With the rise of AI, the recognition of Sign Language (SL) through sign-to-text has gained significance in the field of computer vision and deep machine learning. However, there are only a few medium to large open datasets available for this task, as it requires a vast dataset of thousands of signs for words/phrases in different environments, which is a time-consuming and tedious process. Furthermore, there has been very little effort towards Arabic Sign Language Recognition (ArSLR). This research paper presents the results of fine-tuning the Vision Transformer (ViT) model on a small-scale in-house dataset of ArSL. The main goal is to attain satisfactory results by utilizing minimal computing power and a small dataset involving less than 10 individuals, with only one recording made for each sign in every environment. The dataset comprises 49 classes/signs, all of which were made with two hands and belong to the Level I category in terms of popularity. To enhance the dataset, three types of augmentations - translation, shear, and rotation were employed. The ViT model, pre-trained on the Kinetics dataset, was trained on the variation of augmented datasets with 2 to 40 times samples for each original video, where the training set includes original and augmented videos of 8 volunteers and the test set includes only original videos of one particular volunteer. Experimental results reveal that the combination of rotation and shear outperformed the others, achieving an accuracy of 93% on the 20 times augmented samples per class per signer dataset. We believe this study sheds light on small-scale dataset-based SLR tasks and video/action recognition in general.

It is complicated for the PwHL (people with hearing loss) to make a relationship with social majority, which naturally demands an interactive auto computer systems that have ability to understand sign language. With a trending Metaverse applications using augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), it is easier and interesting to teach sign language remotely using an avatar that mimics the gesture of a person using AI (Artificial Intelligence)-based system. There are various proposed methods and datasets for English SL (sign language); however, it is limited for Arabic sign language. Therefore, we present our collected and annotated Arabic Sign Language Letters Dataset (ArSL21L) consisting of 14202 images of 32 letter signs with various backgrounds collected from 50 people. We benchmarked our ArSL21L dataset on state-of-the-art object detection models, i.e., 4 versions of YOLOv5. Among the models, YOLOv5l achieved the best result with COCOmAP of 0.83. Moreover, we provide comparison results of classification task between ArSL2018 dataset, the only Arabic sign language letter dataset for classification task, and our dataset by running classification task on in-house short video. The results revealed that the model trained on our dataset has a superior performance over the model trained on ArSL2018. Moreover, we have created our prototype avatar which can mimic the ArSL (Arabic Sign Language) gestures for Metaverse applications. Finally, we believe, ArSL21L and the ArSL avatar will offer an opportunity to enhance the research and educational applications for not only the PwHL, but also in general real and virtual world applications. Our ArSL21L benchmark dataset is publicly available for research use on the Mendeley.

With the tremendous growth in online information, capturing dynamic users’ preferences based on their historical interactions and providing a few desirable items to users have become an urgent service for all businesses. Recurrent neural networks (RNNs) and item-based collaborative filtering (CF) models are commonly used in industries due to their simplicity and efficiency. However, they fail to different contexts that could differently influence current users’ decision-making. Also, they are not sufficient to capture multiple users’ interests based on features of the interacting items. Besides, they have a limited modeling capability for the evolution of diversity and dynamic user preferences. In this article, we exploit long- and short-term preferences for deep context-aware recommendations (LSCAR) to enhance the next item recommendation’s performance by introducing three novel components as follows: 1) the user–contextual interaction module is proposed to capture and differentiate the interaction between contexts and users; 2) the encoded multi-interest module is introduced to capture various types of user interests; and 3) the integrator fusion gate module is used to effectively fuse the related long-term interests to the current short-term part, and the module returns the final user interest representation. Extensive experiments and results for two public datasets demonstrate that the proposed LSCAR outperforms the state-of-the-art models in almost all metrics and could provide interpretable recommendation results.

Due to the great advances in mobility techniques, an increasing number of point-of-interest (POI)-related services have emerged, which could help users to navigate or predict POIs that may be interesting. Obviously, predicting POIs is a challenging task, mainly because of the complicated sequential transition regularities, and the heterogeneity and sparsity of the collected trajectory data. Most prior studies on successive POI recommendation mainly focused on modeling the correlation among POIs based on users' check-in data. However, given a user's check-in sequence, generally, the relationship between two consecutive POIs is usually both time and distance subtle. In this article, we propose a novel POI recommendation system to capture and learn the complicated sequential transitions by incorporating time and distance irregularity. In addition, we propose a feasible way to dynamically weight the decay values into the model learning process. The learned awareness weights offer an easy-to-interpret way to translate how much each context is emphasized in the prediction process. The performance evaluations are conducted on real mobility datasets to demonstrate the effectiveness and practicability of the POI recommendations. The experimental results show that the proposed methods significantly outperform the state-of-the-art models in all metrics.

A wireless rechargeable sensor network was proposed to extend the lifetime of the wireless sensor network. In this article, a charger is combined together with a self-propelled vehicle to provide a more flexible result of charger deployment. The dynamic chargers path selection problem is defined and mapped into the traveling salesman problem. Four metaheuristic algorithms for Internet-of-Things (IoT) applications are designed, and the higher fitness value between the charging path and the number of dead IoT devices is achieved. However, metaheuristic approaches may spend more time on searching solutions so that many IoT devices overuse limited power and fail to be charged for a long time, leading to power exhaustion. In this article, the edge computing technique is applied to accelerate the obtainment of charging paths with the well-defined edge/centralized unit switching. Moreover, to assure the calculated path trustworthy and will not be tampered with, the blockchain technology is adopted. The proposed architecture maintains high-level information credibility while transmitting the information of charging paths within the cloud and edge. The simulation results showed that the proposed method is capable of achieving better charging efficiency and less deployment cost.

The issue of image semantic segmentation is renowned within computer vision and artificial intelligence. The ground truth in image segmentation is hard to produce and is time- and resource-intensive. Recent research on real-time image semantic segmentation based on deep learning has reduced image resolution through pooling operations, resulting in detail loss in the scene. In order to generate high-quality annotated data, in this paper, we propose a joint coarse-and-fine (JCF) architecture that can repair fragment defects based on a coarse module, and also produce fine details based on a fine module. The experiments show promising results compared to state-of-the-art methods.

The aim of this article is to propose a new innovative grouping approach using the genetic algorithm (GA) to enhance the interaction and collaboration among peers by considering the complementary degree of students’ learning status and their social relationships. In order to validate our approach, experiments were designed with a group of students and the outcomes were tested with an e-Learning system. The auto-grouping mechanism is developed using GA for better learning results, which is justified based on the performance of students tested on the e-Learning system. The outcomes clearly indicate that the proposed approach can generate a high degree of heterogeneous grouping and encourage students to learn better. The technical contribution of this article can be implemented in any massive open online course platforms with thousands of students, with regard to identifying peers for collaborative works.

Open Educational Resources deliver a strategic opportunity to improve the quality of education. Currently, OER users, students, instructors, and scholars can find OERs from general search engines through metadata enrichment and logic extrapolation. Yet, most users of Web search engines today face difficulties when searching for decent and appropriate learning materials. One of the explanations may be that users are unable to get a clear overview of the list of results produced by current learning object repositories (LORs) for a given single keyword search. The purpose of this study is to propose an enhanced learning object (LO) search engine solution together with a data visualization feature in order to navigate a hitlist of LOs using a hierarchical knowledge graph based on a single keyword search in LORs. In order to conduct experiments and validate our approach, in this study we selected MERLOT II, a well-known learning resource repository. We implemented a Web-based solution where users can execute a single keyword search, then visualize results on a hierarchical knowledge graph. In order to accomplish our objectives, the back-end of the system was involved in the functions of data extraction, data transformation, data clustering and data visualization. The outcome of the search and data visualization results indicate that the proposed approach can help users to get a clear overview of the LOs based on a single keyword search.

Dynamic texture describes images sequence that continuously demonstrates movement of pixels intensity change patterns in time, for example, smoke, fire, waterfall, sea-waves, foliage, traffic on highway and so on. Motion coherence analysis on dynamic textures is usually observed through their motion vector fields. We implement strategic motion coherence analysis to evaluate the coherent motion on dynamic texture. In this article, motion coherence index is proposed as a metric to evaluate the coherent motion. It represents corresponding angles quantity of vectors on the motion vector field. The coherent motion in a video frame will be calculated and accumulated from every four adjacent vectors. The average of the accumulation represents the motion coherence index of dynamic texture in the video frame. The coherence index is utilized as an attribute to distinguish the difference of dynamic textures. We propose a new technique to distinguish dynamic texture by investigating the covariance stationary series of motion coherence index. Our investigation shows that, there are significant differences among the series of motion coherence index of dynamic textures. For instance, dynamic fire texture and dynamic smoke texture can be distinguished by the covariance stationary and covariance nonstationary of motion coherence index series respectively.

Presents the introductory welcome message from the conference proceedings. May include the conference officers' congratulations to all involved with the conference event and publication of the proceedings record.

The wireless rechargeable sensor network is a technology to solve lifetime problem for wireless sensor network. Most researches discussed about the outdoor scenario but there are few studies focused on the indoor scenario. Actually, wireless sensor network is very important for the indoor scenario. The reason is that sensors help factory control production for better quality as well as both of disaster relief and prevention are also need to deploy sensors in the indoor scenario. These instances have the concept of sustainable development because sensors cannot be suddenly interrupted so that the expected benefits cannot be realized. As in the example just mentioned, quality of production is no longer to be guaranteed and disaster will not be prevented. That is why the wireless rechargeable sensor network becomes more popular. There are many low cost charger deployment algorithms have been proposed. However, these works almost have opportunity to fall into local optimum. This paper will present a layoff algorithm to combine simulated annealing-based algorithm to achieve optimization for wireless rechargeable sensor network. The simulation results show that the proposed method can reduce the number of chargers efficiently but just need same time with simulated annealing-based algorithm.

Changing dynamic texture appearances can create new looks in both the motion and color appearances of videos. Dynamic textures with sophisticated shape and motion appearance are difficult to represent by physical models and are difficult to predict, especially for transformation to new motion texture. We propose a dynamic texture transformation algorithm for the video sequences based on the motion coherence of patches. We successfully apply the technology in many special effect videos, using the interactive tool we developed. In this paper, we address the issues of 3-D patch creation, motion coherence analysis, and patch matching for the dynamic texture transformation. The main contribution includes two issues. First, we propose a new metric for evaluating motion coherence with solid tests to justify the usefulness (close to human eye perception). Second, the proposed algorithm for an automatic dynamic texture transformation only needs users to segment textures on the first frame using an optional threshold to identify the texture area. The rest of the process is completed automatically. The experimental results show that the motion coherence index is effectively used to find the coherent motion region for patch matching and transformation. The experimental results, test data, source code, and system demonstration videos are posted at http://video.minelab.tw/DTT/index.html.

Presents a listing of the Symposium organizing committee.

The limited energy of sensor can be regarded as an optimization problem aimed at finding some useful deployment strategies for a set of chargers, but it typically might spend a lot of computation costs. In order to provide a good solution for reducing a large number of chargers caused by all the sensor nodes need to be covered, add the motor to some particular chargers is an alternative solution. That is why some recent studies attempted to develop the movable charger based algorithms to enhance transmission range. However, most movable charger-based algorithms are the greedy or rule-based algorithms, they will easy fall into local optimum at early iteration and consequently the end results will far away to global optimum. That is why it still has rooms for improvement. This paper will present a simulated annealing-based algorithm to improve the deployment result of wireless sensor network. The simulation results show that the proposed method can reduce the number of chargers significantly for full coverage.

Content-aware image retargeting has been investigated since the last decade as a paradigm of image modification for proper display on the different screen sizes. Modifications, such as seam carving or seam insertion, have been introduced to achieve aforesaid image retargeting. The changes in an image are not easily recognizable by human eyes. Inspired by the blocking artifact characteristics matrix (BACM), a method to detect tampers caused by seam modification on JPEG retargeted images without knowledge of the original image is proposed in this paper. In a BACM block matrix, we found that the original JPEG image demonstrates a regular symmetrical data, whereas the symmetrical data in a block reconstructed by seam modification is destroyed. Twenty-two features are proposed to train the data using a support vector machine classification method. The experimental results clearly demonstrate that the proposed method provides a very high recognition rate for those JPEG retargeted images. The source codes and the complete experimental data can be accessed at http://video.minelab.tw/DETS/.

Internet technology is advancing with each passing day, the user's demand is also increasing. Of course the users will more concern to quality of service. The vendors must find out a win win method of resource allocation to meet users and itself. Therefore, the resource allocation of cloud computing has become one of hottest topics. In literatures, some researchers have proposed resource allocation methods which include allocation of virtual machines and service classification, etc. However, these methods are based on subjective observations that lead to the overall cloud architecture becomes imbalance. In order to prevent such situation happened, we use the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to solve the imbalance problem. In this paper, our analysis is start from the user's requests, and use the DEA to evaluate the whole cloud parameters. Then we can find out the resource allocation policy which is the most suitable between the users and vendors.

Sharing resources and information on the Internet has become an important activity for education. In distance learning, instructors can benefit from resources, also known as Learning Objects (LOs), to create plenteous materials for specific learning purposes. Our repository (called the MINE Registry) has been developed for storing and sharing learning objects, around 22,000 in total, in the past few years. To enhance reusability, one significant concept named Reusability Tree was implemented to trace the process of changes. Also, weighting and ranking metrics have been proposed to enhance the searchability in the repository. Following the successful implementation, this study goes further to investigate the relationships between LOs from a perspective of social networks. The LONET (Learning Object Network), as an extension of Reusability Tree, is newly proposed and constructed to clarify the vague reuse scenario in the past, and to summarize collaborative intelligence through past interactive usage experiences. We define a social structure in our repository based on past usage experiences from instructors, by proposing a set of metrics to evaluate the interdependency such as prerequisites and references. The structure identifies usage experiences and can be graphed in terms of implicit and explicit relations among learning objects. As a practical contribution, an adaptive algorithm is proposed to mine the social structure in our repository. The algorithm generates adaptive routes, based on past usage experiences, by computing possible interactive input, such as search criteria and feedback from instructors, and assists them in generating specific lectures.

In this paper, we demonstrate a new motion in painting technique to allow users to change the dynamic texture used in a video background for special effect production. For instance, the dynamic texture of fire, smoke, water, cloud, and others can be edited through a series of automatic algorithms. Motion estimations of global and local textures are used. Video blending techniques are used in conjunction with a color balancing technique. The editing procedure will search for suitable patches in irregular shape blocks, to reproduce a realistic dynamic background, such as large waterfall, fire scene, or smoky background. The technique is suitable for making science fiction movies. We demonstrate the original and the falsified videos in our website at http://163.13.127.36/www/AINA12. Although video falsifying may create a moral problem, our intension is to create special effects in movie industry.

Now a day, due to the advanced computer and network technologies, we could find that more and more e-learning platforms has been developed. But they may not easily acceptable for learners and to promote their learning motivation efficiently. Game-Based Learning could be a way to attract people to enjoy their learning activities. In this research, we have developed the Ubiquitous Adventure RPG (Role Play Game) Game-Based Learning system. We also make an effort on development the system according to the learning game experience. We hope that the Game-Based Learning system could provide the authentic research example on the Game-Based Learning domain.

With the popularity of social media, sharing and retrieving information on website, especially those user-generated content, all of this information have become an emerging phenomenon. At the same time, it brought an open issue of information management and discovery. In this research, a common service framework for learning resource retrieval was proposed. Two major contributions, ranking and recommendation, are included in this framework. This ranking process reveals the value of a specific object by taking its implicit information, such as authority, citation, and time series issue, into consideration. In addition, the personalized attributes are also concerned. The above mentioned attributes will be recorded as a profile and will be categorized into several groups for further use. And we can utilize the personalization factor to produce recommendation results.

This paper presents the conceptual design of a virtual 3D quiz game based on a multi-agent system (MAS) architecture aptly named QuizMASter. The QuizMASter supports formative assessment by providing adaptive testing and feedback using intelligent pedagogical agents within an immersive game-based virtual learning environment. This enables instructors to use assessment as a motivational tool within an entertaining context where students do not feel the usual pressures related to taking tests.

Service computing aims to provide IT and computing resources to users in a way that it simply serves them. However, many issues remain in, such as portability, interoperability, and heterogeneity of diverse services, in addition to service modeling, creation, deployment, discovery, recommendation, composition, and delivery, in order to provide a service that best fits user needs and contexts at the time. In this study, we propose a new model of flowable services. Its primary purpose is to realize seamless integration and provision of diverse services in an intuitive "flowable" way maximally close to the "flow" of users' activities and thoughts, and as pertinent as possible to their needs, thus gain the most satisfaction. In this paper, we propose and discuss a human-centric framework of flow able services toward service assurance. We further describe the evaluation of the model, and an application scenario for adaptive delivery of personalized learning service under the proposed framework.

The MTDL 2011 workshop in its third edition aims to continue in the contribution and evaluation of the impact of multimedia technologies to e-Learning. This workshop is held in conjunction with the ACM Multimedia 2011 Conference in Scottsdale, Arizona, U.S.A. As a cover paper of this workshop, we briefly summarize important issues to be addressed in e-learning in the first section, followed by a discussion of important issues proposed in the 5 papers accepted to the workshop (among the 9 submissions), plus 3 invited papers.

Video inpainting is an important video enhancement technique used to facilitate the repair or editing of digital videos. It has been employed worldwide to transform cultural artifacts such as vintage videos/films into digital formats. However, the quality of such videos is usually very poor and often contain unstable luminance and damaged content. In this paper, we propose a video inpainting algorithm for repairing damaged content in digitized vintage films, focusing on maintaining good spatiotemporal continuity. The proposed algorithm utilizes two key techniques. Motion completion recovers missing motion information in damaged areas to maintain good temporal continuity. Frame completion repairs damaged frames to produce a visually pleasing video with good spatial continuity and stabilized luminance. We demonstrate the efficacy of the algorithm on different types of video clips.

Video forgery, also referred as video falsifying, is a technique for generating fake videos by altering, combining, or creating new video contents. For instance, the outcome of a 100 m race in the olympic game is forged as an example in this paper. We track objects and segment motions using a modified mean shift mechanism. The resulting video layers can be played in different speeds and from different reference points with respect to the original video. In order to obtain a smooth movement of target objects, a motion interpolation mechanism is proposed based on reference stick figures (i.e., a structure of human skeleton) and a video inpainting mechanism. The video inpainting mechanism is performed in a quasi-3-D space via guided 3-D patch matching. Interpolated target objects and background layers are then fused. The objective is to create a forged video, which is almost indistinguishable from the original video. We demonstrate the original and the forged videos in our Web site at http://member.mine.tku.edu.tw/www/TSMC09/. Although video forgery may create moral or legal issues, which is beyond the scope of this paper, our intension is to create special effects in video editing applications.

The MTDL 2010 workshop in its second edition aims to continue in the contribution and evaluation of the impact of multimedia technologies to e-Learning. This workshop is held in conjunction with the ACM Multimedia 2010 Conference in Firenze (Italy). As a cover paper of this workshop, we briefly summarize important issues to be addressed in e-learning in the first section, followed by a discussion of important issues proposed in the 6 papers accepted to the workshop (among the 14 submissions).

The outdoor experience game could help learner to learn the course knowledge by interact with real world learning activities. In this paper, we proposed the Web based outdoor experience game-based learning system by using the geography information system (GIS), global position system (GPS), wireless and mobile technologies. The outdoor game-based learning system could help learner and instructor easily to learn/develop the learning content/related environment setting.

The use of learning objects is necessary in distance learning environment. Lots of repositories provide only search service for the users. Users have to sift and collect the learning objects they really need. In previous works, we have constructed the reusability tree based on CORDRA architecture for the repository users. In this paper, we further collect and record the citation numbers of learning objects and then propose a formula to calculate the weight for each learning object. The basic concept is based on the social network of Web 2.0 and takes Google Page Rank mechanism into consideration. After getting weight values, we also integrate the similarity mechanism into our formula and rank these learning objects.

Face image partially occluded or damaged can be repaired automatically. We proposed a new inpainting algorithm, based on patch guidance deduced from an existing face database, to recover the damaged portions. This newly proposed concept of guided inpainting method produces seamless faces which are hardly seen drawbacks. Examples of our results can be retrieved from http://member.mine.tku.edu.tw/www/ISCAS09/.

The MTDL 2009 workshop aims to discuss the impact of multimedia technologies to e-Learning. This workshop is held in conjunction with the ACM Multimedia 2009 Conference in Beijing. As a cover paper of this workshop, we briefly summarize important technologies used in e-learning in the first section, followed by a discussion of important issues proposed in the 11 papers accepted to the workshop (among the 24 submissions).

Special effect production is an important technology for movie industry. Although sophisticated equipments can be used to produce scenery such as fire and smoke, usually, the approach is expensive and perhaps dangerous. Can sceneries be re-produced based on existing videos using digital technology? The answer is yes but it is difficult. In this video demonstration, we propose new mechanisms using motion inpainting technologies. Dynamic texture can be altered and reused under control. In addition, actors with repeated motion can be interpolated or extrapolated and incorporated into the falsified scenery. We demonstrate using our tool to produce realistic video narratives based on existing videos. Five sets of results as well as the source videos used are available at http://member.mine.tku.edu.tw/www/ACMMM09VideoDemo.

Image inpainting or image completion is the technique that automatically restores/completes removed areas in an image. When dealing with a similar problem in video, not only should a robust tracking algorithm be used, but the temporal continuity among video frames also needs to be taken into account, especially when the video has camera motions such as zooming and tilting. In this paper, we extend an exemplar-based image inpainting algorithm by incorporating an improved patch matching strategy for video inpainting. In our proposed algorithm, different motion segments with different temporal continuity call for different candidate patches, which are used to inpaint holes after a selected video object is tracked and removed. The proposed new video inpainting algorithm produces very few ldquoghost shadows,rdquo which were produced by most image inpainting algorithms directly applied on video. Our experiments use different types of videos, including cartoon, video from games, and video from digital camera with different camera motions. Our demonstration at http://member.mine.tku.edu.tw/www/T_CSVT/web/shows the promising results.

The Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM) specification defines metadata of learning objects, which are used as the elementary reusable components in distance learning. The Content Object Repository Discovery and Registration/Resolution Architecture (CORDRA) specification provides a common architecture for the resolution, discovery, and sharing of these learning objects. These two specifications together define standardized ways in which learning objects can be discovered and reused by content designers. However, the current CORDRA and the definition of objects in SCORM only allow an object to be copied, updated, and reorganized in a new content aggregation, which is used as a delivery package to end users. This paper proposes a revised CORDRA architecture and a reusability mechanism to make instruction design easier. In particular, it proposes a structure called a reusability tree for tracking the history of reuse of learning objects in CORDRA. This paper also defines the notions of similarity, diversity, and relevancy of learning objects to make it easier for users to precisely search for and reuse learning objects.

A large number of excellent digital learning materials have been created and distributed for e- learning. These contents are mostly designed for reading on regular PCs that have big screens, powerful computing, large storage and wide bandwidth compared to handheld devices. Therefore, a lot of studies about automatic content adaptation have been done and are proposed to overcome the drawbacks of browsing regular content with handheld devices such as pocket PCs and smartphones. But we argue that the total automatic adaptation algorithm designed by an engineer to transform Web Page presentation is still appropriate to be applied on educational content. We believe the quality of the result can not be assured and supervised by educators, and educational essence may be damaged during the real time adaptation process. This paper proposes a content adaptation tool that provides different adaptation templates to help the author automatically and efficiently reproduce high-quality learning content for specific handhelds. Furthermore, the author will not only be able to preview the adaptation result before publishing the course but also be able to adjust the template parameters manually to affect the process if they are not satisfied with the current result.

Respecting related technologies within e-learning domain, the use of learning management system (LMS) has been considered as the most important and essential component. LMS can manage the curriculum learning content, learner's learning profile and learning process. However it lacks suitable study assistance functions and personalized interface. Accordingly LMS is hard to promote and to be utilized by learners. This paper proposed an integrated framework which combined the personal learning blog functionalities to LMS by using the tools interoperability (TI) architecture in order to develop the suitable learning functionalities and interface in LMS for learners. And we hope the TI-based blog functionalities which can be utilized by other LMS in order to improve the LMS utility rate and to prove the feasibility of TI-based blog system.

We change the behavior of actors in a video. For instance, the outcome of a 100-meter race in the Olympic game can be falsified. We track objects and segment motions using a modified mean shift mechanism. The resulting video layers can be played in different speeds and at different reference points with respect to the original video. In order to obtain a smooth movement of target objects, a motion interpolation mechanism is proposed based on continuous stick figures (i.e., a video of human skeleton) and video inpainting. The video inpainting mechanism is performed in a quasi-3D space via guided 3D patch matching for filling. Interpolated target objects and background layers are fused by using graph cut. It is hard to tell whether a falsified video is the original. We demonstrate the original and the falsified videos in our website at http://www.mine.tku.edu.tw/video_demo/). The proposed technique can be used to create special effects in movie industry.

We create video scenes using existing videos. A panorama is generated from background video, with foreground objects removed by video inpainting technique. A video planning script is provided by the user on the panorama with accurate timing of actors. Actions of these actors are extensions of existing cyclic motions, such as walking, tracked and extrapolated using our motion analysis techniques. Although the types of video story generated are limited, however, it is possible to use the mechanism proposed to generate forgery videos. Interested readers should visit our tool demonstration and forgery videos at http://member.mine.tku.edu.tw/www/ACMMM08-VideoPlanning.

Video Falsifying is a technique for generating fake video by altering, combining, or creating new video contents. For instance, the outcome of a 100-meter race can be changed. Alternatively, the winner of a horse race can be created from combined videos. The technique is for special effect production in movie industry. We demonstrate how to use our video falsifying techniques in special effects production. Interested readers should look at our demonstration website at http://member.mine.tku.edu.tw/www/ACMMM08VideoDemo.

With the advent of Internet and World Wide Web (WWW) technologies, distance education (e-learning or Web-based learning) has enabled a new era of education. There are a number of issues that have significant impact on distance education, including those from educational, sociological, and psychological perspectives. Rather than attempting to cover exhaustively all the related perspectives, in this survey article, we focus on the technological issues. A number of technology issues are discussed, including distributed learning, collaborative learning, distributed content management, mobile and situated learning, and multimodal interaction and augmented devices for e-learning. Although we have tried to include the state-of-the-art technologies and systems here, it is anticipated that many new ones will emerge in the near future. As such, we point out several emerging issues and technologies that we believe are promising, for the purpose of highlighting important directions for future research.

No abstract available.

SCORM (sharable content object reference model) is an international specification for e-learning. It provides sharable content, compatible run-time environment and learning profile. SCORM is a popular standard for e-learning and has the advantages of accessibility, adaptability, affordability durability, interoperability, and reusability. However SCORM don't have complete evaluation mechanism, we integrated SPC table to strengthen SCORM assessment.

This paper proposes a series of defect detection algorithms for video in painting. The proposed algorithms are developed based on adjustable thresholds and the primary focus of these algorithms is to provide a better way to repair different kinds of aged films. Two major defect detection techniques that have been created in this study are automatic spike and dirt detection mechanism. Several important findings have been released in the study. First, the findings indicate that if the user is able to choose appropriate threshold, most damages in an aged video clip can be detected. Second, the findings exhibit that spatial information can be used to repair certain damages, which can not be fixed by temporal information due to fast motion. Finally, the results of this study are visually pleasant with most defects removed.

This paper describes a dynamic service differentiation scheme based on access category (AC)'s traffic flow for QoS provisioning in the IEEE 802.11 wireless local area network (WLAN). The proposed scheme adjusts contention window sizes by considering the contributions of each traffic instead of each node on the network contention rate. There have been research efforts to improve IEEE 802.11 EDCF. However, these approaches have some limitations in that they do not consider that how much each AC traffic affects the packet collision rate. We propose a novel scheme based on traffic flow named T-EDCF. The difference between T-EDCF and existing schemes is that the former considers traffic categories' effects on the throughput, jitter, and delay of a node. When there are a lot of flow and nodes in WLAN, T- EDCF outperforms other schemes proposed for enhancing the IEEE 802. lie.

Image in-painting or image completion removes objects from a photo and automatically produces a visually pleasant result. However, to remove objects from a video, the resulting video may have ghost shadows even each individual frame is in-painted properly. We use motion estimation algorithm to separate objects and backgrounds into several layers. Objects in separated layers are in-painted from back to front layers, with a consideration of the temporal continuity of motion segments among different frames. The resulting video is visually more pleasant with most ghost shadows removed. Interested readers are welcome to look at our demonstration Website at http://www.mine.tku.edu.tw/demo.

Aged motion pictures may contain different types of defects, such as spikes and scratch lines. Several detection mechanisms were proposed to find scratches. However, it is relatively hard to precisely restore aged films if the continuation of image property is not considered in the temporal domain. This paper proposes a technique on restoring aged films based on simultaneously considering the outmost patches/pixels which are going to be inpainted. The inpainting order plays an important factor for human visualization. By eliminating the inpainting order problem, the results of restored films have good quality as compared to earlier approach. Application of our technique can be used in the restoration of aged films.

Digital inpainting is an interesting research topic in multimedia computing and image processing since 2000. This tutorial will cover the most recent contributions in image inpainting / image completion, video inpainting, and 3-D surface completion. In the literature, the first intention of image inpainting was to remove damages portions of an aged photo, by completing the area with surrounding or global information. The techniques used include the analysis and usage of pixel properties in spatial and frequency domains. Furthermore, image inpainting techniques were used in object removal (or image completion) in photos. Several strategic algorithms were developed based on confidence values and priorities of using patches. The techniques used in still images were then extended to video inpainting, which need to consider temporal properties such as motion vectors. With a reasonable combination of object tracking and image completion, objects in video can be removed and possibly replaced. On the other hand, aged films contain two types of defects: spikes and lone vertical lines. These defects need to be precisely detected and removed to restore the original film. In addition, based on image completion techniques, incompleteness of scanning results of a 3-D scanner due to improper location or other reasons of a scanner can be completed.

The sharable content object reference model (SCORM) is a set of specifications and guidelines for the representation and operation of asynchronous distance learning. Since it was announced in late 1990s, the reference model has been used by software developers and academics in the development of authoring tools, learning management systems, and repositories for distance learning content. To date, most e-learning systems have been based on multimedia and Web technologies on personal computers. Our project, Hard SCORM, advances the field by implementing an integrated system which allows learners to read SCORM-compliant textbooks using multimodal multimedia devices. Hard SCORM employs a pen-like optical character reader device (called Hyper Pen) as an input mechanism. A computer, a personal digital assistant, or a cellular phone can be used for user behavior supervision using the hard SCORM machine. With an authoring tool, specially designed tags are printed in textbooks and recognized by hyper pen for user navigation control. In this way, users can read hardcopy textbooks in a traditional manner while the process of reading conforms to the SCORM specification. Part of the implemented system (Pocket SCORM on PDA) received the 2005 Brandon Hall Excellence in Learning Awards. The system has also been used by an airline company for online security checking and a high school for online mobile learning

Tag identification is an important tool in RFID systems with applications for monitoring and tracking. A RFID reader recognizes tags through communication over a shared wireless channel. When multiple tags transmit their IDs simultaneously, the tag-to-reader signals collide and this collision disturbs a reader's identification process. Therefore, tag collision arbitration for passive tags is a significant issue for fast identification. This paper presents two adaptive tag anticollision protocols: an adaptive query splitting protocol (AQS), which is an improvement on the query tree protocol, and an adaptive binary splitting protocol (ABS), which is based on the binary tree protocol and is a de facto standard for RFID anticollision protocols. To reduce collisions and identify tags efficiently, adaptive tag anticollision protocols use information obtained from the last process of tag identification. Our performance evaluation shows that AQS and ABS outperform other tree-based tag anticollision protocols

In SCORM 2004 defines the sequencing information that describes how SCORM-conformant content may be sequenced to the learner through a set of learner or system-initiated navigation events. It provides users the ability to prescribe the intend learning sequencing strategy by themselves, but quit many completed definitions and lacking the testing mechanism for these authored sequencing information results in usual developers probably design the unreasonable or careless settings of SCORM sequencing. The detecting mechanism focuses on detecting improper setting of sequencing control mode elements applied to learning activities. An assistant truth table derived from the definitions of sequencing control mode elements and experiments verified with latest ADL runtime environment will be introduced.

Forecasting has been playing an important role in many industries such as marketing, financial planning, and production control. This paper firstly gives a brief review of time series forecasting techniques, particularly covers moving averages model and exponential smoothing mode. We, then applies an illustrative example to these techniques with actual data and compares four different results by introducing the concept of mean square error (MSE) and mean absolute error (MAE). The technique can be used in an implementation of autonomous agent, which can be used in any e-commerce as a back end computation mechanism for applications. Finally wet conclude by summarizing the results and discussing avenues for future research.

Historical films usually have defects. We study the type of defects, and propose a series of solutions to detect defects before they are repaired by our inpainting algorithms. This paper focuses on a difficult issue to locate long vertical line defects in aged films. A progressive detection algorithm is proposed. We are able to detect more than 86% (recall rate) of effective line defects. These line defects are then removed step by step. The experiments use real historical video collected from national museum and public channel, instead of using computer generated noise. The results are visually pleasant based on our subjective evaluation by volunteers

This video program presents several video inpainting/implant mechanisms implemented under different types of videos with diversified temporal continuations. We use an improved image inpainting method to remove foreground objects. Another set of objects are implanted into the inpainted video. Detailed algorithms are presented in a paper in the 2006 ACM Multimedia conference.

Recent interesting issues in video inpainting are defect removal and object removal. We take one more step to replace the removed objects in a video sequence by implanting objects from another video. Before implant, we improve an exemplar-based image inpainting algorithm by using a new patch matching strategy which incorporates edge properties. The data term used in a priority computation of candidate patches is also redefined. We take varieties of temporal continuations of foreground and background into consideration. A motion compensated inpainting procedure is then proposed. The inpainted video backgrounds are visually pleasant with smooth transitions. A simple tracking algorithm is then used to produce a foreground video, which is implanted into the inpainted background video. Our results are available at http://www.mine.tku.edu.tw/inpainting.

A radio frequency identification (RFID) reader recognizes objects through wireless communications with RFID tags. Tag collision arbitration for passive tags is a significant issue for fast tag identification due to communication over a shared wireless channel. This paper presents an adaptive memoryless protocol, which is an improvement on the query tree protocol. Memoryless means that tags need not have additional memory except ID for identification. To reduce collisions and identify tags promptly, we use information obtained from the last process of tag identification at a reader. Our performance evaluation shows that the adaptive memoryless protocol causes fewer collisions and takes shorter delay for recognizing all tags while preserving lower communication overhead than other tree based tag anticollision protocols

This paper considers a real-time multi-object tracking algorithm for rigid and non-rigid objects. The major components of the tracking object system are extraction of the background image, adaptation of the background image, and identification of the extracted object. In each component, we improved existing methods without increasing the complexity of computation. The system was tested on our fish tank experiment that solves dynamic occlusions problems.

With the rapid development of Internet technology and Web-based education, distance learning provides a novel learning style, which is different from traditional education. In order to adapt different teaching strategies in accordance to individual students' abilities in a distance learning environment, system directed navigation of students was proposed in a distance learning standard called SCORM (sharable content object reference model). We introduce the distance-learning color Petri net (DCPN), applying the features of Petri nets, to decrease the complexity of the sequencing definition model in the SCORM 2004 specification. We thus construct a sequencing framework for various instructional strategies by piecing DPCN subnets together.

The sharable content object reference model (SCORM) includes a representation of distance learning contents and a behavior definition of how users should interact with the contents. Usually, SCORM-compliant systems are developed based on Web browsers or Java program. We developed a system which allows users to read SCORM-compliant course materials on hardcopy papers while an OCR-like pen device is used as an interaction mechanism. A computer, a PDA, or a cellular phone can be used in conjunction with the pen device for multimedia presentations. Our project is called the hard SCORM. Therefore, users can read textbooks in a traditional manner while behavior of reading is incorporated with the SCORM specification.

Image inpainting (or image completion) techniques use textural or structural information to repair or fill damaged portion of a picture. However, most techniques request a human to identify the portion to be inpainted. We developed a new mechanism which can automatically detect defect portions in a photo, including damages by color ink spray and scratch drawing. The mechanism is based on several filters and structural information of damages. Old photos from the author's family are used for testing. Preliminary results show that most damages can be automatically detected without human involvement. The mechanism is integrated with our inpainting algorithms to complete a fully automatic photo defects repairing system.

Aged films may contain defects such as spikes or dirt, as well as long vertical defect lines. These defects were produced in file development or due to improper maintenance of films. We present a series of algorithms, which can detect and restore defects. In addition, the restoration technique is used with a motion tracking mechanism. Objects can be removed and holes can be inpainted. We aim to demonstrate three tools for 1) spike detection and restoration, 2) long vertical line detection and repairing, and 3) object removal and inpainting. Results of restored video clips show that our mechanisms are practical with good inpainted video quality.

Video inpainting uses spatial-temporal information to repair defects such as spikes and lines on aged films. We propose a series of new algorithms based on adjustable thresholds to repair different varieties of aged films. The main contribution is an automatic spike and dirt detection mechanism. We prove that if appropriate threshold is once decided by the author, most damages in an aged video clip can be detected. In addition, the repairing procedure first estimates temporal information and obtain replacement blocks among several frames. Spatial information is then used to repair damages that can not be fixed by temporal information due to fast motion. The results are visually pleasant with most defects removed.

The Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM) provides some important representation for distance learning content and the learning behavior. In general, SCORM-Compliant learning content can be viewed via the Web browsers. In this paper, we built an environment which allows people to read SCORM-Compliant course materials on hardcopy papers with a pen-like OCR device. A computer, a PDA, or a cellular phone can be used in conjunction with the pen device for multimedia presentations. Our project is called the Hard SCORM. Consequently, users can read textbooks in a traditional manner while behavior of reading is incorporated with the SCORM specification.

Progressive image transmission (PIT) transmits the most significant portion of a picture, followed by less important parts. The mechanism can be used in Web-based applications, while users are browsing images. Most PIT methods use the same pixel interpolation scheme for the entire picture, without considering the differences in different portions. We test several strategic decomposition mechanisms. Our contribution results in an adaptive image transmission mechanism, which takes the differences of pictures and picture portions into consideration. We tested 1500 pictures in different categories and parameters. The overall bit rates can be reduced significantly, with good PSNR values. An error recovery procedure is also implemented to guarantee the transmitted pictures that can be fully recovered.

While there has been considerable development of tools for distance education, there has been relatively little work focused on how to offer users security and privacy during learning activities. This paper focuses on how tool development can combine with security to provide a safe, efficient, and effective learning environment. We present a number of distance education applications developed in our lab and show how security and privacy may be integrated into these applications.

Digital image inpainting is a technique that can repair a portion of damaged or removed image by means of automatic mechanisms. Image inpainting tools can be applied to repairing damaged historical documents. In this paper, we propose an adaptive mechanism, which is based on a color interpolation mechanism. The repairing procedure checks the surrounding information of a damaged pixel and decides the range of references that can be used to compute an interpolated color. We have tested on more than 2000 images include painting, photo, and cartoon drawing. The evaluation shows that our mechanism produces a very good result.

For effectively browsing and navigation, the semantic annotation is essential for the visual content of movies. It is very important to show the particular object that the movie producer wants to highlight in educational videos or commercials. We propose an interactive and structure-based video annotation system, in which we can describe the video object and make multistory movies. The system provides a manual object-based interface for film producers to select the meaningful object and annotate it. We also provide a video story constructing function to interact with the audience.

Web-based distance learning has become more popular and convenient, and it provides a flexible environment for learners. However, it is hard for teachers to design the distance course and assess students' learning. To overcome this drawback, a systematic assessment mechanism is proposed to enhance interaction between students and teachers. The theory-of-concept and influence diagram are combined together as a new courseware diagram with useful tools. Finally, this mechanism can be used easily by instructor and student because of its user-friendly interface, and it transforms the course content to being SCORM (scalable content object reference model) standard compatible.

Hypervideo is a new way for viewing films, just like hypertext on the WWW. In the literature, many standards and technologies have been developed for hypertext. However, present video processing methods cannot provide a proper solution for hyperlinks in video. We propose an object-based hypervideo authoring system. Video objects can be described by semantic annotation and multistory movies can be produced. The system offers a manual object-based interface for the film producer to select meaningful video objects and annotate them. It also has a video construction function to facilitate the audience's viewing of the annotation of interesting objects in a scene or selection of a particular viewing path. It is very useful to show the annotation of a particular object that the film producer wants to highlight in educational videos or commercials. A hypervideo player is also developed to play the video file made by the authoring system.

In order to adapt teaching in accordance with the abilities of individual students in the distance learning environment, more research emphasis is needed on constructing personalised courseware. The new version of SCORM 1.3 (scalable content object reference model) attempts to add the sequence concept into this course standard. The concept describes how the sequencing process is invoked, what occurs during the sequencing process and the potential outputs of the sequencing process. As a result, we apply the valuable features of Petri nets to decrease the complexity of the sequencing definition model in the SCORM 1.3 specification and construct a framework within various instructional strategies by piecing subnets together.

Digital inpainting uses spatial or frequency information to restore partially damaged/removed photos and artworks. Most restoration algorithms take a picture as a single layer. We propose a new approach, which subdivides a Chinese painting into several layers. Each layer is inpainted separately. The layer fusion mechanism then finds the optimal inpaint among layers, which are restored layer-by-layer. We apply the algorithm on Chinese and western drawing. The result shows a high PSNR value as well as a high user satisfaction. A demonstration of our work is available at: http://www.mine.tku.edu.tw/demos/inpaint.

Pocket devices are dominated in size which makes them the perfect platform for mobile learning. Several researches propose how distance education can be realized on pocket devices. We demonstrate the implementation of the adaptive pocket SCORM (scalable content object reference model) reader. Our proposed pocket SCORM reader is able to load SCORM compatible courseware. Furthermore, we introduce our ideal pocket SCORM architecture. With the proposed architecture, we hope to realize SCORM compliant mobile learning.

Martial art actions can be represented via VRML animations or extracted by video tracking. We propose an action retrieval method, which allows users to retrieve similar martial art actions. The mechanism is based on a similarity function that compares animation tracks. A representation of the human skeleton includes head, knee, elbow, wrist, etc and further aggregates important features in martial art actions. Different weights are dynamically calculated according to motion sensitivity of feature points. As a result, the system can automatically retrieve similar martial art actions. The results are tested by a professional kung fu master with good satisfaction.

Automatic inpainting is a mechanism which repairs damaged pictures using an approximation mechanism. The most difficult problem is to inpaint a large damaged area, without knowing its content. One possible solution is to use color interpolation or extrapolation on surrounding pixels. However, spatial characteristics such as edges and pixel continuations are hard to be restored. In this research, we propose a series of automatic algorithms, which is based on an analysis of color continuations. Large damaged blocks are repaired, before the rest smaller potions are repaired by a multiresolution inpainting algorithm. The mechanism is tested on more than 2000 images, including cartoon drawing, photos, Chinese painting, and western painting. Our results prove that, the proposed automatic mechanism fixes damaged image up to a certain degree of satisfaction from the users. The demonstration of our work is available at: http://www.mine.tku.edu.tw/demos/inpaint.

With fast development in e-learning, assessment plays an important role between teaching and learning. A good e-learning system has not only good teaching strategy and better learning resources but also a proper assessment model. In this paper, we propose an assessment meta-data and assessment analysis feedback for recent e-learning environments. There is proper feedback for teachers, students, and learning management systems. The feedback could provide proper teaching, learning resource delivery and learning progress suggestions. With this approach, assessment prompts the learning effort in e-learning.

With the rapid growth of the Internet and communication technologies, many real-world activities were applied on the Internet, including Education, Entertainment, Academic activities, and Commerce, etc. We proposed the nomadic media server (mobile media server) to achieve the maximum use of bandwidth. The distributed load of central server will be retrenched appropriately. At the same time, the security protection degree will be strengthened via the changeable server Actually, we use the mobile server/storage pre-broadcasting technique, as well as a communication network optimization algorithm, which is based on a graph compute mechanism. The mobile server will play an important role in the future virtual society, both on narrowband and broadband environment. Chain store over the Internet is a rare management model in electronic commerce. We construct many chain stores via using nomadic media server.

In order to reuse and integrate all resources, many distance learning standards have appeared. The most famous is the Shareable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM). SCORM is composed of a run-time environment (RTE), a content agreement model and LMS. SOAP allows objects or code of any kind, on any platform, in any language to communicate. .Net Web Service combines XML and some programming IDE to develop a server, which uses SOAP to implement the launch mechanism and AICC CMI data model. Java script is used to implement the client side.

In the recent years, with the improvement of network technologies and hardware supports, distance education has been provided to students all over the world. Students are able to study anytime and anywhere through the Internet. Instructors are able to teach students without being in classroom. It seemed that both instructors and students are benefited through internet technology, yet this new style of teaching and learning creates new problems. As an instructor in distance education, one needs to prepare new course materials for students who are on-line learners. Therefore, all instructors have to learn new technology which could be difficult to learn. As a student in distance education, one needs to know how he does during learning period. As a result, a good student assessment algorithm need to be brought out to judge students' performance. In this paper, we proposed a solution for these problems in distance education.

Because of the interest of 3D images and the popularity of World Wide Web, the number of 3D scene/objects and model database throughout the world is growing both in number and in size. VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language) is used to model the 3D object of the Web page, and become as a standard for 3D information. Most content-based retrieval (CBR) techniques such as shape and color comparison among objects are for image and video. The mechanisms are designed based on 2D information. In this paper, we propose a new similarity method, based on 3D information extracted from a VRML object database. The system includes multiple subsystems, which are conducted in two main parts. The first part includes the VRML object parser system and the normalization system. The second part includes the comparison system, database management system and a friendly graphical user interface. The method is the first step of our project, which aims to incorporate feature extraction of virtual reality objects, such as chairs, car, and others in 3D space. House interior designers can use the proposed system. The user can select proper scenes and furniture in order to meet the requirement of potential customers.

Progressive image transmission is a mechanism that transmits the most significant portion of an image, followed by its less important parts. Applications of such a mechanism include browsing large image files on the Internet. We propose an adaptive mechanism, based on the characteristics of images. The mechanism use neighbor pixels to guess a target pixel value, without actually transmitting the target pixel. An error correction scheme is also designed to cope with a failure guessing. The prototype is tested on 1500 bit-mapped pictures of different categories. Preliminary results should that the transmission rate is lower than others, with reasonable PSNR values of the transmitted images. Interested readers can find the prototype tool and our evaluations at http://www.mine.tku.edu.tw/demos/ProgTransmission.

Digital inpainting is an image interpolation mechanism, which can automatically restore damaged or partially removed image. Most inpainting mechanisms use a singular resolution approach on the extrapolation or interpolation of pixels. We propose a multi-resolution algorithm, which can take into consideration the different levels of details. The algorithm was tested on 1000 still images, with an evaluation showing the effectiveness of our approach. The demonstration of our work is available at: http://www.mine.tku.edu.tw/demos/inpaint.

Automatic digital inpainting is a challenge but interesting research area. This demonstration presents a tool, which uses a color interpolation mechanism to restore damaged images. The mechanism checks the variation of pixel blocks and restores pixels using different strategies. We test more than 1000 images, including photos, paintings, and cartoon drawings. The proposed system is also available at: http://www.mine.tku.edu.tw/demos/inpaint.

This paper presents state-of-the-art technologies of distance education systems. A survey of current approaches in distance education is given, including a historical perspective of media technologies for learning. The paper also discusses current systems available and potential research directions to enhance these systems. Methodological and sociological issues of distance education are also discussed. A number of distance education tools implemented at Tamkang University, Taiwan are demonstrated.

Web-based distance learning programs are widely available. A few distance education platform and standards were developed or proposed. Among current software systems, it is hard to realize a strategic assessment of courseware quality. Since one of the difficulties of distance education is the load that an instructor needs to spend in courseware design, it is worthy to investigate an automatic mechanism to help an instructor to produce effective courseware. Thus, a distance learning program can proceed efficiently. We develop a mechanism for the construction of courseware structure based on the influence diagram. The mechanism can be implemented as a decision support system for the instructor to analyze the relation among course units and test units. The overall value of a courseware can be systematically analyzed.

The Internet is a popular medium for information delivery and exchange. Recommendation systems and mobile technology have become important academic research topics in electronic commerce (EC). In this paper we propose a mobile architecture for recommendation systems and two algorithms for making recommendation in an EC environment. The mechanism is based on the correlations among customers, product items, and product features. Analysis of such an approach is given.

Web courses are widely available on the Internet. However, individualized course content for each student is hard to deal with. In this paper, we propose a new system, as well as a set of algorithms, for the automatic generation of individualized course contents and tests. The algorithms are based on a newly proposed method, called the SPC table. Experience of such a system is based on a data structure course for undergraduate students.

Building a web-based distributed multimedia presentation system environment is a technical challenge .In this paper, we described how to present different multimedia objects on a web presentation system with floor control mechanism as a result of the distributed environment indispensably. The distributed approach is based on an extended timed Petri net model. Using characterization of extended time Petri net, we introduce the concepts of user interaction. The main goal of our system is to provide a feasible method to represent different multimedia objects with user interaction and floor control mode. In addition, users can dynamically request different kinds of conditions during the presentation. To verify the structural mechanism, we implement an algorithm using the Extend Time Petri net model. Futhremore, we consider the interactive facilities to support the distributed communication requirement. We specified a floor control algorithm based on Z notation, which provides four types of control (free access, equal control, group discussion, and direct contact). These control mechanisms are sufficient to the use of distance learning environment.

Distance Learning system is one of the most important applications of multimedia and communication technologies. In the past few years, Tamkang University has a special interesting group of research faculties from computer engineering, education, and literature departments. We follow the operation procedures of a virtual university, and developed Distance Learning system is one of the most important applications of multimedia and communication technologies. In a set of tools to be used by students, course designers, and instructors.

Electronic activities are realized on the Internet due to the growth of the Internet. As conference organization is getting more popular, we proposed an electronic virtual conference system (EVCS) to handle all activities of real-world conferences. The EVCS includes a virtual conference management system (VCMS) and a mobile conferencing system (MCS). Video conferencing is a trend of future communications. With the improvement of broadband network technologies, video conferencing becomes possible in the global society. It is feasible to use video conferencing technologies to organize future international conferences. As such, transportation and accommodation costs are saved. This paper proposed a total solution toward virtual conferencing. We use a mobile server/storage pre-broadcasting technique, as well as a communication network optimization algorithm, which is based on a graph computation mechanism. The system also relies on a network bandwidth reservation facility as well as a multicasting control function. With the assistance of the virtual conference management system, the system is able to support virtual conferencing in the future academic society.

Administration, awareness and assessment (the "three A's") are the three criteria of virtual university operation. This position paper points out the basic requirements of the three A's and proposes questions regarding the operation of a virtual university.

With the enormous use of networks, many real-world activities are realized on the Internet. We propose a complete virtual conference system (VCS) to handle all activities of real-world conferences. The VCS includes a virtual conference management system and a mobile virtual conference system. Video conferencing is a trend of future communications. With the improvement of broadband network technologies, video conferencing becomes possible in the global society. It is feasible to use video conferencing technologies to organize future international conferences. This research proposes a total solution toward virtual conferencing. We use a mobile server/storage pre-broadcasting technique, as well as a communication network optimization algorithm, which is based on a graph computation mechanism. With the assistance of a conference management system, the system is able to support virtual conferencing in the future academic society.

Distance learning is one of the interesting research topics of distributed computing. This paper discusses a joint research project between the University of Aizu in Japan and Tamkang University in Taiwan. A software system supporting virtual university operations is proposed. The software architecture is designed based on three criteria of virtual university operations: administration, awareness and assessment. Specifications of each tools in the system are proposed, with some implementation details and solutions being discussed. We also point out some interesting research directions in the realization of a virtual university.

Current distance learning is mostly based on Web technologies. However, course materials announced as Web documents do not have a normalized structure. It is difficult for students to realize where they are in a Web navigation graph. On the other hand, a text book has a fixed structure, such as the hierarchy of chapters and the index. A text book reader knows how to start searching for information with the common structure of books in his/her mind. If distance learning course materials are organized in one or two patterns, it would be easier for an individual student to follow. We investigate this approach, and propose a system for Web course designs with patterns. The system also serves as a front end module of a Web learning environment which provides automatic assessment of student performance.

Web based distance learning is a trend of instruction delivery. One of the most difficult challenges of such a learning mechanism is the assessment of students' learning criteria. It is hard to judge the behavior of a student since the instructor is separated spatially and temporally from the students. However, it is possible to rely on some Web based tools to keep track of a student's course attendance, as well as the navigation behavior of that student. In addition, the navigation behavior of an individual can be compared to those of others. Analysis can be conducted, and an interactive tutorial can be generated to assist the student with a poor score. The paper proposes such a mechanism, as well as its supporting system run on Windows browsers.

Constraint satisfaction techniques play an important role in current computer science. Many difficult problems involving search from areas such as machine vision, scheduling, graph algorithms, machine design, and manufacturing can be considered to be the cases of the constraint satisfaction problem. In this paper, we construct an Infinite Temporal Interval Group for temporal constraint propagation. This interval algebra is also extended for spatial constraint reasoning. We develop an O(n)-time algorithm for propagation temporal constraint between two time events. For solving point/interval algebra networks, we develop an O(n/sup 2/)-time algorithm for finding all pairs of feasible relations, where n is the number of points or intervals. A set of algorithms is proposed to manage spatio-temporal knowledge.

We propose a graph-based model, with a simulation, for the mobile agents to evolve over the Internet. Based on the concepts of Food Web (or Food Chain), one of the natural laws that we may use besides neural networks and genetic algorithms, we define an agent niche overlap graph and agent evolution states for the distributed computation of mobile agent evolution. The proposed computation model can be used in distributed Internet applications such as commerce programs, intelligent Web searching engine, and others.

We propose a new Web documentation database as a supporting environment of the Multimedia Micro-University project. The design of this database facilitates a Web documentation development paradigm that we have proposed earlier. From a script description to its implementation as well as testing records, the database and its interface allow the user to design Web documents as virtual courses to be used in a Web-savvy virtual library. The database supports object reuse and sharing, as well as referential integrity and concurrence. In order to allow real-time course demonstration, we also propose a simple course distribution mechanism, which allows the pre-broadcast of course materials. The system is implemented as a three-tier architecture which runs under MS Windows and other platforms.

Relations among temporal intervals can be used to model time dependent objects. The extension of temporal relation results in many researches related to the spatio-temporal modeling of distributed objects. We propose a fast mechanism for temporal relation compositions. A temporal transitive closure table is derived, and an interval-based temporal relation algebraic system is constructed. Thus, we propagate the time constraints of arbitrary two objects across long distances n by linear time. A set of algorithms is proposed to derive reasonable relations between intervals. Possible conflicts in the user specification are detected and eliminated. The algorithms are extended for time-based media in an arbitrary n-dimensional space. The contributions of these algorithms and the interval algebra system can be used to detect and eliminate time conflicts, to generate the schedule and layout of multimedia presentations, to model interval-based synchronization specifications, to analyze the distributed real-time playout, to denote the semantics of natural language sentence tense, and to capture the temporal semantics among distributed multimedia objects.

Software metrics serve as a significant issue to improve software quality. It is an important research of software engineering. In line with the methodologies of object-oriented analysis and design widely developed, many software metrics techniques have been proposed. However, not many focus on the metrics evaluation of an inheritance hierarchy. In this paper, we propose a novel concept named unit repeated inheritance (URI) in Z notation to realize object-oriented software metrics. The approach describes an inheritance level technique (ILT) method as a guide to measure the software complexity of an inheritance hierarchy. The measures of inheritance metrics are formed based on the proposed mechanism. Also, we use Lex and Yacc to construct a windowing tool which is used in conjunction with a conventional C++ programming environment to assist a programmer to analyze and measure his/her C++ programs.

This paper proposes a concept named unit repeated inheritance (URI) in Z notation to realize object-oriented testing of an inheritance hierarchy. Based on this unit, an inheritance level technique (ILT) method as a guide to test object-oriented software errors in the inheritance hierarchy is described. In addition, two testing criteria, intralevel first and interlevel first, are formed based on the proposed mechanism. Moreover, in order to make the test process automatic, we use LEX and YACC to automatically generate a lexical analyzer and a parser to demonstrate a declaration of C++ source code. And, we also construct a windowing tool used in conjunction with a conventional C++ programming environment to assist a programmer to analyze and test his/her C++ programs.

Software testing methodologies and metrics are key issues to improve and assure software quality. They are important areas in the research of Software Engineering. However, not many focus on the testing criteria and metrics evaluation of a class hierarchy. This paper introduces an important concept named URI (Unit Repeated Inheritance) to realize integrated object-oriented testing and object-oriented metrics. The approach describes an ILT (Inheritance Level Technique) method as a guide to test object-oriented software errors and measure the software complexity of a class hierarchy. The proposed technique shows that inheritance has a close relation to object-oriented software complexity and reveals that overuse of repeated(multiple) inheritance will increase software complexity and be prone to implicit software errors. Also, two test criteria: intra level first and inter level first are presented.

Verification and validation are two important technologies to assure the reliability and quality of software. Software testing and metrics are two approaches to execute the verification and validation. In sequential computation, a fairly mature process exists, with various methodologies and tools available for use in building and demonstrating the correctness of a program being tested. The emergence of concurrent computation in recent years, however, introduces new testing problems and difficulties that cannot be solved by the traditional sequential program testing techniques. Many concurrent program testing methodologies have been proposed to solve controlled execution and determinism. There have been few discussions of concurrent software testing from the inter-task viewpoint, even though the common characteristics of concurrent programming are the explicit identification of the large-grain parallel computation units (tasks) and the explicit inter-task communication via a rendezvous-style mechanism. In this paper, we focus on testing concurrent programs through task decomposition. We propose four testing criteria to test a concurrent program. A programmer can choose an appropriate testing strategy depending on the properties of the concurrent programs. Associated with the strategies, four equations are provided to measure the complexity of concurrent programs.

Software testing and metrics are two important approaches to assure the reliability and quality of software. The emergence of concurrent programming in recent years introduces new testing problems and difficulties that cannot be solved by testing techniques for traditional sequential programs. One of the difficult tasks is that concurrent programs can have many instances of execution for the same set of input data. Many concurrent program testing methodologies propose to solve controlled execution and determinism. There are few discussions of concurrent software testing from the inter-task viewpoints. Yet, the common characteristics of concurrent programming are explicit identification of the large grain parallel computation units (tasks), and the explicit inter-task communication via rendezvous-style mechanisms. In this paper, we focus on testing concurrent programs through task decomposition. We propose four testing criteria to test a concurrent program. The programmer can choose an appropriate testing strategy depending on the properties of the concurrent program. Associated with the strategies, four equations are provided to measure the complexity of concurrent programs.

In this paper, we present VSTA, our Prolog‐based verifier, for formal specification and verification of systolic architectures. VSTA allows users to design systolic array architectures in the STA specification language (STA was developed earlier by Ling for formal description and reasoning of systolic designs) and semi‐automatically verifies these designs The implementation of VSTA is based on a standard Prolog system. Its interface uses Motif system calls based on the X11 and UNIX environments. VSTA provides facilities to assist the user in the design of systolic array specifications. The system allows a formal proof to be derived interactively with suggestions from the user. The proof techniques used are mathematical induction and rewriting. The induction technique is adopted to exploit the regularity and locality nature of systolic array architectures. A number of verification tactics are developed and their operational rules are used in the verifier. Using the powerful symbolic computation ability of Prolog, particularly pattern matching, automatic backtracking, and depth‐first searching, the verifier performs efficiently in the construction of proofs. We also describe the strategies we used in proving a matrix multiplication systolic array and an LU decomposition systolic array.

Special purpose formal design verifier for a specific class of archirecture has the advantage of being able to exploit the dtributes of that architecture class to produce efficiency in the design verrification process.

It is shown how several inductive techniques can be utilized to provide fast and efficient proofs to the correctness of systolic designs in digital signal processing (DSP) applications. These techniques exploit the repeatability, regularity, and locality nature of systolic arrays and algorithms in DSP to produce fast proofs independent of the array size. How inductive techniques can be applied to different array topologies suitable for DSP is also shown, and the structure of the verifier developed to automate induction using logic programming is illustrated.>

The authors have previously (1990) developed a new formalism, called systolic temporal arithmetic (STA), for formal specification and verification of systolic arrays at the array level. The formalism exploits systolic array attributes to produce elegant specification and effective formal design verification and is suitable to be combined with interval temporal logic for multilevel reasoning for several abstraction levels of systolic architecture. Besides providing a brief review of the STA formalism, the paper concentrates on discussing and expanding several formal techniques that the authors developed recently to verify the correctness of different systolic architectures. The paper emphasizes two verification strategies: verification by different induction techniques and verification by solving STA difference equations. Verification techniques are developed to produce sound and efficient verification procedures and provide short-cuts to proofs. In addition, the paper also presents a Prolog-based verifier that the authors developed to automate the proofs. Prolog is adapted for automated verification due to its popularity and its closeness in representing STA predicate-type notations. This allows easy encoding and user control to improve efficiency. The automatic backtracking and pattern matching mechanisms of Prolog serve as a useful tool for implementing the proofs.>

The axiomatization of STA (systolic temporal arithmetic) defines rules for the systolic array in the language of the predicate calculus. The STA formalism is briefly reviewed and an automated verifier is constructed using Prolog. The verification tool is developed to produce a sound and efficient verification process and to provide short-cuts to justify systolic array designs. The STA specifications and the corresponding Prolog programs can be written using an almost identical notation.>