Classifying Images Regardless of Depictive Style

今天的计算机可以识别照片中的物体。这种能力已经形成了许多熟悉的应用程序的基础，如Facebook标签、谷歌图像搜索、谷歌眼镜和英国边境的自动护照检查。然而，一个重要的限制仍然存在：计算机只能识别照片中的物体。至少，他们识别素描和绘画中物体的能力--无论是在任何类型的艺术品中--都是严格受限的。如果可以克服这一限制，那么更多的应用将成为可能。一种是在网络上搜索图像的新方法，在这种方法中，一幅图画(比如说)被从桌面拖到搜索栏中，油画和照片被返回给用户(此时用户得到的图像与被拖到搜索栏中的图像相同)。另一种是自动生成分类目录--这对科学家的脸很重要--面对成千上万的微型生物；物种目录现在是手工绘制的，所以自动化对他们来说将是一个巨大的进步。程序的输出还将允许普通照片转换为图标。这并不像听起来那么枯燥，但可以帮助视障人士获得摄影内容。如果照片和图画能够以这个项目设想的方式联系在一起，那么照片中的物体就可以变成由一组凸起的大头针渲染的图标。所以会有一个汽车的符号，比方说，就像孩子画的一样--事实上，这与盲人艺术家画的图标非常接近。这将允许视障人士阅读报纸或课本上的照片，并允许他们分享家人和朋友的假日照片。这项提议是为了建立支撑这些应用程序的基本技术，很可能还有其他应用程序。它的关键是消除当今计算机面临的障碍--允许它们识别物体，无论它们是如何描述的。

Computer's today can recognise objects in photographs. This ability has formed the basis of many familiar applications such as Facebook tagging, Google Image Search, Google Goggles, and automated passport checking at UK borders.Yet a significant restriction remains: computers can only recognise objects in photographs. At least, their ability to recognise objects indrawings and paintings - in artwork of any kind - is strictly limited. If this limitation can be overcome then many more applications willbecome possible.One is a new way to search the web for images in which a drawing (say) is dragged from the desktop into a search bar,and paintings and photographs are given back to the user (at the moment a user gets the same sort of image back as was dragged into thesearch bar).Another is the automated production of catalogues for taxonomy - which is important to scientists faces with tens of thousands ofmicroscopic creatures; species catalogues are hand-drawn right now so automation would be a significant advance for them.The output of the programme would also allow ordinary photographs to be converted to icons. This is not as dry as it sounds, but could help the visually impaired to gain access to photographic content. If photographs and drawings can be linked in the way this project has in mind, thenobjects in photographs could be turned into icons rendered by a set of raised pins. So there would be a symbol for car, say, not unlike that which might be drawn by a child - and in fact this is very close to the icons blind artists draw. This would allow the visually impaired to read photographs in newspapers, or in text books, and allow them to share the holiday snaps of family and friends.This proposal is about building the basic technology that underpins these applications, and quite possibly others too. Key to it is lifting the barrier that computers of today face - allowing them to recognise objects no matter how they are depicted.