Shared Objects Research Articles

Shared visuo-tactile interactive perception for robust object pose estimation

Shared perception between robotic systems significantly enhances their ability to understand and interact with their environment, leading to improved performance and efficiency in various applications. In this work, we present a novel full-fledged framework for robotic systems to interactively share their visuo-tactile perception for the robust pose estimation of novel objects in dense clutter. This is demonstrated with a two-robot team sharing their visuo-tactile scene representation which then declutters the scene using interactive perception and precisely estimates the 6 Degrees-of-Freedom (DoF) pose and 3 DoF scale of a target unknown object. This is achieved with the Stochastic Translation-Invariant Quaternion Filter (S-TIQF), a novel Bayesian filtering method with robust stochastic optimization for estimating the globally optimal pose of a target object. S-TIQF is also deployed to perform in situ visuo-tactile hand-eye calibration, since shared perception requires accurate extrinsic calibration between the two different sensing modalities, tactile and visual. Finally, we develop a novel active shared visuo-tactile representation and object reconstruction method employing a joint information gain criterion to improve the sample efficiency of the robot actions. To validate the effectiveness of our approach, we perform extensive experiments across standard datasets for pose estimation, as well as real-robot experiments with opaque, transparent and specular objects in randomised clutter settings and comprehensive comparison with other state-of-the-art approaches. Our experiments indicate that our approach outperforms state-of-the-art methods in terms of pose estimation accuracy for dense visual and sparse tactile point clouds.

Cooperation and Fairness in Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning

Multi-agent systems are trained to maximize shared cost objectives, which typically reflect system-level efficiency. However, in the resource-constrained environments of mobility and transportation systems, efficiency may be achieved at the expense of fairness — certain agents may incur significantly greater costs or lower rewards compared to others. Tasks could be distributed inequitably, leading to some agents receiving an unfair advantage while others incur disproportionately high costs. It is, therefore, important to consider the tradeoffs between efficiency and fairness in such settings. We consider the problem of fair multi-agent navigation for a group of decentralized agents using multi-agent reinforcement learning (MARL). We consider the reciprocal of the coefficient of variation of the distances traveled by different agents as a measure of fairness and investigate whether agents can learn to be fair without significantly sacrificing efficiency (i.e., increasing the total distance traveled). We find that by training agents using min-max fair distance goal assignments along with a reward term that incentivizes fairness as they move toward their goals, the agents (1) learn a fair assignment of goals and (2) achieve almost perfect goal coverage in navigation scenarios using only local observations. For goal coverage scenarios, we find that, on average, the proposed model yields a 14% improvement in efficiency and a 5% improvement in fairness over a baseline model that is trained using random assignments. Furthermore, an average of 21% improvement in fairness can be achieved by the proposed model as compared to a model trained on optimally efficient assignments; this increase in fairness comes at the expense of only a 7% decrease in efficiency. Finally, we extend our method to environments in which agents must complete coverage tasks in prescribed formations and show that it is possible to do so without tailoring the models to specific formation shapes. [Code] 1

The Impact of Organizational Culture and Human Resource Quality on the Performance of Police Staffs at the Paser Police Station

This study aims to assess organizational culture's impact and human resources' quality on police staff performance. The study's authors discovered that organizational culture and the quality of human resources significantly influenced police staff performance, acting as independent variables. A robust corporate culture will inspire the staff to attain shared objectives and foster enhanced overall staff performance. In the end, this notion will shape the behavior of staff members in the intended direction as determined by the organization.

Analysis of carbon reduction potential based on carbon flow theory

Abstract. As the severity of global climate change and energy crises continues to escalate, reducing carbon emissions and transitioning to a low-carbon power system have become shared objectives within the international community. To thoroughly understand the effectiveness and complexity of emission reduction strategies within the power sector, this paper delves into the carbon reduction potential of power systems, covering three key areas: generation, transmission, and consumption. It explores how systemic improvements in these sectors can drive large-scale low-carbon transformations of power networks, and elucidates the carbon reduction strategies and potentials of each sector. This paper examines and analyzes significant data and scholarly research from the power industry, as well as relevant policies, to measure the impact of various technological and policy approaches on carbon emission reduction. It also compares differences and synergies between different studies. The research findings indicate that the cornerstone for achieving a low-carbon power system lies in systematically promoting the low-carbon transformation across three dimensions based on carbon flow theory: power generation, electrical grid distribution, and consumer-side practices. In terms of power generation, integrating clean energies like wind and solar, coupled with improvements in low-carbon generation technologies, can significantly reduce carbon emissions. For the electrical grid, carbon reduction is mainly achieved through optimizing grid infrastructure, including minimizing transmission and distribution losses and SF6 emissions, as well as promoting distributed grids and storage technologies to enhance system flexibility. On the consumer side, optimizing industries with high carbon emissions, advancing the integration of electric vehicles with Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) systems, and implementing low-carbon demand response is crucial for carbon reduction. Furthermore, policy support, incentive measures, and technological innovation are extremely vital in enhancing the effectiveness of these measures.

Don’t Block My Stuff: Fostering Personal Object Awareness in Multi-user Mixed Reality Environments

In Mixed Reality (MR), users can collaborate efficiently by creating personalized layouts that incorporate both personal and shared virtual objects. Unlike in the real world, personal objects in MR are only visible to their owner. This makes them susceptible to occlusions from shared objects of other users, who remain unaware of their existence. Thus, achieving unobstructed layouts in collaborative MR settings requires knowledge of where others have placed their personal objects. In this paper, we assessed the effects of three visualizations, and a baseline without any visualization, on occlusions and user perceptions. Our study involved 16 dyads (N=32) who engaged in a series of collaborative sorting tasks. Results indicate that the choice of visualization significantly impacts both occlusion and perception, emphasizing the need for effective visualizations to enhance collaborative MR experiences. We conclude with design recommendations for multi-user MR systems to better accommodate both personal and shared interfaces simultaneously.

Unbounding the future: New directions for climate‐changed geographies

AbstractThis commentary reflects on the contributions that human geography has made to climate change research, as well as future directions for human geographic work on climate change. I suggest that one of the key achievements of the field is to render climate change a boundary object: an entity whose interpretive flexibility allows it to become a shared object of knowledge that, in principle, facilitates collaboration across disparate communities of practice. However, the ways in which that contribution has been made, and made possible, have effects that ripple elsewhere. While the subfield of political ecology and its historiographical methods have played vital roles in laying the intellectual foundations for human geographic work on climate change, and thus its ability to construct climate change as a boundary object in the first place, I suggest that they and other neo‐Marxian approaches to the study of the (climate‐changing) environment tend to diminish human geographic engagement with the future as an object of scholarly inquiry. To address that limitation and help push climate‐changed geographies in novel directions, I suggest that climate‐changed futures be engaged problematically. I then conclude with a discussion of key empirical domains—chiefly climate reparations and climate adaptation—where such problem‐oriented work may be productively applied.

Emergent group understanding: Investigating intersubjectivity in sociotechnical interdependencies

Teaching with virtual worlds provides new means for collaborative learning but creates challenges for teachers in terms of IT skills. To address these challenges, we developed a teaching model for using virtual worlds in classroom practices and applied it to Minecraft in several rounds of design-based research experiments. Our conceptual framework combines ideas from software engineering (sociotechnical congruence) and social sciences (intersubjectivity and emergence). Empirically, we addressed the problem of how shared understanding evolves in computer-mediated learning activities. We video-recorded classroom activities and analyzed them using interaction analysis. The teaching model engaged the students in two interdependent processes, referred to as objects: (1) a social object (discussions) that led to a shared knowledge object (video-recorded role-play) and (2) a technology object (Minecraft buildings) for staging the role-play. Our findings include an empirical phenomenon that we call emergent group understanding, which arose from the complex social interactions between social and technology objects when Minecraft was used as a virtual world in a social studies classroom. This revealed two connected subprocesses: (1) a spontaneous act of providing information to assist learners in contextualizing their actions and interactions against a common background, and (2) setting localized goals to guide future actions and interactions. This finding extends previous research by identifying fine-grained processes of intersubjectivity that contribute to collaborative learning. More generally, our teaching model addresses the problem of balancing creative and instructional learning goals.

Space Traffic Management: A Shared Space Object Catalog

This article provides an overview of, and terminology associated with, the topic of a “shared space object catalog,” especially as it relates to and for the purposes of promoting space sustainability and enabling Space Traffic Coordination (STC) and Space Traffic Management (STM). First, the terminology and organizations associated with a shared space object catalog are discussed. Then the requirements for a shared catalog are discussed along with the current state of play. Essential elements for a successful shared catalog are laid out, including but not limited to the configuration, data rules, data integrity and legal and policy issues. Finally, some recommendations and conclusions are drawn. The primary recommendation of this paper is that for a shared catalog to be successful it will be important to develop and utilize open-access space data exchange standards, methodologies, best practices, and potentially even open-source tools at the international level. To that end the Appendix contains information on open access data exchange standards.

A REVIEW OF THE ROLE OF SHARED LESSON OBJECTIVES IN SHAPING THE ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTS OF SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS.

Lesson objectives are germane parts of every lesson plan and its delivery. More important is the disclosure of these objectives. This paper reviews the role of shared lesson objectives in shaping academic achievements of senior secondary school students. Different views about lesson objectives are analysed, it also looks at how shared lesson objectives help to increase academic achievement of learners in schools. The framework of this review is premised on the cognitive load theory, which considers the intrinsic, germane and extraneous cognitive domains as keys to the formulation and disclosure of every learning objective. It also looks at key considerations for crafting lesson objectives- these are audience, behaviour, condition and degree. It finally, looks at the benefits of shared objectives- clarity, instructional guidance, motivation, alignment with assessment, feedback, collaboration and accountability were identified. It recommended that in developing and disclosure of lesson objectives, students’ capacity, maturity level and behaviour should be considered. This would help to effectively differentiate and make provisions for low ability learners while the high ability learners are further encouraged to do more.

Optimizing electric vehicle scheduling strategies for advanced distribution system planning and operation with comprehensive cost-benefit analysis

Electric vehicles (EVs) are a compelling way to advance environmentally sustainable transportation systems, thanks to their potential to significantly reduce carbon emissions. Nevertheless, the seamless integration of EVs into distribution systems is fraught with challenges that require thorough investigation. With the ultimate goal of creating an ideal planning plan, the primary objective of this research is to examine electric vehicle planning strategies (EVPSs) utilizing a thorough cost and benefit analysis technique. Because EVs may operate as both a dispersed energy source and a load, they present the idea of Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) technology. An EV with V2G technology installed can actively support the distribution system's power needs, particularly in the area of reactive power support. In order to fully benefit from integration of electric vehicles (EVs) into distribution systems, EV charging activities must be coordinated with the concurrent availability of V2G technology. This study involves the implementation of two separate PSs, each of which focuses on specific aspects of distribution system improvement. Active power distribution (APD) and reactive power distribution (RPD) are the two categories into which the strategies are separated. Their shared objective is to reduce system losses by strategically utilizing the V2G technology that is built into electric vehicles. The APD technique is predicated on the idea of minimizing losses by optimizing EV charging and discharging (CDC). On the contrary, strategy based on RPD revolves around minimizing losses through optimal charging of EVs and smart injection of reactive power into the distribution system. In addition, this research presents an in-depth cost-benefit analysis of the developed EVPSs, which provides valuable insights from a planning perspective. Finally, this study assesses how the distribution system's reorganization has improved the system's planning and operation. The effectiveness and resilience of the suggested strategy are convincingly illustrated by simulations conducted on a 33-bus distribution system, which validate these crucial observations.

Lower Bounds on the Amortized Time Complexity of Shared Objects

Lower Bounds on the Amortized Time Complexity of Shared Objects

Enhancing doctoral learning through virtual communities of practice: an autoethnographic perspective

This article explores the role of virtual communities of practice in enhancing the doctoral experience, particularly in the contemporary digital era. The author emphasizes the multifaceted benefits, including elevating academic networking, optimizing knowledge management, and supporting the mental well-being of remote learners. The establishment of clear shared objectives, dynamic leadership, and a conducive environment for collaborative innovation are identified as key prerequisites for building successful virtual communities of practice. As remote doctoral education becomes more prevalent, virtual communities of practice not only facilitate academic engagement but also foster mutual support and advocacy among doctoral students. The researcher, as a final year PhD student employed autoethnography as a research method to offer an intimate and reflective exploration of her personal experiences within virtual communities of practice. This unique insider perspective adds depth to the discussion on elevating academic networking, optimizing knowledge management, and supporting the mental well-being of remote learners. Furthermore, her ongoing doctoral research focuses on the socialization process and the development of a sense of belonging among doctoral students. Motivated by her research topics, she commenced her doctoral studies during the epidemic and cultivated the practice of consistently maintaining a researcher’s reflection diary. This perspective article examines her diary, elucidating her experiences, opinions, and feelings. The researcher utilized a thematic approach to thoroughly analyze the author’s research diaries covering the period from December 2020 to August 2023. The article concludes by calling for further research into the professional identity development of doctoral students within virtual learning communities, exploring potential challenges and effective coping mechanisms to achieve inclusive practices in the complex and diverse digital era of academia.

Surveying Security Challenges in Cloud Computing: Current Landscape and Future Directions

Customers can access a shared computer resource pool on demand or on a pay-per-use basis using a cloud computing paradigm. Cloud computing has advantages for both users and cloud service providers (CSPs). Due to its benefits including cost effectiveness and versatility, it is one of the most alluring technological fields today. Given the lack of a central location, omniscience, and a preexisting trust connection, it allows the virtual organization to pool geographically dispersed resources to accomplish shared objectives. Despite the tremendous investment returns that cloud computing promises, customers are unsure about whether to use its services due to the security risks involved. This article is a survey that focuses more specifically on the various security vulnerabilities that have arisen because of how cloud computing systems deliver services. To deliver data secrecy, data integrity, and data availability, it makes several recommendations that should be implemented in further efforts.

Coaching Behavior and Athletes’ Team Performance Toward an Optimal Coaching Framework for Maximizing Team Excellence

The study of Coaching behavior and athlete team performance towards an optimal coaching framework for maximizing team excellence determines the level of awareness of team athletes based on the sports they value according to the coaching method of their coaches.The findings presented offer valuable insights into the differences in the assessment of coaching behavior among student-athletes based on various demographic and athletic profiles. Firstly, the significant differences observed based on the sex of the respondents highlight the importance of considering gender dynamics in coaching practices within the athletic program. Coaches may need to adopt tailored approaches to address the distinct needs and preferences of male and female student-athletes, ensuring that coaching strategies are inclusive and effectively meet the diverse needs of all athletes. Secondly, the variations in perceptions of coaching behavior across different types of sports underscore the importance of sport-specific coaching approaches. Coaches may need to adapt their coaching strategies to align with the unique requirements and dynamics of each sport, fostering a tailored and effective coaching environment for athletes. Additionally, the influence of the length of years as athletes on perceptions of coaching behavior suggests the importance of ongoing athlete development and support throughout their athletic journey. It reveals valuable insights into the attitudes and behaviors that contribute to effective teamwork. Team performance, concerning team members' skills and learning, epitomizes the collective proficiency of individuals in leveraging their diverse skill sets, knowledge, and learning experiences to achieve shared objectives.

Code Simulator with Real-Time Conferencing and Considerable Users

Abstract: The Multiuser Live Text Editor represents a dynamic platform fostering collaborative coding endeavors, enabling users to engage in real-time interaction while collectively crafting code. Boasting compatibility with prominent programming languages such as C++, Java, and Python, this innovative tool is founded upon the notion of adaptive functionality, a cornerstone of its shared editing capabilities. At its core lies pair programming, an agile methodology originating from Extreme Programming (XP), wherein two developers synergistically collaborate on a single computing environment. Tasked with jointly conceiving, implementing, and validating user stories, these pairs operate in tandem, leveraging their complementary skills to achieve shared objectives. Notably, this collaborative process thrives on the diversity of the paired developers' systems, with each individual allocated equal time at the keyboard.

Revolutionizing Schedules: The Power of AI in Physician Practices.

Since the early 2000s, artificial intelligence (AI) has raised concerns regarding its use in healthcare to manage vast amounts of patient data, ensure proper handling, and maintain robust security measures. Nevertheless, contemporary healthcare organizations are exploring ways AI can safely enhance operational efficiency and support their patient populations. Successful, evidence-based utilization relies on a well-defined ambulatory strategy, and operational efficiency must be foundational to that strategy. Patient no-shows and appointment compliance, especially in the context of social determinants of health such as access, present inherent obstacles to patient and provider satisfaction, continuity of care, practice productivity, and the financial sustainability of an organization. To address these obstacles, Berkeley Research Group has been working with Phoebe Physician Group. Their shared objective is twofold: enhance patient encounter volume and the associated revenue. This article provides insights into the steps taken to integrate AI and machine learning to mitigate the problem of no-shows by automatically double-booking appointments for patients with a high probability of not showing up. A glimpse into the outcomes achieved and lessons learned throughout the process also is presented.

Stakeholder engagement processes for the made in Italy small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises: Value co‐creation in the stakeholder network

AbstractThis article aims to explore the role of stakeholder engagement in partnerships and the effects that it has on small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises' (SMEs) competitiveness and their ability to expand into foreign markets. This study employs a qualitative approach to research by gathering empirical data from nine SMEs that have engaged in a partnership fostered by a digital platform that operates as an online sales channel. Our study reveals that SMEs engaging in cooperative activities are able to leverage external stakeholders to improve their competitive advantage and increase their capabilities to permeate into foreign markets and better their structural costs and product variety. The insights derived from this study prove useful to both theory and practice. First, the obtained findings underline the significance of cooperative activities in enhancing SMEs' likelihood of growth and thriving amidst the ever‐changing global market. Second, the present article underlines the impact partnerships have on all three dimensions of stakeholder engagement, namely strategic, pragmatic and moral. Third, the present manuscript corroborates the influence of digital platforms in fostering collaborative initiatives. Finally, the findings carry insights supporting the significance of shared values, norms and objectives amongst businesses as crucial elements of the stakeholder engagement process.

Agent Based Intelligent System for Enhanced Teamwork Performance

It is impossible to overstate the necessity of a strategic and practical approach in the workplace in order to maximize productivity these days. Teamwork is one of the best ways to adapt to the changes that have occurred in today's environment throughout time. In every industry, the optimum performance arrangement for realizing visions, carrying out plans, and accomplishing objectives is teamwork. It is also one of the most crucial components of systems for continuous improvement since it makes information exchange, issue resolution, and the growth of employee accountability easier. Teams function as a grouping of people with complementary talents who work together rather than against one another. They are held accountable for their strategic methods and use them to achieve a shared objective. The Supervised Learning technique was used in this work to simulate team performance utilizing an intelligent coaching agent. Through the use of an automated performance assessment and weighted scores for each task, this study was able to create a system that will remove biases from performance evaluation. As soon as a worker does the task, they will obtain a score. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate an event-based performance approach by developing and utilizing an intelligent coaching agent in a supervised learning team training framework. The goal was successfully met, and the result shows positive impacts on the team's performance.

Symmetry and synchrony of bimanual movements are not predicated on interlimb control coupling.

Previous studies suggest that bimanual coordination recruits neural mechanisms that explicitly couple control of the arms, resulting in symmetric kinematics. However, the higher symmetry for actions that require congruous joint motions compared with noncongruous joint motions calls into question the concept of control coupling as a general policy. An alternative view proposes that codependence might emerge from an optimal feedback controller that minimizes control effort and costs in task performance. Support for this view comes from studies comparing conditions in which both hands move a shared or independent virtual objects. Because these studies have mainly focused on congruous bimanual movements, it remains unclear if kinematic symmetry emerges from such control policies. We now examine movements with congruous or noncongruous joint motions (inertially symmetric or asymmetric, respectively) under shared or independent cursors conditions. We reasoned that if a control policy minimizes kinematic differences between limbs, spatiotemporal symmetry should remain relatively unaffected by inertial asymmetries. As shared tasks reportedly elicit greater interlimb codependence, these conditions should elicit higher bilateral covariance regardless of inertial asymmetries. Our results indicate a robust spatiotemporal symmetry only under inertially symmetric conditions, regardless of cursor condition. We simulated bimanual reaching using an optimal feedback controller with and without explicit costs of kinematic asymmetry, finding that only the latter mirrored our empirical data. Our findings support the hypothesis that bimanual control policies do not include kinematic asymmetry as a cost when it is not demanded by task constraints suggesting that kinematic symmetry depends critically on mechanical movement conditions.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Previously, the control coupling hypothesis and task-dependent control hypothesis have been shown to be robust in the bimanually symmetrical movement, but whether the same policy remains robust in the bimanually asymmetrical movement remains unclear. Here, with evidence from empirical and simulation data, we show that a spatiotemporal symmetry between the arms is not predicated on control coupling, but instead it is predicated on the symmetry of mechanical conditions (e.g. limb inertia) between the arms.

Yemen's humanitarian collaboration during conflict: UN and local NGOs in focus

This paper presents an exploratory study investigating the complex relationship between the United Nations (UN) system and local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Yemen's humanitarian food assistance provision. Employing qualitative research methods, including document analysis and stakeholder interviews, we aim to understand key factors influencing collaboration and identify challenges hindering effective cooperation. Our findings emphasize the need for the UN to diversify its approaches to social interaction in food aid programs, prioritizing initiatives that resonate with local communities. Furthermore, active efforts to engage and satisfy local NGOs are essential for improving program effectiveness and achieving shared objectives. This study sheds light on critical areas for intervention, emphasizing the importance of fostering meaningful partnerships to address humanitarian challenges in Yemen.