The rise of deep learning methods has ignited interest in efficient hardware and software systems for tensor-based computing. A question worth investigating is whether other areas in computing can benefit as well from the power and increasing availability of such systems. To this end, we study the integration of tensor-based techniques in agent-based simulators. In particular, we describe methods for the representation as vectors of agent and edge attributes in agent networks and the compilation of rules governing agent behavior and their edge-based interactions into functions that can process and compute such attribute vectors in parallel. We describe a proof of concept implementation of such an idea in Politika, our Elixir-based web framework for concurrent, agent-based simulation. We discuss various simulation scenarios for our implementation and provide directions for future optimizations and integration pathways with concurrent simulation environments.

Simulations of Social Dynamics play an important role in public policy analysis and design as they help to estimate the effects that alternative policies can have on society. We argue for a tight integration of a novel generation of social dynamics meta-simulation tools in a policy development framework. Such tools provide a common, agent- based modeling and concurrent execution environment for creating and running such simulations. Furthermore, they enable reasoning about simulation outcomes by examining and ranking alternative policy objectives based on a set of criteria supplied by the designer. We describe our implementation of such an idea in Politika, our Elixir-based web framework for interactive, meta-simulation-based policy design and provide appropriate examples as part of the PolicyCLOUD EU research project.

This article describes SR-3DEditor, a complete system for creating, editing and displaying 3D scene that incorporates original technologies for fast 3D scene synthesis. The system allows the user to draw outlines of 3D shapes on the computer screen using the mouse cursor. At any time during this process, the user can query a 3D model database for models with similar outlines and then select the ones s/he thinks are more relevant. The system can then automatically calculate the parameters that position the selected model in the scene, so that its outline fits the shape sketched by the user. Evaluation results demonstrate that the users are satisfied by the usability and efficiency that is added by the automatic selection facility. SR-3DEditor is freely available for download and experimentation.

This paper describes a sketch creation method that can act as a front-end to a visual image retrieval system by allowing the user to draw the types of images s/he is interested in. In addition, the method supports sketch generation processes, in general, by allowing the designer to automatically replace sketch components in the current sketch with similar components from a shape database. The method consists of a shape matching step in which the contents of the user sketch are compared with the contents of a shape database and of a placement step in which similar shapes from the database are properly aligned and replace automatically the contents of the user sketch. Shape matching uses a mixture of local and global shape features such as the turning function difference and the degree of openness of a curve.

The proliferation of handheld wireless devices along with the rise of platform-independent application protocols for these devices such as the wireless application protocol (WAP) have created new possibilities for improving the scope and functionality of teleoperation environments. Although the flexibility that these devices present to a human operator are enormous, the development of teleoperation systems based on these platforms has to deal with specific problems related primarily to the poor imaging capabilities of handheld devices, the unique features of their input modules and the limited bandwidth and increased latency of wireless networks. The paper presents the results of a pilot study investigating the feasibility of building teleoperation systems that use existing wireless infrastructure. In particular, the paper describes the design and implementation of a WAP-based system for mobile robot teleoperation. The system allows the operator to control the movement of a mobile robot through a mobile phone. The paper presents results of user trials with the system, describes the limitations of this approach and proposes ways of overcoming these limitations.

Recent advances in multimedia systems and robotics encourage the development of novel types of applications that associate the use of various multimedia objects with the behavior of multiple robotic actors. Unfortunately, the development of such systems is hampered by the lack of appropriate authoring and execution environments. This paper seeks to fill this gap by describing CHOROS, a Java-based authoring environment for visually planning the behavior of multiple robotic actors and linking it with the rendering state of various multimedia objects. This is accomplished with an augmented reality interface in which the author draws the robot paths and associates them with timelines describing the use of various multimedia objects. During the actual execution of the application the environment automatically tracks and adjusts the behavior of the robotic actors in order to maintain its association with the rendering state of the multimedia objects.

Development in robotics and multimedia technologies have led to the development Of a variety of interactive robotic applications that associate robot behavior with the use of various multimedia objects. In many of these types of applications robots are engaged in media-driven behaviors, i.e., behaviors in which the execution of various multimedia objects guides the actions taken by the robots. Unfortunately, the development of these types of applications is hampered by the lack of appropriate robot programming environments that can deal with the complexity of conceiving and the unpredictability of executing these projects. CHOROS is a Java-based development environment for robotic applications involving groups of media-driven, autonomous mobile robots that aspires to address the above requirements.

Recent advances in distributed multimedia technologies encourage the development of interactive performance systems. These systems allow multiple users to take part in a performance either as players or spectators and influence its development in real time. However, in order for these applications to become effective they have to provide meaningful interaction capabilities and adequate means of expression to all the participants. This research provide an interaction framework that seeks to address these requirements. In particular, the system allows players and spectators to exchange messages during the performance. These messages describe player actions and audience reactions. Furthermore, the framework monitors the development of the event and analyzes the behavior of the participants in order to: (i) detect and render shared audience reactions (ii) achieve a high degree of audience engagement. Finally, the system synchronizes the presentation of audience reactions with performance developments at each site. This method has been applied in MISSION, a multi-player game on the Web.

We describe a novel dynamic dramatization method for narrative presentations. This method accepts as input the original story material, along with a description of its plot written in a special-purpose language. It then analyzes the plot to identify interesting dramatic situations in the story. Based on this content analysis, a presentation manager organizes the presentation and enriches it with appropriate multimedia effects. These effects are associated with interesting dramatic situations, and serve to increase suspense and emphasize plot developments in the narrative. Our method can be used for the development of intelligent front-ends to story databases, for directing assistants in computer-based renditions of narrative works, or for real-time direction of interactive entertainment systems. We are integrating this system in an interactive storytelling environment for Greek mythology.

We describe a novel architecture for indoor navigation, based on qualitative representations of the variations in the interactions between the robot and its environment. We use these representations to localize and guide planning and reaction. The system accepts off-line as input a topological diagram of the environment. It then uses numerical simulation to generate a map, describing qualitative variations in the sensor behavior between adjacent regions in space. An off-line planner stores localized navigation information at each point in the map. During execution, an adaptive controller uses a short-term memory to improve its operation. The qualitative nature of our method, along with the localization performed by the topological planner result in a compact map representation and in linear-time performances for position estimation and path planning during execution. This architecture has been tested in simulation. Our results show that the proposed navigation method is tolerant of sensor inaccuracies, both in obstacle detection and orientation.

We describe a novel global path planning method for autonomous qualitative navigation in indoor environments. Global path planning operates on top of a qualitative map of the environment that describes variations in sensor behavior between adjacent regions in space. The method takes into consideration the global topology of the environment and applies a set of criteria that can minimize the errors in the navigational accuracy of a robotic wheelchair. Our approach uses a modified version of the Dijkstra's shortest path algorithm that takes into consideration the curvature of the trajectory and the off-wall distance of the map points. The algorithm computes in real-time a set of optimal paths for reaching the destination. We have tested our global path planning method in simulation in representative indoor environments with above average complexity. Based on these experiments we have determined empirically a set of values for the parameters of the algorithm that almost always lead to the selection of optimal paths in these environments.