Watch Me Disappear: Gendered Bodies, Pro-Anorexia, and Self-Injury in Virtual Communities

This project examines the relationship between gendered identities, virtual communities, and material bodies, with an emphasis on eating disorders and self-injury practices. The use of the internet to represent and foster particular categories of material bodies, such as the anorexic, the fitness buff, and the self-injurer, has gained substantial visibility due in part to the proliferation of visual imagery presented through social networks. I analyze written and visual texts within specific social networks to assess their function and potential impact on individuals and larger communities. Drawing from Donna Haraway\u27s cyborg theory, N. Kathryn Hayles\u27 posthuman, Judith Butler\u27s performativity, feminist poststructural analysis, and the notion of augmented reality, this project explores how individuals rely on social networks, images, and technologies to provide supportive environments for, as well as modify and maintain, specific gendered bodies. Applying feminist interpretations of Foucault\u27s concepts of discipline and docile bodies, primarily the research and critiques of Susan Bordo, Anne Balsamo, and Armando Favazza (among others), I examine how image sharing and interactions via social networks and communities affect material bodies and function as forms of social control, normalizing and encouraging ultra-thin bodies and dangerous behaviors, including eating disorders, overexercise, and cutting. I also explore subversive strategies of resistance enacted both within and beyond pro-ana and self-injury communities to counter negative messages and promote positive body image in girls and women

Evaluation of Dynamic Range Reconstruction Approaches and a Mobile Application for HDR Photo Capture

Digital photography became widespread with the global use of smartphones. However, most of the captured images do not fully use the camera capabilities by storing the captured photos in a format with limited dynamic range. The subject of dynamic range expansion and reconstruction has been researched since early 2000s and recently gave rise to several new reconstruction methods using convolutional neural networks (CNNs), whose performance has not yet been comprehensively compared. By implementing and using our dynamic range reconstruction evaluation framework we compare the reconstruction quality of individual CNN-based approaches. We also implement a mobile HDR camera application and evaluate the feasibility of running the best-performing reconstruction method directly on a mobile device.Použití digitální fotografie se velmi rozšířilo s popularitou chytrých telefonů. Většina pořízených fotografií však nevyužívá plně možností fotoaparátu, protože zachycené obrázky jsou ukládány ve formátu s omezeným rozsahem hodnot jasu. Problematika expanze a rekonstrukce dynamického rozsahu je zkoumána již od začátku 21. století, nově byly zveřejněny rekonstrukční metody používající konvoluční neuronové sítě, jejichž kvalita výstupu dosud nebyla dostatečně porovnána. V této práci jsme navrhli a implementovali framework pro porovnání kvality rekonstrukce, který jsme použili ke srovnání rekonstrukčních metod založených na konvolučních neuronových sítích. Také jsme implementovali aplikaci fotoaparátu pro mobilní zařízení umožňující zachycení vysokého rozsahu hodnot jasu a dále jsme zhodnotili praktičnost provádění rekonstrukce dynamického rozsahu pomocí nejlepší z porovnaných metod, přímo na mobilním zařízení.Katedra softwaru a výuky informatikyDepartment of Software and Computer Science EducationMatematicko-fyzikální fakultaFaculty of Mathematics and Physic

Learning geometric and lighting priors from natural images

Comprendre les images est d’une importance cruciale pour une pléthore de tâches, de la composition numérique au ré-éclairage d’une image, en passant par la reconstruction 3D d’objets. Ces tâches permettent aux artistes visuels de réaliser des chef-d’oeuvres ou d’aider des opérateurs à prendre des décisions de façon sécuritaire en fonction de stimulis visuels. Pour beaucoup de ces tâches, les modèles physiques et géométriques que la communauté scientifique a développés donnent lieu à des problèmes mal posés possédant plusieurs solutions, dont généralement une seule est raisonnable. Pour résoudre ces indéterminations, le raisonnement sur le contexte visuel et sémantique d’une scène est habituellement relayé à un artiste ou un expert qui emploie son expérience pour réaliser son travail. Ceci est dû au fait qu’il est généralement nécessaire de raisonner sur la scène de façon globale afin d’obtenir des résultats plausibles et appréciables. Serait-il possible de modéliser l’expérience à partir de données visuelles et d’automatiser en partie ou en totalité ces tâches ? Le sujet de cette thèse est celui-ci : la modélisation d’a priori par apprentissage automatique profond pour permettre la résolution de problèmes typiquement mal posés. Plus spécifiquement, nous couvrirons trois axes de recherche, soient : 1) la reconstruction de surface par photométrie, 2) l’estimation d’illumination extérieure à partir d’une seule image et 3) l’estimation de calibration de caméra à partir d’une seule image avec un contenu générique. Ces trois sujets seront abordés avec une perspective axée sur les données. Chacun de ces axes comporte des analyses de performance approfondies et, malgré la réputation d’opacité des algorithmes d’apprentissage machine profonds, nous proposons des études sur les indices visuels captés par nos méthodes.Understanding images is needed for a plethora of tasks, from compositing to image relighting, including 3D object reconstruction. These tasks allow artists to realize masterpieces or help operators to safely make decisions based on visual stimuli. For many of these tasks, the physical and geometric models that the scientific community has developed give rise to ill-posed problems with several solutions, only one of which is generally reasonable. To resolve these indeterminations, the reasoning about the visual and semantic context of a scene is usually relayed to an artist or an expert who uses his experience to carry out his work. This is because humans are able to reason globally on the scene in order to obtain plausible and appreciable results. Would it be possible to model this experience from visual data and partly or totally automate tasks? This is the topic of this thesis: modeling priors using deep machine learning to solve typically ill-posed problems. More specifically, we will cover three research axes: 1) surface reconstruction using photometric cues, 2) outdoor illumination estimation from a single image and 3) camera calibration estimation from a single image with generic content. These three topics will be addressed from a data-driven perspective. Each of these axes includes in-depth performance analyses and, despite the reputation of opacity of deep machine learning algorithms, we offer studies on the visual cues captured by our methods

The Educational Experience of Virtual Reality: An Archaeological Case Study of the Maya Site, Vista Alegre

Archaeological visualization has a long history within the discipline, relying on technological advancements to aid in recording, interpreting, and educating about sites and projects. Though computer graphics have been used as archaeological visualizations for decades, hardware advancements have begun to allow for broader consumer use of Virtual and Augmented Reality platforms in homes, schools, and museums. This thesis explores the applications of Virtual and Augmented Reality platforms for archaeological visualization, specifically in the area of public education. To this end, a 3D model and virtual experience of the Maya site of Vista Alegre in Mexico are created, methodologically explained, and examined to relate history, theory, and the goals of utilizing this medium within the archaeological discipline while expanding on the ethical requirements and empirical methods of praxis. In all, this technology both produces tangible, quantifiable, and accurate data and makes these data more accessible to the general public. Image from Proskouriakoff (1970[1946]

Aviation Archaeology: History, Theory, Practice and Direction

Aviation archaeology as a field of study has struggled with competing academic, professional, and public definitions and priorities since its establishment. In some ways, this sub-discipline of historical or underwater archaeology mirrors the development of nautical archaeology. Like nautical archaeologists who overcame the barrier of the oceans and pioneered methodology to suit, the proponents of aviation archaeology have also used the discipline to overcome a barrier of historical perception and tradition. The practice of aviation archaeology, however, has been characterized by opposing viewpoints and stakeholders often exhibit a non-collaborative attitude towards other groups and sometimes their own colleagues. These stakeholder groups are each focused on their own priorities, be they theory, methodology, conservation, exhibition, or re-use, and each group is arguably attempting to shape the future of aviation archaeology through their projects or publications. This dissertation is a critical evaluation of the current state of aviation archaeology, including its history, stakeholders, literature, and defining projects. This leads to the identification of a series of best practices in aviation archaeology and a theory of interpretation and display of recovered aircraft

Mistress or Hero? Corruption Reports on Sina Weibo and the Construction of Chinese Femininity

This qualitative textual analysis study focuses on two Chinese women who were previously sexually involved with the corrupted officers and later reported these officers to authorities. As a Chinese version of Twitter, Sina Weibo is a powerful social networking and communication tool for their reports. The study analyzes the posts and comments available on Sina Weibo about the identity of these women and how hegemonic Chinese femininity is performed, maintained, and challenged. These discussions may reflect the potential cultural, ideological, and socioeconomic factors that can influence the construction of contemporary Chinese femininity, providing the picture of how social media and mainstream journalists may influence the construction of the femininity and female empowerment. The results of the study suggest that the journalists and the mainstream public tend to marginalize and blame the woman in the sex-video case more than the woman in self-report case. In these discourses, the woman is given more agency in the self-report case partially because of her high socioeconomic status. The influence of traditional Chinese culture as well as the Western sex objectification of women is still obvious. The hegemonic femininity has been maintained by the mainstream groups on Weibo; however, social media do provide opportunities for the women to inspire social engagement and speak up for individual construction of diverse femininity, challenging social hegemony and empowering the women being studied

From Mutation to Disarticulation: Terror and the Body in Don DeLillo’s Falling Man

Don DeLillo’s Falling Man addresses cultural changes within the age of postmodern indifference and global terror, as the reaction to the image of a falling body becomes controversial following the events of 9/11. After being initially removed by the media, Richard Drew’s provocative photo titled “The Falling Man” captures a body falling against the backdrop of the World Trade Center, and is recovered and reexamined in DeLillo’s novel. Several types of bodily disturbances are illuminated in Falling Man as the fictional bodies of both American citizens and foreign terrorists become susceptible to strange mutations and disarticulations. DeLillo uses the bodily form as a reference point to expose and analyze the hidden atrocities of American exceptionalism—a system that accepts and allows actual human bodies to become the waste by-product of these global exchanges. Image and reality have become blurred in the era of postmodernity, and the outrage over Drew’s intriguing photo immediately after 9/11 should raise suspicion as to this image’s cultural significance. By encompassing a strange mix of bodily concerns such as viral infections, detached faces, and the unique phenomenon of organic shrapnel, DeLillo unearths the suffering body from its hiding place and brings to the forefront again in Falling Man

The Projected Al Qaeda Use of Body Cavity Suicide Bombs Against High Value Targets

This work is initially derived from a non-public disclosure series of early warning presentations, first delivered in September 2006, by the author on the projected terrorist use of body cavity suicide bombs against high value targets. Subsequent terrorist use of such a device, in August 2009 in Saudi Arabia by an Al Qaeda operative, has allowed for this body of research (along with post-incident analysis) to now be published in an open venue. The work provides a historical overview of the use of suicide bombs by military forces and terrorists; addresses the co-evolution of suicide bombs and countermeasures by security groups; analyzes future suicide bomb placement options; and explores Islamic views on the acceptability of foreign object placement in body cavities. It then focuses on issues pertaining to body cavity bomb placement options; bomb components, assembly, and detonation issues; putty, cheese, and the Fadhel al-Maliki incident; Al Qaeda use validation— the Abdullah al-Asiri incident; and concludes with a discussion on body cavity bomb countermeasures and strategic use implications. The work signifies the value of early warning and futures analysis applied to counter-terrorism activities and also highlights the tensions and inherent contradictions involved with individuals who wear the dual hats of practitioner and scholar. These individuals, given the requirements of operational security and secrecy, are challenged with ensuring that open discourse and publication in no way threatens the greater public good