Depuis la loi du 11-02-2005 pour l'égalité des droits et des chances, les lieux ouverts au public doivent accueillir les Sourds en Langue des Signes Française (LSF). C'est dans le cadre du développement d'outils technologiques de diffusion de LSF que nous avons travaillé, plus particulièrement au niveau de la traduction automatique du français écrit vers la LSF. Notre thèse commence par un état de l'art relatif aux connaissances sur la LSF (ressources disponibles et supports d'expression de la LSF) avant d'approfondir des notions de grammaire descriptive. Notre hypothèse de travail est la suivant : la LSF est une langue et, à ce titre, la traduction automatique lui est applicable. Nous décrivons ensuite les spécifications linguistiques pour le traitement automatique, en fonction des observations mises en avant dans l'état de l'art et des propositions de nos informateurs. Nous détaillons notre méthodologie et présentons l'avancée de nos travaux autour de la formalisation des données linguistiques à partir des spécificités de la LSF dont certaines (model verbal, modification adjectivale et adverbiale, organisation des substantifs, problématiques de l'accord) ont nécessité un traitement plus approfondi. Nous présentons le cadre applicatif dans lequel nous avons travaillé : les systèmes de traduction automatique et d'animation de personnage virtuel de France Telecom R&D. Puis, après un rapide état de l'art sur les technologies avatar nous décrivons nos modalités de contrôle du moteur de synthèse de geste grâce au format d'échange mis au point. Enfin, nous terminons par nos évaluations et perspectives de recherche et de développements qui pourront suivre cette Thèse. Notre approche a donné ses premiers résultats puisque nous avons atteint notre objectif de faire fonctionner la chaîne complète de traduction : de la saisie d'un énoncé en français jusqu'à la réalisation de l'énoncé correspondant en LSF par un personnage de synthèse.

The work presented in this thesis comes in pursuit of the ultimate goal of building spoken and embodied human-like interfaces that are able to interact with humans under human terms. Such interfaces need to employ the subtle, rich and multidimensional signals of communicative and social value that complement the stream of words – signals humans typically use when interacting with each other. The studies presented in the thesis concern facial signals used in spoken communication, and can be divided into two connected groups. The first is targeted towards exploring and verifying models of facial signals that come in synchrony with speech and its intonation. We refer to this as visual-prosody, and as part of visual-prosody, we take prominence as a case study. We show that the use of prosodically relevant gestures in animated faces results in a more expressive and human-like behaviour. We also show that animated faces supported with these gestures result in more intelligible speech which in turn can be used to aid communication, for example in noisy environments. The other group of studies targets facial signals that complement speech. As spoken language is a relatively poor system for the communication of spatial information; since such information is visual in nature. Hence, the use of visual movements of spatial value, such as gaze and head movements, is important for an efficient interaction. The use of such signals is especially important when the interaction between the human and the embodied agent is situated – that is when they share the same physical space, and while this space is taken into account in the interaction. We study the perception, the modelling, and the interaction effects of gaze and head pose in regulating situated and multiparty spoken dialogues in two conditions. The first is the typical case where the animated face is displayed on flat surfaces, and the second where they are displayed on a physical three-dimensional model of a face. The results from the studies show that projecting the animated face onto a face-shaped mask results in an accurate perception of the direction of gaze that is generated by the avatar, and hence can allow for the use of these movements in multiparty spoken dialogue. Driven by these findings, the Furhat back-projected robot head is developed. Furhat employs state-of-the-art facial animation that is projected on a 3D printout of that face, and a neck to allow for head movements. Although the mask in Furhat is static, the fact that the animated face matches the design of the mask results in a physical face that is perceived to “move”. We present studies that show how this technique renders a more intelligible, human-like and expressive face. We further present experiments in which Furhat is used as a tool to investigate properties of facial signals in situated interaction. Furhat is built to study, implement, and verify models of situated and multiparty, multimodal Human-Machine spoken dialogue, a study that requires that the face is physically situated in the interaction environment rather than in a two-dimensional screen. It also has received much interest from several communities, and been showcased at several venues, including a robot exhibition at the London Science Museum. We present an evaluation study of Furhat at the exhibition where it interacted with several thousand persons in a multiparty conversation. The analysis of the data from the setup further shows that Furhat can accurately regulate multiparty interaction using gaze and head movements. / <p>QC 20121123</p>

University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities / Department of Communication

I begin this thesis with a brief account of my meetings with popular South Indian guru Sathya Sai Baba (1926- ) and very brief a discussion of recent fraud and sexual abuse allegations that have been made against him. I note that one of the key factors involved in this, also accountable for his extraordinary popularity, is his divine persona-especially his self-proclaimed identity as "the avatar"-and I review previous academic studies pertaining to this. In contrast to most previous studies of Sathya Sai Baba, which align him primarily with Śaiva traditions and with the "Sai Baba movement", I note a strong (and long running) affinity in his ideas for Vaiṣṇava traditions (especially the Bhagavad-Gītā and the Bhāgavata-Purāṇa), and I add that his background as a member of a traditionally highly regarded bardic caste may have contributed to his divine persona. I further investigate this persona via a history of potentially parallel traditional and modern avatar ideas. I show something of the manner in which many of the avatar concepts and myths to which Sathya Sai Baba refers originated and developed, especially invoking the episteme of "resemblance", posited by Brian Smith, the idea of "inclusivism"-which I adapt from the work of Paul Hacker and Wilhelm Halbfass-and traditional (Sāṁkhya) processes of "distinction", "categorization", and "enumeration". In addition to these, I much refer to Max Weber's analysis of "pure types" of authority-traditional, charismatic, and rational-showing that Sathya Sai Baba draws upon all of these in legitimating his claim to be "the avatar". I also show that his divine persona draws upon a strong affinity that he exhibits for advaita ("non-dualism"), especially that of Śaṅkara, and that his personal history of intense devotional and ecstatic/yogic spiritual practices was likely important in the formative stages of this persona. I further suggest that the history of his geographic locale, in which there are strong themes of sacred kingship and ecstatic/advaitic/poetic/devotional sainthood, may have contributed to the production and reception of his persona. On top of this, I note that the influence of a number of modern avatar figures, especially Ramakrishna, Vivekananda, and Aurobindo, is patent in his avatar teachings, and I compare and contrast him with a number of other significant modern figures. Based upon all of this, I consider the question of whether Sathya Sai Baba ought to be regarded as a "traditionalist", both vis-à-vis modernity ("Neo-Hinduism", as defined especially by Paul Hacker) and "innovation". I conclude that, in contrast to most previous scholarly characterizations, he is certainly innovative, but that he ought not to be considered a "Neo-Hindu"-most appearances to the contrary being due to his borrowing or extrapolating ideas in a very traditional manner from typical Neo-Hindu thinkers (especially Vivekananda), as if these ideas, and those that framed them, were thoroughly traditional. Finally, I outline a couple of major themes in his avatar teachings: an ambivalent attitude to his role as an exemplar, which I note to accord with earlier and parallel avatar ideas; and strong docetic tendencies, which similarly, in contrast to some scholarly characterizations, find parallels in popular portrayals of other avatar figures.

This thesis examines the new theatrical form of cyberformance (live performance by remote players using internet technologies) and contextualises it within the broader fields of networked performance, digital performance and theatre. Poststructuralist theories that contest the binary distinction between reality and representation provide the analytical foundation for the thesis. A critical reflexive methodological approach is undertaken in order to highlight three themes. First, the essential qualities and criteria of cyberformance are identified, and illustrated with examples from the early 1990s to the present day. Second, two cyberformance groups – the Plaintext Players and Avatar Body Collision – and UpStage, a purpose-built application for cyberformance, are examined in more detailed case studies. Third, the specifics of the cyberformance audience are explored and commonalities are identified between theatre and online culture. In conclusion, this thesis suggests that theatre and the internet have much to offer each other in this current global state of transition, and that cyberformance offers one means by which to facilitate the incorporation of new technologies into our lives.

No description available.

The study of the novel Avatar by Théophile Gautier accentuates the supernatural theme, which promotes in the narrative the insertion of the fantastic as well as the theme of romantic love and passionate love. For early discussions, this research refers to the cultural, social and historical French context, in order that to situate the Romantic Movemet whose trends are recurrent in the Gautier s work. Then, it mentions the Gautier contributions to the fortune criticism of the fantastic literature from comments about some narratives of his own, in which emphasize the formal and thematic characteristics that mark the writing of the author in his career as writer of fantastic literature. The literary analysis of Avatar highlights the elements of the narrative, considering the characters, narrator, virtual reader, time, space, actions, and others which add the formal procedures that punctuate the fantastic mode and trends of Romanticism presents in the work. The theme of the supernatural is manifested through the fantastic resource of avatar, bringing up the theme of love in its forms of romantic love, represented in the work by a couple whose love is reciprocal, and passionate love which refers to unrequited love. The analysis are based in the theories of Yves Reuter, David Lodge, Roland Bourneuf and Réal Ouellet when they deal with the literary elements of narrative; Remo Ceserani and Filipe Furtado by emphasize the fantastic mode, punctuating the narrative features as well as the supernatural themes; Vítor Manuel de Aguiar e Silva to presents literary characteristics which mark the Romanticism; Platão, Denis Rougemont, Benjamin Péret and others to discuss about love. / O estudo da novela Avatar, de Théophile Gautier destaca o tema sobrenatural, o qual promove na narrativa a inserção do fantástico, bem como a temática do amor romântico e do amor-paixão. Para início das discussões a pesquisa se reporta ao contexto cultural, social e histórico francês, a fim de situar o Movimento Romântico cujas tendências são recorrentes na obra em análise. Em seguida, registra-se as contribuições de Gautier à fortuna crítica da literatura de modo fantástico a partir de comentários acerca de algumas narrativas da autoria dele, das quais se ressaltam as características formais e temáticas que assinalam a escritura do autor em sua carreira de escritor fantástico. Na análise literária de Avatar ressalta-se os elementos constitutivos da narrativa, considerando as personagens, narrador, narratário, tempo, espaço, ações entre outros, aos quais se acrescentam os procedimentos formais que pontuam o modo fantástico e as tendências do Romantismo que perpassam pela obra. O tema do sobrenatural manifesta-se por intermédio do recurso fantástico do avatar, trazendo à tona a temática do amor em suas formas de amor romântico, representado na obra por um casal cujo amor é recíproco, e amor-paixão que remete a um amor não correspondido. A fundamentação teórica da análise de Avatar sustenta-se em Yves Reuter, David Lodge, Roland Bourneuf e Réal Ouellet ao tratarem dos elementos literários da narrativa; Remo Ceserani e Filipe Furtado ao ressaltarem o modo fantástico, pontuando os recursos narrativos bem como os temas sobrenaturais; Vítor Manuel de Aguiar e Silva ao apresentar as características literárias que assinalam o Romantismo; Platão, Denis Rougemont, Benjamin Péret dentre outros ao discutirem acerca do amor. / Mestre em Teoria Literária

近年政府推廣政策的過程中不斷借重創新思維，嘗試抓住民眾的注意力，政府必須將人民視為顧客，盡力提供服務使民眾滿意，換言之，企業型政府治理模式必然包含「治理」甚至是「政策推廣」相關概念，在公部門推廣政策的同時，我們時常看到政府向企業學習行銷手法推廣公共政策。本研究嘗試向企業行銷學習，藉由文獻回顧以及檢視公共政策行銷實例，從「移情作用、自我指涉、自我認同」三個面向，探討虛擬代言（avatar endorsement）如何應用在公共服務推廣，及促使民眾了解政府政策並使用公共服務的意願為何。 本研究以高雄都會大眾捷運系統目前執行的虛擬代言為討論主題，研究方法採用準實驗設計，由於過去研究指出高雄捷運旅運目的多半為觀光旅遊，因此受試者招募以年輕族群為調查對象，以了解當前虛擬代言能否提高年輕族群的喜好程度、使用捷運系統意願、購買相關商品意願、以及對捷運品牌的吸引程度，招募受試者後，採用配對分派方法進行實驗，以利進行實驗組與控制組態度變化比較。研究發現不同學歷的受試者對於虛擬代言的想法有顯著差異，而虛擬代言能有效提升外縣市的受試者對於該公共服務的吸引程度，只是對於既有的客群掌握則有待加強。 / In recent years, governments start to emphasize the importance of policy promotion and policy marketing. Under the belief of treating people as customers, the ultimate goal is to draw people’s attention and to increase their satisfaction on public services. Normally, the entrepreneurial-oriented governments would spend more time and efforts on “good governance” and “policy promotion”. As a result, when the governments want to promote certain policies, they often try to learn from the private sector on their marketing strategies. This study aims at applying the policy marketing strategies to promote public policies, particularly the effects of avatar endorsement strategy. Using the case of Kaohsiung metro system, this study focuses on three different aspects, the transference, self-reference, and self-identity, to explore how avatar endorsement worked with regard to public policy promotion, as well as to understand how it performed on increasing people’s willingness to receive more public services. This research adopts a quasi-experimental design to understand how the current avatar endorsement strategy affect younger generations on four different attitudes and behaviors, such as brand attitude, purchase intention, brand association, and attraction to the Kaohsiung metro. Results show that people with different educational levels have significantly different attitudes toward avatar endorsement strategy. In addition, the avatar endorsement strategy may effectively enhance the attractiveness of public transportation service toward the younger generation. Policy and managerial implications for the governments are discussed in the thesis.

Virtual worlds give us the opportunity to explore another self, a virtual character of the real life you. Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs) have become extremely popular over the last decade. It has also grown into a lucrative business. To keep the players, the game needs to be more than just a game. This study aimed at finding out what factors that determine which features of the character creation interface that are most important to players. The following research question was formed; “Which underlying factors affect how important different features of the character creation interface are to experienced MMORPG players? To be able to answer the question an extensive literature review was conducted. A qualitative approach was taken. Long interviews were made with five participants, two female and three male players. The interviews took place while they created a number of avatars in different MMORPGs. The interviews were then followed up. During the follow-ups, the impact the character creation process had for the players, were discussed. The findings indicate that the character creation interface is important for the players to get a good gaming experience. However different types of players require different things. Important features for the users to change were mainly; the head; the name; and adding parts of yourself on your character. The factors that determined the importance of these features were found to be; Player types; Identity types; Immersion levels; and whether or not the game or the gaming experience were new to the player. Another finding showed that the longer you have played a game the less bizarre the different races, classes and gender will seem. The study also indicated that the female participants had a hard time identifying with their male characters.

Detta kandidatarbete fokuserar på att undersöka aspekter som kan förstärka en användares upplevelse inom digitala spel. De aspekter som vi valt att fokusera på är användandet av Oculus Rift och Motion Capture då de tar upp viktiga punkter som Virtual Reality, närvaro och inlevelse i spel. Vi valde även att fokusera vår produktion mot skräckgenren då detta är ett område vi båda har stor passion för i diverse media. I vårt arbete har vi fått fram en hypotes om att spel som fokuserar på att lämna karaktären i ett tomt skal (ingen personlighet), lämnar en större chans för inlevelse hos spelaren då användarens egna känslor speglas på karaktären. Användandet av Oculus Rift och realistiska röresler via Motion Capture har en tendens att även stärka detta. / Detta är en reflektionsdel till en digital medieproduktion.