Heterogeneous multicore processors offer an energy-efficient alternative to homogeneous multicores. Typically, heterogeneous multi-core refers to a system with more than one core where all the cores use a single ISA but differ in one or more micro-architectural configurations. A carefully designed multicore system consists of cores of diverse power and performance profiles. During execution, an application is run on a core that offers the best trade-off between performance and energy-efficiency. Since the resource needs of an application may vary with time, so does the optimal core choice. Moving a thread from one core to another involves transferring the entire processor state and cache warm-up. Frequent migration leads to large performance overhead, negating any benefits of migration. Infrequent migration on the other hand leads to missed opportunities. Thus, reducing overhead of migration is integral to harnessing benefits of heterogeneous multicores. \par This work proposes \textit{AdaCore}, a novel core architecture which pushes the heterogeneity exploited in the heterogeneous multicore into a single core. \textit{AdaCore} primarily addresses the resource bottlenecks in workloads. The design attempts to adaptively match the resource demands by reconfiguring on-chip resources at a fine-grain granularity. The adaptive core morphing allows core configurations with diverse power and performance profiles within a single core by adaptive voltage, frequency and resource reconfiguration. Towards this end, the proposed novel architecture while providing energy savings, improves performance with a low overhead in-core reconfiguration. This thesis further compares \textit{AdaCore} with a standard Out-of-Order core with capability to perform Dynamic Voltage and Frequency Scaling (DVFS) designed to achieve energy efficiency. The results presented in this thesis indicate that the proposed scheme can improve the performance/Watt of application, on average, by 32\% over a static out-of-order core and by 14\% over DVFS. The proposed scheme improves $IPS^{2}/Watt$ by 38\% over static out-of-order core.

The steep growth of video-games is demanding a higher amount of characters in the games. The process of generating characters is very expensive and time consuming. Consequently, this process doesn’t cover the current demands and could be optimized by developing a generative model able to synthesize high- quality 3D avatar faces within minutes. This model would result in drastic gains for gaming companies. Therefore, the aim of this project is to implement a model able to generate realistic 3D avatar faces by generating texture and shape when a limited amount of data is given (<1k samples). This type of model is called 3D Morphable Model and it will also learn the correlation between shape and texture in order to generate consistent results. In order to achieve this final model, which is called joint model, individual models for texture and shape are also developed. The three type of models are built upon StyleGAN2-ADA architecture. The final design of the joint model has three discriminators: a joint discriminator to ensure consistency and two individual discriminators to have good quality for shape and texture. This model was inspired from [1]. The experiments show that the best texture model uses the augmentation techniques introduced in StyleGAN2-ADA. The experiments over the joint model prove that having just one discriminator is not enough to generate good quality results. On the other hand, the joint model with three discriminators give good quality and coherent results. In addition, this joint model outperforms the results of the shape model when training the model with the same number of samples, 969 samples. This model shows a promising path for further improvements. / Den kraftiga ökningen av videospel kräver ett större antal karaktärer i spelen. Processen att skapa karaktärer är mycket dyr och tidskrävande. Denna process täcker därför inte den nuvarande efterfrågan och skulle kunna optimeras genom att utveckla en generativ modell som kan syntetisera högkvalitativa 3D-avataransikten av hög kvalitet på några minuter. Denna modell skulle leda till drastiska vinster för spelföretagen. Syftet med detta projekt är därför att implementera en modell som kan generera realistiska 3D-avataransikten genom att generera textur och form när en begränsad mängd data ges (<1k samplingar). Denna typ av modell kallas 3D Morphable Model och den kommer också att lära sig korrelationen mellan form och textur för att generera konsekventa resultat. För att uppnå denna slutliga modell, som kallas gemensam modell, utvecklas också individuella modeller för textur och form. De tre typerna av modeller bygger på StyleGAN2- ADA-arkitekturen. Den slutliga utformningen av den gemensamma modellen har tre diskriminatorer: en gemensam diskriminator för att säkerställa konsistens och två individuella diskriminatorer för att uppnå god kvalitet för form och textur. Denna modell har inspirerats av [1]. Experimenten visar att den bästa texturmodellen använder de förstärkningstekniker som infördes i StyleGAN2-ADA. Experimenten med den gemensamma modellen visar att det inte räcker med bara en diskriminator för att generera resultat av god kvalitet. Å andra sidan ger den gemensamma modellen med tre diskriminatorer bra kvalitet och sammanhängande resultat. Dessutom överträffar denna gemensamma modell resultaten från formmodellen när modellen tränas med samma antal prov, 969 prov. Denna modell visar en lovande väg för ytterligare förbättringar.

The ability to synthesise the effects of ageing in human faces has numerous uses from aiding the search for missing people to improving recognition algorithms and aiding surgical planning. The principal contribution of this thesis is a novel method for synthesising the visual effects of facial ageing using a training set of three-dimensional scans to train a statistical ageing model. This data-base is constructed by fitting a statistical Face Model known as a Morphable Model to a set of two dimensional photographs of a set of subjects at different age points in their lives. We verify the effectiveness of this algorithm with both quantitative and psychological evaluation. Most ageing research has concentrated on building models using two-dimensional images. This has two major shortcomings, firstly some of the information related to shape change may be lost by the projection to two-dimensions; secondly the algorithms are very sensitive to even slight variations in pose and lighting. By using standard face-fitting methods to fit a statistical face model to the image we overcome these problems by reconstructing the lost shape information, and can use a model of physical rotations and light transfer to overcome the issues of pose and rotation. We show that the three-dimensional models captured by face-fitting offer an effective method of synthesising facial ageing. The second contribution is a new algorithm for ageing a face model based on Projection to Latent Structures also known as Partial Least Squares. This method attempts to separate the training set into a set of basis vectors that best explains the shape and colour changes related to ageing from those factors within the training set that are unrelated to ageing. We show that this method is more accurate than other linear techniques at producing a face model that resembles the individual at the target age and of producing a face image of the correct perceived age. The third contribution is a careful evaluation of three well known ageing methods. We use both quantitative evaluation to determine the accuracy of the ageing method, and perceptual evaluation to determine how well the model performs in terms of perceived age increase and also identity retention. We show that linear methods more accurately capture ageing and identity information if they are trained using an individualised model, and that ageing is more accurately captured if PLS is used to train the model.

Les variations de pose et d’expression constituent des limitations importantes à la reconnaissance de visages en deux dimensions. Dans cette thèse, nous proposons d’augmenter la robustesse des algorithmes de reconnaissances faciales aux changements de pose et d’expression. Pour cela, nous proposons d’utiliser un modèle 3D déformable de visage permettant d’isoler les déformations d’identité de celles relatives à l’expression. Plus précisément, étant donné une image de probe avec expression, une nouvelle vue synthétique du visage est générée avec une pose frontale et une expression neutre. Nous présentons deux méthodes de correction de l’expression. La première est basée sur une connaissance a priori dans le but de changer l’expression de l’image vers une expression neutre. La seconde méthode, conçue pour les scénarios de vérification, est basée sur le transfert de l’expression de l’image de référence vers l’image de probe. De nombreuses expérimentations ont montré une amélioration significative des performances et ainsi valider l’apport de nos méthodes. Nous proposons ensuite une extension de ces méthodes pour traiter de la problématique émergente de reconnaissance de visage à partir d’un flux vidéo. Pour finir, nous présentons différents travaux permettant d’améliorer les performances obtenues dans des cas spécifiques et ainsi améliorer les performances générales obtenues grâce à notre méthode. / Expression and pose variations are major challenges for reliable face recognition (FR) in 2D. In this thesis, we aim to endow state of the art face recognition SDKs with robustness to simultaneous facial expression variations and pose changes by using an extended 3D Morphable Model (3DMM) which isolates identity variations from those due to facial expressions. Specifically, given a probe with expression, a novel view of the face is generated where the pose is rectified and the expression neutralized. We present two methods of expression neutralization. The first one uses prior knowledge to infer the neutral expression from an input image. The second method, specifically designed for verification, is based on the transfer of the gallery face expression to the probe. Experiments using rectified and neutralized view with a standard commercial FR SDK on two 2D face databases show significant performance improvement and demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed approach. Then, we aim to endow the state of the art FR SDKs with the capabilities to recognize faces in videos. Finally, we present different methods for improving biometric performances for specific cases.

This paper describes the problem of three-dimensional object correspondence and presents an algorithm for matching two three-dimensional colored surfaces using polygon reduction and the minimization of an energy function. At the core of this algorithm is a novel data-dependent multi-resolution pyramid for polygonal surfaces. The algorithm is general to correspondence between any two manifolds of the same dimension embedded in a higher dimensional space. Results demonstrating correspondences between various objects are presented and a method for incorporating user input is also detailed.

[Non communiqué] / In the past decade, 3D statistical face model (3D Morphable Model) has received much attention by both the commercial and public sectors. It can be used for face modeling for photo-realistic personalized 3D avatars and for the application 2D face recognition technique in biometrics. This thesis describes how to achieve an automatic 3D face reconstruction system that could be helpful for building photo-realistic personalized 3D avatars and for 2D face recognition with pose variability. The first systems we propose Combined Active Shape Model for 2D frontal facial landmark location and its application in 2D frontal face recognition in degraded condition. The second proposal is 3D Active Shape Model (3D-ASM) algorithm which is presented to automatically locate facial landmarks from different views. The third contribution is to use biometric data (2D images and 3D scan ground truth) for quantitatively evaluating the 3D face reconstruction. Finally, we address the issue of automatic 2D face recognition across pose using 3D Morphable Model

Esta tesis investiga sobre el proceso de transformación de la forma arquitectónica, analizando una técnica específica denominada morphing. La técnica del morphing se utiliza en los gráficos por ordenador para la transformación de la forma entre dos o más objetos dados. Desde un punto de vista técnico, se revisan y actualizan las metodologías y aplicaciones existentes, sus características específicas y sus incidencias sobre la arquitectura. Desde un punto de vista práctico, se utilizan una serie de modelos de las casas Usonianas de Frank Lloyd Wright, con el fin de experimentar la técnica y ver qué utilidades se pueden obtener a partir de su lógica de diseño. Como resultado de este análisis se obtiene una metodología genérica para el procedimiento de un morphing arquitectónico. / This thesis investigates the transformation of architectural form, analyzing a specific technique called morphing. Morphing is a technique used in computer graphics to transform a form between two or more given objects. From a technical point of view, the existing techniques are reviewed and updated, as well as their specific characteristics and impact on architecture. From a practical point of view, some models of Usonian houses of Frank Lloyd Wright are used to experience the technique and see which utilities are available from his design logic. As a result of this analysis a generic methodology for the process of architectural morphing is obtained.

L’auteure traite des stratagèmes de propriété occulte et de vote vide orchestrés par l’entremise des instruments dérivés. Dans un premier temps, cette recherche expose les diverses perturbations occasionnées par ces stratagèmes sur le système d’alerte et de notification ainsi que sur le droit corporatif canadien. Pour illustrer ces propos, une revue de la jurisprudence est détaillée. De plus, de nombreuses solutions législatives sont proposées afin de pallier aux utilisations potentiellement abusives des instruments dérivés. La solution la mieux adaptée au contexte des marchés financiers canadiens est finalement sélectionnée. / The research paper herein deals with hidden morphable ownership schemes and empty voting strategies orchestrated through derivatives. Initially, the author exposes the various disturbances caused by these schemes on early warning systems and follows up with repercussions that reverberate through to the Canadian corporate laws framework. Detailed case reviews are also presented to highlight the practical implications of these aforementioned schemes. Legislative solutions to mitigate the potential misuse of derivatives are proposed and ultimately the preferred solution tailored to Canadian financial markets is selected.

The simplicity principle posits that we interpret sense data as the simplest consistent distal cause, or that our high level perceptual representations of stimuli are optimized for simplicity. The traditional paradigm used to test this principle is coding theory, where alternate representations of stimuli are constructed, simplicity is measured as shortness of representation length, and behavioural experiments attempt to show that the shortest representations correspond best to perception. In this study we apply coding theory to marker-based human walking motion. We compare two representation schemes. The first is based on marker coordinates in a body-centred Cartesian coordinate system. The second is based on a model of 15 rigid body segments with Euler angles and a Cartesian translation for each. Both of our schemes are principal component (PC)-based implementations of a norm-based multidimensional object space – a type of model for high level perceptual schemes that has received attention in the literature over the past two decades. Representation length is quantified as number of retained PC’s, with error increasing with discarded PC’s. We generalize simplicity to efficiency measured as error across all possible lengths, where more efficient schemes admit less error across lengths. We find that the Cartesian coordinates-based scheme is more efficient than the Euler angles and translations-based scheme across a database of 100 walkers. In order to link this finding to perception we turn to the caricature effect that subjects can identify caricatures of familiar stimuli more accurately than veridicals. Our design was to compare walker caricatures generated in our two schemes in the hope of finding that one gives caricatures that benefit identification more than the other, from which we would conclude the former to be a better model of the true perceptual scheme. However, we find that analogous caricatures between the two schemes are only distinguishable at caricature levels so extreme that identification performance breaks down, so our design became infeasible and no conclusion for a simplicity principle in walker perception is reached. We also measure a curve of increasing then decreasing identification performance with caricature level and an optimal level at approximately double the distinctiveness of a typical walker. / Thesis (Master, Neuroscience Studies) -- Queen's University, 2010-10-29 19:16:39.943