Morphological Diversity and Sparsity for Multichannel Data Restoration

Over the last decade, overcomplete dictionaries and the very sparse signal representations they make possible, have raised an intense interest from signal processing theory. In a wide range of signal processing problems, sparsity has been a crucial property leading to high performance. As multichannel data are of growing interest, it seems essential to devise sparsity-based tools accounting for such specific multichannel data. Sparsity has proved its efficiency in a wide range of inverse problems. Hereafter, we address some multichannel inverse problems issues such as multichannel morphological component separation and inpainting from the perspective of sparse representation. In this paper, we introduce a new sparsity-based multichannel analysis tool coined multichannel Morphological Component Analysis (mMCA). This new framework focuses on multichannel morphological diversity to better represent multichannel data. This paper presents conditions under which the mMCA converges and recovers the sparse multichannel representation. Several experiments are presented to demonstrate the applicability of our approach on a set of multichannel inverse problems such as morphological component decomposition and inpainting.

The 2007 IEEE CEC simulated car racing competition

This paper describes the simulated car racing competition that was arranged as part of the 2007 IEEE Congress on Evolutionary Computation. Both the game that was used as the domain for the competition, the controllers submitted as entries to the competition and its results are presented. With this paper, we hope to provide some insight into the efficacy of various computational intelligence methods on a well-defined game task, as well as an example of one way of running a competition. In the process, we provide a set of reference results for those who wish to use the simplerace game to benchmark their own algorithms. The paper is co-authored by the organizers and participants of the competition.

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Inverse multi-objective robust evolutionary design

In this paper, we present an Inverse Multi-Objective Robust Evolutionary (IMORE) design methodology that handles the presence of uncertainty without making assumptions about the uncertainty structure. We model the clustering of uncertain events in families of nested sets using a multi-level optimization search. To reduce the high computational costs of the proposed methodology we proposed schemes for (1) adapting the step-size in estimating the uncertainty, and (2) trimming down the number of calls to the objective function in the nested search. Both offline and online adaptation strategies are considered in conjunction with the IMORE design algorithm. Design of Experiments (DOE) approaches further reduce the number of objective function calls in the online adaptive IMORE algorithm. Empirical studies conducted on a series of test functions having diverse complexities show that the proposed algorithms converge to a set of Pareto-optimal design solutions with non-dominated nominal and robustness performances efficiently.

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Automated tools within workflows for 3D structural construction from surface and subsurface data

Mainstream techniques for the construction of 3D geological models frequently rely on high-density subsurface datasets, such as 3D seismic surveys or dense 2D seismic grids. In settings where the available geological and/or geophysical data are relatively sparse, the construction of a consistent 3D structural framework is seldom straightforward and is strongly dependent on the optimization of the use of surface data. To deal with this challenge, workflows for constructing 3D models from sparse surface data have been proposed by multiple authors. This paper presents three automated techniques which optimize the use of data and enhance the time-efficiency of 3D model construction: 3D geological contact analysis, 3D dip-domain construction, and 3D isopach measurement and construction.

Methods for quantitative usability requirements: a case study on the development of the user interface of a mobile phone

Quantitative usability requirements are a critical but challenging, and hence an often neglected aspect of a usability engineering process. A case study is described where quantitative usability requirements played a key role in the development of a new user interface of a mobile phone. Within the practical constraints of the project, existing methods for determining usability requirements and evaluating the extent to which these are met, could not be applied as such, therefore tailored methods had to be developed. These methods and their applications are discussed.

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Multimodal support to group dynamics

The complexity of group dynamics occurring in small group interactions often hinders the performance of teams. The availability of rich multimodal information about what is going on during the meeting makes it possible to explore the possibility of providing support to dysfunctional teams from facilitation to training sessions addressing both the individuals and the group as a whole. A necessary step in this direction is that of capturing and understanding group dynamics. In this paper, we discuss a particular scenario, in which meeting participants receive multimedia feedback on their relational behaviour, as a first step towards increasing self-awareness. We describe the background and the motivation for a coding scheme for annotating meeting recordings partially inspired by the Bales’ Interaction Process Analysis. This coding scheme was aimed at identifying suitable observable behavioural sequences. The study is complemented with an experimental investigation on the acceptability of such a service.

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E-redesigning of society: towards experiential connectivity of generations in Lithuania

The paper reflects on the unique experience of social and technological development in Lithuania since the regaining of independence as a newly reshaped society constructing a distinctive competitive IST-based model at global level. This has presented Lithuanian pattern of how to integrate different experiences and relations between generations in implementing complex information society approaches. The resulting programme in general is linked to the Lisbon objectives of the European Union. The experience of transitional countries in Europe, each different but facing some common problems, may be useful to developing countries in Africa.

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ONTRACK: Dynamically adapting music playback to support navigation

Listening to music on personal, digital devices whilst mobile is an enjoyable, everyday activity. We explore a scheme for exploiting this practice to immerse listeners in navigation cues. Our prototype, ONTRACK, continuously adapts audio, modifying the spatial balance and volume to lead listeners to their target destination. First we report on an initial lab-based evaluation that demonstrated the approach’s efficacy: users were able to complete tasks within a reasonable time and their subjective feedback was positive. Encouraged by these results we constructed a handheld prototype. Here, we discuss this implementation and the results of field-trials. These indicate that even with a low-fidelity realisation of the concept, users can quite effectively navigate complicated routes.

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Supervised Texture Classification Using Characteristic Generalized Gaussian Density

Generalized Gaussian density (GGD) is a well established model for high frequency wavelet subbands and has been applied in texture image retrieval with very good results. In this paper, we propose to adopt the GGD model in a supervised learning context for texture classification. Given a training set of GGDs, we define a characteristic GGD (CGGD) that minimizes its Kullback-Leibler distance (KLD) to the training set. We present mathematical analysis that proves the existence of our characteristic GGD and provide a sufficient condition for the uniqueness of CGGD, thus establishing a theoretical basis for its use. Our experimental results show that the proposed CGGD signature together with the use of KLD has a very promising recognition performance compared with existing approaches.

Interacting with mobile services: an evaluation of camera-phones and visual tags

We present a study of using camera-phones and visual-tags to access mobile services. Firstly, a user-experience study is described in which participants were both observed learning to interact with a prototype mobile service and interviewed about their experiences. Secondly, a pointing-device task is presented in which quantitative data was gathered regarding the speed and accuracy with which participants aimed and clicked on visual-tags using camera-phones. We found that participants’ attitudes to visual-tag-based applications were broadly positive, although they had several important reservations about camera-phone technology more generally. Data from our pointing-device task demonstrated that novice users were able to aim and click on visual-tags quickly (well under 3 s per pointing-device trial on average) and accurately (almost all meeting our defined speed/accuracy tradeoff of 6% error-rate). Based on our findings, design lessons for camera-phone and visual-tag applications are presented.

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