In a Communication Bootstrapping system, peer components with different perceptual worlds invent symbols and syntax based on correlations between their percepts. I propose that Communication Bootstrapping can also be used to acquire functional definitions of words and causal reasoning knowledge.…

We report on a study of how people look for information within email, files, and the Web. When locating a document or searching for a specific answer, people relied on their contextual knowledge of their information target to help them…

This paper presents a novel algorithm for learning in a class of stochastic Markov decision processes (MDPs) with continuous state and action spaces that trades speed for accuracy. A transform of the stochastic MDP into a deterministic one is presented…

Sketches are commonly used in the early stages of design. Our previous system allows users to sketch mechanical systems that the computer interprets. However, some parts of the mechanical system might be too hard or too complicated to express in…

Invention is largely information driven. Everyone in a community of inventors is an aggregator of information relevant to invention. Sharing some of this information across a community of inventors will result in greater invention effectiveness at the individual and community…

This thesis integrates hardware development, data analysis, and mathematical modeling to facilitate our understanding of brain cognition. Exploration of these brain mechanisms requires both structural and functional knowledge to (i) reconstruct the spatial distribution of the activity, (ii) to estimate…

(cont.) in the ECS signal, no definitive method for sensing blade vibration using an ECS has yet been developed., High cycle fatigue (HCF) cracks generated by compressor blade vibrations are a common source of failure in gas turbine engines. Current…

Satellite and wireless networks operate over time varying channels that depend on attenuation conditions, power allocation decisions, and inter-channel interference. In order to reliably integrate these systems into a high speed data network and meet the increasing demand for high…

This thesis explores how doctors and nurses use documents to share their knowledge within and across healthcare settings. In addressing this question I draw on a 15-month, multi-sited ethnographic study in several pediatric health care settings, following patients from primary…