nils-herrmann/clean_scirepeval huggingface dataset:
EER of Fixed and Trainable Fusion Classifiers: A Theoretical Study with Application to Biometric Authentication Tasks

Biometric authentication is a process of verifying an identity claim using a person's behavioural and physiological characteristics. Due to the vulnerability of the system to environmental noise and variation caused by the user, fusion of several biometric-enabled systems is identified as a promising solution. In the literature, various fixed rules (e.g.min, max, median, mean ) and trainable classifiers (e.g. linear combination of scores or weighted sum) are used to combine the scores of several base-systems. How exactly do correlation and imbalance nature of base-system performance affect the fixed rules and trainable classifiers? We study these joint aspects using the commonly used error measurement in biometric authentication, namely Equal Error Rate (EER). Similar to several previous studies in the literature, the central assumption used here is that the class-dependent scores of a biometric system are approximately normally distributed. However, different from them, the novelty of this study is to make a direct link between the EER measure and the fusion schemes mentioned. Both synthetic and real experiments (with as many as 256 fusion experiments carried out on the XM2VTS benchmark score-level fusion data sets) verify our proposed theoretical modeling of EER of the two families of combination scheme. In particular, it is found that weighted sum can provide the best generalisation performance when its weights are estimated correctly. It also has the additional advantage that score normalisation prior to fusion is not needed, contrary to the rest of fixed fusion rules.
F-ratio client dependent normalisation for biometric authentication tasks

The paper investigates a new client-dependent normalisation to improve biometric authentication systems. There exist many client-dependent score normalisation techniques, such as Z-Norm, D-Norm and T-Norm, that are applied to speaker authentication. Such normalisation is intended to adjust the variation across different client models. We propose "F-ratio" normalisation, or F-Norm, applied to face and speaker authentication systems. This normalisation requires only that as few as two client-dependent accesses are available (the more the better). Different from previous normalisation techniques, F-Norm considers the client and impostor distributions simultaneously. We show that F-ratio is a natural choice because it is directly associated to equal error rate. It has the effect of centering the client and impostor distributions such that a global threshold can be easily found. Another difference is that F-Norm actually "interpolates" between client-independent and client-dependent information by introducing a mixture parameter. This parameter can be optimised to maximise the class dispersion (the degree of separability between client and impostor distributions) while the aforementioned normalisation techniques cannot. The results of 13 unimodal experiments carried out on the XM2VTS multimodal database show that such normalisation is advantageous over Z-Norm, client-dependent threshold normalisation or no normalisation.
Semi-supervised adapted HMMs for unusual event detection

We address the problem of temporal unusual event detection. Unusual events are characterized by a number of features (rarity, unexpectedness, and relevance) that limit the application of traditional supervised model-based approaches. We propose a semi-supervised adapted hidden Markov model (HMM) framework, in which usual event models are first learned from a large amount of (commonly available) training data, while unusual event models are learned by Bayesian adaptation in an unsupervised manner. The proposed framework has an iterative structure, which adapts a new unusual event model at each iteration. We show that such a framework can address problems due to the scarcity of training data and the difficulty in pre-defining unusual events. Experiments on audio, visual, and audiovisual data streams illustrate its effectiveness, compared with both supervised and unsupervised baseline methods.
Compensating User-Specific Information with User-Independent Information in Biometric Authentication Tasks

Biometric authentication is a process of verifying an identity claim using a person's behavioral and physiological characteristics. This is in general a binary classification task because a system either accepts or rejects an identity claim. However, a biometric authentication system contains many users. By recognizing this fact, better decision can be made if user-specific information can be exploited. In this study, we propose to combine user-specific information with user-independent information such that the performance due to exploiting both information sources does not perform worse than either one and in some situations can improve significantly over either one. We show that this technique, motivated by a standard Bayesian framework, is applicable in two levels, i.e., fusion level where multiple (multimodal or intramodal) systems are involved, or, score normalization level, where only a single system is involved. The second approach can be considered a novel score normalization technique that combines both information sources. The fusion technique was tested on 32 fusion experiments whereas the normalization technique was tested on 13 single-system experiments. Both techniques that are originated from the same principal share a major advantage, i.e., due to prior knowledge as supported by experimental evidences, few or almost no free parameter are actually needed in order to employ the mentioned techniques. Previous works in this direction require at least 6 to 10 user-specific client accesses. However, in this work, as few as two user-specific client accesses are needed, hence overcoming the learning problem with extremely few user-specific client samples. Finally, but not the least, a non-exhaustive survey on the state-of-the-arts of incorporating user-specific information in biometric authentication is also presented.
Inferring document similarity from hyperlinks

Assessing semantic similarity between text documents is a crucial aspect in Information Retrieval systems. In this work, we propose to use hyperlink information to derive a similarity measure that can then be applied to compare any text documents, with or without hyperlinks. As linked documents are generally semantically closer than unlinked documents, we use a training corpus with hyperlinks to infer a function a,b → sim(a,b) that assigns a higher value to linked documents than to unlinked ones. Two sets of experiments on different corpora show that this function compares favorably with OKAPI matching on document retrieval tasks.
A Neural Network for Text Representation

Text categorization and retrieval tasks are often based on a good representation of textual data. Departing from the classical vector space model, several probabilistic models have been proposed recently, such as PLSA. In this paper, we propose the use of a neural network based, non-probabilistic, solution, which captures jointly a rich representation of words and documents. Experiments performed on two information retrieval tasks using the TDT2 database and the TREC-8 and 9 sets of queries yielded a better performance for the proposed neural network model, as compared to PLSA and the classical TFIDF representations.
Developing and enhancing posterior based speech recognition systems

Local state or phone posterior probabilities are often investigated as local scores (e.g., hybrid HMM/ANN systems) or as transformed acoustic features (e.g., ``Tandem'') to improve speech recogni tion systems. In this paper, we present initial results towards boosting these approaches by improving posterior estimat es, using acoustic context (e.g., as available in the whole utterance), as well as possible prior information (such as topological constraints). In the present work, the enhanced posterior distribution is associated with the ``gamma'' distribution typically used in standard HMMs training, and estimated from local likelihoods (GMM) or local posteriors (ANN). This approach results in a family of new HMM based systems, where only posterior probabilities are used, while also providing a new, principled, approach towards a hierarchical use/integration of these posteriors, from the frame level up to the phone and word levels, and integrating the appropriate context and prior knowledge in each level. In the present work, we used the resulting posteriors as local scores in a Viter bi decoder. On the OGI Numbers'95 database, this resulted in improved recognition performance, compared to a state-of-the-art hybrid HMM/ANN system.
INTERACTING MARKOV CHAINS

We present a model that learns the influence of interacting Markov chains within a team. The proposed model is a dynamic Bayesian network (DBN) with a two-level structure: individual-level and group-level. Individual level models actions of each player, and the group-level models actions of the team as a whole. Experiments on synthetic multi-player games and a multi-party meeting corpus show the effectiveness of the proposed model.
Detecting group interest-level in meetings

Finding relevant segments in meeting recordings is important for summarization, browsing, and retrieval purposes. In this paper, we define relevance as the interest-level that meeting participants manifest as a group during the course of their interaction (as perceived by an external observer), and investigate the automatic detection of segments of high-interest from audio-visual cues. This is motivated by the assumption that there is a relationship between segments of interest to participants, and those of interest to the end user, e.g. of a meeting browser. We first address the problem of human annotation of group interest-level. On a 50-meeting corpus, recorded in a room equipped with multiple cameras and microphones, we found that the annotations generated by multiple people exhibit a good degree of consistency, providing a stable ground-truth for automatic methods. For the automatic detection of high-interest segments, we investigate a methodology based on hidden Markov models (HMM) and a number of audio and visual features. Single- and multi-stream approaches were studied. Using precision and recall as performance measures, the results suggest that the automatic detection of group interest-level is promising, and that while audio in general constitutes the predominant modality in meetings, the use of a multi-modal approach is beneficial.
Surprising Outcome While Benchmarking Statistical Tests

A flame cutting machine having motor means for traveling one or more gas operated cutting torches along one or more workpieces includes a flame height control for maintaining each torch at a predetermined precise spacing from the workpiece. The height control does not require any mechanical element extending between the torch and the workpiece to sense spacing and is insensitive to surface conditions of the workpiece. Torch to workpiece spacing is sensed at the point of contact of the flame with the workpiece rather than at an adjacent area. An electrical voltage is applied between each torch and the associated workpiece whereby the cutting flame constitutes an electrical resistor, the resistance of which is a function of torch to workpiece spacing. The voltage drop across each flame is continually compared with a predetermined selectable reference voltage indicative of desired torch to workpiece spacing and correction signals are generated when necessary to actuate a servomotor that restores the desired spacing of the torch and associated workpiece. Means are also provided for maintaining different torch to workpiece spacings for preheating and cutting stages of operation and for manually adjusting all torches jointly or any selected torch individually and further means disable the automatic flame height control system in response to a pronounced increase in the electrical resistance of any flame such as occurs if a torch passes off the edge of a workpiece.
Hierarchical Multi-stream Posterior Based Speech Recognition System

In this paper, we present initial results towards boosting posterior based speech recognition systems by estimating more informative posteriors using multiple streams of features and taking into account acoustic context (e.g., as available in the whole utterance), as well as possible prior information (such as topological constraints). These posteriors are estimated based on “state gamma posterior” definition (typically used in standard HMMs training) extended to the case of multi-stream HMMs.This approach provides a new, principled, theoretical framework for hierarchical estimation/use of posteriors, multi-stream feature combination, and integrating appropriate context and prior knowledge in posterior estimates. In the present work, we used the resulting gamma posteriors as features for a standard HMM/GMM layer. On the OGI Digits database and on a reduced vocabulary version (1000 words) of the DARPA Conversational Telephone Speech-to-text (CTS) task, this resulted in significant performance improvement, compared to the state-of-the-art Tandem systems.
Automatic analysis of multimodal group actions in meetings

This paper investigates the recognition of group actions in meetings. A framework is employed in which group actions result from the interactions of the individual participants. The group actions are modeled using different HMM-based approaches, where the observations are provided by a set of audiovisual features monitoring the actions of individuals. Experiments demonstrate the importance of taking interactions into account in modeling the group actions. It is also shown that the visual modality contains useful information, even for predominantly audio-based events, motivating a multimodal approach to meeting analysis.
On accuracy/robustness/complexity trade-offs in face verification

In much of the literature devoted to face recognition, experiments are performed with controlled images (e.g. manual face localization, controlled lighting, background and pose). However, a practical recognition system has to be robust to more challenging conditions. In this paper, we first evaluate on the relatively difficult BANCA database, the discrimination accuracy, robustness and complexity of Gaussian mixture model (GMM), 1D- and pseudo-2D hidden Markov model (HMM) based systems, using both manual and automatic face localization. We also propose to extend the GMM approach through the use of local features with embedded positional information, increasing accuracy without sacrificing its low complexity. Experiments show that good accuracy on manually located faces is not necessarily indicative of good accuracy on automatically located faces (which are imperfectly located). The deciding factor is shown to be the degree of constraints placed on spatial relations between face parts. Methods which utilize rigid constraints have poor robustness compared to methods which have relaxed constraints. Furthermore, we show that while the pseudo-1D HMM approach has the best overall accuracy, classification time on current hardware makes it impractical. The best trade-off in terms of complexity, robustness and discrimination accuracy is achieved by the extended GMM approach.
A unified framework for score normalization techniques applied to text-independent speaker verification

The purpose of this letter is to unify several of the state-of-the-art score normalization techniques applied to text-independent speaker verification systems. We propose a new framework for this purpose. The two well-known Z- and T-normalization techniques can be easily interpreted in this framework as different ways to estimate score distributions. This is useful since it helps to understand the various assumptions behind these well-known score normalization techniques and opens the door for yet more complex solutions. Finally, some experiments on the Switchboard database are performed in order to illustrate the validity of the new proposed framework.
A Probabilistic Model for Chord Progressions

Chord progressions are the building blocks from which tonal music is constructed. Inferring chord progressions is thus an essential step towards modeling long term dependencies in music. In this paper, a distributed representation for chords is designed such that Euclidean distances roughly correspond to psychoacoustic dissimilarities. Estimated probabilities of chord substitutions are derived from this representation and are used to introduce smoothing in graphical models observing chord progressions. Parameters in the graphical models are learnt with the EM algorithm and the classical Junction Tree algorithm is used for inference. Various model architectures are compared in terms of conditional out-of-sample likelihood. Both perceptual and statistical evidence show that binary trees related to meter are well suited to capture chord dependencies.
Boosting word error rates

We apply boosting techniques to the problem of word error rate minimisation in speech recognition. This is achieved through a new definition of sample error for boosting and a training procedure for hidden Markov models. We define a sample error for sentence examples related to the word error rate. Furthermore, for each sentence example we define a probability distribution in time that represents our belief that an error has been made at that particular frame. This is used to weigh the frames of each sentence in the boosting framework. We present preliminary results on the well-known Numbers 95 database that indicate the importance of this temporal probability distribution.
Topic Mixture Model for Document Representation

In Automatic Text Processing tasks, documents are usually represented in the bag-ofwords space. However, this representation does not take into account the possible relations between words. We propose here a review of a family of document density estimation models for representing documents. Inside this family we derive another possible model: the Theme Topic Mixture Model (TTMM). This model assumes two types of relations among textual data. Topics link words to each other and Themes gather documents with particular distribution over the topics. An experiment reports the performance of the different models in this family over a common task.
Chord Representations for Probabilistic Models

Chord progressions are the building blocks from which tonal music is constructed. Inferring chord progressions is thus an essential step towards modeling long term dependencies in music. In this paper, three different representations for chords are designed. In a first representation, Euclidean distances roughly correspond to psychoacoustic dissimilarities between chords. Estimated probabilities of chord substitutions are then derived from these distances and are used to introduce smoothing in graphical models observing another chord representation. Finally, a third representation where we model directly each chord components leads to a probabilistic model considering the interaction between melodies and chord progressions. Parameters in the graphical models are learnt with the EM algorithm and the classical Junction Tree algorithm is used for inference. Various model architectures are compared in terms of conditional out-of-sample likelihood. Both perceptual and statistical evidence show that binary trees related to meter are well suited to capture chord dependencies.
A Novel Approach to Combining Client-Dependent and Confidence Information in Multimodal Biometrics

The issues of fusion with client-dependent and confidence information have been well studied separately in biometric authentication. In this study, we propose to take advantage of both sources of information in a discriminative framework. Initially, each source of information is processed on a per expert basis (plus on a per client basis for the first information and on a per example basis for the second information). Then, both sources of information are combined using a second-level classifier, across different experts. Although the formulation of such two-step solution is not new, the novelty lies in the way the sources of prior knowledge are incorporated prior to fusion using the second-level classifier. Because these two sources of information are of very different nature, one often needs to devise special algorithms to combine both information sources. Our framework that we call “Prior Knowledge Incorporation” has the advantage of using the standard machine learning algorithms. Based on 10 × 32=320 intramodal and multimodal fusion experiments carried out on the publicly available XM2VTS score-level fusion benchmark database, it is found that the generalisation performance of combining both information sources improves over using either or none of them, thus achieving a new state-of-the-art performance on this database.
MULTIMEDIA MEETING COLLECTIONS

Multimedia meeting collections, composed of unedited audio and video streams, handwritten notes, slides, and electronic documents that jointly constitute a raw record of complex human interaction processes in the workplace, have attracted interest due to the increasing feasibility of recording them in large quantities, by the opportunities for information access and retrieval applications derived from the automatic extraction of relevant meeting information, and by the challenges that the extraction of semantic information from real human activities entails. In this paper, we present a succint overview of recent approaches in this field, largely influenced by our own experiences. We first review some of the existing and potential needs for users of multimedia meeting information systems. We then summarize recent work on various research areas addressing some of these requirements. In more detail, we describe our work on automatic analysis of human interaction patterns from audio-visual sensors, discussing open issues in this domain.
A Kernel Classifier for Distributions

This paper presents a new algorithm for classifying distributions. The algorithm combines the principle of margin maximization and a kernel trick, applied to distributions. Thus, it combines the discriminative power of support vector machines and the well-developed framework of generative models. It can be applied to a number of real-life tasks which include data represented as distributions. The algorithm can also be applied for introducing some prior knowledge on invariances into a discriminative model. We illustrate this approach in details for the case of Gaussian distributions, using a toy problem. We also present experiments devoted to the real-life problem of invariant image classification.
Exploiting Hyperlinks to Learn a Retrieval Model

Information Retrieval (IR) aims at solving a ranking problem: given a query $q$ and a corpus $C$, the documents of $C$ should be ranked such that the documents relevant to $q$ appear above the others. This task is generally performed by ranking the documents $d \in C$ according to their similarity with respect to $q$, $sim (q,d)$. The identification of an effective function $a,b \to sim(a,b)$ could be performed using a large set of queries with their corresponding relevance assessments. However, such data are especially expensive to label, thus, as an alternative, we propose to rely on hyperlink data which convey analogous semantic relationships. We then empirically show that a measure $sim$ inferred from hyperlinked documents can actually outperform the state-of-the-art {\em Okapi} approach, when applied over a non-hyperlinked retrieval corpus.
Learning Influence among Interacting Markov Chains

We present a model that learns the influence of interacting Markov chains within a team. The proposed model is a dynamic Bayesian network (DBN) with a two-level structure: individual-level and group-level. Individual level models actions of each player, and the group-level models actions of the team as a whole. Experiments on synthetic multi-player games and a multi-party meeting corpus show the effectiveness of the proposed model.