How Not to Be Seen -- Inpainting Dynamic Objects in Crowded Scenes

Removing dynamic objects from videos is an extremely challenging problem that even visual effects professionals often solve with time-consuming manual frame-by-frame editing. We propose a new approach to video completion that can deal with complex scenes containing dynamic background and non-periodical moving objects. We build upon the idea that the spatio-temporal hole left by a removed object can be filled with data available on other regions of the video where the occluded objects were visible. Video completion is performed by solving a large combinatorial problem that searches for an optimal pattern of pixel offsets from occluded to unoccluded regions. Our contribution includes an energy functional that generalizes well over different scenes with stable parameters, and that has the desirable convergence properties for a graph-cut-based optimization. We provide an interface to guide the completion process that both reduces computation time and allows for efficient correction of small errors in the result. We demonstrate that our approach can effectively complete complex, high-resolution occlusions that are greater in difficulty than what existing methods have shown

The “Name Game”: Affective and Hiring Reactions to First Names

Purpose – The paper seeks to examine how the uniqueness and ethnicity of first names influence affective reactions to those names and their potential for hire. Design/methodology/approach – In study 1, respondents evaluated 48 names in terms of uniqueness and likeability, allowing us to select names viewed consistently as Common, Russian, African-American, and Unusual. In Study 2 respondents assessed the uniqueness and likeability of the names, and whether they would hire someone with the name. Findings – Results indicated that Common names were seen as least unique, best liked, and most likely to be hired. Unusual names were seen as most unique, least liked, and least likely to be hired. Russian and African-American names were intermediate in terms of uniqueness, likeability and being hired, significantly different from Common and Unique names, but not significantly different from each other. Research limitations/implications – The name an individual carries has a significant impact on how he or she is viewed, and conceivably, whether or not the individual is hired for a job. Practical implications – Human resource professionals need to be aware that there seems to be a clear bias in how people perceive names. When resumés are screened for hiring, names should be left off. Our findings also suggest that when selecting, parents may want to reconsider choosing something distinctive. Originality/value – This study offers original findings in regards to names, combining diverse research from social psychology and labor economics, and offering practical implications

Echo of the Quantum Bounce

We identify a signature of quantum gravitational effects that survives from the early universe to the current era: Fluctuations of quantum fields as seen by comoving observers are significantly influenced by the history of the early universe. In particular we show how the existence (or not) of a quantum bounce leaves a trace in the background quantum noise that is not damped and would be non-negligible even nowadays. Furthermore, we estimate an upper bound for the typical energy and length scales where quantum effects are relevant. We discuss how this signature might be observed and therefore used to build falsifiability tests of quantum gravity theories.Comment: Revtex4.1. 2 Figures. V2: Content extended and edited to match published versio

Social Death

This review will outline various ways in which the notion of 'social death’ can be understood, and how they can be related to clinical practice. The idea of social death is used to analytically represent how someone can be identified and treated as if they are ontologically deficient – meaning that they are not seen as being 'fully human.' This impacts on their position within society and how they are interacted with. This review will consider three examples of social death - often distinguished from physical or biological death - that are important for clinical practice: loss of agency and identity; treating people as if they are already dead; and, rituals and bereavement. Recognising that a distinction between social and biological death may not always be helpful, this review will suggest ways in which healthcare practitioners can minimise the likelihood of inadvertently treating someone as 'socially dead'

The effects of viewpoint on the virtual space of pictures

Pictorial displays whose primary purpose is to convey accurate information about the 3-D spatial layout of an environment are discussed. How and how well, pictures can convey such information is discussed. It is suggested that picture perception is not best approached as a unitary, indivisible process. Rather, it is a complex process depending on multiple, partially redundant, interacting sources of visual information for both the real surface of the picture and the virtual space beyond. Each picture must be assessed for the particular information that it makes available. This will determine how accurately the virtual space represented by the picture is seen, as well as how it is distorted when seen from the wrong viewpoint

How reflective is the academic essay?

The purpose of this study was to examine the extent of reflection in academic essays. Forty essays, all previously deemed to be of merit quality, were analysed in terms of three elements of reflection - how the educational issue is conceptualized; what the issue means for practice; how practice might be changed to resolve the problematic. Each element was then assigned one of four levels of reflection - technical, descriptive, dialogical and critical. The main finding was that most of the elements were either at a descriptive level of reflection (which the literature argues is not difficult to achieve) or at a dialogical level (which recognizes that knowledge is not certain but does not tease out the relative merits of differing views). These different levels of reflection are seen as adevelopmental stages (from naïve to sophisticated) in gaining control over the process of co-ordinating extant understanding and new evidenc

Challenges for an Ontology of Artificial Intelligence

Of primary importance in formulating a response to the increasing prevalence and power of artificial intelligence (AI) applications in society are questions of ontology. Questions such as: What “are” these systems? How are they to be regarded? How does an algorithm come to be regarded as an agent? We discuss three factors which hinder discussion and obscure attempts to form a clear ontology of AI: (1) the various and evolving definitions of AI, (2) the tendency for pre-existing technologies to be assimilated and regarded as “normal,” and (3) the tendency of human beings to anthropomorphize. This list is not intended as exhaustive, nor is it seen to preclude entirely a clear ontology, however, these challenges are a necessary set of topics for consideration. Each of these factors is seen to present a 'moving target' for discussion, which poses a challenge for both technical specialists and non-practitioners of AI systems development (e.g., philosophers and theologians) to speak meaningfully given that the corpus of AI structures and capabilities evolves at a rapid pace. Finally, we present avenues for moving forward, including opportunities for collaborative synthesis for scholars in philosophy and science