Manuel Martin

Factors influencing the presence of the cinereous vulture Aegypius monachus at carcasses: food preferences and implications for the management of supplementary feeding sites

Abstract We studied the factors that determine the presence of the cinereous vulture Aegypius monachus at 134 carcasses experimentally distributed in Special Protection Areas for Birds (SPA) in western and central Spain. Our goals were to assess the use of these carcasses and by-products in order to find out the cinereous vultures food preferences and thus provide recommendations for the management of specific vulture restaurants for this species. Our results suggest that the number of cinereous vultures that come to feed on the carcasses is related to the quantity of biomass present and to the types of pieces of the provided food. Cinereous vultures prefer individual, medium-sized muscular pieces and small peripheral scraps of meat and tendon. The time that elapses before the cinereous vultures begin to consume a carcass depends on the biomass delivered, the number of pieces into which it is divided, and the type categories of the provided food. The population density of the species in our study area and the breeding stage seem to determine the time invested in feeding at the carcasses. These results may help managers to optimise the creation of vulture restaurants and favour their use by cinereous vultures.

The role of ponds as feeding habitat for an umbrella species: best management practices for the black stork Ciconia nigra in Spain

To establish recommendations for wetland man- agement that promote wildlife diversity in Mediterranean habitats we examined the factors that determine feeding habitat selection by the black stork Ciconia nigra in ponds. The black stork is considered an umbrella species because it is threatened, requires large foraging ranges in priority areas, is selective in its choice of diet and nesting sites, and inhabits a characteristic biological community with endemic and threatened taxa. Eighty-five ponds were monitored in central and western Spain to detect the stork feeding. At the same time, pond variables that could affect black stork feeding preferences were periodically evaluated. Generalized linear mixed models were used to analyse principal components obtained from groups of factors related to structural, location and ecological conditions. The black stork selects ponds distant from roads, with a large surface area, high water level, shallow shores, low turbidity, few traces of wild ungulates on the shores, a high diversity of fish and amphibian species, and a vegetated perimeter, in flat and open areas. Potential factors affecting feeding behaviour are discussed. We suggest measures for pond construction and management that could favour this species in particular and biodiversity in general in the Mediterranean environment.

Study of the Usability of the Private Social Network SocialNet using Heuristic Evaluation

The purpose of this paper is the usability evaluation of the SocialNet, a private social network for monitoring daily progress of patients by their relatives. This work presents the first phase where it was used the double heuristic evaluation as a method of evaluating usability. It has proven to be a suitable method for finding usability problems associated with this type of social network where information privacy plays an important role. The evaluation has provided data about the origin of the usability problems of SocialNet, especially related to consistency, design and privacy. Findings have helped to redesign some aspects of SocialNet and to provide an effective, efficient interaction and satisfactory experience to the users. The use of heuristic evaluation will be complemented with a user test to be carried out in a second phase of the usability study, which is not addressed in this paper.

Combining Low-Cost Eye Trackers for Dual Monitor Eye Tracking

The increasing use of multiple screens in everyday use creates a demand for multi-monitor eye tracking. Current solutions are complex and for many use cases prohibitively expensive. By combining two, low-cost single monitor eye trackers, we have created a dual monitor eye tracker requiring only minor software modifications from the single monitor version. The results of a user study, which compares the same eye trackers in a single monitor and a dual monitor setup, show that the combined system can accurately estimate the users gaze across two screens. The presented approach gives insight into low-cost alternatives for multi-monitor eye tracking and provides a basis for more complex setups, incorporating even more screens.

Usability Evaluation of a Private Social Network on Mental Health for Relatives

Usability is one of the most prominent criteria that must be fulfilled by a software product. This study aims to evaluate the usability of SocialNet, a private social network for monitoring the daily progress of patients by their relatives, using a mixed usability approach: heuristic evaluation conducted by experts and user testing. A double heuristic evaluation with one expert evaluator identified the issues related to consistency, design, and privacy. User testing was conducted on 20 users and one evaluator using observation techniques and questionnaires. The main usability problems were found to be related to the structure of SocialNet, and the users presented some difficulties in locating the buttons or links. The results show a high level of usability and satisfaction with the product. This evaluation provides data on the usability of SocialNet based on the difficulties experienced by the users and the expert. The results help in redesigning the tool to resolve the identified problems as part of an iterative process.

Heuristic evaluation of socialnet, the private social network for psychiatric patients and their relatives

SocialNet, is a private social network for monitoring daily progress of patients by their relatives. The goal of this paper is evaluate the usability of SocialNet in order to improve it and provide users an effective, efficient interaction and satisfactory experience. This work presents the first phase where it was used a double heuristic evaluation with one expert evaluator. This technique has provided valuable data about the usability of SocialNet especially related to consistency, design and privacy. The tool has been redesigned in order to resolve the identified problems as part of an iterative process. The use of heuristic evaluation will be complemented by a user test to be carried out in a second phase of usability study, which will not be addressed in this paper.

Advanced human machine interaction for an image interpretation workstation

In recent years, many new interaction technologies have been developed that enhance the usability of computer systems and allow for novel types of interaction. The areas of application for these technologies have mostly been in gaming and entertainment. However, in professional environments, there are especially demanding tasks that would greatly benefit from improved human machine interfaces as well as an overall improved user experience. We, therefore, envisioned and built an image-interpretation-workstation of the future, a multi-monitor workplace comprised of four screens. Each screen is dedicated to a complex software product such as a geo-information system to provide geographic context, an image annotation tool, software to generate standardized reports and a tool to aid in the identification of objects. Using self-developed systems for hand tracking, pointing gestures and head pose estimation in addition to touchscreens, face identification, and speech recognition systems we created a novel approach to this complex task. For example, head pose information is used to save the position of the mouse cursor on the currently focused screen and to restore it as soon as the same screen is focused again while hand gestures allow for intuitive manipulation of 3d objects in mid-air. While the primary focus is on the task of image interpretation, all of the technologies involved provide generic ways of efficiently interacting with a multi-screen setup and could be utilized in other fields as well. In preliminary experiments, we received promising feedback from users in the military and started to tailor the functionality to their needs

A Pilot Study on Gaze-Based Control of a Virtual Camera Using 360°-Video Data

Over the last decades, gaze input appeared to provide an easy to use and less demanding human-computer interaction method for various applications. It appeared to be particularly beneficial in situations where manual input is either not possible or is challenging and exhausting like interaction with dynamic content in video analysis or computer gaming. In this contribution is investigated whether gaze input could be an appropriate input technique for camera control (panning and tilting) without any manual intervention. The main challenge of such an interaction method is to relieve the human operator from consciously interacting and to let them deploy their perceptive and cognitive resources completely to scene observation. As a first step, a pilot study was conducted operationalizing camera control by navigating in a virtual camera scene, comparing gaze control of the camera with manual mouse control. The experimental task required the 28 subjects (18 expert video analysts, 10 students and colleagues) to navigate in a 360° camera scene in order to keep track of certain target persons. Therefore, an experimental system was implemented providing virtual camera navigation in previously recorded 360fly camera imagery. The results showed that subjects rated gaze control significantly less loading than manual mouse control, using the NASA-TLX questionnaire. Moreover, the large majority preferred gaze control over manual mouse control.

Synthetic depth data creation for sensor setup planning and evaluation of multi-camera multi-person trackers

Tracking people with cameras in public areas is common today. However with an increasing number of cameras it becomes harder and harder to view the data manually. Especially in safety critical areas automatic image exploitation could help to solve this problem. Setting up such a system can however be difficult because of its increased complexity. Sensor placement is critical to ensure that people are detected and tracked reliably. We try to solve this problem using a simulation framework that is able to simulate different camera setups in the desired environment including animated characters. We combine this framework with our self developed distributed and scalable system for people tracking to test its effectiveness and can show the results of the tracking system in real time in the simulated environment.