Research projects and publications

Technological innovation and democratization of artificial intelligence (AI) have been leveraging the potential success in every field we know today, while more is yet to come. This paper presents an analysis of AI achievements within the fashion industry, particularly in e-commerce fashion brand platforms, and how it is impacting the consumer personal sphere, particularly the decision-making process of young (Gen-Z) consumers. The field of AI has been evolving in such a way that allows companies to not only improve their supply and customer demand, but also provide a shopping experience that goes beyond the mechanical “select and buy”: AI-driven touchpoints influence and enrich each stage of the decision-making process, whether more positively or negatively. Ultimately, this paper intends to provide the reader with a better knowledge of AI and fashion e-commerce joining applications, and to delineate their impact on the online customer journey. 

Citation:
Vitorino, Luísa, et al. ''An Evaluation of Artificial Intelligence Components in E-Commerce Fashion Platforms.'' Information Systems and Technologies, edited by Alvaro Rocha, et al., Cham, Springer, 2022, pp. 276-285, doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-04826-5.

Animation is the art of movement. However as a subset of animation, Japanese animated TV or streaming series (henceforth anime) is more famous for being dialogue- and monologue-driven, often relying on various auditory settings to narrate a complex and longer narrative. Similar to standard episodic works (including live-action-drama series), its dialogue and monologue provide narrative information and forward the story; its music enhances a desired mood and emotion, and its sound effects establish a sense of reality for the narrative space through the foley sound effects (such as footsteps, props), and background ambience sounds (such as the bustling downtown or countryside). All these sounds play a crucial role in setting a rhythm, continuity and psychological cue for the audience to engage with the story. More prominently, anime series also rely on archetypes in anime voices and the cartooning of the sound effects accompanying the seemingly non-diegetic emanata (motion lines, sweat beats that emanate from a character) and imagery to deliver the anime experience. These acoustical norms and tendencies have been borrowed and in exchange with manga and other visual mediums over the years and function differently from the standard filmic auditory settings designed to immerse the viewers. Their usage often highlights the superficiality, pictogram play and momentarily part from the main narrative with a different tempo. This paper is part of a more extensive study interested in these aspects and uses Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba anime series (2019~) as a case study. This chapter looks explicitly at diegetic and non-diegetic sounds. It examines how their interchange can amplify the imagination and manipulate the viewers' emotions while systematically switching back and forth between immersive (into the narrative) and exaggeration (out of the narrative) to stimulate a unique anime experience with sound.

Citation:
Gan, Sheuo Hui. ''The Sound of Demon Slayer / Kimetsu no Yaiba.'' Global Anime Discourse: Body, Archive and Transnationalism, edited by Minori Ishida, and Joon Yang Kim, Tokyo, Sekyusha, 2022, ISBN / ISSN: 978-4787274519.

Photographer Steve Golden set off to find Singapore’s remaining heritage shops—family run businesses that are multi-generational and at least 35 years old. His search saw him exploring nearly every street in Singapore by foot, from the bustling center of Chinatown to the quiet heartland housing estates. After nearly a year of research, including interviews with local neighbors, shopkeepers, and heritage experts, he photographed over 70 shops and the families that have run them for generations. The photographer often arrived unannounced, and used small street cameras with natural light in order to observe and document daily life. The result is a snapshot in time in the long and ever evolving history of one of the world’s fastest changing cities; a lasting tribute to the shops, the merchants and the artisans. This book contains 34 heritage shops, organized by geographic location, and spanning the many different trades that collectively contribute to the patchwork of Singapore’s cultural identify. The work also explores the themes of survival in the face of overwhelming and constant change, and why Singapore’s intangible cultural assets must be saved. This book has been designed to be portable for those who wish to explore the neighborhoods themselves and find the shops.

Citation:
Golden, Steve. Heritage Shops of Singapore. Singapore, Talisman, 2022, ISBN / ISSN: 978-981-18-5598-6.

The article documents connections and synergies between city museums’ visions and programming as well as emerging smart city issues and dilemmas in a fast-paced urban environment marked with the processes of increasing digitalization and datafication. The research employs policy/document analysis and semi-structured interviews with smart city government representatives and museum professionals to investigating both smart city policy frameworks as well as city museum's data-driven installations and activities in New York, London and Singapore. A comparative program analysis of the Singapore City Gallery, Museum of the City of New York and Museum of London identifies such sites of data practices as Data storytelling, interpretation and eco-curation. Discussing these sites as dedicated spaces of smart citizen engagement, the article reveals that city museums can either empower their visitors to consider their roles as active city co-makers or see them as passive recipients of the smart city transformations.

Citation:
Grincheva, Natalia. ''City Museums in the Age of Datafication: Could Museums be Meaningful Sites of Data Practice in Smart Cities?'' Museum Management and Curatorship, 2022, doi: 10.1080/09647775.2021.2023904.