Graphics and Human Computer Interfaces Commons^™

Touchscreen Smartphone User Interfaces For Older Adults, Ai Sano

Scholarly Horizons: University of Minnesota, Morris Undergraduate Journal

Today the world is experiencing the rapid growth of the older population. The number of older adults who own digital devices such as smartphones is increasing as well. The current smartphone user interfaces, however, appear not optimized for older adults. When designing smartphone user interfaces for older adults, we must consider their age-related physical and cognitive changes, which most likely affect their user experience. The present paper explores smartphone user interface guidelines for older adults and heuristics for evaluating the usability of Android launchers for older adults as well as a research study that developed an Android launcher for older …

An Overview Of Modern Global Illumination, Skye A. Antinozzi

Scholarly Horizons: University of Minnesota, Morris Undergraduate Journal

Advancements in graphical hardware call for innovative solutions, which can improve the realism of computer generated lighting. These innovative solutions aim to generate state of the art computer generated lighting through a combination of intelligent global illumination models and the use of modern hardware. The solution described in this paper achieves global illumination by ray tracing over geometry within a 3D scene from distributed light field probes and proceeds to shade the scene with a deferred renderer. Such a solution provides the flexibility and robustness that many other global illumination models have previously lacked while still achieving realistic lighting that …

Sparsity Based Reflection Removal Using External Patch Search, Renjie Wan, Boxin Shi, Ah-Hwee Tan, Alex C. Kot

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Reflection removal aims at separating the mixture of the desired background scenes and the undesired reflections, when the photos are taken through the glass. It has both aesthetic and practical applications which can largely improve the performance of many multimedia tasks. Existing reflection removal approaches heavily rely on scene priors such as separable sparse gradients brought by different levels of blur, and they easily fail when such priors are not observed in many real scenes. Sparse representation models and nonlocal image priors have shown their effectiveness in image restoration with self similarity. In this work, we propose a reflection removal …

Deep Learning On Lie Groups For Skeleton-Based Action Recognition, Zhiwu Huang, C. Wan, T. Probst, Gool L. Van

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

In recent years, skeleton-based action recognition has become a popular 3D classification problem. State-of-the-art methods typically first represent each motion sequence as a high-dimensional trajectory on a Lie group with an additional dynamic time warping, and then shallowly learn favorable Lie group features. In this paper we incorporate the Lie group structure into a deep network architecture to learn more appropriate Lie group features for 3D action recognition. Within the network structure, we design rotation mapping layers to transform the input Lie group features into desirable ones, which are aligned better in the temporal domain. To reduce the high feature …

Effect Of Timing And Source Of Online Product Recommendations: An Eye-Tracking Study, Yan Shi, Qing Zeng, Fiona Fui-Hoon Nah, Chuan-Hoo Tan, Choon Ling Sia, Keng Siau, Jiaqi Yan

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Online retail business has become an emerging market for almost all business owners. Online recommender systems provide better service to consumers during their decision making processes. In this study, a controlled lab experiment was conducted to assess the effect of recommendation timing (early, mid, and late) and recommendation source (expert reviews vs. consumer reviews) on online consumers’ interest and attention. Eye-tracking data was extracted from the experiment and analyzed. The results suggest that consumers show more interest in recommendation based on consumer reviews than expert reviews. Earlier recommendations do not receive greater attention than later recommendations.

Viral Marketing For Smart Cities: Influencers In Social Network Communities, Madhura Kaple, Ketki Kulkarni, Katerina Potika

Faculty Publications, Computer Science

Social networks are used by cities primarily for announcing local-area events, but also for increasing engagement of citizens in votes and elections. Given the current plethora of heterogeneous social networks, city administrators can benefit from social networks to promote initiatives, which are important to a current smart city as well use them to discover future needs in order to manage resources more efficiently. Our focus in this paper is how we can adapt commercial and viral marketing techniques to smart city systems to influence the behavior, opinion and choices of citizens in order to improve their well being and that …

Institutional Research And Advanced Analytics, Mary Kathryn Starkey, Shelby Albers

Research Data and Scholarly Communications Committee Workshops

Tableau empowers everyone to see and understand their data. The Institutional Research & Advanced Analytics (IRAA) team will deliver an engaging one-hour demonstration that covers the ins and outs of Tableau Desktop and Tableau Server. We will also show you University of Kentucky data that is currently available to you, as well as where to find and how to access said data.

The presentation slides are available by clicking the Download button on the right. The video and audio files of this workshop are listed as additional files below and are available for download.

Library Guides: An Aggregation Of User Research From 1998 To 2017, David Vess

Libraries

A truly comprehensive search tool for resources provided by libraries will continue to be a distant dream until daunting technical challenges are addressed. A Google-like search experience is desirable in some contexts, but a case can be made that hiding subject-specific article databases behind a comprehensive search tool is a disservice to researchers.

Librarians have a long history of addressing the complex landscape of the various resources they offer by crafting guides to library collections. These guides provide direct links to resources while educating inexperienced researchers about discipline-specific databases. Unfortunately, this solution creates more complexities in the research resource landscape. …

An Evaluation Of On-Screen Keyboards For First Time Single Switch Users, Paul Ahern, Rupert Westrup

The ITB Journal

This paper presents an evaluation of three designs for on-screen keyboard layouts for use by Single Switch Users (SSUs). SSUs are those users who have a disability which means that they are able to activate a switch into an "on" or "off'' position but are not able to locate or position a particular switch. The first keyboard layout design was alphabetically based, the second design was based upon the most frequently occurring letters in the English alphabet and the third design was the standard QWERTY layout found on most keyboards. The research shows that there is no significant difference in …

Procedurally Generating Genetic Keys, Adam A. Levasseur

Computer Engineering

This project presents a method for creating multi-part models based on input keys to generate new, variant models via genetic algorithms. By utilizing 3D models as modular parts, this method allows for the generation of a unique, compound model based on one or multiple input keys. This paper explains the process of creating and testing such generation styles using simple geometry to create more complex, compound models.

P4sinc – An Execution Policy Framework For Iot Services In The Edge, Phu Huu Phung, Hong-Linh Truong, Divya Teja Yasoju

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Internet of Things (IoT) services are increasingly deployed at the edge to access and control Things. The execution of such services needs to be monitored to provide information for security, service contract, and system operation management. Although different techniques have been proposed for deploying and executing IoT services in IoT gateways and edge servers, there is a lack of generic policy frameworks for instrumentation and assurance of various types of execution policies for IoT services. In this paper, we present P4SINC as an execution policy framework that covers various functionalities for IoT services deployed in software-defined machines in IoT infrastructures. …

Unreal Engine 4 Rpg, Jacob W. Russ, Jeffrey J. Nunez

Computer Engineering

Classic RPG videogames have become few and far between in the Western market over the years as modern RPG systems have gained popularity. The purpose of this project is to present a vertical slice of a hybrid RPG game that takes the gameplay mechanics and styles of classic RPG videogames and infuses them with a modern presentation. Through the use of the powerful Unreal Engine 4 graphics engine, this project is able to combine impressive graphical fidelity with modernized systems to fuel a videogame that is undeniably a classic RPG at heart. This is not a full game, but a …

Collaboration In 360° Videochat: Challenges And Opportunities, Anthony Tang, Omid Fakourfar, Carman Neustaedter, Scott Bateman

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

We designed a videochat experience where one participant can experience a remote environment from a 360° camera. This allows the remote user to view and explore the environment without necessitating interaction from the local participant. We designed and conducted an observational study to understand the experience, and the challenges that people might encounter. In a study with 32 participants (16 pairs), we found that remote participants could actively participate in the experience with the environment in ways that are not possible with current mobile video chat. However, we also found that participants had challenges in communicating location and orientation information …

On The Selection Of Anchors And Targets For Video Hyperlinking, Zhi-Qi Cheng, Hao Zhang, Xiao Wu, Chong-Wah Ngo

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

A problem not well understood in video hyperlinking is what qualifies a fragment as an anchor or target. Ideally, anchors provide good starting points for navigation, and targets supplement anchors with additional details while not distracting users with irrelevant, false and redundant information. The problem is not trivial for intertwining relationship between data characteristics and user expectation. Imagine that in a large dataset, there are clusters of fragments spreading over the feature space. The nature of each cluster can be described by its size (implying popularity) and structure (implying complexity). A principle way of hyperlinking can be carried out by …

Eulerian On Lagrangian Cloth Simulation, Kyle C. Piddington

Master's Theses

This thesis introduces a novel Eulerian-on-Lagrangian (EoL) approach for simulating cloth. This approach allows for the simulation of traditionally difficult cloth scenarios, such as draping and sliding cloth over sharp features like the edge of a table. A traditional Lagrangian approach models a cloth as a series of connected nodes. These nodes are free to move in 3d space, but have difficulty with sliding over hard edges. The cloth cannot always bend smoothly around these edges, as motion can only occur at existing nodes. An EoL approach adds additional flexibility to a Lagrangian approach by constructing special Eulerian on Lagrangian …

Learning To Identify Depth Edges In Real-World Images With 3d Ground Truth, Krista A. Ehinger, Kevin T. Joseph, Wendy J. Adams, Erich W. Graf, James H. Elder

MODVIS Workshop

No abstract provided.

Measuring Presence In A Police Use Of Force Simulation, Dharmesh Rajendra Desai

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

We have designed a simulation that can be used to train police officers. Digital simulations are more cost-effective than a human role play. Use of force decisions are complex and made quickly, so there is a need for better training and innovative methods. Using this simulation, we are measuring the degree of presence that a human experience in a virtual environment. More presence implies better training. Participants are divided into two groups in which one group performs the experiment using a screen, keyboard, and mouse, and another uses virtual reality controls. In this experiment, we use subjective measurements and physiological …

Introduction To Gephi, Jesse Fagan

Research Data and Scholarly Communications Committee Workshops

Gephi is a visualization and exploration software for graphs and networks. Think Photoshop, but for graph data. This session will provide an overview of the software, its features, and resources for further study. Gephi is open-source, free to download, and runs on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.

The presentation slides are available by clicking the Download button on the right. The video and audio files of this workshop are listed as the additional files below and are available for download.

We Are Alfred: Empathy Learned Through A Medical Education Virtual Reality Project, Barbara Swartzlander, Elizabeth Dyer, Marilyn R. Gugliucci

Library Services Faculty Posters

Poster describing project collaboration among University of New England (UNE) librarians and College of Osteopathic Medicine (COM) faculty, whose goal was to adopt technology which will teach UNECOM students to be empathic with older adults and familiarize medical students with information resources from the NIH/NLM related to older adult health. Technology tested was the Alfred Lab developed by Embodied Labs. First year medical students were required to complete the ‘We Are Alfred’ virtual reality module and a pre and post assessment. Descriptive statistics were applied to finite questions on pre and post assessments, and content analysis on open ended answers. …

Curiosity: Emergent Behavior Through Interacting Multi-Level Predictions, Douglas S. Blank, Lisa Meeden, James Marshall

Computer Science Faculty Research and Scholarship

Over the past 15 years our research group has been exploring models of developmental robotics and curiosity. Our research is based on the premise that intelligent behavior arises through emergent interactions between opposing forces in an open-ended, task-independent environment. In an initial experiment we constructed a recurrent neural network model where self-motivation was "an emergent property generated by the competing pressures that arise in attempting to balance predictability and novelty". The system first focused on its error, then learned to successfully predict its error, and finally became habituated to what caused the error. This process of focusing, learning, and habituating …

An Affordable Vr Environment, Matthew R. Petty

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Virtual Reality is a powerful technology with the ability to affect our senses in powerful ways. Traditionally used for entertainment, we argue that it can be used for educational purposes as well. In order to get virtual reality into the classroom, we must address its cost and portability, as well as improve the interaction that users experience with the virtual environment. Our solution, a Unity program installed on an iPhone and a Mac, attempts to solve these issues. A technical demo was created that functions and can be interfaced with. While this solution is a proof of concept, its consequences …

Investigating Trust And Trust Recovery In Human-Robot Interactions, Abigail L. Thomson

Celebration of Learning

As artificial intelligence and robotics continue to advance and be used in increasingly different functions and situations, it is important to look at how these new technologies will be used. An important factor in how a new resource will be used is how much it is trusted. This experiment was conducted to examine people’s trust in a robotic assistant when completing a task, how mistakes affect this trust, and if the levels of trust exhibited with a robot assistant were significantly different than if the assistant were human. The task was to watch a computer simulation of the three-cup monte …

Music Feature Matching Using Computer Vision Algorithms, Mason Hollis

Computer Science and Computer Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper seeks to establish the validity and potential benefits of using existing computer vision techniques on audio samples rather than traditional images in order to consistently and accurately identify a song of origin from a short audio clip of potentially noisy sound. To do this, the audio sample is first converted to a spectrogram image, which is used to generate SURF features. These features are compared against a database of features, which have been previously generated in a similar fashion, in order to find the best match. This algorithm has been implemented in a system that can run as …

Simulating Foodborne Pathogens In Poultry Production And Processing To Defend Against Intentional Contamination, Silas B. Lankford

Computer Science and Computer Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

There is a lack of data in recent history of food terrorism attacks, and as such, it is difficult to predict its impact. The food supply industry is one of the most vulnerable industries for terrorist threats while the poultry industry is one of the largest food industries in the United States. A small food terrorism attack against just a single poultry processing center has the potential to affect a much larger population than its immediate consumers. In this work, the spread of foodborne pathogens is simulated in a poultry production and processing system to defend against intentional contamination. An …

Hybridguard: A Principal-Based Permission And Fine-Grained Policy Enforcement Framework For Web-Based Mobile Applications, Phu Huu Phung, Abhinav Mohanty, Rahul Rachapalli, Meera Sridhar

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Web-based or hybrid mobile applications (apps) are widely used and supported by various modern hybrid app development frameworks. In this architecture, any JavaScript code, local or remote, can access available APIs, including JavaScript bridges provided by the hybrid framework, to access device resources. This JavaScript inclusion capability is dangerous, since there is no mechanism to determine the origin of the code to control access, and any JavaScript code running in the mobile app can access the device resources through the exposed APIs. Previous solutions are either limited to a particular platform (e.g., Android) or a specific hybrid framework (e.g., Cordova) …

Hand Gesture Recognition For Sign Language Transcription, Iker Vazquez Lopez

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Sign Language is a language which allows mute people to communicate with other mute or non-mute people. The benefits provided by this language, however, disappear when one of the members of a group does not know Sign Language and a conversation starts using that language. In this document, I present a system that takes advantage of Convolutional Neural Networks to recognize hand letter and number gestures from American Sign Language based on depth images captured by the Kinect camera. In addition, as a byproduct of these research efforts, I collected a new dataset of depth images of American Sign Language …

Watching 360° Videos Together, Anthony Tang, Omid Fakourfar

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

360° videos are made using omnidirectional cameras that capture a sphere around the camera. Viewers get an immersive experience by freely changing their field of view around the sphere. The problem is that current interfaces are designed for a single user, and we do not know what challenges groups of people will have when viewing these videos together. We report on the findings of a study where 16 pairs of participants watched 360° videos together in a "guided tour" scenario. Our findings indicate that while participants enjoyed the ability to view the scene independently, this caused challenges establishing joint references, …

Effects Of The Use Of Leaderboards In Education, Yu-Hsien Chiu, Fiona Fui-Hoon Nah

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Gamification has been used in education to increase student motivation and performance. In this research, we are interested to examine the effect of leaderboards on student motivation by assessing the interest of students to complete optional practice questions provided to them in a course. Based on goal setting theory and cognitive evaluation theory, we hypothesize that the use of leaderboards will lead to increased student motivation. We designed a within-subject experiment where leaderboards were not provided in the first half of the semester for the optional assignments comprising practice questions but were provided in the second half of the semester …

Information Fusion Based Techniques For Hevc, D. G. Fernández, A. A. Del Barrio, Guillermo Botella, Uwe Meyer-Baese, Anke Meyer-Baese, Christos Grecos

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

Aiming at the conflict circumstances of multi-parameter H.265/HEVC encoder system, the present paper introduces the analysis of many optimizations' set in order to improve the trade-off between quality, performance and power consumption for different reliable and accurate applications. This method is based on the Pareto optimization and has been tested with different resolutions on real-time encoders.

Pre-Processing Techniques To Improve Hevc Subjective Quality, D. G. Fernández, A. A. Del Barrio, Guillermo Botella, Uwe Meyer-Baese, Anke Meyer-Baese, Christos Grecos

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

Nowadays, HEVC is the cutting edge encoding standard being the most efficient solution for transmission of video content. In this paper a subjective quality improvement based on pre-processing algorithms for homogeneous and chaotic regions detection is proposed and evaluated for low bit-rate applications at high resolutions. This goal is achieved by means of a texture classification applied to the input frames. Furthermore, these calculations help also reduce the complexity of the HEVC encoder. Therefore both the subjective quality and the HEVC performance are improved.