性别检测仪
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Gender Detector 性别检测仪 Rajeev Sharma has a new computer system in his lab at Pennsylvania State University that really separates the boys from the girls. Rajeev Sharma 在他宾夕法尼亚州大学的实验室建研制成了一种新的计算机系统，它可以区分女孩和男孩。The computer uses pattern recognition software to decide whether an image is that of a male or female. 该计算机使用图形认知软件来识别一个影象是男还是女。"It's a learning technique," says Sharma, an associate professor of computer science and engineering. By trial and error, the software has "learned" how to separate images by gender. “这是一种学习技术。”计算机科学和工程副教授Sharma说。通过反复摸索，软件已‘学会’如何区分影像的性别。The system was fed 1,755 thumbnail images of human faces from a standard database and told to determine the gender of each by "looking at the geometry of the facial structures," Sharma says. Sharma 说，向该系统输入1755张来自于一个标准数据库的人脸略图影象，然后指示系统“观察人脸结构的几何图”后，对每张脸性别作出测定。The images included only eyes, nose and mouth - eliminating such things as beards and hair - and the system initially did fairly well, learning which gender to assign each image just on the basis of visual cues. 这些影像只包括眼、鼻、口，删除了胡子和头发等，系统最初做得相当好，仅在视觉提示的基础上就认准了每个影像的性别。One of the reasons the system succeeds, he says, is there is considerable difference in the geometrical structure of male and female facial features. 他说，该系统成功的原因之一，是男女性别面部特征的几何结构有显著差异。 But it wasn't good enough. So Sharma and his team of researchers took it a step further and added an audio signal consisting of tiny snippets of male and female voices a fraction of a second long. And that, he says, puts the system way over the top. It gets it right nearly 100 percent of the time, he says, and that's significantly better that humans can do. We only get it right a little more than 90 percent of the time, given the same cues, he says. 但它还不够好，所以Sharma和他的研究小组又进了一步，:给系统增添了一种含有不到一秒的男女声信号的小片段。他说，此举使该系统获得成功，它的识别正确率几乎达到100%，他说，这比人做得要好得多。给出同样的提示，我们识别男女的准确率只有90%多一点。So in one sense, at least, scientists have come up with a computer that's better at sex than we are. 因此,从某种意义上看,至少，科学家已找到办法使计算机在识别性别方面超过了人类。"Fortunately, there is enough difference" for the system to get it right, just on the basis of facial cues, most of the time, he adds. 他补充说，“幸运的是，有足够的差异”使系统能正确区别性别，而且多数情况下，仅有面部提示就可以了。Of course, the purpose of the system is not just to tell the boys from the girls. It's part of a much broader research program, sponsored partly by the National Science Foundation, to develop all sorts of image recognition systems. Sharma's lab is also developing systems that can classify images by age group, and even recognize specific individuals. 当然了，研究该系统的目的不仅是为了识别男女。这是一个范围广泛研究计划的一部分，该计划由美国科学基金会资助，目的是开发出所有种类影像识别系统。Sharma的实验室也正在研制一种能按年龄组分类影像，甚至辨认具体人物的计算机系统。There are many potential applications for such systems. Near the top of the list these days are computers that can screen faces to be sure that the person trying to enter a secured area - like an airport operations center, for example - is really who he or she claims to be. 这类系统有许多潜在的应用前景，近来，该研究最迫切的开发就是让计算机能审查人脸，以确定每位要进入一个保安地区如机场控制中心人的真实身份。By adding an audio signal to such a system, Sharma has demonstrated that its accuracy can be increased significantly. Some day, perhaps, an airline pilot may just say "hi" to a camera and be cleared to pass through the security gate without even so much as a pause. The system will recognize precisely who she or he is. 该系统增加了声觉信号以后，Sharma已证明它的准确性显著提高，或许有一天，一位飞行员只要对照像机说一声“嗨”，就可以立即验明正身，然后大步流星地通过安全门。该系统将准确地认出他或她是谁。 |
