112 research outputs found
Cyber Security and Critical Infrastructures 2nd Volume
The second volume of the book contains the manuscripts that were accepted for publication in the MDPI Special Topic "Cyber Security and Critical Infrastructure" after a rigorous peer-review process. Authors from academia, government and industry contributed their innovative solutions, consistent with the interdisciplinary nature of cybersecurity. The book contains 16 articles, including an editorial that explains the current challenges, innovative solutions and real-world experiences that include critical infrastructure and 15 original papers that present state-of-the-art innovative solutions to attacks on critical systems
Acoustic-based Smart Tactile Sensing in Social Robots
Mención Internacional en el título de doctorEl sentido del tacto es un componente crucial de la interacción social humana y es único
entre los cinco sentidos. Como único sentido proximal, el tacto requiere un contacto
físico cercano o directo para registrar la información. Este hecho convierte al tacto en
una modalidad de interacción llena de posibilidades en cuanto a comunicación social. A través
del tacto, podemos conocer la intención de la otra persona y comunicar emociones. De esta
idea surge el concepto de social touch o tacto social como el acto de tocar a otra persona en
un contexto social. Puede servir para diversos fines, como saludar, mostrar afecto, persuadir
y regular el bienestar emocional y físico.
Recientemente, el número de personas que interactúan con sistemas y agentes artificiales
ha aumentado, principalmente debido al auge de los dispositivos tecnológicos, como los smartphones
o los altavoces inteligentes. A pesar del auge de estos dispositivos, sus capacidades de
interacción son limitadas. Para paliar este problema, los recientes avances en robótica social han
mejorado las posibilidades de interacción para que los agentes funcionen de forma más fluida y
sean más útiles. En este sentido, los robots sociales están diseñados para facilitar interacciones
naturales entre humanos y agentes artificiales. El sentido del tacto en este contexto se revela
como un vehículo natural que puede mejorar la Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) debido a su
relevancia comunicativa en entornos sociales. Además de esto, para un robot social, la relación
entre el tacto social y su aspecto es directa, al disponer de un cuerpo físico para aplicar o recibir
toques.
Desde un punto de vista técnico, los sistemas de detección táctil han sido objeto recientemente
de nuevas investigaciones, sobre todo dedicado a comprender este sentido para crear sistemas
inteligentes que puedan mejorar la vida de las personas. En este punto, los robots sociales
se han convertido en dispositivos muy populares que incluyen tecnologías para la detección
táctil. Esto está motivado por el hecho de que un robot puede esperada o inesperadamente
tener contacto físico con una persona, lo que puede mejorar o interferir en la ejecución de sus
comportamientos. Por tanto, el sentido del tacto se antoja necesario para el desarrollo de aplicaciones
robóticas. Algunos métodos incluyen el reconocimiento de gestos táctiles, aunque
a menudo exigen importantes despliegues de hardware que requieren de múltiples sensores. Además, la fiabilidad de estas tecnologías de detección es limitada, ya que la mayoría de ellas
siguen teniendo problemas tales como falsos positivos o tasas de reconocimiento bajas. La detección
acústica, en este sentido, puede proporcionar un conjunto de características capaces de
paliar las deficiencias anteriores. A pesar de que se trata de una tecnología utilizada en diversos
campos de investigación, aún no se ha integrado en la interacción táctil entre humanos y robots.
Por ello, en este trabajo proponemos el sistema Acoustic Touch Recognition (ATR), un sistema
inteligente de detección táctil (smart tactile sensing system) basado en la detección acústica
y diseñado para mejorar la interacción social humano-robot. Nuestro sistema está desarrollado
para clasificar gestos táctiles y localizar su origen. Además de esto, se ha integrado en plataformas
robóticas sociales y se ha probado en aplicaciones reales con éxito. Nuestra propuesta
se ha enfocado desde dos puntos de vista: uno técnico y otro relacionado con el tacto social.
Por un lado, la propuesta tiene una motivación técnica centrada en conseguir un sistema táctil
rentable, modular y portátil. Para ello, en este trabajo se ha explorado el campo de las tecnologías
de detección táctil, los sistemas inteligentes de detección táctil y su aplicación en HRI. Por
otro lado, parte de la investigación se centra en el impacto afectivo del tacto social durante la
interacción humano-robot, lo que ha dado lugar a dos estudios que exploran esta idea.The sense of touch is a crucial component of human social interaction and is unique
among the five senses. As the only proximal sense, touch requires close or direct physical
contact to register information. This fact makes touch an interaction modality
full of possibilities regarding social communication. Through touch, we are able to ascertain
the other person’s intention and communicate emotions. From this idea emerges the concept
of social touch as the act of touching another person in a social context. It can serve various purposes,
such as greeting, showing affection, persuasion, and regulating emotional and physical
well-being.
Recently, the number of people interacting with artificial systems and agents has increased,
mainly due to the rise of technological devices, such as smartphones or smart speakers. Still,
these devices are limited in their interaction capabilities. To deal with this issue, recent developments
in social robotics have improved the interaction possibilities to make agents more seamless
and useful. In this sense, social robots are designed to facilitate natural interactions between
humans and artificial agents. In this context, the sense of touch is revealed as a natural interaction
vehicle that can improve HRI due to its communicative relevance. Moreover, for a social
robot, the relationship between social touch and its embodiment is direct, having a physical
body to apply or receive touches.
From a technical standpoint, tactile sensing systems have recently been the subject of further
research, mostly devoted to comprehending this sense to create intelligent systems that can
improve people’s lives. Currently, social robots are popular devices that include technologies
for touch sensing. This is motivated by the fact that robots may encounter expected or unexpected
physical contact with humans, which can either enhance or interfere with the execution
of their behaviours. There is, therefore, a need to detect human touch in robot applications.
Some methods even include touch-gesture recognition, although they often require significant
hardware deployments primarily that require multiple sensors. Additionally, the dependability
of those sensing technologies is constrained because the majority of them still struggle with issues
like false positives or poor recognition rates. Acoustic sensing, in this sense, can provide a
set of features that can alleviate the aforementioned shortcomings. Even though it is a technology that has been utilised in various research fields, it has yet to be integrated into human-robot
touch interaction.
Therefore, in thiswork,we propose theATRsystem, a smart tactile sensing system based on
acoustic sensing designed to improve human-robot social interaction. Our system is developed
to classify touch gestures and locate their source. It is also integrated into real social robotic platforms
and tested in real-world applications. Our proposal is approached from two standpoints,
one technical and the other related to social touch. Firstly, the technical motivation of thiswork
centred on achieving a cost-efficient, modular and portable tactile system. For that, we explore
the fields of touch sensing technologies, smart tactile sensing systems and their application in
HRI. On the other hand, part of the research is centred around the affective impact of touch
during human-robot interaction, resulting in two studies exploring this idea.Programa de Doctorado en Ingeniería Eléctrica, Electrónica y Automática por la Universidad Carlos III de MadridPresidente: Pedro Manuel Urbano de Almeida Lima.- Secretaria: María Dolores Blanco Rojas.- Vocal: Antonio Fernández Caballer
Artificial Intelligence as Evidence
This article explores issues that govern the admissibility of Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) applications in civil and criminal cases, from the perspective of a federal trial judge and two computer scientists, one of whom also is an experienced attorney. It provides a detailed yet intelligible discussion of what AI is and how it works, a history of its development, and a description of the wide variety of functions that it is designed to accomplish, stressing that AI applications are ubiquitous, both in the private and public sectors. Applications today include: health care, education, employment-related decision-making, finance, law enforcement, and the legal profession. The article underscores the importance of determining the validity of an AI application (i.e., how accurately the AI measures, classifies, or predicts what it is designed to), as well as its reliability (i.e., the consistency with which the AI produces accurate results when applied to the same or substantially similar circumstances), in deciding whether it should be admitted into evidence in civil and criminal cases. The article further discusses factors that can affect the validity and reliability of AI evidence, including bias of various types, “function creep,” lack of transparency and explainability, and the sufficiency of the objective testing of AI applications before they are released for public use. The article next provides an in-depth discussion of the evidentiary principles that govern whether AI evidence should be admitted in court cases, a topic which, at present, is not the subject of comprehensive analysis in decisional law. The focus of this discussion is on providing a step-by-step analysis of the most important issues, and the factors that affect decisions on whether to admit AI evidence. Finally, the article concludes with a discussion of practical suggestions intended to assist lawyers and judges as they are called upon to introduce, object to, or decide on whether to admit AI evidence
Specialized IoT systems: Models, Structures, Algorithms, Hardware, Software Tools
Монография включает анализ проблем, модели, алгоритмы и программно-
аппаратные средства специализированных сетей интернета вещей.
Рассмотрены результаты проектирования и моделирования сети интернета вещей,
мониторинга качества продукции, анализа звуковой информации окружающей среды, а
также технология выявления заболеваний легких на базе нейронных сетей.
Монография предназначена для специалистов в области инфокоммуникаций,
может быть полезна студентам соответствующих специальностей, слушателям
факультетов повышения квалификации, магистрантам и аспирантам
The Kiosk Culture: Reconciling The Performance Support Paradox In The Postmodern Age Of Machines
Do you remember the first time you used an Automatic Teller Machine (ATM)? Or a pay-at-the-pump gas station? Or an airline e-ticket kiosk? How did you know what to do? Although you never received any formal instruction in how to interact with the self-service technology, you were likely able to accomplish your task (e.g., withdrawing or depositing money) as successfully as an experienced user. However, not so long ago, to accomplish that same task, you needed the direct mediation of a service professional who had been trained how to use the required complex technology. What has changed? In short, the technology is now able to compensate for the average consumer\u27s lack of experience with the transactional system. The technology itself bridges the performance gap, allowing a novice to accomplish the same task as an experienced professional. This shift to a self-service paradigm is completely changing the dynamics of the consumer relationship with the capitalist enterprise, resulting in what is rapidly becoming the default consumer interface of the postmodern era. The recognition that the entire performance support apparatus now revolves around the end user/consumer rather than the employee represents a tectonic shift in the workforce training industry. What emerges is a homogenized consumer culture enabled by self-service technologies--a kiosk culture. No longer is the ability to interact with complex technology confined to a privileged workforce minority who has access to expensive and time-consuming training. The growth of the kiosk culture is being driven equally by business financial pressures, consumer demand for more efficient transactions, and the improved sophistication of compensatory technology that allows a novice to perform a task with the same competence as an expert. The Kiosk Culture examines all aspects of self-service technology and its ascendancy. Beyond the milieu of business, the kiosk culture is also infiltrating all corners of society, including medicine, athletics, and the arts, forcing us to re-examine our definitions of knowledge, skills, performance, and even humanity. The current ubiquity of self-service technology has already impacted our society and will continue to do so as we ride the rising tide of the kiosk culture
Selected Papers from the 5th International Electronic Conference on Sensors and Applications
This Special Issue comprises selected papers from the proceedings of the 5th International Electronic Conference on Sensors and Applications, held on 15–30 November 2018, on sciforum.net, an online platform for hosting scholarly e-conferences and discussion groups. In this 5th edition of the electronic conference, contributors were invited to provide papers and presentations from the field of sensors and applications at large, resulting in a wide variety of excellent submissions and topic areas. Papers which attracted the most interest on the web or that provided a particularly innovative contribution were selected for publication in this collection. These peer-reviewed papers are published with the aim of rapid and wide dissemination of research results, developments, and applications. We hope this conference series will grow rapidly in the future and become recognized as a new way and venue by which to (electronically) present new developments related to the field of sensors and their applications
Proceedings, MSVSCC 2015
The Virginia Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Center (VMASC) of Old Dominion University hosted the 2015 Modeling, Simulation, & Visualization Student capstone Conference on April 16th. The Capstone Conference features students in Modeling and Simulation, undergraduates and graduate degree programs, and fields from many colleges and/or universities. Students present their research to an audience of fellow students, faculty, judges, and other distinguished guests. For the students, these presentations afford them the opportunity to impart their innovative research to members of the M&S community from academic, industry, and government backgrounds. Also participating in the conference are faculty and judges who have volunteered their time to impart direct support to their students’ research, facilitate the various conference tracks, serve as judges for each of the tracks, and provide overall assistance to this conference. 2015 marks the ninth year of the VMASC Capstone Conference for Modeling, Simulation and Visualization. This year our conference attracted a number of fine student written papers and presentations, resulting in a total of 51 research works that were presented. This year’s conference had record attendance thanks to the support from the various different departments at Old Dominion University, other local Universities, and the United States Military Academy, at West Point. We greatly appreciated all of the work and energy that has gone into this year’s conference, it truly was a highly collaborative effort that has resulted in a very successful symposium for the M&S community and all of those involved. Below you will find a brief summary of the best papers and best presentations with some simple statistics of the overall conference contribution. Followed by that is a table of contents that breaks down by conference track category with a copy of each included body of work. Thank you again for your time and your contribution as this conference is designed to continuously evolve and adapt to better suit the authors and M&S supporters.
Dr.Yuzhong Shen Graduate Program Director, MSVE Capstone Conference Chair
John ShullGraduate Student, MSVE Capstone Conference Student Chai
Everyday Automation
This Open Access book brings the experiences of automation as part of quotidian life into focus. It asks how, where and when automated technologies and systems are emerging in everyday life across different global regions? What are their likely impacts in the present and future? How do engineers, policy makers, industry stakeholders and designers envisage artificial intelligence (AI) and automated decision-making (ADM) as solutions to individual and societal problems? How do these future visions compare with the everyday realities, power relations and social inequalities in which AI and ADM are experienced? What do people know about automation and what are their experiences of engaging with ‘actually existing’ AI and ADM technologies? An international team of leading scholars bring together research developed across anthropology, sociology, media and communication studies and ethnology, which shows how by rehumanising automation, we can gain deeper understandings of its societal impacts
Low Back Pain (LBP)
Low back pain (LBP) is a major public health problem, being the most commonly reported musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) and the leading cause of compromised quality of life and work absenteeism. Indeed, LBP is the leading worldwide cause of years lost to disability, and its burden is growing alongside the increasing and aging population. The etiology, pathogenesis, and occupational risk factors of LBP are still not fully understood. It is crucial to give a stronger focus to reducing the consequences of LBP, as well as preventing its onset. Primary prevention at the occupational level remains important for highly exposed groups. Therefore, it is essential to identify which treatment options and workplace-based intervention strategies are effective in increasing participation at work and encouraging early return-to-work to reduce the consequences of LBP. The present Special Issue offers a unique opportunity to update many of the recent advances and perspectives of this health problem. A number of topics will be covered in order to attract high-quality research papers, including the following major areas: prevalence and epidemiological data, etiology, prevention, assessment and treatment approaches, and health promotion strategies for LBP. We have received a wide range of submissions, including research on the physical, psychosocial, environmental, and occupational perspectives, also focused on workplace interventions
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