Master of Science

This thesis explores the framing of coordinative experience in collocated computer-mediated communication. It highlights the importance of low- level coordinative properties through multifaceted examination of the transcript of the first minute of a constructed coordinative situation. In efforts to truly understand the culture we are creating and invoking by adding computers to people's activities in groups, and life in general. A lab study was conducted using a computer program that allows one or more users to solve a Sudoku puzzle together, each on their own separate computer. This allowed for an investigation of what happens when people and technology are located in the same place. How do people construct their situation, in terms of who goes next, what do they do and what constitutes the behavior framing. / Master of Science

Deep models are state-of-the-art for many computer vision tasks including object classification, action recognition, and captioning. As Artificial Intelligence systems that utilize deep models are becoming ubiquitous, it is also becoming crucial to explain why they make certain decisions: Grounding model decisions. In this thesis, we study: 1) Improving Model Classification. We show that by utilizing web action images along with videos in training for action recognition, significant performance boosts of convolutional models can be achieved. Without explicit grounding, labeled web action images tend to contain discriminative action poses, which highlight discriminative portions of a video’s temporal progression. 2) Spatial Grounding. We visualize spatial evidence of deep model predictions using a discriminative top-down attention mechanism, called Excitation Backprop. We show how such visualizations are equally informative for correct and incorrect model predictions, and highlight the shift of focus when different training strategies are adopted. 3) Spatial Grounding for Improving Model Classification at Training Time. We propose a guided dropout regularizer for deep networks based on the evidence of a network prediction. This approach penalizes neurons that are most relevant for model prediction. By dropping such high-saliency neurons, the network is forced to learn alternative paths in order to maintain loss minimization. We demonstrate better generalization ability, an increased utilization of network neurons, and a higher resilience to network compression. 4) Spatial Grounding for Improving Model Classification at Test Time. We propose Guided Zoom, an approach that utilizes spatial grounding to make more informed predictions at test time. Guided Zoom compares the evidence used to make a preliminary decision with the evidence of correctly classified training examples to ensure evidenceprediction consistency, otherwise refines the prediction. We demonstrate accuracy gains for fine-grained classification. 5) Spatiotemporal Grounding. We devise a formulation that simultaneously grounds evidence in space and time, in a single pass, using top-down saliency. We visualize the spatiotemporal cues that contribute to a deep recurrent neural network’s classification/captioning output. Based on these spatiotemporal cues, we are able to localize segments within a video that correspond with a specific action, or phrase from a caption, without explicitly optimizing/training for these tasks.

A pesquisa “Raízes para voar – caminhos para uma abordagem somática grounding” investiga a noção de grounding no corpo do performer. Tem como objetivo principal, constituir uma abordagem somática a partir da experiência com o grupo de estudos em grounding, formado especialmente para o desenvolvimento dessa pesquisa. O grounding pode ser entendido como “energia em relação”: um desejo por conexões dentro/fora do corpo e uma atitude que permite comunicação com a Terra. Este senso de grounding está relacionado ao suporte respiratório, ao movimento a partir do assoalho pélvico, à consciência do peso do corpo e do movimento a partir dos pés. Dentro das variadas funções do pé no movimento humano, destaca-se o poder de amortecer o impacto e propulsionar o peso do corpo. Esta dupla personalidade do pé promove o enraizamento necessário para que o corpo salte e suspenda sua massa. Neste sentido, o grounding pode ser descrito metaforicamente como raízes para voar. A abordagem somática entrelaça procedimentos da dança – destacando a influência dos artistas Rudolf Laban e Anna Halprin – e da educação somática (DOWD, 2007; ALEXANDER, 2010) buscando caminhos de acesso ao grounding. Neste sentido, busca-se problematizar a organização e facilitação de tais procedimentos ao grupo, de maneira que os participantes possam se apropriar do material, permitindo reverberar a experiência da pesquisa nos seus trabalhos como atores, terapeutas, músicos, bailarinos, etc. As vivências, registradas em vídeo e acompanhadas de relatos e dos diários de campo constituem a base da reflexão sobre o processo de apropriação de cada integrante, reconhecendo possíveis transformações pessoais. Configura-se como uma pesquisa sobre o processo, de caráter qualitativo, inserida na linha de pesquisa Processos de Criação Cênica do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Artes Cênicas na Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul. / The research "Roots to fly - ways to somatic approach of grounding" investigates the notion of grounding in the body of the performer. It is main purpose, constitute a somatic approach from the experience with the study group, formed especially for the development of this research. The grounding can be understood as "energy in relation": a desire for connections inside/outside the body and an attitude that allows communication with Earth. This sense of grounding is related to breath support, the movement from the pelvic floor, the consciousness of body weight and movement from the feet. Within the various functions of the human foot in motion, there is the power to cushion the impact and propel the weight of the body. This dual personality of the foot promotes rooting necessary to jump and suspend its mass. In this sense, the grounding can be described, metaphorically, as roots to fly. The approach interweaves procedures of dance and somatic education, seeking ways to access the grounding. The research seek to problematize the organization and facilitation of such procedures to the group in such a way that participants can take ownership of the material, allowing reverberate experience of the research in their work as actors, therapists, musicians, dancers, etc.. The experiences, recorded on video and accompanying reports and journals form the basis of reflection on the process of ownership of each member, recognizing possible personal transformations. It configures as a qualitative research process, inserted in the line of research Scenic Creation Processes of the “Programa de Pós-Graduação em Artes Cênicas” at the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul.

A pesquisa “Raízes para voar – caminhos para uma abordagem somática grounding” investiga a noção de grounding no corpo do performer. Tem como objetivo principal, constituir uma abordagem somática a partir da experiência com o grupo de estudos em grounding, formado especialmente para o desenvolvimento dessa pesquisa. O grounding pode ser entendido como “energia em relação”: um desejo por conexões dentro/fora do corpo e uma atitude que permite comunicação com a Terra. Este senso de grounding está relacionado ao suporte respiratório, ao movimento a partir do assoalho pélvico, à consciência do peso do corpo e do movimento a partir dos pés. Dentro das variadas funções do pé no movimento humano, destaca-se o poder de amortecer o impacto e propulsionar o peso do corpo. Esta dupla personalidade do pé promove o enraizamento necessário para que o corpo salte e suspenda sua massa. Neste sentido, o grounding pode ser descrito metaforicamente como raízes para voar. A abordagem somática entrelaça procedimentos da dança – destacando a influência dos artistas Rudolf Laban e Anna Halprin – e da educação somática (DOWD, 2007; ALEXANDER, 2010) buscando caminhos de acesso ao grounding. Neste sentido, busca-se problematizar a organização e facilitação de tais procedimentos ao grupo, de maneira que os participantes possam se apropriar do material, permitindo reverberar a experiência da pesquisa nos seus trabalhos como atores, terapeutas, músicos, bailarinos, etc. As vivências, registradas em vídeo e acompanhadas de relatos e dos diários de campo constituem a base da reflexão sobre o processo de apropriação de cada integrante, reconhecendo possíveis transformações pessoais. Configura-se como uma pesquisa sobre o processo, de caráter qualitativo, inserida na linha de pesquisa Processos de Criação Cênica do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Artes Cênicas na Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul. / The research "Roots to fly - ways to somatic approach of grounding" investigates the notion of grounding in the body of the performer. It is main purpose, constitute a somatic approach from the experience with the study group, formed especially for the development of this research. The grounding can be understood as "energy in relation": a desire for connections inside/outside the body and an attitude that allows communication with Earth. This sense of grounding is related to breath support, the movement from the pelvic floor, the consciousness of body weight and movement from the feet. Within the various functions of the human foot in motion, there is the power to cushion the impact and propel the weight of the body. This dual personality of the foot promotes rooting necessary to jump and suspend its mass. In this sense, the grounding can be described, metaphorically, as roots to fly. The approach interweaves procedures of dance and somatic education, seeking ways to access the grounding. The research seek to problematize the organization and facilitation of such procedures to the group in such a way that participants can take ownership of the material, allowing reverberate experience of the research in their work as actors, therapists, musicians, dancers, etc.. The experiences, recorded on video and accompanying reports and journals form the basis of reflection on the process of ownership of each member, recognizing possible personal transformations. It configures as a qualitative research process, inserted in the line of research Scenic Creation Processes of the “Programa de Pós-Graduação em Artes Cênicas” at the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul.

A pesquisa “Raízes para voar – caminhos para uma abordagem somática grounding” investiga a noção de grounding no corpo do performer. Tem como objetivo principal, constituir uma abordagem somática a partir da experiência com o grupo de estudos em grounding, formado especialmente para o desenvolvimento dessa pesquisa. O grounding pode ser entendido como “energia em relação”: um desejo por conexões dentro/fora do corpo e uma atitude que permite comunicação com a Terra. Este senso de grounding está relacionado ao suporte respiratório, ao movimento a partir do assoalho pélvico, à consciência do peso do corpo e do movimento a partir dos pés. Dentro das variadas funções do pé no movimento humano, destaca-se o poder de amortecer o impacto e propulsionar o peso do corpo. Esta dupla personalidade do pé promove o enraizamento necessário para que o corpo salte e suspenda sua massa. Neste sentido, o grounding pode ser descrito metaforicamente como raízes para voar. A abordagem somática entrelaça procedimentos da dança – destacando a influência dos artistas Rudolf Laban e Anna Halprin – e da educação somática (DOWD, 2007; ALEXANDER, 2010) buscando caminhos de acesso ao grounding. Neste sentido, busca-se problematizar a organização e facilitação de tais procedimentos ao grupo, de maneira que os participantes possam se apropriar do material, permitindo reverberar a experiência da pesquisa nos seus trabalhos como atores, terapeutas, músicos, bailarinos, etc. As vivências, registradas em vídeo e acompanhadas de relatos e dos diários de campo constituem a base da reflexão sobre o processo de apropriação de cada integrante, reconhecendo possíveis transformações pessoais. Configura-se como uma pesquisa sobre o processo, de caráter qualitativo, inserida na linha de pesquisa Processos de Criação Cênica do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Artes Cênicas na Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul. / The research "Roots to fly - ways to somatic approach of grounding" investigates the notion of grounding in the body of the performer. It is main purpose, constitute a somatic approach from the experience with the study group, formed especially for the development of this research. The grounding can be understood as "energy in relation": a desire for connections inside/outside the body and an attitude that allows communication with Earth. This sense of grounding is related to breath support, the movement from the pelvic floor, the consciousness of body weight and movement from the feet. Within the various functions of the human foot in motion, there is the power to cushion the impact and propel the weight of the body. This dual personality of the foot promotes rooting necessary to jump and suspend its mass. In this sense, the grounding can be described, metaphorically, as roots to fly. The approach interweaves procedures of dance and somatic education, seeking ways to access the grounding. The research seek to problematize the organization and facilitation of such procedures to the group in such a way that participants can take ownership of the material, allowing reverberate experience of the research in their work as actors, therapists, musicians, dancers, etc.. The experiences, recorded on video and accompanying reports and journals form the basis of reflection on the process of ownership of each member, recognizing possible personal transformations. It configures as a qualitative research process, inserted in the line of research Scenic Creation Processes of the “Programa de Pós-Graduação em Artes Cênicas” at the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul.

O aterramento elétrico cumpre uma função essencial em um sistema de distribuição de energia elétrica, devendo atender, dentre vários requisitos, aqueles estabelecidos quanto aos valores de tensão de passo e de toque. Entretanto, em locais onde o solo apresenta valores elevados de resistividade, surgem dificuldades que nem sempre são superadas no sentido de obedecer às exigências citadas nas normas técnicas e especificações. Dentro deste contexto, este trabalho tem por objetivo avaliar a utilização de condutores e hastes envolvidos em concreto em sistemas de aterramento, visando à redução dos valores de resistência de terra. Inicialmente é abordada uma configuração convencional de malha de aterramento adotada por uma concessionária de energia elétrica, sendo realizados estudos de modo a verificar a influência do espaçamento e da quantidade das hastes nos valores de resistência de terra. São também consideradas modificações nas dimensões da malha e a utilização de hastes profundas e, na seqüência, são analisados os resultados de outras configurações. De modo a verificar a efetividade do uso do concreto, foram realizadas várias simulações computacionais considerando o sistema de aterramento com a utilização de condutores e hastes envolvidos em concreto. Diversas situações foram investigadas, sendo possível concluir que o uso do concreto resulta em menores valores de resistência de terra em relação às malhas convencionais. Esse resultado, de certo modo, vem ao encontro das expectativas, porém deve ser ressaltada a contribuição do trabalho, a qual possibilita a análise, através de cálculos teóricos, do comportamento das malhas de aterramento com o uso do concreto. A literatura pesquisada apresenta poucos resultados teóricos, sendo encontradas algumas investigações nesse tema onde são consideradas somente medições realizadas no campo. / The electrical grounding plays an essential role in a system of electric power distribution, and must follow, among many requirements, those ones established as step voltage values and touch voltage values. However, in those places where the soil has high resistivity values, some difficulties arise and may not always be overcomed in order to follow the requirements set forth in technical standards and specifications. In this context, the aim of this study is to evaluate the use of electrical conductors and rods encased in concrete inside grounding systems, in order to reduce the ground resistance values. Initially it was observed a conventional configuration of grounding grid that is used by an electric utility, and studies were made in order to verify the influence of the number of rods and the distance between them in the values of grounding resistance. There are also been taken into consideration the changes in the grounding grid dimensions and the use of deep rods and, right after, the results of other configurations are analyzed. In order to verify the effectiveness of the use of concrete, several computer simulations were performed considering the grounding system that used conductors and rods encased in concrete. Several situations were investigated, and it was possible to conclude that the use of concrete results in lower values of ground resistance compared to conventional grounding grid. This result, in a certain way, matches with the expectations, but it should be emphasized the contribution of the study which enables, through theoretical calculations, the analysis of the grounding grid behavior with the use of concrete. The literature shows few theoretical results and presents only some researches on this issue in which ones only measurements made in the field are considered.

O aterramento elétrico cumpre uma função essencial em um sistema de distribuição de energia elétrica, devendo atender, dentre vários requisitos, aqueles estabelecidos quanto aos valores de tensão de passo e de toque. Entretanto, em locais onde o solo apresenta valores elevados de resistividade, surgem dificuldades que nem sempre são superadas no sentido de obedecer às exigências citadas nas normas técnicas e especificações. Dentro deste contexto, este trabalho tem por objetivo avaliar a utilização de condutores e hastes envolvidos em concreto em sistemas de aterramento, visando à redução dos valores de resistência de terra. Inicialmente é abordada uma configuração convencional de malha de aterramento adotada por uma concessionária de energia elétrica, sendo realizados estudos de modo a verificar a influência do espaçamento e da quantidade das hastes nos valores de resistência de terra. São também consideradas modificações nas dimensões da malha e a utilização de hastes profundas e, na seqüência, são analisados os resultados de outras configurações. De modo a verificar a efetividade do uso do concreto, foram realizadas várias simulações computacionais considerando o sistema de aterramento com a utilização de condutores e hastes envolvidos em concreto. Diversas situações foram investigadas, sendo possível concluir que o uso do concreto resulta em menores valores de resistência de terra em relação às malhas convencionais. Esse resultado, de certo modo, vem ao encontro das expectativas, porém deve ser ressaltada a contribuição do trabalho, a qual possibilita a análise, através de cálculos teóricos, do comportamento das malhas de aterramento com o uso do concreto. A literatura pesquisada apresenta poucos resultados teóricos, sendo encontradas algumas investigações nesse tema onde são consideradas somente medições realizadas no campo. / The electrical grounding plays an essential role in a system of electric power distribution, and must follow, among many requirements, those ones established as step voltage values and touch voltage values. However, in those places where the soil has high resistivity values, some difficulties arise and may not always be overcomed in order to follow the requirements set forth in technical standards and specifications. In this context, the aim of this study is to evaluate the use of electrical conductors and rods encased in concrete inside grounding systems, in order to reduce the ground resistance values. Initially it was observed a conventional configuration of grounding grid that is used by an electric utility, and studies were made in order to verify the influence of the number of rods and the distance between them in the values of grounding resistance. There are also been taken into consideration the changes in the grounding grid dimensions and the use of deep rods and, right after, the results of other configurations are analyzed. In order to verify the effectiveness of the use of concrete, several computer simulations were performed considering the grounding system that used conductors and rods encased in concrete. Several situations were investigated, and it was possible to conclude that the use of concrete results in lower values of ground resistance compared to conventional grounding grid. This result, in a certain way, matches with the expectations, but it should be emphasized the contribution of the study which enables, through theoretical calculations, the analysis of the grounding grid behavior with the use of concrete. The literature shows few theoretical results and presents only some researches on this issue in which ones only measurements made in the field are considered.

The grounding of language in humanoid robots is a fundamental problem, especially in social scenarios which involve the interaction of robots with human beings. Indeed, natural language represents the most natural interface for humans to interact and exchange information about concrete entities like KNIFE, HAMMER and abstract concepts such as MAKE, USE. This research domain is very important not only for the advances that it can produce in the design of human-robot communication systems, but also for the implication that it can have on cognitive science. Abstract words are used in daily conversations among people to describe events and situations that occur in the environment. Many scholars have suggested that the distinction between concrete and abstract words is a continuum according to which all entities can be varied in their level of abstractness. The work presented herein aimed to ground abstract concepts, similarly to concrete ones, in perception and action systems. This permitted to investigate how different behavioural and cognitive capabilities can be integrated in a humanoid robot in order to bootstrap the development of higher-order skills such as the acquisition of abstract words. To this end, three neuro-robotics models were implemented. The first neuro-robotics experiment consisted in training a humanoid robot to perform a set of motor primitives (e.g. PUSH, PULL, etc.) that hierarchically combined led to the acquisition of higher-order words (e.g. ACCEPT, REJECT). The implementation of this model, based on a feed-forward artificial neural networks, permitted the assessment of the training methodology adopted for the grounding of language in humanoid robots. In the second experiment, the architecture used for carrying out the first study was reimplemented employing recurrent artificial neural networks that enabled the temporal specification of the action primitives to be executed by the robot. This permitted to increase the combinations of actions that can be taught to the robot for the generation of more complex movements. For the third experiment, a model based on recurrent neural networks that integrated multi-modal inputs (i.e. language, vision and proprioception) was implemented for the grounding of abstract action words (e.g. USE, MAKE). Abstract representations of actions ("one-hot" encoding) used in the other two experiments, were replaced with the joints values recorded from the iCub robot sensors. Experimental results showed that motor primitives have different activation patterns according to the action's sequence in which they are embedded. Furthermore, the performed simulations suggested that the acquisition of concepts related to abstract action words requires the reactivation of similar internal representations activated during the acquisition of the basic concepts, directly grounded in perceptual and sensorimotor knowledge, contained in the hierarchical structure of the words used to ground the abstract action words.

The topics of Grounding and Metaphysical Explanation have been at the forefront of research and debate within metaphysics for the last decade. Grounding is commonly taken to be a relation of non-causal dependence. In this thesis I address the pertinent question as to what sorts of entities are related in instances of grounding. There has so far been little enquiry into this issue, and it therefore requires urgent attention. I argue here that the entities involved in grounding are facts, where facts are true Fregean propositions. True Fregean propositions are abstract entities composed of senses, and are individuated according the senses which they involve. I proceed by setting out some desiderata which the entities involved in grounding will fulfil. Firstly, they will be individuated sufficiently finely as to provide instances of grounding to back all putative cases of non-causal explanation. Secondly, they will ensure that there is unity between instances of grounding and instances of causation. Finally, they will be mind- independent. I survey different types of entity and show that true Fregean propositions are best-equipped to fulfil these desiderata. We therefore have reason to believe that grounding relates facts, so understood. The conclusion of this thesis therefore makes it incumbent upon us to extend our ontology to include true Fregean propositions.