Proceedings of the IEEE

This paper describes technology and tools for intelligent human-computer interaction (IHCI) in which human cognitive, perceptual, motor and affective factors are modeled and used to adapt the H-C interface. IHCI emphasizes that human behavior encompasses both apparent human behavior and the hidden mental state behind behavioral performance. IHCI expands on the interpretation of human activities, known as W4 (what, where, when, who). While W4 only addresses the apparent perceptual aspect of human behavior the W5+ technology for IHCI described in this paper addresses also the why and how questions, whose solution requires recognizing specific cognitive states. IHCI integrates parsing and interpretation of nonverbal information with a computational cognitive model of the user which, in turn, feeds into processes that adapt the interface to enhance operator performance and provide for rational decision-making. The technology proposed is based on a general four-stage interactive framework, which moves from parsing the raw sensory-motor input, to interpreting the user's motions and emotions, to building an understanding of the user's current cognitive state. It then diagnoses various problems in the situation and adapts the interface appropriately. The interactive component of the system improves processing at each stage. Examples of perceptual, behavioral, and cognitive tools are described throughout the paper Adaptive and intelligent HCI are important for novel applications of computing, including ubiquitous and human-centered computing.

Many works have been done for parallelizing low-level image analysis computations. However the task is harder for higher levels, as the data manipulations are complex, and there is a wide range of algorithms to encompass. To allow concurrently speed and programmability, a high-level programming model that can be efficiently implemented on parallel architectures is required. To achieve this goal, we propose the associative nets model, a parallel computing model for image analysis based on simple data-parallelism paradigms, providing special features, such as graph-based data structures to handle irregular data, virtual data-structures to ease hierarchical image descriptions, and specific primitives (dirassoc) to compute on the interpixels relation graph. For implementation purposes, the dirassoc computing primitive performs asynchronous local computations until it reaches stability. Asynchronism has many advantages for hardware (speed, power consumptions, and chip size) as well as in software (less synchronization barriers). However to insure completion of the asynchronous operation, the dirassoc must use a set of specific operators (r-operators) introduced by Ducourthial. In this paper we emphasize on the interest of the r-operators and of the asynchronous computations for image analysis algorithms. We give applications in distance transforms, contour closing, Voronoi segmentation, watershed segmentation, and mathematical morphology. Hence, we show that asynchronous computations are powerful tools for image analysis on interpixel graphs.

The move to digital is a natural progression taking place in all aspects of broadcast media applications from document processing in newspapers to video processing in television distribution. This is no less true for audio broadcasting which has taken a unique development path in the United States. This path has been heavily influenced by a combination of regulatory and migratory requirements specific to the U.S. market. In addition, competition between proposed terrestrial and satellite systems combined with increasing consumer expectations have set ambitious, and often changing, requirements for the systems. The result has been a unique set of evolving requirements on source coding, channel coding, and modulation technologies to make these systems a reality. This paper outlines the technical development of the terrestrial wireless and satellite audio broadcasting systems in the U.S., providing details on specific source and channel coding designs and adding perspective on why specific designs were selected in the final systems. These systems are also compared to other systems such as Eureka-147, DRM, and Worldspace, developed under different requirements.

In this paper we analyze the early evolution of robot perception toward robot autonomy: respective impacts of the bare technology and of advanced control are put in perspective. At first, the UniBuM's vehicle, operational in the 1990s, is taken as a study example. The strong points of such systems suggest a discussion of the software technology in image processing and of the hardware technological concept of silicon retina regarding their respective contribution to real machine vision. This second part elicits limitations, which lead again to concepts and realizations in control, through the need for sensor fusion and active vision. The ultimate step to robot autonomy would be learning, and this is considered in the conclusion.

SiC materials are currently metamorphosing from research and development into a market driven manufacturing product. SiC substrates are currently used as the base for a large fraction of the world production of green, blue, and ultraviolet light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Emerging markets for SiC homoepitaxy include high-power switching devices and microwave devices for S and X band. Applications for heteroepitaxial GaN-based structures on SiC substrates include LEDs and microwave devices. In this paper we review the properties of SiC, assess the current status of substrate and epitaxial growth, and outline our expectations for SiC in the future.

Metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE) and molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) are the principal techniques for the growth and n-type (Si) and p-type (Mg) doping of III-nitride thin films on sapphire and silicon carbide substrates as well as previously grown GaN films. Lateral and pendeoepitaxy via MOVPE reduce significantly the dislocation density and residual strain in GaN and AlGaN films. However tilt and coalescence boundaries are produced in the laterally growing material. Very high electron mobilities in the nitrides have been realized in radio-frequency plasma-assisted MBE GaN films and in two-dimensional electron gases in the AlGaN/GaN system grown on MOVPE-derived GaN substrates at the crossover from the intermediate growth regime to the droplet regime. State-of-the-art Mg doping profiles and transport properties have been achieved in MBE-derived p-type GaN. The Mg-memory effect, and heterogeneous growth, substrate uniformity, and flux control are significant challenges for MOVPE and MBE, respectively. Photoluminescence (PL) of MOVPE-derived unintentionally doped (UID) heteroepitaxial GaN films show sharp lines near 3.478 eV due to recombination processes associated with the annihilation of free-excitons (FEs) and excitons bound to a neutral shallow donor (D/spl deg/X).