Today’s field of spatialisation in acousmatic music is very heterogeneous. Composers tend to develop their own technologies and techniques for spatialisation, and often the differences in how multichannel systems are addressed may influence both the musical appreciation and the future reproducibility of a piece. Moreover, the analytical and musicological perspectives of spatialisation are both fragmented and underdeveloped, with a lack of a shared framework for their study. This article focuses on these problems and tries to give a coherent and consistent view of spatialisation practice, from both technological and musicological perspectives. It will also act as a bedrock for the development of the musicological side of spatialisation, an aspect too often overlooked. ‘Spatial reduced listening’ and ‘spatial relativism’ will be introduced as analytical perspectives to shine a light on the composed spatial traits of sound, and not only on its spectromorphological and technological features.

This article explores the intersection of electroacoustic music in multichannel immersive audio environments and trauma-informed therapy practices through gestural mediation in artistic works. Drawing on Jean-François Augoyard’s definition of anamnesis, the article examines how spatial audio can evoke memories and mirror the psychological landscapes associated with trauma. The research is centred around the composition Crumble, which uses spatial sound to articulate fragmented mental states of individuals processing traumatic experiences. Through an analysis of the spatial placement of sound, gestural technologies and embodied interaction, the article demonstrates how these elements converge to create immersive environments that facilitate an understanding of trauma and memory. The findings highlight the role of embodied cognition in music performance, showing how Crumble’s integration of body, space and sound fosters audience connection through immersive spatialisation and gestural mediation. By integrating these practices, this study offers new insights into the therapeutic potential of immersive electroacoustic music as a medium for expressing complex emotional states. Combining embodied sound, gestural control and spatial audio promotes the exploration of space and memory, encourages personal agency and supports reintegration of body and mind, aligning with trauma-informed practices. It suggests avenues for future exploration in the intersection of music, psychology and immersive technologies.

Inequality is a critical global issue, particularly in the United States, where economic disparities are among the most pronounced. Social justice research traditionally studies attitudes towards inequality—perceptions, beliefs, and judgments—using latent variable approaches. Recent scholarship adopts a network perspective, showing that these attitudes are interconnected within inequality belief systems. However, scholars often compare belief systems using split-sample approaches without examining how emotions, such as anger, shape these systems. Moreover, they rarely investigate Converse’s seminal idea that changes in central attitudes can lead to broader shifts in belief systems. Addressing these gaps, we applied a tripartite analytical strategy using U.S. data from the 2019 ISSP Social Inequality module. First, we used a mixed graphical model to demonstrate that inequality belief systems form cohesive small-world networks, with perception of large income inequality and belief in public redistribution as central nodes. Second, a moderated network model revealed that anger towards inequality moderates nearly one-third of network edges, consolidating the belief system by polarizing associations. Third, Ising model simulations showed that changes to central attitudes produce broader shifts across the belief system. This study advances belief system research by introducing innovative methods for comparing structures and testing dynamics of attitude change. It also contributes to social justice research by integrating emotional dynamics and highlighting anger’s role in structuring inequality belief systems.

While the relationship between space and openness has been explored in electroacoustic music since the 1960s, and contemporary composers have shown increasing interest in contingency, recent advancements in ambisonics, sound diffusion, and VR have granted composers greater control over the spatial image presented to the listener. This article revisits the discussion of space and openness through the lens of the author’s artistic practice and compositional experience, framed by new materialism, object-oriented philosophy and relational space theory. Through case studies from the author’s work, it examines spatialisation strategies that emphasise openness and the agency of sound materials. These strategies include sound source localisation, networks of family resemblances and parametric spatialisation, aiming to create an open sound experience that maintains identity while allowing agency for the sound material, the listener and the composer. In light of current global crises, partly driven by total control and exploitation, this article advocates for rethinking compositional practices to foster open sound experiences that reflect dynamic interactions between composer, material and listener.

This article addresses the question of experiential dimensions of space in sound, in electroacoustic music and sound arts practices in particular. We suggest that these practices are limited by the generalised way that spatial audio techniques are communicated, and we attempt to develop a tentative method that would enable discussion and sharing of spatial aspects in sonic environments. These modes of articulation would permit a translation of the experience of space in sound into other modalities. Reporting from a series of workshops, we outline a three-phase method that moves through the stages of listening, describing, recreating and imagining the sonic spaces. In the final stage, a speculative design approach shows that shared sonic spatial experiences are essentially relational. Topics relating to expectations, biases and language – such as memory and imagination – and the methods of mapping and speculative design are addressed in the discussion. Through the explorations presented in this article it becomes evident that different artistic musical practices still show the same need to develop articulations that enable the integration and communication of spatial relationships. The divide between the development of new technologies for spatial audio and the conceptual frameworks for understanding and communicating spatial sonic knowledge can be bridged, and eventually the development of spatial audio should be fuelled by the dynamics between these two poles.

In autumn 2023, the Curtis R. Priem Experimental Music and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute presented Shifting Center, an exhibition that explored sound through geological formations, architecture, and cultural artefacts. Using spatialisation techniques such as higher-order ambisonics and wave field synthesis, the works created immersive and disorienting auditory experiences. Curators Vic Brooks and Nida Ghouse framed ‘shifting centre’ as a metaphor for dislocation, evoking feminist and political theories of marginalised peripheries and centralised power. While the exhibition was conceptually and technically ambitious, we argue that the aurality of EMPAC itself – marked by abstraction, isolation and immersion – ultimately muted its decolonial potential. By tracing a lineage of spatial audio from the 1958 Philips Pavilion, we examine how architectural acoustics shape the possibilities of what can be heard in EMPAC, limiting the aural and more-than-aural reception of works presented there.

The human hand’s exceptional dexterity and compliance, derived from its rigid-soft coupling structure and tendon-driven interphalangeal coordination, inspire robotic grippers capable of versatile grasping and force adaptation. Traditional rigid manipulators lack compliance for delicate tasks, while soft robots often suffer from instability and low load capacity. To bridge this gap, we propose a biomimetic multi-joint composite finger integrating a 3D-printed rigid phalanges (46–51 mm) with dual fabric-reinforced pneumatic bladders, mimicking human finger biomechanics. This hybrid design combines hinge-jointed rigidity and anisotropic fabric constraints, enabling two rotational degrees of freedom with higher radial stiffness, achieving 2.18× higher critical burst pressure (240 kPa) than non-reinforced bladders, while preserving axial compliance. Experimental validation demonstrates a 4.77 N maximum fingertip force at 200 kPa and rapid recovery (< 2s) post-impact. The composite finger exhibits human-like gestures (enveloping, pinching, flipping) and adapts to irregular/fragile objects (e.g., eggs, screws) through coordinated bladder actuation. Assembled into a modular gripper, it sustains 1 kg payloads and executes thin-object flipping via proximal-distal joint synergy. This rigid-soft coupling design bridges compliance and robustness, offering high environmental adaptability for applications in industrial automation, human–robot interaction, and delicate manipulation.

Implementing changes to digital health systems in real-life contexts poses many challenges. Design as a field has the potential to tackle some of these. This article illustrates how design knowledge, through published literature, is currently referenced in relation to the implementation of digital health. To map design literature’s contribution to this field, we conducted a scoping review on digital health implementation publications and their use of references from nine prominent design journals. The search in Scopus and Web of Science yielded 382 digital health implementation publications, of which 70 were included for analysis. From those, we extracted data on publication characteristics and how they cited the design literature. The 70 publications cited 58 design articles, whose characteristics were also extracted. The results show that design is mainly cited to provide information about specific design methods and approaches, guidelines for using them and evidence of their benefits. Examples of referenced methods and approaches were co-design, prototyping, human-centered design, service design, understanding user needs and design thinking. The results thus show that design knowledge primarily contributed to digital health implementation with insights into methods and approaches. In addition, our method showcases a new way for understanding how design literature influences other fields.

We define the generalized equilibrium distribution, that is the equilibrium distribution of a random variable with support in $\mathbb{R}$. This concept allows us to prove a new probabilistic generalization of Taylor’s theorem. Then, the generalized equilibrium distribution of two ordered random variables is considered and a probabilistic analog of the mean value theorem is proved. Results regarding distortion-based models and mean-median-mode relations are illustrated as well. Conditions for the unimodality of such distributions are obtained. We show that various stochastic orders and aging classes are preserved through the proposed equilibrium transformations. Further applications are provided in actuarial science, aiming to employ the new unimodal equilibrium distributions for some risk measures, such as Value-at-Risk and Conditional Tail Expectation.

Design-by-analogy (DbA) is a powerful method for product innovation design, leveraging multidomain design knowledge to generate new ideas. Previous studies have relied heavily on designers’ experiences to retrieve analogical knowledge from other domains, lacking a structured method to organize and understand multidomain analogical knowledge. This presents a significant challenge in recommending high-quality analogical sources, which needs to be addressed. To tackle these issues, a knowledge graph-assisted DbA approach via structured analogical knowledge retrieval is proposed. First, an improved function-effect-structure ontology model is constructed to extract functions and effects as potential analogical sources, and six semantic matching rules are established to output entity triplets, and the DbA knowledge graph (DbAKG) is developed. Second, based on the knowledge of semantic relationships in DbAKG, the domain distance and similarity between the design target and the analogical sources are introduced to establish an analogical value model, ensuring the novelty and feasibility of analogical sources. After that, with function as the design target, analogical sources transfer strategy is formed to support innovative solution solving, and TRIZ theory is used to solve design conflicts. Finally, a pipeline inspection robot case study is further employed to verify the proposed approach. Additionally, a knowledge graph-assisted analogical design system has been developed to assist in managing multidomain knowledge and the analogical process, facilitate the adoption of innovative design strategies, and assist companies in providing more competitive products to seize the market.