On Friday, October 17 I presented an invited talk at the Florida Institute of Technology as part of their seminar series. I spoke about “Image Retrieval Using Visual Attention”. You can watch the talk online (WMV format). There’s also a direct link to my lecture.

Watch out for the surprise ending…

My Ph.D. dissertation abstract was recently included in the ACM SIGMM eNewsletter. The “FAU Salient” image database is also in the issue.

Next week I start my new job with Harris Corp. in Melbourne, FL. Harris is a communications company with about 16000 employees worldwide (approximately half are at the headquarters in Melbourne). Melbourne is near Orlando and Kennedy Space Center on Florida’s Atlantic coast. There are about 530000 people in the vicinity of Melbourne.

On Friday I formally received my Ph.D. from Florida Atlantic University. The day began with a reception hosted by the College of Engineering and Computer Science, which was followed by the actual commencement ceremony. I’ve posted a picture from just after the ceremony on the photos page. A video is also available:

The final version of my dissertation, “Image Retrieval Using Visual Attention” is now available (PDF, 6MB).

On March 14th I successfully defended my Ph.D. dissertation, “Image Retrieval Using Visual Attention”! I posted a picture from after the defense on the photos page.

Have you ever taken digital photos? Have you ever tried to search for images on the Internet? Image Retrieval is an exciting and rapidly growing field. We are currently developing the next-generation of image retrieval software, but your help is needed.

The Perceptually-Relevant Image Search Machine (PRISM) is a new way to retrieve images. PRISM learns as you (and others) use the system, improving itself over time. The PRISM Game is a research experiment which transforms the PRISM interface into a fun game where players compete for the highest score by organizing related images.

You are invited to play this new game! The results of your play will allow us to thoroughly evaluate and improve the system. The PRISM Game will take approximately 15 minutes to complete. To play, go to:

http://mlab.fau.edu/prism/site/?c=showGame

Once the game is complete your score will be displayed and you will be asked to complete a very important survey on your experiences. Completing the survey is required to have your results included in the research.

PRISM is part of a dissertation underway at Florida Atlantic University. You are welcome to pass the message along and invite others to play the PRISM Game.

Thank you for supporting this research!

For second consecutive year (see 2006) I’m listing a few of my favorite new music albums. Here are my selections for 2007’s releases:

• Blackfield - “Blackfield II“: Not only one of my favorite albums of 2007, Blackfield II is perhaps one of the best CDs I have heard (quite a claim). Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree) and Aviv Geffen return with a consistent disc. The music is fairly straightforward, highlighting piano, guitar, string arrangements, and a few synths. My favorite track is “My Gift of Silence”. The band also released “Blackfield - NYC“, a DVD of a live show in New York which is definitely worth checking out. The live performance’s variations on the songs make them more powerful than the studio versions.
• Porcupine Tree - “Fear of a Blank Planet“: This is the second release from a Steve Wilson on this list. The album is a bit less experimental than previous Porcupine Tree releases, but it is still a solid listen. The epic song “Anesthetize” (over 17 minutes) highlights the disc.
• Dream Theater - “Systematic Chaos“: I was let down by Dream Theater’s previous outings, “Train of Thought” and “Octavarium“, but “Systematic Chaos” is a great release. The album is bookended by two parts of “In the Presence of Enemies”, an interesting epic in Dream Theater’s now familiar style.
• Glass Hammer - “Culture of Ascent“: I was very pleasantly surprised by this album. All of Glass Hammer’s previous releases have been solid and I really enjoyed “The Inconsolable Secret“, but “Culture of Ascent” introduces new elements to the group’s sound. The album is heavier than previous releases with more prominent guitars. “South Side of the Sky” is an excellent cover of the classic Yes song. “Ember without Name” kept my interest for its entire duration (over 16 minutes) with a sounds that were unexpected but contribute to the song.
• Jimmy Eat World - “Chase This Light“: This was another surprising album in a genre I usually don’t listen to. The songs are generally consistent and upbeat. “Gotta Be Somebody’s Blues” is a fantastic song that is quite different from the others on the disc.
• Jordan Rudess - “The Road Home“: Rudess is the keyboardist for Dream Theater. This solo album consists of classic prog rock songs redone in Rudess’ style. Prominent prog musicians feature in most of the tracks. The highlights are Sound Chaser and Tarkus.
• Riverside - “Rapid Eye Movement“: Riverside is a prog rock band from Poland. “Rapid Eye Movement” is their third album and is a continuation of the themes introduced in the previous releases. The sound is heavier than in previous releases. 02 Panic Room stands out from the other tracks.

Honorable mentions go to Hayehudim - “Forte” and Symphony X - “Paradise Lost“.

I’m please to announce the availability of the FAU Salient image database. It consist of 1789 images organized into 14 categories. Each image is designed to have one or more salient objects in it. The photos were taken in a variety of locations (both indoors and outdoors) around the Boca Raton campus of Florida Atlantic University. Examples of salient object categories include stop signs, warning signs, tennis balls, basketballs.

FAU Salient image database (303MB .zip)
FAU Salient image database (303MB .tar.gz)

If you use this database in your work please cite the following article:

Marques, O.; Mayron, L.M.; Borba, G.B. & Gamba, H.R., “An attention-driven model for grouping similar images with image retrieval applications“, EURASIP Journal on Advances in Signal Processing, Special Issue on Image Perception, 2007, Article ID 43450, 17 pages.

@ARTICLE{marques:eurasip2007,
author = {Marques, Oge and Mayron, Liam M. and Borba, Gustavo B. and Gamba, Humberto R.},
title = {An Attention-Driven Model for Grouping Similar Images with Image Retrieval Applications},
journal = {EURASIP Journal on Advances in Signal Processing},
year = {2007},
volume = {2007},
pages = {Article ID 43450, 17 pages},
note = {doi:10.1155/2007/43450}
}


I had a great time in Israel. I got to tour a lot of the country, particularly the north, although I did make two trips to Jerusalem. Here are some photos:

• Visiting the Western Wall (July 26 2007)
• At the Israel Museum (July 16 2007)
• In the ancient port of Akko (July 7 2007)