Forecasting accuracy of behavioural models for participation in the arts

A first version of this paper was presented at the University of Catania, 2011 and at the fifth European Workshop on Applied Cultural Economics in Dublin, 2011.In this paper, we assess the forecasting performance of count data models applied to arts attendance. We estimate participation models for two artistic activities that differ in their degree of popularity -museum and jazz concerts- with data derived from the 2002 release of the Survey of Public Participation in the Arts for the United States. We estimate a finite mixture model – a zero-inflated negative binomial model - that allows us to distinguish “true” non-attendants and “goers” and their respective behaviour regarding participation in the arts. We evaluate the predictive (in-sample) and forecasting (out-of-sample) accuracy of the estimated models using bootstrapping techniques to compute the Brier score. Overall, the results indicate good properties of the model in terms of forecasting. Finally, we derive some policy implications from the forecasting capacity of the models, which allows for identification of target populations

Exploiting the conceptual space in hybrid recommender systems: a semantic-based approach

Tesis doctoral inédita. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Escuela Politécnica Superior, octubre de 200

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