10 October 2011

'Seeing the World Through Machine Eyes' - Café Science Extra, Wednesday, 12th October

An insight into how the world looks when viewed through the eyes of a machine will be given at the next Cafe Science Extra event to take place in Dundee.

Adria Perez, from the University of Dundee's School of Computing, will deliver his talk on computer vision at Dundee Science Centre on Wednesday, 12th October. Computer vision is a science that studies how computers extract information from an image or video to solve some task by analysing its content.

One example of this technology is, 'Trophy' is a tank defence system that relies on cameras and computers to detect, follow and shot down an incoming rocket, all in a fraction of a second and without any human intervention. Similar technology is used to drive cars without a human driver. Diabetes can be diagnosed by a computer using only an image of the patient's retina.

But with all this existing technology, how is it possible that computers are not able to count the number of chairs in a room or distinguish between a male and a female?

'These are the fascinating, apparently contradictory, aspects to computer vision that Adria will be exploring in his talk,' said Dr Jon Urch, Public Engagement Co-ordinator at the University of Dundee and event organiser,

'For all their power and abilities, computers are still incapable of making distinctions that us humans take for granted, and this talk will provide an extremely interesting insight into this world and the space where the human and machine intelligence differ or overlap.'

Café Science was launched in January 2008, and has attracted more than 2500 people since then.

The monthly events are informal discussions led by leading local researchers that allow members of the public the opportunity to learn more about the ground-breaking science happening at the Universities of Dundee and Abertay and Dundee Science Centre.

'Computer Vision - Seeing the World Through Machine Eyes' takes place from 6pm on Wednesday, 12th October at Dundee Science Centre, Greenmarket.

This is a free event and everyone is welcome. There is no need to book in advance but attendees are advised to arrive early to avoid disappointment.

More details of upcoming events can be found at www.cafesciencedundee.co.uk.

For media enquiries contact:
Grant Hill
Press Officer
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384768
E-MAIL: g.hill@dundee.ac.uk
MOBILE: 07854 953277