Multimedia

Rate-control for Conversational Video Communication in Heterogeneous Networks

by Varun Singh

V Singh, J Ott, I Curcio
First IEEE WoWMoM Workshop on Video Everywhere (VidEv 2012)

Heterogeneous networks are made up of wireless and wired links.
The wireless link quality may vary due to... more Heterogeneous networks are made up of wireless and wired links.
The wireless link quality may vary due to interference and fading
phenomena and, peered with radio and link layer reconfigurations
lead to varying error rates, latencies, and, most importantly, changes
in the available bit rate. In both fixed and wireless networks,
varying amounts of cross traffic from other nodes may lead to
fluctuations in queue size (reflected again in a path latency) and
to congestion (reflected in packet drops from router queues).
We propose a rate-adaptation algorithm for conversational
video communication in a heterogeneous environment and
use the standardized RTCP extensions as a starting point.
We use metrics such as PSNR, loss rate, bandwidth utilization
and fairness to evaluate the proposed algorithm.

The TEMPO of Battle: Designing a Temporally Enabled Map for Presentation

by Alan Foley

Cultural impact of multimedia technologies (abstract)

by István Máté

Cultural impact of multimedia technologies (abstract) - Multimedia overwrite copyright

Distributed Language: cognition beyond the brain

by Stephen J. Cowley

This short paper was a presentation at the Annual International Forum in the Humanities Conference on Interdisciplinarity in Cognitive Science Research, State University for the Humanities, Moscow (March 2012).

As Cognitive Science develops a view of agency, we are learning much about human cognition. First, as living things,... more As Cognitive Science develops a view of agency, we are learning much about human cognition. First, as living things, we depend on active embodiment. Since, this is incompatible with reduction to information processing, we are bound to ask what cognition is –and what it is to be a person. On a ‘4E’ view, agency is embodied, embedded, enacted and extended. This applies, moreover, to living beings as diverse as earthworms, beavers, wolves and humans. To understand human agency, I therefore argue for a more radical view. Pursuing this, it is stressed that, while situated, language is also non-local: our voices always echo those of others. While grounded in first-order activity, language also enacts second-order practices. It is its symbiotic nature that makes homo sapiens ecologically special. Once acknowledged, this opens up a distributed perspective on language and cognition. By means of clarification, I offer thick description of a interactional moment where language links the brain with the world beyond the body. At this instant, the words actually spoken are background: the verbal aspect of speech acts as a Zeitgeber for bodily coupling that directly realizes human values. Finally, I place the distributed view of linguistic cognition against themes in Russian psycholinguistic tradition.

Cultural impacts of multimedia technologies (presentation)

by István Máté

Cultural impacts of multimedia technologies / A multimédia technológiák kulturális hatásai

by István Máté

Integration of learning style theory in an adaptive educational hypermedia (AEH) system

by Elizabeth FitzGerald (née Brown)

Full citation:
Brown, Elizabeth and Brailsford, Tim (2004). Integration of learning style theory in an adaptive educational hypermedia (AEH) system. Paper presented at the 11th International Conference of the Association for Learning Technology (ALT-C 2004), 14-16 Sept 2004, Exeter, UK

Adaptive educational hypermedia (AEH - a branch of web-based learning) systems seek to personalise the learning... more Adaptive educational hypermedia (AEH - a branch of web-based learning) systems seek to personalise the learning experience for their users. User modelling can be performed using various criteria, such as prior ability or domain-specific knowledge, in systems such as WHURLE, AHA! and MOT. Information about the user, forming a user profile, are usually stored in a database, and integrated with the AEH learning environment. The learner is then presented with material that is best suited to them, with adaptation occurring at either the content or link level, or both.

WHURLE (Web-based Hierarchical Universal Reactive Learning Environment) is an AEH system that has been used with many types of students. It is a hypermedia-rich educational tool, suitable for all subjects, that seeks to address the pedagogical limitations of existing commercial Virtual Learning Environments. Its current user model is broadly based upon domain-specific knowledge. Investigations are under way to implement a user model based on learning style theory. This may be integrated with the early user model, or developed simply as a stand-alone module. Uniquely, WHURLE can change the user model used, as it is not a 'hard-wired' part of the system, but rather a component that can easily be interchanged.

Learning style theory advocates that since individuals are all different, they should learn in different ways; this suggests a natural integration with the principles of adaptive educational tools. There are many different learning styles in use around the world, such as the Dunn and Dunn model, Gardner's Multiple Intelligences, Kolb's theory of experiential learning and Riding and Rayner's Cognitive Styles Analysis. We will be discussing how we have implemented the Felder-Silverman Inventory of Learning Styles into the WHURLE architecture in an attempt to enhance the learning experience for users.

Digital Annotation of Printed Documents

by Beat Signer

Corsin Decurtins, Moira C. Norrie and Beat Signer, Proceedings of CIKM 2003, 12th International Conference on Information and Knowledge Management. New Orleans, USA, November 2003

We present a general model and information server for the digital annotation of printed documents. The resulting... more We present a general model and information server for the digital annotation of printed documents. The resulting annotation framework supports both informal and structured annotations as well as context-dependent services. A demonstrator application for mammography that features both enhanced writing and reading activities is described.

Putting the Gloss on Paper: A Framework for Cross-Media Annotation

by Beat Signer

Corsin Decurtins, Moira C. Norrie and Beat Signer, NRHM 2003, New Review of Hypermedia and Multimedia. Volume 9, 2003

We present a general framework for cross-media annotation that can be used to support the many different forms and... more We present a general framework for cross-media annotation that can be used to support the many different forms and uses of annotation. Specifically, we discuss the need for digital annotation of printed materials and describe how various technologies for digitally augmented paper can be used in support of work practices. The state of the art in terms of both commercial and research solutions is described in some detail, with an analysis of the extent to which they can support both the writing and reading activities associated with annotation. Our framework is based on an extension of the information server that was developed within the Paper++ project to support enhanced reading. It is capable of handling both formal and informal annotation across printed and digital media, exploiting a range of technologies for information capture and display. A prototype demonstrator application for mammography is presented to illustrate both the functionality of the framework and the status of existing technologies.

Only Touching the Surface: Creating Affinities between Digital Content and Paper

by Beat Signer

Paul Luff, Christian Heath, Moira C. Norrie, Beat Signer and Peter Herdman, Proceedings of CSCW 2004, Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work. Chicago, USA, November 2004

Despite the wide-ranging recognition that paper remains a pervasive resource for human conduct and collaboration,... more Despite the wide-ranging recognition that paper remains a pervasive resource for human conduct and collaboration, there has been uncertain progress in developing technologies to bridge the paper-digital divide. In this essay we discuss the design of a technology that interweaves developments in new materials, electronics and software, and seeks to provide a cheap and accessible solution to creating new affinities between digital content, in whatever form, and ordinary paper. The technology and its design draws from a broad range of field studies, including research in classrooms and museums. These delineate the requirements and considerations that inform solutions to enhancing paper whilst preserving its integrity. The paper also discusses a naturalistic experiment, an evaluation in a museum, where we assessed the technology and the solution. We also chart the progressive development of this solution and the ways in which seemingly simple actions and issues became reconstituted as highly complex technical and analytic problems.

A Framework for Cross-media Information Management

by Beat Signer

Beat Signer and Moira C. Norrie, Proceedings of EuroIMSA 2005, International Conference on Internet and Multimedia Systems and Applications. Grindelwald, Switzerland, February 2005

We present an information server architecture, called iServer, that enables cross-media linking based on an... more We present an information server architecture, called iServer, that enables cross-media linking based on an object-oriented hypermedia model. The iServer mixed media platform can easily be extended to support new types of digital or physical multimedia resources. It provides core functionality for link and user management whereas link authoring is handled by plug-ins for specific resource types. Different forms of collaborative cross-media link authoring and link sharing are supported by a distributed iServer implementation based on peer-to-peer technologies.

Information Server for Highly-Connected Cross-Media Publishing

by Beat Signer

Moira C. Norrie and Beat Signer, Information Systems. Vol. 30, No. 7, November 2005

Over the last decade, we have seen a significant increase in the number of projects aiming for integration of... more Over the last decade, we have seen a significant increase in the number of projects aiming for integration of different kinds of media (mixed-media integration). However, most existing approaches tend to focus on the media technologies rather than on concepts for information integration and linking that enable users to move freely back and forth between various media information sources. In this paper, we discuss the issues of information semantics and granularity that arise in the design of highly interactive mixed-media information systems and present a general, flexible information server that meets the requirements of publishing information on different output channels (cross-media publishing). Specifically, we introduce the iServer framework as a generic link management and extensible integration platform and digitally augmented paper is presented as one specific application of the iServer technology. A case study shows how cross-media publishers could profit from using more elaborate information systems and some of the authoring issues of mixed-media information environments are discussed.

An Architecture for Open Cross-Media Annotation Services

by Beat Signer

Beat Signer and Moira C. Norrie, Proceedings of WISE 2009, 10th International Conference on Web Information Systems Engineering, Poznan, Poland, October 2009

The emergence of new media technologies in combination with enhanced information sharing functionality offered by the... more The emergence of new media technologies in combination with enhanced information sharing functionality offered by the Web provides new possibilities for cross-media annotations. This in turn raises new challenges in terms of how a true integration across different types of media can be achieved and how we can develop annotation services that are sufficiently flexible and extensible to cater for new document formats as they emerge. We present a general model for cross-media annotation services and describe how it was used to define an architecture that supports extensibility at the data level as well as within authoring and visualisation tools.

Metacomprehension judgments reflect the belief that diagrams improve learning from text

by Michael Serra

Diagrams increase the recall of non-depicted text when understanding is also increased

by Michael Serra

Adapting for visual and verbal learning styles in AEH

by Elizabeth FitzGerald (née Brown)

Full citation:
Brown, E., Stewart, C. & T. Brailsford (2006) Adapting for visual and verbal learning styles in AEH. Proceedings of the Sixth IEEE International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies (ICALT 2006), Kerkrade, The Netherlands, 5-7 July 2006, pp1145-1146. [Awarded Best Paper Award in the Adaptive Web-Based Education and Learning Styles (AWELS) workshop]

This paper describes how visual and verbal learning styles have been successfully integrated into an adaptive... more This paper describes how visual and verbal learning styles have been successfully integrated into an adaptive educational environment. User trials of this system were carried out, to determine the effect of the adaptation, and although these user trials do not indicate any statistically significant differences, the qualitative information gleaned from the study indicated that students preferred using this environment over other traditional revision methods, and that they perceived personalized tuition to be better than a ‘one size fits all’ approach.

PhD thesis: The Use of Learning Styles in Adaptive Hypermedia

by Elizabeth FitzGerald (née Brown)

PhD thesis submitted to the University of Nottingham (School of Computer Science), October 2007.

Full citation:
Brown, Elizabeth (2007) The use of learning styles in adaptive hypermedia. PhD thesis. University of Nottingham: UK.

Computer-based learning has become a common phenomenon in the modern age. Many distance-learning systems distribute... more Computer-based learning has become a common phenomenon in the modern age. Many distance-learning systems distribute educational resources on the Internet and indeed entire study programmes are now widely available online. Such a large amount of content and information can be intimidating to learners, who may exhibit different individual characteristics, such as variation in goals, interests, motivation and/or learning preferences. This suggests that a uniform approach taken by learning environments to deliver materials and resources to students is not appropriate and that personalisation of such materials/resources should address users’ differences to provide a customised learning experience, thus enhancing its effectiveness, lowering drop-out rates and maintaining high student motivation.

This thesis addresses the latter issue of learning preferences, specifically investigating learning styles as an adaptation mechanism for personalised computer-based learning. A number of previous studies indicated the positive effect that this kind of adaptation provides, but under closer examination these were not conducted in a scientifically rigorous manner and thus their findings are somewhat limited. This research utilises a quantitative and highly objective approach to investigate visual/verbal and sequential/global learning styles in different user groups. Three user trials were carried out to discover whether there were any benefits to using these learning styles for studying in an adapted environment.

Overall, no statistically significant benefits were found and these findings now shed doubt as to whether learning styles are indeed an effective mechanism for personalised learning.

Reappraising cognitive styles in adaptive web applications

by Elizabeth FitzGerald (née Brown)

Full citation:
Brown, E., Brailsford, T., Fisher, T., Moore, A. and H. Ashman (2006) Reappraising cognitive styles in adaptive web applications. Proceedings of the 15th International World Wide Web Conference (WWW2006), Edinburgh, UK, 22-26 May 2006, pp327-335.

The mechanisms for personalisation used in web applications are currently the subject of much debate amongst... more The mechanisms for personalisation used in web applications are currently the subject of much debate amongst researchers from many diverse subject areas. One of the most contemporary ideas for user modelling in web applications is that of cognitive styles, where a user’s psychological preferences are assessed stored in a database and then used to provide personalised content and/or links. We describe user trials of a case study that utilises visual-verbal preferences in an adaptive web-based educational system (AWBES). Students in this trial were assessed by the Felder-Solomon Inventory of Learning Styles (ILS) instrument, and their preferences were used as a means of content personalisation.

Contrary to previous findings by other researchers, we found no significant differences in performance between matched and mismatched students. Conclusions are drawn about the value and validity of using cognitive styles as a way of modelling user preferences in educational web applications.

Student-generated multimedia as a means to meaningful science education. Journal of the International Society of Teacher Education.

by Andrew Sharma

Statistical Analysis of Ordinal User Opinion Scores

by Gareth Tyson

In Proc. of IEEE 7th Consumer Communications & Networking Conference (CCNC).