Synthetic vision and emotion calculation in intelligent virtual human modeling

The virtual human technique already can provide vivid and believable human behaviour in more and more scenarios. Virtual humans are expected to replace real humans in hazardous situations to undertake tests and feed back valuable information. This paper will introduce a virtual human with a novel collision-based synthetic vision, short-term memory model and a capability to implement the emotion calculation and decision making. The virtual character based on this model can ‘see’ what is in his field of view (FOV) and remember those objects. After that, a group of affective computing equations have been introduced. These equations have been implemented into a proposed emotion calculation process to enlighten emotion for virtual intelligent huma

Emotion-affected decision making in human simulation

Human modelling is an interdisciplinary research field. The topic, emotion-affected decision making, was originally a cognitive psychology issue, but is now recognized as an important research direction for both computer science and biomedical modelling. The main aim of this paper is to attempt to bridge the gap between psychology and bioengineering in emotion-affected decision making. The work is based on Ortony's theory of emotions and bounded rationality theory, and attempts to connect the emotion process with decision making. A computational emotion model is proposed, and the initial framework of this model in virtual human simulation within the platform of VirtoolsTm is presented

Microscopic origin of light emission in Al_yGa_{1-y}N/GaN superlattice: Band profile and active site

We present first-principles calculations of AlGaN/GaN superlattice, clarifying the microscopic origin of the light emission and revealing the effect of local polarization within the quantum well. Profile of energy band and distributions of electrons and holes demonstrate the existence of a main active site in the well responsible for the main band-edge light emission. This site appears at the position where the local polarization becomes zero. With charge injection, the calculated optical spectra show that the broadening of the band gap at the active site leads to the blueshift of emission wavelength

Effects of Soundscape on the Environmental Restoration in Urban Natural Environments

According to the attention restoration theory, directed attention is a limited physiological resource and is susceptible to fatigue by overuse. Natural environments are a healthy resource, which allows and promotes the restoration of individuals within it from their state of directed attention fatigue. This process is called the environmental restoration on individuals, and it is affected both positively and negatively by environmental factors. Aims: By considering the relationship among the three components of soundscape, that is, people, sound and the environment, this study aims to explore the effects of soundscape on the environmental restoration in urban natural environments. Materials and Methods: A field experiment was conducted with 70 participants (four groups) in an urban natural environment (Shenyang, China). Directed attention was first depleted with a 50-min 'consumption' phase, followed by a baseline measurement of attention level. Three groups then engaged in 40 min of restoration in the respective environments with similar visual surroundings but with different sounds present, after which attention levels were re-Tested. The fourth group did not undergo restoration and was immediately re-Tested. The difference between the two test scores, corrected for the practice effect, represents the attention restoration of individuals exposed to the respective environments. Statistical Analysis Used: An analysis of variance was performed, demonstrating that the differences between the mean values for each group were statistically significant [sig. = 0.027 (<0.050)]. Results: The results showed that the mean values (confidence interval of 95%) of each group are as follows: 'natural sounds group' (8.4), 'traffic sounds group' (2.4) and 'machine sounds group' (-1.8). Conclusion: It can be concluded that (1) urban natural environments, with natural sounds, have a positive effect on the restoration of an individuals' attention and (2) the presence of different types of sounds has significantly divergent effects on the environmental restoration

Effect of vegetation on sound fields in idealised urban open spaces

Noise pollution is a major environmental problem within the EU and during the last years vegetation was examined for its benefits in increasing health and well-being of citizens from different viewpoints, including noise control and soundscape enhancement. This work focuses on numerical simulations to investigate the effectiveness of vegetation for controlling sound fields, especially in terms of the abatement of traffic noise. Two idealised urban squares were studied, one rectangular and one octagonal. Three plant types, climbing plants (ivy), living green walls with soil substrate and plants in pots (nephrolepis exaltata), were used in this investigation, based on their measured properties in laboratory, and four aspects of the use of vegetation were evaluated: effect of the amount of vegetation, effect of changing in the scattering coefficient of vegetation, effect of vegetation in different receiver positions and effect of vegetation on different groups of receivers. Parametric studies on the determination of a line source and on the definition of sound power levels referred to traffic noise were also developed. Three simulation tools were used, namely CATT-Acoustic®, CRR (Combined Ray-tracing and Radiosity) and Odeon

Human motion modeling and simulation by anatomical approach

To instantly generate desired infinite realistic human motion is still a great challenge in virtual human simulation. In this paper, the novel emotion effected motion classification and anatomical motion classification are presented, as well as motion capture and parameterization methods. The framework for a novel anatomical approach to model human motion in a HTR (Hierarchical Translations and Rotations) file format is also described. This novel anatomical approach in human motion modelling has the potential to generate desired infinite human motion from a compact motion database. An architecture for the real-time generation of new motions is also propose

Modelling human behaviours and reactions under dangerous environment

This paper describes the framework of a real-time simulation system to model human behavior and reactions in dangerous environments. The system utilizes the latest 3D computer animation techniques, combined with artificial intelligence, robotics and psychology, to model human behavior, reactions and decision making under expected/unexpected dangers in real-time in virtual environments. The development of the system includes: classification on the conscious/subconscious behaviors and reactions of different people; capturing different motion postures by the Eagle Digital System; establishing 3D character animation models; establishing 3D models for the scene; planning the scenario and the contents; and programming within Virtools (TM) Dev. Programming within Virtools (TM) Dev is subdivided into modeling dangerous events, modeling character's perceptions, modeling character's decision making, modeling character's movements, modeling character's interaction with environment and setting up the virtual cameras. The real-time simulation of human reactions in hazardous environments is invaluable in military defense, fire escape, rescue operation planning, traffic safety studies, and safety planning in chemical factories, the design of buildings, airplanes, ships and trains. Currently, human motion modeling can be realized through established technology, whereas to integrate perception and intelligence into virtual human's motion is still a huge undertaking. The challenges here are the synchronization of motion and intelligence, the accurate modeling of human's vision, smell, touch and hearing, the diversity and effects of emotion and personality in decision making. There are three types of software platforms which could be employed to realize the motion and intelligence within one system, and their advantages and disadvantages are discussed

Massive and Red Objects predicted by a semianalytical model of galaxy formation

We study whether hierarchical galaxy formation in a concordance $\Lambda$CDM universe can produce enough massive and red galaxies compared to the observations. We implement a semi-analytical model in which the central black holes gain their mass during major mergers of galaxies and the energy feedback from active galaxy nuclei (AGN) suppresses the gas cooling in their host halos. The energy feedback from AGN acts effectively only in massive galaxies when supermassive black holes have been formed in the central bulges. Compared with previous models without black hole formation, our model predicts more massive and luminous galaxies at high redshift, agreeing with the observations of K20 up to $z\sim 3$. Also the predicted stellar mass density from massive galaxies agrees with the observations of GDDS. Because of the energy feedback from AGN, the formation of new stars is stopped in massive galaxies with the termination of gas cooling and these galaxies soon become red with color $R-K>$5 (Vega magnitude), comparable to the Extremely Red Objects (EROs) observed at redshift $z\sim$1-2. Still the predicted number density of very EROs is lower than observed at $z\sim 2$, and it may be related to inadequate descriptions of dust extinction, star formation history and AGN feedback in those luminous galaxies.Comment: Accepted for Publication in ApJ, added reference

Electronic structure of YbB6_{6}: Is it a Topological Insulator or not?

To resolve the controversial issue of the topological nature of the electronic structure of YbB$_{6}$, we have made a combined study using density functional theory (DFT) and angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES). Accurate determination of the low energy band topology in DFT requires the use of modified Becke-Johnson exchange potential incorporating the spin-orbit coupling and the on-site Coulomb interaction $U$ of Yb $4f$ electrons as large as 7 eV. We have double-checked the DFT result with the more precise GW band calculation. ARPES is done with the non-polar (110) surface termination to avoid band bending and quantum well confinement that have confused ARPES spectra taken on the polar (001) surface termination. Thereby we show definitively that YbB$_{6}$ has a topologically trivial B 2$p$-Yb 5$d$ semiconductor band gap, and hence is a non-Kondo non-topological insulator (TI). In agreement with theory, ARPES shows pure divalency for Yb and a $p$-$d$ band gap of 0.3 eV, which clearly rules out both of the previous scenarios of $f$-$d$ band inversion Kondo TI and $p$-$d$ band inversion non-Kondo TI. We have also examined the pressure-dependent electronic structure of YbB$_{6}$, and found that the high pressure phase is not a Kondo TI but a \emph{p}-\emph{d} overlap semimetal.Comment: The main text is 6 pages with 4 figures, and the supplementary information contains 6 figures. 11 pages, 10 figures in total To be appeared in Phys. Rev. Lett. (Online publication is around March 16 if no delays.