“15 SECONDS OF FAME”Use of Computer Vision in a Modern Art Installation

Franc Solina

Computer Vision LaboratoryFaculty of Computer and Information ScienceUniversity of Ljubljana, Slovenia

Motivation for this work

collaboration with the Academy of Fine Arts in Ljubljana since 1995 new media, computer-based art installations (internet, virtual galleries, video, mobile robots, remote operation) work of scientist and conceptual artist Ken Goldberg, UC Berkeley (TELEGARDEN)

COMPUTER VISION + ART INSTALLATION = ?

Video cameras in art installations

wooden mirror (Daniel Rozin) touch me (Alba d’Urbano) liquid views (Monika Fleischman) … TECHNICAL LIMITATIONS: precise positioning of the subject

“In the future everybody will be famous for 15 minutes.”

Andy Warhol

Marilyn Monroe (Andy Warhol, 1964)

Image mediated culture

people like to look at themselves (mirrors, photos, paintings, video) vanity, self-discovery, self-assertion a face in mass culture -> FAME media attention - a mirror of the indivudual’s self-perception

WARHOL: celebrity photo -> portrait warhol-like portrait -> instant celebrity

Faces in computer vision

images of people find people, identify them, determine their activity video surveillance face recognition <- FACE DETECTION

15 seconds of fame

Hardware

Digital camera LCD monitor

computer

USB

Softwareinput photo

transformation color filters

pop-art portrait

illumination compensation learning

15 second loop

find faces +randomly select one

Roadmap

color-based face detection illumination compensation pop-art color transformations display and ordering of portraits over

the Internet conclusions

Our original face detection

Simplified face detection 1

Simplified face detection 2

ADVANTAGES: faster, detected also faces from profile

DISADVANTAGES: faces of dark complexion not detected, other body parts can be detected

Eliminating the influence of non-standard illumination

different from daylight illumination color constancy/compensation

methods

eestimate the present illumination reconstruct the image under standard

illumination run face detection algorithm

Color compensation methods

close to standard illumination low time complexity Grey World

Average surface color in the image is achromatic Illumination estimation: average color Mean gray value

Modified Grey World Illumination estimation: each color is counted only

once

White-Patch Retinex On each image white surface is present Illumination estimation: maximal color

Color compensation methods

NO GW

MGW RET

NO – original

GW – Gray World

MGW – Modified GW

RET – White-Patch Retinex

Color constancy methods

far from standard illumination Color by Correlation

(1) LEARNING: Take images of the Macbeth color checker under present illum. and under standard illum.

Use correlation to compute the transform. Parameters

(2) APPLY TRANSFORMATION

Color comp. + correll. method

NO GW MGW

RET COR

NO – original

GW – Gray World

MGW – Modified GW

RET – White-Patch Retinex

COR – Color by Correlation

Face detection results #1

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standard incandescent flashlight neon

Without preprocessing GW MGW RET

Face detection after GW

GW

Face detection results #2

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40

60

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white yellow green blue red

Without preprocessing Color by Correlation

Face detection after COR

COR

Warhol’s celebrity portraits

segment the face from the background delineate the contours highlight some facial features (mouth, eyes,

hair) overlay with color screens

above transformations -> shape grammar BUT: requires automatic segmentation into

constituent face parts

pop-art color filters

+ color-balance

+ random coloring

+ posterize+ hue-saturation

+ color-balance+ posterize+ hue-saturation

= 17 universal filters

Display of portraits

4 smaller portraits same filter

different configurations 1 big portrait

each with a different filter

horizontal flip

each time a different person no detection -> last detected face with a

different pop-art filter 15 second counter

E-mail ordering of portraits

Ordering system

Beside the portrait is displayed an unique ID number

Sending e-mail to15sec@lrv.fri.uni-lj.si

Sending the requested picture

Creating of the web page

The gallery of “famous” people

from the project web page: black.fri.uni-lj.si/15sec

Audience interactions

people quickly realize that portraits of people present at the moment are displayed

if several people are present, becoming famous is elusive

subtle staging to get one’s most favourable image on the screen

subdued competition for “media” attention narcissistic and voyeristic use of the

“electronic mirror”

Exhibitions in art galleries

Forum Stadtpark, Graz, Austria, 19-26 Sep. 2003

Finzgar Gallery, Ljubljana, 14-26 Nov. 2002 8th International Festival of Computer Arts,

Maribor, 28 May-1 June 2002

Conclusions well accepted by the audience no visible interface a group of people can interact at once exact positioning of observers not necessary

• at least one face should be found in the input image• -> high percentage of true positive face detections• -> percentage of true negative face detections can be low• a huge database for testing face detection is generated

• The goal was not to mimic Andy Warhol’s portraits per se but to play upon the celebrification process and the discourse taking place in front of the installation.

From the first public showing

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