Software Engineering Commons^™

Making Music Social: Creating A Spotify-Based Social Media Platform, Dalton J. Craven

Senior Theses

DKMS is a new type of social media platform for music lovers and groups of friends. It integrates tightly with Spotify, one of the largest music streaming services in the world. Users of DKMS can see what their friends are listening to, receive recommendations of new songs to listen to, and analyze their several key numerical metrics (happiness, danceability, loudness, and energy) of their top songs.

DKMS was built as part of the year-long Capstone senior design course at the University of South Carolina. A deployed app is visible at https://dkms.vercel.app, and the open-source code is visible at https://github.com/SCCapstone/DKMS.

Bubbleu: Exploring Augmented Reality Game Design With Uncertain Ai-Based Interaction, Minji Kim, Kyungjin Lee, Rajesh Krishna Balan, Youngki Lee

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Object detection, while being an attractive interaction method for Augmented Reality (AR), is fundamentally error-prone due to the probabilistic nature of the underlying AI models, resulting in sub-optimal user experiences. In this paper, we explore the effect of three game design concepts, Ambiguity, Transparency, and Controllability, to provide better gameplay experiences in AR games that use error-prone object detection-based interaction modalities. First, we developed a base AR pet breeding game, called Bubbleu that uses object detection as a key interaction method. We then implemented three different variants, each according to the three concepts, to investigate the impact of each design …

Does Deep Learning Improve The Performance Of Duplicate Bug Report Detection? An Empirical Study, Yuan Jiang, Xiaohong Su, Christoph Treude, Chao Shang, Tiantian Wang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Do Deep Learning (DL) techniques actually help to improve the performance of duplicate bug report detection? Prior studies suggest that they do, if the duplicate bug report detection task is treated as a binary classification problem. However, in realistic scenarios, the task is often viewed as a ranking problem, which predicts potential duplicate bug reports by ranking based on similarities with existing historical bug reports. There is little empirical evidence to support that DL can be effectively applied to detect duplicate bug reports in the ranking scenario. Therefore, in this paper, we investigate whether well-known DL-based methods outperform classic information …

Giving Back: Contributions Congruent To Library Dependency Changes In A Software Ecosystem, Supatsara Wattanakriengkrai, Dong Wang, Raula Gaikovina Kula, Christoph Treude, Patanamon Thongtanunam, Takashi Ishio, Kenichi Matsumoto

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

The widespread adoption of third-party libraries for contemporary software development has led to the creation of large inter-dependency networks, where sustainability issues of a single library can have widespread network effects. Maintainers of these libraries are often overworked, relying on the contributions of volunteers to sustain these libraries. To understand these contributions, in this work, we leverage socio-technical techniques to introduce and formalise dependency-contribution congruence (DC congruence) at both ecosystem and library level, i.e., to understand the degree and origins of contributions congruent to dependency changes, analyze whether they contribute to library dormancy (i.e., a lack of activity), and investigate …

Code Will Tell: Visual Identification Of Ponzi Schemes On Ethereum, Xiaolin Wen, Kim Siang Yeo, Yong Wang, Ling Cheng, Feida Zhu, Min Zhu

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Ethereum has become a popular blockchain with smart contracts for investors nowadays. Due to the decentralization and anonymity of Ethereum, Ponzi schemes have been easily deployed and caused significant losses to investors. However, there are still no explainable and effective methods to help investors easily identify Ponzi schemes and validate whether a smart contract is actually a Ponzi scheme. To fill the research gap, we propose PonziLens, a novel visualization approach to help investors achieve early identification of Ponzi schemes by investigating the operation codes of smart contracts. Specifically, we conduct symbolic execution of opcode and extract the control flow …

Interactive Emirate Sign Language E-Dictionary Based On Deep Learning Recognition Models, Ahmed Abdelhadi Abdelhadi

Theses

According to the ministry of community development database in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) about 3065 people with disabilities are hearing disabled (Emirates News Agency - Ministry of Community Development). Hearing-impaired people find it difficult to communicate with the rest of society. They usually need Sign Language (SL) interpreters but as the number of hearing-impaired individuals grows the number of Sign Language interpreters can almost be non-existent. In addition, specialized schools lack a unified Sign Language (SL) dictionary, which can be linked to the Arabic language being of a diglossia nature, hence many dialects of the language co-exist. Moreover, there …

Data-Driven Modeling Of Student Performance In The Time Of Distance Learning, Iman Saad Megdadi

Theses

One of the important aspects that all academic institutions work towards improving is Student Performance. It is obviously the primary indicator of success or failure of institutions. Student performance predictions are vital to instructors and educational decision makers to help, across all levels, tailor learning according to the students’ needs. Therefore, it is essential for Higher Education Institutions to predict student performance in distance learning which has been, and remains, the primary method of learning in some countries due to Corona Virus pandemic. For this reason, this research is going to predetermine a fitting definition of student performance in time …

Ureca – The Research Ethics And Data Protection Online Review Platform Used By The University Of Malta, Joel Azzopardi

The Journal of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Nowadays, research ethics and data protection are given very high importance, and research organizations, including universities, need to safeguard their level of professionalism and integrity by providing the necessary guidelines. Moreover, they need to ensure that these guidelines are being adhered to by their affiliated researchers, including students. This is needed for protection of the research subjects, researchers, and the organization (university) itself. However, care must be taken so that the research ethics review process is streamlined as much as possible to minimize bureaucracy, as such guidelines would then be viewed as a research barrier. This study describes URECA, the …

A Data Augmented Method For Plant Disease Leaf Image Recognition Based On Enhanced Gan Model Network, Mingyuan Xin, Ling Weay Ang, Sellappan Palaniappan

Journal of Informatics and Web Engineering

The identification of plant disease leaves based on deep learning is the key to control the development and spread of plant diseases. In this paper, the existing problems of traditional classification and recognition of plant disease leaves and the limitations of deep learning-based plant disease leaf training are analysed. An enhanced GAN model network based on the Wasserstein GAN loss function has been developed to address the limited training images of plant disease leaves. The self-attention layer is added into the self-encoding structure of the generating network. The effectiveness of data generated by the encoder is increased after the self-attention …

Elderly And Smartphone Apps: Case Study With Lightweight Mysejahtera, Ciu Yung Seek, Shih Yin Ooi, Ying Han Pang, Sook Ling Lew, Xin Yun Heng

Journal of Informatics and Web Engineering

The outbreak of Covid-19 in the past 2 years has made the usage of contact-tracing app almost mandatory in Malaysia. Though the usage is seeming to be simple, but one interesting phenomenon can be observed in Malaysia is that most of the senior citizen are found not using smartphones regularly. While check-in through MySejahtera (the primary contract-tracing app used in Malaysia) for business, premises, and transports has made compulsory, it does bring a lot of inconveniences to the elderly. Many elderlies start to learn how to use smartphone and government has also taking initiative by providing free or low-cost smartphone …

The Impact Of The Telecommunication Industry As A Moderator On Poverty Alleviation And Educational Programmes To Achieve Sustainable Development Goals In Developing Countries, S.K.C Ruklani Wickramasinghe, Kamal Abd Razak

Journal of Informatics and Web Engineering

The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of the telecommunications industry's contribution to sustainable development in developing nations. A detailed literature study is conducted for this purpose, and a conceptual framework is offered. To validate the proposed conceptual framework, we conducted multiple case studies involving companies in the telecommunications industry from various countries. These findings improved the suggested conceptual framework produced for this study. However, despite the contributions of the telecommunications industry to the Sustainable Development Goals, no study has been conducted to examine how they have benefited poverty reduction and educational programmes in Sri Lanka. The …

A Swot Analysis With A Digital Transformation: A Case Study For Hospitals In The Pharmaceutical Supply Chain, Nguyen Huu Khanh Quan, Harwindar Singh, Thai Hong Thuy Khanh, Premkumar Rajagopal

Journal of Informatics and Web Engineering

The pharmaceutical business meets all requirements for a complicated and tightly regulated sector, including multi-stakeholder participation. The objective is to study digital transformation strategies in hospitals to improve the safety and convenience of pharmaceutical services when providing healthcare services. In this study, a SWOT analysis is performed to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats with a digital transformation case study for hospitals in the pharmaceutical supply chain in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Information source for SWOT analysis of published articles and reports in the following aspects: Digital transformation environment of hospitals in the global pharmaceutical supply chain; new technology …

Enhancing Mimo Capacity Through Space-Time Coding: Analysis And Design Framework, Lijun Han, Ling Weay Ang, Sellappan Palaniappan, Jing Wang

Journal of Informatics and Web Engineering

Space-time coding combines time and space to generate codewords, transmitting signals in both time and space domains. This leads to not only diversity and coding gains but also reduces the impact of multipath fading, resulting in high spectral efficiency. This paper examines the challenges in implementing space-time coding to enhance the capacity of MIMO systems. It analyzes the principle, design objectives, and criteria of space-time coding, providing a basic design framework, based on the space-time coding (STC) system model. .STC and MIMO have proven to be effective in improving system capacity, reliability, and overall performance in wireless communication. They have …

Robust Image Watermarking With Quaternion Fractional-Order Polar Harmonic-Fourier Moments Based On Wavelet Transformation: Resistance Against Rotation Attacks, Wang Jing, Ling Weay Ang, Sellappan Palaniappan, Bing He

Journal of Informatics and Web Engineering

This study presents a zero-watermarking algorithm that can resist rotation attacks. The algorithm uses quaternion fractional-order polar harmonic-Fourier moments (QFr-PHFMs) based on wavelet-transformation. First, the wavelet-transformation is applied to each component of the host image, which is in RGB three-channel color. The low-frequency sub-bands of each component are then extracted and represented using quaternion algebra. Multiple QFr-PHFMs are calculated, and the invariants of the QFr-PHFMs are utilized to establish the watermark system. The watermark extraction process is also simplified. The detection of the image requires a two-level wavelet transformation, followed by the calculation of multiple invariant moments of the low-frequency …

Predicting Code Refactoring Via Analyzing The History Of Quality Metrics And Code Anti-Patterns, Sarah Alanqari

College of Computing and Digital Media Dissertations

Code refactoring is the process of improving the internal structure of existing code without altering its functionality. Refactoring can help to reduce technical debt, enhance the quality of the code and make the code easy to evolve. However, the manual identification of the proper code refactoring operations to apply can be time-consuming and not scalable. In this thesis, we propose an approach based on data mining and machine learning techniques to analyze historical data and predict refactoring operations that may occur in a future release of a project. The approach uses a combination of techniques to identify patterns in the …

Chatgpt As Metamorphosis Designer For The Future Of Artificial Intelligence (Ai): A Conceptual Investigation, Amarjit Kumar Singh (Library Assistant), Dr. Pankaj Mathur (Deputy Librarian)

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this research paper is to explore ChatGPT’s potential as an innovative designer tool for the future development of artificial intelligence. Specifically, this conceptual investigation aims to analyze ChatGPT’s capabilities as a tool for designing and developing near about human intelligent systems for futuristic used and developed in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Also with the helps of this paper, researchers are analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of ChatGPT as a tool, and identify possible areas for improvement in its development and implementation. This investigation focused on the various features and functions of ChatGPT that …

Conversations With Chatgpt About C Programming: An Ongoing Study, James C. Davis, Yung-Hsiang Lu, George K. Thiruvathukal

Computer Science: Faculty Publications and Other Works

AI (Artificial Intelligence) Generative Models have attracted great attention in recent years. Generative models can be used to create new articles, visual arts, music composition, even computer programs from English specifications. Among all generative models, ChatGPT is becoming one of the most well-known since its public announcement in November 2022. GPT means {\it Generative Pre-trained Transformer}. ChatGPT is an online program that can interact with human users in text formats and is able to answer questions in many topics, including computer programming. Many computer programmers, including students and professionals, are considering the use of ChatGPT as an aid. The quality …

Exploring Methods Used In Face Swapping, Joshua Eklund

Scholarly Horizons: University of Minnesota, Morris Undergraduate Journal

Face swapping involves replacing the face in one image (the target) with a face in a different image (the source) while maintaining the pose and expression of the target face. Previous methods of face swapping required extensive computer power and man hours. As such, new methods are being developed that are quicker, less resource intensive, and more accessible to the non-expert. This paper provides background information on key methods used for face swapping and outlines three recently developed approaches: one based on generative adversarial networks, one based on linear 3D morphable models, and one based on encoder-decoders.

A Unified Approach To Regression Testing For Mobile Apps, Zeinab Saad Abdalla

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Mobile Applications have been widely used in recent years daily all over the world and are essential in our personal lives and at work. Because Mobile Applications update frequently, it is important that developers perform regression testing to ensure their quality. In addition, the Mobile Applications market has been growing rapidly, allowing anyone to write and publish an application without appropriate validation. A need for regression testing has arisen with the growth of different Mobile Apps and the added functionalities and complexities. In this dissertation, we adapted the FSMWeb [14] approach for selective regression testing to allow for selective regression …

Twitch Trivia Battle Royale: Interactive Entertainment Engineering Game, Noah Tyler Ravetch

Computer Science and Software Engineering

As the world of digital media evolves, so too does the way producers and consumers of entertainment content interact with each other. Live streaming is one such evolution. In this format, one person broadcasts their camera and/or their computer screen to a large audience of viewers in real time. People tuning in can communicate with other viewers and the streamer using the chat feature built-in to the streaming platform.

A new type of entertainment has recently entered the marketplace: interactive entertainment. Concerts are being held virtually in games like Fortnite (Epic Games 2021). TV Shows on Netflix are beginning to …

Ghostparty Video Game, Tyler Remlinger Hart

Computer Science and Software Engineering

GhostParty is a Unity game that uses a MongoDB database to store players' gameplay values. These values are used to create "Ghosts" that players can compete with in various mini-games. I found that this form of multiplayer using ghosts can create a good gameplay experience without live multiplayer interactions.

Multi-Modal Api Recommendation, Ivana Clairine Irsan, Ting Zhang, Ferdian Thung, Kisub Kim, David Lo

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Too many options can be a problem, which is the case for Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). As there are many such APIs, with many more being introduced periodically, it raises the problem of choosing which API to be recommended. Furthermore, numerous APIs are commonly used together with other complementary third-party APIs. It can be challenging for developers to understand how to use each API and to remember all the complementary APIs for the API they want to use. Therefore, an accurate API recommendation approach can improve developers' efficiency in implementing certain functionality. Several approaches have been developed to automatically recommend …

Safe And Reliable Software And The Formal Verification Of Prim's Algorithm In Spark, Brian S. Wheelhouse

Theses and Dissertations

Despite evidence that formal verification helps produce highly reliable and secure code, formal methods, i.e., mathematically based tools and approaches for software and hardware verification, are not commonly used in software and hardware development. The limited emphasis on formal verification in software education and training suggests that many developers have never considered the benefits of formal verification. Despite the challenging nature of their mathematical roots, software verification tools have improved; making it easier than ever to verify software. SPARK, a programming language and a formal verification toolset, is of particular interest for the AFRL, and will be a primary focus …

Heart: Motion-Resilient Heart Rate Monitoring With In-Ear Microphones, Kayla-Jade Butkow, Ting Dang, Andrea Ferlini, Dong Ma, Mascolo

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

With the soaring adoption of in-ear wearables, the research community has started investigating suitable in-ear heart rate (HR) detection systems. HR is a key physiological marker of cardiovascular health and physical fitness. Continuous and reliable HR monitoring with wearable devices has therefore gained increasing attention in recent years. Existing HR detection systems in wearables mainly rely on photoplethysmography (PPG) sensors, however, these are notorious for poor performance in the presence of human motion. In this work, leveraging the occlusion effect that enhances low-frequency bone-conducted sounds in the ear canal, we investigate for the first time in-ear audio-based motion-resilient HR monitoring. …

Exploring And Repairing Gender Fairness Violations In Word Embedding-Based Sentiment Analysis Model Through Adversarial Patches, Lin Sze Khoo, Jia Qi Bay, Ming Lee Kimberly Yap, Mei Kuan Lim, Chun Yong Chong, Zhou Yang, David Lo

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

With the advancement of sentiment analysis (SA) models and their incorporation into our daily lives, fairness testing on these models is crucial, since unfair decisions can cause discrimination to a large population. Nevertheless, some challenges in fairness testing include the unknown oracle, the difficulty in generating suitable test inputs, and the lack of a reliable way of fixing the issues. To fill in these gaps, BiasRV, a tool based on metamorphic testing (MT), was introduced and succeeded in uncovering fairness issues in a transformer-based model. However, the extent of unfairness in other SA models has not been thoroughly investigated. Our …

The Vehicle Routing Problem With Simultaneous Pickup And Delivery And Occasional Drivers, Vincent F. Yu, Grace Aloina, Panca Jodiawan, Aldy Gunawan, Tsung-C. Huang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

This research addresses the Vehicle Routing Problem with Simultaneous Pickup and Delivery and Occasional Drivers (VRPSPDOD), which is inspired from the importance of addressing product returns and the emerging notion of involving available crowds to perform pickup and delivery activities in exchange for some compensation. At the depot, a set of regular vehicles is available to deliver and/or pick up customers’ goods. A set of occasional drivers, each defined by their origin, destination, and flexibility, is also able to help serve the customers. The objective of VRPSPDOD is to minimize the total traveling cost of operating regular vehicles and total …

Specification-Based Autonomous Driving System Testing, Yuan Zhou, Yang Sun, Yun Tang, Yuqi Chen, Jun Sun, Christopher M. Poskitt, Yang Liu, Zijiang Yang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Autonomous vehicle (AV) systems must be comprehensively tested and evaluated before they can be deployed. High-fidelity simulators such as CARLA or LGSVL allow this to be done safely in very realistic and highly customizable environments. Existing testing approaches, however, fail to test simulated AVs systematically, as they focus on specific scenarios and oracles (e.g., lane following scenario with the "no collision" requirement) and lack any coverage criteria measures. In this paper, we propose AVUnit, a framework for systematically testing AV systems against customizable correctness specifications. Designed modularly to support different simulators, AVUnit consists of two new languages for specifying dynamic …

Blockscope: Detecting And Investigating Propagated Vulnerabilities In Forked Blockchain Projects, Xiao Yi, Yuzhou Fang, Daoyuan Wu, Lingxiao Jiang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Due to the open-source nature of the blockchain ecosystem, it is common for new blockchains to fork or partially reuse the code of classic blockchains. For example, the popular Dogecoin, Litecoin, Binance BSC, and Polygon are all variants of Bitcoin/Ethereum. These “forked” blockchains thus could encounter similar vulnerabilities that are propagated from Bitcoin/Ethereum during forking or subsequently commit fetching. In this paper, we conduct a systematic study of detecting and investigating the propagated vulnerabilities in forked blockchain projects. To facilitate this study, we propose BlockScope, a novel tool that can effectively and efficiently detect multiple types of cloned vulnerabilities given …

Identification Of Students At Risk Of Low Performance By Combining Rule-Based Models, Enhanced Machine Learning, And Knowledge Graph Techniques, Balqis Mubarak Al Braiki

Dissertations

Technologies and online learning platforms have changed the contemporary educational paradigm, giving institutions more alternatives in a complex and competitive environment. Online learning platforms, learning-based analytics, and data mining tools are increasingly complementing and replacing traditional education techniques. However, academic underachievement, graduation delays, and student dropouts remain common problems in educational institutions. One potential method of preventing these issues is by predicting student performance through the use of institution data and advanced technologies. However, to date, scholars have yet to develop a module that can accurately predict students’ academic achievement and commitment. This dissertation attempts to bridge that gap by …

Detecting C++ Compiler Front-End Bugs Via Grammar Mutation And Differential Testing, Haoxin Tu, He Jiang, Zhide Zhou, Yixuan Tang, Zhilei Ren, Lei Qiao, Lingxiao Jiang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

C++ is a widely used programming language and the C++ front-end is a critical part of a C++ compiler. Although many techniques have been proposed to test compilers, few studies are devoted to detecting bugs in C++ compiler. In this study, we take the first step to detect bugs in C++ compiler front-ends. To do so, two main challenges need to be addressed, namely, the acquisition of test programs that are more likely to trigger bugs in compiler front-ends and the bug identification from complicated compiler outputs. In this article, we propose a novel framework named Ccoft to detect bugs …