A mechatronic approach to supernormal auditory localisation

Remote audio perception is a fundamental requirement for telepresence and teleoperation in applications that range from work in hostile environments to security and entertainment. The following paper presents the use of a mechatronic system to test the efficacy of audio for telepresence. It describes work to determine whether the use of supernormal inter-aural distance is a valid means of approaching an enhanced method of hearing for telepresence. The particular audio variable investigated is the azimuth angle of error and the construction of a dedicated mechatronic test rig is reported and the results obtained. The paper concludes by observing that the combination of the mechatronic system and supernormal audition does enhance the ability to localise sound sources and that further work in this area is justified

Integration of a voice recognition system in a social robot

Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) 1 is one of the main fields in the study and research of robotics. Within this field, dialog systems and interaction by voice play a very important role. When speaking about human- robot natural dialog we assume that the robot has the capability to accurately recognize the utterance what the human wants to transmit verbally and even its semantic meaning, but this is not always achieved. In this paper we describe the steps and requirements that we went through in order to endow the personal social robot Maggie, developed in the University Carlos III of Madrid, with the capability of understanding the natural language spoken by any human. We have analyzed the different possibilities offered by current software/hardware alternatives by testing them in real environments. We have obtained accurate data related to the speech recognition capabilities in different environments, using the most modern audio acquisition systems and analyzing not so typical parameters as user age, sex, intonation, volume and language. Finally we propose a new model to classify recognition results as accepted and rejected, based in a second ASR opinion. This new approach takes into account the pre-calculated success rate in noise intervals for each recognition framework decreasing false positives and false negatives rate.The funds have provided by the Spanish Government through the project called `Peer to Peer Robot-Human Interaction'' (R2H), of MEC (Ministry of Science and Education), and the project “A new approach to social robotics'' (AROS), of MICINN (Ministry of Science and Innovation). The research leading to these results has received funding from the RoboCity2030-II-CM project (S2009/DPI-1559), funded by Programas de Actividades I+D en la Comunidad de Madrid and cofunded by Structural Funds of the EU

B.O.G.G.L.E.S.: Boundary Optical GeoGraphic Lidar Environment System

The purpose of this paper is to describe a pseudo X-ray vision system that pairs a Lidar scanner with a visualization device. The system as a whole is referred to as B.O.G.G.L.E.S. There are several key factors that went into the development of this system and the background information and design approach are thoroughly described. B.O.G.G.L.E.S functionality is depicted through the use of design constraints and the analysis of test results. Additionally, many possible developments for B.O.G.G.L.E.S are proposed in the paper. This indicates that there are various avenues of improvement for this project that could be implemented in the future

Aerospace medicine and biology: A continuing bibliography with indexes (supplement 335)

This bibliography lists 143 reports, articles and other documents introduced into the NASA Scientific and Technical Information System during March, 1990. Subject coverage includes: aerospace medicine and psychology, life support systems and controlled environments, safety equipment, exobiology and extraterrestrial life, and flight crew behavior and performance

Automated testsystem of COGNISION headset for cognitive diagnosis.

There are more than 15 million Americans suffering from a chronic cognitive disability in the Unites States. Researchers have been exploring many different quantitative measures, such as event related potentials (ERP), electro-encephalogram (EEG), Magnetic Encephalogram (MEG) and Brain volumetry to accurately and repeatedly diagnose patients suffering from debilitating cognitive disorders. More than a million cases have been diagnosed every year, with many of those patients being misdiagnosed as a result of inadequate diagnostic and quality control tools. As a result, the medical device industry has been actively developing alternative diagnostic techniques, which implement one or more quantitative measures to improve diagnosis. For example, Neuronetrix (Louisville, KY) developed COGNISION™ that utilizes both ERP and EEG data to diagnose the cognitive ability of patients. The system has shown to be a powerful tool; however, its commercial success would be limited without lack of a fast and effective method of testing and validating the product. Thus, the goal of this study is to develop, test and validate a new “Testset” system for accurately and repeatedly validating the COGNISION™ Headset. A Testset was constructed that is comprised of a software control component designed using the Labview G programming language, which runs on a computer terminal, a Data Acquisition (DAQ) card and switching board. The Testset is connected to a series of testing fixtures for interfacing with the various components of the Headset. The Testset evaluates the Headset at multiple stages of the manufacturing process as a whole system or by its individual components. At the first stage of production the Electrode Strings, amplifier board (Uberyoke), and Headset Control Unit (HCU) are tested and operated as individual printed circuit boards (PCBs). These components are again tested as mid-level assemblies and/or at the finished product stage as a complete autonomous system with the Testset monitoring the process. All tests are automated, requiring only a few parameters to be defined before a test is initiated by a single button press, and then selected test sequences are begun for that particular component or system and are completed in a few minutes. A total of 2 Testsets were constructed and used to validate 10 Headsets. An automated software system was designed to control the Testset. The Testset demonstrated the ability to validate and test 100% of the individual components and completed assembled Headsets. The Testsets were found to be within 5% of the manufacturing specifications. Subsequently, the Automated Testset developed in this study enabled the manufacturer to provide a comprehensive report on the calibration parameters of the Headset, which is retained on file for each unit sold. The automated testsystem’s statistical analysis shows that the two Testsets yielded reliable and consistent results with each other

Augmenting TV Viewing using Acoustically Transparent Auditory Headsets

This paper explores how acoustically transparent auditory headsets can improve TV viewing by intermixing headset and TV audio, facilitating personal, private auditory enhancements and augmentations of TV content whilst minimizing occlusion of the sounds of reality. We evaluate the impact of synchronously mirroring select audio channels from the 5.1 mix (dialogue, environmental sounds, and the full mix), and selectively augmenting TV viewing with additional speech (e.g. Audio Description, Directors Commentary, and Alternate Language). For TV content, auditory headsets enable better spatialization and more immersive, enjoyable viewing; the intermixing of TV and headset audio creates unique listening experiences; and private augmentations offer new ways to (re)watch content with others. Finally, we reflect on how these headsets might facilitate more immersive augmented TV viewing experiences within reach of consumers