Secure three-party computational protocols for triangle area

In this work, we have put forth two different protocols to address a concrete secure multi-party computational (MPC) problem related to a triangle, of which the coordinates of the three vertices are confidentially kept by the three participants, respectively. The three parties wish to collaboratively compute the area of this triangle while preserving their own coordinate privacy. As one of the merits, our protocols employ weaker assumptions of the existence of pseudorandom generators. In particular, unlike massive secure MPC protocols that rely a lot on oblivious transfer, ours utilize a new computing idea called “pseudorandom-then-rounding” method to avoid this burdensome obstacle. The two protocols are based on different theorems, while they both make use of the same underlying idea. At last, we provide a detailed proof for the first protocol by a series of security reductions of our newly defined games, which seems somewhat stronger than the previous simulation-based proofs and a proof sketch for the second one. Analysis and discussion about the reasons are provided as well to round off our work.     

Practical chosen-ciphertext secure Hierarchical Identity-Based Broadcast Encryption

We focus on practical Hierarchical Identity-Based Broadcast Encryption (HIBBE) with semantic security against adaptively chosen-ciphertext attacks (CCA2) in the standard model. We achieve this goal in two steps. First, we propose a new HIBBE scheme that is secure against chosen-plaintext attacks (CPA). Compared with the existing HIBBE scheme that is built from composite-order bilinear groups, our construction is based on prime-order bilinear groups. The much better efficiency of group operations in prime-order bilinear groups makes our proposed HIBBE scheme more practical. Then, we convert it into a CCA2-secure scheme at the cost of a one-time signature. Instead of extending one user hierarchy in the Canetti–Halevi–Katz approach from CPA-secure (\(l+1\))-Hierarchical Identity-Based Encryption [(\(l+1\))-HIBE] to CCA2-secure \(l\)-HIBE, our construction merely adds one on-the-fly dummy user in the basic scheme. We formally prove the security of these two schemes in the standard model. Comprehensive theoretical analyses and experimental results demonstrate that the proposed HIBBE schemes achieve desirable performance.     

Measuring the role of age in user performance during interaction with computers

The influence of aging on computer interaction has been widely analyzed in human–computer interaction research literature. Despite this, there are no age-based user maps that could support the user-interface customization. Studying the specific needs and constraints of these groups is crucial in order to adapt a user interface to the user’s interaction requirements. This work studies the performance of a sample of participants on three different basic tasks (pointing, dragging and dropping, and text selection) and the influence of age for each of them. It is concluded that this influence differs between specific activities. A group profile map that can support automatic classification in the future has been obtained.     

Nonparametric approach for uncertainty-based multidisciplinary design optimization considering limited data

Uncertainty-based multidisciplinary design optimization (UMDO) has been widely acknowledged as an advanced methodology to address competing objectives and reliable constraints of complex systems by coupling relationship of disciplines involved in the system. UMDO process consists of three parts. Two parts are to define the system with uncertainty and to formulate the design optimization problem. The third part is to quantitatively analyze the uncertainty of the system output considering the uncertainty propagation in the multidiscipline analysis. One of the major issues in the UMDO research is that the uncertainty propagation makes uncertainty analysis difficult in the complex system. The conventional methods are based on the parametric approach could possibly cause the error when the parametric approach has ill-estimated distribution because data is often insufficient or limited. Therefore, it is required to develop a nonparametric approach to directly use data. In this work, the nonparametric approach for uncertainty-based multidisciplinary design optimization considering limited data is proposed. To handle limited data, three processes are also adopted. To verify the performance of the proposed method, mathematical and engineering examples are illustrated.     

Flow-based reputation with uncertainty: evidence-based subjective logic

The concept of reputation is widely used as a measure of trustworthiness based on ratings from members in a community. The adoption of reputation systems, however, relies on their ability to capture the actual trustworthiness of a target. Several reputation models for aggregating trust information have been proposed in the literature. The choice of model has an impact on the reliability of the aggregated trust information as well as on the procedure used to compute reputations. Two prominent models are flow-based reputation (e.g., EigenTrust, PageRank) and subjective logic-based reputation. Flow-based models provide an automated method to aggregate trust information, but they are not able to express the level of uncertainty in the information. In contrast, subjective logic extends probabilistic models with an explicit notion of uncertainty, but the calculation of reputation depends on the structure of the trust network and often requires information to be discarded. These are severe drawbacks. In this work, we observe that the ‘opinion discounting’ operation in subjective logic has a number of basic problems. We resolve these problems by providing a new discounting operator that describes the flow of evidence from one party to another. The adoption of our discounting rule results in a consistent subjective logic algebra that is entirely based on the handling of evidence. We show that the new algebra enables the construction of an automated reputation assessment procedure for arbitrary trust networks, where the calculation no longer depends on the structure of the network, and does not need to throw away any information. Thus, we obtain the best of both worlds: flow-based reputation and consistent handling of uncertainties.     

A rule triggering system for automatic text-to-sign translation

The topic of this paper is machine translation (MT) from French text into French sign language (LSF). After arguing in favour of a rule-based method, it presents the architecture of an original MT system, built on two distinct efforts: formalising LSF production rules and triggering them with text processing. The former is made without any concern for text or translation and involves corpus analysis to link LSF form features to linguistic functions. It produces a set of production rules which may constitute a full LSF production grammar. The latter is an information extraction task from text, broken down in as many subtasks as there are rules in the grammar. After discussing this architecture, comparing it to the traditional methods and presenting the methodology for each task, the paper present the set of production rules found to govern event precedence and duration in LSF and gives a progress report on the implementation of the rule triggering system. With this proposal, it is also hoped to show how MT can benefit today from sign language processing.     

Hefestos: an intelligent system applied to ubiquitous accessibility

This article proposes Hefestos, an intelligent system applied to ubiquitous accessibility. This model uses ubiquitous computing concepts to manage accessibility resources for people with disabilities. Among the concepts employed, context awareness, user profiles and trails management can be highlighted. The paper proposes an ontology for accessibility and delineates scenarios of its application in everyday life of people with disabilities. Moreover, the implementation of a smart wheelchair prototype and its application in a practical experiment is described. Ten users with a range of disability degrees tried the system and filled out a survey based on the technology acceptance model. This experiment demonstrated the main functionalities and the acceptance of the system. The results showed 96 % of acceptance regarding perceived easy of use and 98 % in perceived usefulness. These results were encouraging and show the potential for implementing Hefestos in real life situations.     

Developing a limb repositioning robotic interface for persons with severe physical disabilities

Limb repositioning is necessary for individuals with severe physical disabilities to sustain muscle strength and prevent pressure sores. As robotic technologies become ubiquitous, these tools offer promise to support the repositioning process. However, research has yet to focus on ways in which individuals with severe physical disabilities can control robots for these tasks. This paper presents a study that examines the needs and attitudes of potential users with physical disabilities to control a robotic aid for limb repositioning. Subjects expressed interest in using brain–computer interface (BCI) and speech recognition technologies for purposes of executing robotic tasks. The performance of four subjects controlling arm movements on an avatar through the keyboard, mouse, BCI, and Dragon NaturallySpeaking speech recognition was evaluated. Although BCI and speech technologies may limit physical fatigue, more challenges were faced using BCI and speech conditions compared to the keyboard and mouse. This research promotes accessibility into mainstream robotic technologies and represents the first step in the development of a robotic prototype using a BCI and speech recognition technologies for limb repositioning.