Novel Multimodal Feedback Techniques for In-Car Mid-Air Gesture Interaction

This paper presents an investigation into the effects of different feedback modalities on mid-air gesture interaction for infotainment systems in cars. Car crashes and near-crash events are most commonly caused by driver distraction. Mid-air interaction is a way of reducing driver distraction by reducing visual demand from infotainment. Despite a range of available modalities, feedback in mid-air gesture systems is generally provided through visual displays. We conducted a simulated driving study to investigate how different types of multimodal feedback can support in-air gestures. The effects of different feedback modalities on eye gaze behaviour, and the driving and gesturing tasks are considered. We found that feedback modality influenced gesturing behaviour. However, drivers corrected falsely executed gestures more often in non-visual conditions. Our findings show that non-visual feedback can reduce visual distraction significantl

Discovery of a Galaxy Cluster in the Foreground of the Wide-Separation Quasar Pair UM425

We report the discovery of a cluster of galaxies in the field of UM425, a pair of quasars separated by 6.5arcsec. Based on this finding, we revisit the long-standing question of whether this quasar pair is a binary quasar or a wide-separation lens. Previous work has shown that both quasars are at z=1.465 and show broad absorption lines. No evidence for a lensing galaxy has been found between the quasars, but there were two hints of a foreground cluster: diffuse X-ray emission observed with Chandra, and an excess of faint galaxies observed with the Hubble Space Telescope. Here we show, via VLT spectroscopy, that there is a spike in the redshift histogram of galaxies at z=0.77. We estimate the chance of finding a random velocity structure of such significance to be about 5%, and thereby interpret the diffuse X-ray emission as originating from z=0.77, rather than the quasar redshift. The mass of the cluster, as estimated from either the velocity dispersion of the z=0.77 galaxies or the X-ray luminosity of the diffuse emission, would be consistent with the theoretical mass required for gravitational lensing. The positional offset between the X-ray centroid and the expected location of the mass centroid is about 40kpc, which is not too different from offsets observed in lower redshift clusters. However, UM425 would be an unusual gravitational lens, by virtue of the absence of a bright primary lensing galaxy. Unless the mass-to-light ratio of the galaxy is at least 80 times larger than usual, the lensing hypothesis requires that the galaxy group or cluster plays a uniquely important role in producing the observed deflections. Based on observations performed with the Very Large Telescope at the European Southern Observatory, Paranal, Chile.Comment: 12 pages, accepted by ApJ 2005, May 1

May the Force Be with You: Ultrasound Haptic Feedback for Mid-Air Gesture Interaction in Cars

The use of ultrasound haptic feedback for mid-air gestures in cars has been proposed to provide a sense of control over the user's intended actions and to add touch to a touchless interaction. However, the impact of ultrasound feedback to the gesturing hand regarding lane deviation, eyes-off-the-road time (EORT) and perceived mental demand has not yet been measured. This paper investigates the impact of uni- and multimodal presentation of ultrasound feedback on the primary driving task and the secondary gesturing task in a simulated driving environment. The multimodal combinations of ultrasound included visual, auditory, and peripheral lights. We found that ultrasound feedback presented uni-modally and bi-modally resulted in significantly less EORT compared to visual feedback. Our results suggest that multimodal ultrasound feedback for mid-air interaction decreases EORT whilst not compromising driving performance nor mental demand and thus can increase safety while driving

Gravitational-wave surrogate models powered by artificial neural networks

Inferring the properties of black holes and neutron stars is a key science goal of gravitational-wave (GW) astronomy. To extract as much information as possible from GW observations, we must develop methods to reduce the cost of Bayesian inference. In this paper, we use artificial neural networks (ANNs) and the parallelization power of graphics processing units (GPUs) to improve the surrogate modeling method, which can produce accelerated versions of existing models. As a first application of our method, the artificial neural networks surrogate model (ANN-Sur), we build a time-domain surrogate model of the spin-aligned binary black hole (BBH) waveform model SEOBNRv4. We achieve median mismatches of approximately 2 e−5 and mismatches no worse than approximately 2e−3. For a typical BBH waveform generated from 12 Hz with a total mass of 60M⊙, the original SEOBNRv4 model takes 1794 ms. Existing custom-made code optimizations (SEOBNRv4opt) reduced this to 83.7 ms, and the interpolation-based, frequency-domain surrogate SEOBNRv4ROM can generate this waveform in 3.5 ms. Our ANN-Sur model when run on a CPU takes 1.2 ms and when run on a graphics processing unit (GPU) takes just 0.5 ms. ANN-Sur can also generate large batches of waveforms simultaneously. We find that batches of up to 10 3 waveforms can be evaluated on a GPU in just 1.57 ms, corresponding to a time per waveform of 0.0016 ms. This method is a promising way to utilize the parallelization power of GPUs to drastically increase the computational efficiency of Bayesian parameter estimation

Tribological behavior of self-lubricating carbon nanoparticle reinforced metal matrix composites

The present study focuses on investigating the dominant friction and wear mechanisms in case of dry sliding of carbon nanoparticle reinforced nickel matrix composites under elastic and elasto-plastic contact conditions. For this purpose, multi-wall carbon nanotubes (CNT), onion-like carbon (OLC) and nanodiamonds (nD) were chosen to represent a large variety of carbon nanoparticles as they can be systematically distinguished regarding their carbon hybridization state (sp 2 vs. sp3) as well as their morphology and size (“0D” vs. “1D”). Contact simulations based on the Greenwood-Williamson model are conducted in order to calculate the required contact loads. Friction and wear analysis is supported by complementary characterization techniques, including scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, light microscopy as well as laser scanning microscopy. It is found, that only CNT provide efficient lubrication as reinforcement phase in composites, presenting different lubrication mechanisms for the tested contact conditions. The high aspect ratio of CNT is found to be essential for the lubrication mechanisms, allowing the particles to be dragged into the direct tribological contact. The lubrication effect increases with increasing volume content of CNT, reaching a maximum steady state frictional reduction of 50% compared to the unreinforced nickel reference

The Influence of Gender on Rural Honduran Women’s Participation and Leadership in Community Groups

Throughout Latin America, increasing women’s leadership has been part of many development efforts. However, extensive research on this topic, especially with rural indigenous women, is limited in the literature. Barriers and opportunities for women to participate in leadership within their communities and local organizations may be related to economic, psychological, and social factors that influence their personal empowerment. This study used mixed methods to explore multiple perspectives of community participation and leadership of two Lenca villages in the western department of Lempira, Honduras. The findings from this study provide insight into structural constraints on women’s leadership in the community, and how gender affects engagement in agriculture. The importance of this research is its applicability to agricultural extension pracitionners working in rural communities where participation in traditional gender roles may create gaps in women’s opportunities to engage in decision-making around agriculture, participate in community development, and be valued as leaders. For communities whose livelihoods rely on agriculture, understanding barriers to women’s participation can aid extension practitioners working to increase food security, as women play key roles in both agriculture and in supporting their families

Diagnosing 0.1–10 au Scale Morphology of the FU Ori Disk Using ALMA and VLTI/GRAVITY

We report new Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array Band 3 (86–100 GHz; ~80 mas angular resolution) and Band 4 (146–160 GHz; ~50 mas angular resolution) observations of the dust continuum emission toward the archetypal and ongoing accretion burst young stellar object FU Ori, which simultaneously covered its companion, FU Ori S. In addition, we present near-infrared (2–2.45 μm) observations of FU Ori taken with the General Relativity Analysis via VLT InTerferometrY (GRAVITY; ~1 mas angular resolution) instrument on the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI). We find that the emission in both FU Ori and FU Ori S at (sub)millimeter and near-infrared bands is dominated by structures inward of ~10 au radii. We detected closure phases close to zero from FU Ori with VLTI/GRAVITY, which indicate the source is approximately centrally symmetric and therefore is likely viewed nearly face-on. Our simple model to fit the GRAVITY data shows that the inner 0.4 au radii of the FU Ori disk has a triangular spectral shape at 2–2.45 μm, which is consistent with the H2O and CO absorption features in a 10−4 M ⊙ yr−1, viscously heated accretion disk. At larger (~0.4–10 au) radii, our analysis shows that viscous heating may also explain the observed (sub)millimeter and centimeter spectral energy distribution when we assume a constant, ~10−4 M ⊙ yr−1 mass inflow rate in this region. This explains how the inner 0.4 au disk is replenished with mass at a modest rate, such that it neither depletes nor accumulates significant masses over its short dynamic timescale. Finally, we tentatively detect evidence of vertical dust settling in the inner 10 au of the FU Ori disk, but confirmation requires more complete spectral sampling in the centimeter bands

The perception of lip aesthetics in the context of facial proportions—An eye-tracking-based analysis

Background: Minimally invasive lip volumizing and contouring soft tissue filler procedures are frequently requested by both female and male aesthetic patients. Guidance on how to achieve the most beautiful outcome is inconsistent. Objective: To investigate what the most beautiful proportions are in relation to vermillion thickness, the distance of the upper and lower lip in relation to nose and chin, and relation to the bigonial distance. Methods: This study included a total of n = 101 volunteers (52 females, 49 males, 100% Caucasian) who inspected frontal images of modified facial proportions and answered a related questionnaire showcasing the same images. Image presentation followed a randomized sequence both for the eye tracking and for the survey component of this study but was equal for all observers. Results: The most attractive vertical position of lips was the 1:2 ratio in which the distance between lips and chin is double the length as the distance between lips and nose. For the ratio between the width of the lips and the bigonial distance, it was the 1:2.5 ratio, whereas for the thickness of the upper lip vermilion in relation to the upper lip ergotrid it was the 1:3/1:2 (male/female) ratio and for the lower lip vermilion and lower lip ergotrid it was the 1:4 ratio for both genders. Conclusion: The results of this eye tracking and survey-based investigation revealed that instead of one single universal ratio, multiple facial proportions exist that are perceived as most attractive/masculine/feminine. Regarding the perception of facial aesthetics, it appears there is a distinction between attractiveness and masculinity/femininity: the most attractive male/female face is not necessarily the most masculine or feminine.</p