An information-theoretic evaluation of narrative complexity for interactive writing support

Narrative complexity should be managed systematically during the creation process because it heavily influences the levels of understanding and the interest of recipients. Existing research has tended to depend on impressionist criticism or to deal with narrative complexity at general and superficial levels. In this paper, we consider the creation and acceptance of narrative as information processing mediated by a narrative text. Under this assumption, we propose a method to quantitatively evaluate narrative complexity at the recipient's cognitive level, and to effectively utilize the evaluation to aid in the author's narrative creation process. Within our knowledge distribution model, a narrative is represented as a knowledge structure, and the knowledge state and knowledge flow of narrative agents are evaluated using a probabilistic reasoning model. From the knowledge flows, the amount of information processed and required by the recipient is calculated as a measure of the narrative complexity using entropy theory. As a case study, we conduct a comparative analysis of an actual cinematic narrative and a structurally manipulated version of that narrative to show how the method captures characteristics and changes of the narrative; we also discuss the improvements presented in this paper as compared to our previous research.     

An interactive tool for knowledge base refinement

We present a tool that combines two main trends of knowledge base refinement. The first is the construction of interactive knowledge acquisition tools and the second is the development of machine learning methods that automate this procedure. The tool presented here is interactive and gives experts the ability to evaluate an expert system and provide their own diagnoses on specific problems, when the expert system behaves erroneously. We also present a database scheme that supports the collection of specific instances. The second aspect of the tool is that knowledge base refinement and machine learning methods can be applied to the database, in order to automate the procedure refining the knowledge base. In this paper we examine the application of inductive learning algorithms within the proposed framework. Our main goal is to encourage the experts to evaluate expert systems and to introduce new knowledge, based on their experience.     

An interactive software tool for system identification

The paper describes the conceptual basis, main features and functionality of an interactive software tool developed in support of system identification education and discovery. This Interactive Tool for System Identification Education (ITSIE) has been developed using Sysquake, a Matlab-like language with fast execution and excellent facilities for interactive graphics, and is deliverd as a stand-alone executable that is readily accessible to students and engineers. ITSIE provides two distinct functional modes that are very useful from an educational and industrial point of view. The simulation mode enables the user to evaluate the main stages of system identification, from input signal design through model validation, simultaneously and interactively in one screen on a user-specified dynamical system. The real data mode allows the user to load experimental data obtained externally and identify suitable models in an interactive fashion. The interactive tool enables students and engineers in industry to discover a myriad of fundamental system identification concepts with a much lower learning curve than existing methods.     

An interactive tool for mobile robot motion planning

This paper presents an interactive tool aimed at facilitating the understanding of several well-known algorithms and techniques involved in solving mobile robot motion problems. These range from those modelling the mechanics of mobility to those used in navigation. The tool focuses on describing these problems in a simple manner in order to be useful for education purposes among different disciplines. By highlighting interactivity, the tool provides a novel means to study robot motion planning ideas in a manner that enhances full understanding. Furthermore, the paper discuses how the tool can be used in an introductory course of mobile robotics.     

An educational tool for interactive parallel and distributed processing

In this article we try to describe how the modular interactive tiles system (MITS) can be a valuable tool for introducing students to interactive parallel and distributed processing programming. This is done by providing a handson educational tool that allows a change in the representation of abstract problems related to designing interactive parallel and distributed systems. Indeed, the MITS seems to bring a series of goals into education, such as parallel programming, distributedness, communication protocols, master dependency, software behavioral models, adaptive interactivity, feedback, connectivity, topology, island modeling, and user and multi-user interaction which can rarely be found in other tools. Finally, we introduce the system of modular interactive tiles as a tool for easy, fast, and flexible hands-on exploration of these issues, and through examples we show how to implement interactive parallel and distributed processing with different behavioral software models such as open loop, randomness-based, rule-based, user interaction-based, and AI- and ALife-based software.     

An interactive tool for recognizing structured figures with variable shapes

In electric power supply, railway, and other companies with many facilities, facility management is a laborious task. To realize a computerized facility management system, numerous paper-based facility maps should be stored in a database. In this paper, we present a system that constructs a facility management database by interpretation of paper-based facility maps. This system can automatically recognize structured figures with variable shapes on maps, while conventional methods cannot recognize these figures. And this system can easily generate relational data between facilities and character strings on maps. We compare our recognition method of structured figures with variable shapes with a conventional recognition method, and show the effectiveness of our system. Received: 18 November 1996 / Accepted: 16 February 1998     

Specification-led design for interface simulation. Collecting use-data, interactive help, writing manuals, analysis, comparing alternative designs, etc.

This paper shows how to combine a substantial part of the product development cycle of interactive devices into a single, coordinated approach. Much can be derived automatically from a suitable specification of the interactive device. Normal product development has a device specified and built, then has its manuals written, then it is used and tested. At this late stage design problems may be identified, but it is now too late: usability studies become academic in so far as the particular product is concerned, since it is already effectively in production. It would be better if the testing and manual writing could rapidly be obtained from the initial specification, before any investment has been made in fabrication. This paper offers a design approach that achieves this, and it shows how the various views of the design can be used to help improve each other; for instance, the automatically generated user manual can be fed back to suggest improvements in the design. A microwave cooker is used as a real example. This paper provides full and unabridged details of everything it discusses by usingMathematica as a rapid prototyping environment. Any similar device can be analysed in the same way, directly from the paper (which is available on the World Wide Web).     

An integrated framework for the analysis of dependable interactive systems (IFADIS): Its tool support and evaluation

This paper discusses a method for the analysis of dependable interactive systems using model checking, and its support by a tool designed to make it accessible to a broader community. The method and the tool are designed to be of value to system engineers, usability engineers and software engineers. It has been designed to help usability engineers by making those aspects of the analysis relevant to them explicit while concealing those aspects of modelling and model checking that are not relevant. The paper presents the results of a user evaluation of the effectiveness of aspects of the tool and how it supports the proposed method. The tool was constructed while both authors worked in the Human Computer Interaction Group. Department of Computer Science, University of York, UK.     

An interactive tool based on priority semantic networks

The main advantages of the semantic networks as formalism for knowledge representation are well known: simplicity, naturalness, visionless, and clarity. However, they have the following disadvantages: poor representation of arbitrary relations, insufficient expressiveness, unclear semantics, difficult implementation of some operations, and difficult control of the inheritance. In the present paper, the formal definition of a new kind of semantic network, called Priority Semantic Network (PSN) is given. On this basis, an algorithm of transformation of PSN into a list of concepts and semantic links is presented. The architecture and user interface of a tool, in which this algorithm is embedded, are also discussed.     

An interactive tool for the visualization of cathode-ray tube monitor gamuts

The aim of this work was the development of an interactive tool for the visualization and the comparison of cathode-ray tube monitor gamuts.     

Enhanced product support through intelligent product manuals

The scope of this paper is the provision of intelligent product support within the distributed Intranet/Internet environment. From the point of view of user requirements, the limitations of conventional product manuals and methods of authoring them are first outlined. It is argued that enhanced product support requires new technology solutions both for product manuals and for their authoring and presentation. The concept and the architecture of intelligent product manuals are then discussed. A prototype system called ProARTWeb is presented to demonstrate advanced features of intelligent product manuals. Next, the problem of producing such manuals in a cost-effective way is addressed and a concurrent engineering approach to their authoring is proposed. An integrated environment for collaborative authoring called ProAuthor is described to illustrate the approach suggested and to show how consistent, up-to-date and useroriented product manuals can be designed. The solutions presented here enable product knowledge to be captured and delivered to users and developers of product manuals when, where and in the form they need it.     

An interactive multimedia training system for advanced cardiac life support.

This paper describes an Advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) training system (ACLSYS) with multimedia and hypertext features for training medical personnel and evaluating their performance during ACLS events. ACLSYS runs in a Windows 95 environment and is written in Visual Basic 4.0 Enterprise Edition and Access 7.0. The system consists of two primary modules: a multimedia training module and a simulation/evaluation module. The training module provides the knowledge and skills required for the appropriate early treatment of cardiopulmonary arrest. The simulation/evaluation module generates randomly an unlimited number of ACLS cases. These cases become part of the training case database and are available for retraining. ACLS certified personnel were included in the validation of the system.     

Interobl: An interactive software tool for displaying and scaling oblique ionograms

By analyzing an oblique ionogram several characteristics, such as LOF, MOF, FMUF, FHLOF, FLLOF, and 2FMOF, can be found. These characteristics are important both for ionospheric studies and for terrestrial communication purposes, as they give information about the sky wave communication conditions in the High Frequency (HF) radio spectrum.A RCS-5B sweeping HF receiver for oblique sounding was installed at Chania (Crete, Greece, 35.7°N, 24.0°E) in April 2005 to perform a radio link with Inskip (UK, 53.5°N, 2.5°W). The receiver, able to record the sounding only as a binary file, was not equipped with a tool to display and scale the recorded trace. This work describes software that is able to do this, consequently increasing the speed of the scaling phase performed by the operator. The usefulness of this software for validating FMUF prediction models is also shown.     

A support system for interactive languages

The implementation of a support system for interactive languages is described, which include a controlling routine, a macro processor, lexical and syntactic analysis routines, semantic actions, error handling and analysis, log and code generation routines. There are also utility programs for generating the state tables for the syntax analysis. By using a structured programming approach these routines have been developed very quickly, but can still be developed and enhanced due to a well-defined working environment, a simple approach to coding and reasonable internal documentation.     

An Internet-based decision support tool for non-industrial private forest landowners

Landowners need a simple-to-use, readily available tool to contribute to sustainable management of family forests. We developed an Internet-based decision-support system, 4S Tool (Forest Stand Software Support System), which is designed to encourage informed forest management and to bridge the gap between a new generation of family forest owners (e.g. exurbanites) and natural resources professionals. We describe the technical and educational components of the 4S Tool and present several considerations for application to other geographic regions. The tool requires users to provide information on the species group, typical tree size, and density of trees in their forest. Users also select a forest management technique to apply to their “virtual forest.” The tool then estimates forest dynamics and wildlife habitat availability for up to 40 years into the future. The output provides projected changes in commercial timber, as well as changes in the diversity of berries, ferns, herbs, flowers, birds, and mammals as a consequence of the selected management option. Projected changes are based on primary and secondary data sources and modeled via the Forest Vegetation Simulator. 4S Tool provides a means of enhancing landowner awareness of options associated with management of forest property and provides users with access to additional resources and natural resource professionals to aid in future forest planning efforts.     

Vscape V1.1.0. An interactive tool for metastable vacua

Vscape is an interactive tool for studying the one-loop effective potential of an ungauged supersymmetric model of chiral multiplets. The program allows the user to define a supersymmetric model by specifying the superpotential. The F-terms and the scalar and fermionic mass matrices are calculated symbolically. The program then allows you to search numerically for (meta)stable minima of the one-loop effective potential. Additional commands enable you to further study specific minima, by, e.g., computing the mass spectrum for those vacua. Vscape combines the flexibility of symbolic software, with the speed of a numerical package.

Program summary

Program title:Vscape 1.1.1Catalogue identifier: ADZW_v1_0Program summary URL:http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk/summaries/ADZW_v1_0.htmlProgram obtainable from: CPC Program Library, Queen's University, Belfast, N. IrelandLicensing provisions: Standard CPC licence, http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk/licence/licence.htmlNo. of lines in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 80 507No. of bytes in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 6 708 938Distribution format: tar.gzProgramming language: C++Computer: Pentium 4 PC Computers: need (GNU) C++ compiler, Linux standard GNU installation (./configure; make; make install). A precompiled Windows XP version is included in the distribution packageOperating system: Linux, Windows XP using cygwinRAM: 10 MBWord size: 32 bitsClassification: 11.6External routines: GSL (http://www.gnu.org/software/gsl/), CLN (http://www.ginac.de/CLN/), GiNaC (http://directory.fsf.org/GiNaC.html)Nature of problem:Vscape is an interactive tool for studying the one-loop effective potential of an ungauged supersymmetric model of chiral multiplets. The program allows the user to define a supersymmetric model by specifying the superpotential. The F-terms and the scalar and fermionic mass matrices are calculated symbolically. The program then allows you to search numerically for (meta)stable minima of the one-loop effective potential. Additional commands enable you to further study specific minima, by, e.g., computing the mass spectrum for those vacua. Vscape combines the flexibility of symbolic software with the speed of a numerical package.Solution method: Coleman-Weinberg potential is computed using numerical matrix diagonalization. Minima of the one-loop effective potential are found using the Nelder and Mead simplex algorithm. The one-loop effective potential can be studied using numerical differentiation. Symbolic users interface implemented using flex and bison.Restrictions:N=1 supersymmetric chiral models onlyUnusual features: GiNaC (+CLN), GSL, ReadLib (not essential)Running time: Interactive users interface. Most commands execute in a few ms. Computationally intensive commands execute in order of minutes, depending on the complexity of the user defined model.     

Proxy servers for scalable interactive video support

Targeting scalability, load balance and resource efficiency in streaming multimedia applications, proxy servers facilitate faster real-time access to cached objects and reduce response time to document requests