Learning functional object categories from a relational spatio-temporal representation

Abstract. We propose a framework that learns functional objectcategories from spatio-temporal data sets such as those abstracted from video. The data is represented as one activity graph that encodes qualitative spatio-temporal patterns of interaction between objects. Event classes are induced by statistical generalization, the instances of which encode similar patterns of spatio-temporal relationships between objects. Equivalence classes of objects are discovered on the basis of their similar role in multiple event instantiations. Objects are represented in a multidimensional space that captures their role in all the events. Unsupervised learning in this space results in functional object-categories. Experiments in the domain of food preparation suggest that our techniques represent a significant step in unsupervised learning of functional object categories from spatio-temporal patterns of object interaction.

Abstracting object interactions using composition filters

It is generally claimed that object-based models are very suitable for building distributed system architectures since object interactions follow the client-server model. To cope with the complexity of today's distributed systems, however, we think that high-level linguistic mechanisms are needed to effectively structure, abstract and reuse object interactions. For example, the conventional object-oriented model does not provide high-level language mechanisms to model layered system architectures. Moreover, we consider the message passing model of the conventional object-oriented model as being too low-level because it can only specify object interactions that involve two partner objects at a time and its semantics cannot be extended easily. This paper introduces Abstract Communication Types (ACTs), which are objects that abstract interactions among objects. ACTs make it easier to model layered communication architectures, to enforce the invariant behavior among objects, to reduce the complexity of programs by hiding the interaction details in separate modules and to improve reusability through the application of object-oriented principles to ACT classes. We illustrate the concept of ACTs using the composition filters model

Interactions among dynamic sets of objects

In this paper, we present an operator to model interactions among objects. Our proposal allows a variable number of participant objects in an interaction, and this number will be fixed during the execution of the model. This provides a very flexible interaction model based on synchronous interactions among several objects. Our interaction model is based on events and allows a multiple-way communication among objects. Concrete values of a communication are generated through constraints which are imposed locally on each participant object. The proposed interaction (and communication) model is very versatile and can be used as an abstract specification mechanism

Abstract concepts, language and sociality. From acquisition to inner speech

The problem of representation of abstract concepts, such as “freedom” and “justice”, has become particularly crucial in recent years, due to the increased success of embodied and grounded views of cognition. We will present a novel view on abstract concepts and abstract words. Since abstract concepts do not have single objects as referents, children and adults might rely more on input from others in learning them; we therefore suggest that linguistic and social experience play an important role for abstract concepts. We will discuss evidence obtained in our and other labs showing that processing of abstract concepts evokes linguistic interaction and social experiences, leading to the activation of the mouth motor system. We will discuss the possible mechanisms that underlie this activation. Mouth activation can be due to re-enactment of the experience of conceptual acquisition, which occurred through the mediation of language. Alternatively, it could be due to the re-explanation of the word meaning, possibly through inner speech. Finally, it can be due to a metacognitive process revealing low confidence on the meaning of our concepts. This process induces in us the need to rely on others to ask/negotiate conceptual meaning. We conclude that with abstract concepts words work as social tools: they extend our thinking abilities and push us to rely on others to integrate our knowledge

О представлении эписемионов в системе обратимых преобразований

В работе рассматривается задача определения соответствия абстрактной модели вычислений квантовому представлению. Для исчисления эписемионов – абстрактных объектов генотипического языка – разработана методика образования функциональных и логических связей взаимодействия абстрактных объектов в системе обратимых преобразований.В роботі розглядається задача визначення відповідності абстрактної моделі обчислень квантовому представленню. Для обчислення епісеміонів – абстрактних об’єктів генотипічної мови – розроблено методику утворення функціональних і логічних зв’язків взаємодії абстрактних об’єктів у системі обернених перетворень.The problem of determining a correspondence between an abstract research model and the quantum computation is being investigated in this paper. There was developed a method of creation of functional and logical links of interaction between abstract objects in the set of inverse transformations for calculus of episemions (abstract objects of genotypic language)

Alexis de Tocqueville; chronicler of the American democratic experiment

[Abstract]: The purpose of this work is to develop an interactive tool which helps botanists to extract the vein system with its hierarchical properties with as little user interaction as possible. In this paper, we present a new venation extraction method using independent component analysis (ICA). The popular and efficient FastICA algorithm is applied to patches of leaf images to learn a set of linear basis functions or features for the images and then the basis functions are used as the pattern map for vein extraction. In our experiments, the training sets are randomly generated from different leaf images. Experimental results demonstrate that ICA is a promising technique for extracting leaf veins and edges of objects. ICA, therefore, can play an important role in automatically identifying living plants

Abstract, emotional and concrete concepts and the activation of mouth-hand effectors

According to embodied and grounded theories, concepts are grounded in sensorimotor systems. The majority of evidence supporting these views concerns concepts referring to objects or actions, while evidence on abstract concepts is more scarce. Explaining how abstract concepts such as ‘‘freedom’’ are represented would thus be pivotal for grounded theories. According to some recent proposals, abstract concepts are grounded in both sensorimotor and linguistic experience, thus they activate the mouth motor system more than concrete concepts. Two experiments are reported, aimed at verifying whether abstract, concrete and emotional words activate the mouth and the hand effectors. In both experiments participants performed first a lexical decision, then a recognition task. In Experiment 1 participants responded by pressing a button either with the mouth or with the hand, in Experiment 2 responses were given with the foot, while a button held either in the mouth or in the hand was used to respond to catch-trials. Abstract words were slower to process in both tasks (concreteness effect). Across the tasks and experiments, emotional concepts had instead a fluctuating pattern, different from those of both concrete and abstract concepts, suggesting that they cannot be considered as a subset of abstract concepts. The interaction between type of concept (abstract, concrete and emotional) and effector (mouth, hand) was not significant in the lexical decision task, likely because it emerged only with tasks implying a deeper processing level. It reached significance, instead, in the recognition tasks. In both experiments abstract concepts were facilitated in the mouth condition compared to the hand condition, supporting our main prediction. Emotional concepts instead had a more variable pattern. Overall, our findings indicate that various kinds of concepts differently activate the mouth and hand effectors, but they also suggest that concepts activate effectors in a flexible and task-dependent wa