Quick and energy-efficient Bayesian computing of binocular disparity using stochastic digital signals

Reconstruction of the tridimensional geometry of a visual scene using the binocular disparity information is an important issue in computer vision and mobile robotics, which can be formulated as a Bayesian inference problem. However, computation of the full disparity distribution with an advanced Bayesian model is usually an intractable problem, and proves computationally challenging even with a simple model. In this paper, we show how probabilistic hardware using distributed memory and alternate representation of data as stochastic bitstreams can solve that problem with high performance and energy efficiency. We put forward a way to express discrete probability distributions using stochastic data representations and perform Bayesian fusion using those representations, and show how that approach can be applied to diparity computation. We evaluate the system using a simulated stochastic implementation and discuss possible hardware implementations of such architectures and their potential for sensorimotor processing and robotics.Comment: Preprint of article submitted for publication in International Journal of Approximate Reasoning and accepted pending minor revision

Voir ce que je vois, voir ce que je m’attends à voir : degré zéro de l’écriture du voyage et écriture littéraire du voyage. En citant Henri Michaux et Michel Butor

Abstract: To see what I expect to see: travel writing's degree zero and literarytravel narratives. With references to Henri Michaux and Michel Butor. This essay examines what arguments can be put forward to explain why readers and critics view travel writing as literary. It offers an answer that does not imply any coded definition of literature and literary works: literary travel writing is the mimesis of the questioning which characterises any literary work. This questioning rests on: 1. The duality of travellers’ perceptions of the foreign lands they discover. They see what they see and what they expect to see; their perceptions are mediated and unmediated, and consequently reflexive and congruent with the cognitive undecipherability of the foreign lands. 2. The paradox of the situation of the traveller/writer. Abroad, the traveller is not viewed as a foreigner; the least difference he/she embodies highlights a paradoxical cognitive undecipherability. The effect of the auctorial enunciation is limited by this paradox. 3. The reflexive construction of the piece of travel writing. Because they bar any meta-description of the foreign land and its people, the duality of perceptions and the traveller’s paradox make the evocations of places and people at once autonomous and implicitly related. 4. The behaviourist approach to the people of the foreign land(s). These restrictions to the traveller’s power to interpret makes the behaviourist approach obligatory. People of foreign lands can be viewed as objective entities. 5. The implicit inferences that human objective entities motivate and suggest an overall questioning. These critical and theoretical views utilise references to Michaux’s and Butor’s travels abroad and their travel writing.       &nbsp

« Se marier pour aller jusqu’au bout ensemble ? » Ruptures conjugales et transmission des exploitations agricoles dans la lignée

Les agriculteurs qui vivent en couple tendent à se marier davantage que les autres catégories socio-professionnelles, et à moins divorcer. A partir de l’enquête Etude de l’histoire familiale (INSEE/INED 1999) et d’une enquête ethnographique sur les jeunes viticulteurs de la région de Cognac, l’auteure montre, cependant, que les agriculteurs et leurs compagnes ne constituent pas des groupes sociaux « à part », « à l’abri » de la fragilisation croissante des rapports conjugaux. Elle repère ainsi des transformations similaires à celles de la population salariée : la fin du recours systématique au mariage, l’augmentation des divorces et plus généralement la possibilité, toujours présente dans la vie de couple, de la séparation. Il n’empêche que les ruptures d’union, quand elles mettent en jeu un agriculteur, s’inscrivent dans des contextes sociaux particuliers et comportent des implications spécifiques. Cette spécificité est liée non seulement à la présence d’une entreprise familiale, mais surtout à l’importance de la transmission de cette dernière dans la lignée.Agriculture , Divorces and breakup of conjugal unions , Family , Family business

A Bayesian Model for Plan Recognition in RTS Games applied to StarCraft

The task of keyhole (unobtrusive) plan recognition is central to adaptive game AI. "Tech trees" or "build trees" are the core of real-time strategy (RTS) game strategic (long term) planning. This paper presents a generic and simple Bayesian model for RTS build tree prediction from noisy observations, which parameters are learned from replays (game logs). This unsupervised machine learning approach involves minimal work for the game developers as it leverage players' data (com- mon in RTS). We applied it to StarCraft1 and showed that it yields high quality and robust predictions, that can feed an adaptive AI.Comment: 7 pages; Artificial Intelligence and Interactive Digital Entertainment Conference (AIIDE 2011), Palo Alto : \'Etats-Unis (2011

Business model on the cinema experience within the catering industry: Innovation and opportunities

London. A freezing Friday night with your friends. You want to go out and have a drink with them in a new place. You have already tried different pubs in London and tonight you want to try something new. You have heard that a new untypical bar has opened its doors and you want to see what it looks like. You arrived in front of the big round door of the “Great Hall”, which you recognised it’s the same door as in the “Lord of the Rings” movies. At the entrance, if the place is not too full you will be able to choose where you want to sit between the 2 floors with 3 different ambiances: The Commune Room, the Spatial ship room or the Western saloon. All the foods and drinks have movies names. Here you are in a friendly and cosy place where you can just have a drink, eat or have both if you like it and also you can play board games. In this project and all along, we are going to talk about “fans” and “fandoms” because our theme bar is about the love of movies, series and books. In a lot of academic lectures and even in day-to-day life, the connotation of fans is very often associated to “negative aspect” (de Kloet and van Zoonen, 2007). Not for us. Our project is to bring all together fans from all around the world (and even the “non-fans”) and have a good time with their friends, to share their same passion about heroes from different universes. In the beginning the bar is designed for fans, but non-fans are also welcomed. The idea of the bar came from my time in Hull City. We had a lot of free time because we hadn’t had class often and with my friend Lucy we talked about a bar. Lucy and I met in London and we spent a lot of time trying new bars every weekend. So we have thought about a place in London where we would like to go but doesn’t exist yet. We would have liked to spend some time in a bar like the one we imagine. Both of us are really books and movies fans. We have often thought of doing a lot of things together in our life, but the idea of the bar was the one, which was the clearest in our head and something we really wanted to see happen. That’s why when I had to choose which subject I will write for my thesis, I have decided to choose this business model that we had already completely created in our head. It is something I’m really passionate about and that I have learned a lot personally and professionally during my time writing it. I’m entrepreneur especially after my studies at Kedge and I’m pretty sure that this idea is achievable.Londres. Uma noite fria de sexta-feira com os amigos. Desejas sair à noite e tomar uma bebida com os teus amigos num novo lugar. Já experimentaste diversos bares em Londres, mas hoje queres variar. Já ouviste falar de um novo espaço, fora do comum, que abriu recentemente e tens curiosidade em conhecer. Chegaste à frente do grande porta redonda do "Grande Salão", que reconheceu ser a mesma porta do filme "O Senhor dos Anéis". Na entrada, se o local não se encontrar demasiado cheio, poderás escolher onde te sentar entre os dois andares, com três ambientes diferentes: o quarto da comuna, o quarto do navio espacial ou o salão ocidental. Todos os pratos e bebidas têm nomes de filmes. Encontra-se num lugar amigável e acolhedor, onde podes tomar um copo, comer ou se desejares, podes divertirte a jogar. Neste projecto e durante todo o tempo, vamos falar sobre “fãs” e “fandoms”. Em muitas palestras académicas e até no quotidiano, a conotação dos torcedores é muitas vezes associada ao “aspecto negativo” (de Kloet e van Zoonen, 2007). Contudo, o nosso projecto é reunir todos os fãs de todo o mundo (e até mesmo os “não fãs”) e terem um bom momento a divertirem-se com os seus amigos. Portanto, queremos interpretar isso como um aspecto positivo. Esta ideia surgiu-me quando estáva em Hull City, onde tinha tempo livre porque não havia aulas e avaliações, onde eu e a minha amiga Lucy trocamos algumas ideias sobre o bar. Eu e a Lucy conhecemo-nos em Londres e passamos muito do nosso tempo a conhecer bares novos todos os fins de semana. Começamos assim a pensar como seria esse lugar ideal em Londres onde gostaríamos de ir. Sendo as duas realmente fãs de livros e filmes, surgiu-nos esta ideia que ainda não existe. Com frequência pensamos em fazer um conjunto de coisas juntas, vendo a ideia do bar como única e algo que realmente queríamos ver a acontecer. É por isso que quando escolhi o assunto da minha tese, decidi escolher um modelo de negócio, que já temos organizado mentalmente. Acima de tudo, trata-se de uma ideia que estou realmente apaixonada, tendo aprendido muito pessoalmente e profissionalmente durante o período de escrita da tese

Making Bound Consistency as Effective as Arc Consistency

International audienceWe study under what conditions bound consistency (BC) and arc consistency (AC), two forms of propagation used in constraint solvers, are equivalent to each other. We show that they prune exactly the same values when the propagated constraint is connected row convex / closed under median and its complement is row convex. This characterization is exact for binary constraints. Since row convexity depends on the order of the values in the domains, we give polynomial algorithms for computing orders under which BC and AC are equivalent, if any