Experiments in binaural audio for telepresence

One area of telepresence research that has had less, though increasing, analysis is that pertaining to the audio aspects of presence, particularly with regard to the remote detection of real world sounds. If telepresence can be considered as the physical sensation of being elsewhere, whether within a virtual, or real environment then addressing the sensation that provides audio information, whether virtual or real should be a worthwhile endeavour in order to enhance the sense of presence

A Higgs Test of Horizontal Symmetry

Identical interactions found in the three families of quarks and leptons suggest the presence of a horizontal symmetry. We discuss how such a symmetry can be tested by measuring the decay rates of Higgs into fermion pairs, and the Higgs production cross section. Depending on the details, there is a chance that the decay widths to the bottom-pair and the tau-pair may be down by more than a factor of 3 or more compared to the usual values, and the fusion production cross section of the Higgs also altered. Whatever the outcome, such a test also serves to constraint horizontal symmetry models.Comment: version to be published in Physics Letter

A mechatronic approach to supernormal auditory localisation

Remote audio perception is a fundamental requirement for telepresence and teleoperation in applications that range from work in hostile environments to security and entertainment. The following paper presents the use of a mechatronic system to test the efficacy of audio for telepresence. It describes work to determine whether the use of supernormal inter-aural distance is a valid means of approaching an enhanced method of hearing for telepresence. The particular audio variable investigated is the azimuth angle of error and the construction of a dedicated mechatronic test rig is reported and the results obtained. The paper concludes by observing that the combination of the mechatronic system and supernormal audition does enhance the ability to localise sound sources and that further work in this area is justified

Magic Neutrino Mass Matrix and the Bjorken-Harrison-Scott Parameterization

Observed neutrino mixing can be described by a tribimaximal MNS matrix. The resulting neutrino mass matrix in the basis of a diagonal charged lepton mass matrix is both 2-3 symmetric and magic. By a magic matrix, I mean one whose row sums and column sums are all identical. I study what happens if 2-3 symmetry is broken but the magic symmetry is kept intact. In that case, the mixing matrix is parameterized by a single complex parameter $U_{e3}$, in a form discussed recently by Bjorken, Harrison, and Scott.Comment: Two references added. To appear in Physics Letters

The re-breathing technique

No Abstract

Marine Ecosystem Enclosed Experiments : proceedings of a symposium held in Beijing, People's Republic of China, 9-14 May 1987

Abstracts in French and Spanis

The SMILING project : prevention of falls by a mechatronic training device

Ageing is characterized by functional changes that can create gait and balance disturbances, which are the main risk factors of falling. Elderly people at risk of falling can be considered to be suffering from an involuntary motor behaviour that restricts their participation in society. One method to overcome such a situation is to activate a new learning process to train for real life tasks, which represents innovation. The SMILING system is intended to challenge the elderly to solve new problems in real time by inducing variable environments that need active response and problem solving. Variable environments induced by perturbations will weaken stiff motor behaviour(s), induce flexibility and thus enable effective training and improve mobility in real life environments. The SMILING solution provides a changeable yet safe environment that needs active response and problem solving by the user. It consists of a wearable non-invasive computer-controlled system that applies chaotic perturbations to the lower extremities during walking through small alterations of the height and slope of weight-bearing surfaces. The complete system consists of 3 modules: i) a complete walking analysis system; ii) a pair of motorised training shoes; iii) a user friendly portable control unit

Tri-Bimaximal Mixing from Twisted Friedberg-Lee Symmetry

We investigate the Friedberg-Lee (FL) symmetry and its promotion to include the $\mu - \tau$ symmetry, and call that the twisted FL symmetry.Based on the twisted FL symmetry, two possible schemes are presented toward the realistic neutrino mass spectrum and the tri-bimaximal mixing.In the first scheme, we suggest the semi-uniform translation of the FL symmetry.The second one is based on the $S_3$ permutation family symmetry.The breaking terms, which are twisted FL symmetric, are introduced.Some viable models in each scheme are also presented.Comment: 14 pages, no figure. v2: 16 pages, modified some sentences, appendix added, references added. v3: 14 pages, composition simplified, accepted version in EPJ

S_3 Symmetry and Neutrino Masses and Mixings

Based on a universal seesaw mass matrix model with three scalars \phi_i, and by assuming an S_3 flavor symmetry for the Yukawa interactions, the lepton masses and mixings are investigated systematically. In order to understand the observed neutrino mixing, the charged leptons (e, \mu, \tau) are regarded as the 3 elements (e_1, e_2, e_3) of S_3, while the neutrino mass-eigenstates are regarded as the irreducible representation (\nu_\eta, \nu_\sigma, \nu_\pi) of S_3, where (\nu_\pi, \nu_\eta) and \nu_\sigma are a doublet and a singlet, respectively, which are composed of the 3 elements (\nu_1, \nu_2, \nu_3) of S_3.Comment: 16 pages, no figure, version to appear in EPJ-

On the generalized linear equivalence of functions over finite fields

In this paper we introduce the concept of generalized linear equivalence between functions defined over finite fields; this can be seen as an extension of the classical criterion of linear equivalence, and it is obtained by means of a particular geometric representation of the functions. After giving the basic definitions, we prove that the known equivalence relations can be seen as particular cases of the proposed generalized relationship and that there exist functions that are generally linearly equivalent but are not such in the classical theory. We also prove that the distributions of values in the Difference Distribution Table (DDT) and in the Linear Approximation Table (LAT) are invariants of the new transformation; this gives us the possibility to find some Almost Perfect Nonlinear (APN) functions that are not linearly equivalent (in the classical sense) to power functions, and to treat them accordingly to the new formulation of the equivalence criterion