AI-driven Effective Query Formulation for Better Systematic Reviews. This project aims to develop novel AI-based search engine methods to make the creation of systematic reviews cheaper, faster and unbiased. Systematic reviews are the cornerstone for evidence-based decisions in clinical practice and government policy making. Given the pace new research is published at, it is unsustainable to manually conduct systematic reviews in the traditional manner, taking on average 2 years and $350K and be ....AI-driven Effective Query Formulation for Better Systematic Reviews. This project aims to develop novel AI-based search engine methods to make the creation of systematic reviews cheaper, faster and unbiased. Systematic reviews are the cornerstone for evidence-based decisions in clinical practice and government policy making. Given the pace new research is published at, it is unsustainable to manually conduct systematic reviews in the traditional manner, taking on average 2 years and $350K and becoming already outdated when published. The outcomes of this project will lead to systematic reviews of higher quality, while reducing their financial and temporal costs, providing significant benefits to organisations performing reviews and their funders, and to people impacted by decisions made from the reviews.Read moreRead less
A new theory of Aboriginal art. The paradigms developed by scholars have a huge impact on the value of art. After the Australian artworld repositioned Aboriginal art from the frame of 'primitive art' to that of contemporary art, the price of and market for Aboriginal art increased enormously. However, Aboriginal art failed to penetrate the international contemporary artworld because the paradigms of contemporary art within which it was framed were outmoded. Through examining the production of Ab ....A new theory of Aboriginal art. The paradigms developed by scholars have a huge impact on the value of art. After the Australian artworld repositioned Aboriginal art from the frame of 'primitive art' to that of contemporary art, the price of and market for Aboriginal art increased enormously. However, Aboriginal art failed to penetrate the international contemporary artworld because the paradigms of contemporary art within which it was framed were outmoded. Through examining the production of Aboriginal art from the perspectives of its producers and recent globalised contemporary art practices, this project aims to develop a new theory of Aboriginal art that is more aligned with the thinking of current curators who set the agenda at the upper end of the market.Read moreRead less
Visual Research in Social Aesthetics. Despite a few pioneering efforts beginning in the 1930s, visual anthropology (like anthropology itself) has largely confined its interest in aesthetics to studies of indigenous art. It has focused instead on technology, religion, economics, social structure, politics and ideology as the dominant forces in society. I believe this has limited the potential of visual anthropology, which is in fact ideally suited to studying the broader role of aesthetics in h ....Visual Research in Social Aesthetics. Despite a few pioneering efforts beginning in the 1930s, visual anthropology (like anthropology itself) has largely confined its interest in aesthetics to studies of indigenous art. It has focused instead on technology, religion, economics, social structure, politics and ideology as the dominant forces in society. I believe this has limited the potential of visual anthropology, which is in fact ideally suited to studying the broader role of aesthetics in human societies. The aim of this research is to examine how a reconsideration of the aesthetics of everyday life might form the basis for a revitalised visual anthropology.
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Intelligent Image Retrieval from Distorted and Partial Queries for Rapid Mobile Identification of Pests Threatening Food and the Environment. Pests and diseases are major threats to the Australian food industry and environmental biosecurity. A rapid and mobile pest information retrieval system is critical to prevent a pest becoming established and devastating the region. However, automated insect image retrieval remains an unsolved challenge in the research community. This project addresses the ....Intelligent Image Retrieval from Distorted and Partial Queries for Rapid Mobile Identification of Pests Threatening Food and the Environment. Pests and diseases are major threats to the Australian food industry and environmental biosecurity. A rapid and mobile pest information retrieval system is critical to prevent a pest becoming established and devastating the region. However, automated insect image retrieval remains an unsolved challenge in the research community. This project addresses the fundamental problem of distorted and partial image query in cluttered background in order to achieve pest identification at a much earlier on-site stage. The success of this research will not only make a technical breakthrough towards retrieving objects with movable body parts, but also revolutionise the current pest detection and monitoring process.Read moreRead less
Utilitarian Filmmaking in Australia 1945 - 1980. The project plans to discover, document, analyse and compile a lasting archive of utilitarian filmmaking in Australia. 'Utilitarian' describes client-sponsored, instructional and governmental filmmaking existing outside the conventional theatrical contexts by which cinema is usually defined. Focused on the post-World War Two decades before the proliferation of video in the late 1970s, the project aims to highlight previously-unstudied aspects of t ....Utilitarian Filmmaking in Australia 1945 - 1980. The project plans to discover, document, analyse and compile a lasting archive of utilitarian filmmaking in Australia. 'Utilitarian' describes client-sponsored, instructional and governmental filmmaking existing outside the conventional theatrical contexts by which cinema is usually defined. Focused on the post-World War Two decades before the proliferation of video in the late 1970s, the project aims to highlight previously-unstudied aspects of the media industries. This is designed to deliver new knowledge of the skills and subject matter that sustained filmmaking, communication and education in Australia during a time when conventional scholarship assumes there was almost no significant filmmaking.Read moreRead less
Pattern Recognition and Scene Analysis via Machine Learning. We plan to use kernel methods, a novel machine learning technique, for computer vision problems, such as scene analysis and real time object recognition. Such capabilities are relevant for the design of intelligent and adaptive systems, suitable for complex real world environments. Expected outcomes are the design of efficient statistical tools which take the special nature of visual data into account (structure, decomposition, prior ....Pattern Recognition and Scene Analysis via Machine Learning. We plan to use kernel methods, a novel machine learning technique, for computer vision problems, such as scene analysis and real time object recognition. Such capabilities are relevant for the design of intelligent and adaptive systems, suitable for complex real world environments. Expected outcomes are the design of efficient statistical tools which take the special nature of visual data into account (structure, decomposition, prior knowledge of physical environments, etc.) and combine the advantages of feature based high-level vision methods with low-level machine learning techniques.
This proposal is part of a joint IST project with partners from the European Union.Read moreRead less
Computer Vision Optimization Problems Using Machine Learning. Computer Vision concerns itself with understanding the world through the analysis of images obtained by a video or still camera. An important application is tracking of people in video and modelling their movements. This has evident applications in security, sport and entertainment. By enabling the computer to capture the motion of a subject in a video, we may detect suspicious activity in security, analyze the motion (golf-swing, ....Computer Vision Optimization Problems Using Machine Learning. Computer Vision concerns itself with understanding the world through the analysis of images obtained by a video or still camera. An important application is tracking of people in video and modelling their movements. This has evident applications in security, sport and entertainment. By enabling the computer to capture the motion of a subject in a video, we may detect suspicious activity in security, analyze the motion (golf-swing, diving style) of a sports-person, or capture the motion of an actor for animation or game applications. Development of a reliable technology requires new optimization techniques, which will place Australia at the forefront of the application of such research, commercially and for the public benefit.Read moreRead less
The reformulation of landscape as a user-generated interactive aesthetic. This project seeks to provide Australia with an opportunity to advance its understanding of landscape and climate change by building the world's first networked landscape visualisation system.
Atmoscape: the aesthetic reformulation of the atmosphere using intelligent imaging systems. The proposed research provides Australia with an opportunity to advance its understanding of atmosphere and climate by building the world's first remote sensing visualisation system networked across three continents.
Art and Human Rights in the Asia-Pacific: The Limits of Tolerance in the Twenty-First Century. The question of human rights is emerging as perhaps the most critical issue of the twenty-first century. This project aims to develop a cross-disciplinary methodology and a set of conceptual frameworks for analysing the interactions between contemporary art and global discourses on human rights in the Asia-Pacific. In the process we address the debate on universality versus cultural specificity in rel ....Art and Human Rights in the Asia-Pacific: The Limits of Tolerance in the Twenty-First Century. The question of human rights is emerging as perhaps the most critical issue of the twenty-first century. This project aims to develop a cross-disciplinary methodology and a set of conceptual frameworks for analysing the interactions between contemporary art and global discourses on human rights in the Asia-Pacific. In the process we address the debate on universality versus cultural specificity in relation to human rights issues, and we seek to place current Australian responses to human rights in the context of the dynamically changing region in which we live.Read moreRead less