Open University of Catalonia

About: Open University of Catalonia is a education organization based out in Barcelona, Spain. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Collaborative learning & Educational technology. The organization has 1943 authors who have published 4646 publications receiving 64200 citations. The organization is also known as: Universitat Oberta de Catalunya & UOC.

A Square Peg in a Round Hole: The Complex Path for Wireless in the Manufacturing Industry

Abstract: The manufacturing industry is at the edge of the fourth industrial revolution, a paradigm of integrated architectures in which the entire production chain (composed of machines, workers, and products) is intrinsically connected. Wireless technologies can add further value in this manufacturing revolution. However, we identify some signs which indicate that wireless technology could be left out of the next generation of smart factory equipment. This is particularly relevant considering that the heavy machinery characteristic of this sector can last for decades. We argue that at the core of this issue there is a mismatch between industrial needs and the interests of academic and partly academic sectors (e.g., standardization bodies). We base our claims on surveys from renowned advisory firms and interviews with industrial actors, which we contrast with results from content analysis of scientific articles. Finally, we propose some convergence paths that, while still retaining the degree of novelty required for academic purposes, are more aligned with industrial concerns.

Deep learning based super-resolution for improved action recognition

Abstract: Action recognition systems mostly work with videos of proper quality and resolution. Even most challenging benchmark databases for action recognition, hardly include videos of low-resolution from, e.g., surveillance cameras. In videos recorded by such cameras, due to the distance between people and cameras, people are pictured very small and hence challenge action recognition algorithms. Simple upsampling methods, like bicubic interpolation, cannot retrieve all the detailed information that can help the recognition. To deal with this problem, in this paper we combine results of bicubic interpolation with results of a state-of-the-art deep learning-based super-resolution algorithm, through an alpha-blending approach. The experimental results obtained on down-sampled version of a large subset of Hoolywood2 benchmark database show the importance of the proposed system in increasing the recognition rate of a state-of-the-art action recognition system for handling low-resolution videos.

A model to identify urban traffic congestion hotspots in complex networks.

Abstract: The rapid growth of population in urban areas is jeopardizing the mobility and air quality worldwide. One of the most notable problems arising is that of traffic congestion. With the advent of technologies able to sense real-time data about cities, and its public distribution for analysis, we are in place to forecast scenarios valuable for improvement and control. Here, we propose an idealized model, based on the critical phenomena arising in complex networks, that allows to analytically predict congestion hotspots in urban environments. Results on real cities' road networks, considering, in some experiments, real traffic data, show that the proposed model is capable of identifying susceptible junctions that might become hotspots if mobility demand increases.

Observing storytellers who use rhythmic beat gestures improves children's narrative discourse performance.

Abstract: The study “Observing storytellers who use rhythmic beat gestures improves children’s narrative discourse performance” obtained ethics approval from the ethics committee at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra, as part of the approval of the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness project FFI2015-66533-P “Intonational and gestural meaning in language”.