http://hdl.handle.net/2262/17 School of Computer Science and Statistics 2013-05-13T08:10:31Z http://hdl.handle.net/2262/65744 Title: Evaluation of a Domain-Aware Approach to User Model Interoperability Author: WALSH, EDMOND; WADE, VINCENT PATRICK; WALSH, EDDIE; O'CONNOR, ALEXANDER Description: PUBLISHED; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2262/65743 Title: Dynamic Contextual Usage Metadata for Learning Resource Reuse in Adaptive Environments Author: WADE, VINCENT PATRICK; WALSH, EDDIE; WALSH, EDMOND; CONLAN, OWEN Abstract: Drawing on the experiences and context of others who have already used a particular resource can greatly facili- tate that resource’s reuse. Such reuse is essential when the resources in question are digital learning assets, services and models which are expensive both in terms of time and monetary expenditure to develop and use. When these re- sources are deployed in personalised settings, where each user may be delivered a tailored sequence of resources that uniquely suits their particular needs, gathering and feder- ating a rich view of how these resources are being used be- comes important. In this article we describe an approach to facilitating the federating of contextual usage data, which is compiled over the lifecycle of a resource. Given that this data is likely to come from a range of different sources, our approach will need to be able to cope with the high level of heterogeneity expected in terms of its structure, syntax and semantics. We describe how such data may be used to sup- port users in assessing the value of learning resources and facilitating their appropriate reuse. Description: PUBLISHED; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA 2011-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2262/64939 Title: The non-verbal structure of patient case discussions in multidisciplinary medical team meetings Author: LUZ, SATURNINO Abstract: Meeting analysis has a long theoretical tradition in social psychology, with established practical ramifications in computer science, especially in computer supported cooperative work. More recently, a good deal of research has focused on the issues of indexing and browsing multimedia records of meetings. Most research in this area, however, is still based on data collected in laboratories, under somewhat artificial conditions. This paper presents an analysis of the discourse structure and spontaneous interactions at real-life multidisciplinary medical team meetings held as part of the work routine in a major hospital. It is hypothesised that the conversational structure of these meetings, as indicated by sequencing and duration of vocalisations, enables segmentation into individual patient case discussions. The task of segmenting audio-visual records of multidisciplinary medical team meetings is described as a topic segmentation task, and a method for automatic segmentation is proposed. An empirical evaluation based on hand labelled data is presented which determines the optimal length of vocalisation sequences for segmentation, and establishes the competitiveness of the method with approaches based on more complex knowledge sources. The effectiveness of Bayesian classification as a segmentation method, and its applicability to meeting segmentation in other domains are discussed Description: PUBLISHED; Article no. 17 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2262/64938 Title: Cross-cultural assessment of automatically generated multimodal referring expressions in a virtual world Author: LUZ, SATURNINO Abstract: This paper presents an assessment of automatically generated multimodal referring expressions as produced by embodied conversational agents in a virtual world. The algorithm used for this purpose employs general principles of human motor control and cooperativity in dialogues that can be parametrised so as to vary the precision of the pointing gestures and the amount of linguistic information included in the referring expressions. The study assessed how native speakers of English and Japanese perceived three different algorithmic outputs for multimodal referring behaviour in terms of understandability, human-likeness and a social practice (selling). Results show that users generally prefer mobile agents that are economical in their linguistic descriptions to stationary verbose agents. They also show the need for further calibration of the algorithm to accommodate the differences between the two groups. In addition to the detailed description of the set up and results of the study, the paper discusses implications for the design and use of agents, methodological issues that arose while conducting the cross-cultural study and directions for future work. Description: PUBLISHED 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2262/64246 Title: A Universal Clinical Decision Support System using semantic web services Author: HEDERMAN, LUCY MARY; KHAN, HASEEB AHMAD Abstract: In this paper we propose the use of semantic web services to achieve a universal clinical decision support system (CDSS). Our goal is to develop a semi-automated approach to discover, select and compose CDSSs available as web services. Ontologies and tools support is necessary to achieve this goal. We describe similar efforts for ontologies and tools development and explain how our work is different from these efforts. Description: PRESENTED; Crete, Greece 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2262/64203 Title: Quality Estimation: an experimental study using unsupervised similarity measures Author: MOREAU, ERWAN; VOGEL, CARL Editor: Chris Callison-Burch, Philipp Koehn, Christof Monz, Matt Post, Radu Soricut, and Lucia Specia Abstract: We present the approach we took for our participation to the WMT12 Quality Estimation Shared Task: our main goal is to achieve reasonably good results without appeal to supervised learning. We have used various similarity measures and also an external resource (Google N-grams). Details of results clarify the interest of such an approach. Description: PUBLISHED 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2262/64199 Title: A protected LR-PON deployment for the UK Author: RUFFINI, MARCO; Payne, David Description: PUBLISHED 2011-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2262/64128 Title: Squaring the Circle? Work and Family Issues among Owners of Small Business Author: DREW, EILEEN PATRICIA; HUMBERT, ANNE LAURE Editor: ISBE Abstract: This paper addresses the largely under-researched theme of how entrepreneurs in Ireland manage their business lives in parallel with their family commitments, with specific reference to dependent children. Since the emergence of dual earner couples as ‘typical’, there has been an expanding attention to the working lives of parents and the issue of work-family conflict in the context of employment. This strand of literature sought to explain patterns of working, e.g. sector of employment, hours of work and flexibility, in terms of highly gendered preferences. The discourse has moved from woman/mother/family-friendly to more gender neutral work-life balance (WLB), in tracking the responses of organisations to the needs of their employees, in the broader context of ability to provide family care. Some research examined both sides of the ‘reconciliation’ divide by surveying the needs of employers and employees (O’Brien and Shemilt, 2003; Drew et al, 2003). These and subsequent studies noted that even in organisations with well developed policies in place, take-up of WLB arrangements was highly gendered and associated with lower level occupations (clerical/administrative). It has been further observed that, in an Irish context, managers fail to lead by example (Drew and Murtagh, 2005) and often adopt a gatekeeping role in the practice and availability of WLB arrangements for themselves and their staff (Drew and Daverth, 2009). With the growth of smaller enterprises a gap is evident in our knowledge of how entrepreneurs behave in their unique multi-functional roles (as owner employer/employee), particularly when they become parents. Description: PUBLISHED 2010-11-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2262/64125 Title: Skinning with Dual Quaternions Author: Kavan, Ladislav; Collins, Steven; O'Sullivan, Carol; COLLINS, STEVEN Abstract: Skinning of skeletally deformable models is extensively used for real-time animation of characters, creatures and similar objects. The standard solution, linear blend skinning, has some serious drawbacks that require artist intervention. Therefore, a number of alternatives have been proposed in recent years. All of them successfully combat some of the artifacts, but none challenge the simplicity and efficiency of linear blend skinning. As a result, linear blend skinning is still the number one choice for the majority of developers. In this paper, we present a novel GPU-friendly skinning algorithm based on dual quaternions. We show that this approach solves the artifacts of linear blend skinning at minimal additional cost. Upgrading an existing animation system (e.g., in a videogame) from linear to dual quaternion skinning is very easy and has negligible impact on run-time performance. Description: PUBLISHED 2007-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2262/64121 Title: Geopostors: A Real-Time Geometry/Impostor Crowd Rendering System: Author: DOBBYN, SIMON; O'SULLIVAN, ANN CAROL; Hamill, David; O'Conor, keith Editor: Luebke; D., and Pfister; H.P Abstract: The simulation of large crowds of humans is important in many fi elds of computer graphics, including real-time applications such as games, as they can breathe life into otherwise static scenes and enhance believability. We present a novel hybrid rendering system for crowds that solves the classic problem of degraded quality of image-based representations at close distances by building an impostor rendering system on top of a full, geometry-based, human animation system. This enables almost imperceptible switching between the two representations based on a pixel to texel ratio, with minimal popping artefacts. Seamless interchanges are further facilitated by exploiting programmable graphics hardware to efficiently enhance the realism and variety of the dynamically-lit impostors, thereby also improving on existing impostor techniques. To test our system, our virtual crowds are embedded in an urban simulation system (as shown in Figure 1). The results demonstrate a system capable of rendering large realistic crowds with the visual realism of a high-resolution geometry rendering system, but at a fraction of the rendering cost. Description: PUBLISHED 2005-01-01T00:00:00Z