http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/5460 2013-05-18T05:30:05Z http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/45554 The Measurement of Visual Motion Hildreth, Ellen C.; Ullman, Shimon The analysis of visual motion divides naturally into two stages: the first is the measurement of motion, for example, the assignment of direction and magnitude of velocity to elements in the image, on the basis of the changing intensity pattern; the second is the use of motion measurements, for example, to separate the scene into distinct objects, and infer their three-dimensional structure. In this paper, we present a computational study of the measurement of motion. Similar to other visual processes, the motion of elements is not determined uniquely by information in the changing image; additional constraint is required to compute a unique velocity field. Given this global ambiguity of motion, local measurements from the changing image, such as those provided by directionally-selective simple cells in primate visual cortex, cannot possibly specify a unique local velocity vector, and in fact, specify only one component of velocity. Computation of the full two-dimensional velocity field requires the integration of local motion measurements, either over an area, or along contours in the image. We will examine possible algorithms for computing motion, based on a range of additional constraints. Finally, we will present implications for the biological computation of motion. 1982-12-01T05:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/7341 Complexity of Human Language Comprehension Ristad, Eric Sven The goal of this article is to reveal the computational structure of modern principle-and-parameter (Chomskian) linguistic theories: what computational problems do these informal theories pose, and what is the underlying structure of those computations? To do this, I analyze the computational complexity of human language comprehension: what linguistic representation is assigned to a given sound? This problem is factored into smaller, interrelated (but independently statable) problems. For example, in order to understand a given sound, the listener must assign a phonetic form to the sound; determine the morphemes that compose the words in the sound; and calculate the linguistic antecedent of every pronoun in the utterance. I prove that these and other subproblems are all NP-hard, and that language comprehension is itself PSPACE-hard. 1988-12-01T05:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/7340 The Perception of Subjective Surfaces Brady, Michael; Grimson, W. Eric L. It is proposed that subjective contours are an artifact of the perception of natural three-dimensional surfaces. A recent theory of surface interpolation implies that "subjective surfaces" are constructed in the visual system by interpolation between three-dimensional values arising from interpretation of a variety of surface cues. We show that subjective surfaces can take any form, including singly and doubly curved surfaces, as well as the commonly discussed fronto-parallel planes. In addition, it is necessary in the context of computational vision to make explicit the discontinuities, both in depth and in surface orientation, in the surfaces constructed by interpolation. It is proposed that subjective surfaces and subjective contours are demonstrated. The role played by figure completion and enhanced brightness contrast in the determination of subjective surfaces is discussed. All considerations of surface perception apply equally to subjective surfaces. 1981-11-01T05:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/7339 Electrical Design: A Problem for Artificial Intelligence Research Sussman, Gerald Jay This report outlines the problem of intelligent failure recovery in a problem-solver for electrical design. We want our problem solver to learn as much as it can from its mistakes. Thus we cast the engineering design process on terms of Problem Solving by Debugging Almost-Right Plans, a paradigm for automatic problem solving based on the belief that creation and removal of "bugs" is an unavoidable part of the process of solving a complex problem. The process of localization and removal of bugs called for by the PSBDARP theory requires an approach to engineering analysis in which every result has a justification which describes the exact set of assumptions it depends upon. We have developed a program based on Analysis by Propagation of Constraints which can explain the basis of its deductions. In addition to being useful to a PSBDARP designer, these justifications are used in Dependency-Directed Backtracking to limit the combinatorial search in the analysis routines. Although the research we will describe is explicitly about electrical circuits, we believe that similar principles and methods are employed by other kinds of engineers, including computer programmers. 1977-06-01T04:00:00Z