Simon Breslav

Trax

Counting the number of shortest paths on a grid is a simple procedure with close ties to Pascal’s triangle. We show how path counting can be used to select relatively direct grid paths for AI-related applications involving navigation through spatial environments. Typical implementations of Dijkstra’s algorithm and A* prioritize grid moves in an arb...

Sustainability of the built environment has become a critical concern globally. However, a core challenge in achieving sustainability is the variety of goals and trade-offs to consider in the architectural design process. In this paper, we propose a novel design process that attempts to address both of these issues. We developed a prototype system...

The widespread adoption of Modelling and Simulation (M8S) techniques hinges on the availability of tools supporting each phase in the M8S-based workflow. This includes tasks such as specifying, implementing, experimenting with, as well as debugging, simulation models. We have previously developed a technique where advanced debugging environments ar...

We present a sensor visualization system that integrates data streams from individual custom sensor arrays together with Building Automation System (BAS) data. To help bridge the gap between actual building usage by the occupants, and the aggregate assumed usage by the control system, we have developed several sensor processing subsystems moving to...

Several approaches exist for simulating building properties (e.g. temperature, noise) and human occupancy (e.g. movement, actions) in an isolated fashion, providing limited ability to represent how environmental features affect human behaviour and vice versa. To systematically model building-occupant interactions, several requirements must be met,...

In the ongoing effort to improve building performance predictions, a key question is whether it is important to consider variations of occupant distributions resulting from inter-zone occupant mobility inside a building. The objective of this research is to study the impact of various occupant distributions on building performance predictions using...

In recent years, simulation has been used to investigate building-occupant relations while focusing on pedestrian movement, day-today occupancy, and energy use. Most of these efforts employ discrete-time simulation, where building and occupant properties are constantly updated at fixed time steps to reflect building and occupant dynamics. Real-worl...

In designing a general modeling formalism for domain experts, a key challenge is to support a broad selection of their preferred paradigms yet minimize their exposure to complexity. With this aim, a formalism called Symmetric DEVS is proposed for specifying models that incorporate elements of discrete event simulation, dataflow programming, and age...

Interdependencies amongst firms with complementary capabilities lead to the emergence of stable patterns of interfirm relationships observed in global value chains and ecosystems. But current standard industry classification systems group industries into higher order aggregates based on similarity criteria, ignoring the complementarities that induc...

DesignDEVS is a simulation development environment based on the Discrete Event System Specification (DEVS) formalism. This paper provides an in-depth overview of the software while focusing on the practical considerations influencing its design. Practitioners who stand to benefit from systems engineering will approach formalism-based simulation too...

In architectural design it is of cardinal importance to anticipate how people will use a building prior to its construction and occupation. Conventional multi-agent simulation methods represent occupant movement and activities to assess the day-to-day performance of households and office buildings. In these environments, behavior is usually driven by...

Anticipating building-related complexities ensuing from occupants' behaviour is a major challenge in architectural design. Conventional building performance simulation tools model occupancy in a highly aggregated form, abstracting away the impact of dynamic spatial and social factors on occupant behaviour. To address this issue, we propose a multi-...

User-authored annotations of data can support analysts in the activity of hypothesis generation and sensemaking, where it is not only critical to document key observations, but also to communicate insights between analysts. We present annotation graphs, a dynamic graph visualization that enables meta-analysis of data based on user-authored annotati...

An instructional approach is presented to improve human performance in solving Bayesian inference problems. Starting from the original text of the classic Mammography Problem, the textual expression is modified and visualizations are added according to Mayer's principles of instruction. These principles concern coherence, personalization, signaling...

In the context of discrete-event simulation, time resolution pertains to the time points at which events actually occur, whereas time precision constrains the time points at which events may possibly occur. Time precision is generally associated with the rounding of time values that takes place when a simulation is executed on a computer, yet here...

We introduce DesignDEVS, a simulation development environment based on the Discrete Event System Specification (DEVS) formalism. DesignDEVS aims to promote understanding and appreciation of model-simulator separation, delayed binding of models, and other key principles of a systems engineering approach. To minimize installation and learning time, w...

Although the Discrete Event System specification (DEVS) has over recent decades provided systems engineers with a scalable approach to modeling and simulation, the formalism has seen little uptake in many other disciplines where it could be equally useful. Our observations of end-user programmers confronted with DEVS theory or software suggest that...

Trying to make a decision between two outcomes, when there is some level of uncertainty, is inherently difficult because it involves probabilistic reasoning. Previous studies have shown that most people do not correctly apply Bayesian inference to solve probabilistic problems for decision making under uncertainty. In an effort to improve decision m...

We provide visualizations of the architecture of the economy that are informed by theory, empirically based, and meaningful at multiple levels of analysis. The systems-based view of industry architecture disaggregates the economy into demand-based vertical sectors in which firms collaborate and compete to collectively satisfy a set of similar deman...

In this paper we apply the principles of Exploratory Sequential Data Analysis (ESDA) to simulation results analysis. We replicate a resource consumption simulation of occupants in a building and analyze the results using an open-source ESDA tool called UberTagger previously only used in the human-computer interaction (HCI) domain. We demonstrate th...

When applying occupant models to building performance simulation (BPS), it is common practice to use a discrete-time approach requiring fixed time steps. Consequently, a simulated occupant's decisions do not increase in frequency in response to rapid changes in environmental conditions. Furthermore, as illustrated in this study through the analysis...

Methods and apparatus for directional texture generation using image warping. An image warping directional texture generation method may, for example, be used to design hair or hairstyles. The method may obtain one or more user strokes via a provided brush or other user interface element to paint directional texture, such as hair, onto a target ima...

We present Mimic, an input capture and visual analytics system that records online user behavior to facilitate the discovery of micro-interactions that may affect problem understanding and decision making. As aggregate statistics and visualizations can mask important behaviors, Mimic can help interaction designers to improve the usability of their...

This paper explores the design, coupling, and application of algo-rithms relying on grid-based or voxel-based representations of build-ings. Such algorithms may encourage the adoption of building per-formance simulation in design practice by avoiding the time-consuming and somewhat arbitrary process of manually partitioning a building’s interior in...

While most building simulation tools model occupancy using simple 24-hour profiles, researchers are applying machine learning and other advanced modeling approaches to simulate individual occupants and their interactions with buildings. For building designers to fully benefit from these increasingly advanced occupant models, visualizations must ult...

Methods and apparatus for procedural directional texture generation. A procedural directional texture generation method may, for example, be used to design hair or hairstyles. The method may obtain one or more strokes, one or more optional masks, and one or more optional user maps. One or more interpolated orientation maps may be generated from the...

The building performance simulation community applies theory from several different fields to develop models for heat transfer, light propagation, human behavior, and other domains. To integrate these models, we propose the adoption of general modeling conventions from the less familiar field of modeling and simulation theory. The conventions we ex...

The formalism known as the Discrete Event System Specification (DEVS) provides a set of mathematical elements for modeling time-varying systems. When DEVS is applied in the form of an executable representation, however, some deviation from the formalism is unavoidable. By proposing a set of informal DEVS conventions, we show how certain changes to...

The discrete event system specification (DEVS) is a formalism for describing simulation models in a modular fashion. In this study, it is exploited by forming submodels that allow different professions involved in the building design process to work independently to create an integrated model. These submodels are the building, the HVAC system, and...

Accurate building occupancy information can be beneficial in minimizing energy use by improving the intelligence of a Building Automation System (BAS) and helping designers predict the effect of different design options on occupant behavior. However, current occupancy measurements are quite inaccurate due to limitations in sensing technology and th...

This article presents an algorithm for learning hatching styles from line drawings. An artist draws a single hatching illustration of a 3D object. Her strokes are analyzed to extract the following per-pixel properties: hatching level (hatching, cross-hatching, or no strokes), stroke orientation, spacing, intensity, length, and thickness. A mapping...

Building performance discourse has traditionally focused on the evaluation of a specific design. However, to increase the accuracy and ongoing validity of performance analysis, the building science community has come to understand the value of extending the focus beyond design to include the full building life-cycle. In the context of commercial of...

On p. 1351, Geoffrey Ozin and co-workers report on a novel artificial nose system dubbed the photonic nose, which is based on a simple and cost-effective pixelated array of surface-functionalized nanoporous Bragg mirrors that enable discrimination of different vapor phase analytes, exemplified by alkanes and alcohols as well as molecules comprising...

"Smelling" chemicals and bacteria by using structural color: the photonic nose is a novel platform for the identification of volatile chemicals based on color changes of porous Bragg stack arrays with potential for applications in chemical sensing and bacteria identification.

We describe a new way to render 3D scenes in a variety of non-photorealistic styles, based on patterns whose structure and motion are defined in 2D. In doing so, we sacrifice the ability of patterns that wrap onto 3D surfaces to convey shape through their structure and motion. In return, we gain several advantages, chiefly that 2D patterns are more...

We present a synthesis technique that can automatically generate stroke patterns based on a user-specified reference pattern. Our method is an extension of texture synthesis techniques to vector-based patterns. Such an extension requires (a) an analysis of the pattern properties to extract meaningful pattern elements (defined as clusters of strokes...

We describe a system that lets a designer interactively draw patterns of strokes in the picture plane, then guide the synthesis of similar patterns over new picture regions. Synthesis is based on an initial user-assisted analysis phase in which the system recognizes distinct types of strokes (hatching and stippling) and organizes them according to...