Research

Researchers to highlight new visual technologies

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Penn State researchers are hosting an event Nov. 10 to showcase innovative technologies developed as part of a project funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

The program is part of a one-year NSF review of Visual Cortex on Silicon, an NSF Expeditions in Computing program.

The public is welcome to attend the opening session at 7:45 a.m. in 113 Information Sciences and Technology (IST) Building. Remarks will be given by Padma Raghavan, Penn State's associate vice president for research; Amr Elnashai, Harold and Inge Marcus Dean of Engineering; and Mary Beth Rosson, dean of the College of IST.

In addition, a public demo session will be held from 11:15 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. at the West Atrium of the IST Building.

Vijay Narayanan, professor of computer science and engineering and principal investigator of the project, said, "We expect to preview our latest developments in smart camera technology that, ultimately, would assist visually impaired persons in day-to-day tasks such as grocery shopping and safely navigating a busy street crossing. Additionally, we will demonstrate several automatic machine vision tasks such as facial expression recognition and intelligent driver assistance."

The event will include a poster session showcasing the latest developments from teams of eminent researchers and students from neuroscience, computer vision, computer architecture and nanotechnology.

The "Visual Cortex on Silicon" project explores holistic design of machine vision systems that have the potential to approach and eventually exceed the capabilities of human vision systems. The aim of the research is to enable the next generation of machine vision systems to understand visual content. These machines will have the capacity to assist visually impaired people, enhance driver attention and augment reality to provide enhanced experiences and enhanced safety for critical public infrastructure.

Penn State is leading the five-year, $10 million research effort. Other institutions include the University of Southern California; Stanford University; York College of Pennsylvania; the University of California, San Diego; the University of California, Los Angeles; the University of Pittsburgh; and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Last Updated October 29, 2014

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