FANTASIA: a framework for advanced natural tools and applications in social,interactive approaches

With the recent availability of industry-grade, high-performing engines for video games production, researchers in different fields have been exploiting the advanced technologies offered by these artefacts to improve the quality of the interactive experiences they design. While these engines provide excellent and easy-to-use tools to design interfaces and complex rule-based systems to control the experience, there are some aspects of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) research they do not support in the same way because of their original mission and related design patterns pointing at a different primary target audience. In particular, the more research in HCI evolves towards natural, socially engaging approaches, the more there is the need to rapidly design and deploy software architectures to support these new paradigms. Topics such as knowledge representation, probabilistic reasoning and voice synthesis demand space as possible instruments within this new ideal design environment. In this work, we propose a framework, named FANTASIA, designed to integrate a set of chosen modules (a graph database, a dialogue manager, a game engine and a voice synthesis engine) and support rapid design and implementation of interactive applications for HCI studies. We will present a number of different case studies to exemplify how the proposed tools can be deployed to develop very different kinds of interactive applications and we will discuss ongoing and future work to further extend the framework we propose.

     

Design of high fastness acid dyes for silk: a chemometric approach

A chemometric strategy tor the design of acid dyes for silk is reported. A small set of representative dyes was selected by the technique of fractional factorial design, using the principal properties of the substituents as design variables. The selected dyes were synthesised and fastness properties on silk were measured. Wash fastness and light fastness values were related to the chemical structure by the partial least squares (PLS) method. The models were used to predict the fastness of new dyes of the same class and to optimise the structure.     

Size-controlled synthesis and NMR characterization of mesitylene-vinylsiloxanes stabilized Pt nanoparticles in solution

Pt nanoclusters have been generated by reaction of Pt vapour and mesitylene vapour and the role of the mesitylene/platinum ratio and the Pt particle size has been evaluated, quenching the resulting mesitylene solvated Pt atoms with 1,3-divinyltetramethyldisiloxane (DVS) as additional ligand. The Pt particle sizes have been estimated on the basis of DOSY (Diffusion-Ordered SpectroscopY) analysis and information on their structure features have been obtained by combined use of 2D NMR techniques.     

Thermal Explosion of Powder Mixtures: Numerical Approach

A numerical approach to investigate the heating and the ignition of powder mixtures by radiant energy is presented. The ignition study is based on the possibility of separating the initiation transient from the propagation process, by operating in thermal explosion mode.     

Determination of correlations to predict the minimum agitation speed for complete solid suspension in agitated vessels

Experiments were conducted to determine the effects of impeller clearance, impeller diameter, and other operating variables on the minimum agitation speed for off-bottom solid suspension in agitated vessels, N_js, for disc turbines (DTs) and flat-blade turbines (FBTs). Only data for which the impellers produced recirculation flows above and below the impeller (the so-called “double-eight” flow pattern) were considered. Regression equations for N_js were obtained, in which explicit terms for impeller clearance and vessel diameter-to-impeller diameter ratio (T/D) were included. Modified Zwietering equations (Zwietering, 1958) were also obtained, in which Zwietering's parameter S was mathematically expressed as a function of vessel diameter-to-impeller clearance ratio and T/D ratio. When used together with the correlations of Armenante and Uehara Nagamine (1998) for impellers close to the vessel bottom, the equations presented here can be used to calculate N_js for DTs and FBTs for any typical impeller clearance.     

Composites Between Alumina and an Ester‐Ether‐Ester Bioresorbable Copolymer

Composites between alumina and the bioresorbable poly(ε‐caprolactone)‐block‐poly(oxyethylene)‐block‐poly(ε‐caprolactone) copolymer were obtained by reacting ε‐caprolactone with preformed poly(ethylene glycol), in the presence of ceramic alumina powder, at 185°C under vacuum. The mechanical properties, tested by compression and flexural strengths and Young's modulus, show that the copolymer interacts poorly with the alumina grains. Both scanning electron and atomic force microscopy show a scarce wettability between alumina and copolymer, as well as the aggregation of alumina micro‐particles into clusters of big size. Both mechanical and morphological tests seem to indicate a stronger interaction between the alumina micro‐particles than between the alumina surface and the reaction mixture during the polymerization, as well as a “compacting effect” by alumina on the forming copolymer. The FT‐IR spectra of the composites show both copolymer and alumina absorption bands. The FT‐IR analysis on the fractions of an extraction with CHCl₃ indicates the presence of traces of poly(ε‐caprolactone), stably linked to alumina. The polymerization of ε‐caprolactone with alumina alone in the same conditions gives poly(ε‐caprolactone), mainly free and in minor part linked to the alumina surface. Two polymerization mechanisms, simultaneously occurring, are proposed. The most relevant result of this work is the lack of chemical inertness of alumina towards ε‐caprolactone, which leads to reconsider also the use of alumina as a biochemically inert material.     

Preparation and thermal behavior of random poly(butylene terephthalate/azelate) copolyesters

Poly(butylene terephthalate), poly(butylene azelate), and poly(butylene terephthalate/butylene azelate) random copolymers of various compositions were synthesized in bulk using the well‐known two‐stage polycondensation procedure, and characterized in terms of chemical structure and molecular weight. The thermal behavior was examined by thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry. As far as the thermal stability is concerned, it was found to be rather similar for all copolymers and homopolymers investigated. All the copolymers were found to be partially crystalline, and the main effect of copolymerization was a lowering in the amount of crystallinity and a decrease of melting temperature with respect to pure homopolymers. Flory's equation was found to describe the T_m–composition data and permitted to calculate the melting temperatures (T^°_m ) and the heats of fusion (ΔH_u) of both the completely crystalline homopolymers. Owing to the high crystallization rate, the glass transition was observable only for the copolymers containing from 30 to 70 mol % of the terephthalate units; even though the samples cannot be frozen in a completely amorphous state, the data obtained confirmed that the introduction of the aromatic units gave rise to an increase of T_g, due to a chain stiffening. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 74: 2694–2702, 1999