This volume is the Proceedings of the First International Workshop on Entertainment Computing (IWEC 2002). Entertainment has been taking very important parts in our life by refreshing us and activating our creativity. Recently by the advancement of computers and networks new types of entertainment have been emerging such as video games, entertainment robots, and network games. As these new games have a strong power to change our lives, it is good time for people who work in this area to discuss various aspects of entertainment and to promote entertainment related researches. Based on these considerations, we have organized a first workshop on entertainment computing. This workshop brings together researchers, developers, and practitioners working in the area of entertainment computing. It covers wide range of entertainment computing such as theoretical issues, hardware/software issues, systems, human interfaces, and applications. The particular areas covered by the workshop are: 1. Computers & Games Computer game algorithms, modeling of players, web technologies for networked games, human interface technologies for game applications. 2. Home/Arcade Games and Interactive Movies Video game computer technologies, motion capture technologies, real-time computer graphics technologies, interactive movie systems, story generation for games/movies, human factors of video games.

Written by a AAA industry expert with over twenty years of experience, this book offers comprehensive coverage of the practical skills that all successful level designers need to know. It covers everything from practical production skills to the social and soft skills required to thrive in the games industry. The book begins with a theoretical and abstract approach that sets a common language for the later hard-skill applications and practical examples. These later chapters cover a wealth of practical skills for use during the concept phase, while creating layouts, scripting, and working with AI. The book includes essential chapters on topics such as social and soft skills, world building, level design direction, production, as well as how to gain a job in the industry. This book will be of great interest to all level designers, content leads and directors looking to enhance their skillset. It will also appeal to students of level and game design looking for tips on how to break into the industry.

"Intelligent Control" considers non-traditional modelling and control approaches to nonlinear systems. Fuzzy logic, neural networks and evolutionary computing techniques are the main tools used. The book presents a modular switching fuzzy logic controller where a PD-type fuzzy controller is executed first followed by a PI-type fuzzy controller thus improving the performance of the controller compared with a PID-type fuzzy controller.The advantage of the switching-type fuzzy controller is that it uses one rule-base thus minimises the rule-base during execution. A single rule-base is developed by merging the membership functions for change of error of the PD-type controller and sum of error of the PI-type controller. Membership functions are then optimized using evolutionary algorithms. Since the two fuzzy controllers were executed in series, necessary further tuning of the differential and integral scaling factors of the controller is then performed. Neural-network-based tuning for the scaling parameters of the fuzzy controller is then described and finally an evolutionary algorithm is applied to the neurally-tuned-fuzzy controller in which the sigmoidal function shape of the neural network is determined.

The important issue of stability is addressed and the text demonstrates empirically that the developed controller was stable within the operating range. The text concludes with ideas for future research to show the reader the potential for further study in this area.

"Intelligent Control "will be of interest to researchers from engineering and computer science backgrounds working in the intelligent and adaptive control."

From environmental management to land planning and geo-marketing, the number of application domains that may greatly benefit from using data enriched with spatio-temporal features is expanding very rapidly. Unfortunately, development of new spatio-temporal applications is hampered by the lack of conceptual design methods suited to cope with the additional complexity of spatio-temporal data. This complexity is obviously due to the particular semantics of space and time, but also to the need for multiple representations of the same reality to address the diversity of requirements from highly heterogeneous user communities. Conceptual design methods are also needed to facilitate the exchange and reuse of existing data sets, a must in geographical data management due to the high collection costs of the data. Yet, current practice in areas like geographical information systems or moving objects databases does not include conceptual design methods very well, if at all.

This book shows that a conceptual design approach for spatio-temporal databases is both feasible and easy to apprehend. While providing a firm basis through extensive discussion of traditional data modeling concepts, the major focus of the book is on modeling spatial and temporal information. Parent, Spaccapietra and Zimanyi provide a detailed and comprehensive description of an approach that fills the gap between application conceptual requirements and system capabilities, covering both data modeling and data manipulation features. The ideas presented summarize several years of research on the characteristics and description of space, time, and perception. In addition to the authors' own data modeling approach, MADS (Modeling of Application Data with Spatio-temporal features), the book also surveys alternative data models and approaches (from industry and academia) that target support of spatio-temporal modeling.

The reader will acquire intimate knowledge of both the traditional and innovative features that form a consistent data modeling approach. Visual notations and examples are employed extensively to illustrate the use of the various constructs. Therefore, this book is of major importance and interest to advanced professionals, researchers, and graduate or post-graduate students in the areas of spatio-temporal databases and geographical information systems.

"For anyone thinking of doing research in this field, or who is developing a system based on spatio-temporal data, this text is essential reading." (Mike Worboys, U Maine, Orono, ME, USA)

"The high-level semantic model presented and validated in this book provides essential guidance to researchers and implementers when improving the capabilities of data systems to serve the actual needs of applications and their users in the temporal and spatial domains that are so prevalent today." (Gio Wiederhold, Stanford U, CA, USA)"

Object-oriented database management systems (OODBMS) are used to imple ment and maintain large object databases on persistent storage. Regardless whether the underlying database model follows the object-oriented, the rela tional or the object-relational paradigm, a key feature of any DBMS product is content based access to data sets. On the one hand this feature provides user-friendly query interfaces based on predicates to describe the desired data. On the other hand it poses challenging questions regarding DBMS design and implementation as well as the application development process on top of the DBMS. The reason for the latter is that the actual query performance depends on a technically meaningful use of access support mechanisms. In particular, if chosen and applied properly, such a mechanism speeds up the execution of predicate based queries. In the object-oriented world, such queries may involve arbitrarily complex terms referring to inheritance hierarchies and aggregation paths. These features are attractive at the application level, however, they increase the complexity of appropriate access support mechanisms which are known to be technically non-trivial in the relational world."

The book reports on the 11th International Workshop on Railway Noise, held on 9 - 13 September, 2013, in Uddevalla, Sweden. The event, which was jointly organized by the Competence Centre Chalmers Railway Mechanics (CHARMEC) and the Departments of Applied Mechanics and Applied Acoustics at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden, covered a broad range of topics in the field of railway noise and vibration, including: prospects, legal regulations and perceptions; wheel and rail noise; prediction, measurements and monitoring; ground-borne vibration; squeal noise and structure-borne noise; and aerodynamic noise generated by high-speed trains. Further topics included: resilient track forms; grinding, corrugation and roughness; and interior noise and sound barriers. This book, which consists of a collection of peer-reviewed papers originally submitted to the workshop, not only provides readers with an overview of the latest developments in the field, but also offers scientists and engineers essential support in their daily efforts to identify, understand and solve a number of problems related to railway noise and vibration, and to achieve their ultimate goal of reducing the environmental impact of railway systems.

This book covers a range of statistical methods useful in the analysis of medical data, from the simple to the sophisticated, and shows how they may be applied using the latest versions of S-PLUS and S-PLUS 6. In each chapter several sets of medical data are explored and analysed using a mixture of graphical and model fitting approaches. At the end of each chapter the S-PLUS script files are listed, enabling readers to reproduce all the analyses and graphics in the chapter. These script files can be downloaded from a web site. The aim of the book is to show how to use S-PLUS as a powerful environment for undertaking a variety of statistical analyses from simple inference to complex model fitting, and for providing informative graphics. All such methods are of increasing importance in handling data from a variety of medical investigations including epidemiological studies and clinical trials. The mix of real data examples and background theory make this book useful for students and researchers alike. For the former, exercises are provided at the end of each chapter to increase their fluency in using the command line language of the S-PLUS software. Professor Brian Everitt is Head of the Department of Biostatistics and Computing at the Institute of Psychiatry in London and Sophia Rabe-Hesketh is a senior lecturer in the same department. Professor Everitt is the author of over 30 books on statistics including two previously co-authored with Dr. Rabe-Hesketh.

This is a practical perspective on simulation aimed at working scientists and engineers. Amply illustrated, the book provides many examples with computer coding. New topics, such as animation, concept modeling, and logic transfer are covered in detail.

This book presents a state-of-the art review of current perspectives on Communications and Multimedia Security. It contains the Proceedings of the 3rd Joint Working Conference of IFIP TC6 and TC11, arranged by the International Federation for Information Processing and held in Athens, Greece in September 1997. The book aims to cover the subject of Communications and Multimedia Systems Security, as fully as possible. It constitutes an essential reading for information technology security specialists; computer professionals; communication systems professionals; EDP managers; EDP auditors; managers, researchers and students working on the subject.

2014 International Conference on Multimedia, Communication and Computing Application (MCCA2014), Xiamen, China, Oct 16-17, 2014, provided a forum for experts and scholars of excellence from all over the world to present their latest work in the area of multimedia, communication and computing applications. In recent years, the multimedia technology has experienced rapid developments and applications are widely used in both our daily life and industrial manufacturing, such as games, education, entertainment, stocks and bonds, financial transactions, architectural design, communication etc. MCCA2014 received a large number of papers of which ninety-three papers were accepted for publicationg. These articles were divided into different sections: multimedia processing, communication systems, artificial intelligence and application.

Recent achievements in hardware and software developments have enabled the introduction of a revolutionary technology: in-memory data management. This technology supports the flexible and extremely fast analysis of massive amounts of data, such as diagnoses, therapies, and human genome data. This book shares the latest research results of applying in-memory data management to personalized medicine, changing it from computational possibility to clinical reality. The authors provide details on innovative approaches to enabling the processing, combination, and analysis of relevant data in real-time. The book bridges the gap between medical experts, such as physicians, clinicians, and biological researchers, and technology experts, such as software developers, database specialists, and statisticians. Topics covered in this book include - amongst others - modeling of genome data processing and analysis pipelines, high-throughput data processing, exchange of sensitive data and protection of intellectual property. Beyond that, it shares insights on research prototypes for the analysis of patient cohorts, topology analysis of biological pathways, and combined search in structured and unstructured medical data, and outlines completely new processes that have now become possible due to interactive data analyses.

Looking to become more efficient using Unity? How to Cheat in Unity 5 takes a no-nonsense approach to help you achieve fast and effective results with Unity 5. Geared towards the intermediate user, HTC in Unity 5 provides content beyond what an introductory book offers, and allows you to work more quickly and powerfully in Unity. Packed full with easy-to-follow methods to get the most from Unity, this book explores time-saving features for interface customization and scene management, along with productivity-enhancing ways to work with rendering and optimization. In addition, this book features a companion website at www.alanthorn.net, where you can download the book's companion files and also watch bonus tutorial video content. Learn bite-sized tips and tricks for effective Unity workflows Become a more powerful Unity user through interface customization Enhance your productivity with rendering tricks, better scene organization and more Better understand Unity asset and import workflows Learn techniques to save you time and money during development

Interviewing is a foundational user research tool that people assume they already possess. Everyone can ask questions, right? Unfortunately, that's not the case. Interviewing Users provides invaluable interviewing techniques and tools that enable you to conduct informative interviews with anyone. You'll move from simply gathering data to uncovering powerful insights about people.

In recent years, digital technologies have become more ubiquitous and integrated into everyday life. While once reserved mostly for personal uses, video games and similar innovations are now implemented across a variety of fields. Transforming Gaming and Computer Simulation Technologies across Industries is a pivotal reference source for the latest research on emerging simulation technologies and gaming innovations to enhance industry performance and dependency. Featuring extensive coverage across a range of relevant perspectives and topics, such as user research, player identification, and multi-user virtual environments, this book is ideally designed for engineers, professionals, practitioners, upper-level students, and academics seeking current research on gaming and computer simulation technologies across different industries. Topics Covered: Digital vs. Non-Digital Platforms Ludic Simulations Mathematical Simulations Medical Gaming Multi-User Virtual Environments Player Experiences Player Identification User Research

Multimedia is changing the design of database and information retrieval systems. The accumulation of audio, image, and video content is of little use in these systems if the content cannot be retrieved on demand, a critical requirement that has led to the development of new technologies for the analysis and indexing of media data. In turn, these technologies seek to derive information or features from a data type that can facilitate rapid retrieval, efficient compression, and logical presentation of the data. Significant work that has not been addressed, however, is the benefits of analyzing more than one data type simultaneously. Computed Synchronization for Multimedia Applications presents a new framework for the simultaneous analysis of multiple media data objects. The primary benefit of this analysis is computed synchronization, a temporal and spatial alignment of multiple media objects. Computed Synchronization for Multimedia Applications also presents several specific applications and a general structure for the solution of computed synchronization problems. The applications demonstrate the use of this structure. Two applications in particular are described in detail: the alignment of text to speech audio, and the alignment of simultaneous English language translations of ancient texts. Many additional applications are discussed as future uses of the technology. Computed Synchronization for Multimedia Applications is useful to researchers, students, and developers seeking to apply computed synchronization in many fields. It is also suitable as a reference for a graduate-level course in multimedia data retrieval.

Representation and Retrieval of Visual Media in Multimedia Systems brings together in one place important contributions and up-to-date researcg results in this important area. Representation and Retrieval of Visual Media in Multimedia Systems serves as an excellent reference, providing insight into some of the most important research issues in the field.

This textbook covers the theoretical backgrounds and practical aspects of image, video and audio feature expression, e.g., color, texture, edge, shape, salient point and area, motion, 3D structure, audio/sound in time, frequency and cepstral domains, structure and melody. Up-to-date algorithms for estimation, search, classification and compact expression of feature data are described in detail. Concepts of signal decomposition (such as segmentation, source tracking and separation), as well as composition, mixing, effects, and rendering, are discussed. Numerous figures and examples help to illustrate the aspects covered. The book was developed on the basis of a graduate-level university course, and most chapters are supplemented by problem-solving exercises. The book is also a self-contained introduction both for researchers and developers of multimedia content analysis systems in industry.

Werbegrafiker, DTPler, Fotografen und alle, die Abbildungen und Illustrationen mit dem Computer herstellen, benutzen Mal- und Retuscheprogramme. Diese Programme enthalten eine groAe Zahl von Werkzeugen (Filter), mit deren Hilfe es mAglich ist, Bilder und Fotos in unterschiedlichster Weise zu erzeugen, zu bearbeiten und zu verfremden, deren Anwendung jedoch umfangreiche Spezialkenntnisse voraussetzt. Das Buch erklArt anhand zahlreicher Illustrationen (teilweise farbig), wie diese Werkzeuge effektiv benutzt werden und welche Ergebnisse man mit welchen Einstellungen erhalten kann. Die Darstellung ist programmA1/4bergreifend. Dadurch ist es mAglich, gezielt die gewA1/4nschten Effekte und Programme zu finden und anzuwenden. FA1/4r Macintosh und Windows!

This is a book for people who love mechanics of composite materials and ? MATLAB . We will use the popular computer package MATLAB as a matrix calculator for doing the numerical calculations needed in mechanics of c- posite materials. In particular, the steps of the mechanical calculations will be emphasized in this book. The reader will not ?nd ready-made MATLAB programs for use as black boxes. Instead step-by-step solutions of composite material mechanics problems are examined in detail using MATLAB. All the problems in the book assume linear elastic behavior in structural mechanics. The emphasis is not on mass computations or programming, but rather on learning the composite material mechanics computations and understanding of the underlying concepts. The basic aspects of the mechanics of ?ber-reinforced composite materials are covered in this book. This includes lamina analysis in both the local and global coordinate systems, laminate analysis, and failure theories of a lamina.

Amid the restless evil of Sanctuary, only the Horadrim-an ancient order of heroes and scholars-wield the knowledge needed to light the way for humanity. In the Book of Lorath, join Lorath Nahr, one of the last of the dwindling Horadrim, on a journey through Sanctuary's most powerful relics and the stories behind them. It is Lorath's hope that this volume will preserve his knowledge for all time . . . and pass it down to those who will inherit the fight against the Prime Evils. Direct from the Diablo (R) development team and award-winning author Matthew J. Kirby, this immersive, must-have compendium with all-new illustrations showcases the artifacts that have often been-and might yet be-the key to tipping the fate of the world.

An embedded system is loosely defined as any system that utilizes electronics but is not perceived or used as a general-purpose computer. Traditionally, one or more electronic circuits or microprocessors are literally embedded in the system, either taking up roles that used to be performed by mechanical devices, or providing functionality that is not otherwise possible. The goal of this book is to investigate how formal methods can be applied to the domain of embedded system design. The emphasis is on the specification, representation, validation, and design exploration of such systems from a high-level perspective. The authors review the framework upon which the theories and experiments are based, and through which the formal methods are linked to synthesis and simulation. A formal verification methodology is formulated to verify general properties of the designs and demonstrate that this methodology is efficient in dealing with the problem of complexity and effective in finding bugs. However, manual intervention in the form of abstraction selection and separation of timing and functionality is required. It is conjectured that, for specific properties, efficient algorithms exist for completely automatic formal validations of systems. Synchronous Equivalence: Formal Methods for Embedded Systems presents a brand new formal approach to high-level equivalence analysis. It opens design exploration avenues previously uncharted. It is a work that can stand alone but at the same time is fully compatible with the synthesis and simulation framework described in another book by Kluwer Academic Publishers Hardware-Software Co-Design of Embedded Systems: The POLIS Approach, by Balarin et al. Synchronous Equivalence: Formal Methods for Embedded Systems will be of interest to embedded system designers (automotive electronics, consumer electronics, and telecommunications), micro-controller designers, CAD developers and students, as well as IP providers, architecture platform designers, operating system providers, and designers of VLSI circuits and systems.

Computational inference is based on an approach to statistical methods that uses modern computational power to simulate distributional properties of estimators and test statistics. This book describes computationally intensive statistical methods in a unified presentation, emphasizing techniques, such as the PDF decomposition, that arise in a wide range of methods.

This book collects peer-reviewed contributions on modern statistical methods and topics, stemming from the third workshop on Analytical Methods in Statistics, AMISTAT 2019, held in Liberec, Czech Republic, on September 16-19, 2019. Real-life problems demand statistical solutions, which in turn require new and profound mathematical methods. As such, the book is not only a collection of solved problems but also a source of new methods and their practical extensions. The authoritative contributions focus on analytical methods in statistics, asymptotics, estimation and Fisher information, robustness, stochastic models and inequalities, and other related fields; further, they address e.g. average autoregression quantiles, neural networks, weighted empirical minimum distance estimators, implied volatility surface estimation, the Grenander estimator, non-Gaussian component analysis, meta learning, and high-dimensional errors-in-variables models.