110 research outputs found

    Reconstruction and Synthesis of Human-Scene Interaction

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    In this thesis, we argue that the 3D scene is vital for understanding, reconstructing, and synthesizing human motion. We present several approaches which take the scene into consideration in reconstructing and synthesizing Human-Scene Interaction (HSI). We first observe that state-of-the-art pose estimation methods ignore the 3D scene and hence reconstruct poses that are inconsistent with the scene. We address this by proposing a pose estimation method that takes the 3D scene explicitly into account. We call our method PROX for Proximal Relationships with Object eXclusion. We leverage the data generated using PROX and build a method to automatically place 3D scans of people with clothing in scenes. The core novelty of our method is encoding the proximal relationships between the human and the scene in a novel HSI model, called POSA for Pose with prOximitieS and contActs. POSA is limited to static HSI, however. We propose a real-time method for synthesizing dynamic HSI, which we call SAMP for Scene-Aware Motion Prediction. SAMP enables virtual humans to navigate cluttered indoor scenes and naturally interact with objects. Data-driven kinematic models, like SAMP, can produce high-quality motion when applied in environments similar to those shown in the dataset. However, when applied to new scenarios, kinematic models can struggle to generate realistic behaviors that respect scene constraints. In contrast, we present InterPhys which uses adversarial imitation learning and reinforcement learning to train physically-simulated characters that perform scene interaction tasks in a physical and life-like manner

    A Coupled Human and Natural Systems Approach to Studying Recreation on Public Lands

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    Outdoor recreational use has increased rapidly in the western United States in recent years, which provides more people with opportunities to enjoy public lands and benefit from recreation. However, increased recreation can lead to negative social and ecological impacts that degrade both natural resources and the recreation experience. I used a Coupled Human and Natural Systems (CHANS) approach to study recreational use at the Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area (NCA) in southwest Idaho. This approach considers the human and natural systems, feedbacks within the systems, and effects from telecoupled influences outside of the site, which gives a more complete view and helps to predict how the system may change in the future. The human system at the NCA includes recreationists, management agencies, biologists, recreation organizations, military training, agriculture, and infrastructure. Recreational shooting – shooting inanimate targets or unprotected mammals – is a popular recreational activity at the NCA and was a primary focus of my efforts within the social system. The natural system includes a river with steep cliffs and the surrounding sagebrush-steppe along with raptors, ravens, mammalian scavengers and predators, ground-nesting birds, and small mammals. I used the CHANS framework to identify and investigate questions about the feedbacks within and between the human and natural systems. In Chapter 1, I focused on how the human and natural systems affect the expected and observed spatiotemporal patterns of recreation at the NCA. I used a multidimensional survey of recreationists and observational survey routes to characterize the site use of individual recreational shooters and the larger spatiotemporal patterns of recreational use, respectively. Recreational shooters reported a strong preference for sites with natural backstops and generally avoided other groups of recreationists. More experienced shooters placed greater importance on vegetation type and less importance on the presence of other recreationists. Motivation and activity type also affected preference, as individuals who were motivated to view wildlife or hunting unprotected mammals reported a stronger preference for sites with a greater abundance of the most common target species, Piute ground squirrels (Urocitellus mollis). Observed spatial patterns of all recreation showed a concentration of recreational use in northern portions of the site and along major access roads with little overlap between shooting and other recreational activities. Observations of recreational use were higher on weekends, earlier in the year, later in the day, on warmer days but not the hottest days, and during the COVID-19 pandemic. These results help to understand the site needs of recreational shooters and how recreational use is currently distributed across the NCA, as well as how these patterns might change in the future as environmental and social conditions change. In Chapter 2, I examined interactions within social groups associated with the NCA. I asked recreationists, managers, and biologists about their perceptions of recreation impacts, challenges, and management using multidimensional surveys and semi-structured interviews. I focused on recreational shooters, the most common type of recreationists at the site, and birdwatchers, who rely on the natural resources at the site. Recreational shooters were primarily concerned with trash, crowding, and safety, whereas managers and biologists listed a variety of concerns focused on wildlife, habitat, safety, illegal killing of protected wildlife, lead, and trash. I assessed standards of quality for three levels of trash and crowding that represent conditions at the site, then compared ratings of acceptability between groups using an ordered logistic regression model. Recreational shooters rated low and medium trash conditions as more agreeable than managers, while biologists and birders did not differ from managers. Conversely, recreational shooters rated all crowding conditions as less acceptable than the other groups. Recreational shooters and birdwatchers placed the highest responsibility for enforcing rules on individuals and law enforcement but disagreed on the role of management agencies. Recreational shooters were supportive of educational management interventions whereas birdwatchers supported management changes, recreation participation, and limits on recreational use. Managers and biologists suggested a variety of management actions, including closures, increased law enforcement, and designated shooting areas. From these results, I identified opportunities for improving recreation at the site. In Chapter 3, I investigated the impact of recreation on multiple trophic levels of the ecological system. I selected 10 paired 1-km2 sites, with half in areas of high recreation and half in areas of low recreation. I used observational driving survey routes to collect locations of recreational use, mapped a kernel density estimate of recreation locations, then extracted the estimate as a measure of recreation intensity for specific areas and time periods. I assessed the effect of recreational use intensity on the abundance of a keystone prey species (Piute ground squirrels), the abundance of avian and mammalian predators that rely on ground squirrels, and the breeding density and nesting success of ground-nesting birds at the NCA. The abundance of ground squirrels had a positive relationship with recreation use intensity, potentially due to recreationists selecting sites with squirrels. The presence of native shrub cover had a stronger positive relationship with ground squirrel abundance. The abundance of avian scavengers, particularly common ravens (Corvus corax), was positively related to recreational intensity, as well as power lines and development. The density of a common mammalian scavenger, American badgers (Taxidea taxus), was positively related to recreational intensity. Breeding bird density and nesting success of ground-nesting birds were negatively related to recreational intensity, with the nest success of a more sensitive species, long-billed curlews (Numenius americanus), being most strongly affected. Together, my results highlight the importance of considering variation in recreation intensity, the effect of recreation relative to other conservation threats, and the outcomes for multiple levels of the ecosystem. Together the results of these chapters give insight into the interactions and feedbacks within and between the coupled human and natural system of recreation at the NCA. This provides a more complete view of the full system to balance the needs of the human and natural systems into the future

    Aiding the conservation of two wooden Buddhist sculptures with 3D imaging and spectroscopic techniques

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    The conservation of Buddhist sculptures that were transferred to Europe at some point during their lifetime raises numerous questions: while these objects historically served a religious, devotional purpose, many of them currently belong to museums or private collections, where they are detached from their original context and often adapted to western taste. A scientific study was carried out to address questions from Museo d'Arte Orientale of Turin curators in terms of whether these artifacts might be forgeries or replicas, and how they may have transformed over time. Several analytical techniques were used for materials identification and to study the production technique, ultimately aiming to discriminate the original materials from those added within later interventions

    ECOS 2012

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    The 8-volume set contains the Proceedings of the 25th ECOS 2012 International Conference, Perugia, Italy, June 26th to June 29th, 2012. ECOS is an acronym for Efficiency, Cost, Optimization and Simulation (of energy conversion systems and processes), summarizing the topics covered in ECOS: Thermodynamics, Heat and Mass Transfer, Exergy and Second Law Analysis, Process Integration and Heat Exchanger Networks, Fluid Dynamics and Power Plant Components, Fuel Cells, Simulation of Energy Conversion Systems, Renewable Energies, Thermo-Economic Analysis and Optimisation, Combustion, Chemical Reactors, Carbon Capture and Sequestration, Building/Urban/Complex Energy Systems, Water Desalination and Use of Water Resources, Energy Systems- Environmental and Sustainability Issues, System Operation/ Control/Diagnosis and Prognosis, Industrial Ecology

    Pathways to Water Sector Decarbonization, Carbon Capture and Utilization

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    The water sector is in the middle of a paradigm shift from focusing on treatment and meeting discharge permit limits to integrated operation that also enables a circular water economy via water reuse, resource recovery, and system level planning and operation. While the sector has gone through different stages of such revolution, from improving energy efficiency to recovering renewable energy and resources, when it comes to the next step of achieving carbon neutrality or negative emission, it falls behind other infrastructure sectors such as energy and transportation. The water sector carries tremendous potential to decarbonize, from technological advancements, to operational optimization, to policy and behavioural changes. This book aims to fill an important gap for different stakeholders to gain knowledge and skills in this area and equip the water community to further decarbonize the industry and build a carbon-free society and economy. The book goes beyond technology overviews, rather it aims to provide a system level blueprint for decarbonization. It can be a reference book and textbook for graduate students, researchers, practitioners, consultants and policy makers, and it will provide practical guidance for stakeholders to analyse and implement decarbonization measures in their professions

    Advanced Underground Space Technology

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    The recent development of underground space technology makes underground space a potential and feasible solution to climate change, energy shortages, the growing population, and the demands on urban space. Advances in material science, information technology, and computer science incorporating traditional geotechnical engineering have been extensively applied to sustainable and resilient underground space applications. The aim of this Special Issue, entitled “Advanced Underground Space Technology”, is to gather original fundamental and applied research related to the design, construction, and maintenance of underground space

    Testing of Materials and Elements in Civil Engineering

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    This book was proposed and organized as a means to present recent developments in the field of testing of materials and elements in civil engineering. For this reason, the articles highlighted in this editorial relate to different aspects of testing of different materials and elements in civil engineering, from building materials to building structures. The current trend in the development of testing of materials and elements in civil engineering is mainly concerned with the detection of flaws and defects in concrete elements and structures, and acoustic methods predominate in this field. As in medicine, the trend is towards designing test equipment that allows one to obtain a picture of the inside of the tested element and materials. Interesting results with significance for building practices were obtained

    Pathways to Water Sector Decarbonization, Carbon Capture and Utilization

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    The water sector is in the middle of a paradigm shift from focusing on treatment and meeting discharge permit limits to integrated operation that also enables a circular water economy via water reuse, resource recovery, and system level planning and operation. While the sector has gone through different stages of such revolution, from improving energy efficiency to recovering renewable energy and resources, when it comes to the next step of achieving carbon neutrality or negative emission, it falls behind other infrastructure sectors such as energy and transportation. The water sector carries tremendous potential to decarbonize, from technological advancements, to operational optimization, to policy and behavioural changes. This book aims to fill an important gap for different stakeholders to gain knowledge and skills in this area and equip the water community to further decarbonize the industry and build a carbon-free society and economy. The book goes beyond technology overviews, rather it aims to provide a system level blueprint for decarbonization. It can be a reference book and textbook for graduate students, researchers, practitioners, consultants and policy makers, and it will provide practical guidance for stakeholders to analyse and implement decarbonization measures in their professions

    Object Tracking

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    Object tracking consists in estimation of trajectory of moving objects in the sequence of images. Automation of the computer object tracking is a difficult task. Dynamics of multiple parameters changes representing features and motion of the objects, and temporary partial or full occlusion of the tracked objects have to be considered. This monograph presents the development of object tracking algorithms, methods and systems. Both, state of the art of object tracking methods and also the new trends in research are described in this book. Fourteen chapters are split into two sections. Section 1 presents new theoretical ideas whereas Section 2 presents real-life applications. Despite the variety of topics contained in this monograph it constitutes a consisted knowledge in the field of computer object tracking. The intention of editor was to follow up the very quick progress in the developing of methods as well as extension of the application
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