Radiation and Ablation in Rapidly Expanding Flows. The aim of the project is to record the spectra of radiation from a region of rapidly expanding flow representative of the passage of the shock layer on a re-entry capsule from the windward to the leeward surfaces. The significance of this work is that it addresses a critical area of spacecraft where the uncertainties of our design techniques are of the order of 300 per cent in terms of surface heat transfer, and current vehicles have to use lar ....Radiation and Ablation in Rapidly Expanding Flows. The aim of the project is to record the spectra of radiation from a region of rapidly expanding flow representative of the passage of the shock layer on a re-entry capsule from the windward to the leeward surfaces. The significance of this work is that it addresses a critical area of spacecraft where the uncertainties of our design techniques are of the order of 300 per cent in terms of surface heat transfer, and current vehicles have to use large safety factors to ensure survivability. The outputs from the project will be a data base of radiative parameters which should enable accurate models of the flow to be developed, which is expected to facilitate the design of advanced spacecraft with greater safety and reliability, and with lower structural mass.Read moreRead less
A new theory of Aboriginal art. The paradigms developed by scholars have a huge impact on the value of art. After the Australian artworld repositioned Aboriginal art from the frame of 'primitive art' to that of contemporary art, the price of and market for Aboriginal art increased enormously. However, Aboriginal art failed to penetrate the international contemporary artworld because the paradigms of contemporary art within which it was framed were outmoded. Through examining the production of Ab ....A new theory of Aboriginal art. The paradigms developed by scholars have a huge impact on the value of art. After the Australian artworld repositioned Aboriginal art from the frame of 'primitive art' to that of contemporary art, the price of and market for Aboriginal art increased enormously. However, Aboriginal art failed to penetrate the international contemporary artworld because the paradigms of contemporary art within which it was framed were outmoded. Through examining the production of Aboriginal art from the perspectives of its producers and recent globalised contemporary art practices, this project aims to develop a new theory of Aboriginal art that is more aligned with the thinking of current curators who set the agenda at the upper end of the market.Read moreRead less
Visual Research in Social Aesthetics. Despite a few pioneering efforts beginning in the 1930s, visual anthropology (like anthropology itself) has largely confined its interest in aesthetics to studies of indigenous art. It has focused instead on technology, religion, economics, social structure, politics and ideology as the dominant forces in society. I believe this has limited the potential of visual anthropology, which is in fact ideally suited to studying the broader role of aesthetics in h ....Visual Research in Social Aesthetics. Despite a few pioneering efforts beginning in the 1930s, visual anthropology (like anthropology itself) has largely confined its interest in aesthetics to studies of indigenous art. It has focused instead on technology, religion, economics, social structure, politics and ideology as the dominant forces in society. I believe this has limited the potential of visual anthropology, which is in fact ideally suited to studying the broader role of aesthetics in human societies. The aim of this research is to examine how a reconsideration of the aesthetics of everyday life might form the basis for a revitalised visual anthropology.
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Next generation garbage collection: discovery, design, and development. This project aims to improve the performance of programming languages used by millions of Australians every day, such as Java, JavaScript and PHP by developing improved memory-management algorithms. These languages use what is referred to as “garbage collection” to ensure memory is managed without data loss, but do so conservatively and consequently cause performance challenges and energy overheads. This project expects to p ....Next generation garbage collection: discovery, design, and development. This project aims to improve the performance of programming languages used by millions of Australians every day, such as Java, JavaScript and PHP by developing improved memory-management algorithms. These languages use what is referred to as “garbage collection” to ensure memory is managed without data loss, but do so conservatively and consequently cause performance challenges and energy overheads. This project expects to provide these languages with improved memory-management algorithms, and provides researchers and industry with a framework for innovation. This project will enable safe software that is more efficient on today's hardware and able to exploit emerging hardware. This project should lead to better performance and energy savings for server applications, phones, watches, and smart appliances, while ensuring memory safety.Read moreRead less
Utilitarian Filmmaking in Australia 1945 - 1980. The project plans to discover, document, analyse and compile a lasting archive of utilitarian filmmaking in Australia. 'Utilitarian' describes client-sponsored, instructional and governmental filmmaking existing outside the conventional theatrical contexts by which cinema is usually defined. Focused on the post-World War Two decades before the proliferation of video in the late 1970s, the project aims to highlight previously-unstudied aspects of t ....Utilitarian Filmmaking in Australia 1945 - 1980. The project plans to discover, document, analyse and compile a lasting archive of utilitarian filmmaking in Australia. 'Utilitarian' describes client-sponsored, instructional and governmental filmmaking existing outside the conventional theatrical contexts by which cinema is usually defined. Focused on the post-World War Two decades before the proliferation of video in the late 1970s, the project aims to highlight previously-unstudied aspects of the media industries. This is designed to deliver new knowledge of the skills and subject matter that sustained filmmaking, communication and education in Australia during a time when conventional scholarship assumes there was almost no significant filmmaking.Read moreRead less
Linear Formation Interferometry for Astrophysics and New Space Technologies. This project will prototype a new type of visible and infrared light interferometry: telescopes freely moving in a line 10s of metres in length and directing their light towards a central beam combiner. This is particularly well suited to sparse aperture optical interferometry from space, which can be used to resolve angular scales much finer than the world's largest monolithic telescopes. The ground based prototype wil ....Linear Formation Interferometry for Astrophysics and New Space Technologies. This project will prototype a new type of visible and infrared light interferometry: telescopes freely moving in a line 10s of metres in length and directing their light towards a central beam combiner. This is particularly well suited to sparse aperture optical interferometry from space, which can be used to resolve angular scales much finer than the world's largest monolithic telescopes. The ground based prototype will also be able to make a several key astrophysical observations of benchmark stars and stellar systems, including making precise polarimetric measurements of dust shells around bright stars.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
The reformulation of landscape as a user-generated interactive aesthetic. This project seeks to provide Australia with an opportunity to advance its understanding of landscape and climate change by building the world's first networked landscape visualisation system.
Atmoscape: the aesthetic reformulation of the atmosphere using intelligent imaging systems. The proposed research provides Australia with an opportunity to advance its understanding of atmosphere and climate by building the world's first remote sensing visualisation system networked across three continents.