A Framework for Quality-Driven Delivery in Distributed Multimedia Systems

In this paper, we propose a framework for Quality-Driven Delivery (QDD) in distributed multimedia environments. Quality-driven delivery refers to the capacity of a system to deliver documents, or more generally objects, while considering the users expectations in terms of non-functional requirements. For this QDD framework, we propose a model-driven approach where we focus on QoS information modeling and transformation. QoS information models and meta-models are used during different QoS activities for mapping requirements to system constraints, for exchanging QoS information, for checking compatibility between QoS information and more generally for making QoS decisions. We also investigate which model transformation operators have to be implemented in order to support some QoS activities such as QoS mapping

Model Management for Quality of Service Support

Quality of Service (QoS) management strategies have been first introduced in distributed multimedia systems to decide whether and controlling how multimedia streams can be delivered to the user within the given delay, cost or quality constraints. With the recent advances in the development of large-scale distributed applications where different services are provided to a large number of users, QoS management becomes and end-to-end functionality requiring the cooperation of all the system components. That leads to consider system components interoperability, management information integration and distributed execution of QoS activities. In this paper we examine modelling and meta-modelling issues for QoS management. More specifically we propose a meta-model for QoS management and we illustrate how such a meta-model is used for mapping QoS requirements to system constraints

A QoS mapping rule builder

Although many QoS management architectures have been recently introduced with a lot of advanced features, they have never been widely used in the existing applications due to the lack of interoperation between providers and users, or between network operators. One of the main issues is the heterogeneity of QoS information coming from different sources: clients, communication networks, servers, data .etc. In the context of Quality-Driven Delivery (QDD) referring to the ability of a system to deliver data objects while considering the end-users expectations, all components of a distributed multimedia system have to contribute to satisfy users requirements. The mapping activity is therefore essential for dealing with the variety of QoS information of these components. In this paper, we propose an approach aimed at creating QoS mapping rules using statistical data analysis and data mining techniques combined with monitoring tools. The automatic generation of QoS mapping rules allows adapting the QoS management architectures to different environments as well as different classes of users

An adaptation framework for new media artworks

In this paper, we are interested in adaptation mechanisms for the design, creation and experimentation of adaptive and interactive new media artworks. Through a concrete case study, we propose an adaptation framework that combines semantic and physical adaptation and that can be specialized to the specific needs of various new media artists. This adaptation framework is supported by an adaptation engine, the kernel of the software architecture we are currently building. We have validated our adaptation framework through the implementation of a prototype of the adaptation engine. This prototype integrates the management of various types of metadata and allows a representation of adaptation scenarios as policies of the form event-condition-action. \ud We present how we used our adaptation engine to reconstruct and experiment the adaptation model of The Man of the Crowd, an existing adaptive new media installation, where the artist introduces a semantic adaptation of the video content displayed on four screens, according to the relative position of the viewer in the artistic installation

Model Operations for Quality-Driven Multimedia Delivery

With the recent advances in distributed systems and wireless technology, users can access any information, from anywhere with any device. Multimedia delivery services are currently under development to operate in such environments. In this context, it appears essential to offer and support different levels of service according to users requirements and expectations and to work towards quality-driven delivery (QDD). Implementing QDD mechanisms leads us to consider different issues such as system components interoperability, quality information management, distributed execution of QDD activities and multi-criteria optimization. In this paper, we focus on quality information management to support QDD. We propose a model management approach to the problem and we introduce metamodel and model operations for that purpose. We use conceptual graphs formalism to develop our QDD metamodel and we show how the conceptual graph derivation mechanism can be applied to implement some fundamental model operations

Process modeling for new media artworks

Practices in new media art pose very interesting challenges to the multimedia research community in terms of software tools development, usage of media technologies or documentation and conservation of new meda artworks. In this paper, we present the different stages in the life cycle of new media artworks and we illustrate the use of the canonical processes of media production in this context. This work is a first step towards a process modeling framework for the description and documentation of new media artworks

Design and production of new media artworks

New media artists today take advantage of, and are influenced by, the many possibilities offered by new digital technologies. They are very demanding users and a detailed examination of their practices and approaches will provide a better understanding of the usage of multimedia technologies. In this paper, we are interested in the design and creation of new media artworks. Through a concrete example, we present the different stages in the life cycle of an adaptive new media artwork and we identify the corresponding canonical processes

Effect of agent embodiment on the elder user enjoyment of a game

International audienceThis paper presents a study that compared the elder user enjoyment of a game of trivia in three conditions: participants playing the game with a laptop PC vs. a robot vs. a virtual agent. Statistical analysis did not show any significant difference of the three devices on user enjoyment while qualitative analysis revealed a preference for the laptop PC condition, followed by the robot and the virtual agent. The elderly participants were concentrated on the task performance rather on the interaction with systems. They preferred laptop PC condition mainly because there were less interfaces distracting them from performing the task proposed by the game. Further, the robot was preferred to a virtual agent because of its physical presence. Some issues of the experiment design are raised and directions for future research are suggested to gain more insight into the effects of agent embodiment on human-agent interaction

Le projet Robadom : conception d'un robot d'assistance pour les personnes âgées

National audienceContexte : Le projet ROBADOM a pour objectif de concevoir "un robot majordome", capable de fournirdes interactions verbales et non verbales et des feedbacks pour aider au quotidien les personnes âgées présentant des troubles cognitifs légers. Objectif : Le projet ROBADOM aborde les thématiques suivantes : 1. Le contexte social pour la conception de robots : 1) définir l'apparence du robot et 2) étudier les perceptions et les attitudes des personnes âgées à l'égard d'un robot d'assistance ; 2. Développer les comportements du robot pour créer une interaction "naturelle": 1) des solutions techniques pour un robot expressif, 2) la communication verbale et non verbale entre les personnes âgées et le robot ; 3. Etudier l'acceptabilité du robot chez les personnes âgées ; 4. Etudier l'impact du robot sur les utilisateurs âgés. Méthode : Les quatre études ont impliqué à la fois une méthode qualitative et une méthode expérimentale, réalisées au sein de notre laboratoire "LUSAGE". Résultats et conclusion : Les petits robots avec des traits stylisés ont été appréciés par les participants. Concernant les fonctionnalités, la stimulation cognitive, le rappel de tâches et la localisation d'objets ont été positivement évalués. Bien que les participants jugent le robot utile, ils n'étaient pas encore prêts à l'adopter. De plus, ils ont perçu certaines expressions du robot différemment des personnes jeunes. Ainsi, le système robotisé devra être adapté aux spécificités des personnes âgées. Enfin, nos participants ont soulevé la question de la valeur ajoutée d'un système robotisé par rapport à un ordinateur. Ainsi, de nombreux aspects (technologiques, interaction homme-robot, sociologiques...) restent à explorer avant d'évaluer l'impact du robot d'assistance au domicile

ABSTRACT A METAMODEL FOR WEB PAGE DESIGN

Since the beginning of the 90's, the phenomenal growth of Internet was supported by the power given to the authors to carry out and distribute documents to a broad audience. These documents, presented in Web pages and grouped into coherent presentations, are usually stored in individual files. The management of their contents then becomes a problem. In this paper, we propose a metamodel for web pages design allowing to describe the content, structure and layout of Web presentations. This description is done through a Web page model that can be stored in a database and then easily accessed and reused. We then integrate in the same database the Web page models as well as the data composing the Web presentations. We are then able to guarantee the consistency of the information presented and to facilitate the management of contents