Reply to: Help required

[realityhack]

Use this: mokk.me - Mobile web app mocks

Simples.

[TimberWolf]

It'll be a lot easier when you just have to suggest the closest potential match from a pool of maybe 100 people.

Yeah, something like that would be easy, especially as the faces are presented nicely.

I had a quick look at what the state of the art was as written in peer reviewed scholarly articles, rather than sales patter or in unrealistic settings, but the first best one I found was from 2002:

http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc...=rep1&type=pdf

The summary near the bottom gives a detection rate of about 90% using various methods and I'm not sure that recognising people (i.e their shapes) would be any easier than detecting faces, perhaps much harder (absent thermal cameras).

[doodab]

I think a lot of is hype and sales patter, though as you say things have likely improved over the years, and in specific or ideal settings result may be acceptable, e.g. for authentication rather than identification. Don't smile for your passport photos! I once wrote a basic image recognition system for furniture that worked well, but doing it for people and on a smartphone isn't something I'm likely to entertain, absent thermal images.

It'll be a lot easier when you just have to suggest the closest potential match from a pool of maybe 100 people.

[doodab]

You know I've never advocated people should use a one computer over another or given any hype. It's a reputation I've been awarded for uttering the M word one single time many moons ago.

Window's users the world over, it's like mass Stockholm syndrome or something.

I wasn't actually meaning you. Although you do post "Get a Mac" about 10 times a week. I was referring to the entire Apple marketing machine. Like I said, they are good consumer electronics, but they are a good design & marketing company, not an innovative R&D company.

People who think Steve Jobs is some sort of genius single handedly reinventing computing for the 21t century are on a par with people who think Susan Boyle is the be all and end all of female vocals, IMO. Even an otherwise intelligent guy like NF has been taken in and seems to believe that the mac is some sort of magic from the future when in actual fact if it wasn't for the success of the "20th century" PC there wouldn't be any macs because without the cheap commodity hardware that PCs bought about they would have gone the way of DEC, SGI and half a dozen other "workstation" based on less popular architectures.

The future of computing isn't going to be sitting in front of a screen using a touchpad, it's going to be wearable, ubiquitous, reconfigurable. Apple might sell it well when it comes along but they sure as **** aren't inventing it and they never have, whatever they manage to persuade the beeb to report. It's that level of bulltulip with little or no credit going to a lot of true pioneers that annoys me, not the people who have fallen for it.

But like I said, they are good comsumer machines. If someone random asks me what laptop they should buy I tell them to get a mac more often than not

[TimberWolf]

I would have said the same but it seems this has taken a massive leap forwards in just the last couple of years.

For an iPhone app, it doesn't have to be CIA-quality... just something that works OK and is fun.

I think a lot of is hype and sales patter, though as you say things have likely improved over the years, and in specific or ideal settings result may be acceptable, e.g. for authentication rather than identification. Don't smile for your passport photos! I once wrote a basic image recognition system for furniture that worked well, but doing it for people and on a smartphone isn't something I'm likely to entertain, absent thermal images.

[scooterscot]

I just find that the hype machine that goes with them grates a bit.

You know I've never advocated people should use a one computer over another or given any hype. It's a reputation I've been awarded for uttering the M word one single time many moons ago.

Window's users the world over, it's like mass Stockholm syndrome or something.

[d000hg]

Under extremely favourable and unrealistic conditions though. That is, a nice big face, square on, perhaps set against a plain background, good lighting etc, rather than a moving face in crowd seen from oblique angles, differing hairstyles, lighting, facial expressions and accoutrements. Just recognising people (without individual identification) would be hard enough under real conditions. Too hard probably.

I would have said the same but it seems this has taken a massive leap forwards in just the last couple of years.

For an iPhone app, it doesn't have to be CIA-quality... just something that works OK and is fun.

[Churchill]

Under extremely favourable and unrealistic conditions though. That is, a nice big face, square on, perhaps set against a plain background, good lighting etc, rather than a moving face in crowd seen from oblique angles, differing hairstyles, lighting, facial expressions and accoutrements. Just recognising people (without individual identification) would be hard enough under real conditions. Too hard probably.

Nope. The technology is out there.

I have a couple of cameras from these people on my desk as we speak.

[DaveB]

If you want to nip it in the bud ask her what it is supposed to do, google for it and find the dozen or so apps that already do that then ask her why hers will be better.

On the offchance that she's cmoe up with a genuinely new idea, your stuffed. get the wallet out and get coding

[TimberWolf]

Well done for not actually reading the link. FaceBook and Picassa both recognize and identify people.

Under extremely favourable and unrealistic conditions though. That is, a nice big face, square on, perhaps set against a plain background, good lighting etc, rather than a moving face in crowd seen from oblique angles, differing hairstyles, lighting, facial expressions and accoutrements. Just recognising people (without individual identification) would be hard enough under real conditions. Too hard probably.

[fragglerock]

I am not a techie - but I am pretty sure "recognising someone" ie identifying who they are is a little bit trickier than "recognising a face as a face".

Totally OT but some cameras can remember who are your friends and family and focus on their faces preferentially

YouTube - ‪Panasonic Lumix Face Recognition Feature‬‏

I for one welcome our new overlords and will enjoy being personally greeted as they crush me under their cold metal feet.

[eek]

I suspect (as an Android user) that is a fair assessment.

Especially when you compare how easy it is to pay for stuff on iOS compared to android.

I do wonder if Amazon's marketplace (really designed for the android Kindles that will appear for Christmas) will change the market. I think it will have an impact but it will probably be too little too late.

[Fred Bloggs]

My personal opinion is that however many android handsets there are in the world, the iphone is where the money is, and it's nothing to do with the device, or Apple's app store quality control. It's like sky vs cable TV years ago, apple got in there and got all the best customers i.e. the ones who will spend a decent amount, keep spending, stay loyal, and tell all their friends how great something is. Googleists expect everything for free.

I say this as the owner of several android phones.

I suspect (as an Android user) that is a fair assessment.

[SupremeSpod]

No doubt someone will accuse me of bedwetting, but this is a serious matter and requires serious treatment.

Ms doodab "has had an idea for an ap (sic)" and asked me do I know anything about "making apps for phones".

What sort of phone?

"the most popular one that takes apps, an iphone or an apple"

Well you need to spend a bit of cash, cos you need a mac. And an iphone.

"I know someone with a mac"

Are they going to give it to you?

"no"

etc.

This went on a bit longer and I can see she isn't going to rest until I have either invested money and time in bringing whatever it is to fruition, or worse, been forced to give her a crash course in C (and with pointers and ms doodab in the same room it will definitely be a crash course), or worse, been accused of pooh poohing her idea.

Advice on how best to nip this in the bud please?

Tender for the work and give her an estimate for producing the software. Go through the full SDLC with her detailing when you expect payment for the deliverables.

[doodab]

And let you feel happy with your 20th century technology while she embraces the future

She doesn't get to touch the 20th century stuff anyway. Valuable antiques those are.

I'm not anti mac by the way, the friend of hers who has a mac bought it after I recommended one to her, and I used to use them myself a bit back when they used 680x0 chips. I think for consumers they are an excellent choice.

I just find that the hype machine that goes with them grates a bit.