Publications
Search
1961.
Wang, Dagen; Narayanan, Shrikanth
Speech Rate Estimation Via Temporal Correlation and Selected Sub-band Correlation Proceedings Article
In: Proceedings of the International Conference on Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing (ICASSP), pp. 413–416, Philadelphia, PA, 2005.
@inproceedings{wang_speech_2005,
title = {Speech Rate Estimation Via Temporal Correlation and Selected Sub-band Correlation},
author = {Dagen Wang and Shrikanth Narayanan},
url = {http://ict.usc.edu/pubs/SPEECH%20RATE%20ESTIMATION%20VIA%20TEMPORAL%20CORRELATION%20AND%20SELECTED%20SUB-BAND%20CORRELATION.pdf},
year = {2005},
date = {2005-03-01},
booktitle = {Proceedings of the International Conference on Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing (ICASSP)},
pages = {413–416},
address = {Philadelphia, PA},
abstract = {In this paper, we propose a novel method for speech rate estimation without requiring automatic speech recognition. It extends the methods of spectral subband correlation by including temporal correlation and the use of selecting prominent spectral subbands for correlation. Further more, to address some of the practical issues in previously published methods, we introduce some novel components into the algorithm such as the use of pitch confidence, magnifying window, relative peak measure and relative threshold. By selecting the parameters and thresholds from realistic development sets, this method achieves a 0.972 correlation coefficient on syllable number estimation and a 0.706 correlation on speech rate estimation. This result is about 6.9% improvement than current best single estimator and 3.5% improvement than current multi-estimator evaluated on the same switchboard database.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
In this paper, we propose a novel method for speech rate estimation without requiring automatic speech recognition. It extends the methods of spectral subband correlation by including temporal correlation and the use of selecting prominent spectral subbands for correlation. Further more, to address some of the practical issues in previously published methods, we introduce some novel components into the algorithm such as the use of pitch confidence, magnifying window, relative peak measure and relative threshold. By selecting the parameters and thresholds from realistic development sets, this method achieves a 0.972 correlation coefficient on syllable number estimation and a 0.706 correlation on speech rate estimation. This result is about 6.9% improvement than current best single estimator and 3.5% improvement than current multi-estimator evaluated on the same switchboard database.
1962.
Peterson, Michael J.; Kyriakakis, Chris
Hybrid Algorithm for Robust, Real-time Source Localization in the Reverberant Environments Proceedings Article
In: International Conference on Acoustics, Speech and Signal Processing, Philadelphia, PA, 2005.
@inproceedings{peterson_hybrid_2005,
title = {Hybrid Algorithm for Robust, Real-time Source Localization in the Reverberant Environments},
author = {Michael J. Peterson and Chris Kyriakakis},
url = {http://ict.usc.edu/pubs/HYBRID%20ALGORITHM%20FOR%20ROBUST,%20REAL-TIME%20SOURCE%20LOCALIZATION%20IN%20REVERBERANT%20ENVIRONMENTS.pdf},
year = {2005},
date = {2005-03-01},
booktitle = {International Conference on Acoustics, Speech and Signal Processing},
address = {Philadelphia, PA},
abstract = {The location of an acoustical source can be found robustly using the Steered Response Pattern - Phase Transform (SRP-PHAT) algorithm. However SRP-PHAT can be computationally expensive, requiring a search of a large number of candidate locations. The required spacing between these locations is dependent on sampling rate, microphone array geometry, and source location. In this work, a novel method will be presented that calculates a smaller number of test points using an efï¬cient closed-form localization algorithm. This method signiï¬cantly reduces the number of calculations, while still remaining robust in acoustical environments.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
The location of an acoustical source can be found robustly using the Steered Response Pattern - Phase Transform (SRP-PHAT) algorithm. However SRP-PHAT can be computationally expensive, requiring a search of a large number of candidate locations. The required spacing between these locations is dependent on sampling rate, microphone array geometry, and source location. In this work, a novel method will be presented that calculates a smaller number of test points using an efï¬cient closed-form localization algorithm. This method signiï¬cantly reduces the number of calculations, while still remaining robust in acoustical environments.
1963.
Lee, C. M.; Narayanan, Shrikanth
Toward Detecting Emotions in Spoken Dialogs Proceedings Article
In: IEEE Transactions on Speech and Audio Processing, pp. 293–303, 2005.
@inproceedings{lee_toward_2005,
title = {Toward Detecting Emotions in Spoken Dialogs},
author = {C. M. Lee and Shrikanth Narayanan},
url = {http://ict.usc.edu/pubs/Toward%20Detecting%20Emotions%20in%20Spoken%20Dialogs.pdf},
year = {2005},
date = {2005-03-01},
booktitle = {IEEE Transactions on Speech and Audio Processing},
volume = {12},
pages = {293–303},
abstract = {The importance of automatically recognizing emotions from human speech has grown with the increasing role of spoken language interfaces in human-computer interaction applications. This paper explores the detection of domain-specific emotions using language and discourse information in conjunction with acoustic correlates of emotion in speech signals. The specific focus is on a case study of detecting negative and non-negative emotions using spoken language data obtained from a call center application. Most previous studies in emotion recognition have used only the acoustic information contained in speech. In this paper, a combination of three sources of information-acoustic, lexical, and discourse-is used for emotion recognition. To capture emotion information at the language level, an information-theoretic notion of emotional salience is introduced. Optimization of the acoustic correlates of emotion with respect to classification error was accomplished by investigating different feature sets obtained from feature selection, followed by principal component analysis. Experimental results on our call center data show that the best results are obtained when acoustic and language information are combined. Results show that combining all the information, rather than using only acoustic information, improves emotion classification by 40.7% for males and 36.4% for females (linear discriminant classifier used for acoustic information).},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
The importance of automatically recognizing emotions from human speech has grown with the increasing role of spoken language interfaces in human-computer interaction applications. This paper explores the detection of domain-specific emotions using language and discourse information in conjunction with acoustic correlates of emotion in speech signals. The specific focus is on a case study of detecting negative and non-negative emotions using spoken language data obtained from a call center application. Most previous studies in emotion recognition have used only the acoustic information contained in speech. In this paper, a combination of three sources of information-acoustic, lexical, and discourse-is used for emotion recognition. To capture emotion information at the language level, an information-theoretic notion of emotional salience is introduced. Optimization of the acoustic correlates of emotion with respect to classification error was accomplished by investigating different feature sets obtained from feature selection, followed by principal component analysis. Experimental results on our call center data show that the best results are obtained when acoustic and language information are combined. Results show that combining all the information, rather than using only acoustic information, improves emotion classification by 40.7% for males and 36.4% for females (linear discriminant classifier used for acoustic information).
1964.
Ananthakrishnan, S.; Narayanan, Shrikanth
An Automatic Prosody Recognizer Using a Coupled Multi-stream Acoustic Model and a Syntactic-Prosodic Language Model Proceedings Article
In: Proceedings of IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech and Signal Processing, Philadelphia, PA, 2005.
@inproceedings{ananthakrishnan_automatic_2005,
title = {An Automatic Prosody Recognizer Using a Coupled Multi-stream Acoustic Model and a Syntactic-Prosodic Language Model},
author = {S. Ananthakrishnan and Shrikanth Narayanan},
url = {http://ict.usc.edu/pubs/AN%20AUTOMATIC%20PROSODY%20RECOGNIZER%20USING%20A%20COUPLED%20MULTI-STREAM%20ACOUSTIC%20MODEL%20AND%20A%20SYNTACTIC-PROSODIC%20LANGUAGE%20MODEL.pdf},
year = {2005},
date = {2005-03-01},
booktitle = {Proceedings of IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech and Signal Processing},
address = {Philadelphia, PA},
abstract = {Automatic detection and labeling of prosodic events in speech has received much attention from speech technologists and linguists ever since the introduction of annotation standards such as ToBI. Since prosody is intricately bound to the semantics of the utterance, recognition of prosodic events is important for spoken language applications such as automatic understanding and translation of speech. Moreover, corpora labeled with prosodic markers are essential for building speech synthesizers that use data-driven approaches to generate natural speech. In this paper, we build a prosody recognition system that detects stress and prosodic boundaries at the word and syllable level in American English using a coupled Hidden Markov Model (CHMM) to model multiple, asynchronous acoustic feature streams and a syntactic-prosodic model that captures the relationship between the syntax of the utterance and its prosodic structure. Experiments show that the recognizer achieves about 75% agreement on stress labeling and 88% agreement on boundary labeling at the syllable level.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
Automatic detection and labeling of prosodic events in speech has received much attention from speech technologists and linguists ever since the introduction of annotation standards such as ToBI. Since prosody is intricately bound to the semantics of the utterance, recognition of prosodic events is important for spoken language applications such as automatic understanding and translation of speech. Moreover, corpora labeled with prosodic markers are essential for building speech synthesizers that use data-driven approaches to generate natural speech. In this paper, we build a prosody recognition system that detects stress and prosodic boundaries at the word and syllable level in American English using a coupled Hidden Markov Model (CHMM) to model multiple, asynchronous acoustic feature streams and a syntactic-prosodic model that captures the relationship between the syntax of the utterance and its prosodic structure. Experiments show that the recognizer achieves about 75% agreement on stress labeling and 88% agreement on boundary labeling at the syllable level.
1965.
Hobbs, Jerry R.; Gordon, Andrew S.
Toward a Large-scale Formal Theory of Commonsense Psychology for Metacognition Proceedings Article
In: American Association of Artificial Intelligence Spring Symposium on Metacognitive Computing, Stanford, CA, 2005.
@inproceedings{hobbs_toward_2005,
title = {Toward a Large-scale Formal Theory of Commonsense Psychology for Metacognition},
author = {Jerry R. Hobbs and Andrew S. Gordon},
url = {http://ict.usc.edu/pubs/Toward%20a%20Large-scale%20Formal%20Theory%20of%20Commonsense%20Psychology%20for%20Metacognition.pdf},
year = {2005},
date = {2005-03-01},
booktitle = {American Association of Artificial Intelligence Spring Symposium on Metacognitive Computing},
address = {Stanford, CA},
abstract = {Robust intelligent systems will require a capacity for metacognitive reasoning, where intelligent systems monitor and reflect on their own reasoning processes. A large-scale study of human strategic reasoning indicates that rich representational models of commonsense psychology are available to enable human metacognition. In this paper, we argue that large-scale formalizations of commonsense psychology enable metacognitive reasoning in intelligent systems. We describe our progress toward developing 30 integrated axiomatic theories of commonsense psychology, and discuss the central representational challenges that have arisen in this work to date.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
Robust intelligent systems will require a capacity for metacognitive reasoning, where intelligent systems monitor and reflect on their own reasoning processes. A large-scale study of human strategic reasoning indicates that rich representational models of commonsense psychology are available to enable human metacognition. In this paper, we argue that large-scale formalizations of commonsense psychology enable metacognitive reasoning in intelligent systems. We describe our progress toward developing 30 integrated axiomatic theories of commonsense psychology, and discuss the central representational challenges that have arisen in this work to date.
1966.
Grote, Christopher L.; Parsons, Thomas D.
Threats to the Livelihood of the Forensic Neuropsychological Practice: Avoiding Ethical Misconduct Journal Article
In: Journal of Forensic Neuropsychology, vol. 4, no. 3, pp. 79–93, 2005.
@article{grote_threats_2005,
title = {Threats to the Livelihood of the Forensic Neuropsychological Practice: Avoiding Ethical Misconduct},
author = {Christopher L. Grote and Thomas D. Parsons},
url = {http://ict.usc.edu/pubs/Threats%20to%20the%20Livelihood%20of%20the%20Forensic%20Neuropsychological%20Practice-%20Avoiding%20Ethical%20Misconduct.pdf},
doi = {10.1300/J151v04n03_06},
year = {2005},
date = {2005-01-01},
journal = {Journal of Forensic Neuropsychology},
volume = {4},
number = {3},
pages = {79–93},
abstract = {We review six diverse issues that have the potential of devaluing our profession, in that ethical missteps could lead to the perception or reality that the work of forensic neuropsychologists is "for sale." By resisting temptations or overtures to engage in inappropriate conduct, such as attacking colleagues or failing to recognize how our own biases might influence our behavior or opinions, neuropsychologists strive to create a work product that enhances the reputation of our profession and makes a positive contribution to the public-at-large.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
We review six diverse issues that have the potential of devaluing our profession, in that ethical missteps could lead to the perception or reality that the work of forensic neuropsychologists is "for sale." By resisting temptations or overtures to engage in inappropriate conduct, such as attacking colleagues or failing to recognize how our own biases might influence our behavior or opinions, neuropsychologists strive to create a work product that enhances the reputation of our profession and makes a positive contribution to the public-at-large.
1967.
Martinovski, Bilyana; Traum, David; Marsella, Stacy C.
Rejection of empathy and its linguistic manifestations Proceedings Article
In: Proceedings of Conference on Formal and Informal Negotiation (FINEXIN), Ottowa, Canada, 2005.
@inproceedings{martinovski_rejection_2005,
title = {Rejection of empathy and its linguistic manifestations},
author = {Bilyana Martinovski and David Traum and Stacy C. Marsella},
url = {http://ict.usc.edu/pubs/Rejection%20of%20empathy%20and%20its%20linguistic%20manifestations.pdf},
year = {2005},
date = {2005-01-01},
booktitle = {Proceedings of Conference on Formal and Informal Negotiation (FINEXIN)},
address = {Ottowa, Canada},
abstract = {Trust is a crucial quality in the development of individuals and societies and empathy plays a key role in the formation of trust. Trust and empathy have growing importance in studies of negotiation. However, empathy can be rejected which complicates its role in negotiation. This paper presents a linguistic analysis of empathy by focusing on rejection of empathy in negotiation. Some of the rejections are due to failed recognition of the rejector's needs and desires whereas others have mainly strategic functions gaining momentum in the negotiation. In both cases, rejection of empathy is a phase in the negotiation not a breakdown.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
Trust is a crucial quality in the development of individuals and societies and empathy plays a key role in the formation of trust. Trust and empathy have growing importance in studies of negotiation. However, empathy can be rejected which complicates its role in negotiation. This paper presents a linguistic analysis of empathy by focusing on rejection of empathy in negotiation. Some of the rejections are due to failed recognition of the rejector's needs and desires whereas others have mainly strategic functions gaining momentum in the negotiation. In both cases, rejection of empathy is a phase in the negotiation not a breakdown.
1968.
Parsons, Thomas D.; Rizzo, Albert; Zaag, Cheryl; McGee, Jocelyn; Buckwalter, John Galen
Gender Differences and Cognition Among Older Adults Journal Article
In: Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition, vol. 12, pp. 78–88, 2005.
@article{parsons_gender_2005,
title = {Gender Differences and Cognition Among Older Adults},
author = {Thomas D. Parsons and Albert Rizzo and Cheryl Zaag and Jocelyn McGee and John Galen Buckwalter},
url = {http://ict.usc.edu/pubs/Gender%20Differences%20and%20Cognition%20Among%20Older%20Adults.pdf},
year = {2005},
date = {2005-01-01},
journal = {Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition},
volume = {12},
pages = {78–88},
abstract = {The more replicated findings about gender difference in cognitive performance suggest female superiority on visuomotor speed and language ability and male superiority on mechanical and visuospatial tasks. Generally, group strengths found in the early school years become more established at adolescence and remain stable through adulthood. The current study tested whether the patterns established in the early years remained among 30 adult subjects. We also utilized a series of exploratory analyses to determine if observed gender differences were impacted by the covariance present between all cognitive tests. Results suggest that although the patterns established in the early years remain stable through time for males, the established patterns for females are altered with age. Our findings are compelling in supporting a male advantage on visuospatial tasks among older adults. These findings are discussed in terms of common variance between test instruments as a possible source of difference. Our finding that the gender effect tended to increase when common variance was controlled argues that this methodology may enhance the ability to detect domain specific effects.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
The more replicated findings about gender difference in cognitive performance suggest female superiority on visuomotor speed and language ability and male superiority on mechanical and visuospatial tasks. Generally, group strengths found in the early school years become more established at adolescence and remain stable through adulthood. The current study tested whether the patterns established in the early years remained among 30 adult subjects. We also utilized a series of exploratory analyses to determine if observed gender differences were impacted by the covariance present between all cognitive tests. Results suggest that although the patterns established in the early years remain stable through time for males, the established patterns for females are altered with age. Our findings are compelling in supporting a male advantage on visuospatial tasks among older adults. These findings are discussed in terms of common variance between test instruments as a possible source of difference. Our finding that the gender effect tended to increase when common variance was controlled argues that this methodology may enhance the ability to detect domain specific effects.
1969.
Robertson, R. Kevin; Mielke, Jens; Appiah, Kuku; Hall, Colin D.; Price, Richard W.; Kumwenda, Johnstone; Kanyama, Cecelia; Amod, Farida; Marra, Christina; Taylor, Terrie; Lalloo, Umesh; Jelsma, Jennifer; Holding, Penny; Boivin, Michael; Birbeck, Gretchen; Nakasujja, Noeline; Sanne, Ian; Parsons, Thomas D.; Parente, Amanda; Tucker, Karen A.
Assessment of neuroAIDS in Africa Journal Article
In: Journal of NeuroVirology, vol. 11, no. S1, pp. 7–16, 2005.
@article{robertson_assessment_2005,
title = {Assessment of neuroAIDS in Africa},
author = {R. Kevin Robertson and Jens Mielke and Kuku Appiah and Colin D. Hall and Richard W. Price and Johnstone Kumwenda and Cecelia Kanyama and Farida Amod and Christina Marra and Terrie Taylor and Umesh Lalloo and Jennifer Jelsma and Penny Holding and Michael Boivin and Gretchen Birbeck and Noeline Nakasujja and Ian Sanne and Thomas D. Parsons and Amanda Parente and Karen A. Tucker},
url = {http://ict.usc.edu/pubs/Assessment%20of%20neuroAIDS%20in%20Africa.pdf},
year = {2005},
date = {2005-01-01},
journal = {Journal of NeuroVirology},
volume = {11},
number = {S1},
pages = {7–16},
abstract = {In June of 2004, the Center for AIDS Mental Health Research, National Institute of Mental Health sponsored a conference on the Assessment of NeuroAIDS in Africa, which was held in Blantrye, Malawai. The conference presentations summarized here highlight the need for research on NeuroAIDS in Africa and methods for assessing HIV-related neurological diseases (Robertson, 2004).},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
In June of 2004, the Center for AIDS Mental Health Research, National Institute of Mental Health sponsored a conference on the Assessment of NeuroAIDS in Africa, which was held in Blantrye, Malawai. The conference presentations summarized here highlight the need for research on NeuroAIDS in Africa and methods for assessing HIV-related neurological diseases (Robertson, 2004).
1970.
Gratch, Jonathan; Marsella, Stacy C.
Lessons from Emotion Psychology for the Design of Lifelike Characters Journal Article
In: Applied Artificial Intelligence Journal, vol. 19, pp. 215–233, 2005.
@article{gratch_lessons_2005,
title = {Lessons from Emotion Psychology for the Design of Lifelike Characters},
author = {Jonathan Gratch and Stacy C. Marsella},
url = {http://ict.usc.edu/pubs/Lessons%20from%20Emotion%20Psychology%20for%20the%20Design%20of%20Lifelike%20Characters.pdf},
year = {2005},
date = {2005-01-01},
journal = {Applied Artificial Intelligence Journal},
volume = {19},
pages = {215–233},
abstract = {This special issue describes a number of applications that utilize lifelike characters that teach indirectly, by playing some role in a social interaction with a user. The design of such systems reflects a compromise between competing, sometimes unarticulated de- mands: they must realistically exhibit the behaviors and characteristics of their role, they must facilitate the desired learning, and they must work within the limitations of current technology, and there is little theoretical or empirical guidance on the impact of these compromises on learning. Our perspective on this problem is shaped by our interest in the role of emotion and emotional behaviors in such forms of learning. In recent years, there has been an explosion of interest in the role of emotion in the design of virtual hu- mans. The techniques and motivations underlying these various efforts can seem, from an outsider's perspective, as bewildering and multifaceted as the concept of emotion itself is generally accused of being. Drawing on insights from emotion psychology, this article attempts to clarify for the designers of educational agents the various theoretical perspec- tives on the concept of emotion with the aim of giving guidance to designers of educa- tional agents.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
This special issue describes a number of applications that utilize lifelike characters that teach indirectly, by playing some role in a social interaction with a user. The design of such systems reflects a compromise between competing, sometimes unarticulated de- mands: they must realistically exhibit the behaviors and characteristics of their role, they must facilitate the desired learning, and they must work within the limitations of current technology, and there is little theoretical or empirical guidance on the impact of these compromises on learning. Our perspective on this problem is shaped by our interest in the role of emotion and emotional behaviors in such forms of learning. In recent years, there has been an explosion of interest in the role of emotion in the design of virtual hu- mans. The techniques and motivations underlying these various efforts can seem, from an outsider's perspective, as bewildering and multifaceted as the concept of emotion itself is generally accused of being. Drawing on insights from emotion psychology, this article attempts to clarify for the designers of educational agents the various theoretical perspec- tives on the concept of emotion with the aim of giving guidance to designers of educa- tional agents.
1971.
Hawkins, Tim; Einarsson, Per; Debevec, Paul
A Dual Light Stage Proceedings Article
In: Dutré, Philip; Bala, Kavita (Ed.): Eurographics Symposium on Rendering, Konstanz, Germany, 2005.
@inproceedings{hawkins_dual_2005,
title = {A Dual Light Stage},
author = {Tim Hawkins and Per Einarsson and Paul Debevec},
editor = {Philip Dutré and Kavita Bala},
url = {http://ict.usc.edu/pubs/A%20Dual%20Light%20Stage.pdf},
year = {2005},
date = {2005-01-01},
booktitle = {Eurographics Symposium on Rendering},
address = {Konstanz, Germany},
abstract = {We present a technique for capturing high-resolution 4D reflectance ï¬elds using the reciprocity property of light transport. In our technique we place the object inside a diffuse spherical shell and scan a laser across its surface. For each incident ray, the object scatters a pattern of light onto the inner surface of the sphere, and we photograph the resulting radiance from the sphere's interior using a camera with a ï¬sheye lens. Because of reciprocity, the image of the inside of the sphere corresponds to the reflectance function of the surface point illuminated by the laser, that is, the color that point would appear to a camera along the laser ray when the object is lit from each direction on the surface of the sphere. The measured reflectance functions allow the object to be photorealistically rendered from the laser's viewpoint under arbitrary directional illumination conditions. Since each captured reflectance function is a high-resolution image, our data reproduces sharp specular reflections and self-shadowing more accurately than previous approaches. We demonstrate our technique by scanning objects with a wide range of reflectance properties and show accurate renderings of the objects under novel illumination conditions.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
We present a technique for capturing high-resolution 4D reflectance ï¬elds using the reciprocity property of light transport. In our technique we place the object inside a diffuse spherical shell and scan a laser across its surface. For each incident ray, the object scatters a pattern of light onto the inner surface of the sphere, and we photograph the resulting radiance from the sphere's interior using a camera with a ï¬sheye lens. Because of reciprocity, the image of the inside of the sphere corresponds to the reflectance function of the surface point illuminated by the laser, that is, the color that point would appear to a camera along the laser ray when the object is lit from each direction on the surface of the sphere. The measured reflectance functions allow the object to be photorealistically rendered from the laser's viewpoint under arbitrary directional illumination conditions. Since each captured reflectance function is a high-resolution image, our data reproduces sharp specular reflections and self-shadowing more accurately than previous approaches. We demonstrate our technique by scanning objects with a wide range of reflectance properties and show accurate renderings of the objects under novel illumination conditions.
1972.
Kallmann, Marcelo
Scalable Solutions for Interactive Virtual Humans that can Manipulate Objects Proceedings Article
In: First Annual Artificial Intelligence and Interactive Entertainment Conference, Marina del Rey, CA, 2005.
@inproceedings{kallmann_scalable_2005,
title = {Scalable Solutions for Interactive Virtual Humans that can Manipulate Objects},
author = {Marcelo Kallmann},
url = {http://ict.usc.edu/pubs/Scalable%20Solutions%20for%20Interactive%20Virtual%20Humans%20that%20can%20Manipulate%20Objects.pdf},
year = {2005},
date = {2005-01-01},
booktitle = {First Annual Artificial Intelligence and Interactive Entertainment Conference},
address = {Marina del Rey, CA},
abstract = {This paper presents scalable solutions for achieving virtual humans able to manipulate objects in interactive virtual environments. The scalability trades computational time with the ability of addressing increasingly difficult constraints. In time-critical environments, arm motions are computed in few milliseconds using fast analytical Inverse Kinematics. For other types of applications where collision-free motions are required, a randomized motion planner capable of generating motions of average complexity in about a second of computation time is employed. The steps required for defining and computing different types of manipulations are described in this paper.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
This paper presents scalable solutions for achieving virtual humans able to manipulate objects in interactive virtual environments. The scalability trades computational time with the ability of addressing increasingly difficult constraints. In time-critical environments, arm motions are computed in few milliseconds using fast analytical Inverse Kinematics. For other types of applications where collision-free motions are required, a randomized motion planner capable of generating motions of average complexity in about a second of computation time is employed. The steps required for defining and computing different types of manipulations are described in this paper.
1973.
Kock, Arien; Gratch, Jonathan
An Evaluation of Automatic Lip-syncing Methods for Game Environments Technical Report
University of Southern California Institute for Creative Technologies no. ICT TR 01 2005, 2005.
@techreport{kock_evaluation_2005,
title = {An Evaluation of Automatic Lip-syncing Methods for Game Environments},
author = {Arien Kock and Jonathan Gratch},
url = {http://ict.usc.edu/pubs/ICT-TR.01.2005.pdf},
year = {2005},
date = {2005-01-01},
number = {ICT TR 01 2005},
institution = {University of Southern California Institute for Creative Technologies},
abstract = {Lip-synching is the production of articulator motion corresponding to a given audible utterance. The Mission Rehearsal Exercise training system requires lip-synching to increase the believability of its virtual agents. In this report I document the selection, exploration, evaluation and comparison of several candidate lip-synching systems, ending with a recommendation. The evaluation focuses on the believability of articulators' expression, the foreseeable difficulty of integration into MRE’s architecture, the support for facial expressions related to semantics and prosodic features as well as the scalability of each system.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {techreport}
}
Lip-synching is the production of articulator motion corresponding to a given audible utterance. The Mission Rehearsal Exercise training system requires lip-synching to increase the believability of its virtual agents. In this report I document the selection, exploration, evaluation and comparison of several candidate lip-synching systems, ending with a recommendation. The evaluation focuses on the believability of articulators' expression, the foreseeable difficulty of integration into MRE’s architecture, the support for facial expressions related to semantics and prosodic features as well as the scalability of each system.
1974.
Pighin, Frédéric; Patel, Sanjit; Cohen, Jonathan; Chu, Anson
Oriented Particle Level Set for Fluid Simulation Book
2005.
@book{pighin_oriented_2005,
title = {Oriented Particle Level Set for Fluid Simulation},
author = {Frédéric Pighin and Sanjit Patel and Jonathan Cohen and Anson Chu},
url = {http://ict.usc.edu/pubs/Oriented%20Particle%20Level%20Set%20for%20Fluid%20Simulation.pdf},
year = {2005},
date = {2005-01-01},
abstract = {The particle level set technique has been adopted in computer graphics as the method of choice for tracking the surface of simulated liquids. In this poster, we describe a novel technique for modeling such an interface. Our technique is based on a set of oriented particles that provides a piecewise linear approximation to the interface. Using this improved model, we obtain a more accurate representation of the water surface and reduced mass loss during simulation.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {book}
}
The particle level set technique has been adopted in computer graphics as the method of choice for tracking the surface of simulated liquids. In this poster, we describe a novel technique for modeling such an interface. Our technique is based on a set of oriented particles that provides a piecewise linear approximation to the interface. Using this improved model, we obtain a more accurate representation of the water surface and reduced mass loss during simulation.
1975.
Kim, Youngjun; Hill, Randall W.; Traum, David
Controlling the Focus of Perceptual Attention in Embodied Conversational Agents Proceedings Article
In: Proceedings of the 4th International Joint Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems, 2005, ISBN: 1-59593-093-0.
@inproceedings{kim_controlling_2005,
title = {Controlling the Focus of Perceptual Attention in Embodied Conversational Agents},
author = {Youngjun Kim and Randall W. Hill and David Traum},
url = {http://ict.usc.edu/pubs/Controlling%20the%20Focus%20of%20Perceptual%20Attention%20in%20Embodied%20Conversational%20Agents.pdf},
doi = {10.1145/1082473.1082641},
isbn = {1-59593-093-0},
year = {2005},
date = {2005-01-01},
booktitle = {Proceedings of the 4th International Joint Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems},
abstract = {In this paper, we present a computational model of dynamic perceptual attention for virtual humans. The computational models of perceptual attention that we surveyed fell into one of two camps: top-down and bottom-up. Biologically inspired computational models [2] typically focus on the bottom-up aspects of attention, while most virtual humans [1,3,7] implement a top-down form of attention. Bottom-up attention models only consider the sensory information without taking into consideration the saliency based on tasks or goals. As a result, the outcome of a purely bottom-up model will not consistently match the behavior of real humans in certain situations. Modeling perceptual attention as a purely top-down process, however, is also not sufficient for implementing a virtual human. A purely top-down model does not take into account the fact that virtual humans need to react to perceptual stimuli vying for attention. Top-down systems typically handle this in an ad hoc manner by encoding special rules to catch certain conditions in the environment. The problem with this approach is that it does not provide a principled way of integrating the ever-present bottom-up perceptual stimuli with top-down control of attention. This model extends the prior model [7] with perceptual resolution based on psychological theories of human perception [4]. This model allows virtual humans to dynamically interact with objects and other individuals, balancing the demands of goal-directed behavior with those of attending to novel stimuli. This model has been implemented and tested with the MRE Project [5].},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
In this paper, we present a computational model of dynamic perceptual attention for virtual humans. The computational models of perceptual attention that we surveyed fell into one of two camps: top-down and bottom-up. Biologically inspired computational models [2] typically focus on the bottom-up aspects of attention, while most virtual humans [1,3,7] implement a top-down form of attention. Bottom-up attention models only consider the sensory information without taking into consideration the saliency based on tasks or goals. As a result, the outcome of a purely bottom-up model will not consistently match the behavior of real humans in certain situations. Modeling perceptual attention as a purely top-down process, however, is also not sufficient for implementing a virtual human. A purely top-down model does not take into account the fact that virtual humans need to react to perceptual stimuli vying for attention. Top-down systems typically handle this in an ad hoc manner by encoding special rules to catch certain conditions in the environment. The problem with this approach is that it does not provide a principled way of integrating the ever-present bottom-up perceptual stimuli with top-down control of attention. This model extends the prior model [7] with perceptual resolution based on psychological theories of human perception [4]. This model allows virtual humans to dynamically interact with objects and other individuals, balancing the demands of goal-directed behavior with those of attending to novel stimuli. This model has been implemented and tested with the MRE Project [5].
1976.
Gordon, Andrew S.
The Fictionalization of Lessons Learned Journal Article
In: IEEE Multimedia, vol. 12, no. 4, pp. 12–14, 2005.
@article{gordon_fictionalization_2005,
title = {The Fictionalization of Lessons Learned},
author = {Andrew S. Gordon},
url = {http://ict.usc.edu/pubs/The%20Fictionalization%20of%20Lessons%20Learned.pdf},
year = {2005},
date = {2005-01-01},
journal = {IEEE Multimedia},
volume = {12},
number = {4},
pages = {12–14},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
1977.
Maatman, R. M.; Gratch, Jonathan; Marsella, Stacy C.
Responsive Behavior of a Listening Agent Technical Report
University of Southern California Institute for Creative Technologies no. ICT TR 02 2005, 2005.
@techreport{maatman_responsive_2005,
title = {Responsive Behavior of a Listening Agent},
author = {R. M. Maatman and Jonathan Gratch and Stacy C. Marsella},
url = {http://ict.usc.edu/pubs/ICT-TR.02.2005.pdf},
year = {2005},
date = {2005-01-01},
number = {ICT TR 02 2005},
institution = {University of Southern California Institute for Creative Technologies},
abstract = {The purpose of this assignment is twofold. First the possibility of generating real time responsive behavior is evaluated in order to create a more human-like agent. Second, the effect of the behavior of the agent on the human interactor is evaluated. The main motivation for the focus on responsive gestures is because much research has been done already on gestures that accompany the speaker, and nothing on gesture that accompany the listener, although responsiveness is a crucial part of a conversation. The responsive behavior of a virtual agent consists of performing gestures during the time a human is speaking to the agent. To generate the correct gestures, first a literature research is carried out, from which is concluded that with the current of the current Natural Language Understanding technology, it is not possible to extract semantic features of the human speech in real time. Thus, other features have to be considered. The result of the literature research is a basic mapping between real time obtainable features and their correct responsive behavior: - if the speech contains a relatively long period of low pitch then perform a head nod. - if the speech contains relatively high intensity then perform a head nod - if the speech contains disfluency then perform a posture shift, gazing behavior or a frown - if the human performs a posture shift then mirror this posture shift - if the human performs a head shake then mirror this head shake - if the human performs major gazing behavior then mimic this behavior A design has been made to implement this mapping into the behavior of a virtual agent and this design has been implemented which results in two programs. One to mirror the physical features of the human and one to extract the speech features from the voice of the human. The two programs are combined and the effect of the resulting behavior on the human interactor has been tested. The results of these tests are that the performing of responsive behavior has a positive effect on the natural behavior of a virtual agent and thus looks promising for future research. However, the gestures proposed by this mapping are not always context-independent. Thus, much refinement is still to be done and more functionality can be added to improve the responsive behavior. The conclusion of this research is twofold. First the performing of responsive behaviors in real time is possible with the presented mapping and this results in a more natural behaving agent. Second, some responsive behavior is still dependant of semantic information. This leaves open the further enhancement of the presented mapping in order to increase the responsive behavior.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {techreport}
}
The purpose of this assignment is twofold. First the possibility of generating real time responsive behavior is evaluated in order to create a more human-like agent. Second, the effect of the behavior of the agent on the human interactor is evaluated. The main motivation for the focus on responsive gestures is because much research has been done already on gestures that accompany the speaker, and nothing on gesture that accompany the listener, although responsiveness is a crucial part of a conversation. The responsive behavior of a virtual agent consists of performing gestures during the time a human is speaking to the agent. To generate the correct gestures, first a literature research is carried out, from which is concluded that with the current of the current Natural Language Understanding technology, it is not possible to extract semantic features of the human speech in real time. Thus, other features have to be considered. The result of the literature research is a basic mapping between real time obtainable features and their correct responsive behavior: - if the speech contains a relatively long period of low pitch then perform a head nod. - if the speech contains relatively high intensity then perform a head nod - if the speech contains disfluency then perform a posture shift, gazing behavior or a frown - if the human performs a posture shift then mirror this posture shift - if the human performs a head shake then mirror this head shake - if the human performs major gazing behavior then mimic this behavior A design has been made to implement this mapping into the behavior of a virtual agent and this design has been implemented which results in two programs. One to mirror the physical features of the human and one to extract the speech features from the voice of the human. The two programs are combined and the effect of the resulting behavior on the human interactor has been tested. The results of these tests are that the performing of responsive behavior has a positive effect on the natural behavior of a virtual agent and thus looks promising for future research. However, the gestures proposed by this mapping are not always context-independent. Thus, much refinement is still to be done and more functionality can be added to improve the responsive behavior. The conclusion of this research is twofold. First the performing of responsive behaviors in real time is possible with the presented mapping and this results in a more natural behaving agent. Second, some responsive behavior is still dependant of semantic information. This leaves open the further enhancement of the presented mapping in order to increase the responsive behavior.
1978.
Alpaslan, Z. Y.; Yeh, S. -C.; Rizzo, Albert; Sawchuk, Alexander A.
Quantitative Comparison of Interaction with Shutter Glasses and Autostereoscopic Displays Proceedings Article
In: Stereoscopic Displays and Virtual Reality Systems XII Symposium, San Jose, CA, 2005.
@inproceedings{alpaslan_quantitative_2005,
title = {Quantitative Comparison of Interaction with Shutter Glasses and Autostereoscopic Displays},
author = {Z. Y. Alpaslan and S. -C. Yeh and Albert Rizzo and Alexander A. Sawchuk},
url = {http://ict.usc.edu/pubs/Quantitative%20Comparison%20of%20Interaction%20with%20Shutter%20Glasses%20and%20Autostereoscopic%20Displays.pdf},
year = {2005},
date = {2005-01-01},
booktitle = {Stereoscopic Displays and Virtual Reality Systems XII Symposium},
address = {San Jose, CA},
abstract = {In this paper we describe experimental measurements and comparison of human interaction with three different types of stereo computer displays. We compare traditional shutter glasses-based viewing with three-dimensional (3D) autostereoscopic viewing on displays such as the Sharp LL-151-3D display and StereoGraphics SG 202 display. The method of interaction is a sphere-shaped "cyberprop" containing an Ascension Flock-of-Birds tracker that allows a user to manipulate objects by imparting the motion of the sphere to the virtual object. The tracking data is processed with OpenGL to manipulate objects in virtual 3D space, from which we synthesize two or more images as seen by virtual cameras observing them. We concentrate on the quantitative measurement and analysis of human performance for interactive object selection and manipulation tasks using standardized and scalable configurations of 3D block objects. The experiments use a series of progressively more complex block configurations that are rendered in stereo on various 3D displays. In general, performing the tasks using shutter glasses required less time as compared to using the autostereoscopic displays. While both male and female subjects performed almost equally fast with shutter glasses, male subjects performed better with the LL-151-3D display, while female subjects performed better with the SG202 display. Interestingly, users generally had a slightly higher efficiency in completing a task set using the two autostereoscopic displays as compared to the shutter glasses, although the differences for all users among the displays was relatively small. There was a preference for shutter glasses compared to autostereoscopic displays in the ease of performing tasks, and glasses were slightly preferred for overall image quality and stereo image quality. However, there was little difference in display preference in physical comfort and overall preference. We present some possible explanations of these results and point out the importance of the autostereoscopic "sweet spot" in relation to the user's head and body position.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
In this paper we describe experimental measurements and comparison of human interaction with three different types of stereo computer displays. We compare traditional shutter glasses-based viewing with three-dimensional (3D) autostereoscopic viewing on displays such as the Sharp LL-151-3D display and StereoGraphics SG 202 display. The method of interaction is a sphere-shaped "cyberprop" containing an Ascension Flock-of-Birds tracker that allows a user to manipulate objects by imparting the motion of the sphere to the virtual object. The tracking data is processed with OpenGL to manipulate objects in virtual 3D space, from which we synthesize two or more images as seen by virtual cameras observing them. We concentrate on the quantitative measurement and analysis of human performance for interactive object selection and manipulation tasks using standardized and scalable configurations of 3D block objects. The experiments use a series of progressively more complex block configurations that are rendered in stereo on various 3D displays. In general, performing the tasks using shutter glasses required less time as compared to using the autostereoscopic displays. While both male and female subjects performed almost equally fast with shutter glasses, male subjects performed better with the LL-151-3D display, while female subjects performed better with the SG202 display. Interestingly, users generally had a slightly higher efficiency in completing a task set using the two autostereoscopic displays as compared to the shutter glasses, although the differences for all users among the displays was relatively small. There was a preference for shutter glasses compared to autostereoscopic displays in the ease of performing tasks, and glasses were slightly preferred for overall image quality and stereo image quality. However, there was little difference in display preference in physical comfort and overall preference. We present some possible explanations of these results and point out the importance of the autostereoscopic "sweet spot" in relation to the user's head and body position.
1979.
Martinovski, Bilyana; Mao, Wenji; Gratch, Jonathan; Marsella, Stacy C.
Mitigation Theory: An Integrated Approach Proceedings Article
In: Proceedings of the 27th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society (CogSci), Stresa, Italy, 2005.
@inproceedings{martinovski_mitigation_2005,
title = {Mitigation Theory: An Integrated Approach},
author = {Bilyana Martinovski and Wenji Mao and Jonathan Gratch and Stacy C. Marsella},
url = {http://ict.usc.edu/pubs/Mitigation%20Theory-%20An%20Integrated%20Approach.pdf},
year = {2005},
date = {2005-01-01},
booktitle = {Proceedings of the 27th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society (CogSci)},
address = {Stresa, Italy},
abstract = {The purpose of this paper is to develop a theoretical model of mitigation by integrating cognitive and discourse approaches to appraisal and coping. Mitigation involves strategic, emotional, linguistic, and Theory of Mind processes on different levels of consciousness. We emphasize that discourse analysis can assist our understanding of these processes.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
The purpose of this paper is to develop a theoretical model of mitigation by integrating cognitive and discourse approaches to appraisal and coping. Mitigation involves strategic, emotional, linguistic, and Theory of Mind processes on different levels of consciousness. We emphasize that discourse analysis can assist our understanding of these processes.
1980.
Mao, Wenji; Gratch, Jonathan
Evaluating Social Causality and Responsibility Models: An Initial Report Technical Report
University of Southern California Institute for Creative Technologies no. ICT TR 03 2005, 2005.
@techreport{mao_evaluating_2005,
title = {Evaluating Social Causality and Responsibility Models: An Initial Report},
author = {Wenji Mao and Jonathan Gratch},
url = {http://ict.usc.edu/pubs/ICT-TR-03-2005.pdf},
year = {2005},
date = {2005-01-01},
number = {ICT TR 03 2005},
institution = {University of Southern California Institute for Creative Technologies},
abstract = {Intelligent virtual agents are typically embedded in a social environment and must reason about social cause and effect. Social causal reasoning is qualitatively different from physical causal reasoning that underlies most current intelligent sys- tems. Besides physical causality, the assessments of social cause emphasize epistemic variables including intentions, foreknowledge and perceived coercion. Modeling the process and inferences of social causality can enrich believability and cognitive capabili- ties of social intelligent agents. In this report, we present a general computational model of social causality and responsibility, and empirical results of a preliminary evaluation of the model in comparison with several other approaches.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {techreport}
}
Intelligent virtual agents are typically embedded in a social environment and must reason about social cause and effect. Social causal reasoning is qualitatively different from physical causal reasoning that underlies most current intelligent sys- tems. Besides physical causality, the assessments of social cause emphasize epistemic variables including intentions, foreknowledge and perceived coercion. Modeling the process and inferences of social causality can enrich believability and cognitive capabili- ties of social intelligent agents. In this report, we present a general computational model of social causality and responsibility, and empirical results of a preliminary evaluation of the model in comparison with several other approaches.
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