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Concentration is the key to safer driving. Ideally, drivers should focus mainly on front views and side mirrors. Typical distractions are eating, drinking, cell phone use, using and searching things in car as well as looking at something outside the car. In this paper, distracted driving detection algorithm is targeting on nine scenarios nodding, head shaking, moving the head 45° to upper left and back to position, moving the head 45° to lower left and back to position, moving the head 45° to upper right and back to position, moving the head 45° to lower right and back to position, moving the head upward and back to position, head dropping down and blinking as fundamental elements for distracted events. The purpose of this paper is preliminary study these scenarios for the ideal distraction detection, the exact type of distraction.

The system consists of distraction detection module that processes video stream and compute motion coefficient to reinforce identification of distraction conditions of drivers. Motion coefficient of the video frames is computed which follows by the spike detection via statistical filtering.

The accuracy of head motion analyzer is given as 98.6 percent. With such satisfactory result, it is concluded that the distraction detection using light computation power algorithm is an appropriate direction and further work could be devoted on more scenarios as well as background light intensity and resolution of video frames.

The system aimed at detecting the distraction of the public transport driver. By providing instant response and timely warning, it can lower the road traffic accidents and casualties due to poor physical conditions. A low latency and lightweight head motion detector has been developed for online driver awareness monitoring.

The purpose of this research work is to design and apply LabVIEW in the area of traffic maintenance and flow, by introducing improvements in the smart city. The objective is to introduce the automated human–machine interface (HMI) – a computer-based graphical user interface (GUI) – for measuring the traffic flow and detecting faults in poles.

This research paper is based on the use of LabVIEW for designing the HMI for a traffic system in a smart city. This includes considerable measures that are: smart flow of traffic, violation detection on the signal, fault measurement in the traffic pole, locking down of cars for emergency and measuring parameters inside the cars.

In this paper, the GUIs and the required circuitry for making improvements in the infrastructure of traffic systems have been designed and proposed, with their respective required hardware. Several measured conditions have been discussed in detail.

PJRC Teensy 3.1 has been used because it contains enough general-purpose input–output (GPIO) pins required for monitoring parameters that are used for maintaining the necessary flow of traffic and monitor the proposed study case. A combination of sensors such as infrared, accelerometer, magnetic compass, temperature sensor, current sensors, ultrasonic sensor, fingerprint readers, etc. are used to create a monitoring environment for the application. Using Teensy and LabVIEW, the system costs less and is effective in terms of performance.

The microprocessor board shields for placing actuators and sensors and for attaching the input/output (I/O) to the LED indicators and display have been designed. A circuitry for scaling voltage, i.e. making sensor readings to read limits, has been designed. A combination of certain sensors, at different signals, will lead to a secure and more durable control of traffic. The proposed applications with its hardware and software cost less, are effective and can be easily used for making the city’s traffic services smart. For alarm levels, the desired alarm level can be set from the front panel for certain conditions from the monitoring station. For this, virtual channels can be created for allowing the operator to set any random value for limits. If the sensor value crosses the alarm value, then the corresponding alarm displays an alert. The system works by using efficient decision-making techniques and stores the data along with the corresponding time of operation, for future decisions.

This study is an advanced research of its category because it combines the field of electrical engineering, computer science and traffic systems by using LabVIEW.

Up-to-date, the simulation of pedestrian behavior is used to support the design and analysis of urban infrastructure and public facilities. The purpose of this paper is to present a microscopic model that describes pedestrian behavior in a two-dimensional space. It is based on multi-agent systems and cellular automata theory. The concept of layered-intelligent terrain from the video game industry is reused and concepts such as tracing, evasion and rejection effects related to pedestrian interactive behavior are involved. In a simulation scenario, an agent represents a pedestrian with homogeneous physical characteristics such as walking speed and height. The agents are moved through a discrete space formed by a lattice of hexagonal cells, where each one can contain up to one agent at the same time. The model was validated by using a test that is composed of 17 real data sets of pedestrian unidirectional flow. Each data set has been extracted from laboratory-controlled scenarios carried out with up to 400 people walking through a corridor whose configuration changed in form of the amplitude of its entrance doors and the amplitude of its exit doors from one experiment to another. Moreover, each data set contained different groups of coordinates that compose pedestrian trajectories. The scenarios were replicated and simulated using the proposed model, obtaining 17 simulated data sets. In addition, a measurement methodology based on Voronoi diagrams was used to compute the velocity, density and specific flow of pedestrians to build a time-series graphic and a set of heat maps for each of the real and simulated data sets.

The approach consists of a multi-agent system and cellular automata theory. The obtained results were compared with other studies and a statistical analysis based on similarity measurement is presented.

A microscopic mobility model that describes pedestrian behavior in a two-dimensional space is presented. It is based on multi-agent systems and cellular automata theory. The concept of layered-intelligent terrain from the video game industry is reused and concepts such as tracing, evasion and rejection effects related to pedestrian interactive behavior are involved. On average, the simulated data sets are similar by 82 per cent in density and 62 per cent in velocity compared to the real data sets. It was observed that the relation between velocity and density from real scenarios could not be replicated.

The main limitations are presented in the speed simulations. Although the obtained results present a similar behavior to the reality, it is necessary to introduce more variables in the model to improve the precision and calibration. Other limitation is the dimension for simulating variables at this moment 2D is presented. So the resolution of cells, making that pedestrian to occupy many cells at the same time and the addition of three dimensions to the terrain will be a good challenge.

In total, 17 data sets were generated as a case study. They contain information related to speed, trajectories, initial and ending points. The data sets were used to calibrate the model and analyze the behavior of pedestrians. Geospatial data were used to simulate the public infrastructure in which pedestrians navigate, taking into account the initial and ending points.

The social impact is directly related to the behavior analysis of pedestrians to know tendencies, trajectories and other features that aid to improve the public facilities. The results could be used to generate policies oriented toward developing more consciousness in the public infrastructure development.

The general methodology is the main value of this work. Many approaches were used, designed and implemented for analyzing the pedestrians’ behavior. In addition, all the methods were implemented in plug-in for Quantum GIS. The analysis was described with heat maps and statistical approaches. In addition, the obtained results are focused on analyzing the density, speed and the relationship between these features.

Differential search algorithm (DSA) is a new optimization, meta-heuristic algorithm. It simulates the Brownian-like, random-walk movement of an organism by migrating to a better position. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the performance analysis of DSA into two key parts: six random number generators (RNGs) and Benchmark functions (BMF) from IEEE World Congress on Evolutionary Computation (CEC, 2015). Noting that this study took problem dimensionality and maximum function evaluation (MFE) into account, various configurations were executed to check the parameters’ influence. Shifted rotated Rastrigin’s functions provided the best outcomes for the majority of RNGs, and minimum dimensionality offered the best average. Among almost all BMFs studied, Weibull and Beta RNGs concluded with the best and worst averages, respectively. In sum, 50,000 MFE provided the best results with almost RNGs and BMFs.

DSA was tested under six randomizers (Bernoulli, Beta, Binomial, Chisquare, Rayleigh, Weibull), two unimodal functions (rotated high conditioned elliptic function, rotated cigar function), three simple multi-modal functions (shifted rotated Ackley’s, shifted rotated Rastrigin’s, shifted rotated Schwefel’s functions) and three hybrid Functions (Hybrid Function 1 (n=3), Hybrid Function 2 (n=4,and Hybrid Function 3 (n=5)) at four problem dimensionalities (10D, 30D, 50D and 100D). According to the protocol of the CEC (2015) testbed, the stopping criteria are the MFEs, which are set to 10,000, 50,000 and 100,000. All algorithms mentioned were implemented on PC running Windows 8.1, i5 CPU at 1.60 GHz, 2.29 GHz and a 64-bit operating system.

The authors concluded the results based on RNGs as follows: F3 gave the best average results with Bernoulli, whereas F4 resulted in the best outcomes with all other RNGs; minimum and maximum dimensionality offered the best and worst averages, respectively; and Bernoulli and Binomial RNGs retained the best and worst averages, respectively, when all other parameters were fixed. In addition, the authors’ results concluded, based on BMFs: Weibull and Beta RNGs produced the best and worst averages with most BMFs; shifted and rotated Rastrigin’s function and Hybrid Function 2 gave rise to the best and worst averages. In both parts, 50,000 MFEs offered the best average results with most RNGs and BMFs.

Being aware of the advantages and drawbacks of DS enlarges knowledge about the class in which differential evolution belongs. Application of that knowledge, to specific problems, ensures that the possible improvements are not randomly applied. Strengths and weaknesses influenced by the characteristics of the problem being solved (e.g. linearity, dimensionality) and by the internal approaches being used (e.g. stop criteria, parameter control settings, initialization procedure) are not studied in detail. In-depth study of performance under various conditions is a “must” if one desires to efficiently apply DS algorithms to help solve specific problems. In this work, all the functions were chosen from the 2015 IEEE World Congress on Evolutionary Computation (CEC, 2015).

In as much as it is contested, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is also unexplored, underdiscussed, and, as a result, misunderstood. Frequently viewed through the lens of international relations and global economy, the diverse dimensions of collaboration, including business and research-industry clusters, that BRI enhances, tend to be excluded from the analysis. In a similar manner, the role of the Arab Peninsula in the grand strategy underpinning BRI and its implementation is rarely discussed. BRI is a forward-oriented initiative, an attempt to reap benefits of developments and circumstances that are only nascent. This bears two potent implications. First, as China attempts to influence the context in which it operates, it is subject to change itself; the Chinese business sector evolution attests to that. Second, some of China’s not so obvious partners of today, including those in the Arab Peninsula, are about to turn into key interlocutors of tomorrow. BRI taps into opportunities thus created. This chapter elaborates on these issues and, against this backdrop, outlines how the remaining chapters included in this volume add to this discussion.

The nature of the relationship between the Arabs and China in its historical and current dimensions raises the issue of compatibility and coexistence and the possibility of its continuity among nations and cultures. During the fifteenth-century-period, in which Arab–Chinese relations developed, a model of coexistence and harmony between the two civilizations and cultures emerged, which is rare to find in the history of relations between societies and countries. In this chapter, the researchers attempt to return to history to discuss the forms of the development of peaceful relations between China and Arab societies, and the cultural and psychological motives that led to the normalization of political relations in a pattern of mutual respect and peaceful cooperation on many common issues, which still continue to affect positively the relations between China and the Arab world nowadays. The study found that the nature of the eastern mentality of both parties and the positive stereotypes that each side has about the other long time ago have contributed decisively to shaping these relations in the subsequent centuries.

From Europe moving forward into Asia, the Silk Road has the Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC) on the way. These countries alphabetically include: “Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.” While these countries have long been dependent on oil for development, they are currently planning to reduce this dependence and consider innovation as an important mean for future development. This chapter explores the past progress of innovation in the GCC countries; and highlights future directions ahead. In this respect two end countries of the Silk Road, Italy and China, are also considered. The chapter views innovation from the wide angle of the Global Innovation Index, which has 7 main dimensions, consisting of 21 sub-dimensions, which are refined into 81 international indicators. An approach for looking into the current state, the past progress, and the future directions of innovation in the countries concerned is developed and followed using available data. Although the outcome is based on the currently available data, the approach can be re-used for newer data providing continuous benefits to directing future development.

The aim of this chapter is to highlight the importance of information and communication technology (ICT) knowledge (ICT-K) for female in socio-economic development in Middle East countries. Currently, men play major roles in the development of Middle East countries without heed being paid to women. The role for women is normally reserved to the home and child caring. Men continue to dominate power structures, education, finance, and travel. Overall levels of women’s ICT entrepreneurship are among the lowest in the Middle East although more women are studying ICT programs in the universities. Even statistics on the number of women entrepreneurs and women’s economic participation are often unavailable or incomplete in this region. Mainly, women’s entrepreneurship and economic participation are relatively limited due to gender-specific barriers to business creation and development, including cultural norms, civil law, or barriers in the business environment. This chapter investigates the challenges and constraints faced, and the support and opportunities available for these female entrepreneurs in ICT. This chapter also presents research on the growing phenomenon of female entrepreneurship in Middle East and suggests a number of ways in which institutions of state and trade – which often act as barriers to women practically running a business – could be overcome.