Gesture Formalization for Multitouch

GDL (Gesture Description Language) is a pattern recognition method that enables syntactic description and real time recognition of static body poses and movement sequences. The syntax of context free GDL script (GDLs) language is intuitive and easy to learn for new user, however so far GDLs rules had to be implemented without feedback of machine learning methods. In this paper we present proposition and initial evaluation of unsupervised method of GDL classifier learning that enables automatic generation of GDLs descriptions using specified features and sample movements recordings. New automatically generated GDLs are well understandable the same as manually defined descriptions. This property enables easy interpretation of obtained training results in contrast to the results from others popular pattern recognition methods.

Multi-touch gestures like swipe and pinch have introduced a new interaction paradigm that is currently used in developing mobile applications. Such applications can include different user gestures that cause different results for different interactions with the same user interface element. Testing such user interaction is complex. We present a formal task-based approach to automate testing of user gestures in mobile applications. In previous work, we used TaMoGolog, a formal task modelling language built on the top of the Golog family of high-level programming languages, for evaluating user interfaces along the development process. In this work, we present MobiGolog that extends TaMoGolog to support the testing of users' multi-touch gestures in the developing and developed mobile applications.

The karate movements classification is extremely challenging task due to the speed of body movements. From the other hand movements patterns are highly repetitive because they are practiced for many years by skilled martial artists. Those two facts make karate techniques classification tasks reliable tests of classifiers potential. Also, nowadays there is a growing interest on commercial market for solutions that are capable to be used in computer entertainment and coaching systems. Those factors motivated us to evaluate our Gesture Description Language (GDL) classifier trained with unsupervised reversed-GDL (R-GDL) method on karate techniques dataset and to compare it with state-of-the-art approach namely multivariate continuous hidden Markov model classifier with Gaussian distribution. The evaluation of capability of R-GDL methodology to karate techniques classification is main novelty of this paper. We have achieved very promising results. Only one class of actions has average recognition rate on the level of 88% while other where between 90% and 100%. GDL has also important advantages over state-of-the-art HMM classier that we will discuss in this paper.

Full body movements recognition – unsupervised learning approach with heuristic R-GDL method

In this article we introduce new approach for human body poses and movement sequences recognition. Our concept is based on syntactic description with so called Gesture Description Language (GDL). The implementation of GDL requires special semantic reasoning module with additional heap-like memory. In the following paragraphs we shortly describes our initial concept. We also present software and hardware architecture that we created to test our solution and very promising early experiments results.KeywordsPose recognitionmovement sequences recognitionsyntactic descriptionsemantic reasoningnatural interface

Background Barriers and facilitators to implementation of comprehensive person-centred assessment and support within palliative care have been identified (Ewing & Grande, 2018). To address the challenges, an online toolkit was developed to provide organisations with structured implementation guidance for the Carer Support Needs Assessment Tool (CSNAT) intervention. However, feedback from practitioners undertaking previous face-to-face CSNAT intervention training and from online toolkit participants highlighted the benefits from follow-up support calls with the opportunity to ask questions and problem solve with their peers, the opportunity to build networks with other organisations completing the training, and having a point of contact to ask questions (Diffin, Ewing, Rowland, Grande, 2018). Currently there is no method for providing this additional support. Project ECHO™ (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) is a tele-mentoring programme which uses video-conferencing to deliver best practice guidance and education from specialists, and case-based learning with opportunities for questions and discussion with peers, and therefore could overcome this gap. Aim To identify if Project ECHO™ could be used to establish a community of practice and support implementation of the CSNAT intervention. Methods and results We will draw on the CSNAT implementation evidence base to illustrate the importance of supporting practitioners to gain knowledge about how to use the CSNAT in practice, and enhance their confidence in carrying out assessments. In addition, we will reflect on the implementation support needed at an organisational level, to include practical guidance and opportunities for peer support. In turn, we will highlight how Project ECHO™ could be used to help overcome identified gaps in support through reflection on the core benefits of this methodology to include a curriculum identified by the network participants themselves, case-based learning, and the ability to join remotely. Conclusion This paper identifies how Project ECHO™ could be utilised to establish a community of practice to support implementation and embedding of comprehensive person-centred assessment and support for family carers into everyday practice.

This work proposes a practical implementation of sensor-less technique for the speed control of a PMDC motor. Closed loop control of PMDC motor requires speed feedback signal which is conventionally obtained using speed sensor. Besides cost and maintenance, speed sensors are slow in response and have high measurement errors. To reduce additional sensor cost and number of problems associated with it, we propose a robust method for speed estimation based on the Higher Gain Observer (HGO). HGO estimates rotor speed and provide output feedback for closed loop system. Furthermore, proposed HGO based control algorithm is practically implemented on the Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA). The control architecture is robust to parametric variations and uncertainties. Moreover, this scheme is practically tested using Xilinx FPGA board and National Instruments (NI) LabVIEW for practical validation of results. Closed loop analysis has also provided which is evident for the stability of proposed architecture.

Improving sustainability on US dairy farms has become a critical focus across the industry. As dairy farms continue to consolidate, there is a growing need to identify scalable, implementable soil health management practices that enhance environmental sustainability in the fields managed by the dairy. This paper examines the constraints on dairy forage operations, summarizes key findings from research station experiments comparing soil health management practices in these systems, and synthesizes findings from on‐farm research projects that track environmental outcomes after practice adoption. We discuss the knowledge gaps related to soil health management practices and forage production, highlighting the need for long‐term, actionable research that is applicable to the diversity of dairy operations across the United States. To drive meaningful improvements in environmental sustainability, it is crucial to integrate region‐specific soil health practices, supported by technical and financial support. We conclude that the current body of literature is not adequate to support the widespread adoption of locally appropriate practices, underscoring the urgent need for comprehensive research and support systems to ensure the environmental and economic sustainability of the US dairy industry. Finally, we propose future research directions to address the knowledge gaps and region‐specific challenges through an integrated systems approach, focusing on the farm‐scale impacts of soil health practices across diverse climates and production systems.

This tutorial discusses the implementation of a boundary-scan architecture in CMOS. The boundary-scan testability features and principles, as discussed in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Standard 1149.1, are reviewed. Next, we describe the necessary steps to convert those principles into a practical boundary-scan architecture implementation. Our implementation was for the MOSIS 2 /spl mu/m Scalable CMOS (SCMOS) p-well process. Design tactics and issues for the individual architecture components are treated as well. >

Decision makers involved in brownfields redevelopment and long-term stewardship must consider environmental conditions, future-use potential, site ownership, area infrastructure, funding resources, cost recovery, regulations, risk and liability management, community relations, and expected return on investment in a comprehensive and integrated fashion to achieve desired results. Successful brownfields redevelopment requires the ability to assess the impacts of redevelopment options on multiple interrelated aspects of the ecosystem, both natural and societal. Computer-based tools, such as simulation models, databases, and geographical information systems (GISs) can be used to address brownfields planning and project execution. The transparent integration of these tools into a comprehensive and dynamic decision support system would greatly enhance the brownfields assessment process. Such a system needs to be able to adapt to shifting and expanding analytical requirements and contexts. The Dynamic Information Architecture System (DIAS) is a flexible, extensible, object-oriented framework for developing and maintaining complex multidisciplinary simulations of a wide variety of application domains. The modeling domain of a specific DIAS-based simulation is determined by (1) software objects that represent the real-world entities that comprise the problem space (atmosphere, watershed, human), and (2) simulation models and other data processing applications that express the dynamic behaviors of the domain entities.more » Models and applications used to express dynamic behaviors can be either internal or external to DIAS, including existing legacy models written in various languages (FORTRAN, C, etc.). The flexible design framework of DIAS makes the objects adjustable to the context of the problem without a great deal of recoding. The DIAS Spatial Data Set facility allows parameters to vary spatially depending on the simulation context according to any of a number of 1-D, 2-D, or 3-D topologies. DIAS is also capable of interacting with other GIS packages and can import many standard spatial data formats. DIAS simulation capabilities can also be extended by including societal process models. Models that implement societal behaviors of individuals and organizations within larger DIAS-based natural systems simulations allow for interaction and feedback among natural and societal processes. The ability to simulate the complex interplay of multimedia processes makes DIAS a promising tool for constructing applications for comprehensive community planning, including the assessment of multiple development and redevelopment scenarios.« less

Abstracts from theCenter to Advance Palliative Care National Seminar Pathways to Quality Palliative Care<i>November 13–15, 2014</i><i>Orlando, Florida</i>

Introduction. In the late XIX – early XX centuries Russian business is getting rid of a number of restrictions, due to which the business environment is becoming more and more democratic. The estate determination of entrepreneurial rights and opportunities gradually receded into the past, paving the way for business to the lowest social and legal classes. In this work, an attempt will be made to study the entrepreneurial activity of the Russian peasantry in the late XIX – early XX centuries, which gradually went to new frontiers, overcoming the level of small-scale production and integrating into large business. The main aspect of the study of the selected object of study is associated with the identification of the influence of the remaining class restrictions on the implementation of entrepreneurial aspirations of peasants in the provinces of the Middle Volga region (Kazan, Samara, Saratov, Simbirsk and Penza). Methods. To solve the problems posed, elements of several techniques were used, thanks to which the object of study was studied from the perspective of the influence of endogenous and exogenous factors. In the work, the historical-legal method has been applied, which allowed peasant entrepreneurship to be examined through the prism of the evolution of legislation related to the determination of the socio-economic format of the life of the population in the conditions of the remaining estate system. The use of modernization theory made it possible to integrate the processes under study into the trend of industrial modernization, considering peasant entrepreneurship as its subprocess. Results. The solution of the tasks was carried out on the basis of specific forms of entrepreneurial activity of peasants in the so-called. “Qualifying” industry, which included only enterprises supervised by factory inspections and having reached a certain level of industrial “maturity”. To obtain the actual material, which became the basis for theoretical generalizations, the forms and results of entrepreneurship of peasants in the indicated industry segment in a sectoral context were studied. In addition, a brief analysis of the socio-legal foundations of the development of Russian entrepreneurship was carried out in the prospect of overcoming the class restrictions of peasants in the implementation of their commercial and business aspirations. Discussion and Conclusion. The above examples convincingly show that the peasantry almost on an equal footing with other classes participated in industrial production, which allows us to talk about the transition of the process of establishing freedom of enterprise in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century not only to the plane of legal declarations (de jure), but also to the plane their practical implementation (“de facto”). An analysis of the social composition of the Middle Volga industrialists at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, where the peasantry played a more significant role, shows that business success was already to a much lesser extent related to class privilege. Achieving very significant results in the industrial business, representatives of the rural class no longer showed such decisive aspirations in raising their social status. The process of erasing the class-legal differences in business is indirectly confirmed by the fact that industrial statistics of the beginning of the 20th century are increasingly starting to ignore the factor of class ownership of industrial enterprises.

Many of todays software development processes include model-driven engineering techniques. They employ domain models, i.e. formal representations of knowledge about an application domain, to enable the automatic generation of parts of a software system. Tools supporting model-driven engineering for software development today are often desktop-based single user systems. In practice though, the design of components or larger systems often still is conducted on whiteboards or flip charts. Our work focuses on interaction techniques allowing for the development of gesture-based diagram editors that support teams in establishing domain models from a given meta-model during the development process. Users or groups of users are enabled to instantiate meta-models by free-hand or pen-based sketching of components on large multi-touch screens. In contrast to previous work, the description of multi-touch gestures is derived directly from the graphical model representing the data.

Background The Transition Clinic for Youth and Young Adults (TAY clinic) with ASD/IDD is a unique partnership between the Developmental Sector and Health care sector. Surrey Place Centre, St. Michaels Family Health Teams and Developmental Paediatrics work with families of adolescents and young adults ages 14-22 to help transition from paediatrics-based healthcare and developmental services to adult sectors using a structured approach to transition. This clinic was a pilot project over the past 5 years, and we are using a mix-methods study to evaluate the implementation of the clinic and its impact on the lives of TAY with IDD and their caregivers. Objectives To describe patient and caregiver characteristics, usage of clinic, transition goals stated and achieved, and level of support needed. Design/Methods Quantitative data was collected using standardized forms including demographics, transition planning goals, and dates of applications to critical services like Developmental Service Ontario and Ontario Disability Support Program. The frequency, intensity and duration of transition planning support provided in the clinic was documented, as well as involvement of crisis services, child protection services, networks of specialized care, and hospital admissions. Results To date, 94 families have been supported through this clinic, with notable differences in the intensity and type of services required. Families were evenly distributed across three levels of transitional support need: (1) required consultation only; (2) required short-term intervention and follow up from the team with future crisis planning; and (3) families with extreme complexity, disconnected from the developmental sector and requiring intensive support and, at times, crisis care. In this 3rd group, 30% were regular emergency and crisis service users because of significant risk of harm or death to client or caregiver associated with physical or mental health concerns, and 15% were at risk of homelessness. Barriers to social determinants of health (e.g., housing, food security, social support) and inequities (based on race, immigration status, employment, English language proficiency) were present in all cases. Across all 3 groups, trajectories within the current systems of care were often apparent years before their transition. Conclusion Cross-sector models of care are feasible for TAY with IDD. This model of care identified different levels of need for TAY with IDD. Barriers to transition support are rooted in inequities and are often present years prior to transition. Paediatricians can help with earlier identification of families who require and deserve more comprehensive support.

Due to the recent increase in cyber attacks targeting Critical National Infrastructure, governments and organisations alike have invested considerably into improving the security of their underlying infrastructure, commonly known as Operational Technology (OT). The use of adversary-centric security tests such as vulnerability assessments, penetration tests and red team engagements has gained significant traction due to these engagements’ goal to emulate threat actors in preparation for genuine cyber attacks. Challenges arise, however, when performing security tests on these as the nature of OT requires additional safety and operation risks to be considered. This paper proposes a framework for incorporating the assessment of safety and operational risks within an overall scoping methodology for adversary-centric security testing in OT environments. Within this framework, we also propose a hybrid testing model derived from the Purdue Enterprise Reference Architecture and the Defense in Depth model to identify and quantify safety and operational risk at a per-layer level, separating high and low-risk layers and being subsequently used for defining the rules of engagement. As a result, this framework can aid vendors and clients in appropriately scoping adversary-centric security tests so that depth-of-testing is maximised while minimising the risk to safety and to the operational process. The framework is then evaluated through a qualitative study involving industry experts, confirming the framework’s validity for implementation in practice.