Search results for: video stabilization
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 1328

Search results for: video stabilization

1028 Multiplayer RC-car Driving System in a Collaborative Augmented Reality Environment

Authors: Kikuo Asai, Yuji Sugimoto

Abstract:

We developed a prototype system for multiplayer RC-car driving in a collaborative Augmented Reality (AR) environment. The tele-existence environment is constructed by superimposing digital data onto images captured by a camera on an RC-car, enabling players to experience an augmented coexistence of the digital content and the real world. Marker-based tracking was used for estimating position and orientation of the camera. The plural RC-cars can be operated in a field where square markers are arranged. The video images captured by the camera are transmitted to a PC for visual tracking. The RC-cars are also tracked by using an infrared camera attached to the ceiling, so that the instability is reduced in the visual tracking. Multimedia data such as texts and graphics are visualized to be overlaid onto the video images in the geometrically correct manner. The prototype system allows a tele-existence sensation to be augmented in a collaborative AR environment.

Keywords: multiplayer, RC-car, collaborative environment, augmented reality

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1027 Exploring Accessible Filmmaking and Video for Deafblind Audiences through Multisensory Participatory Design

Authors: Aikaterini Tavoulari, Mike Richardson

Abstract:

Objective: This abstract presents a multisensory participatory design project, inspired by a deafblind PhD student's ambition to climb Mount Everest. The project aims to explore accessible routes for filmmaking and video content creation, catering to the needs of individuals with hearing and sight loss. By engaging participants from the Southwest area of England, recruited through multiple networks, the project seeks to gather qualitative data and insights to inform the development of inclusive media practices. Design: It will be a community-based participatory research design. The workshop will feature various stations that stimulate different senses, such as scent, touch, sight, hearing as well as movement. Participants will have the opportunity to engage with these multisensory experiences, providing valuable feedback on their effectiveness and potential for enhancing accessibility in filmmaking and video content. Methods: Brief semi-structured interviews will be conducted to collect qualitative data, allowing participants to share their perspectives, challenges, and suggestions for improvement. The participatory design approach emphasizes the importance of involving the target audience in the creative process. By actively engaging individuals with hearing and sight loss, the project aims to ensure that their needs and preferences are central to the development of accessible filmmaking techniques and video content. This collaborative effort seeks to bridge the gap between content creators and diverse audiences, fostering a more inclusive media landscape. Results: The findings from this study will contribute to the growing body of research on accessible filmmaking and video content creation. Via inductive thematic analysis of the qualitative data collected through interviews and observations, the researchers aim to identify key themes, challenges, and opportunities for creating engaging and inclusive media experiences for deafblind audiences. The insights will inform the development of best practices and guidelines for accessible filmmaking, empowering content creators to produce more inclusive and immersive video content. Conclusion: The abstract targets the hybrid International Conference for Disability and Diversity in Canada (January 2025), as this platform provides an excellent opportunity to share the outcomes of the project with a global audience of researchers, practitioners, and advocates working towards inclusivity and accessibility in various disability domains. By presenting this research at the conference in person, the authors aim to contribute to the ongoing discourse on disability and diversity, highlighting the importance of multisensory experiences and participatory design in creating accessible media content for the deafblind community and the community with sensory impairments more broadly.

Keywords: vision impairment, hearing impairment, deafblindness, accessibility, filmmaking

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1026 Block N Lvi from the Northern Side of Parthenon Frieze: A Case Study of Augmented Reality for Museum Application

Authors: Donato Maniello, Alessandra Cirafici, Valeria Amoretti

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This paper aims to present a new method that consists in the use of video mapping techniques – that is a particular form of augmented reality, which could produce new tools - different from the ones that are actually in use - for an interactive Museum experience. With the words 'augmented reality', we mean the addition of more information than what the visitor would normally perceive; this information is mediated by the use of computer and projector. The proposed application involves the creation of a documentary that depicts and explains the history of the artifact and illustrates its features; this must be projected on the surface of the faithful copy of the freeze (obtained in full-scale with a 3D printer). This mode of operation uses different techniques that allow passing from the creation of the model to the creation of contents through an accurate historical and artistic analysis, and finally to the warping phase, that will permit to overlap real and virtual models. The ultimate step, that is still being studied, includes the creation of interactive contents that would be activated by visitors through appropriate motion sensors.

Keywords: augmented reality, multimedia, parthenon frieze, video mapping

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1025 Testing the Effectiveness of a Peer Facilitated Body Project Interventions Among Body Dissatisfied Young Women in China: A Randomized Control Trial

Authors: Todd Jackson

Abstract:

In this randomized control trial, we tested the effectiveness of a peer-facilitated version of the Body Project (BP) intervention among body-dissatisfied young women in China. Participants were randomly assigned to a peer-facilitator BP condition (N = 94) versus an educational video minimal intervention control condition (N = 89). Questionnaire measures of two primary outcomes (i.e., disordered eating and body dissatisfaction) and six secondary outcomes (thin-ideal internalization, pressure to be thin, negative affect, body surveillance, body shame, body appreciation and interest in cosmetic surgery) were administered at a pre-treatment baseline, a post-treatment assessment, and at a 12-month follow-up. A series of 2 (Group) x 2 (Time) analyses of variance indicated women in the peer-facilitated BP condition reported significant improvements in primary outcome measures of disordered eating and body dissatisfaction compared to women in the educational video control condition following treatment and at the 12-month follow-up. Furthermore, women in the peer-facilitated BP condition reported significant improvements in measures of body surveillance, body shame and body appreciation) compared to educational video controls that extended to the 12-month follow-up. Finally, although women in the peer-facilitated BP condition showed significant post-treatment improvements in thin-ideal internalization, negative affect, perceived pressure to be thin, and interest in cosmetic surgery compared to video controls, these differences were no longer statistically significant at the 12-month follow-up. In conclusion, findings supported the overall effectiveness of a peer-facilitated group version of the BP as an intervention for reducing disordered eating and several associated risk factors among at-risk young women in China.

Keywords: body project, disordered eating, body dissatisfaction, risk factors, prevention, China

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1024 OPEN-EmoRec-II-A Multimodal Corpus of Human-Computer Interaction

Authors: Stefanie Rukavina, Sascha Gruss, Steffen Walter, Holger Hoffmann, Harald C. Traue

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OPEN-EmoRecII is an open multimodal corpus with experimentally induced emotions. In the first half of the experiment, emotions were induced with standardized picture material and in the second half during a human-computer interaction (HCI), realized with a wizard-of-oz design. The induced emotions are based on the dimensional theory of emotions (valence, arousal and dominance). These emotional sequences - recorded with multimodal data (mimic reactions, speech, audio and physiological reactions) during a naturalistic-like HCI-environment one can improve classification methods on a multimodal level. This database is the result of an HCI-experiment, for which 30 subjects in total agreed to a publication of their data including the video material for research purposes. The now available open corpus contains sensory signal of: video, audio, physiology (SCL, respiration, BVP, EMG Corrugator supercilii, EMG Zygomaticus Major) and mimic annotations.

Keywords: open multimodal emotion corpus, annotated labels, intelligent interaction

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1023 Vehicle Speed Estimation Using Image Processing

Authors: Prodipta Bhowmik, Poulami Saha, Preety Mehra, Yogesh Soni, Triloki Nath Jha

Abstract:

In India, the smart city concept is growing day by day. So, for smart city development, a better traffic management and monitoring system is a very important requirement. Nowadays, road accidents increase due to more vehicles on the road. Reckless driving is mainly responsible for a huge number of accidents. So, an efficient traffic management system is required for all kinds of roads to control the traffic speed. The speed limit varies from road to road basis. Previously, there was a radar system but due to high cost and less precision, the radar system is unable to become favorable in a traffic management system. Traffic management system faces different types of problems every day and it has become a researchable topic on how to solve this problem. This paper proposed a computer vision and machine learning-based automated system for multiple vehicle detection, tracking, and speed estimation of vehicles using image processing. Detection of vehicles and estimating their speed from a real-time video is tough work to do. The objective of this paper is to detect vehicles and estimate their speed as accurately as possible. So for this, a real-time video is first captured, then the frames are extracted from that video, then from that frames, the vehicles are detected, and thereafter, the tracking of vehicles starts, and finally, the speed of the moving vehicles is estimated. The goal of this method is to develop a cost-friendly system that can able to detect multiple types of vehicles at the same time.

Keywords: OpenCV, Haar Cascade classifier, DLIB, YOLOV3, centroid tracker, vehicle detection, vehicle tracking, vehicle speed estimation, computer vision

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1022 Effect of Sodium Hydroxide on Geotechnical Properties of Soft Soil in Kathmandu Valley

Authors: Bal Deep Sharma, Suresh Ray Yadav

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Local soils are often chosen due to their widespread availability and low cost. However, these soils typically have poor durability, which can lead to significant limitations in their use for construction. To address this issue, various soil stabilization techniques have been developed and used over the years. This study investigates the viability of employing the mineral polymerization (MIP) technique to stabilize black soils, intending to enhance their suitability for construction applications. This technique involves the microstructural transformation of certain clay minerals into solid and stable compounds exhibiting characteristics similar to hydroxy sodalite, feldspathoid, or zeolite. This transformation occurs through the action of an alkaline reactant at atmospheric pressure and low temperature. The soil sample was characterized using grain size distribution, Atterberg limit test, organic content test, and pH-value tests. The unconfined compressive strength of the soil specimens, prepared with varying percentages of sodium hydroxide as an additive and sand as a filler by weight, was determined at the optimum moisture content. The unconfined compressive strength of the specimens was tested under three different conditions: dry, wet, and cycling. The maximum unconfined compressive strengths were 77.568 kg/cm², 38.85 kg/cm², and 56.3 kg/cm² for the dry, wet, and cycling specimens, respectively, while the unconfined compressive strength of the untreated soil was 7.38 kg/cm². The minimum unconfined compressive strength of the wet and cycling specimens was greater than that of the untreated soil. Based on these findings, it can be concluded that these soils can be effectively used as construction material after treatment with sodium hydroxide.

Keywords: soil stabilization technique, soft soil treatment, sodium hydroxide, unconfined compressive strength

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1021 Evaluation of the Effectiveness of a HAWK Signal on Compliance in Las Vegas Nevada

Authors: A. Paz, M. Khadka, N. Veeramisti, B. Morris

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There is a continuous large number of crashes involving pedestrians in Nevada despite the numerous safety mechanisms currently used at roadway crossings. Hence, additional as well as more effective mechanisms are required to reduce crashes in Las Vegas, in particular, and Nevada in general. A potential mechanism to reduce conflicts between pedestrians and vehicles is a High-intensity Activated crossWalK (HAWK) signal. This study evaluates the effects of such signals at a particular site in Las Vegas. Video data were collected using two cameras, facing the eastbound and westbound traffic. One week of video data before and after the deployment of the signal were collected to capture the behavior of both pedestrians and drivers. T-test analyses of pedestrian waiting time at the curb, curb-to-curb crossing time, total crossing time, jaywalking events, and near-crash events show that the HAWK system provides significant benefits.

Keywords: pedestrian crashes, HAWK signal, traffic safety, pedestrian danger index

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1020 Managing Type 1 Diabetes in College: A Thematic Analysis of Online Narratives Posted on YouTube

Authors: Ekaterina Malova

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Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is a chronic illness requiring immense lifestyle changes to reduce the chance of life-threatening complications. Moving to a college may be the first time for a young adult with T1D to take responsibility for all the aspects of their diabetes care. In addition, people with T1D constantly face stigmatization and discrimination as a result of their health condition, which puts additional pressure on young adults with T1D. Hence, omissions in diabetes self-care often occur during the time of transition to college when both the social and physical environment of young adults changes drastically and contribute to the fact that emerging young adults remain one of the age groups with the highest hemoglobin levels and poorest diabetes control. However, despite potential severe health risks caused by a lack of proper diabetes self-care, little is known about the experiences of emerging adults embarking on a higher education journey as this population. Thus, young adults with type 1 diabetes are a 'forgotten group,' meaning that their experiences are rarely addressed by researchers. Given that self-disclosure and information-seeking can be challenging for individuals with stigmatized illnesses, online platforms like YouTube have become a popular medium of self-disclosure and information-seeking for people living with T1D. Thus, this study aims to provide an analysis of experiences that college students with T1D choose to share with the general public online and explore the nature of information being communicated by college students with T1D to the online community in personal narratives posted on YouTube. A systematic approach was used to retrieve a video sample by searching YouTube with keywords 'type 1 diabetes' and 'college,' with results ordered by relevance. A total of 18 videos were saved. Video lengths ranged from 2 to 28 minutes. The data were coded using NVivo. Video transcripts were coded and analyzed utilizing the thematic analysis method. Three key themes emerged from thematic analysis: 1) Advice, 2) Personal experience, and 3) Things I wish everyone knew about T1D. In addition, Theme 1 was divided into subtopics to differentiate between the most common types of advice: 1) Overcoming stigma and b) Seeking social support. The identified themes indicate that two groups of the population can potentially benefit from watching students’ video testimonies: 1) lay public and 2) other students with T1D. Given that students in the videos reported a lack of T1D education in the lay public, such video narratives can serve important educational purposes and reduce health stigma, while perceived similarity and identification with students in the videos may facilitate the transition of health information to other individuals with T1D and positively affect their diabetes routine. Thus, online video narratives can potentially serve both educational and persuasive purposes, empowering students with T1D to stay in control of T1D while succeeding academically.

Keywords: type 1 diabetes, college students, health communication, transition period

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1019 Comparative Analysis of Hybrid Dynamic Stabilization and Fusion for Degenerative Disease of the Lumbosacral Spine: Finite Element Analysis

Authors: Mohamed Bendoukha, Mustapha Mosbah

Abstract:

The Radiographic apparent assumed that the asymptomatic adjacent segment disease ASD is common after lumbar fusion, but this does not correlate with the functional outcomes while compensatory increased motion and stresses at the adjacent level of fusion is well-known to be associated to ASD. Newly developed, the hybrid stabilization are allocated to substituted for mostly the superior level of the fusion in an attempt to reduce the number of fusion levels and likelihood of degeneration process at the adjacent levels during the fusion with pedicle screws. Nevertheless, its biomechanical efficiencies still remain unknown and complications associated with failure of constructs such screw loosening and toggling should be elucidated In the current study, a finite element (FE) study was performed using a validated L2/S1 model subjected to a moment of 7.5 Nm and follower load of 400 N to assess the biomedical behavior of hybrid constructs based on dynamic topping off, semi rigid fusion. The residual range of motion (ROM), stress distribution at the fused and adjacent levels, stress distribution at the disc and the cage-endplate interface with respect to changes of bone quality were investigated. The hybrid instrumentation was associated with a reduction in compressive stresses compared to the fusion construct in the adjacent-level disc and showed high substantial axial force in the implant while fusion instrumentation increased the motion for both flexion and extension.

Keywords: intervertebral disc, lumbar spine, degenerative nuclesion, L4-L5, range of motion finite element model, hyperelasticy

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1018 User Authentication Using Graphical Password with Sound Signature

Authors: Devi Srinivas, K. Sindhuja

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This paper presents architecture to improve surveillance applications based on the usage of the service oriented paradigm, with smart phones as user terminals, allowing application dynamic composition and increasing the flexibility of the system. According to the result of moving object detection research on video sequences, the movement of the people is tracked using video surveillance. The moving object is identified using the image subtraction method. The background image is subtracted from the foreground image, from that the moving object is derived. So the Background subtraction algorithm and the threshold value is calculated to find the moving image by using background subtraction algorithm the moving frame is identified. Then, by the threshold value the movement of the frame is identified and tracked. Hence, the movement of the object is identified accurately. This paper deals with low-cost intelligent mobile phone-based wireless video surveillance solution using moving object recognition technology. The proposed solution can be useful in various security systems and environmental surveillance. The fundamental rule of moving object detecting is given in the paper, then, a self-adaptive background representation that can update automatically and timely to adapt to the slow and slight changes of normal surroundings is detailed. While the subtraction of the present captured image and the background reaches a certain threshold, a moving object is measured to be in the current view, and the mobile phone will automatically notify the central control unit or the user through SMS (Short Message System). The main advantage of this system is when an unknown image is captured by the system it will alert the user automatically by sending an SMS to user’s mobile.

Keywords: security, graphical password, persuasive cued click points

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1017 „Real and Symbolic in Poetics of Multiplied Screens and Images“

Authors: Kristina Horvat Blazinovic

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In the context of a work of art, one can talk about the idea-concept-term-intention expressed by the artist by using various forms of repetition (external, material, visible repetition). Such repetitions of elements (images in space or moving visual and sound images in time) suggest a "covert", "latent" ("dressed") repetition – i.e., "hidden", "latent" term-intention-idea. Repeating in this way reveals a "deeper truth" that the viewer needs to decode and which is hidden "under" the technical manifestation of the multiplied images. It is not only images, sounds, and screens that are repeated - something else is repeated through them as well, even if, in some cases, the very idea of repetition is repeated. This paper examines serial images and single-channel or multi-channel artwork in the field of video/film art and video installations, which in a way implies the concept of repetition and multiplication. Moving or static images and screens (as multi-screens) are repeated in time and space. The categories of the real and the symbolic partly refer to the Lacan registers of reality, i.e., the Imaginary - Symbolic – Real trinity that represents the orders within which human subjectivity is established. Authors such as Bruce Nauman, VALIE EXPORT, Ragnar Kjartansson, Wolf Vostell, Shirin Neshat, Paul Sharits, Harun Farocki, Dalibor Martinis, Andy Warhol, Douglas Gordon, Bill Viola, Frank Gillette, and Ira Schneider, and Marina Abramovic problematize, in different ways, the concept and procedures of multiplication - repetition, but not in the sense of "copying" and "repetition" of reality or the original, but of repeated repetitions of the simulacrum. Referential works of art are often connected by the theme of the traumatic. Repetitions of images and situations are a response to the traumatic (experience) - repetition itself is a symptom of trauma. On the other hand, repeating and multiplying traumatic images results in a new traumatic effect or cancels it. Reflections on repetition as a temporal and spatial phenomenon are in line with the chapters that link philosophical considerations of space and time and experience temporality with their manifestation in works of art. The observations about time and the relation of perception and memory are according to Henry Bergson and his conception of duration (durée) as "quality of quantity." The video works intended to be displayed as a video loop, express the idea of infinite duration ("pure time," according to Bergson). The Loop wants to be always present - to fixate in time. Wholeness is unrecognizable because the intention is to make the effect infinitely cyclic. Reflections on time and space end with considerations about the occurrence and effects of time and space intervals as places and moments "between" – the points of connection and separation, of continuity and stopping - by reference to the "interval theory" of Soviet filmmaker DzigaVertov. The scale of opportunities that can be explored in interval mode is wide. Intervals represent the perception of time and space in the form of pauses, interruptions, breaks (e.g., emotional, dramatic, or rhythmic) denote emptiness or silence, distance, proximity, interstitial space, or a gap between various states.

Keywords: video installation, performance, repetition, multi-screen, real and symbolic, loop, video art, interval, video time

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1016 Detecting and Disabling Digital Cameras Using D3CIP Algorithm Based on Image Processing

Authors: S. Vignesh, K. S. Rangasamy

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The paper deals with the device capable of detecting and disabling digital cameras. The system locates the camera and then neutralizes it. Every digital camera has an image sensor known as a CCD, which is retro-reflective and sends light back directly to its original source at the same angle. The device shines infrared LED light, which is invisible to the human eye, at a distance of about 20 feet. It then collects video of these reflections with a camcorder. Then the video of the reflections is transferred to a computer connected to the device, where it is sent through image processing algorithms that pick out infrared light bouncing back. Once the camera is detected, the device would project an invisible infrared laser into the camera's lens, thereby overexposing the photo and rendering it useless. Low levels of infrared laser neutralize digital cameras but are neither a health danger to humans nor a physical damage to cameras. We also discuss the simplified design of the above device that can used in theatres to prevent piracy. The domains being covered here are optics and image processing.

Keywords: CCD, optics, image processing, D3CIP

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1015 Educational Video Capsules for Fostering Teachers Creativity

Authors: Martha Salinas, Valkyria Bernal

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Creativity is a possible response to the profound social, economic, and global changes society is living and education is the source to develop this kind of capacity. However, institutional pressures often prevent teachers from engaging in creative teaching practices and make innovation not the main curricular focus when building learning scenarios and experiences. This study proposes and validates the use of a prototype of Educative Video – Capsules from the perspective of teacher training, presenting the different stages of design, the content plan, as well as the influences of its components and characteristics from the perspective of creativity. The paper presents literature findings of the factors that influence the innovative behavior of teachers, the beliefs of teachers about creativity and its nature, as well as the creative pedagogies that have generated better results. The results show that the disposition of teachers towards creative pedagogies improves significantly with the use of a tool that is based on the principles of microlearning and is developed in a non-academic, autonomous, and non-imposed family environment as traditional teacher training processes usually occur.

Keywords: educational innovation, resistance to innovation, creativity, creative pedagogy

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1014 Analysis of Q-Learning on Artificial Neural Networks for Robot Control Using Live Video Feed

Authors: Nihal Murali, Kunal Gupta, Surekha Bhanot

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Training of artificial neural networks (ANNs) using reinforcement learning (RL) techniques is being widely discussed in the robot learning literature. The high model complexity of ANNs along with the model-free nature of RL algorithms provides a desirable combination for many robotics applications. There is a huge need for algorithms that generalize using raw sensory inputs, such as vision, without any hand-engineered features or domain heuristics. In this paper, the standard control problem of line following robot was used as a test-bed, and an ANN controller for the robot was trained on images from a live video feed using Q-learning. A virtual agent was first trained in simulation environment and then deployed onto a robot’s hardware. The robot successfully learns to traverse a wide range of curves and displays excellent generalization ability. Qualitative analysis of the evolution of policies, performance and weights of the network provide insights into the nature and convergence of the learning algorithm.

Keywords: artificial neural networks, q-learning, reinforcement learning, robot learning

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1013 Monitoring Synthesis of Biodiesel through Online Density Measurements

Authors: Arnaldo G. de Oliveira, Jr, Matthieu Tubino

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The transesterification process of triglycerides with alcohols that occurs during the biodiesel synthesis causes continuous changes in several physical properties of the reaction mixture, such as refractive index, viscosity and density. Amongst them, density can be an useful parameter to monitor the reaction, in order to predict the composition of the reacting mixture and to verify the conversion of the oil into biodiesel. In this context, a system was constructed in order to continuously determine changes in the density of the reacting mixture containing soybean oil, methanol and sodium methoxide (30 % w/w solution in methanol), stirred at 620 rpm at room temperature (about 27 °C). A polyethylene pipe network connected to a peristaltic pump was used in order to collect the mixture and pump it through a coil fixed on the plate of an analytical balance. The collected mass values were used to trace a curve correlating the mass of the system to the reaction time. The density variation profile versus the time clearly shows three different steps: 1) the dispersion of methanol in oil causes a decrease in the system mass due to the lower alcohol density followed by stabilization; 2) the addition of the catalyst (sodium methoxide) causes a larger decrease in mass compared to the first step (dispersion of methanol in oil) because of the oil conversion into biodiesel; 3) the final stabilization, denoting the end of the reaction. This density variation profile provides information that was used to predict the composition of the mixture over the time and the reaction rate. The precise knowledge of the duration of the synthesis means saving time and resources on a scale production system. This kind of monitoring provides several interesting features such as continuous measurements without collecting aliquots.

Keywords: biodiesel, density measurements, online continuous monitoring, synthesis

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1012 The Effect of Zeolite on Sandy-Silt Soil Mechanical Properties

Authors: Shahryar Aftabi, Saeed Fathi, Mohammad H. Aminfar

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It is well known that cemented sand is one of the best approaches for soil stabilization. In some cases, a blend of sand, cement and other pozzolan materials such as zeolite, nano-particles and fiber can be widely (commercially) available and be effectively used in soil stabilization, especially in road construction. In this research, we investigate the effects of CaO which is based on the geotechnical characteristics of zeolite composition with sandy silt soil. Zeolites have low amount of CaO in their structures, that is, varying from 3% to 10%, and by removing the cement paste, we want to investigate the effect of zeolite pozzolan without any activator on soil samples strength. In this research, experiments are concentrated on various weight percentages of zeolite in the soil to examine the effect of the zeolite on drainage shear strength and California Bearing Ratio (CBR) both with and without curing. The study also investigates their liquid limit and plastic limit behavior and makes a comparative result by using Feng's and Wroth-Wood's methods in fall cone (cone penetrometer) device; in the final the SEM images have been presented. The results show that by increasing the percentage of zeolite in without-curing samples, the fine zeolite particles increase some soil's strength, but in the curing-state we can see a relatively higher strength toward without-curing state, since the zeolites have no plastic behavior, the pozzolanic property of zeolites plays a much higher role than cementing properties. Indeed, it is better to combine zeolite particle with activator material such as cement or lime to gain better results.

Keywords: California bearing ratio, CBR, direct shear, fall-cone, sandy silt, SEM, zeolite

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1011 Non-Invasive Data Extraction from Machine Display Units Using Video Analytics

Authors: Ravneet Kaur, Joydeep Acharya, Sudhanshu Gaur

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Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the potential to transform manufacturing by improving shop floor processes such as production, maintenance and quality. However, industrial datasets are notoriously difficult to extract in a real-time, streaming fashion thus, negating potential AI benefits. The main example is some specialized industrial controllers that are operated by custom software which complicates the process of connecting them to an Information Technology (IT) based data acquisition network. Security concerns may also limit direct physical access to these controllers for data acquisition. To connect the Operational Technology (OT) data stored in these controllers to an AI application in a secure, reliable and available way, we propose a novel Industrial IoT (IIoT) solution in this paper. In this solution, we demonstrate how video cameras can be installed in a factory shop floor to continuously obtain images of the controller HMIs. We propose image pre-processing to segment the HMI into regions of streaming data and regions of fixed meta-data. We then evaluate the performance of multiple Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technologies such as Tesseract and Google vision to recognize the streaming data and test it for typical factory HMIs and realistic lighting conditions. Finally, we use the meta-data to match the OCR output with the temporal, domain-dependent context of the data to improve the accuracy of the output. Our IIoT solution enables reliable and efficient data extraction which will improve the performance of subsequent AI applications.

Keywords: human machine interface, industrial internet of things, internet of things, optical character recognition, video analytics

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1010 Video-On-Demand QoE Evaluation across Different Age-Groups and Its Significance for Network Capacity

Authors: Mujtaba Roshan, John A. Schormans

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Quality of Experience (QoE) drives churn in the broadband networks industry, and good QoE plays a large part in the retention of customers. QoE is known to be affected by the Quality of Service (QoS) factors packet loss probability (PLP), delay and delay jitter caused by the network. Earlier results have shown that the relationship between these QoS factors and QoE is non-linear, and may vary from application to application. We use the network emulator Netem as the basis for experimentation, and evaluate how QoE varies as we change the emulated QoS metrics. Focusing on Video-on-Demand, we discovered that the reported QoE may differ widely for users of different age groups, and that the most demanding age group (the youngest) can require an order of magnitude lower PLP to achieve the same QoE than is required by the most widely studied age group of users. We then used a bottleneck TCP model to evaluate the capacity cost of achieving an order of magnitude decrease in PLP, and found it be (almost always) a 3-fold increase in link capacity that was required.

Keywords: network capacity, packet loss probability, quality of experience, quality of service

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1009 A Scalable Media Job Framework for an Open Source Search Engine

Authors: Pooja Mishra, Chris Pollett

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This paper explores efficient ways to implement various media-updating features like news aggregation, video conversion, and bulk email handling. All of these jobs share the property that they are periodic in nature, and they all benefit from being handled in a distributed fashion. The data for these jobs also often comes from a social or collaborative source. We isolate the class of periodic, one round map reduce jobs as a useful setting to describe and handle media updating tasks. As such tasks are simpler than general map reduce jobs, programming them in a general map reduce platform could easily become tedious. This paper presents a MediaUpdater module of the Yioop Open Source Search Engine Web Portal designed to handle such jobs via an extension of a PHP class. We describe how to implement various media-updating tasks in our system as well as experiments carried out using these implementations on an Amazon Web Services cluster.

Keywords: distributed jobs framework, news aggregation, video conversion, email

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1008 Serious Video Games as Literacy and Vocabulary Acquisition Environments for Greek as Second/Foreign Language: The Case of “Einstown”

Authors: Christodoulakis Georgios, Kiourti Elisavet

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The Covid-19 pandemic has affected millions of people on a global scale, while lockdowns and quarantine measures were adopted periodically by a vast number of countries. These peculiar socio-historical conditions have led to the growth of participation in online environments. At the same time, the official educational bodies of many countries have been forced, for the first time at least for Greece and Cyprus, to switch to distance learning methods throughout the educational levels. However, this has not been done without issues, both in the technological and functional level, concerning the tools and the processes. Video games are the finest example of simulations of distance learning problem-solving environments. They incorporate different semiotic modes (e.g., a combination of image, sound, texts, gesture) while all this takes place in social and cultural constructed contexts. Players interact in the game environment in terms of spaces, objects, and actions in order to accomplish their goals, solve its problems, and win the game. In addition, players are engaging in layering literacies, which include combinations of independent and collaborative, digital and nondigital practices and spaces acting jointly to support meaning making, including interaction among and across texts and modalities (Abrams, 2017). From this point of view, players are engaged in collaborative, self-directed, and interest-based experiences by going back and forth and around gameplay. Within this context, this paper investigates the way Einstown, a greek serious video game, functions as an effective distance learning environment for teaching Greek as a second|foreign language to adults. The research methodology adopted is the case study approach using mixed methods. The participants were two adult women who are immigrants in Greece and who had zero gaming experience. The results of this research reveal that the videogame Einstown is, in fact, a digital environment of literacy through which the participants achieve active learning, cooperation, and engage in digital and non-digital literacy practices that result in improving the learning of specialized vocabulary presented throughout the gameplay.

Keywords: second/foreign language, vocabulary acquisition, literacy, serious video games

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1007 Dynamic Analysis of Commodity Price Fluctuation and Fiscal Management in Sub-Saharan Africa

Authors: Abidemi C. Adegboye, Nosakhare Ikponmwosa, Rogers A. Akinsokeji

Abstract:

For many resource-rich developing countries, fiscal policy has become a key tool used for short-run fiscal management since it is considered as playing a critical role in injecting part of resource rents into the economies. However, given its instability, reliance on revenue from commodity exports renders fiscal management, budgetary planning and the efficient use of public resources difficult. In this study, the linkage between commodity prices and fiscal operations among a sample of commodity-exporting countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is investigated. The main question is whether commodity price fluctuations affects the effectiveness of fiscal policy as a macroeconomic stabilization tool in these countries. Fiscal management effectiveness is considered as the ability of fiscal policy to react countercyclically to output gaps in the economy. Fiscal policy is measured as the ratio of fiscal deficit to GDP and the ratio of government spending to GDP, output gap is measured as a Hodrick-Prescott filter of output growth for each country, while commodity prices are associated with each country based on its main export commodity. Given the dynamic nature of fiscal policy effects on the economy overtime, a dynamic framework is devised for the empirical analysis. The panel cointegration and error correction methodology is used to explain the relationships. In particular, the study employs the panel ECM technique to trace short-term effects of commodity prices on fiscal management and also uses the fully modified OLS (FMOLS) technique to determine the long run relationships. These procedures provide sufficient estimation of the dynamic effects of commodity prices on fiscal policy. Data used cover the period 1992 to 2016 for 11 SSA countries. The study finds that the elasticity of the fiscal policy measures with respect to the output gap is significant and positive, suggesting that fiscal policy is actually procyclical among the countries in the sample. This implies that fiscal management for these countries follows the trend of economic performance. Moreover, it is found that fiscal policy has not performed well in delivering macroeconomic stabilization for these countries. The difficulty in applying fiscal stabilization measures is attributable to the unstable revenue inflows due to the highly volatile nature of commodity prices in the international market. For commodity-exporting countries in SSA to improve fiscal management, therefore, fiscal planning should be largely decoupled from commodity revenues, domestic revenue bases must be improved, and longer period perspectives in fiscal policy management are the critical suggestions in this study.

Keywords: commodity prices, ECM, fiscal policy, fiscal procyclicality, fully modified OLS, sub-saharan africa

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1006 In vitro Protein Folding and Stability Using Thermostable Exoshells

Authors: Siddharth Deshpande, Nihar Masurkar, Vallerinteavide Mavelli Girish, Malan Desai, Chester Drum

Abstract:

Folding and stabilization of recombinant proteins remain a consistent challenge for industrial and therapeutic applications. Proteins derived from thermophilic bacteria often have superior expression and stability qualities. To develop a generalizable approach to protein folding and stabilization, we tested the hypothesis that wrapping a thermostable exoshell around a protein substrate would aid folding and impart thermostable qualities to the internalized substrate. To test the effect of internalizing a protein within a thermostable exoshell (tES), we tested in vitro folding and stability using green fluorescent protein (GFPuv), horseradish peroxidase (HRP) and renilla luciferase (rLuc). The 8nm interior volume of a thermostable ferritin assembly was engineered to accommodate foreign proteins and either present a positive, neutral or negative interior charge environment. We further engineered the tES complex to reversibly assemble and disassemble with pH titration. Template proteins were expressed as inclusion bodies and an in vitro folding protocol was developed that forced proteins to fold inside a single tES. Functional yield was improved 100-fold, 100-fold and 150-fold with use of tES for GFPuv, HRP and rLuc respectively and was highly dependent on the internal charge environment of the tES. After folding, functional proteins could be released from the tES folding cavity using size exclusion chromatography at pH 5.8. Internalized proteins were tested for improved stability against thermal, organic, urea and guanidine denaturation. Our results demonstrated that thermostable exoshells can efficiently refold and stabilize inactive aggregates into functional proteins.

Keywords: thermostable shell, in vitro folding, stability, functional yield

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1005 Interactive Shadow Play Animation System

Authors: Bo Wan, Xiu Wen, Lingling An, Xiaoling Ding

Abstract:

The paper describes a Chinese shadow play animation system based on Kinect. Users, without any professional training, can personally manipulate the shadow characters to finish a shadow play performance by their body actions and get a shadow play video through giving the record command to our system if they want. In our system, Kinect is responsible for capturing human movement and voice commands data. Gesture recognition module is used to control the change of the shadow play scenes. After packaging the data from Kinect and the recognition result from gesture recognition module, VRPN transmits them to the server-side. At last, the server-side uses the information to control the motion of shadow characters and video recording. This system not only achieves human-computer interaction, but also realizes the interaction between people. It brings an entertaining experience to users and easy to operate for all ages. Even more important is that the application background of Chinese shadow play embodies the protection of the art of shadow play animation.

Keywords: hadow play animation, Kinect, gesture recognition, VRPN, HCI

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1004 Portable Glove Controlled Video Game for Hand Rehabilitation

Authors: Vinesh Janarthanan, Mohammad H. Rahman

Abstract:

There are numerous neurological conditions that may result in a loss of motor function. Such conditions may include cerebral palsy, Parkinson’s disease, stroke or multiple sclerosis. Due to impaired motor function, specifically in the hand and arm, living independently becomes tremendously more difficult. Rehabilitation programs are the main method to treat these kinds of disabled individuals. However, these programs require longtime commitment from the clinicians/therapists, demand person to person caring, and typically the treatment duration is usually very long. Aside from the treatment received from the therapist, the continuation of neuroplasticity at home is essential to maximizing development and restoring the biological function. To contribute in this area, we have researched and developed a portable and comfortable hand glove for fine motor skills rehabilitation. The glove provides interactive home-based therapy to engage the patient with simple games. The key to this treatment is the repetition of moving the hand and being capable of positioning the hand in various ways.

Keywords: home based, wearable sensors, glove, rehabilitation, motor function, video games

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1003 Roadway Infrastructure and Bus Safety

Authors: Richard J. Hanowski, Rebecca L. Hammond

Abstract:

Very few studies have been conducted to investigate safety issues associated with motorcoach/bus operations. The current study investigates the impact that roadway infrastructure, including locality, roadway grade, traffic flow and traffic density, have on bus safety. A naturalistic driving study was conducted in the U.S.A that involved 43 motorcoaches. Two fleets participated in the study and over 600,000 miles of naturalistic driving data were collected. Sixty-five bus drivers participated in this study; 48 male and 17 female. The average age of the drivers was 49 years. A sophisticated data acquisition system (DAS) was installed on each of the 43 motorcoaches and a variety of kinematic and video data were continuously recorded. The data were analyzed by identifying safety critical events (SCEs), which included crashes, near-crashes, crash-relevant conflicts, and unintentional lane deviations. Additionally, baseline (normative driving) segments were also identified and analyzed for comparison to the SCEs. This presentation highlights the need for bus safety research and the methods used in this data collection effort. With respect to elements of roadway infrastructure, this study highlights the methods used to assess locality, roadway grade, traffic flow, and traffic density. Locality was determined by manual review of the recorded video for each event and baseline and was characterized in terms of open country, residential, business/industrial, church, playground, school, urban, airport, interstate, and other. Roadway grade was similarly determined through video review and characterized in terms of level, grade up, grade down, hillcrest, and dip. The video was also used to make a determination of the traffic flow and traffic density at the time of the event or baseline segment. For traffic flow, video was used to assess which of the following best characterized the event or baseline: not divided (2-way traffic), not divided (center 2-way left turn lane), divided (median or barrier), one-way traffic, or no lanes. In terms of traffic density, level-of-service categories were used: A1, A2, B, C, D, E, and F. Highlighted in this abstract are only a few of the many roadway elements that were coded in this study. Other elements included lighting levels, weather conditions, roadway surface conditions, relation to junction, and roadway alignment. Note that a key component of this study was to assess the impact that driver distraction and fatigue have on bus operations. In this regard, once the roadway elements had been coded, the primary research questions that were addressed were (i) “What environmental condition are associated with driver choice of engagement in tasks?”, and (ii) “what are the odds of being in a SCE while engaging in tasks while encountering these conditions?”. The study may be of interest to researchers and traffic engineers that are interested in the relationship between roadway infrastructure elements and safety events in motorcoach bus operations.

Keywords: bus safety, motorcoach, naturalistic driving, roadway infrastructure

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1002 The Development of Integrated Real-Life Video and Animation with Addie Based on Constructive for Improving Students’ Mastery Concept in Rotational Dynamics

Authors: Silka Abyadati, Dadi Rusdiana, Enjang Akhmad Juanda

Abstract:

This study aims to investigate the students’ mastery concepts enhancement between students who are studying by using Integrated Real-Life Video and Animation (IRVA) and students who are studying without using IRVA. The development of IRVA is conducted by five stages: Analyze, Design, Development, Implementation and Evaluation (ADDIE) based on constructivist for Rotational Dynamics material in Physics learning. A constructivist model-based learning used is Interpretation Construction (ICON), which has the following phases: 1) Observation, 2) Construction interpretation, 3) Contextualization prior knowledge, 4) Conflict cognitive, 5) Learning cognitive, 6) Collaboration, 7) Multiple interpretation, 8) Multiple manifestation. The IRVA is developed for the stages of observation, cognitive conflict and cognitive learning. The sample of this study consisted of 32 students experimental group and a control group of 32 students in class XI of the school year 2015/2016 in one of Senior High Schools Bandung. The study was conducted by giving the pretest and posttest in the form of 20 items of multiple choice questions to determine the enhancement of mastery concept of Rotational Dynamics. Hypothesis testing is done by using T-test on the value of N-gain average of mastery concepts. The results showed that there is a significant difference in an enhancement of students’ mastery concepts between students who are studying by using IRVA and students who are studying without IRVA. Students in the experimental group increased by 0.468 while students in the control group increased by 0.207.

Keywords: ADDIE, constructivist learning, Integrated Real-Life Video and Animation, mastery concepts, rotational dynamics

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1001 Capturing the Stress States in Video Conferences by Photoplethysmographic Pulse Detection

Authors: Jarek Krajewski, David Daxberger

Abstract:

We propose a stress detection method based on an RGB camera using heart rate detection, also known as Photoplethysmography Imaging (PPGI). This technique focuses on the measurement of the small changes in skin colour caused by blood perfusion. A stationary lab setting with simulated video conferences is chosen using constant light conditions and a sampling rate of 30 fps. The ground truth measurement of heart rate is conducted with a common PPG system. The proposed approach for pulse peak detection is based on a machine learning-based approach, applying brute force feature extraction for the prediction of heart rate pulses. The statistical analysis showed good agreement (correlation r = .79, p<0.05) between the reference heart rate system and the proposed method. Based on these findings, the proposed method could provide a reliable, low-cost, and contactless way of measuring HR parameters in daily-life environments.

Keywords: heart rate, PPGI, machine learning, brute force feature extraction

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1000 Voltage Stabilization of Hybrid PV and Battery Systems by Considering Temperature and Irradiance Changes in Standalone Operation

Authors: S. Jalilzadeh, S. M. Mohseni Bonab

Abstract:

Solar and battery energy storage systems are very useful for consumers who live in deprived areas and do not have access to electricity distribution networks. Nowadays one of the problems that photo voltaic systems (PV) have changing of output power in temperature and irradiance variations, which directly affects the load that is connected to photo voltaic systems. In this paper, with considering the fact that the solar array varies with change in temperature and solar power radiation, a voltage stabilizer system of a load connected to photo voltaic array is designed to stabilize the load voltage and to transfer surplus power of the battery. Also, in proposed hybrid system, the needed load power amount is supplemented considering the voltage stabilization in standalone operation for supplying unbalanced AC load. Electrical energy storage system for voltage control and improvement of the performance of PV by a DC/DC converter is connected to the DC bus. The load is also feed by an AC/DC converter. In this paper, when the voltage increases in its reference limit, the battery gets charged by the photo voltaic array and when it decreases in its defined limit, the power gets injected to the DC bus by this battery. The constant of DC bus Voltage is the cause for the reduced harmonics generated by the inverter. In addition, a series of filters are provided in the inverter output in to reduced harmonics. The inverter control circuit is designed that the voltage and frequency of the load remain almost constant at different load conditions. This paper has focused on controlling strategies of converters to improve their performance.

Keywords: photovoltaic array (PV), DC/DC Boost converter, battery converter, inverters control

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999 Environmental Benefits of Corn Cob Ash in Lateritic Soil Cement Stabilization for Road Works in a Sub-Tropical Region

Authors: Ahmed O. Apampa, Yinusa A. Jimoh

Abstract:

The potential economic viability and environmental benefits of using a biomass waste, such as corn cob ash (CCA) as pozzolan in stabilizing soils for road pavement construction in a sub-tropical region was investigated. Corn cob was obtained from Maya in South West Nigeria and processed to ash of characteristics similar to Class C Fly Ash pozzolan as specified in ASTM C618-12. This was then blended with ordinary Portland cement in the CCA:OPC ratios of 1:1, 1:2 and 2:1. Each of these blends was then mixed with lateritic soil of ASHTO classification A-2-6(3) in varying percentages from 0 – 7.5% at 1.5% intervals. The soil-CCA-Cement mixtures were thereafter tested for geotechnical index properties including the BS Proctor Compaction, California Bearing Ratio (CBR) and the Unconfined Compression Strength Test. The tests were repeated for soil-cement mix without any CCA blending. The cost of the binder inputs and optimal blends of CCA:OPC in the stabilized soil were thereafter analyzed by developing algorithms that relate the experimental data on strength parameters (Unconfined Compression Strength, UCS and California Bearing Ratio, CBR) with the bivariate independent variables CCA and OPC content, using Matlab R2011b. An optimization problem was then set up minimizing the cost of chemical stabilization of laterite with CCA and OPC, subject to the constraints of minimum strength specifications. The Evolutionary Engine as well as the Generalized Reduced Gradient option of the Solver of MS Excel 2010 were used separately on the cells to obtain the optimal blend of CCA:OPC. The optimal blend attaining the required strength of 1800 kN/m2 was determined for the 1:2 CCA:OPC as 5.4% mix (OPC content 3.6%) compared with 4.2% for the OPC only option; and as 6.2% mix for the 1:1 blend (OPC content 3%). The 2:1 blend did not attain the required strength, though over a 100% gain in UCS value was obtained over the control sample with 0% binder. Upon the fact that 0.97 tonne of CO2 is released for every tonne of cement used (OEE, 2001), the reduced OPC requirement to attain the same result indicates the possibility of reducing the net CO2 contribution of the construction industry to the environment ranging from 14 – 28.5% if CCA:OPC blends are widely used in soil stabilization, going by the results of this study. The paper concludes by recommending that Nigeria and other developing countries in the sub-tropics with abundant stock of biomass waste should look in the direction of intensifying the use of biomass waste as fuel and the derived ash for the production of pozzolans for road-works, thereby reducing overall green house gas emissions and in compliance with the objectives of the United Nations Framework on Climate Change.

Keywords: corn cob ash, biomass waste, lateritic soil, unconfined compression strength, CO2 emission

Procedia PDF Downloads 357