Analysis of the visual spatiotemporal properties of American Sign Language.

Careful measurements of the temporal dynamics of speech have provided important insights into phonetic properties of spoken languages, which are important for understanding auditory perception. By contrast, analytic quantification of the visual properties of signed languages is still largely uncharted. Exposure to sign language is a unique experience that could shape and modify low-level visual processing for those who use it regularly (i.e., what we refer to as the Enhanced Exposure Hypothesis). The purpose of the current study was to characterize the visual spatiotemporal properties of American Sign Language (ASL) so that future studies can test the enhanced exposure hypothesis in signers, with the prediction that altered vision should be observed within, more so than outside, the range of properties found in ASL. Using an ultrasonic motion tracking system, we recorded the hand position in 3-dimensional space over time during sign language production of signs, sentences, and narratives. From these data, we calculated several metrics: hand position and eccentricity in space and hand motion speed. For individual signs, we also measured total distance travelled by the dominant hand and total duration of each sign. These metrics were found to fall within a selective range, suggesting that exposure to signs is a specific and unique visual experience, which might alter visual perceptual abilities in signers for visual information within the experienced range, even for non-language stimuli

Gait Recognition By Walking and Running: A Model-Based Approach

Gait is an emerging biometric for which some techniques, mainly holistic, have been developed to recognise people by their walking patterns. However, the possibility of recognising people by the way they run remains largely unexplored. The new analytical model presented in this paper is based on the biomechanics of walking and running, and will serve as the foundation of an automatic person recognition system that is invariant to these distinct gaits. A bilateral and dynamically coupled oscillator is the key concept underlying this work. Analysis shows that this new model can be used to automatically describe walking and running subjects without parameter selection. Temporal template matching that takes into account the whole sequence of a gait cycle is applied to extract the angles of thigh and lower leg rotation. The phase-weighted magnitudes of the lower order Fourier components of these rotations form the gait signature. Classification of walking and running subjects is performed using the k-nearest-neighbour classifier. Recognition rates are similar to that achieved by other techniques with a similarly sized database. Future work will investigate feature set selection to improve the recognition rate and will determine the invariance attributes, for inter- and intra- class, of both walking and running

Ongoing Emergence: A Core Concept in Epigenetic Robotics

We propose ongoing emergence as a core concept in epigenetic robotics. Ongoing emergence refers to the continuous development and integration of new skills and is exhibited when six criteria are satisfied: (1) continuous skill acquisition, (2) incorporation of new skills with existing skills, (3) autonomous development of values and goals, (4) bootstrapping of initial skills, (5) stability of skills, and (6) reproducibility. In this paper we: (a) provide a conceptual synthesis of ongoing emergence based on previous theorizing, (b) review current research in epigenetic robotics in light of ongoing emergence, (c) provide prototypical examples of ongoing emergence from infant development, and (d) outline computational issues relevant to creating robots exhibiting ongoing emergence

Extraction of bodily features for gait recognition and gait attractiveness evaluation

This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11042-012-1319-2. Copyright @ 2012 Springer.Although there has been much previous research on which bodily features are most important in gait analysis, the questions of which features should be extracted from gait, and why these features in particular should be extracted, have not been convincingly answered. The primary goal of the study reported here was to take an analytical approach to answering these questions, in the context of identifying the features that are most important for gait recognition and gait attractiveness evaluation. Using precise 3D gait motion data obtained from motion capture, we analyzed the relative motions from different body segments to a root marker (located on the lower back) of 30 males by the fixed root method, and compared them with the original motions without fixing root. Some particular features were obtained by principal component analysis (PCA). The left lower arm, lower legs and hips were identified as important features for gait recognition. For gait attractiveness evaluation, the lower legs were recognized as important features.Dorothy Hodgkin Postgraduate Award and HEFCE

Impaired perception of facial motion in autism spectrum disorder

Copyright: © 2014 O’Brien et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.Facial motion is a special type of biological motion that transmits cues for socio-emotional communication and enables the discrimination of properties such as gender and identity. We used animated average faces to examine the ability of adults with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) to perceive facial motion. Participants completed increasingly difficult tasks involving the discrimination of (1) sequences of facial motion, (2) the identity of individuals based on their facial motion and (3) the gender of individuals. Stimuli were presented in both upright and upside-down orientations to test for the difference in inversion effects often found when comparing ASD with controls in face perception. The ASD group’s performance was impaired relative to the control group in all three tasks and unlike the control group, the individuals with ASD failed to show an inversion effect. These results point to a deficit in facial biological motion processing in people with autism, which we suggest is linked to deficits in lower level motion processing we have previously reported

Do Balance Demands Induce Shifts in Visual Proprioception in Crawling Infants?

The onset of hands-and-knees crawling during the latter half of the first year of life heralds pervasive changes in a range of psychological functions. Chief among these changes is a clear shift in visual proprioception, evident in the way infants use patterns of optic flow in the peripheral field of view to regulate their postural sway. This shift is thought to result from consistent exposure in the newly crawling infant to different patterns of optic flow in the central field of view and the periphery and the need to concurrently process information about self-movement, particularly postural sway, and the environmental layout during crawling. Researchers have hypothesized that the demands on the infant's visual system to concurrently process information about self-movement and the environment press the infant to differentiate and functionalize peripheral optic flow for the control of balance during locomotion so that the central field of view is freed to engage in steering and monitoring the surface and potentially other tasks. In the current experiment, we tested whether belly crawling, a mode of locomotion that places negligible demands on the control of balance, leads to the same changes in the functional utilization of peripheral optic flow for the control of postural sway as hands-and-knees crawling. We hypothesized that hands-and-knees crawlers (n = 15) would show significantly higher postural responsiveness to movements of the side walls and ceiling of a moving room than same-aged pre-crawlers (n = 19) and belly crawlers (n = 15) with an equivalent amount of crawling experience. Planned comparisons confirmed the hypothesis. Visual-postural coupling in the hands-and-knees crawlers was significantly higher than in the belly crawlers and pre-crawlers. These findings suggest that the balance demands associated with hands-and-knees crawling may be an important contributor to the changes in visual proprioception that have been demonstrated in several experiments to follow hands-and-knees crawling experience. However, we also consider that belly crawling may have less potent effects on visual proprioception because it is an effortful and attention-demanding mode of locomotion, thus leaving less attentional capacity available to notice changing relations between the self and the environment

Orthopedic management of the extremities in patients with Morquio A syndrome.

BackgroundMusculoskeletal involvement in Morquio A syndrome (mucopolysaccharidosis IVA; MPS IVA) contributes significantly to morbidity and mortality. While the spinal manifestations of the disorder have received considerable attention in the literature, there have been few reported studies to date to guide the management of the orthopedic problems associated with the lower and upper extremities.PurposeThe objective was to develop recommendations for the management of the extremities in patients with Morquio A syndrome.MethodsA group of specialists in orthopedics, pediatrics and genetics with experience in the management of Morquio A patients convened to review and discuss current clinical practices and to develop preliminary recommendations. Evidence from the literature was retrieved. Recommendations were further refined until consensus was reached.Results and conclusionsThis present article provides a detailed review and discussion of the lower and upper extremity deformities in Morquio A syndrome and presents recommendations for the assessment and treatment of these complications. Key issues, including the importance of early diagnosis and the implications of medical therapy, are also addressed. The recommendations herein represent an attempt to develop a uniform and practical approach to managing patients with Morquio A syndrome and improving their outcomes

Enhanced Accessibility for People with Disabilities Living in Urban Areas

[Excerpt] People with disabilities constitute a significant proportion of the poor in developing countries. If internationally agreed targets on reducing poverty are to be reached, it is critical that specific measures be taken to reduce the societal discrimination and isolation that people with disabilities continue to face. Transport is an important enabler of strategies to fight poverty through enhancing access to education, employment, and social services. This project aims to further the understanding of the mobility and access issues experienced by people with disabilities in developing countries, and to identify specific steps that can be taken to start addressing problems. A major objective of the project is to compile a compendium of guidelines that can be used by government authorities, advocacy groups, and donor/loan agencies to improve the access of people with disabilities to transport and other services in urban areas

They Soon Forgot Their Words - Documentary

This documentary film, They Soon Forgot Their Words, is about the language issues that threaten the Kaqchikel Mayan language spoken in Guatemala. It is one of 21 Mayan languages spoken in the country and is one of the most widely used with more than 500,000 speakers. Unfortunately, however, scholars have noticed that Kaqchikel is in a state of “shift” a process where one language combines with another in speech. As is the case with many Mayan languages in Guatemala, Kaqchikel is often combined with Spanish in speech. The colloquial name used for the combining of these two languages is “kaqchinol.” Shift is considered the first step in language loss and 90 percent of the world’s languages are expected to disappear within 100 years (Nettle & Romaine, 2000). This is the focus of the film. To provide an in-depth examination of one language threatened by a global issue: language attrition. There are two sides to this story which have shaped this documentary, one of language use in rural Guatemala and one of language use in urban Guatemala. Because of this, I have focused this film on individuals from opposing communities to provide a broad scope of the current language use/disuse, circumstances and issues that affect Kaqchikel and its continued vitality as a spoken language. I also rely on history and expert commentary to provide historical and social context. The goal of this film is to shed light on the global issue of language attrition, an issue that effects most of the worlds languages, by providing an in-depth look at the unique issues threatening one language