Continuous sign recognition of brazilian sign language in a healthcare setting

Communication is the basis of human society. The majority of people communicate using spoken language in oral or written form. However, sign language is the primary mode of communication for deaf people. In general, understanding spoken information is a major challenge for the deaf and hard of hearing. Access to basic information and essential services is challenging for these individuals. For example, without translation support, carrying out simple tasks in a healthcare center such as asking for guidance or consulting with a doctor, can be hopelessly difficult. Computer-based sign language recognition technologies offer an alternative to mitigate the communication barrier faced by the deaf and hard of hearing. Despite much effort, research in this field is still in its infancy and automatic recognition of continuous signing remains a major challenge. This paper presents an ongoing research project designed to recognize continuous signing of Brazilian Sign Language (Libras) in healthcare settings. Health emergency situations and dialogues inspire the vocabulary of the signs and sentences we are using to contribute to the field301Vision-based human activity recognition8289COORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DE PESSOAL DE NÍVEL SUPERIOR - CAPESnão te

Speech synchronized facial animation: phonetic context dependent visemes for Brazilian portuguese

Orientadores: Leo Pini Magalhães, Fabio ViolaroTese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Eletrica e de ComputaçãoResumo: aparência de uma face sintética ao longo do tempo. Animação facial sincronizada com a fala está relacionada ao controle da movimentação da face virtual comandada pelos eventos fonéticos de uma locução. Tal controle implica na manipulação da face virtual de forma coordenada e em sincro-nismo com o sinal acústico da fala. A coordenação é a1cançada pela reprodução, na face virtual, da movimentação articulatória visível necessária à produção dos sons da fala. O objetivo do trabalho é estudar e propor uma metodologia para a definição de representações para os padrões visuais de movimentação articulatória observáveis na face durante a fala, os denominados visemas. A metodo-logia proposta estabelece visemas dependentes do contexto fonético que contemplam o fenômeno da coarticulação perseveratória e antecipatória. Além disso, a partir da descrição geométrica e temporal de visemas estabelecidos pela análise de um corpus lingüístico do português do Brasil, são derivados modelos para a movimentação da articulação temporomandibular e do tecido dos lábios. Apesar do material fonético utilizado no trabalho estar restrito ao português do Brasil, a metodologia proposta é aplicável a outras línguasAbstract: Computer facial animation refers to the techniques for specifying and controlling the positioning, motion, and appearance of a synthetic face over time. Speech synchronized facial animation addres-ses the control of a virtual face conducted by the phonetic events of an utterance. Such control implies the manipulation of the virtual face synchronized and coordinated with the speech signal. The coor-dination is achieved by reproducing on the virtual face the visible articulatory movements necessary for speech production. The objective of the work is to study and propose a methodology to establish representations for, the visual articulatory pattems displayed on the face during speech production, the so called visemes. The proposed methodology identifies phonetic context dependent visemes that cope with persevera tive and anticipatory coarticulation. Additionally, the movements of the temporo-mandibular joint and the lip tissue are modelled from a set of visemes established by the analysis of a Brazilian Portuguese linguistic corpus. Although the corpus is restricted to Brazilian Portuguese, the methodology is general enough to be applied to other languagesDoutoradoEngenharia de ComputaçãoDoutor em Engenharia Elétric

Face liveness detection using dynamic texture

User authentication is an important step to protect information, and in this context, face biometrics is potentially advantageous. Face biometrics is natural, intuitive, easy to use, and less human-invasive. Unfortunately, recent work has revealed that face biometrics is vulnerable to spoofing attacks using cheap low-tech equipment. This paper introduces a novel and appealing approach to detect face spoofing using the spatiotemporal (dynamic texture) extensions of the highly popular local binary pattern operator. The key idea of the approach is to learn and detect the structure and the dynamics of the facial micro-textures that characterise real faces but not fake ones. We evaluated the approach with two publicly available databases (Replay-Attack Database and CASIA Face Anti-Spoofing Database). The results show that our approach performs better than state-of-the-art techniques following the provided evaluation protocols of each database2014This work has been performed within the context of the TABULA RASA project, part of the 7th Framework Research Programme of the European Union (EU), under the grant agreement number 257289. The financial support of FUNTTEL (Brazilian Telecommunication Technological Development Fund), Academy of Finland and Infotech Oulu Doctoral Program is also gratefully acknowledg

Can face anti-spoofing countermeasures work in a real world scenario?

User authentication is an important step to protect in- formation and in this field face biometrics is advantageous. Face biometrics is natural, easy to use and less human-invasive. Unfortunately, recent work has revealed that face biometrics is vulnerable to spoofing attacks using low-tech equipments. This article assesses how well existing face anti-spoofing countermeasures can work in a more realistic condition. Experiments carried out with two freely available video databases (Replay Attack Database and CASIA Face Anti-Spoofing Database) show low generalization and possible database bias in the evaluated countermeasures. To generalize and deal with the diversity of attacks in a real world scenario we introduce two strategies that show promising results

LBP-TOP based countermeasure against face spoofing attacks

User authentication is an important step to protect information and in this eld face biometrics is advantageous. Face biometrics is natural, easy to use and less human-invasive. Unfortunately, recent work has revealed that face biometrics is vulnerable to spoofing attacks using low-tech cheap equipments. This article presents a countermeasure against such attacks based on the LBP-TOP operator combining both space and time information into a single multiresolution texture descriptor. Experiments carried out with the REPLAY ATTACK database show a Half Total Error Rate (HTER) improvement from 15:16% to 7:60%

Construindo critérios de lematização para a Língua de Sinais Brasileira

The construction of sign language dictionaries and lexical database requires complex lexicographic decisions. A critical point is the lemmatization, that is, the set of criteria for defining which groups of signs form a lexeme. Using Dicionário da Língua de Sinais do Brasil: A Libras em suas mãos (Capovilla, Raphael, Temoteo e Martins, 2017) as a corpus of analysis, this study proposes a system of lemmatization criteria for Libras at phonetic-phonological, morphological, and semantic levels. This study aims to support the development of Libras lemmatized corpora The lemmatization process facilitates sign language gloss annotation, as well as the organization of lexical units and search systems, also enables significant advances in the quantitative and qualitative description of the Libras lexical core.Resumo: A construção de dicionários, glossários e bancos lexicais de línguas de sinais, tanto impressos quanto online, requer decisões lexicográficas complexas. Um ponto crítico é a lematização, ou seja, o conjunto de critérios para definir quais grupos de sinais formam um lexema. Empregando o Dicionário da Língua de Sinais do Brasil: A Libras em suas mãos (Capovilla, Raphael, Temoteo e Martins, 2017) como corpus de análise, este estudo propõe critérios de lematização específicos para Libras nos níveis fonético-fonológico, morfológico e semântico. O estudo almeja oferecer subsídios para construção de corpora lematizados da Libras. O emprego de lematização favorece a anotação por glosa, bem como a organização das unidades lexicais e sistemas de busca, além de possibilitar avanços significativos na descrição quantitativa e qualitativa do núcleo lexical da Libras

Construindo critérios de lematização para a Língua de Sinais Brasileira

Resumo: A construção de dicionários, glossários e bancos lexicais de línguas de sinais, tanto impressos quanto online, requer decisões lexicográficas complexas. Um ponto crítico é a lematização, ou seja, o conjunto de critérios para definir quais grupos de sinais formam um lexema. Empregando o Dicionário da Língua de Sinais do Brasil: A Libras em suas mãos (Capovilla, Raphael, Temoteo e Martins, 2017) como corpus de análise, este estudo propõe critérios de lematização específicos para Libras nos níveis fonético-fonológico, morfológico e semântico. O estudo almeja oferecer subsídios para construção de corpora lematizados da Libras. O emprego de lematização favorece a anotação por glosa, bem como a organização das unidades lexicais e sistemas de busca, além de possibilitar avanços significativos na descrição quantitativa e qualitativa do núcleo lexical da Libras

Felsic magma-water interaction in shallow intrusive environments: Timing between fluidal peperites and intrusive hyaloclastites in a jurassic cryptodome from the eastern Deseado Massif (Patagonia, Argentina)

This work describes the facies architecture, morphology and textures of a Jurassic rhyodacitic cryptodome outcropping in the Don Nicolás Mine, an important Au–Ag producing mine located in the Deseado Massif, Argentinean Patagonia. The access to 70 m deep surface mining operation and to a large number of diamond drill cores offer a unique chance to explore the volcanic rock assemblage of this body, allowing to study intrusion and growth mechanisms of a shallow subvolcanic body, and also providing insights into the timing between different brecciation processes occurring during magma intrusion into a poorly consolidated and water saturated pyroclastic sequence. Facies analysis allowed to infer this body as the result of a rhyodacitic magma intruding in a single and steady endogenous inflation pulse, resulting in the development of a flow banded core and a fluidal peperite envelope due to the combination of relatively low magma viscosities (for a rhyodacitic melt), the development of stable vapor films insulating the flowing magma and also allowing the ductile deformation of the rhyodacite clasts, and the fluidization of the unconsolidated and water saturated host rocks. After the main inflation stage stopped, the collapse of the vapor films resulted in quench fragmentation modifying the originally fluidal shape of many clast at the peperites, specially at the outer portion of the breccia envelope where fluidal clast shapes were almost completely erased due to this process. At the same time water invaded the inner portions of the intrusion, causing widespread quenching and the development of intrusive hyaloclastites at the edges of the coherent facies.Instituto de Recursos MineralesConsejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnica

Au precipitation linked to organic matter. Armadillo vein system, Don Nicolás mine, Deseado Massif

Se ha registrado un vínculo entre la materia orgánica y la presencia de oro en el sistema de vetas Armadillo, distrito Martinetas, per-teneciente a la Minera Don Nicolás, Santa Cruz, Argentina. Esta relación es novedosa en el sector oriental de la provincia geológicadel Macizo del Deseado, conformando un descubrimiento que revela una potencial herramienta exploratoria para la región.A link between organic matter and the presence of gold has been registered in the Armadillo vein system, Martinetas district, belonging to Minera Don Nicolás, Santa Cruz, Argentina. This relationship is novel in the eastern sector of the geological province of Deseado Massif, forming a discovery that reveals a potential exploration tool for the region.Instituto de Recursos MineralesConsejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnica

Um sistema de transcrição para língua de sinais brasileira: o caso de um avatar

A língua de sinais brasileira (libras) é uma língua visuoespacial reconhecida como segunda língua oficial do Brasil. Existem vários estudos que mostram que as línguas de sinais são línguas naturais. Contudo, diferentemente das línguas orais, que podem ser representadas, por exemplo, pelo sistema alfabético, a libras não possui um sistema de transcrição amplamente aceito. Muitos autores adotam o sistema de glosas, por causa da facilidade de leitura proporcionada, visto que são palavras de uma língua oral usadas para representar um sinal de forma aproximada. Este trabalho tem como objetivo propor uma sistematização da transcrição por glosas e mostrar sua importância para pesquisas linguísticas e de engenharia. Esse estudo é relevante tanto para o estudo da língua em si, como também na construção de avatares voltados para uma tradução automática. Neste trabalho também é avaliada a relação entre glosas em ASL e libras de forma explícita, apontando simplificações benéficas. Além disso, estabelece-se uma distinção entre transcrições largas e estreitas de glosas, exemplificando sua representação com um agente virtual sinalizador1331248COORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DE PESSOAL DE NÍVEL SUPERIOR - CAPES88887.091672/2014-01Brazilian Sign Language (Libras) is a visuospatial language recognized as the second official language of Brazil. There are several studies showing that sign languages are natural languages. However, as far as writing is concerned and differently from oral languages that can be represented by, for instance, the alphabetical system, Libras has no widely-accepted transcription system. For the sake of readability, several authors adopt a system of glosses. Glosses are words of an oral language used to approximately represent a signal of a sign language. This work aims at proposing a scheme for gloss transcription system by showing its importance for both linguistic and engineering research. This study is relevant both to the study of language itself and to the building of avatars devoted to automatic translation. In this work, glosses in ASL and Libras are explicitly compared with each other in order to propose beneficial simplifications for the transcription. Furthermore, a distinction between a broad and a narrow transcription of glosses is presented, which allows its representation with a sign language virtual agen