Researchers Teach Computers To Perceive 3D from 2D

hamilton76 writes to tell us that researchers at Carnegie Mellon have found a way to allow computers to extrapolate 3 dimensional models from 2 dimensional pictures. From the article: "Using machine learning techniques, Robotics Institute researchers Alexei Efros and Martial Hebert, along with graduate student Derek Hoiem, have taught computers how to spot the visual cues that differentiate between vertical surfaces and horizontal surfaces in photographs of outdoor scenes. They've even developed a program that allows the computer to automatically generate 3-D reconstructions of scenes based on a single image. [...] Identifying vertical and horizontal surfaces and the orientation of those surfaces provides much of the information necessary for understanding the geometric context of an entire scene. Only about three percent of surfaces in a typical photo are at an angle, they have found."

Awesome!

[rblum]

Now run it on an Escher picture!

Bus-ted.

[Anonymous Coward]

"If this happens, we're only a hop skip and a jump to having these things drive us around (esp on freeways)."

Man that would be a pretty neat invention [basintransit.com].

First application will be...

[Onimaru]

...pr0n, of course. Now we can accurately predict and model the exact size and specularity of Linsey Lohan's boobies, using this revolutionary new (wait for it) Mellon Engine. Truly, we live in the future.

"Enemy of the State"

[Rob T Firefly]

So we're one step closer to actually being able to do the dramatic image-enhancing stuff that's routine in film and television crime drama? You know, where the brooding detective notices four interesting pixels in the background of a scratchy security video, strokes his chin thoughtfully, and says "enhance this bit" to the stereotype computer geek. The geek types noisily, the computer zooms in on thouse four pixels, and clears it up into a detailed image of the bad guy, often moving other foreground stuff out of the way to do so.

3D paradoxes

[ortholattice]

I wonder what the software would end up doing with this: M.C. Escher's Waterfall [techeblog.com]. Would the program self-destruct like that robot in Star Trek?

Re:Shits & Giggles

[Joebert]

hmmmm.

I've got so many bills, it would be impossible for even the entire Slashdot reader base to pay them all.

Re:That's been possible for years...

[kthejoker]

Looks like your sig has been rendered obsolete.

Re:leaning tower

[Tolleman]

Just like us. Segmentation fault.

Obligatory...

[Anonymous Coward]

Left 30 degrees

click click click click click

Up twenty degrees

click click click click click

Enhanse

click click click click click

Zoom in on that

click click click click click

Enhanse

click click click click click

OK, give me a hardcopy right there.

"More human than human is oour motto"

Re:Errr...

[jackbird]

You can get building plans and architectural drawings and everything from the city for free. There are algorithms that can easily map pictures to objects if you know ahead of time the shape of the things that "should" be there.

Dear Sir,

ha ha ha.

ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.

ha.

If only.

Signed,

every CAD operator in the world