Research Projects

ANALYZING FACE REPRESENTATIONS IN DEEP CONVOLUTIONAL NEURAL NETWORKS

We are working on a multi-pronged analysis of the visual representations of faces that emerge state-of-the-art face recognition algorithms. These algorithms operate effectively across images that vary in illumination, viewpoint, and image quality), and now perform at levels that surpass untrained humans and compete with skilled, professional face examiners. The properties they display offer important insights into novel hypotheses about high-level representations of faces in neural population codes.

DEEP NETWORKS OF BODY PERCEPTION BASED ON BODY SHAPE AND LANGUAGE LABELS

The human body can be described in many ways, but simple combinations of words can elicit vivid mental images of complete body shapes. We developed a deep network that is trained to map images of bodies to linguistic description and ultimately to use this core network to map images to identities.

FACE RECOGNITION IN FORENSIC PROFESSIONALS AND DEEP NETWORKS

Our research compares the accuracy of professional forensic examiners, untrained people, and state of the art face recognition systems based on deep convolutional neural networks. This work build on previous humans-machine comparisons carried out in collaboration with researchers at National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Over the past decade, we have published human benchmarks for state-of-the-art machine-based face recognition systems.

UNDERSTANDING THE PERFORMANCE OF FORENSIC FACIAL IDENTIFICATION EXPERTS

In this project, we are testing the ability of professional forensic facial examiners in face identification tasks and comparing their accuracy to untrained human participants and computer algorithms.

PERCEPTION AND MEMORY FOR HUMAN FACES

The human face is one of the most important visual stimuli we encounter in our daily lives. A face can tell us who someone is, how that person feels, and what intent they may have at the moment we see them. Face perception has been a focus of our research for many years. In particular, we have been interested in how the human visual system represents the complex identity and social information in faces.