15050037
Journeys in non-classical computation I: A grand challenge for computing research
1. The challengeA gateway event [35] is a change to a system that leads to the possibility of huge increases inkinds and levels of complexity. It opens up a whole new kind of phase space to the system’sdynamics.Gatewayeventsduringevolutionoflifeonearthincludetheappearanceofeukaryotes(organisms with a cell nucleus), an oxygen atmosphere, multi-cellular organisms and grass.Gatewayeventsduringthedevelopmentofmathematicsincludeeachinventionofanewclassofnumbers (negative, irrational, imaginary, ...), and dropping Euclid’s parallel postulate.A gateway event produces a profound and fundamental change to the system: Oncethrough the gateway, life is never the same again. We are currently poised on the threshold ofa signiﬁcant gateway event in computation: That of breaking free from many of our current“classical computational” assumptions. Our Grand Challenge for computer science isto journey through the gateway event obtained by breaking our current classicalcomputational assumptions, and thereby develop a mature science of Non-ClassicalComputation2. Journeys versus goals
30236643
Towards a Prehistory of Evolutionary and Adaptive Computation in Music
A number of systems have been created which apply genetic algorithms, cellular automata, artificial life, agents, and other evolutionary and adaptive computation ideas in the creation of music. The aim of this paper is to examine the context in which such systems arose by looking for features of experimental music which prefigure the ideas used in such systems. A number of ideas are explored: the use of randomness in music, the view of compositions as parameterized systems, the idea of emergent structure in music and the idea of musicians performing the role of reactive agents.
5469350
Biomedical computing and visualization
Computers have changed the way we live, work, and even recreate. Now, they are transforming how we think about and treat human disease. In particular, advanced techniques in biomedical computing, imaging, and visualization are changing the face of biology and medicine in both research and clinical practice. The goals of biomedical computing, imaging and visualization are multifaceted. While some images and visualizations facilitate diagnosis, others help physicians plan surgery. Biomedical simulations can help to acquire a better understanding of human physiology. Still other biomedical computing and visualization techniques are used for medical training. Within biomedical research, new computational technologies allow us to "see" into and understand our bodies with unprecedented depth and detail. As a result of these advances, biomedical computing and visualization will help produce exciting new biomedical scientific discoveries and clinical treatments. In this paper, we give an overview of the computational science pipeline for an application in neuroscience and present associated research results in medical imaging, modeling, simulation, and visualization [1].
5064563
Using "Accident Fault Trees" in Conjunction With Traditional Accident Reports
Accident reports help to ensure that operator ‘error’ and system ’failure’ do not threaten other applications. Unfortunately, a number of usability problems limit the effectiveness of these documents. Each section is, typically, drafted by a different expert; forensic scientists follow metallurgists, human factors experts follow meteorologists. In consequence, it can be difficult for readers to form a coherent account of an accident. This paper argues that fault trees can be used to present a clear and concise overview of major failures. Unfortunately, fault trees have a number of limitations. For instance, they do not represent time. This is significant because temporal properties have a profound impact upon the course of human-machine interaction. Similarly, they do not represent the criticality or severity of a failure. We have, therefore, extended the fault tree notation to represent human-machine interaction during major failures. The resulting Accident Fault Tree diagrams can be used in conjunction with an official accident report to better visualise the course of an accident. The Clapham Junction railway disaster (Department of Transport, 1989) is used to illustrate our argument.
39389167
Software Support for Incident Reporting Systems in Safety-Critical Applications
Incident reporting systems are playing an increasingly important role in the development and maintenance of safety-critical applications. The perceived success of the FAA's Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) and the FDA's MedWatch has led to the establishment of similar national and international schemes. These enable individuals and groups to report their safety concerns in a confidential or anonymous manner. Unfortunately, many of these systems are becoming victims of their own success. The ASRS and MedWatch have both now received over 500,000 submissions. In the past, these systems have relied upon conventional database technology to support the indexing and retrieval of individual reports. However, there are several reasons why this technology is inadequate for many large-scale reporting schemes. In particular, the problems of query formation often result in poor precision and recall. This, in turn, has profound implications for safety-critical applications. Users may fail to identify similar incidents within national or international collections. This paper, therefore, shows how several alternative software architectures support incident report systems in safety-critical applications.
12725153
Computational Engineering and Science Program at the University of Utah
The grand computational challenges in engineering and science require for their resolution a new scientific approach. As one report points out, “The use of modern computers in scientific and engineering research and development over the last three decades has led to the inescapable conclusion that a third branch of scientific methodology has been created. It is now widely acknowledged that, along with traditional experimental and theoretical methodologies, advanced work in all areas of science and technology has come to rely critically on the computational approach.” This methodology represents a new intellectual paradigm for scientific exploration and visualization of scientific phenomena. It permits a new approach to the solution of problems that were previously inaccessible.
6901876
Location History in a Low-cost Context Awareness Environment
Location awareness is a crucial part of the context-awareness mechanism for ubicomputing. This paper explores how usefull is the location awareness history for an office based low-cost context-awareness environment. Capturing location awareness data into a relational database is simple and feasible in office environment. We use extended SQL to access the location awareness history database to provide direct support for speech commands. The mechanism improve flexibility for developing context awareness application in the Intelligent Environment.