Editing 1425: Tasks
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
− | [[Cueball]] appears to be asking [[Ponytail]] to write an app that determines if a given picture is (1) taken in a national park, and (2) a picture of a bird. The first question is generally harder for a human to answer, but easy for an app that has access to location information and a {{w|geographic information system}} (GIS). The second one is easy for a human but much harder for a computer. This illustrates {{w|Moravec's paradox}} | + | {{incomplete|Explain why it is so difficult to identify natural objects like birds in an image. Better background needed on title text. Perhaps wait for an implementation of of determining if metadata in a photo is inside a national park, and link to it :)}} |
+ | [[Cueball]] appears to be asking [[Ponytail]] to write an app that determines if a given picture is (1) taken in a national park, and (2) a picture of a bird. The first question is generally harder for a human to answer, but easy for an app that has access to location information and a {{w|geographic information system}} (GIS). The second one is easy for a human but much harder for a computer. This illustrates {{w|Moravec's paradox}} in a modern context. It turns out to be relatively easy to teach computers impressive skills like {{w|trajectory optimization}}, but hard to "give them the skills of a one-year-old when it comes to perception", as Steven Pinker wrote. | ||
− | In order to determine whether the user is in a national park, Ponytail plans to determine the user's location using the mobile | + | In order to determine whether the user is in a national park, Ponytail plans to determine the user's location, presumably using {{w|Exchangeable image file format}} (Exif) data from the uploaded {{w|Geotagged photograph}}, or some method of {{w|Mobile phone tracking|mobile phone tracking}}. This location will then be cross checked with a {{w|geographic information system}} (GIS) which will be able to determine whether the co-ordinates lie within a national park boundary. |
− | Determining whether an image is of a given kind of natural object is far more difficult. This task falls into the area of {{w|computer vision}}. One of the goals in computer vision is to detect and classify objects within an image. This is a very challenging task for a | + | Determining whether an image is of a given kind of natural object is far more difficult. This task falls into the area of {{w|Computer vision|computer vision}}. One of the goals in computer vision is to detect and classify objects within an image. This is a very challenging task since there is a large variability in the object's appearance and background composition. Furthermore, the object might only be partially visible or occluded. In the case of a living bird, additional complications arise from the variation between individual birds of the same species, and differences in pose (flying, perching in a tree, etc.). Differentiating between visually similar objects can result in false positives, for example is a photo of a bird in flight or a plane (or superman!). The task is especially difficult when the photo quality may be low. Ponytail's estimate of 5 years may be overly optimistic (see [[678|researcher translation]]). |
− | + | Today's state-of-the-art algorithms for solving this kind of task mostly use local features (e.g. {{w|Scale-invariant feature transform|SIFT}} or {{w|SURF}} in combination with a {{w|support vector machine}} or {{w|convolutional neural network}}). | |
− | + | The title text mentions [http://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/6125/AIM-100.pdf The Summer Vision Project] and {{w|Marvin Minsky}} of MIT. In the summer of 1966, he asked his undergraduate student {{w|Gerald Jay Sussman}} to "spend the summer linking a camera to a computer and getting the computer to describe what it saw" ([http://szeliski.org/Book/]). {{w|Seymour Papert}} drafted the plan, and it seems that Sussman was joined by {{w|Bill Gosper}}, {{w|Richard Greenblatt (programmer)|Richard Greenblatt}}, {{w|Leslie Lamport}}, Michael Speciner, Benjamin, Guzman, Henneman, and White. The project schedule allocated one summer for the completion of this task. The required time was obviously significantly underestimated, since dozens of research groups around the world are still working on this topic today. | |
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− | The title text mentions [http://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/6125/AIM-100.pdf The Summer Vision Project] and {{w|Marvin Minsky}} of MIT. In the summer of 1966, he asked his undergraduate student {{w|Gerald Jay Sussman}} to | ||
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==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
− | :[Ponytail sitting at a computer with Cueball standing behind her | + | :[Ponytail sitting at a computer with Cueball standing behind her] |
:Cueball: When a user takes a photo, the app should check whether they're in a national park... | :Cueball: When a user takes a photo, the app should check whether they're in a national park... | ||
:Ponytail: Sure, easy GIS lookup. Gimme a few hours. | :Ponytail: Sure, easy GIS lookup. Gimme a few hours. | ||
:Cueball: ...and check whether the photo is of a bird. | :Cueball: ...and check whether the photo is of a bird. | ||
:Ponytail: I'll need a research team and five years. | :Ponytail: I'll need a research team and five years. | ||
− | + | :In CS, it can be hard to explain the difference between the easy and the virtually impossible | |
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− | :In CS, it can be hard to explain the difference between the easy and the virtually impossible | ||
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{{comic discussion}} | {{comic discussion}} | ||
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