We show how principles of separation of Coordination from Computation can be used to endow the Pr... more We show how principles of separation of Coordination from Computation can be used to endow the Problem Frames approach to problem analysis with representation schemes. These representation schemes facilitate the way evolution of requirements or of the application domain can be reflected in the decomposition structure, making it easier to change.
This position paper summarises some themes encountered when analysing video data in the context o... more This position paper summarises some themes encountered when analysing video data in the context of music performance with interactive tabletops. It presents methodological approaches and coding schemes used for a set of experiments on musical tabletops and collaboration. Finally, it outlines an initial taxonomy based on the outcomes of the projects introduced, which can be used for video annotation of collaborative music interaction.
The research described in this paper is undertaken under the banner of the smart city, a concept ... more The research described in this paper is undertaken under the banner of the smart city, a concept that captures the way urban spaces are re-made by the incursion of new technology. Much of smart is centred on converting everyday activities into data, and using this data to generate knowledge mediated by technology. Ordinary citizens, those that may have their lives impacted by the technology, usually are not properly involved in the 'smartification' process. Their perceptions, concerns and expectations should inform the conception and development of smart technologies at the same extent. How to engage general public with smart cities research is the central challenge for the Making Metrics Meaningful (MMM) project. Applying a rapid participatory method, 'Imagine' over a five-month period (March-July) the research sought to gain insights from the general public into novel forms of information system innovation. This brief paper describes the nature of the accelerated research undertaken and explores some of the themes which emerged in the analysis. Generic themes, beyond the remit of an explicit transport focus, are developed and pointers towards further research directions are discussed. Participatory methods, including engaging with selfselected transport users actively through both picture creation and programmatically specific musical 'signatures' as well as group discussion, were found to be effective in eliciting users' own concerns, needs and ideas for novel information systems.
Tonal affinity is the perceived goodness of fit of successive tones. It is important because a pr... more Tonal affinity is the perceived goodness of fit of successive tones. It is important because a preference for certain intervals over others would likely influence preferences for, and prevalences of, “higher-order” musical structures such as scales and chord progressions. We hypothesize that two psychoacoustic (spectral) factors—harmonicity and spectral pitch similarity—have an impact on affinity. The harmonicity of a single tone is the extent to which its partials (frequency components) correspond to those of a harmonic complex tone (whose partials are a multiple of a single fundamental frequency). The spectral pitch similarity of two tones is the extent to which they have partials with corresponding, or close, frequencies. To ascertain the unique effect sizes of harmonicity and spectral pitch similarity, we constructed a computational model to numerically quantify them. The model was tested against data obtained from 44 participants who ranked the overall affinity of tones in melo...
Tonal affinity is the perceived goodness of fit of successive tones. It is important because a pr... more Tonal affinity is the perceived goodness of fit of successive tones. It is important because a preference for certain intervals over others would likely influence preferences for, and prevalences of, “higher-order” musical structures such as scales and chord progressions. We hypothesize that two psychoacoustic (spectral) factors—harmonicity and spectral pitch similarity—have an impact on affinity. The harmonicity of a single tone is the extent to which its partials (frequency components) correspond to those of a harmonic complex tone (whose partials are a multiple of a single fundamental frequency). The spectral pitch similarity of two tones is the extent to which they have partials with corresponding, or close, frequencies. To ascertain the unique effect sizes of harmonicity and spectral pitch similarity, we constructed a computational model to numerically quantify them. The model was tested against data obtained from 44 participants who ranked the overall affinity of tones in melo...
Proceedings of the 3rd international conference on Aspect-oriented software development - AOSD '04, 2004
It is generally accepted that early determination of the stakeholder requirements assists in the ... more It is generally accepted that early determination of the stakeholder requirements assists in the development of systems that better meet the needs of those stakeholders. General security requirements frustrate this goal because it is difficult to determine how they affect the functional requirements of the system. This paper illustrates how representing threats as crosscutting concerns aids in determining the effect of security requirements on the functional requirements. Assets (objects that have value in a system) are first enumerated, and then threats on these assets are listed. The points where assets and functional requirements join are examined to expose vulnerabilities to the threats. Security requirements, represented as constraints, are added to the functional requirements to reduce the scope of the vulnerabilities. These requirements are used during the analysis and specification process, thereby incorporating security concerns into the functional requirements of the system.
2010 14th International Conference Information Visualisation, 2010
Buildings account for significant carbon dioxide emissions, both in construction and operation. G... more Buildings account for significant carbon dioxide emissions, both in construction and operation. Governments around the world are setting targets and legislating to reduce the carbon emissions related to the built environment. Challenges presented by increasingly rigorous standards for construction projects will mean a paradigm shift in how new buildings are designed and managed. This will lead to the need for computational modelling and visualization of buildings and their energy performance throughout the life-cycle of the building. This paper briefly outline how the UK government is planning to reduce carbon emissions for new buildings. It discusses the challenges faced by the architectural, construction and building management professions in adjusting to the proposed requirements for low or zero carbon buildings. It then outlines how software tools, including the use of visualization tools, could develop to support the designer, contractor and user.
We present a preliminary study of using the information theoretic concept of cross entropy to mea... more We present a preliminary study of using the information theoretic concept of cross entropy to measure musical contrast in a symbolic context, with a focus on melody. We measure cross entropy using the Information Dynamics Of Music (IDyOM) framework. Whilst our long term aim is to understand the use of contrast in sonata form, in this paper we take a more general perspective and look at a broad spread of Western art music of the common practice era. Our results suggest that cross entropy has a useful role as an objective measure of contrast, but that a fuller picture will require more work.
Proceedings of the 9th Audio Mostly on A Conference on Interaction With Sound - AM '14, 2014
The Open University's repository of research publications and other research outputs Methodologic... more The Open University's repository of research publications and other research outputs Methodological approaches to the evaluation of game music systems Conference or Workshop Item How to cite: Prechtl, Anthony; Laney, Robin; Willis, Alistair and Samuels, Robert (2014). Methodological approaches to the evaluation of game music systems. In: AM '14 Proceedings of the 9th Audio Mostly: A Conference on Interaction With Sound, ACM, article no. 26. For guidance on citations see FAQs.
Music Perception: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 2015
In this paper, we introduce a small family of novel bottom-up (sensory) models of the Krumhansl a... more In this paper, we introduce a small family of novel bottom-up (sensory) models of the Krumhansl and Kessler (1982) probe tone data. The models are based on the spectral pitch class similarities between all twelve pitch classes and the tonic degree and tonic triad. Cross-validation tests of a wide selection of models show ours to have amongst the highest fits to the data. We then extend one of our models to predict the tonics of a variety of different scales such as the harmonic minor, melodic minor, and harmonic major. The model produces sensible predictions for these scales. Furthermore, we also predict the tonics of a small selection of microtonal scales—scales that do not form part of any musical culture. These latter predictions may be tested when suitable empirical data have been collected.
In this paper, we introduce a small family of novel bottom-up (sensory) models of the Krumhansl a... more In this paper, we introduce a small family of novel bottom-up (sensory) models of the Krumhansl and Kessler (1982) probe tone data. The models are based on the spectral pitch class similarities between all twelve pitch classes and the tonic degree and tonic triad. Cross-validation tests of a wide selection of models show ours to have amongst the highest fits to the data. We then extend one of our models to predict the tonics of a variety of different scales such as the harmonic minor, melodic minor, and harmonic major. The model produces sensible predictions for these scales. Furthermore , we also predict the tonics of a small selection of microtonal scales—scales that do not form part of any musical culture. These latter predictions may be tested when suitable empirical data have been collected.
2012 16th International Conference on Information Visualisation, 2012
A new approach to building modelling software, to support the iterative design of energy efficien... more A new approach to building modelling software, to support the iterative design of energy efficient buildings, is proposed. The proposal is for the combination of two, previously separate, software types-building design modelling and building performance simulation, along with the development of a third component-a design advisor, into one software tool. This software is intended for use by architectural practices, who may not have access to energy expertise, and who may then struggle to maintain design standards for non-domestic buildings required to satisfy rigorous energy performance regulations. In this paper we describe, through an example, how the three components would work together, by the employment of zone meshes, to visualise, simulate and support with information and advice, the design of a building. The novelty of the method resides in the application of underlying zone meshes for the support of iterative building design. The approach is described, illustrated and future work outlined.
Proceedings. 12th IEEE International Requirements Engineering Conference, 2004., 2004
Problem Frames are a systematic approach to the decomposition of problems that allows us to relat... more Problem Frames are a systematic approach to the decomposition of problems that allows us to relate requirements, domain properties, and machine specifications. Having decomposed a problem, one approach to solving it is through a process of composing solutions to sub-problems. In this paper, we contribute to supporting such a process by providing a way to compose multiple Problem Frames. We develop a systematic approach to composing inconsistent requirements. We introduce Composition Frames, a requirements construct that models relevant aspects of composition and thus deals with unwanted effects, such as interference of overlapping reactions to events. Throughout the paper we use a simple case study to illustrate and validate our ideas.
Proceedings of the 3rd international workshop on Applications and advances of problem frames - IWAAPF '08, 2008
Using the event calculus to reason about problem diagrams. In: Proceedings of the 3rd internation... more Using the event calculus to reason about problem diagrams. In: Proceedings of the 3rd international workshop on applications and advances of problem frames, May 2008,
The principle of "divide and conquer" suggests that complex software problems should be decompose... more The principle of "divide and conquer" suggests that complex software problems should be decomposed into simpler problems, and those problems should be solved before considering how they can be composed. The eventual composition may fail if solutions to simpler problems interact in unexpected ways. Given descriptions of individual problems, early identification of situations where composition might fail remains an outstanding issue. In this paper, we present a tool-supported approach for early identification of all possible interactions between problems, where the composition cannot be achieved fully. Our tool, called the OpenPF, (i) provides a simple diagramming editor for drawing problem diagrams and describing them using the Event Calculus, (ii) structures the Event Calculus formulae of individual problem diagrams for the abduction procedure, and (iii) communicates with an off-the-shelf abductive reasoner in the background and relates the results of the abduction procedure to the problem diagrams. This tool highlights, at an early stage, problem diagrams that will interact when composed together. The theory and the tool framework proposed are illustrated with an interaction problem from a smart home application.
We show how principles of separation of Coordination from Computation can be used to endow the Pr... more We show how principles of separation of Coordination from Computation can be used to endow the Problem Frames approach to problem analysis with representation schemes. These representation schemes facilitate the way evolution of requirements or of the application domain can be reflected in the decomposition structure, making it easier to change.
This position paper summarises some themes encountered when analysing video data in the context o... more This position paper summarises some themes encountered when analysing video data in the context of music performance with interactive tabletops. It presents methodological approaches and coding schemes used for a set of experiments on musical tabletops and collaboration. Finally, it outlines an initial taxonomy based on the outcomes of the projects introduced, which can be used for video annotation of collaborative music interaction.
The research described in this paper is undertaken under the banner of the smart city, a concept ... more The research described in this paper is undertaken under the banner of the smart city, a concept that captures the way urban spaces are re-made by the incursion of new technology. Much of smart is centred on converting everyday activities into data, and using this data to generate knowledge mediated by technology. Ordinary citizens, those that may have their lives impacted by the technology, usually are not properly involved in the 'smartification' process. Their perceptions, concerns and expectations should inform the conception and development of smart technologies at the same extent. How to engage general public with smart cities research is the central challenge for the Making Metrics Meaningful (MMM) project. Applying a rapid participatory method, 'Imagine' over a five-month period (March-July) the research sought to gain insights from the general public into novel forms of information system innovation. This brief paper describes the nature of the accelerated research undertaken and explores some of the themes which emerged in the analysis. Generic themes, beyond the remit of an explicit transport focus, are developed and pointers towards further research directions are discussed. Participatory methods, including engaging with selfselected transport users actively through both picture creation and programmatically specific musical 'signatures' as well as group discussion, were found to be effective in eliciting users' own concerns, needs and ideas for novel information systems.
Tonal affinity is the perceived goodness of fit of successive tones. It is important because a pr... more Tonal affinity is the perceived goodness of fit of successive tones. It is important because a preference for certain intervals over others would likely influence preferences for, and prevalences of, “higher-order” musical structures such as scales and chord progressions. We hypothesize that two psychoacoustic (spectral) factors—harmonicity and spectral pitch similarity—have an impact on affinity. The harmonicity of a single tone is the extent to which its partials (frequency components) correspond to those of a harmonic complex tone (whose partials are a multiple of a single fundamental frequency). The spectral pitch similarity of two tones is the extent to which they have partials with corresponding, or close, frequencies. To ascertain the unique effect sizes of harmonicity and spectral pitch similarity, we constructed a computational model to numerically quantify them. The model was tested against data obtained from 44 participants who ranked the overall affinity of tones in melo...
Tonal affinity is the perceived goodness of fit of successive tones. It is important because a pr... more Tonal affinity is the perceived goodness of fit of successive tones. It is important because a preference for certain intervals over others would likely influence preferences for, and prevalences of, “higher-order” musical structures such as scales and chord progressions. We hypothesize that two psychoacoustic (spectral) factors—harmonicity and spectral pitch similarity—have an impact on affinity. The harmonicity of a single tone is the extent to which its partials (frequency components) correspond to those of a harmonic complex tone (whose partials are a multiple of a single fundamental frequency). The spectral pitch similarity of two tones is the extent to which they have partials with corresponding, or close, frequencies. To ascertain the unique effect sizes of harmonicity and spectral pitch similarity, we constructed a computational model to numerically quantify them. The model was tested against data obtained from 44 participants who ranked the overall affinity of tones in melo...
Proceedings of the 3rd international conference on Aspect-oriented software development - AOSD '04, 2004
It is generally accepted that early determination of the stakeholder requirements assists in the ... more It is generally accepted that early determination of the stakeholder requirements assists in the development of systems that better meet the needs of those stakeholders. General security requirements frustrate this goal because it is difficult to determine how they affect the functional requirements of the system. This paper illustrates how representing threats as crosscutting concerns aids in determining the effect of security requirements on the functional requirements. Assets (objects that have value in a system) are first enumerated, and then threats on these assets are listed. The points where assets and functional requirements join are examined to expose vulnerabilities to the threats. Security requirements, represented as constraints, are added to the functional requirements to reduce the scope of the vulnerabilities. These requirements are used during the analysis and specification process, thereby incorporating security concerns into the functional requirements of the system.
2010 14th International Conference Information Visualisation, 2010
Buildings account for significant carbon dioxide emissions, both in construction and operation. G... more Buildings account for significant carbon dioxide emissions, both in construction and operation. Governments around the world are setting targets and legislating to reduce the carbon emissions related to the built environment. Challenges presented by increasingly rigorous standards for construction projects will mean a paradigm shift in how new buildings are designed and managed. This will lead to the need for computational modelling and visualization of buildings and their energy performance throughout the life-cycle of the building. This paper briefly outline how the UK government is planning to reduce carbon emissions for new buildings. It discusses the challenges faced by the architectural, construction and building management professions in adjusting to the proposed requirements for low or zero carbon buildings. It then outlines how software tools, including the use of visualization tools, could develop to support the designer, contractor and user.
We present a preliminary study of using the information theoretic concept of cross entropy to mea... more We present a preliminary study of using the information theoretic concept of cross entropy to measure musical contrast in a symbolic context, with a focus on melody. We measure cross entropy using the Information Dynamics Of Music (IDyOM) framework. Whilst our long term aim is to understand the use of contrast in sonata form, in this paper we take a more general perspective and look at a broad spread of Western art music of the common practice era. Our results suggest that cross entropy has a useful role as an objective measure of contrast, but that a fuller picture will require more work.
Proceedings of the 9th Audio Mostly on A Conference on Interaction With Sound - AM '14, 2014
The Open University's repository of research publications and other research outputs Methodologic... more The Open University's repository of research publications and other research outputs Methodological approaches to the evaluation of game music systems Conference or Workshop Item How to cite: Prechtl, Anthony; Laney, Robin; Willis, Alistair and Samuels, Robert (2014). Methodological approaches to the evaluation of game music systems. In: AM '14 Proceedings of the 9th Audio Mostly: A Conference on Interaction With Sound, ACM, article no. 26. For guidance on citations see FAQs.
Music Perception: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 2015
In this paper, we introduce a small family of novel bottom-up (sensory) models of the Krumhansl a... more In this paper, we introduce a small family of novel bottom-up (sensory) models of the Krumhansl and Kessler (1982) probe tone data. The models are based on the spectral pitch class similarities between all twelve pitch classes and the tonic degree and tonic triad. Cross-validation tests of a wide selection of models show ours to have amongst the highest fits to the data. We then extend one of our models to predict the tonics of a variety of different scales such as the harmonic minor, melodic minor, and harmonic major. The model produces sensible predictions for these scales. Furthermore, we also predict the tonics of a small selection of microtonal scales—scales that do not form part of any musical culture. These latter predictions may be tested when suitable empirical data have been collected.
In this paper, we introduce a small family of novel bottom-up (sensory) models of the Krumhansl a... more In this paper, we introduce a small family of novel bottom-up (sensory) models of the Krumhansl and Kessler (1982) probe tone data. The models are based on the spectral pitch class similarities between all twelve pitch classes and the tonic degree and tonic triad. Cross-validation tests of a wide selection of models show ours to have amongst the highest fits to the data. We then extend one of our models to predict the tonics of a variety of different scales such as the harmonic minor, melodic minor, and harmonic major. The model produces sensible predictions for these scales. Furthermore , we also predict the tonics of a small selection of microtonal scales—scales that do not form part of any musical culture. These latter predictions may be tested when suitable empirical data have been collected.
2012 16th International Conference on Information Visualisation, 2012
A new approach to building modelling software, to support the iterative design of energy efficien... more A new approach to building modelling software, to support the iterative design of energy efficient buildings, is proposed. The proposal is for the combination of two, previously separate, software types-building design modelling and building performance simulation, along with the development of a third component-a design advisor, into one software tool. This software is intended for use by architectural practices, who may not have access to energy expertise, and who may then struggle to maintain design standards for non-domestic buildings required to satisfy rigorous energy performance regulations. In this paper we describe, through an example, how the three components would work together, by the employment of zone meshes, to visualise, simulate and support with information and advice, the design of a building. The novelty of the method resides in the application of underlying zone meshes for the support of iterative building design. The approach is described, illustrated and future work outlined.
Proceedings. 12th IEEE International Requirements Engineering Conference, 2004., 2004
Problem Frames are a systematic approach to the decomposition of problems that allows us to relat... more Problem Frames are a systematic approach to the decomposition of problems that allows us to relate requirements, domain properties, and machine specifications. Having decomposed a problem, one approach to solving it is through a process of composing solutions to sub-problems. In this paper, we contribute to supporting such a process by providing a way to compose multiple Problem Frames. We develop a systematic approach to composing inconsistent requirements. We introduce Composition Frames, a requirements construct that models relevant aspects of composition and thus deals with unwanted effects, such as interference of overlapping reactions to events. Throughout the paper we use a simple case study to illustrate and validate our ideas.
Proceedings of the 3rd international workshop on Applications and advances of problem frames - IWAAPF '08, 2008
Using the event calculus to reason about problem diagrams. In: Proceedings of the 3rd internation... more Using the event calculus to reason about problem diagrams. In: Proceedings of the 3rd international workshop on applications and advances of problem frames, May 2008,
The principle of "divide and conquer" suggests that complex software problems should be decompose... more The principle of "divide and conquer" suggests that complex software problems should be decomposed into simpler problems, and those problems should be solved before considering how they can be composed. The eventual composition may fail if solutions to simpler problems interact in unexpected ways. Given descriptions of individual problems, early identification of situations where composition might fail remains an outstanding issue. In this paper, we present a tool-supported approach for early identification of all possible interactions between problems, where the composition cannot be achieved fully. Our tool, called the OpenPF, (i) provides a simple diagramming editor for drawing problem diagrams and describing them using the Event Calculus, (ii) structures the Event Calculus formulae of individual problem diagrams for the abduction procedure, and (iii) communicates with an off-the-shelf abductive reasoner in the background and relates the results of the abduction procedure to the problem diagrams. This tool highlights, at an early stage, problem diagrams that will interact when composed together. The theory and the tool framework proposed are illustrated with an interaction problem from a smart home application.
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Papers by Robin Laney