Archive for March, 2016

Use Density: Merging the Architect’s and the Planner’s Views on Urban Density

Written by David Meredith on . Posted in Events

Nicolai Steinø

Department of Architecture, Design and Media Technology, Aalborg University

PastedGraphic-1
Date: Wednesday 18 May 2016
Time: 12.45 – 14.00
Place: Rendsburggade 14, Room 3.329

Abstract

When architects and planners speak of density, they speak of two different things. As architects are concerned with buildings, they think of density as density of buildings, expressed as floor area ratio (FAR). Planners however, are concerned with inhabitants and thus with density of people, expressed as population density.

While some people have large dwellings and are often not at home, other people have small dwellings and spend most of their time at home. Therefore, building more houses does not necessarily increase the population density. It is therefore relevant to develop a measure for use density – how intensively buildings are used by people.

This presentation introduces the concept of use density and how it can be used to analyse and compare the intensity of use of different types of buildings. A new measure, the Nic index, is developed as an expression of the total amount of time spent by the total amount of people in a specific space in the course of a typical week. The findings of a small pilot survey applying the Nic index to dwellings is presented and discussed.

Bio

On its way…

Analysis and Generation of Percussion Sequences and Decoding Attention to Musical Instruments using EEG

Written by David Meredith on . Posted in Events

Hendrik Purwins

Department of Architecture, Design and Media Technology, Aalborg University Copenhagen

Hendrik
Date: Wednesday 27 April 2016
Time: 12.45 – 14.00
Place: Rendsburggade 14, Room 3.329

Abstract

I. We present a system that learns the rhythmical structure of percussion sequences from an audio example in an unsupervised manner, providing a representation that can be used for the generation of stylistically similar and musically interesting variations. The procedure consists of segmentation and symbolization (feature extraction, clustering, sequence structure analysis, temporal alignment). In a top-down manner, an entropy-based regularity measure determines the number of clusters into which the samples are grouped. A variant of that system that adjusts the number of (timbre) clusters instantaneously to the audio input. A sequence learning algorithm adapts its structure to a dynamically changing clustering tree. The prediction of the entire system is evaluated using the adjusted Rand Index, yielding good results.

II. In a multi-streamed oddball experiment, we had participants shift selective attention to one out of three different instruments in music audio clips. Contrasting attended versus unattended instruments, ERP analysis shows subject- and instrument-specific responses including P300 and early auditory components. The attended instrument can be classified online with a mean accuracy of 91% across 11 participants. This is a proof of concept that attention paid to a particular instrument in polyphonic music can be inferred from ongoing EEG, a finding that is potentially relevant for both brain-computer interface and music research.

Bio

Hendrik Purwins is Assistant Professor at Audio Analysis Lab and Sound and Music Computing Group, Aalborg Universitet København, Denmark. He obtained his Ph.D. from Berlin Institute of Technology (EE/CS), with a scholarship from the ”Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes”. He studied mathematics at Bonn and Münster University (diploma in pure mathematics). He has been lecturer at Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, researcher at Berlin Brain Computer Interface, visiting scholar at IRCAM, Paris, CCRMA, Stanford, and McGill University, Montreal. He has written more than 70 scientific papers and has won 13 research grants/prizes. His interests comprise statistical, unsupervised models for machine listening, music generation, sound resynthesis, and failure prediction in semi-conductor manufacturing, and big data in e-health. Starting playing the violin at age of 7, he also studied music at Cologne Music Academy, Münster University and Berlin University of the Arts.

Finding Repeated Motifs in Music: An Online Approach for Closed Substring Pattern Mining

Written by David Meredith on . Posted in Events

Olivier Lartillot

Department of Architecture, Design and Media Technology, Aalborg University

olivier
Date: Wednesday 11 May 2016
Time: 12.45 – 14.00
Place: Rendsburggade 14, Room 4.315

Abstract

The aim of this research is to extract all repetitions of motifs in music, through a search for repeated substrings. One particular challenge is to describe the pattern repetition exhaustively but in a most compact way. We introduce a new method for online closed pattern mining and address the important issue, quite common in music, where a pattern repeats many times successively. This method is generalised to the search for heterogeneous patterns in multidimensional strings, with musical transformations, and in polyphony where multiple notes appear at the same time. More generally, the analysis of music is modelled as a network of interdependent modules.

Bio

Olivier Lartillot is member of the Music Informatics and Cognition Group. He is a researcher in computational music analysis, in both domains of audio and score analysis. As an Academy of Finland research fellow, he designed Matlab software for music analysis (MIRtoolbox) as well as for music therapy improvisation analysis. He participates to the European project Learning to Create.

R&D in the Pharmaceutical Industry – A Statistical Programmer’s Perspective

Written by David Meredith on . Posted in Events

Rasmus Stenholt

Novo Nordisk

Rasmus
Date: Wednesday 6 April 2016
Time: 12.45 – 14.00
Place: Rendsburggade 14, Room 3.429 (broadcast via VC to Acm15 C1/2.1.005 in Copenhagen and B108 in Esbjerg)

Abstract

The research and development process happening in the pharmaceutical industry are both similar to and very different from the same processes in the world of academia. Based on my experiences so far from working in a very large development organization, in Novo Nordisk, I will try to give some perspectives on how research and development is handled on an industrial scale, in an extremely heavily regulated area of business: development of compounds and devices for treatment of various diseases. I will also try to provide an impression of the roles that statisticians and programmers play in this process.

Bio

Rasmus Stenholt is a lead statistical programmer at Novo Nordisk, the world’s leading producer of diabetes treatments. In this job, he works primarily on data analyses based on results of clinical trials to produce new obesity treatments. Before joining Novo Nordisk, he worked for more than 10 years at Aalborg University within the areas of computer graphics and virtual reality. He holds a master of science and a Ph.D. degree, also from Aalborg University.

Inspecting Chickens in Slaughter Houses using Computer Vision

Written by David Meredith on . Posted in Events

Anders Jørgensen

Department of Architecture, Design and Media Technology, Aalborg University

machinevision
Date: Wednesday 23 March 2016
Time: 12.45 – 14.00
Place: Rendsburggade 14, Room 3.463 (broadcast via VC to ACM15 C1-2.1.025 in Copenhagen and B108 in Esbjerg)

Abstract

All over the world the consumption of poultry meat is increasing. To maintain a high standard and secure a healthy produce, every bird is inspected visually for bruises and diseases. This becomes increasingly more difficult as production speeds push beyond 12,000 birds per hour. The solution is of course computer vision.
In this talk I will present the challenges of this task and my ideas for a solution. Your ideas are welcome. I will also talk about how it is to be an industrial PhD and how this might be different from a regular PhD.

Bio

Anders Jørgensen is currently working as an industrial PhD at AAU in collaboration with IHFood. Since he finished his master degree in Computer Vision in 2011, he has worked with image processing and image acquisition, and with the challenges of using it in real world scenarios.

Digging into Individualised Black Boxes of Enculturation

Written by David Meredith on . Posted in Events

Justin Christensen

Department of Music, Aalborg University

Digging into individualised black boxes of enculturation
Date: Wednesday 16 March 2016
Time: 12.45 – 14.00
Place: Rendsburggade 14, Room 4.315 (broadcast via VC to Acm15 C1/2.1.005 in Copenhagen and B108 in Esbjerg)

Abstract

In my research I often follow ideas of embodied music cognition (Varela et al., 1991) to examine the dynamic interactions between minds, bodies and environment. Many currently believe that the dynamic interactions between mind, body, and environment can best be examined by qualitative research, preferring to describe listening practices as individualised black boxes. I will present ideas on integrating quantitative and qualitative research methods, drawing on ideas from embodied cognition and animal ethology, as well as examples from my research on musical entrainment and musical emotions that will hopefully present a different viewpoint. In this way, I hope to present some of the dynamic patterns present in music listening practices.

Bio

Justin Christensen is a Post-Doctoral researcher, who has previously earned his PhD in music composition in the UK with Michael Finnissy. Combining his research interests in Music Psychology, Critical Theory, Reception Theory, and Enactive Cognitive Theory, Justin’s postdoctoral research focuses on the role of entrainment as part of an immersive event.