TY - JOUR A1 - Zirkel, J. A1 - Cecil, A. A1 - Schäfer, F. A1 - Rahlfs, S. A1 - Ouedraogo, A. A1 - Xiao, K. A1 - Sawadogo, S. A1 - Coulibaly, B. A1 - Becker, K. A1 - Dandekar, T. T1 - Analyzing Thiol-Dependent Redox Networks in the Presence of Methylene Blue and Other Antimalarial Agents with RT-PCR-Supported in silico Modeling JF - Bioinformatics and Biology Insights N2 - BACKGROUND: In the face of growing resistance in malaria parasites to drugs, pharmacological combination therapies are important. There is accumulating evidence that methylene blue (MB) is an effective drug against malaria. Here we explore the biological effects of both MB alone and in combination therapy using modeling and experimental data. RESULTS: We built a model of the central metabolic pathways in P. falciparum. Metabolic flux modes and their changes under MB were calculated by integrating experimental data (RT-PCR data on mRNAs for redox enzymes) as constraints and results from the YANA software package for metabolic pathway calculations. Several different lines of MB attack on Plasmodium redox defense were identified by analysis of the network effects. Next, chloroquine resistance based on pfmdr/and pfcrt transporters, as well as pyrimethamine/sulfadoxine resistance (by mutations in DHF/DHPS), were modeled in silico. Further modeling shows that MB has a favorable synergism on antimalarial network effects with these commonly used antimalarial drugs. CONCLUSIONS: Theoretical and experimental results support that methylene blue should, because of its resistance-breaking potential, be further tested as a key component in drug combination therapy efforts in holoendemic areas. KW - methylene blue KW - malaria KW - elementary mode analysis KW - drug KW - resistance KW - combination therapy KW - pathway KW - metabolic flux Y1 - 2012 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-123751 N1 - This is an open access article. Unrestricted non-commercial use is permitted provided the original work is properly cited. VL - 6 ER - TY - THES A1 - Zinner, Thomas T1 - Performance Modeling of QoE-Aware Multipath Video Transmission in the Future Internet T1 - Leistungsmodellierung einer Mehrpfad Video Übertragung im zukünftigen Internet unter Berücksichtigung der QoE N2 - Internet applications are becoming more and more flexible to support diverge user demands and network conditions. This is reflected by technical concepts, which provide new adaptation mechanisms to allow fine grained adjustment of the application quality and the corresponding bandwidth requirements. For the case of video streaming, the scalable video codec H.264/SVC allows the flexible adaptation of frame rate, video resolution and image quality with respect to the available network resources. In order to guarantee a good user-perceived quality (Quality of Experience, QoE) it is necessary to adjust and optimize the video quality accurately. But not only have the applications of the current Internet changed. Within network and transport, new technologies evolved during the last years providing a more flexible and efficient usage of data transport and network resources. One of the most promising technologies is Network Virtualization (NV) which is seen as an enabler to overcome the ossification of the Internet stack. It provides means to simultaneously operate multiple logical networks which allow for example application-specific addressing, naming and routing, or their individual resource management. New transport mechanisms like multipath transmission on the network and transport layer aim at an efficient usage of available transport resources. However, the simultaneous transmission of data via heterogeneous transport paths and communication technologies inevitably introduces packet reordering. Additional mechanisms and buffers are required to restore the correct packet order and thus to prevent a disturbance of the data transport. A proper buffer dimensioning as well as the classification of the impact of varying path characteristics like bandwidth and delay require appropriate evaluation methods. Additionally, for a path selection mechanism real time evaluation mechanisms are needed. A better application-network interaction and the corresponding exchange of information enable an efficient adaptation of the application to the network conditions and vice versa. This PhD thesis analyzes a video streaming architecture utilizing multipath transmission and scalable video coding and develops the following optimization possibilities and results: Analysis and dimensioning methods for multipath transmission, quantification of the adaptation possibilities to the current network conditions with respect to the QoE for H.264/SVC, and evaluation and optimization of a future video streaming architecture, which allows a better interaction of application and network. N2 - Die Applikationen im Internet passen sich immer besser an unterschiedliche Anforderungen der Nutzer und variierende Netzwerkbedingungen an. Neue Mechanismen ermöglichen die zielgerichtete Anpassung der Anwendungsqualität und damit der benötigten Bandbreite. Im Falle von Videostreaming ermöglicht der skalierbare Videocodec H.264/SVC, die flexible Veränderung der Bildwiederholungsrate, der Auflösung des Videos und der Bildqualität an die vorhandenen Ressourcen im Netzwerk. Um eine gute vom Nutzer erfahrene Dienstgüte (Quality of Experience, QoE) zu garantieren, muss die Videoqualität richtig angepasst und optimiert werden. Aber nicht nur die Anwendungen des heutigen Internets haben sich verändert. Gerade in den letzten Jahren entstanden neue Netzwerk- und Transporttechnologien, welche eine flexiblere und effizientere Nutzung der Kommunikationsnetze erlauben. Eine dieser Techniken ist die Virtualisierung von Netzwerken. Sie erlaubt es auf einem gemeinsamen physikalischen Netz verschiedene logische Netze zu betreiben, die zum Beispiel Anwendungs-abhängige Adressierung unterstützen, eigene Namensgebung erlauben oder ein individuelles Ressourcen Management ermöglichen. Neuartige Transportmechanismen wie Mehrpfadübertragung auf Netzwerk- und Transportebene des ISO/OSI Stacks streben eine effiziente Ausnutzung der zur Verfügung stehenden Übertragungsmöglichkeiten an. Doch die simultane Übertragung von Daten über heterogene Kommunikationspfade und –technologien führt unausweichlich zu einer Veränderung der Reihenfolge, in der die Pakete ankommen. Es werden zusätzliche Mechanismen und Puffer benötigt, um die ursprüngliche Paketreihenfolge wieder herzustellen und so einen störenden Einfluss auf den Datentransport zu verhindern. Die richtige Dimensionierung dieser Puffer sowie die Klassifizierung des Einflusses von variierenden Pfadparametern wie Bandbreite und Verzögerungen setzen passende Evaluierungsmethoden voraus. Darüber hinaus werden für die Auswahl von geeigneten Pfaden aus einer Menge vorhandener Pfade echtzeitfähige Bewertungsmechanismen benötigt. Eine bessere Interaktion zwischen Applikationen und Netzwerk und der damit verbundene Informationsaustausch ermöglicht die effiziente Anpassung der Applikationsqualität an das Netzwerk und umgekehrt. Diese Doktorarbeit analysiert eine auf Mehrpfadübertragung und skalierbarer Videokodierung basierende Videostreaming Architektur und erarbeitet die folgenden Optimierungsmöglichkeiten und Auswertungen: Analyse- und Dimensionierungsmethoden für Mehrpfadübertragung, Quantifizierung der Anpassungsmöglichkeiten von SVC an das Netzwerk unter Berücksichtigung der QoE und Evaluierung und Optimierung einer zukünftigen Videostreaming Architektur, welche eine stärkere Interaktion zwischen Applikation und Netzwerk ermöglicht. T3 - Würzburger Beiträge zur Leistungsbewertung Verteilter Systeme - 03/12 KW - Videoübertragung KW - H.264 SVC KW - Modellierung KW - Quality-of-Experience KW - Mehrpfadübertragung KW - Multipath Transmission KW - Video Streaming KW - H.264/SVC KW - QoE KW - Performance Modeling Y1 - 2012 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-72324 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zimmerer, Chris A1 - Fischbach, Martin A1 - Latoschik, Marc Erich T1 - Semantic Fusion for Natural Multimodal Interfaces using Concurrent Augmented Transition Networks JF - Multimodal Technologies and Interaction N2 - Semantic fusion is a central requirement of many multimodal interfaces. Procedural methods like finite-state transducers and augmented transition networks have proven to be beneficial to implement semantic fusion. They are compliant with rapid development cycles that are common for the development of user interfaces, in contrast to machine-learning approaches that require time-costly training and optimization. We identify seven fundamental requirements for the implementation of semantic fusion: Action derivation, continuous feedback, context-sensitivity, temporal relation support, access to the interaction context, as well as the support of chronologically unsorted and probabilistic input. A subsequent analysis reveals, however, that there is currently no solution for fulfilling the latter two requirements. As the main contribution of this article, we thus present the Concurrent Cursor concept to compensate these shortcomings. In addition, we showcase a reference implementation, the Concurrent Augmented Transition Network (cATN), that validates the concept’s feasibility in a series of proof of concept demonstrations as well as through a comparative benchmark. The cATN fulfills all identified requirements and fills the lack amongst previous solutions. It supports the rapid prototyping of multimodal interfaces by means of five concrete traits: Its declarative nature, the recursiveness of the underlying transition network, the network abstraction constructs of its description language, the utilized semantic queries, and an abstraction layer for lexical information. Our reference implementation was and is used in various student projects, theses, as well as master-level courses. It is openly available and showcases that non-experts can effectively implement multimodal interfaces, even for non-trivial applications in mixed and virtual reality. KW - multimodal fusion KW - multimodal interface KW - semantic fusion KW - procedural fusion methods KW - natural interfaces KW - human-computer interaction Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-197573 SN - 2414-4088 VL - 2 IS - 4 ER - TY - THES A1 - Zeiger, Florian T1 - Internet Protocol based networking of mobile robots T1 - Internet Protokoll basierte Vernetzung von mobilen Robotern N2 - This work is composed of three main parts: remote control of mobile systems via Internet, ad-hoc networks of mobile robots, and remote control of mobile robots via 3G telecommunication technologies. The first part gives a detailed state of the art and a discussion of the problems to be solved in order to teleoperate mobile robots via the Internet. The focus of the application to be realized is set on a distributed tele-laboratory with remote experiments on mobile robots which can be accessed world-wide via the Internet. Therefore, analyses of the communication link are used in order to realize a robust system. The developed and implemented architecture of this distributed tele-laboratory allows for a smooth access also with a variable or low link quality. The second part covers the application of ad-hoc networks for mobile robots. The networking of mobile robots via mobile ad-hoc networks is a very promising approach to realize integrated telematic systems without relying on preexisting communication infrastructure. Relevant civilian application scenarios are for example in the area of search and rescue operations where first responders are supported by multi-robot systems. Here, mobile robots, humans, and also existing stationary sensors can be connected very fast and efficient. Therefore, this work investigates and analyses the performance of different ad-hoc routing protocols for IEEE 802.11 based wireless networks in relevant scenarios. The analysis of the different protocols allows for an optimization of the parameter settings in order to use these ad-hoc routing protocols for mobile robot teleoperation. Also guidelines for the realization of such telematics systems are given. Also traffic shaping mechanisms of application layer are presented which allow for a more efficient use of the communication link. An additional application scenario, the integration of a small size helicopter into an IP based ad-hoc network, is presented. The teleoperation of mobile robots via 3G telecommunication technologies is addressed in the third part of this work. The high availability, high mobility, and the high bandwidth provide a very interesting opportunity to realize scenarios for the teleoperation of mobile robots or industrial remote maintenance. This work analyses important parameters of the UMTS communication link and investigates also the characteristics for different data streams. These analyses are used to give guidelines which are necessary for the realization of or industrial remote maintenance or mobile robot teleoperation scenarios. All the results and guidelines for the design of telematic systems in this work were derived from analyses and experiments with real hardware. N2 - Diese Arbeit gliedert sich in drei Hauptteile: Fernsteuerung mobiler Systeme über das Internet, ad-hoc Netzwerke mobiler Roboter und Fernsteuerung mobiler Roboter über Mobilfunktechnologien der 3. Generation. Im ersten Teil werden ein ausführlicher Stand der Technik und eine Diskussion der bei der Fernsteuerung mobiler Roboter über das Internet zu lösenden Probleme gegeben. Der Fokus der zu realisierenden Anwendung in diesem Teil der Arbeit liegt auf einem verteilten Tele-Labor mit Experimenten zu mobilen Robotern, welche über das Internet weltweit zugänglich sind. Hierzu werden Link-Analysen der zugrundeliegenden Kommunikationsinfrastruktur zu Hilfe genommen, um ein robustes System zu realisieren. Die entwickelte und implementierte Architektur des verteilten Tele-Labors erlaubt einen reibungslosen Zugang auch für Verbindungen mit variabler oder schlechter Linkqualität. Im zweiten Teil werden ad-hoc Netzwerke mobiler Roboter behandelt. Die Vernetzung mobiler Roboter über mobile ad-hoc Netzwerke ist eine vielversprechende Möglichkeit um integrierte Telematiksysteme zu realisieren ohne auf zuvor existierende Infrastruktur angewiesen zu sein. Relevante Einsatzszenarien im zivilen Bereich sind zum Beispiel Such- und Rettungsszenarien, in denen die Rettungskräfte vor Ort durch vernetzte Multi-Roboter Systeme unterstütz werden. Hier werden dann mobile Roboter, Menschen und gegebenenfalls auch vorhandene stationäre Sensoren schnell und effizient vernetzt. In dieser Arbeit werden dazu verschieden ad-hoc Routing-Protokolle für IEEE 802.11 basierte Drahtlosnetzwerke in relevanten Szenarien untersucht und deren Leistungsfähigkeit verglichen. Die Analyse der verschiedenen Protokolle erlaubt eine Optimierung der Parametereinstellung, um diese ad-hoc Routing-Protokolle zur Fernsteuerung mobiler Roboter nutzbar zu machen. Weiterhin werden Richtlinien zur Realisierung solcher Telematiksysteme erarbeitet und Mechanismen zur Verkehrsformung auf Applikationsebene präsentiert, die eine effizientere Nutzung der vorhandenen Kommunikationskanäle erlauben. Als weiteres Anwendungsbeispiel ist die Integration eines ferngesteuerten Kleinhubschraubers in ein IP basiertes ad-hoc Netz beschrieben. Der dritte Teil der Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit der Fernsteuerung mobiler Roboter über Mobilfunktechnologien der 3. Generation. Die hohe Verfügbarkeit der UMTS-Technologie mit der verbundenen Mobilität und der gleichzeitigen hohen Bandbreite bietet hier eine interessante Möglichkeit um die Fernsteuerung mobiler Roboter oder auch interaktive Fernwartungsszenarien zu realisieren. In der vorliegenden Arbeit werden wichtige Parameter der UMTS Verbindung analysiert und auch die Charakteristiken der Verbindung für verschiedene Verkehrsströme ermittelt. Diese dienen dann zur Erstellung von Richtlinien, die zur Umsetzung der interaktive Fernwartungsszenarien oder auch der Fernsteuerung mobiler Roboter nötig sind. Die in dieser Arbeit erstellten Richtlinien zum Entwurf von Telematiksystemen wurden aus Analysen und Experimenten mit realer Hardware abgeleitet. T3 - Forschungsberichte in der Robotik = Research Notes in Robotics - 4 KW - Robotik KW - Mobiler Roboter KW - Fernsteuerung KW - vernetzte Roboter KW - Telematik KW - Fernsteuerung KW - Robotik KW - Internet Protokoll KW - networked robotics KW - telematics KW - remote control KW - robotics KW - internet protocol Y1 - 2010 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-54776 SN - 978-3-923959-59-4 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zeeshan, Ahmed T1 - Towards Performance Measurement and Metrics Based Analysis of PLA Applications N2 - This article is about a measurement analysis based approach to help software practitioners in managing the additional level complexities and variabilities in software product line applications. The architecture of the proposed approach i.e. ZAC is designed and implemented to perform preprocessesed source code analysis, calculate traditional and product line metrics and visualize results in two and three dimensional diagrams. Experiments using real time data sets are performed which concluded with the results that the ZAC can be very helpful for the software practitioners in understanding the overall structure and complexity of product line applications. Moreover the obtained results prove strong positive correlation between calculated traditional and product line measures. KW - Programmierbare logische Anordnung KW - Analysis KW - Measurement KW - Software product lines KW - Variability Y1 - 2010 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-68188 ER - TY - THES A1 - Wolz, Frank T1 - Ein generisches Konzept zur Modellierung und Bewertung feldprogrammierbarer Architekturen T1 - A generic concept for modelling and evaluating field-programmable architectures N2 - Gegenstand der Arbeit stellt eine erstmalig unternommene, architekturübergreifende Studie über feldprogrammierbare Logikbausteine zur Implementierung synchroner Schaltkreise dar. Zunächst wird ein Modell für allgemeine feldprogrammiebare Architekturen basierend auf periodischen Graphen definiert. Schließlich werden Bewertungsmaße für Architekturen und Schaltkreislayouts angegeben zur Charakterisierung struktureller Eigenschaften hinsichtlich des Verhaltens in Chipflächenverbrauch und Signalverzögerung. Ferner wird ein generisches Layout-Werkzeug entwickelt, das für beliebige Architekturen und Schaltkreise Implementierungen berechnen und bewerten kann. Abschließend werden neun ressourcenminimalistische Architekturen mit Maschen- und mit Inselstruktur einander gegenübergestellt. N2 - This work presents a first architecture-spreading study on field-programmable logical devices leaving the beaten tracks of commercial architecture improvements. After a formal model for general field-programmable architectures based on periodic graphs has been given, some feasible evaluation metrics for architectures and circuit layouts are defined characterizing structural properties of architectures in respect of chip area usage and performance. Then, a generic layout tool is developped working on arbitrary architecures and circuits. Finally, nine resource minimal mesh- and island-style architectures are compared. KW - Gay-Array-Bauelement KW - Programmierbare logische Anordnung KW - Field programmable gate array KW - Feldprogrammierbare Architekturen KW - Field-programmable Gate Arrays KW - field-programmable architectures KW - field-programmable gate arrays Y1 - 2003 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-7944 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wolff, Alexander A1 - Rutter, Iganz T1 - Augmenting the Connectivity of Planar and Geometric Graphs JF - Journal of Graph Algorithms and Applications N2 - In this paper we study connectivity augmentation problems. Given a connected graph G with some desirable property, we want to make G 2-vertex connected (or 2-edge connected) by adding edges such that the resulting graph keeps the property. The aim is to add as few edges as possible. The property that we consider is planarity, both in an abstract graph-theoretic and in a geometric setting, where vertices correspond to points in the plane and edges to straight-line segments. We show that it is NP-hard to � nd a minimum-cardinality augmentation that makes a planar graph 2-edge connected. For making a planar graph 2-vertex connected this was known. We further show that both problems are hard in the geometric setting, even when restricted to trees. The problems remain hard for higher degrees of connectivity. On the other hand we give polynomial-time algorithms for the special case of convex geometric graphs. We also study the following related problem. Given a planar (plane geometric) graph G, two vertices s and t of G, and an integer c, how many edges have to be added to G such that G is still planar (plane geometric) and contains c edge- (or vertex-) disjoint s{t paths? For the planar case we give a linear-time algorithm for c = 2. For the plane geometric case we give optimal worst-case bounds for c = 2; for c = 3 we characterize the cases that have a solution. Y1 - 2012 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-97587 ER - TY - THES A1 - Wojtkowiak, Harald T1 - Planungssystem zur Steigerung der Autonomie von Kleinstsatelliten T1 - Planningsystem to increase the autonomy of small satellites N2 - Der Betrieb von Satelliten wird sich in Zukunft gravierend ändern. Die bisher ausgeübte konventionelle Vorgehensweise, bei der die Planung der vom Satelliten auszuführenden Aktivitäten sowie die Kontrolle hierüber ausschließlich vom Boden aus erfolgen, stößt bei heutigen Anwendungen an ihre Grenzen. Im schlimmsten Fall verhindert dieser Umstand sogar die Erschließung bisher ungenutzter Möglichkeiten. Der Gewinn eines Satelliten, sei es in Form wissenschaftlicher Daten oder der Vermarktung satellitengestützter Dienste, wird daher nicht optimal ausgeschöpft. Die Ursache für dieses Problem lässt sich im Grunde auf eine ausschlaggebende Tatsache zurückführen: Konventionelle Satelliten können ihr Verhalten, d.h. die Folge ihrer Tätigkeiten, nicht eigenständig anpassen. Stattdessen erstellt das Bedienpersonal am Boden - vor allem die Operatoren - mit Hilfe von Planungssoftware feste Ablaufpläne, die dann in Form von Kommandosequenzen von den Bodenstationen aus an die jeweiligen Satelliten hochgeladen werden. Dort werden die Befehle lediglich überprüft, interpretiert und strikt ausgeführt. Die Abarbeitung erfolgt linear. Situationsbedingte Änderungen, wie sie vergleichsweise bei der Codeausführung von Softwareprogrammen durch Kontrollkonstrukte, zum Beispiel Schleifen und Verzweigungen, üblich sind, sind typischerweise nicht vorgesehen. Der Operator ist daher die einzige Instanz, die das Verhalten des Satelliten mittels Kommandierung, per Upload, beeinflussen kann, und auch nur dann, wenn ein direkter Funkkontakt zwischen Satellit und Bodenstation besteht. Die dadurch möglichen Reaktionszeiten des Satelliten liegen bestenfalls bei einigen Sekunden, falls er sich im Wirkungsbereich der Bodenstation befindet. Außerhalb des Kontaktfensters kann sich die Zeitschranke, gegeben durch den Orbit und die aktuelle Position des Satelliten, von einigen Minuten bis hin zu einigen Stunden erstrecken. Die Signallaufzeiten der Funkübertragung verlängern die Reaktionszeiten um weitere Sekunden im erdnahen Bereich. Im interplanetaren Raum erstrecken sich die Zeitspannen aufgrund der immensen Entfernungen sogar auf mehrere Minuten. Dadurch bedingt liegt die derzeit technologisch mögliche, bodengestützte, Reaktionszeit von Satelliten bestenfalls im Bereich von einigen Sekunden. Diese Einschränkung stellt ein schweres Hindernis für neuartige Satellitenmissionen, bei denen insbesondere nichtdeterministische und kurzzeitige Phänomene (z.B. Blitze und Meteoreintritte in die Erdatmosphäre) Gegenstand der Beobachtungen sind, dar. Die langen Reaktionszeiten des konventionellen Satellitenbetriebs verhindern die Realisierung solcher Missionen, da die verzögerte Reaktion erst erfolgt, nachdem das zu beobachtende Ereignis bereits abgeschlossen ist. Die vorliegende Dissertation zeigt eine Möglichkeit, das durch die langen Reaktionszeiten entstandene Problem zu lösen, auf. Im Zentrum des Lösungsansatzes steht dabei die Autonomie. Im Wesentlichen geht es dabei darum, den Satelliten mit der Fähigkeit auszustatten, sein Verhalten, d.h. die Folge seiner Tätigkeiten, eigenständig zu bestimmen bzw. zu ändern. Dadurch wird die direkte Abhängigkeit des Satelliten vom Operator bei Reaktionen aufgehoben. Im Grunde wird der Satellit in die Lage versetzt, sich selbst zu kommandieren. Die Idee der Autonomie wurde im Rahmen der zugrunde liegenden Forschungsarbeiten umgesetzt. Das Ergebnis ist ein autonomes Planungssystem. Dabei handelt es sich um ein Softwaresystem, mit dem sich autonomes Verhalten im Satelliten realisieren lässt. Es kann an unterschiedliche Satellitenmissionen angepasst werden. Ferner deckt es verschiedene Aspekte des autonomen Satellitenbetriebs, angefangen bei der generellen Entscheidungsfindung der Tätigkeiten, über die zeitliche Ablaufplanung unter Einbeziehung von Randbedingungen (z.B. Ressourcen) bis hin zur eigentlichen Ausführung, d.h. Kommandierung, ab. Das Planungssystem kommt als Anwendung in ASAP, einer autonomen Sensorplattform, zum Einsatz. Es ist ein optisches System und dient der Detektion von kurzzeitigen Phänomenen und Ereignissen in der Erdatmosphäre. Die Forschungsarbeiten an dem autonomen Planungssystem, an ASAP sowie an anderen zu diesen in Bezug stehenden Systemen wurden an der Professur für Raumfahrttechnik des Lehrstuhls Informatik VIII der Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg durchgeführt. N2 - Satellite operation will change thoroughly in future. So far the currently performed conventional approach of controlling satellites is hitting its limitation by todays application. This is due to the fact that activities of the satellite are planned and controlled exclusively by ground infrastructure. In the worst case this circumstance prevents the exploitation of potential but so far unused opportunities. Thus the yield of satellites, may it be in the form of scientific research data or the commercialization of satellite services, is not optimized. After all the cause of this problem can be tracked back to one crucial matter: Conventional satellites are not able to alter their behaviour, i.e. the order of their actions, themselves. Instead schedules are created by ground staff – mainly operators - utilizing specialized planning software. The output is then transformed into command sequences and uploaded to the dedicated satellite via ground stations. On-board the commands are solely checked, interpreted and strictly executed. The flow is linear. Situational changes, like in the code execution of software programs via control constructs, e.g. loops and branches, are typically not present. Thus the operator is the only instance which is able to change the behaviour of the satellite via command upload. Therefore a direct radio link between satellite and ground station is required. Reaction times are hereby restricted. In the best case, means when the satellite is inside the area of effect, the limitations are to a few seconds. Outside the contact window, the time bound may increase from minutes to hours. The exact timing are dependant from the orbit of the satellite and its position on it. The signal flow of the radio links adds additional reaction time from a few seconds in near earth up to some minutes in interplanetary space due to the vast distances. In sum the best achievable ground based reaction time lies in the area of some seconds. This restriction is a severe handicap for novel satellite missions with focus on non-deterministic and short-time phenomena, e.g. lightning and meteor entries into Earth atmosphere. The long reaction times of conventional satellite operations prevent the realization of such missions. This is due to the fact that delayed reactions take place after the event to observe has finished. This dissertation shows a possibility to solve the problem caused by long reaction times. Autonomy lies in the centre of the main approach. The key is to augment the satellite with the ability to alter its behaviour, i.e. the sequence of its actions, and to deliberate about it. Thus, the direct reaction dependency of the satellite from operators will be lifted. In principle the satellite will be able to command itself. The herein idea of autonomy is based on research work, which provides the context for design and implementation. The output is an autonomous planning system. It’s a software system which enables a satellite to behave autonomously and can be adapted to different types of satellite missions. Additionally, it covers different aspects of autonomous satellite operation, starting with general decision making of activities, going over to time scheduling inclusive constraint consideration, e.g. resources, and finishing at last with the actual execution, i.e. commanding. The autonomous planning system runs as one application of ASAP, an autonomous sensor platform. It is an optical system with the purpose to detect short-time phenomena and events in Earth atmosphere. The research work for the autonomous planning system, for ASAP and for other related systems has been executed at the professorship for space technology which is part of the department for computer science VIII at the Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg. KW - Planungssystem KW - Autonomie KW - Satellit KW - Entscheidungsfindung KW - Ablaufplanung KW - Planausführung KW - System KW - Missionsbetrieb KW - decission finding KW - scheduling KW - plan execution KW - system KW - mission operation Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-163569 ER - TY - THES A1 - Wirth, Hans-Christoph T1 - Multicriteria Approximation of Network Design and Network Upgrade Problems T1 - Mehrkriterien-Approximation von Netzwerk-Design- und Netzwerk-Ausbau-Problemen N2 - Network planning has come to great importance during the past decades. Today's telecommunication, traffic systems, and logistics would not have been evolved to the current state without careful analysis of the underlying network problems and precise implementation of the results obtained from those examinations. Graphs with node and arc attributes are a very useful tool to model realistic applications, while on the other hand they are well understood in theory. We investigate network design problems which are motivated particularly from applications in communication networks and logistics. Those problems include the search for homogeneous subgraphs in edge labeled graphs where either the total number of labels or the reload cost are subject to optimize. Further, we investigate some variants of the dial a ride problem. On the other hand, we use node and edge upgrade models to deal with the fact that in many cases one prefers to change existing networks rather than implementing a newly computed solution from scratch. We investigate the construction of bottleneck constrained forests under a node upgrade model, as well as several flow cost problems under a edge based upgrade model. All problems are examined within a framework of multi-criteria optimization. Many of the problems can be shown to be NP-hard, with the consequence that, under the widely accepted assumption that P is not equal to NP, there cannot exist efficient algorithms for solving the problems. This motivates the development of approximation algorithms which compute near-optimal solutions with provable performance guarantee in polynomial time. N2 - Netzplanung hat in den vergangenen Jahrzehnten an Bedeutung zugenommen. Der heutige Stand im Bereich von Telekommunikation, Verkehrsnetzen und in der Logistik wäre nicht in dem Maße erreicht worden, wenn nicht die zugrundeliegenden Netzplanungsprobleme sorgfältig analysiert und die daraus gewonnenen Erkenntnisse in die Realisierung eingeflossen wären. Für die Modellierung der durch die Praxis vorgegebenen Probleme erweisen sich Graphen mit Knoten- und Kantenbewertungen als gut geeignet, zumal diese Strukturen auch in der Theorie bereits gut untersucht sind. Wir betrachten Netzwerk-Design-Probleme aus dem Bereich der Planung von Kommunikations- und Logistiknetzwerken. Gegenstand ist zunächst die Suche nach homogenen Teilgraphen in Graphen mit Kantenlabels, wobei einerseits die Gesamtszahl der benutzten Labels minimiert wird, andererseits die Kosten unter einem Umladekosten-Modell optimiert werden. Weiter werden einige Varianten des Dial-A-Ride-Problems untersucht. Im zweiten Teil der Arbeit werden Netzwerk-Ausbau-Probleme betrachtet. Dies trägt der Tatsache Rechung, dass in vielen praktischen Fällen nur die Abänderung bestehender Netze und nicht die Neukonstruktion von Netzen in Frage kommt. Alle Probleme werden im Rahmen der Mehrkriterien-Optimierung betrachtet. Viele der betrachteten Probleme lassen sich als NP-hart nachweisen. Dies hat zur Folge, dass es - unter der gängigen Annahme, dass P ungleich NP ist - keine effizienten Lösungsalgorithmen geben kann. Daher entwickeln wir Approximationsalgorithmen, die in Polynomialzeit Näherungslösungen mit beweisbarer Gütegarantie berechnen. KW - Netzplantechnik KW - Rechnernetz KW - Approximation KW - network design KW - network upgrade KW - approximation algorithms KW - edge labeled graphs KW - reload cost KW - spanning tree KW - dial a ride KW - constrained forest Y1 - 2001 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-2845 ER - TY - THES A1 - Winkler, Marco T1 - On the Role of Triadic Substructures in Complex Networks T1 - Über die Bedeutung von Dreiecksstrukturen in komplexen Netzwerken N2 - In the course of the growth of the Internet and due to increasing availability of data, over the last two decades, the field of network science has established itself as an own area of research. With quantitative scientists from computer science, mathematics, and physics working on datasets from biology, economics, sociology, political sciences, and many others, network science serves as a paradigm for interdisciplinary research. One of the major goals in network science is to unravel the relationship between topological graph structure and a network’s function. As evidence suggests, systems from the same fields, i.e. with similar function, tend to exhibit similar structure. However, it is still vague whether a similar graph structure automatically implies likewise function. This dissertation aims at helping to bridge this gap, while particularly focusing on the role of triadic structures. After a general introduction to the main concepts of network science, existing work devoted to the relevance of triadic substructures is reviewed. A major challenge in modeling triadic structure is the fact that not all three-node subgraphs can be specified independently of each other, as pairs of nodes may participate in multiple of those triadic subgraphs. In order to overcome this obstacle, we suggest a novel class of generative network models based on so called Steiner triple systems. The latter are partitions of a graph’s vertices into pair-disjoint triples (Steiner triples). Thus, the configurations on Steiner triples can be specified independently of each other without overdetermining the network’s link structure. Subsequently, we investigate the most basic realization of this new class of models. We call it the triadic random graph model (TRGM). The TRGM is parametrized by a probability distribution over all possible triadic subgraph patterns. In order to generate a network instantiation of the model, for all Steiner triples in the system, a pattern is drawn from the distribution and adjusted randomly on the Steiner triple. We calculate the degree distribution of the TRGM analytically and find it to be similar to a Poissonian distribution. Furthermore, it is shown that TRGMs possess non-trivial triadic structure. We discover inevitable correlations in the abundance of certain triadic subgraph patterns which should be taken into account when attributing functional relevance to particular motifs – patterns which occur significantly more frequently than expected at random. Beyond, the strong impact of the probability distributions on the Steiner triples on the occurrence of triadic subgraphs over the whole network is demonstrated. This interdependence allows us to design ensembles of networks with predefined triadic substructure. Hence, TRGMs help to overcome the lack of generative models needed for assessing the relevance of triadic structure. We further investigate whether motifs occur homogeneously or heterogeneously distributed over a graph. Therefore, we study triadic subgraph structures in each node’s neighborhood individually. In order to quantitatively measure structure from an individual node’s perspective, we introduce an algorithm for node-specific pattern mining for both directed unsigned, and undirected signed networks. Analyzing real-world datasets, we find that there are networks in which motifs are distributed highly heterogeneously, bound to the proximity of only very few nodes. Moreover, we observe indication for the potential sensitivity of biological systems to a targeted removal of these critical vertices. In addition, we study whole graphs with respect to the homogeneity and homophily of their node-specific triadic structure. The former describes the similarity of subgraph distributions in the neighborhoods of individual vertices. The latter quantifies whether connected vertices are structurally more similar than non-connected ones. We discover these features to be characteristic for the networks’ origins. Moreover, clustering the vertices of graphs regarding their triadic structure, we investigate structural groups in the neural network of C. elegans, the international airport-connection network, and the global network of diplomatic sentiments between countries. For the latter we find evidence for the instability of triangles considered socially unbalanced according to sociological theories. Finally, we utilize our TRGM to explore ensembles of networks with similar triadic substructure in terms of the evolution of dynamical processes acting on their nodes. Focusing on oscillators, coupled along the graphs’ edges, we observe that certain triad motifs impose a clear signature on the systems’ dynamics, even when embedded in a larger network structure. N2 - Im Zuge des Wachstums des Internets und der Verfügbarkeit nie da gewesener Datenmengen, hat sich, während der letzten beiden Jahrzehnte, die Netzwerkwissenschaft zu einer eigenständigen Forschungsrichtung entwickelt. Mit Wissenschaftlern aus quantitativen Feldern wie der Informatik, Mathematik und Physik, die Datensätze aus Biologie, den Wirtschaftswissenschaften, Soziologie, Politikwissenschaft und vielen weiteren Anwendungsgebieten untersuchen, stellt die Netzwerkwissenschaft ein Paradebeispiel interdisziplinärer Forschung dar. Eines der grundlegenden Ziele der Netzwerkwissenschaft ist es, den Zusammenhang zwischen der topologischen Struktur und der Funktion von Netzwerken herauszufinden. Es gibt zahlreiche Hinweise, dass Netz-werke aus den gleichen Bereichen, d.h. Systeme mit ähnlicher Funktion, auch ähnliche Graphstrukturen aufweisen. Es ist allerdings nach wie vor unklar, ob eine ähnliche Graphstruktur generell zu gleicher Funktionsweise führt. Es ist das Ziel der vorliegenden Dissertation, zur Klärung dieser Frage beizutragen. Das Hauptaugenmerk wird hierbei auf der Rolle von Dreiecksstrukturen liegen. Nach einer allgemeinen Einführung der wichtigsten Grundlagen der Theorie komplexer Netzwerke, wird eine Übersicht über existierende Arbeiten zur Bedeutung von Dreiecksstrukturen gegeben. Eine der größten Herausforderungen bei der Modellierung triadischer Strukturen ist die Tatsache, dass nicht alle Dreiecksbeziehungen in einem Graphen unabhängig voneinander bestimmt werden können, da zwei Knoten an mehreren solcher Dreiecksbeziehungen beteiligt sein können. Um dieses Problem zu lösen, führen wir, basierend auf sogenannten Steiner-Tripel-Systemen, eine neue Klasse generativer Netzwerkmodelle ein. Steiner-Tripel-Systeme sind Zerlegungen der Knoten eines Graphen in paarfremde Tripel (Steiner-Tripel). Daher können die Konfigurationen auf Steiner-Tripeln unabhängig voneinander gewählt werden, ohne dass dies zu einer Überbestimmung der Netzwerkstruktur führen würde. Anschließend untersuchen wir die grundlegendste Realisierung dieser neuen Klasse von Netzwerkmodellen, die wir das triadische Zufallsgraph-Modell (engl. triadic random graph model, TRGM) nennen. TRGMs werden durch eine Wahrscheinlichkeitsverteilung über alle möglichen Dreiecksstrukturen parametrisiert. Um ein konkretes Netzwerk zu erzeugen wird für jedes Steiner-Tripel eine Dreiecksstruktur gemäß der Wahrscheinlichkeitsverteilung gezogen und zufällig auf dem Tripel orientiert. Wir berechnen die Knotengradverteilung des TRGM analytisch und finden heraus, dass diese einer Poissonverteilung ähnelt. Des Weiteren wird gezeigt, dass TRGMs nichttriviale Dreiecksstrukturen aufweisen. Außerdem finden wir unvermeidliche Korrelationen im Auftreten bestimmter Subgraphen, derer man sich bewusst sein sollte. Insbesondere wenn es darum geht, die Bedeutung sogenannter Motive (Strukturen, die signifikant häufiger als zufällig erwartet auftreten) zu beurteilen. Darüber hinaus wird der starke Einfluss der Wahrscheinlichkeitsverteilung auf den Steiner-Tripeln, auf die generelle Dreiecksstruktur der erzeugten Netzwerke gezeigt. Diese Abhängigkeit ermöglicht es, Netzwerkensembles mit vorgegebener Dreiecksstruktur zu konzipieren. Daher helfen TRGMs dabei, den bestehenden Mangel an generativen Netzwerkmodellen, zur Beurteilung der Bedeutung triadischer Strukturen in Graphen, zu beheben. Es wird ferner untersucht, wie homogen Motive räumlich über Graphstrukturen verteilt sind. Zu diesem Zweck untersuchen wir das Auftreten von Dreiecksstrukturen in der Umgebung jedes Knotens separat. Um die Struktur individueller Knoten quantitativ erfassen zu können, führen wir einen Algorithmus zur knotenspezifischen Musterauswertung (node-specific pattern mining) ein, der sowohl auf gerichtete, als auch auf Graphen mit positiven und negativen Kanten angewendet werden kann. Bei der Analyse realer Datensätze beobachten wir, dass Motive in einigen Netzen hochgradig heterogen verteilt, und auf die Umgebung einiger, weniger Knoten beschränkt sind. Darüber hinaus finden wir Hinweise auf die mögliche Fehleranfälligkeit biologischer Systeme auf ein gezieltes Entfernen ebendieser Knoten. Des Weiteren studieren wir ganze Graphen bezüglich der Homogenität und Homophilie ihrer knotenspezifischen Dreiecksmuster. Erstere beschreibt die Ähnlichkeit der lokalen Dreiecksstrukturen zwischen verschiedenen Knoten. Letztere gibt an, ob sich verbundene Knoten bezüglich ihrer Dreiecksstruktur ähnlicher sind, als nicht verbundene Knoten. Wir stellen fest, dass diese Eigenschaften charakteristisch für die Herkunft der jeweiligen Netzwerke sind. Darüber hinaus gruppieren wir die Knoten verschiedener Systeme bezüglich der Ähnlichkeit ihrer lokalen Dreiecksstrukturen. Hierzu untersuchen wir das neuronale Netz von C. elegans, das internationale Flugverbindungsnetzwerk, sowie das Netzwerk internationaler Beziehungen zwischen Staaten. In Letzterem finden wir Hinweise darauf, dass Dreieckskonfigurationen, die nach soziologischen Theorien als unbalanciert gelten, besonders instabil sind. Schließlich verwenden wir unser TRGM, um Netzwerkensembles mit ähnlicher Dreiecksstruktur bezüglich der Eigenschaften dynamischer Prozesse, die auf ihren Knoten ablaufen, zu untersuchen. Wir konzentrieren uns auf Oszillatoren, die entlang der Kanten der Graphen miteinander gekoppelt sind. Hierbei beobachten wir, dass bestimmte Dreiecksmotive charakteristische Merkmale im dynamischen Verhalten der Systeme hinterlassen. Dies ist auch der Fall, wenn die Motive in eine größere Netzwerkstruktur eingebettet sind. KW - Netzwerk KW - Komplexes System KW - Substruktur KW - Dreieck KW - Networks KW - Complex Systems KW - Statistics KW - Machine Learning KW - Biological Networks KW - Statistische Physik KW - Statistische Mechanik KW - Data Mining KW - Maschinelles Lernen KW - Graphentheorie Y1 - 2015 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-116022 SN - 978-3-7375-5654-5 PB - epubli GmbH CY - Berlin ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wienrich, Carolin A1 - Reitelbach, Clemens A1 - Carolus, Astrid T1 - The Trustworthiness of Voice Assistants in the Context of Healthcare Investigating the Effect of Perceived Expertise on the Trustworthiness of Voice Assistants, Providers, Data Receivers, and Automatic Speech Recognition JF - Frontiers in Computer Science N2 - As an emerging market for voice assistants (VA), the healthcare sector imposes increasing requirements on the users’ trust in the technological system. To encourage patients to reveal sensitive data requires patients to trust in the technological counterpart. In an experimental laboratory study, participants were presented a VA, which was introduced as either a “specialist” or a “generalist” tool for sexual health. In both conditions, the VA asked the exact same health-related questions. Afterwards, participants assessed the trustworthiness of the tool and further source layers (provider, platform provider, automatic speech recognition in general, data receiver) and reported individual characteristics (disposition to trust and disclose sexual information). Results revealed that perceiving the VA as a specialist resulted in higher trustworthiness of the VA and of the provider, the platform provider and automatic speech recognition in general. Furthermore, the provider’s trustworthiness affected the perceived trustworthiness of the VA. Presenting both a theoretical line of reasoning and empirical data, the study points out the importance of the users’ perspective on the assistant. In sum, this paper argues for further analyses of trustworthiness in voice-based systems and its effects on the usage behavior as well as the impact on responsible design of future technology. KW - voice assistant KW - trustworthiness KW - trust KW - anamnesis tool KW - expertise framing (Min5-Max 8) Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-260209 VL - 3 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wienrich, Carolin A1 - Latoschik, Marc Erich T1 - eXtended Artificial Intelligence: New Prospects of Human-AI Interaction Research JF - Frontiers in Virtual Reality N2 - Artificial Intelligence (AI) covers a broad spectrum of computational problems and use cases. Many of those implicate profound and sometimes intricate questions of how humans interact or should interact with AIs. Moreover, many users or future users do have abstract ideas of what AI is, significantly depending on the specific embodiment of AI applications. Human-centered-design approaches would suggest evaluating the impact of different embodiments on human perception of and interaction with AI. An approach that is difficult to realize due to the sheer complexity of application fields and embodiments in reality. However, here XR opens new possibilities to research human-AI interactions. The article’s contribution is twofold: First, it provides a theoretical treatment and model of human-AI interaction based on an XR-AI continuum as a framework for and a perspective of different approaches of XR-AI combinations. It motivates XR-AI combinations as a method to learn about the effects of prospective human-AI interfaces and shows why the combination of XR and AI fruitfully contributes to a valid and systematic investigation of human-AI interactions and interfaces. Second, the article provides two exemplary experiments investigating the aforementioned approach for two distinct AI-systems. The first experiment reveals an interesting gender effect in human-robot interaction, while the second experiment reveals an Eliza effect of a recommender system. Here the article introduces two paradigmatic implementations of the proposed XR testbed for human-AI interactions and interfaces and shows how a valid and systematic investigation can be conducted. In sum, the article opens new perspectives on how XR benefits human-centered AI design and development. KW - human-artificial intelligence interface KW - human-artificial intelligence interaction KW - XR-artificial intelligence continuum KW - XR-artificial intelligence combination KW - research methods KW - human-centered, human-robot KW - recommender system Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-260296 VL - 2 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wienrich, Carolin A1 - Komma, Philipp A1 - Vogt, Stephanie A1 - Latoschik, Marc E. T1 - Spatial Presence in Mixed Realities – Considerations About the Concept, Measures, Design, and Experiments JF - Frontiers in Virtual Reality N2 - Plenty of theories, models, measures, and investigations target the understanding of virtual presence, i.e., the sense of presence in immersive Virtual Reality (VR). Other varieties of the so-called eXtended Realities (XR), e.g., Augmented and Mixed Reality (AR and MR) incorporate immersive features to a lesser degree and continuously combine spatial cues from the real physical space and the simulated virtual space. This blurred separation questions the applicability of the accumulated knowledge about the similarities of virtual presence and presence occurring in other varieties of XR, and corresponding outcomes. The present work bridges this gap by analyzing the construct of presence in mixed realities (MR). To achieve this, the following presents (1) a short review of definitions, dimensions, and measurements of presence in VR, and (2) the state of the art views on MR. Additionally, we (3) derived a working definition of MR, extending the Milgram continuum. This definition is based on entities reaching from real to virtual manifestations at one time point. Entities possess different degrees of referential power, determining the selection of the frame of reference. Furthermore, we (4) identified three research desiderata, including research questions about the frame of reference, the corresponding dimension of transportation, and the dimension of realism in MR. Mainly the relationship between the main aspects of virtual presence of immersive VR, i.e., the place-illusion, and the plausibility-illusion, and of the referential power of MR entities are discussed regarding the concept, measures, and design of presence in MR. Finally, (5) we suggested an experimental setup to reveal the research heuristic behind experiments investigating presence in MR. The present work contributes to the theories and the meaning of and approaches to simulate and measure presence in MR. We hypothesize that research about essential underlying factors determining user experience (UX) in MR simulations and experiences is still in its infancy and hopes this article provides an encouraging starting point to tackle related questions. KW - mixed reality KW - virtual-reality-continuum KW - spatial presence KW - place-illusion KW - plausibility-illusion KW - transportation KW - realism Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-260328 VL - 2 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wienrich, Carolin A1 - Döllinger, Nina A1 - Hein, Rebecca T1 - Behavioral Framework of Immersive Technologies (BehaveFIT): How and why virtual reality can support behavioral change processes JF - Frontiers in Virtual Reality N2 - The design and evaluation of assisting technologies to support behavior change processes have become an essential topic within the field of human-computer interaction research in general and the field of immersive intervention technologies in particular. The mechanisms and success of behavior change techniques and interventions are broadly investigated in the field of psychology. However, it is not always easy to adapt these psychological findings to the context of immersive technologies. The lack of theoretical foundation also leads to a lack of explanation as to why and how immersive interventions support behavior change processes. The Behavioral Framework for immersive Technologies (BehaveFIT) addresses this lack by 1) presenting an intelligible categorization and condensation of psychological barriers and immersive features, by 2) suggesting a mapping that shows why and how immersive technologies can help to overcome barriers and finally by 3) proposing a generic prediction path that enables a structured, theory-based approach to the development and evaluation of immersive interventions. These three steps explain how BehaveFIT can be used, and include guiding questions for each step. Further, two use cases illustrate the usage of BehaveFIT. Thus, the present paper contributes to guidance for immersive intervention design and evaluation, showing that immersive interventions support behavior change processes and explain and predict 'why' and 'how' immersive interventions can bridge the intention-behavior-gap. KW - immersive technologies KW - behavior change KW - intervention design KW - intervention evaluation KW - framework KW - virtual reality KW - intention-behavior-gap KW - human-computer interaction Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-258796 VL - 2 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wienrich, Carolin A1 - Carolus, Astrid A1 - Markus, André A1 - Augustin, Yannik A1 - Pfister, Jan A1 - Hotho, Andreas T1 - Long-term effects of perceived friendship with intelligent voice assistants on usage behavior, user experience, and social perceptions JF - Computers N2 - Social patterns and roles can develop when users talk to intelligent voice assistants (IVAs) daily. The current study investigates whether users assign different roles to devices and how this affects their usage behavior, user experience, and social perceptions. Since social roles take time to establish, we equipped 106 participants with Alexa or Google assistants and some smart home devices and observed their interactions for nine months. We analyzed diverse subjective (questionnaire) and objective data (interaction data). By combining social science and data science analyses, we identified two distinct clusters—users who assigned a friendship role to IVAs over time and users who did not. Interestingly, these clusters exhibited significant differences in their usage behavior, user experience, and social perceptions of the devices. For example, participants who assigned a role to IVAs attributed more friendship to them used them more frequently, reported more enjoyment during interactions, and perceived more empathy for IVAs. In addition, these users had distinct personal requirements, for example, they reported more loneliness. This study provides valuable insights into the role-specific effects and consequences of voice assistants. Recent developments in conversational language models such as ChatGPT suggest that the findings of this study could make an important contribution to the design of dialogic human–AI interactions. KW - intelligent voice assistant KW - smart speaker KW - social relationship KW - social role KW - long-term analysis KW - social interaction KW - human–computer interaction KW - anthropomorphism Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-313552 SN - 2073-431X VL - 12 IS - 4 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wienrich, Carolin A1 - Carolus, Astrid T1 - Development of an Instrument to Measure Conceptualizations and Competencies About Conversational Agents on the Example of Smart Speakers JF - Frontiers in Computer Science N2 - The concept of digital literacy has been introduced as a new cultural technique, which is regarded as essential for successful participation in a (future) digitized world. Regarding the increasing importance of AI, literacy concepts need to be extended to account for AI-related specifics. The easy handling of the systems results in increased usage, contrasting limited conceptualizations (e.g., imagination of future importance) and competencies (e.g., knowledge about functional principles). In reference to voice-based conversational agents as a concrete application of AI, the present paper aims for the development of a measurement to assess the conceptualizations and competencies about conversational agents. In a first step, a theoretical framework of “AI literacy” is transferred to the context of conversational agent literacy. Second, the “conversational agent literacy scale” (short CALS) is developed, constituting the first attempt to measure interindividual differences in the “(il) literate” usage of conversational agents. 29 items were derived, of which 170 participants answered. An explanatory factor analysis identified five factors leading to five subscales to assess CAL: storage and transfer of the smart speaker’s data input; smart speaker’s functional principles; smart speaker’s intelligent functions, learning abilities; smart speaker’s reach and potential; smart speaker’s technological (surrounding) infrastructure. Preliminary insights into construct validity and reliability of CALS showed satisfying results. Third, using the newly developed instrument, a student sample’s CAL was assessed, revealing intermediated values. Remarkably, owning a smart speaker did not lead to higher CAL scores, confirming our basic assumption that usage of systems does not guarantee enlightened conceptualizations and competencies. In sum, the paper contributes to the first insights into the operationalization and understanding of CAL as a specific subdomain of AI-related competencies. KW - artificial intelligence literacy KW - artificial intelligence education KW - voice-based artificial intelligence KW - conversational agents KW - measurement Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-260198 VL - 3 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wick, Christoph A1 - Hartelt, Alexander A1 - Puppe, Frank T1 - Staff, symbol and melody detection of Medieval manuscripts written in square notation using deep Fully Convolutional Networks JF - Applied Sciences N2 - Even today, the automatic digitisation of scanned documents in general, but especially the automatic optical music recognition (OMR) of historical manuscripts, still remains an enormous challenge, since both handwritten musical symbols and text have to be identified. This paper focuses on the Medieval so-called square notation developed in the 11th–12th century, which is already composed of staff lines, staves, clefs, accidentals, and neumes that are roughly spoken connected single notes. The aim is to develop an algorithm that captures both the neumes, and in particular its melody, which can be used to reconstruct the original writing. Our pipeline is similar to the standard OMR approach and comprises a novel staff line and symbol detection algorithm based on deep Fully Convolutional Networks (FCN), which perform pixel-based predictions for either staff lines or symbols and their respective types. Then, the staff line detection combines the extracted lines to staves and yields an F\(_1\) -score of over 99% for both detecting lines and complete staves. For the music symbol detection, we choose a novel approach that skips the step to identify neumes and instead directly predicts note components (NCs) and their respective affiliation to a neume. Furthermore, the algorithm detects clefs and accidentals. Our algorithm predicts the symbol sequence of a staff with a diplomatic symbol accuracy rate (dSAR) of about 87%, which includes symbol type and location. If only the NCs without their respective connection to a neume, all clefs and accidentals are of interest, the algorithm reaches an harmonic symbol accuracy rate (hSAR) of approximately 90%. In general, the algorithm recognises a symbol in the manuscript with an F\(_1\) -score of over 96%. KW - optical music recognition KW - historical document analysis KW - medieval manuscripts KW - neume notation KW - fully convolutional neural networks Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-197248 SN - 2076-3417 VL - 9 IS - 13 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Weiß, Clemens Leonard A1 - Schultz, Jörg T1 - Identification of divergent WH2 motifs by HMM-HMM alignments JF - BMC Research Notes N2 - Background The actin cytoskeleton is a hallmark of eukaryotic cells. Its regulation as well as its interaction with other proteins is carefully orchestrated by actin interaction domains. One of the key players is the WH2 motif, which enables binding to actin monomers and filaments and is involved in the regulation of actin nucleation. Contrasting conserved domains, the identification of this motif in protein sequences is challenging, as it is short and poorly conserved. Findings To identify divergent members, we combined Hidden-Markov-Model (HMM) to HMM alignments with orthology predictions. Thereby, we identified nearly 500 proteins containing so far not annotated WH2 motifs. This included shootin-1, an actin binding protein involved in neuron polarization. Among others, WH2 motifs of ‘proximal to raf’ (ptr)-orthologs, which are described in the literature, but not annotated in genome databases, were identified. Conclusion In summary, we increased the number of WH2 motif containing proteins substantially. This identification of candidate regions for actin interaction could steer their experimental characterization. Furthermore, the approach outlined here can easily be adapted to the identification of divergent members of further domain families. KW - WH2 domain KW - spire KW - shootin-1 KW - actin nucleation KW - HHblits Y1 - 2015 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-126413 VL - 8 IS - 18 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wamser, Florian A1 - Seufert, Anika A1 - Hall, Andrew A1 - Wunderer, Stefan A1 - Hoßfeld, Tobias T1 - Valid statements by the crowd: statistical measures for precision in crowdsourced mobile measurements JF - Network N2 - Crowdsourced network measurements (CNMs) are becoming increasingly popular as they assess the performance of a mobile network from the end user's perspective on a large scale. Here, network measurements are performed directly on the end-users' devices, thus taking advantage of the real-world conditions end-users encounter. However, this type of uncontrolled measurement raises questions about its validity and reliability. The problem lies in the nature of this type of data collection. In CNMs, mobile network subscribers are involved to a large extent in the measurement process, and collect data themselves for the operator. The collection of data on user devices in arbitrary locations and at uncontrolled times requires means to ensure validity and reliability. To address this issue, our paper defines concepts and guidelines for analyzing the precision of CNMs; specifically, the number of measurements required to make valid statements. In addition to the formal definition of the aspect, we illustrate the problem and use an extensive sample data set to show possible assessment approaches. This data set consists of more than 20.4 million crowdsourced mobile measurements from across France, measured by a commercial data provider. KW - mobile networks KW - crowdsourced measurements KW - statistical validity Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-284154 SN - 2673-8732 VL - 1 IS - 2 SP - 215 EP - 232 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - von Mammen, Sebastian Albrecht A1 - Wagner, Daniel A1 - Knote, Andreas A1 - Taskin, Umut T1 - Interactive simulations of biohybrid systems JF - Frontiers in Robotics and AI N2 - In this article, we present approaches to interactive simulations of biohybrid systems. These simulations are comprised of two major computational components: (1) agent-based developmental models that retrace organismal growth and unfolding of technical scaffoldings and (2) interfaces to explore these models interactively. Simulations of biohybrid systems allow us to fast forward and experience their evolution over time based on our design decisions involving the choice, configuration and initial states of the deployed biological and robotic actors as well as their interplay with the environment. We briefly introduce the concept of swarm grammars, an agent-based extension of L-systems for retracing growth processes and structural artifacts. Next, we review an early augmented reality prototype for designing and projecting biohybrid system simulations into real space. In addition to models that retrace plant behaviors, we specify swarm grammar agents to braid structures in a self-organizing manner. Based on this model, both robotic and plant-driven braiding processes can be experienced and explored in virtual worlds. We present an according user interface for use in virtual reality. As we present interactive models concerning rather diverse description levels, we only ensured their principal capacity for interaction but did not consider efficiency analyzes beyond prototypic operation. We conclude this article with an outlook on future works on melding reality and virtuality to drive the design and deployment of biohybrid systems. KW - biohybrid systems KW - augmented reality KW - virtual reality KW - user interfaces KW - biological development KW - generative systems Y1 - 2017 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-195755 SN - 2296-9144 VL - 4 ER -