A review of domain adaptation without target labels

Domain adaptation has become a prominent problem setting in machine learning and related fields. This review asks the question: how can a classifier learn from a source domain and generalize to a target domain? We present a categorization of approaches, divided into, what we refer to as, sample-based, feature-based and inference-based methods. Sample-based methods focus on weighting individual observations during training based on their importance to the target domain. Feature-based methods revolve around on mapping, projecting and representing features such that a source classifier performs well on the target domain and inference-based methods incorporate adaptation into the parameter estimation procedure, for instance through constraints on the optimization procedure. Additionally, we review a number of conditions that allow for formulating bounds on the cross-domain generalization error. Our categorization highlights recurring ideas and raises questions important to further research.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figure

Key characteristics of specular stereo.

Because specular reflection is view-dependent, shiny surfaces behave radically differently from matte, textured surfaces when viewed with two eyes. As a result, specular reflections pose substantial problems for binocular stereopsis. Here we use a combination of computer graphics and geometrical analysis to characterize the key respects in which specular stereo differs from standard stereo, to identify how and why the human visual system fails to reconstruct depths correctly from specular reflections. We describe rendering of stereoscopic images of specular surfaces in which the disparity information can be varied parametrically and independently of monocular appearance. Using the generated surfaces and images, we explain how stereo correspondence can be established with known and unknown surface geometry. We show that even with known geometry, stereo matching for specular surfaces is nontrivial because points in one eye may have zero, one, or multiple matches in the other eye. Matching features typically yield skew (nonintersecting) rays, leading to substantial ortho-epipolar components to the disparities, which makes deriving depth values from matches nontrivial. We suggest that the human visual system may base its depth estimates solely on the epipolar components of disparities while treating the ortho-epipolar components as a measure of the underlying reliability of the disparity signals. Reconstructing virtual surfaces according to these principles reveals that they are piece-wise smooth with very large discontinuities close to inflection points on the physical surface. Together, these distinctive characteristics lead to cues that the visual system could use to diagnose specular reflections from binocular information.The work was funded by the Wellcome Trust (grants 08459/Z/07/Z & 095183/Z/10/Z) and the EU Marie Curie Initial Training Network “PRISM” (FP7-PEOPLE-2012-ITN, Agreement: 316746).This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from ARVO via http://dx.doi.org/10.1167/14.14.1

Negation of Complicated Mirrors: An Examination of Differential Structures within the “Production of Subject” Realised through Creative Practice

This research explores new methods for practice-based research in fine art (video and multi-media installation) and in curatorial practices, residing in specific readings of Deleuze. The thesis looks into the potential presented by the mirror. Mirrors are symbolic references. Video has the capacity to be a mirror to the world; the exhibition also. Yet the mirror here is not examined as a reflection of the true ‘self’ nor is it invested in concepts of a ‘true’ mirror image of the ‘real’. Instead, the suggestion is made that a mirror pertains to an oxymoron, in which contradictory terms are combined as mirroring is recognised in terms of both “identity” and “difference”. Along these lines, reflection on negation becomes the mode of operation and the mirror maintains the reflective experience, more specifically visual thought, in place. This is why the works made and discussed pursue how the “production of the subject” unfolds representational boundaries. It is suggested that the act of being reflected must engage new ways of thinking about multiplicity of subject-positions; what it means to ‘be’ or ‘become’ and how past experiences are manifest in the present. The analysis has been formed through an examination of the transformative potential in representations for speaking about political realities today. To consider these issues, the thesis brings together a number of inter-related fields of creative practice and situates critical inquiry in methodologies that structure how the ‘subject’ manifests itself on screen. A “philosophy of practice”, linking curatorial activities and artistic works is developed through a series of philosophical reflections; artworks; curatorial activities and dialogues with different artists and theorists. The thesis seen as a whole examines these ‘encounters’ that facilitates a mirror reflection of a world “yet-to-come” through varied means for engagement which are tested in art production and theoretical and curatorial positions

The open state and the imperative of freedom: about Ernst-Wolfgang Böckenförde’s political philosophy (part I)

We explore Ernst -Wolfgang Böckenförde’s (1930-2019) political thought that intends to justify public law as the condition of freedom, because it establishes limits. This vision presupposes an anthropology, never fully unfolded in his work but, nevertheless, very present when he reflects as a jurist with philosophical concerns. One year after his death, among unprecedented world changes and huge uncertainties, it is relevant to revisit and evaluate his lasting contribution. Here, our interest focuses exclusively on the notion of the State and some of its implications; we will leave for another paper his interpretation of the historical evolution of law and the Constitution, his position on issues of bioethics, and his vision of the European Union project and globalization

La valorisation du patrimoine industriel: la participation démocratique et la gouvernance

The process of patrimonialisation as the institutionalization of a practice of social character, the result of which is the valuation of cultural heritage, results from the declaration of good of common interest for humanity by UNESCO. Understanding the heritage process, its nature, the stakeholders involved and its dynamics is essential for the sustainability of cultural heritage, since the declaration alone is not enough to guarantee its protection. The participation of civil society is not a novelty in heritage protection practices, but it is also not a priority despite being a 'sine qua non' condition for the existence of the heritage. Democratic participation is a guarantee of the right to culture and occurs through the exercise of a 'combined capacity' of the citizen, internal capacities and adequate external conditions, which allow for the enjoyment of the common good and the exercise of these functions in the social context in the three dimensions of law: participation (freedom), access and contribution. Governance assumes a role as a methodology to ensure democratic participation through the balance of powers, resources and also as a composition of interests. The efficient management of industrial heritage and the governance of new vocations in the field of public policies should propose solutions closer to the most diverse realities. The future with sustainability and quality of life based on culture is conditioned by integrated and synergistic action between cultural heritage, territory and citizens, through democratic participation supported by governance on a local scale; RÉSUMÉ: Le processus de patrimonialisation comme institutionnalisation d'une pratique à caractère social, dont le résultat est la valorisation du patrimoine culturel, résulte de la déclaration de bien d'intérêt commun pour l'humanité par l'UNESCO. La compréhension du processus patrimonial, de sa nature, des acteurs impliqués et de sa dynamique est essentielle pour la durabilité du patrimoine culturel, car la déclaration seule ne suffit pas à garantir sa protection. La participation de la société civile n'est pas une nouveauté dans les pratiques de protection du patrimoine, mais elle n'est pas non plus une priorité bien qu'elle soit une condition "sine qua non" de l'existence du patrimoine. La participation démocratique est une garantie du droit à la culture et se produit par l'exercice d'une "capacité combinée" du citoyen, des capacités internes et des conditions externes adéquates, qui permettent la jouissance du bien commun et l'exercice de ces fonctions dans le contexte social dans les trois dimensions du droit : la participation (liberté), l'accès et la contribution. La gouvernance assume un rôle de méthodologie pour assurer la participation démocratique par l'équilibre des pouvoirs, des ressources et aussi comme une composition d'intérêts. La gestion efficace du patrimoine industriel et la gouvernance de nouvelles vocations dans le domaine des politiques publiques doivent proposer des solutions plus proches des réalités les plus diverses. Un avenir où la durabilité et la qualité de vie seront fondées sur la culture est conditionné par une action intégrée et synergique entre le patrimoine culturel, le territoire et les citoyens, grâce à une participation démocratique soutenue par une gouvernance à l'échelle locale

Rethinking temporary shelter and settlements through participatory design: a proposal for the Samos Closed Controlled Access Centre

openRefugee camp is a concept that materializes in the common imagination as a temporary settlement, which is placed within an emergency context lasting a maximum of a few years. From this fallacious idea derives a management and planning of refugee camps focused on the short term, which does not always take into consideration the actual life cycle of refugee camps and the dynamics that inhabit them. Participatory design is an approach that, applied to this context, allows the transformation of the site involving those who live within it in the processes of designing, modifying and adapting structures to develop a sense of ownership over their lives and the place that at that moment means home. In 2021 the Greek government, with the support of the European Commission, opened a facility centre, defined Closed Controlled Access Centre, in Samos. A top-down approach, based on close control by the local authorities, was used for both the design and management of the camp. The paper aims to outline a proposal to implement a participatory approach in the rethinking of the camp's structures and spaces by its inhabitants

ECOLOGY OF THE IMAGE

We know very little about the ecology of our designed world. Contrary to all appearances, design is not about making objects. It is rather about structuring the conditions for life. Design is our second nature, naturalising changes in our ways of living. Yet it also conceals dangers and diminishes our sensitivity to respond to them. The security offered by the televisual image — and the solace of design's promise to remove all environmental risks — are fictions. Ecology of the Image is a critical exploration of idealism in design. Drawing on hermeneutic phenomenology, socio-cultural and design theory, it argues that design is not a value-free practice but structures epistemological attitudes into the world. Ideas are material elements of our environments. This thesis offers an explanation of how idealism circulates within the designed world, fashioning our minds, bodies and environments. The televisual is analysed as a normative phenomenon that inducts us into a way of seeing and understanding the world. Its vision of the affluent good life inspires and gives purpose to desire, and sustains what Manzini has called 'product based well being'. The thesis argues that the televisual puts us out of touch with the consequences of its vision; it diminishes our capacity for forethought. This results in the generation of unacknowledged, yet self-endangering environmental feedback. Environmental problems force us to take account of design's hidden rationales. Only at five minutes to midnight, for example, do we realise that the stock and supply of potable water is endangered. The problem is not so much this late recognition, but that design led us to believe in water's abundance. This situation demands the development of an ecological understanding of our designed worlds that can inform future actions. The sign, particularly as it has been mobilised in cultural theory, plays a leading role in this design situation and the perceptions it supports. The sign is utilised for its ability to denaturalise appearances — to 'read' design's claims on the world. Finally, the thesis turns to the designer-in-training in the process of acquiring instrumental skills and worldviews. It proposes a research strategy that inscribes environmental consciousness into the design process — situating the designer in the midst of semiotic and material worlds. Through its observational methodology it outlines ways of first understanding, then of intervening and generating changes in our 'ideal' world