An integrated task manager for virtual command and control

The Task Manager is a desktop/tablet PC interface to the Battlespace research project that provides interactions and displays for supervisory control of unmanned aerial vehicles. Utilizing a north-up map display, the Task Manager provides a direct-manipulation interface to the units involved in an engagement. Used in two primary modes, the Task Manager can be used either in a planning/review mode that can be used to generate mission scenarios or a live-streaming mode that connects to a live Battlespace simulation via a network connection to edit and update path information on the fly. The goal of this research is to combine the precision of 2D mouse and pen-based interaction with the increased situational awareness provided by 3D battlefield visualizations like the Battlespace application. Combined use of these interfaces, either by a single operator or a small team of operators with task-specific roles, is proposed to produce a more favorable ratio of operators to units in field operations with superior decision-making capabilities due to the specific nature of the interfaces

Creative problem solving through methods of collaborative improvisation

The field of graphic design is an inherently creative and collaborative endeavor. The design process itself can involve a range of people and variables that are brought together for the purpose of creation through a forum of influence, exchange and teamwork. This thesis will study problem solving processes in a variety of settings, the role of parameters and constraints, and their effects on the evolution of creativity, particularly focusing on solutions that are responses to the predefined context in which they are created. One of the major goals of this thesis is to infuse the graphic design approach to problem solving with fresh perspectives from a variety of sources. This thesis involves the evaluation of methods across a range of disciplines, where the end product is brought into being through an improvisational collaborative process in which there is no singular expectation from inception to completion

Priming sentence planning

Sentence production requires mapping preverbal messages onto linguistic structures. Because sentences are normally built incrementally, the information encoded in a sentence-initial increment is critical for explaining how the mapping process starts and for predicting its timecourse. Two experiments tested whether and when speakers prioritize encoding of different types of information at the outset of formulation by comparing production of descriptions of transitive events (e.g., A dog is chasing the mailman) that differed on two dimensions: the ease of naming individual characters and the ease of apprehending the event gist (i.e., encoding the relational structure of the event). To additionally manipulate ease of encoding, speakers described the target events after receiving lexical primes (facilitating naming; Experiment 1) or structural primes (facilitating generation of a linguistic structure; Experiment 2). Both properties of the pictured events and both types of primes influenced the form of target descriptions and the timecourse of formulation: character-specific variables increased the probability of speakers encoding one character with priority at the outset of formulation, while the ease of encoding event gist and of generating a syntactic structure increased the likelihood of early encoding of information about both characters. The results show that formulation is flexible and highlight some of the conditions under which speakers might employ different planning strategies

Experiencing discovery: Designing for visual delight

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The role of phonology in visual word recognition: evidence from Chinese

Posters - Letter/Word Processing V: abstract no. 5024The hypothesis of bidirectional coupling of orthography and phonology predicts that phonology plays a role in visual word recognition, as observed in the effects of feedforward and feedback spelling to sound consistency on lexical decision. However, because orthography and phonology are closely related in alphabetic languages (homophones in alphabetic languages are usually orthographically similar), it is difficult to exclude an influence of orthography on phonological effects in visual word recognition. Chinese languages contain many written homophones that are orthographically dissimilar, allowing a test of the claim that phonological effects can be independent of orthographic similarity. We report a study of visual word recognition in Chinese based on a mega-analysis of lexical decision performance with 500 characters. The results from multiple regression analyses, after controlling for orthographic frequency, stroke number, and radical frequency, showed main effects of feedforward and feedback consistency, as well as interactions between these variables and phonological frequency and number of homophones. Implications of these results for resonance models of visual word recognition are discussed.postprin

System identification of a free floating telerobot using Kalman filtering and a stereoscopic vision sensor

Due to the character of the original source materials and the nature of batch digitization, quality control issues may be present in this document. Please report any quality issues you encounter to [email protected], referencing the URI of the item.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 78-79).Issued also on microfiche from Lange Micrographics.A telerobot has been acquired that floats on air bearings and is intended to simulate the dynamics of a spacecraft in a two-dimensional plane. The robot was delivered without a computer, sensors or documentation so an effort has been launched to determine how the apparatus worked and to identify the model parameters associated with mass, moment of inertia and thrust. The robot has been modified to accommodate a laptop as the onboard computer and a unique stereoscopic vision sensor as a navigation system. The unknown model parameters are then identified using both least squares estimation and Kalman filtering. The unique stereoscopic vision sensor system is based on one-dimensional position sensing diodes (PSD's) and active targets that broadcast a modulated signal. The active targets are mounted at known points in the robot frame of reference and broadcast their signal to the PSD sensors that are stationary in the inertial coordinate frame. This system enables real-time attitude measurements with no moving parts. The robot's mass, moment of inertia and the forces generated by its thrusters are identified using direct measurements and the well known linear least squares estimation algorithm. Identification using these techniques required experiments specifically designed to characterize the system. Some of the parameters may change over time, so a means of conducting on-line system identification was developed. A Kalman filter was designed which could simultaneously perform state estimation and parameter identification on-line. This technique did not require an experiment specifically designed for identification purposes and could accurately find the unknown model parameters during normal robot maneuvering

Interactive effects of orthography and semantics in Chinese picture naming

Posters - Language Production/Writing: abstract no. 4035Picture-naming performance in English and Dutch is enhanced by presentation of a word that is similar in form to the picture name. However, it is unclear whether facilitation has an orthographic or a phonological locus. We investigated the loci of the facilitation effect in Cantonese Chinese speakers by manipulating—at three SOAs (2100, 0, and 1100 msec)—semantic, orthographic, and phonological similarity. We identified an effect of orthographic facilitation that was independent of and larger than phonological facilitation across all SOAs. Semantic interference was also found at SOAs of 2100 and 0 msec. Critically, an interaction of semantics and orthography was observed at an SOA of 1100 msec. This interaction suggests that independent effects of orthographic facilitation on picture naming are located either at the level of semantic processing or at the lemma level and are not due to the activation of picture name segments at the level of phonological retrieval.postprin

On the Screen, In the Mind: An ERP Investigation into the Interaction Between Visuo-Spatial Information and Spatial Language During On-Line Processing

This project used Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) to explore neurophysiological brain responses to prepositional phrases involving concrete and abstract reference nouns (e.g., plate and moment , respectively) after the presentation of objects with varying spatial features. Prepositional phrases were headed by in or on and were either matching (e.g., in the plate/moment ) or mismatching (e.g., on the plate/moment ). Conjunction phrase matches and fillers were also presented. Before half of the concrete-phrase items, a photographic depiction of the reference noun was presented. In these photographs, objects were displayed in a way that was either more appropriate for in or for on. Similarly, before half of the abstract-phrase trials, photographs of nonce objects with spatial features that were either more appropriate for in or for on were presented. For the remaining trials, either no picture was displayed, or a picture of a random object was displayed. Results indicated that linguistic and visual context impacted ERPs to words in these phrases. Beginning with linguistic context, all prepositional phrases yielded negative slow-wave activity in parietal and occipital sites, while conjunction phrases did not. Because this negativity is modulated by processes involved in the generation and manipulation of spatial imagery, this finding indicates that a similar spatial-image-formation process is involved in the processing of both concrete and abstract prepositional phrases. There were differences between responses to concrete and abstract phrases as well. Mismatching concrete reference nouns yielded a relatively large centro-parietal N400 response, suggesting that these nouns were semantically unexpected. Mismatching abstract nouns, on the other hand, yielded a late, marginally significant positivity, showing that the presentation of these nouns required phrase reanalysis and/or reconstruction. The latter result casts doubt on accounts of polysemy claiming that abstract uses of prepositions are cognitively and metaphorically linked to their spatial senses. Visual stimuli also impacted responses to the phrases. The type of object presented in the picture before the phrase impacted N400 responses to prepositions, where pictures of in objects yielded smaller N400 responses to in and vice versa for on, no matter the configuration of the object in the picture. This suggests that an object’s category – rather than its specific visual in a particular context– primes a preposition’s lexical denotation. The impact of object type was also observable downstream from the N400 to prepositions. Parieto-occipital slow-wave negativity increased after the presentation of random objects and after the presentation of no picture as compared to responses to phrases presented after pictures of in or on objects. This result implies increased reliance on internal image-formation processes to scaffold linguistic processing when external visual information does not facilitate phrasal interpretation and/or recollection. While the configuration of the object presented in the picture before the phrase did not impact responses to prepositions, it did impact responses to concrete reference nouns. Pictures of objects in spatially mismatching configurations elicited frontal N400 effects, which are believed to index the amodal incorporation of image-mediated information into on-line semantic processing. Frontal N400s were also impacted by phrase type (match versus mismatch), where frontal N400s to matching nouns after spatially mismatching pictures dissipated earlier than for mismatching nouns, suggesting that processes involved in integrating visual context are completed more quickly (and perhaps less effortfully) when the noun is primed by semantic context than when it is not. This is similar to the response pattern for prepositions – when prepositions were unprimed by semantic (visual) context, there was increased effort involved in spatial-image formation. Together, results reveal a multifaceted interaction between phrasal expectations and visual priming during the processing of natural spatial language about real-world objects and abstract concepts. More broadly, findings imply that the processing of all language, even simple phrases containing words that are believed to have limited semantic content, engages a complex neural network involving linguistic and non-linguistic representations