[DC] self-adaptive technologies for immersive trainings

Online learning is the preferred option for professional training, e.g. Industry 4.0 or e-health, because it is more cost efficient than on-site organisation of realistic training sessions. However, current online learning technologies are limited in terms of personalisation, interactivity and immersiveness that are required by applications such as surgery and pilot training. Virtual Reality (VR) technologies have the potential to overcome these limitations. However, due to its early stage of research, VR requires significant improvements to fully unlock its potential. The focus of this PhD is to tackle research challenges to enable VR for online training in three dimensions: (1) dynamic adaptation of the training content for personalised trainings, by incorporating prior knowledge and context data into self-learning algorithms; (2) mapping of sensor data onto what happens in the VR environment, by focusing on motion prediction techniques that use past movements of the users, and (3) investigating immersive environments with intuitive interactions, by gaining a better understanding of human motion in order to improve interaction. The designed improvements will be characterised though a prototype VR training platform for multiple use cases. This work will not only advance the state of the art on VR training, but also on online e-learning applications in general

Comment maintenir propres verres d'observation de chambres humides pom les priises de vue en accéléreré

The author examines different methods to avoid moisture condensation on observation windows caused by irregular temperature distribution. The respective measures consist of covering the window with a water-absorbent layer and heating with electrical current or through absorption of radiation. Furthermore, the culture-medium can be fixed in suitable cases on the observation window, through which photographs can be taken.L'auteur indique differentes methodes pour eviter les condensations d'humidite sur les verres d'observation provoquees par une repartition inegale des temperatures. On peut par exemple recouvrir le verre d'une couche susceptible de gontler, le chauffer par un courant electrique ou par l'absorption d'un rayonnement. On peut en outre, dans les cas qui s'y pretent, placer la couche nourriciere sur la verre d'observation et faire la prise de vue a travers

Memory-efficient and fast run-time reconfiguration of regularly structured designs

Previous work has shown that run-time reconfiguration of FPGAs benefits greatly from the use of Tunable LUT (TLUT) circuits. These can be rapidly transformed into a specialized LUT circuit and are also very memory efficient when representing regularly structured designs, where the same hardware module is instantiated many times. However, the memory requirements and reconfiguration time of a run-time reconfigurable application are also dependent on the reconfiguration mechanism. In this paper, we will show that the memory requirements of conventional ICAP reconfiguration grow very fast with the number of modules, resulting in excessive memory usage. We propose to use Shift-Register-LUT (SRL) reconfiguration which is faster and results in a memory usage that is independent of the number of modules

MULTITEXCO - high performance smart multifunctional technical textiles for tensile structures

In recent years, the textile industry developed a new generation of advanced textile materials for the construction sector designed to address the needs of one of the largest markets for textile products. Examples of the advanced textiles developed include fabrics for the rehabilitation of buildings, geotextiles for the consolidation of a wide range of soil structures and the high performance technical textiles for tensile structures. When combine with innovative sensors the fabrics provide an useful tool for the constant monitoring of the structures and can be used to record the mechanical performance or detect anomalies in the expected use of the structures by measuring applied loads, deformations, operating temperatures or other important parameters. This work highlights recent advances in sensor embedded textiles for structural health monitoring of tensile structures. Attention is paid on ease of application, integration in the textile and the use of established and relatively low cost sensing methodologies. The real innovation lies therefore in transferring these methods to unexplored technological fields for smart textiles such as tensile structures

Book review essay of:Monika Krause (2014). The Good Project. Humanitarian Relief NGOs and the Fragmentation of Reason; Silke Roth (2015). The Paradoxes of Aid Work: Passionate Professionals; Rene Fox (2014). Doctors Without Borders: Humanitarian Quests, Impossible Dreams of Medecins Sans Frontières.

In this book review essay three books on humanitarian aid are discussed:Monika Krause. 2014. The Good Project. Humanitarian Relief NGOs and the Fragmentation of Reason (Chicago: University of Chicago Press)Silke Roth. 2015. The Paradoxes of Aid Work: Passionate Professionals (Abingdon: Routledge)Rene Fox. 2014. Doctors Without Borders: Humanitarian Quests, Impossible Dreams of Medecins Sans Frontières (Baltimore:Johns Hopkins University Press)<br/