1,721,151 research outputs found
Human perception of image complexity: real scenes versus texture patches
No full textThe aim of this work is to study image complexity perception of real images. We conducted psycho-physical experiments where observers judged the complexity of different datasets of images on a web-based interface [1]. At the end of the test, observers indicated the main characteristics that guided their judgements. The databases differed in the type of visual stimuli used: images representing real scenes and/or texture patches. For real scenes the most relevant criteria used were quantity of objects, details and colors, while for texture patches they were regularity and understandability. Several criteria are adopted simultaneously, confirming the multidimensional aspect of complexity found in the literature [2]. To process the subjective data we applied z-scores and outlier removal. The mean scores are then correlated with different visual features. We considered features based on spatial, color and frequency properties that can be associated to bottom-up processes. To take into account top-down effects like understandability we included a memorability index [3]. We propose an image complexity measure where the features are linearly combined. The optimal weighting coefficients are those that best fit the subjective data and depend on the type of stimuli considered. Our measure, properly tuned, can predict complexity perception of different kind of images, outperforming the single visual features. From our investigation two aspects of image complexity can be underlined: many different perceptual properties are involved and their relative influence depends on the type of stimuli. These considerations are supported by both our computational proposal and the verbal description analysis.
[1] Ciocca G, Corchs S, Gasparini F, Bricolo E, Tebano R. Does color influence image complexity perception? In: Fifth IAPR Computational Color Imaging Workshop vol. 9016 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science. Springer Berlin/Heidelberg; ((2015) ):139–148
[2] Oliva A, Mack ML, Shrestha M. Identifying the Perceptual Dimensions of Visual Complexity of Scenes. In: Proc. 26th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society ((2004) ):101–106
[3] Isola P, Xiao J, Torralba A, and Oliva A. What makes an image memorable? In IEEE Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition ((2011) ):145–15
Ethical aspects of sexual medicine. Internet, vibrators, and other sex aids: toys or therapeutic instruments?
No full textIntroduction. Sexual health is the result of a complex interplay between social, relational, intrapsychic, and medical aspects. Sexual health care professionals (SHCP) may face several ethical issues. Some SHCP prescribe Internet pornography for both diagnosis and therapy and some others directly sell vibrators and sex aids in their offices. Methods. Five scientists, with different perspectives, debate the ethical aspects in the clinical practice of the SHCP. Main Outcome Measure. To give to the Journal of Sexual Medicine's reader enough data to form her/his own opinion on an important ethical topic. Results. Expert #1, who is Controversy's Section Editor, together with two coworkers, expert psycho-sexologists, reviews data from literature regarding the use of the Internet in the SHCP. Expert #2 argues that licensed professionals, who treat sexual problems, should not sell sexual aids such as vibrators, lubricants, erotica, and instructional DVDs to their clients. On the other hand, Expert #3 is in favor of the possibility, for the patient, to directly purchase sexual aids from the SHCP in order to avoid embarrassment, confusion, and non-adherence to treatment. Conclusion. Evidence and intelligence would suggest that both the Internet (in selected subjects) and the vibrators (in the correct clinical setting), with the due efforts in counseling the patients and tailoring their therapy, are not-harmful, excellent tools in promoting sexual health. Jannini EA, Limoncin E, Ciocca G, Buehler S, and Krychman M. Ethical aspects of sexual medicine. Internet, vibrators and other sex aids: Toys or therapeutic instruments
Color Constancy Algorithm Selection Using CART
No full textIn this work, we investigate how illuminant estimation techniques can be improved taking into account intrinsic, low level properties of the images. We show how these properties can be used to drive, given a set of illuminant estimation algorithms, the selection of the best algorithm for a given image. The selection is made by a decision forest composed by several trees that vote for one of the illuminant estimation algorithm. The most voted algorithm is then applied to the input image. Experimental results on the widely used Ciurea and Funt dataset demonstrate the accuracy of our approach in comparison to other algorithms in the state of the art. © 2009 Springer Berlin Heidelberg
On Comparing Color Spaces for Food Segmentation
No full textAccurate segmentation of food regions is important for both food recognition and quantity estimation and any error would degrade the accuracy of the food dietary assessment system. Main goal of this work is to investigate the performance of a number of color encoding schemes and color spaces for food segmentation exploiting the JSEG algorithm. Our main outcome is that significant improvements in segmentation can be achieved with a proper color space selection and by learning the proper setting of the segmentation parameters from a training set
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