The book presents the challenges inherent in the paradigm shift of network systems from static to highly dynamic distributed systems - it proposes solutions that the symbiotic nature of biological systems can provide into altering networking systems to adapt to these changes. The author discuss how biological systems - which have the inherent capabilities of evolving, self-organizing, self-repairing and flourishing with time - are inspiring researchers to take opportunities from the biology domain and map them with the problems faced in network domain. The book revolves around the central idea of bio-inspired systems -- it begins by exploring why biology and computer network research are such a natural match. This is followed by presenting a broad overview of biologically inspired research in network systems -- it is classified by the biological field that inspired each topic and by the area of networking in which that topic lies. Each case elucidates how biological concepts have been most successfully applied in various domains. Nevertheless, it also presents a case study discussing the security aspects of wireless sensor networks and how biological solution stand out in comparison to optimized solutions. Furthermore, it also discusses novel biological solutions for solving problems in diverse engineering domains such as mechanical, electrical, civil, aerospace, energy and agriculture. The readers will not only get proper understanding of the bio inspired systems but also better insight for developing novel bio inspired solutions.

The second volume of this research monograph describes a number of applications of Artificial Intelligence in the field of Customer Relationship Management with the focus of solving customer problems. We design a system that tries to understand the customer complaint, his mood, and what can be done to resolve an issue with the product or service. To solve a customer problem efficiently, we maintain a dialogue with the customer so that the problem can be clarified and multiple ways to fix it can be sought. We introduce dialogue management based on discourse analysis: a systematic linguistic way to handle the thought process of the author of the content to be delivered. We analyze user sentiments and personal traits to tailor dialogue management to individual customers. We also design a number of dialogue scenarios for CRM with replies following certain patterns and propose virtual and social dialogues for various modalities of communication with a customer. After we learn to detect fake content, deception and hypocrisy, we examine the domain of customer complaints. We simulate mental states, attitudes and emotions of a complainant and try to predict his behavior. Having suggested graph-based formal representations of complaint scenarios, we machine-learn them to identify the best action the customer support organization can chose to retain the complainant as a customer.

This book features the contributions presented at the 5th International KES Conference on Smart Education and e-Learning, which took place in Gold Coast, Australia, June 20-22, 2018. The peer-reviewed papers are grouped into several interconnected parts: Part 1 - Smart Education: Systems and Technology, Part 2 - Smart Pedagogy, Part 3 - Smart Education: Case Studies and Research, and Part 4: Sustainable Learning Technologies: Smart Higher Education Futures. Smart education and smart e-learning are emerging and rapidly growing areas with the potential to transform existing teaching strategies, learning environments, and educational activities and technology in the classroom. Smart education and smart e-learning focus on enabling instructors to develop new ways of achieving excellence in teaching in highly technological smart classrooms, and providing students with new opportunities to maximize their success and select the best options for their education, location and learning style, as well as the mode of content delivery. This book serves as a useful source of research data and valuable information on current research projects, best practices and case studies for faculty, scholars, Ph.D. students, administrators, and practitioners - all those who are interested in smart education and smart e-learning.

This contributed volume, written by leading international researchers, reviews the latest developments of genetic programming (GP) and its key applications in solving current real world problems, such as energy conversion and management, financial analysis, engineering modeling and design, and software engineering, to name a few. Inspired by natural evolution, the use of GP has expanded significantly in the last decade in almost every area of science and engineering. Exploring applications in a variety of fields, the information in this volume can help optimize computer programs throughout the sciences. Taking a hands-on approach, this book provides an invaluable reference to practitioners, providing the necessary details required for a successful application of GP and its branches to challenging problems ranging from drought prediction to trading volatility. It also demonstrates the evolution of GP through major developments in GP studies and applications. It is suitable for advanced students who wish to use relevant book chapters as a basis to pursue further research in these areas, as well as experienced practitioners looking to apply GP to new areas. The book also offers valuable supplementary material for design courses and computation in engineering.

Global cities are facing an almost unprecedented challenge of change. As they re-emerge from the Covid 19 pandemic and get ready to face climate change and other, potentially existential threats, they need to look for new ways to support wealth and wellbeing creation - leveraging Big Data and AI and suing them into their physical reality and to become greener, more inclusive and resilient, hence sustainable. This book describes how new digital technologies could be used to design digital and physical twins of cities that are able to feed into each other to optimize their working and ability to create new wealth and wellbeing. The book also describes how to increase cities' social and economic resilience during crisis time and addressing their almost fatal weaknesses - as it became all too obvious during the recent COVID 19 crisis. Also, the book presents a framework for a critical discussion of the concept of "smart-city", suggesting its development into a "cyber" and "meta" one - meaning, not only digital systems can allow physical ones (e.g. cities, citizens, households and companies) to become "smarter", but also the vice versa is true, as off line data and real life behaviours can support the optimization and development of virtual brains as a sum of big data and artificial intelligence apps all sitting "over the cloud". An analysis of the fundamental dynamics of this emerging "info-telligence" economy, and of the potential role of big digital players like Amazon, Google and Facebook is then paving the way to discuss a few strategic forays on how traditional sectors such as financial services, real estate, TMT or health could also evolve, leveraging Big Data and AI in a cyber-physical integrated setting. Finally, a number of thought provoking use cases that could be designed around individuals, and to improve the success and the resilience of households and companies living and working in urban areas are discussed, as an example of one of the most exciting future markets to come: the one of global, sustainable cities

This book introduces the latest visual effects (VFX) techniques that can be applied to game programming. The usefulness of the physicality-based VFX techniques, such as water, fire, smoke, and wind, has been proven through active involvement and utilization in movies and images. However, they have yet to be extensively applied in the game industry, due to the high technical barriers. Readers of this book can learn not only the theories about the latest VFX techniques, but also the methodology of game programming, step by step. The practical VFX processing techniques introduced in this book will provide very helpful information to game programmers. Due to the lack of instructional books about VFX-related game programming, the demand for knowledge regarding these high-tech VFXs might be very high.

This book addresses the technological evolution of modern warfare due to unmanned systems and the growing capacity for cyberwarfare. The increasing involvement of unmanned means and methods of warfare can lead to a total removal of humans from the navigation, command and decision-making processes in the control of unmanned systems, and as such away from participation in hostilities - the "dehumanization of warfare." This raises the question of whether and how today's law is suitable for governing the dehumanization of warfare effectively. Which rules are relevant? Do interpretations of relevant rules need to be reviewed or is further and adapted regulation necessary? Moreover, ethical reasoning and computer science developments also have to be taken into account in identifying problems. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach the book focuses primarily on international humanitarian law, with related ethics and computer science aspects included in the discussion and the analysis.

This edited book presents scientific results of the 4th International Conference on Applied Computing and Information Technology (ACIT 2016) which was held on December 12-14, 2016 in Las Vegas, USA. The aim of this conference was to bring together researchers and scientists, businessmen and entrepreneurs, teachers, engineers, computer users, and students to discuss the numerous fields of computer science and to share their experiences and exchange new ideas and information in a meaningful way. The aim of this conference was also to bring out the research results about all aspects (theory, applications and tools) of computer and information science, and to discuss the practical challenges encountered along the way and the solutions adopted to solve them. The conference organizers selected the best papers from those papers accepted for presentation at the conference. The papers were chosen based on review scores submitted by members of the Program Committee, and underwent further rigorous rounds of review. This book captures 11 of the conference's most promising papers, and the readers impatiently await the important contributions that they know these authors are going to bring to the field of computer and information science.

Artificial intelligence is a constantly advancing field that requires models in order to accurately create functional systems. The use of natural acumen to create artificial intelligence creates a field of research in which the natural and the artificial meet in a new and innovative way. Critical Developments and Applications of Swarm Intelligence is a critical academic publication that examines developing research, technologies, and function regarding natural and artificial acumen specifically, in regards to self-organized systems. Featuring coverage on a broad range of topics such as evolutionary algorithms, optimization techniques, and computational comparison, this book is geared toward academicians, students, researchers, and engineers seeking relevant and current research on the progressive research based on the implementation of swarm intelligence in self-organized systems.

This book addresses a wide range of topics in areas of intelligent systems and artificial intelligence and their real-world applications. The 22 chapters have been selected from the 168 papers published in the proceedings of the SAI Intelligent Systems Conference 2016 (IntelliSys 2016), which received highly positive feedback in peer reviews. The IntelliSys 2016 conference was held in London on 21-22 September 2016. This fascinating book offers readers state-of-the-art intelligent methods and techniques for solving real-world problems along with a vision of future research.

This book highlights some of the most fascinating current uses, thought-provoking changes, and biggest challenges that Big Data means for our society. The explosive growth of data and advances in Big Data analytics have created a new frontier for innovation, competition, productivity, and well-being in almost every sector of our society, as well as a source of immense economic and societal value. From the derivation of customer feedback-based insights to fraud detection and preserving privacy; better medical treatments; agriculture and food management; and establishing low-voltage networks - many innovations for the greater good can stem from Big Data. Given the insights it provides, this book will be of interest to both researchers in the field of Big Data, and practitioners from various fields who intend to apply Big Data technologies to improve their strategic and operational decision-making processes.

This book examines the digital transformation of identity in the age of artificial intelligence. It articulates the nature of identity of human beings, based on cutting-edge knowledge in the field of AI and big-data sciences, and discusses identity by drawing on comprehensive investigations in digital social sciences and exploring wider disciplines related to philosophy, ethics, sociology, STS, computer sciences, engineering, and medical sciences. Reviewing contemporary conditions proliferated by advanced technological trends and unveiling social mechanisms of human identity, this book appeals to undergraduate and graduate students as well as academic researchers.

Decades of scientific research on neurophysiology have proven emotions are not simply a minor aspect of human activity, but rather a fundamental one. The Handbook of Research on Synthetic Emotions and Sociable Robotics: New Applications in Affective Computing and Artificial Intelligence focuses on the integration of emotions into artificial environments such as computers and robotics. Written by an international collaboration of experts within the field, this Handbook of Research covers topics such as emotion simulation and emotion synthetic development.

The "2019 DigitalFUTURES - The 1st International Conference on Computational Design and Robotic Fabrication (CDRF 2019)" provides an international platform for advanced scientific research papers on the digital technology of architectural design and construction. The themes of the papers include, but are not limited to, architectural theories, tools, methods and procedures in material intelligence, data intelligence; computational intelligence, and robotic intelligence.

This volume contains revised and extended research articles written by prominent researchers who participated in the international conference on Advances in Engineering Technologies, which was held in Hong Kong, 12-14 March, 2014. Topics covered include engineering physics, engineering mathematics, scientific computing, control theory, artificial intelligence, electrical engineering, communications systems, and industrial applications. The book offers the state of art of tremendous advances in engineering technologies and physical science and applications, and also serves as an excellent reference work for researchers and graduate students working with/on engineering technologies and physical science and applications.

The book studies the existing and potential connections between Social Network Analysis (SNA) and Formal Concept Analysis (FCA) by showing how standard SNA techniques, usually based on graph theory, can be supplemented by FCA methods, which rely on lattice theory. The book presents contributions to the following areas: acquisition of terminological knowledge from social networks, knowledge communities, individuality computation, other types of FCA-based analysis of bipartite graphs (two-mode networks), multimodal clustering, community detection and description in one-mode and multi-mode networks, adaptation of the dual-projection approach to weighted bipartite graphs, extensions to the Kleinberg's HITS algorithm as well as attributed graph analysis.

This book presents the edited proceedings of the 16th IEEE/ACIS International Conference on Computer and Information Science (ICIS 2017), which was held on May 24-26, 2017 in Wuhan, China. The aim of this conference was to bring together researchers and scientists, businessmen and entrepreneurs, teachers, engineers, computer users, and students to discuss the various fields of computer science, share their experiences and exchange new ideas and information. The research results included relate to all aspects (theory, applications and tools) of computer and information science, and discuss the practical challenges encountered and the solutions adopted to solve them. The work selected represents 17 of the most promising papers from the conference, written by authors who are certain to make further significant contributions to the field of computer and information science.

Business intelligence applications are of vital importance as they help organizations manage, develop, and communicate intangible assets such as information and knowledge. Organizations that have undertaken business intelligence initiatives have benefited from increases in revenue, as well as significant cost savings. Business Intelligence and Agile Methodologies for Knowledge-Based Organizations: Cross-Disciplinary Applications highlights the marriage between business intelligence and knowledge management through the use of agile methodologies. Through its fifteen chapters, this book offers perspectives on the integration between process modeling, agile methodologies, business intelligence, knowledge management, and strategic management.

This book focuses on dialog from a varied combination of fields: Linguistics, Philosophy of Language and Computation. It builds on the hypothesis that meaning in human communication arises at the discourse level rather than at the word level. The book offers a complex analytical framework and integration of the central areas of research around human communication. The content revolves around meaning but it also gives evidence of the connection among different points of view. Besides discussing issues of general interest to the field, the book triggers theoretical argumentation that is currently under scientific discussion. It examines such topics as immanent reasoning joined with Recanati's lekta and free enrichment, challenges of internet conversation, inner dialogs, cognition and language, and the relation between assertion and denial. It proposes a dialogical framework for intra-negotiation and gives a geolinguistic perspective on spoken discourse. Finally, it examines dialog and abduction and sheds light on a generation of dialog contexts by means of multimodal logic applied to speech acts.

Unifying Themes in Complex Systems is a well-established series of carefully edited conference proceedings that serve to document and archive the progress made regarding cross-fertilization in this field. The International Conference on Complex Systems (ICCS) creates a unique atmosphere for scientists from all fields, engineers, physicians, executives, and a host of other professionals, allowing them to explore common themes and applications of complex systems science. With this new volume, Unifying Themes in Complex Systems continues to establish common ground between the wide-ranging domains of complex systems science.

This book, written from the perspective of a designer and educator, brings to the attention of media historians, fellow practitioners and students the innovative practices of leading moving image designers. Moving image design, whether viewed as television and movie title sequences, movie visual effects, animating infographics, branding and advertising, or as an art form, is being increasingly recognised as an important dynamic part of contemporary culture. For many practitioners this has been long overdue. Central to these designers' practice is the hybridisation of digital and heritage methods. Macdonald uses interviews with world-leading motion graphic designers, moving image artists and Oscar nominated visual effects supervisors to examine the hybrid moving image, which re-invigorates both heritage practices and the handmade and analogue crafts. Now is the time to ensure that heritage skills do not atrophy, but that their qualities and provenance are understood as potent components with digital practices in new hybrids.

This book provides a concise overview of VR systems and their cybersickness effects, giving a description of possible reasons and existing solutions to reduce or avoid them. Moreover, the book explores the impact that understanding how efficiently our brains are producing a coherent and rich representation of the perceived outside world would have on helping VR technics to be more efficient and friendly to use. Getting Rid of Cybersickness will help readers to understand the underlying technics and social stakes involved, from engineering design to autonomous vehicle motion sickness to video games, with the hope of providing an insight of VR sickness induced by the emerging immersive technologies. This book will therefore be of interest to academics, researchers and designers within the field of VR, as well as industrial users of VR and driving simulators.

This book provides a clear insight about IoD and its requirements, protocols, performance improvement, evaluation methods and challenging aspects, to the readers at one place. The recent enhancement of integrating drone with the Internet of things (IoT) technology promises tremendous global development. The top applications of the Internet of Drones (IoD) are expected to be infrastructure & building monitoring, fire service systems, insurance investigations, retail fulfilment, agriculture and forensic evidence collections. Conventional drone technology is enhanced with the Internet and other emerging technologies such as cloud computing, big data, artificial intelligence and communication networks which open up for enormous opportunities like ahead for on-demand service-oriented and user-friendly IoD applications. This book presents extensive knowledge about the role of IoT and emerging technology in drone networks. It focuses on major research areas of the Internet of Drones and its related applications. It provides a strong knowledge platform towards the Internet of Drones for graduates, researchers, data scientists, educators and drone hobbyists.

Information is becoming the raw material of modern society; it is the driving force of modern service industries. Our information spaces have been pervaded by technology and are characterized by their increasing size and complexity. Furthermore, access to information spaces and the ability to use them effectively and efficiently have become key economic success factors. Interdisciplinary Advances in Adaptive and Intelligent Assistant Systems: Concepts, Techniques, Applications, and Use encourages knowledge on effective and efficient approaches to accessing information spaces. It fosters an emerging key competence: accessing and processing large, highly complex corpora of information by applying collaborative, intelligent technical systems. It is the mission of this book to trigger interdisciplinary research and cooperation at the intersection between information sciences, information technologies and communication sciences. This publication also raises awareness of the field s importance in business and management communities, thus contributing to the dissemination of scientific ideas and insights.