Project: Algolit

Variations on a Glance

In the framework of Algoliterary Encounters Nicolas Malevé proposes a workshop on computer vision.
Language, words, writing, descriptions and formulations are intimately linked to the way the millions of images on the internet are organised. Over the years, algorithmic techniques have evolved creating a new articulation of the relations between vision, information and knowledge. The recent breed of algorithms that power computer vision make heavy use of the techniques of machine learning. As other algorithms, machine learning algorithms need to be programmed, but they also need to be trained. Contemporary artificial intelligence aims to "teach" machines the cognitive abilities of humans.

But how do computer scientists understand human vision and how do they translate it in a concept they can work with? They are interested in a very specific aspect of human vision: the glimpse, the glance, the moment in perception that allow to take immediate decisions, a near reflex perception.

Nicolas introduces a method to assign relationships between images and words, as described in «Â What do we perceive in a glance of a real-world scene? » (Fei Fei et al. 2007). By proposing a variation on this method, he shifts the focus of the experiment, which is not so much to collect quantitative data from the participants but to discuss with the participants what is at stake in the experiment and how it models vision.

Participation is limited to 15 persons.
Please register before 9-11 by sending a mail to an@constantvzw.org


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