Protecting the Australian passport by developing face recognition training programs that effectively integrate human operators and machine systems. The security of the Australian passport is vital to the fight against crime and terrorism. This project will help detect identity fraud in passport applications by developing training programs drawing on the psychology of face processing to optimally combine human decision making with machine face recognition systems to maximise fraud detection.
Improving Productivity in Emergency Service Personnel. Emergency service personnel experience marked levels of lost productivity, absenteeism, early retirements, and compensation claims as a result of stress reactions. This project aims to improve productivity and reduce compensation costs in emergency service organisations by evaluating a program that reduces stress reactions and increases cognitive functioning in police, firefighters, and paramedics in NSW. An individual program will be admini ....Improving Productivity in Emergency Service Personnel. Emergency service personnel experience marked levels of lost productivity, absenteeism, early retirements, and compensation claims as a result of stress reactions. This project aims to improve productivity and reduce compensation costs in emergency service organisations by evaluating a program that reduces stress reactions and increases cognitive functioning in police, firefighters, and paramedics in NSW. An individual program will be administered to 120 emergency service personnel who have difficulty maintaining their work duties because of stress reactions. Expected outcomes will be reduction in absenteeism, improved productivity, and reduced costs to insurers.
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Faces in context: A new ecological paradigm for person identification. Accurate face recognition is critical to normal social functioning of individuals and identity management processes that underpin a secure and fair Australia. Current understanding is based on tests that do not capture the rich context surrounding person identification in daily life. This project aims to introduce new methods for observing person identification in daily life and real-world tasks that are critical to border se ....Faces in context: A new ecological paradigm for person identification. Accurate face recognition is critical to normal social functioning of individuals and identity management processes that underpin a secure and fair Australia. Current understanding is based on tests that do not capture the rich context surrounding person identification in daily life. This project aims to introduce new methods for observing person identification in daily life and real-world tasks that are critical to border security, criminal investigations and the justice system. Expected outcomes include an integrated framework for person identification describing the cognitive mechanisms that link faces to surrounding visual context and the viewer’s background knowledge. Benefits in forensic, security and legal settings are expected.Read moreRead less
Towards optimal face identification systems. This project aims to improve face identification accuracy at a system level. Reliable face identification is critical in security, police and judicial processes. The project will inform policy in the recruitment, training and workflow design underpinning the secure issuance of Australian passports. Expected outcomes of the project will include social and economic gains such as improved efficiency and reliability of key government services. The knowled ....Towards optimal face identification systems. This project aims to improve face identification accuracy at a system level. Reliable face identification is critical in security, police and judicial processes. The project will inform policy in the recruitment, training and workflow design underpinning the secure issuance of Australian passports. Expected outcomes of the project will include social and economic gains such as improved efficiency and reliability of key government services. The knowledge gained as a result of the project in perceptual and cognitive processes will strengthen legal systems and national security by minimising the risk of identification errors in critical roles.Read moreRead less
Face-space: linking three-dimensional shape and human perception across changing viewing conditions. People, and increasingly machines, use faces to identify and interact with people. One source of information available for this is the three-dimensional (3D) shape of the face. This information, unlike a photograph, does not change with lighting and viewpoint. This project will link measurements of face shape to the perceived similarities and differences between faces we use to make decisions. ....Face-space: linking three-dimensional shape and human perception across changing viewing conditions. People, and increasingly machines, use faces to identify and interact with people. One source of information available for this is the three-dimensional (3D) shape of the face. This information, unlike a photograph, does not change with lighting and viewpoint. This project will link measurements of face shape to the perceived similarities and differences between faces we use to make decisions. This will facilitate the use of 3D databases in diverse applications including establishing identity, making facial reconstructions of victims of crime or disaster, making databases searchable, computer animation, archaeology, and plastic surgery. In particular the work will make physical databases relevant to human perception. Read moreRead less
Information sampling in superior face identifiers. This project aims to develop a theoretical understanding of perceptual processing that gives rise to the skill of face identification. The project intends to use innovative eye-tracking methods in order to pinpoint the visual information used by superior face identifiers, and capture qualitative differences in their visual processing. Expected outcomes include data-driven training and recruitment methods that can improve performance of professio ....Information sampling in superior face identifiers. This project aims to develop a theoretical understanding of perceptual processing that gives rise to the skill of face identification. The project intends to use innovative eye-tracking methods in order to pinpoint the visual information used by superior face identifiers, and capture qualitative differences in their visual processing. Expected outcomes include data-driven training and recruitment methods that can improve performance of professional face identification experts. Intended benefits include improved efficiency and reliability in identity verification processes, legal guidelines for interpreting identification evidence in court and training interventions for people with acquired and developmental impairments in face processing ability.Read moreRead less
Solving the passport problem: re-designing photo-ID to improve recognition. We aim to contribute to national security and crime prevention by increasing the accuracy with which security staff can check the validity of photo-ID documents such as passports. Research shows that it is surprisingly difficult to determine if the image on a photo-ID document is of the bearer, and as a result it is likely that fraudulent use of photo-ID documents sometimes goes undetected. Our novel approach is to use ....Solving the passport problem: re-designing photo-ID to improve recognition. We aim to contribute to national security and crime prevention by increasing the accuracy with which security staff can check the validity of photo-ID documents such as passports. Research shows that it is surprisingly difficult to determine if the image on a photo-ID document is of the bearer, and as a result it is likely that fraudulent use of photo-ID documents sometimes goes undetected. Our novel approach is to use our knowledge of unfamiliar face perception to develop new image formats for photo-ID documents which increase the accuracy with which security staff can detect identity fraud.Read moreRead less
Detecting identity fraud in passport applications: Improving human operator performance through better understanding of unfamiliar face processing. The passport is a vital link in the defence of Australia against terrorism and crime. In this project researchers will work with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to improve the ability of staff to detect identity fraud in passport applications, thus helping to protect the integrity of the Australian passport as a trusted identity document.
Improving performance in high risk environments using guided distraction and iconic cues. This project tests a novel strategy to assist operators in high-risk automated environments, in order to maintain their performance in low workload situations. Using guided distraction, this project will be able to show improvements in attention to critical tasks and in overall system performance, thereby reducing the potential for error.
A comprehensive framework for modelling the human connectome. The human brain is an extraordinarily complex network of interconnected cells. This project aims to use mathematical modelling and brain imaging to uncover key principles of network wiring in the human brain. Using an interdisciplinary approach that combines elements of neuroscience, genetics, physics, and psychology, the project will result in a new, rigorous framework for testing competing theories of brain development, the identifi ....A comprehensive framework for modelling the human connectome. The human brain is an extraordinarily complex network of interconnected cells. This project aims to use mathematical modelling and brain imaging to uncover key principles of network wiring in the human brain. Using an interdisciplinary approach that combines elements of neuroscience, genetics, physics, and psychology, the project will result in a new, rigorous framework for testing competing theories of brain development, the identification of key wiring principles for developing brains, and an understanding of how these principles shape behaviour. This work will shed new light on the developmental processes that underlie human behaviour and disease.Read moreRead less