SCHOOL OF CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION

SCHOOL OF CULTUREAND COMMUNICATION

Image: Lorenzo de’ Medici,probably after a model by AndreaDel Verrocchio and OrsinoBenintendi, Samuel H. KressCollection, National Gallery of Art,Washington D.C.

Professor ConradRudolphDepartment of theHistory of Art,University of California,Riverside, CAFACES (Faces, Art, andComputerised Evaluation Systems)is a project that, after two years ofresearch support from the NationalEndowment for the Humanities(NEH), has established proof ofconcept for the application of facerecognition technology to works ofportrait art. In the application offace recognition technology tophotographed human faces, anumber of difficulties are inherentin a real or perceived alteration ofappearance of the face throughvariations in facial expression, age,angle of pose, and so on. Withworks of portrait art, not only do allthese problems pertain, but theseworks also have their ownadditional challenges. Mostnotably, portrait art does notprovide what might be called aphotographic likeness but ratherone that goes through a process ofvisual interpretation on the part ofthe artist. After establishing theinitial parameters of the applicationof this technology, the main goal of

FACES has been to test the abilityof the FACES algorithm to restorelost identities to works of portraitart, something our research hasshown is clearly feasible. Our workhas also suggested a number ofother potential applications, bothusing the FACES algorithm andemploying basic concept of FACESin an altered form.

Professor Conrad Rudolph isProfessor of Art History, Universityof California, Riverside. His recentbooks include Pilgrimage to theEnd of the World: The Road toSantiago de Compostela (Universityof Chicago Press, 2004), "First, IFind the Center Point”: Reading theText of Hugh of Saint Victor’s TheMystic Ark (American PhilosophicalSociety, 2005), A Companion toMedieval Art: Romanesque andGothic in Northern Europe (Wiley-Blackwell, 2009), and The MysticArk: Hugh of St Victor, Art, andThought in the Twelfth Century(Cambridge University Press, 2014).He is Principal Investigator andProject Director for FACES (Faces,Art, and Computerised EvaluationSystems), a pioneering attempt toapply face recognition technologyto works of art, specificallyportraiture, 2012-2014 (fundedthrough the National Endowmentfor the Humanities)

Faces, Art, andComputerised EvaluationSystems.”

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Tuesday, 2 June 2015

6.00pm - 7.15pm

Macmahon Ball TheatreGround Floor Old Arts BuildingThe University of MelbournePARKVILLE VIC 3010

Admission is free.Bookings are required.Seating is limited.

To register visit: http://alumni.online.unimelb.edu.au/

For further information pleasecontact Leanne HuntLeanne.hunt@unimelb.edu.au

This public lecture is one ofthe keynote talks for theFaces of Emotioncollaboratory organised by theARC Centre of Excellence forthe History of Emotions.

PUBLIC LECTURE