SmartPads: a plug-N-play configurable tangible user interface

One common concern with video games today is the lack of physical activity they demand from the user. The design of games and tangible user interfaces (TUIs) that stimulate players and engage them into fun exercising activities is starting to attract the attention of many researchers and companies. This paper presents the software and hardware design and development of a TUI intended for exercise-based games targeted mostly towards children. The proposed TUI, SmartPads, can be constructed using elemental building blocks (pads) into numerous shapes. The pads-which are individually controlled by microcontrollers-are mapped onto a computer screen in real-time. A user interacts with the TUI by stepping on the pads. To evaluate the functionality and efficiency of the TUI, we developed three games in the field of exergaming. The games also have an educational value and are integrated with multimedia output modalities to enrich children’s playing experience.

     

Foot-turistic multimedia: designing interactive multimedia installations for shoe shops

The amount of money spent in a store is positively correlated with the amount of time spent inside. We argue this is an opportunity for multimedia installations that can entertain shoppers and promote interaction with the shop??s products. This was the main principle behind our design idea for two interactive installations specifically conceived for shoe shops. We present two applications of interactive multimedia to shoe shopping: an interactive semantic mirror and an interactive window logo. We also describe the results of ethnographic studies, before and after the design process. Our contribution is two-fold: (i) we develop and apply a new multimedia architecture that combines RFID in-store technology with high-end motion detection algorithms, and (ii) we describe one of the first few studies about multimedia installations for improving the shoe shopping experience, in what we call ??foot-turistic?? interactions.     

Distributed environment representation and object localization system in intelligent space

A kind of new environment representation and object localization scheme is proposed in the paper aiming to accomplish the task of object operation more efficiently in intelligent space.First,a distributed environment representation method is put forward to reduce storage burden and improve the system’s stability.The layered topological maps are separately stored in different landmarks attached to the key positions of intelligent space,so that the robot can search the landmarks on which the map information can be read from the QR code,and then the environment map can be built autonomously.Map building is an important prerequisite for object search.An object search scheme based on RFID and vision technology is proposed.The RFID tags are attached to the target objects and reference objects in the indoor environment. A fixed RFID system is built to monitor the rough position(room and local area)of target and a mobile RFID system is constructed to detect the targets which are not in the covering range of the fixed system.The existing area of target is determined by the time sequence of reference tags and target tags,and the accurate position is obtained by onboard vision system at a short distance.The experiments demonstrate that the distributed environment representation proposed in the paper can fully meet the requirements of object localization,and the positioning scheme has high search efficiency,high localization accuracy and precision,and a strong anti-interference ability in the complex indoor environment.     

Using tangible user interfaces in computer-based training systems for low-functioning autistic children

In this paper, the design of a computer-based training (CBT) system for low-functioning autistic children is addressed. The emphasis is on ease-of-use and learning efficiency of CBT systems with different interaction styles, namely the WIMP (Window Icon Menu Pointing Device) and TUI (Tangible User Interface) interaction styles. Two WIMP-based CBT systems with different pointing devices were involved in the study. The first system applied a standard computer mouse as a pointing device, while the second one employed a touch screen instead. For the TUI-based CBT system, a tabletop setting was adopted. Based on the known characteristics of TUI and children with autism, as well as related cognitive and learning theories, the benefits of TUI for low-functioning autistic children have been investigated. Elementary skill teaching was chosen as a case study for performance evaluation of these CBT systems. Empirical results show that the touch-based and TUI-based systems offered much better ease-of-use performance than that of the mouse-based system. Regarding learning efficacy, experimental results show that the TUI-based system achieved higher skill improvement, as compared with the WIMP-based system and a non-computer training method. Some guidelines and suggestions for the design of a TUI-based system for children with autism are summarized.     

Retrieval schedules based on resource availability and flexible presentation specifications

A distributed multimedia document presentation involves retrieval of objects from one or more document servers and their presentation at the client system. The presentation of the multimedia objects has to be carried out in accordance with the specification of temporal relationships between the objects. The retrieval of multimedia objects from the document server(s) is influenced by factors such as temporal specification of objects presentations, throughput offered by the network service provider, and the buffer resources on the client system. Flexibility in the temporal specification of the multimedia document may help in deriving an object retrieval schedule that can handle variations in network throughput and buffer resource availability. In this paper, we develop techniques for deriving a flexible object retrieval schedule for a distributed multimedia document presentation. The schedule is based on flexible temporal specification of the multimedia document using the difference constrai nts approach. We show how the derived retrieval schedule can be validated and modified to ensure that it can work with the offered network throughput and the available buffer resources.     

人造复杂系统的多媒体认知软件中数据模型的研究

文章根据人造复杂系统的特性和人的认知规律,提出了一个基于对象的多媒体认知软件系统数据模型。数据模型由媒体存取层、多媒体对象层和多媒体表现层和多媒体应用层构成。这种层次模型将媒体异构环境存取、多媒体对象处理和语义合成表现以及各种时序关系等问题在不同层次分别进行处理,使软件系统具有很好的灵活性和可复用性。     

Performance improvement of Distributed Virtual Environments by exploiting objects’ attributes

Distributed virtual environments need to address issues related to the control of network traffic, resource management, and scalability. Given the distributed nature of these environments, the main problems they need to overcome are the efficient distribution of workload among the servers and the minimization of the communication cost. In this direction, a lot of work has been done and numerous relevant techniques and algorithms have been proposed. The majority of these approaches mainly focus on user entities and their interactions. However, most of actual DVE systems include additional and non-dynamic elements, denoted as objects, whose presence can affect users?? behavior. This paper introduces virtual objects?? attributes and proposes two approaches that exploit these attributes in order to handle workload assignment and communication cost in DVE systems. Both approaches take into account scenario-specific aspects of DVE systems, such as the impact that entities?? attributes have on each other and the way this impact can affect the system??s state. These scenario-specific aspects are then combined with quantitative factors of the system, such as workload, communication cost, and utilization. The experiments conducted in order to validate the behavior of the proposed approach show that the incorporation of object??s presence can improve the DVE system??s performance. More specifically, objects?? presence and their attributes can assist in the significant reduction in the communication cost along with effective workload distribution among the system??s servers.     

An ODA-like Multimedia Document System

A multimedia document is composed of different media objects. ISO's Open Document Architecture (ODA) proposes a standard multimedia document model. However, the current ODA profile only includes static media, e.g. text, geometric graphics and images. Because the future multimedia documents not only include static media but also continuous media, e.g. video and audio, continuous media document parts should be added to have a complete multimedia document model. In this paper, we propose a multimedia document model, which is derived from ODA's concept. The proposed model is based on the object-oriented approach. Objects in the proposed document model are divided into two types: data objects and pseudo objects. Data objects are data structures of a document; pseudo objects are used to manage data objects. Based on the proposed model, a multimedia document authoring and presenting system (MMDS) is also developed on SUN SPARC workstations using the Solaris 2.X operating system     

分布式多媒体系统中对象表示模型及变换方法研究

在设计一个分布式多媒体系统时，具有挑战性的问题之一是如何在系统的不同层次为各模式设计合适的规格描述模型，并提供不同模型的变换方法的集成与同步策略，在本文中，我们给出了几种多媒体对象的表示模型和变换算法，它们把高层的多媒体对象变换成可以用来支持多媒体对象展示和通信的实用模式，在该模式中能较好地保持多媒体对象的集成与同步特性。     

Transformation and exchange of multimedia objects in distributed multimedia systems

One of the challenges in the design of a distributed multimedia system is devising suitable specification models for various schemas in different levels of the system. Another important research issue is the integration and synchronization of heterogeneous multimedia objects. In this paper, we present our models for multimedia schemas and transformation algorithms. They transform high-level multimedia objects into schemas that can be used to support the presentation and communication of the multimedia objects. A key module in the system is the Object Exchange Manager (OEM). In this paper, we present the design and implementation of the OEM module, and discuss in detail the interaction between the OEM and other modules in a distributed multimedia system.     

基于RFID技术的仓储信息采集系统设计

RF identification systems use RF tag to transmit information between RF tags and reading devices through sensors,radio wave or microwave for non-contact bidirectional communications,in order to identify objects automatically.RFID is a very effective technique for management and control of storage system which is composed of the management system server,management system workstation,communication interface equipment,RFID equipment and RFID Tags.Test results show that the scheme of storage infor-mation collection system based on RFID is reasonable and the system can achieve the requested functions.     

Ubiquitous Memories: a memory externalization system using physical objects

In this paper we propose an object-triggered human memory augmentation system named “Ubiquitous Memories” that enables a user to directly associate his/her experience data with physical objects by using a “touching” operation. A user conceptually encloses his/her experiences gathered through sense organs into physical objects by simply touching an object. The user can also disclose and re-experience for himself/herself the experiences accumulated in an object by the same operation. We implemented a prototype system composed basically of a radio frequency identification (RFID) device. Physical objects are also attached to RFID tags. We conducted two experiments. The first experiment confirms a succession of the “encoding specificity principle,” which is well known in the research field of psychology, to the Ubiquitous Memories system. The second experiment aims at a clarification of the system’s characteristics by comparing the system with other memory externalization strategies. The results show the Ubiquitous Memories system is effective for supporting memorization and recollection of contextual events.     

Robust location tracking using a dual layer particle filter

Location awareness is an important part of many ubiquitous computing systems, but a perfect location system does not exist yet. Among many location tracking systems, we choose the radio frequency identification (RFID) system due to its various applications. However, the received signal strength indicator (RSSI) signals are too sensitive to the direction of the RFID reader’s antenna, the orientation of the RFID tag, human interference, and the diversity of propagation media that might be present. As a result, the direct use of a conventional particle filter does not provide satisfactory tracking performance. To overcome this problem, we suggest a dual layer particle filter, where the lower layer determines the tag’s location in the block level using a triangulation technique or the support vector machine (SVM) classifier, and the upper layer accurately estimates the tag’s location using the conventional particle filter within the pre-computed or classified block. This layered structure improves the location estimation and the tracking performance, because the location evidence from the lower layer effectively restricts the range of possible locations of the upper layer. We implement the proposed location tracking method using a ubiquitous RFID wireless network in an intelligent office, where several RFID readers are located in fixed locations and people or objects with active RFID tags move around the office. Extensive experiments show that the proposed location tracking method is so precise and robust that it is a good choice for person or object tracking in ubiquitous computing contexts. We also validate the usefulness of the proposed location tracking method by implementing it for a real-time people monitoring system in a noisy and complex steel mill.     

基于零中频接收技术的RFID阅读器射频电路单元的设计

射频识别(RFID)是一种利用射频电磁波信号,通过电磁耦合原理对目标实现远距离自动识别的技术,该技术的优点在于不需要与被识别目标进行近距离的直接接触;一套射频自动识别系统一般由天线(可能不止一副)、阅读器和电子标签3部分构成;对RFID阅读器中基于多通道零中频解调技术的射频电路单元进行了分析和介绍,并设计制作了工作频率为915MHz、射频输出功率为30dBm的实际射频电路,电路的性能指标完全符合设计的要求,工作良好。     

Heterogeneous and Multifaceted Multimedia Objects in DOOR/MM: A Role-Based Approach with Views

Although the distributed multimedia information system is getting popular nowadays, existing database systems do not offer adequate support to structural nor behavioral extension of multimedia objects. Moreover, the multifaceted nature of multimedia data has seldom been investigated. Besides the flexibility for multimedia authoring tools, dynamic extension and multifacet modeling can in general ease the task on integrating the multimedia information of heterogeneous formats over a distributed network. This paper presents the support of dynamic extension and multifacet modeling of multimedia objects in a client-server, object-role database system called DOOR. The resultant system, with multimedia functionalities, is named as DOOR/MM (DOOR with multimedia extensions). First, the underlying data model for DOOR is summarized. We then present the extension of the data model, by means of meta-object protocol (MOP), to implement the metaclasses for multimedia objects. In DOOR, objects are structured as a tree of roles. Each role may carry different properties and interact with other roles cooperatively. An object may acquire or drop multiple roles during its lifetime. Structural and behavioral extensions of multimedia objects are achieved by dynamic role playing. Multifaceted interfaces of an multimedia object are modeled by means of views on roles. In particular, we discuss different ways of using views to model different abstraction levels of the heterogeneous multimedia resources. Throughout the paper, examples such as text, bitmap, MIDI, and 3D graphic objects are used to demonstrate the significance of our approach.     

Continuous retrieval of multimedia data using parallelism

Most implementations of workstation-based multimedia information systems cannot support a continuous display of high resolution audio and video data and suffer from frequent disruptions and delays termed hiccups. This is due to the low I/O bandwidth of the current disk technology, the high bandwidth requirement of multimedia objects, and the large size of these objects, which requires them to be almost always disk resident. A parallel multimedia information system and the key technical ideas that enable it to support a real-time display of multimedia objects are described. In this system, a multimedia object across several disk drives is declustered, enabling the system to utilize the aggregate bandwidth of multiple disks to retrieve an object in real-time. Then, the workload of an application is distributed evenly across the disk drives to maximize the processing capability of the system. To support simultaneous display of several multimedia objects for different users, two alternative approaches are described. The first approach multitasks a disk drive among several requests while the second replicates the data and dedicates resources to each individual request. The trade-offs associated with each approach are investigated using a simulation model     

基于动态网页技术的多媒体演示系统

介绍一种网络多媒体演示系统,这种系统可以让用户轻松地设计自己的多媒体演示,而不再受演示技术或演示时间地点的限制.系统由三部分组成：用户接口－－－包括时间规格编辑器,空间规格编辑器,多媒体物件接口;演示接口;知识库.系统中还包括一个动态网页生成器.文章给出了一个基于Allen定律的演示算法,用该算法实现了多媒体物件的同步显示.     

一个新型多媒体系统开发软件的设计与实现

将多媒体系统为由若干界面对象所组成,界面对象的输入是专业知识和控制信息,输出是显示信息,而界面对象按树形结构进行组织。利用该软件开发多媒体系统时,可将专业知识和多媒体技术分离,当多媒体系统运行时再将二者结合,它可有效地提高开发多媒体系统的质量和效率。     

RFID enabled traceability networks: a survey

The emergence of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology brings significant social and economic benefits. As a non line of sight technology, RFID provides an effective way to record movements of objects within a networked RFID system formed by a set of distributed and collaborating parties. A trail of such recorded movements is the foundation for enabling traceability applications. While traceability is a critical aspect of majority of RFID applications, realizing traceability for these applications brings many fundamental research and development issues. In this paper, we assess the requirements for developing traceability applications that use networked RFID technology at their core. We propose a set of criteria for analyzing and comparing the current existing techniques including system architectures and data models. We also outline some research opportunities in the design and development of traceability applications.     

Anti-cloning protocol suitable to EPCglobal Class-1 Generation-2 RFID systems

Radio frequency Identification (RFID) systems are used to identify remote objects equipped with RFID tags by wireless scanning without manual intervention. Recently, EPCglobal proposed the Electronic Product Code (EPC) that is a coding scheme considered to be a possible successor to bar-code with added functionalities. In RFID-based applications where RFID tags are used to identify and track tagged objects, an RFID tag emits its EPC in plaintext. This makes the tag inevitably vulnerable to cloning attacks as well as information leakage and password disclosure. In this paper, we propose a novel anti-cloning method in accordance with the EPCglobal Class-1 Generation-2 (C1G2) standard. Our method only uses functions that can be supported by the standard and abides by the communication flow of the standard. The method is also secure against threats such as information leakage and password disclosure.