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Is Time Moving Forward Or Backward? Computers Learn To Spot the Difference

Posted by Unknown on from the time-what-is-time dept.

sciencehabit (1205606) writes For the first time, scientists have taught computers to figure out the direction of time in videos, a result that could help researchers better understand our own perception of time. Regardless of any possible applications, "we just thought it was a great problem," says one of the study's authors. Teaching computers to see the arrow of time combines computer science, physics, and human perception to get at the heart of the question, "How do we understand the visual world?" The researchers "broke down 180 YouTube videos into square patches of a few hundred pixels, which they further divided into four-by-four grids. Combining standard techniques for discovering objects in still photographs with motion detection algorithms, the researchers identified 4000 typical patterns of motion, or 'flow words,' across a grid’s 16 cells. ... When they tested their program on the remaining 60 videos, the trained computers could correctly determine whether a video ran forward or backward 80% of the time."

7 of 78 comments (clear)

  1. Easy by ZombieBraintrust · · Score: 3, Funny
    Beginning

    hey guys..

    End

    Click Like To Subscribe. Follow Hashtag blah on twitter, blah blah reddit. Hand waves to bottom of screen.

    1. Re:Easy by Dcnjoe60 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      But the point is not to tell if sound is moving forward or backwards.

      The point is to detect if a video (possibly even without sound) is moving forward or backwards.

      But you could easily mess up this program by showing it a video of Michael Jackson doing the Moonwalk.

      However, whether detecting if sound or video is moving backwards or not has nothing to do with detecting if time is moving backwards or not. Playing a file backwards still occurs with time moving forwards.

  2. How'd it do on Top Secret? by Overzeetop · · Score: 4, Interesting

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

    (and..."Europe on 5 Quaaludes a Day," forward version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

    --
    Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
  3. time or not by buswolley · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This means nothing. It is not detecting time per se. It is detecting things violations like objects don't fall up, or other such experienced pattern that is the result of time.

    --

    A Good Troll is better than a Bad Human.

  4. Re:Sounds like bad methology by Minwee · · Score: 3, Funny

    Be quiet! You'll jeopardize our funding.

  5. Re:Sooo.... by Dishevel · · Score: 3, Insightful

    This saves us from the terrorists how?

    Is that the only measure of success?

    Not. It is not the only measure. We also measure success by thinking of the children. Any other questions?

    --
    Why is it so hard to only have politicians for a few years, then have them go away?
  6. Abrupt transitions in optical flow? by RandCraw · · Score: 3, Informative

    Dr Freeman spoke about this work at CVPR this week. In the videos I saw he identified small markers of temporal transition as indicative of moving forward or backward. Those they labeled as backward appeared to recognize asymmetric movement -- as in gradual acceleration followed by sudden deceleration as uniquely forward flow (as when a hand swings down and strickes a table top) -- an asymmetry that cannot occur in reverse (as in sudden acceleration followed by gradual deceleration).

    Dr Freeman did not propose this as the causal phenomenon in question, but that made the most sense to me in light of the motions he identified as evidence for backward motion.