Evaluating Singing for Computer Input Using Pitch, Interval and Melody

In voice-based interfaces, non-verbal features represent a simple and underutilized design space for hands-free, language-agnostic interactions. This work evaluates the performance of three fundamental types of voice-based musical interactions: pitch, interval, and melody. These interactions involve singing or humming a sequence of one or more notes. A 21-person study evaluates the feasibility and enjoyability of these interactions. The top performing participants were able to perform all interactions reasonably quickly (<5s) with average error rates between 1.3% and 8.6% after training. Others improved with training but still had error rates as high as 46% for pitch and melody interactions. The majority of participants found all tasks enjoyable. Using these results, we propose design considerations for using singing interactions as well as potential use cases for both standard computers and augmented reality glasses

Best Practices for Virtual Care: A Consensus Statement From the Canadian Rheumatology Association

Objective. To develop best practice statements for the provision of virtual care in adult and pediatric rheumatology for the Canadian Rheumatology Association\u27s (CRA) Telehealth Working Group (TWG). Methods. Four members of the TWG representing adult, pediatric, university-based, and community rheumatology practices defined the scope of the project. A rapid literature review of existing systematic reviews, policy documents, and published literature and abstracts on the topic was conducted between April and May 2021. The review informed a candidate set of 7 statements and a supporting document. The statements were submitted to a 3-round (R) modified Delphi process with 22 panelists recruited through the CRA and patient advocacy organizations. Panelists rated the importance and feasibility of the statements on a Likert scale of 1-9. Statements with final median ratings between 7-9 with no disagreement were retained in the final set. Results. Twenty-one (95%) panelists participated in R1, 15 (71%) in R2, and 18 (82%) in R3. All but 1 statement met inclusion criteria during R1. Revisions were made to 5/7 statements following R2 and an additional statement was added. All statements met inclusion criteria following R3. The statements addressed the following themes in the provision of virtual care: adherence to existing standards and regulations, appropriateness, consent, physical examination, patient-reported outcomes, use in addition to in-person visits, and complex comanagement of disease. Conclusion. The best practice statements represent a starting point for advancing virtual care in rheumatology. Future educational efforts to help implement these best practices and research to address identified knowledge gaps are planned

Enforcing Opacity in Modular Systems

International audienceIn discrete-event systems, the opacity of a secret ensures that some behaviors or states cannot be inferred with certainty from partial observation of the system. Enforcing opacity in a discrete-event system, encoded by a finite labelled transition system (LTS), is a way to avoid information leakage. Checking opacity is decidable but costly (EXPTIME in the worst cases). This paper addresses opacity for modular systems in which every module, represented by an LTS, has to protect its own secret (a set of secret states S) w.r.t. a local attacker. Once the system is composed, we assume a coalition between the attackers that share their local view (called the global attacker). Assuming the global attacker can observe all interactions between modules, we provide a reduced-complexity opacity verification technique and an algorithm for constructing local controllers that enforces opacity for each secret separately