Search Results (4)

Knowledge communication in cultural heritage and digital humanities currently faces two challenges, which this paper addresses: On the one hand, data-driven storytelling in these fields has mainly focused on human protagonists, while other essential entities (such as artworks and artifacts, institutions, or places) have been neglected. On the other hand, storytelling tools rarely support the larger chains of data practices, which are required to generate and shape the data and visualizations needed for such stories. This paper introduces the InTaVia platform, which has been developed to bridge these gaps. It supports the practices of data retrieval, creation, curation, analysis, and communication with coherent visualization support for multiple types of entities. We illustrate the added value of this open platform for storytelling with four case studies, focusing on (a) the life of Albrecht Dürer (person biography), (b) the Saliera salt cellar by Benvenuto Cellini (object biography), (c) the artist community of Lake Tuusula (group biography), and (d) the history of the Hofburg building complex in Vienna (place biography). Numerous suggestions for future research arise from this undertaking. Full article

An automatic “museum audio guide” is presented as a new type of audio guide for museums. The device consists of a headset equipped with a camera that captures exhibit pictures and the eyes of things computer vision device (EoT). The EoT board is capable of recognizing artworks using features from accelerated segment test (FAST) keypoints and a random forest classifier, and is able to be used for an entire day without the need to recharge the batteries. In addition, an application logic has been implemented, which allows for a special highly-efficient behavior upon recognition of the painting. Two different use case scenarios have been implemented. The main testing was performed with a piloting phase in a real world museum. Results show that the system keeps its promises regarding its main benefit, which is simplicity of use and the user’s preference of the proposed system over traditional audioguides. Full article

Embedded systems control and monitor a great deal of our reality. While some “classic” features are intrinsically necessary, such as low power consumption, rugged operating ranges, fast response and low cost, these systems have evolved in the last few years to emphasize connectivity functions, thus contributing to the Internet of Things paradigm. A myriad of sensing/computing devices are being attached to everyday objects, each able to send and receive data and to act as a unique node in the Internet. Apart from the obvious necessity to process at least some data at the edge (to increase security and reduce power consumption and latency), a major breakthrough will arguably come when such devices are endowed with some level of autonomous “intelligence”. Intelligent computing aims to solve problems for which no efficient exact algorithm can exist or for which we cannot conceive an exact algorithm. Central to such intelligence is Computer Vision (CV), i.e., extracting meaning from images and video. While not everything needs CV, visual information is the richest source of information about the real world: people, places and things. The possibilities of embedded CV are endless if we consider new applications and technologies, such as deep learning, drones, home robotics, intelligent surveillance, intelligent toys, wearable cameras, etc. This paper describes the Eyes of Things (EoT) platform, a versatile computer vision platform tackling those challenges and opportunities. Full article

A new class of tri-axial miniature magnetometer consisting of a planar fluxgate structure with an orthogonal ferromagnetic fluxguide centrally situated over the magnetic cores is presented. The magnetic sensor possesses a cruciform ferromagnetic core placed diagonally upon the square excitation coil under which two pairs of pick-up coils for in-plane field detection are allocated. Effective principles and analysis of the magnetometer for 3-D field vectors are described and verified by numerically electromagnetic simulation for the excitation and magnetization of the ferromagnetic cores. The sensor is operated by applying the second-harmonic detection technique that can verify V-B relationship and device responsivity. Experimental characterization of the miniature fluxgate device demonstrates satisfactory spatial magnetic field detection results in terms of responsivity and noise spectrum. As a result, at an excitation frequency of 50 kHz, a maximum in-plane responsivity of 122.4 V/T appears and a maximum out-of-plane responsivity of 11.6 V/T is obtained as well. The minimum field noise spectra are found to be 0.11 nT/√Hz and 6.29 nT/√Hz, respectively, in X- and Z-axis at 1 Hz under the same excitation frequency. Compared with the previous tri-axis fluxgate devices, this planar magnetic sensor with an orthogonal fluxguide provides beneficial enhancement in both sensory functionality and manufacturing simplicity. More importantly, this novel device concept is considered highly suitable for the extension to a silicon sensor made by the current CMOS-MEMS technologies, thus emphasizing its emerging applications of field detection in portable industrial electronics. Full article