Sharing Human-Generated Observations by Integrating HMI and the Semantic Sensor Web

Current ���Internet of Things��� concepts point to a future where connected objects gather meaningful information about their environment and share it with other objects and people. In particular, objects embedding Human Machine Interaction (HMI), such as mobile devices and, increasingly, connected vehicles, home appliances, urban interactive infrastructures, etc., may not only be conceived as sources of sensor information, but, through interaction with their users, they can also produce highly valuable context-aware human-generated observations. We believe that the great promise offered by combining and sharing all of the different sources of information available can be realized through the integration of HMI and Semantic Sensor Web technologies. This paper presents a technological framework that harmonizes two of the most influential HMI and Sensor Web initiatives: the W3C���s Multimodal Architecture and Interfaces (MMI) and the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) Sensor Web Enablement (SWE) with its semantic extension, respectively. Although the proposed framework is general enough to be applied in a variety of connected objects integrating HMI, a particular development is presented for a connected car scenario where drivers��� observations about the traffic or their environment are shared across the Semantic Sensor Web. For implementation and evaluation purposes an on-board OSGi (Open Services Gateway Initiative) architecture was built, integrating several available HMI, Sensor Web and Semantic Web technologies. A technical performance test and a conceptual validation of the scenario with potential users are reported, with results suggesting the approach is sound

The evolution of the brain, the human nature of cortical circuits and intellectual creativity

The tremendous expansion and the differentiation of the neocortex constitute two major events in the evolution of the mammalian brain. The increase in size and complexity of our brains opened the way to a spectacular development of cognitive and mental skills. This expansion during evolution facilitated the addition of microcircuits with a similar basic structure, which increased the complexity of the human brain and contributed to its uniqueness. However, fundamental differences even exist between distinct mammalian species. Here, we shall discuss the issue of our humanity from a neurobiological and historical perspective.

The human side of social technology for climate change mitigation and human development: the case of "efficient stoves" in Brazil

Carbon management has gradually gained attention within the overall environmental management and corporate social responsibility agendas. The clean development mechanism, from Kyoto Protocol, was envisioned as connecting carbon market and sustainable development objectives in developing countries. Previous research has shown that this potential is rarely being achieved. The paper explores how the incorporation of the human side into carbon management reinforces its contribution to generate human development in local communities and to improve the company's image. A case study of a Brazilian company is presented, with the results of the application of an analytical model that incorporates the human side and human development. The selected project is an "efficient stoves" programme. "Efficient stoves" are recognised in Brazil as social technologies. Results suggest that the fact that social technologies value the human side of the technology plays a key role when it comes to analysing the co-benefits of the project implementation.

Study and analysis of the Leap Motion sensor and the Software Development Kit (SDK) for the implementation of visual Human Computer Interfaces

En este proyecto, se presenta un informe t��cnico sobre la c��mara Leap Motion y el Software Development Kit correspondiente, el cual es un dispositivo con una c��mara de profundidad orientada a interfaces hombre-m��quina. Esto es realizado con el prop��sito de desarrollar una interfaz hombre-m��quina basada en un sistema de reconocimiento de gestos de manos. Despu��s de un exhaustivo estudio de la c��mara Leap Motion, se han realizado diversos programas de ejemplo con la intenci��n de verificar las capacidades descritas en el informe t��cnico, poniendo a prueba la Application Programming Interface y evaluando la precisi��n de las diferentes medidas obtenidas sobre los datos de la c��mara. Finalmente, se desarrolla un prototipo de un sistema de reconocimiento de gestos. Los datos sobre la posici��n y orientaci��n de la punta de los dedos obtenidos de la Leap Motion son usados para describir un gesto mediante un vector descriptor, el cual es enviado a una M��quina Vectores Soporte, utilizada como clasificador multi-clase.