Fast Correction of Tiled Display Systems on Planar Surfaces

A method for fast colour and geometric correction of a tiled display system is presented in this paper. Such kind of displays are a common choice for virtual reality applications and simulators, where a high resolution image is required. They are the cheapest and more flexible alternative for large image generation but they require a precise geometric and colour correction. The purpose of the proposed method is to correct the projection system as fast as possible so in case the system needs to be recalibrated it doesn’t interfere with the normal operation of the simulator or virtual reality application. This technique makes use of a single conventional webcam for both geometric and photometric correction. Some previous assumptions are made, like planar projection surface and negligibleintra-projector colour variation and black-offset levels. If these assumptions hold true, geometric and photometric seamlessness can be achievedfor this kind of display systems. The method described in this paper is scalable for an undefined number of projectors and completely automatic.

MEIA SYSTEMS: Membrane Encrypted Information Applications Systems

Membrane computing is a recent area that belongs to natural computing. This field works on computational models based on nature's behavior to process the information. Recently, numerous models have been developed and implemented with this purpose. P-systems are the structures which have been defined,developed and implemented to simulate the behavior and the evolution of membrane systems which we find in nature. What we show in this paper is a new model that deals with encrypted information which provides security the membrane systems communication. Moreover we find non deterministic and random applications in nature that are suitable to MEIA systems. The inherent parallelism and non determinism make this applications perfect object to implement MEIA systems.

Real time passenger information systems and quality of bus services

One of the main problems in urban areas is the steady growth in car ownership and traffic levels. Therefore, the challenge of sustainability is focused on a shift of the demand for mobility from cars to collective means of transport. For this end, buses are a key element of the public transport systems. In this respect Real Time Passenger Information (RTPI) systems help citizens change their travel behaviour towards more sustainable transport modes. This paper provides an assessment methodology which evaluates how RTPI systems improve the quality of bus services in two European cities, Madrid and Bremerhaven. In the case of Madrid, bus punctuality has increased by 3%. Regarding the travellers perception, Madrid raised its quality of service by 6% while Bremerhaven increased by 13%. On the other hand, the users ́ perception of Public Transport (PT) image increased by 14%.

Quality of bus services performance: benefits of real time passenger information systems

One of the main problems in urban areas is the steady growth in car ownership and traffic levels. Therefore, the challenge of sustainability is focused on a shift of the demand for mobility from cars to collective means of transport. For this purpose, buses are a key element of the public transport systems. In this respect Real Time Passenger Information (RTPI) systems help people change their travel behaviour towards more sustainable transport modes. This paper provides an assessment methodology which evaluates how RTPI systems improve the quality of bus services performance in two European cities, Madrid and Bremerhaven. In the case of Madrid, bus punctuality has increased by 3%. Regarding the travellers perception, Madrid raised its quality of service by 6% while Bremerhaven increased by 13%. On the other hand, the users¿ perception of Public Transport (PT) image increased by 14%.

MIRACLE Approaches to Multilingual Information Retrieval: A Baseline for Future Research

This paper describes the first set of experiments defined by the MIRACLE (Multilingual Information RetrievAl for the CLEf campaign) research group for some of the cross language tasks defined by CLEF. These experiments combine different basic techniques, linguistic-oriented and statistic-oriented, to be applied to the indexing and retrieval processes.

Image Retrieval: The MIRACLE Approach

ImageCLEF is a pilot experiment run at CLEF 2003 for cross language image retrieval using textual captions related to image contents. In this paper, we describe the participation of the MIRACLE research team (Multilingual Information RetrievAl at CLEF), detailing the different experiments and discussing their preliminary results.

Tiled Projector Displays Correction for Dark Scenes in Railway Simulators

Tiled projector displays are a common choice for training simulators, where a high resolution output image is required. They are cheap for the resolution that they can reach and can be configured in many different ways. Nevertheless, such kinds of displays require geometric and color correction so that the composite image looks seamless. Display correction is an even bigger challenge when the projected images include dark scenes combined with brighter scenes. This is usually a problem for railway simulators when the train is positioned inside a tunnel and the black offset effect becomes noticeable. In this paper, a method for fast photometric and geometric correction of tiled display systems where dark and bright scenes are combined is presented. The image correction is carried out in two steps. First, geometric alignment and overlapping areas attenuation for brighter scenes is applied. Second, in the event of being inside a tunnel, the brightness of the scene is increased in certain areas using light sources in order to create the impression of darkness but minimizing the effect of the black offset

Medida de similitud basada en saliencia

La proliferación en todos los ámbitos de la producción multimedia está dando lugar a la aparición de nuevos paradigmas de recuperación de información visual. Dentro de éstos, uno de los más significativos es el de los sistemas de recuperación de información visual, VIRS (Visual Information Retrieval Systems), en los que una de las tareas más representativas es la ordenación de una población de imágenes según su similitud con un ejemplo dado. En este trabajo se presenta una propuesta original para la evaluación de la similitud entre dos imágenes, basándose en la extensión del concepto de saliencia desde el espacio de imágenes al de características para establecer la relevancia de cada componente de dicho vector. Para ello se introducen metodologías para la cuantificación de la saliencia de valores individuales de características, para la combinación de estas cuantificaciones en procesos de comparación entre dos imágenes, y para, finalmente, establecer la mencionada ponderación de cada característica en atención a esta combinación. Se presentan igualmente los resultados de evaluar esta propuesta en una tarea de recuperación de imágenes por contenido en comparación con los obtenidos con la distancia euclídea. Esta comparación se realiza mediante la evaluación de ambos resultados por voluntarios.

Metodología para el desarrollo de un sistema de visualización multi-proyector con características cromáticas uniformes

Los sistemas de proyección multi-proyector han adquirido gran popularidad en los últimos años para su uso en un amplio rango de aplicaciones como sistemas de realidad virtual, simuladores y visualización de datos. Esto es debido a que normalmente estas aplicaciones necesitan representar sus datos a muy alta resolución y a lo largo de una gran superficie. Este tipo de sistemas de proyección son baratos en comparación con las resoluciones que pueden conseguir, se pueden configurar para proyectar sobre prácticamente cualquier tipo de superficie, sea cual sea su forma, y son fácilmente escalables. Sin embargo, para hacer que este tipo de sistemas generen una imagen sin discontinuidades geométricas o colorimétricas requieren de un ajuste preciso. En la presente tesis se analizan en detalle todos los problemas a los que hay que enfrentarse a la hora de diseñar y calibrar un sistema de proyección de este tipo y se propone una metodología con una serie de optimizaciones para hacer el ajuste de estos sistemas más sencillo y rápido. Los resultados de esta metodología se muestran aplicados a la salida gráfica de un simulador de entrenamiento. Multi-projector display systems have gained high popularity over the past years for its use in a wide range of applications such as virtual reality systems, simulators or data visualization where a high resolution image over a large projection surface is required. Such systems are cheap for the resolutions they can provide, can be configured to project images on almost any kind of screen shapes and are easily scalable, but in order to provide a seamless image with no photometric discontinuities they require a precise geometric and colour correction. In this thesis, we analyze all the problems that have to be faced in order to design and calibrate a multi-projector display. We propose a calibration methodology with some optimizations that make the adjustment of this kind of displays easier and faster. The results of the implementation of this methodology on a training simulator are presented and discussed

Sistema de recomendación semántico para la movilidad en el entorno AFRICA BUILD Portal

La Gestión de Recursos Humanos a través de Internet es un problema latente y presente actualmente en cualquier sitio web dedicado a la búsqueda de empleo. Este problema también está presente en AFRICA BUILD Portal. AFRICA BUILD Portal es una emergente red socio-profesional nacida con el ánimo de crear comunidades virtuales que fomenten la educación e investigación en el área de la salud en países africanos. Uno de los métodos para fomentar la educación e investigación es mediante la movilidad de estudiantes e investigadores entre instituciones, apareciendo así, el citado problema de la gestión de recursos humanos. Por tanto, este trabajo se centra en solventar el problema de la gestión de recursos humanos en el entorno específico de AFRICA BUILD Portal. Para solventar este problema, el objetivo es desarrollar un sistema de recomendación que ayude en la gestión de recursos humanos en lo que concierne a la selección de las mejores ofertas y demandas de movilidad. Caracterizando al sistema de recomendación como un sistema semántico el cual ofrecerá las recomendaciones basándose en las reglas y restricciones impuestas por el dominio. La aproximación propuesta se basa en seguir el enfoque de los sistemas de Matchmaking semánticos. Siguiendo este enfoque, por un lado, se ha empleado un razonador de lógica descriptiva que ofrece inferencias útiles en el cálculo de las recomendaciones y por otro lado, herramientas de procesamiento de lenguaje natural para dar soporte al proceso de recomendación. Finalmente para la integración del sistema de recomendación con AFRICA BUILD Portal se han empleado diversas tecnologías web. Los resultados del sistema basados en la comparación de recomendaciones creadas por el sistema y por usuarios reales han mostrado un funcionamiento y rendimiento aceptable. Empleando medidas de evaluación de sistemas de recuperación de información se ha obtenido una precisión media del sistema de un 52%, cifra satisfactoria tratándose de un sistema semántico. Pudiendo concluir que con la solución implementada se ha construido un sistema estable y modular posibilitando: por un lado, una fácil evolución que debería ir encaminada a lograr un rendimiento mayor, incrementando su precisión y por otro lado, dejando abiertas nuevas vías de crecimiento orientadas a la explotación del potencial de AFRICA BUILD Portal mediante la Web 3.0. ---ABSTRACT---The Human Resource Management through Internet is currently a latent problem shown in any employment website. This problem has also appeared in AFRICA BUILD Portal. AFRICA BUILD Portal is an emerging socio-professional network with the objective of creating virtual communities to foster the capacity for health research and education in African countries. One way to foster this capacity of research and education is through the mobility of students and researches between institutions, thus appearing the Human Resource Management problem. Therefore, this dissertation focuses on solving the Human Resource Management problem in the specific environment of AFRICA BUILD Portal. To solve this problem, the objective is to develop a recommender system which assists the management of Human Resources with respect to the selection of the best mobility supplies and demands. The recommender system is a semantic system which will provide the recommendations according to the domain rules and restrictions. The proposed approach is based on semantic matchmaking solutions. So, this approach on the one hand uses a Description Logics reasoning engine which provides useful inferences to the recommendation process and on the other hand uses Natural Language Processing techniques to support the recommendation process. Finally, Web technologies are used in order to integrate the recommendation system into AFRICA BUILD Portal. The results of evaluating the system are based on the comparison between recommendations created by the system and by real users. These results have shown an acceptable behavior and performance. The average precision of the system has been obtained by evaluation measures for information retrieval systems, so the average precision of the system is at 52% which may be considered as a satisfactory result taking into account that the system is a semantic system. To conclude, it could be stated that the implemented system is stable and modular. This fact on the one hand allows an easy evolution that should aim to achieve a higher performance by increasing its average precision and on the other hand keeps open new ways to increase the functionality of the system oriented to exploit the potential of AFRICA BUILD Portal through Web 3.0.

Service capacity reserve under uncertainty by hospital's ER's analogies: a practical model for car services

El objetivo de esta investigación consiste en definir un modelo de reserva de capacidad, por analogías con emergencias hospitalarias, que pueda ser implementado en el sector de servicios. Este está específicamente enfocado a su aplicación en talleres de servicio de automóviles. Nuestra investigación incorpora la incertidumbre de la demanda en un modelo singular diseñado en etapas que agrupa técnicas ARIMA, teoría de colas y simulación Monte Carlo para definir los conceptos de capacidad y ocupación de servicio, que serán utilizados para minimizar el coste implícito de la reserva capacidad necesaria para atender a clientes que carecen de cita previa. Habitualmente, las compañías automovilísticas estiman la capacidad de sus instalaciones de servicio empíricamente, pero los clientes pueden llegar bajo condiciones de incertidumbre que no se tienen en cuenta en dichas estimaciones, por lo que existe una diferencia entre lo que el cliente realmente demanda y la capacidad que ofrece el servicio. Nuestro enfoque define una metodología válida para el sector automovilístico que cubre la ausencia genérica de investigaciones recientes y la habitual falta de aplicación de técnicas estadísticas en el sector. La equivalencia con la gestión de urgencias hospitalarias se ha validado a lo largo de la investigación en la se definen nuevos indicadores de proceso (KPIs) Tal y como hacen los hospitales, aplicamos modelos estocásticos para dimensionar las instalaciones de servicio de acuerdo con la distribución demográfica del área de influencia. El modelo final propuesto integra la predicción del coste implícito en la reserva de capacidad para atender la demanda no prevista. Asimismo, se ha desarrollado un código en Matlab que puede integrarse como un módulo adicional a los sistemas de información (DMS) que se usan actualmente en el sector, con el fin de emplear los nuevos indicadores de proceso definidos en el modelo. Los resultados principales del modelo son nuevos indicadores de servicio, tales como la capacidad, ocupación y coste de reserva de capacidad, que nunca antes han sido objeto de estudio en la industria automovilística, y que están orientados a gestionar la operativa del servicio. ABSTRACT Our aim is to define a Capacity Reserve model to be implemented in the service sector by hospital's emergency room (ER) analogies, with a practical approach to passenger car services. A stochastic model has been implemented using R and a Monte Carlo simulation code written in Matlab and has proved a very useful tool for optimal decision making under uncertainty. The research integrates demand uncertainty in a unique model which is built in stages by implementing ARIMA forecasting, Queuing Theory and a Monte Carlo simulation to define the concepts of service capacity and occupancy, minimizing the implicit cost of the capacity that must be reserved to service unexpected customers. Usually, passenger car companies estimate their service facilities capacity using empirical methods, but customers arrive under uncertain conditions not included in the estimations. Thus, there is a gap between customer’s real demand and the dealer’s capacity. This research sets a valid methodology for the passenger car industry to cover the generic absence of recent researches and the generic lack of statistical techniques implementation. The hospital’s emergency room (ER) equalization has been confirmed to be valid for the passenger car industry and new process indicators have been defined to support the study. As hospitals do, we aim to apply stochastic models to dimension installations according to the demographic distribution of the area to be serviced. The proposed model integrates the prediction of the cost implicit in the reserve capacity to serve unexpected demand. The Matlab code could be implemented as part of the existing information technology systems (ITs) to support the existing service management tools, creating a set of new process indicators. Main model outputs are new indicators, such us Capacity, Occupancy and Cost of Capacity Reserve, never studied in the passenger car service industry before, and intended to manage the service operation.

A Model-Based Monitoring Architecture for Heterogeneous Enterprise Services and Information Systems

Runtime management of distributed information systems is a complex and costly activity. One of the main challenges that must be addressed is obtaining a complete and updated view of all the managed runtime resources. This article presents a monitoring architecture for heterogeneous and distributed information systems. It is composed of two elements: an information model and an agent infrastructure. The model negates the complexity and variability of these systems and enables the abstraction over non-relevant details. The infrastructure uses this information model to monitor and manage the modeled environment, performing and detecting changes in execution time. The agents infrastructure is further detailed and its components and the relationships between them are explained. Moreover, the proposal is validated through a set of agents that instrument the JEE Glassfish application server, paying special attention to support distributed configuration scenarios.

Knowledge Management and Information Systems based on Workflow Technology

Knowledge management is critical for the success of virtual communities, especially in the case of distributed working groups. A representative example of this scenario is the distributed software development, where it is necessary an optimal coordination to avoid common problems such as duplicated work. In this paper the feasibility of using the workflow technology as a knowledge management system is discussed, and a practical use case is presented. This use case is an information system that has been deployed within a banking environment. It combines common workflow technology with a new conception of the interaction among participants through the extension of existing definition languages.

Managing Industrial Simulator Visual Databases Using Geographic Information Systems

Geographic Information Systems are developed to handle enormous volumes of data and are equipped with numerous functionalities intended to capture, store, edit, organise, process and analyse or represent the geographically referenced information. On the other hand, industrial simulators for driver training are real-time applications that require a virtual environment, either geospecific, geogeneric or a combination of the two, over which the simulation programs will be run. In the final instance, this environment constitutes a geographic location with its specific characteristics of geometry, appearance, functionality, topography, etc. The set of elements that enables the virtual simulation environment to be created and in which the simulator user can move, is usually called the Visual Database (VDB). The main idea behind the work being developed approaches a topic that is of major interest in the field of industrial training simulators, which is the problem of analysing, structuring and describing the virtual environments to be used in large driving simulators. This paper sets out a methodology that uses the capabilities and benefits of Geographic Information Systems for organising, optimising and managing the visual Database of the simulator and for generally enhancing the quality and performance of the simulator.

An integrated framework for office information systems design and management

Information Technologies are complex and this is true even in the smallest piece of equipment. But this kind of complexity is nothing comparejwith the one that arises when this technology interact with society. Office Automation has been traditionally considered as a technical field but there is no way to find solutions from a technical point of view when the problems are primarily social in their origin. Technology management has to change its focus from a pure technical perspective to a sociotechnical point of view. To facilitate this change, we propose a model that allows a better understanding between the managerial and the technical world, offering a coherent, complete and integrated perspective of both. The base for this model is an unfolding of the complexity found in information Technologies and a matching of these complexities with several levels considered within the Office, Office Automation and Human Factors dimensions. Each one of these domains is studied trough a set of distinctions that create a new and powerful understanding of its reality. Using this model we build up a map of Office Automation to be use^not only by managers but also by technicians because the primaty advantage of such a framework is that it allows a comprehensive evaluation of technology without requhing extensive technical knowledge. Thus, the model can be seen as principle for design and diagnosis of Office Automation and as a common reference for managers and specialist avoiding the severe limitations arising from the language used by the last