Artificial Intelligence in the DigiCraft Educational Program

Artificial intelligence encompasses an area of knowledge devoted to the study and understanding of the nature of human intelligence and its simulations to create a new generation of intelligent machines. As one of the most promising technologies, it is destined to lead a revolution comparable to that caused by the internet. However, compared with other areas, and for different reasons, artificial intelligence has not yet become integrated into the educational world, although most experts believe that it will successfully contribute to the improvement of education. The aim of this chapter is to introduce an innovative teaching proposal to develop children's digital competence using artificial intelligence. This proposal is being developed through an educational program called DigiCraft, headed by the Vodafone Spain Foundation with the pedagogical assistance of the Educational Technology Research Group of the University of Salamanca (GITE-USAL). Its main purpose is to provide training in the digital skills required for full social inclusion.

Geospatial Virtual Reality for Cyberlearning in the Field of Topographic Surveying: Moving Towards a Cost-Effective Mobile Solution

In spite of the tremendous success in artificial intelligence technology and a high level of automation in geospatial data obtaining processes, there is still a need for topographical field data collection by professional surveyors. Understanding terrain topology and topography is a cognitive skill set that has to be demonstrated by geospatial Subject Matter Experts (SME) for the productive work in the topographic surveying field. For training of the mentioned above skillset, one has to be exposed to the theory and must also practice with surveying instruments in field conditions. The challenge of any surveying/geospatial engineering workforce training is to expose students to field conditions which might be limited due to equipment expenses and meteorological conditions that prevent good data collection. To meet this challenge, the Integrated Geospatial Technology research group is working on a geospatial virtual reality (VR) project which encompasses the following components: (a) immersive visualization of terrain; (b) virtual total station instrument; (c) virtual surveyor with reflector installed on the virtual rod. The application scenario of the technology we are working with has the following stages: (1) student is installing total station on the optimal location; (2) students move virtual surveyor on the sampling points they consider to be important (3) contours are generated and displayed in 3D being superimposed on 3D terrain; (4) accuracy of terrain modeling is observable and measurable by comparing the sampling model with initial one.

A virtual engineering approach to the ship-helicopter dynamic interface – a decade of modelling and simulation research at the University of Liverpool

ABSTRACTThis paper reviews some of the research that has been carried out at the University of Liverpool where the Flight Science and Technology Research Group has developed its Heliflight-R full-motion research simulator to create a simulation environment for the launch and recovery of maritime helicopters to ships. HELIFLIGHT-R has been used to conduct flight trials to produce simulated Ship-Helicopter Operating Limits (SHOLs). This virtual engineering approach has led to a much greater understanding of how the dynamic interface between the ship and the helicopter contributes to the pilot's workload and the aircraft's handling qualities and will inform the conduct of future real-world SHOL trials. The paper also describes how modelling and simulation has been applied to the design of a ship's superstructure to improve the aerodynamic flow field in which the helicopter has to operate. The superstructure aerodynamics also affects the placement of the ship's anemometers and the dispersion of the ship's hot exhaust gases, both of which affect the operational envelope of the helicopter, and both of which can be investigated through simulation.

Providing next-generation tools for scholars: JSTOR's Advanced Technology Research group

The work of scholars is rapidly changing. As new digital resources and tools are developed, and old tools and resources reinvented for the digital world, the practice of scholarship is quickly adapting to the expectations that content should be accessible from anywhere, that it is a raw material to be manipulated, and that an excess of information is the major challenge facing scholars. Despite these expectations, the current generation of tools are inadequate for emerging scholarly practices. JSTOR's Advanced Technology Research (ATR) group has built and collaborated on a number of software projects and platforms that attempt to provide the next generation of tools for scholars. We provide an overview of these projects.

Driver-Car Communication Would Introduce a Drastic Change in Vehicle Design

This paper discusses the potential role of emotion in changing our machine design, based upon the experiments conducted for about 20 years by TMIT (Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Technology) research group headed by the author. An automobile design shares the same issues as those in our future machine design. In order to clarify these points, experiment to detect driver’s emotion were carried out. Our research to detect driver’s emotion started from the observations of a driver in driving, and based on them, experiments to detect driver’s emotion from face, sound and body were carried out. The following points were made clear. (1) a driving simulator is not good because a subject is in a different state of mind and physical conditions from actual driving. (2) Dynamic image processing is valid, but to make it effective, a simple image processing technique must be developed and a technique to remove lighting change effects must be developed. (3) When detecting from face, feature points must be carefully chosen. (4) Although sound is very promising, drivers do not utter voices often and if they do, their durations are very short. But if we introduce voice guidance systems, which would be much easier in EVs, detection from sound would work far more effectively than that from dynamic image, because images are very difficult to process due to the frequently changing lighting. (5) Physical movements can be used very effectively to detect fatigue. (6) Physical movement may be utilized for safer driving. If a new communication system between a driver and a car can be developed, the design of a car would change drastically. We do not have to, for example, use a wheel to steer. We could use bars. Equipments can be placed far away from the driver, if voice guidance systems can be introduced. Thus, a far greater degree of design flexibility could be introduced and a driver and a car could work better together as a team.

The National Tree Seed Centre Celebrates 40 Years

The National Tree Seed Centre has been providing seed of known origin and quality for research for 40 years. Seed is also stored for long-term gene conservation purposes to provide a source of germplasm for future research and restoration. This is particularly important for species facing such threats as insect attack, disease, climate change, or conversion of forest land to non-forest uses. The Centre's inventory focuses on native tree and shrub species, striving to store samples from throughout their ranges. Over 26 000 seed samples have been sent to researchers in 65 countries, 70% of these samples being distributed within Canada. Seed research has always been a component of the Seed Centre's program. One notable accomplishment is the development of the Petawawa Germination Box. The Seed Centre participates in and contributes to activities of the Association of Official Seed Analysts, the International Seed Testing Association, and the IUFRO Seed Physiology and Technology Research Group. Key words: collection, dormancy, ex situ gene conservation, germination, research, seed, storage