Communications of the ACM
Protecting Protestors With Photos That Never Existed
Researchers used a computer-vision technique called view synthesis to combine two or more photographs to create a new, realistic-looking one that looks like it was taken from an arbitrary viewpoint.
Image courtesy of National League for Democracy/AP/PA
In a response to protestors getting arrested for taking pictures of government-instigated violence, researchers at the Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) and the University of Luxembourg have developed a method that uses graphics processors to artificially create photos taken from a perspective where there was no photographer.
"We use a computer-vision technique called view synthesis to combine two or more photographs to create another very realistic-looking one that looks like it was taken from an arbitrary viewpoint," says IIIT's Shishir Nagaraja, who worked with Luxembourg researchers Peter Schaffer and Djamila Aouada.
The technique involves collecting several images of an event and combining them using software that creates a three-dimensional depth map of the scene. The user chooses an arbitrary viewing angle for a photo they want to post online and the software makes adjustments to the photo, straightening warped lines to give the correct point of view, Schaffer says.
"Anonymizing the photographer could be a crucial step in protecting the source of contentious material," says the University of Bern's Matthias Zwicker.
From New Scientist
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