Auditorium: una tipología del siglo XX

Se recoge en esta tesis doctoral la definición y clasificación de los edificios cuya finalidad es proporcionar espacios para escuchar y producir música. Se centra en aquellos construidos a lo largo del siglo XX, en el área geográfica y cultural que forman Europa occidental y Estados Unidos. Se analizan edificios construidos en el pasado, en una serie que se origina a mediados del siglo XIX y que se culmina terciado el propio siglo XX. Son edificios que contienen espacios pensados para músicas que, sin embargo, en su mayoría fueron creadas en un periodo anterior, desde mediados del siglo XVIII hasta las primeras décadas del siglo pasado. Un auditorium es un edificio cuya idea conlleva la compleja herencia de los múltiples lugares, abiertos y cerrados, que han alojado la música a lo largo del tiempo. Es un edificio que es útil a la sociedad y que ocupa un lugar significativo dentro de la ciudad, y es consecuencia del campo de fuerzas que constituyen los avances técnicos, el progreso de las sociedades urbanas y la evolución del arte, al compartir estrechamente, música y arquitectura, el interés por hallar la expresión de una nueva relación con la naturaleza. Se parte de la hipótesis de que el auditorium puede constituir un tipo arquitectónico con entidad suficiente para generar una tipología. Entendida ésta como una herramienta que dota de conocimientos útiles a quien va a proyectar un edificio para la música y también que permita abrir el campo de pensamiento sobre el espacio musical, sin necesidad de recurrir a modelos previos, aunque se hayan manifestado útiles y precisos. Se comienza con una aproximación a una definición del término «auditorium » y se analizan a qué funciones responde y en qué es distinto de otros edificios, a través de determinar las características formales propias. Para ello se articula la tesis en varios bloques de análisis. I Elementos para una tipología Se indaga en los atributos que determinan la naturaleza de los auditorios para definir cómo son estos edificios y qué características y condiciones tienen, no sólo las salas sino también los edificios que las contienen, buscando el origen de los espacios musicales y su relación con las personas que allí se han reunido para celebrar, a través de la música, acontecimientos colectivos. Relación que ha comportado desplazamientos por los distintos espacios que ha compartido, supeditada a otras actividades, hasta que finalmente, la música ha reclamado espacios propios. Pero también se establece otra relación física entre las distintas posiciones que ocupan en el espacio cuantos intervienen en la celebración del hecho musical, músicos y público. De otra parte se analiza cómo son sus espacios interiores, salas y vestíbulos, y los volúmenes y formas de los edificios en relación con la ciudad. Su conexión con la idea del paisaje abierto y con el carácter originario de la cueva. II Cinco tiempos Los edificios sobre los que se van explorar estas capacidades son en muchos casos arquitecturas divulgadas y conocidas. Sin embargo no todas han tenido desde su aparición el mismo grado de aprecio ni reconocimiento, y sólo el paso del tiempo ha confirmado su excelencia. El estudio se estructura en los periodos marcados por los acontecimientos bélicos y las grandes crisis que sacudieron Europa y Norte América desde comienzos del siglo XX. La identificación de los elementos significativos de la tipología se hace a través del análisis de distintos tiempos que agrupan casos heterogéneos, tiempos entendidos unas veces como la relación entre edificios coetáneos y otra como proyectos pensados por un mismo arquitecto y se detiene, entre otros, en cuatro excepcionales edificios que condensan la experiencia de varias décadas y demuestran su plenitud arquitectónica, por haber evolucionado de modelos precedentes o por su novedosas aportaciones. El Royal Festival Hall (1951), el Kresge Auditorium (1954), el Kulttuuritalo (1958) y la Philharmonie de Berlín (1963), sirven de base para una clasificación del auditorium. III Cronología gráfica Este apartado es fundamentalmente gráfico y consta un inventario de más de 100 archivos correspondientes a otros tantos auditorios y sus salas, en orden cronológico. Cada archivo cuenta con una imagen del exterior del edificio y otra del interior de la sala. Se han incorporado en cada uno de los archivos, dos dibujos a la misma escala. El primero muestra la planta de la sala con tres parámetros: la ocupación del público en referencia al lugar que ocupa la orquesta, la relación de tamaño entre la sala y las de los cuatro auditorios de referencia y la distancia al foco de sonido, la orquesta, mediante una escala en metros. Estos tres parámetros están superpuestos al que he considerado espacio audible, un rectángulo de 60 por 90 metros, en el que el foco está desplazado, por considerar que el sonido de una orquesta tiene una componente directional y que en esas dimensiones la energía sonora no decae. En el friso bajo el dibujo, aparecen cuatro iconos que informan de la relación formal de la sala con la del auditorium. Puede ser una sala dentro de un edificio sin correspondencia formal, un edificio en el que se manifiesta exteriormente el volumen de la sala, un edificio que tiene la forma de la sala y resuelve el resto del programa funcional sin manifestarlo exteriormente o, finalmente un edificio complejo cuya forma absorbe dos o más salas de música. El segundo dibujo es la sección longitudinal de la sala, recortada sobre un fondo negro para destacar su forma y proporción, todas están a la misma escala y en la misma dirección respecto del escenario para facilitar su lectura y comparación. En el parte inferior de la sección, aparecen cuatro esquemas de la forma y distribución en planta sobre el que destaca la de cada caso de estudio. La forma del techo de las salas de música de los auditorios, expresada a través de la sección longitudinal, es uno de los elementos que caracteriza el espacio musical. El perímetro de la sección, determina su superficie y por tanto, el volumen total interior. Es una herramienta técnica que permite dirigir el sonido reflejado en él, hasta cualquier lugar del interior de la sala, garantizando una distribución homogénea y evitando concentraciones perjudiciales o «sombras acústicas», lugares donde no llegan las primeras reflexiones. IV Geometría de las salas El análisis efectuado permite la elaboración de paralelos de tres de los elementos fundamentales de la tipología de las salas de los auditorium y que definen el espacio musical. El perímetro de la sección y su superficie que establecen el volumen total interior, que es un factor determinante en la reverberación de una sala. La forma y superficie del techo, que interviene directamente en el cálculo de la absorción del sonido, en función de la cualidad reflejante o absorbente del material con el que está construido, y por otra parte en la distribución del sonido en el espacio. Y por último, la forma del suelo de las salas también expresada a través de la sección longitudinal, es otro de los elementos que caracteriza el espacio musical. El modelado del suelo permite mediante distintas pendientes garantizar la correcta visión del escenario y por tanto permite también una buena audición, puesto que la llegada directa del sonido está asegurada. La otra limitación dimensional es el ancho de la grada. Cuando se ha buscado incrementar al máximo la capacidad de una sala, se han establecido graderíos en balcones en voladizo para no penalizar la distancia al escenario, de manera que algunas partes del graderío quedan cubiertas, en detrimento de su calidad acústica al privarlas de las primeras reflexiones que proceden del techo. V Auditórium y ciudad El auditorium es un edificio singular que establece con la ciudad una relación particular y que contiene en su interior una o varias salas especiales destinadas a oír y ejecutar música, a las que se accede a través de otros espacios de carácter social. Han ido evolucionando y modificándose de manera ininterrumpida, dando lugar a edificios de diversa complejidad en su programa y a salas cada vez mas especificas para cumplir mejor su cometido, perfeccionando su sonido y buscando la más elevada musicalidad. Estos edificios disponen de otros ámbitos de relación, son los espacios interiores, vestíbulos y escaleras, generalmente generosos en superficie y espacialidad, previos al espacio musical, corazón del auditorium donde suena la música en condiciones acústicas precisas. También el lugar donde se construyen los auditoriums en las ciudades tiene un especial significado, porque generalmente han buscado interponer espacios abiertos o ajardinados que suavicen el contacto directo con la ciudad y que implican, por otra parte, una preparación de las personas que asisten para escuchar los conciertos. Con el paso del tiempo, la aceptación generalizada de formas afianzadas en la ciudad, será uno de los vehículos que permita contaminar a otros tipos de edificios y alcanzar una libertad formal renovadora de los paisajes urbanos. Conclusiones La disolución del espacio musical convencional pregonado por el pabellón Philips del año 1958, no ha impedido que hoy siga vivo para el arquitecto el reto del proyecto y construcción del auditorium. Hoy conviven experiencias musicales totales; imagen, luz y movimiento, ocupando todo tipo de espacios públicos, cerrados o al aire libre, con la voluntad de conseguir espacios capaces de crear la intimidad y las precisas condiciones ambientales que hagan posible la recreación de las músicas del pasado en una especie de emocionante museo sonoro vivo. Como edificios urbanos, los auditoriums han conseguido un lugar destacado en la iconografía urbana después de un largo camino hasta conseguir el reconocimiento social. Se puede, así, establecer que estos edificios han introducido en la ciudad una nueva manera de expresarse la arquitectura. Que lo inesperado de sus formas y volúmenes en el espacio urbano, o la sorpresa de sus interiores altamente técnicos, justificados para satisfacer las nuevas necesidades impuestas por una audiencia cada vez más y más experta, obtienen la aceptación urbana por su utilidad social y por su capacidad de establecer una relación distinta entre las personas, la ciudad y la naturaleza. Coda Finalmente, el epílogo habla de la metamorfosis del espacio musical y de la convivencia de distintos espacios musicales en la actualidad. Desde la creación de las primeras y sencillas salas de música hasta las grandes salas filarmónicas que se construyen en las últimas décadas, la arquitectura ha proporcionado lugares adecuados para contener y disfrutar la música, espacios que se han modificado según cambiaban las formas musicales. Sin embargo el sonido parece mostrarse reticente a ser encerrado en el espacio y busca aliarse con el tiempo para conseguir un desplazamiento permanente. Seguramente es en el pabellón Philips de Bruselas en 1958 donde se presenta el último intento de la arquitectura de contener la música, que impulsada por tecnologías absolutamente nuevas, se mueve como dardos que atraviesan el espacio en todos los lugares y en todas las direcciones. Desde aquellas décadas centrales del pasado siglo, y superando los mas optimistas intentos de distribuir masivamente la música a través de incipientes tecnologías, se puede afirmar que vivimos en una inmersión sonora universal. Anexos Incluyen, una colección de mapas de la geografía de los auditorios europeos y norte-americanos, referenciados a los periodos de su construcción, y una relación de los auditorios estudiados con referencias bibliográficas. ABSTRACT This doctoral thesis does not only look at the ways in which architecture and music relate with one another; it also seeks to be an exact, scientific study of auditoriums, a building type that first appeared in the 20th century as a place in which to produce and listen to music. It studies concert halls, raised in Europe and the United Stated in the 20th century, for the purpose of recreating older music, that were the result of the evolution of various ancient building types. Auditoriums have a complex heritage of architecture of all times, openair and covered alike, and occupy important spots in cities. They incorporate the technical innovations of their times, and are reflections not only of the music played within them, but also of the societies that built them. Music and architecture share an interest in connecting with nature. Auditorium, a 20th-century Typology tries to define this building typology, and with that, be a practical tool in designing and constructing spaces for music, besides exploring the relationship between the two disciplines, architecture and music, and establishing the foundations for an entire school of thought. It is organized in five chapters, each focusing on a particular aspect of auditoriums, all towards defining a possible typology: I Typology elements. A study of the origin of auditoriums, and of how the different parts of these buildings —the actual concert hall, the foyer, the open spaces— relate with the city and with nature, which is ever present in music and in the origin of auditoriums. II Five sequences. A chronological journey through the 20th century, in periods marked by the two world wars and the consequent crises, with case studies of four exceptional buildings: the Royal Festival Hall (1951), the Kresge Auditorium (1954), the Kulttuuritalo (1958), and the Berlin Philharmonie (1963). III Graphic chronology. A methodical sequence looking at a hundred auditoriums, with each entry presenting images of the concert hall and the building as a whole, and two drawings on the same scale. Each concert hall floor plan shows how the orchestra relates with the audience, and it is compared to the floor plans of the four case-study examples named above. We also see how the hall is set into the building. The second drawing is the longitudinal section of the hall. Ceiling shape much determines the character of concert hall spaces, while technical data like air volume and the amount of absorbent and reflecting materials used have a direct bearing on the reflection of sound and on the overall musical quality of the auditorium. IV Geometry of concert halls. Graphic analysis of the key elements of a music space: the ceiling and the floor plan. The section is a necessary tool for determining the reverberation time of a concert hall, and is closely linked to the shape of the floor plan. In concert halls, there is a strong connection between the ceiling, the walls, and the floor, as there is between different musical instruments. It also includes maps showing where these European and American buildings are located geographically as well as in time. V The auditorium in the city. This chapter presents a series of maps showing the location of auditoriums in the city. They are often located in squares and gardens, open public spaces that serve to emotionally prepare the listener for an imminent musical experience. Time has shown that concert halls have changed the urban landscape and city life. Conclusions As a building type, auditoriums —though «dissolved» by the Philips Pavilion in 1958— remain valid spaces for listening to music. As intimate and unique spaces for social gathering and musical creation, they have done their part in transforming cities. Acoustics play a key role in these technical interiors, but just as important is the rapport that is struck between the musicians and the audience, and between musical works of the past, present, and future. Auditoriums are urban buildings that have been very successful throughout history. They have enriched our cities with surprising shapes and volumes, introduced new interiors in architecture, and struck new relationships between people, the city, and nature. As such, they are necessary. Coda Finally, the epilogue presents the evolution of the music space, from the early simple music halls to the highly complex philharmonic halls of recent years. Architecture has produced spaces for the enjoyment of music that have been modified for new musical creations, while remaining useful for the historical repertoire. Sound, and thus music, has as complex a relationship with space as it does with time. The coda of this thesis is the Philips Pavilion of 1958, perhaps the last attempt to propose a new kind of architecture for music with the latest technology. Annexes The thesis includes a collection of site maps of European and American auditoriums, complete with completion dates and descriptions.

Communication Architecture for Tracking and Interoperable Services at Hospitals: A Real Deployment Experience

Any new hospital communication architecture has to support existing services, but at the same time new added features should not affect normal tasks. This article deals with issues regarding old and new systems’ interoperability, as well as the effect the human factor has in a deployed architecture. It also presents valuable information, which is a product of a real scenario. Tracking services are also tested in order to monitor and administer several medical resources.

Qualitative Monitoring of Video Quality of Experience

Real-time monitoring of multimedia Quality of Experience is a critical task for the providers of multimedia delivery services: from television broadcasters to IP content delivery networks or IPTV. For such scenarios, meaningful metrics are required which can generate useful information to the service providers that overcome the limitations of pure Quality of Service monitoring probes. However, most of objective multimedia quality estimators, aimed at modeling the Mean Opinion Score, are difficult to apply to massive quality monitoring. Thus we propose a lightweight and scalable monitoring architecture called Qualitative Experience Monitoring (QuEM), based on detecting identifiable impairment events such as the ones reported by the customers of those services. We also carried out a subjective assessment test to validate the approach and calibrate the metrics. Preliminary results of this test set support our approach.

Project-based learning experience on Data Structures course

This paper presents the innovations in the practical work of the Data Structures subject carried out in the last five years, including a transition period and a first year of implantation of the European Higher Education Area. The practical coursework is inspired by a project-based methodology and from 2008/2009 additional laboratory sessions are included in the subject schedule. We will present the academic results and ratios of the mentioned time period which imply a significant improvement on students' performance.

Experience with PV-diesel hybrid village power systems in southern Morocco

In October 2002, under the auspices of Spanish Cooperation, a pilot electrification project put into operation two centralised PV-diesel hybrid systems in two different Moroccan villages. These systems currently provide a full-time energy service and supply electricity to more than a hundred of families, six community buildings, street lighting and one running water system. The appearance of the electricity service is very similar to an urban one: one phase AC supply (230V/50Hz) distributed up to each dwelling using a low-voltage mini-grid, which has been designed to be fully compatible with a future arrival of the utility grid. The management of this electricity service is based on a “fee-for-service” scheme agreed between a local NGO, partner of the project, and electricity associations created in each village, which are in charge of, among other tasks, recording the daily energy production of systems and the monthly energy consumption of each house. This register of data allows a systematic evaluation of both the system performance and the energy consumption of users. Now, after four years of operation, this paper presents the experience of this pilot electrification project and draws lessons that can be useful for designing, managing and sizing this type of small village PV-hybrid system

Preliminary approach to neutron instrument selecction at ESSB-Bilbao based on experience at ISIS molecular spectroscopy group

Collaborative efforts between the Neutronics and Target Design Group at the Instituto de Fusión Nuclear and the Molecular Spectroscopy Group at the ISIS Pulsed Neutron and Muon Source date back to 2012 in the context of the ESS-Bilbao project. The rationale for these joint activities was twofold, namely: to assess the realm of applicability of the low-energy neutron source proposed by ESS-Bilbao - for details; and to explore instrument capabilities for pulsed-neutron techniques in the range 0.05-3 ms, a time range where ESS-Bilbao and ISIS could offer a significant degree of synergy and complementarity. As part of this collaboration, J.P. de Vicente has spent a three-month period within the ISIS Molecular Spectroscopy Group, to gain hands-on experience on the practical aspects of neutron-instrument design and the requisite neutron-transport simulations. To date, these activities have resulted in a joint MEng thesis as well as a number of publications and contributions to national and international conferences. Building upon these previous works, the primary aim of this report is to provide a self-contained discussion of general criteria for instrument selection at ESS-Bilbao, the first accelerator-driven, low-energy neutron source designed in Spain. To this end, Chapter 1 provides a brief overview of the current design parameters of the accelerator and target station. Neutron moderation is covered in Chapter 2, where we take a closer look at two possible target-moderator-reflector configurations and pay special attention to the spectral and temporal characteristics of the resulting neutron pulses. This discussion provides a necessary starting point to assess the operation of ESSB in short- and long-pulse modes. These considerations are further explored in Chapter 3, dealing with the primary characteristics of ESS-Bilbao as a short- or long-pulse facility in terms of accessible dynamic range and spectral resolution. Other practical aspects including background suppression and the use of fast choppers are also discussed. The guiding principles introduced in the first three chapters are put to use in Chapter 4 where we analyse in some detail the capabilities of a small-angle scattering instrument, as well as how specific scientific requirements can be mapped onto the optimal use of ESS-Bilbao for condensed-matter research. Part 2 of the report contains additional supporting documentation, including a description of the ESSB McStas component, a detailed characterisation of moderator response and neutron pulses, and estimates ofparameters associated with the design and operation of neutron choppers. In closing this brief foreword, we wish to thank both ESS-Bilbao and ISIS for their continuing encouragement and support along the way.

On real-time partitioned multicore systems

Partitioning is a common approach to developing mixed-criticality systems, where partitions are isolated from each other both in the temporal and the spatial domain in order to prevent low-criticality subsystems from compromising other subsystems with high level of criticality in case of misbehaviour. The advent of many-core processors, on the other hand, opens the way to highly parallel systems in which all partitions can be allocated to dedicated processor cores. This trend will simplify processor scheduling, although other issues such as mutual interference in the temporal domain may arise as a consequence of memory and device sharing. The paper describes an architecture for multi-core partitioned systems including critical subsystems built with the Ada Ravenscar profile. Some implementation issues are discussed, and experience on implementing the ORK kernel on the XtratuM partitioning hypervisor is presented.

Cattle-powered nodes experience in a heterogeneous network for localization of herds

A heterogeneous network, mainly based on nodes that use harvested energy to self-energize is presented and its use demonstrated. The network, mostly kinetically powered, has been used for the localization of herds in grazing areas under extreme climate conditions. The network consists of secondary and primary nodes. The former, powered by a kinetic generator, take advantage of animal movements to broadcast a unique identifier. The latter are battery-powered and gather secondarynode transmitted information to provide it, along with position and time data, to a final base station in charge of the animal monitoring. Because a limited human interaction is desirable, the aim of this network is to reduce the battery count of the system.

Real time power plant simulation platform for training on Electrical Protections and Automatic Voltage Regulators

Electrical Protection systems and Automatic Voltage Regulators (AVR) are essential components of actual power plants. Its installation and setting is performed during the commissioning, and it needs extensive experience since any failure in this process or in the setting, may entails some risk not only for the generator of the power plant, but also for the reliability of the power grid. In this paper, a real time power plant simulation platform is presented as a tool for improving the training and learning process on electrical protections and automatic voltage regulators. The activities of the commissioning procedure which can be practiced are described, and the applicability of this tool for improving the comprehension of this important part of the power plants is discussed. A commercial AVR and a multifunction protective relay have been tested with satisfactory results.

User experience design

Inmersos en un mundo digital en el que participan cada vez más personas con diferentes niveles de experiencia en tecnología, ha aparecido la necesidad de diseñar las aplicaciones pensando en el usuario. El principal problema que un desarrollador se encuentra hoy en día es la falta de tiempo o agilidad para conceder al usuario una experiencia a medida. Muchas empresas han conseguido destacar en un mundo donde la competencia es muy grande gracias al aporte de valor añadido de una buena experiencia de usuario. Empezando por el análisis psicológico y las reacciones que tenemos cuando estamos interactuando con un sistema digital se intenta conseguir un método para diseñar la experiencia de usuario de un modo satisfactorio para ambas partes. Con el objetivo de probar el método diseñado, en el cual se incorporan muchas técnicas de otros métodos, se diseña parte de la experiencia de usuario de “ESEM 2014”, una de las conferencias informáticas más importantes del norte de Italia. Los resultados obtenidos en este trabajo son muy favorables, ya que mejoran substancialmente el resultado final y permiten al desarrollador seguir mejorando la aplicación hasta el momento y objetivo deseado. Resumen Español---ABSTRACT---In a world where more people with different level of expertise is engaging with technology, designing for the user has become one of the main concerns for the developers. Lack of time or agility are the main problems from the developers’ point of view in order to provide a good user experience. One of most important differentiators for companies is the provided experience as the technology and knowledge is highly available for everyone. The main goal of this project is to compose a method to include experience design in current agile development where short iterations is the main characteristic. In order to test the designed method, were many parts of other techniques have been included, part of the “ESEM 2014” conference has been designed. The results achieved with this guidelines has been very positive from both sides of the development, users and developers. Having short iterations allows improvement until the desired experience is achieved.

Experience in spacecraft on-board software development

This paper describes some important aspects of high- integrity software development based on the authors' work. Current group research is oriented towards mixed- criticality partitioned systems, development tools, real- time kernels, and language features. The UPMSat-2 satellite software is being used as technology demonstra- tor and a case study for the assessment of the research results. The flight software that will run on the satellite is based on proven technology, such as GNAT/ORK+ and LEON3. There is an experimental version that is being built using a partitioned approach, aiming at assessing a toolset targeting partitioned multi-core em- bedded systems. The singularities of both approaches are discussed, as well as some of the tools that are being used for developing the software.

New QR Survey Methodologies to Analyze User Perception of Service Quality in Public Transport: The Experience of Madrid

Customer Satisfaction Surveys (CSS) have become an important tool for public transport planners, as improvements in the perceived quality of service lead to greater use of public transport and lower traffic pollution. Until now, Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) enhancements in public transport have traditionally included fleet management systems based on Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) technologies, which can be used to optimize routing and scheduling, and to feed real-time information into passenger information channels. However, surveys of public transport users could also benefit from the new information technologies. As most customers carry their smartphones when traveling, Quick Response (QR) codes open up the possibility of conducting these surveys at a lower cost.This paper contributes to the limited existing literature by developing the analysis of QR codes applied to CSS in public transport and highlighting their importance in reducing the cost of data collection and processing. The added value of this research is that it provides the first assessment of a real case study in Madrid (Spain) using QR codes for this purpose. This pilot experience was part of a research project analyzing bus service quality in the same case study, so the QR code survey (155 valid questionnaires) was validated using a conventional face-to-face survey (520 valid questionnaires). The results show clearly that, after overcoming a few teething troubles, this QR code application will ultimately provide transport management with a useful tool to reduce survey costs

Towards Mapping Experience Design for the Internet of Things.

We are witnessing a fundamental transformation in how Internet of Things (IoT) is having an impact on the experience users have with data-driven devices, smart appliances, and connected products. The experience of any place is commonly defined as the result of a series of user engagements with a surrounding place in order to carry out daily activities (Golledge, 2002). Knowing about users? experiences becomes vital to the process of designing a map. In the near future, a user will be able to interact directly with any IoT device placed in his surrounding place and very little is known on what kinds of interactions and experiences a map might offer (Roth, 2015). The main challenge is to develop an experience design process to devise maps capable of supporting different user experience dimensions such as cognitive, sensory-physical, affective, and social (Tussyadiah and Zach, 2012). For example, in a smart city of the future, the IoT devices allowing a multimodal interaction with a map could help tourists in the assimilation of their knowledge about points of interest (cognitive experience), their association of sounds and smells to these places (sensory-physical experience), their emotional connection to them (affective experience) and their relationships with other nearby tourists (social experience). This paper aims to describe a conceptual framework for developing a Mapping Experience Design (MXD) process for building maps for smart connected places of the future. Our MXD process is focussed on the cognitive dimension of an experience in which a person perceives a place as a "living entity" that uses and feeds through his experiences. We want to help people to undergo a meaningful experience of a place through mapping what is being communicated during their interactions with the IoT devices situated in this place. Our purpose is to understand how maps can support a person?s experience in making better decisions in real-time.

Quality of experience of adaptive video streaming: investigation in service parameters and subjective quality assessment methodology

The usage of HTTP adaptive streaming (HAS) has become widely spread in multimedia services. Because it allows the service providers to improve the network resource utilization and user׳s Quality of Experience (QoE). Using this technology, the video playback interruption is reduced since the network and server status in addition to capability of user device, all are taken into account by HAS client to adapt the quality to the current condition. Adaptation can be done using different strategies. In order to provide optimal QoE, the perceptual impact of adaptation strategies from point of view of the user should be studied. However, the time-varying video quality due to the adaptation which usually takes place in a long interval introduces a new type of impairment making the subjective evaluation of adaptive streaming system challenging. The contribution of this paper is two-fold: first, it investigates the testing methodology to evaluate HAS QoE by comparing the subjective experimental outcomes obtained from ACR standardized method and a semi-continuous method developed to evaluate the long sequences. In addition, influence of using audiovisual stimuli to evaluate the video-related impairment is inquired. Second, impact of some of the adaptation technical factors including the quality switching amplitude and chunk size in combination with high range of commercial content type is investigated. The results of this study provide a good insight toward achieving appropriate testing method to evaluate HAS QoE, in addition to designing switching strategies with optimal visual quality.

Experience and lessons learnt from the SMART 2013 Benchmark

The French CEA, together with EDF and the IAEA, recently organised an international benchmark to evaluate the ability to model the mechanical behaviour of a typical nuclear reinforced concrete structure subjected to seismic demands. The participants were provided with descriptions of the structure and the testing campaign; they had to propose the numerical model and the material laws for the concrete (stage #1). A mesh of beam and shell elements was generated; for modelling the concrete a damaged plasticity model was used, but a smeared crack model was also investigated. Some of the initial experimental results, with the mock-up remaining in the elastic range, were provided to the participants for calibrating their models (stage #2). Predictions had to be produced in terms of eigen-frequencies and motion time histories. The calculated frequencies reproduced reasonably the experimental ones; the time histories, calculated by modal response analysis, also reproduced adequately the observed amplifications. The participants were then expected to predict the structural response under strong ground motions (stage #3), which increased progressively up to a history recorded during the 1994 Northridge earthquake, followed by an aftershock. These results were produced using an explicit solver and a damaged plasticity model for the concrete, although an implicit solver with a smeared crack model was also investigated. The paper presents the conclusions of the pre-test exercise, as well as some observations from additional simulations conducted after the experimental results were made available.