Integration of a recommender system into an online video streaming platform

The ultimate goal of this project is to develop a recommender system for the SmartVideo platform. The platform streams different content of local channels for the Grand Est Region of France to a large public. So, we aim to propose a solution to alleviate the data representation and data collection issue of recommender systems by adopting and adjusting the xAPI standard to fit our case of study and to be able to represent our usage data in a formal and consistent format. Then, we will propose and implement a bunch of recommendation algorithms that we are going to test in order to evaluate our developed recommender system.Le but ultime de ce projet est de développer un système de recommandation dédié à la plateforme SmartVideo de diffusion de vidéo en ligne. En effet, la plateforme met à disposition diverses contenus des chaînes locales de la région Grand Est du France. Alors, nous allons présenter une solution pour alléger le problème de représentation et de collecte de données d’usages par adopter et ajuster le standard xAPI pour représenter et collecter les données de façon simple et formelle. Ensuite, nous allons proposer et implanter des algorithmes de recommandation que nous allons les tester pour évaluer notre système de recommandation

A comparison of statistical machine learning methods in heartbeat detection and classification

In health care, patients with heart problems require quick responsiveness in a clinical setting or in the operating theatre. Towards that end, automated classification of heartbeats is vital as some heartbeat irregularities are time consuming to detect. Therefore, analysis of electro-cardiogram (ECG) signals is an active area of research. The methods proposed in the literature depend on the structure of a heartbeat cycle. In this paper, we use interval and amplitude based features together with a few samples from the ECG signal as a feature vector. We studied a variety of classification algorithms focused especially on a type of arrhythmia known as the ventricular ectopic fibrillation (VEB). We compare the performance of the classifiers against algorithms proposed in the literature and make recommendations regarding features, sampling rate, and choice of the classifier to apply in a real-time clinical setting. The extensive study is based on the MIT-BIH arrhythmia database. Our main contribution is the evaluation of existing classifiers over a range sampling rates, recommendation of a detection methodology to employ in a practical setting, and extend the notion of a mixture of experts to a larger class of algorithms

An integrated personalization framework for SaaS-based cloud services

Software as a Service (SaaS) has recently emerged as one the most popular service delivery models in cloud computing. The number of SaaS services and their users is continuously increasing and new SaaS service providers emerge on a regular basis. As users are exposed to a wide range of SaaS services, they may soon become more demanding when receiving/consuming such services. Similar to the web and/or mobile applications, personalization can play a critical role in modern SaaS-based cloud services. This paper introduces a fully designed, cloud-enabled personalization framework to facilitate the collection of preferences and the delivery of corresponding SaaS services. The approach we adapt in the design and development of the proposed framework is to synthesize various models and techniques in a novel way. The objective is to provide an integrated and structured environment wherein SaaS services can be provisioned with enhanced personalization quality and performance

Recommender systems in industrial contexts

This thesis consists of four parts: - An analysis of the core functions and the prerequisites for recommender systems in an industrial context: we identify four core functions for recommendation systems: Help do Decide, Help to Compare, Help to Explore, Help to Discover. The implementation of these functions has implications for the choices at the heart of algorithmic recommender systems. - A state of the art, which deals with the main techniques used in automated recommendation system: the two most commonly used algorithmic methods, the K-Nearest-Neighbor methods (KNN) and the fast factorization methods are detailed. The state of the art presents also purely content-based methods, hybridization techniques, and the classical performance metrics used to evaluate the recommender systems. This state of the art then gives an overview of several systems, both from academia and industry (Amazon, Google ...). - An analysis of the performances and implications of a recommendation system developed during this thesis: this system, Reperio, is a hybrid recommender engine using KNN methods. We study the performance of the KNN methods, including the impact of similarity functions used. Then we study the performance of the KNN method in critical uses cases in cold start situation. - A methodology for analyzing the performance of recommender systems in industrial context: this methodology assesses the added value of algorithmic strategies and recommendation systems according to its core functions.Comment: version 3.30, May 201

A soft computing decision support framework for e-learning

Tesi per compendi de publicacions.Supported by technological development and its impact on everyday activities, e-Learning and b-Learning (Blended Learning) have experienced rapid growth mainly in higher education and training. Its inherent ability to break both physical and cultural distances, to disseminate knowledge and decrease the costs of the teaching-learning process allows it to reach anywhere and anyone. The educational community is divided as to its role in the future. It is believed that by 2019 half of the world's higher education courses will be delivered through e-Learning. While supporters say that this will be the educational mode of the future, its detractors point out that it is a fashion, that there are huge rates of abandonment and that their massification and potential low quality, will cause its fall, assigning it a major role of accompanying traditional education. There are, however, two interrelated features where there seems to be consensus. On the one hand, the enormous amount of information and evidence that Learning Management Systems (LMS) generate during the e-Learning process and which is the basis of the part of the process that can be automated. In contrast, there is the fundamental role of e-tutors and etrainers who are guarantors of educational quality. These are continually overwhelmed by the need to provide timely and effective feedback to students, manage endless particular situations and casuistics that require decision making and process stored information. In this sense, the tools that e-Learning platforms currently provide to obtain reports and a certain level of follow-up are not sufficient or too adequate. It is in this point of convergence Information-Trainer, where the current developments of the LMS are centered and it is here where the proposed thesis tries to innovate. This research proposes and develops a platform focused on decision support in e-Learning environments. Using soft computing and data mining techniques, it extracts knowledge from the data produced and stored by e-Learning systems, allowing the classification, analysis and generalization of the extracted knowledge. It includes tools to identify models of students' learning behavior and, from them, predict their future performance and enable trainers to provide adequate feedback. Likewise, students can self-assess, avoid those ineffective behavior patterns, and obtain real clues about how to improve their performance in the course, through appropriate routes and strategies based on the behavioral model of successful students. The methodological basis of the mentioned functionalities is the Fuzzy Inductive Reasoning (FIR), which is particularly useful in the modeling of dynamic systems. During the development of the research, the FIR methodology has been improved and empowered by the inclusion of several algorithms. First, an algorithm called CR-FIR, which allows determining the Causal Relevance that have the variables involved in the modeling of learning and assessment of students. In the present thesis, CR-FIR has been tested on a comprehensive set of classical test data, as well as real data sets, belonging to different areas of knowledge. Secondly, the detection of atypical behaviors in virtual campuses was approached using the Generative Topographic Mapping (GTM) methodology, which is a probabilistic alternative to the well-known Self-Organizing Maps. GTM was used simultaneously for clustering, visualization and detection of atypical data. The core of the platform has been the development of an algorithm for extracting linguistic rules in a language understandable to educational experts, which helps them to obtain patterns of student learning behavior. In order to achieve this functionality, the LR-FIR algorithm (Extraction of Linguistic Rules in FIR) was designed and developed as an extension of FIR that allows both to characterize general behavior and to identify interesting patterns. In the case of the application of the platform to several real e-Learning courses, the results obtained demonstrate its feasibility and originality. The teachers' perception about the usability of the tool is very good, and they consider that it could be a valuable resource to mitigate the time requirements of the trainer that the e-Learning courses demand. The identification of student behavior models and prediction processes have been validated as to their usefulness by expert trainers. LR-FIR has been applied and evaluated in a wide set of real problems, not all of them in the educational field, obtaining good results. The structure of the platform makes it possible to assume that its use is potentially valuable in those domains where knowledge management plays a preponderant role, or where decision-making processes are a key element, e.g. ebusiness, e-marketing, customer management, to mention just a few. The Soft Computing tools used and developed in this research: FIR, CR-FIR, LR-FIR and GTM, have been applied successfully in other real domains, such as music, medicine, weather behaviors, etc.Soportado por el desarrollo tecnológico y su impacto en las diferentes actividades cotidianas, el e-Learning (o aprendizaje electrónico) y el b-Learning (Blended Learning o aprendizaje mixto), han experimentado un crecimiento vertiginoso principalmente en la educación superior y la capacitación. Su habilidad inherente para romper distancias tanto físicas como culturales, para diseminar conocimiento y disminuir los costes del proceso enseñanza aprendizaje le permite llegar a cualquier sitio y a cualquier persona. La comunidad educativa se encuentra dividida en cuanto a su papel en el futuro. Se cree que para el año 2019 la mitad de los cursos de educación superior del mundo se impartirá a través del e-Learning. Mientras que los partidarios aseguran que ésta será la modalidad educativa del futuro, sus detractores señalan que es una moda, que hay enormes índices de abandono y que su masificación y potencial baja calidad, provocará su caída, reservándole un importante papel de acompañamiento a la educación tradicional. Hay, sin embargo, dos características interrelacionadas donde parece haber consenso. Por un lado, la enorme generación de información y evidencias que los sistemas de gestión del aprendizaje o LMS (Learning Management System) generan durante el proceso educativo electrónico y que son la base de la parte del proceso que se puede automatizar. En contraste, está el papel fundamental de los e-tutores y e-formadores que son los garantes de la calidad educativa. Éstos se ven continuamente desbordados por la necesidad de proporcionar retroalimentación oportuna y eficaz a los alumnos, gestionar un sin fin de situaciones particulares y casuísticas que requieren toma de decisiones y procesar la información almacenada. En este sentido, las herramientas que las plataformas de e-Learning proporcionan actualmente para obtener reportes y cierto nivel de seguimiento no son suficientes ni demasiado adecuadas. Es en este punto de convergencia Información-Formador, donde están centrados los actuales desarrollos de los LMS y es aquí donde la tesis que se propone pretende innovar. La presente investigación propone y desarrolla una plataforma enfocada al apoyo en la toma de decisiones en ambientes e-Learning. Utilizando técnicas de Soft Computing y de minería de datos, extrae conocimiento de los datos producidos y almacenados por los sistemas e-Learning permitiendo clasificar, analizar y generalizar el conocimiento extraído. Incluye herramientas para identificar modelos del comportamiento de aprendizaje de los estudiantes y, a partir de ellos, predecir su desempeño futuro y permitir a los formadores proporcionar una retroalimentación adecuada. Así mismo, los estudiantes pueden autoevaluarse, evitar aquellos patrones de comportamiento poco efectivos y obtener pistas reales acerca de cómo mejorar su desempeño en el curso, mediante rutas y estrategias adecuadas a partir del modelo de comportamiento de los estudiantes exitosos. La base metodológica de las funcionalidades mencionadas es el Razonamiento Inductivo Difuso (FIR, por sus siglas en inglés), que es particularmente útil en el modelado de sistemas dinámicos. Durante el desarrollo de la investigación, la metodología FIR ha sido mejorada y potenciada mediante la inclusión de varios algoritmos. En primer lugar un algoritmo denominado CR-FIR, que permite determinar la Relevancia Causal que tienen las variables involucradas en el modelado del aprendizaje y la evaluación de los estudiantes. En la presente tesis, CR-FIR se ha probado en un conjunto amplio de datos de prueba clásicos, así como conjuntos de datos reales, pertenecientes a diferentes áreas de conocimiento. En segundo lugar, la detección de comportamientos atípicos en campus virtuales se abordó mediante el enfoque de Mapeo Topográfico Generativo (GTM), que es una alternativa probabilística a los bien conocidos Mapas Auto-organizativos. GTM se utilizó simultáneamente para agrupamiento, visualización y detección de datos atípicos. La parte medular de la plataforma ha sido el desarrollo de un algoritmo de extracción de reglas lingüísticas en un lenguaje entendible para los expertos educativos, que les ayude a obtener los patrones del comportamiento de aprendizaje de los estudiantes. Para lograr dicha funcionalidad, se diseñó y desarrolló el algoritmo LR-FIR, (extracción de Reglas Lingüísticas en FIR, por sus siglas en inglés) como una extensión de FIR que permite tanto caracterizar el comportamiento general, como identificar patrones interesantes. En el caso de la aplicación de la plataforma a varios cursos e-Learning reales, los resultados obtenidos demuestran su factibilidad y originalidad. La percepción de los profesores acerca de la usabilidad de la herramienta es muy buena, y consideran que podría ser un valioso recurso para mitigar los requerimientos de tiempo del formador que los cursos e-Learning exigen. La identificación de los modelos de comportamiento de los estudiantes y los procesos de predicción han sido validados en cuanto a su utilidad por los formadores expertos. LR-FIR se ha aplicado y evaluado en un amplio conjunto de problemas reales, no todos ellos del ámbito educativo, obteniendo buenos resultados. La estructura de la plataforma permite suponer que su utilización es potencialmente valiosa en aquellos dominios donde la administración del conocimiento juegue un papel preponderante, o donde los procesos de toma de decisiones sean una pieza clave, por ejemplo, e-business, e-marketing, administración de clientes, por mencionar sólo algunos. Las herramientas de Soft Computing utilizadas y desarrolladas en esta investigación: FIR, CR-FIR, LR-FIR y GTM, ha sido aplicadas con éxito en otros dominios reales, como música, medicina, comportamientos climáticos, etc.Postprint (published version

Jointly integrating current context and social influence for improving recommendation

La diversité des contenus recommandation et la variation des contextes des utilisateurs rendent la prédiction en temps réel des préférences des utilisateurs de plus en plus difficile mettre en place. Toutefois, la plupart des approches existantes n'utilisent que le temps et l'emplacement actuels séparément et ignorent d'autres informations contextuelles sur lesquelles dépendent incontestablement les préférences des utilisateurs (par exemple, la météo, l'occasion). En outre, ils ne parviennent pas considérer conjointement ces informations contextuelles avec les interactions sociales entre les utilisateurs. D'autre part, la résolution de problèmes classiques de recommandation (par exemple, aucun programme de télévision vu par un nouvel utilisateur connu sous le nom du problème de démarrage froid et pas assez d'items co-évalués par d'autres utilisateurs ayant des préférences similaires, connu sous le nom du problème de manque de donnes) est d'importance significative puisque sont attaqués par plusieurs travaux. Dans notre travail de thèse, nous proposons un modèle probabiliste qui permet exploiter conjointement les informations contextuelles actuelles et l'influence sociale afin d'améliorer la recommandation des items. En particulier, le modèle probabiliste vise prédire la pertinence de contenu pour un utilisateur en fonction de son contexte actuel et de son influence sociale. Nous avons considérer plusieurs éléments du contexte actuel des utilisateurs tels que l'occasion, le jour de la semaine, la localisation et la météo. Nous avons utilisé la technique de lissage Laplace afin d'éviter les fortes probabilités. D'autre part, nous supposons que l'information provenant des relations sociales a une influence potentielle sur les préférences des utilisateurs. Ainsi, nous supposons que l'influence sociale dépend non seulement des évaluations des amis mais aussi de la similarité sociale entre les utilisateurs. Les similarités sociales utilisateur-ami peuvent être établies en fonction des interactions sociales entre les utilisateurs et leurs amis (par exemple les recommandations, les tags, les commentaires). Nous proposons alors de prendre en compte l'influence sociale en fonction de la mesure de similarité utilisateur-ami afin d'estimer les préférences des utilisateurs. Nous avons mené une série d'expérimentations en utilisant un ensemble de donnes réelles issues de la plateforme de TV sociale Pinhole. Cet ensemble de donnes inclut les historiques d'accès des utilisateurs-vidéos et les réseaux sociaux des téléspectateurs. En outre, nous collectons des informations contextuelles pour chaque historique d'accès utilisateur-vidéo saisi par le système de formulaire plat. Le système de la plateforme capture et enregistre les dernières informations contextuelles auxquelles le spectateur est confronté en regardant une telle vidéo.Dans notre évaluation, nous adoptons le filtrage collaboratif axé sur le temps, le profil dépendant du temps et la factorisation de la matrice axe sur le réseau social comme tant des modèles de référence. L'évaluation a port sur deux tâches de recommandation. La première consiste sélectionner une liste trie de vidéos. La seconde est la tâche de prédiction de la cote vidéo. Nous avons évalué l'impact de chaque élément du contexte de visualisation dans la performance de prédiction. Nous testons ainsi la capacité de notre modèle résoudre le problème de manque de données et le problème de recommandation de démarrage froid du téléspectateur. Les résultats expérimentaux démontrent que notre modèle surpasse les approches de l'état de l'art fondes sur le facteur temps et sur les réseaux sociaux. Dans les tests des problèmes de manque de donnes et de démarrage froid, notre modèle renvoie des prédictions cohérentes différentes valeurs de manque de données.Due to the diversity of alternative contents to choose and the change of users' preferences, real-time prediction of users' preferences in certain users' circumstances becomes increasingly hard for recommender systems. However, most existing context-aware approaches use only current time and location separately, and ignore other contextual information on which users' preferences may undoubtedly depend (e.g. weather, occasion). Furthermore, they fail to jointly consider these contextual information with social interactions between users. On the other hand, solving classic recommender problems (e.g. no seen items by a new user known as cold start problem, and no enough co-rated items with other users with similar preference as sparsity problem) is of significance importance since it is drawn by several works. In our thesis work, we propose a context-based approach that leverages jointly current contextual information and social influence in order to improve items recommendation. In particular, we propose a probabilistic model that aims to predict the relevance of items in respect with the user's current context. We considered several current context elements such as time, location, occasion, week day, location and weather. In order to avoid strong probabilities which leads to sparsity problem, we used Laplace smoothing technique. On the other hand, we argue that information from social relationships has potential influence on users' preferences. Thus, we assume that social influence depends not only on friends' ratings but also on social similarity between users. We proposed a social-based model that estimates the relevance of an item in respect with the social influence around the user on the relevance of this item. The user-friend social similarity information may be established based on social interactions between users and their friends (e.g. recommendations, tags, comments). Therefore, we argue that social similarity could be integrated using a similarity measure. Social influence is then jointly integrated based on user-friend similarity measure in order to estimate users' preferences. We conducted a comprehensive effectiveness evaluation on real dataset crawled from Pinhole social TV platform. This dataset includes viewer-video accessing history and viewers' friendship networks. In addition, we collected contextual information for each viewer-video accessing history captured by the plat form system. The platform system captures and records the last contextual information to which the viewer is faced while watching such a video. In our evaluation, we adopt Time-aware Collaborative Filtering, Time-Dependent Profile and Social Network-aware Matrix Factorization as baseline models. The evaluation focused on two recommendation tasks. The first one is the video list recommendation task and the second one is video rating prediction task. We evaluated the impact of each viewing context element in prediction performance. We tested the ability of our model to solve data sparsity and viewer cold start recommendation problems. The experimental results highlighted the effectiveness of our model compared to the considered baselines. Experimental results demonstrate that our approach outperforms time-aware and social network-based approaches. In the sparsity and cold start tests, our approach returns consistently accurate predictions at different values of data sparsity