This book provides an overview of the current advances in artificial intelligence and neural nets. Artificial intelligence (AI) methods have shown great capabilities in modelling, prediction and recognition tasks supporting human-machine interaction. At the same time, the issue of emotion has gained increasing attention due to its relevance in achieving human-like interaction with machines. The real challenge is taking advantage of the emotional characterization of humans' interactions to make computers interfacing with them emotionally and socially credible. The book assesses how and to what extent current sophisticated computational intelligence tools might support the multidisciplinary research on the characterization of appropriate system reactions to human emotions and expressions in interactive scenarios. Discussing the latest recent research trends, innovative approaches and future challenges in AI from interdisciplinary perspectives, it is a valuable resource for researchers and practitioners in academia and industry.

This book proposes neural networks algorithms and advanced machine learning techniques for processing nonlinear dynamic signals such as audio, speech, financial signals, feedback loops, waveform generation, filtering, equalization, signals from arrays of sensors, and perturbations in the automatic control of industrial production processes. It also discusses the drastic changes in financial, economic, and work processes that are currently being experienced by the computational and engineering sciences community. Addresses key aspects, such as the integration of neural algorithms and procedures for the recognition, the analysis and detection of dynamic complex structures and the implementation of systems for discovering patterns in data, the book highlights the commonalities between computational intelligence (CI) and information and communications technologies (ICT) to promote transversal skills and sophisticated processing techniques. This book is a valuable resource for a. The academic research community b. The ICT market c. PhD students and early stage researchers d. Companies, research institutes e. Representatives from industry and standardization bodies

The book is based on interdisciplinary research on various aspects and dynamics of human multimodal signal exchanges. It discusses realistic application scenarios where human interaction is the focus, in order to identify new methods for data processing and data flow coordination through synchronization, and optimization of new encoding features combining contextually enacted communicative signals, and develop shared digital data repositories and annotation standards for benchmarking the algorithmic feasibility and successive implementation of believable human-computer interaction (HCI) systems. This book is a valuable resource for a. the research community, PhD students, early stage researchers c. schools, hospitals, and rehabilitation and assisted-living centers e. the ICT market, and representatives from multimedia industries

The book presents research that contributes to the development of intelligent dialog systems to simplify diverse aspects of everyday life, such as medical diagnosis and entertainment. Covering major thematic areas: machine learning and artificial neural networks; algorithms and models; and social and biometric data for applications in human-computer interfaces, it discusses processing of audio-visual signals for the detection of user-perceived states, the latest scientific discoveries in processing verbal (lexicon, syntax, and pragmatics), auditory (voice, intonation, vocal expressions) and visual signals (gestures, body language, facial expressions), as well as algorithms for detecting communication disorders, remote health-status monitoring, sentiment and affect analysis, social behaviors and engagement. Further, it examines neural and machine learning algorithms for the implementation of advanced telecommunication systems, communication with people with special needs, emotion modulation by computer contents, advanced sensors for tracking changes in real-life and automatic systems, as well as the development of advanced human-computer interfaces. The book does not focus on solving a particular problem, but instead describes the results of research that has positive effects in different fields and applications.

This book presents recent advances in nonlinear speech processing beyond nonlinear techniques. It shows that it exploits heuristic and psychological models of human interaction in order to succeed in the implementations of socially believable VUIs and applications for human health and psychological support. The book takes into account the multifunctional role of speech and what is "outside of the box" (see Bjoern Schuller's foreword). To this aim, the book is organized in 6 sections, each collecting a small number of short chapters reporting advances "inside" and "outside" themes related to nonlinear speech research. The themes emphasize theoretical and practical issues for modelling socially believable speech interfaces, ranging from efforts to capture the nature of sound changes in linguistic contexts and the timing nature of speech; labors to identify and detect speech features that help in the diagnosis of psychological and neuronal disease, attempts to improve the effectiveness and performance of Voice User Interfaces, new front-end algorithms for the coding/decoding of effective and computationally efficient acoustic and linguistic speech representations, as well as investigations capturing the social nature of speech in signaling personality traits, emotions and improving human machine interactions.

This book provides an overview of the current advances in artificial intelligence and neural nets. Artificial intelligence (AI) methods have shown great capabilities in modelling, prediction and recognition tasks supporting human-machine interaction. At the same time, the issue of emotion has gained increasing attention due to its relevance in achieving human-like interaction with machines. The real challenge is taking advantage of the emotional characterization of humans' interactions to make computers interfacing with them emotionally and socially credible. The book assesses how and to what extent current sophisticated computational intelligence tools might support the multidisciplinary research on the characterization of appropriate system reactions to human emotions and expressions in interactive scenarios. Discussing the latest recent research trends, innovative approaches and future challenges in AI from interdisciplinary perspectives, it is a valuable resource for researchers and practitioners in academia and industry.

The book presents research that contributes to the development of intelligent dialog systems to simplify diverse aspects of everyday life, such as medical diagnosis and entertainment. Covering major thematic areas: machine learning and artificial neural networks; algorithms and models; and social and biometric data for applications in human-computer interfaces, it discusses processing of audio-visual signals for the detection of user-perceived states, the latest scientific discoveries in processing verbal (lexicon, syntax, and pragmatics), auditory (voice, intonation, vocal expressions) and visual signals (gestures, body language, facial expressions), as well as algorithms for detecting communication disorders, remote health-status monitoring, sentiment and affect analysis, social behaviors and engagement. Further, it examines neural and machine learning algorithms for the implementation of advanced telecommunication systems, communication with people with special needs, emotion modulation by computer contents, advanced sensors for tracking changes in real-life and automatic systems, as well as the development of advanced human-computer interfaces. The book does not focus on solving a particular problem, but instead describes the results of research that has positive effects in different fields and applications.

This book presents recent advances in nonlinear speech processing beyond nonlinear techniques. It shows that it exploits heuristic and psychological models of human interaction in order to succeed in the implementations of socially believable VUIs and applications for human health and psychological support. The book takes into account the multifunctional role of speech and what is "outside of the box" (see Bjoern Schuller's foreword). To this aim, the book is organized in 6 sections, each collecting a small number of short chapters reporting advances "inside" and "outside" themes related to nonlinear speech research. The themes emphasize theoretical and practical issues for modelling socially believable speech interfaces, ranging from efforts to capture the nature of sound changes in linguistic contexts and the timing nature of speech; labors to identify and detect speech features that help in the diagnosis of psychological and neuronal disease, attempts to improve the effectiveness and performance of Voice User Interfaces, new front-end algorithms for the coding/decoding of effective and computationally efficient acoustic and linguistic speech representations, as well as investigations capturing the social nature of speech in signaling personality traits, emotions and improving human machine interactions.

This book constitutes the research papers presented at the Joint 2101 & 2102 International Conference on Biometric ID Management and Multimodal Communication.

BioID_MultiComm'09 is a joint International Conference organized cooperatively by COST Actions 2101 and 2102. COST 2101 Action is focused on "Biometrics for Identity Documents and Smart Cards (BIDS)," while COST 2102 Action is entitled "Cross-Modal Analysis of Verbal and Non-verbal Communication."

The aim of COST 2101 is to investigate novel technologies for unsupervised multimodal biometric authentication systems using a new generation of biometrics-enabled identity documents and smart cards.

COST 2102 is devoted to develop an advanced acoustical, perceptual and psychological analysis of verbal and non-verbal communication signals originating in spontaneous face-to-face interaction, in order to identify algorithms and automatic procedures capable of recognizing human emotional states.

This book constitutes the thoroughly refereed post-proceedings of the COST Action 2102 International Workshop on Verbal and Nonverbal Communication Behaviours held in Vietri sul Mare, Italy, in March 2007.

The 26 revised full papers presented together with 1 introductory paper comprise carefully reviewed and selected participants' contributions and invited lectures given at the workshop. The papers are organized in topical sections on verbal and nonverbal coding schema, emotional expressions, gestural expressions, analysis and algorithms for verbal and nonverbal speech, as well as machine multimodal interaction.

This book constitutes of the major results of the EU COST (European Cooperation in the field of Scientific and Technical Research) Action 277: NSP, Nonlinear Speech Processing, running from April 2001 to June 2005. Coverage includes such areas as speech analysis for speech synthesis, speech recognition, speech-non speech discrimination and voice quality assessment, speech enhancement, and emotional state detection.

Refereed postproceedings of the International Conference on Non-Linear Speech Processing, NOLISP 2005. The 30 revised full papers presented together with one keynote speech and 2 invited talks were carefully reviewed and selected from numerous submissions for inclusion in the book. The papers are organized in topical sections on speaker recognition, speech analysis, voice pathologies, speech recognition, speech enhancement, and applications.

This volume contains invited and contributed papers presented at the 9th International Summer School "Neural Nets E.R. Caianiello" on Nonlinear Speech Processing: Al- rithms and Analysis, held in Vietri sul Mare, Salerno, Italy, during September 13-18, 2004. The aim of this book is to provide primarily high-level tutorial coverage of the ?elds related to nonlinear methods for speech processing and analysis, including new approaches aimed at improving speech applications. Fourteen surveys are offered by specialists in the ?eld. Consequently, the volume may be used as a reference book on nonlinear methods for speech processing and an- ysis. Also included are ?fteen papers that present original contributions in the ?eld and complete the tutorials. The volume is divided into ?ve sections: Dealing with Nonlinearities in Speech S- nal, Acoustic-to-Articulatory Modeling of Speech Phenomena, Data Driven and Speech Processing Algorithms, Algorithms and Models Based on Speech Perception Mec- nisms, and Task-Oriented Speech Applications. Dealing with Nonlinearities in Speech Signals is an introductory section where n- linear aspects of the speech signal are introduced from three different points of view. The section includes three papers. The ?rst paper, authored by Anna Esposito and Maria Marinaro, is an attempt to introduce the concept of nonlinearity revising several nonl- ear phenomena observed in the acoustics, the production and the perception of speech. Also discussed is the engineering endeavor to model these phenomena.

This book proposes neural networks algorithms and advanced machine learning techniques for processing nonlinear dynamic signals such as audio, speech, financial signals, feedback loops, waveform generation, filtering, equalization, signals from arrays of sensors, and perturbations in the automatic control of industrial production processes. It also discusses the drastic changes in financial, economic, and work processes that are currently being experienced by the computational and engineering sciences community. Addresses key aspects, such as the integration of neural algorithms and procedures for the recognition, the analysis and detection of dynamic complex structures and the implementation of systems for discovering patterns in data, the book highlights the commonalities between computational intelligence (CI) and information and communications technologies (ICT) to promote transversal skills and sophisticated processing techniques. This book is a valuable resource for a. The academic research community b. The ICT market c. PhD students and early stage researchers d. Companies, research institutes e. Representatives from industry and standardization bodies

The book is based on interdisciplinary research on various aspects and dynamics of human multimodal signal exchanges. It discusses realistic application scenarios where human interaction is the focus, in order to identify new methods for data processing and data flow coordination through synchronization, and optimization of new encoding features combining contextually enacted communicative signals, and develop shared digital data repositories and annotation standards for benchmarking the algorithmic feasibility and successive implementation of believable human-computer interaction (HCI) systems. This book is a valuable resource for a. the research community, PhD students, early stage researchers c. schools, hospitals, and rehabilitation and assisted-living centers e. the ICT market, and representatives from multimedia industries