What does it mean to "see"? The answer might help us train artificial systems to analyze the staggering volume of videos online.
“We’re trying to understand, from a fundamental principles point of view, what it means to see.” Computational vision scientist Richard Wildes, professor of electrical engineering and computer science at York University, studies computer systems as well as biological systems in formulating his answer.
With a biological system, the eyes collect visual information that is sent to the brain for processing. In an artificial system, a camera might record video that is sent to a computer for processing. But both inhabit the same physical spaces, and in many cases both have the same endgame.
“In either case, you’re trying to recognize faces, you’re trying to recognize actions, you’re trying to recognize the scene in which the actions are occurring. It makes sense that the processing in between is the same at a certain level of abstraction,” adds Wildes.
