Abstract: Most works on image retrieval from text queries have addressed the problem of retrieving semantically relevant images. However, the ability to assess the aesthetic quality of an image is an increasingly important differentiating factor for search engines. In this work, given a semantic query, we are interested in retrieving images which are semantically relevant and score highly in terms of aesthetics/visual quality. We use large-margin classifiers and rankers to learn statistical models capable of ordering images based on the aesthetic and semantic information. In particular, we compare two families of approaches: while the first one attempts to learn a single ranker which takes into account both semantic and aesthetic information, the second one learns separate semantic and aesthetic models. We carry out a quantitative and qualitative evaluation on a recently-published large-scale dataset and we show that the second family of techniques significantly outperforms the first one.

Abstract: Premise of the study: Because of their limited length, xylem conduits need to connect to each other to maintain water transport from roots to leaves. Conduit spatial distribution in a cross section plays an important role in aiding this connectivity. While indices of conduit spatial distribution already exist, they are not well defined statistically. * Methods: We used point pattern analysis to derive new spatial indices. One hundred and five cross-sectional images from different species were transformed into binary images. The resulting point patterns, based on the locations of the conduit centers-of-area, were analyzed to determine whether they departed from randomness. Conduit distribution was then modeled using a spatially explicit stochastic model. * Key results: The presence of conduit randomness, uniformity, or aggregation depended on the spatial scale of the analysis. The large majority of the images showed patterns significantly different from randomness at least at one spatial scale. A strong phylogenetic signal was detected in the spatial variables. * Conclusions: Conduit spatial arrangement has been largely conserved during evolution, especially at small spatial scales. Species in which conduits were aggregated in clusters had a lower conduit density compared to those with uniform distribution. Statistically sound spatial indices must be employed as an aid in the characterization of distributional patterns across species and in models of xylem water transport. Point pattern analysis is a very useful tool in identifying spatial patterns.

Abstract: La comunicación y expresión oral es una competencia de especial relevancia en el EEES. No obstante, en muchas enseñanzas superiores la puesta en práctica de esta competencia ha sido relegada principalmente a la presentación de proyectos fin de carrera. Dentro de un proyecto de innovación docente, se ha desarrollado una herramienta informática para la extracción de información objetiva para el análisis de la expresión oral y gestual de los alumnos. El objetivo es dar un “feedback” a los estudiantes que les permita mejorar la calidad de sus presentaciones. El prototipo inicial que se presenta en este trabajo permite extraer de forma automática información audiovisual y analizarla mediante técnicas de aprendizaje. El sistema ha sido aplicado a 15 proyectos fin de carrera y 15 exposiciones dentro de una asignatura de cuarto curso. Los resultados obtenidos muestran la viabilidad del sistema para sugerir factores que ayuden tanto en el éxito de la comunicación así como en los criterios de evaluación.

Abstract: This paper introduces a method to obtain a detailed 3D reconstruction of facial skin from a single RGB image.
To this end, we propose the exclusive use of an input image without requiring any information about the observed material nor training data to model the wrinkle properties. They are detected and characterized directly from the image via a simple and effective parametric model, determining several features such as location, orientation, width, and height. With these ingredients, we propose to minimize a photometric error to retrieve the final detailed 3D map, which is initialized by current techniques based on deep learning. In contrast with other approaches, we only require estimating a depth parameter, making our approach fast and intuitive. Extensive experimental evaluation is presented in a wide variety of synthetic and real images, including different skin properties and facial
expressions. In all cases, our method outperforms the current approaches regarding 3D reconstruction accuracy, providing striking results for both large and fine wrinkles.

Abstract: We present the design and results of recent competitions in Automated Deep Learning (AutoDL). In the AutoDL challenge series 2019, we organized 5 machine learning challenges: AutoCV, AutoCV2, AutoNLP, AutoSpeech and AutoDL. The first 4 challenges concern each a specific application domain, such as computer vision, natural language processing and speech recognition. At the time of March 2020, the last challenge AutoDL is still on-going and we only present its design. Some highlights of this work include: (1) a benchmark suite of baseline AutoML solutions, with emphasis on domains for which Deep Learning methods have had prior success (image, video, text, speech, etc); (2) a novel any-time learning framework, which opens doors for further theoretical consideration; (3) a repository of around 100 datasets (from all above domains) over half of which are released as public datasets to enable research on meta-learning; (4) analyses revealing that winning solutions generalize to new unseen datasets, validating progress towards universal AutoML solution; (5) open-sourcing of the challenge platform, the starting kit, the dataset formatting toolkit, and all winning solutions (All information available at {autodl.chalearn.org}).

Abstract: Dagstuhl Workshop

Abstract: In this paper we present a technique to interpret hand line drawings as objects in a three-dimensional space. The object domain considered is based on planar surfaces with straight edges, concretely, on ansextension of Origami world to hidden lines. The line drawing represents the object under orthographic projection and it is sensed using a scanner. Our method is structured in two modules: feature extraction and feature interpretation. In the first one, image processing techniques are applied under certain tolerance margins to detect lines and junctions on the hand line drawing. Feature interpretation module is founded on line labelling techniques using a labelled junction dictionary. A labelling algorithm is here proposed. It uses relaxation techniques to reduce the number of incompatible labels with the junction dictionary so that the convergence of solutions can be accelerated. We formulate some labelling hypotheses tending to eliminate elements in two sets of labelled interpretations. That is, those which are compatible with the dictionary but do not correspond to three-dimensional objects and those which represent objects not very probable to be specified by means of a line drawing. New entities arise on the line drawing as a result of the extension of Origami world. These are defined to enunciate the assumptions of our method as well as to clarify the algorithms proposed. This technique is framed in a project aimed to implement a system to create 3D objects to improve man-machine interaction in CAD systems.