An inertial motion capture framework for constructing body sensor networks

Motion capture is the process of measuring and subsequently reconstructing the movement of an animated object or being in virtual space. Virtual reconstructions of human motion play an important role in numerous application areas such as animation, medical science, ergonomics, etc. While optical motion capture systems are the industry standard, inertial body sensor networks are becoming viable alternatives due to portability, practicality and cost. This thesis presents an innovative inertial motion capture framework for constructing body sensor networks through software environments, smartphones and web technologies. The first component of the framework is a unique inertial motion capture software environment aimed at providing an improved experimentation environment, accompanied by programming scaffolding and a driver development kit, for users interested in studying or engineering body sensor networks. The software environment provides a bespoke 3D engine for kinematic motion visualisations and a set of tools for hardware integration. The software environment is used to develop the hardware behind a prototype motion capture suit focused on low-power consumption and hardware-centricity. Additional inertial measurement units, which are available commercially, are also integrated to demonstrate the functionality the software environment while providing the framework with additional sources for motion data. The smartphone is the most ubiquitous computing technology and its worldwide uptake has prompted many advances in wearable inertial sensing technologies. Smartphones contain gyroscopes, accelerometers and magnetometers, a combination of sensors that is commonly found in inertial measurement units. This thesis presents a mobile application that investigates whether the smartphone is capable of inertial motion capture by constructing a novel omnidirectional body sensor network. This thesis proposes a novel use for web technologies through the development of the Motion Cloud, a repository and gateway for inertial data. Web technologies have the potential to replace motion capture file formats with online repositories and to set a new standard for how motion data is stored. From a single inertial measurement unit to a more complex body sensor network, the proposed architecture is extendable and facilitates the integration of any inertial hardware configuration. The Motion Cloud’s data can be accessed through an application-programming interface or through a web portal that provides users with the functionality for visualising and exporting the motion data

Ambient health monitoring: the smartphone as a body sensor network component

Inertial measurement units used in commercial body sensor networks (e.g. animation suits) are inefficient, difficult to use and expensive when adapted for movement science applications concerning medical and sports science. However, due to advances in micro-electro mechanical sensors, these inertial sensors have become ubiquitous in mobile computing technologies such as smartphones. Smartphones generally use inertial sensors to enhance the interface usability. This paper investigates the use of a smartphone’s inertial sensing capability as a component in body sensor networks. It discusses several topics centered on inertial sensing: body sensor networks, smartphone networks and a prototype framework for integrating these and other heterogeneous devices. The proposed solution is a smartphone application that gathers, processes and filters sensor data for the purpose of tracking physical activity. All networking functionality is achieved by Skeletrix, a framework for gathering and organizing motion data in online repositories that are conveniently accessible to researchers, healthcare professionals and medical care workers

Up to Date Methods and Technics Involved in Monitoring the Aerosols from Natural and Artificial Halochambers

This paper presents the main modern methods and techniques used in monitoring the aerosols in natural and artificial halochambers, with implications for research of the therapeutic environments optimization conditions. There are focused the "in situ" methods to determine in real time the morphological and functional characteristics of NaCl based aerosols, highlighting the solions with multiple effect

The application of augmented reality for reanimating cultural heritage

This paper presents the design of a service-oriented architecture to support dynamic cultural content acquisition on a mobile augmented reality system for reanimating cultural heritage. The reanimating cultural heritage system provides several domain interfaces (Web, Web3D, Mobile and Augmented Reality) for presenting cultural objects accessed from an aggregated RCH data repository via web services. This paper largely focuses on the augmented reality system, but discusses the Web, Web3D and Mobile domains to set the paper in context. The mobile augmented reality system performs multiple objects tracking to augment digital media contents on real world cultural object scenes. The proposed mobile augmented reality system is composed of a mobile interface (smartphone, tablet), middleware including the augmented reality SDK and supporting software modules for the augmented reality application, and a web service framework

New methods for examining expertise in burglars in natural and simulated environments: preliminary findings

Expertise literature in mainstream cognitive psychology is rarely applied to criminal behaviour. Yet, if closely scrutinised, examples of the characteristics of expertise can be identified in many studies examining the cognitive processes of offenders, especially regarding residential burglary. We evaluated two new methodologies that might improve our understanding of cognitive processing in offenders through empirically observing offending behaviour and decision-making in a free-responding environment. We tested hypotheses regarding expertise in burglars in a small, exploratory study observing the behaviour of experienced offenders (ex-burglars) and novices (students) in a real and in a simulated environment. Both samples undertook a mock burglary in a real house and in a simulated house on a computer. Both environments elicited notably different behaviours between the experts and the novices with experts demonstrating superior skill. This was seen in: more time spent in high value areas; fewer and more valuable items stolen; and more systematic routes taken around the environments. The findings are encouraging and provide support for the development of these observational methods to examine offender cognitive processing and behaviour

Modulated Laser Cladding of Implant-Type Coatings by Bovine-Bone-Derived Hydroxyapatite Powder Injection on Ti6Al4V Substrates—Part I: Fabrication and Physico-Chemical Characterization

The surface physico-chemistry of metallic implants governs their successful long-term functionality for orthopedic and dentistry applications. Here, we investigated the feasibility of harmoniously combining two of the star materials currently employed in bone treatment/restoration, namely, calcium-phosphate-based bioceramics (in the form of coatings that have the capacity to enhance osseointegration) and titanium alloys (used as bulk implant materials due to their mechanical performance and lack of systemic toxicity). For the first time, bovine-bone-derived hydroxyapatite (BHA) was layered on top of Ti6Al4V substrates using powder injection laser cladding technology, and then subjected, in this first stage of the research, to an array of physical-chemical analyses. The laser processing set-up involved the conjoined modulation of the BHA-to-Ti ratio (100 wt.% and 50 wt.%) and beam power range (500–1000 W). As such, on each metallic substrate, several overlapped strips were produced and the external surface of the cladded coatings was further investigated. The morphological and compositional (SEM/EDS) evaluations exposed fully covered metallic surfaces with ceramic-based materials, without any fragmentation and with a strong metallurgical bond. The structural (XRD, micro-Raman) analyses showed the formation of calcium titanate as the main phase up to maximum 800 W, accompanied by partial BHA decomposition and the consequential advent of tetracalcium phosphate (markedly above 600 W), independent of the BHA ratio. In addition, the hydrophilic behavior of the coatings was outlined, being linked to the varied surface textures and phase dynamism that emerged due to laser power increment for both of the employed BHA ratios. Hence, this research delineates a series of optimal laser cladding technological parameters for the adequate deposition of bioceramic layers with customized functionality

Extended structures constructed from alkoxo-bridged binuclear complexes as nodes and bis(4-pyridyl) ethylene as a spacer

Marin G, Tudor V, Kravtsov VC, et al. Extended structures constructed from alkoxo-bridged binuclear complexes as nodes and bis(4-pyridyl) ethylene as a spacer. CRYSTAL GROWTH & DESIGN. 2005;5(1):279-282.Two new polynuclear complexes have been obtained by connecting alkoxo-bridged binuclear copper(II) complexes with bis(4-pyridyl)ethylene (bpe): [Cu-2(Hdea)(2)(bpe)]-(bpe)-(ClO4)(2) (1) and [Cu-2(mea)(2)(bpe)(2)](ClO4)(2) (2) (Hdea = mono-deprotonated diethanolamine and mea = deprotonated monoethanolamine). The structure of 1 consists of infinite chains that have resulted by connecting the bis(alkoxo)-bridged centrosymmetrical [Cu-2(dea)(2)](2+) nodes with bis(4-pyridyl)ethylene rods. The (CuCu)-Cu-... separations within the chain are 2.984 and 13.308 Angstrom. The noncoordinated bpe molecules bind the parallel coordination polymer chains through hydrogen bond interactions, resulting in infinite gridlike sheets. Compound 2 exhibits an interlocked 3-D structure, resulting from the inclined interpenetration of 2-D gridlike sheets. Each sheet is constructed from [Cu-2(mea)(2)] nodes, interconnected by bpe spacers. Every mesh of every sheet contains parts of two others passing through it. The distance between the alkoxo-bridged copper(II) ions within the nodes is 3.020 Angstrom, while the distances between the copper ions bridged by bpe ligands are 13.381 and 14.051 Angstrom

Absolute cross sections of the

Absolute cross sections for the 86Sr(α,n)89Zr reaction at energies close to the Gamow window are reported. Three thin SrF2 targets were irradiated using the 9 MV Tandem facility in IFIN-HH Bucharest that delivered α beams for the activation process. Two high-purity Germanium detectors were used to measure the induced activity of 89Zr in a low background environment. The experimental results are in very good agreement with Hauser-Feshbach statistical model calculations performed with the TALYS code

Absolute cross sections of the 86Sr(α,n)89Zr reaction at energies of astrophysical interest

Absolute cross sections for the 86Sr(α,n)89Zr reaction at energies close to the Gamow window are reported. Three thin SrF2 targets were irradiated using the 9 MV Tandem facility in IFIN-HH Bucharest that delivered α beams for the activation process. Two high-purity Germanium detectors were used to measure the induced activity of 89Zr in a low background environment. The experimental results are in very good agreement with Hauser-Feshbach statistical model calculations performed with the TALYS code