Mr Tom Worthington

Adjunct Lecturer
ANU College of Engineering, Computing and Cybernetics
T: +61 2 6125 5694

Areas of expertise

  • Data Structures 080403
  • Markup Languages 080404
  • Web Technologies (Excl. Web Search) 080505
  • Pacific Peoples Information And Knowledge Systems 080614
  • Database Management 080604
  • Records And Information Management (Excl. Business Records And Information Management) 080708
  • Library And Information Studies Not Elsewhere Classified 080799
  • Environmental Technologies 090703
  • Science, Technology And Engineering Curriculum And Pedagogy 130212
  • Educational Technology And Computing 130306
  • Communications And Media Policy 160503
  • Research, Science And Technology Policy 160511
  • Defence Studies 160604
  • Professional Ethics (Incl. Police And Research Ethics) 220107

Research interests

ICT Sustainability, Internet and Web Policy, Emergency Website Design, Metadata, e-commerce and professional ethics, Electronic Publishing, Electronic Records Management, Data Management, Defence IT Policy, National R&D Policy.

Biography

Tom Worthington is an IT consultant and has been an expert witness in several court cases involving international patent, computer, web and Internet issues, as well as advising governments and companies on computer strategy. He is a course designer and teacher for vocational and postgraduate university courses on ICT sustainability, design of web sites, e-commerce and professional ethics. Tom has been an expert witness in several court cases involving international patent, computer, web and Internet issues, as well as advising governments and companies on ICT problems.

Current student projects

Video enhancement software for poor eyesight

Project Code: CECS_686

Keywords:

TV, Video, accessibility, disability, vision, software development

Outline:

This projects investigates algorithms for enhancing video images for people with poor eyesight, in particular macular degeneration. The software would enhance the import parts of images, such as people, particularly facial features and objects in the foreground. The result would be a cartoon-like effect with a solid line
around geometric shapes, such as faces, with and high contrast eyes, nose and mouth.

There has been extensive research on modifying video for people with limited eyesight, including by modification of open source MPEG decoding algorithms (1). Techniques for measuring the effectiveness of the modifications have been investigated (2).

However, the techniques used have assumed that the resulting image should still be acceptable to a person with normal vision. This limits the usefulness of the techniques for people with very limited eyesight.

Also it is assumed that there is limited processing capacity to run the enhancement algorithm and so only relatively simple techniques are used and that what is sued has to be suitable for mass deployment hard coded into the TV set.

It should be feasible to produce cartoon-like images which would be easy to see with very limited eyesight. This should be feasible using the higher processing capacity now available in modern digital TV sets. Also it should be feasible to download the software into exiting TV sets via
an Internet connection. The same technique should be usable as a downloaded PC, smart phone and tablet "App". It should also be usable as an add-on for YouTube and simile web based video services.

The software is being developed at ANU CECS udner the supervision of Tom Worthington and tested
at the London Eye Hospital under the supervision of Lyndon Da Cruz.

The software will be made available for free use under an open source licence and the research findings published free online with a Creative Commons licence.

Goals of this project

Understanding of the effects of image manipulation on vision.
Development of software for consumer devices.

Background Literature

References:

1. Post Transmission Digital Video Enhancement for People with Visual Impairments Matthew Fullerton and Eli Peli J Soc Inf Disp. 2006 January; 14(1): 15–24. doi: 10.1889/1.2166829.
http://ukpmc.ac.uk/articles/PMC1413511.

2. Measuring perceived video quality of MPEG enhancement by people with impaired vision Matthew Fullerton, Russell L. Woods, Fuensanta A. Vera-Diaz, and Eli Peli J Opt Soc Am A Opt Image Sci Vis. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2008 December 1. PMCID: PMC2131737 Published in final edited form as: J Opt Soc Am A Opt Image Sci Vis.
2007 December; 24(12): B174–B187.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2131737/

Links

Tom Worthington
Lyndon Da Cruz
Post Transmission Digital Video Enhancement for People with Visual Impairments
Measuring perceived video quality of MPEG enhancement by people with impaired vision

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Updated:  19 March 2024 / Responsible Officer:  Director (Research Services Division) / Page Contact:  Researchers