Uribe, A., Kapralos, B., Hogue, A., Kanev, K., Jenkin, M. and Barneva, R. P. A multi-user tabletop display with enhanced mobile visuals for teaching and collaborative training. Consortium for Computing Sciences in Colleges -- Northeastern Region. Clinten, NY, 2016. A short description of the work appears in Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges, 31: 60-62, 2016.Advances in technology provide access to cost-effective user interfaces that change the way people interact and carry out their daily activities. Massive use of smartphones, tablets, and other portable computing devices is reshaping the world of learning. Novel educational tools provide means to visualize and interact with compelling media, creating a virtual and augmented reality that can greatly enhance the knowledge transfer [5]. Education is also benefiting from various collaborative scenarios where students work together to overcome challenges while improving cognitive and social skills [3]. Indeed, as a way to improve learning, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has already become an indispensable component of modern educational systems [2]. ICT brings a wealth of online features such as short messaging and chats, forums and groups, IP voice and video calls, cloud-based interactions and shared storage, etc., but it also forces students to focus on the screens of their computing devices and use the content to perform instruction-bound and other tasks. Therefore, despite all benefits that ICT brings to education, it could also have a negative impact on the learning process as it might restrict natural interactions thus isolating students and limiting their experience [1]. Here, we investigate the effectiveness of using heterogeneous computing paradigms (mobile devices and tabletop computers) in a collaborative learning environment.A locally cached copy can be found here.
Tarawneh, E., Perrett, D., Singh, J, Codd-Downey, R., Sefi, M. H., Jeetman, S. J. and Jenkin, M. Moving the sailing stone. Proc. IEEE ICIA, Ningbo, China, 2016.The Sailing Stone project animates a stone sculpture such that a traditional, large scale, normally static installation physically interacts with the public. The Sailing Stone moves so as to disrupt the normal motion of visitors to the space so as to encourage changes in the nature of the interaction between visitors and the sculpture itself. The public gallery space is monitored through a network of video cameras, and this information is used to develop a model of human motion through the gallery space. Based on this model of visitor motion, a motion plan is developed and executed for the sculpture so as to maximally disrupt the motion paths of visitors.
Codd-Downey, R. and Jenkin, M. Mapping GPS-denied aquatic environments. Proc. IEEE ICIA, Ningbo, China, 2016.Building a representation of space and estimating a robots location within that space is a fundamental task in robotics known as simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM). This work examines the problem of solving SLAM in aquatic environments using an unmanned surface vessel under conditions that restrict global knowledge of the robots pose. These conditions refer specifically to the absence of a global positioning system to estimate position, a poor vehicle motion model, and the lack of a strong stable magnetic field to estimate absolute heading. These conditions can be found in terrestrial environments where the line of sight to overhead satellites is occluded by surrounding structures and local magnetic infer- ence affects reliable compass measurements. Similar conditions are anticipated in extra-terrestrial environments such as on Titan where the lack of a global satellite network inhibits the use of traditional positioning sensors and the lack of a stable magnetic core limits the applicability of a compass. This work develops a solution to the SLAM problem that utilizes shore features coupled with information about the depth of the water column. Theoretical results are validated experimentally using an autonomous surface vehicle utilizing omnidirectional video and a depth sounder. Solutions are compared to ground truth obtained using GPS and to solutions found when the restriction of a poor magnetic field is lifted.
