A virtual coaching environment for improving golf swing technique

As a proficient golf swing is a key element of success in golf, many golfers make significant effort improving their stroke mechanics. In order to help enhance golfing performance, it is important to identify the performance determining factors within the full golf swing. In addition, explicit instructions on specific features in stroke technique requiring alterations must be imparted to the player in an unambiguous and intuitive manner. However, these two objectives are difficult to achieve due to the subjective nature of traditional coaching techniques and the predominantly implicit knowledge players have of their movements. In this work, we have developed a set of visualisation and analysis tools for use in a virtual golf coaching environment. In this virtual coaching studio, the analysis tools allow for specific areas require improvement in a player's 3D stroke dynamics to be isolated. An interactive 3D virtual coaching environment then allows detailed and unambiguous coaching information to be visually imparted back to the player via the use of two virtual human avatars; the first mimics the movements performed by the player; the second takes the role of a virtual coach, performing ideal stroke movement dynamics. The potential of the coaching tool is highlighted in its use by sports science researchers in the evaluation of competing approaches for calculating the X-Factor, a significant performance determining factor for hitting distance in a golf swing

Fossil Fuel Divestment: Implications For The Future Of Sustainability Discourse And Action Within Higher Education

This paper provides a critical overview and analysis of the student-led fossil fuel divestment (FFD) movement and its impact on sustainability discourse and actions within US higher education. Analysing higher education institutes’ (HEIs) divestment press releases and news reports shows how institutional alignment with cultures of sustainability and social justice efforts played key roles in HEIs’ decisions to divest from fossil fuels. Key stated reasons for rejection were: minimal or unknown impact of divestment, risk to the endowment, and fiduciary duty. Participant observation and interviews with protagonists reveal the intricate power structures and vested business interests that influence boardroom divestment decision-making. While some HEIs embrace transformative climate actions, we contend that higher education largely embraces a business-as-usual sustainability framework characterised by a reformist green-economy discourse and a reluctance to move beyond business interest responses to climate politics. Nonetheless, the FFD movement is pushing HEIs to move from compliance-oriented sustainability behaviour towards a more proactive and highly politicised focus on HEIs’ stance in the modern fossil fuel economy. We offer conceptual approaches and practical directions for reorienting sustainability within HEIs to prioritise the intergenerational equity of its students and recognise climate change as a social justice issue. Fully integrating sustainability into the core business of HEIs requires leadership to address fundamental moral questions of both equity and responsibility for endowment investments. We contend that HEIs must re-evaluate their role in averting catastrophic climate change, and extend their influence in catalysing public climate discourse and actions through a broader range of external channels, approaches, and actors

How inequality fuels climate change: The climate case for a Green New Deal

Recent proposals in the US and elsewhere aim to tackle climate change and socioeconomic inequalities together through a Green New Deal (GND). GND proposals have been criticized by high-profile advocates of carbon-centric climate policies—advocates who do not perceive socioeconomic inequalities to be significant drivers of climate change and who argue that GNDs’ wider agenda will undermine decarbonization efforts. Here, we show that socioeconomic inequalities drive emissions-intensive consumption and production, facilitate the obstruction of climate policies by wealthy elites, undermine public support for climate policy, and weaken the social foundations of collective action. This suggests that integrating certain carbon-centric policies into a wider program of social, economic, and democratic reforms would achieve decarbonization more effectively than carbon-centric policies alone. We show that common policy components of GNDs do indeed tackle the causal mechanisms by which inequalities fuel climate change, and we argue that GNDs enable more effective political strategies than carbon-centric policies

Semiconductor optical fibres for infrared applications: a review

Over the last decade a new class of optical fibre has emerged that incorporates semiconductor materials within the core. These fibres are rich in optoelectronic functionality and offer extended transmission bands across the infrared spectral region so that their application potential is vast. Various fabrication methods have been developed to produce fibres with a range of unary and compound semiconductor core materials, which can be either amorphous or crystalline in form. This review discusses the main fabrication procedures and the infrared optical properties of the semiconductor fibres that have been fabricated to date, then takes a look at the future prospects of this exciting new technology

Analysis of the joint kinematics of the 5 iron golf swing

The purpose of this study was to identify the performance determining factors of the 5-iron golf swing. Joint kinematics were obtained from thirty male golfers using a twelve camera motion analysis system. Participants were divided into two groups, based on their ball launch speed (high vs. low). Those in the high ball speed group were deemed to be the more skillful group. Statistical analysis was used to identify the variables which differed significantly between the two groups, and could therefore be classified as the performance determining factors. The following factors were important to performance success: (i) the ability of the golfer to maintain a large X Factor angle and generate large X Factor angular velocity throughout the downswing, (ii) maintain the left arm as straight as possible throughout the swing, (iii) utilise greater movement of the hips in the direction of the target and a greater extension of the right hip during the downswing and (iv) greater flexion of both shoulders and less left shoulder internal rotation during the backswing

Exploring EEG for Object Detection and Retrieval

This paper explores the potential for using Brain Computer Interfaces (BCI) as a relevance feedback mechanism in content-based image retrieval. We investigate if it is possible to capture useful EEG signals to detect if relevant objects are present in a dataset of realistic and complex images. We perform several experiments using a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) of images at different rates (5Hz and 10Hz) on 8 users with different degrees of familiarization with BCI and the dataset. We then use the feedback from the BCI and mouse-based interfaces to retrieve localized objects in a subset of TRECVid images. We show that it is indeed possible to detect such objects in complex images and, also, that users with previous knowledge on the dataset or experience with the RSVP outperform others. When the users have limited time to annotate the images (100 seconds in our experiments) both interfaces are comparable in performance. Comparing our best users in a retrieval task, we found that EEG-based relevance feedback outperforms mouse-based feedback. The realistic and complex image dataset differentiates our work from previous studies on EEG for image retrieval.Comment: This preprint is the full version of a short paper accepted in the ACM International Conference on Multimedia Retrieval (ICMR) 2015 (Shanghai, China

On-fiber high-resolution photonic nanojets via high refractive index dielectrics

In this manuscript, we present high spatial resolution focusing of electromagnetic waves at telecommunication wavelengths ({\lambda}0 = 1.55 {\mu}m) by using high-refractive index mesoscale dielectrics placed at the end of an optical fiber. Our approach exploits photonic nanojets (PNJs) to achieve high-intensity, spatially narrow focal spots. The response of the device is evaluated in detail considering 2-dimensional (2D) and 3-dimensional (3D) configurations using high-index mesoscale cylindrical and spherical dielectrics, respectively, placed on top of an optical fiber. It is shown how the PNJs can be shifted towards the output surface of the mesoscale high-index dielectric by simply truncating its 2D/3D cylindrical/spherical output profile. With this setup, a PNJ with a high transversal resolution is obtained using the 2D/3D engineered mesoscale dielectric particles achieving a Full-Width at Half-Maximum of FWHM = 0.28{\lambda}0 (2D truncated dielectric), and FWHMy = 0.17{\lambda}0 and FWHMx = 0.21{\lambda}0 (3D truncated dielectric). The proposed structure may have potential in applications where near-field high spatial resolution is required, such as in sensing and imaging systems.Comment: 13 pages. 6 figure

TennisSense: a multi-sensory approach to performance analysis in tennis

The TennisSense Project, that is run in collaboration with Tennis Ireland, aims to create the infrastructure required to digitally capture physical, tactical and physiological data from tennis players in order to assist in their coaching and improved performance. This study examined the potential for using Wireless Inertial Monitoring Units (WIMU) to model the biomechanical aspects of the tennis stroke and for developing coaching tools that utilise this information. There is significant evidence in the current literature that the ability to accurately capture and model the accelerations, angular velocities and orientations involved in the tennis stroke could facilitate a major step forward in the application of biomechanics to tennis coachin

Towards in-fiber silicon photonics

We review the recent advancements in the fabrication and application of silicon optical fibers. Particular focus is placed on novel materials and device designs for use in optical signal processing systems

Semiconductor optical fibers

We review the recent advancements in the fabrication and application of semiconductor optical fibers. Particular focus is placed on novel materials and device designs for use in optical signal processing systems