Matthias,
When a programmer (or cameraman) "macroscopic(ally) positions two faces" -
"adjusting them manually" so that they are capable of precise point-to-point
matching, that proceeds from an initial act of visual object recognition -
and indeed imagination, as I have defined it.
He will have taken two originally disparate faces moving through many
different not-easily-comparable positions, and recognized their
compatibility - by, I would argue, a process of fluid transformation.
The programmer accordingly won't put any old two faces together - he won't
put one person with a harelip and/or one eye together with a regular face,
He won't put a woman with hair over her eyes, together with one whose eyes
are unobscured - or one with heavy make-up with one who is clear - or, just
possibly, one with cosmetic surgery together with a natural face. The human
brain is capable of recognizing the similarities and differences between all
such faces - the program isn't.
(I think you're being a bit difficult here - I don't think many others -
incl. say. Ben - would try to ascribe the powers to these particular
programs that you are doing).
Matthias:
I think it does involve being confronted with two different faces or
objects randomly chosen/positioned and finding/recognizing the
similarities
between them.
If you have watched the video carefully then you have heard that they have
spoken from automated algorithms which do the matching.
On an initial macroscopic scale there is some human hint necessary but on
a
microscopic scale it is done by software alone and after the initial
matching, the complete morphing is done even on macroscopic scales.
Computer generated morphing between complete different objects as it is
the
case in your picture is no problem for computers after an initial matching
of some points of the first and the last picture is made by humans.
It is a common special effect in many science fiction movies.
In the morphing video I have given, there were no manual initial matching
of
points necessary. Only the macroscopic position of two faces had to be
adjusted manually.
- Matthias Heger
Mike Tintner wrote:
Matthias: I think here you can see that automated mapping between
different
faces is
possible and the computer can smoothly morph between them. I think, the
performance is much better than the imagination of humans can be.
http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=nice6NYb_WA
Matthias,
Perhaps we're having difficulties communicating in words about a highly
visual subject. The above involves morphing systematically from a single
face. It does not involve being confronted with two different faces or
objects randomly chosen/positioned and finding/recognizing the
similarities
between them . My God, if it did, computers would have no problems with
visual object (or facial) recognition.
Of course, morphing operations by computers are better, i.e. immensely
more
detailed and accurate, than anything the human mind can achieve - better
at, if you like, the mechanical *implementation* of imagination. (But bear
in mind that it was the imagination of the programmer that decided in the
above software, which face should be transformed into which face. The
software could not by itself choose or create a totally new face to add to
its repertoire without guidance).
What rational computers can't do is find similarities between disparate,
irregular objects - via fluid transformation - the essence of imagination.
I
repeat - computers can't do this -
http://www.bearskinrug.co.uk/_articles/2005/09/16/doodle/hero.jpg
and therein lies the central mechanism of analogy and metaphor.
Rather than simply objecting to this, the focus should be on *how* to
endow
computers with imagination.
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