ppxscal/embedding_network huggingface dataset:
Communicating with a virtual human or a skin-based robot head
Authors: Nadia Magnenat-Thalmann, Zerrin Kasap, Maher Ben Moussa
Venue: ACM SIGGRAPH ASIA 2008 courses (2008)

Multimodal dialogue management capabilities involve and combine input and output from various interaction modalities and technologies. In this paper, we present our research done in the framework of the European Project Indigo. In this project, we try to communicate in a natural way with a virtual human and possibly with a very realistic robot skin-based face head. We have defined memory models, recognition of emotions, and dialogue interaction based on recognition of emotions of the user. We can have a dialogue either with a virtual human or with our robot head that can recognize us, ask some specific questions concerning our habits and is able to understand our answers and behave accordingly.
OFDMA techniques in multicellular networks with total frequency reuse
Authors: Dimitra Zarbouti, Ioannis Stiakogiannakis, George Tsoulos, Georgia Athanasiadou, Dimitra Kaklamani
Venue: Computer Communications (2009)

Orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) techniques are investigated in this paper. Five subchannel allocation algorithms are analysed and their performance in a multicellular environment is evaluated with simulations. Four schemes of lower complexity, suitable for the early deployment of wireless systems, are compared with a more computationally demanding scheme with respect to their blocking probability, loading factor and offered bit rate. The channel condition of each carrier is calculated and its knowledge is used for power controlled adaptive modulation, as an essential feature of the OFDMA technique. The general radio resource management process is divided into two steps: in the first step a base station allocates carriers to users while in the second step the modulation and power levels for each allocated carrier are defined. The simulation results demonstrate that a wireless system in its early deployment phase (up to 15-30% blocking probability) can employ simple OFDMA techniques capable of achieving high throughput. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that two of the proposed lower complexity schemes, (those based on cell coordination), offer good performance gain for higher data rate services. Nevertheless, these schemes achieve relatively lower gains with adaptive modulation, when compared with the techniques which exploit interference averaging or adaptive interference mitigation.
T&uuml;ist: transformable &uuml;ber interface for stardom
Authors: Rui Pereira
Venue: Proceedings of the 2008 International Conference on Advances in Computer Entertainment Technology (2008)

This project is an emotionally driven interface taking on our inner desires and fantasies of instantaneously becoming superstars (and momentarily living under the skin of our idols) and on our instinctive imitation of the musical performers gestures as expressions of sounds. Tuist is a multi-instrument interface based on a single object with minimal gesture input surfaces and various modes of use through different positioning and orientation towards the user's body. Multi-track gesture recording and playback/loop features also enable for multi-arrangement and composition by allowing the user to record and interact with his own performances in time. Its objective was the development of an intuitive and playful interface for novices, capable of providing explorative interactions in an enjoyable experience inspired by our significant mimicking gestures of 'real' musicians and our private ambitions of creating music.
Synthesis of GaN nanowires and nanorods via self-growth mode control
Authors: S. M. Kang, T. I. Shin, Duc V. Dinh, J. H. Yang, S. -W. Kim, D. H. Yoon
Venue: Microelectronics Journal (2009)

The synthesis of hexagonal wurzite one-dimensional (1D) GaN nanostructures on c-Al"2O"3 substrates was investigated using a thermal chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process. The diameter of the GaN nanostructures was controlled by varying the growth time using a mixture of GaN powder and Ga metal with the ammonia gas reaction. The morphologies of the GaN nanowires and nanorods were confirmed by field emission scanning electron microscopy. The micro-Raman spectroscopy and X-ray scattering measurements indicated that the GaN nanostructures had a hexagonal wurzite structure without any oxide phases. We investigated the difference in the structural properties between the GaN nanowires and nanorods. Deep-level emission bands were not observed in cathodoluminescence measurements from either the GaN nanowires or nanorods, indicating the incorporation of low-level impurities into our 1D GaN nanostructures.
Parallel volume rendering using binary-swap image composition
Authors: Kwan-Liu Ma, James S. Painter, Charles D. Hansen, Michael F. Krogh
Venue: ACM SIGGRAPH ASIA 2008 courses (2008)

This paper presents a divide-and-conquer ray-traced volume rendering algorithm and a parallel image compositing method, along with their implementation and performance on the Connection Machine CM-5, and networked workstations. This algorithm distributes both the data and the computations to individual processing units to achieve fast, high-quality rendering of high-resolution data. The volume data, once distributed, is left in place, regardless of viewing position. The processing nodes perform local raytracing of their subvolume concurrently. No communication between processing units is needed during this local ray-tracing process. A subimage is generated by each processing unit and the final image is obtained by compositing subimages in the proper order, which can be determined a priori. Composition is done in parallel via a new algorithm we call Binary-Swap compositing. Test results on both the CM-5 and a group of networked workstations demonstrate the practicality of our rendering algorithm and compositing method.
DEMOSTHENES: When the Computer Corrects Your Foreign Language Pronunciation
Authors: 0. Deroo, H. Leich
Venue: Proceedings of the 1999 IEEE International Conference on Multimedia Computing and Systems - Volume 02 (1999)

This paper accounts for the demonstration of the DEMOSTHENES protoQpe, an interactive tool for the correction of foreign language learners' pronunciation. After briefly describing the learners' profile and the application language, the authors expose the basic modules that lead to the final prototype. Finally, the tool is described as it appears in its demonstration version.
Applications of a variational multiscale method for large eddy simulation of turbulent flows on moving/deforming unstructured grids
Authors: Ajaykumar Rajasekharan, Charbel Farhat
Venue: Finite Elements in Analysis and Design (2009)

In this paper, the three-level formulation of a variational multiscale (VMS) large eddy simulation (LES) method for compressible flow computations [B. Koobus, C. Farhat, A variational multiscale method for the large eddy simulation of compressible turbulent flows on unstructured meshes-application to vortex shedding, Comput. Methods Appl. Mech. Eng. 193 (2004) 1367-1384; C. Farhat, A. Rajasekharan, B. Koobus, A dynamic variational multiscale method for large eddy simulations on unstructured meshes, Comput. Methods Appl. Mech. Eng. 195 (2006) 1667-1691] is extended for applications involving moving/deforming grids. A consistent method to improve the VMS-LES method by computing the small scale Smagorinsky constant (C"s^') dynamically [C. Farhat, A. Rajasekharan, B. Koobus, A dynamic variational multiscale method for large eddy simulations on unstructured meshes, Comput. Methods Appl. Mech. Eng. 195 (2006) 1667-1691; A. Rajasekharan, Variationally consistent multiscale formulations and ALE time integrators for large eddy simulation of turbulent flows on dynamic grids, Ph.D. Dissertation, Stanford University, 2008] as the flow develops (dynamic VMS-LES) is also extended for dynamic grid applications. Two applications of VMS-LES for the simulation of separated flow over moving NACA-0012 extruded airfoil is then presented. The first application involves a qualitative simulation exploring the Knoller-Betz effect [K.D. Jones, C.M. Dohring, M.F. Platzer, Experimental and computational investigation of the Knoller-Betz effect, AIAA J. 36(7) (1998) 1240-1246] of the heaving airfoil at high Strouhal number. The second application is that of the pitching airfoil undergoing dynamic stall. The results predicted by the dynamic VMS-LES method are compared to those obtained with other turbulence models and to experimental data and it is found that the dynamic VMS-LES performs better than the other considered static and dynamic LES models.
Research of Decision Support System Based on Data Warehouse Techniques
Authors: Qingtian Han, Xiaoyan Gao
Venue: Proceedings of the 2009 Second International Workshop on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining (2009)

This paper discusses the concepts of data warehouse technology and its importance for decision support system (DSS). The DSS as one kind smart software system of the important application value, provides, each kind of decision information as well as the commercial question solution for the enterprise. Thus Data warehouse can meet the requirements of the database management subsystems of DSS, and is fitted to form its technology frame. Then we put forth the structure of data warehouse and its main functional components. Along with widespread application of the data warehouse, DSS based on data warehouse arises at the historic moment. Begin with actual demand of the DSS, characteristic and the structure of the data warehouse have been analyzed. DSS based on the data warehouse technology is elaborated, and finally give the application example.
Learning the Point Gathering Task Using Shared Value Function In Mobile Robots
Authors: Sriram Raghavan, Raghavan S.V.
Venue: Proceedings of the 2009 International Conference on Advanced Computer Control (2009)

Managing the actions of several agents to perform tasks which require coordination and cooperation pose significant research challenges. One such challenge is to synchronize the agents’ view of the system to help them take the ‘right’ actions. In this paper, we propose an algorithm called MRCPG (Mobile Robot Coordination Point Gathering Algorithm) for coordinating the actions of a team of mobile robots. The aim is to gather these robots at a particular location in a 2-dimensional plane which is determined during execution. The robots are randomly deployed in the plane and they achieve the goal by communicating periodically. In addition, we impose a Reinforcement Learning framework and the robots learn a Shared Value Function (SVF) based on scalar rewards received. The SVF is used to select the best possible action in each state until at least one robot reaches the goal. Then a Reach-distance heuristic is used to direct the remaining robots to the goal. The algorithm was analyzed through simulations for up to 5 robots and the analysis indicates that communication helped robots perform significantly faster than when they acted independently - measured using the path-length of the first robot to reach the goal as the metric. We also observed that increasing team size enhances the effect of communication and hastens task completion.
Octilinear redistributive routing in bump arrays
Authors: Renshen Wang, Chung-Kuan Cheng
Venue: Proceedings of the 19th ACM Great Lakes symposium on VLSI (2009)

This paper proposes a scheme for automatic re-distribution layer (RDL) routing, which is used in chip-package connections. Traditional RDL routing designs are mostly performed manually because the wire geometries are more flexible and therefore more difficult to handle on RDL than on chip. For example, octilinear routing is manufacturable in RDL and is widely adopted due to its higher efficiency than Manhattan routing. In this paper we devise a polynomial time octilinear RDL routing algorithm based on a grid network embedded in the bump array. The grid network is constructed to fully utilize the routing space as well as avoid any spacing violation. Detailed routing solution can be obtained following the min-cost max-flow in the network. Experimental results show the effectiveness of our router.
Rough Vague Sets and its Knowledge Acquisition
Authors: Zhao-peng Liu, Dan Fang, Lin Feng
Venue: Proceedings of the 2009 Second International Symposium on Intelligent Information Technology and Security Informatics (2009)

The rough sets approach to vague concept approximation is an emerging area of intelligence information processing that offers new theories, techniques, and tools for analysis of vague data sets. This paper makes an attempt to extend the traditional rough sets approaches to the vague data environment. First, we defined the logical implication relationship between two vague values. The implication operator is used to define vague measures between two vague sets containment. Then, by using the containment and intersection between vague sets, the notions of the lower and upper generalized rough vague approximations of a vague set are introduced. Finally, with the rough vague lower and upper approximations, we developed theories and approaches for attribute reduction and knowledge acquisition in vague objective information systems. The results of this paper show that our studies have extended the corresponding methods in classical rough sets theory, and provided a new avenue for uncertain knowledge acquisition in vague information systems.
A Low Bit Rate Audio Bandwidth Extension Method for Mobile Communication
Authors: Bo Hang, Rui-Min Hu, Xing Li, Yuan Fang, An-Chao Tsai
Venue: Proceedings of the 9th Pacific Rim Conference on Multimedia: Advances in Multimedia Information Processing (2008)

High quality audio signal is supposed to be provided with low bit rate and low computational complexity in mobile communication system. This paper proposed a novel audio coding bandwidth extension method (BWE), which calculates high-frequency synthesis filter by using codebook mapping method, and transmits quantified gain corrections of high-frequency part. The preliminary test show that this method can provide comparable audio quality with lower bit consumption compared with AMR-WB+.
Using recursion to solve the pill problem
Authors: Keith Brandt, Kaleb Waite
Venue: Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges (2009)

A probability question regarding the distribution of whole and half pills in a bottle is studied. Four different recursive implementations are used to investigate this question, and the performance of each implementation is measured in terms of the trade-off between computing time and storage required.
Planning and Pricing of Service Mashups
Authors: Benjamin Blau, Dirk Neumann, Christof Weinhardt, Steffen Lamparter
Venue: Proceedings of the 2008 10th IEEE Conference on E-Commerce Technology and the Fifth IEEE Conference on Enterprise Computing, E-Commerce and E-Services (2008)

Today's development and provision of commercially used Web services has shifted from providing static and predefined functionality to highly configurable services that can be dynamically combined by customers. This new form of composed services called service mashups integrate functionality of multiple sub-services from decentralized providers. Consequently this leads to a high configuration complexity and presents new challenges in the field of planning and pricing of service offerings such as validation of service configurations as well as price determination. Facing these challenges this paper presents an ontology framework for describing technical as well as economic interdependencies between services and shows how planing and pricing algorithms for dynamic Web scenarios can be implemented. As proof of concept we present the implementation of a Service Mashup Planner and show how this tool can be used to construct complex services considering technical as well as economic service aspects.
LDPC codes from Singer cycles
Authors: Luca Giuzzi, Angelo Sonnino
Venue: Discrete Applied Mathematics (2009)

The main goal of coding theory is to devise efficient systems to exploit the full capacity of a communication channel, thus achieving an arbitrarily small error probability. Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) codes are a family of block codes-characterised by admitting a sparse parity check matrix-with good correction capabilities. In the present paper the orbits of subspaces of a finite projective space under the action of a Singer cycle are investigated. The incidence matrix associated to each of these structures yields an LDPC code in a natural manner.
A Comparison of Bilateral and Multilateral Exchanges for Peer-Assisted Content Distribution
Authors: Christina Aperjis, Michael J. Freedman, Ramesh Johari
Venue: Network Control and Optimization: Second Euro-NF Workshop, NET-COOP 2008 Paris, France, September 8-10, 2008. Revised Selected Papers (2009)

Peer-assisted content distribution matches user demand for content with available supply at other peers in the network. Inspired by this supply-and-demand interpretation of the nature of content sharing, we employ price theory to study peer-assisted content distribution. In this approach, the market-clearing prices are those which exactly align supply and demand, and the system is studied through the characterization of price equilibria. We rigorously analyze the efficiency and robustness gains that are enabled by price-based multilateral exchange. We show that multilateral exchanges satisfy several desirable efficiency and robustness properties that bilateral exchanges do not, e.g., equilibria in bilateral exchange may fail to exist, be inefficient if they do exist, and fail to remain robust to collusive deviations even if they are Pareto efficient. Further, we show that an equilibrium in bilateral exchange corresponds to a multilateral exchange equilibrium if and only if it is robust to deviations by coalitions of users.
Two fruit counting techniques for citrus mechanical harvesting machinery
Authors: M. R. Ehsani, T. E. Grift, J. M. Maja, D. Zhong
Venue: Computers and Electronics in Agriculture (2009)

Two fruit counting methods were developed for citrus mechanical harvesting machineries. The first method relied on the flow of fruits forming a random arrival process (Poisson process), whereas the second method relied on counting singulated fruits. The first approach was based on a method developed earlier targeted at measuring the flow rate and mean particle diameter of granular fertilizer particles. A similar approach was used in this research, where a large time of flight device was developed that measured the lengths of clumps of fruits falling through the time of flight device. The clump lengths were subsequently used to estimate the number of fruits passing the sensor per time unit. This method can only work accurately if the flow of fruits constitutes an independent arrival process (Poisson process). The advantage of this method is that it is non-intrusive, founded on theory and does not require calibration. However, during experiments it became evident that the flow of fruits directly after being transported from a conveyor belt was not Poisson driven, and therefore the method failed. As an alternative, a second method was developed which did not rely on any assumptions about the flow regime and is also virtually non-intrusive. This method uses a flow separation section which funnels and singulates the flow of fruits into five channels. The fruits in these channels were counted individually using laser-based photo-interruption sensors. This method, although more rudimentary than the Poisson-based approach, yielded good accuracy: during laboratory tests, where a total of 2000 fruits passed the sensor, 1996 were counted, yielding an error of 0.2%. This result was obtained with an unrefined sensor, and further increase in accuracy may be possible. Testing is planned on a full size canopy shaker fruit harvester under field conditions to assess the robustness and to develop methods to resolve potential errors introduced by debris.
Probabilistic Integration of Tracking and Recognition of Soccer Players
Authors: Toshie Misu, Atsushi Matsui, Simon Clippingdale, Mahito Fujii, Nobuyuki Yagi
Venue: Proceedings of the 15th International Multimedia Modeling Conference on Advances in Multimedia Modeling (2009)

This paper proposes a method for integrating player trajectories tracked in wide-angle images and identities by face and back-number recognition from images by a motion-controlled camera. In order to recover from tracking failures efficiently, the motion-controlled camera scans and follows players who are judged likely to undergo heavy occlusions several seconds in the future. The candidates of identities for each tracked trajectory are probabilistically modeled and updated at every identification. The degradation due to the passage of time and occlusions are also modeled. Experiments showed the system's feasibility for automatic real-time formation estimation which will be applied to metadata production with semantic and dynamic information on sports scenes.
From liveness to promptness
Authors: Orna Kupferman, Nir Piterman, Moshe Y. Vardi
Venue: Formal Methods in System Design (2009)

Liveness temporal properties state that something "good" eventually happens, e.g., every request is eventually granted. In Linear Temporal Logic (LTL), there is no a priori bound on the "wait time" for an eventuality to be fulfilled. That is, F ¿ asserts that ¿ holds eventually, but there is no bound on the time when ¿ will hold. This is troubling, as designers tend to interpret an eventuality F ¿ as an abstraction of a bounded eventuality F ¿k ¿, for an unknown k, and satisfaction of a liveness property is often not acceptable unless we can bound its wait time. We introduce here prompt-LTL, an extension of LTL with the prompt-eventually operator F p . A system S satisfies a prompt-LTL formula ¿ if there is some bound k on the wait time for all prompt-eventually subformulas of ¿ in all computations of S. We study various problems related to prompt-LTL, including realizability, model checking, and assume-guarantee model checking, and show that they can be solved by techniques that are quite close to the standard techniques for LTL.
Light interaction with human skin: from believable images to predictable models
Authors: Gladimir V. G. Baranoski, Aravind Krishnaswamy
Venue: ACM SIGGRAPH ASIA 2008 courses (2008)

Recent research efforts in image synthesis have been directed toward the rendering of believable and predictable images of biological materials. This course addresses an important topic in this area, namely the predictive simulation of skin's appearance. The modeling approaches, algorithms and data examined during this course can be also applied to the rendering of other organic materials such as hair and ocular tissues.
Associative classification of mammograms using weighted rules
Authors: Sumeet Dua, Harpreet Singh, H. W. Thompson
Venue: Expert Systems with Applications: An International Journal (2009)

In this paper, we present a novel method for the classification of mammograms using a unique weighted association rule based classifier. Images are preprocessed to reveal regions of interest. Texture components are extracted from segmented parts of the image and discretized for rule discovery. Association rules are derived between various texture components extracted from segments of images and employed for classification based on their intra- and inter-class dependencies. These rules are then employed for the classification of a commonly used mammography dataset, and rigorous experimentation is performed to evaluate the rules' efficacy under different classification scenarios. The experimental results show that this method works well for such datasets, incurring accuracies as high as 89%, which surpasses the accuracy rates of other rule based classification techniques.