2,676 research outputs found
"Sticky Hands": learning and generalization for cooperative physical interactions with a humanoid robot
"Sticky Hands" is a physical game for two people involving gentle contact with the hands. The aim is to develop relaxed and elegant motion together, achieve physical sensitivity-improving reactions, and experience an interaction at an intimate yet comfortable level for spiritual development and physical relaxation. We developed a control system for a humanoid robot allowing it to play Sticky Hands with a human partner. We present a real implementation including a physical system, robot control, and a motion learning algorithm based on a generalizable intelligent system capable itself of generalizing observed trajectories' translation, orientation, scale and velocity to new data, operating with scalable speed and storage efficiency bounds, and coping with contact trajectories that evolve over time. Our robot control is capable of physical cooperation in a force domain, using minimal sensor input. We analyze robot-human interaction and relate characteristics of our motion learning algorithm with recorded motion profiles. We discuss our results in the context of realistic motion generation and present a theoretical discussion of stylistic and affective motion generation based on, and motivating cross-disciplinary research in computer graphics, human motion production and motion perception
The First Magnetic Fields
We review current ideas on the origin of galactic and extragalactic magnetic
fields. We begin by summarizing observations of magnetic fields at cosmological
redshifts and on cosmological scales. These observations translate into
constraints on the strength and scale magnetic fields must have during the
early stages of galaxy formation in order to seed the galactic dynamo. We
examine mechanisms for the generation of magnetic fields that operate prior
during inflation and during subsequent phase transitions such as electroweak
symmetry breaking and the quark-hadron phase transition. The implications of
strong primordial magnetic fields for the reionization epoch as well as the
first generation of stars is discussed in detail. The exotic, early-Universe
mechanisms are contrasted with astrophysical processes that generate fields
after recombination. For example, a Biermann-type battery can operate in a
proto-galaxy during the early stages of structure formation. Moreover, magnetic
fields in either an early generation of stars or active galactic nuclei can be
dispersed into the intergalactic medium.Comment: Accepted for publication in Space Science Reviews. Pdf can be also
downloaded from http://canopus.cnu.ac.kr/ryu/cosmic-mag1.pd
Real Time Animation of Virtual Humans: A Trade-off Between Naturalness and Control
Virtual humans are employed in many interactive applications using 3D virtual environments, including (serious) games. The motion of such virtual humans should look realistic (or ‘natural’) and allow interaction with the surroundings and other (virtual) humans. Current animation techniques differ in the trade-off they offer between motion naturalness and the control that can be exerted over the motion. We show mechanisms to parametrize, combine (on different body parts) and concatenate motions generated by different animation techniques. We discuss several aspects of motion naturalness and show how it can be evaluated. We conclude by showing the promise of combinations of different animation paradigms to enhance both naturalness and control
Cosmic Strings and Superstrings
Cosmic strings are predicted by many field-theory models, and may have been
formed at a symmetry-breaking transition early in the history of the universe,
such as that associated with grand unification. They could have important
cosmological effects. Scenarios suggested by fundamental string theory or
M-theory, in particular the popular idea of brane inflation, also strongly
suggest the appearance of similar structures. Here we review the reasons for
postulating the existence of cosmic strings or superstrings, the various
possible ways in which they might be detected observationally, and the special
features that might discriminate between ordinary cosmic strings and
superstrings.Comment: Minor errors corrected and some references added, 34 pages, 6 figure
Preheating and Affleck-Dine leptogenesis after thermal inflation
Previously, we proposed a model of low energy Affleck-Dine leptogenesis in
the context of thermal inflation. The lepton asymmetry is generated at the end
of thermal inflation, which occurs at a relatively low energy scale with the
Hubble parameter somewhere in the range 1 \keV \lesssim H \lesssim 1 \MeV.
Thus Hubble damping will be ineffective in bringing the Affleck-Dine field into
the lepton conserving region near the origin, leaving the possibility that the
lepton number could be washed out. Previously, we suggested that preheating
could damp the amplitude of the Affleck-Dine field allowing conservation of the
lepton number. In this paper, we demonstrate numerically that preheating does
efficiently damp the amplitude of the Affleck-Dine field and that the lepton
number is conserved as the result. In addition to demonstrating a crucial
aspect of our model, it also opens the more general possibility of low energy
Affleck-Dine baryogenesis.Comment: 38 pages, 17 figure
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