Alle Publikationen
2019
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(2019) : A Robot Barista Comments on its Clients: Social Attitudes Toward Robot Data Use: 2019 14th ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI): Daegu, Korea: IEEE, S. 66-74
2018
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(2018): Multicultural Facial Expression Recognition Based on Differences of Western-Caucasian and East-Asian Facial Expressions of Emotions. In: IEICE Transactions on Information and Systems 101 (5), S. 1317-1324. DOI: 10.1587/transinf.2017MVP0025
Abstract: An increasing number of psychological studies have demonstrated that the six basic expressions of emotions are not culturally universal. However, automatic facial expression recognition (FER) systems disregard these findings and assume that facial expressions are universally expressed and recognized across different cultures. Therefore, this paper presents an analysis of Western-Caucasian and East-Asian facial expressions of emotions based on visual representations and cross-cultural FER. The visual analysis builds on the Eigenfaces method, and the cross-cultural FER combines appearance and geometric features by extracting Local Fourier Coefficients (LFC) and Facial Fourier Descriptors (FFD) respectively. Furthermore, two possible solutions for FER under multicultural environments are proposed. These are based on an early race detection, and independent models for culture-specific facial expressions found by the analysis evaluation. HSV color quantization combined with LFC and FFD compose the feature extraction for race detection, whereas culture-independent models of anger, disgust and fear are analyzed for the second solution. All tests were performed using Support Vector Machines (SVM) for classification and evaluated using five standard databases. Experimental results show that both solutions overcome the accuracy of FER systems under multicultural environments. However, the approach which individually considers the culture-specific facial expressions achieved the highest recognition rate.
Keywords: culture specificity, culture specificity of facial expressions of emotions, Emotionserkennung, facial expression recognition, Gestik/Mimik, Mensch-Technik-Relationen (MTR), multicultural FER, Realtechnik, Status / biologische Marker, Technik, universal human tendencies, universality of emotions -
(2018): Artificial unintelligence. How computers misunderstand the world. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press
Abstract: A guide to understanding the inner workings and outer limits of technology and why we should never assume that computers always get it right. In Artificial Unintelligence, Meredith Broussard argues that our collective enthusiasm for applying computer technology to every aspect of life has resulted in a tremendous amount of poorly designed systems. We are so eager to do everything digitally—hiring, driving, paying bills, even choosing romantic partners—that we have stopped demanding that our technology actually work. Broussard, a software developer and journalist, reminds us that there are fundamental limits to what we can (and should) do with technology. With this book, she offers a guide to understanding the inner workings and outer limits of technology—and issues a warning that we should never assume that computers always get things right. Making a case against technochauvinism—the belief that technology is always the solution—Broussard argues that it's just not true that social problems would inevitably retreat before a digitally enabled Utopia. To prove her point, she undertakes a series of adventures in computer programming. She goes for an alarming ride in a driverless car, concluding “the cyborg future is not coming any time soon”; uses artificial intelligence to investigate why students can't pass standardized tests; deploys machine learning to predict which passengers survived the Titanic disaster; and attempts to repair the U.S. campaign finance system by building AI software. If we understand the limits of what we can do with technology, Broussard tells us, we can make better choices about what we should do with it to make the world better for everyone.
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(2018) : A Concept for Productivity Tracking based on Collaborative Interactive Learning Techniques In: ARCS: ARCS Workshop 2018; 31th International Conference on Architecture of Computing Systems: Berlin, Germany: Axel Springer SE, S. 1-8. Online verfügbar unter https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8385431/
Abstract: The academic success of individual students differs widely and it depends on various factors, ranging from financial to social and to health aspects. In this article, we propose a concept for a novel productivity tracking system that provides the basis for a self-assessment of academic behaviour and that can be used by students to support their academic success. The development of such a system requires interdisciplinary efforts, most of them located in the field of collaborative interactive learning (CIL) that is grounded on a socio-technical system perspective. The system is interactive since it is based on bidirectional communication, collaborative in the sense that it uses students, other students, and external sources such as the Internet for generation of knowledge, and learning in the sense that it continuously and autonomously acquires knowledge. It is further self-organised as it decides about interaction partners and self-adaptive in terms of modifying its behaviour according to changing conditions.
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(2018) : Self-integrating Organic Control Systems: from Crayfish to Smart Homes In: ARCS: ARCS Workshop 2018; 31th International Conference on Architecture of Computing Systems: Berlin, Germany: Axel Springer SE, S. 1-8. Online verfügbar unter ARCS Workshop 2018; 31th International Conference on Architecture of Computing Systems
Abstract: Survival in complex environments, for both natural and artificial systems, requires behavioural adaptation to common changes and behavioural innovation to face the unexpected. The challenge here is to produce a vast variety of behaviours, each adapted to current circumstances, while relying on a limited amount of resources (e.g. sensors, controllers and actuators), within a 'suitable' time-frame. Drawing inspiration from neural and behavioural studies on crayfish, this position paper brings to the fore several key design features that enable organisms to address this challenge. It then proposes a similar design for artificial controllers, based on: i) an extensible set of reusable control units; and, ii) a goal-driven, context-sensitive (self-)integration process for assembling control units into a wide variety of integrated system controllers. Pre-integrated sub-controllers can also be merged, to improve efficiency while avoiding conflicts. The proposal is illustrated via a proof-of-concept implementation for the smart home, where users can add and remove goals and devices at runtime and the controller is adapted accordingly. This study brings us closer to our long-term objective of defining reusable methodologies and platforms for the development of self-* systems running in complex unpredictable environments, notably including smart homes, cities, vehicular networks and electrical grids, merged via the Internet of Things, and of People.
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(2018) : Toward an Organic Computing Approach to Automated Design of Processing Pipelines In: ARCS: ARCS Workshop 2018; 31th International Conference on Architecture of Computing Systems: Berlin, Germany: Axel Springer SE, S. 1-8. Online verfügbar unter https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8385430/
Abstract: This paper aims to propose a novel Organic Computing concept to dealing with the overall issue of automated design of processing pipelines. It is outlined how several methods standing under the Artificial Intelligence umbrella are combined to form a technique that can be realized by Organic Computing systems to strengthen their self-configuration property by implementing self-optimization and self-learning techniques. Three envisioned application scenarios are discussed which will serve as first testbeds for the proposed architecture in a future research project: The automated design of 1) a data pre-processing observer component for the refurbishment and the analysis of insufficient quality data to improve the learning ability of employed machine learning algorithms, 2) an image processing pipeline for industrial imaging systems, and, 3) production lines in manufacturing scenarios.
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(2018) : Real-time Intelligent Tele-Care Assistance Systems In: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers: Broadband Coverage in Germany; 12th ITG-Symposium: Berlin, Germany: VDE Verlag GmbH, S. 1-4. Online verfügbar unter https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8385230/
Abstract: The combination and fusion of technologies and procedures from "Ambient Assisted Living" (AAL), "Human-Technology Interaction" (MTI) and "eHealth" to target a real-time capable sensor data analysis-framework is the re-search focus of the "fast care"-project. This project is a part of the combined "fast" consortium at the Technical University of Dresden, which consists of more than 25 project parts working on the Next Generation 5G haptic internet. "Fast care" is focused on haptic care in the home environment. Measurements and observations by an adhoc-networked, real-time sensor infrastructure are performed with the aim of creating an integrated situation picture for direct interaction with an actor infrastructure or for the generation of a future forecast - with a latency period of less than 10 ms.
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(2018): Virtual organizational design laboratory. Agent-based modeling of the co-evolution of social service delivery networks with population dynamics. In: Expert Systems with Applications 98, S. 189-204. DOI: 10.1016/j.eswa.2018.01.018
Abstract: This paper extends the concept of biological co-evolution to explain the performance and survival of one type of service organizations. It proposes that service delivery network design would benefit from complex adaptive systems (CAS) modeling approaches to recreate organizational phenomena driven by the interaction of the organization with its operating environment. This approach, paired with experimental design methods can serve as a virtual laboratory. We take the case of social service delivery (SSD) organizations that are structured as nonprofit organizations providing humanitarian assistance and relief services. These organizations often serve different geographical regions, thus, racial composition, migration patterns, and wealth of the populations served are factors that vary between locations. SSDs operate through service nodes (i.e., field offices, chapters, branches) in a network configuration. Therefore, the managerial decision of where to locate the field offices is an important one. An agent-based model to recreate agents' interactions as proxies of those exchanges occurring in real SSD settings is used. A series of validation experiments instill confidence that our model can be used as a virtual research laboratory. This paper contributes to the field of organizational design by testing a model able to recreate different policies that combined with different operating conditions impact the network over time and space. In addition, it provides experimental insights on what type of network configuration might provide a higher number of services delivered over time across the service network. The results can inform those defining the service system architecture looking to achieve SSD's goals considering the demographics of the markets served.
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(2018): Towards a framework for computational persuasion with applications in behaviour change1. In: Argument & Computation 9 (1), S. 15-40. DOI: 10.3233/AAC-170032
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3233/AAC-170032 Abstract: Persuasion is an activity that involves one party trying to induce another party to believe something or to do something. It is an important and multifaceted human facility. Obviously, sales and marketing is heavily dependent on persuasion. But many other activities involve persuasion such as a doctor persuading a patient to drink less alcohol, a road safety expert persuading drivers to not text while driving, or an online safety expert persuading users of social media sites to not reveal too much personal information online. As computing becomes involved in every sphere of life, so too is persuasion a target for applying computer-based solutions. An automated persuasion system (APS) is a system that can engage in a dialogue with a user (the persuadee) in order to persuade the persuadee to do (or not do) some action or to believe (or not believe) something. To do this, an APS aims to use convincing arguments in order to persuade the persuadee. Computational persuasion is the study of formal models of dialogues involving arguments and counterarguments, of user models, and strategies, for APSs. A promising application area for computational persuasion is in behaviour change. Within healthcare organizations, government agencies, and non-governmental agencies, there is much interest in changing behaviour of particular groups of people away from actions that are harmful to themselves and/or to others around them.
Keywords: Argumentation, argumentation strategies, Argumentationsstrategie, Argumentationstheorie, automated persuasion system (APS), Automated Persuasion Systems (APS), computational models of argument, Computational persuasion, Computerbasierte Persuasion, dialogical argumentation, doppelter Treffer, Eliminierung von Fehlverhalten, Fehlverhalten, frame semantics, Gesellschaftsprofit, Gruppenverhalten / Joint Action, Intellektualtechnik, Kognitionstheorie, Kognitionswissenschaft/Social Sciences/Humanities, Mensch-Technik-Relationen (MTR), Observablen/Kriterien für sozial angemessenes Verhalten und dessen Bewertung, Persuasion, persuasion dialogues, persuasive arguments, Politik, probabilistic argumentation, Realtechnik, Soziale Angemessenheit, Sozialer Raum / Kultureller Kontext, Sprachroboter, Sprachverarbeitung, Technik, Überreden, Überzeugung, Umgangsformen, Verführung -
(2018): The knowledge level in cognitive architectures. Current limitations and possible developments. In: COGNITIVE SYSTEMS RESEARCH 48, S. 39-55. DOI: 10.1016/j.cogsys.2017.05.001
Abstract: In this paper we identify and characterize an analysis of two problematic aspects affecting the representational level of cognitive architectures (CAs), namely: the limited size and the homogeneous typology of the encoded and processed knowledge. We argue that such aspects may constitute not only a technological problem that, in our opinion, should be addressed in order to build artificial agents able to exhibit intelligent behaviors in general scenarios, but also an epistemological one, since they limit the plausibility of the comparison of the CAs' knowledge representation and processing mechanisms with those executed by humans in their everyday activities. In the final part of the paper further directions of research will be explored, trying to address current limitations and future challenges. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Computerwissenschaft, Disziplin, Favoriten, formale Sprache, Formalisierung, Intellektualtechnik, Kogn. Architektur, Kognitionswissenschaft/Social Sciences/Humanities, kognitive Architekturen, Künstliche Intelligenz, Mensch-Technik-Relationen (MTR), natürliche Sprache, Ontologie, Philosophie, Realtechnik, Sprachverarbeitung, Technik, Technikphilosophie, Überblick, Weltwissen -
(2018): Social decisions and fairness change when people’s interests are represented by autonomous agents. In: Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems 32 (1), S. 163-187. DOI: 10.1007/s10458-017-9376-6
Abstract: There has been growing interest on agents that represent people's interests or act on their behalf such as automated negotiators, self-driving cars, or drones. Even though people will interact often with others via these agent representatives, little is known about whether people's behavior changes when acting through these agents, when compared to direct interaction with others. Here we show that people's decisions will change in important ways because of these agents; specifically, we showed that interacting via agents is likely to lead people to behave more fairly, when compared to direct interaction with others. We argue this occurs because programming an agent leads people to adopt a broader perspective, consider the other side's position, and rely on social norms-such as fairness-to guide their decision making. To support this argument, we present four experiments: in Experiment 1 we show that people made fairer offers in the ultimatum and impunity games when interacting via agent representatives, when compared to direct interaction; in Experiment 2, participants were less likely to accept unfair offers in these games when agent representatives were involved; in Experiment 3, we show that the act of thinking about the decisions ahead of time-i.e., under the so-called "strategy method"-can also lead to increased fairness, even when no agents are involved; and, finally, in Experiment 4 we show that participants were less likely to reach an agreement with unfair counterparts in a negotiation setting. We discuss theoretical implications for our understanding of the nature of people's social behavior with agent representatives, as well as practical implications for the design of agents that have the potential to increase fairness in society.
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(2018): Argumentation mining. How can a machine acquire common sense and world knowledge?. In: Argument & Computation 9 (1), S. 1-14. DOI: 10.3233/AAC-170025Keywords: Allgemeiner Sinn, Ambiguität, Argumentation, argumentation mining, Argumentationssuche, Argumentationstheorie, argumentative text processing, Common Sense, Deep Learning, fortgeschrittene interaktive Geräte, frame semantics, Kognitionswissenschaft/Social Sciences/Humanities, Lebenswissen, Linguistik, Mensch-Technik-Relationen (MTR), Natural language understanding, Neural Networks, Realtechnik, representation learning, Sprachverarbeitung, Sprachverstehen, Technik, unsupervised, Voraussetzungen für sozial angemessenes Verhalten, Weltwissen, world knowledge
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(2018) : A Rule-Based Approach for Self-Optimisation in Autonomic EHealth Systems In: ARCS: ARCS Workshop 2018; 31th International Conference on Architecture of Computing Systems: Berlin, Germany: Axel Springer SE, S. 1-4. Online verfügbar unter https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8385432/
Abstract: Advances in machine learning techniques in recent years were of great benefit for the detection of diseases/medical conditions in eHealth systems, but only to a limited extend. In fact, while for the detection of some diseases the data mining techniques were performing very well, they still got outperformed by medical experts in about half of the tests done. In this paper, we propose a hybrid approach, which will use a rule-based system on top of the machine learning techniques in order to optimise the results of conflict handling. The goal is to insert the knowledge from medical experts in order to optimise the results given by the classification techniques. Possible positive and negative effects will be discussed.
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(2018): Virtual Character Facial Expressions Influence Human Brain and Facial EMG Activity in a Decision-Making Game. In: IEEE Transactions on Affective Computing 9 (2), S. 285-298. DOI: 10.1109/TAFFC.2016.2601101
Abstract: We examined the effects of the emotional facial expressions of a virtual character (VC) on human frontal electroencephalographic (EEG) asymmetry (putatively indexing approach/withdrawal motivation), facial electromyographic (EMG) activity (emotional expressions), and social decision making (cooperation/defection). In a within-subjects design, the participants played the Iterated Prisoner's Dilemma game with VCs with different dynamic facial expressions (predefined or dependent on the participant's electrodermal and facial EMG activity). In general, VC facial expressions elicited congruent facial muscle activity. However, both frontal EEG asymmetry and facial EMG activity elicited by an angry VC facial expression varied as a function of preceding interactional events (human collaboration/defection). Pre-decision inner emotional-motivational processes and emotional facial expressions were dissociated, suggesting that human goals influence pre-decision frontal asymmetry, whereas display rules may affect (pre-decision) emotional expressions in human-VC interaction. An angry VC facial expression, high pre-decision corrugator EMG activity, and relatively greater left frontal activation predicted the participant's decision to defect. Both post-decision frontal asymmetry and facial EMG activity were related to reciprocal cooperation. The results suggest that the justifiability of VC emotional expressions and the perceived fairness of VC actions influence human emotional responses.
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(2018) : Towards Proactive Health-enabling Living Environments: Simulation-based Study and Research Challenges In: ARCS: ARCS Workshop 2018; 31th International Conference on Architecture of Computing Systems: Berlin, Germany: Axel Springer SE, S. 1-8. Online verfügbar unter https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8385433/
Abstract: Nowadays, information and communication technology (ICT) has become a key driver for future health-enabling and ambient assisted living technologies. These future health-enabling living environments proactively anticipate the inhabitants' needs and adapt their behaviour accordingly. They further continuously monitor the behaviour of the inhabitants and may call in support in suspicious cases. In this article, we present an architectural blueprint for such a proactive living environment and highlight the corresponding challenges for research in the field. Afterwards, we present a simulation as experimental platform for learning the daily routine of inhabitants of a flat-sharing community of senior citizens. The experimental evaluation highlights that probably unusual behaviour of persons can be detected using a probabilistic approach, which may serve as an indicator for external support.
2017
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(2017): Event-based knowledge reconciliation using frame embeddings and frame similarity. In: KNOWLEDGE-BASED SYSTEMS 13, S. 192-203
Abstract: This paper proposes an evolution over MERGILO, a tool for reconciling knowledge graphs extracted from text, using graph alignment and word similarity. The reconciled knowledge graphs are typically used for multi-document summarization, or to detect knowledge evolution across document series. The main point of improvement focuses on event reconciliation i.e., reconciling knowledge graphs generated by text about two similar events described differently. In order to gather a complete semantic representation of events, we use FRED semantic web machine reader, jointly with Framester, a linguistic linked data hub represented using a novel formal semantics for frames. Framester is used to enhance the extracted event knowledge with semantic frames. We extend MERGILO with similarities based on the graph structure of semantic frames and the subsumption hierarchy of semantic roles as defined in Framester. With an effective evaluation strategy similarly as used for MERGILO, we show the improvement of the new approach (MERGILO plus semantic frame/role similarities) over the baseline.
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(2017): The impact of face systems on the pragmalinguistic features of academic e-mail requests. In: Pragmatics and Society 8 (1), S. 61-84. DOI: 10.1075/ps.8.1.04asl
Abstract: This study investigates the impact of power/distance (PD) variables operationalized as face systems on the pragmalinguistic features of academic e-mail requests. A corpus of 90 academic e-mails was classified into four face system groups: hierarchical (sender +P), hierarchical (recipient +P), deference, and solidarity. Request perspectives, strategies, and mitigating supportive moves were analyzed. The analysis revealed that the speaker and hearer dominance were the most frequent request perspectives in the hierarchical (recipient+P) and deference groups. The impersonal perspective was more common in the hierarchical (sender+P) group. The preparatory was the dominant request strategy in all groups, relatively more frequent in the hierarchical (recipient+P) and deference groups. The most common supportive move was the grounder, which occurred more frequently than other supportive moves. The findings of the study indicate that face systems influence the request patterns in academic e-mail communication. The study has implications for future research on pragmatics of computer-mediated communication (CMC).
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(2017): Structured learning for spoken language understanding in human-robot interaction. In: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ROBOTICS RESEARCH 36 (5-7), S. 660-683
Abstract: Robots are slowly becoming a part of everyday life, being marketed for commercial applications such as telepresence, cleaning or entertainment. Thus, the ability to interact via natural language with non-expert users is becoming a key requirement. Even if user utterances can be efficiently recognized and transcribed by automatic speech recognition systems, several issues arise in translating them into suitable robotic actions and most of the existing solutions are strictly related to a specific scenario. In this paper, we present an approach to the design of natural language interfaces for human robot interaction, to translate spoken commands into computational structures that enable the robot to execute the intended request. The proposed solution is achieved by combining a general theory of language semantics, i.e. frame semantics, with state-of-the-art methods for robust spoken language understanding, based on structured learning algorithms. The adopted data driven paradigm allows the development of a fully functional natural language processing chain, that can be initialized by re-using available linguistic tools and resources. In addition, it can be also specialized by providing small sets of examples representative of a target newer domain. A systematic benchmarking resource, in terms of a rich and multi-layered spoken corpus has also been created and it has been used to evaluate the natural language processing chain. Our results show that our processing chain, trained with generic resources, provides a solid baseline for command understanding in a service robot domain. Moreover, when domain-dependent resources are provided to the system, the accuracy of the achieved interpretation always improves.
Keywords: Algorithmen, doppelter Treffer, frame semantics, Frame-Semantik, Interaktion, Korpus, Mensch-Maschine-Kommunikation, Mensch-Technik-Interaktion, Mensch-Technik-Relationen (MTR), narürliche Sprache, natural language interface, Observablen/Kriterien für sozial angemessenes Verhalten und dessen Bewertung, Realtechnik, Robotik, Serviceroboter, Soziale Angemessenheit, Soziale Robotik, speech processing, Sprache, Sprachgebrauch, Sprachverarbeitung, Sprachverstehen, Status / biologische Marker, structured learning algorithm, Technik -
(2017) : Strategies and mechanisms to enable dialogue agents to respond appropriately to indirect speech acts In: IEEE Ro-Man: Human-robot collaboration and human assistance for an improved quality of life: IEEE RO-MAN 2017 : 26th IEEE International Symposium on Robot and Human Ineractive Communication : August 28-September 1, 2017, Lisbon, Portugal: Piscataway, NJ: IEEE, S. 323-328
Abstract: Humans often use indirect speech acts (ISAs) when issuing directives. Much of the work in handling ISAs in computational dialogue architectures has focused on correctly identifying and handling the underlying non-literal meaning. There has been less attention devoted to how linguistic responses to ISAs might differ from those given to literal directives and how to enable different response forms in these computational dialogue systems. In this paper, we present ongoing work toward developing dialogue mechanisms within a cognitive, robotic architecture that enables a richer set of response strategies to non-literal directives.
Keywords: Antworten im Rahmen einer Konversation, Computerwissenschaft, indirect speech acts, Indirektheit, Informations- & Kommunikationstechnik, Interaktionspartner, Konversationsanalyse, Korrespondenz, Künstliche Intelligenz, Linguistik, Mensch oder Maschine, Mensch-Technik-Relationen (MTR), nicht wörtlich, non-literal meaning, Realtechnik, Semantik, Soziale Robotik, Sprachgebrauch, Sprachroboter, Sprachverarbeitung, Sprechakt, Technik, Unterschiedliche Antworten je nach Direktheit/Indirektheit des vorherigen Sprechaktes -
Burgoon, Judee K.; Magnenat-Thalmann, Nadia; Pantic, Maja (Hg.) (2017): Social signal processing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Abstract: Social Signal Processing is the first book to cover all aspects of the modeling, automated detection, analysis, and synthesis of nonverbal behavior in human-human and human-machine interactions. Authoritative surveys address conceptual foundations, machine analysis and synthesis of social signal processing, and applications. Foundational topics include affect perception and interpersonal coordination in communication; later chapters cover technologies for automatic detection and understanding such as computational paralinguistics and facial expression analysis and for the generation of artificial social signals such as social robots and artificial agents. The final section covers a broad spectrum of applications based on social signal processing in healthcare, deception detection, and digital cities, including detection of developmental diseases and analysis of small groups. Each chapter offers a basic introduction to its topic, accessible to students and other newcomers, and then outlines challenges and future perspectives for the benefit of experienced researchers and practitioners in the field.
Keywords: Computer vision, Computerwissenschaft, Disziplin, doppelter Treffer, Favoriten, Human behaviour analysis', Interaktion, Mensch-Technik-Relationen (MTR), Modelle/Theorien, Realtechnik, Sammelband, Signal, Signale, Signaling social preferences/ Social signal processing, Social interactions, social signal processing, Social Signal Processing (SSP), social signalling, Social signals, Soziale Angemessenheit, soziale Kognition, Soziosensitive Systeme, speech processing, Technik -
(2017): Online Recognition of Daily Activities by Color-Depth Sensing and Knowledge Models. In: SENSORS 17 (7)
Abstract: Visual activity recognition plays a fundamental role in several research fields as a way to extract semantic meaning of images and videos. Prior work has mostly focused on classification tasks, where a label is given for a video clip. However, real life scenarios require a method to browse a continuous video flow, automatically identify relevant temporal segments and classify them accordingly to target activities. This paper proposes a knowledge-driven event recognition framework to address this problem. The novelty of the method lies in the combination of a constraint-based ontology language for event modeling with robust algorithms to detect, track and re-identify people using color-depth sensing (Kinect® sensor). This combination enables to model and recognize longer and more complex events and to incorporate domain knowledge and 3D information into the same models. Moreover, the ontology-driven approach enables human understanding of system decisions and facilitates knowledge transfer across different scenes. The proposed framework is evaluated with real-world recordings of seniors carrying out unscripted, daily activities at hospital observation rooms and nursing homes. Results demonstrated that the proposed framework outperforms state-of-the-art methods in a variety of activities and datasets, and it is robust to variable and low-frame rate recordings. Further work will investigate how to extend the proposed framework with uncertainty management techniques to handle strong occlusion and ambiguous semantics, and how to exploit it to further support medicine on the timely diagnosis of cognitive disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease.
Keywords: activities of daily living, activity recognition, assisted living, Bildsemantik, color-depth sensing, complex events, Ereigniserkennung, Ereignisverständnis, frame semantics, Informations- & Kommunikationstechnik, Knowledge representation, Kognitive Skills/Social Cognition, Mensch-Technik-Relationen (MTR), people detection and tracking, Realtechnik, senior monitoring, Sprachverstehen, Technik, Voraussetzungen für sozial angemessenes Verhalten, Weltwissen -
(2017): ‘What I see is not what you get’. Why culture-specific behaviours for virtual characters should be user-tested across cultures. In: AI & Society 32 (1), S. 37-49. DOI: 10.1007/s00146-014-0567-2
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-014-0567-2 Abstract: Abstract Integrating culture into the behavioural models of virtual characters requires knowledge from very different disciplines such as cross-cultural psychology and computer science. If culture-related behavioural differences are simulated with a virtual character system, users might not necessarily understand the intent of the designer. This is, in part, due to the influence of culture on not only users, but also designers. To gain a greater understanding of the instantiation of culture in the behaviour of virtual characters, and on this potential mismatch between designer and user, we have conducted two experiments. In these experiments, we tried to simulate one dimension of culture (Masculinity vs. Femininity) in the behaviour of virtual characters. We created four scenarios in the first experiment and six in the second. In each of these scenarios, the same two characters interact with each other. The verbal and non-verbal behaviour of these characters differs depending on their cultural scripts. In two user perception studies, we investigated how these differences are judged by human participants with different cultural backgrounds. Besides expected differences between participants from Masculine and Feminine countries, we found significant differences in perception between participants from Individualistic and Collectivistic countries. We also found that the user’s interpretation of the character’s motivation had a significant influence on the perception of the scenarios. Based on our findings, we giverecommendations for researchers that aim to design culture-specific behaviours for virtual characters.
Keywords: Agent-based Modelling, Behaviour modelling, Culture, Design, Disziplin, Evaluation, Favoriten, Interaktion, Kognitionswissenschaft/Social Sciences/Humanities, Kultur, Kultursensibilität, Kulturspezifizität, Kulturtheorie, Mensch-Technik-Relationen (MTR), Modell, Modelle/Theorien, Modellierung, Realtechnik, social importance dynamics, Soziosensitive Systeme, Technik, User testing, Virtual characters -
(2017): Ethical values and social care robots for older people. An international qualitative study. In: Ethics and Information Technology 19 (1), S. 49-68. DOI: 10.1007/s10676-016-9413-1
Abstract: Values such as respect for autonomy, safety, enablement, independence, privacy and social connectedness should be reflected in the design of social robots. The same values should affect the process by which robots are introduced into the homes of older people to support independent living. These values may, however, be in tension. We explored what potential users thought about these values, and how the tensions between them could be resolved. With the help of partners in the ACCOMPANY project, 21 focus groups (123 participants) were convened in France, the Netherlands and the UK. These groups consisted of: (i) older people, (ii) informal carers and (iii) formal carers of older people. The participants were asked to discuss scenarios in which there is a conflict between older people and others over how a robot should be used, these conflicts reflecting tensions between values. Participants favoured compromise, persuasion and negotiation as a means of reaching agreement. Roles and related role-norms for the robot were thought relevant to resolving tensions, as were hypothetical agreements between users and robot-providers before the robot is introduced into the home. Participants' understanding of each of the values-autonomy, safety, enablement, independence, privacy and social connectedness-is reported. Participants tended to agree that autonomy often has priority over the other values, with the exception in certain cases of safety. The second part of the paper discusses how the values could be incorporated into the design of social robots and operationalised in line with the views expressed by the participants.
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(2017): Teaching Robot’s Proactive Behavior Using Human Assistance. In: International Journal of Social Robotics 9 (2), S. 231-249. DOI: 10.1007/s12369-016-0389-0
Abstract: In recent years, there has been a growing interest in enabling autonomous social robots to interact with people. However, many questions remain unresolved regarding the social capabilities robots should have in order to perform this interaction in an ever more natural manner. In this paper, we tackle this problem through a comprehensive study of various topics involved in the interaction between a mobile robot and untrained human volunteers for a variety of tasks. In particular, this work presents a framework that enables the robot to proactively approach people and establish friendly interaction. To this end, we provided the robot with several perception and action skills, such as that of detecting people, planning an approach and communicating the intention to initiate a conversation while expressing an emotional status. We also introduce an interactive learning system that uses the person's volunteered assistance to incrementally improve the robot's perception skills. As a proof of concept, we focus on the particular task of online face learning and recognition. We conducted real-life experiments with our Tibi robot to validate the framework during the interaction process. Within this study, several surveys and user studies have been realized to reveal the social acceptability of the robot within the context of different tasks.
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(2017): From Intelligence to Rationality of Minds and Machines in Contemporary Society. The Sciences of Design and the Role of Information. In: Minds and Machines 27 (3), S. 397-424. DOI: 10.1007/s11023-017-9439-0
Abstract: The presence of intelligence and rationality in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet requires a new context of analysis in which Herbert Simon's approach to the sciences of the artificial is surpassed in order to grasp the role of information in our contemporary setting. This new framework requires taking into account some relevant aspects. (i) In the historical endeavor of building up AI and the Internet, minds and machines have interacted over the years and in many ways through the interrelation between scientific creativity and technological innovation. (ii) Philosophically, minds and machines can have epistemological, methodological and ontological differences, which are based on the distinct configuration of human intelligence and artificial intelligence. Their comparison with rationality and its various forms is particularly relevant. (iii) Scientifically, AI and the Internet belong to the sciences of the artificial, because they work on designs that search for specific aims, following selected processes in order to achieve expected results. (iv) Technologically, AI and the Internet require the support of information and communication technologies (ICT). These have an instrumental role regarding the existence of AI and the Internet. Also ICT shape their diverse forms of configuration over the years. Within this framework, this paper offers a new context of analysis that goes beyond Simon's and follows four main steps: (i) the interaction between scientific creativity and technological innovation as the philosophico-methodological setting for Artificial Intelligence and the Internet; (ii) artificial intelligence and human intelligence as epistemological basis for machines and minds, where the differences between artificial intelligence and human intelligence are made explicit (under the consideration of "computational intelligence'') and the analysis of minds and machines is made from the perspective of rationality ("symbolic rationality'' and "adaptive rationality''); (iii) intention and its difference with design of machine learning are considered to distinguish human intelligence from artificial intelligence; and (iv) the internal and external aspects of artificial designs in contemporary society are considered through the perspective of rationality, which leads to the transition from intelligence to rationality in the Internet as well as to the historicity of information (how aims, processes, and results can be based on conceptual revolutions).