Paolo Coletta

Design of Luenberger Observers for a Class of Hybrid Linear Systems

An approach to estimation for a class of hybrid discrete-time linear systems using Luenberger observers is presented. The proposed Luenberger observer for such a kind of systems relies on the switching among different gains. Convergence conditions have been found to ensure the stability of the error dynamics and the related gains may be selected by solving a set of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). Moreover, this observer may be improved by suitably updating the estimate using the last measures. This update enables one to reduce the norm of the estimation error and is based on the so-called projection method. Simulation results are reported to show the effectiveness of these methods in the estimation for hybrid discrete-time linear systems.

Developing multimodal interactive systems with EyesWeb XMI

EyesWeb XMI (for eXtended Multimodal Interaction) is the new version of the well-known EyesWeb platform. It has a main focus on multimodality and the main design target of this new release has been to improve the ability to process and correlate several streams of data. It has been used extensively to build a set of interactive systems for performing arts applications for Festival della Scienza 2006, Genoa, Italy. The purpose of this paper is to describe the developed installations as well as the new EyesWeb features that helped in their development.

Expressiveness and Physicality in Interaction

This article introduces the approach, the developed models, and ongoing research issues on expressiveness and physical interaction in interactive systems, with a special focus on human-robot communication. Research issues and related concrete examples from the interactive multimedia performance “L‘Ala dei Sensi” (literally, “The Wing of the Senses”), held in Ferrara (Italy) in November 1999, are presented. “L‘Ala dei Sensi” is formed by different episodes, a subset of which include one or more dancers interacting in real-time with a robot on stage. This interaction can influence and generate computer-generated music and video. Experiments have been conduced on the concept of musical and visual “clones” on large screens interacting with humans and the robot. The underlying models and approaches are introduced, with a special focus on expressiveness in the physical interaction of dancers with mobile robots and with visual/music “clones”. An overview of the hardware and software architecture is shortly presented. A discussion on the results, learned lessons from this experience, and future work concludes the paper.

Multi-scale entropy analysis of dominance in social creative activities

Our research focused on ensemble musical performance, an ideal test-bed for the development of models and techniques for measuring creative social interaction in an ecologically valid framework. Starting from expressive behavioral data of a string quartet, this paper addresses the application of Multi-Scale Entropy method to investigate dominance.

Emotional entrainment in music performance

This work aims at defining a computational model of human emotional entrainment. Music, as a non-verbal language to express emotions, is chosen as an ideal test bed for these aims. We start from multimodal gesture and motion signals, recorded in a real world collaborative condition in an ecological setting. Four violin players were asked to play, alone or in duo, a music fragment in two different perceptual feedback modalities and in four different emotional states. We focused our attention on phase synchronisation of the head motions of the players. From observation by subjects (musicians and observers), an evidence of entrainment emerges between players. The preliminary results, based on a reduced data set, however do not grasp fully this phenomenon. A more extended analysis is current subject of investigation.

Toward a Real-Time Automated Measure of Empathy and Dominance

This paper presents a number of algorithms andrelated software modules for the automated analysisin real-time of non-verbal cues related to expressivegesture in social interaction. Analysis is based onPhase Synchronisation (PS) and RecurrenceQuantification Analysis. We start from the hypothesisthat PS is one of the low-level social signalsexplaining empathy and dominance in a small groupof users. Real- time implementation of the algorithmsis available in the EyesWeb XMI Social SignalProcessing Library. Applications of the approach isin user-centric media and in particular in activemusic listening (EU ICT FP7 Project SAME).

Social active listening and making of expressive music: the interactive piece the bow is bent and drawn

This paper discusses the concepts, the interaction paradigms, the system design and implementation that have been developed for the interactive dance and music performance The Bow is bent and drawn (composer Nicola Ferrari), presented at Casa Paganini, Genova, Italy, in occasion of the opening concert of the 8th Intl. Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME08), June 4, 2008. The Bow is bent and drawn grounds its bases on current research at Casa Paganini -- InfoMus Lab on social active listening of sound and music content and on analysis and processing of expressiveness in human full-body movement and gesture. In particular, The Bow is bent and drawn exploits our recent system Mappe per Affetti Erranti (literally Maps for Wandering Affects), which enables a novel paradigm for social active experience and dynamic molding of expressive content of a music piece. In Mappe per Affetti Erranti multiple users can physically navigate a polyphonic music piece and can intervene in real-time on the expressive content music performance conveys through their full-body movement and gesture. The research topics addressed in this paper are currently investigated in the EUICT Project SAME (Sound and Music for Everyone, Everyday, Everywhere, Every Way, www.sameproject.eu).

Real-time motion attention and expressive gesture interfaces

This paper aims at investigating the relationship between gestures’ expressivity and the amount of attention they attract. We present a technique for quantifying behavior saliency, here understood as the capacity to capture one’s attention, by the rarity of selected motion and gestural expressive features. This rarity index is based on the real-time computation of the occurrence probability of expressive motion features numerical values. Hence, the time instants that correspond to rare unusual dynamic patterns of an expressive feature are singled out. In a multi-user scenario, the rarity index highlights the person in a group which shows the most different behavior with respect to the others. In a mono-user scenario, the rarity index highlights when the expressive content of a gesture changes. Those methods can be considered as preliminary steps toward context-aware expressive gesture analysis. This work has been partly carried out in the framework of the eNTERFACE 2008 workshop (Paris, France, August 2008) and is partially supported by the EU ICT SAME Project (www.sameproject.eu) and by the NUMEDIART Project (www.numediart.org).

Towards a Multimodal Repository of Expressive Movement Qualities in Dance

In this paper, we present a new multimodal repository for the analysis of expressive movement qualities in dance. First, we discuss guidelines and methodology that we applied to create this repository. Next, the technical setup of recordings and the platform for capturing the synchronized audio-visual, physiological, and motion capture data are presented. The initial content of the repository consists of about 90 minutes of short dance performances movement sequences, and improvisations performed by four dancers, displaying three expressive qualities: Fluidity, Impulsivity, and Rigidity.

Teaching by Means of a Technologically Augmented Environment: The Stanza Logo-Motoria

The Stanza Logo-Motoria is an interactive multimodal environment, designed to support and aid learning in Primary Schools, with particular attention to children with Learning Disabilities. The system is permanently installed in a classroom of the “Elisa Frinta” Primary School in Gorizia where for over a year now, it has been used as an alternative and/or additional tool to traditional teaching strategies; the on-going experimentation is confirming the already excellent results previously assessed, in particular for ESL (English as a Second Language). The Stanza Logo-Motoria, also installed for scientific research purposes at the Engineering Information Department (DEI) of University of Padova, has sparked the interest of teachers, students and educationalists and makes us believe that this is but the beginning of a path, which could lead to the introduction of technologically augmented learning in schools.