Hesitation Markers in Sign Language of the Netherlands A Corpus-Based Study

We present one of the first detailed studies on hesitation marking in a sign language. Based on the analysis of a set of monologues and dialogues from the Corpus NGT (Crasborn and Zwitserlood 2008; Crasborn, Zwitserlood, and Ros 2008), we describe the form and position of manual and nonmanual markers of hesitation in Sign Language of the Netherlands (NGT). We show that palm-up, used as a hesitation marker, is akin to a "filled pause" in spoken language, both in its formal properties and its distribution. palm-up is regularly used to mark hesitation in dialogues, but far less commonly in monologues, which we suggest indicates that palm-up is used deliberately by signers to signal a delay in signing (cf. e.g., Maclay and Osgood 1959). Other manual markers of hesitation include sign holds and breaks in signing; their form and patterning in the data suggest they are closer to "unfilled pauses" in speech. As for nonmanuals, we show that all instances of hesitation in our data are marked by a change in the direction of eye gaze, suggesting that this is a clear pragmatic cue that signers use-intentionally or not-to signal a planning problem in signing. This fits well with previous observations that eye gaze plays an important role in turn-taking regulation in sign languages (e.g., Baker 1977)

TrueDepth measurements of facial expressions: Sensitivity to the angle between camera and face

Facial expressions play an important role in communication, especially in sign languages. Linguistic analysis of the exact contribution of facial expressions, as well as the creation of realistic conversational avatars, especially sign language avatars, requires accurate measurements of the facial expressions of humans while engaged in linguistic interaction. Several recent projects have employed a TrueDepth camera to make such measurements. The present paper investigates how reliable this technique is. In particular, we consider the extent to which the obtained measurements are affected by the angle between the camera and the face. Overall, we find that there are generally significant, and often rather substantial differences between measurements from different angles. However, when the measured facial features are highly activated, measurements from different angles are generally strongly correlated

Exploring new methods for measuring, analyzing, and visualizing facial expressions

We explore new methods for measuring, analyzing, and visualizing facial expressions and demonstrate the utility of these methods in a case study on polar questions in Sign Language of the Netherlands

First Steps Towards a Procedure for Annotating Non-Manual Markers in Sign Languages

We report on the development, application, and evaluation of a procedure for annotating non-manual markers (NMM) in experimentally obtained sign language data. We also share resources to enable other researchers investigating NMM in sign languages or multimodal communication to utilize the annotation protocol we developed in their own research

Identification of Linear State-Space Models Subject to Truncated Gaussian Disturbances

Within Bayesian state estimation, an important effort has been put to incorporate constraints into state estimation for process optimization, state monitoring, fault detection and control. Nonetheless, in the domain of state-space system identification, the prevalent practice entails constructing models under Gaussian noise assumptions, which suffer from inaccuracies when the noise follows bounded distributions. This poster introduces a novel data-driven method rooted in maximum likelihood principles, aimed at identifying linear state-space models subject to truncated Gaussian noise. This approach enables the concurrent estimation of model parameters, noise statistics, and noise truncation bounds, by solving a series of quadratic programs and nonlinear sets of equations

Barium & related stars and their white-dwarf companions II. Main-sequence and subgiant stars

Barium (Ba) dwarfs and CH subgiants are the less-evolved analogues of Ba and CH giants. They are F- to G-type main-sequence stars polluted with heavy elements by a binary companion when the latter was on the Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB). This companion is now a white dwarf that in most cases cannot be directly detected. We present a large systematic study of 60 objects classified as Ba dwarfs or CH subgiants. Combining radial-velocity measurements from HERMES and SALT high-resolution spectra with radial-velocity data from CORAVEL and CORALIE, we determine the orbital parameters of 27 systems. We also derive their masses by comparing their location in the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram with evolutionary models. We confirm that Ba dwarfs and CH subgiants are not at different evolutionary stages and have similar metallicities, despite their different names. Additionally, Ba giants appear significantly more massive than their main-sequence analogues. This is likely due to observational biases against the detection of hotter main-sequence post-mass-transfer objects. Combining our spectroscopic orbits with the Hipparcos astrometric data, we derive the orbital inclinations and the mass of the WD companion for four systems. Since this cannot be done for all systems in our sample yet (but should be with upcoming Gaia data releases), we also analyse the mass-function distribution of our binaries. We can model this distribution with very narrow mass distributions for the two components and random orbital orientation on the sky. Finally, based on BINSTAR evolutionary models, we suggest that the orbital evolution of low-mass Ba systems can be affected by a second phase of interaction along the Red Giant Branch of the Ba star, impacting on the eccentricities and periods of the giants.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A on the 5th of April, 201

Symbiosis between the TRECVid benchmark and video libraries at the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision

Audiovisual archives are investing in large-scale digitisation efforts of their analogue holdings and, in parallel, ingesting an ever-increasing amount of born- digital files in their digital storage facilities. Digitisation opens up new access paradigms and boosted re-use of audiovisual content. Query-log analyses show the shortcomings of manual annotation, therefore archives are complementing these annotations by developing novel search engines that automatically extract information from both audio and the visual tracks. Over the past few years, the TRECVid benchmark has developed a novel relationship with the Netherlands Institute of Sound and Vision (NISV) which goes beyond the NISV just providing data and use cases to TRECVid. Prototype and demonstrator systems developed as part of TRECVid are set to become a key driver in improving the quality of search engines at the NISV and will ultimately help other audiovisual archives to offer more efficient and more fine-grained access to their collections. This paper reports the experiences of NISV in leveraging the activities of the TRECVid benchmark