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  • PhD Defense - James Tanner

    Thu, Dec 07, 2017 @ 02:00 PM - 04:00 PM

    Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science

    University Calendar


    PhD Candidate: James Tanner

    Chair: Laurent Itti
    Irving Biederman
    Nora Ayanian


    Understanding the Relationship Between Goals and Attention

    It is well-known that tasks have a large influence on human gaze, and there exist many saliency models that incorporate some form of top-down features. However, these are all learned features, and little research has gone into quantifying the effects of task on eye movement behavior in a way that can predict those effects a priori. First, we demonstrate a new learning rule that suggests how top-down connections might operate in the brain, from a functional perspective. Then, we propose a quantitative theory for measuring the relevance of information with respect to tasks. Finally, we perform an experiment to further validate this theory and utilize it to improve a saliency model.

    Location: Grace Ford Salvatori Hall Of Letters, Arts & Sciences (GFS) - 109

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Lizsl De Leon

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