waashk/acm huggingface dataset:
a comparison of lisp, prolog, and ada programming productivity in ai area  an experiment comparing programming productivity of lisp, prolog, and ada used in the ai (artificial intelligence) area is reported. lisp and prolog have been the main languages used for ai programming because of their symbol manipulation and list processing facilities. there is a possibility, however, that general purpose languages such as ada or c can be used to develop large- scale, practical-use ai software because of their high performance and good maintainability. the purpose of this experiment is to present quantitative productivity data comparing these languages used for ai programming.  in the experiment, several ai software components are programmed in three languages: lisp, prolog, and ada, and the languages' effects on programming productivity are examined. the main results of the experiment are:  lisp and prolog programming productivity in coding and debugging stages are about two times that of ada;  the programming effort is in proportion to program size.  this paper presents the experimental data supporting this and a number of additional conclusions.  f. hattori k. kushima t. wasano
scale-sensitive dimensions, uniform convergence, and learnability  learnability in valiant's pac learning model has been shown to be strongly related to the existence of uniform laws of large numbers. these laws define a distribution-free convergence property of means to expectations uniformly over classes of random variables. classes of real-valued functions enjoying such a property are also known as uniform glivenko-cantelli classes. in this paper, we prove, through a generalization of sauer's lemma that may be interesting in its own right, a new characterization of uniform glivenko- cantelli classes. our characterization yields dudley, gine, and zinn's previous characterization as a corollary. furthermore, it is the first based on a gine, and zinn's previous characterization as a corollary. furthermore, it is the first based on a simple combinatorial quantity generalizing the vapnik-chervonenkis dimension. we apply this result to obtain the weakest combinatorial condition known to imply pac learnability in the statistical regression (or "agnostic") framework. furthermore, we find a characterization of learnability in the probabilistic concept model, solving an open problem posed by kearns and schapire. these results show that the accuracy parameter plays a crucial role in determining the effective complexity of the learner's hypothesis class.  noga alon shai ben- david nicolò cesa-bianchi david haussler
simulation model to evaluate maintenance strategies for large network of fielded systems  a dynamic simulation model of a field maintenance organization has been developed and validated. the objective of the model is to provide an analytical tool for evaluating the operational feasibility of new maintenance strategies prior to their introduction into the field. this simulation model is an accurate replica of the policies and time critical maintenance activities within a field organization, providing a rendering in detail of each technician and each facility as events take place in time. this paper discusses the structure of the model, the functions simulated, the validation experiment, and an application of the model.  gene a. wong
confidence intervals using orthonormally weighted standardized time series  we extend the standardized time series area method for constructing confidence intervals for the mean of a stationary stochastic process. the proposed intervals are based on orthonormally weighted standardized time series area variance estimators. the underlying area estimators possess two important properties: they are first-order unbiased, and they are asymptotically independent of each other. these properties are largely the result of a careful choice of weighting functions, which we explicitly describe. the asymptotic independence of the area estimators yields more degrees of freedom than various predecessors; this, in turn, produces smaller mean and variance of the length of the resulting confidence intervals. we illustrate the efficacy of the new procedure via exact and monte carlo examples. we also provide suggestions for efficient implementation of the method.  robert d. foley david goldsman
frameless rendering: double buffering considered harmful  the use of double-buffered displays, in which the previous image is displayed until the next image is complete, can impair the interactivity of systems that require tight coupling between the human user and the computer. we are experimenting with an alternate rendering strategy that computes each pixel based on the most recent input (i.e., view and object positions) and immediately updates the pixel on the display. we avoid the image tearing normally associated with single-buffered displays by randomizing the order in which pixels are updated. the resulting image sequences give the impression of moving continuously, with a rough approximation of motion blur, rather than jerking between discrete positions.  we have demonstrated the effectiveness of this frameless rendering method with a simulation that shows conventional double-buffering side-by-side with frameless rendering. both methods are allowed the same computation budget, but the double-buffered display only updates after all pixels are computed while the frameless rendering display updates pixels as they are computed. the frameless rendering display exhibits fluid motion while the double-buffered display jumps from frame to frame. the randomized sampling inherent in frameless rendering means that we cannot take advantage of image and object coherence properties that are important to current polygon renderers, but for renderers based on tracing independent rays the added cost is small.  gary bishop henry fuchs leonard mcmillan ellen j. scher zagier
applying cartoon animation techniques to graphical user interfaces if judiciously applied, animation techniques can enhance the look and feel of computer applications that present a graphical human interface. such techniques can smooth the rough edges and abrupt transitions common in many current graphical interfaces, and strengthen the illusion of direct manipulation that many interfaces strive to present. to date, few applications include such animation techniques. one possible reason is that animated interfaces are difficult to implement: they are difficult to design, place great burdens on programmers, and demand high-performance from underlying graphics systems.this article describes how direct manipulation human computer interfaces can be augmented with techniques borrowed from cartoon animators. in particular, we wish to improve the visual feedback of a direct manipulation interface by smoothing the changes of an interface, giving manipulated objects a feeling of substance and providing cues that anticipate the result of a manipulation. our approach is to add support for animation techniques such as object distortion and keyframe interpolation, and to provide prepackaged animation effects such as animated widgets for common user interface interactions.to determine if these tools and techniques are practical and effective, we built a prototype direct manipulation drawing editor with an animated interface and used the prototype editor to carry out a set of human factors experiments. the experiments show that the techniques are practical even on standard workstation hardware, and that the effects can indeed enhance direct manipulation interfaces. bruce h. thomas paul calder
the irradiance jacobian for partially occluded polyhedral sources  the irradiance at a point on a surface due to a polyhedral source of uniform brightness is given by a well-known analytic formula. in this paper we derive the corresponding analytic expression for the irradiance jacobian, the derivative of the vector representation of irradiance. although the result is elementary for unoccluded sources, within penumbrae the irradiance jacobian must incorporate more information about blockers than either the irradiance or vector irradiance. the expression presented here holds for any number of polyhedral blockers and requires only a minor extension of standard polygon clipping to evaluate. to illustrate its use, three related applications are briefing described: direct computation of isolux contours, finding local irradiance extrema, and iso-meshing. isolux contours are curves of constant irradiance across a surface that can be followed using a predictor-corrector method based on the irradiance jacobian. similarly, local extrema can be found using a descent method. finally, iso- meshing is a new approach to surface mesh generation that incorporates families of isolux contours.  james arvo
computer puppetry: an importance-based approach computer puppetry maps the movements of a performer to an animated character in real-time. in this article, we provide a comprehensive solution to the problem of transferring the observations of the motion capture sensors to an animated character whose size and proportion may be different from the performer's. our goal is to map as many of the _important_ aspects of the motion to the target character as possible, while meeting the online, real-time demands of computer puppetry. we adopt a kalman filter scheme that addresses motion capture noise issues in this setting. we provide the notion of dynamic importance of an end-effector that allows us to determine what aspects of the performance must be kept in the resulting motion. we introduce a novel inverse kinematics solver that realizes these important aspects within tight real-time constraints. our approach is demonstrated by its application to broadcast television performances. hyun joon shin jehee lee sung yong shin michael gleicher
automating parallel simulation using parallel time streams  this paper describes a package for parallel steady-state stochastic simulation that was designed to overcome problems caused by long simulation times experienced in our ongoing research in performance evaluation of high-speed and integrated- services communication networks, while maintaining basic statistical rigors of proper analysis of simulation output data. the package, named akaroa, accepts ordinary (nonparallel) simulation programs, and alll further stages of stochastic simulation should be transparent for users. the package employs a new method of sequential estimation for the multiple- replications-in-parallel scenario. all basic functions, including the transformation of originally nonparallel simulators into ones suitable for parallel execution, control of the precision of estimates, and stopping of parallel simulation processes when the required precision of the overall steady-state estimates is achieved, are automated. the package can be used on multiprocessor systems and/or heterogeneous computer networks, involving an arbitrary number of processors. the design issues, architecture, and implementation of akaroa, as well as the results of its preliminary performance studies are presented  victor yau
a multiagent and suebskul phiphobmongkol planner using meta-knowledge and agent constraints  multiagent planning is a process of generating action assignments for multiple agents to achieve a given goal. most of the current approaches create single agent plans first, and try to synchronize them by using communication primitives. because parallelism is devised after single agent plans are constructed, cooperation among agents is difficult to achieve. since most conflicts are resolved at low level actions, the search space of conflict identification and resolution can be large. another problem is the lack of using agent constraints in plan generation. agents are assumed to be similar while in real life they may differ in the ways they achieve a goal. this paper describes a multiagent planning approach that solve some of the above difficulties. this approach has three features. they are meta-level planning, breakable/unbreakable action representations, and integrated agent assignment scheme. using these approaches, conflicts among low level actions can be reduced. cooperation among agents is possible and the output plan will be suitable for different types of agents.  kai-hsiung chang
the local time warp approach to parallel simulation  the two main approaches to parallel discrete event simulation -- conservative and optimistic -- are likely to encounter some limitations when the size and complexity of the simulation system increases. for such large scale simulations, the conservative approach appears to be limited by blocking overhead and sensitivity to lookahead, whereas the optimistic approach may become prone to cascading rollbacks, state saving overhead, and demands for larger memory space. these drawbacks restrict the synchronization schemes based on each of the two approaches from scaling up. a combined approach may resolve these limitations, while preserving and utilizing potential advantages of each method. however, the schemes proposed so far integrate the two views at the same level, i.e. local to a logical process, and hence may not be able to fully solve the problems. in this paper we propose the local time warp method for parallel discrete-event simulation and present a novel synchronization scheme for it called hctw. the new scheme hierarchically combines a conservative time window algorithm with time warp and aims at reducing cascade rollbacks, sensitivity to lookahead, and the scalability problems. local time warp is believed to be suitable for parallel machines equipped with thousands of processors and thus an appropriate candidate for simulation of large and complex systems.  hassan rajaei rassul ayani lars-erik thorelli
breathing time warp  time warp and breathing time buckets are two general-purpose optimistic synchronization strategies for supporting parallel discrete-event simulations. however, each one of these approaches has potential fatal shortcomings. time warp may exhibit rollback explosions that can cause an avalance of antimessages. breathing time buckets, on the other hand, may not be able to process enough events per synchronization cycle to remain efficient.  a new strategy, called breathing time warp, has been developed in the synchronous parallel environment for emulation and discrete-event simulation (speedes) operating sytem. this new strategy solves both of these problems by mixing the two algorithms together, resulting in the best of both methods.  this paper describes the implementation of the breathing time warp algorithm in speedes, and then shows how this new approach sometimes improves the performance of parallel discrete-event simulations.  jeff s. steinman
three-dimensional distance field metamorphosis  given two or more objects of general topology, intermediate objects are constructed by a distance field metamorphosis. in the presented method the interpolation of the distance field is guided by a warp function controlled by a set of corresponding anchor points. some rules for defining a smooth least- distorting warp function are given. to reduce the distortion of the intermediate shapes, the warp function is decomposed into a rigid rotational part and an elastic part. the distance field interpolation method is modified so that the interpolation is done in correlation with the warp function. the method provides the animator with a technique that can be used to create a set of models forming a smooth transition between pairs of a given sequence of keyframe models. the advantage of the new approach is that it is capable of morphing between objects having a different topological genus where no correspondence between the geometric primitives of the models needs to be established. the desired correspondence is defined by an animator in terms of a relatively small number of anchor points  daniel cohen-or amira solomovic david levin
portrait of the artists in a young industry today's big computer games are often graphics-intensive behemoths with sgi-rendered imagery filled with 3d figures and created with big budgets. but games and graphics haven't always been so closely linked. i was pleased to be invited to write this retrospective, as even though my own background in games began in programming, far from art, i've always enjoyed the special synergy that can develop between artists and programmers working together on a computer game. the programmers are amazed as their crude stick-figure sketches turn into glorious images in the hands of a talented artist. then it is the artists' turn to smile, as their series of still frames comes to life and responds to their control enabled by the magic of the programmer. how has the role of graphics evolved in games, and what lies ahead? noah falstein
discrete event simulation languages current status and future directions  simulation software is changing. within the past several years, significant developments in simulation software have taken place:  1\\. new simulation languages have been developed.  2\\. new software packages have been developed for use in conjunction with simulation (for purposes other than building models, per se.)  3\\. new features have been added to existing languages.  4\\. vendors new to the simulation community have marketed implementations of existing software packages.  5\\. simulation environments, comprising integrated collections of simulation software tools have been built.  as a consequence of these developments, those readers whose perceptions of simulation software are several years old should consider themselves out of date. those readers whose perceptions are five or more years old should consider themselves extremely out of date. furthermore, enormous amounts of time and energy are presently being expended on research and development of simulation software. thus, we can expect dramatic changes to take place in the near future. simulation software of the 1990's will be as far removed from present software as present software is removed from building models "from scratch" in languages such as fortran.  this paper, a tutorial, summarizes the present state of simulation software, identifies pressures for changes, and describes an emerging consensus on the major characteristics of simulation software of the future.  james o. henriksen
smooth connection of trimmed nurbs surfaces  an automatic smooth surface connection method that has the capability of tension control is presented. given two trimmed nurbs surfaces, the new method constructs a smooth _connection surface_ to connect the trimming regions of the trimmed surfaces at the trimming curves. the connection satisfies the pseudo-_g_1 or pseudo-_c_1 smoothness requirement, a condition not as strong as _g_1 or _c_1, but smooth enough for most industrial applications. the construction process consists of four major steps: _connection curves construction and alignment, initial blends construction, setting up continuity constraints_, and _internal and external boundary smoothing_. the advantages of the new method include: (1) providing the users with more flexibility in adjusting the shape of the connection surface, (2) the representation of the connection surface is compatible with most of the current data-exchange standards, (3) including the classical blending as a special case but with more flexibility on the setting of the rail curves, and (4) smoother shape of the resulting connection surface through an energy optimization process. test cases that cover important applications are included.  pifu zhang fuhua cheng
modeling motion blur in computer-generated images  this paper describes a procedure for modeling motion blur in computer- generated images. motion blur in photography or cinematography is caused by the motion of objects during the finite exposure time the camera shutter remains open to record the image on film. in computer graphics, the simulation of motion blur is useful both in animated sequences where the blurring tends to remove temporal aliasing effects and in static images where it portrays the illusion of speed or movement among the objects in the scene.  the camera model developed for simulating motion blur is described in terms of a generalized image-formation equation. this equation describes the relationship between the object and corresponding image points in terms of the optical system-transfer function. the use of the optical system-transfer function simplifies the description of time-dependent variations of object motion that may occur during the exposure time of a camera. this approach allows us to characterize the motion of objects by a set of system-transfer functions which are derived from the path and velocity of objects in the scene and the exposure time of a camera.  michael potmesil indranil chakravarty
interactive shape metamorphosis  image metamorphoses (morphing) is a powerful and easy-to-use tool for generating new 2d images from existing 2d images. in recent years morphing has become popular as an artistic tool and is used extensively in the entertainment industry. in this paper we describe a new technique for controlled, feature-based metamorphosis of certain types of surfaces in 3-space; it applies well-understood 2d methods to produce shape metamorphosis between 3d models in a 2d parametric space. we also describe an interactive implementation on a parallel graphics multicomputer, which allows the user to define, modify and examine the 3d morphing process in real time.  david t. chen andrei state david banks
solid model input through orthographic views  this paper describes the results of basic studies on procedures for creating solid models of component geometry from two-dimensional orthographic projections. an interactive graphic program was developed to allow the input of three orthographic views of a component geometry by digitizing from a drawing. the views may contain straight lines and circular arcs, solid or dashed. no restrictions are placed on the order or direction of lines and arcs in any view. using an extension of the wesley-markowski procedure, the program constructs a three-dimensional solid model of the object. when the projections are ambiguous, multiple solid models are produced. the solid model may contain planar, cylindrical, conical, spherical and toroidal surfaces. topological information of the solid model is stored in a winged edge structure. geometric information is stored as vertex coordinates and surface equations.  the procedure for 2d-3d conversion provides a powerful new method for manual input of solid models, a common interface to all turnkey graphics systems, and, properly integrated with existing technology for scanning of drawings, a powerful new method for acquisition of cad/cam data bases from existing drawings.  the procedure is described, examples of typical input and output are shown, and possible extensions are discussed.  hiroshi sakurai david c. gossard
improving documentation  the following report focuses on some of the documentation problems faced by many data centers as well as some proposed solutions.  many of the difficulties experienced at today's data centers stem from the need to better motivate programmers to generate accurate and useful documentation, and to simplify and standardize documentation tasks.  this report presents four recommendations to solve these problems. the recommendations are:  1) the creation of a computerized documentation system,  2) the use of matching labels in source code and documentation,  3) the use of tiered documentation formats,  4) the creation of the post of documentation administrator.  scott l. mcgregor