06/06: Feng GUI for Russia, Google, and the New World Order
Have you ever wondered what catches people's attention first, when they see a map of the world, election bulletin, your family photograph, or the Google website?
Well, now there's a tool called Feng GUI, which allows you to do exactly that: upload any picture and create a "heatmap" of it. The points on the heatmap show the main focal points and areas of attention on the picture.
While the tool can be very interesting for web designers, who can test prototypes of their websites, as well as photographers, and video makers (yes, they've got a video version of it as well – see a trailer at the end of the post – exciting!), we at Way to Russia were really concerned about the impact of Feng GUI on our motherland, that is Russia.
The first thing that came in mind, was to scan the recent 2008 President Election Bulletin, and look what we found:
As you can see above, Zyuganov's name and text is the main point of attention on that paper. Especially the part of the text, which talks about his being member of the USSR communist party – not the most popular part of his past.
Also, I've always wondered why the map of the world is made the way it is – America to the left, Russia to the right... After checking it out in Feng GUI I found out that there are three centers of power in this world, according to the map: USA, China, and Africa:
Finally, tired of the conspiracy games, I decided to get back to business. Let's see whether these thousands of dollars we spent on Google Ads was really worth it (I've always wondered if anybody sees them or clicks on them – because I don't).
And... voila! It turns out the first three ads at the top right is what the users are looking at when they load the page (as well as the Google logo and search results, of course).
For those of you who wish to geek out and learn more about technology to make sure it's not one big scam, here's some theoretical background. Feng GUI is based on something called saliency detection used in neuroscience. The basic principle of saliency is that any animal (and human for that matter) will direct its attention to the elements (or group of elements), which stand out from the whole. For example, a poisonous flower or insect, a prey running in the desert, a blinking star in the sky... The same principle applies to other senses as well: you are most likely to notice a human touch rather than a dust particle landing on your arm.
Saliency detection must be used extensively in cybernetics and artificial intelligence, so we're very excited about the future use of this technology. It varies from detecting the face on photographs (so that your blog userpics are cropped at the right area), to automatically detecting the best way to compose an advertisement video. Check out this Mission Impossible trailer with heatmap superimposed on it:
If you're interested, try to upload your own images, photos, and websites at www.feng-gui.com, and if you've got interesting results, please, send them to us through Submit Travelogue link at the right on the menu (or click here.)
Tell us what you think about this technology, its use and implications...
Well, now there's a tool called Feng GUI, which allows you to do exactly that: upload any picture and create a "heatmap" of it. The points on the heatmap show the main focal points and areas of attention on the picture.
While the tool can be very interesting for web designers, who can test prototypes of their websites, as well as photographers, and video makers (yes, they've got a video version of it as well – see a trailer at the end of the post – exciting!), we at Way to Russia were really concerned about the impact of Feng GUI on our motherland, that is Russia.
The first thing that came in mind, was to scan the recent 2008 President Election Bulletin, and look what we found:
As you can see above, Zyuganov's name and text is the main point of attention on that paper. Especially the part of the text, which talks about his being member of the USSR communist party – not the most popular part of his past.
Also, I've always wondered why the map of the world is made the way it is – America to the left, Russia to the right... After checking it out in Feng GUI I found out that there are three centers of power in this world, according to the map: USA, China, and Africa:
Finally, tired of the conspiracy games, I decided to get back to business. Let's see whether these thousands of dollars we spent on Google Ads was really worth it (I've always wondered if anybody sees them or clicks on them – because I don't).
And... voila! It turns out the first three ads at the top right is what the users are looking at when they load the page (as well as the Google logo and search results, of course).
For those of you who wish to geek out and learn more about technology to make sure it's not one big scam, here's some theoretical background. Feng GUI is based on something called saliency detection used in neuroscience. The basic principle of saliency is that any animal (and human for that matter) will direct its attention to the elements (or group of elements), which stand out from the whole. For example, a poisonous flower or insect, a prey running in the desert, a blinking star in the sky... The same principle applies to other senses as well: you are most likely to notice a human touch rather than a dust particle landing on your arm.
Saliency detection must be used extensively in cybernetics and artificial intelligence, so we're very excited about the future use of this technology. It varies from detecting the face on photographs (so that your blog userpics are cropped at the right area), to automatically detecting the best way to compose an advertisement video. Check out this Mission Impossible trailer with heatmap superimposed on it:
If you're interested, try to upload your own images, photos, and websites at www.feng-gui.com, and if you've got interesting results, please, send them to us through Submit Travelogue link at the right on the menu (or click here.)
Tell us what you think about this technology, its use and implications...
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