.

First Things, Things. A Graphic Design Manifesto for the Digital Era

As we transition into new technologic eras where technology seems more ubiquitous and blended wit... more As we transition into new technologic eras where technology seems more ubiquitous and blended with our everyday things, the need for good Design becomes compelling to ease the relationship between these things and people. In many cases, even between things and other things, as in the case of the Internet of Things (IoT). What does this mean for Designers and Artists? How are Designers meant to ease such engagement with all these novel digital and non-digital technologic services and things that aim to do things for their users or audiences. Whilst new technologies arise, so are the new definitions for them, commonly pushed by the producers of these new technologies. Whilst we try to keep up with these new technologies, in many cases we try to make sense to it by adapting it into what we know. But in many cases, we need to take a step back to get a holistic perspective of what these new technologies and definitions mean to our practice. Designers are not Makers since Design is inherently about making things… think about it.

This article is divided into two sections: First, an introduction of the new challenges that Design faces whilst encounters itself with digital technologies that facilitates and disrupts its practice. It discusses the new challenges of making and thinking as designers. Second, we invite Design (read below) students and practitioners to reflect of their practice and how this new practice challenges their perception of the things they make. This second section is sparked by a self-reflection of selected students who attended the TEI’19 Conference in Arizona, USA, and a short piece from the Printeractive Research Group.