Doctorates

Die »Person« ist kein Synonym für »Mensch«, sondern eine soziale Existenzweise für menschliche und nichtmenschliche Wesen. Während die Person der Moderne an das Private gebunden ist, wird sie mit der Digitalisierung neu situiert. Fabian Pittroff analysiert diese Entwicklung in einer Serie von Studien, die sich umfassenden Aspekten widmen: der Sozialtheorie der Person, der Geschichte des Privaten, der Krise demokratischer Institutionen, der avantgardistischen Postprivacy-Bewegung, der Digitalisierung der Freundschaft, der Produktion von Selfies und den Vorhersagungen der Datenökonomie. Dabei zeichnen sich zwei Modi der Personalisierung ab: Während die private Person auf ein Zentrum hin ausgerichtet ist, existiert die verteilte Person dezentral.

Blind or visually impaired people often have difficulty navigating their surroundings. Electronic Travel Aids (ETAs) are designed to help in this regard. These aids typically use ultrasonic sensors or camera images for environmental perception and rely on acoustic signals or vibrations for communication with users. However, ETAs are often not individually customizable and are rarely developed with input from the target group, limiting their practical usefulness. Additionally, the evaluation of these devices varies, making comparisons difficult. The problems that ETAs are designed to assist with are similar to those encountered in mobile robotics, particularly in tasks such as orientation, obstacle detection, and navigation. However, ETAs also require a transmission channel to convey information to blind users. Therefore, it makes sense to adapt and extend developments from robotics for ETAs. This study explores how insights from robotics and distributed systems can aid in the development and evaluation of ETAs. The Framework for Electronic Travel Aids (FETA) is introduced to address this. [...]

Following the principle of knowing through making, this thesis discusses development and application of a practice-based methodology for construction of digital artefacts within cultural contexts. It addresses the epistemological diversity and complexity inhering within interdisciplinary projects, suggesting methodological devices able to navigate the variegated disciplinary landscape present within respective development projects. The conceptual pair complexity/complication acts as theoretical point of reference in order to frame mediations between the formal material of computer code and physically embodied practice in exhibition spaces. Inquiries conducted unfold poietically, in the mode of concrete construction of interactive artefacts. Interactive biographies, tangible tabletops, and collage generators are among the devices developed and deployed. Digital materiality emerges as a key category during the research process, pointing towards productive ambivalences at play within joint practices of digital making.

Microservice Architecture (MSA) denotes a recent architectural style to design and develop particularly web applications that require robustness, scalability, and ease of deployment. MSA can be categorized as a component-based architecture style with a focus on business capabilities. For each capability, an MSA-based system comprises an independently executable and deployable software component that provides means to interact only through a defined interface. These components are the eponymous microservices. Although MSA addresses many of the challenges industry in the age of digital transformations faces, it also introduces new complexity. Previous research has focused mainly on the technical perspective of MSA, for example, by providing guidelines for software patterns or by identifying and developing means to counteract excessive boilerplate code. However, considering the actual situation in practice, many studies and experience reports describe that it is not the design of microservices systems that poses the greatest challenge when adopting MSA, but issues in conjunction with the development process and organization. [...]

Die Krise, in der sich berufliches Pflegehandeln befindet, führt dazu, dass Krankenhausbetten nicht belegt werden können, da nicht ausreichend Pflegepersonal zur Verfügung steht. Hanna Wüller ordnet diese Situation in die feministischen Debatten im Zuge der Care-Krise ein und macht die Relevanz von Machtverteilungen sowie den Einfluss materieller Aspekte deutlich. Eine Verknüpfung von Pflegewissenschaft, Science and Technology Studies, Neuen Materialismen und der Objektiven Hermeneutik ermöglicht erweiterte theoretische und methodische Zugänge zur Betrachtung dieses Phänomens. Daraus ergeben sich wertvolle Anschlusspunkte sowohl für die Pflegetheorie als auch für deren Praxisentwicklung.