| Robert Amor's Publications in 2014 |
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Dimyadi, J., Clifton, C., Spearpoint, M. and Amor, R. (2014) Regulatory Knowledge Encoding Guidelines for Automated Compliance Audit of Building Engineering Design, Proceedings of CIB W78 2014, Orlando, USA, 23-25 June, pp. 536-543. |
Abstract: The main challenges in automating the regulatory compliance checking of building engineering designs are the availability of computable representations of the building and the regulatory knowledge, as well as a system that can process and manage these representations effectively. The emergence of Building Information Modelling (BIM) and Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) at the start of the millennium has sparked useful research in the area of sharing building information effectively, but challenges remain with producing a practical and manageable regulatory knowledge representation that can be processed effectively by a compliance checking system. Research is being conducted to develop a two-part regulatory knowledge representation, which can be maintained independently by designers and regulators. One part is a set of compliant design procedures modelled as Business Process Diagrams (BPD) using an open standard Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN), and the other is the associated regulatory constraints and rules encoded in a computable format suitable for execution with the BPMN. This paper reports on a set of guidelines developed for the purposes of encoding regulatory knowledge into the proposed computable representation. A verification method (C/VM2) prescribed by the New Zealand Building Code (NZBC) for the performance-based design of buildings related to fire safety has been selected as a case study to illustrate the encoding process. These guidelines are adaptable for encoding the entire NZBC.
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Picardo, V., Metson, S., Hoda, R., Amor, R., Arnold-Saritepe, A., Sharp, R. and Brand, D. (2014) Towards Designing Assistive Software Applications for Discrete Trial Training, poster in proceedings of ICSE, Hyderabad, India, 31 May - 7 June, pp. 622-623. |
Abstract: Discrete Trial Training (DTT) is one of the most effective training methods for children diagnosed with Autism. Traditional DTT suffers from limitations of inconsistencies on account of human error, disruptions due to in-session data collection by trainers, and difficulties of producing physical within-stimulus prompts. Current software solutions either support sole child usage thereby eliminating the social interaction benefits of DTT or lack automated data collection. Designed by an inter-disciplinary team of software engineers, HCI, and psychology experts and certified behavior analysts for a touch-tabletop, DTTAce is an assistive-software that provides digital consistency and integrity and supports customization of trials, automated data collection, and within-stimulus prompts while preserving natural interactions and the social nature of DTT. It is an important step towards designing effective assistive software for Discrete Trial Training.
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Pileggi, S.F., Calvo-Gallego, J. and Amor, R. (2014) MANSION-GS: seMANtics as the n-th dimenSION for Geographic Space, Proceedings of Conf-IRM, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, 21-23 May, pp. 12P:1-12. |
Abstract: The extended understanding of geographic ecosystems, including the physical and logic description of the space both with associated data and activities as well as the dynamics inside, proposes complex scenarios that cannot be reflected on a simple geographic-oriented data model. The main purpose of the current work is the conceptual integration of physical space model with a dynamic logic support able to describe the relations among the different elements composing the space as well as the relations between spaces and external elements. In the context of this work, semantics have the critical and central role of connecting and relating the different dimensions on the space, even they are mostly a virtual dimension more in the overall model.
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Dimyadi, J., Amor, R., Clifton, C. and Spearpoint, M. (2014) Automated Compliance Audit of Fire Engineering Design, poster presented at 11IAFSS, International Symposium on Fire Safety Science, Christchurch, New Zealand, 10-14 February. |
Abstract: Automating regulatory compliance audit in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction domain has been subject of considerable research, but has no viable solution. The main challenge is the continued practice of paper-based information exchange in the industry. The emergence of an ISO standard Building Information Model (BIM) to represent buildings as semantically rich objects has the potential to address part of the problem. However, it must be coupled with an efficient and practical computable representation of the regulatory knowledge, and an automated system to process them for compliance audit. Objectives 1. To develop a practical computerised representation of performance-based codes with an application to the fire safety design of buildings in New Zealand. 2. To implement an effective method of extracting information from ISO standard BIM-based models. 3. To develop a framework that could process the building model and the regulatory knowledge base to support automated performance-based audit of fire safety design.
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Picardo, V., Metson, S., Hoda, R., Amor, R., Arnold-Saritepe, A., Sharp, R. and Brand, D. (2014) Designing an Educational Tabletop Software for Children with Autism, poster presented at AUIC, Auckland, New Zealand, 20-23 January, pp. 89-90. |
Abstract: Discrete Trail Training (DTT) is an intervention method used by behaviour analysts for teaching skills to children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) around a table using physical materials and artefacts. Traditional DTT suffers from these main challenges: inconsistency due to human limitations; need for repeatedly focusing child's attention on the trail at hand as children with ASD suffer from short attention spans; and disruptions on account of in-session data recording and analysis by the analysts while delivering the training. Developed in collaboration with HCI and behaviour analysis experts, our proposed solution is an interactive, tabletop software application that provides the consistency and integrity that DTT aims to achieve, while engaging the child's attention on the interactive interface, and seamlessly collecting and analysing in-session data in the background. Upcoming usability evaluations of the prototype promise to provide insight into the potential effectiveness of our prototype.
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Williams, J., Amor, R., Apleby, S., Boyden, G., Davis, S., Greenstreet, N., Hawkins, J., Jowett, G., Read, H., Hunter, F. and Reding, A. (2014) New Zealand BIM Handbook: A Guide to Enabling BIM on Building Projects, Building and Construction Productivity Partnership, July, ISBN 978-0-473-29223-2. |
Abstract: The creation of this Handbook has been driven by the Productivity Partnership and the Ministry for Business Innovation and Employment. Their aim has been to create a New Zealand-centric document that: . promotes the use of BIM throughout the project life cycle . creates a common language for the industry to use . clarifies the briefing process for designers and constructors . improves the level of coordination in both design and construction phases . promotes a more proactive approach to Facilities Management . creates a clear path for the future development of the industry. The Handbook does not cover every aspect of BIM in detail. Its primary focus is on the design and construction phases of the building life cycle. To realise the maximum benefits of BIM, the information/data created during the design and construction phases must be fed into facilities and asset management systems.
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Dimyadi, J.A., Clifton, C., Amor, R. and Spearpoint, M. (2014) Computer-aided Compliance Audit to Support Performance-based Fire Engineering Design, Proceedings of the SFPE 10th International Conference on Performance-based Codes and Fire Safety Design Methods, Gold Coast, Australia, 10-12 November, DOI:10.13140/2.1.5142.7521. |
Abstract: Computer-aided compliance auditing aims to provide an automated system to assess engineering designs against specified regulatory representations. Previous research has largely focused on prescriptive regulatory rules, which are relatively easier to audit than those pertaining to performance-based codes with qualitative criteria. There have been a few prototype implementations of rule-based compliance auditing systems, which tend to represent regulatory knowledge as complex rule sets that are integrated into the system. The drawback of this approach is inflexibility, relatively high costs and dependency on the system programmer to modify built-in rules in response to on-going regulatory amendments. The current research looks at representing regulatory knowledge as a library of compliant design procedures (CDP) and the associated regulatory rules, which are treated as external input components to the system. This would allow them to be managed and maintained independently by designers and regulators as appropriate experts in their respective fields. This paper reports on the development of a computable regulatory knowledge model (RKM), which can be used in conjunction with a CDP for automatically auditing an object-based building information model (BIM). CDPs can be described graphically as workflows in the open standard Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN), which can be executed to automate the compliance audit process. A RKM representing the fire engineering performance-based verification method prescribed by the New Zealand Building Code is proposed for use by the CDP workflows to check the design against. The potential of interfacing with simulation tools to provide some of the required input parameters is discussed.
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Pileggi, S.F. and Amor, R. (2014) Modelling Metropolitan Activity through Abductive Reasoning on Geographic Space, Proceedings of 14th IEEE International Conference on Computer and Information Technology (CIT 2014), Xi'an, Shaanxi, China, 11-13 September, pp. 783-788. |
Abstract: This paper proposes a novel approach to define the geographic space focusing on the integration of common geographical specification of the space with complex semantics aimed at a more active role of the space inside information processing tasks. Generic data (called Activity) is processed in the space model in order to retrieve a well defined behaviour of the interest parameters on the target spaces. A domain-specific semantic understanding of the whole data ecosystem allows one to overcome of unrealistic assumptions to switch to an effective reasoning on the space.
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Al Manji, A., Davies, C. and Amor, R. (2014) A Dynamic Adjustment of Control-Display Gain Based on Curvature Index, Proceedings of 2nd International Conference on Multimedia and Human-Computer Interaction (MHCI'14), Prague, Czech Republic, 14-15 August. |
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to evaluate an algorithm intended to enhance the performance of point-and-click computer tasks for youths with cerebral palsy using a standard mouse. The curvature index-based algorithm for dynamic adjustment of control-display gain showed experimentally better performance during primary submovement, but worse performance during secondary correction submovements (higher number of submovements and longer movement time) for both typically developed youths and youths with cerebral palsy. It also showed better performance of average speed and maximum speed compared with Windows default settings. Furthermore, the average movement time, error rate, and overshoot rate for both typically developed youths and youths with cerebral palsy are higher using the curvature index-based algorithm.