What Are You Looking at?

In this paper we present a novel mechanism to obtain enhanced gaze estimation for subjects looking at a scene or an image. The system makes use of prior knowledge about the scene (e.g. an image on a computer screen), to define a probability map of the scene the subject is gazing at, in order to find the most probable location. The proposed system helps in correcting the fixations which are erroneously estimated by the gaze estimation device by employing a saliency framework to adjust the resulting gaze point vector. The system is tested on three scenarios: using eye tracking data, enhancing a low accuracy webcam based eye tracker, and using a head pose tracker. The correlation between the subjects in the commercial eye tracking data is improved by an average of 13.91%. The correlation on the low accuracy eye gaze tracker is improved by 59.85%, and for the head pose tracker we obtain an improvement of 10.23%. These results show the potential of the system as a way to enhance and self-calibrate different visual gaze estimation systems.     

Looking for the best constant in a Sobolev inequality: a numerical approach

A numerical method for the computation of the best constant in a Sobolev inequality involving the spaces H ²(Ω) and C⁰([`(W)])C^{0}(\overline{\Omega}) is presented. Green’s functions corresponding to the solution of Poisson problems are used to express the solution. This (kind of) non-smooth eigenvalue problem is then formulated as a constrained optimization problem and solved with two different strategies: an augmented Lagrangian method, together with finite element approximations, and a Green’s functions based approach. Numerical experiments show the ability of the methods in computing this best constant for various two-dimensional domains, and the remarkable convergence properties of the augmented Lagrangian based iterative method.     

Is Anybody Home?

At the recent consumer electronics show CES the big story was about how all the devices we'll be buying in the very near future will be Internet-capable. We should think about the broader notion of an ecology of connected devices: why this notion didn't work in the past, what it'll take to make it work this time, and what issues we, as designers of this ecology, should be thinking about as we move toward the future.     

Is prototyping counterproductive?

Fourth-generation languages are not as simple to use as it may seem; as they can result in expensive machine utilization and inefficient use of disc space, disc I/O, memory and machine instructions.     

Is Evolution Algorithmic?

In Darwin’s Dangerous Idea, Daniel Dennett claims that evolution is algorithmic. On Dennett’s analysis, evolutionary processes are trivially algorithmic because he assumes that all natural processes are algorithmic. I will argue that there are more robust ways to understand algorithmic processes that make the claim that evolution is algorithmic empirical and not conceptual. While laws of nature can be seen as compression algorithms of information about the world, it does not follow logically that they are implemented as algorithms by physical processes. For that to be true, the processes have to be part of computational systems. The basic difference between mere simulation and real computing is having proper causal structure. I will show what kind of requirements this poses for natural evolutionary processes if they are to be computational.     

What Is Conceptual Glue?

Conceptual structures are commonly likened to scientific theories, yet the content and motivation of the theory analogy are rarely discussed. Gregory Murphy and Douglas Medin's The Role of Theories in Conceptual Coherence is a notable exception and has become an authoritative exposition of the utility of the theory analogy. For Murphy and Medin, the theory analogy solves what they call the problem of conceptual coherence or the problem of conceptual glue. I argue that they conflate a number of issues under these rubrics and that in each case either the problem to be solved isn't subject to a general solution or the theory analogy is of little use. The issues I consider are: (1) what makes a concept efficient, useful, and informative, (2) what makes a concept refer to what it does, (3) what makes a set of objects form a single category, and (4) what makes concepts combine in one way rather than another.     

《Is Not》杂志

一本杂志何时不是一本杂志呢？当Is Not Collective接手杂志时，杂志就不再是一本杂志了。下面Tom Dennis将告诉我们原因……[编者按]     

Is codasyl relevant today?

The history of Codasyl DBMS efforts is traced from actual Codasyl documents, and tends to suggest that today the Codasyl DBMS is no longer appropriate for modern needs. Further, an analysis of why and how this has happened in spite of well-intentioned Codasyl members is presented. Finally, a suggestion of ways in which Codasyl might be more effective in the future is offered.     

Looking ahead in pervasive computing: Challenges and opportunities in the era of cyber–physical convergence

The physical environment is becoming more and more saturated with computing and communication entities that interact among themselves, as well as with users: virtually everything will be enabled to source information and respond to appropriate stimuli. In this technology-rich scenario, real-world components interact with cyberspace via sensing, computing and communication elements, thus driving towards what is called the Cyber–Physical World (CPW) convergence. Information flows from the physical to the cyber world, and vice-versa, adapting the converged world to human behavior and social dynamics. Indeed humans are at the center of this converged world since information about the context in which they operate is the key element to adapt the CPW applications and services. Alongside, a new wave of (human) social networks and structures are emerging as important drivers for the development of novel communication and computing paradigms. In this article we present some of the research issues, challenges and opportunities in the convergence between the cyber and physical worlds. This article is not a comprehensive survey of all aspects of the CPW convergence. Instead, it presents some exciting research challenges and opportunities identified by members of the journal’s editorial board with a goal to stimulate new research activities in the emerging areas of CPW convergence.     

Is a GigaLIP Fast Enough?

The capability of large, data-intensive expert systems is determined not only by the cleverness and expertise of their knowledge manipulation algorithms and methods but also by the fundamental speeds of the computer systems upon which they are implemented. To date, logical inferences per second (LIPS) is used as the power metric of the knowledge processing capacity of an expert system implementation. We show why this simplistic metric is misleading. We relate the power metrics for conventional computer systems to LIPS and demonstrate wide discrepancies. We review the power of today's largest conventional mainframes, such as the IBM 3090/400 and the Cray Research Cray-2 and forecast the expected power of mainframes and specialized processors in the coming decade.     

Is the Church-Turing thesis true?

The Church-Turing thesis makes a bold claim about the theoretical limits to computation. It is based upon independent analyses of the general notion of an effective procedure proposed by Alan Turing and Alonzo Church in the 1930's. As originally construed, the thesis applied only to the number theoretic functions; it amounted to the claim that there were no number theoretic functions which couldn't be computed by a Turing machine but could be computed by means of some other kind of effective procedure. Since that time, however, other interpretations of the thesis have appeared in the literature. In this paper I identify three domains of application which have been claimed for the thesis: (1) the number theoretic functions; (2) all functions; (3) mental and/or physical phenomena. Subsequently, I provide an analysis of our intuitive concept of a procedure which, unlike Turing's, is based upon ordinary, everyday procedures such as recipes, directions and methods; I call them mundane procedures. I argue that mundane procedures can be said to be effective in the same sense in which Turing machine procedures can be said to be effective. I also argue that mundane procedures differ from Turing machine procedures in a fundamental way, viz., the former, but not the latter, generate causal processes. I apply my analysis to all three of the above mentioned interpretations of the Church-Turing thesis, arguing that the thesis is (i) clearly false under interpretation (3), (ii) false in at least some possible worlds (perhaps even in the actual world) under interpretation (2), and (iii) very much open to question under interpretation (1).     

2008奥运，IT Is Ready

作为一项特殊的IT任务，奥运会的IT系统与其他行业的IT系统有很大的不同。聚集全世界目光的奥运赛事包括残奥会，真正开赛的时间也只是持续两个月。但是，这个项目从设计、建设、测试到运营结束．期间横跨8年时间。厚积薄发就是为了8年前的一个承诺．无数IT精英们因此奉献了属于自己的青春。     

How Strong Is Strong Regularity?

We compare the notions of regularity and strong regularity of interval matrices. For an n × n interval matrix A we construct 2ⁿ open convex cones, all of them lying in the interior of the nonnegative orthant. It is shown that regularity of A is characterized by nonemptiness of all these cones, whereas strong regularity is characterized by nonemptiness of their intersection.     

Is overparenting harmful to creativity?

Heavy parental involvement is widely believed to inhibit creativity. On the basis of this rationale and the self‐creativity literature, this study collected paired data to examine the effects of overparenting (which includes the parental arrangement of daily life affairs and parental involvement in schooling), team learning, and coaching by immediate supervisors on employee creativity (i.e., the creativity of Chinese only‐child millennial employees). The findings are described as follows. First, parental involvement in schooling had a significant and positive effect on employee creativity, and the parental arrangement of daily life affairs was inversely related to employee creativity, as in a U‐shaped relationship. Second, supervisors' coaching behaviours improved employee creativity and partially moderated the relationship between overparenting and employee creativity. Third, team learning moderated the interrelationships between overparenting, coaching behaviours, and employee creativity. This paper discusses the complex factors that shape creativity and provides recommendations regarding the parenting and recruitment of Chinese millennials.