Origins
VFRAME grew out of discussions at a 2017 Data Investigation Camp run by Tactical Technology Collective in Montenegro. Through meeting with investigative journalists, human rights researchers, and digital activists from around the world it became clear that computer vision was a much needed tool in this community, yet the solutions were either not yet technically developed, existed in disparate states, too expensive, or were only relevant to consumer applications.
What We Do
VFRAME leverages recent advancements in computer vision to bring practical applications to human rights research. The project is being piloted with researchers at the Syrian Archive and has received funding from the ProtypeFund (DE), Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), Meedan, and NL Net.
VFRAME also contributes to computer vision tools for journalists and technologists, such as an image deduplication service built for Meedan's Check platform that helps verify news.
Since 2018, VFRAME has also been pioneering new methods in photorealistic synthetic training data using. This research received and Award of Distinction from Ars Electronica in 2019 and was nominated for a 2019 Beazley Design of The Year Awards at the Design Museum in London.
Collaborations
Awards
Development Roadmap
| Dates | Objective | Status and Results |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 Q4 | Expand Visual Recognition Library | - |
| 2020 Q3 | Case Study and Public ModelZoo Demos | - |
| 2020 Q2 | R&D of vision models for Syrian and Yemeni archive | delayed |
| 2020 Q1 | Public release of cluster munition detector models | pending |
| 2019 Q4 | Generation of synthetic training datasets for AO-2.5RT/M, ShOAB-0.5, BLU-63, PTAB-1M | Complete |
| 2019 Q3 | Prototype release | Complete |
| 2019 Q2 | Develop 3D models of cluster munitions, prototype Blender software | Complete |
| 2019 Q1 | Evaluation of Blender | Complete |
| 2018 Q4 | Evaluation of Unity | Complete |
| 2018 Q3 | 3D modeling, exhibition of concept prototypes at Ars Electronica EXPORT | Complete |
Events
- Buildings Archives for Evidence and Collective Resistance at Transmediale 2019
- Event archive
Press
- ORF.at podcast on AI and human rights
- Un site archive les vidéos de la guerre en Syrie pour en faire des preuves
- VFRAME selected as nominee for STARTS Prize
- Netting the War Criminal
- Press archive
Team
VFRAME is developed by Adam Harvey and Jules LaPlace and a group of friends and contributors in Berlin and around the world. Many thanks to our funders, exhibition partners, and supporters.
Working in Python and Blender on computer vision, image processing, 3D modeling, and neural networks.
Working with Python, React, MySQL on information architecture, systems administration, image retrieval and interface design.
Additional Credit
- BÇ for 3D models of munitions
Funding
About this site
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