Computational Visualistics: Dealing with Pictures in Computer Science

Building blocks from many disciplines have to be integrated into a general science of images. Computational visualistics has been formed as a contributing field embracing all aspects of dealing with images computationally. Two basic concepts of computer science are introduced. Applied to the concept "image", they determine the methodological core of computational visualistics. As the contribution of computer science to the subject of image theory, interactive pictures are examined. Finally, relations to other "image sciences" are sketched. * * * Bausteine vieler Disziplinen müssen in eine allgemeine Bildwissenschaft integriert werden. Als Beitrag aus der Informatik versteht sich die Computervisualistik, die alle Aspekte rechnergestützten Umgangs mit Bildern umfaßt. Zwei Grundbegriffe der Informatik werden vorgestellt und bestimmen, auf den Begriff "Bild" angewendet, den methodologischen Kern der Computervisualistik. Als Beitrag der Informatik zum Gegenstand der Bildtheorie werden interaktive Bilder betrachtet. Schließlich werden die Beziehungen zu anderen "Bildwissenschaften" kurz umrissen

A Case Study of Using Online Communities and Virtual Environment in Massively Multiplayer Role Playing Games (MMORPGs) as a Learning and Teaching Tool for Second Language Learners

Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs) create large virtual communities. Online gaming shows potential not just for entertaining, but also in education. This research investigates the use of commercial MMORPGs to support second language teaching. MMORPGs offer virtual safe spaces in which students can communicate by using their target second language with global players. Using a mix of ethnography and action research, this study explores the students’ experiences of language learning and performing while playing MMORPGs. The results show that the use of MMORPGs can facilitate language development by offering fun, informal, individualised and secure virtual spaces for students to practise their language with native and other second language speakers

Harmony and Technology Enhanced Learning

New technologies offer rich opportunities to support education in harmony. In this chapter we consider theoretical perspectives and underlying principles behind technologies for learning and teaching harmony. Such perspectives help in matching existing and future technologies to educational purposes, and to inspire the creative re-appropriation of technologies

Quantum Interactive Proofs with Competing Provers

This paper studies quantum refereed games, which are quantum interactive proof systems with two competing provers: one that tries to convince the verifier to accept and the other that tries to convince the verifier to reject. We prove that every language having an ordinary quantum interactive proof system also has a quantum refereed game in which the verifier exchanges just one round of messages with each prover. A key part of our proof is the fact that there exists a single quantum measurement that reliably distinguishes between mixed states chosen arbitrarily from disjoint convex sets having large minimal trace distance from one another. We also show how to reduce the probability of error for some classes of quantum refereed games.Comment: 13 pages, to appear in STACS 200

Learning programming with an RTS based Serious Game

International audienceThis paper presents a prototype of a Serious Game that aims to entice gamers to learn computer programming by using a multiplayer real time strategy game (RTS). In this type of game, a player gives orders to his/her units to carry out operations (i.e. moving, building, and so forth). Typically, these instructions are given by clicking on a map with the mouse. The goal of this project is to encourage players to give these orders through programming. This game is intended for computer science students in higher education and can be used across both university and professional curricula. The programming languages used are C or C++

Standard State Space Models of Unawareness

The impossibility theorem of Dekel, Lipman and Rustichini has been thought to demonstrate that standard state-space models cannot be used to represent unawareness. We first show that Dekel, Lipman and Rustichini do not establish this claim. We then distinguish three notions of awareness, and argue that although one of them may not be adequately modeled using standard state spaces, there is no reason to think that standard state spaces cannot provide models of the other two notions. In fact, standard space models of these forms of awareness are attractively simple. They allow us to prove completeness and decidability results with ease, to carry over standard techniques from decision theory, and to add propositional quantifiers straightforwardly