Probability Distributions.- Linear Models for Regression.- Linear Models for Classification.- Neural Networks.- Kernel Methods.- Sparse Kernel Machines.- Graphical Models.- Mixture Models and EM.- Approximate Inference.- Sampling Methods.- Continuous Latent Variables.- Sequential Data.- Combining Models.

Pattern Recognition and Machine Learning

Deposits of clastic carbonate-dominated (calciclastic) sedimentary slope systems in the rock record have been identified mostly as linearly-consistent carbonate apron deposits, even though most ancient clastic carbonate slope deposits fit the submarine fan systems better. Calciclastic submarine fans are consequently rarely described and are poorly understood. Subsequently, very little is known especially in mud-dominated calciclastic submarine fan systems. Presented in this study are a sedimentological core and petrographic characterisation of samples from eleven boreholes from the Lower Carboniferous of Bowland Basin (Northwest England) that reveals a >250 m thick calciturbidite complex deposited in a calciclastic submarine fan setting. Seven facies are recognised from core and thin section characterisation and are grouped into three carbonate turbidite sequences. They include: 1) Calciturbidites, comprising mostly of highto low-density, wavy-laminated bioclast-rich facies; 2) low-density densite mudstones which are characterised by planar laminated and unlaminated muddominated facies; and 3) Calcidebrites which are muddy or hyper-concentrated debrisflow deposits occurring as poorly-sorted, chaotic, mud-supported floatstones. These

Phd by thesis

Data Mining Practical Machine Learning Tools and Techniques

The power of feedback.

Emotion and Adaptation

Gesticulation is the kind of unconscious, idiosyncratic and unconventional gestures humans do in conversation or narration. This chapter reviews efforts made to harness the expressiveness of gesticulation in virtual humans and proposes one such model. First, psycholinguistics research is overviewed so as to understand how gesticulation occurs in humans. Then, relevant computer graphics and computational psycholinguistics systems are reviewed. Finally, a model for virtual human gesticulation expression is presented which supports: (a) real-time gesticulation animation described as sequences of constraints on static (Portuguese Sign Language hand shapes, orientation palm axis, orientation angle and handedness) and dynamic features; (b) synchronization between gesticulation and synthesized speech; (c) automatic reproduction of annotations in GestuRA, a gesticulation transcription algorithm; (d) expression control through an abstract integrated synchronized language – Expression Markup Language (EML). Two studies, which were conducted to evaluate the model in a storytelling context, are also described.

Modeling Gesticulation Expression in Virtual Humans

Being able to resolve conflicts effectively is a skill of primary importance in our society. In this paper, we describe a serious game that aims to teach 9- to 11-year-old children conflict resolution by making them aware of the deep elements of conflict. The player is invited to manage a theatre club and mediate the conflicts that may suddenly arise between the synthetic characters as autonomous agents.

My dream theatre

Learning from Explanations and Demonstrations: A Pilot Study.

Robots have massively been introduced in children’s lives, showing promising effects on education and learning. Parallel to this, children’s creative levels show a decline related to different factors, including the standardized teaching and learning dynamics present in traditional school systems. This work aims to investigate if the activities with robots already present in schools affect children’s creativity levels. To study this, we compared creative levels of children across three study conditions: (1) Experimental condition 1: Children performed STEM activities in school by learning how to program robots; (2) Experimental condition 2: Children performed STEAM activities by learning how to design robots; (3) Control condition: Children engaged in a music class. We applied the Test for Creative Thinking-Drawing Production (TCT-DP), a validated test that measures creative potential, before and after the intervention. Our results showed that the creativity levels of children increased from pre- to post-testing, revealing the effect of all intervention groups in potentiating creativity. Additionally, results showed that creative levels were significantly higher in the control condition. This result was expected since this condition consisted of an artistic musical intervention where creativity is foreseen to be stimulated. When analyzing the effects of the interventions on the two dimensions of TCT-DP (i.e., adaptiveness and innovativeness), results showed that both the control and the programming condition stimulated innovativeness. This result seems to show that STEM activities can stimulate non-conventional ways of thinking, similarly to creative activities such as a music class. While much has been studied about how STEM activities influence the knowledge of children, little is known if STEM also contributes to the stimulation of their creativity. This study promotes investigation in this topic and shows the potential of using robots to unlock creative potentials in children.

Robotics-Based Interventions for Children’s Creativity

In this paper we describe an architecture to influence a user in an interactive storytelling context that is based on results from the social psychology's area of persuasion. Several important concepts of persuasion, such as how people make decisions, and how we can influence that process are discussed. We describe the several components of the architecture and how we applied them in a small study where we have successfully influenced the players of a story in following a specific path.

Ana Paiva

Papers

Modeling Gesticulation Expression in Virtual Humans

My dream theatre

Learning from Explanations and Demonstrations: A Pilot Study.

Robotics-Based Interventions for Children’s Creativity

Persu: an architecture to apply persuasion in interactive storytelling