Sentiment Elicitation from Natural Text for Information Retrieval and Extraction [Dallas] [Dec 8, 2013 - Dec 8, 2013]

So here’s the thing: Innovation isn’t a bad word. Overused? Perhaps. But not bad. How do I know this? Because cheese in bread, cookie dough in ice cream, and Genius Bars inside Apple stores are AMAZING. These are just a few examples of innovation that create great user experiences. They’re creative ways of putting existing things together in new ways that add real value to users’ lives. So that’s what our fabulous lineup of presenters will be focusing on at UI18. They’ll tackle innovation in UX design from a variety of angles. Scott Berkun will talk about what it takes to enable innovation in the first place — from thinking creatively to managing projects, egos, and business risks. You’ll hear how to lay a foundation for developing seriously great ideas and persuading teams and management to get onboard. Get to know your users with Christine Perfetti. Her 90-day user-research plan is perfect for organizations hungry to find opportunities to innovate. You’ll learn to recruit participants, design tasks for them, organize field studies, present the data in terms stakeholders will love. With Kevin Hoffman, you’ll find out how to structure meetings so the creative minds on your team can rally behind powerful, innovative ideas. He’ll show you a bunch of frameworks to encourage ideas from everyone and weigh business risks before jumping to design. Adam Connor and Aaron Irizarry will focus on building consensus around innovative design ideas through sketching, studios, and critiques. If you’ve ever experienced a “swoop and poop” of a stakeholder steamrolling ideas late in the game, then get in this workshop ASAP. Jeff Gothelf is the leading voice behind Lean UX, a methodology to break ideas into bite-sized chunks that can be prototyped and tested super fast. See how to re-invigorate your design team and get to innovations faster, all by taking a scientific approach to design that minimizes risk. Kim Goodwin will get your team on the innovation train, too. You’ll see how to map your user’s journey, then sketch with project managers to collaboratively define requirements. She’ll also talk about “minding the gap” in the UX across devices and within your organizational silos. Dig deep into design details with Dan Saffer. He’ll show tons of examples of micro-interactions that delight users in unexpected, innovative ways. You’ll experiment with different types of triggers and feedback loops, then set realistic rules for your experiences to follow. If you’re ever needed to design a data visualization or infographic, then Stephen Anderson’s workshop is up your alley. He’ll show you how innovative data interpretation can be; when you help users understand your story in new ways, they repay you in action and engagement. Each of these fabulous presenters knows how to add real value to their users’ lives. And with their help, you’ll see which tools and processes you can use to make innovation happen. With so many ways to measure our impact, why spend any more time trying to invent a better mousetrap? Don’t just invent a better mousetrap. Come to UI18.

CORDIS NewsThe Multi-Robot Cognitive Systems Operating in Hospitals (MOnarCH) project will give European researchers an opportunity to closely examine how humans and robots interact. The participating companies and research centers plan to introduce a community of social robots that will collaborate with medical personnel and interact with children who have cancer, meeting their different psychological needs. Scientists from the Carlos III University of Madrid (UC3M) Robotics Lab will develop and program all of the actions and interactive behavior of the fleet of robots, including the way they converse with others, play with children, and adapt to their individual needs. The Technical University of Lisbon is coordinating the three-year project. Scientists from nine companies and research centers in five countries are involved in MOnarCH. Most social robotics research so far has been focused on the technology's use in controlled environments. "The introduction of a group of autonomous social robots into surroundings with these characteristics is something new, and we hope that the project will help us to advance in the development of robots that are able to relate to people in complex situations and scenarios," says UC3M professor Miguel Angel Salichs.From "Hospital Visits Take on New Meaning With Therapeutic Robots" CORDIS News (05/13/13) View Full Article

NCSU NewsDistributed networked control systems (D-NCSs) can operate more securely using an algorithm developed by researchers at North Carolina State University (NCSU). Networked control systems have become increasingly important for coordinating infrastructure, such as transportation and power, in the United States. The algorithm is designed to detect when an individual agent in a D-NCS has been compromised in a cyberattack and then isolate the compromised agent, a strategy that protects the rest of the system and enables it to continue functioning normally. The researchers say their approach makes D-NCSs more resilient and secure than networked control systems that coordinate their activities through a single, centralized computer hub. D-NCSs let all the system agents work together to coordinate their activities so the system can run with greater efficiency; these distributed systems also can operate more securely. "In addition, our security algorithm can be incorporated directly into the code used to operate existing distributed control systems, with minor modifications," says NCSU professor Mo-Yuen Chow. "It would not require a complete overhaul of existing systems." The researchers are conducting additional tests to optimize the algorithm's detection rate and system performance.From "New Software Spots, Isolates Cyber-Attacks to Protect Networked Control Systems" NCSU News (05/14/13) Matt Shipman View Full Article

HPC WireLawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's Horst Simon says in an interview that he doubts exascale computing will be reached by 2020 because "the methods we have been using to predict when we cross certain thresholds, like teraflop/s and petaflop/s no longer apply." Simon notes that it remains unclear what architecture will bring computing to the exascale level, and he says straight line extrapolation thinking is flawed and heading for a major disruption due to a fundamental technology transition. Simon says exascale architecture development is following three branches: a multicore path centered around high-end central processing units; a Manycore/embedded approach that employs simpler, low power cores from embedded systems, and the graphical processing unit (GPU)/accelerator approach using specialized processors from the gaming/graphics market sector. Simon predicts the GPU/accelerator architecture will be the basis for all top 10 systems on the Top500 supercomputing list by 2015. He has proposed an unattainable measurable exascale goal to build a system that will hold the top spot on the Top500 list with an Rmax higher than 1 exaflop per second before 2020. The challenge of system performance measurement at that scale is one obstacle Simon cites, as are power and cost of data movement issues.From "'No Exascale for You!' An Interview With Berkeley Lab's Horst Simon" HPC Wire (05/15/13) John Bashor View Full Article

MIT NewsMassachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) faculty, staff, and students are invited to participate in the second performance of UP: The Umbrella Project on May 19. UP is a joint venture between MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL) and the Pilobolus dance company, in which participants will be given umbrellas outfitted with multicolored light-emitting diode lights. They will control the color of their umbrellas through manual devices developed by researchers at CSAIL's MIT Distributed Robotics Lab, traversing a field under the guidance of the dance troupe and creating a constantly changing display of live art. "Our work deals with developing algorithms that allow robots to operate independently within a large decentralized network so that the robots can coordinate and work together to accomplish a common task," said CSAIL's Kyle Gilpin. "Through UP, we can study the behaviors of large groups, which can be applied to our research in robotics." This is second time that the Distributed Robotics Lab, led by director Daniela Rus, has worked with Pilobolus. "We have found there is a wealth of knowledge to be gained at the intersection of art and science that offers deep insight into human behavior, findings that are incredibly useful to the field of computer science," Rus says.From "MIT Members Invited to Color Nighttime Sky With Pilobolus & Up: The Umbrella Project" MIT News (05/15/13) Abby Abazorius View Full Article

Sandia National LaboratoriesFinding ways to tap the brain's ability to transmit signals along massively parallel channels, with multiple convergences at downstream nodes, to accommodate rapidly changing, high-volume data is the purpose of the Sandia National Laboratories-sponsored Neuro-Inspired Computational Elements (NICE) workshop. NICE is envisioned as a way to continue the advancement of computing power once the barrier for shrinking circuits is reached. Workshop participants proposed isolating brain tissues that govern aspects of behavior, analyzing the shape and behavior of the neurons sending the signals, and copying that configuration using conventional hardware and software or, most likely, a new solid-state substrate. Possible domain intersections cited by Sandia's Rob Leland include tissue-based and in-vivo sensors, optical nanosensors for chemical analysis within cells, regulated nanoassembly of circuits, digital antibodies, and virus-sized logic chips. “Brains are highly parallel, can reconfigure themselves dynamically in a few minutes, and use molecular signal transduction [to pass messages],” notes George Mason University's Jim Olds. “In message-passing they use little power and finesse around bottlenecks [that would slow silicon-based] parallel-computing systems.” Still, Sandia CIO Mike Vahle cautions that pattern-matching brain function to computing function may give rise to a host of ethical, cultural, and security issues.From "NICE! The Brain as a Model for Future Supercomputers" Sandia National Laboratories (05/14/13) Neal Singer View Full Article

The Engineer (United Kingdom)Strathclyde University researchers Patricia Johann and Neil Ghani are developing software designed to guarantee that programs perform the computations they are designed to carry out. The software aims to stop programs from performing unintended tasks, thereby improving the reliability of safety-critical systems. "Formal verification uses mathematical techniques to prove that programs actually perform the computations they are intended to perform--for example, that text editors really do save a file when a 'save' command is issued, or that automatic pilots really do correctly execute flight plans," Ghani says. "Since programmers make 15 to 50 errors per 1,000 lines of code--and since repairing them accounts for some 80 percent of project expenses--the ever-increasing size and sophistication of programs makes formal verification increasingly critical to modern software development." The researchers developed the software because current testing procedures for software, which involve repeatedly running programs hundreds of times to detect errors, are inadequate. "If we can make program verification cheaper, it will become a major selling point for safety-critical software, such as flight-navigation systems" Ghani says.From "Verification System Aims to Guarantee Software Function" The Engineer (United Kingdom) (05/14/13) View Full Article

ComputerworldGoogle subscribes to a vision of the future that has users searching for information by communicating with their computers conversationally. The company has outlined a plan for search's future in which the search engine answers user queries as well as holds conversations with users and offers information before they even request it. Google has developed a voice-facilitated digital personal assistant similar to Apple's Siri with this goal in mind. However, analysts say Google's technology is more advanced than Siri and can be deployed on desktop systems. "They've lapped Siri," says analyst Patrick Moorhead. "The most important search improvements were around Google Now. The functionality is coming to the PC and they have added more voice actions. This provides a consistent and more comprehensive experience across phones, tablets, and PCs." Gartner analyst Brian Blau says Google is making search results more contextual and personalized, while Moorhead says voice search will offer even greater efficiency and fluidity. "This would be good for making appointments or searching for the right restaurant," he notes. "Usage will be very low at first, but as confidence and accuracy improves, it will be used more."From "Google Has 'Lapped Siri' With Sci-Fi-Like Search" Computerworld (05/16/13) Sharon Gaudin View Full Article

University of ViennaThe Legal Language Interoperability Services (LISE) project, funded by the European Union, focuses on improving terminological databases, with an emphasis on legal and administrative terminology. The project brings together translation scholars and terminologists from the University of Vienna, the Austrian Parliamentary Administration, the European Academy of Bolzano, ESTeam, and CrossLang. LISE is slated to run through July 2013, at which point the tools and methods developed will be put into practice, and the EU institutions will improve their databases using the project's results. "One person alone cannot maintain a database with more than 1,000 entries," says LISE project vice-coordinator Tanja Wissik. "We concentrate on improving the management and quality of terminological databases containing more than 1,000 entries." The research team developed special tools to combat the errors that commonly plague such databases. The Cleanup tool locates errors, duplicate entries, and terms attributed to the wrong language, while the Fillup tool adds new terms to the database and is particularly helpful with smaller languages, such as Maltese. "The goal is to facilitate the inclusion of all official languages, including those of accession countries," Wissik says. "Especially in the legal domain the correct terminology is crucial when translating documents." From "Good, Better, Best Practices in Terminology" University of Vienna (05/13/13) Veronika Schallhart View Full Article