Document Image Analysis for World War II Personal Records

Complete collections of invaluable documents of unique historical and political significance are decaying and at the same time they are virtually inaccessible, necessitating the invention of robust and efficient methods for their conversion into a searchable electronic form. This paper presents the issues encountered and problems addressed in the MEMORIAL project, whose goal is the establishment of a digital document workbench enabling the creation of distributed virtual archives based on documents existing in libraries, archives, museums, memorials, and public record offices. Successful approaches are described in the context of the chosen data class: a variety of typewritten documents containing personal information relating to the presence of individuals in World War II Nazi concentration camps

Virtual viewpoint three-dimensional panorama

Conventional panoramic images are known to provide for an enhanced field of view in which the scene always has a fixed appearance. The idea presented in this paper focuses on the use of the concept of virtual viewpoint creation to generate different panoramic images of the same scene with three-dimensional component. Three-dimensional effect in a resultant panorama is realized by superimposing a stereo-pair of panoramic images

High dynamic range imaging for archaeological recording

This paper notes the adoption of digital photography as a primary recording means within archaeology, and reviews some issues and problems that this presents. Particular attention is given to the problems of recording high-contrast scenes in archaeology and High Dynamic Range imaging using multiple exposures is suggested as a means of providing an archive of high-contrast scenes that can later be tone-mapped to provide a variety of visualisations. Exposure fusion is also considered, although it is noted that this has some disadvantages. Three case studies are then presented (1) a very high contrast photograph taken from within a rock-cut tomb at Cala Morell, Menorca (2) an archaeological test pitting exercise requiring rapid acquisition of photographic records in challenging circumstances and (3) legacy material consisting of three differently exposed colour positive (slide) photographs of the same scene. In each case, HDR methods are shown to significantly aid the generation of a high quality illustrative record photograph, and it is concluded that HDR imaging could serve an effective role in archaeological photographic recording, although there remain problems of archiving and distributing HDR radiance map data

Foot Detection Method for Footwear Augmented Reality Applications

Liitreaalsus on populaarsust koguv platvorm rõivaste ning aksessuaaride kasutamise visualiseerimiseks. Ideaalis võimaldab see kasutajatel proovida erinevaid riideid, jalatseid ja aksessuaare, kasutades ainult üht kaamerat ning sobivat rakendust, mis võimaldab kuvada erinevaid valikuid.\n\rJalatsite liitreaalsuses on palju erinevaid lahendusi, et pakkuda kasutajatele liitreaalsuse kogemust. Need lahendused kasutavad erinevaid meetodeid, nagu fikseeritud kaamera, muutumatu taust ja markerid jalgadel tuvastuse hõlbustamiseks. Nende meetodite hulgas pole ükski kindlalt parem, lihtsam või kiirem. Lisaks puudub tihtipeale avalikkusel ligipääs arendatud rakendustele.\n\rKäesolev magistritöö proovis leida universaalset lahendust, mis sobiks kasutamiseks kõigi tulevaste jalatsite liitreaalsuse rakendustega.Augmented reality is gaining popularity as a technique for visualizing apparel usage. Ide-ally it allows users virtually to try out different clothes, shoes, and accessories, with only a camera and suitable application which encompasses different apparel choices.\n\rFocusing on augmented reality for footwear, there is a multitude of different solutions on how to offer the reality augmentation experience to the end users. These solutions employ different methods to deliver the end result, such as using fixed camera and constant back-ground or requiring markers on feet for detection. Among the variety of techniques used to approach the footwear reality augmentation, there is no single best, simplest, or fastest solution. The solutions’ sources aren’t usually even publicly available. \n\rThis thesis tries to come up with a solution for the footwear reality augmentation problem, which can be used as a base for any proceeding footwear augmented reality projects. This intentionally universal approach will be created by researching possible combinations of potential methods that can ensure a solutions regarding footwear reality augmentation. \n\rIn general, the idea behind this thesis work is to conduct a literature review about different techniques and come up with the best and robust algorithm or combination of methods that can be used for footwear augmented reality.\n\rA researched, documented, implemented and publicized solution would allow any upcom-ing footwear augmented reality related project to start working from an established base, therefore reducing time waste on already solved issues and possibly improving the quality of the end result.\n\rThe solution presented in this thesis is developed with focus on augmented reality applica-tions. The method is neither specific to any platform nor does it have heavy location re-quirements. The result is a foot detection algorithm, capable of working on commonly available hardware, which is beneficial for augmented reality application

Interactive Evolutionary Algorithms for Image Enhancement and Creation

Image enhancement and creation, particularly for aesthetic purposes, are tasks for which the use of interactive evolutionary algorithms would seem to be well suited. Previous work has concentrated on the development of various aspects of the interactive evolutionary algorithms and their application to various image enhancement and creation problems. Robust evaluation of algorithmic design options in interactive evolutionary algorithms and the comparison of interactive evolutionary algorithms to alternative approaches to achieving the same goals is generally less well addressed. The work presented in this thesis is primarily concerned with different interactive evolutionary algorithms, search spaces, and operators for setting the input values required by image processing and image creation tasks. A secondary concern is determining when the use of the interactive evolutionary algorithm approach to image enhancement problems is warranted and how it compares with alternative approaches. Various interactive evolutionary algorithms were implemented and compared in a number of specifically devised experiments using tasks of varying complexity. A novel aspect of this thesis, with regards to other work in the study of interactive evolutionary algorithms, was that statistical analysis of the data gathered from the experiments was performed. This analysis demonstrated, contrary to popular assumption, that the choice of algorithm parameters, operators, search spaces, and even the underlying evolutionary algorithm has little effect on the quality of the resulting images or the time it takes to develop them. It was found that the interaction methods chosen when implementing the user interface of the interactive evolutionary algorithms had a greater influence on the performances of the algorithms

Selective Darkening Filter and Welding Arc Observation for the Manual Welding Process

An optical see-through LCD (GLCD) with a resolution of n x m pixels gives the ability to selectively control the darkening in the welders view. The setup of such a Selective Auto Darkening Filter is developed and its applicability tested. The setup is done by integrating a camera into the welding operation for extracting the welding arc position properly. A prototype of a GLCD taylored for welding is mounted in the welder's view. The extraction of the welding arc position requires an enhanced video acquisition during welding. The observation of scenes with high dynamic contrast is an outstanding problem which occurs if very high differences between the darkest and the brightest spot in a scene occur. The application to welding with its harsh conditions needs the development of supporting hardware. The synchronization of the camera with the flickering light conditions of pulsed welding processes in Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW) stabilizes the acquisition process and allows the scene to be flashed precisely if required by compact high power LEDs. The image acquisition is enhanced by merging two different exposed images for the resulting image. These source images cover a wider histogram range than it is possible by using only a single shot image with optimal camera parameters. After testing different standard contrast enhancement algorithm a novel content based algorithm is developed. It segments the image into areas with similar content and enhances these independently

Remote capacitive sensing in two-dimension quantum-dot arrays

We investigate gate-defined quantum dots in silicon on insulator nanowire field-effect transistors fabricated using a foundry-compatible fully-depleted silicon-on-insulator (FD-SOI) process. A series of split gates wrapped over the silicon nanowire naturally produces a $2\times n$ bilinear array of quantum dots along a single nanowire. We begin by studying the capacitive coupling of quantum dots within such a 2$\times$2 array, and then show how such couplings can be extended across two parallel silicon nanowires coupled together by shared, electrically isolated, 'floating' electrodes. With one quantum dot operating as a single-electron-box sensor, the floating gate serves to enhance the charge sensitivity range, enabling it to detect charge state transitions in a separate silicon nanowire. By comparing measurements from multiple devices we illustrate the impact of the floating gate by quantifying both the charge sensitivity decay as a function of dot-sensor separation and configuration within the dual-nanowire structure.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures, 35 cites and supplementar