Articulated Pose Estimation Using Hierarchical Exemplar-Based Models

Exemplar-based models have achieved great success on localizing the parts of semi-rigid objects. However, their efficacy on highly articulated objects such as humans is yet to be explored. Inspired by hierarchical object representation and recent application of Deep Convolutional Neural Networks (DCNNs) on human pose estimation, we propose a novel formulation that incorporates both hierarchical exemplar-based models and DCNNs in the spatial terms. Specifically, we obtain more expressive spatial models by assuming independence between exemplars at different levels in the hierarchy; we also obtain stronger spatial constraints by inferring the spatial relations between parts at the same level. As our method strikes a good balance between expressiveness and strength of spatial models, it is both effective and generalizable, achieving state-of-the-art results on different benchmarks: Leeds Sports Dataset and CUB-200-2011.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure

Interview with Chan Woo Kim

Chan Woo Kim was born in Seoul, South Korea. After a move in 2002 to the Philippines, a 2005 move took him and his parents to Cook County, Illinois, where they settled up to the present day. His high school education at John Hersey High School in Arlington Heights, Illinois proved to be filled with academic, personal, and career-focused success - after realizing his passion for movies, he became a member of his school’s film club, and went on to create his own production company (Kim, Chan Woo Productions) and his own films. At the same time, he worked on projects in collaboration with John Hersey High School. He rounded out his education and graduated as part of the National Honor Society in 2018. During high school, he also participated in summer film programs, at the University of Southern California and Columbia College Chicago, and began his internship for producing, assistant directing, and production assistance with Warner Bros (2017 to present). His interest in film led him to study filmmaking with a focus in directing at Columbia College Chicago, where he’s set to graduate with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2022. His goal as a professional filmmaker is to use the films he creates to deliver his message and voice to the audience, and inspire them.https://digitalcommons.colum.edu/capturingquarantine/1005/thumbnail.jp

Stochastic Dynamics for Video Infilling

In this paper, we introduce a stochastic dynamics video infilling (SDVI) framework to generate frames between long intervals in a video. Our task differs from video interpolation which aims to produce transitional frames for a short interval between every two frames and increase the temporal resolution. Our task, namely video infilling, however, aims to infill long intervals with plausible frame sequences. Our framework models the infilling as a constrained stochastic generation process and sequentially samples dynamics from the inferred distribution. SDVI consists of two parts: (1) a bi-directional constraint propagation module to guarantee the spatial-temporal coherence among frames, (2) a stochastic sampling process to generate dynamics from the inferred distributions. Experimental results show that SDVI can generate clear frame sequences with varying contents. Moreover, motions in the generated sequence are realistic and able to transfer smoothly from the given start frame to the terminal frame. Our project site is https://xharlie.github.io/projects/project_sites/SDVI/video_results.htmlComment: Winter Conference on Applications of Computer Vision (WACV 2020

Content-Based Video Retrieval in Historical Collections of the German Broadcasting Archive

The German Broadcasting Archive (DRA) maintains the cultural heritage of radio and television broadcasts of the former German Democratic Republic (GDR). The uniqueness and importance of the video material stimulates a large scientific interest in the video content. In this paper, we present an automatic video analysis and retrieval system for searching in historical collections of GDR television recordings. It consists of video analysis algorithms for shot boundary detection, concept classification, person recognition, text recognition and similarity search. The performance of the system is evaluated from a technical and an archival perspective on 2,500 hours of GDR television recordings.Comment: TPDL 2016, Hannover, Germany. Final version is available at Springer via DO

A Theoretical Analysis of the Conditions for Unambiguous Node Localization in Sensor Networks

In this paper we provide a theoretical foundation for the problem of network localization in which some nodes know their locations and other nodes determine their locations by measuring distances or bearings to their neighbors. Distance information is the separation between two nodes connected by a sensing/communication link. Bearing is the angle between a sensing/communication link and the x-axis of a node's local coordinate system. We construct grounded graphs to model network localization and apply graph rigidity theory and parallel drawings to test the conditions for unique localizability and to construct uniquely localizable networks. We further investigate partially localizable networks

A First Order Analysis of Lighting, Shading, and Shadows

The shading in a scene depends on a combination of many factors---how the lighting varies spatially across a surface, how it varies along different directions, the geometric curvature and reflectance properties of objects, and the locations of soft shadows. In this paper, we conduct a complete first order or gradient analysis of lighting, shading and shadows, showing how each factor separately contributes to scene appearance, and when it is important. Gradients are well suited for analyzing the intricate combination of appearance effects, since each gradient term corresponds directly to variation in a specific factor. First, we show how the spatial {\em and} directional gradients of the light field change, as light interacts with curved objects. This extends the recent frequency analysis of Durand et al.\ to gradients, and has many advantages for operations, like bump-mapping, that are difficult to analyze in the Fourier domain. Second, we consider the individual terms responsible for shading gradients, such as lighting variation, convolution with the surface BRDF, and the object's curvature. This analysis indicates the relative importance of various terms, and shows precisely how they combine in shading. As one practical application, our theoretical framework can be used to adaptively sample images in high-gradient regions for efficient rendering. Third, we understand the effects of soft shadows, computing accurate visibility gradients. We generalize previous work to arbitrary curved occluders, and develop a local framework that is easy to integrate with conventional ray-tracing methods. Our visibility gradients can be directly used in practical gradient interpolation methods for efficient rendering

A Theoretical Analysis of the Conditions for Unambiguous Node Localization in Sensor Networks

In this paper we provide a theoretical foundation for the problem of network localization in which some nodes know their locations and other nodes determine their locations by measuring distances or bearings to their neighbors. Distance information is the separation between two nodes connected by a sensing/communication link. Bearing is the angle between a sensing/communication link and the x-axis of a node's local coordinate system. We construct grounded graphs to model network localization and apply graph rigidity theory and parallel drawings to test the conditions for unique localizability and to construct uniquely localizable networks. We further investigate partially localizable networks

Historique de la recherche et de la distinction en milieu universitaire : analyse de la représentation sociale du métier de professeur-chercheur au département de science politique de l'UQAM et de l'UDEM

Ce mémoire constitue une recherche empirique traitant de l'évolution du métier professoral dans les sciences sociales. Dans le but de comprendre la représentation normative des professeurs à l'égard de l'enseignement, la recherche et les services à la collectivité, nous avons étudié leur discours à partir d'une perspective bourdieusienne. Pendant (et avant) les années 1970 et les années 1980, la recherche légitime se définissait par la pédagogie et le rayonnement interne des universités. Au cours des années 1990 et 2000, la recherche commence à se caractériser par les publications dans les revues savantes, le rayonnement international et la « collectivisation » de la recherche. Nous nous sommes questionnés à savoir si ces changements avaient suscité des divisions dans l'évaluation des professeurs dont les travaux de recherches s'inscrivent dans le premier modèle. Deuxièmement, nous nous sommes demandés si l'espace positionnel des professeurs prédispose leur représentation normative à l'égard des deux modèles de recherches. Nous supposons que les agents qui sont le plus touchés par des évaluations négatives, en contexte de promotion ou dans l'évaluation des tâches professorales du département, ont été embauchés pendant (ou avant) les années 1970 et durant les années 1980. Nous avançons également que la représentation normative des professeurs à l'égard des deux modèles de recherche était reliée à la cohorte d'appartenance de ces derniers. Nous avons réalisé 12 entrevues avec des professeurs du département de science politique de l'Université de Montréal et de l'Université du Québec à Montréal. Ce mémoire nous a permis de mieux cerner les facteurs de divisions au sein du corps professoral. Il nous a également amené à tester l'idée bourdieusienne d'homologie structurale entre la configuration microsociale de l'habitus chez les agents et la configuration macrosociale du champ scientifique et du champ universitaire. Les principaux résultats démontrent qu'il y a un lien dialectique entre la cohorte d'appartenance des professeurs et le modèle de recherche qu'ils pratiquent. Nous constatons que la probabilité qu'un professeur soit favorable et pratique le deuxième modèle de recherche augmente considérablement chez ceux qui sont issus des deux dernières cohortes. Plusieurs indices suggèrent l'hypothèse d'une hétérochronie des pressions du champ scientifique à l'endroit des départements étudiés. Les pressions du champ scientifique seraient plus tardives à l'Université du Québec à Montréal.\ud ______________________________________________________________________________ \ud MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : université, professeur, recherche, champ universitaire, champ scientifique et sciences sociale

Alcohol Use and Blood Flow in College Men: The Relationship with Personality

Hypertension affects 1 in 3 adults and is becoming increasingly more prevalent among young adults. Nearly 18% of young adults have prehypertension, a preliminary condition increasing risk for hypertension. Hypertension and prehypertension are both more prominent among men than women, and are predisposed by alcohol consumption. The literature is inconsistent regarding the association between self-reported alcohol consumption and blood pressure (BP) in men, with studies supporting J-shaped and dose-response associations. Previous studies are also conflicted regarding the acute impact of alcohol on BP, appearing to have no effect on normotensive men and variable effects on hypertensive men. Inconsistent findings may be due to individual differences in personality (i.e., conscientiousness, extraversion, neuroticism, hostility) mediating the relationship between alcohol intake and BP. The present study (N = 155) examined this model in a sample of young adult men (18-25 years) through self-report measures (n = 154). The acute relationship between BP and alcohol consumption was also assessed in a subsample by administering alcohol in a standardized laboratory setting (n = 17). Results indicated acute alcohol consumption significantly increased nighttime systolic blood pressure (SBP). In addition, hostility appeared to suppress the relationship between alcohol consumption and SBP. Findings are discussed