The effect of prior visual information on recognition of speech and sounds

To identify and categorize complex stimuli such as familiar objects or speech, the human brain integrates information that is abstracted at multiple levels from its sensory inputs. Using cross-modal priming for spoken words and sounds, this functional magnetic resonance imaging study identified 3 distinct classes of visuoauditory incongruency effects: visuoauditory incongruency effects were selective for 1) spoken words in the left superior temporal sulcus (STS), 2) environmental sounds in the left angular gyrus (AG), and 3) both words and sounds in the lateral and medial prefrontal cortices (IFS/mPFC). From a cognitive perspective, these incongruency effects suggest that prior visual information influences the neural processes underlying speech and sound recognition at multiple levels, with the STS being involved in phonological, AG in semantic, and mPFC/IFS in higher conceptual processing. In terms of neural mechanisms, effective connectivity analyses (dynamic causal modeling) suggest that these incongruency effects may emerge via greater bottom-up effects from early auditory regions to intermediate multisensory integration areas (i.e., STS and AG). This is consistent with a predictive coding perspective on hierarchical Bayesian inference in the cortex where the domain of the prediction error (phonological vs. semantic) determines its regional expression (middle temporal gyrus/STS vs. AG/intraparietal sulcus).

Decision strategies for automated visual collision avoidance

This paper provides a preliminary analysis of an autonomous uncooperative collision avoidance strategy for unmanned aircraft using image-based visual control. Assuming target detection, the approach consists of three parts. First, a novel decision strategy is used to determine appropriate reference image features to track for safe avoidance. This is achieved by considering the current rules of the air (regulations), the properties of spiral motion and the expected visual tracking errors. Second, a spherical visual predictive control (VPC) scheme is used to guide the aircraft along a safe spiral-like trajectory about the object. Lastly, a stopping decision based on thresholding a cost function is used to determine when to stop the avoidance behaviour. The approach does not require estimation of range or time to collision, and instead relies on tuning two mutually exclusive decision thresholds to ensure satisfactory performance.

Close-quarters Quadrotor flying for a pole inspection with position based visual servoing and high-speed vision

This paper presents a 100 Hz monocular position based visual servoing system to control a quadrotor flying in close proximity to vertical structures approximating a narrow, locally linear shape. Assuming the object boundaries are represented by parallel vertical lines in the image, detection and tracking is achieved using Plücker line representation and a line tracker. The visual information is fused with IMU data in an EKF framework to provide fast and accurate state estimation. A nested control design provides position and velocity control with respect to the object. Our approach is aimed at high performance on-board control for applications allowing only small error margins and without a motion capture system, as required for real world infrastructure inspection. Simulated and ground-truthed experimental results are presented.

A hierarchical model of goal directed navigation selects trajectories in a visual environment

We have developed a Hierarchical Look-Ahead Trajectory Model (HiLAM) that incorporates the firing pattern of medial entorhinal grid cells in a planning circuit that includes interactions with hippocampus and prefrontal cortex. We show the model’s flexibility in representing large real world environments using odometry information obtained from challenging video sequences. We acquire the visual data from a camera mounted on a small tele-operated vehicle. The camera has a panoramic field of view with its focal point approximately 5 cm above the ground level, similar to what would be expected from a rat’s point of view. Using established algorithms for calculating perceptual speed from the apparent rate of visual change over time, we generate raw dead reckoning information which loses spatial fidelity over time due to error accumulation. We rectify the loss of fidelity by exploiting the loop-closure detection ability of a biologically inspired, robot navigation model termed RatSLAM. The rectified motion information serves as a velocity input to the HiLAM to encode the environment in the form of grid cell and place cell maps. Finally, we show goal directed path planning results of HiLAM in two different environments, an indoor square maze used in rodent experiments and an outdoor arena more than two orders of magnitude larger than the indoor maze. Together these results bridge for the first time the gap between higher fidelity bio-inspired navigation models (HiLAM) and more abstracted but highly functional bio-inspired robotic mapping systems (RatSLAM), and move from simulated environments into real-world studies in rodent-sized arenas and beyond.

Visual arts learning with iPads

In this chapter Knight & Dooley discuss arts learning and issues of educational authenticity via children’s engagement with iPads (O’Mara & Laidlaw 2011; Shifflet, Toledo & Mattoon 2012). The chapter begins by considering common perceptions about art and how these popular beliefs and conditions affect and influence how children’s art is defined and valorized. The art produced by children using iPads is then discussed through key observations and reflections, and the chapter concludes with some recommendations when selecting apps for making art.

Bombs Away: visual thinking and students’ engagement in design studios contexts

In design studio, sketching or visual thinking is part of processes that assist students to achieve final design solutions. At QUT’s First and Third Year industrial design studio classes we engage in a variety of teaching pedagogies from which we identify ‘Concept Bombs’ as an instrumental in the development of students’ visual thinking and reflective design process, and also as a vehicle to foster positive student engagement. Our ‘formula’: Concept Bombs are 20 minute design tasks focusing on rapid development of initial concept designs and free-hand sketching. Our experience and surveys tell us that students value intensive studio activities especially when combined with timely assessment and feedback. While conventional longer-duration design projects are essential for allowing students to engage with the full depth and complexity of the design process, short and intensive design activities introduce variety to the learning experience and enhance student engagement. This paper presents a comparative analysis of First and Third Year students’ Concept Bomb sketches to describe the types of design knowledge embedded in them, a discussion of limitations and opportunities of this pedagogical technique, as well as considerations for future development of studio based tasks of this kind as design pedagogies in the midst of current university education trends.

Practical visual odometry for car-like vehicles

A method for calculating visual odometry for ground vehicles with car-like kinematic motion constraints similar to Ackerman's steering model is presented. By taking advantage of this non-holonomic driving constraint we show a simple and practical solution to the odometry calculation by clever placement of a single camera. The method has been implemented successfully on a large industrial forklift and a Toyota Prado SUV. Results from our industrial test site is presented demonstrating the applicability of this method as a replacement for wheel encoder-based odometry for these vehicles.

Facial motion engages predictive visual mechanisms

We employed a novel cuing paradigm to assess whether dynamically versus statically presented facial expressions differentially engaged predictive visual mechanisms. Participants were presented with a cueing stimulus that was either the static depiction of a low intensity expressed emotion; or a dynamic sequence evolving from a neutral expression to the low intensity expressed emotion. Following this cue and a backwards mask, participants were presented with a probe face that displayed either the same emotion (congruent) or a different emotion (incongruent) with respect to that displayed by the cue although expressed at a high intensity. The probe face had either the same or different identity from the cued face. The participants' task was to indicate whether or not the probe face showed the same emotion as the cue. Dynamic cues and same identity cues both led to a greater tendency towards congruent responding, although these factors did not interact. Facial motion also led to faster responding when the probe face was emotionally congruent to the cue. We interpret these results as indicating that dynamic facial displays preferentially invoke predictive visual mechanisms, and suggest that motoric simulation may provide an important basis for the generation of predictions in the visual system.

Potentiation of the early visual response to learned danger signals in adults and adolescents

The reinforcing effects of aversive outcomes on avoidance behaviour are well established. However, their influence on perceptual processes is less well explored, especially during the transition from adolescence to adulthood. Using electroencephalography, we examined whether learning to actively or passively avoid harm can modulate early visual responses in adolescents and adults. The task included two avoidance conditions, active and passive, where two different warning stimuli predicted the imminent, but avoidable, presentation of an aversive tone. To avoid the aversive outcome, participants had to learn to emit an action (active avoidance) for one of the warning stimuli and omit an action for the other (passive avoidance). Both adults and adolescents performed the task with a high degree of accuracy. For both adolescents and adults, increased N170 event-related potential amplitudes were found for both the active and the passive warning stimuli compared with control conditions. Moreover, the potentiation of the N170 to the warning stimuli was stable and long lasting. Developmental differences were also observed; adolescents showed greater potentiation of the N170 component to danger signals. These findings demonstrate, for the first time, that learned danger signals in an instrumental avoidance task can influence early visual sensory processes in both adults and adolescents.

Prevalence and visual risk factors for falls in bilateral cataract patients in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Purpose To determine the prevalence of falls in the 12 months prior to cataract surgery and examine the associations between visual and other risk factors and falls among older bilateral cataract patients in Vietnam. Methods Data collected from 413 patients in the week before scheduled cataract surgery included a questionnaire and three objective visual tests. Results The outcome of interest was self-reported falls in the previous 12 months. A total of 13% (n = 53) of bilateral cataract patients reported 60 falls within the previous 12 months. After adjusting for age, sex, race, employment status, comorbidities, medication usage, refractive management, living status and the three objective visual tests in the worse eye, women (odds ratio, OR, 4.64, 95% confidence interval, CI, 1.85–11.66), and those who lived alone (OR 4.51, 95% CI 1.44–14.14) were at increased risk of a fall. Those who reported a comorbidity were at decreased risk of a fall (OR 0.43, 95% CI 0.19–0.95). Contrast sensitivity (OR 0.31, 95% CI 0.10–0.95) was the only significant visual test associated with a fall. These results were similar for the better eye, except the presence of a comorbidity was not significant (OR 0.45, 95% CI 0.20–1.02). Again, contrast sensitivity was the only significant visual factor associated with a fall (OR 0.15, 95% CI 0.04–0.53). Conclusion Bilateral cataract patients in Vietnam are potentially at high risk of falls and in need of falls prevention interventions. It may also be important for ophthalmologists and health professionals to consider contrast sensitivity measures when prioritizing cataract patients for surgery and assessing their risk of falls.

The N170 observed ‘in the wild’: robust event-related potentials to faces in cluttered dynamic visual scenes

As a social species in a constantly changing environment, humans rely heavily on the informational richness and communicative capacity of the face. Thus, understanding how the brain processes information about faces in real-time is of paramount importance. The N170 is a high temporal resolution electrophysiological index of the brain's early response to visual stimuli that is reliably elicited in carefully controlled laboratory-based studies. Although the N170 has often been reported to be of greatest amplitude to faces, there has been debate regarding whether this effect might be an artifact of certain aspects of the controlled experimental stimulation schedules and materials. To investigate whether the N170 can be identified in more realistic conditions with highly variable and cluttered visual images and accompanying auditory stimuli we recorded EEG 'in the wild', while participants watched pop videos. Scene-cuts to faces generated a clear N170 response, and this was larger than the N170 to transitions where the videos cut to non-face stimuli. Within participants, wild-type face N170 amplitudes were moderately correlated to those observed in a typical laboratory experiment. Thus, we demonstrate that the face N170 is a robust and ecologically valid phenomenon and not an artifact arising as an unintended consequence of some property of the more typical laboratory paradigm.

An organization of visual and auditory fear conditioning in the lateral amygdala

Pavlovian fear conditioning is an evolutionary conserved and extensively studied form of associative learning and memory. In mammals, the lateral amygdala (LA) is an essential locus for Pavlovian fear learning and memory. Despite significant progress unraveling the cellular mechanisms responsible for fear conditioning, very little is known about the anatomical organization of neurons encoding fear conditioning in the LA. One key question is how fear conditioning to different sensory stimuli is organized in LA neuronal ensembles. Here we show that Pavlovian fear conditioning, formed through either the auditory or visual sensory modality, activates a similar density of LA neurons expressing a learning-induced phosphorylated extracellular signal-regulated kinase (p-ERK1/2). While the size of the neuron population specific to either memory was similar, the anatomical distribution differed. Several discrete sites in the LA contained a small but significant number of p-ERK1/2-expressing neurons specific to either sensory modality. The sites were anatomically localized to different levels of the longitudinal plane and were independent of both memory strength and the relative size of the activated neuronal population, suggesting some portion of the memory trace for auditory and visually cued fear conditioning is allocated differently in the LA. Presenting the visual stimulus by itself did not activate the same p-ERK1/2 neuron density or pattern, confirming the novelty of light alone cannot account for the specific pattern of activated neurons after visual fear conditioning. Together, these findings reveal an anatomical distribution of visual and auditory fear conditioning at the level of neuronal ensembles in the LA.

Visual predictive control of spiral motion

This paper deals with constrained image-based visual servoing of circular and conical spiral motion about an unknown object approximating a single image point feature. Effective visual control of such trajectories has many applications for small unmanned aerial vehicles, including surveillance and inspection, forced landing (homing), and collision avoidance. A spherical camera model is used to derive a novel visual-predictive controller (VPC) using stability-based design methods for general nonlinear model-predictive control. In particular, a quasi-infinite horizon visual-predictive control scheme is derived. A terminal region, which is used as a constraint in the controller structure, can be used to guide appropriate reference image features for spiral tracking with respect to nominal stability and feasibility. Robustness properties are also discussed with respect to parameter uncertainty and additive noise. A comparison with competing visual-predictive control schemes is made, and some experimental results using a small quad rotor platform are given.

Effect of rod-cone interactions on mesopic visual performance mediated by chromatic and luminance pathways

We studied the effect of rod–cone interactions on mesopic visual reaction time (RT). Rod and cone photoreceptor excitations were independently controlled using a four-primary photostimulator. It was observed that (1) lateral rod–cone interactions increase the cone-mediated RTs; (2) the rod–cone interactions are strongest when rod sensitivity is maximal in a dark surround, but weaker with increased rod activity in a light surround; and (3) the presence of a dark surround nonselectively increased the mean and variability of chromatic (+L-M, S-cone) and luminance (L+M+S) RTs independent of the level of rod activity. The results demonstrate that lateral rod–cone interactions must be considered when deriving mesopic luminous efficiency using RT.