Control of virtual environments for young people with learning difficulties

Purpose: The objective of this research is to identify the requirements for the selection or development of usable virtual environment (VE) interface devices for young people with learning disabilities. Method: a user-centred design methodology was employed, to produce a design specification for usable VE interface devices. Details of the users' cognitive, physical and perceptual abilities were obtained through observation and normative assessment tests. Conclusions : A review of computer interface technology, including virtual reality and assistive devices, was conducted. As there were no devices identified that met all the requirements of the design specification, it was concluded that there is a need for the design and development of new concepts. Future research will involve concept and prototype development and user-based evaluation of the prototypes

Procedural-Reasoning Architecture for Applied Behavior Analysis-based Instructions

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a complex developmental disability affecting as many as 1 in every 88 children. While there is no known cure for ASD, there are known behavioral and developmental interventions, based on demonstrated efficacy, that have become the predominant treatments for improving social, adaptive, and behavioral functions in children. Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA)-based early childhood interventions are evidence based, efficacious therapies for autism that are widely recognized as effective approaches to remediation of the symptoms of ASD. They are, however, labor intensive and consequently often inaccessible at the recommended levels. Recent advancements in socially assistive robotics and applications of virtual intelligent agents have shown that children with ASD accept intelligent agents as effective and often preferred substitutes for human therapists. This research is nascent and highly experimental with no unifying, interdisciplinary, and integral approach to development of intelligent agents based therapies, especially not in the area of behavioral interventions. Motivated by the absence of the unifying framework, we developed a conceptual procedural-reasoning agent architecture (PRA-ABA) that, we propose, could serve as a foundation for ABA-based assistive technologies involving virtual, mixed or embodied agents, including robots. This architecture and related research presented in this disser- tation encompass two main areas: (a) knowledge representation and computational model of the behavioral aspects of ABA as applicable to autism intervention practices, and (b) abstract architecture for multi-modal, agent-mediated implementation of these practices

The 1990 progress report and future plans

This document describes the progress and plans of the Artificial Intelligence Research Branch (RIA) at ARC in 1990. Activities span a range from basic scientific research to engineering development and to fielded NASA applications, particularly those applications that are enabled by basic research carried out at RIA. Work is conducted in-house and through collaborative partners in academia and industry. Our major focus is on a limited number of research themes with a dual commitment to technical excellence and proven applicability to NASA short, medium, and long-term problems. RIA acts as the Agency's lead organization for research aspects of artificial intelligence, working closely with a second research laboratory at JPL and AI applications groups at all NASA centers

GAN-CAN: A Novel Attack to Behavior-Based Driver Authentication Systems

openFor many years, car keys have been the sole mean of authentication in vehicles. Whether the access control process is physical or wireless, entrusting the ownership of a vehicle to a single token is prone to stealing attempts. Modern vehicles equipped with the Controller Area Network (CAN) bus technology collects a wealth of sensor data in real-time, covering aspects such as the vehicle, environment, and driver. This data can be processed and analyzed to gain valuable insights and solutions for human behavior analysis. For this reason, many researchers started developing behavior-based authentication systems. Many Machine Learning (ML) and Deep Learning models (DL) have been explored for behavior-based driver authentication, but the emphasis on security has not been a primary focus in the design of these systems. By collecting data in a moving vehicle, DL models can recognize patterns in the data and identify drivers based on their driving behavior. This can be used as an anti-theft system, as a thief would exhibit a different driving style compared to the vehicle owner. However, the assumption that an attacker cannot replicate the legitimate driver behavior falls under certain conditions. In this thesis, we propose GAN-CAN, the first attack capable of fooling state-of-the-art behavior-based driver authentication systems in a vehicle. Based on the adversary's knowledge, we propose different GAN-CAN implementations. Our attack leverages the lack of security in the CAN bus to inject suitably designed time-series data to mimic the legitimate driver. Our malicious time series data is generated through the integration of a modified reinforcement learning technique with Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) with adapted training process. Furthermore we conduct a thorough investigation into the safety implications of the injected values throughout the attack. This meticulous study is conducted to guarantee that the introduced values do not in any way undermine the safety of the vehicle and the individuals inside it. Also, we formalize a real-world implementation of a driver authentication system considering possible vulnerabilities and exploits. We tested GAN-CAN in an improved version of the most efficient driver behavior-based authentication model in the literature. We prove that our attack can fool it with an attack success rate of up to 99%. We show how an attacker, without prior knowledge of the authentication system, can steal a car by deploying GAN-CAN in an off-the-shelf system in under 22 minutes. Moreover, by considering the safety importance of the injected values, we demonstrate that GAN-CAN can successfully deceive the authentication system without compromising the overall safety of the vehicle. This highlights the urgent need to address the security vulnerabilities present in behavior-based driver authentication systems. In the end, we suggest some possible countermeasures to the GAN-CAN attack.For many years, car keys have been the sole mean of authentication in vehicles. Whether the access control process is physical or wireless, entrusting the ownership of a vehicle to a single token is prone to stealing attempts. Modern vehicles equipped with the Controller Area Network (CAN) bus technology collects a wealth of sensor data in real-time, covering aspects such as the vehicle, environment, and driver. This data can be processed and analyzed to gain valuable insights and solutions for human behavior analysis. For this reason, many researchers started developing behavior-based authentication systems. Many Machine Learning (ML) and Deep Learning models (DL) have been explored for behavior-based driver authentication, but the emphasis on security has not been a primary focus in the design of these systems. By collecting data in a moving vehicle, DL models can recognize patterns in the data and identify drivers based on their driving behavior. This can be used as an anti-theft system, as a thief would exhibit a different driving style compared to the vehicle owner. However, the assumption that an attacker cannot replicate the legitimate driver behavior falls under certain conditions. In this thesis, we propose GAN-CAN, the first attack capable of fooling state-of-the-art behavior-based driver authentication systems in a vehicle. Based on the adversary's knowledge, we propose different GAN-CAN implementations. Our attack leverages the lack of security in the CAN bus to inject suitably designed time-series data to mimic the legitimate driver. Our malicious time series data is generated through the integration of a modified reinforcement learning technique with Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) with adapted training process. Furthermore we conduct a thorough investigation into the safety implications of the injected values throughout the attack. This meticulous study is conducted to guarantee that the introduced values do not in any way undermine the safety of the vehicle and the individuals inside it. Also, we formalize a real-world implementation of a driver authentication system considering possible vulnerabilities and exploits. We tested GAN-CAN in an improved version of the most efficient driver behavior-based authentication model in the literature. We prove that our attack can fool it with an attack success rate of up to 99%. We show how an attacker, without prior knowledge of the authentication system, can steal a car by deploying GAN-CAN in an off-the-shelf system in under 22 minutes. Moreover, by considering the safety importance of the injected values, we demonstrate that GAN-CAN can successfully deceive the authentication system without compromising the overall safety of the vehicle. This highlights the urgent need to address the security vulnerabilities present in behavior-based driver authentication systems. In the end, we suggest some possible countermeasures to the GAN-CAN attack

Player agency in interactive narrative: audience, actor & author

The question motivating this review paper is, how can computer-based interactive narrative be used as a constructivist learn- ing activity? The paper proposes that player agency can be used to link interactive narrative to learner agency in constructivist theory, and to classify approaches to interactive narrative. The traditional question driving research in interactive narrative is, ‘how can an in- teractive narrative deal with a high degree of player agency, while maintaining a coherent and well-formed narrative?’ This question derives from an Aristotelian approach to interactive narrative that, as the question shows, is inherently antagonistic to player agency. Within this approach, player agency must be restricted and manip- ulated to maintain the narrative. Two alternative approaches based on Brecht’s Epic Theatre and Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed are reviewed. If a Boalian approach to interactive narrative is taken the conflict between narrative and player agency dissolves. The question that emerges from this approach is quite different from the traditional question above, and presents a more useful approach to applying in- teractive narrative as a constructivist learning activity

Artificial Societies of Intelligent Agents

In this thesis we present our work, where we developed artificial societies of intelligent agents, in order to understand and simulate adaptive behaviour and social processes. We obtain this in three parallel ways: First, we present a behaviours production system capable of reproducing a high number of properties of adaptive behaviour and of exhibiting emergent lower cognition. Second, we introduce a simple model for social action, obtaining emergent complex social processes from simple interactions of imitation and induction of behaviours in agents. And third, we present our approximation to a behaviours virtual laboratory, integrating our behaviours production system and our social action model in animats. In our behaviours virtual laboratory, the user can perform a wide variety of experiments, allowing him or her to test the properties of our behaviours production system and our social action model, and also to understand adaptive and social behaviour. It can be accessed and downloaded through the Internet. Before presenting our proposals, we make an introduction to artificial intelligence and behaviour-based systems, and also we give notions of complex systems and artificial societies. In the last chapter of the thesis, we present experiments carried out in our behaviours virtual laboratory showing the main properties of our behaviours production system, of our social action model, and of our behaviours virtual laboratory itself. Finally, we discuss about the understanding of adaptive behaviour as a path for understanding cognition and its evolution

Virtual Reality Games for Motor Rehabilitation

This paper presents a fuzzy logic based method to track user satisfaction without the need for devices to monitor users physiological conditions. User satisfaction is the key to any product’s acceptance; computer applications and video games provide a unique opportunity to provide a tailored environment for each user to better suit their needs. We have implemented a non-adaptive fuzzy logic model of emotion, based on the emotional component of the Fuzzy Logic Adaptive Model of Emotion (FLAME) proposed by El-Nasr, to estimate player emotion in UnrealTournament 2004. In this paper we describe the implementation of this system and present the results of one of several play tests. Our research contradicts the current literature that suggests physiological measurements are needed. We show that it is possible to use a software only method to estimate user emotion

Flexible Decision Support in Dynamic Interorganizational Networks

An effective Decision Support System (DSS) should help its users improve decision-making in complex, information-rich, environments. We present a feature gap analysis that shows that current decision support technologies lack important qualities for a new generation of agile business models that require easy, temporary integration across organisational boundaries. We enumerate these qualities as DSS Desiderata, properties that can contribute both effectiveness and flexibility to users in such environments. To address this gap, we describe a new design approach that enables users to compose decision behaviours from separate, configurable components, and allows dynamic construction of analysis and modelling tools from small, single-purpose evaluator services. The result is what we call an “evaluator service network” that can easily be configured to test hypotheses and analyse the impact of various choices for elements of decision processes. We have implemented and tested this design in an interactive version of the MinneTAC trading agent, an agent designed for the Trading Agent Competition for Supply Chain Management