457 research outputs found

    Generating expressive speech for storytelling applications

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    Work on expressive speech synthesis has long focused on the expression of basic emotions. In recent years, however, interest in other expressive styles has been increasing. The research presented in this paper aims at the generation of a storytelling speaking style, which is suitable for storytelling applications and more in general, for applications aimed at children. Based on an analysis of human storytellers' speech, we designed and implemented a set of prosodic rules for converting "neutral" speech, as produced by a text-to-speech system, into storytelling speech. An evaluation of our storytelling speech generation system showed encouraging results

    Touch Technology in Affective Human, Robot, Virtual-Human Interactions: A Survey

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    Given the importance of affective touch in human interactions, technology designers are increasingly attempting to bring this modality to the core of interactive technology. Advances in haptics and touch-sensing technology have been critical to fostering interest in this area. In this survey, we review how affective touch is investigated to enhance and support the human experience with or through technology. We explore this question across three different research areas to highlight their epistemology, main findings, and the challenges that persist. First, we review affective touch technology through the human–computer interaction literature to understand how it has been applied to the mediation of human–human interaction and its roles in other human interactions particularly with oneself, augmented objects/media, and affect-aware devices. We further highlight the datasets and methods that have been investigated for automatic detection and interpretation of affective touch in this area. In addition, we discuss the modalities of affective touch expressions in both humans and technology in these interactions. Second, we separately review how affective touch has been explored in human–robot and real-human–virtual-human interactions where the technical challenges encountered and the types of experience aimed at are different. We conclude with a discussion of the gaps and challenges that emerge from the review to steer research in directions that are critical for advancing affective touch technology and recognition systems. In our discussion, we also raise ethical issues that should be considered for responsible innovation in this growing area

    Virtual Meeting Rooms: From Observation to Simulation

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    Much working time is spent in meetings and, as a consequence, meetings have become the subject of multidisciplinary research. Virtual Meeting Rooms (VMRs) are 3D virtual replicas of meeting rooms, where various modalities such as speech, gaze, distance, gestures and facial expressions can be controlled. This allows VMRs to be used to improve remote meeting participation, to visualize multimedia data and as an instrument for research into social interaction in meetings. This paper describes how these three uses can be realized in a VMR. We describe the process from observation through annotation to simulation and a model that describes the relations between the annotated features of verbal and non-verbal conversational behavior.\ud As an example of social perception research in the VMR, we describe an experiment to assess human observers’ accuracy for head orientation

    Decay-assisted collinear resonance ionization spectroscopy: Application to neutron-deficient francium

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    This paper reports on the hyperfine-structure and radioactive-decay studies of the neutron-deficient francium isotopes 202206^{202-206}Fr performed with the Collinear Resonance Ionization Spectroscopy (CRIS) experiment at the ISOLDE facility, CERN. The high resolution innate to collinear laser spectroscopy is combined with the high efficiency of ion detection to provide a highly-sensitive technique to probe the hyperfine structure of exotic isotopes. The technique of decay-assisted laser spectroscopy is presented, whereby the isomeric ion beam is deflected to a decay spectroscopy station for alpha-decay tagging of the hyperfine components. Here, we present the first hyperfine-structure measurements of the neutron-deficient francium isotopes 202206^{202-206}Fr, in addition to the identification of the low-lying states of 202,204^{202,204}Fr performed at the CRIS experiment.Comment: Accepted for publication with Physical Review

    Laser spectroscopy of francium isotopes at the borders of the region of reflection asymmetry

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    The magnetic dipole moments and changes in mean-square charge radii of the neutron-rich 218m,219,229,231Fr^{218m,219,229,231}\text{Fr} isotopes were measured with the newly-installed Collinear Resonance Ionization Spectroscopy (CRIS) beam line at ISOLDE, CERN, probing the 7s 2S1/27s~^{2}S_{1/2} to 8p 2P3/28p~^{2}P_{3/2} atomic transition. The δr2A,221\delta\langle r^{2}\rangle^{A,221} values for 218m,219Fr^{218m,219}\text{Fr} and 229,231Fr^{229,231}\text{Fr} follow the observed increasing slope of the charge radii beyond N = 126N~=~126. The charge radii odd-even staggering in this neutron-rich region is discussed, showing that 220Fr^{220}\text{Fr} has a weakly inverted odd-even staggering while 228Fr^{228}\text{Fr} has normal staggering. This suggests that both isotopes reside at the borders of a region of inverted staggering, which has been associated with reflection-asymmetric shapes. The g(219Fr)=+0.69(1)g(^{219}\text{Fr}) = +0.69(1) value supports a π1h9/2\pi 1h_{9/2} shell model configuration for the ground state. The g(229,231Fr)g(^{229,231}\text{Fr}) values support the tentative Iπ(229,231Fr)=(1/2+)I^{\pi}(^{229,231}\text{Fr}) = (1/2^{+}) spin, and point to a πs1/21\pi s_{1/2}^{-1} intruder ground state configuration.Comment: Accepted for publication with Physical Review

    Isomer shift and magnetic moment of the long-lived 1/2+^{+} isomer in 3079^{79}_{30}Zn49_{49}: signature of shape coexistence near 78^{78}Ni

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    Collinear laser spectroscopy has been performed on the 3079^{79}_{30}Zn49_{49} isotope at ISOLDE-CERN. The existence of a long-lived isomer with a few hundred milliseconds half-life was confirmed, and the nuclear spins and moments of the ground and isomeric states in 79^{79}Zn as well as the isomer shift were measured. From the observed hyperfine structures, spins I=9/2I = 9/2 and I=1/2I = 1/2 are firmly assigned to the ground and isomeric states. The magnetic moment μ\mu (79^{79}Zn) = -1.1866(10) μN\mu_{\rm{N}}, confirms the spin-parity 9/2+9/2^{+} with a νg9/21\nu g_{9/2}^{-1} shell-model configuration, in excellent agreement with the prediction from large scale shell-model theories. The magnetic moment μ\mu (79m^{79m}Zn) = -1.0180(12) μN\mu_{\rm{N}} supports a positive parity for the isomer, with a wave function dominated by a 2h-1p neutron excitation across the N=50N = 50 shell gap. The large isomer shift reveals an increase of the intruder isomer mean square charge radius with respect to that of the ground state: δrc279,79m\delta \langle r^{2}_{c}\rangle^{79,79m} = +0.204(6) fm2^{2}, providing first evidence of shape coexistence.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, 1 table, Accepeted by Phys. Rev. Lett. (2016

    Potential of imprecision: exploring vague language in agent instructors

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    As we find greater potential for agent instructors, we must be aware of how their language use can affect the user and interaction as a whole. This study investigates the use of intentionally imprecise or vague language as a communicative strategy to mitigate the impact of instructions. We look at the effects it has on improving the perception of agents and user performance. A series of assembly tasks were ran in which users constructed Lego models with the spoken instructions of vague and non-vague agents. Results show that though the non-vague agent was seen as more direct and authoritative, responses to other attributes and performance were much more varied. Findings suggest there is potential for vague language human-agent interaction, though there are several obstacles in agent design to overcome first

    Optimisation of a lozenge-based sensor for detecting impending blockage of urinary catheters

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    Catheter-associated urinary tract infections resulting from urease-positive microorganisms are more likely to cause a urinary catheter blockage owing to the urease activity of the microbes. Catheter blockage can be dangerous and increases the risk of severe infections, such as sepsis. Ureases, a virulence factor in Proteus mirabilis, cause an increase in urine pH - leading to blockage. An optimised biosensor "lozenge" is presented here, which is able to detect impending catheter blockage. This lozenge has been optimised to allow easy manufacture and commercialisation. It functions as a sensor in a physiologically representative model of a catheterised urinary tract, providing 6.7 h warning prior to catheter blockage. The lozenge is stable in healthy human urine and can be sterilized for clinical use by ethylene oxide. Clinically, the lozenge will provide a visible indication of impending catheter blockage, enabling quicker clinical intervention and thus reducing the morbidity and mortality associated with blockage.</p
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