96 research outputs found

    Real-time generation and adaptation of social companion robot behaviors

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    Social robots will be part of our future homes. They will assist us in everyday tasks, entertain us, and provide helpful advice. However, the technology still faces challenges that must be overcome to equip the machine with social competencies and make it a socially intelligent and accepted housemate. An essential skill of every social robot is verbal and non-verbal communication. In contrast to voice assistants, smartphones, and smart home technology, which are already part of many people's lives today, social robots have an embodiment that raises expectations towards the machine. Their anthropomorphic or zoomorphic appearance suggests they can communicate naturally with speech, gestures, or facial expressions and understand corresponding human behaviors. In addition, robots also need to consider individual users' preferences: everybody is shaped by their culture, social norms, and life experiences, resulting in different expectations towards communication with a robot. However, robots do not have human intuition - they must be equipped with the corresponding algorithmic solutions to these problems. This thesis investigates the use of reinforcement learning to adapt the robot's verbal and non-verbal communication to the user's needs and preferences. Such non-functional adaptation of the robot's behaviors primarily aims to improve the user experience and the robot's perceived social intelligence. The literature has not yet provided a holistic view of the overall challenge: real-time adaptation requires control over the robot's multimodal behavior generation, an understanding of human feedback, and an algorithmic basis for machine learning. Thus, this thesis develops a conceptual framework for designing real-time non-functional social robot behavior adaptation with reinforcement learning. It provides a higher-level view from the system designer's perspective and guidance from the start to the end. It illustrates the process of modeling, simulating, and evaluating such adaptation processes. Specifically, it guides the integration of human feedback and social signals to equip the machine with social awareness. The conceptual framework is put into practice for several use cases, resulting in technical proofs of concept and research prototypes. They are evaluated in the lab and in in-situ studies. These approaches address typical activities in domestic environments, focussing on the robot's expression of personality, persona, politeness, and humor. Within this scope, the robot adapts its spoken utterances, prosody, and animations based on human explicit or implicit feedback.Soziale Roboter werden Teil unseres zukĂŒnftigen Zuhauses sein. Sie werden uns bei alltĂ€glichen Aufgaben unterstĂŒtzen, uns unterhalten und uns mit hilfreichen RatschlĂ€gen versorgen. Noch gibt es allerdings technische Herausforderungen, die zunĂ€chst ĂŒberwunden werden mĂŒssen, um die Maschine mit sozialen Kompetenzen auszustatten und zu einem sozial intelligenten und akzeptierten Mitbewohner zu machen. Eine wesentliche FĂ€higkeit eines jeden sozialen Roboters ist die verbale und nonverbale Kommunikation. Im Gegensatz zu Sprachassistenten, Smartphones und Smart-Home-Technologien, die bereits heute Teil des Lebens vieler Menschen sind, haben soziale Roboter eine Verkörperung, die Erwartungen an die Maschine weckt. Ihr anthropomorphes oder zoomorphes Aussehen legt nahe, dass sie in der Lage sind, auf natĂŒrliche Weise mit Sprache, Gestik oder Mimik zu kommunizieren, aber auch entsprechende menschliche Kommunikation zu verstehen. DarĂŒber hinaus mĂŒssen Roboter auch die individuellen Vorlieben der Benutzer berĂŒcksichtigen. So ist jeder Mensch von seiner Kultur, sozialen Normen und eigenen Lebenserfahrungen geprĂ€gt, was zu unterschiedlichen Erwartungen an die Kommunikation mit einem Roboter fĂŒhrt. Roboter haben jedoch keine menschliche Intuition - sie mĂŒssen mit entsprechenden Algorithmen fĂŒr diese Probleme ausgestattet werden. In dieser Arbeit wird der Einsatz von bestĂ€rkendem Lernen untersucht, um die verbale und nonverbale Kommunikation des Roboters an die BedĂŒrfnisse und Vorlieben des Benutzers anzupassen. Eine solche nicht-funktionale Anpassung des Roboterverhaltens zielt in erster Linie darauf ab, das Benutzererlebnis und die wahrgenommene soziale Intelligenz des Roboters zu verbessern. Die Literatur bietet bisher keine ganzheitliche Sicht auf diese Herausforderung: Echtzeitanpassung erfordert die Kontrolle ĂŒber die multimodale Verhaltenserzeugung des Roboters, ein VerstĂ€ndnis des menschlichen Feedbacks und eine algorithmische Basis fĂŒr maschinelles Lernen. Daher wird in dieser Arbeit ein konzeptioneller Rahmen fĂŒr die Gestaltung von nicht-funktionaler Anpassung der Kommunikation sozialer Roboter mit bestĂ€rkendem Lernen entwickelt. Er bietet eine ĂŒbergeordnete Sichtweise aus der Perspektive des Systemdesigners und eine Anleitung vom Anfang bis zum Ende. Er veranschaulicht den Prozess der Modellierung, Simulation und Evaluierung solcher Anpassungsprozesse. Insbesondere wird auf die Integration von menschlichem Feedback und sozialen Signalen eingegangen, um die Maschine mit sozialem Bewusstsein auszustatten. Der konzeptionelle Rahmen wird fĂŒr mehrere AnwendungsfĂ€lle in die Praxis umgesetzt, was zu technischen Konzeptnachweisen und Forschungsprototypen fĂŒhrt, die in Labor- und In-situ-Studien evaluiert werden. Diese AnsĂ€tze befassen sich mit typischen AktivitĂ€ten in hĂ€uslichen Umgebungen, wobei der Schwerpunkt auf dem Ausdruck der Persönlichkeit, dem Persona, der Höflichkeit und dem Humor des Roboters liegt. In diesem Rahmen passt der Roboter seine Sprache, Prosodie, und Animationen auf Basis expliziten oder impliziten menschlichen Feedbacks an

    The Work of Communication

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    The Work of Communication: Relational Perspectives on Working and Organizing in Contemporary Capitalism revolves around a two-part question: "What have work and organization become under contemporary capitalism—and how should organization studies approach them?" Changes in the texture of capitalism, heralded by social and organizational theorists alike, increasingly focus attention on communication as both vital to the conduct of work and as imperative to organizational performance. Yet most accounts of communication in organization studies fail to understand an alternate sense of the "work of communication" in the constitution of organizations, work practices, and economies. This book responds to that lack by portraying communicative practices—as opposed to individuals, interests, technologies, structures, organizations, or institutions—as the focal units of analysis in studies of the social and organizational problems occasioned by contemporary capitalism. Rather than suggesting that there exists a canonically "correct" route communicative analyses must follow, The Work of Communication: Relational Perspectives on Working and Organizing in Contemporary Capitalism explores the value of transcending longstanding divides between symbolic and material factors in studies of working and organizing. The recognition of dramatic shifts in technological, economic, and political forces, along with deep interconnections among the myriad of factors shaping working and organizing, sows doubts about whether organization studies is up to the vital task of addressing the social problems capitalism now creates. Kuhn, Ashcraft, and Cooren argue that novel insights into those social problems are possible if we tell different stories about working and organizing. To aid authors of those stories, they develop a set of conceptual resources that they capture under the mantle of communicative relationality. These resources allow analysts to profit from burgeoning interest in notions such as sociomateriality, posthumanism, performativity, and affect. It goes on to illustrate the benefits that investigations of work and organization can realize from communicative relationality by presenting case studies that analyze (a) the becoming of an idea, from its inception to solidification, (b) the emergence of what is taken to be the "the product" in high-tech startup entrepreneurship, and (c) the branding of work (in this case, academic writing and commercial aviation) through affective economies. Taken together, the book portrays "the work of communication" as simultaneously about how work in the "new economy" revolves around communicative practice and about how communication serves as a mode of explanation with the potential to cultivate novel stories about working and organizing. Aimed at academics, researchers, and policy makers, this book’s goal is to make tangible the contributions of communication for thinking about contemporary social and organizational problems

    Business Meets the Humanities

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    Within the last decades, universities are increasingly expected and measured by their direct engagement in collaborations beyond academia. Exploring the potential that lies in university-business collaborations, the present anthology attends to the dilemmas, dualities, and challenges that follow such collaborations, especially in the academic traditions of the social sciences and humanities. Each contribution investigates how the human perspective – a perspective that highlights how complex knowledge and a deep understanding of human everyday life – enriches companies’ processes, products, services, and ideas. Some chapters focus on collaborations between researchers and business practitioners, others focus on teaching examples involving students in the collaborative work with businesses and organisations, and again others contribute with more theoretical considerations. By gathering hands-on experiences, the book provides readers with inspirations, reflections on, and insights into university-business collaborations. This book, therefore, is intended for researchers within the humanities and social sciences, who want to get a deeper understanding of the practice of such collaborations

    Virginia Commonwealth University Graduate Bulletin

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    Graduate bulletin for Virginia Commonwealth University for the academic year 2022-2023. It includes information on academic regulations, degree requirements, course offerings, faculty, academic calendar, and tuition and expenses for graduate programs

    Business Meets the Humanities

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    Within the last decades, universities are increasingly expected and measured by their direct engagement in collaborations beyond academia. Exploring the potential that lies in university-business collaborations, the present anthology attends to the dilemmas, dualities, and challenges that follow such collaborations, especially in the academic traditions of the social sciences and humanities.</P> <P>Each contribution investigates how the human perspective – a perspective that highlights how complex knowledge and a deep understanding of human everyday life – enriches companies’ processes, products, services, and ideas. Some chapters focus on collaborations between researchers and business practitioners, others focus on teaching examples involving students in the collaborative work with businesses and organisations, and again others contribute with more theoretical considerations.</P> <P>By gathering hands-on experiences, the book provides readers with inspirations, reflections on, and insights into university-business collaborations. This book, therefore, is intended for researchers within the humanities and social sciences, who want to get a deeper understanding of the practice of such collaborations

    Diversity in “the Korean Way”: Transcultural Identities in Contemporary Diasporic Korean Literature and Media in North America

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    Literary and visual media representations of diasporic Koreans in Canada and the U.S. have noticeably grown in the twenty-first century, (re)shaping popular culture imaginations of South Korean and Asian subjectivities. From globalized sitcoms such as Kim’s Convenience to novels, memoirs, and animated cartoons, recent portrayals of “Koreans” by diasporic Koreans increasingly depict the multifariousness of “Korean,” “Korean Canadian,” and “Korean American” identities through various lenses and vehicles such as local and trans-national/trans-historical perspectives, transnational Korean adoption, and comedy/humour. To capture the significance of what I discuss as the transculturality of diasporic Korean identities, I suggest in this dissertation that new frames of comparison and examination beyond geographical, temporal, and disciplinary borders are required. By demonstrating shared and different geopolitical histories and their effects among diasporic Korean populations in North America in tandem with the diversity and politics of representation within literatures and media produced by diasporic Koreans, I unsettle the knowledge of “the Korean Way”—being or becoming “Korean”—and simplistic nationalist imaginations of hyphenated Asian identities, within histories of Western colonialism and exclusion and marginalization against racial minorities in North America. The first chapter broadly traces: 1) the history of Korean Canadian and Korean American literature and media, 2) the respective political contexts shaping such representations in Canada and the U.S., 3) the development of anti-Asian Racism, racialization, and stereotypes in North America, 4) the modernization and economic rise of (South) Korea since the early-twentieth century. These historical and theoretical frameworks of the first chapter inform the second and third chapters, respectively exploring women’s narratives and televisual comedies of diasporic Koreans in North America since the 2010s. Chapter Two comparatively analyzes two novels and a memoir by female diasporic Korean authors, Anne Y.K. Choi, Frances Cha, and Jenny Heijun Wills. In this chapter, I pay careful attention to how Korean-born women negotiate their sense of identity and sexuality within contexts of race relations and racism, racial and gender capitalism, and postcolonial histories of marginalization and oppression in settings in Canada, the U.S., and South Korea. Chapter Three examines different forms of televisual comedies, Kim’s Convenience, Dr. Ken, and Angry Asian Little Girl, to underscore the influence of humour as an emerging strategy for diasporic representation, and at the same time, how such new vehicles of inclusion are surrounded by conditions of White-centred and commercial logics as well as internalized racism

    Ubiquitous Technologies for Emotion Recognition

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    Emotions play a very important role in how we think and behave. As such, the emotions we feel every day can compel us to act and influence the decisions and plans we make about our lives. Being able to measure, analyze, and better comprehend how or why our emotions may change is thus of much relevance to understand human behavior and its consequences. Despite the great efforts made in the past in the study of human emotions, it is only now, with the advent of wearable, mobile, and ubiquitous technologies, that we can aim to sense and recognize emotions, continuously and in real time. This book brings together the latest experiences, findings, and developments regarding ubiquitous sensing, modeling, and the recognition of human emotions

    Ageing Online : Promoting older persons' subjective wellbeing in a digital everyday life

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    Background: Digital technology and online services are often seen as one response to many of the challenges that the modern welfare state is expected to face. Evidently, digital technology is an essential part of the society as well as in our daily lives alike. Therefore, the digital context should be taken into consideration when studying subjective wellbeing— also among older persons. Digitalization further entails new ways of working among the multiprofessional personnel groups within the health and social care sector. The importance of meaningful engagement of older persons as part of the development of services is being recognized both within the international policies of active and healthy ageing as well as within the field of innovation studies. In general, more applied research is necessary when moving from evidence to practice in research regarding the promotion of wellbeing among older persons and related working methods and initiatives. Aim: To explore the multidimensionality of older persons’ subjective wellbeing and to deepen the understanding of health promotion practice and participatory approaches together with older persons in an increasingly digital everyday life. Methods: A multi-method design was applied and the thesis consist of four separate studies. Two studies were based on data from a cross-sectional, population-based survey study (the GERDA-project) conducted in 2016 in the Bothnia region (Finland and Sweden, n= ). Study III was a focus-group study with practitioners working with community-level health promotion targeting older persons in two regions in Finland and Sweden in 2019–2020. The last study is based on semi-structured interviews with older persons participating in the @geing online project in 2018–2020. Results: According to the study findings, there is a statistically significant association between subjective well-being and internet use in the studied older population. However, nuanced and multidimensional approaches—simultaneously taking into account the kind of online activities that the older persons engage in, as well as the particular dimensions of subjective wellbeing under study—are needed in order to develop the knowledge field. When it comes to health promotion practice, the findings highlight the importance of seeing the persons among the older people. Digital technology as well as an increased user involvement can support tailored work approaches and initiatives in future health promotion practice by breaking the current perceived barriers related to inflexible organizational routines and the own prejudices. The findings further highlight that being part of the development of an application can be an uplifting experience and increase the interest and confidence in digital technology use among older participants and combat stereotypical beliefs. However, participatory approaches are not linear, rather they are perceived as messy processes— which also can evoke experiences of disappointment among the participants. Conclusion: Digitalization is not only about the technology. Future research endeavours applying various, and preferably mixed methods, simultaneously examining the everyday life both online and offline in later life are warranted. This in order to deepen the understanding regarding the underlying mechanisms between subjective wellbeing and internet use and further answering the remaining question if internet per se actually is the driving component— affecting experienced well-being in later life— or if it is merely a key component of an already rich everyday life. In both design and implementation of technology, the process could entail more value and be facilitated if the user groups (which can be both older persons and practitioners) are actively participating and contributing with their expertise and contextual knowledge. However, advances are needed also regarding the methods for participatory technology design among older persons and especially regarding participatory approaches with diverse groups of older persons (especially more vulnerable groups). The findings highlights the importance of not generalizing the perquisites nor the health promotion actions for experiencing wellbeing an increasingly digital everyday later life.Bakgrund: Digitaliseringen av tjĂ€nster Ă€r en snabbt vĂ€xande samhĂ€llstrend och ses som en av de viktigaste lösningarna för att göra de omstĂ€llningar som krĂ€vs för att möta mĂ„nga av framtidens utmaningar. I och med att digitala verktyg och tjĂ€nster Ă€r en stor del av vardagen för en klar majoritet av befolkningen Ă€r det följaktligen viktigt att undersöka vĂ€lbefinnandet i en digital vardagskontext – ocksĂ„ bland Ă€ldre. Digitaliseringen innebĂ€r ocksĂ„ ett förĂ€ndrat arbetssĂ€tt inom social-och hĂ€lsovĂ„rdssektorn. Att pĂ„ ett meningsfullt sĂ€tt inkludera Ă€ldre i utvecklingen av tjĂ€nster som berör dem Ă€r viktig och rekommenderas i sĂ„vĂ€l riktlinjer för att frĂ€mja ett aktivt och hĂ€lsosamt Ă„ldrande som inom innovationsforskning. Överlag behövs mera tillĂ€mpad forskning för att kunna göra framsteg inom det gerontekonogiska forskningsfĂ€ltet och för att kunna utveckla det hĂ€lsofrĂ€mjande arbetet. Syfte: Att undersöka det mĂ„ngdimensionella subjektiva vĂ€lbefinnandet bland Ă€ldre och att fördjupa kunskapen om hĂ€lsofrĂ€mjande arbete och samskapandearbetssĂ€tt med Ă€ldre personer i en alltmer digital vardag. Metod: Avhandlingen har en multi-metod design och innehĂ„ller fyra enskilda studier. De tvĂ„ första baserar sig pĂ„ material som insamlats genom en enkĂ€t inom ramarna för GERDA-projektet Ă„r 2016 och Ă€r befolkningsbaserade tvĂ€rsnittsstudier. Den tredje studien bestĂ„r av fokusgruppintervjuer som gjorts med personal som arbetar med hĂ€lsofrĂ€mjande arbete i tvĂ„ regioner i Finland och Sverige under 2019–2020. I den fjĂ€rde studien analyserades semistrukturerade intervjuer som gjordes med Ă€ldre personer som deltog i projektet @geing online under Ă„ren 2018–2020. Resultat: Avhandlingen visar pĂ„ att det finns ett samband mellan subjektivt vĂ€lbefinnande och internetanvĂ€ndning och digitala tjĂ€nster bland Ă€ldre personer i Botnia regionen. För att inte gĂ„ miste om viktig information om kopplingen mellan subjektivt vĂ€lbefinnande och internetanvĂ€ndning behöver man beakta bĂ„de vilka digitala tjĂ€nster som Ă€ldre anvĂ€nder samt hur vĂ€lbefinnande egentligen mĂ€ts. Vad gĂ€ller hĂ€lsofrĂ€mjande arbete riktat till Ă€ldre visar avhandlingens resultat pĂ„ vikten att se de Ă€ldre personerna inom den Ă€ldre befolkningen. Vidare förslĂ„s ocksĂ„ att digitala tjĂ€nster och samskapande tillvĂ€gagĂ„ngssĂ€tt kan möjliggöra personcentrering och skrĂ€ddarsydda tjĂ€nster genom att förĂ€ndra styva riktlinjer och arbetssĂ€tt samt motarbeta de egna fördomarna. Resultaten visar ocksĂ„ att det kan vara upplyftande att delta i utvecklingen av en ny applikation och att intresset för digitala verktyg och tilltron till sig sjĂ€lv som teknikanvĂ€ndare ökade bland Ă€ldre deltagare. Samtidigt Ă€r samskapande innovationsprocesser inte linjĂ€ra, utan det rör sig snarare om omstĂ€ndliga processer som ocksĂ„ kan vĂ€cka olika kĂ€nslor förknippade med besvikelse bland deltagarna. Slutsatser: Digitaliseringen handlar om mycket mer Ă€n bara teknik. För att kunna fĂ„ svar pĂ„ frĂ„gan om internetanvĂ€ndning verkligen pĂ„verkar vĂ€lbefinnande bland Ă€ldre eller om olika digitala tjĂ€nster bara Ă€r en del av ett sedan tidigare rikt liv behövs mera forskning. Framtida studier behöver inkludera och kombinera olika metoder samt undersöka bĂ„da ”offline” och ”online” aktiviteter samtidigt i en vardagskontext för att kunna titta nĂ€rmare pĂ„ för vem och under vilka omstĂ€ndigheter internet potentiellt kan frĂ€mja vĂ€lbefinnande. BĂ„de utvecklingen och implementeringen av nya digitala verktyg kan underlĂ€ttas och ge mervĂ€rde ifall anvĂ€ndare (bĂ„de Ă€ldre och personal i detta fall) aktivt deltar och involveras. Forskning om samskapande innovationsprocesser behöver utökas och metoder för sĂ„dana tillvĂ€gagĂ„ngssĂ€tt utvecklas – speciellt dĂ„ det kommer till Ă€ldre och de olika grupperna inom den Ă€ldre befolkningen. Slutligen Ă€r det viktigt att inte generalisera dĂ„ det kommer till Ă€ldres subjektiva vĂ€lbefinnande, internetanvĂ€ndning och hĂ€lsofrĂ€mjande arbete

    The dug-up heart: becoming a nun in the company of others

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    This thesis explores the self-making journeys of Indonesian Catholic nuns as they unfold in the company of others. In its intimate, performative, and institutional capacities, being in company, I argue, is the method by which nuns are made, both as united, interchangeable subjects, and as vibrant individuals. Regularly reassigned to convents throughout the world, encouraged to adapt to diverse communities, and tasked with bearing joy to others, women learn that the path to sisterhood requires strong self-knowledge and a powerful reckoning with the heart. This reckoning can only be accomplished through the embodied participation of other people, especially the small cast of characters who share a convent. Through traditional ethnographic and experimental performance methods conducted during two years of fieldwork in Flores Timur, I explore how the sociality of company elicits the layered, mutable, and mysterious dimensions of personhood. While close participant-observation revealed the everyday intimacies and agonies of convent life, experimental performance ethnography workshops harnessed skills widely in evidence in the convent to illuminate nuns’ embodied, intersubjective strategies of attention and mutual becoming. Hailing from kin-centric, mobile, and impoverished eastern Indonesia, nuns learn early in their formation that all people are endowed by God with special talents, bear the wounds of childhood trauma, and inhabit a unique style: three elements that constitute their characters. In the convent, nuns play off and into each other’s characters as they attempt to maintain a moral mood of calm and joy. They hope to carry this mood on their visits to Indonesia’s multi-religious communities, where they aim, amidst all their development and missionary projects, to just be present. Company, they feel, is an act of service and a crucial part of what makes them who they are. Ultimately, I suggest, their example may expand our own horizons of the social dynamics of self-becoming
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