Polynomial texture mapping

Polynomial texture mapping

Polynomial texture mapping (PTM), also known as Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI), is a technique of imaging and interactively displaying objects under varying lighting conditions to reveal surface phenomena. The data acquisition method is single camera multi light (SCML). == Origins == The method was originally developed by Tom Malzbender of HP Labs in order to generate enhanced 3D computer graphics and it has since been adopted for cultural heritage applications. == Methodology == A series of images is captured in a darkened environment with the camera in a fixed position and the object lit from different angles (Single Camera Multi Light). Interactive software processes and combines the set of images to enable the user inspecting the object to control a virtual light source. The virtual light source may be manipulated to simulate light from different angles and of different intensity or wavelengths to illuminate the surface of artefacts and reveal details. Open-source tools for processing the captured images and publishing the resulting relightable images on the web are freely available. == Applications == Polynomial texture mapping may be used for detailed recording and documentation, 3D modeling, edge detection, and to aid the study of inscriptions, rock art and other artefacts. It has been applied to hundreds of the Vindolanda tablets by the Centre for the Study of Ancient Documents at the University of Oxford in conjunction with the British Museum. It has also been deployed, by Ben Altshuler of the Institute for Digital Archaeology, to scan the Philae obelisk at Kingston Lacy and the Parian Chronicle at the Ashmolean Museum; in both cases scans revealed significant, previously illegible text. Method was also used for identifying microscopic worked antler from Star Carr and recording ancient rock art in Armenia. A 'dome' supporting twenty-four lights has been used to image paintings in the National Gallery and produce polynomial texture maps, providing information on condition phenomena for conservation purposes. Studies of the technique at the National Gallery and Tate concluded that it is an effective tool for documenting changes in the condition of paintings, more easily repeatable than raking light photography, and therefore could be used to assess paintings during structural treatment and before and after loan. Twelve dome-based systems built by the University of Southampton have been used to capture thousands of cuneiform tablets at various museums. The technique is now also finding uses in the field of forensic science, for example in imaging footprints, tyre marks, and indented writing.

Deep Instinct

Deep Instinct is a cybersecurity company that applies deep learning to cybersecurity. The company implements artificial intelligence to the task of preventing and detecting malware. The company was the recipient of the Technology Pioneer by The World Economic Forum in 2017. Lane Bess has been CEO of the company since 2022. == Overview == In 2015, Deep Instinct was founded by Guy Caspi, Dr. Eli David, and Nadav Maman. The headquarters of the company is located in New York City. In July 2017, NVIDIA became an investor. According to Tom's Hardware, NVIDIA’s investment enabled access to a GPU-based neural network and CUDA platform, which they were using to achieve maximum vulnerability detection rates. As of February 2020, the company had raised $43 million in Series C funding round. In April 2021, Deep Instinct raised $100 million in Series D funding to accelerate growth. == Partnerships == In April 2019, Deep Instinct partnered with Chinese artist, Guo O. Dong on an art project titled, The Persistence of Chaos, consisting of a laptop infected with 6 pieces of malware that represented $95 billion in damages. The art was auctioned with a final bid of $1,345,000. In the same year, Globes reported that, HP Inc partnered with Deep Instinct to launch their security solution HP SureSense, which has been applied to the EliteBook and Zbook devices.

Visual analytics

Visual analytics is a multidisciplinary science and technology field that emerged from information visualization and scientific visualization. It focuses on how analytical reasoning can be facilitated by interactive visual interfaces. == Overview == Visual analytics is "the science of analytical reasoning facilitated by interactive visual interfaces." It can address problems whose size, complexity, and need for closely coupled human and machine analysis may make them otherwise intractable. Visual analytics advances scientific and technological development across multiple domains, including analytical reasoning, human–computer interaction, data transformations, visual representation for computation and analysis, analytic reporting, and the transition of new technologies into practice. As a research agenda, visual analytics brings together several scientific and technical communities from computer science, information visualization, cognitive and perceptual sciences, interactive design, graphic design, and social sciences. Visual analytics integrates new computational and theory-based tools with innovative interactive techniques and visual representations to enable human-information discourse. The design of the tools and techniques is based on cognitive, design, and perceptual principles. This science of analytical reasoning provides the reasoning framework upon which one can build both strategic and tactical visual analytics technologies for threat analysis, prevention, and response. Analytical reasoning is central to the analyst's task of applying human judgments to reach conclusions from a combination of evidence and assumptions. Visual analytics has some overlapping goals and techniques with information visualization and scientific visualization. There is currently no clear consensus on the boundaries between these fields, but broadly speaking the three areas can be distinguished as follows: Scientific visualization deals with data that has a natural geometric structure (e.g., MRI data, wind flows). Information visualization handles abstract data structures such as trees or graphs. Visual analytics is especially concerned with coupling interactive visual representations with underlying analytical processes (e.g., statistical procedures, data mining techniques) such that high-level, complex activities can be effectively performed (e.g., sense making, reasoning, decision making). Visual analytics seeks to marry techniques from information visualization with techniques from computational transformation and analysis of data. Information visualization forms part of the direct interface between user and machine, amplifying human cognitive capabilities in six basic ways: by increasing cognitive resources, such as by using a visual resource to expand human working memory, by reducing search, such as by representing a large amount of data in a small space, by enhancing the recognition of patterns, such as when information is organized in space by its time relationships, by supporting the easy perceptual inference of relationships that are otherwise more difficult to induce, by perceptual monitoring of a large number of potential events, and by providing a manipulable medium that, unlike static diagrams, enables the exploration of a space of parameter values These capabilities of information visualization, combined with computational data analysis, can be applied to analytic reasoning to support the sense-making process. == History == As an interdisciplinary approach, visual analytics has its roots in information visualization, cognitive sciences, and computer science. The term and scope of the field was defined in the early 2000s through researchers such as Jim Thomas, Kristin A. Cook, John Stasko, Pak Chung Wong, Daniel A. Keim and David S. Ebert. As a reaction to the September 11, 2001 attacks the United States Department of Homeland Security was established in late 2002, combining dozens of previously separated government agencies. Building upon earlier work on visual data mining by Daniel A. Keim starting in the late 1990s, this simultaneously lead to the development of a research agenda for visual analytics. As part of these efforts the National Visualization and Analytics Center (NVAC) at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory was established in 2004, whose charter was to develop system to mitigate information overload after the September 11, 2001 attacks in the intelligence community. Their research work determined core challenges, posed open research questions, and positioned visual analytics as a new research domain, in particular through the 2005 research agenda Illuminating the Path. In 2006, the IEEE VIS community led by Pak Chung Wong and Daniel A. Keim launched the annual IEEE Conference on Visual Analytics Science and Technology (VAST), providing a dedicated venue for research into visual analytics, which in 2020 merged to form the IEEE Visualization conference. In 2008, scope and challenges of visual analytics were conceptually defined by Daniel A. Keim and Jim Thomas in their influential book about visual data mining. The domain was further refined as part of the European Commissions FP7 VisMaster program in the late 2000s. == Topics == === Scope === Visual analytics is a multidisciplinary field that includes the following focus areas: Analytical reasoning techniques that enable users to obtain deep insights that directly support assessment, planning, and decision making Data representations and transformations that convert all types of conflicting and dynamic data in ways that support visualization and analysis Techniques to support production, presentation, and dissemination of the results of an analysis to communicate information in the appropriate context to a variety of audiences. Visual representations and interaction techniques that take advantage of the human eye's broad bandwidth pathway into the mind to allow users to see, explore, and understand large amounts of information at once. === Analytical reasoning techniques === Analytical reasoning techniques are the method by which users obtain deep insights that directly support situation assessment, planning, and decision making. Visual analytics must facilitate high-quality human judgment with a limited investment of the analysts’ time. Visual analytics tools must enable diverse analytical tasks such as: Understanding past and present situations quickly, as well as the trends and events that have produced current conditions Identifying possible alternative futures and their warning signs Monitoring current events for emergence of warning signs as well as unexpected events Determining indicators of the intent of an action or an individual Supporting the decision maker in times of crisis. These tasks will be conducted through a combination of individual and collaborative analysis, often under extreme time pressure. Visual analytics must enable hypothesis-based and scenario-based analytical techniques, providing support for the analyst to reason based on the available evidence. === Data representations === Data representations are structured forms suitable for computer-based transformations. These structures must exist in the original data or be derivable from the data themselves. They must retain the information and knowledge content and the related context within the original data to the greatest degree possible. The structures of underlying data representations are generally neither accessible nor intuitive to the user of the visual analytics tool. They are frequently more complex in nature than the original data and are not necessarily smaller in size than the original data. The structures of the data representations may contain hundreds or thousands of dimensions and be unintelligible to a person, but they must be transformable into lower-dimensional representations for visualization and analysis. === Theories of visualization === Theories of visualization include: Jacques Bertin's Semiology of Graphics (1967) Nelson Goodman's Languages of Art (1977) Jock D. Mackinlay's Automated design of optimal visualization (APT) (1986) Leland Wilkinson's Grammar of Graphics (1998) Hadley Wickham's Layered Grammar of Graphics (2010) === Visual representations === Visual representations translate data into a visible form that highlights important features, including commonalities and anomalies. These visual representations make it easy for users to perceive salient aspects of their data quickly. Augmenting the cognitive reasoning process with perceptual reasoning through visual representations permits the analytical reasoning process to become faster and more focused. == Process == The input for the data sets used in the visual analytics process are heterogeneous data sources (i.e., the internet, newspapers, books, scientific experiments, expert systems). From these rich sources, the data sets S = S1, ..., Sm are chosen, whereas each Si , i ∈ (1, ..., m) consists of attrib

Color gradient

In color science, a color gradient (also known as a color ramp or a color progression) specifies a range of position-dependent colors, usually used to fill a region. In assigning colors to a set of values, a gradient is a continuous colormap, a type of color scheme. In computer graphics, the term swatch has come to mean a palette of active colors. == Definitions == Color gradient is a set of colors arranged in a linear order (ordered) A continuous colormap is a curve through a colorspace === Strict definition === A colormap is a function which associate a real value r with point c in color space C {\displaystyle C} f : [ r m i n , r m a x ] ⊂ R → C {\displaystyle f:[r_{min},r_{max}]\subset \mathbf {R} \to C} which is defined by: a colorspace C an increasing sequence of sampling points r 0 < . . . < r m ∈ [ r m i n , r m a x ] {\displaystyle r_{0}<...

Roposo

Roposo is an Indian video-sharing social media service, owned by Glance, a subsidiary of InMobi. Roposo provides a space where users can share posts related to different topics like food, comedy, music, poetry, fashion and travel. It is a platform where people express visually with homemade videos and photos. The app offers a TV-like browsing experience with user-generated content on its channels. Users can also use editing tools on the platform and upload their content. == History == Established in July 2014 under Relevant E-solutions Pvt. Ltd., Roposo is the brainchild of three IIT Delhi alumni – Mayank Bhangadia, Avinash Saxena, and Kaushal Shubhank. Under Bhangadia's leadership, the company pivoted from a fashion-based network into a short-form video platform with AI-powered moderation, and its journey was featured as a Harvard Business Publishing case study. In November 2019, Roposo was acquired by InMobi's Glance Digital Experience Pvt. Ltd.(the mobile content platform and part of the InMobi Group). When the Chinese-owned video-sharing app TikTok was banned on 30 June 2020, the app saw a huge spike in users with several TikTok users registering on Roposo. == Technology == The open platform has some features such as a TV-like browsing, different channels, a chat feature that lets buyers and sellers converse directly through the platform, and creation tools such as an option to add voice-over, music and GIF stickers for videos and photos.

Cost-sensitive machine learning

Cost-sensitive machine learning is an approach within machine learning that considers varying costs associated with different types of errors. This method diverges from traditional approaches by introducing a cost matrix, explicitly specifying the penalties or benefits for each type of prediction error. The inherent difficulty which cost-sensitive machine learning tackles is that minimizing different kinds of classification errors is a multi-objective optimization problem. == Overview == Cost-sensitive machine learning optimizes models based on the specific consequences of misclassifications, making it a valuable tool in various applications. It is especially useful in problems with a high imbalance in class distribution and a high imbalance in associated costs Cost-sensitive machine learning introduces a scalar cost function in order to find one (of multiple) Pareto optimal points in this multi-objective optimization problem (similar to the Weighted sum model) == Cost Matrix == The cost matrix is a crucial element within cost-sensitive modeling, explicitly defining the costs or benefits associated with different prediction errors in classification tasks. Represented as a table, the matrix aligns true and predicted classes, assigning a cost value to each combination. For instance, in binary classification, it may distinguish costs for false positives and false negatives. The utility of the cost matrix lies in its application to calculate the expected cost or loss. The formula, expressed as a double summation, utilizes joint probabilities: Expected Loss = ∑ i ∑ j P ( Actual i , Predicted j ) ⋅ Cost Actual i , Predicted j {\displaystyle {\text{Expected Loss}}=\sum _{i}\sum _{j}P({\text{Actual}}_{i},{\text{Predicted}}_{j})\cdot {\text{Cost}}_{{\text{Actual}}_{i},{\text{Predicted}}_{j}}} Here, P ( Actual i , Predicted j ) {\displaystyle P({\text{Actual}}_{i},{\text{Predicted}}_{j})} denotes the joint probability of actual class i {\displaystyle i} and predicted class j {\displaystyle j} , providing a nuanced measure that considers both the probabilities and associated costs. This approach allows practitioners to fine-tune models based on the specific consequences of misclassifications, adapting to scenarios where the impact of prediction errors varies across classes. == Applications == === Fraud Detection === In the realm of data science, particularly in finance, cost-sensitive machine learning is applied to fraud detection. By assigning different costs to false positives and false negatives, models can be fine-tuned to minimize the overall financial impact of misclassifications. === Medical Diagnostics === In healthcare, cost-sensitive machine learning plays a role in medical diagnostics. The approach allows for customization of models based on the potential harm associated with misdiagnoses, ensuring a more patient-centric application of machine learning algorithms. == Challenges == A typical challenge in cost-sensitive machine learning is the reliable determination of the cost matrix which may evolve over time. == Literature == Cost-Sensitive Machine Learning. USA, CRC Press, 2011. ISBN 9781439839287 Abhishek, K., Abdelaziz, D. M. (2023). Machine Learning for Imbalanced Data: Tackle Imbalanced Datasets Using Machine Learning and Deep Learning Techniques. (n.p.): Packt Publishing. ISBN 9781801070881

Trigger list

Trigger list in its most general meaning refers to a list whose items are used to initiate ("trigger") certain actions. == United States: Private financial information == In the United States, when a person applies for a mortgage loan, the lender makes a credit inquiry about the potential borrower from the national credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Unless the borrower is opted out, the credit bureaus put the applicants onto a "trigger list" of "leads" about persons who are interested in new loans. These lists are sold to numerous lenders all over the United States, and soon after the application the applicant starts receiving offers from all parts of the country. The trigger lists contain a significant amount of personal financial information. Among the buyers of trigger lists are "lead generators" which resell filtered information to borrowers, e.g., of people who live in a certain area and have a certain credit score. While the Federal Trade Commission considers the market of "trigger lists" to be a legal business, many people and organizations (such as the National Association of Mortgage Brokers) consider this a serious breach of privacy and lobby for putting this practice under regulatory controls. As of now, American consumers may opt-out from "trigger lists" by calling 1-888-5-OPTOUT (1-888-567-8688). == Nuclear non-proliferation == The Zangger Committee and the Nuclear Suppliers Group maintain lists of items that may contribute to nuclear proliferation; The nuclear non-proliferation treaty forbids its members to export such items to non-treaty members. these items are said to trigger the countries' responsibilities under the NPT, hence the name.