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 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
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
Pattern Recognition and Scene Analysis via Machine Learning. We plan to use kernel methods, a novel machine learning technique, for computer vision problems, such as scene analysis and real time object recognition. Such capabilities are relevant for the design of intelligent and adaptive systems, suitable for complex real world environments. Expected outcomes are the design of efficient statistical tools which take the special nature of visual data into account (structure, decomposition, prior ....Pattern Recognition and Scene Analysis via Machine Learning. We plan to use kernel methods, a novel machine learning technique, for computer vision problems, such as scene analysis and real time object recognition. Such capabilities are relevant for the design of intelligent and adaptive systems, suitable for complex real world environments. Expected outcomes are the design of efficient statistical tools which take the special nature of visual data into account (structure, decomposition, prior knowledge of physical environments, etc.) and combine the advantages of feature based high-level vision methods with low-level machine learning techniques.
This proposal is part of a joint IST project with partners from the European Union.Read moreRead less
Computer Vision Optimization Problems Using Machine Learning. Computer Vision concerns itself with understanding the world through the analysis of images obtained by a video or still camera. An important application is tracking of people in video and modelling their movements. This has evident applications in security, sport and entertainment. By enabling the computer to capture the motion of a subject in a video, we may detect suspicious activity in security, analyze the motion (golf-swing, ....Computer Vision Optimization Problems Using Machine Learning. Computer Vision concerns itself with understanding the world through the analysis of images obtained by a video or still camera. An important application is tracking of people in video and modelling their movements. This has evident applications in security, sport and entertainment. By enabling the computer to capture the motion of a subject in a video, we may detect suspicious activity in security, analyze the motion (golf-swing, diving style) of a sports-person, or capture the motion of an actor for animation or game applications. Development of a reliable technology requires new optimization techniques, which will place Australia at the forefront of the application of such research, commercially and for the public benefit.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
Biomimetic Ultra-Thin Compound-Eye Vision Sensor. With the recent advances in microelectronic fabrication technology, it becomes possible today to fabricate paper-thin imaging systems. The proposed research will target the development of such systems to enable the concept of 'stick-on cameras'. Examples of potential applications for this new imaging technology include head-mounted camera patches for rescue workers, smart credit card capable of identifying its user by fingerprint technology, disc ....Biomimetic Ultra-Thin Compound-Eye Vision Sensor. With the recent advances in microelectronic fabrication technology, it becomes possible today to fabricate paper-thin imaging systems. The proposed research will target the development of such systems to enable the concept of 'stick-on cameras'. Examples of potential applications for this new imaging technology include head-mounted camera patches for rescue workers, smart credit card capable of identifying its user by fingerprint technology, discrete monitoring of venues, preventing driver's drowsiness inside a car but also assisting in medical diagnosis and minimally invasive surgery. This leading edge research will enhance the reputation of Australia as a leader in frontier technologies.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
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
Designing, implementing and evaluating a youth mobile help-seeking tool-kit. This project aims to design, implement and test a novel model of integrated mental health service that links a new mobile interactive tool-kit for self-directed help-seeking with existing traditional helpline services for young people. In partnership with Australia’s largest youth counselling service, Kids Helpline, the project seeks to investigate mobile technology in youth counselling and develop new understandings of ....Designing, implementing and evaluating a youth mobile help-seeking tool-kit. This project aims to design, implement and test a novel model of integrated mental health service that links a new mobile interactive tool-kit for self-directed help-seeking with existing traditional helpline services for young people. In partnership with Australia’s largest youth counselling service, Kids Helpline, the project seeks to investigate mobile technology in youth counselling and develop new understandings of blended traditional and mobile mental health interventions. It aims to design and evaluate an interactive tool-kit that provides credible health information through mobile devices, improving the quality and credibility of digital services to benefit the wellbeing of young Australians.Read moreRead less