title: Context-aware framework for analysis of horse-race videos

authors: Hedayati, Mohammad

subjects: sports analysis systems

abstract: Today sports analysis systems draw the attention of many commercial entities and are providing many opportunities for computer vision researchers to study and develop automated sports analysis systems. The primary objective of a sports video analysis is to interpret low-level visual features to high-level semantics that can be understood by the end user. Although all sports video analysis systems are based on similar principles at the low-level visual extraction, interpreting this visual information to high-level human understanding is extremely specific to the sport in question.
This project is the very first attempt to evaluate the jockeys’ performance from horse-race TV broadcasts. The aim of this thesis is to extract high-level information from the horse race by automatically detecting and tracking jockeys, specifically at turning points of the race. However, detecting and tracking of jockeys are extremely difficult. This is because in most horse-races there are more than six jockeys and they closely follow each other to gain a leading position,
consequently locating jockeys and maintaining their identities through a video sequence is highly challenging due to the frequent occlusion. In addition, the background in horse-race videos is continually changing, thus there is not only background clutter but the jockeys themselves may be obscured by obstacles such as trees, towers and bars.
To tackle these challenges, a context-aware analysis system is proposed. The proposed system is developed based on deterministic reasoning which was obtained by observing various horse races. One important property of horse-races is the group dynamic behaviour of jockeys in the race. The jockeys race around
a circular track and the camera typically follow the jockeys, thus the jockeys relative to each other tend to move as a slowly changing group. This homogeneous characteristic of jockeys in the race is very useful, especially when local information of jockeys is poor or abrupt due to occlusion or background clutter.
The proposed system combines multiple cues, such as local jockeys’ information, background characteristics and group dynamic properties, to detect and track jockeys around a turning segment of a horse-race. We demonstrate that our proposed system can be generalized to work on other domains. The outline of the proposed model contains three modules; (1) scene analysis (2) jockey detection and, (3) tracking and data association. The main objective of scene
analysis is to extract the turning segment in the race. The detection of jockeys is accomplished by determining the location of each jockey’s cap. For the tracking of the jockeys, we implement a robust hierarchical tracking scheme which iteratively adapts and updates itself by gathering the jockeys’ properties at each of the point, object and group levels. To boost the tracking accuracy, data association is applied as a multi-target management system to maintain multiple jockeys’
identities over time, to initialise the tracking and to terminate trajectories.

text: Context-aware framework for analysis of horse-race videos Today sports analysis systems draw the attention of many commercial entities and are providing many opportunities for computer vision researchers to study and develop automated sports analysis systems. The primary objective of a sports video analysis is to interpret low-level visual features to high-level semantics that can be understood by the end user. Although all sports video analysis systems are based on similar principles at the low-level visual extraction, interpreting this visual information to high-level human understanding is extremely specific to the sport in question.
This project is the very first attempt to evaluate the jockeys’ performance from horse-race TV broadcasts. The aim of this thesis is to extract high-level information from the horse race by automatically detecting and tracking jockeys, specifically at turning points of the race. However, detecting and tracking of jockeys are extremely difficult. This is because in most horse-races there are more than six jockeys and they closely follow each other to gain a leading position,
consequently locating jockeys and maintaining their identities through a video sequence is highly challenging due to the frequent occlusion. In addition, the background in horse-race videos is continually changing, thus there is not only background clutter but the jockeys themselves may be obscured by obstacles such as trees, towers and bars.
To tackle these challenges, a context-aware analysis system is proposed. The proposed system is developed based on deterministic reasoning which was obtained by observing various horse races. One important property of horse-races is the group dynamic behaviour of jockeys in the race. The jockeys race around
a circular track and the camera typically follow the jockeys, thus the jockeys relative to each other tend to move as a slowly changing group. This homogeneous characteristic of jockeys in the race is very useful, especially when local information of jockeys is poor or abrupt due to occlusion or background clutter.
The proposed system combines multiple cues, such as local jockeys’ information, background characteristics and group dynamic properties, to detect and track jockeys around a turning segment of a horse-race. We demonstrate that our proposed system can be generalized to work on other domains. The outline of the proposed model contains three modules; (1) scene analysis (2) jockey detection and, (3) tracking and data association. The main objective of scene
analysis is to extract the turning segment in the race. The detection of jockeys is accomplished by determining the location of each jockey’s cap. For the tracking of the jockeys, we implement a robust hierarchical tracking scheme which iteratively adapts and updates itself by gathering the jockeys’ properties at each of the point, object and group levels. To boost the tracking accuracy, data association is applied as a multi-target management system to maintain multiple jockeys’
identities over time, to initialise the tracking and to terminate trajectories.

year: 2018

title: Water systems: New Zealand particularly vulerable to climate change

authors: White, Iain

abstract: This article outlines the findings of research  commissioned by the Deep South National Science Challenge - a major interdisciplinary collaboration designed to help enable New Zealanders to adapt, manage risk, and thrive in a changing climate.

text: Water systems: New Zealand particularly vulerable to climate change This article outlines the findings of research  commissioned by the Deep South National Science Challenge - a major interdisciplinary collaboration designed to help enable New Zealanders to adapt, manage risk, and thrive in a changing climate.

year: 2018-03

title: Context counts : leading educational reform in New Zealand secondary schools

authors: Morrison, Michele

subjects: context

abstract: Educational leadership and organisational literature is replete with syntheses of effective leader behaviours, change sequences and reform models, yet few studies explore the nuanced manner in which individual leaders make sense of and respond to the dynamic influences shaping their thinking and practice over time. In posing the question, how do principals experience leadership during periods of intentional educational change, this study gains insight into the lived experience of five New Zealand secondary school principals as they lead school wide implementation of Phase 5 Te Kotahitanga, a reform initiative designed to reduce disparities in the educational achievement of indigenous Māori students through the introduction of a culturally responsive pedagogy of relations. The case narratives arising from a three year dialogue with participants examine the genesis of each principal’s commitment to equity in educational access, opportunity and outcome; their evolving thinking and practice; and the manner in which people and structures within each school field enable and constrain their leadership endeavours. Findings demonstrate that leading counter-hegemonic change is a situated, complex and demanding undertaking, the intensity of which eludes much of the leadership and change literature. Hermeneutic reading of these rich qualitative accounts of lived experience suggests that, far from being detached observers, leaders both embody and are embedded in context. This exposes the shortcomings of literature that dichotomises the two and makes Bourdieu’s lens on practice as a temporal, embodied, discursive and social activity an important heuristic through which to view the holism of change leadership. The implications arising from this study are fourfold: leadership narratives open windows to natural and vicarious meaning making, personal biography is of central rather than peripheral importance, emotional and micropolitical literacy crucial, and professional mentoring a potentially powerful catalyst in building practice wisdom.

text: Context counts : leading educational reform in New Zealand secondary schools Educational leadership and organisational literature is replete with syntheses of effective leader behaviours, change sequences and reform models, yet few studies explore the nuanced manner in which individual leaders make sense of and respond to the dynamic influences shaping their thinking and practice over time. In posing the question, how do principals experience leadership during periods of intentional educational change, this study gains insight into the lived experience of five New Zealand secondary school principals as they lead school wide implementation of Phase 5 Te Kotahitanga, a reform initiative designed to reduce disparities in the educational achievement of indigenous Māori students through the introduction of a culturally responsive pedagogy of relations. The case narratives arising from a three year dialogue with participants examine the genesis of each principal’s commitment to equity in educational access, opportunity and outcome; their evolving thinking and practice; and the manner in which people and structures within each school field enable and constrain their leadership endeavours. Findings demonstrate that leading counter-hegemonic change is a situated, complex and demanding undertaking, the intensity of which eludes much of the leadership and change literature. Hermeneutic reading of these rich qualitative accounts of lived experience suggests that, far from being detached observers, leaders both embody and are embedded in context. This exposes the shortcomings of literature that dichotomises the two and makes Bourdieu’s lens on practice as a temporal, embodied, discursive and social activity an important heuristic through which to view the holism of change leadership. The implications arising from this study are fourfold: leadership narratives open windows to natural and vicarious meaning making, personal biography is of central rather than peripheral importance, emotional and micropolitical literacy crucial, and professional mentoring a potentially powerful catalyst in building practice wisdom.

year: 2019