The use of data-driven techniques for tactile data processing and classification has recently increased. However, collecting tactile data is a time-expensive and sensor-specific procedure. Indeed, due to the lack of hardware standards in tactile sensing, data is required to be collected for each different sensor. This paper considers the problem of learning the mapping between two tactile sensor outputs with respect to the same physical stimulus -- we refer to this problem as touch-to-touch translation. In this respect, we proposed two data-driven approaches to address this task and we compared their performance. The first one exploits a generative model developed for image-to-image translation and adapted for this context. The second one uses a ResNet model trained to perform a regression task. We validated both methods using two completely different tactile sensors -- a camera-based, Digit and a capacitance-based, CySkin. In particular, we used Digit images to generate the corresponding CySkin data. We trained the models on a set of tactile features that can be found in common larger objects and we performed the testing on a previously unseen set of data. Experimental results show the possibility of translating Digit images into the CySkin output by preserving the contact shape and with an error of 15.18% in the magnitude of the sensor responses.
Technical troubleshooting in enterprise environments often involves navigating diverse, heterogeneous data sources to resolve complex issues effectively. This paper presents a novel agentic AI solution built on a Weighted Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) Framework tailored for enterprise technical troubleshooting. By dynamically weighting retrieval sources such as product manuals, internal knowledge bases, FAQs, and troubleshooting guides based on query context, the framework prioritizes the most relevant data. For instance, it gives precedence to product manuals for SKU-specific queries while incorporating general FAQs for broader issues. The system employs FAISS for efficient dense vector search, coupled with a dynamic aggregation mechanism to seamlessly integrate results from multiple sources. A Llama-based self-evaluator ensures the contextual accuracy and confidence of the generated responses before delivering them. This iterative cycle of retrieval and validation enhances precision, diversity, and reliability in response generation. Preliminary evaluations on large enterprise datasets demonstrate the framework's efficacy in improving troubleshooting accuracy, reducing resolution times, and adapting to varied technical challenges. Future research aims to enhance the framework by integrating advanced conversational AI capabilities, enabling more interactive and intuitive troubleshooting experiences. Efforts will also focus on refining the dynamic weighting mechanism through reinforcement learning to further optimize the relevance and precision of retrieved information. By incorporating these advancements, the proposed framework is poised to evolve into a comprehensive, autonomous AI solution, redefining technical service workflows across enterprise settings.
View materialization, index selection, and plan caching are well-known techniques for optimization of query processing in database systems. The essence of these tasks is to select and save a subset of the most useful candidates (views/indexes/plans) for reuse within given space/time budget constraints. In this paper, based on the View Selection Problem, we propose a unified view on these problems. We identify the root causes of the complexity of these selection problems and provide a detailed analysis of techniques to cope with them. Our survey provides a modern classification of selection algorithms known in the literature, including the latest ones based on Machine Learning. We provide a ground for the reuse of the selection techniques between different optimization scenarios and highlight challenges and promising directions in the field.
With the continuous advancement of processors, modern micro-architecture designs have become increasingly complex. The vast design space presents significant challenges for human designers, making design space exploration (DSE) algorithms a significant tool for $\mu$-arch design. In recent years, efforts have been made in the development of DSE algorithms, and promising results have been achieved. However, the existing DSE algorithms, e.g., Bayesian Optimization and ensemble learning, suffer from poor interpretability, hindering designers' understanding of the decision-making process. To address this limitation, we propose utilizing Fuzzy Neural Networks to induce and summarize knowledge and insights from the DSE process, enhancing interpretability and controllability. Furthermore, to improve efficiency, we introduce a multi-fidelity reinforcement learning approach, which primarily conducts exploration using cheap but less precise data, thereby substantially diminishing the reliance on costly data. Experimental results show that our method achieves excellent results with a very limited sample budget and successfully surpasses the current state-of-the-art. Our DSE framework is open-sourced and available at //github.com/fanhanwei/FNN\_MFRL\_ArchDSE/\ .
We explore the use of Residual Vector Quantization (RVQ) for high-fidelity generation in vector-quantized generative models. This quantization technique maintains higher data fidelity by employing more in-depth tokens. However, increasing the token number in generative models leads to slower inference speeds. To this end, we introduce ResGen, an efficient RVQ-based discrete diffusion model that generates high-fidelity samples without compromising sampling speed. Our key idea is a direct prediction of vector embedding of collective tokens rather than individual ones. Moreover, we demonstrate that our proposed token masking and multi-token prediction method can be formulated within a principled probabilistic framework using a discrete diffusion process and variational inference. We validate the efficacy and generalizability of the proposed method on two challenging tasks across different modalities: conditional image generation} on ImageNet 256x256 and zero-shot text-to-speech synthesis. Experimental results demonstrate that ResGen outperforms autoregressive counterparts in both tasks, delivering superior performance without compromising sampling speed. Furthermore, as we scale the depth of RVQ, our generative models exhibit enhanced generation fidelity or faster sampling speeds compared to similarly sized baseline models. The project page can be found at //resgen-genai.github.io
Computed tomography from a low radiation dose (LDCT) is challenging due to high noise in the projection data. Popular approaches for LDCT image reconstruction are two-stage methods, typically consisting of the filtered backprojection (FBP) algorithm followed by a neural network for LDCT image enhancement. Two-stage methods are attractive for their simplicity and potential for computational efficiency, typically requiring only a single FBP and a neural network forward pass for inference. However, the best reconstruction quality is currently achieved by unrolled iterative methods (Learned Primal-Dual and ItNet), which are more complex and thus have a higher computational cost for training and inference. We propose a method combining the simplicity and efficiency of two-stage methods with state-of-the-art reconstruction quality. Our strategy utilizes a neural network pretrained for Gaussian noise removal from natural grayscale images, fine-tuned for LDCT image enhancement. We call this method FBP-DTSGD (Domain and Task Shifted Gaussian Denoisers) as the fine-tuning is a task shift from Gaussian denoising to enhancing LDCT images and a domain shift from natural grayscale to LDCT images. An ablation study with three different pretrained Gaussian denoisers indicates that the performance of FBP-DTSGD does not depend on a specific denoising architecture, suggesting future advancements in Gaussian denoising could benefit the method. The study also shows that pretraining on natural images enhances LDCT reconstruction quality, especially with limited training data. Notably, pretraining involves no additional cost, as existing pretrained models are used. The proposed method currently holds the top mean position in the LoDoPaB-CT challenge.
Controllable person image generation aims to generate a person image conditioned on reference images, allowing precise control over the person's appearance or pose. However, prior methods often distort fine-grained textural details from the reference image, despite achieving high overall image quality. We attribute these distortions to inadequate attention to corresponding regions in the reference image. To address this, we thereby propose learning flow fields in attention (Leffa), which explicitly guides the target query to attend to the correct reference key in the attention layer during training. Specifically, it is realized via a regularization loss on top of the attention map within a diffusion-based baseline. Our extensive experiments show that Leffa achieves state-of-the-art performance in controlling appearance (virtual try-on) and pose (pose transfer), significantly reducing fine-grained detail distortion while maintaining high image quality. Additionally, we show that our loss is model-agnostic and can be used to improve the performance of other diffusion models.
Recently, graph neural networks (GNNs) have been widely used for document classification. However, most existing methods are based on static word co-occurrence graphs without sentence-level information, which poses three challenges:(1) word ambiguity, (2) word synonymity, and (3) dynamic contextual dependency. To address these challenges, we propose a novel GNN-based sparse structure learning model for inductive document classification. Specifically, a document-level graph is initially generated by a disjoint union of sentence-level word co-occurrence graphs. Our model collects a set of trainable edges connecting disjoint words between sentences and employs structure learning to sparsely select edges with dynamic contextual dependencies. Graphs with sparse structures can jointly exploit local and global contextual information in documents through GNNs. For inductive learning, the refined document graph is further fed into a general readout function for graph-level classification and optimization in an end-to-end manner. Extensive experiments on several real-world datasets demonstrate that the proposed model outperforms most state-of-the-art results, and reveal the necessity to learn sparse structures for each document.
Data transmission between two or more digital devices in industry and government demands secure and agile technology. Digital information distribution often requires deployment of Internet of Things (IoT) devices and Data Fusion techniques which have also gained popularity in both, civilian and military environments, such as, emergence of Smart Cities and Internet of Battlefield Things (IoBT). This usually requires capturing and consolidating data from multiple sources. Because datasets do not necessarily originate from identical sensors, fused data typically results in a complex Big Data problem. Due to potentially sensitive nature of IoT datasets, Blockchain technology is used to facilitate secure sharing of IoT datasets, which allows digital information to be distributed, but not copied. However, blockchain has several limitations related to complexity, scalability, and excessive energy consumption. We propose an approach to hide information (sensor signal) by transforming it to an image or an audio signal. In one of the latest attempts to the military modernization, we investigate sensor fusion approach by investigating the challenges of enabling an intelligent identification and detection operation and demonstrates the feasibility of the proposed Deep Learning and Anomaly Detection models that can support future application for specific hand gesture alert system from wearable devices.
Knowledge graph embedding, which aims to represent entities and relations as low dimensional vectors (or matrices, tensors, etc.), has been shown to be a powerful technique for predicting missing links in knowledge graphs. Existing knowledge graph embedding models mainly focus on modeling relation patterns such as symmetry/antisymmetry, inversion, and composition. However, many existing approaches fail to model semantic hierarchies, which are common in real-world applications. To address this challenge, we propose a novel knowledge graph embedding model---namely, Hierarchy-Aware Knowledge Graph Embedding (HAKE)---which maps entities into the polar coordinate system. HAKE is inspired by the fact that concentric circles in the polar coordinate system can naturally reflect the hierarchy. Specifically, the radial coordinate aims to model entities at different levels of the hierarchy, and entities with smaller radii are expected to be at higher levels; the angular coordinate aims to distinguish entities at the same level of the hierarchy, and these entities are expected to have roughly the same radii but different angles. Experiments demonstrate that HAKE can effectively model the semantic hierarchies in knowledge graphs, and significantly outperforms existing state-of-the-art methods on benchmark datasets for the link prediction task.
Object detection typically assumes that training and test data are drawn from an identical distribution, which, however, does not always hold in practice. Such a distribution mismatch will lead to a significant performance drop. In this work, we aim to improve the cross-domain robustness of object detection. We tackle the domain shift on two levels: 1) the image-level shift, such as image style, illumination, etc, and 2) the instance-level shift, such as object appearance, size, etc. We build our approach based on the recent state-of-the-art Faster R-CNN model, and design two domain adaptation components, on image level and instance level, to reduce the domain discrepancy. The two domain adaptation components are based on H-divergence theory, and are implemented by learning a domain classifier in adversarial training manner. The domain classifiers on different levels are further reinforced with a consistency regularization to learn a domain-invariant region proposal network (RPN) in the Faster R-CNN model. We evaluate our newly proposed approach using multiple datasets including Cityscapes, KITTI, SIM10K, etc. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed approach for robust object detection in various domain shift scenarios.