Cookies Policy
The website need some cookies and similar means to function. If you permit us, we will use those means to collect data on your visits for aggregated statistics to improve our service. Find out More
Accept Reject
  • Menu
Publications

2023

An Introduction to the Evaluation of Perception Algorithms and LiDAR Point Clouds Using a Copula-Based Outlier Detector

Authors
Reis, N; da Silva, JM; Correia, MV;

Publication
REMOTE SENSING

Abstract
The increased demand for and use of autonomous driving and advanced driver assistance systems has highlighted the issue of abnormalities occurring within the perception layers, some of which may result in accidents. Recent publications have noted the lack of standardized independent testing formats and insufficient methods with which to analyze, verify, and qualify LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging)-acquired data and their subsequent labeling. While camera-based approaches benefit from a significant amount of long-term research, images captured through the visible spectrum can be unreliable in situations with impaired visibility, such as dim lighting, fog, and heavy rain. A redoubled focus upon LiDAR usage would combat these shortcomings; however, research involving the detection of anomalies and the validation of gathered data is few and far between when compared to its counterparts. This paper aims to contribute to expand the knowledge on how to evaluate LiDAR data by introducing a novel method with the ability to detect these patterns and complement other performance evaluators while using a statistical approach. Although it is preliminary, the proposed methodology shows promising results in the evaluation of an algorithm's confidence score, the impact that weather and road conditions may have on data, and fringe cases in which the data may be insufficient or otherwise unusable.

2023

Shape-A-Getti: A haptic device for getting multiple shapes using a simple actuator

Authors
Barbosa, F; Mendes, D; Rodrigues, R;

Publication
COMPUTERS & GRAPHICS-UK

Abstract
Haptic feedback in Virtual Reality is commonly provided through wearable or grounded devices adapted to specific scenarios and situations. Shape-changing devices allow for the physical representation of different virtual objects but are still a minority, complex, and usually have long transformation times. We present Shape-a-getti, a novel ungrounded, non-wearable, and graspable haptic device that can quickly change between different radially symmetrical shapes. It uses a single actuator to rotate several identical poles distributed along a radius to render the different shapes. The format of the poles defines the possible shapes, and in our prototype, we used one that could render concave, straight, and convex shapes with different radii. We conducted a user evaluation with 21 participants asking them to recognize virtual objects by grasping the Shape-a-getti. Despite having difficulties distinguishing between some objects with very similar shapes, participants could successfully identify virtual objects with different shapes rendered by our device. (c) 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).

2023

Assessing Cybersecurity Hygiene and Cyber Threats Awareness in the Campus - A Case Study of Higher Education Institutions in Portugal and Poland

Authors
Oliveira, L; Chmielewski, A; Rutecka, P; Cicha, K; Rizun, M; Torres, N; Pinto, P;

Publication
2023 IEEE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON CYBER SECURITY AND RESILIENCE, CSR

Abstract
Cybersecurity skills are of utmost importance to prevent or mitigate the impact of cyberattacks. In higher education, there are graduations related to Information Technology (IT), where students are expected to develop technical skills, including cybersecurity. Thus, it is relevant to assess students' cybersecurity awareness regarding cybersecurity hygiene and cyber threats when they start their academic studies and to verify whether there are context-dependent differences. This paper presents the results of an assessment regarding the cybersecurity awareness level of 110 first-year students from computer science graduations from two different countries, Poland and Portugal. The assessment was designed as a survey divided into the following two main groups of questions: (1) awareness regarding cybersecurity hygiene and (2) awareness regarding major cyber threats considered in the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) 2021 cyber threat report. The survey results show that Polish and Portuguese students present different self-perceptions and knowledge regarding cybersecurity hygiene and knowledge of cybersecurity. In these areas, Polish students are generally more confident than Portuguese students. Also, Polish students presented better scores around 70%, against the ones obtained by the Portuguese students, scoring around 58%.

2023

Myocardial Infarction Prediction Using Deep Learning

Authors
Cruz, C; Leite, A; Pires, EJS; Pereira, LT;

Publication
Lecture Notes of the Institute for Computer Sciences, Social-Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering, LNICST

Abstract
Myocardial infarction, known as heart attack, is one of the leading causes of world death. It occurs when blood heart flow is interrupted by part of coronary artery occlusion, causing the ischemic episode to last longer, creating a change in the patient’s ECG. In this work, a method was developed for predicting patients with MI through Frank 3-lead ECG extracted from Physionet’s PTB ECG Diagnostic Database and using instantaneous frequency and spectral entropy to extract features. Two neural networks were applied: Long Short-Term Memory and Bi-Long Short-Term Memory, obtaining a better result with the first one, with an accuracy of 78%. © 2023, ICST Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering.

2023

HEP-Frame: an efficient tool for big data applications at the LHC

Authors
Pereira, A; Onofre, A; Proenca, A;

Publication
EUROPEAN PHYSICAL JOURNAL PLUS

Abstract
HEP-Frame is a new C++ package designed to efficiently perform analyses of datasets from a very large number of events, like those available at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, Geneva. It mainly targets high-performance servers and mini-clusters, and it was designed for natural science researchers with a user-friendly interface to access structured databases. HEP-Frame automatically evaluates the underlying computing resources and builds an adequate code skeleton when creating a data analysis application. At run-time, HEP-Frame analyses a sequence of datasets exploring the available parallelism in the code and hardware resources: it concurrently reads inputs from a user-defined data structure and processes them, following the user-specific sequence of requirements to select relevant data; it manages the efficient execution of that sequence; and it outputs results in userdefined objects (e.g., ROOT structures), stored together with the used input dataset. This paper shows how a domain expert software development can benefit from HEP-Frame, and how it significantly improved the performance of analyses of large datasets produced in proton-proton collisions at the LHC. Two case studies are discussed: the associated production of top quarks together with a Higgs boson (t (t) over barH) at the LHC, and a double- and single-top quark productions at the high-luminosity phase of the LHC (HL-LHC). Results show that the HEP-Frame awareness of the analysis code behaviour and structure, and the underlying hardware system, provides powerful and transparent parallelization mechanisms that largely improve the execution time of data analysis applications.

2023

Computing Short Films Using Language-Guided Diffusion and Vocoding Through Virtual Timelines of Summaries

Authors
Arandas, L; Carvalhais, M; Grierson, M;

Publication
INSAM Journal of Contemporary Music, Art and Technology

Abstract
Language-guided generative models are increasingly used in audiovisual production. Image diffusion allows for the development of video sequences and some of its coordination can be established by text prompts. This research automates a video production pipeline leveraging CLIP-guidance with longform text inputs and a separate text-to-speech system. We introduce a method for producing frame-accurate video and audio summaries using a virtual timeline and document a set of video outputs with diverging parameters. Our approach was applied in the production of the film Irreplaceable Biography and contributes to a future where multimodal generative architectures are set as underlying mechanisms to establish visual sequences in time. We contribute to a practice where language modelling is part of a shared and learned representation which can support professional video production, specifically used as a vehicle throughout the composition process as potential videography in physical space.

  • 479
  • 4206