643 research outputs found
Towards a Trust Analysis Framework for Pervasive Computing Scenarios
No full textWe present a scheme for highlighting the trust issues of merit within pervasive computing, based on an analysis of scenarios from the healthcare domain. The first scenario helps us define an analysis grid, where the human and technical aspects of trust are considered. The analysis is applied to a second scenario to examine its suitability. We then discuss the various categories of the analysis grid in the light of this examination and of the literature on the subject of trust. We believe that this approach could form the basis of a generalised trust analysis framework to support the design, procurement and use of pervasive computing
Design of a Visual Environment for Evaluating and Customizing Medical Image Compression Techniques
No full textThis paper discusses the design of the Image Compression Laboratory (ICL), a visual environment supporting radiologists in interactively compressing medical images but still maintaining the diagnostic information. In ICL lossy image compression techniques and the interactive image interpretation approach are merged following the cooperative visual environment approach. In this way the radiologists themselves can perform the compression using their professional skill and knowledg
Empirical plausible reasoning by multiple-valued logic
No full textA method to approximate the heuristic reasoning of an expert in judging the behaviour of a system is proposed. The method is based on the use of label functions, mapping the observed value of one attribute into a local judgment, and of multiple-valued logic trees, mapping a set of local judgements into a global one. The method is introduced within the fuzzy set approach, so that the involved approximation can be discussed
TMS for multimodal information processing
No full textMany working processes are complex and composed by heterogeneous atomic tasks, e.g. editing, assembling data from different sources (as databases or laboratory's devices) with texts, images or learning objects, or submitting them to software components to retrieve information, to render them, re-format, submit to computations, and other types of information processing. All these processes heavily require procedural knowledge which is tacit as owned by experts of the working activity; they are complex and are extremely difficult to be modeled and automatized without having a flexible, multimodular evolutionary system in place. Support to information from different modalities increases the performance of a computer system originally designed for a task with a unimodular nature. In this paper, we discuss the idea of task management system (TMS) as a component-based system which offers a virtual workbench to search, acquire, describe and assemble computational agents performing single autonomous tasks into working processes. We sustain that TMS is a cutting edge platform to develop software solutions for problems related to workflow automatization and design. The architecture we propose follows the conceptual track of the TMS to allow composition and arrangement of atomic modules into a complex system. A configuration of the workflow can be implemented and extended with a set of task/components, chunks of activities which are considered basic elements of the workflow. By interacting with the TMS in editing mode, the workflow designer selects the relevant chunks from system repositories, drags them into a working system area and assembles them into a working process. As the main actor of the system, the workflow designer is provided with an environment resembling an artisan’s workshop, to let her/him select the relevant chunks from system repositories, drags them into a working area and assembles them into a working TMS instance, which represents the working process. Global interaction modality of the TMS instance is moulded and specialized on the base of the specific modalities of the task/components which have been retrieved from the system repositories and each time negotiated. Complex activities could be formally described, implemented and applied with a consequent advantage for personnel re-organization toward more conceptual activities
Piero Sraffa and His Books – a foreword to the Catalogue of his inimitable library
No full textThis foreword gives a preview of the sort of books Piero Sraffa collected, specifying the criteria that appear to have been used for the selection. The Author of this foreword is convinced that the discovery of these criteria may help to understand the basis of the type of history of economic thought that Piero Sraffa had in mind
Computing with shapes
No full textVisual languages represent a response to the communicational challenges posed by end-user computing, but lack established computability frameworks for evaluating their computational power. In this paper, we introduce a computability model-called shape completion system-for the restricted, but important, case in which the visual representation of the concepts to be communicated is built as a puzzle. Shape completion systems are based on adjoining polyominoes, shapes from a basic set. A description in the form of a string on some alphabet can be associated with each basic shape. A computation in a shape completion system is correct when: (1) it starts by using a specified polyomino; (2) it ends when a rectangle is obtained (without holes); (3) at any step the current picture is connected; and (4) a sequencing mapping is given, so that at every step (except the first one) we use a polyomino depending on the previously used polyomino, as specified by this mapping (such a condition is essential for interactive visual languages, as formalized in [1, 2]). We also establish how symbols associated with the polyominoes are concatenated to form strings in a string language associated with the computation. Surprisingly enough, in these circumstances we can characterize the recursively enurnerable languages (hence the power of Turing machines). If we preserve only conditions (1), (2) and (3) above, then we cannot generate all linear languages but we can generate all regular languages and strictly more: also some one-letter non-regular languages can be obtained. In particular, we can obtain as correct computations squares only, which is often a difficult task in picture languages (see, e.g. [3]). (C) 2001 Academic Press
Contextualized Access to the Archeological Heritage by means of Semantically Interconnected Interactive Environments
No full textThe effective presentation of archaeological heritage (AH) information, typically complex and rich, requires sophisticated systems integrating techniques from different areas, mainly human computer interaction (HCI), and knowledge and data management. This paper investigates technologies able to offer several opportunities for supporting cultural institutions in the process of information dissemination and in the development of systems able to attract, engage users by delivering information according to their needs and preferences. Nowadays, AH is no longer perceived as just a set of isolated objects, stored in museums or collections, without any links to the specific historical and social contexts of reference. Rather objects have to be connected to additional information concerning those reference contexts. Since such information evolves over time, based on the research carried out by archaeologists, historical experts, and sociologists, the knowledge base needs to be updated to reflect new discoveries. Moreover, information should be presented at different levels of detail and should support an exploratory approach to information discovery by users. This paper presents a system addressing such requirements. The system uses 360 panoramic images to disseminate AH information retrieved from an open knowledge network, defined as a set of interrelated knowledge sources. In particular the paper explores the integration of panoramic images with ontologies in the context of an application in the area of archaeology (specifically, the Etruscan civilization). The paper also discusses the relevant technical issues for the design of the panoramic image interactive system
Supporting Interaction and Co-evolution of Users and Systems
No full textInteractive systems supporting people activities, even those designed for a specific application domain, should be very flexible, i.e., they should be easily adaptable to specific needs of the user communities. They should even allow users to personalize the system to better fit with their evolving needs. This paper presents an original model of the interaction and coevolution processes occurring between humans and interactive systems and discusses an approach to design systems that supports such processes. The approach is based on the “artisan’s workshop” metaphor and foresees the participatory design of an interactive system as a network of workshops customized to different user communities and connected one another by communication paths. Such paths allow end users and members
of the design team to trigger and actuate the co-evolution. The feasibility of the methodology is illustrated through a case study in the medical domain
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