9287561
A Noninformative Prior for Neural Networks
While many implementations of Bayesian neural networks use large, complex hierarchical priors, in much of modern Bayesian statistics, noninformative (flat) priors are very common. This paper introduces a noninformative prior for feed-forward neural networks, describing several theoretical and practical advantages of this approach. In particular, a simpler prior allows for a simpler Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm. Details of MCMC implementation are included.
8746722
Parameter space exploration with Gaussian process trees
Computer experiments often require dense sweeps over input parameters to obtain a qualitative understanding of their response. Such sweeps can be prohibitively expensive, and are unnecessary in regions where the response is easy predicted; well-chosen designs could allow a mapping of the response with far fewer simulation runs. Thus, there is a need for computationally inexpensive surrogate models and an accompanying method for selecting small designs. We explore a general methodology for addressing this need that uses non-stationary Gaussian processes. Binary trees partition the input space to facilitate non-stationarity and a Bayesian interpretation provides an explicit measure of predictive uncertainty that can be used to guide sampling. Our methods are illustrated on several examples, including a motivating example involving computational fluid dynamics simulation of a NASA reentry vehicle.
1526029
Lossless Online Bayesian Bagging
Bagging frequently improves the predictive performance of a model. An online version has recently been introduced, which attempts to gain the benefits of an online algorithm while approximating regular bagging. However, regular online bagging is an approximation to its batch counterpart and so is not lossless with respect to the bagging operation. By operating under the Bayesian paradigm, we introduce an online Bayesian version of bagging which is exactly equivalent to the batch Bayesian version, and thus when combined with a lossless learning algorithm gives a completely lossless online bagging algorithm. We also note that the Bayesian formulation resolves a theoretical problem with bagging, produces less variability in its estimates, and can improve predictive performance for smaller data sets.
14075351
A Dynamic Bayesian Network Model for Autonomous 3D Reconstruction from a Single Indoor Image
When we look at a picture, our prior knowledge about the world allows us to resolve some of the ambiguities that are inherent to monocular vision, and thereby infer 3d information about the scene. We also recognize different objects, decide on their orientations, and identify how they are connected to their environment. Focusing on the problem of autonomous 3d reconstruction of indoor scenes, in this paper we present a dynamic Bayesian network model capable of resolving some of these ambiguities and recovering 3d information for many images. Our model assumes a "floorwall" geometry on the scene and is trained to recognize the floor-wall boundary in each column of the image. When the image is produced under perspective geometry, we show that this model can be used for 3d reconstruction from a single image. To our knowledge, this was the first monocular approach to automatically recover 3d reconstructions from single indoor images.
17638877
Feature-Based Synchronization of Video and Background Music
We synchronize background music with a video by changing the timing of music, an approach that minimizes the damage to music data. Starting from a MIDI file and video data, feature points are extracted from both sources, paired, and then synchronized using dynamic programming to time-scale the music. We also introduce the music graph, a directed graph that encapsulates connections between many short music sequences. By traversing a music graph, we can generate large amounts of new background music, in which we expect to find a sequence which matches the video features better than the original music.
13486652
A System for Event-Based Film Browsing
The recent past has seen a proliferation in the amount of digital video content being created and consumed. This is perhaps being driven by the increase in audiovisual quality, as well as the ease with which production, reproduction and consumption is now possible. The widespread use of digital video, as opposed its analogue counterpart, has opened up a plethora of previously impossible applications. This paper builds upon previous work that analysed digital video, namely movies, in order to facilitate presentation in an easily navigable manner. A film browsing interface, termed the MovieBrowser, is described, which allows users to easily locate specific portions of movies, as well as to obtain an understanding of the filming being perused. A number of experiments which assess the system's performance are also presented.
15518000
MediAssist: Using Content-Based Analysis and Context to Manage Personal Photo Collections
We present work which organises personal digital photo collections based on contextual information, such as time and location, combined with content-based analysis such as face detection and other feature detectors. The MediAssist demonstration system illustrates the results of our research into digital photo management, showing how a combination of automatically extracted context and content-based information, together with user annotation, facilitates efficient searching of personal photo collections.
8279890
Location tracking using quorums in mobile ad hoc networks
Abstract We explore applications of quorum systems to the problem of tracking locations of mobile users in mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs). The location tracking system uses biquorum systems, a generalization of traditional quorum systems. We performed extensive simulations of the location tracking system. The simulation results show that our strict biquorum implementation has better performance than the traditional strict quorum implementations. Moreover, our results show that randomized dynamic quorum implementations have better overall performance than strict (bi)quorum implementations.