In recent years, there has been a proliferation of multimedia applications that leverage machine learning (ML) for interactive experiences. Prototyping ML-based applications is, however, still challenging, given complex workflows that are not ideal for design and experimentation. To better understand these challenges, we conducted a formative study with seven ML practitioners to gather insights about common ML evaluation workflows. The study helped us derive six design goals, which informed Rapsai1, a visual programming platform for rapid and iterative development of end-to-end ML-based multimedia applications. Rapsai features a node-graph editor to facilitate interactive characterization and visualization of ML model performance. Rapsai streamlines end-to-end prototyping with interactive data augmentation and model comparison capabilities in its no-coding environment. Our evaluation of Rapsai in four real-world case studies (N=15) suggests that practitioners can accelerate their workflow, make more informed decisions, analyze strengths and weaknesses, and holistically evaluate model behavior with real-world input.

We demonstrate Visual Blocks for ML, a visual programming platform that facilitates rapid prototyping of ML-based multimedia applications. As the public version of Rapsai [3], we further integrated large language models and custom APIs into the platform. In this demonstration, we will showcase how to build interactive AI pipelines in a few drag-and-drops, how to perform interactive data augmentation, and how to integrate pipelines into Colabs. In addition, we demonstrate a wide range of community-contributed pipelines in Visual Blocks for ML, covering various aspects including interactive graphics, chains of large language models, computer vision, and multi-modal applications. Finally, we encourage students, designers, and ML practitioners to contribute ML pipelines through https://github.com/google/visualblocks/tree/main/pipelines to inspire creative use cases. Visual Blocks for ML is available at http://visualblocks.withgoogle.com.

We demonstrate Rapsai, a visual programming platform that aims to streamline the rapid and iterative development of end-to-end machine learning (ML)-based multimedia applications. Rapsai features a node-graph editor that enables interactive characterization and visualization of ML model performance, which facilitates the understanding of how the model behaves in different scenarios. Moreover, the platform streamlines end-to-end prototyping by providing interactive data augmentation and model comparison capabilities within a no-coding environment. Our demonstration showcases the versatility of Rapsai through several use cases, including virtual background, visual effects with depth estimation, and audio denoising. The implementation of Rapsai is intended to support ML practitioners in streamlining their workflow, making data-driven decisions, and comprehensively evaluating model behavior with real-world input.

As one of our first acts as the new editorial team for the Journal of Community Practice (JCP), we recognize and applaud Anna Maria Santiago and Richard J. Smith, who skillfully served as editors f...

The sports sector is incredibly competitive as is the events industry, and therefore, those looking to break into the sector, particularly graduates, have an uphill task in demonstrating why they should be considered for roles in highly competitive environments. This is especially challenging in the sports sector as there isn't a particularly high churn rate, and those that do leave jobs tend to stay in the sector, therefore reducing the number of entry level positions. However, there is good news. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the need for digitisation across all sectors, and the parts of the sports sector that have been lagging in the digital revolution are having to urgently review systems and processes and how sport is delivered and consumed. This is where the key opportunities for Gen Z are, as a generation who have grown up with technology, the internet, and social media. Request access from your librarian to read this chapter's full text.