Massey Documents by Type

Permanent URI for this communityhttps://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/294

Browse

Has files: YesSubject: search.filters.subject.Face recognition

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Computational modelling to track human emotion trajectories through time : a thesis presented to Massey University in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science at School of Engineering and Advanced Technology, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2013) Hakim, Ayesha
    There has been a lot of research into the field of a ffective computing over the past three decades. In the context of this thesis, aff ective computing is the computing that relates to emotion recognition, representation, and analysis. Much of the past work has focused on the basic emotions. However, most human emotions are not pure examples of one basic emotion, but a mixture of them, known as complex emotions. Emotions are dynamic, they change continuously over time. This thesis focuses on computational modelling to recognise, represent, and analyse continuous spontaneous emotions through time. Emotions are internal, and hence impossible to see directly. However, there are some external presentations of emotions enabling computational tools to be used to identify them. This thesis focuses on the use of facial points as a measure of underlying emotions. The main focus is the development of computational models to track the patterns of facial changes in order to analyse the paths followed by emotions over time. While there has been lots of work on shape models to classify facial expressions into discrete basic emotion categories, they are generally based on the analysis of the full face. However, the research shows that some expressions are better recognized by muscle activity in the upper half of the face, while others use muscles primarily from the lower half of the face. This thesis introduces a joint face model based on shape models of full, upper, and lower parts of the face separately that signi cantly improves the accuracy. The set of shape models gives a degree of match to each basic emotion. Using this information, this thesis addresses the problem of complex emotion recognition by developing a mixture model that combines each basic emotion in an appropriate amount. The proposed model represents emotions in the activation-evaluation space, which is the most widely-used representation of emotions in psychological studies. It represents emotions on the basis of their polarity and similarity to each other. This thesis uses a mixture of von Mises distributions for emotion recognition, which is an approximation to the normal distribution for circular data and is the most common model for describing directional data. The results show that the proposed mixture model ts the data well. Emotions vary continuously with regard to intensity, duration, persistence with time, and other attributes. In addition, their appearance on the face varies, and the transition in facial expressions is based on both the change in emotion and physiological constraints. This thesis examines the trajectories between emotions in activation evaluation space and shows that these trajectories are smooth and follow `common' paths between different emotions. In the past, very few efforts have been made on the analysis of continuous emotion dynamics. The ndings presented in this thesis can be used and extended in several directions to improve the emotion recognition as well as emotion synthesis.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Enabling face-name recognition after brain injury using mobile technology : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Clinical Psychology at Massey University, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2013) Howard, Philip Martin
    Acquired brain injury (ABI) is a term that encompasses a wide range of mechanisms that cause damage to the brain, however in New Zealand the most common causes of ABI are traumatic brain injury (TBI) and stroke. One of the most commonly reported and enduring difficulties from TBI and stroke is in memory function, however research also indicates that these brain injuries also negatively impact affective functioning, as well as social and interpersonal relationships. Although recovery from brain injury can to some degree be predicted from measures of injury severity, the course of recovery can be aided by cognitive rehabilitation. One of the most effective types of cognitive rehabilitation for prospective memory difficulties is the use of external compensatory strategies using electronic devices such as mobile phones. However, no studies could be found which have investigated the use of mobile phones in supporting those who have face-name memory difficulties following ABI. These face-naming difficulties have been associated with increased social isolation and reduced wellbeing in survivors; therefore finding an effective intervention is an important goal. The present study included the development of an iPhone application to act as an external compensatory device to support face-naming. Three hypotheses were tested through a single-case research design: (1) that the device would be effective in improving participants’ face-naming, (2) that improved face-naming ability would result in improved social interactions, and (3) improved face-naming would result in improved wellbeing. The results clearly indicated that the face-name application produced improvement in functional face naming across all participants, and participants also reported that they found the application helpful. Approximately half of the participants showed improvement in aspects of social interaction thought due to the intervention, but fewer than half showed improvements on measures of wellbeing. A significant correlation was found between how often the application was used, and changes in wellbeing. Recommendations for future research are discussed, as are implications for practice.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses of the effects of aging on memory in healthy young, middle-aged, and oldest-old adults : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2006) Lamont, Allison
    While a growing body of research indicates that older adults typically perform more poorly on many types of memory tasks than do younger adults, relatively little research has addressed the question of whether this trend continues unchanged into the late ninth and tenth decades of life. Such decrements in memory have been reported as linear declines from early adulthood up until about 80 years of age. Questions arise as to whether such memory declines slow or accelerate in very advanced aging, and to what extent differences are due to aging, per se, or variables that intervene between age and memory.To address these two questions, six memory types - verbal recall, nonverbal recall, short-term memory, working memory, face recognition, and prospective memory - were examined using both cross-sectional and longitudinal methodologies. The six types of memory and the influence of verbal processing speed, nonverbal processing speed, and intelligence were examined in mixed-gender groups of 20 - 40 (n = 40, M = 30.7, SD = 5.52), 50 - 70 (n = 44, M = 59.2, SD = 4.94), and 85+ year olds (n = 42, M = 87.8, SD = 2.43), at two points, the second occurring two years after the first. Each participant completed tests of word recall, geometric shapes recall, short-term memory (digit span), working memory (letter-number sequencing), face recognition, and prospective memory. Additionally, there were two processing speed tasks (Identical Pictures and Finding As), and the National Adult Reading Test of verbal fluency was used to estimate intelligence. The Mini-Mental State Examination and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) were used to screen for dementia and depression, respectively.At Time 1 testing the 85+ participants showed declines in all memory types (compared to the 20 - 40 year olds). Nonverbal recall (66.2% lower than the young group), working memory (46.2%), verbal recall (45%), and prospective memory (38.2%) produced the largest differences, short-term memory (12.3%) and face recognition (14.7%) the least. Two years later, the 85+ years old participants had shown further declines, relative to the 20 - 40 years group. Nonverbal recall (72.3% lower than the young group), prospective memory (63.2%), working memory (55.3%), and verbal recall (54.7%) continued to produce the largest decrements, with short-term memory (18.9%) and face recognition (19.8%) the least. The results for the young and middle participants did not change appreciably between Time 1 and Time 2. The difference between unadjusted scores and scores adjusted for intelligence, verbal processing speed, and nonverbal processing speed, increased markedly between Time 1 and Time 2 testing for the oldest-old participants.These findings support the view that while memory declines may be approximately linear from age 20 to 80 years, there is a sharp decline in most types of memory after the age of 85 years, recall and working memory suffering the most. Intelligence and processing speed have an effect on some types of memory, but age is by far the largest contributor to memory decline. Furthermore, as expected, all memory types declined over the two-year period, with prospective memory, verbal recall, nonverbal recall, and working memory showing the greatest declines. Short-term memory and face recognition declined at a noticeably slower rate.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    When prudence is reckless : rethinking the role of project risk management : a 152.785 (25 point) research report presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Management at Massey University
    (Massey University. Department of Management, 2005) Busch, Adrian
    Despite the widespread use of project risk management, the results of such efforts are often underwhelming. Do project risk management practices somehow miss the point? To explore this idea I use a critical management studies framework to study project risk management. The approach prescribed in the Project Management Institute's Project Management Body of Knowledge is compared to the very different approach of a professional project manager. A theorised analysis of the difference between these approaches finds that they employ the logic of different knowledge-constitutive interests thereby making them suitable for different purposes. The study concludes with a discussion of how the results of this analysis can be presented to practitioners in a way consistent with the emancipatory agenda of critical management studies.