Science News & Science Current Events
 
Email a Friend Send to a friend
Printer Friendly Print UC San Diego computer scientist turns his face into a remote control

UC San Diego computer scientist turns his face into a remote control

June 25, 2008

A computer science Ph.D. student can turn his face into a remote control that speeds and slows video playback. The proof-of-concept demonstration is part of a larger project to use automated facial expression recognition to make robots more effective teachers.

Jacob Whitehill, a computer science Ph.D. student from UC San Diego's Jacobs School of Engineering, is leading this project. It builds on technology for detecting facial expressions being developed at UC San Diego's Machine Perception Laboratory (MPLab), part of the Institute for Neural Computation, and housed in the UCSD Division of Calit2.




Watch Jacob Whitehill turn his face into a remote control in a three minute video at: http://video-jsoe.ucsd.edu/asx/Whitehill_UC_San_Diego.wmv.asx

In a recent pilot study, Whitehill and colleagues demonstrated that information within the facial expressions people make while watching recorded video lectures can be used to predict a person's preferred viewing speed of the video and how difficult a person perceives the lecture at each moment in time.

This new work is at the intersection of facial expression recognition research and automated tutoring systems.

"If I am a student dealing with a robot teacher and I am completely puzzled and yet the robot keeps presenting new material, that's not going to be very useful to me. If, instead, the robot stops and says, 'Oh, maybe you're confused,' and I say, 'Yes, thank you for stopping,' that's really good," said Whitehill, the computer science Ph.D. student leading the project.

The work is being presented in June 2008 at two peer-reviewed academic conferences. On June 25, Whitehill presents his findings at the Intelligent Tutoring Systems conference. On Saturday, June 28, Marian Stewart Bartlett, a co-director of the Machine Perception Laboratory, will present this work at the 2008 IEEE International Workshop on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition for Human Communicative Behavior Analysis.

In the pilot study, the facial movements people made when they perceived the lecture to be difficult varied widely from person to person. Most of the 8 test subjects, however, blinked less frequently during difficult parts of the lecture than during easier portions of the lecture, which is supported by findings in psychology.

One of the next steps for this project is to determine what facial movements one person naturally makes when they are exposed to difficult or easy lecture material. From here, Whitehill could then train a user specific model that predicts when a lecture should be sped up or slowed down based on the spontaneous facial expressions a person makes, explained Whitehill.

To collect examples of the kinds of facial expressions involved in teaching and learning, Whitehill taught a group of people in his lab about German grammar and recorded the sessions using video conferencing software.

"I wanted to see the kinds of cues that students and teachers use to try to modulate or enrich the instruction. To me, it's about understanding and optimizing interactions between students and teachers," said Whitehill.

"I can see you nodding right now, for instance," said Whitehill during the interview. "That suggests to me that you're understanding, that I can keep going with what I am saying. If you give me a puzzled look, I might back up for a second."

University of California - San Diego



Related Remote Control Current Events and Remote Control News Articles Remote Control Current Events and Remote Control News RSS Remote Control Current Events and Remote Control News RSS
New robotic repair system will fix ailing satellites
Researchers at Queen's University are developing a new robotic system to service more than 8,000 satellites now orbiting the Earth, beyond the flight range of ground-based repair operations.

The Structure of the Mre11 Protein Bound to DNA
Repairing breaks in the two strands of the DNA double helix is critical for avoiding cancer. In humans and other organisms, a molecular machine called the MRN complex is responsible for finding and signaling double-strand breaks (DSBs), then launching the error-free method of DNA repair called homologous recombination.

Stanford's 'autonomous' helicopters teach themselves to fly
Stanford computer scientists have developed an artificial intelligence system that enables robotic helicopters to teach themselves to fly difficult stunts by watching other helicopters perform the same maneuvers.

Toys and technology for rehabilitation in cerebral palsy patients
What began as a college course project to design therapeutic toys has resulted in the first toys of their kind, designed as therapy for children with cerebral palsy (CP).

It's a unisex brain with specific signals that trigger 'male' behavior
Research by Yale scientists shows that males and females have essentially unisex brains - at least in flies - according to a recent report in Cell designed to identify factors that are responsible for sex differences in behavior.

Can a laser scanner drive a car?
A car that navigates city streets without a driver - steered only by a computer? That might seem impossible to many. But researchers from Fraunhofer and the FU Berlin are presenting such an automated vehicle at this year's Hannover Messe on April 21 through 25, 2008 (Hall 25, Stand H25). Its core element is a three-dimensional laser scanner.

UH report shows college students making the grade online, in class
The lives of today's college students have always included computers and the Internet. That technology now has moved from the ether into instruction.

Technique enhances digital television viewing for visually-impaired
Scientists at Schepens Eye Research Institute have found that people with low vision can improve their ability to see and enjoy television with a new technique that allows them to enhance the contrast of images of people and objects of interest on their digital televisions.

Polarization technique focuses limelight
An international team of astronomers, led by Professor Svetlana Berdyugina of ETH Zurich's Institute of Astronomy, has for the first time ever been able to detect and monitor the visible light that is scattered in the atmosphere of an exoplanet.

Using carbon nanotubes to seek and destroy anthrax toxin and other harmful proteins
Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a new way to seek out specific proteins, including dangerous proteins such as anthrax toxin, and render them harmless using nothing but light.
More Remote Control Current Events and Remote Control News Articles


Remote Control (Alan Gregory)
by Stephen White

In the midst of his most challenging and dangerous case, clinical psychologist Dr. Alan Gregory's wife-associate district attorney, Lauren Crowder-is arrested on suspicion of murder. Alan's desperate investigation will bring him face-to-face with true evil: a conspiracy fueled by human greed and bound by a deadly secret that someone will kill to...

Remote Control Childhood?: Combating the Hazards of Media Culture (Naeyc (Series), #326.)
by Diane E. Levin



Murder by Remote Control
by Janwillem van de Wetering, Paul Kirchner



Team Up 1:18 Scale Jeff Gordon Radio Control Car

This officially licensed 1:18 scale Jeff Gordon Remote Control Car is designed with detailed authentic team graphics, has a 50-75 yard signal range, adjustable front wheel alignment to keep the car running straight, and a full function remote control, which powers forward, reverse and left/right turning...



Remote Control
by Cynthia Polansky

2006 Indie Excellence Award Winner New Age Fiction If the spirit of a loving wife can t nudge her husband in the right direction, who can? So thinks thirty-something Judith McBride, a Jewish control freak with an unlikely last name. When Judith dies in a medical mishap, she calls on her supernatural status to "rescue" her widowed spouse from the gold-digging clutches of their sexy, thrill-seeking...

How to design/build remote control devices
by Ivan G Stearne



Remote Control Robotics
by Craig Sayers

Increasingly, robots are being used in environments inhospitable to humans such as the deep ocean, inside nuclear reactors, and in deep space. Such robots are controlled by remote links to human operators who may be close by or thousands of miles away. The techniques used to control these robots is the subject of this book. The author begins with a basic introduction to robot control and then...



Remote Control
by Andy Mcnab

Few writers know the intricate landscape of special operations like Andy McNab. A member of the crack elite force the Special Air Service for seventeen years, McNab saw duty all over the world--and was the British Army's most highly decorated serving soldier when he resigned in 1993.Now, in Remote Control, his explosive fiction debut, McNab has drawn on his personal experience and unique...



You Build It TV Remote Control (SmartLab)
by Leslie Johnstone, Clive Gifford, Shar Levine

Take control! Kids build the remote themselves and gain hands-on experience with the science of light and energy. Includes everything kids need to build a working remote control (for use with home TV and VCR). Kids build and program this universal remote to discover how light and energy make channel surfing...



Build Your Own Remote Control Light Switch: A Hands-On High Tech Book (Hands on High Tech)
by Shar Levine, Leslie Johnstone

Amaze your friends by switching your lights on and off – just by pointing an infrared light beam. This kid-friendly kit includes everything you need to build a remote-controlled light switch. Turn on your lights from across the room and perform fascinating experiments using infrared light. You'll learn how to connect electronic components to a circuit board as you explore the high-tech world of...

© 2008 BrightSurf.com