Mapping Late Hokusai Research: Digitizing and Publishing Bilingual Research Data

The initiative “Late Hokusai: Thought, Technique, Society” took place at the British Museum (BM) and SOAS, University of London (2016–2019). As part of its activities, it built a linked-data platform prototype on ResearchSpace. The prototype offers a redesigned process for how museum researchers and users find, research with, discuss and expand bilingual data about early modern Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849) and instigated a discussion about what a collaborative research platform for the Hokusai research community could look like. While Japanese resource specialists have long recognized the complexity of Japanese script as a challenge for multilingual research and collection platforms, the processes for and results of integrating Japanese source data into bi- or multilingual museum databases remained unsatisfactory. This paper revisits the challenges posed by “non-Latin script” (NLS) in museum databases in the case of the Hokusai research platform at the British Museum, which integrated Japanese and English languages. It localizes the issues arising from working with Japanese source data in the Latin script project environment and accompanies the museum researchers’ tasks regarding the correct input, rendering and display of the source script at each step: 1) object analysis, 2) registering NLS metadata, 3) processing NLS information and 4) visualizing LS and NLS information for general and specialist audiences. After assessing these practices, the paper critically reflects on selected approaches, successes, and shortcomings experienced while creating such a prototype. By sharing its experiences, the project hopes to aid prospective research projects on a similar path regarding project setup and documentation. Furthermore, it advocates the sustainability of research practices according to data reusability parameters. L’initiative « Late Hokusai : Thought Technique and Society » (Hokusai tardif : Pensées techniques et société) a eu lieu au British Museum (BM) et SOAS, l’Université de Londres (2016-2019). Dans le cadre des activités, cette initiative a produit une plateforme prototype de Web des données sur ResearchSpace. Le prototype offre un processus redessiné aidant les chercheurs de musée et les usagers à trouver, à faire de la recherche, à discuter et à étoffer les données bilingues concernant l’artiste Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), du début de l’ère moderne japonaise. Cela a déclenché une discussion sur l’apparence possible d’une plateforme de recherche collaborative dédiée à la communauté de recherche sur Hokusai. Tandis que les spécialistes de ressources japonaises reconnaissent depuis longtemps la complexité de l’écriture japonaise comme un défi pour la recherche multilingue et pour les plateformes de collection, les processus et les résultats de l’intégration des données sources japonaises dans des bases de données de musées bi- ou plurilingues demeurent insatisfaisants. Cet article réexamine les défis liés à des « écritures non-latines » (NLS, non-Latin script) dans des bases de données de musée dans le cas de la plateforme de recherche sur Hokusai au British Museum, ce qui a intégré les langues japonaise et anglaise. L’article localise les questions qui se posent durant le travail avec les données sources japonaises dans un environnement de projet en écriture latine et accompagne les tâches des chercheurs de musée concernant l’entrée correcte, le rendu et l’affichage de l’écriture source à chaque étape : 1) les analyses d’objet, 2) les enregistrements de métadonnées NLS, 3) le traitement de l’information NLS et 4) la visualisation de l’information LS (écriture latine, Latin script) et NLS pour des audiences générales et spécialistes. Cet article présentera une évaluation de ces pratiques et, ensuite, considérera de façon critique les approches sélectionnées, les succès et les défauts rencontrés pendant la création d’un tel prototype. En partageant ces expériences, ce projet vise à aider des projets de recherche prospectifs qui se trouvent dans un cas similaire, considérant la configuration de projets et la documentation. En outre, ce projet promeut la viabilité de pratiques de recherche conformément à des paramètres de réutilisation de données

Recognition of Japanese handwritten characters with Machine learning techniques

The recognition of Japanese handwritten characters has always been a challenge for researchers. A large number of classes, their graphic complexity, and the existence of three different writing systems make this problem particularly difficult compared to Western writing. For decades, attempts have been made to address the problem using traditional OCR (Optical Character Recognition) techniques, with mixed results. With the recent popularization of machine learning techniques through neural networks, this research has been revitalized, bringing new approaches to the problem. These new results achieve performance levels comparable to human recognition. Furthermore, these new techniques have allowed collaboration with very different disciplines, such as the Humanities or East Asian studies, achieving advances in them that would not have been possible without this interdisciplinary work. In this thesis, these techniques are explored until reaching a sufficient level of understanding that allows us to carry out our own experiments, training neural network models with public datasets of Japanese characters. However, the scarcity of public datasets makes the task of researchers remarkably difficult. Our proposal to minimize this problem is the development of a web application that allows researchers to easily collect samples of Japanese characters through the collaboration of any user. Once the application is fully operational, the examples collected until that point will be used to create a new dataset in a specific format. Finally, we can use the new data to carry out comparative experiments with the previous neural network models

Expanding the data capacity of QR codes using multiple compression algorithms and base64 encode/decode

The Quick Response (QR) code is an enhancement from one dimensional barcode which was used to store limited capacity of information. The QR code has the capability to encode various data formats and languages. Several techniques were suggested by researchers to increase the data contents. One of the technique to increase data capacity is by compressing the data and encode it with a suitable data encoder. This study focuses on the selection of compression algorithms and use base64 encoder/decoder to increase the capacity of data which is to be stored in the QR code. The result will be compared with common technique to get the efficiency among the selected compression algorithm after the data was encoded with base64 encoder/decoder

Evaluation of Two-Dimensional Codes for Digital Information Security in Physical Documents

Nowadays, paper documents are still frequently used and exchanged in our daily life. To safely manage confidential paper information such as medical and financial records has increasingly become a challenge. If a patient\u27s medical diagnosis get stolen or dumped without shredding, his or her private information would be leaked. Some companies and organizations do not pay enough attention to the problem, letting their customers suffer the loss. In the thesis, I designed a hybrid system to solve this problem effectively and economically. This hybrid system integrates physical document properties with digital security technology, which brings in a revolutionary idea for processing sensitive paper information in modern world. Based on that, I focus on different QR code sizes and versions, compare their attributes and relations, and find the best QR code size and version according to data amount in a given area. Finally I implement them in CryptoPaper word plugin, using several test cases to test the functionality of it

The Impact of Text Orientation on Form Effects with Chinese, Japanese and English readers

Does visuospatial orientation influence form priming effects in parallel ways in Chinese and English? Given the differences in how orthographic symbols are presented in Chinese versus English, one might expect to find some differences in early word recognition processes and, hence, in the nature of form priming effects. According to perceptual learning accounts, form priming effects (i.e., “form” priming effects) should be influenced by text orientation (Dehaene, Cohen, Sigman, & Vinckier, 2005; Grainger & Holcomb, 2009). In contrast, Witzel, Qiao, and Forster’s (2011) abstract letter unit account proposes that the mechanism responsible for such effect acts at a totally abstract orthographic level (i.e., the visuospatial orientation is irrelevant to the nature of the relevant orthographic code). One goal of the present research was to determine whether or not one of these accounts could explain form priming effects in both languges. Chapter 2 (Yang, Chen, Spinelli & Lupker, 2019) expanded the debate between these positions beyond alphabetic scripts and the syllabic Kana script used by Witzel et al. (2011) to a logographic script (Chinese). I report four experiments with Chinese participants in this chapter. The experiments showed masked form priming effects with targets in four different orientations (left-to-right, top-to-bottom, right-to-left, and bottom-to-top), supporting Witzel et al.’s account. Chapter 3 (Yang, Hino, Chen, Yoshihara, Nakayama, Xue, & Lupker, in press) provided an evaluation of whether the backward priming effect obtained in Experiment 2.3 (i.e., backward primes and forward targets) is truly an orthographic effect or whether it may be either morphologically/meaning- or syllabically/phonologically-based. Five experiments, two involving phonologically-related primes and three involving meaning-related primes, produced no evidence that either of those factors contributed to the backward priming effect, implying that it truly is an orthographic effect. In Chapter 4 (Yang & Lupker, 2019), I examined whether text rotation to different degrees (e.g., 0°, 90°, and 180° rotations) modulated transposed-letter (TL) priming effects in two experiments with English participants. The sizes of the priming effects were similar for horizontal 0°, 90° rotated and 180° rotated words providing further support for abstract letter unit accounts of orthographic coding. These results support abstract letter/character unit accounts of form priming effects while failing to support perceptual learning accounts. Further, these results also indicate a language difference in that Chinese readers have more flexible (i.e., less precise) letter position coding than English readers, a fact that poses an interesting new challenge to existing orthographic coding theories

Strategiatavoitteiden ja prosessimittareiden ja välisen yhdenmukaisuuden arviointi palveluliiketoiminnassa.

The measurement of the service processes has been facilitated by the development of the information technology. Through new systems and applications, it is possible to obtain accurate information on the activities of the service process. Process measures provide information to develop and improve the underlying service process. The service industry has commonly used similar measuring methods as the manufacturing industry. However, the manufacturing processes differs from the service processes due to variation, value creation, and automation level. Hence, the same manufacturing measurement methods cannot be applied directly to the service processes. Measuring is vital for companies to develop and update processes to compete in a highly competitive service sector. Generally, measurement starts from defining the strategy targets, after which the strategic objectives are translated and aligned through the organization levels down to the customer interface. There is a consensus in the literature that the strategy must define the process measurements. Several different measurement systems (Balanced Scorecard, Performance Matrix) are designed to support the strategy implementation. Translating strategy metrics into the execution level is, however, a demanding and tedious process involving many challenges. As a result, companies do not often follow this process. Although the literature is unanimous about its importance and usefulness. The aim of this thesis is to evaluate the relationship between strategic objectives and process metrics. To study this topic, 9 interviews were conducted and part of the interviews were organized using participant observation method. The interview structure was formed using the Congruence model and the results were analyzed through the Strategic Alignment model. The research revealed that the strategy process and the organizational structure can strongly influence how well the strategy measurement and implementation succeed. When the strategy measures play a key part in the strategy process, their value driver maps are better known and the impacts are better monitored. To achieve the strategy targets, the strategy must have an impact on the daily life (rewards, objectives, and metrics) of the employees. Through daily routine changes, the strategy goals can be implemented into the practice.Palveluprosessien mittaaminen on helpottunut teknologia kehittymisen myötä. Uusien järjestelmien ja sovellusten kautta on mahdollista saada tarkkaa tietoa palveluprosessin toiminnasta. Prosessimittaamisen avulla on mahdollista parantaa prosesseja ja tehdä niistä tehokkaampia. Palveluprosessimittaamisessa on yleisesti käytetty vastaavia menetelmiä kuin valmistusteollisuudessa. Valmistavan teollisuuden prosessit eroavat kuitenkin palveluprosesseista variaation, arvon luonnin ja automaatioasteen seurauksena. Näin ollen suoraan samoja mittaamismenetelmiä ei voida soveltaa. Mittaaminen on ylipäätään tärkeää, jotta yritys voi kehittää ja päivittää prosesseja pärjätäkseen erittäin kilpailulla palvelualalla. Yleisesti mittaaminen lähtee strategiatavoitteen määrittämisestä, jonka jälkeen strategiatavoitteet jalkautetaan läpiorganisaatiotasojen aina asiakasrajapintaan asti. Kirjallisuudessa vallitsee konsensus, että strategian kautta tulee määritellä prosessimittaaminen. Useita erilaisia mittaamisjärjestelmiä, (Balanced Scorecard, Performance Matrix) on suunniteltu strategiamittareiden jalkauttamisen tueksi. Strategiamittareiden jalkauttaminen on kuitenkin vaativa ja työläsprosessi sisältäen monia haasteita, jonka seurauksena yritykset eivät usein tätä prosessia noudata. Vaikkakin kirjallisuus on yksimielinen sen tärkeydestä ja hyödyllisyydestä. Tässä diplomityössä tutkitaan, miten strategiamittareiden määrittäminen ja jalkautus todella onnistuu organisaatiossa. Tutkimuksessa suoritettiin yhteensä 9 haastattelua kahdessa kohdeyrityksessä ja osassa haastatteluja sovellettiin ’participant observation’ -metodia. Haastattelurakenne muodostettiin ’Congruence’ -mallin avulla ja tulokset analysointiin mukautetun ’Strategic Alignment’ -malia hyväksikäyttäen. Tutkimuksessa kävi ilmi, että strategiaprosessi ja organisaatiorakenne vaikuttavat vahvasti siihen kuinka hyvin mittaaminen ja jalkauttaminen onnistuu. Strategiamittareiden ollessa keskeisessä osassa strategiaprosessia niiden arvoketju tunnetaan paremmin ja niiden vaikutusta seurataan. Strategiatavoitteisen aikaan saamiseksi, strategialla täytyy olla vaikutuksia henkilöstön arkeen: palkitsemiseen, tavoitteisiin ja mittareihin. Arjen muutosten kautta strategiatavoitteet saadaan käytäntöön

Preserving Communication Context. Virtual workspace and interpersonal space in Japanese CSCW.

The past decade has seen the development of a perspective\ud holding that technology is socially constructed (Mackenzie and Wacjman, 1985; Bijker, Hughes and Pinch, 1987; Bijker and Law, 1992). This paper examines the social construction of one group of technologies, systems for computer supported cooperative work (CSCW). It describes the design of CSCW in Japan, with particular attention to the influence of culture on the design process. Two case studies are presented to illustrate the argument that culture is an important factor in technology design, despite commonly held assumptions about the neutrality and objectivity of science and technology. The paper further argues that, by looking at\ud CSCW systems as texts which reflect the context of their production and the society from which they come, we may be better able to understand the transformations that operate when these texts are “read” in the contexts of their implementation

Creating a translation glossary using free software: a study of its feasibility with Japanese source text

In this paper, we (a) explain how translators can benefit from creating their own glossaries; and (b) evaluate how easily a translation glossary can be created from Japanese source text using free software applications. As our study shows, a major hurdle arises from the fact that Japanese text does not include spaces; it must be segmented, i.e., broken into “usable chunks” (Fahey, 2016), before a concordancer (in our case, AntConc 3.2.4) can be used to analyze it for glossary creation. We segmented our Japanese text using an application (ChaSen 2.1) designed for this purpose. This application’s output was problematic, forcing us to devise workarounds that became labour-intensive and time-consuming. Our completed glossary (shown in Appendix 1) is fit for purpose, but the complications in the process of creating it call into question the feasibility of using free software to make translation glossaries from text written in Japanese

ARRAY BASED FREE SPACE OPTIC SYSTEM FOR TACTICAL COMMUNICATIONS

Free-space optical (FSO) communications offer a resilient and flexible alternative communications medium to current radio technologies, which are increasingly threatened by our peer adversaries. FSO provides many advantages to radio technologies, including higher bandwidth capability and increased security through its low probability of detection (LPD) and low probability of interception (LPI) characteristics. However, current FSO systems are limited in range due to line-of-sight requirements and suffer loss from atmospheric attenuation. This thesis proposes the use of arrayed optical emitters for FSO communication by developing a link-layer protocol that leverages the inherent error correction of quick response (QR) encoding to increase bandwidth and overcome atmospheric loss. Through the testing of a system built with commercial-off-the-shelf equipment and a survey of current optical transmitter and receiver technology, this link-layer protocol was validated and estimated to provide similar data rates to current single emitter FSO systems. Various limitations were discovered in the current structure of the protocol. Future work should be conducted to correct inefficiencies in the QR encoding format when applied to a transmission medium. Additionally, technological advancements in hardware systems, including the large-scale production of VCSELs and faster high-speed cameras, must be achieved before such an FSO would be viable for large-scale use.http://archive.org/details/arraybasedfreesp1094559655Captain, United States Marine CorpsApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited