Stanford engineers make editing video as easy as editing text (1 of 2)

A new algorithm allows video editors to modify talking head videos as if they were editing text – copying, pasting, or adding and deleting words.

In television and film, actors often flub small bits of otherwise flawless performances. Other times they leave out a critical word. For editors, the only solution so far is to accept the flaws or fix them with expensive reshoots. Imagine, however, if that editor could modify video using a text transcript. Much like word processing, the editor could easily add new words, delete unwanted ones or completely rearrange the pieces by dragging and dropping them as needed to assemble a finished video that looks almost flawless to the untrained eye.

A team of researchers from Stanford University, Max Planck Institute for Informatics, Princeton University and Adobe Research created such an algorithm for editing talking-head videos – videos showing speakers from the shoulders up. The work could be a boon for video editors and producers but does raise concerns as people increasingly question the validity of images and videos online, the authors said. However, they propose some guidelines for using these tools that would alert viewers and performers that the video has been manipulated. “Unfortunately, technologies like this will always attract bad actors,” said Ohad Fried, a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford. “But the struggle is worth it given the many creative video editing and content creation applications this enables.”

https://news.stanford.edu/2019/06/05/edit-video-editing-text/

>>6686904

Text-based Editing of Talking-head Video

Abstract: Editing talking-head video to change the speech content or to remove filler words is challenging. We propose a novel method to edit talking-head video based on its transcript to produce a realistic output video in which the dialogue of the speaker has been modified, while maintaining a seamless audio-visual flow (i.e. no jump cuts). Our method automatically annotates an input talking-head video with phonemes, visemes, 3D face pose and geometry, reflectance, expression and scene illumination per frame. To edit a video, the user has to only edit the transcript, and an optimization strategy then chooses segments of the input corpus as base material. The annotated parameters corresponding to the selected segments are seamlessly stitched together and used to produce an intermediate video representation in which the lower half of the face is rendered with a parametric face model. Finally, a recurrent video generation network transforms this representation to a photorealistic video that matches the edited transcript. We demonstrate a large variety of edits, such as the addition, removal, and alteration of words, as well as convincing language translation and full sentence synthesis.

SIGGRAPH 2019 Paper. Read below for important ethical considerations. Project page: https://www.ohadf.com/projects/text-b… My webpage (with this and other related projects): https://www.ohadf.com/

>>6686923

>>6686904

Sorry forgot to embed

'Surveillance capitalism': critic urges Toronto to abandon smart city project

Project with Google’s Sidewalk Labs comes under increasing scrutiny amid concerns over privacy and data harvesting

A “smart city” project in Canada has hit yet another snag, as mounting delays and privacy concerns threaten the controversial development along the Toronto’s eastern waterfront. The 12-acre Quayside project, a partnership between Google’s Sidewalk Labs and the city of Toronto, has come under increasing scrutiny amid concerns over privacy and data harvesting. This week, the US venture capitalist Roger McNamee warned that technology companies such as Google cannot be trusted to safely manage the data they collect on residents. “The smart city project on the Toronto waterfront is the most highly evolved version to date of … surveillance capitalism”, he wrote to the city council, suggesting Google will use “algorithms to nudge human behavior” in ways to “favor its business”.

McNamee, an early investor in Facebook and Google, is co-founder of Silver Lake Partners, one of the world’s largest technology investors. But in recent years, he has soured on many of the technology giants and their handling of data and privacy concerns. “No matter what Google is offering, the value to Toronto cannot possibly approach the value your city is giving up,” he wrote, pleading with officials to abandon the project. “It is a dystopian vision that has no place in a democratic society.”

The letter follows news that the project’s advisory panel, Waterfront Toronto, plans to delay a planned vote on the Quayside development to ensure it can undertake an “accountable, transparent, and extensive” evaluation of Sidewalk Labs’ plans, which are expected to be submitted in the coming weeks. “We have adjusted our expected timelines accordingly to ensure that the evaluation process has the time required to meet the expectations of Waterfront Toronto, and the public as a whole,” spokesman Andrew Tumilty said in a statement.

McNamee’s criticisms are the latest in a growing chorus of opposition to the project by high-profile technology investors and executives.

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/jun/06/toronto-smart-city-google-project-privacy-concerns

>>6686975

Baker can you please add this to this >>6686937

It shows the process by which this is done

Texas Couple Who Died in Fiji Emailed Relatives: ‘Throwing up for 8 Hours’

A Texas married couple who died while on vacation in Fiji sent emails about being violently ill before their deaths. However, the messages didn’t indicate that they would die as a result of it. David and Michelle Paul died days after arriving in Fiji on May 22, according to reports. Relatives told ABC News that the couple sent them emails about throwing up numerous times.

“We are both going to doctor now,” Michelle Paul, 35, wrote to her mother, Juliet Calanog, after they both arrived in the Pacific Island nation. She said, “We have been throwing up for 8 hours. Dave has diarrhea. My hands are numb. We will text when we can.” After they went back to their hotel, Michelle wrote another email, saying that they went to a clinic. “We just got back from the clinic. They gave us fluids and anti-nausea drip,” she wrote to her mother. “They gave us electrolyte packets and anti-nausea pills. We still don’t feel 100%. Going to rest in our room.” Her mother responded and told her to drink a lot of fluid and rest. However, Michelle Paul died on May 25 and David Paul died two days after his wife.

The Fiji Ministry of Health said that officials are investigating the cause of death, ruling out the flu. “Influenza has been ruled out, and at this stage, we do not believe there is a risk to the public,” the Fiji Ministry of Health said in a statement. “It would be premature to speculate further on the cause of death until the investigation is complete.” The Health Ministry said that five people, including people who came into close contact with the couple, were quarantined after the couple died. They are all “currently well,” the ministry said.

Tracey Calanog, Michelle’s sister-in-law, told WFAA that the two were “very physically fit,” saying that Michelle was a former student-athlete and David was a U.S. Air Force veteran. “They were planning an amazing vacation,” she added “They always wanted to explore.” According to People magazine, Marc Calanog, the father of Michelle Paul, the couple left behind a son. “I don’t even know how to say it to Ayden because [he] is 2 years old,” he told the news outlet. “Once I have it all more clear, I guess I’m going to start talking to a priest and ask him for help to see how I can tell this to Ayden.” Marc Calanog said he and his wife are the primary caretakers of the boy. “Overall, we will recover,” Marc added. “There’s no question because our focus now is on what to do with Ayden. We cannot be depressed and [not] have a clear mind because we have to handle this responsibility.”

The Fiji Broadcasting Corporation reported that police on the island have confirmed that an illness caused their deaths. The report added that further testing on the remains will be done overseas. Other details about the case are not clear.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/texas-couple-who-died-in-fiji-emailed-relatives-throwing-up-for-8-hours_2953944.html

>>6687017

Agree and they admit it can be used for nefarious purposes..Makes you wonder just how many more of these Fake videos are out there.

Anon's is there a Q drop regarding Fiji water or Fiji in general? I can't seem to locate

>>6687142

Indeed that is true, I was thinking more on a contemporary level the here and now.

>>>6687201

>>6687202

Thanks, that's what I found, I might be thinking of a POTUS twitter then.

>>6687209

Thank you it was driving me nuts after reading about the couple who just died there. I couldn't remember the context.