Enabling viewpoint learning through dynamic label generation

Optimal viewpoint prediction is an essential task in many computer graphics applications. Unfortunately, common viewpointqualities suffer from two major drawbacks: dependency on clean surface meshes, which are not always available, and the lack ofclosed-form expressions, which requires a costly search involving rendering. To overcome these limitations we propose to sepa-rate viewpoint selection from rendering through an end-to-end learning approach, whereby we reduce the in¿uence of the meshquality by predicting viewpoints from unstructured point clouds instead of polygonal meshes. While this makes our approachinsensitive to the mesh discretization during evaluation, it only becomes possible when resolving label ambiguities that arise inthis context. Therefore, we additionally propose to incorporate the label generation into the training procedure, making the labeldecision adaptive to the current network predictions. We show how our proposed approach allows for learning viewpoint pre-dictions for models from different object categories and for different viewpoint qualities. Additionally, we show that predictiontimes are reduced from several minutes to a fraction of a second, as compared to state-of-the-art (SOTA) viewpoint quality eval-uation. Code and training data is available at https://github.com/schellmi42/viewpoint_learning, whichis to our knowledge the biggest viewpoint quality dataset available.This work was supported in part by project TIN2017-88515-C2-1-R(GEN3DLIVE), from the Spanish Ministerio de Economía yCompetitividad, by 839 FEDER (EU) funds.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Enabling Viewpoint Learning through Dynamic Label Generation

Optimal viewpoint prediction is an essential task in many computer graphics applications. Unfortunately, common viewpoint qualities suffer from two major drawbacks: dependency on clean surface meshes, which are not always available, and the lack of closed-form expressions, which requires a costly search involving rendering. To overcome these limitations we propose to separate viewpoint selection from rendering through an end-to-end learning approach, whereby we reduce the influence of the mesh quality by predicting viewpoints from unstructured point clouds instead of polygonal meshes. While this makes our approach insensitive to the mesh discretization during evaluation, it only becomes possible when resolving label ambiguities that arise in this context. Therefore, we additionally propose to incorporate the label generation into the training procedure, making the label decision adaptive to the current network predictions. We show how our proposed approach allows for learning viewpoint predictions for models from different object categories and for different viewpoint qualities. Additionally, we show that prediction times are reduced from several minutes to a fraction of a second, as compared to state-of-the-art (SOTA) viewpoint quality evaluation. We will further release the code and training data, which will to our knowledge be the biggest viewpoint quality dataset available

Ambiguity Aversion as a Predictor of Technology Choice: Experimental Evidence from Peru

The lack of adoption of new farming technologies despite known benefis is a well-documented phenomenon in development economics. In addition to a number of market constraints, risk aversion predominates the discussion of behavioral determinants of technology adoption. We hypothesize that ambiguity aversion may also be a determinant, since farmers may have less information about the distribution of yield outcomes from new technologies compared with traditional technologies. We test this hypothesis with a laboratory experiment in the field in which we measure risk and ambiguity preferences. We combine our experiment with a survey in which we collect information on farm decisions and identify market constraints. We find that ambiguity aversion does indeed predict actual technology choices on the farm. Un phénomène bien documenté en économie du développement est le nombre peu élevé d’agriculteurs qui décident d’adopter de nouvelles technologies en agriculture, malgré leurs avantages connus. En plus des nombreuses contraintes imposées par le marché, l’aversion au risque prédomine la discussion sur les déterminants de l’adoption de nouvelles technologies. Nous émettons l’hypothèse que l’aversion à l’ambiguïté pourrait aussi être un déterminant puisqu’il est possible que les agriculteurs aient moins d’information sur la distribution du rendement des nouvelles technologies que sur celle des technologies traditionnelles. Nous testons la validité de cette hypothèse avec une expérience en laboratoire sur le terrain où nous mesurons les préférences vis-à-vis du risque et de l’ambiguïté. Nous combinons notre expérience à un sondage portant sur les décisions prises en matière d’agriculture et identifiant les contraintes du marché. Nous constatons qu’effectivement, l’aversion à l’ambiguïté dicte les choix technologiques réels relatifs à la ferme.experimental economics, risk measurement instruments, risk preferences, rural development, technology choice, choix technologiques, développement rural, économie expérimentale, instruments de mesure du risque, préférences vis-à-vis du risque

The Effect of Communicating Ambiguous Risk Information on Choice

Decision makers are frequently confronted with ambiguous risk information about activities with potential hazards. This may be a result of conflicting risk estimates from multiple sources or ambiguous risk information from a single source. The paper considers processing ambiguous risk information and its effect on the behavior of a decision maker with a-maximin expected utility preferences. The effect of imprecise risk information on behavior is related to the content of information, the decision maker’s trust in different sources of information, and his or her aversion to ambiguity.a-Maximin Expected Utility, aggregation of expert opinions, ambiguity, Knightian uncertainty, risk communication, trust in information source, Risk and Uncertainty,

When the black sheep is not so «black». Social comparison as a standard for ingroup evaluation in classrooms

Previous research (Marques & Levine, 2016) suggests that the black sheep effect refers to the tendency of people to evaluate ingroup deviants members more negatively than outgroup deviants members. School students (N = 60) evaluated negative and positive performances attributed respectively to ingroup and outgroup members (unfavorable comparison) and negative performances attributed to both ingroup and outgroup members (neutral comparison). Results show that negative performances from ingroup members are less devaluated in the unfavorable comparisons condition than in the neutral comparisons condition and this effect is moderated by identification with their own school. Moreover, results show that in the unfavorable comparison condition students perceived a greater threat to their social identity than in the neutral comparison condition. The implications of these results are discussed in relation to the black sheep categorization and ingroup bias in a school context

Intertemporal accounting of climate change - Harmonizing economic efficiency and climate stewardship

Continuing a discussion on the intertemporal accounting of climate-change damages initiated by Nordhaus, Heal and Brown in response to the recent demonstration of Hasselmann et al. that standard exponential discounting applied uniformly to all goods and services invariably leads to a `climate catastrophe' in cost-benefit analyses, it is argued that (1) there exists no economically satisfactory alternative to cost-benefit analysis for the determination of optimal climate protection strategies, and (2) it is essential to allow for the different long-term evolution of climate damage costs relative to mitigation costs in determining the optimal cost-benefit solution. A climate catastrophe can be avoided only if it is assumed that climate damage costs increase significantly in the long term relative to mitigation costs. Cost-benefit analysis is regarded here in the generalized sense of optimizing a social welfare function that incorporates all relevant `quality-of-life' factors, including not only consumption and the value of the environment, but also the ethical values of equitable intertemporal and intrasocietal distribution. Thus, economic efficiency and climate stewardship are not regarded as conflicting goals, but as synonyms for a single encompassing economic optimization exercise. The same reasoning applies generally to the problem of sustainable development. To quantify the concept of sustainable development in cost-benefit analyses, the projected time evolution of the future values of natural resources and the environment (judged by the present generation, acting as representative agents of future generations) must be related to the time-evolution of all other relevant quality-of-life factors. Different ethical interpretations of the concept of sustainable development can be readily operationalized by incorporation in a generalized cost-benefit analysis in which the evolution paths of all relevant material and ethical values are explicitly specified

A Behavioral Characterization of Plausible Priors

One of the last great novels of José Saramago, Death with Interruptions, begins with an epigraph taken from Ludwig Wittgenstein: “If, for example, you were to think more deeply about death, then it would be truly strange if, in so doing, you did not encounter new images, new linguistic fields”. The aim of my paper is to ponder on what kind of a new language game the Portuguese writer is offering us in his book and how to interpret his investigations from the angle of another contemporary literary and philosophical thanatological discourses.One of the last great novels of José Saramago, Death with Interruptions, begins with an epigraph taken from Ludwig Wittgenstein: “If, for example, you were to think more deeply about death, then it would be truly strange if, in so doing, you did not encounter new images, new linguistic fields”. The aim of my paper is to ponder on what kind of a new language game the Portuguese writer is offering us in his book and how to interpret his investigations from the angle of another contemporary literary and philosophical thanatological discourses

Humility in Personality and Positive Psychology

A case could be made that the practice of philosophy demands a certain humility, or at least intellectual humility, requiring such traits as inquisitiveness, openness to new ideas, and a shared interest in pursuing truth. In the positive psychology movement, the study of both humility and intellectual humility has been grounded in the methods and approach of personality psychology, specifically the examination of these virtues as traits. Consistent with this approach, the chapter begins with a discussion of the examination of intellectual humility as a “character trait,” comparing intellectual humility to various well-known traits in the personality psychology literature (e.g the “Big 5” and the “Big 2”) as well as other key traits such as the need for cognition and the need for closure. The chapter then turns to the proverbial issue of whether virtues in general, and intellectual humility in particular, are a matter of “nature”- that is, an innate trait determined by heritability, or “nurture” – a trait mostly shaped by situation and environment. While the chapter does not resolve the issue, it provides occasion for an examination of the role of situations in the expression of intellectual humility, and for the interaction of “situation” and “trait.” The chapter concludes with a discussion of how the interaction of trait with situation provides the most robust understanding of the psychology of any character virtue, including humility and intellectual humility

Environmental Harms, Use Conflicts, and Neutral Baselines in Environmental Law

Accounts of environmental law that rely on concepts of environmental harm and environmental protection oversimplify the tremendous variety of uses of environmental resources and the often complex relationships among those uses. Such approaches are analytically unclear and, more importantly, insert hidden normativity into putatively descriptive claims. Instead of thinking about environmental law in terms of preventing environmental harm, environmental problems can be understood more specifically and more meaningfully as disputes over conflicting uses of environmental resources. This Article proposes a use-conflict framework as a means of acquiring a deeper understanding of environmental problems and lawmaking without favoring any particular normative approach. The framework does not itself propose a resolution of any environmental problems but rather describes environmental problems and environmental lawmaking conceptually in a manner that exposes normative claims and attempts to establish some common ground across diverse normative perspectives

The politics of alcohol policy in Nigeria: a critical analysis of how and why brewers use strategic ambiguity to supplant policy initiatives

The global call by the World Health Assembly (WHA) to control the rising alcohol-related problems caused by harmful consumption through policy became necessary in 2005 due to the recognition of the fact that many countries did not have alcohol policies. This gave rise to the adoption of a ten-point policy strategy by the World Health Organization (WHO) Member States in 2010. Against this backdrop, many countries adopted alcohol policies to reduce harmful alcohol consumption. Nigeria was one of the WHO Member Countries that adopted the resolution. Nigeria is among the 30 countries with the highest per capita consumption and alcohol-related problems, yet has not formulated alcohol policy to date. This paper draws on Eisenberg’s Strategic Ambiguity Model to explore the role of brewers in supplanting alcohol policy initiatives in Nigeria. It argues that the leading alcohol producers in Nigeria have been the main reason alcohol policies have not been formulated. The article focuses on why their campaigns for responsible drinking, promotions, sponsorships and ‘strategic social responsibilities’ may have increased since the WHA made the call and the WHO adopted the resolution in 2010. It concludes by arguing that there is an urgent need to formulate policies drawing from the WHO resolution to curtail the activities of these brewers and reduce harmful consumption