Exploring the Usability and Features of AI for Health Messaging
Julia Alber, Kinesiology and Public Health
David Askay, Communication Studies
Anuraj Dhillon, Communication Studies
Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), including tools like digital avatars, voiceovers, and automated text, offers innovative ways to create health messages that can be used by public health organizations to disseminate health information and promote healthy behaviors. However, there is a need to explore public perceptions of AI-generated content to evaluate whether these technologies are feasible to use by public health organizations. To explore this, the current study will be conducted in two phases. The first phase will assess the usability and acceptability of various AI technologies for producing video, audio, and text-based health messages. In the second phase, we will examine how different features of AI-generated content affect audience responses. We will conduct a panel survey among U.S. adults, showing them several versions of a video—including one featuring a human actor—to measure how much viewers like and trust each version. The findings from this study will provide initial insights into which aspects of AI-generated content are most favorably received and considered credible. These insights will guide further research that could test these features more extensively over time.
YES Short Film Distribution and Educational Service to the Community
Randi Barros, Interdisciplinary Studies in Liberal Arts
Martha Galvan-Mandujano, World Language & Cultures
The main goals of this project are to finish the short film, YES, to distribute it to film festivals, and to use it as a teaching and discussion tool in Latino/a/x communities on campus and in San Luis Obispo County. This film aims to shine a human light on the contentious issue of immigration. Although the United States is comprised of people from across the world, we often view immigrants with political bias. Each person who leaves their country to find a home in a new one has their own story. The hope is that viewers will not only connect to the characters of YES, but that they will also discover a shared humanity. Students have been instrumental in the pre-production and production of YES, and we’re hoping that with the assistance of this grant, that they will be able to continue with postproduction and distribution, helping to bring the film to a wide audience, both on campus and beyond. We also hope to use the technology offered in the Center for Expressive Technology, particularly the Frost Center, as a place for screenings and to aid in project completion. Moreover, we’re hoping that these screenings will be an opportunity to bring together the Cal Poly Latino/a/x community and inspire conversation and connection among students, many of whom are affected by similar issues of immigration and belonging.
Letters and Snapshots from “Home”: Creating a Database and Digital Exhibition with the Louis Family “China Trip” Materials, 1932-3
Susan Eberhard, Art & Design
Lubo Stanchev, Computer Science
The Louis family “China Trip” materials in the Cal Poly Archives and Special Collections are a collection of photo albums and letters created by important members of San Luis Obispo’s early Chinese and Chinese American community. They document an extensive trip taken by businessman Ah Louis and his two youngest sons to China from 1932 to 1933. The trip is at once an ongoing family reunion, a record of celebrations and mishaps, and a series of tourist excursions that provide a rare and deeply personal glimpse into the Chinese American experience. Ah Louis’ youngest son, Toby Louis, was twenty-four when they left, and a college student at UC Berkeley; he took the photographs, wrote letters home to his sister Mae in SLO, and later assembled six scrapbooks. Toby’s voice in the letters is funny and immediately engaging, and his captioned photographs are creative observations of their experiences and they many people they met. The goal of this project is to build a database to cross-reference the visual and textual materials from the archive, which will serve as the basis for a digital exhibition on the trip. An art history class at Cal Poly on transnational Asian photography will further develop research and narrative materials for the digital exhibition. Building a database and digital exhibition website will support not only my own research on the materials and future Cal Poly curricular activities, but also support access for community research and public scholarship.
Africancalifornios.org: Visualizations of the Role of Afrodescendants in Early Spanish and Mexican California (1768-1850)
Cameron Jones, History
Foaad Khosmood, Computer Science
The objective of this project is to build a comprehensive website, AfricanCalifornios.org, that reconstructs the African and Afro-descendant presence in Spanish and Mexican California using data science and user-friendly visualizations. To accomplish this, we and our students will be combining all existing data sets on the demographics of Spanish and Mexican California to create a large database of Africans and Afro-descendants in California from 1768-1850. Then we will create visualizations such as maps and family trees that match children to their parents, and spouses to each other. In this way we will discover the familial and social connections between Afro-descendants in California. This site will be made public, complete with lesson plans for teachers that will allow this information to be publicly distributed. We eventually plan on hosting a teacher workshop to help K-12 teachers use these resources in the classroom as part of their instruction on the history of California and the United States more broadly. Furthermore, we are hoping this can be a model for future projects that examine traditionally understudied groups in history by turning the few datasets that scholars have, much of it from records originally created to control and commodify people of color, to reconstruct their lives and family ties.
AI artmaking and community building for a social justice pedagogy
Enrica Lovaglio, Art & Design
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is at the center of a radical transformation in artmaking. The implica- tions are controversial, with artists requesting to stop the loot, the public enjoying empowerment and lack of restraints in making text-prompted art they claim as their own, and business ventures racing to invent the new money-making AI scheme. In the struggle to find ethical grounds where AI can live, this project explores the narrow territories inhabited by AI as an ethical companion for human creativity aimed at story-making for social justice. Ample research shows that imagined contact with the life experiences of other groups facilitates the development of inclusive attitudes. This project unites college students and marginalized groups, particu- larly formerly incarcerated adults and youth-at-promise incarcerated in Juvenile Hall, in AI art-making and community building. These groups will attend a 2024 summer class. As a collaborator of UCSB Theater Professor Michael Morgan, the author of this proposal will develop a series of AI art-based exchanges, seeking to develop innovative pedagogical models to advance social justice. The project leverages AI for collaborative storytelling, which allows students to deepen their understanding of human experiences and differences. The research hypothesizes that AI art-based sto- ry-making collaborations between universities and prisons can lead to empirical, evidence-based peda- gogical methods to mitigate bias. The benefits are twofold: incarcerated individuals earn self-confidence that might facilitate re-entry and prevent recidivism, and universities can establish inclusive pedagogical practices to achieve their most pressing goals: social equity and inclusion.
Coastal California's Classroom: Universal Lessons from a Unique Biome
Jeanine Scaramozzino, Robert E. Kennedy Library
Ruta Saliklis, Fine Arts Division, Cuesta College
Crow White, Biological Sciences
Edmond Saliklis, Architectural Engineering
Josie Iselin, School of Design, San Francisco State University & Co-Director, Above/Below
Marianna Leuschel, Co-Director, Above/Below
Chris Lupo, Computer Science
The "Coastal California's Classroom" initiative represents an innovative approach that blends STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) with the Arts (STEAM) to foster a deeper understanding of global environmental challenges through focused local research and creative exploration. This project is uniquely centered around the rich kelp forest biome of Coastal California, utilizing both STEAM principles and Cal Poly’s Learn by Doing ethos. The primary aim of the initiative is to create inclusive and engaging educational experiences that enrich participants' ecological understanding across diverse technological backgrounds. This initiative is seeking funding to support the creation of a beta virtual reality (VR) experience, crafted by students. This 3D technology will be integrated into pilot K-14 curricular materials and university art installations, enhancing learning through immersive engagement. The result of this project is to develop a VR platform that educates about the local and global impacts of climate change and inspires a commitment to environmental stewardship. This project is pivotal in bridging the gap between artistic creativity and scientific inquiry, providing an engaging platform for the public to delve into the subtle effects of climate change within a distinct ecosystem. By fostering ongoing environmental responsibility and scholarly curiosity, the initiative aims to establish a sustainable educational model that highlights the critical link between local actions and their global repercussions.
Engaging Architecture: Enhancing and Evaluating Multi-Sensory Experience in Sites of Cultural Heritage
Jennifer Shields, Architecture
Javier Gonzalez-Sanchez, Computer Science
Laura Sorvetti, Robert E. Kennedy Library
This project integrates technology and design within the context of cultural heritage. It aims to enhance visitor experiences through the use of spatial computing and emotional artificial intelligence for a sophisticated, multi-sensory engagement with cultural sites. Spatial computing enriches multi-sensory experiences and enhances contextual understanding by integrating video and audio elements into the physical world. This is particularly beneficial for individuals with cognitive or sensory impairments. This integration enhances the aesthetic appeal and serves to deepen the contextual understanding of the architectural significance. Emotion-AI facilitates a detailed assessment of individual engagement by analyzing neurological and physiological responses. It provides insights into people's emotional triggers, making it possible to tailor a more personalized and accessible experience - fostering a deeper connection with the site. Collaborating closely with Cara O’Brien, Director of Hearst Castle, we are undertaking a case study centered on the 15th-century Wildman statues at the Castle's entrance. We aim to create a permanent exhibit in the Visitor Center Museum that will utilize video and audio projections to underscore the statues’ historical importance and context, providing accessible information for visitors with sensory impairments. This is an ambitious endeavor that joins researchers and students from two colleges and requires significant funding. A seed grant from the CET will facilitate testing our methodology for both the physical and digital overlays of our exhibit including projection, sound and lighting technologies, exhibit art, video, audio, and mixed reality experiences while allowing the collection of engagement measures.