17 ways to say yes:Toward nuanced tone of voice in AAC and speech technology

People with complex communication needs who use speech-generating devices have very little expressive control over their tone of voice. Despite its importance in human interaction, the issue of tone of voice remains all but absent from AAC research and development however. In this paper, we describe three interdisciplinary projects, past, present and future: The critical design collection Six Speaking Chairs has provoked deeper discussion and inspired a social model of tone of voice; the speculative concept Speech Hedge illustrates challenges and opportunities in designing more expressive user interfaces; the pilot project Tonetable could enable participatory research and seed a research network around tone of voice. We speculate that more radical interactions might expand frontiers of AAC and disrupt speech technology as a whole

Numerical modeling of dynamic powder compaction using the Kawakita equation of state

Dynamic powder compaction is analyzed using the assumption that the powder behaves, while it is being compacted, like a hydrodynamic fluid in which deviatoric stress and heat conduction effects can be ignored throughout the process. This enables techniques of computational fluid dynamics such the equilibrium flux method to be used as a modeling tool. The equation of state of the powder under compression is assumed to be a modified version of the Kawakita loading curve. Computer simulations using this model are performed for conditions matching as closely as possible with those from experiments by Page and Killen [Powder Metall. 30, 233 (1987)]. The numerical and experimental results are compared and a surprising degree of qualitative agreement is observed

Classical and quantum general relativity: a new paradigm

We argue that recent developments in discretizations of classical and quantum gravity imply a new paradigm for doing research in these areas. The paradigm consists in discretizing the theory in such a way that the resulting discrete theory has no constraints. This solves many of the hard conceptual problems of quantum gravity. It also appears as a useful tool in some numerical simulations of interest in classical relativity. We outline some of the salient aspects and results of this new framework.Comment: 8 pages, one figure, fifth prize of the Gravity Research Foundation 2005 essay competitio

Multiple Ways to Persevere: Liar's Bingo

Some readers may already be familiar with the mathematical task of solving Liar's Bingo. In this article, the authors will share the different ways Liar's Bingo has provided both the authors and their students the opportunity to persevere on multiple levels as they and students try to explain the different mathematical patterns that emerge in the strips. The authors will share some extensions to Liar's Bingo that readers can use in their classrooms and some of the observed patterns and some sample explanations. Spoiler alert: the authors have not found explanations for all the observed patterns. (Yet!

High-Reynolds-number wall-modelled large eddy simulations of turbulent pipe flows using explicit and implicit subgrid stress treatments within a spectral element solver

We present explicit and implicit large eddy simulations for fully developed turbulent pipe flows using a continuous-Galerkin spectral element solver. On the one hand, the explicit stretched-vortex model (by Misra & Pullin [45] and Chung & Pullin [14]), accounts for an explicit treatment of unresolved stresses and is adapted to the high-order solver. On the other hand, an implicit approach based on a spectral vanishing viscosity technique is implemented. The latter implicit technique is modified to incorporate Chung & Pullin virtual-wall model instead of relying on implicit dissipative mechanisms near walls. This near-wall model is derived by averaging in the wall-normal direction and relying in local inner scaling to treat the time-dependence of the filtered wall-parallel velocity. The model requires space-time varying Dirichlet and Neumann boundary conditions for velocity and pressure respectively. We provide results and comparisons for the explicit and implicit subgrid treatments and show that both provide favourable results for pipe flows at Re_τ = 2×10^3 and Re_τ = 1.8×10^5 in terms of turbulence statistics. Additionally, we conclude that implicit simulations are enhanced when including the wall model and provide the correct statistics near walls

No black hole information puzzle in a relational universe

The introduction of a relational time in quantum gravity naturally implies that pure quantum states evolve into mixed quantum states. We show, using a recently proposed concrete implementation, that the rate at which pure states naturally evolve into mixed ones is faster than that due to collapsing into a black hole that later evaporates. This is rather remarkable since the fundamental mechanism for decoherence is usually very weak. Therefore the ``black hole information puzzle'' is rendered de-facto unobservable.Comment: 4 pages, no figures, revte

A Systematic Review of the Probes Method in Research with Children and Families

Since their introduction, there has been wide discussion about how probes are used in human computer interaction (HCI) research. This variation can be problematic for researchers and designers who plan on using probes in the child computer interaction space, as it can be difficult to know which approach is best suited to address their design situation. In this review, we surveyed the ways that HCI researchers have used probes in studies with children and families. Based on 25 articles, we analysed the methodological decisions that researchers have taken in their empirical studies, relating to: a.) the goals for using the probes, b.) the probe itself, c.) participant involvement, and d.) the data and data use. Based on our methodological findings, we highlight four key tensions—including probes as sources of information versus creative input--and consider questions that can guide decision making for developing probes studies with children and families