Deep neural network can match infrared facial images to those taken naturally

Deep Perceptual Mapping (DPM): densely computed features from the visible domain are mapped through the learned DPM network to the corresponding thermal domain. Credit: arXiv:1507.02879 [cs.CV]

A pair of researchers affiliated with Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and the Institute of Anthropomatics & Robotics has created a deep neural network application that is able to successfully match faces recorded using infrared light with those taken using natural lighting. M. Saquib Sarfraz and Rainer Stiefelhagen have written a paper describing their research and findings and have posted it on the preprint server arXiv.

Infrared photography allows humans to see things in the dark that they would not be able to see otherwise—it has become an important tool for both police work and those engaged in warfare. One serious limitation of it however is its resolution—people looking at an image of a person that was created using an infrared camera typically cannot make out who that person is—there is just too little correlation between the image and what the person looks like in natural light. To make the jump, the researchers turned to a deep neural network.

Deep neural networks are software/hardware systems that have been designed to learn about certain things based on large datasets and then to make predictions about current or future things based on what is learned—similar, of course, to the way the human brain works. To use such a system for correlating infrared images with natural light counterparts, then, would require a large dataset of both types of images of the same people. The duo discovered that such a dataset existed as part of other research being done at the University Notre Dame. After being given access to it, they "taught" their system to pick out natural light images of people based on half of the infrared images in the dataset they were given. The other half was used to test how well the system worked.

The results were not perfect, by any means—the system was able to make correct matches 80 percent of the time (which dropped to just 55 percent when it had only one photo to use), but marks a dramatic improvement in the technology— Sarfraz and Stiefelhagen believe they could improve the accuracy dramatically if they could get their hands on a much larger dataset.

More information: Deep Perceptual Mapping for Thermal to Visible Face Recognition, arXiv:1507.02879 [cs.CV] arxiv.org/abs/1507.02879

AbstractCross modal face matching between the thermal and visible spectrum is a much de- sired capability for night-time surveillance and security applications. Due to a very large modality gap, thermal-to-visible face recognition is one of the most challenging face matching problem. In this paper, we present an approach to bridge this modality gap by a significant margin. Our approach captures the highly non-linear relationship be- tween the two modalities by using a deep neural network. Our model attempts to learn a non-linear mapping from visible to thermal spectrum while preserving the identity in- formation. We show substantive performance improvement on a difficult thermal-visible face dataset. The presented approach improves the state-of-the-art by more than 10% in terms of Rank-1 identification and bridge the drop in performance due to the modality gap by more than 40%.

via Arxiv blog

© 2015 Tech Xplore

Source: Deep neural network can match infrared facial images to those taken naturally

Come one, come all – check out Dennis' new, amazing camera

Within living memory, a corn grinder was called a grist mill. Now it's a gadget you see on teevee, a rotating abrasive cylinder designed to remove dead skin from one's feet.

Until recently, when tornadoes approached we could only hide best we could until they passed. But now, through the groundbreaking work of scientific advisers to low-budget made-for-teevee movies, we have learned of the scientific consensus that tornadoes can be made to disappear entirely by throwing propane torch cylinders with flares taped to them into the tornadoes. This also has the benefit of killing any sharks the tornadoes might contain, which is not often an issue here but it might work on largemouth bass and catfish as well.

But of all the marvels of the modern world, my current favorite is a digital camera specially modified to make pictures in the near-infrared spectrum.

I had toyed with this before, by placing a very dark, almost opaque, red filter over the lens of a conventional digital camera. The results were pleasing, but there were problems. The sensors on digital cameras are equipped with "hot filters" that keep infrared light from getting in. The fact that the red filter experiment worked at all was due to the hot filter on that camera not being very good. Even so, it was good enough to force long exposures and other issues.

A quick trip to the camera doctor and the camera no longer had a hot filter but instead a filter that allows only infrared light (and a little bit from the visual spectrum for color; otherwise, it would be the black-and-white of night-vision cameras).

In the old days we could shoot infrared film, but we never had any idea what if anything we'd captured until it had been processed. With a modified digital camera, things are a little more predictable and we can see the results (and make camera adjustments if necessary) at once.

There are surprises: most sunglasses become transparent, as if untinted, when photographed with an infrared-modified camera. More startling, so do black plastic garbage bags. One imagines that this would be of interest to the police investigator who does not have a warrant to search some black plastic garbage bags.

You can get a little infrared floodlight that fits in the camera's accessory shoe and lights up the outdoors (or indoors, but it's mostly useful outdoors) invisibly to the human eye. You can then see through the camera's finder the illuminated scene, because the sensor is attuned to infrared. The results are monochromatic and not especially attractive, but you can get a picture where otherwise no picture would be possible.

Yes, you're right: it's a stunt. The practical aspects are limited. But it's a stunt that can produce some stunningly nice effects.

For instance, here's a picture of Baker Center, taken with the infrared-modified camera and a fisheye lens. Modern fisheye lenses let you control to some extent the distortion they introduce; in this picture the only real distortion visible is the straightening of the street, which actually curves around in front of Baker Center. But that's the lens. The infrared part is the leaves on the trees and bushes, which instead of green are a kind of pinkish white, due to that wavelength being reflected by them. The bricks and much of the rest becomes a blue-gray, while the sky gets dark and the clouds become very bright. Glass in the windows reflects as if they were golden mirrors.

You can imagine why infrared is popular with landscape photographers. And it's always possible to remove the color altogether, producing very striking black-and-white pictures.

It has not so much found a home among portrait photographers, though I'm coming to love making people pictures with it. The always-photogenic Meredith bravely sat for a picture and even more bravely gave me permission to publish it as an illustration of what infrared color pictures of people can look like.

The tint in her glasses is gone and the color of her hair has been altered. Her lips have been turned blue.  But what makes infrared interesting for photographing people is the luster it gives to the skin. People captured in infrared photography seem almost carved from jade. If I were to desaturate the picture – remove the color – and either save it as black-and-white or in, say, a sepia tone, it would be a very nice picture and you might never guess that it was largely photographed outside the visible spectrum.

I think that this is cool as all get out. Maybe you do, too, maybe not. It could be of limited practical value – deep-infrared photography has important scientific uses; near-infrared not so much – but it's probably as useful as foot sanders and ways of shaking the sharks out of tornadoes.

Source: Come one, come all – check out Dennis' new, amazing camera

Salem State biologist and geographer team up for exhibit that tests sense of scale

The very big and very small can be hard to tell apart.

That's the premise behind "Macro or Micro? Challenging our Perceptions of Scale," an exhibit of photographs at Boston's Museum of Science by Paul Kelly of Salem and Stephen Young of Swampscott. 

"There are 48 pieces, and they are a mix of satellite images and images made from an electron microscope," Young said.

Kelly teaches biology at Salem State University, and Young teaches geography there. They've taught classes together on the relationship between their disciplines.

"One is called biogeography, the study of the spatial distribution of life on Earth," Young said.

The discipline addresses such matters as why kangaroos can be found in Australia but not Iowa. 

The photos that the two have taken for research reflect their differing approaches to studying the world.

"Geographers study the world from the individual to the entire global system," Young said. "Biologists tend to look at an ecosystem — a species, down to organs in the individual, down to the microscopic."

Each photograph in the exhibit raises the question of whether it was taken from a great height or at extremely close range.

For example, what looks like islands in a river delta could also be skin cells, and what appears to be a range of snow-covered hills may really be colonies of bacteria.

"The difference in scale between his largest and my smallest is a million times," Young said. "Paul's looking at something in millimeters in size, I'm looking in kilometers."

The Boston show is the fourth that Young and Kelly have held together, after Young organized a number of previous shows featuring his satellite photos from space, starting with one at Salem State in 1998.

Young got the idea for his one-man shows after noticing that students got something more from looking at his photos than they did from reading tables of data, which were derived from information in the pictures.  

"I started hanging them up in my office," he said. "There's some sort of visual intrigue in the imagery itself."

He eventually also hung one up on Kelly's office door, in a mischievous gesture that became the basis for the exhibits they have held together.

"One day, I put a satellite image on his door, and it looked like one of his microscopic images," Young said. "He thought it was one of his colleagues. I thought, 'There's something here we can work with.'"

Introductory panels at the Museum of Science exhibit give a general overview of the show's themes, while text accompanies each photo, explaining what it contains.

"There is a collage on the back wall with 12 images and a listing to the side of what each slide is," Young said. 

In addition to presenting viewers with a fascinating puzzle, Young and Kelly hope the exhibit will provide some valuable lessons.

"People complain that scientists only talk to themselves and don't engage the public as much as they should," Young said. "This is a way we can begin to show the public about how we see the world, how we image the world."

It also gives viewers some insight into the instruments they use, to capture things that can't be seen with the naked eye.

"It's a very brief description of how the electron microscope works," Young said. "To see something smaller than visible light, we send electrons at it."

There is also information about the different methods, such as infrared photography, used in taking satellite images.

Young also hopes viewers will take away important lessons from the guesses they make, about the kinds of photos they are looking at.

"We assume this is that, and it's not," Young said. "You hear people go 'wow' when they're completely wrong. We start to question our perception of things, which I think is great."

That awareness of our assumptions applies in our daily lives, beyond the world of science, as Young has discovered.

"I went to Iran earlier this year to set up the show," he said. "Everyone told me I needed to grow a beard to fit in, but it turns out more people have mustaches than beards — we misinterpret the unfamiliar." 

If you go

What: "Macro or Micro? Challenging our Perceptions of Scale"

When: Through Sept. 30. Summer hours (through Sept. 7) are Saturdays through Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Fridays from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Where: Art & Science Gallery, Museum of Science, 1 Science Park, Boston

How much: Admission to exhibit halls is $23 for adults, $21 for seniors and $20 for children ages 3 to 11.

More information: www.mos.org or 617-723-2500

Source: Salem State biologist and geographer team up for exhibit that tests sense of scale

Surprise! Infrared Camera Reveals Black Leopard's Hidden Spots

A leopard really can't change its spots — it can only conceal them.

The black leopards of the Malaysian Peninsula may look like they have uniform dark coats, but hidden cameras with infrared light have revealed a surprise: The black cats sport the characteristic leopard spots within their dark-hued coats.

The new insight has allowed conservationists to reliably identify individual animals based on camera traps, the first step in preventing widespread poaching, according to new research.

"Understanding how leopards are faring in an increasingly human-dominated world is vital," lead author Laurie Hedges, a zoology graduate at the University of Nottingham in England, said in a statement. "This new approach gives us a novel tool to help save this unique and endangered animal." [See Images of the Black Leopard's Hidden Spots]

Wild cats, widely dispersed

A black leopard on the Malaysian peninsula.Credit: Bill Laurence Leopards are the most widely dispersed wild cat in the world, showing up everywhere from sub-Saharan Africa to the Russian Far East. Most have a distinctive and immediately recognizable spotting pattern, and for decades, the ubiquitous "leopard print" has shown up on bathing suits, fur coats and countless tacky 1970s-era bedspreads.

But a 2010 study in the Journal of Zoology study found that almost all Malay leopards have the gene for melanism, or black coats. Scientists don't know exactly why, though some suspect the black cats evolved their shadowy coats to better camouflage themselves while hunting in the dense jungles of the island nation.

"This black coat may have made them 'perfect stalkers' in our dimly lit Malaysian jungle and this advantage may have helped them compete with tigers for similar-sized prey," said study co-author Gopalasamy Reuben Clements, the co-founder of the Malaysian jungle conservation organization Rimba.

Alternatively, the Malay leopards may be black through random chance. Some have even hypothesized that the Mount Toba super-eruption about 74,000 years ago wiped out all but a few of the leopards, and those leopards that survived happened to be black, Hedges told Mongabay.com.

Either way, the vast majority of Malay Peninsula leopards sport dark coats, which has made counting the leopards, and in turn conserving them, surprisingly tricky. Despite a cornucopia of prey species for the big cats, few have been spotted on the peninsula.

"Many dead leopards bearing injuries inflicted by wire snares have been discovered in Malaysia," study co-author William Laurance, a biologist from James Cook University in Australia, said in the statement. In addition, leopard skins and body parts have been found in trading markets at the border between Myanmar and China, he added. Those facts suggest the leopard population is threatened by illegal poaching.

Hidden surprise

The first step in protecting leopards is to figure out just how many there are. Conservationists often track individuals by deploying camera traps that automatically snap photos of the cats. But with their all-black coats, the big cats are tricky to distinguish in these candid shots.

But in 2010, researchers poring over the camera trap footage fond a surprise: The cats in the night photos had spots. It turned out the near infrared flash that was activated in the night revealed a hidden spotting pattern underlying their coat.

The strange effect is a result of the pigment, known as eumelanin, in the leopards' fur coats. The longer the wavelength of light hitting the pigment, the better it transmits the light, Clements said.

"Because near infrared light from our camera traps has a longer wavelength than ordinary light, eumelanin in the less heavily pigmented background of the fur coat appears less opaque when illuminated by infrared camera traps," Clements told Live Science in an email.

Normally, the infrared flash is only activated at night, but the team blocked the cameras' light sensors, tricking the camera into thinking it was always night and always flashing the infrared light.

The result? Each leopard photo revealed the cats' distinctive underlying spot patterns. As a result, the team could individually identify 94 percent of the cats it photographed. This led to the first estimate of the population density of the Malay leopards, revealing about three leopards for every 38.6 square miles (100 square kilometers), according to the study, which was published online in the Journal of Wildlife Management.

The new estimate is the first step in monitoring and conserving the leopard population, Clements said. 

Follow Tia Ghose on Twitter and Google+. Follow Live Science @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on Live Science.

Source: Surprise! Infrared Camera Reveals Black Leopard's Hidden Spots

Second Saturday at the ArtSpace

The arts come alive this Saturday, July 11, as the Watauga County Arts Council presents its Second Saturday Arts Celebration.

New exhibits, workshops, shopping and more will take place from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Blue Ridge ArtSpace in Boone, with the Main Gallery featuring photography by Dale Forrest.

"Dale's love of nature has kept him passionate about photography for over 50 years," WCAC executive director Cherry Johnson said, "but it's his ability to push the boundaries that has kept his unique style constantly evolving."

According to Johnson, his search for new images always starts with an idea and a location. Whether it's wildlife, landscapes, stars or his latest venture in infrared photography, Forrest will spend weeks — sometimes months — visiting a particular location, studying the way the light illuminates his subject and looking for the smallest of details.

"With all the planning, there is always that moment of spontaneity that reveals itself, and this is where Dale's years of experience give him the ability to capture the photo," Johnson said. "They bring the viewer into the space and place where he was standing, seeing those brief and fleeting moments of time so rare, they almost always go unnoticed had it not been for his camera."

To see some of Forrest's work, visit www.daleforrest.com.

In the Open Door Gallery, the WCAC presents works in the East Asian brush-painting style by Lori Waters.

"There is a gentleness to this style that slows down my world where I can just breathe for a while," Waters said. "For me, painting is very meditative, from grinding of the ink to playing with the different textures of papers and taking the time to get to know the intricacies of every brush.

"The master painters of Asia believed that each painting carried with it the energy or chi of the artist. Each stroke is a defining move that produces just a portion of the painting that can neither be improved upon nor added to. I think there is a freedom in following these ancient traditions. It has taught me that there is beauty in the imperfections of nature, and part of the beauty is not only in what was painted, but also in what was left out."

To see some of Waters's work, visit www.loriwatersfineart.com.

Both Waters and Forrest are co-owners of Framing by Lori, located in the Shoppes at Shadowline in Boone.

In the Serendipity Gallery, artists are saluting our country and summer fun with a show, entitled "Lovin' Summer in Red, White and Blue." Participating artists are Barbara Hinkel, Judy Clarke, William Bass, Sondra Edwards, Kay Morrow, Jean Stillwell, Trudy Muegel, Marsha Holmes and Bernie Edwards.

This Children's Gallery will feature work created by children participating in Watauga County Public Library programming.

All of the galleries of the Blue Ridge ArtSpace are sponsored regularly by Cheap Joe's Art Stuff.

Per Second Saturday tradition, the ArtSpace will also host artists and demonstrations in its various classrooms.

In the Beige Classroom, visitors will find three artists sharing their craft — knitter Donna Leavitt, papier-mâché artist Susan Weinberg and knitter Shirley MacNulty.

In the Blue Classroom, Maryrose Carroll will be signing her newly released book, "Beats Me: Love, Poetry, Censorship, from Chicago to Appalachia."

In the Green Classroom, Ron Pippin of Nature's Jewelry will share the secrets of turning rocks into jewelry.

Also in the Green Classroom, the WCAC will continue the ongoing painting of its community masterpiece to be auctioned off at the Artfull Palette fundraising gala, which will be held Sept. 26.

"Everyone is invited to come pick up a paint brush and put their own mark on this huge painting," Johnson said.

She added that the board and paints were donated by Cheap Joe's Art Stuff, while the overall project was dreamed up and supervised by artist Marion Cloaninger.

In the Lavender Classroom, guitarist David Smith will be playing segments and teasers from his upcoming, free concert, "The Art of Guitar," which will take place at St. Luke's Episcopal Church at the end of July.

The Blue Ridge ArtSpace is located at 377 Shadowline Drive in Boone. For more information, call (828) 264-1789, or visit www.watauga-arts.org.

Source: Second Saturday at the ArtSpace

White Knight Press Releases Complete Guide Book for Nikon Coolpix P900 Superzoom Digital Camera

  July 07, 2015 --

Henrico, Virginia (PRWEB) July 07, 2015

White Knight Press has just released Photographers Guide to the Nikon Coolpix P900, a full-color, 236-page guide book covering all features and operations of the Coolpix P900 superzoom digital camera.

The Coolpix P900 camera, which is equipped with many features that appeal to serious amateur photographers, is distinguished by its tremendous superzoom lens, which extends from 24mm at the wide-angle setting to 2000mm at the extreme telephoto end. This lens, coupled with the cameras many special features for processing images, makes the P900 particularly suitable for photography of birds and other wildlife at considerable distances, as well as subjects like the moon.

In addition to its superior, long-range zoom lens, the Coolpix P900 camera includes a strong set of advanced features, including numerous menu options for creative picture control; Wi-Fi features that let the camera transfer images wirelessly to a smartphone or tablet and that enable wireless remote control by those devices; built-in GPS functions for adding location data to images; and features for recording high-definition video footage as well as high-speed movies. The camera also offers remote control using an optional Nikon infrared remote control, model number ML-L3.

Although Nikon provides a reference manual for the camera in PDF form, the manual does not explain in detail the purpose of the cameras features and does not offer step-by-step tutorials. The new P900 guide book from White Knight Press provides the specific guidance many users want in order to get the most enjoyment from their camera.

This reference guide was written specifically for the Coolpix P900 by Alexander White, the author of numerous guide books for advanced compact cameras from Nikon, Sony, Fujifilm, Panasonic, and other makers. As with each of his other camera guides, White took sample photos for this book using his own P900 and worked extensively with the camera to understand its many settings so he could explain them fully in clear language.

The book includes more than 350 full-color images that illustrate the P900s controls, display screens, and menus. The photographs include examples captured using the cameras Scene shooting mode, with settings for subjects such as landscapes, pets, birds, portraits, sunsets, and action shots; the Special Effects mode, with image-altering settings; and the cameras features for burst shooting.

In addition, the book provides introductions to topics such as street photography, infrared photography, and macro photography, and includes a detailed section on the use of the cameras superzoom lens.

In three appendices, the book discusses accessories for the P900, including cases, external flash units, remote control, and power sources, and includes a list of useful web sites and other resources. The book also includes an appendix with quick tips for using the cameras features in the most efficient ways. The book has a detailed table of contents and index, both of which can be downloaded for examination at whiteknightpress.com.

The paperback version of the Coolpix P900 guide book is available now for a list price of $24.95 through Amazon.com; it also is available in a Kindle edition through that site and in an edition for iPads and iPhones through the Apple iBookStore. The book also is available for $9.99 in downloadable PDF and ebook formats through whiteknightpress.com, and it is available from numerous other online booksellers.

Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2015/07/prweb12830344.htm.

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Source: White Knight Press Releases Complete Guide Book for Nikon Coolpix P900 Superzoom Digital Camera

Photographer Profile: Jason Odell

"At the end of the day it's about making people happy. I do photography to make myself happy. I teach photography to make my students happy."

That's Jason Odell's answer to why a PHD in animal physiology and evolutionary biology left corporate America and became a highly-regarded wildlife photographer and instructor. But this doesn't mean his skill set isn't put to good use.

"So much of my experience in getting a doctorate involved learning something that I didn't realize I was learning along the way. Writing, teaching and technical, I'm using all of the stuff I learned," he says. 

Odell also says his time spent as a teaching assistant is huge asset to teaching photography. "It's what I really enjoy about teaching. I'm watching the light bulb turn on and I see it in people's eyes. 'Oh, I get it' That's where I derive a lot of personal satisfaction."  

His scenic landscapes and wildlife photographs are the real deal, and he only does a handful of intimate workshops (two instructors and no more than 10 students) every year. One of his favorites trips is to South Texas to photograph song birds. Photographing birds? That's a technical challenge and difficult to do well, even for the seasoned professional.

"It's very difficult to fill the frame of a camera with a small bird. It takes a lot of lens and you have to be quite close," he says. 

His journey as photographer began in 2004 when took a job in Colorado Springs after getting his doctorate at UC Riverside. He quickly got bored and decided he wasn't up to warming a seat in an office cubicle. 

"You certainly learn what you don't want to do. I decided to do what I liked to do. I like animals. I like the outdoors and I enjoy teaching," he says. "I get to do something I didn't get to do when I was working in corporate America. Something that is intellectually challenging and creative."

His next project is teaching how to shoo t the urban landscape, and teamed up with well-known travel photographer, Deborah Sandidge for workshops in Chicago and South Beach this year. The idea is to teach people how to make great travel pictures.

"When people travel they're usually on and off a bus and onto the next thing. This workshop is designed for people who want to take pictures. We make it a point to go to places to photograph them. This is really for people who love to travel," he says.  

And the challenge in urban settings? Making one-of-a-kind pictures. 

"We try to impart a skill set that allows them to tackle a variety of subjects, sometimes in less than ideal conditions, and still come away with an image that is different than everyone else." he explains. "We show people how to do multiple exposures, light painting, long exposures, infrared photography, cinema graphs, light trails etc… You don't always get to go to a spot at the perfect time. So, what do you do? In this workshop, we show them."

Colorado Springs wedding photographer Sean Cayton loves remarkable photographs and the stories behind them. You can see his wedding work at caytonphotography.com, his personal work at seancayton.com and his editorial work in the Colorado Springs Independent. Submit your photo and the story behind the image - no more than two a week, please - to sean@caytonphotography.com for consideration in upcoming blogs.

Source: Photographer Profile: Jason Odell