Perceptual coding for 3D reconstruction

A primary issue in 3D reconstruction is the realtime efficacy of different coding methods for the multiple decisions among competing 3D solutions. A common model framework making such coding decisions is the boundary limited drift-diffusion model, which has been developed in parallel in various branches of science from quantum physics to economics. A common property of all such models is the linear increase in variance of the diffusion processes over time, implying an inability to focus on the current information in the environment, and the inevitability of a forced random decision in the absence of any reliable evidence. We have developed an alternative, more plausible model framework for Bayesian information accumulation that solves both problems and provides an accurate account of many features of context effects in human 3D reconstruction performance. © 2011 IEEE

FACES: Faces, Art, and Computerized Evaluation Systems, Phase II

Before the advent of photography, portraits were, almost by definition, depictions of people who were important in their own worlds. But, as a walk through almost any major museum will show, a large number of these unidentified portraits from before the nineteenth century--many of them great works of art--have lost the identities of their subjects through the fortunes of time. Traditionally, identification of many of these portraits has been limited to often quite variable personal opinion. FACES (Faces, Art, and Computerized Evaluation Systems) proposes to establish the initial potential of face recognition technology to this highly subjective aspect of art history while at the same time retaining the human eye as the final arbiter

2019 Undergraduate Research Symposium: Full Program

Full program with schedule and abstracts for the 2019 Undergraduate Research Symposium

FACES: Faces, Art, and Computerized Evaluation Systems

In recent years, a great deal of attention has been paid in art history to the face both theoretically and historically, especially the portrait and above all the portrait bust. At the same time, an enormous amount of research has been conducted on face recognition technology (the use of computerized evaluation systems for the automatic identification of a human face from a digital image). But, to the best of our knowledge, no one has yet attempted to join these two developments in an interdisciplinary way, applying cutting-edge face recognition technology to works of art, specifically portraiture. Before the advent of photography, portraits were, almost by definition, depictions of people who were important in their own worlds. But as a walk through almost any major museum will show, a large number of these portraits from before the nineteenth century--many of them great works of art--have lost the identities of their subjects through the fortunes of time

An Investigation of Computer Application to Painting in Nigeria

This study historically, overviews the subject and development of painting from the primordial time, to the postmodern period, bringing into focus the computer as a new medium for artistic inquiry. The background similarly overviews the influence of the machine on various artistic forms like textile design, graphic design and even painting especially in Western climes, without Nigerian examples of paintings with the computer. The problem of the study therefore, is the seeming apathy by Nigerian painters to apply computer to painting. Objectives were set as follows; i. to record the historical developments of the computer in Nigeria. ii. Investigate the dimensions of computer application to painting in Nigeria. iii. Analyze computer paintings by Nigerian painters. iv. Make a comparative analysis of conventional and computer paintings by Nigerian artists. v. Curate an exhibition of computer paintings in Nigeria. Review of literature was tripartite structured on; i. Historical overview of persons, products and ideas that have influenced painting. ii. The computer and its influence and, iii. Computer influenced paintings. Methodology was based on art historical paradigms of inquiry which are essentially qualitative, however, quantitative values in the objectives made it pertinent to mix appended quantitative statistical results. Population was 41 computer paintings by Nigerian painters and 14 Nigerian computer painters based on purposive/judgmental sampling. Data was variously collected through the following instruments; questionnaire, interview schedules, observation, photography, and internet. Books, exhibition catalogues and social media like the face book provided secondary sources of data gathering. Field work benefitted from a pilot study with validated questionnaires and interview schedules. A total of 139 questionnaires were turned in and 14 artists with computer paintings were interviewed and analyzed respectively based on prescriptions by Eyo (1977) and Stokstad (2005). Major findings were that; the computer had made inroads into Nigeria since 1963 at the University of Ibadan and 1967 at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria with developments leading to the application of computer to painting around the early 1990s. It was also found that Nigerian painters have applied the computer to panting in various dimensions like; image manipulation, enhancement, illustration, painting with software like Photoshop, CorelDraw among other software and hardware. Another finding was that few Nigerian painters were actually interested and have created paintings with the computer. Furthermore, because the paintings share certain commonalities, they could be grouped and analyzed like the conventional ones. However, differences, advantages and disadvantages exist. The major challenge being posed by electricity cut in Nigeria and lack of acceptance like the conventional ones. The research theoretically finds support from Friedberg (2006) theoretical polemics that asserts the metaphor of the windows as a frame that encloses a painting. The researcher therefore, suggested that computer painting be included in the painting curriculum to give desired clout to enhance painting and complement the examples analyzed and discussed in this research

Portraits, Likenesses, Composites? Facial Difference in Forensic Art

The police composite sketch is arguably the most fundamental example of forensic art, and one which enjoys considerable cultural prominence. Intended to produce a positive identification of a specific individual, composites are a form of visual intelligence rather than hard evidence. Based on verbal descriptions drawn from memory deriving from highly contingent and possibly traumatic events, composites are by definition unique and precarious forensic objects, representing an epistemological paradox in their definition as simultaneous ‘artistic impression’ and ‘pictorial statement’. And despite decades of operational use, only in recent years has the field of cognitive psychology begun to fully understand and address the conditions that affect recognition rates both positively and negatively. How might composites contribute to our understanding of representational concepts such as ‘likeness’ and ‘accuracy’? And what role does visual medium – drawn, photographic or computerized depiction – play in the legibility of these images? Situated within the broader context of forensic art practices, this paper proceeds from an understanding that the face is simultaneously crafted as an analogy of the self and a forensic technology. In other words, the face is a space where concepts of identification and identity, sameness and difference (often uncomfortably) converge. With reference to selected examples from laboratory research, field application and artistic practice, I consider how composites, through their particular techniques and form, contribute to subject-making, and how they embody the fugitive, in literal and figurative terms

Diseased Estate: historiographic grotesque

This thesis proposes the historiographic grotesque as an interdisciplinary aesthetic and thematic mode which occurs in representations of the past. Characterised by the contradictory interplay of horror and pleasure, the grotesque provides the grounds for an affective engagement with history. The historiographic grotesque thus operates in opposition to those modes of history which stress the importance of objectivity in representations of the past, assert the authority of the historian and promote the possibility of understanding the past as it was really lived. In undermining this approach, the historiographic grotesque can contribute to a critique of history while offering alternative ways of interpreting the past.The written component of this thesis examines incursions of the grotesque in a range of theoretical and creative works which address historical transition and rupture, critique official modes of history, and depict the past as a site of death and uncanny return.The creative component of this thesis is a suite of two-and three-dimensional works with accompanying text which presents a grotesque historical narrative of colonial Western Australia, referencing the materials of wax and photography to present an uneasy and unreliable account of the past. Rather than illustrating the written component of the thesis, the creative research offers a parallel investigation of the significance of the grotesque for considerations of history

THE FACE, THE MIND, THE TEXT: READING FOR CHARACTER IN THE NOVELS OF ANN RADCLIFFE

Literary scholars have placed Ann Radcliffe’s novels in a variety of different categories: Gothic, Sentimental, and Pre-Romantic. Additionally, her texts have been used as examples of psychoanalysis, feminist and post-structuralist theory. While these approaches capture some aspects of her achievement, they neglect others. In fact, these approaches have often obscured fundamental aspects of her texts, most importantly her approach to character. There has been a critical inclination to ignore the role of character in Radcliffe’s texts. However, her texts are deeply interested in the workings of the mind and in the concept of interiority. It is one of the central tenets of this thesis that the connection between body, mind and text is fundamental to Radcliffe’s writing. The first chapter of this thesis explores Radcliffe’s approach to characterisation in the context of eighteenth-century traditions. Through an analysis of Radcliffe’s characterisation, the importance of the visual field emerges and becomes the focus of the second chapter. In the second chapter, the connection between the discourse of physiognomy and Radcliffe’s characterisation is explored. Physiognomy is established as a key discourse underpinning Radcliffe’s epistemological viewpoint throughout her fiction. The connections between Radcliffe’s fiction and the discourse of physiognomy have been under-researched and I believe offer an important context for understanding the aims of Radcliffe’s fiction. Finally, in chapter three the role of portraiture and aesthetic theory is explored; its connections with the discourse of physiognomy are clear and further reinforce the importance of vision as an epistemological concept within Radcliffe’s novels. Chapter three is also concerned with the wider textual nature of Radcliffe’s penultimate novel The Mysteries of Udolpho and uses the idea of Derrida’s parergon to reconsider the relationship between the body and the landscape in her fiction

2014 Undergraduate Research Symposium Abstract Book

Abstract book from the 2014 Fourteenth Annual UMM Undergraduate Research Symposium (URS) which celebrates student scholarly achievement and creative activities