Early Indicators Of Noise Injury: Are Decreased Auditory Processing Skills Evident In Noise-exposed Adults Prior To Diagnosis Of Hearing Loss?
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$367,605.00
Summary
Recent research indicates that noise-exposed individuals with similar hearing thresholds to non-noise exposed counterparts are more likely to have diminished temporal and spectral auditory processing abilities. This research aims to determine the relationship between noise exposure levels and auditory processing difficulties; the influence of musical training in ameliorating these difficulties; and a neurological model of causation, operation and possible remediation of these difficulties.
Organization Of Descending Auditory Projections From Inferior Colliculus To Cochlear Nucleus
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$473,121.00
Summary
Sensory information gains awareness by ascending brain pathways to reach consciousness. Descending projections, however, have grown in importance because of implications for feedback management of ascending signals. Studies of these pathways will provide insight into auditory processing with respect to selective volume control, calibration adjustments between the two ears, and the extraction of signals from background noise. The data could lead to new strategies for treating hearing disorders.
Development Of The Listening In Spatialized Noise - Tonal Test (or LiSN-T)
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$227,136.00
Summary
In this project a novel listening test software will be developed for diagnosing spatial processing disorder in children. These children often have difficulties in understanding teachers in classrooms, which can significantly impact their ability to learn. The developed software will be specifically designed for diagnosing 5-year old children, before they enter primary school, and in contrast to existing tests will be independent of their language background.
A Computer-Aided Cartooning System. This project is aimed at developing a computer-aided system to accelerate main image-related processes in cartoon production. Using such a system, many of the tedious and repetitive tasks can be performed semi-automatically. The project is focused on accurate representation and matching of shapes. New vectorization methods based on projection onto convex sets (POCS), and new matching methods based on multi-stage hierarchical structures will be developed. The t ....A Computer-Aided Cartooning System. This project is aimed at developing a computer-aided system to accelerate main image-related processes in cartoon production. Using such a system, many of the tedious and repetitive tasks can be performed semi-automatically. The project is focused on accurate representation and matching of shapes. New vectorization methods based on projection onto convex sets (POCS), and new matching methods based on multi-stage hierarchical structures will be developed. The targeted applications include entertainment, next generation mobile services, and the internet.Read moreRead less
Detecting, Locating and Tracking Human Faces using Skin Colour. With growing concerns for national security and public safety, government agencies in Australia and around the world are taking strong measures to introduce biometric-enhanced official identification documents such as passports, visas, and ID cards. The proposed face detection and tracking system will play a key role in personal identification and human activity monitoring. The developed system will have a huge potential in surveill ....Detecting, Locating and Tracking Human Faces using Skin Colour. With growing concerns for national security and public safety, government agencies in Australia and around the world are taking strong measures to introduce biometric-enhanced official identification documents such as passports, visas, and ID cards. The proposed face detection and tracking system will play a key role in personal identification and human activity monitoring. The developed system will have a huge potential in surveillance, security, law enforcement, and ICT. This project will contribute to building a knowledge economy in Australia and help safeguard and protect Australia from terrorism and crime. Furthermore, its outcomes will enhance the reputation of Australia as a leader in frontier technologies and smart information use.Read moreRead less
A New Paradigm for the Representation and Distribution of High Dimensional Multimedia Content. The proposed project involves cutting edge research in a field of great international significance. The most obvious benefits will be international acclaim and the potential to patent, develop and ultimately export technology and systems for the distribution of high dimensional multimedia content. Outcomes from the project may support the growth of surveillance and networking equipment industries wit ....A New Paradigm for the Representation and Distribution of High Dimensional Multimedia Content. The proposed project involves cutting edge research in a field of great international significance. The most obvious benefits will be international acclaim and the potential to patent, develop and ultimately export technology and systems for the distribution of high dimensional multimedia content. Outcomes from the project may support the growth of surveillance and networking equipment industries within Australia. One application considered explicitly within the project is the demonstration of a new surveillance oriented approach to both distance education and pre-recorded educational content, based upon dense multimedia sampling and our proposed paradigm for efficient distribution to interactive clients.Read moreRead less
Generic Content-based News Picture Retrieval with Local Invariant Features. Image Retrieval searches for images from large databases whose visual content meets the requirements submitted by users. Besides directly benefiting the Partner Organization, this project will enable more efficient access to large picture repositories in news agencies and publishers, digital libraries and film archives. It will make public use of visual information much more convenient and economical. It will help securi ....Generic Content-based News Picture Retrieval with Local Invariant Features. Image Retrieval searches for images from large databases whose visual content meets the requirements submitted by users. Besides directly benefiting the Partner Organization, this project will enable more efficient access to large picture repositories in news agencies and publishers, digital libraries and film archives. It will make public use of visual information much more convenient and economical. It will help security officers to effortlessly and accurately find particular scenes from the images generated by a large closed-circuit TV networks. Also, the developed technology can be applied to tele-education and e-commerce. New algorithms developed in this project will benefit the Australian and world scientific communities.Read moreRead less
Highly Scalable Video Compression with Finely Embedded Motion Signalling. Highly scalable video compression is critical to the emergence of new applications in video distribution and management. Examples include interactive remote browsing of video and robust video surveillance over shared networks. Previous ARC funding produced fundamental breakthroughs in scalable video compression, resulting in a new paradigm which has been adopted by leading researchers in the field. The present project a ....Highly Scalable Video Compression with Finely Embedded Motion Signalling. Highly scalable video compression is critical to the emergence of new applications in video distribution and management. Examples include interactive remote browsing of video and robust video surveillance over shared networks. Previous ARC funding produced fundamental breakthroughs in scalable video compression, resulting in a new paradigm which has been adopted by leading researchers in the field. The present project addresses the two most important problems which currently limit the potential of this paradigm. Inspired by the applicant's recent discoveries, the outcomes of this project are likely to represent significant scientific breakthroughs and contribute to a new international video coding standard.Read moreRead less
Filters reveal what flicker conceals: temporal processing in the human visual system. I have recently discovered a new form of camouflage using 10Hz luminance flicker. This project will quantify this effect and examine the extent to which it generalises across colour and spatial dimensions and to video sequences depicting natural scenes. This information is expected to provide foundational information to technologies relating to national security that rely on visual concealment. This research wi ....Filters reveal what flicker conceals: temporal processing in the human visual system. I have recently discovered a new form of camouflage using 10Hz luminance flicker. This project will quantify this effect and examine the extent to which it generalises across colour and spatial dimensions and to video sequences depicting natural scenes. This information is expected to provide foundational information to technologies relating to national security that rely on visual concealment. This research will examine the extent to which filtering out these camouflaging frequencies enhances our sensitivity to low temporal frequency information. This decamouflaging aspect of my research is expected to improve the clarity of digital video-based technologies including ultrasound, educational, info-tainment and defence applicationsRead moreRead less
Studies Of The Effects Of Asymmetric Hearing Loss On The Brain
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$920,076.00
Summary
Hearing loss impairs the normal development and maintenance of auditory pathways. Irreversible pathologies persist when hearing is not restored in a timely manner. While cochlear implantation is the accepted treatment for profound sensorineural hearing loss, there is significant variability in outcomes. Some of this variability is linked to the degree of hearing asymmetry. Thus, we propose to study brain changes in the auditory system that accompany asymmetric hearing impairment.