Fast and Accurate 3D Face Recognition Using Registration to an Intrinsic Coordinate System and Fusion of Multiple Region classifiers

In this paper we present a new robust approach for 3D face registration to an intrinsic coordinate system of the face. The intrinsic coordinate system is defined by the vertical symmetry plane through the nose, the tip of the nose and the slope of the bridge of the nose. In addition, we propose a 3D face classifier based on the fusion of many dependent region classifiers for overlapping face regions. The region classifiers use PCA-LDA for feature extraction and the likelihood ratio as a matching score. Fusion is realised using straightforward majority voting for the identification scenario. For verification, a voting approach is used as well and the decision is defined by comparing the number of votes to a threshold. Using the proposed registration method combined with a classifier consisting of 60 fused region classifiers we obtain a 99.0% identification rate on the all vs first identification test of the FRGC v2 data. A verification rate of 94.6% at FAR=0.1% was obtained for the all vs all verification test on the FRGC v2 data using fusion of 120 region classifiers. The first is the highest reported performance and the second is in the top-5 of best performing systems on these tests. In addition, our approach is much faster than other methods, taking only 2.5 seconds per image for registration and less than 0.1 ms per comparison. Because we apply feature extraction using PCA and LDA, the resulting template size is also very small: 6 kB for 60 region classifiers

Saliency-guided integration of multiple scans

we present a novel method..

Morphogenesis and propagation of complex cracks induced by thermal shocks

We study the genesis and the selective propagation of complex crack networks induced by thermal shock or drying of brittle materials. We use a quasi-static gradient damage model to perform large scale numerical simulations showing that the propagation of fully developed cracks follows Griffith criterion and depends only on the fracture toughness, while crack morphogenesis is driven by the material's internal length. Our numerical simulations feature networks of parallel cracks and selective arrest in two dimensions and hexagonal columnar joints in three dimensions, without any hypotheses on cracks geometry and are in good agreement with available experimental results

Interpenetration of Vibrating Thresholds:Eroticism, Sound and Sensorial Intimacy

Sound allows for multiple crossings between the sensorial and the sensual. To auscultate (‘to listen attentively’) resonates with the near homophonous osculate (from the Latin osculatus, meaning ‘to kiss’, and osculum, ‘little mouth’). Each ear, a hole surrounded by a textured chalice of skin and cartilage, leading through to a thin, taut and highly sensitive piece of skin – the tympanic membrane. Beyond that, a tunnel, a bony labyrinth leading to a fluid-filled spiral, the cochlea, where vibration becomes neural transmission. Every sound, a thread of Ariadne. When 19th-century sonic technology focussed upon the ear, the erotic was duly invoked. The stethoscope, the telegraph and the telephone, all manifested different potentialities in engaging with the aural dynamics of eroticism. In 2018, the siren’s call is an ASMR binaural murmur. Immersive sound meant to be experienced as pleasurable touch, a wave of tingling joy radiating from the scalp, down the neck and into the upper spine, activating the envelope of the skin. Pornography has likewise updated its tools. VR sound has reconfigured the potential of the first-person view subgenre, introducing variations of proximity and acoustic field envelopment in the old orgasmic tropes. This article aims to explore some of the contemporary erotic uses of mediated sound, not only in terms of their technological genealogy, but trying to sketch a conceptual map in order to investigate their nature and impact on everyday embodied experiences of sonic immersion. It focusses on the kinaesthetic dynamics of sound experienced as tactility and operating radical permeability, penetrating bodies and redefining interpersonal territories