Idea Blog
Welcome! The purpose of this web page is to record and develop my creative ideas into things that someone could actually use or turn into a product. Unfortunately, my profession (lawyer) does not permit me to explore all of the creative output that I have, mainly because of time commitments. One reason I'm doing this is to see if there is any interest from people in the cutting edge of the fields involved, because that could lead to contacts in academia or companies that could lead to some type of side gig. All intellectual property herein is licensed under the Creative Commons license for attribution non-commercial share alike uses. Commercial or other users should contact me at andrew[delete-me]@andrewwatters.com for other uses. With that said, please enjoy these writings.
2011-11-20 03:11 PST - Introduction to Facial Action
I'm giving a guest lecture at Stanford on December 6, 2011 in a course on cross-cultural communication. Check out my course webpage for a thought-provoking introduction to the field of the facial expression of emotion.
2011-09-10 05:16 PDT - Airborne Patriot Missile Umbrella for Defense Against Surface-to-Air and Air-to-Air Missiles
Sure, you can use flares to disrupt heat-seeking missiles, and use stealthy technology to disrupt radar-seeking missiles, but what is your success rate? Why not adapt the already excellent Patriot missile battery to an aerial configuration to actively seek and destroy incoming missiles from up to 100 km away?
Solution: attach the Patriot missile battery and phased array radar to a large escort aircraft such as a C-130 converted to a missile platform. This would be even better than having individual fighters use the system, because you could use full-size Patriot missiles and 100 km phased array radar all around the exterior of the C-130 to provide 360 degree coverage. In this fashion, you would have a moving sphere through which no SAM or air-to-air missile could travel. The concept is similar to the "umbrella" created by an aircraft carrier group as it travels on the ocean, or the "umbrella" created by air defense artillery on the ground. Here's my usual crude mockup:
An airborne defense umbrella seems like a good way to get fighters to their destinations, especially because you could fly at high altitudes. Slower speeds would mean longer travel times but more fuel conservation. Upon reaching the general area of the destination, the whole group could fly at low altitude and engage ground targets with impunity as the missile platform engaged SAMs. Here is my proposal to DARPA regarding same.
2011-09-10 04:02 PDT - Actively Noise-Canceled Wiretaps to Defeat Use of Television or White Noise to Mask Conversations of Interest
We see in gangster movies the use of a loud television or running tap water to mask conspiratorial conversations, with apparent success. This idea is inspired by the last chapter of Rogue Warrior, the autobiography of Navy SEAL Richard Marcinko. In the book, Marcinko describes a visit from a CIA officer who tried to recruit him for an assassination mission in Operation Desert Storm. The officer visited Marcinko at his home and, in the words of Marcinko, turned up the volume of the television so loud that it was painful to hear.
The solution to the use of television or running water to mask wiretapped conversations is active noise cancellation, in which a waveform the exact opposite of the audio is transmitted in realtime. The challenge with television is that the realtime noise cancellation quality may be too low to make out the underlying conversation, at least with the available technology back in 1990 when Marcinko wrote his book. Solution: listen to the television instead of the conversation and identify what show is being watched. Obtain a copy of the television show from the producers. Adjust the audio of the obtained recording to match the echo, pitch, and other variations of the TV audio from the wiretap. Apply active noise cancellation by overlaying a waveform opposite the processed TV audio on top of the wiretapped recording. Presto, you have a better quality recording of what is being said in the underlying conversation. For all I know the FBI already does this with its classified national security wiretap devices, which are reportedly more sophisticated than wiretaps used in criminal trials.
2011-09-09 03:39 PDT - In the Immediate Aftermath of a Shooting: The Reverse-Miranda Response Model
This idea is actually not mine; that credit goes to my uncle, Chris Watters. However, I implemented and refined the material. The premise is that civilian holders of concealed weapons permits who get involved in shootings need a "reverse Miranda" admonition that lets them cooperate with officers at the scene but also protects their rights. Thus the instructional card, which is a credit card-type card that easily fits in someone's wallet. The user hands his ID, carry permit, attorney's card, and this card to the police upon becoming involved in an incident, and refuses to make further statements without his attorney present. This item is now on sale! I have preorders for 100 cards already, and they'll make great gifts.
I love Adobe InDesign.
2010-09-20 21:39 PDT - Visualization and AudioVisualization of Internet Traffic Based on Moving Fields of Schläfli-Hess Polychora, Hyper-Polygons, and Modulated Noise Representing a Cloud Storm of Hosts, Packets, Their Routes, and Unusual Events Such as Sudden Bursting and Outages
John Carmack and/or Google are invited to discuss this matter at a mutually convenient time. Google has all of the data necessary, has the financing, and has the need for the software. Mr. Carmack has the ability to write the 3-D engine required. Here are some 2-D representations of the virtual objects that would be used:
Here's a very rough mockup:
Each stellated hyperdodecahedron represents a major internet carrier, while the background noise indicates a cloud storm of packets. Routes I haven't figured out yet, but the lightning bolt theme is nice because it could also hold data. Each hyperdodecahedron could hold a vast amount of data and condense it into something reasonably understandable. These objects would be moving in 3-D space and the user would have some type of control panel.
Flagging of interesting data points, patterns, and packets would be a key feature. For example, intelligence purposes or monitoring particular users' internet accesses to trace the cascade of information between members of a terrorist cell. Or, instant spotting of denial of service attacks. The possibilities seem rather endless. Google did a visualization of search query volume by country that was very impressive, so (with respect) this is that to the next dimension. For example, "recursively traversed lightning." I'm going to need some sophisticated software to do the full mockup.
2010-09-20 21:57 PDT - Method for Proving or Disproving Whether There is a Statistically Significant Correlation Between the Phenomenon Known as Sporadically Photographic Memory and a Possible Phenomenon That Could be Termed Sporadically Audiographic Memory
Other attorneys dislike talking to me on the phone for this reason; their own statements, verbatim, end up in declarations filed with the court. I prefer email anyway so that works for me.
2010-09-20 21:37 PDT - Method for Proving or Disproving a Statistically Significant Correlation Between Extreme Natural Visual Acuity and the Phenomenon Known as Sporadically Photographic Memory
In a nutshell, do people otherwise equal who have differing visual acuity have differing abilities to recall previously seen identical events? This could be tested with identical twins, one of whom experienced negative changes in his/her vision early in life. It would be a challenge controlling for other confounding factors, but that doesn't mean it's impossible.
2009-11-20 10:41 PST - Flashmob Deployment of Mesh Network-Enabled Reactive Government Agents
This is going to be awesome. I wish I could document ideas like these for a living instead of simply writing down the titles and never getting around to writing the full analysis. I am inviting any think tanks or government contractors that have stumbled upon my page to send me a message any time...you and I know who you are.
One of the challenges faced in the practice of law is intentional vagueness. My experience has been that people purposely make vague, plausible, but untrue statements to create false impressions and/or lie, while giving the appearance of being forthcoming, sincere, and reasonable. The statements are vague so the speaker can later say "oh, I didn't mean that- what I meant was...." In other words, wiggle room to "clarify" (meaning correct) what the speaker said if it is later discovered that the speaker was lying or failed to disclose something important. In this way, statements in law practice (and politics) often have the air of a public relations official trying to deflect negativity from his company. Consider the following apalling quote from an excellent New York Times article (background is provided first):
Bob Graham, a former Democratic senator from Florida, who as the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee underwent a briefing similar to Ms. Pelosi's about three weeks after hers, sides with the speaker. He said he recalled a "bland" session.
"I do not have any recollection that day of there being a discussion of something that would have been as neon as waterboarding or other torture techniques," Mr. Graham said.
Got all that? Pretty good example of an intentionally vague, misleading statement that allows Mr. Graham to give false impressions and/or lie without penalty if he is later caught. Here is the hyperjection of his statement:
PDF (208kb).
Perhaps he could have said instead:
"I believe waterboarding was discussed, because it was on the agenda. However, I do not recall specifics because I intentionally don't take notes, so that no one can subpoena my notes and later prove I was told something that makes me look bad."
Had Mr. Graham made the statement above, it would allow the subject organization to bring out people who suddenly had conspicuously clear memories of what was discussed, so the subject organization could fill in the gaps. I'm not sure which is worse.
I'm inferring that statements like this are planned out, discussed, critiqued, revised, and approved, rather than made contemporaneously and with sincerity. They just slide on by much of the time, perhaps because it takes so much effort to refute what is said, not to mention that getting documents and other hard data is one of the only ways to prove someone lied.
What you do in this situation in a deposition or trial is simply keep asking the question or repeating the person's statements back to them and asking whether that is correct. For example, "Mr. Graham, what I'm hearing you say is that you don't remember waterboarding being discussed that day. Am I understanding you correctly? May I assume your contemporaneous notes of the hearing accurately reflect the subjects that were discussed? Do you have any information that your contemporaneous notes are not accurate? Oh, you didn't take contemporaneous notes? Why not? Did anything prevent you or one of your aides from taking contemporaneous notes, keeping a copy of the agenda, recording the subjects discussed in a chronological form, taking minutes of the meeting, sending a confirming letter to the Agency head laying out your understanding of his testimony, or otherwise ensuring that if you were questioned at some future date about a subject as sensitive and serious as waterboarding, which you admit is a torture technique, you would have a more accurate recollection of the facts than you now have? Thanks, I didn't think so." [Awkward silence as the jury contemplates the meaning of the witness's blank expression on the stand.]
2009-08-29 7:29 PDT - 3-D Tracing of Financial Transactions
Another idea I will never have time to do.
2008-12-25 04:35 PST - Helical Analytics
This idea relates to condensing a massive amount of information into an intuitive spatial paradigm that is easier to work with than a lengthy 2-D chart or linear approach to storing information. Consider the plight of a person using the program analog to look at website traffic. Although analog is a great program, it's still a daunting task to glean meaningful information from a high-traffic website's data logs. Sure, there are web data analytics tools that offer, for a price, a number of different ways of looking at data logs including beautiful charts. But what I'm thinking of is something I don't believe has been done: an information management tool in hardware-accelerated 3-D space that keeps track of a massive amount of data in real time. Kind of like the LGL library only zoomable, flyable, and live-updating. This kind of tool could be for companies with very popular websites like nytimes.com. The graphical representation in the program consists of one or more than one clockwise single helix composed of a cloud of discrete data points rotating counter-clockwise in 3-D space. Almost like a galaxy of stars rotating in three dimensions instead of two. The top of the helix represents new data, which fades in and progresses toward the bottom of the screen and fades out as it ages. Each entity/point is a rollover item that shows thumbnails of accessed webpages or other detail information regarding the web user and subject matter of his accesses. As the items rotate downward, the detail information stays open if desired and the administrator can choose to see what else that particular web user is doing, which results in highlighted points on the helix that can be separated out into an independent diagram as needed.
[Update 2009-03-09 18:01 PDT- I found a solution for this where I least expected it- a screensaver in Linux that shows spiral rotating blocks. I will do a movie of this so you see what I mean, but here is a screenshot:
]
Refinements would include automatic flagging of interesting data points for administrator review; adjustment of speed of rotation to deal with staffing resources or increases in data flow; changes in geometry of the graphic to reflect user preferences; automation of reporting features for various scenarios; a fixed number of points to reflect existing resources rather than an event-based system; assignment of data points or sets to other staff for followup.
This tool is possible with today's technology, namely session management available in most or all existing web application platforms. The tool could be extended to probably any area where massive amounts of real time data are generated, such as military intelligence; financial transactions and tracing, auditing performance of employees by tracking their network accesses by protocol type; organizing document production and written discovery requests in complex civil litigation; tracking telephone calls made to the 911 system; immigration processing; supply chain management; parts management for complex industrial machines or electronics; and any number of applications with massive datasets that can be organized in a 2-D chart but might be better suited to a 3-D representation.
2008-12-30 13:25 PST - 3-D Interface for Search Engine Results to Improve User Information Processing
Much as I like google, I wish I could see more than 5-6 results at the same time. I also wish there were a way to browse the results and still keep all the results in view. I also would like to be able to organize the results in a different form than linear descending by relevance on my computer screen. Enter a 3-D Tetris type interface where the user view is from the bottom of a cylinder looking up, and results fall toward the user while self-organizing into categories specified by the user or system, and attach to the walls of the cylinder. The user can select any of the results at any time and suggested top hits have some indication that they are more important than other results. Less important results are further away.
[Update 2009-03-09 17:59 PST: And here is a great sample- from a screensaver in Linux of all places. Each of these blocks could be an image or search result, and the whole thing could be in motion with adjustable speed and rollovers. This would also work well for the Helical Analytics idea shown above.
]
2009-05-18 20:37 PDT - The Platoon as a Swarm: Peer-to-Peer Electrotactile/Biofeedback Tactical Network Dear IPTO, This idea covers [Redacted] Sense, Process, Understand, and Apply, although it is not directly responsive to your open solicitations. It is generally described on my idea blog at the following web page, although not all the details are on there: Responding to the questions posed on your new idea page: 1. What are you trying to do? Use electrotactile and biofeedback sensory augmentation in conjunction with a peer to peer network to give warfighters a sixth sense, increasing use of their lower brains in information sensing and processing and reducing their dependence on video and audio inputs that require higher brain functions. Enable subconscious information sharing and rapid swarming movements with self-adjusting nearest-neighbor distributions as are found in nature. The warfighter moves because he feels sensations through his legs that tell him to move in certain directions. The warfighter shoots at targets that his squad leader or other peers see, because the warfighter feels sensations through his arms that help him position his weapon to fire at the target, even if the warfighter himself cannot visually see what he is shooting at. The warfighter knows the presence and movement of his comrades because he "sees" them through sensations on his back. The warfighter knows the position of the enemy and incoming fire because he sees them through sensations on his chest. The warfighter sees commands through electrotactile stimulation of his tongue or eyes. Vocal communication is limited to that which is absolutely necessary. 2. How is it done today? Warfighters talk to each other within hearing distance and on the radio and coordinate their movements with hand signals, voices, and GPS devices. The MANTIS system shown on your web page improves this by providing enhanced video inputs and P2P sharing of video. I am not familiar with the status of the Land Warrior system. 3. What is new in your approach? The warfighter becomes subconsciously aware of the positions, status, and movements of all comrades, as well as enemy positions and sources of incoming fire visible to other peers, without having to talk on the radio or look at a computer screen. The commander has an enhanced degree of control of the unit. 4. If you are successful, what difference will it make? Full speed silent running assaults through dead zones and other areas to achieve total dominance of the enemy, whose cohesion and own information processing shatter under a swarming attack that produces sensory overload for them. Swarming attacks on entire camps of the enemy; positional/geometric awareness prevents friendly fire by the attackers while the enemy cannot return fire because of the risk of hitting his own troops. Reduction of effort in processing information under fire. The warfighter moves and shoots; communication is primarily through tactile input. The squad to platoon sized unit, or perhaps larger units, could be controlled through use of a computerized interface and map overlays setting distributions, formations, objectives, movements, and other parameters. The warfighter has a sixth sense dependent only on his wireless connection to his nearest neighbor, not the whole group like a radio. He can still move with the group even if he loses his goggles or his video becomes disabled. 5. What are the risks and payoffs? Unknown effect on rules of engagement and collateral damage due to conversion of regular soldiers into electrically stimulated killing machines. At the same time, the risk could be mitigated through negative/penalty stimulation or appropriate training, and improvements in communication and situational awareness could reduce rather than increase collateral damage. The payoff is improved unit cohesion, responsiveness, communication, and force multiplication through increased use of the lower brain and swarming behaviors found in nature to overwhelm a conventional enemy. Reductions in friendly fire. 6. How much will it cost? How long will it take? Existing research and devices are already available, like BrainPort (http://science.howstuffworks.com/brainport1.htm). Existing wireless technology is available. Design of the suit and software seem like the largest expense. However, technology from 3-D computer games and existing training programs may assist in algorithms and related milestones. I don't know how much it would cost; electrotactile devices are already available but a suitable biofeedback mechanism may not be. I envision the suit as an off the shelf form-fitting mesh with electrodes running through it, which is worn on the user's bare skin. Probably tens of millions of dollars but with a huge payoff. Perhaps three years. I could write a white paper or proposal in a few weeks, after that I don't know. I recently mentioned this to a project manager at Lockheed Martin whom I met, and she said it was amazing and that I should send it to their research center. I thought I might send it to you first. Of note, I get occasional visits to my idea blog from U.S. Army domains and government contractors, but no one has contacted me. [Redacted]. Please advise. Andrew Watters
[2011-08-20 05:33 PDT
This idea is, by far, the most-visited portion of this page. DARPA, Dupont, Aerojet, JFCOM, Raytheon, Northrup Grumman, the U.S. Navy, Oxy, DHS, and other government contractors/agencies all visited this section of my page in the same several day period in late 2010. Although they never contacted me, I know this idea is groundbreaking.]
[2011-02-02 18:16 PST] DARPA responded!Our apologies for the late response. After careful review of your submission, the Information Innovation Office is not currently seeking proposals in this area and so submission of a formal abstract or proposal to any of our open BAAs is not encouraged at this time.
We thank you for bringing your ideas to our attention.
R/
DARPA/I2O
[2010-09-19 22:52 PDT] Here is what I sent to DARPA's Information Processing Technology Office on this. No response after a week, I might as well put it up here:
[2009-06-26 14:35 PDT - A shout out to recent visitors from the U.S. Army; it would be great to hear from you about this.]
http://www.andrewwatters.com/ideas.phtml#swarm
Overview
Rather than going on the radio or having to look at a GPS device to see where comrades are, what if a soldier could feel others' presence in real time? How about feeling the presence of hostile forces and the paths of incoming fire? If each peer in the network knew where his nearest neighbors were, he would only have to adjust his movements to theirs with the confidence that the "swarm" as a whole would take a natural path through any terrain or obstacle, with an optimum amount of space between individual soldiers. In addition, safe paths, enemy positions, directions of incoming fire, and all manner of other information could be "tagged" and then "known" by the whole unit even without visual contact. Because the brain is malleable, sensory inputs such as electrodes in a shirt or bodysuit would be used with training to give the wearer a true sixth sense, supplementing the others. Because the system is designed to recognize biological limitations in sensory input and processing, the system can facilitate a soldier's natural ability rather than forcing him to adhere to a Land Warrior-type system of menus, cursors, bulky appendanges, computer screens, and other elements that are not so useful to the lower brain under extreme stress.
Mechanism
A peer-to-peer frequency agile wireless network detects range and direction to nearest neighbors and is refreshed continuously. Every peer then knows the information possessed by every other peer. Position information is transmitted to the wearer by way of a bodysuit with distinct areas of electrotactile or and/or biofeedback sensory input that have different meanings. Example, the back is devoted entirely to giving the wearer a picture of the positions of comrades; a feeling of light pressure indicates the presence of a friendly. The further toward the outside the pressure, the further away the friendly is. The center approximates the position of the wearer. A pinching or shocking sensation indicates that a friendly has been wounded; a line being traced across a portion or all of the back indicates movement of a friendly. The chest is devoted entirely to providing a picture of enemy positions and incoming fire; the network uses audio or other means (e.g, connection to a Boomerang device) to plot the trajectory of incoming rounds back to the source and makes all peers aware of this. The legs are devoted entirely to providing direction on where to run/walk; the arms are devoted entirely to aiming, when directed by a squad leader, at unseen enemy positions visible to one of the other peers.
Achievements Possible
Everyone knows who is in trouble and also who is responding to assist.
When someone calls on the radio, position is indicated.
Real time changes to formation to optimize the distribution of soldiers even when visual contact is lost.
Mapping assistance from drones who also mark enemy positions.
No sensory overload from trying to shoot, talk, and listen to the radio at the same time.
Immediate Applications
Full speed running in total darkness even if night vision goggles are lost or disabled.
Full speed running through minefields and other dangerous areas.
Human wave assaults.
Adjustments to formation by commander with bird's eye view of unit and map overlay.
Commando raids on entire camps of enemy soldiers.
CQB of a known floor plan building.
CQB of an unknown floor plan building.
Search and Rescue.
Professional Football or other team-based sports.
Key Improvements on Existing Technology
The system requires minimal power because there's no display or other battery-intensive technology. Instead of an unwieldy goggle-based system that floods the Land Warrior with visual information he can't necessarily process under fire, this is a way to enhance the soldier's senses in a more natural way. A very modest computer on a chip could perform the necessary calculations. There would be no moving parts to lose or break. The system would be easy to manufacture and repair. With burstable wireless transmissions over short distances, we're talking power requirements akin to a bluetooth wireless headset. In fact, bluetooth would be a great wireless platform for the prototype.
Key Challenges
Jamming. Actually, using Ultra Wideband could solve that and also prevent detection by a hostile force. A peer whose suit is disabled or malfunctions would probably need to drop out of the formation or perhaps bring up the rear.
Inspiration from an article on sensory augmentation. For a visualization of what may be possible, check out this cool video:
I'll put some more info up once I have a better idea of what to do with this.
2009-05-15 09:50 PDT - Mobile Litigation Support Unit
Concept: outfit a Dodge Sprinter van as self-contained home away from home for the attorney who needs a mobile work center out at court. With dedicated wireless internet, a VPN back to the office network, printers, scanners, computers, supplies, workspace, and so on, this would be the attorney's version of a mobile command post. One cool feature would be using the van's internet connection as a backbone for laptops actually in the courtroom, which don't get secure internet. In this way, one could have a secure network connection back to the office, make changes to pleadings or other documents, print them out to the van, and have them brought in within a few moments in final form. And many other possibilities. Other names in the running included "Litigation Assault Vehicle," but that offends the set that fancy themselves paragons of civility, so to give the appearance of reasonableness we could call it the "Collaborative Law Workshop."
2009-05-07 13:35 PDT - Semi-Autonomous Dirigible-Based Air-to-Air and Air-to-Ground Missile Platform
I don't know where I come up with this stuff, but I'm not complaining. Check back soon.
[Update 2009-05-10 - Someone in the Air Force came up with a similar idea but this one will solve the issues stated in the Air Force concept :)]
2009-05-05 18:19 PDT - Elimination of Database Server Query Lag in Web Applications Using PHP Output Buffering and Linux Command Line Utilities
This is my best computer project ever, resulting in a 1000% increase in performance of my law school website. This is an alternative to the memcached system. Portions © 2005 University of California.
2010-11-01 10:19 PDT - The Purpose of the Universe
Also known as "why are we here?" Consider this. According to quantum theory, there are infinitely many possible quantum states. In other words, there are infinitely many possible futures based on our here and now, and there were an infinite number of possible futures at each point in the past.
According to various religions, God is all knowing. Therefore God knows all quantum states. A question arises; does God know the future? If God is all knowing, God knows all possible futures. Presumably, God can create alternate universes. However, only one future will become real for us in this universe.
I propose that the purpose of this universe is an experiment by a divine being to see what is developed through competition, merit, natural selection, luck of the draw, free will, and discovery. The end result? A civilization that can communicate with the divine being and/or change the universe. Hopefully our civilization lasts long enough for this to occur.
2009-03-16 06:01 PDT - Use of Facial Morphology/Biometrics of Serial Murder and Kidnapping Victims to Infer Physical Profile of Perpetrator and Future Victims
We've all done it before- we see someone who looks a lot like someone we know, and we accidentally say hello to them before realizing it's the wrong person. Or, perhaps the next significant other looks a lot like the previous one. DARPA is researching ways to recognize wanted individuals based on the distinctiveness of their walking gait. Questions arise: are there basic patterns of human morphology that, given a large enough sample size, reoccur? Does everyone have a "type?" Do victims of a serial killer share a body shape and/or facial morphology that produces a powerful enough physical response in the perpetrator that he seeks out the same distinctive shape and looks without even realizing it? If the answer to the last question is yes, I believe there is a way to not only develop a physical profile of the perpetrator beyond the basics, but to predict which potential victims are most at-risk and warn them in advance of a serial killer committing these terrible crimes in their areas.
There is apparently a study involving prisoners' responses to what physical factors were most likely to make a woman a victim of violent crime. I'm going to review that and put up comments here. Another article I found out of curiosity (yes, morbid curiosity) in the field is National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime, Criminal Investigative Analysis: Sexual Homicide (1990).
Someone I know worked on a pending study of female facial morphology that, unfortunately, has not been selected for publication at this time. The theory was that women with highly feminine "neotenous" faces (who are perceived as more warm, supportive, and sexual but less intelligent) have lower self-confidence but equivalent performance in a series of tasks also performed by women with less feminine faces (perceived as more dominant, cold, and intelligent), due to socially reinforced self-doubt. Also, the theory was that the husbands of the more neotenous looking women report being more happily married than men married to women with less feminine faces. The study confirmed the first and the second theory. It occurred to me that one could take photos of, say, Fortune 500 women CEOs and predict how happy their spouses were, which could support the theory. The next step might be collecting the husband's biometrics to see if a particular male facial morphology correlates with a particular female facial morphology. The step 100 years from now might be gene sequencing successful couples to see whether, as postulated in Psychology Today and other sources, maximum genetic variation is the outcome of natural selection and therefore what brings people together most strongly. In other words, someone hot to you but not others is hot to you for a reason. Someone hot to everyone, though, might be due to some other issue. Any way, if there were a statistically significant correlation between the facial morphology and/or biometrics of couples, one could predict with some degree of confidence what the husband of a woman CEO might look like. And in my friend's study, how happy he might be. Consider the following photo of Ebay CEO Meg Whitman and her husband:
I wonder how happy her husband is? [Update 2010-10-01 09:51 PDT: this photo is the number one result on Google for "meg whitman husband," and coincidentally, is probably the least flattering picture of Meg available anywhere. Haha!]
Consider a different (former) couple, Ann Coulter and Bob Guccione:
My first reaction, of course, is "what could she possibly see in that guy?" But anyway, Ann looks like Barbie, and Bob has profoundly masculine, almost Neandertal features. Maria Shriver looks somewhat like Ann Coulter, does she not? Based on the two sets of photos, I suggest Ann Coulter will marry someone who looks like Arnold Schwarzenegger. On the other hand, she has also dated Dinesh D'Souza, who is probably the least masculine looking guy (sorry pal) to have ever dated someone as hot as Ann Coulter.
So, what to do with this information? Consider the cases of two women missing from Vermont and New Hampshire:
Brianna Maitland and Maura Murray both went missing in Spring 2004, within 45 days of each other, within 90 miles of each other, while driving their cars alone on rural roads in Vermont and New Hampshire. Their cars were found abandoned in what appeared to be staged accidents. That's a lot of commonality to be coincidence. I think it's safe to assume the same person kidnapped them. [Update 2010-09-20 21:49 PDT: I read up on the case more a while back and it turns out the circumstances of one of the women's disappearances was suspicious in that she appeared suicidal. Thus the conclusion may be different now.]
When I first saw the women's photos, I immediately noticed that there was just some intangible way in which they were similar and I thought they were equally attractive. Perhaps the shape of their eyes and distance between them. To me, the above photos appear so similar that they could be the same person. Note the shape of the nose (especially the bridge of the nose and brow area), cheekbones, chin, forehead, eyebrows, ears, and face in general in each photo. In addition to similar facial features, they are both thin and athletic. If full length photos of Brianna were available, plus the exact measurements of each woman, one might develop a physical profile or perhaps a simulation of their gait.
The question is, what male facial morphology and other biometrics would present a statistically significant correlation with physical attraction to these women? Here's the plan: create separate photo collages of the victims so that all angles are represented, and if resources permit create a 3-D model or video simulation of the victims walking. Go to a college Psychology department and conduct a test protocol on male students. Seek out the men who self-report strong physical attraction to both women and also respond physically (e.g., microexpressions captured on video, pulse rate, posture, etc.). Follow up with the best matches and collect their biometric data. For later research, conduct a behavioral interview. Compare the facial features of the best matches and create several profiles. E.g., "men with super-orbital ridge larger than 10mm, chin that protrudes beyond tip of the nose, jawline that extends 50mm or more below ears, eyes that cover 4-5% of their faces, and athletic build respond most strongly to both photo collages." Take the profiles to investigators and sketch artists. If the serial killer is still operating, canvass the community and warn local women with biometrics and facial morphology similar to the victims that they are most at-risk and show them what the perpetrator might look like without disguises. If no test were done and only victim information were available, likely victims could still be warned. [Update 2010-09-20 21:52 PDT: a private consultant believes this is not possible. I trust the consultant's judgment.]
It would also be interesting to examine the victims' and perpetrators photos in known cases of serial murder and kidnapping in which the victims have features most similar to the present ones. Are Ted Bundy's victims more feminine looking than those of Jeffrey Dahmer? How does the facial morphology of the BTK killer and his victims compare?
Can someone use sex offender registration photos and databases to conduct preliminary research in this area? I know it sounds morbid and I don't know whether this is close to any research or even possible, but how could I even ask for access to something like that without sounding like a nut? [Update 2010-09-20 21:53 PDT: Way too late!]
2009-03-12 10:11 PDT - Visualization of Theoretical Fields of View Among Points in Multi-Dimensional Array Representing Terrain Features Using gd Graphics Library
This was in response to a Google programming challenge several years ago. [2010-08-21 20:32 PDT update] I said my solution was "coming soon" 18 months ago. Let's be honest, I'm not going to have the time. If I find the time, I'll put it up. Portions © 2005 University of California.
2008-12-30 13:47 PST - Electromagnetic Field Visualization Using Remotely Operated Probes
There are a number of webpages and applications devoted to analyzing stationary EMF's. See here for example. But what does the blast of an electromagnetic pulse bomb look like and how quickly does it increase/decrease in intensity? Ever been curious where the dead spots in a moving cell phone jammer's coverage are? Ever wonder where there could be a safe path through a minefield that uses EMF to detonate mines? Like in Twister (1996), send a cloud of probes in to record data on the field by flying through it, falling through it, sitting on the ground while the source flies overhead, etc. Use the field and position data from the probes to reconstruct field strength at each point and generate a visualization of the field. How about a Bluetooth P2P network among the probes for extra accuracy?
2008-12-30 11:09 PST - System for Automatic Detection and Tagging of Vehicles of Interest in Visually Augmented Highway Patrol Cruiser
[Update 2011-04-11 9:44 PDT: The New York Police Department has a license plate reading system that would work nicely in conjunction with the JSF's system. Again, I'm on track with this blog!]
[Update 2009-05-22 16:41 PDT: The Northrop Grumman Joint Strike Fighter, a state of the art jet coming out in the next couple of years, has this system on a much better and more complicated level. See, this is how I know I'm on the right track with these ideas and this blog :)
OMFG that system is freaking awesome. I found the computer animations morbidly hilarious; the MiGs and Somali "technicals" were highlights. Ok, so this system is overkill for this idea and is about 2,000 times more advanced. But the same premise applies here.]
Problem: when the authorities put out alerts on particular cars, it seems to be a matter of chance whether the car (and the suspect inside) is found, if at all, even though all criminals who use a car have to drive it away from the crime scene. If they don't dump the car, then at some point someone will drive it again.
Solution: turn every police car and city vehicle in the state into a mobile searching device that automatically detects, tracks, and tags vehicles of interest that are within range. For enforcement personnel, give the driver a head-up display or reflective windshield that provides an overlay indicating vehicles of interest with a reticle, as well as information on range, speed, etc. Link it with map software to route the nearest officer to the nearest priority target automatically. The military has software like this to detect enemy tanks on the battlefield, so I know a civilian application is possible. For maximum effect, track speed of all vehicles within range and display attributes such as whether the registration is valid. I will do a mockup of the HUD some time soon.
Implementation: radar gives general direction and shape information for the surrounding environment to the onboard computer. Use computer vision to recognize the general shapes of cars as opposed to uninteresting objects, so that optical scanning can be directed to specific areas of the field of view to be more efficient. (Incidentally, I read in a DARPA presentation that the military wants software to recognize people by the distinctiveness of their gait...wow) Read the license plates off cars optically and match them against a cached list of wanted vehicles. Use a laser for range and speed information, and draw appropriate icons on the head up display to notify the driver. Send the results to a central database and notify peers in the area.
2008-12-30 07:54 PST - Bloodborne Medical Nanorobots
This is back from 2005 when, one day, it just popped into my head: nanorobot "spores" that act as cancer cell assassins but leave normal cells alone. They would use surface proteins to identify the cancerous cells. Although it turns out someone had already thought of this in 1999, which I didn't learn until reading the January 2009 issue of National Geographic, I think it's wicked cool.
Update 2011-07-01: This concept has been achieved!
Update 2009-05-26: A much better solution is to modify a naturally occurring virus to attack cancer cells- it's good to know there is progress in this area.
Update 2009-01-12: someone has done this in a better fashion. I didn't realize this was even possible, but it's so cool!
This is a great example of what I find most gratifying with my idea page-- when someone is actually doing something I thought of independently. It shows me I'm on the right track.
2010-05-30
a short story I wrote