A Bisociated Domain-Based Serendipitous Novelty-Recommendation Technique for Recommender Systems

Traditional recommendation paradigms such as content-based filtering (CBF) tend to recommend items that are very similar to user profile characteristics and item input, resulting in the classical twin problem of overspecialization and concentration bias of recommendations. This twin problem is prevalent with CBF recommender systems due to the utilisation of accuracy metrics to retrieve similar items, and, limiting recommendation computations to single recognized user-centered domains, rather than cross-domains.  This paper proposes a Bisociated domain-based serendipitous novelty recommendation techniques using Bisolinkers exploratory creativity discovery technique. The use of Bisolinkers enables establishing unique links between two seemingly unrelated domains, to enhance recommendation accuracy and user satisfaction. The presence of similar terms in two habitually incompatible domains demonstrates that two seemingly unrelated domains contain elements that are related and may act as a link to connect these two domains. Keywords: recommender systems, novelty, machine learning, outlier detection, bisociation &nbsp

Creative Exploration Using Topic Based Bisociative Networks

Partial funding for Open Access provided by the UMD Libraries' Open Access Publishing Fund.Bisociative knowledge discovery is an approach that combines elements from two or more `incompatible' domains to generate creative solutions and insight. Inspired by Koestler's notion of bisociation, in this paper we propose a computational framework for the discovery of new connections between domains to promote creative discovery and inspiration in design. Specifically, we propose using topic models on a large collection of unstructured text ideas from multiple domains to discover creative sources of inspiration. We use these topics to generate a Bisociative Information Network - a graph that captures conceptual similarity between ideas - that helps designers find creative links within that network. Using a dataset of thousands of ideas from OpenIDEO, an online collaborative community, our results show usefulness of representing conceptual bridges through collections of words (topics) in finding cross-domain inspiration. We show that the discovered links between domains, whether presented on their own or via ideas they inspired, are perceived to be more novel and can also be used as creative stimuli for new idea generation

Designing instruments towards networked music practices

It is commonly noted in New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME) research that few of these make it to the mainstream and are adopted by the general public. Some research in Sound and Music Computing (SMC) suggests that the lack of humanistic research guiding technological development may be one of the causes. Many new technologies are invented, however without real aim else than for technical innovation, great products however emphasize the user-friendliness, user involvement in the design process or User-Centred Design (UCD), that seek to guarantee that innovation address real, existing needs among users. Such an approach includes not only traditionally quantifiable usability goals, but also qualitative, psychological, philosophical and musical such. The latter approach has come to be called experience design, while the former is referred to as interaction design. Although the Human Computer Interaction (HCI) community in general has recognized the significance of qualitative needs and experience design, NIME has been slower to adopt this new paradigm. This thesis therefore attempts to investigate its relevance in NIME, and specifically Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) for music applications by devising a prototype for group music action based on needs defined from pianists engaging in piano duets, one of the more common forms of group creation seen in the western musical tradition. These needs, some which are socio-emotional in nature, are addressed through our prototype although in the context of computers and global networks by allowing for composers from all over the world to submit music to a group concert on a Yamaha Disklavier in location in Porto, Portugal. Although this prototype is not a new gestural controller per se, and therefore not a traditional NIME, but rather a platform that interfaces groups of composers with a remote audience, the aim of this research is on investigating how contextual parameters like venue, audience, joint concert and technologies impact the overall user experience of such a system. The results of this research has been important not only in understanding the processes, services, events or environments in which NIME’s operate, but also understanding reciprocity, creativity, experience design in Networked Music practices.É de conhecimento generalizado que na área de investigação em novos interfaces para expressão musical (NIME - New Interfaces for Musical Expression), poucos dos resultantes dispositivos acabam por ser popularizados e adoptados pelo grande público. Algum do trabalho em computação sonora e musical (SMC- Sound and Music Computing) sugere que uma das causas para esta dificuldade, reside numalacuna ao nível da investigação dos comportamentos humanos como linha orientadora para os desenvolvimentos tecnológicos. Muitos dos desenvolvimentos tecnológicos são conduzidos sem um real objectivo, para além da inovação tecnológica, resultando em excelentes produtos, mas sem qualquer enfâse na usabilidade humana ou envolvimento do utilizador no processo de Design (UCDUser Centered Design), no sentido de garantir que a inovação atende a necessidades reais dos utilizadores finais. Esta estratégia implica, não só objectivos quantitativos tradicionais de usabilidade, mas também princípios qualitativos, fisiológicos, psicológicos e musicológicos. Esta ultima abordagem é atualmente reconhecida como Design de Experiência (Experience Design) enquanto a abordagem tradicional é vulgarmente reconhecida apenas como Design de Interação (Interaction Design). Apesar de na área Interação Homem-Computador (HCI – Human Computer Interaction) as necessidades qualitativas no design de experiência ser amplamente reconhecido em termos do seu significado e aplicabilidade, a comunidade NIME tem sido mais lenta em adoptar este novo paradigma. Neste sentido, esta Tese procura investigar a relevância em NIME, especificamente nu subtópico do trabalho cooperativo suportado por Computadores (CSCW – Computer Supported Cooperative Work), para aplicações musicais, através do desenvolvimento de um protótipo de um sistema que suporta ações musicais coletivas, baseado nas necessidades especificas de Pianistas em duetos de Piano, uma das formas mais comuns de criação musical em grupo popularizada na tradição musical ocidental. Estes requisitos, alguns sócioemocionais na sua natureza, são atendidos através do protótipo, neste caso aplicado ao contexto informático e da rede de comunicações global, permitindo a compositores de todo o mundo submeterem a sua música para um concerto de piano em grupo num piano acústico Yamaha Disklavier, localizado fisicamente na cidade do Porto, Portugal. Este protótipo não introduz um novo controlador em si mesmo, e consequentemente não está alinhado com as típicas propostas de NIME. Trata-se sim, de uma nova plataforma de interface em grupo para compositores com uma audiência remota, enquadrado com objectivos de experimentação e investigação sobre o impacto de diversos parâmetros, tais como o espaço performativo, as audiências, concertos colaborativos e tecnologias em termos do sistema global. O resultado deste processo de investigação foi relevante, não só para compreender os processos, serviços, eventos ou ambiente em que os NIME podem operar, mas também para melhor perceber a reciprocidade, criatividade e design de experiencia nas práticas musicais em rede

Connotation in Computational Creativity

Computational creativity is the application of computers to perform tasks that would be regarded as creative if performed by humans. One approach to computational creativity is to regard it as a search process, where some conceptual space is searched, and perhaps transformed, to find an outcome that would be regarded as creative. Typically, such search processes have been guided by one or more objective functions that judge how creative each solution is on one or more dimensions. This paper introduces a contrasting approach, which is search based on the idea of connotations. Rather than exploring a space constructed solely of potential outcomes, a larger space is explored consisting of such outcomes together with other relevant information. This allows us to define search processes that include a more exploratory process, out of which an outcome emerges via density of connotations. Both the general principles behind this and some specific ideas are explored

Effects of data exploration and use of data mining tools to extract knowledge from databases (KDD) in early stages of the Engineering design process (EDP)

This thesis describes original research work where the objective was to provide teams with access to data, and observe the effect of its use at the early creative stages of the engineering design process. Following a theoretical research on the use of information technologies to support idea generation, and the use of data as creative input, a procedure was designed following the Knowledge Discovery from Databases process, and tried over several iterations of improvement working with creative teams in different contexts. After two exploratory studies, three cases were performed where the researcher attempted to better support the different stages of the EDP through the application of data from patent mining. To observe the differences, we provided three levels of access to explore data in a data mining tool: low, intermediate and high. • Case 1 - Participants in a creativity session were asked to identify needs or problems (first stage of the engineering design process). They were given intermediate access to explore data in a data mining tool, meaning they could explore, but not make new searches or add data. The analysis of the results indicates that participants gravitated towards terms and keywords related to previously generated ideas, thus the increase in novelty was low. In order to correct the issue of intermediate exploration, it was decided to train participants in the use of the data mining tool for subsequent cases; if teams have more freedom to explore data, they can potentially generate more novel combinations. • Case 2 - Teams tasked with engineering challenges in a course were trained in the use of the data exploration tool. They were then invited to continue using the tool to generate new ideas. In this case, teams had high access to the data exploration tool; they were able to add data, and make searches. Teams who chose to explore data for creative support found improvements or components from existing solutions to advance their own design, and received more positive evaluations by a jury of experts. However, the objective of obtaining more diverse or novel solutions was not achieved. A possible explanation is that the use of the tool can overwhelm participants with too many options to explore, leading teams to return to known solutions. A possible counteraction to resolve the issue of too many options is to have an external actor (such as a moderator) extract keywords from the data, and provide participants with these terms to combine into novel ideas. • Case 3 - Teams participating in an innovation contest were given keywords selected by an expert on the tool. In other words, participants had low access to explore data in a data mining tool. The researcher performed the data analysis for two challenges in the competition, and selected keywords relevant to the knowledge base of the problem. The results show that teams who selected the keyword supported challenges generated more diverse and novel ideas, compared to teams without the support. By providing relevant keywords, it was possible to obtain the benefits of the KDD without the issues of training participants on the use of the tool, and the resources teams would have to dedicate to explore the data. It was concluded that data and KDD can be used as a creative input for an EDP at different stages. It is recommended to determine whether the objective of including data in an EDP effort is to generate a novel idea or to solve a problem. To generate novel ideas, it seems preferable to provide data in the form of keywords selected by an external actor, to prompt original combinations. If the team is searching for incremental improvements or elements of existing solutions, then it appears to be beneficial to have access to a knowledge base to explore. It is important to delimit the exploration to avoid becoming stunned because of the amount of available information. For the three experiences, the software IPMetrix was used to perform the data mining. The process of data selection, loading, cleaning and transformation is described in each chapter, according to the work performed on the data for the specific case

June 9, 1995 Meeting Minutes

Minutes of the June 9, 1995 Board of Trustees meeting

Investing in intelligence : an inquiry into educational paradigm change

In this philosophical and practical-critical inquiry, I address two significant and closely related problems - whether and how those involved in the enterprise of education conceptualise a need for educational change, and the observed resistance of school cultures to change efforts. I address the apparent lack of a clear, coherent and viable theory of learning, agency and change, capable of making explicit the need, substantive nature and means of educational change. Based on a meta-analysis of numerous theories and perspectives on human knowing, learning, intelligence, agency and change, I synthesise a \u27Dynamic Paradigm of Learning and Change\u27, characterised by fifteen Constructs. I argue that this more viable Paradigm is capable of informing both design and critique of systemic curriculum and assessment policies, school organisation and planning models, professional learning and pedagogical practice, and student learning and action. The Dynamic Paradigm of Learning and Change contrasts with the assumptions reflected in the prevailing culture of institutionalised education, and I argue that dominant views of knowledge and human agency are both theoretically and practically non-viable and unsustainable. I argue that the prevailing culture and experience of schooling contributes to the formation of assumptions, identities, dispositions and orientations to the world characterised by alienation. The Dynamic Paradigm of Learning and Change also contrasts with the assumptions reflected in some educational reform efforts recently promoted at system level in Queensland, Australia. I use the Dynamic Paradigm as the reference point for a formal critique of two influential reform programs, Authentic Pedagogy and the New Basics Project, identifying significant limitations in both the conceptualisation of educational ends and means, and the implementation of these reform agendas. Within the Dynamic Paradigm of Learning and Change, knowledge and learning serve the individual\u27s need for more adaptive or viable functioning in the world. I argue that students\u27 attainment of knowledge of major ways in which others in our culture organise experience (interpret the world) is a legitimate goal of schooling. However, it is more viable to think of the primary function of schooling as providing for the young inspiration, opportunities and support for purposeful doing, and for assisting them in understanding the processes of \u27action scheme\u27 change to make such doing more viable. Through the practical-critical components of the inquiry, undertaken in the context of the ferment of pedagogical and curricular discussion and exploration in Queensland between 1999 and 2003, I develop the Key Abilities Model and associated guidelines and resources relating to forms of pedagogy, curriculum organisation and assessment consistent with the Dynamic Paradigm of Learning and Change. I argue the importance of showing teachers why and how their existing visions and conceptions of learning and teaching may be inadequate, and of emphasising teachers\u27 conceptions of learning, knowing, agency and teaching, and their identities, dispositions and orientations to the world, as things that might need to change, in order to realise the intent of educational change focused on transformational student outcomes serving both the individual and collective good. A recommendation is made for implementation and research of a school-based trial of the Key Abilities Model, informed by and reflecting the Dynamic Paradigm of Learning and Change, as an important investment in the development and expression of ‘authentic\u27 human intelligence

A system of topic mining and dynamic tracking for social texts

A massive amount of information is stored as text in the real world. Classifying the texts according to topics is an approach for people to extract useful information. Social medias generate a mass of texts every day. Topic mining and tracking on social texts are beneficial to both humanity and IT areas. Although ready-made algorithms for topic mining and evolution tracking exist, existing methods are mostly aimed at static data and only to the mining phase of the topics. There is a lack of a general and entire solution covering all phases of topic mining and tracking of social texts. This thesis aims to develop an entire and coherent system which can receive social texts from real-time data streams, mine topics from texts and track topic evolution over time. It is based on the existing algorithms. Tests were conducted after the development, including coverage of LDA for social texts, performance of system and presentation of system in the real environment. According to the experiment results, the system operated smoothly in the real environment. The existing algorithms are effective to social texts. The system successfully covered the whole process of topic mining for social texts as expected. However, there is still room for system improvement. Since the system is a prototype, there may be a need to change it based on requirements of the real application if the system is put into practice and a lot of real tests should be performed in order to guarantee it is functioning well