EAGER: Automated Watermark and Moldmate Identification

鉴定古代（1750年以前）纸上的水印是确定其生产日期和来源的重要法医。对于纸上的艺术品，水印是确定日期和认证的关键因素。即使对于纸张分析专家来说，对水印进行分类和区分也是一项困难且耗时的任务。最近的研究表明，基于计算机的决策树可以显着减少水印识别任务所花费的时间，并在同一模具上制作的纸张的伴随识别，而在同一时间增加的信心的结果。数字图像处理在这项任务中的应用是计算艺术史新领域的一个例子，在过去十年中已经爆炸。通过这个项目，使用数字图像处理的自动化可以扩大水印和模具识别的任务，以处理伦勃朗和他的学生的印刷品和图纸中的数百个单独水印的宇宙，并允许将这种识别从大型博物馆的这些艺术品扩展到小型博物馆和私人收藏的数千个。预计这将为这一宝贵的法医学扩展到其他1750年前艺术家在纸上艺术品中使用的数千个水印提供动力。从这个项目中产生的计算艺术史的进步将为普通大众提供一条道路，这是越来越舒适的计算机在日常生活中的使用扩展，以一种新的和有吸引力的方式与艺术接触。艺术史是文化遗产中的一个子领域，它在加入数字科学和人文科学的出现方面拖延得最久。这一项目的成功将是人文学科和科学之间进一步开展跨学科活动的主要推动力，从而减少两种文化的分离，这是至关重要的，因为数字化的日常生活的各个方面获得主导地位，以灼热的步伐。这个项目继续在计算艺术史的新领域的开拓性努力，是扩大接受数字图像处理作为一个重要的它是艺术史研究的重要工具，因为它极大地扩展了艺术史学家的知识范围。随着第一批工具在这个新兴领域的发展，越来越多的科学家和工程师被吸引到这些问题的挑战中，艺术史学家的具体需求无疑将揭示需要数字图像处理基础科学进步的新任务。计算和视觉人文之间的这种联系也为对抗工程科学和人文科学之间各级教育中不断扩大的鸿沟提供了强有力的联系。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来支持。

Identification of watermarks in antique (pre-1750) laid paper is a vital forensic in determining the date and origin of its production. For artworks on paper, watermarks are a key element in dating and authentication. Classifying and distinguishing watermarks is a difficult, time-consuming task even for paper analysis experts. Recent research has shown that a computer-based decision tree can reduce dramatically the time expended in the task of watermark identification and the concomitant identification of sheets of paper made on the same mold, while at the same time increasing the confidence in the result. The application of digital image processing to this task is one example of the new field of computational art history, which has exploded over the past decade. Through this project, automation using digital image processing can scale up the task of watermark and moldmate identification to handle the universe of the hundreds of individual watermarks in the papers of prints and drawings of Rembrandt and his pupils and allow expansion of this identification beyond these artworks in major museums to the thousands in smaller museums and private collections. This is expected to energize the expansion of this valuable forensic to the thousands of watermarks in laid paper used in artworks on paper by other pre-1750 artists. Advances in computational art history stemming from this project will offer a path for the general population, which is growing quite comfortable with the expansion of computer usage in everyday life, to engage with art in a new and appealing way. Art history is one subfield within cultural heritage that has delayed the longest in joining the emergence of the digital science and humanities. The success of this project will be a major enabler for further trans-disciplinary activities between the humanities and the sciences, thereby decreasing the separation of their two cultures, which is vital as the digitization of all aspects of daily life gains dominance at a scorching pace.This project continues the pioneering efforts in the new field of computational art history that is broadening acceptance of digital image processing as a vital tool in art history research as it tremendously expands the intellectual reach of art historians. As the first tools are developed in this nascent field and more scientists and engineers are drawn to the challenges of these problems, the specific needs of art historians will undoubtedly reveal new tasks requiring advances in the underlying science of digital image processing. This connection between computation and the visual humanities also offers a powerful link to combat the widening gulf in education at all levels between engineering science and the humanities.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.