56,863 research outputs found
Relational Approach to Knowledge Engineering for POMDP-based Assistance Systems as a Translation of a Psychological Model
Assistive systems for persons with cognitive disabilities (e.g. dementia) are
difficult to build due to the wide range of different approaches people can
take to accomplishing the same task, and the significant uncertainties that
arise from both the unpredictability of client's behaviours and from noise in
sensor readings. Partially observable Markov decision process (POMDP) models
have been used successfully as the reasoning engine behind such assistive
systems for small multi-step tasks such as hand washing. POMDP models are a
powerful, yet flexible framework for modelling assistance that can deal with
uncertainty and utility. Unfortunately, POMDPs usually require a very labour
intensive, manual procedure for their definition and construction. Our previous
work has described a knowledge driven method for automatically generating POMDP
activity recognition and context sensitive prompting systems for complex tasks.
We call the resulting POMDP a SNAP (SyNdetic Assistance Process). The
spreadsheet-like result of the analysis does not correspond to the POMDP model
directly and the translation to a formal POMDP representation is required. To
date, this translation had to be performed manually by a trained POMDP expert.
In this paper, we formalise and automate this translation process using a
probabilistic relational model (PRM) encoded in a relational database. We
demonstrate the method by eliciting three assistance tasks from non-experts. We
validate the resulting POMDP models using case-based simulations to show that
they are reasonable for the domains. We also show a complete case study of a
designer specifying one database, including an evaluation in a real-life
experiment with a human actor
The Function of Gesture in an Architectural Design Meeting
This text presents a cognitive-psychology analysis of spontaneous, co-speech
gestures in a face-to-face architectural design meeting (A1 in DTRS7). The
long-term objective is to formulate specifications for remote
collaborative-design systems, especially for supporting the use of different
semiotic modalities (multi-modal interaction). According to their function for
design, interaction, and collaboration, we distinguish different gesture
families: representational (entity designating or specifying), organisational
(management of discourse, interaction, or functional design actions),
focalising, discourse and interaction modulating, and disambiguating gestures.
Discussion and conclusion concern the following points. It is impossible to
attribute fixed functions to particular gesture forms. "Designating" gestures
may also have a design function. The gestures identified in A1 possess a
certain generic character. The gestures identified are neither systematically
irreplaceable, nor optional accessories to speech or drawing. We discuss the
possibilities for gesture in computer-supported collaborative software systems.
The paper closes on our contribution to gesture studies and cognitive design
research
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The THREAT-ARREST Cyber-Security Training Platform
Cyber security is always a main concern for critical infrastructures and nation-wide safety and sustainability. Thus, advanced cyber ranges and security training is becoming imperative for the involved organizations. This paper presets a cyber security training platform, called THREAT-ARREST. The various platform modules can analyze an organization’s system, identify the most critical threats, and tailor a training program to its personnel needs. Then, different training programmes are created based on the trainee types (i.e. administrator, simple operator, etc.), providing several teaching procedures and accomplishing diverse learning goals. One of the main novelties of THREAT-ARREST is the modelling of these programmes along with the runtime monitoring, management, and evaluation operations. The platform is generic. Nevertheless, its applicability in a smart energy case study is detailed
Development Strategies for Pythia version 7
This document describes the strategies for the development of the Pythia7
program. Both the internal and external structure of the program is discussed.
Some comments on relationship to other software is given as well as some
comments on coding conventions and other technical details.Comment: 27 pages, 3 eps figure
Teaching telecommunication standards: bridging the gap between theory and practice
©2017 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.Telecommunication standards have become a reliable mechanism to strengthen collaboration between industry and research institutions to accelerate the evolution of communications systems. Standards are needed to enable cooperation while promoting competition. Within the framework of a standard, the companies involved in the standardization process contribute and agree on appropriate technical specifications to ensure diversity and compatibility, and facilitate worldwide commercial deployment and evolution. Those parts of the system that can create competitive advantages are intentionally left open in the specifications. Such specifications are extensive, complex, and minimalistic. This makes telecommunication standards education a difficult endeavor, but it is much demanded by industry and governments to spur economic growth. This article describes a methodology for teaching wireless communications standards. We define our methodology around six learning stages that assimilate the standardization process and identify key learning objectives for each. Enabled by software-defined radio technology, we describe a practical learning environment that facilitates developing many of the needed technical and soft skills without the inherent difficulty and cost associated with radio frequency components and regulation. Using only open source software and commercial of-the-shelf computers, this environment is portable and can easily be recreated at other educational institutions and adapted to their educational needs and constraints. We discuss our and our students' experiences when employing the proposed methodology to 4G LTE standard education at Barcelona Tech.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft
Bayesian Item Response Modeling in R with brms and Stan
Item Response Theory (IRT) is widely applied in the human sciences to model
persons' responses on a set of items measuring one or more latent constructs.
While several R packages have been developed that implement IRT models, they
tend to be restricted to respective prespecified classes of models. Further,
most implementations are frequentist while the availability of Bayesian methods
remains comparably limited. We demonstrate how to use the R package brms
together with the probabilistic programming language Stan to specify and fit a
wide range of Bayesian IRT models using flexible and intuitive multilevel
formula syntax. Further, item and person parameters can be related in both a
linear or non-linear manner. Various distributions for categorical, ordinal,
and continuous responses are supported. Users may even define their own custom
response distribution for use in the presented framework. Common IRT model
classes that can be specified natively in the presented framework include 1PL
and 2PL logistic models optionally also containing guessing parameters, graded
response and partial credit ordinal models, as well as drift diffusion models
of response times coupled with binary decisions. Posterior distributions of
item and person parameters can be conveniently extracted and post-processed.
Model fit can be evaluated and compared using Bayes factors and efficient
cross-validation procedures.Comment: 54 pages, 16 figures, 3 table
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