Vector Space Semantics: A Model-Theoretic Analysis of Locative Prepositions

This paper introduces a compositional semantics of locativeprepositional phrases which is based on a vector space ontology.Model-theoretic properties of prepositions like monotonicity andconservativity are defined in this system in a straightforward way.These notions are shown to describe central inferences with spatialexpressions and to account for the grammaticality of prepositionmodification. Model-theoretic constraints on the set of possibleprepositions in natural language are specified, similar to the semanticuniversals of Generalized Quantifier Theory.     

Unifying Conceptual Spaces: Concept Formation in Musical Creative Systems

We examine Gärdenfors’ theory of conceptual spaces, a geometrical form of knowledge representation (Conceptual spaces: The geometry of thought, MIT Press, Cambridge, 2000), in the context of the general Creative Systems Framework introduced by Wiggins (J Knowl Based Syst 19(7):449–458, 2006a; New Generation Comput 24(3):209–222, 2006b). Gärdenfors’ theory offers a way of bridging the traditional divide between symbolic and sub-symbolic representations, as well as the gap between representational formalism and meaning as perceived by human minds. We discuss how both these qualities may be advantageous from the point of view of artificial creative systems. We take music as our example domain, and discuss how a range of musical qualities may be instantiated as conceptual spaces, and present a detailed conceptual space formalisation of musical metre.     

The Trouble with Two-Factor Conceptual Role Theories

Two-Factor conceptual role theories of mental content are often intended to allow mental representations to satisfy two competing requirements. One is the Fregean requirement that two representations, like public language expressions, can have different meanings even though they have the same reference (as in the case of morning star and evening star). The other is Putnam's Twin-earth requirement that two representations or expressions can have the same conceptual role but differ in meaning due to differing references. But I argue that the hidden agenda behind these theories is to make misrepresentation possible. A simple, one-factor conceptual role theory (like the "crude causal theory" Fodor describes) falls prey to the disjunction problem. If every use or application of a concept is meaning-determining, then there can be no misuse of that concept. Each use will partially determine its meaning, and, use which is covered in the meaning cannot be a misuse, error, or misrepresentation. I argue that the referential factor in two-factor conceptual role theories is what is supposed to make misrepresentation possible. But it fails to do so, because when the two factors do not determine the same meaning, there is no non-question-begging way to have one of them take precedence and force meaning to align with one factor and deviate from the other.     

The Role of Static Pedestrian Groups in Crowded Spaces

It was hypothesized that groups of static pedestrians would play an important role in determining pattorns of movement in crowded spaces. This was investigated in five ticket halls in the London Underground. Queues, groups of people using automatic ticket machines, and other types of static groups were observed. The location of these groups was related to the layout of the space, and their general effects on movement through the space were assessed. It was found that under certain conditions static groups impede movement and diminish the effective width of key movoment channels. Although the study was exploratory, the results suggest a number of ways in which the layout of certain types of space might be optimized in terms of the criteria considered.     

A Unified Model of Ad Hoc Concepts in Conceptual Spaces

Minds and Machines - Ad hoc concepts (like “clothes to wear in the snow”, for instance) are highly-context dependent representations humans construct to deal with novel or uncommon...     

The Role of Evaluation-Driven Rejection in the Successful Exploration of a Conceptual Space of Stories

Evaluation processes are a basic component of creativity. They guide not only the pure judgement about a new artefact but also the generation itself, as creators constantly evaluate their own work. This paper proposes a model for automatic story generation based on the evaluation of stories. A model of how quality in stories is evaluated is presented, and two possible implementations of the generation guided by this evaluation are shown: exhaustive space exploration and constrained exploration. A theoretical model and its implementation are explained and validation of the evaluation function through comparison with human criteria is described.     

Annotative Locative Media and G-P-S: Granularity, Participation, and Serendipity

This article outlines a model for the design of annotative locative media based on three key principles: serendipitous exploration, open participation, and flexible granularity. These keywords sum up the features required of a design that aims to utilize the full potential of location awareness and spatial annotation. The model is based on experiences from the author's own project, textopia, a humanities-based media research project aiming to explore the intrinsic qualities of locative media through practical design experiments as well as on analysis of a wide array of attempts at facilitating literary expression in locative media.     

The Reachable Set of a Quasi-Commutative Bilinear System: Its Convexity

Sufficient conditions for the convexity of the reachable set of a quasi-commutative bilinear control system are formulated so that the Pontryagin maximum principle can be applied to study the system.     

Convexity and semicontinuity of fuzzy mappings

In this paper, a criterion for the convex fuzzy mapping is obtained under the condition of upper and lower semicontinuity, respectively. An upper (lower) semicontinuous fuzzy mapping is proved, which convexity is equivalent to weak convexity or B-vexity satisfying a special condition.     

Innovation Spaces: Towards a Framework for Understanding the Role of the Physical Environment in Innovation

Firms are paying increasing attention to the physical environments in which creative and innovative activities take place. These environments reflect the firm's strategic intentions towards innovation and provide a physical embodiment of their desired modes of working. To date, this new phenomenon has received little academic attention. Based on both literature and also the authors' combined experiences through observing firms in Europe, this paper proposes a simple framework to aid practitioners and academics to better understand the design, role and goals of such spaces.     

The Booze Cruise: Impaired Driving in Virtual Spaces

Canada's first course in serious game development was a joint course of the Fine Arts and Computer Science departments. For the course project, students designed the Booze Cruise, a game that shows how difficult it is to drive while impaired. The authors summarize the design process and public response.     

Constraint Networks of Topological Relations and Convexity

This paper studies the expressivity and computational complexity of networks of constraints of topological relations together with convexity. We consider constraint networks whose nodes are regular regions (a regular region is one equal to the closure of its interior) and whose constraints have the following forms: (i) the eight base relations of [12], which describe binary topological relations of containment and adjacency between regions; (ii) the predicate, X is convex. We establish tight bounds on the computational complexity of this language: Determining whether such a constraint network is consistent is decidable, but essentially as hard as determining whether a set of comparable size of algebraic constraints over the real numbers is consistent. We also show an important expressivity result for this language: If r and s are bounded, regular regions that are not related by an affine transformation, then they can be distinguished by a constraint network. That is, there is a constraint network and a particular node in that network such that there is a solution where the node is equal to r, but no solution where the node is equal to s.     

本体中概念相似度的计算

本体是概念、属性和关系的集合。本体异构是本体间互操作的主要障碍,解决本体异构最好的方法是本体映射。本体映射的关键是概念相似度的计算,但计算时一般不考虑关系和属性对相似度的影响,计算结果存在误差。论文从两个方面对概念的相似度进行计算。首先计算概念的语义相似度,然后计算概念描述相似度。实验表明该计算方式可以提高计算结果的精确度。     

Virtually Sacred: The Performance of Asynchronous Cyber-Rituals in Online Spaces

This article explores how the design of sacred spaces and ritual performance are transformed in the move from offline to online contexts. A semiotic analysis of two websites—a Christian Virtual Church and a Hindu Virtual Temple—suggests the potential for demarcating distinct online sacred spaces, in a Durkheimian sense, in which devotees can engage in ritual activity. The article focuses on the performance of cyberpuja in the Virtual Temple and the posting of prayers in the Virtual Church. Interviews with the Web designers and an analysis of the sites suggest that the virtual is primarily conceived in terms of a simulation of the "real." Consequently these sites are envisaged in terms of conventional notions of sacred space and ritual performance, rather than as something radically new.     

Coverage of Known Spaces: The Boustrophedon Cellular Decomposition

Coverage path planning is the determination of a path that a robot must take in order to pass over each point in an environment. Applications include de-mining, floor scrubbing, and inspection. We developed the boustrophedon cellular decomposition, which is an exact cellular decomposition approach, for the purposes of coverage. Essentially, the boustrophedon decomposition is a generalization of the trapezoidal decomposition that could allow for non-polygonalobstacles, but also has the side effect of having more efficient coverage paths than the trapezoidal decomposition. Each cell in the boustrophedon decomposition is covered with simple back and forth motions. Once each cell is covered, then the entire environment is covered. Therefore, coverage is reduced to finding an exhaustive path through a graph which represents the adjacency relationships of the cells in the boustrophedon decomposition. This approach is provably complete and experiments on a mobile robot validate this approach.     

基于超声转换的音频信号定向传播

该文对音频信号在空气中的定向传播理论及其实现进行研究，音频范围的声波在空气中足以非线性形式传播的，且指向性较弱。根据无线电调幅技术原理，用音频信号调制高频载波信号可产生具有强指向性的超声波信号，再通过换能器将其在空气中发射，由于空气的非线性作用能够在声场中产生与原音频信号相同的可听声音，且与高频超声波信号具有相同的指向性。该文建立了一实验系统，并通过实验测定、分析了音频信号在变换、传播过程中的频率变化及声场分布，结果表明该文方法能够有效地尖锐声波的方向性。     

The Structure of Visual Spaces

The “visual space” of an optical observer situated at a single, fixed viewpoint is necessarily very ambiguous. Although the structure of the “visual field” (the lateral dimensions, i.e., the “image”) is well defined, the “depth” dimension has to be inferred from the image on the basis of “monocular depth cues” such as occlusion, shading, etc. Such cues are in no way “given”, but are guesses on the basis of prior knowledge about the generic structure of the world and the laws of optics. Thus such a guess is like a hallucination that is used to tentatively interpret image structures as depth cues. The guesses are successful if they lead to a coherent interpretation. Such “controlled hallucination” (in psychological terminology) is similar to the “analysis by synthesis” of computer vision. Although highly ambiguous, visual spaces do have geometrical structure. The group of ambiguities left open by the cues (e.g., the well known bas-relief ambiguity in the case of shape from shading) may be interpreted as the group of congruences (proper motions) of the space. The general structure of visual spaces for different visual fields is explored in the paper. Applications include improved viewing systems for optical man-machine interfaces.