Recent advancements in machine learning and adaptive cognitive systems are driving a growing demand for large and richly annotated multimodal data. A prominent example of this trend are fusion models, which increasingly incorporate multiple biosignals in addition to traditional audiovisual channels. This paper introduces the EASELAN annotation framework to improve annotation workflows designed to address the resulting rising complexity of multimodal and biosignals datasets. It builds on the robust ELAN tool by adding new components tailored to support all stages of the annotation pipeline: From streamlining the preparation of annotation files to setting up additional channels, integrated version control with GitHub, and simplified post-processing. EASELAN delivers a seamless workflow designed to integrate biosignals and facilitate rich annotations to be readily exported for further analyses and machine learning-supported model training. The EASELAN framework is successfully applied to a high-dimensional biosignals collection initiative on human everyday activities (here, table setting) for cognitive robots within the DFG-funded Collaborative Research Center 1320 Everyday Activity Science and Engineering (EASE). In this paper we discuss the opportunities, limitations, and lessons learned when using EASELAN for this initiative. To foster research on biosignal collection, annotation, and processing, the code of EASELAN is publicly available(https://github.com/cognitive-systems-lab/easelan), along with the EASELAN-supported fully annotated Table Setting Database.

翻译：机器学习和自适应认知系统的最新进展正推动对大规模、丰富标注的多模态数据日益增长的需求。融合模型是这一趋势的突出例证，其除了传统的视听通道外，正越来越多地整合多种生物信号。本文介绍EASELAN标注框架，旨在改进标注工作流程，以应对由此产生的多模态及生物信号数据集日益增长的复杂性。该框架基于稳健的ELAN工具，通过添加专门设计的新组件来支持标注流程的所有阶段：从简化标注文件的准备，到设置额外通道、集成GitHub版本控制，以及简化的后处理。EASELAN提供了一个无缝的工作流程，旨在整合生物信号并促进丰富的标注，使其能够轻松导出以用于进一步分析和机器学习支持的模型训练。EASELAN框架已成功应用于德国研究基金会（DFG）资助的协作研究中心1320“日常活动科学与工程”（EASE）中，一项针对认知机器人的人类日常活动（此处为餐桌布置）的高维生物信号采集计划。本文讨论了在此计划中使用EASELAN所面临的机遇、局限性和经验教训。为促进生物信号采集、标注和处理的研究，EASELAN的代码已公开（https://github.com/cognitive-systems-lab/easelan），同时公开的还有EASELAN支持的全标注“餐桌布置数据库”。