Maps, agents and dialogue for exploring a virtual world

In previous years we have been involved in several projects in which users (or visitors) had to find their way in information-rich virtual environments. 'Information-rich' means that the users do not know beforehand what is available in the environment, where to go in the environment to find the information and, moreover, users or visitors do not necessarily know exactly what they are looking for. Information-rich means also that the information may change during time. A second visit to the same environment will require different behavior of the visitor in order for him or her to obtain similar information than was available during a previous visit. In this paper we report about two projects and discuss our attempts to generalize from the different approaches and application domains to obtain a library of methods and tools to design and implement intelligent agents that inhabit virtual environments and where the agents support the navigation of the user/visitor

On-off intermittency in small-world networks of chaotic maps

Small-world networks are highly clustered networks with small average distance among the nodes. There are many natural and technological networks that present this kind of connections. The on-off intermittency is investigated in small-world networks of chaotic maps in this paper. We show how the small-world topology would affect the on-off intermittency behavior. The distributions of the laminar phase are calculated numerically. The results show that the laminar phases obey power-law distributions.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure

2D Map Alignment With Region Decomposition

In many applications of autonomous mobile robots the following problem is encountered. Two maps of the same environment are available, one a prior map and the other a sensor map built by the robot. To benefit from all available information in both maps, the robot must find the correct alignment between the two maps. There exist many approaches to address this challenge, however, most of the previous methods rely on assumptions such as similar modalities of the maps, same scale, or existence of an initial guess for the alignment. In this work we propose a decomposition-based method for 2D spatial map alignment which does not rely on those assumptions. Our proposed method is validated and compared with other approaches, including generic data association approaches and map alignment algorithms. Real world examples of four different environments with thirty six sensor maps and four layout maps are used for this analysis. The maps, along with an implementation of the method, are made publicly available online

2D Map Alignment With Region Decomposition

In many applications of autonomous mobile robots the following problem is encountered. Two maps of the same environment are available, one a prior map and the other a sensor map built by the robot. To benefit from all available information in both maps, the robot must find the correct alignment between the two maps. There exist many approaches to address this challenge, however, most of the previous methods rely on assumptions such as similar modalities of the maps, same scale, or existence of an initial guess for the alignment. In this work we propose a decomposition-based method for 2D spatial map alignment which does not rely on those assumptions. Our proposed method is validated and compared with other approaches, including generic data association approaches and map alignment algorithms. Real world examples of four different environments with thirty six sensor maps and four layout maps are used for this analysis. The maps, along with an implementation of the method, are made publicly available online

Meaning Guides Attention during Real-World Scene Description.

Intelligent analysis of a visual scene requires that important regions be prioritized and attentionally selected for preferential processing. What is the basis for this selection? Here we compared the influence of meaning and image salience on attentional guidance in real-world scenes during two free-viewing scene description tasks. Meaning was represented by meaning maps capturing the spatial distribution of semantic features. Image salience was represented by saliency maps capturing the spatial distribution of image features. Both types of maps were coded in a format that could be directly compared to maps of the spatial distribution of attention derived from viewers' eye fixations in the scene description tasks. The results showed that both meaning and salience predicted the spatial distribution of attention in these tasks, but that when the correlation between meaning and salience was statistically controlled, only meaning accounted for unique variance in attention. The results support theories in which cognitive relevance plays the dominant functional role in controlling human attentional guidance in scenes. The results also have practical implications for current artificial intelligence approaches to labeling real-world images

Knowledge Mapping for Open Sensemaking Communities

By analogy to cartographic representations of spatial worlds, Knowledge Maps provide an ‘aerial view’ of a topic by highlighting key elements and connections. Moreover, just as spatial maps simplify the world and can fuel controversy, maps of conceptual worlds provide vehicles for summarising and negotiating meaning. In conjunction with the UK Open University’s Open Educational Resources OpenLearn project, we are investigating the role of such maps for both learners and educators to share – and debate – interpretations of OERs. In this brief update, we describe how a mapping tool (Compendium) has been integrated with OpenLearn’s elearning platform (Moodle) in order to support tasks such as concept analysis, problem-solving, literature review, learning path planning, argument analysis and OER design

Nonclassical Lagrangian Dynamics and Potential Maps

Section 1 refines the theory of harmonic and potential maps. Section 2 defines a generalized Lorentz world-force law and shows that any PDEs system of order one generates such a law in suitable geometrical structure. In other words, the solutions of any PDEs system of order one are harmonic or potential maps, if we use semi-Riemann-Lagrange structures. Section 3 formulates open problems regarding the geometry of semi-Riemann manifolds $(J^1(T,M), S_1)$, $(J^2(T,M), S_2)$, and shows that the Lorentz-Udriste world-force law is equivalent to covariant Hamilton PDEs on $(J^1(T,M), S_1)$.Comment: 14 page

A tribute to Professor William Dearman : new small-scale engineering geological maps of the United Kingdom

Professor William Robert (“Bill”) Dearman was the first British Professor of Engineering Geology and a world leader in the development of engineering geological mapping techniques and methodologies, recognised by being awarded the IAEG’s Hans Cloos Medal. The maps described here would not have been completed without his initial ideas and interpretative work. It is a great regret that the maps were not finished in time for him to see them before his death in January 2009. This paper and the maps described in it are, therefore, dedicated to his memory

LAMMR world data base documentation support and demonstrations

The primary purpose of the World Surface Map is to provide the LAMMR subsystem with world surface type classifications that are used to set up LAMMR LEVEL II process control. This data base will be accessed solely by the LAMMR subsystem. The SCATT and ALT subsystems will access the data base indirectly through the T sub b (Brightness Temperature) Data Bank, where the surface types were updated from a priori to current classification, and where the surface types were organized on an orbital subtrack basis. The single most important factor in the design of the World Surface Maps is the ease of access to the information while the complexity of generating these maps is of lesser importance because their generation is a one-time, off-line process. The World Surface Map provides storage of information with a resolution of 7 km necessary to set flags concerning the earth's features with a different set of maps for each month of the year

Classical Solutions of 2D String Theory in any Curved Spacetime

The complete set of solutions of two dimensional classical string theory are constructed for any curved spacetime. They describe folded strings moving in curved spacetime. Surprizing stringy behavior becomes evident at singularities such as black holes.The solutions are given in the form ofa map from the world sheet to target spacetime, where the world sheet has to be divided into lattice -like patches corresponding to different maps. A recursion relation analogous to a transfer matrix connects these maps into a single continuous map. This ``transfer matrix'' encodes the properties of the world sheet lattice as well as the geometry of spacetime. The solutions are completely classified by their behavior in the asymptotically flat region of spacetime where they reduce, as boundary conditions, to the folded string solutions that have been known for 19 years.Comment: Latex, 31 pages, including 6 figures. Lecture at the "Journe'e Cosmologique", Observatoire de Paris, May 9