Adopting smart glasses responsibly: potential benefits, ethical, and privacy concerns with Ray-Ban stories

The adoption of innovative wearable technologies is potentially increasing as a new trend. Jumping into the augmented reality (AR) and Metaverse, Facebook (now known as Meta) launched smart glasses partnering with Ray-Ban sunglasses brand’s parent company EssilorLuxottica. Ray-Ban stories has several technical features for entertainment and socializing; more importantly, these features can be adopted in the future for more advanced wearable. However, these smart glasses also came with many ethical and privacy concerns along with their potential benefits. Furthermore, the unbridled deployment of these smart glasses brought several challenging questions for public social interaction when we will have more such devices in our lives. This short article has discussed the Ray-Ban stories’ ethical and privacy issues for social interaction and public places

Real-time hand interaction and self-directed machine learning agents in immersive learning environments

Integration of extended reality (XR) in education is becoming popular to transform the traditional classroom with immersive learning environments. The adoption of immersive learning is accelerating as an innovative approach for science and engineering subjects. With new powerful interaction techniques in XR and the latest developments in artificial intelligence, interactive and self-directed learning are becoming important. However, there is a lack of research exploring these emerging technologies research with kinesthetic learning or “hands-one learning" as a pedagogical approach using real-time hand interaction and agent-guided learning in immersive environments. This paper proposes a novel approach that uses machine learning agents to facilitate interactive kinesthetic learning in science and engineering education through real-time hand interaction in the virtual world. To implement the following approach, this paper uses a chemistry-related case study and presents a usability evaluation conducted with 15 expert reviewers and 2 subject experts. NASA task load index is used for cognitive workload measurement, and the technology acceptance model is used for measuring perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness in the evaluations. The evaluation with expert reviewers proposed self-directed learning using trained agents can help in the end-user training in learning technical topics and controller-free hand interaction for kinesthetic tasks can improve hands-on learning motivation in virtual laboratories. This success points to a novel research area where agents embodied in an immersive environment using machine learning techniques can forge a new pedagogical approach where they can act as both teacher and assessor

AGILEST approach: Using machine learning agents to facilitate kinesthetic learning in STEM education through real-time touchless hand interaction

There is an increasing interest in creating interactive learning applications using innovative interaction technologies, especially in STEM (Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) subjects. Recent developments in machine learning have allowed for nearly perfect hand-tracking recognition, introducing a touchless modality for interaction within Augmented Reality (AR) environments. However, the research community has not explored the pedagogical approach of Kinesthetic Learning or “Learning by Doing”, hand tracking, and machine learning agents combined with Augmented Reality technology. Fundamentally, this exploration of touchless interaction technologies has taken on new importance in the new post-COVID world. Meanwhile, machine learning has gained attention for its ability to enhance personalized learning and play a vital new role as a virtual instructor. This paper proposes a novel approach called the AGILEST approach, which uses machine learning Agents to facilitate interactive kinesthetic learning in STEM education through touchless interaction. The first case study for this approach will be an AR learning application for chemistry. This application uses real-time touchless hand interaction for kinesthetic learning and uses a machine learning agent to act as both trainer and assessor of the user. The evaluation of this research has been conducted remotely through a usability study with expert reviewers, which includes 15 young researchers with peer-reviewed work in Human-Computer Interaction & AR and 2 subject experts STEM teachers at the secondary school level. The usability evaluation through NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX), Perceived Ease of Use (PUEU), and Perceived Usefulness (PU) with expert reviewers provide positive feedback about this approach for productive learning gain, engagement and interactiveness in learning STEM subjects

Current challenges and future research directions in augmented reality for education

The progression and adoption of innovative learning methodologies signify that a respective part of society is open to new technologies and ideas and thus is advancing. The latest innovation in teaching is the use of Augmented Reality (AR). Applications using this technology have been deployed successfully in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education for delivering the practical and creative parts of teaching. Since AR technology already has a large volume of published studies about education that reports advantages, limitations, effectiveness, and challenges, classifying these projects will allow for a review of the success in the different educational settings and discover current challenges and future research areas. Due to COVID-19, the landscape of technology-enhanced learning has shifted more toward blended learning, personalized learning spaces and user-centered approach with safety measures. The main findings of this paper include a review of the current literature, investigating the challenges, identifying future research areas, and finally, reporting on the development of two case studies that can highlight the first steps needed to address these research areas. The result of this research ultimately details the research gap required to facilitate real-time touchless hand interaction, kinesthetic learning, and machine learning agents with a remote learning pedagogy

Cavitation pressure in liquid helium

Recent experiments have suggested that, at low enough temperature, the homogeneous nucleation of bubbles occurs in liquid helium near the calculated spinodal limit. This was done in pure superfluid helium 4 and in pure normal liquid helium 3. However, in such experiments, where the negative pressure is produced by focusing an acoustic wave in the bulk liquid, the local amplitude of the instantaneous pressure or density is not directly measurable. In this article, we present a series of measurements as a function of the static pressure in the experimental cell. They allowed us to obtain an upper bound for the cavitation pressure P_cav (at low temperature, P_cav < -2.4 bar in helium 3, P_cav < -8.0 bar in helium 4). From a more precise study of the acoustic transducer characteristics, we also obtained a lower bound (at low temperature, P_cav > -3.0 bar in helium 3, P_cav > - 10.4 bar in helium 4). In this article we thus present quantitative evidence that cavitation occurs at low temperature near the calculated spinodal limit (-3.1 bar in helium 3 and -9.5 bar in helium 4). Further information is also obtained on the comparison between the two helium isotopes. We finally discuss the magnitude of nonlinear effects in the focusing of a sound wave in liquid helium, where the pressure dependence of the compressibility is large.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figure

Quantum Films Adsorbed on Graphite: Third and Fourth Helium Layers

Using a path-integral Monte Carlo method for simulating superfluid quantum films, we investigate helium layers adsorbed on a substrate consisting of graphite plus two solid helium layers. Our results for the promotion densities and the dependence of the superfluid density on coverage are in agreement with experiment. We can also explain certain features of the measured heat capacity as a function of temperature and coverage.Comment: 13 pages in the Phys. Rev. two-column format, 16 Figure

Anomaly in the stability limit of liquid helium 3

We propose that the liquid-gas spinodal line of helium 3 reaches a minimum at 0.4 K. This feature is supported by our cavitation measurements. We also show that it is consistent with extrapolations of sound velocity measurements. Speedy [J. Phys. Chem. 86, 3002 (1982)] previously proposed this peculiar behavior for the spinodal of water and related it to a change in sign of the expansion coefficient alpha, i. e. a line of density maxima. Helium 3 exhibits such a line at positive pressure. We consider its extrapolation to negative pressure. Our discussion raises fundamental questions about the sign of alpha in a Fermi liquid along its spinodal.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

PENELLOPE:III. the peculiar accretion variability of XX Cha and its impact on the observed spread of accretion rates

The processes regulating protoplanetary disk evolution are constrained by studying how mass accretion rates scale with stellar and disk properties. The spread in these relations can be used as a constraint to the models of disk evolution, but only if the impact of accretion variability is correctly accounted for. While the effect of variability might be substantial in the embedded phases of star formation, it is often considered limited at later stages. Here we report on the observed large variation in the accretion rate for one target, XX Cha, and we discuss the impact on population studies of classical T Tauri stars. The mass accretion rate determined by fitting the UV-to-near-infrared spectrum in recent X-shooter observations is compared with the one measured with the same instrument 11 years before. XX Cha displays an accretion variability of almost 2 dex between 2010 and 2021. Although the timescales on which this variability happens are uncertain, XX Cha displays an extreme accretion variability for a classical T Tauri star. If such behavior is common among classical T Tauri stars, possibly on longer timescales than previously probed, it could be relevant for discussing the disk evolution models constrained by the observed spread in accretion rates. Finally, we remark that previous studies of accretion variability based on spectral lines may have underestimated the variability of some targets

On some aspects of the geometry of differential equations in physics

In this review paper, we consider three kinds of systems of differential equations, which are relevant in physics, control theory and other applications in engineering and applied mathematics; namely: Hamilton equations, singular differential equations, and partial differential equations in field theories. The geometric structures underlying these systems are presented and commented. The main results concerning these structures are stated and discussed, as well as their influence on the study of the differential equations with which they are related. Furthermore, research to be developed in these areas is also commented.Comment: 21 page

Dissipative Chaos in Semiconductor Superlattices

We consider the motion of ballistic electrons in a miniband of a semiconductor superlattice (SSL) under the influence of an external, time-periodic electric field. We use the semi-classical balance-equation approach which incorporates elastic and inelastic scattering (as dissipation) and the self-consistent field generated by the electron motion. The coupling of electrons in the miniband to the self-consistent field produces a cooperative nonlinear oscillatory mode which, when interacting with the oscillatory external field and the intrinsic Bloch-type oscillatory mode, can lead to complicated dynamics, including dissipative chaos. For a range of values of the dissipation parameters we determine the regions in the amplitude-frequency plane of the external field in which chaos can occur. Our results suggest that for terahertz external fields of the amplitudes achieved by present-day free electron lasers, chaos may be observable in SSLs. We clarify the nature of this novel nonlinear dynamics in the superlattice-external field system by exploring analogies to the Dicke model of an ensemble of two-level atoms coupled with a resonant cavity field and to Josephson junctions.Comment: 33 pages, 8 figure