2,633 research outputs found
FlightGoggles: A Modular Framework for Photorealistic Camera, Exteroceptive Sensor, and Dynamics Simulation
FlightGoggles is a photorealistic sensor simulator for perception-driven
robotic vehicles. The key contributions of FlightGoggles are twofold. First,
FlightGoggles provides photorealistic exteroceptive sensor simulation using
graphics assets generated with photogrammetry. Second, it provides the ability
to combine (i) synthetic exteroceptive measurements generated in silico in real
time and (ii) vehicle dynamics and proprioceptive measurements generated in
motio by vehicle(s) in a motion-capture facility. FlightGoggles is capable of
simulating a virtual-reality environment around autonomous vehicle(s). While a
vehicle is in flight in the FlightGoggles virtual reality environment,
exteroceptive sensors are rendered synthetically in real time while all complex
extrinsic dynamics are generated organically through the natural interactions
of the vehicle. The FlightGoggles framework allows for researchers to
accelerate development by circumventing the need to estimate complex and
hard-to-model interactions such as aerodynamics, motor mechanics, battery
electrochemistry, and behavior of other agents. The ability to perform
vehicle-in-the-loop experiments with photorealistic exteroceptive sensor
simulation facilitates novel research directions involving, e.g., fast and
agile autonomous flight in obstacle-rich environments, safe human interaction,
and flexible sensor selection. FlightGoggles has been utilized as the main test
for selecting nine teams that will advance in the AlphaPilot autonomous drone
racing challenge. We survey approaches and results from the top AlphaPilot
teams, which may be of independent interest.Comment: Initial version appeared at IROS 2019. Supplementary material can be
found at https://flightgoggles.mit.edu. Revision includes description of new
FlightGoggles features, such as a photogrammetric model of the MIT Stata
Center, new rendering settings, and a Python AP
Privacy in Gaming
Video game platforms and business models are increasingly built on collection, use, and sharing of personal information for purposes of both functionality and revenue. This paper examines privacy issues and explores data practices, technical specifications, and policy statements of the most popular games and gaming platforms to provide an overview of the current privacy legal landscape for mobile gaming, console gaming, and virtual reality devices. The research observes how modern gaming aligns with information privacy notions and norms and how data practices and technologies specific to gaming may affect users and, in particular, child gamers.
After objectively selecting and analyzing major players in gaming, the research notes the many different ways that game companies collect data from users, including through cameras, sensors, microphones, and other hardware, through platform features for social interaction and user-generated content, and by means of tracking technologies like cookies and beacons. The paper also notes how location and biometric data are collected routinely through game platforms and explores issues specific to mobile gaming and pairing with smartphones and other external hardware devices.
The paper concludes that transparency as to gaming companiesâ data practices could be much improved, especially regarding sharing with third party affiliates. In addition, the research considers how childrenâs privacy may be particularly affected while gaming, determining that special attention should be paid to user control mechanisms and privacy settings within games and platforms, that social media and other interactive features create unique privacy and safety concerns for children which require gamer and parent education, and that privacy policy language is often incongruent with age ratings advertised to children and parents. To contribute additional research value and resources, the paper attaches a comprehensive set of appendices, on which the research conclusions are in part based, detailing the technical specifications and privacy policy statements of popular games and gaming platforms for mobile gaming, console gaming, and virtual reality devices
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Multimedia delivery in the future internet
The term âNetworked Mediaâ implies that all kinds of media including text, image, 3D graphics, audio
and video are produced, distributed, shared, managed and consumed on-line through various networks,
like the Internet, Fiber, WiFi, WiMAX, GPRS, 3G and so on, in a convergent manner [1]. This white
paper is the contribution of the Media Delivery Platform (MDP) cluster and aims to cover the Networked
challenges of the Networked Media in the transition to the Future of the Internet.
Internet has evolved and changed the way we work and live. End users of the Internet have been confronted
with a bewildering range of media, services and applications and of technological innovations concerning
media formats, wireless networks, terminal types and capabilities. And there is little evidence that the pace
of this innovation is slowing. Today, over one billion of users access the Internet on regular basis, more
than 100 million users have downloaded at least one (multi)media file and over 47 millions of them do so
regularly, searching in more than 160 Exabytes1 of content. In the near future these numbers are expected
to exponentially rise. It is expected that the Internet content will be increased by at least a factor of 6, rising
to more than 990 Exabytes before 2012, fuelled mainly by the users themselves. Moreover, it is envisaged
that in a near- to mid-term future, the Internet will provide the means to share and distribute (new)
multimedia content and services with superior quality and striking flexibility, in a trusted and personalized
way, improving citizensâ quality of life, working conditions, edutainment and safety.
In this evolving environment, new transport protocols, new multimedia encoding schemes, cross-layer inthe
network adaptation, machine-to-machine communication (including RFIDs), rich 3D content as well as
community networks and the use of peer-to-peer (P2P) overlays are expected to generate new models of
interaction and cooperation, and be able to support enhanced perceived quality-of-experience (PQoE) and
innovative applications âon the moveâ, like virtual collaboration environments, personalised services/
media, virtual sport groups, on-line gaming, edutainment. In this context, the interaction with content
combined with interactive/multimedia search capabilities across distributed repositories, opportunistic P2P
networks and the dynamic adaptation to the characteristics of diverse mobile terminals are expected to
contribute towards such a vision.
Based on work that has taken place in a number of EC co-funded projects, in Framework Program 6 (FP6)
and Framework Program 7 (FP7), a group of experts and technology visionaries have voluntarily
contributed in this white paper aiming to describe the status, the state-of-the art, the challenges and the way
ahead in the area of Content Aware media delivery platforms
Designing Multi-sided Community Platforms for Local High Street Retail
The continuing rise of online retail comes at the expense of small and medium-sized stores in local high streets. Many cities now experience substantial vacancies and the decline of independent and family-owned stores, impeding citizensâ perceived quality of living. In this paper, we design the community platform âsmartmarketÂČâ, with which networks of local retailers interact with networks of customers to co-create a physical and at the same time digital customer experience in a high street. The platform connects with retailersâ information systems, while interfacing with in-store technologies to connect with potential customersâ smartphones. From a theoretical perspective, the platform exemplifies how previous research on value co-creation, multi-sided (engagement) platforms, and retail communities can complement each other to constitute online-offline customer experience. Based on comparing smartmarketÂČ with rival IT artifacts, we abstract nascent design knowledge by conceptualizing a design theory for âcommunity platforms for high street retailâ as a new class of IT artifacts. We conclude the paper with identifying how digital servicesâincluding cross-promotions, geographical recommender systems, and geospatial analyticsâmay be offered on the platform to leverage the competitive position of small and medium-sized retailers in local high streets through online-offline customer experience
Virtual Reality as Navigation Tool: Creating Interactive Environments For Individuals With Visual Impairments
Research into the creation of assistive technologies is increasingly incorporating the use of virtual reality experiments. One area of application is as an orientation and mobility assistance tool for people with visual impairments. Some of the challenges are developing useful knowledge of the userâs surroundings and effectively conveying that information to the user. This thesis examines the feasibility of using virtual environments conveyed via auditory feedback as part of an autonomous mobility assistance system. Two separate experiments were conducted to study key aspects of a potential system: navigation assistance and map generation. The results of this research include mesh models that were fitted to the walk pathways of an environment, and collected data that provide insights on the viability of virtual reality based guidance systems
Combining IoT and usersâ profiles to provide contextualized information and services
Technological evolution has led to the emergence of a set of solutions suitable to support mobility and ubiquity scenarios. Wireless computing and mobile devices together with the miniaturization of sensors and actuators, which are now embedded in physical spaces, are todayâs reality. This phenomenon opened the door to a set of opportunities for reengineering how we perceive a given fact or situation and how we act on it. With regard to the delivery of information to users of a given physical space, there is now the possibility of radically transforming the mechanisms of interaction between the space and the user, redesigning the entire experience of interaction. This change allows the user to see the physical space around him adapt to himself and provide him with contextualized and personalized information according to his profile of interest. This approach can improve the way we manage customer relationships in a given business context. This article presents an overview of the state of the art of intelligent spaces and analyzes the potential of indoor positioning systems and techniques, and proposes a conceptual model for the detection of users in physical spaces and the consequent adaptation of an intelligent physical space to provide information aligned with the user's interest profile and in accordance with their privacy rules.UNIAG, R&D unit funded by the FCT â Portuguese Foundation for the Development of Science and Technology,
Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education. UID/GES/4752/2019.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Deliverable JRA1.1: Evaluation of current network control and management planes for multi-domain network infrastructure
This deliverable includes a compilation and evaluation of available control and management architectures and protocols applicable to a multilayer infrastructure in a multi-domain Virtual Network environment.The scope of this deliverable is mainly focused on the virtualisation of the resources within a network and at processing nodes. The virtualization of the FEDERICA infrastructure allows the provisioning of its available resources to users by means of FEDERICA slices. A slice is seen by the user as a real physical network under his/her domain, however it maps to a logical partition (a virtual instance) of the physical FEDERICA resources. A slice is built to exhibit to the highest degree all the principles applicable to a physical network (isolation, reproducibility, manageability, ...). Currently, there are no standard definitions available for network virtualization or its associated architectures. Therefore, this deliverable proposes the Virtual Network layer architecture and evaluates a set of Management- and Control Planes that can be used for the partitioning and virtualization of the FEDERICA network resources. This evaluation has been performed taking into account an initial set of FEDERICA requirements; a possible extension of the selected tools will be evaluated in future deliverables. The studies described in this deliverable define the virtual architecture of the FEDERICA infrastructure. During this activity, the need has been recognised to establish a new set of basic definitions (taxonomy) for the building blocks that compose the so-called slice, i.e. the virtual network instantiation (which is virtual with regard to the abstracted view made of the building blocks of the FEDERICA infrastructure) and its architectural plane representation. These definitions will be established as a common nomenclature for the FEDERICA project. Other important aspects when defining a new architecture are the user requirements. It is crucial that the resulting architecture fits the demands that users may have. Since this deliverable has been produced at the same time as the contact process with users, made by the project activities related to the Use Case definitions, JRA1 has proposed a set of basic Use Cases to be considered as starting point for its internal studies. When researchers want to experiment with their developments, they need not only network resources on their slices, but also a slice of the processing resources. These processing slice resources are understood as virtual machine instances that users can use to make them behave as software routers or end nodes, on which to download the software protocols or applications they have produced and want to assess in a realistic environment. Hence, this deliverable also studies the APIs of several virtual machine management software products in order to identify which best suits FEDERICAâs needs.Postprint (published version
Connecting Schools, Families, and Communities: Stories and Results from the Annie E. Casey Foundation's Education Investments
Provides an overview of the foundation's investment philosophy and its approach to defining and documenting grantmaking results. Highlights the work of seven school/family/community partnerships and the results they have achieved
IEEE 802.11 i Security and Vulnerabilities
Despite using a variety of comprehensive preventive security measures, the Robust Secure Networks (RSNs) remain vulnerable to a number of attacks. Failure of preventive measures to address all RSN vulnerabilities dictates the need for enhancing the performance of Wireless Intrusion Detection Systems (WIDSs) to detect all attacks on RSNs with less false positive and false negative rates
Dynamic Routing Framework for Wireless Sensor Networks
Numerous routing protocols have been proposed for wireless sensor networks. Each such protocol carries with it a set of assumptions about the trafĂŻÂŹc type that it caters to, and hence has limited interoperability. Also, most protocols are validated over workloads which only form a fraction of an actual deploymentĂąâŹâąs requirement. Most real world and commercial deployments, however, would generate multiple trafĂŻÂŹc types simultaneously throughout the lifetime of the network. For example, most deployments would want all of the following to happen concurrently from the network: periodic reliable sense and disseminate, real time streams, patched updates, network reprogramming, query-response dialogs, mission critical alerts and so on. Naturally, no one routing protocol can completely cater to all of a deployments requirements. This chapter presents a routing framework that captures the communication intent of an application by using just three bits. The traditional routing layer is replaced with a collection of routing components that can cater to various communication patterns. The framework dynamically switches routing component for every packet in question. Data structure requirements of component protocols are regularized, and core protocol features are distilled to build a highly composable collection of routing modules. This creates a framework for developing, testing, integrating, and validating protocols that are highly portable from one deployment to another. Communication patterns can be easily described to lower layer protocols using this framework. One such real world application scenario is also investigated: that of predictive maintenance (PdM). The requirements of a large scale PdM are used to generate a fairly complete and realistic trafĂŻÂŹc workload to drive an evaluation of such a framework
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