13,405 research outputs found
The Metaverse: Survey, Trends, Novel Pipeline Ecosystem & Future Directions
The Metaverse offers a second world beyond reality, where boundaries are
non-existent, and possibilities are endless through engagement and immersive
experiences using the virtual reality (VR) technology. Many disciplines can
benefit from the advancement of the Metaverse when accurately developed,
including the fields of technology, gaming, education, art, and culture.
Nevertheless, developing the Metaverse environment to its full potential is an
ambiguous task that needs proper guidance and directions. Existing surveys on
the Metaverse focus only on a specific aspect and discipline of the Metaverse
and lack a holistic view of the entire process. To this end, a more holistic,
multi-disciplinary, in-depth, and academic and industry-oriented review is
required to provide a thorough study of the Metaverse development pipeline. To
address these issues, we present in this survey a novel multi-layered pipeline
ecosystem composed of (1) the Metaverse computing, networking, communications
and hardware infrastructure, (2) environment digitization, and (3) user
interactions. For every layer, we discuss the components that detail the steps
of its development. Also, for each of these components, we examine the impact
of a set of enabling technologies and empowering domains (e.g., Artificial
Intelligence, Security & Privacy, Blockchain, Business, Ethics, and Social) on
its advancement. In addition, we explain the importance of these technologies
to support decentralization, interoperability, user experiences, interactions,
and monetization. Our presented study highlights the existing challenges for
each component, followed by research directions and potential solutions. To the
best of our knowledge, this survey is the most comprehensive and allows users,
scholars, and entrepreneurs to get an in-depth understanding of the Metaverse
ecosystem to find their opportunities and potentials for contribution
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Defamiliarizing assessment and feedback: exploring the potential of ‘moments of engagement’ to throw light on the marking of undergraduate assignments
Assessors’ perspectives on their evaluative practices remain relatively under-researched. Given evidence that higher education assessment and feedback continue to be problematic, this paper proposes a specific methodological innovation with potential to contribute both to research and practice in this area. It explores the potential of a micro-analysis of textual engagement, nested within an ethnographic approach, to defamiliarize the often taken-for-granted practice of marking. The study on which the paper is based used screen capture combined with audio-recorded, concurrent talk-around-text to throw light on the processes, strategies and perspectives of eight teachers within one university as they assessed undergraduates’ work. This close-up focus was nested within broader ethnographic data generation incorporating interviews, marked assignments and other assessment-related texts. The paper presents selected ‘moments of engagement’ to show how this methodology can offer a renewed understanding of evaluative literacies as complex, ‘messy’ and shot through with influences invisible in the final assessed text but which may nevertheless be highly consequential. The paper concludes by reflecting on the potential for this type of data and analysis to contribute to assessor development and inform debate about the future of higher education assessment
The Viability and Potential Consequences of IoT-Based Ransomware
With the increased threat of ransomware and the substantial growth of the Internet of Things (IoT) market, there is significant motivation for attackers to carry out IoT-based ransomware campaigns. In this thesis, the viability of such malware is tested.
As part of this work, various techniques that could be used by ransomware developers to attack commercial IoT devices were explored. First, methods that attackers could use to communicate with the victim were examined, such that a ransom note was able to be reliably sent to a victim. Next, the viability of using "bricking" as a method of ransom was evaluated, such that devices could be remotely disabled unless the victim makes a payment to the attacker. Research was then performed to ascertain whether it was possible to remotely gain persistence on IoT devices, which would improve the efficacy of existing ransomware methods, and provide opportunities for more advanced ransomware to be created. Finally, after successfully identifying a number of persistence techniques, the viability of privacy-invasion based ransomware was analysed.
For each assessed technique, proofs of concept were developed. A range of devices -- with various intended purposes, such as routers, cameras and phones -- were used to test the viability of these proofs of concept. To test communication hijacking, devices' "channels of communication" -- such as web services and embedded screens -- were identified, then hijacked to display custom ransom notes. During the analysis of bricking-based ransomware, a working proof of concept was created, which was then able to remotely brick five IoT devices. After analysing the storage design of an assortment of IoT devices, six different persistence techniques were identified, which were then successfully tested on four devices, such that malicious filesystem modifications would be retained after the device was rebooted. When researching privacy-invasion based ransomware, several methods were created to extract information from data sources that can be commonly found on IoT devices, such as nearby WiFi signals, images from cameras, or audio from microphones. These were successfully implemented in a test environment such that ransomable data could be extracted, processed, and stored for later use to blackmail the victim.
Overall, IoT-based ransomware has not only been shown to be viable but also highly damaging to both IoT devices and their users. While the use of IoT-ransomware is still very uncommon "in the wild", the techniques demonstrated within this work highlight an urgent need to improve the security of IoT devices to avoid the risk of IoT-based ransomware causing havoc in our society. Finally, during the development of these proofs of concept, a number of potential countermeasures were identified, which can be used to limit the effectiveness of the attacking techniques discovered in this PhD research
One Small Step for Generative AI, One Giant Leap for AGI: A Complete Survey on ChatGPT in AIGC Era
OpenAI has recently released GPT-4 (a.k.a. ChatGPT plus), which is
demonstrated to be one small step for generative AI (GAI), but one giant leap
for artificial general intelligence (AGI). Since its official release in
November 2022, ChatGPT has quickly attracted numerous users with extensive
media coverage. Such unprecedented attention has also motivated numerous
researchers to investigate ChatGPT from various aspects. According to Google
scholar, there are more than 500 articles with ChatGPT in their titles or
mentioning it in their abstracts. Considering this, a review is urgently
needed, and our work fills this gap. Overall, this work is the first to survey
ChatGPT with a comprehensive review of its underlying technology, applications,
and challenges. Moreover, we present an outlook on how ChatGPT might evolve to
realize general-purpose AIGC (a.k.a. AI-generated content), which will be a
significant milestone for the development of AGI.Comment: A Survey on ChatGPT and GPT-4, 29 pages. Feedback is appreciated
([email protected]
Self-Supervised Learning to Prove Equivalence Between Straight-Line Programs via Rewrite Rules
We target the problem of automatically synthesizing proofs of semantic
equivalence between two programs made of sequences of statements. We represent
programs using abstract syntax trees (AST), where a given set of
semantics-preserving rewrite rules can be applied on a specific AST pattern to
generate a transformed and semantically equivalent program. In our system, two
programs are equivalent if there exists a sequence of application of these
rewrite rules that leads to rewriting one program into the other. We propose a
neural network architecture based on a transformer model to generate proofs of
equivalence between program pairs. The system outputs a sequence of rewrites,
and the validity of the sequence is simply checked by verifying it can be
applied. If no valid sequence is produced by the neural network, the system
reports the programs as non-equivalent, ensuring by design no programs may be
incorrectly reported as equivalent. Our system is fully implemented for a given
grammar which can represent straight-line programs with function calls and
multiple types. To efficiently train the system to generate such sequences, we
develop an original incremental training technique, named self-supervised
sample selection. We extensively study the effectiveness of this novel training
approach on proofs of increasing complexity and length. Our system, S4Eq,
achieves 97% proof success on a curated dataset of 10,000 pairs of equivalent
programsComment: 30 pages including appendi
A Design Science Research Approach to Smart and Collaborative Urban Supply Networks
Urban supply networks are facing increasing demands and challenges and thus constitute a relevant field for research and practical development. Supply chain management holds enormous potential and relevance for society and everyday life as the flow of goods and information are important economic functions. Being a heterogeneous field, the literature base of supply chain management research is difficult to manage and navigate. Disruptive digital technologies and the implementation of cross-network information analysis and sharing drive the need for new organisational and technological approaches. Practical issues are manifold and include mega trends such as digital transformation, urbanisation, and environmental awareness.
A promising approach to solving these problems is the realisation of smart and collaborative supply networks. The growth of artificial intelligence applications in recent years has led to a wide range of applications in a variety of domains. However, the potential of artificial intelligence utilisation in supply chain management has not yet been fully exploited. Similarly, value creation increasingly takes place in networked value creation cycles that have become continuously more collaborative, complex, and dynamic as interactions in business processes involving information technologies have become more intense.
Following a design science research approach this cumulative thesis comprises the development and discussion of four artefacts for the analysis and advancement of smart and collaborative urban supply networks. This thesis aims to highlight the potential of artificial intelligence-based supply networks, to advance data-driven inter-organisational collaboration, and to improve last mile supply network sustainability. Based on thorough machine learning and systematic literature reviews, reference and system dynamics modelling, simulation, and qualitative empirical research, the artefacts provide a valuable contribution to research and practice
Examples of works to practice staccato technique in clarinet instrument
Klarnetin staccato tekniğini güçlendirme aşamaları eser çalışmalarıyla uygulanmıştır. Staccato
geçişlerini hızlandıracak ritim ve nüans çalışmalarına yer verilmiştir. Çalışmanın en önemli amacı
sadece staccato çalışması değil parmak-dilin eş zamanlı uyumunun hassasiyeti üzerinde de
durulmasıdır. Staccato çalışmalarını daha verimli hale getirmek için eser çalışmasının içinde etüt
çalışmasına da yer verilmiştir. Çalışmaların üzerinde titizlikle durulması staccato çalışmasının ilham
verici etkisi ile müzikal kimliğe yeni bir boyut kazandırmıştır. Sekiz özgün eser çalışmasının her
aşaması anlatılmıştır. Her aşamanın bir sonraki performans ve tekniği güçlendirmesi esas alınmıştır.
Bu çalışmada staccato tekniğinin hangi alanlarda kullanıldığı, nasıl sonuçlar elde edildiği bilgisine
yer verilmiştir. Notaların parmak ve dil uyumu ile nasıl şekilleneceği ve nasıl bir çalışma disiplini
içinde gerçekleşeceği planlanmıştır. Kamış-nota-diyafram-parmak-dil-nüans ve disiplin
kavramlarının staccato tekniğinde ayrılmaz bir bütün olduğu saptanmıştır. Araştırmada literatür
taraması yapılarak staccato ile ilgili çalışmalar taranmıştır. Tarama sonucunda klarnet tekniğin de
kullanılan staccato eser çalışmasının az olduğu tespit edilmiştir. Metot taramasında da etüt
çalışmasının daha çok olduğu saptanmıştır. Böylelikle klarnetin staccato tekniğini hızlandırma ve
güçlendirme çalışmaları sunulmuştur. Staccato etüt çalışmaları yapılırken, araya eser çalışmasının
girmesi beyni rahatlattığı ve istekliliği daha arttırdığı gözlemlenmiştir. Staccato çalışmasını yaparken
doğru bir kamış seçimi üzerinde de durulmuştur. Staccato tekniğini doğru çalışmak için doğru bir
kamışın dil hızını arttırdığı saptanmıştır. Doğru bir kamış seçimi kamıştan rahat ses çıkmasına
bağlıdır. Kamış, dil atma gücünü vermiyorsa daha doğru bir kamış seçiminin yapılması gerekliliği
vurgulanmıştır. Staccato çalışmalarında baştan sona bir eseri yorumlamak zor olabilir. Bu açıdan
çalışma, verilen müzikal nüanslara uymanın, dil atış performansını rahatlattığını ortaya koymuştur.
Gelecek nesillere edinilen bilgi ve birikimlerin aktarılması ve geliştirici olması teşvik edilmiştir.
Çıkacak eserlerin nasıl çözüleceği, staccato tekniğinin nasıl üstesinden gelinebileceği anlatılmıştır.
Staccato tekniğinin daha kısa sürede çözüme kavuşturulması amaç edinilmiştir. Parmakların
yerlerini öğrettiğimiz kadar belleğimize de çalışmaların kaydedilmesi önemlidir. Gösterilen azmin ve
sabrın sonucu olarak ortaya çıkan yapıt başarıyı daha da yukarı seviyelere çıkaracaktır
Conversion of Legal Agreements into Smart Legal Contracts using NLP
A Smart Legal Contract (SLC) is a specialized digital agreement comprising
natural language and computable components. The Accord Project provides an
open-source SLC framework containing three main modules: Cicero, Concerto, and
Ergo. Currently, we need lawyers, programmers, and clients to work together
with great effort to create a usable SLC using the Accord Project. This paper
proposes a pipeline to automate the SLC creation process with several Natural
Language Processing (NLP) models to convert law contracts to the Accord
Project's Concerto model. After evaluating the proposed pipeline, we discovered
that our NER pipeline accurately detects CiceroMark from Accord Project
template text with an accuracy of 0.8. Additionally, our Question Answering
method can extract one-third of the Concerto variables from the template text.
We also delve into some limitations and possible future research for the
proposed pipeline. Finally, we describe a web interface enabling users to build
SLCs. This interface leverages the proposed pipeline to convert text documents
to Smart Legal Contracts by using NLP models.Comment: 7 pages, Companion Proceedings of the ACM Web Conference 2023 (WWW
'23 Companion), April 30-May 4, 2023, Austin, TX, US
Multiple criteria approach applied to digital transformation in fashion stores: the case of physical retailers in Spain
This research is funded by the Spanish State Research Agency, as part of the project PID2019103880RB-I00/AEI/10.13039/501100011033, and by the Andalusian Government, as part of the project P20_00673.In a very open competitive context where pure online players are consistently gaining
market share, the use of digital devices is a steady trend which is penetrating physical retail
stores as a tool for retailers to improve customer experience and increase engagement. This need
has increased with the COVID-19 pandemic as electronic devices in physical stores reduce the
contact between people providing a greater sense of health safety, hence improving the customer
experience. This work develops a multiple-criteria decision-making model for retailers who want
to digitize their physical stores, providing a systematic approach to manage investment priorities
in the organization. Important decisions should involve all different areas of the organization:
Finance, Clients, Internal Processes and Learning & Growth departments. This strategic decision
can be made hierarchically to obtain consistent decisions, also the use of the Order Weighted
Average operator allows for alternative scenarios to be presented and agreed among the different
areas of the business. The authors develop a use case for a Spanish fashion retailer. In the most
widely agreed scenario the preferred devices were more technologically complex and expensive,
while in the scenarios where the head of Finance is more predominant, cheaper and simpler
devices were selected.Spanish Government PID2019103880RB-I00/AEI/10.13039/501100011033Andalusian Government P20_0067
INVESTIGATING THE PERCEPTION OF EXPATRIATES TOWARDS IMMIGRATION SERVICE QUALITY IN SHARJAH, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES THROUGH MIXED METHOD APPROACH
The public sectors in UAE are under immense pressure to demonstrate that their services are customer-focused and that continuous performance improvement is being delivered. The United Arab Emirates is a favoured destination for expatriates due to its own citizens form a minority of the population and are barely represented in the private sector workforce. These highly unusual demographics confer high importance on the national immigration services. Recently, increased interest in international migration, specifically within the United Arab Emirates, has been shown both by government agencies and by the governments of industrialised countries. Given the importance of the expatriate labour force to economic stability and growth in the Emirates, this research investigates how immigration services are perceived, with the aim of contributing to their improvement, thus ultimately supporting economic growth. It proposes a service quality perception framework to improve understanding within SID of how to raise levels of service delivered to migrants and other persons directly or indirectly affected by SID services.
Qualitative data were collected by means of semi-structured interviews and quantitative data by means of a questionnaire survey based on the abovementioned framework. The survey data, on the variables influencing participants’ experiences and perceptions of SID services, were subjected to statistical analysis. The framework was then used to evaluate quality of service in terms of general impressions, delivery, location, response, SID culture and behaviour. Numerical data were analysed using inferential and descriptive statistics. It was found that service quality positively influenced service behaviour and that this relationship was mediated by SID culture.
This research makes an original contribution to knowledge as one of the few studies of immigration to the United Arab Emirates. By examining the workings of one immigration department, it adds to the literature on immigration departments and organisational development in developing countries. It illuminates the mechanics of immigration services and demonstrates their increasing importance to the world economy
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