Creating partly autonomous expressive virtual actors for computer animation

Tese de doutoramento em Tecnologias e Sistemas de InformaçãoAutonomous digital actors represent the next stage in the animation industry in its search for novel processes for authoring character-based animations. In this research, we have conducted a literature review on the art of acting, to obtain an understanding of how apprentice actors learn their skills; this has enabled us to draw up a list of requirements for a proposed autonomous agent architecture for digital actors. The purpose of this was to suggest an improvement in the current technology on digital actors and the way \believable" characters are used by the game and animation industries. Our solution considers three main layers in terms of what skills autonomous actors should display: rst, they should be able to interpret script representations autonomously; second, there is a deliberation phase which aims at implementing an agent architecture to work out suitable ways of enacting the previously interpreted script and third, these enactments are translated into animation commands that are suitable for a given animation engine. We have outlined four versions for this virtual actors' framework, the third of which resulted in a prototype built using the Python language, for evaluation. The nal solution is a prototype that meets the list of requirements that were listed at the outset of the research. Although determining the best process for creating autonomous digital actors remains an open question, we believe that this thesis provides a better understanding of some of its components, and can lead towards the development of the rst fully functional autonomous digital actor.Atores Digitais Autónomos representam o próximo avanço para a indústria da animação, em sua busca por novos processos de autoria de animações baseadas em personagens. Nesta investigação, foi realizada uma revisão de literatura relativamente a arte da atuação cénica, afim de se obter uma melhor compreensão acerca de como atores aprendizes aprendem suas competências; isto nos permitiu produzir uma lista de requisitos para uma arquitetura para agentes autónomos que atuem como atores digitais. O objetivo disto era sugerir melhorias na tecnologia atual de atores digitais e na maneira como personagens \credíveis" são utilizados pelas indústrias de jogos e animações. Nossa solução considera três camadas principais em termos de quais habilidades os atores autónomos deveriam demonstrar: primeiramente, eles deveriam ser capazes de interpretar uma representação abstrata de um roteiro de forma autónoma; a seguir, existe uma etapa de deliberação cujo objetivo é implementar uma arquitetura de agentes para determinar maneiras adequadas de atuação para o roteiro previamente interpretado; e por ultimo, tais atuações são então traduzidas em comandos de animação reconhecíveis por uma dada ferramenta de animação. Foram desenvolvidas quatro versões para este modelo de atores virtuais, sendo que a terceira delas resultou em um protótipo construído na linguagem Python, para avaliação. A solução final é um protótipo que atende a todos os critérios previstos pela lista de requisitos inicialmente proposta por esta investigação. Apesar do fato de que encontrar as melhores práticas de construção de atores digitais autónomos permanecer como uma questão em aberto, acredita-se que esta tese fornece uma melhor compreensão sobre alguns de seus componentes, e com isso aponta caminhos em direção ao desenvolvimento do primeiro ator digital autónomo, plenamente funcional.Santa Catarina State University (UDESC)Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT)Centro de Computação Gráfica (CCG

Robotic autonomous systems for earthmoving equipment operating in volatile conditions and teaming capacity: a survey

Abstract There has been an increasing interest in the application of robotic autonomous systems (RASs) for construction and mining, particularly the use of RAS technologies to respond to the emergent issues for earthmoving equipment operating in volatile environments and for the need of multiplatform cooperation. Researchers and practitioners are in need of techniques and developments to deal with these challenges. To address this topic for earthmoving automation, this paper presents a comprehensive survey of significant contributions and recent advances, as reported in the literature, databases of professional societies, and technical documentation from the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM). In dealing with volatile environments, advances in sensing, communication and software, data analytics, as well as self-driving technologies can be made to work reliably and have drastically increased safety. It is envisaged that an automated earthmoving site within this decade will manifest the collaboration of bulldozers, graders, and excavators to undertake ground-based tasks without operators behind the cabin controls; in some cases, the machines will be without cabins. It is worth for relevant small- and medium-sized enterprises developing their products to meet the market demands in this area. The study also discusses on future directions for research and development to provide green solutions to earthmoving.</jats:p

A Digital Game Maturity Model

Game development is an interdisciplinary concept that embraces artistic, software engineering, management, and business disciplines. Game development is considered as one of the most complex tasks in software engineering. Hence, for successful development of good-quality games, the game developers must consider and explore all related dimensions as well as discussing them with the stakeholders involved. This research facilitates a better understanding of important dimensions of digital game development methodology. The increased popularity of digital games, the challenges faced by game development organizations in developing quality games, and severe competition in the digital game industry demand a game development process maturity assessment. Consequently, this study presents a Digital Game Maturity Model to evaluate the current development methodology in an organization. The objective is first to identify key factors in the game development process, then to classify these factors into target groups, and eventually to use this grouping as a theoretical basis for proposing a maturity model for digital game development. In doing so, the research focuses on three major stakeholders in game development: developers, consumers, and business management. The framework of the proposed model consists of assessment questionnaires made up of key identified factors from three empirical studies, a performance scale, and a rating method. The main goal of the questionnaires is to collect information about current processes and practices. This research contributes towards formulating a comprehensive and unified strategy for game development process maturity assessment. The proposed model was evaluated with two case studies from the digital game industry

Technology and ontology in electronic music : Mego 1994-present

The Vienna based record label Mego is known for establishing an uncompromising, radically experimental electronic music in the 1990s. This thesis considers the work of various different artists on the label, examining in particular their approaches to technology. The artists discussed appear to share an approach that I describe as pragmatic or experimental, which I contrast with idealist or rational approaches. In the latter, music appears to be understood within the framework of a simplistic model of communication, where technology is seen as a medium that should be transparent, allowing the music to pass unaffected. In the pragmatic approach however, I claim that technology is not seen not as a medium for the communication of ideas, but rather as a source of ideas. Implications follow for the ontology of the music. In the simplistic model of communication, physical sound can be considered merely a representation of something more abstract: musical form conceived by the composer. But if music is materially constructed and based on experimentation with the technology at hand, then the sound should not be considered a representation; there is no preconceived idea for it to be a representation of. This concept, which I refer to as 'literalism', is explored in a number of musical examples, and I link it to a definition of noise

Real-time detection of moving crowds using spatio-temporal data streams

Over the last decade we have seen a tremendous change in Location Based Services. From primitive reactive applications, explicitly invoked by users, they have evolved into modern complex proactive systems, that are able to automatically provide information based on context and user location. This was caused by the rapid development of outdoor and indoor positioning technologies. GPS modules, which are now included almost into every device, together with indoor technologies, based on WiFi fingerprinting or Bluetooth beacons, allow to determine the user location almost everywhere and at any time. This also led to an enormous growth of spatio-temporal data. Being very efficient using user-centric approach for a single target current Location Based Services remain quite primitive in the area of a multitarget knowledge extraction. This is rather surprising, taking into consideration the data availability and current processing technologies. Discovering useful information from the location of multiple objects is from one side limited by legal issues related to privacy and data ownership. From the other side, mining group location data over time is not a trivial task and require special algorithms and technologies in order to be effective. Recent development in data processing area has led to a huge shift from batch processing offline engines, like MapReduce, to real-time distributed streaming frameworks, like Apache Flink or Apache Spark, which are able to process huge amounts of data, including spatio-temporal datastreams. This thesis presents a system for detecting and analyzing crowds in a continuous spatio-temporal data stream. The aim of the system is to provide relevant knowledge in terms of proactive LBS. The motivation comes from the fact of constant spatio-temporal data growth and recent rapid technological development to process such data

Surveillance Graphs: Vulgarity and Cloud Orthodoxy in Linked Data Infrastructures

Information is power, and that power has been largely enclosed by a handful of information conglomerates. The logic of the surveillance-driven information economy demands systems for handling mass quantities of heterogeneous data, increasingly in the form of knowledge graphs. An archaeology of knowledge graphs and their mutation from the liberatory aspirations of the semantic web gives us an underexplored lens to understand contemporary information systems. I explore how the ideology of cloud systems steers two projects from the NIH and NSF intended to build information infrastructures for the public good to inevitable corporate capture, facilitating the development of a new kind of multilayered public/private surveillance system in the process. I argue that understanding technologies like large language models as interfaces to knowledge graphs is critical to understand their role in a larger project of informational enclosure and concentration of power. I draw from multiple histories of liberatory information technologies to develop Vulgar Linked Data as an alternative to the Cloud Orthodoxy, resisting the colonial urge for universality in favor of vernacular expression in peer to peer systems

Sonic utopia and social dystopia in the music of Hendrix, Reznor and Deadmau5

Twentieth-century popular music is fundamentally associated with electronics in its creation and recording, consumption, modes of dissemination, and playback. Traditional musical analysis, placing primacy on notated music, generally focuses on harmony, melody, and form, with issues of timbre and postproduction effects remaining largely unstudied. Interdisciplinary methodological practices address these limitations and can help broaden the analytical scope of popular idioms. Grounded in Jacques Attali's critical theories about the political economy of music, this dissertation investigates how the subversive noise of electronic sound challenges a controlling order and predicts broad cultural realignment. This study demonstrates how electronic noise, as an extra-musical element, creates modern soundscapes that require a new mapping of musical form and social intent. I further argue that the use of electronics in popular music signifies a technologically-obsessed postwar American culture moving rapidly towards an online digital revolution. I examine how electronic music technology introduces new sounds concurrent with generational shifts, projects imagined utopian and dystopian futures, and engages the tension between automated modern life and emotionally validating musical communities in real and virtual spaces. Chapter One synthesizes this interdisciplinary American studies project with the growing scholarship of sound studies in order to construct theoretical models for popular music analysis drawn from the fields of musicology, history, and science and technology studies. Chapter Two traces the emergence of the electronic synthesizer as a new sound that facilitated the transition of a technological postwar American culture into the politicized counterculture of the 1960s. The following three chapters provide case studies of individual popular artists' use of electronic music technology to express societal and political discontent: 1) Jimi Hendrix's application of distortion and stereo effects to narrate an Afrofuturist consciousness in the 1960s; 2) Trent Reznor's aggressive industrial rejection of Conservatism in the 1980s; and 3) Deadmau5's mediation of online life through computer-based production and performance in the 2000s. Lastly, this study extends existing discussions within sound studies to consider the cultural implications of music technology, noise politics, electronic timbre, multitrack audio, digital analytical techniques and online communities built through social media

Innovation through Cross-Fertilization: Serious games and gamification in the EU-funded research projects

[eng] In recent years, ecosystems of innovation have gained substantial momentum in academic research. As a response to recent calls in open innovation literature for novel research, this doctoral thesis extends the study of the process and ecosystems of innovation in projects that include serious games and gamification by considering the cross-fertilization of knowledge and technologies. Organizations’ orchestration of activities within their activity systems and transformation of their business models through innovation to realize opportunities with the objective to increase value creation are part of the topic of this dissertation. It has endeavoured to improve the understanding of how cross-fertilized alliances are formed, what their outcomes are, what causes them to generate value (or not) and what capabilities organizations need in order to successfully manage and reap value from the innovation process. For this purpose, two approaches that support innovation have been complementarily taken into account: the knowledge-technological perspective and the management perspective. These perspectives are analysed with the information retrieved from a database of 87 H2020 projects including serious games and/or gamification, 519 organizations and 597 observations. Later, in order to get more insights into the Innovation Management Strategies, a project coordinators survey was conducted. The Knowledge-Technology perspective presents how creating adequate multidisciplinary knowledge and technology is fundamental to ensuring the long-term success of an emerging technology including serious games and/or gamification, and how important is the research and innovation that takes place in the practitioners’ communities. The Management perspective presents the analysis of the innovation management strategies that boost the cross-fertilization of technologies that include serious games and/or gamification. These strategies were analysed by considering literature on innovation and network theories, absorptive capacity and dynamic capabilities. Some personal interviews were conducted with independent experts to understand and have elements for the analysis and discussion of the previous results. Findings suggest that the multidisciplinarity of a project is highly influenced by the creation of knowledge and technology. Furthermore, the management strategies boosting high levels of cross-fertilization of knowledge and technologies -including serious games and/or gamification- are principally market and customer-oriented strategies. Practical and methodological contributions from this study could enrich innovation literature from the point of view of technological and management approaches. The thesis concludes with fruitful avenues for future research.[nor] I de senere årene har økosystemer for innovasjon fått vesentlig fart i akademisk forskning. Nylig har det oppstått et større behov for mer forskning i området åpen innovasjon. Som et respons til dette, utvider denne avhandlingen seg på studier om prosesser og økosystemer av innovasjon i prosjekter. Prosjektene inkluderer seriøse spill og det som kalles for gamification. Målet er å vurdere kryss-befruktning av kunnskap og teknologi. En del av tema for denne avhandling er hvordan organisasjoner, gjennom innovasjon, virkeliggjør mulighetene for å øke verdiskapning. Dette vurderes ut ifra organisasjoners orkestrering av aktiviteter innenfor deres aktivitetssystemer og transformasjon av forretningsmodellene. Det har lenge vært forsøkt på å forbedre forståelsen av hvordan kryss-befruktet allianser dannes, hva er resultatene, hva skal til for å generere verdi (eller ikke), og hvilke evner organisasjoner trenger for å kunne forvalte og innhente verdier. På bakgrunn av dette, har to tilnærminger som støtter innovasjon, blitt komplementært tatt med i betraktningen. Disse er, den kunnskaps-teknologiske perspektiv og ledelses perspektivet. Perspektivene blir analysert med informasjon hentet fra en database med 87 H2020 prosjekter, inkludert seriøse spill og eller gamification. Det er totalt 519 organisasjoner og 597 observasjoner. I senere tid, for å få et større innblikk i strategier for innovasjonsledelse, ble det gjennomført en prosjekt koordinator undersøkelse. Det kunnskaps-teknologiske perspektivet innebærer hvordan en kan skape tilstrekkelig tverrfaglig kunnskap. Her er teknologi grunnleggende for å sikre langsiktig suksess til en fremtredende teknologi, som inkluderer seriøse spill og eller gamification, og viktigheten av forskningen og innovasjonen som fremkommer i utøvernes samfunn. På den andre siden, ledelses perspektivet inkluderer analysen av innovasjonsstrategier som har som mål å øke kryss-befruktning av teknologier som inkluderer seriøse spill og eller gamification. Strategiene ble analysert ved å vurdere innovasjon- og nettverks teorier, evnen til å absorbere, og dynamisk kapasitet litteratur. For å forstå og samle elementer for analysen og diskusjonen av tidligere resultater, bestemte personlige intervjuer ble gjennomført med uavhengige eksperter. Funnene viser at flerfaglighet av et prosjekt er sterkt påvirket av etablering av kunnskap og teknologi. Videre, ledelses strategier er med på å øke nivåer av kryss-befruktning av kunnskap og teknologi. Dette inkluderer seriøse spill og eller gamification, men hovedsakelig markeds- og kundeorienterte strategier. De praktiske og metodologiske bidrag fra denne studien er med på å berike innovasjons litteratur fra det teknologiske og det ledelsesmessig synspunkt. Avhandlingen avsluttes med fruktbare veier for fremtidig forskning.[cat] Al llarg dels darrers anys, els ecosistemes d’innovació han pres un impuls substancial en la recerca acadèmica. Com a resposta a les darreres crides a noves recerques en la literatura sobre innovació oberta, aquesta tesi doctoral amplia l’estudi del procés i els ecosistemes d’innovació en projectes que inclouen jocs seriosos i gamificació al considerar la fertilització creuada de coneixement i tecnologies. L’orquestració d’activitats per part de les organitzacions dins dels seus sistemes d’activitats i la transformació dels seus models comercials a través de la innovació per generar oportunitats amb l’objectiu d’augmentar la creació de valor són part dels temes d’aquesta tesi. Hi ha hagut un esforç per millorar la comprensió de com es formen aliances amb la fertilització creuada, quins són els seus resultats, què fa que generin valor (o no) i quines capacitats necessiten les organitzacions per gestionar i assolir valor a través del procés d’innovació. Amb aquest propòsit, dos enfocaments que recolzen la innovació s’han tingut en compte de manera complementària: la perspectiva coneixement-tecnologia i la perspectiva de gestió. Aquestes perspectives s’analitzen amb la informació obtinguda d’una base de dades de 87 projectes H2020 que inclouen jocs seriosos i/o gamificació, 519 organitzacions i 597 observacions. Posteriorment, amb l’objectiu d’obtenir informació addicional sobre les Estratègies de Gestió de la Innovació, es va realitzar una enquesta adreçada als coordinadors dels projectes. La perspectiva de Coneixement i Tecnologia mostra com la creació adequada de coneixement i tecnologia multidisciplinaris és fonamental per garantir l’èxit a llarg termini d’una tecnologia emergent, que inclogui els jocs seriosos i la gamificació, i com d’important és la recerca i la innovació que té lloc en les comunitats de professionals. La perspectiva de Gestió mostra l’anàlisi de les estratègies de gestió de la innovació que fomenten la fertilització creuada de tecnologies que inclouen jocs seriosos i/o gamificació. Aquestes estratègies es van analitzar a partir de la literatura en innovació i teories de xarxes, capacitat d’absorció i capacitats dinàmiques. També, es van dur a terme entrevistes personals amb experts independents per comprendre i tenir elements per a l’anàlisi i la discussió dels resultats anteriors. Els resultats suggereixen que la multidisciplinarietat d’un projecte està molt influenciada per la creació de coneixement i tecnologia. A més, les estratègies de gestió que impulsen els alts nivells de fertilització creuada de coneixement i tecnologies –inclosos els jocs seriosos i/o la gamificació- són principalment estratègies orientades al mercat i al client. Les contribucions pràctiques i metodològiques d’aquest estudi podrien enriquir la literatura sobre innovació des del punt de vista dels enfocaments tecnològics i de gestió. La tesi conclou amb suggeriments de línies de recerca futures.[spa] Durante los últimos años, los ecosistemas de innovación han tomado un impulso sustancial en la investigación académica. Como respuesta a las recientes llamadas a nuevas investigaciones en la literatura sobre innovación abierta, esta tesis doctoral amplía el estudio del proceso y los ecosistemas de innovación en proyectos que incluyen juegos serios y gamificación al considerar la fertilización cruzada de conocimiento y tecnologías. La orquestación de actividades por parte de las organizaciones dentro de sus sistemas de actividades y la transformación de sus modelos comerciales a través de la innovación para generar oportunidades con el objetivo de aumentar la creación de valor son parte de los temas de esta tesis. Ha habido un esfuerzo por mejorar la comprensión de cómo se forman alianzas con fertilización cruzada, cuáles son sus resultados, qué hace que generen valor (o no) y qué capacidades necesitan las organizaciones para gestionar y cosechar valor a través del proceso de innovación. Con este propósito, dos enfoques que apoyan la innovación se han tenido en cuenta de manera complementaria: la perspectiva conocimiento-tecnología y la perspectiva de gestión. Estas perspectivas se analizan con la información obtenida de una base de datos de 87 proyectos H2020 que incluyen juegos serios y/o gamificación, 519 organizaciones y 597 observaciones. Posteriormente, con el objetivo de obtener información adicional sobre las Estrategias de Gestión de la Innovación, se realizó una encuesta a los coordinadores de los proyectos. La perspectiva de Conocimiento y Tecnología muestra cómo la creación adecuada de conocimiento y tecnología multidisciplinarios es fundamental para garantizar el éxito a largo plazo de una tecnología emergente, que incluya los juegos serios y la gamificación, y cómo de importante es la investigación y la innovación en las comunidades de profesionales. La perspectiva de Gestión muestra el análisis de las estrategias de gestión de la innovación que fomentan la fertilización cruzada de tecnologías que incluyen juegos serios y/o gamificación. Estas estrategias se analizaron a partir de la literatura en innovación y teorías de redes, la capacidad de absorción y las capacidades dinámicas. También, se realizaron entrevistas personales con expertos independientes para comprender y tener elementos para el análisis y la discusión de los resultados anteriores. Los hallazgos sugieren que la multidisciplinariedad de un proyecto está muy influenciada por la creación de conocimiento y tecnología. Además, las estrategias de gestión que impulsan los altos niveles de fertilización cruzada de conocimientos y tecnologías -incluidos los juegos serios y/o la gamificación- son principalmente estrategias orientadas al mercado y al cliente. Las contribuciones prácticas y metodológicas de este estudio podrían enriquecer la literatura sobre innovación desde el punto de vista de los enfoques tecnológicos y de gestión. La tesis concluye con sugerencias de líneas de investigación futuras