Inaugural lectures
Wednesday April 21, 2010 at 5.00pm - Lecture theatre SMB.0.14, Stewart Mason Building
Bustin' in on my dreams - making me see things I don't wanna see
Professor Alastair Gale, Computer Science
The title of this lecture is taken from Fleetwood Mac’s ‘The Green Manalishi’ and aptly describes the challenges in translating to reality Professor Gale’s research dreams; together with his fascination with encouraging people to see things they often fail to see.
Such failures arise partly because our visual system is designed to process only selected parts of the world around us and then our brain fills in the details. This process, whilst very efficient, can sometimes lead to serious errors. Understanding why such visuo-cognitive errors arise and how to minimise them so as to improve human performance in different situations is vitally important.
This will be illustrated in this wide ranging lecture which embraces very diverse domains of: breast, cervical and colon cancer screening; homeland security; gun crime detection; driver support systems; medication errors; art appreciation; and assistive technology. Professor Gale provides a journey across his imagination demonstrating how his research passions lead to real world innovation.