201,926 research outputs found
Are Face and Object Recognition Independent? A Neurocomputational Modeling Exploration
Are face and object recognition abilities independent? Although it is
commonly believed that they are, Gauthier et al.(2014) recently showed that
these abilities become more correlated as experience with nonface categories
increases. They argued that there is a single underlying visual ability, v,
that is expressed in performance with both face and nonface categories as
experience grows. Using the Cambridge Face Memory Test and the Vanderbilt
Expertise Test, they showed that the shared variance between Cambridge Face
Memory Test and Vanderbilt Expertise Test performance increases monotonically
as experience increases. Here, we address why a shared resource across
different visual domains does not lead to competition and to an inverse
correlation in abilities? We explain this conundrum using our
neurocomputational model of face and object processing (The Model, TM). Our
results show that, as in the behavioral data, the correlation between
subordinate level face and object recognition accuracy increases as experience
grows. We suggest that different domains do not compete for resources because
the relevant features are shared between faces and objects. The essential power
of experience is to generate a "spreading transform" for faces that generalizes
to objects that must be individuated. Interestingly, when the task of the
network is basic level categorization, no increase in the correlation between
domains is observed. Hence, our model predicts that it is the type of
experience that matters and that the source of the correlation is in the
fusiform face area, rather than in cortical areas that subserve basic level
categorization. This result is consistent with our previous modeling
elucidating why the FFA is recruited for novel domains of expertise (Tong et
al., 2008)
Macroscopic modelling and robust control of bi-modal multi-region urban road networks
The paper concerns the integration of a bi-modal Macroscopic Fundamental Diagram (MFD) modelling for mixed traffic in a robust control framework for congested single- and multi-region urban networks. The bi-modal MFD relates the accumulation of cars and buses and the outflow (or circulating flow) in homogeneous (both in the spatial distribution of congestion and the spatial mode mixture) bi-modal traffic networks. We introduce the composition of traffic in the network as a parameter that affects the shape of the bi-modal MFD. A linear parameter varying model with uncertain parameter the vehicle composition approximates the original nonlinear system of aggregated dynamics when it is near the equilibrium point for single- and multi-region cities governed by bi-modal MFDs. This model aims at designing a robust perimeter and boundary flow controller for single- and multi-region networks that guarantees robust regulation and stability, and thus smooth and efficient operations, given that vehicle composition is a slow time-varying parameter. The control gain of the robust controller is calculated off-line using convex optimisation. To evaluate the proposed scheme, an extensive simulation-based study for single- and multi-region networks is carried out. To this end, the heterogeneous network of San Francisco where buses and cars share the same infrastructure is partitioned into two homogeneous regions with different modes of composition. The proposed robust control is compared with an optimised pre-timed signal plan and a single-region perimeter control strategy. Results show that the proposed robust control can significantly: (i) reduce the overall congestion in the network; (ii) improve the traffic performance of buses in terms of travel delays and schedule reliability, and; (iii) avoid queues and gridlocks on critical paths of the network
SymbioCity: Smart Cities for Smarter Networks
The "Smart City" (SC) concept revolves around the idea of embodying
cutting-edge ICT solutions in the very fabric of future cities, in order to
offer new and better services to citizens while lowering the city management
costs, both in monetary, social, and environmental terms. In this framework,
communication technologies are perceived as subservient to the SC services,
providing the means to collect and process the data needed to make the services
function. In this paper, we propose a new vision in which technology and SC
services are designed to take advantage of each other in a symbiotic manner.
According to this new paradigm, which we call "SymbioCity", SC services can
indeed be exploited to improve the performance of the same communication
systems that provide them with data. Suggestive examples of this symbiotic
ecosystem are discussed in the paper. The dissertation is then substantiated in
a proof-of-concept case study, where we show how the traffic monitoring service
provided by the London Smart City initiative can be used to predict the density
of users in a certain zone and optimize the cellular service in that area.Comment: 14 pages, submitted for publication to ETT Transactions on Emerging
Telecommunications Technologie
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