Conducting a virtual ensemble with a kinect device

This paper presents a gesture-based interaction technique for the implementation of an orchestra conductor and a virtual ensemble, using a 3D camera-based sensor to capture user’s gestures. In particular, a human-computer interface has been developed to recognize conducting gestures using a Microsoft Kinect device. The system allows the conductor to control both the tempo in the piece played as well as the dynamics of each instrument set independently. In order to modify the tempo in the playback, a time-frequency processing-based algorithmis used. Finally, an experiment was conducted to assess user’s opinion of the system as well as experimentally confirm if the features in the system were effectively improving user experience or not.This work has been funded by the Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad of the Spanish Government under Project No. TIN2010-21089-C03-02 and Project No. IPT-2011-0885-430000 and by the Junta de Andalucia under Project No. P11-TIC-7154. The work has been done at Universidad de Malaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucia Tech

Correction system for polyphonic piano recordings

M.I. Martin-Erdozain, I. Barbancho, A. Rosa-Pujazon, A.M. Barbancho, "Correction system for polyphonic piano recordings", XXVIII Simposium Nacional de la Unión Científica Internacional de Radio, Santiago de Compostela, España, 2013n this paper, a support tool for piano rehearsal is presented. The system analyses a given piano polyphonic recording to find the times, pitch and duration of the notes and figures played, taking into account the possibility of playing more than one note simultaneously as well as covering the whole piano frequency range. In order to do so, the system uses an onset detection algorithm to segment the input signal into partitions which are then analysed in the time and frequency domains. Then, the system correlates the data extracted from the partitions with the score of the original piece, identifying the positions and type of the mistakes performed by the user, and providing her/him with the corresponding feedback. The experiments conducted showed that the application is capable of analysing a given recording and indicate the musician the mistakes made.This work has been funded by the Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad of the Spanish Government under Project No. TIN2010-21089-C03-02 and by the Ministerio de Industria, Turismo y Comercio under Project No. TSI-090100-2011-25

The Importance of the Entrepreneur’s Perception of “Success”

Purpose - In spite of the fact that the success of new ventures has been a widely studied topic in the field of entrepreneurship, no consensus on what is understood by the success of a firm can be found in the literature. Thus, the objective of this work is to discover what the entrepreneur really understands by the success of his/her business in its early years. To that end, this study clarifies the principal indicators used by entrepreneurs and analyses the relationship between how entrepreneurs understand the success of their business and the performance of that business. Design/methodology/approach – In a logit regression model, the research data are analyzed, using a sample of 98 entrepreneurs who are the heads of new firms in various sectors of activity. Findings - The study shows that there is a relationship between the way in which the entrepreneur measures how the business is doing and the performance of that business. More specifically, this research reveals that it is not the use of a greater number of indicators to measure the success that identifies the successful newly-created business from the unsuccessful, but the fact that those indicators are from different perspectives. Moreover, the results show that customer-related indicators are more effective than financial indicators to distinguish between successful and unsuccessful organizations. Research limitations/implications – Future research including qualitative interviews will help to further investigate the relationship between the entrepreneur’s perception of success and company performance. Practical implications – As a result of this research, the entrepreneurs can be conscience about how important it is the way they understand “the success” before they constitute their business. The results of this study mean a valuable knowledge to the academics that research in the entrepreneurship field, specifically to those that are focused on the success factors study. Originality/value – This research is pioneering in relating the way that the entrepreneur measures his company’s success and demonstrating its importance.Entrepreneur’s perception of success; new ventures; entrepreneurship.

Examining the Lived Experiences of Divorce Among Hispanic Parents

Parental divorce does not have the same effect on all children, and the cultural background of families may have an impact on children\u27s experience of divorce. The purpose of this research was to investigate the lived experiences of Hispanic parents of school-aged children who are divorced or are going through the divorce process in order to examine how their children adjust to this family change. Crisis theory and critical race theory were used as theoretical frameworks, and a phenomenological approach was used to collect data from 13 parents through semi-structured interviews. Twenty-seven themes (six minor, five major, 14 subthemes, and two thematic categories) were generated that relate to the impact of divorce on Hispanic children and how cultural factors influence that impact. Protective themes included guidance from extended family and friends and a prolonged process of separation/divorce due to Hispanic values regarding marriage and family. Negative themes included undesirable changes in children\u27s actions and behaviors such as wanting to be isolated or left alone and engagement of the children in problematic behaviors. The findings were similar to studies with non-Hispanic children in regard to the changes in behavior that were observed by parents. A recurring and primary theme was the support Hispanic children obtain from and the crucial role played by extended family after divorce. The findings of this study can be used to instigate positive social change by adding to the understanding of the experience of divorce for Hispanic children and encouraging care providers to emphasize the role of extended family as a support for these children

Groundwater: Solution to the Las Vegas water problem?

A contentious debate is taking place in different sectors of the community on how to manage the states groundwater system. It is a battle whose outcome, regardless of who wins, will have a tremendous impact on the future of Las Vegas. Economic benefits always seem to downplay environmental considerations in the policy-making process often with serious consequences. This paper takes a look at the SNWAʼs Groundwater Development Project and provides a discussion of the issues for and against it. Groundwater is inexpensive, relatively abundant and accessible. However, over-pumping of groundwater can have significant environmental consequences, as well. It is our hope that the issues presented here will lead to more open dialogue so that an equitable solution to Las Vegas\u27 water problem can be reached

Thinking Like a Scientist: A Thematic Analysis of Students\u27 Experiences at the SACNAS Research Conference

The underrepresentation of minority students in STEM fields is a concern in today’s society. Research suggests that identity plays a major role in students’ ultimate success within these fields. Using identity theory as a theoretical framework, this study explores the ways in which identity affects the academic careers of underrepresented students in STEM. The participants of this study consisted of undergraduates from various colleges and universities around the United States that attended the SACNAS 2010 research conference. Thematic analysis was used to identify four overarching themes from a set of narrative responses collected after the event. The identified themes include (1) motivation and future endeavors, (2) networking, (3) experienced others, and (4) disadvantaged backgrounds. These themes were analyzed to further understand the importance that identifying as a scientist has on students in STEM

Introduction

Edward Said’s seminal text on Orientalism has opened, as it has often been stated, a complex agenda in the social sciences. In fact, Said unambiguously challenged all forms of essentialism by claiming that such settled categories as “Orient” and “Occident” did not correspond to any stable reality, but rather were an odd combination of the empirical and the imaginative (Said 1995: 331). Independent of the enormous controversy – both at the ideological and the theoretical level – that his thesis has raised, his assumption that each age and society recreates its “others” had a strong influence shaping the development of a conceptual apparatus in the colonial discourses of the social sciences and its critiques of colonial rule. The same can be suggested about postcolonial theor