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Peripheral vision improves self driving cars and image classifiers


Cute cartoon, self driving car improved with simulated peripheral vision


Artificial intelligence is taking a significant step towards mimicking human perception with the development of simulated peripheral vision. New research has demonstrated that by processing images in a manner similar to human peripheral vision, AI models can significantly enhance their performance in tasks such as object detection and image recognition.


The Human Advantage

Humans possess a remarkable ability to process visual information from their peripheral vision, providing a broader context for understanding their environment. This peripheral awareness allows us to anticipate potential hazards, track moving objects, and make rapid decisions.


AI's New Perspective

By replicating this human capability, AI models can gain a similar advantage. Traditional AI systems primarily focused on central vision, limiting their ability to perceive and respond to events occurring outside their direct focus. However, by incorporating simulated peripheral vision, these models can now process a wider field of view, capturing more information and improving their overall performance.


Revolutionizing Self-Driving Cars, Peripheral vision improves self driving cars

One of the most promising applications of this technology lies in the realm of self-driving cars. By equipping autonomous vehicles with the ability to "see" beyond their immediate surroundings, researchers can significantly enhance safety and reliability. Simulated peripheral vision can help vehicles detect potential obstacles earlier, anticipate the behavior of other road users, and make more informed decisions in complex driving scenarios.


Beyond Self-Driving Cars

The implications of this breakthrough extend far beyond the automotive industry. Image recognition systems, used in various applications from facial recognition to medical image analysis, can benefit from the enhanced contextual understanding provided by simulated peripheral vision. This could lead to improved accuracy and efficiency in these systems.

As AI continues to evolve, the integration of simulated peripheral vision represents a significant step forward in creating machines that can perceive and interact with the world in a more human-like manner. This technology holds the potential to revolutionize numerous industries and drive innovation across multiple domains, certainly we can see that Peripheral vision improves self driving cars.


In python, this is how we have explored adding a gaussian blur that increases with the distance to simulate peripheral view, other than this we continue exploring with differential equations to improve the effect:


import cv2
import numpy as np

def add_peripheral_vision(image, blur_sigma=10):
  """
  Adds a simulated peripheral vision effect to an image.

  Args:
    image: The input image as a NumPy array.
    blur_sigma: The standard deviation of the Gaussian blur.

  Returns:
    The image with simulated peripheral vision.
  """

  height, width = image.shape[:2]
  y, x = np.mgrid[0:height, 0:width]
  center_x, center_y = width // 2, height // 2
  distance_from_center = np.sqrt((x - center_x)**2 + (y - center_y)**2)
  sigma = blur_sigma * distance_from_center / max(width, height)
  sigma = np.clip(sigma, 0, blur_sigma * 2)  # Limit sigma to avoid excessive blur

  blurred_image = cv2.GaussianBlur(image, (0, 0), sigma, sigma)
  return blurred_image

# Example usage
image = cv2.imread('your_image.jpg')
result = add_peripheral_vision(image)
cv2.imshow('Original', image)
cv2.imshow('Peripheral Vision', result)
cv2.waitKey(0)
cv2.destroyAllWindows()

Explanation:

  1. Import necessary libraries: cv2 for image processing and numpy for numerical operations.

  2. Define the function: add_peripheral_vision takes an image and a blur sigma as input.

  3. Calculate distance from center: Create a grid of coordinates and calculate the distance of each pixel from the image center.

  4. Create a varying sigma: Calculate the sigma value for the Gaussian blur based on the distance from the center.

  5. Apply Gaussian blur: Apply Gaussian blur to the image using the calculated sigma values.

  6. Display images: Show the original and processed images.


Limitations:

  • The blur intensity increases linearly with distance from the center, while human peripheral vision might have a more complex pattern.

  • The code doesn't consider color channels separately, which might affect the perceived image quality.


To improve the simulation, we could explore more complex blurring techniques, incorporate color channel-specific processing, and potentially use physiological models of human vision.


This is a basic example, however, we've explored and the true positives vs the true negatives is quite substantial, proving it a great technique in the tool kit for machine learning model development.

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