[EAS]HumanML/ArtistML?

[pjk]

Subject:   HumanML/ArtistML?

(from INNOVATION, 29 August 2001)
 http://www.newsscan.com

NEW SOFTWARE SEEKS TO ENCODE HUMAN BEHAVIOR
The Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information
Standards  (OASIS), based in Massachusetts, is drafting a set of
international  standards that would take Web programming to a new
level. The HumanMarkup  Language (HumanML) would enable software
engineers to write abstract,  nonverbal human communications in
software code, giving users a means for  communicating their
emotions to other users on the Net. The language is  designed to be
compatible with XML (extensible markup language), which is  coming
into increasing use among Web programmers. "It's potentially very 
interesting," says Michael Harrison, professor of human-computer 
interaction at the University of York. "Having some higher level of
semantic in the Web is a very hot topic at the moment." Computer
scientists  hope that HumanML could be used to describe everything
that forms part of a  human interaction -- from emotions and
attitude to physical appearance and  complex cultural meanings.
(New Scientist 23 Aug 2001)
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991192

SOFTWARE COULD TURN YOU INTO THE NEXT VAN GOGH
Two separate endeavors -- one by a British company and one by an
American  scientist -- are focusing on a common goal: the
development of software  that can transform a digital image into a
painting in the style of a  particular artist. Dr. Aaron Hertzmann
of New York University has written a  program that analyzes the
relationship of pixels in a digital photograph  and then do the
same thing for an artist's painting. The analysis produces  a set
of relationships between, for instance, real sunflowers and Vincent
Van Gogh's "Sunflowers" painting. That algorithm can then be
applied to any  other photo, enabling the software, in effect, to
"see" with Van Gogh's  artistic eye. Similarly, a British company
called Segmentis is working on a  system that could "create a whole
new genre of painting, where you take  digital pictures and create
a new style," says Andrew Bangham, a professor  at the University
of East Anglia. He says the software from Segmentis uses  a simpler
approach than Hertzmann's, by softening the edges and producing a 
watercolor-like effect. (The Independent 23 Aug 2001)
http://www.independent.co.uk/story.jsp?story=90201