Thomas Huang Explained

Thomas Huang
Birth Name:Thomas Shi-Tao Huang
Birth Date:26 June 1936
Birth Place:Shanghai, Republic of China
Death Place:Fort Wayne, Indiana, U.S.
Citizenship:American
Nationality:Chinese
Occupation:electrical engineer, computer scientist
Years Active:1963–2014
Alma Mater:National Taiwan University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Spouse:Margaret Huang
Children:Caroline Huang
Greg Huang
Marjorie Huang
Tom Huang

Thomas Shi-Tao Huang (June 26, 1936  - April 25, 2020) was a Chinese-born American computer scientist, electrical engineer, and writer. He was a researcher and professor emeritus at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). Huang was one of the leading figures in computer vision, pattern recognition and human computer interaction.[1]

Early life and education

Huang was born June 26, 1936, in Shanghai, Republic of China.[2] In 1949, his family moved to Taiwan. Huang studied electronics at the National Taiwan University and received his bachelor's degree in 1956.[3]

Huang went on to the United States to study at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). At MIT he worked initially with Peter Elias, who was interested in information theory and image coding, and then with William F. Schreiber. At that time scanning equipment was not commercially available, so it was necessary to build a scanner for digitizing and reproducing images. Computer programs were written in assembly language using a prototype Lincoln Lab TX-0 computer. Descriptions of digitized images were stored on paper tape with punched holes.[3] Huang was supervised by Schreiber for both his M.S. thesis, Picture statistics and linearly interpolative coding (1960),[4] and his Sc.D. thesis, Pictorial noise (1963).[5] His master's work focused on algorithms for image coding using adaptive techniques for interpolation with sensitivity to edges. His doctorate included work on the subjective effects of pictorial noise across a spectrum.[3]

Career

Huang accepted a position on the faculty of the Department of Electrical Engineering at MIT, and remained there from 1963 to 1973.[3] He accepted a position as an electrical engineering professor and director of the Information and Signal Processing Laboratory at Purdue University in 1973, remaining there until 1980.[3]

In 1980 Huang accepted a chair in electrical engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC).[3] On April 15, 1996, Huang became the first William L. Everitt Distinguished Professor in Electrical & Computer Engineering at UIUC.[6] He was involved with the Coordinated Science Laboratory (CSL), and served as head of the Image Formation and Processing Group of the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology and co-chair of the Beckman Institute's research track on Human Computer Intelligent Interaction.[7] [8] As of 2012, he was named a Swanlund Chair, the highest endowed title at UIUC.[9] [10] Huang retired from teaching as of December 2014, but continued to be active as a researcher.[11]

Huang was a founding editor of the International Journal of Computer Vision, Graphics and Image Processing, and of Springer-Verlag's Springer Series in Information Sciences. He helped to organize the first International Picture Coding Symposium (1969), the first International Workshop on Very Low Bitrate Video Coding (1993), and the first International Conference on Automatic Face and Gesture Recognition (1995), all of which became repeated events.[7]

Research

Huang's research tended to focus on the development of general concepts, methodologies, theories, and algorithms which have wide application to multimodal and multimedia signal processing.[3] While still at MIT, he developed the first algebraic procedure for testing the stability conditions of two-dimensional filters, based on double bilinear transformation and the Ansell method.[12] He also published on digital holography.[13] While at Purdue, he worked on nonlinear filters, particularly median filters, which became a standard technique for the removal of noise in images.[14]

Some of his earliest work dealt with image compression, extending later into areas of enhancement, restoration and analysis. He developed approaches for binary document compression that utilized 2-dimensional scanned information, examining the changes from one line of a scan to the next, and detecting transition points at which a subsequent line differs. Statistical predictions and experimental results of the model's performance conformed well.[3] In 1969, Huang and Grant Anderson were one of the first teams to propose a method for block transform coding,[15] building on the work of J. J. Y. Huang and Peter M. Schultheiss.[16] [17]

In 1984, Tsai and Huang were the first to present a frequency-domain multi-frame method which related the discrete Fourier transform of observed low-resolution satellite images from the acquisition stage to the continuous Fourier transform of the high-resolution image, using the inverse Fourier transform to obtain a final image with increased resolution.[18] [19] Huang also worked on wavelet methods of encoding and on fractal coding. Wavelet coding is particularly important for content based image retrieval from multimedia databases containing images, video, audio, and text. It enables searches to be done on smaller encoded images rather than on full-size retrieved images.[3] Other research areas of importance include the use of relevance feedback in adapting database systems to user intentions (when browsing or searching),[20] and constructing tables of contents and semantic indexes for video using multimedia information (image sequence, audio, and closed-captions if available).[21]

In the area of 3-D modelling, Huang worked on the identification of three-dimensional motion and the structure of rigid objects given multiple images in which corresponding features can be identified.[22] This work was important for the compression of television images, for the development of image standards, and for research into human and computer vision.[3] Huang also worked on the 3-D modeling, analysis, and synthesis of images of the human face, hands, and body. The initial motivation behind this research was to support low bitrate 3-D model-based video coding for video phone and teleconferencing. The idea was that if a 3-D model of the user could be transmitted and reconstructed at the receiving end, it would then be sufficient to extract and send movement information to drive the 3-D model and regenerate the video sequence. Tools developed for this type of scenarios are applicable to many other problems as well, including virtual space conferencing with avatars, and electronic games.[23]

Huang considered image and speech processing to be fundamentally similar,[3] and worked with speech recognition and sound processing as well as images. Huang, Mark Hasegawa-Johnson, and their students created a database of speech, recorded in automobiles, that is usable as a benchmark for testing audio-visual speech recognition algorithms.[24] They also developed methods for detecting audio elements that are likely to attract human attention, and are using them to enable humans to more effectively go through large amounts of audio recordings to find important information.[25]

Huang did important work in multimodal human computer interaction and interface design.[26] He was one of the first researchers to combine audio and video-based techniques for identification of human affective states.[27] More recent work by Huang and others attempts to "develop a series of algorithms to extract information from multi-modality in an optimal way", screening large amounts of data from multiple sources and optimizing the types and amounts of data that are compressed and transmitted. Such opportunistic sensing research has applications in both military and civilian use.[28] [29]

Huang also hoped to develop more natural and effective ways for humans to interact with a computer or virtual environment using speech and gesture.[3] Research projects include visual hand tracking and gesture recognition;[30] the use of visual lip reading to enhance audio speech recognition accuracy; and integration of speech recognition and visual gesture analysis in the controlling of displays in virtual environments.[23]

He also worked on audio-visual recognition of gender, age group, and emotion. His work in gender and emotion detection received media attention when his software was used to examine the Mona Lisa, concluding that the portrait was of a female (not, as some had theorized, based on Da Vinci himself) and that her enigmatic smile was more happy than sad.[31] [32]

In 2015, Huang worked with Ann Willemsen-Dunlap in an interdisciplinary project to develop a 3-D computer-generated avatar, capable of showing appropriate emotions, to be used in online communication of medical information to patients.[33]

He also explored the use of high-performance computing and big data to develop better techniques for deep learning.[11] One of the tasks being studied, not surprisingly, is face recognition. In another project, his team is working with astronomer Robert Brunner to train a feedforward neural network to identify images of galaxies.[34]

Published work

Huang had published more than 21 books and been an author on more than 600 papers.[35] Representative publications by Thomas Huang include:

Personal life

Huang was married to Margaret, who preceded him in death by three months. They married in 1959.[36]

Huang died peacefully in Indiana on April 25, 2020, at the age of 83.[37]

The couple had four children: Caroline, Greg, Tom and Marjorie.[36]

Honors

Huang received numerous honors and awards in his career, including:[38]

Memberships

Awards

Awards Named

Huang supervised more than 100 graduate students. In 2012, the Thomas and Margaret Huang Fund for Graduate Research was created in response to appeals by former students James J. Kuch and Chang Wen Chen, to celebrate the contributions of Huang and his wife as mentors and teachers as well as his contributions as a researcher. The fund will provide scholarships to support students in Human-Computer Intelligent Interaction at the Beckman Institute.[50] [51]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Bovik. Alan C.. Chen. Chang Wen. Goldgof. Dmitry. Advances in image processing and understanding : a Festschrift for Thomas S. Huang. 52. 2002. World Scientific. Singapore. 978-981-238-091-3. 10.1142/5042. Series in Machine Perception and Artificial Intelligence. Bovik. Alan C.. Chen. Chang Wen. Goldgof. Dmitry.
  2. Book: Reports of the President and of the Treasurer. 1971. John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. 56.
  3. Web site: Goldstein. Andrew. THOMAS HUANG: An Interview Conducted by Andrew Goldstein (Interview #331 for the Center for the History of Electrical Engineering). Center for the History of Electrical Engineering. 20 March 1997 . The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.. Hoboken, NJ. 22 July 2015.
  4. Book: Huang. Thomas Shi-Tao. Picture Statistics and Linearly Interpolative Coding. 1960. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Electrical Engineering. Cambridge, Massachusetts. Master's Thesis.
  5. Book: Huang. Thomas Shi-Tao. Pictorial noise. 1963. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Electrical Engineering. Cambridge, Massachusetts. Sc.D. Thesis.
  6. News: Professorship: William L. Everitt Professor of Electrical Engineering. 23 July 2015. ECE Illinois. University of Illinois. 1996.
  7. Book: Xiong. Ziyou. Regunathan . Radhakrishnan . Ajay . Divakaran . Yong . Rui . Thomas S. . Huang. About the authors. A unified framework for video summarization, browsing, and retrieval with applications to consumer and surveillance video. 2006. Elsevier/Academic Press. Amsterdam. 978-0-12-369387-7. 263–264. https://books.google.com/books?id=pxUhRKri7HsC&pg=PA263.
  8. Web site: Beckman Institute Directory: Thomas S. Huang. Beckman Institute for Advanced Science & Technology . May 28, 2010.
  9. News: Five professors named Swanlund Chairs. 23 July 2015. The News-Gazette. 2012-12-05.
  10. Web site: Chair: Swanlund Chair. ECE Illinois. 23 July 2015.
  11. News: Valentine. Ashish. Loui, Huang, and Polychronopoulos retire from teaching at ECE Illinois. 27 July 2015. ECE Illinois. December 5, 2014.
  12. Huang. T.. Stability of two-dimensional recursive filters. IEEE Transactions on Audio and Electroacoustics. June 1972. 20. 2. 158–163. 10.1109/TAU.1972.1162364.
  13. Huang. T.S.. Digital holography. Proceedings of the IEEE. 1971. 59. 9. 1335–1346. 10.1109/PROC.1971.8408.
  14. Huang. T.. Yang. G.. Tang. G.. A fast two-dimensional median filtering algorithm. IEEE Transactions on Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing. 1979. 27. 1. 13–18. 10.1109/tassp.1979.1163188.
  15. Anderson. Grant. Huang. Thomas S.. Picture bandwidth compression by piecewise Fourier transformation. IEEE Transactions on Communications. 1971. 19. 2. 133–140. An earlier version of this paper appeared in the proceedings of the Purdue University Centennial Symposium on Systems and Information Sciences, held 28–30 April 1969.. 10.1109/tcom.1971.1090630.
  16. Huang. J. J. Y. . Schultheiss. Peter M.. Block quantization of correlated Gaussian random variables. IEEE Transactions on Communications Systems. 1963. 11. 3 . 289–296. 10.1109/tcom.1963.1088759.
  17. Book: Nebeker. Frederik. Signal Processing: The Emergence of a Discipline, 1948-1998. 1998. IEEE Press. Piscataway, NJ. Going Digital: The 1960s. 55–87. http://ethw.org/images/4/48/Chapter4_-_Going_Digital,_the_1960s.pdf. 24 July 2015. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20150725012629/http://ethw.org/images/4/48/Chapter4_-_Going_Digital,_the_1960s.pdf. 25 July 2015.
  18. Book: Tsai. R.. Huang. T.. Advances in Computer Vision and Image Processing. 1984. JAI Press Inc.. Multiframe Image Restoration and Registration. 317–339.
  19. http://telin.ugent.be/~hluong/phd_hluong.pdf Advanced Image and Video Resolution Enhancement Techniques, Quang H. Luong
  20. Zhou. Xiang Sean. Huang. Thomas S.. Relevance feedback in image retrieval: A comprehensive review. Multimedia Systems. 1 April 2003. 8. 6. 536–544. 10.1007/s00530-002-0070-3. 10.1.1.89.8025. 9664339.
  21. Book: Xiong. Ziyou. Radhakrishnan. Regunathan. Divakaran. Ajay. Rui. Yong. Huang. Thomas S.. A unified framework for video summarization, browsing, and retrieval with applications to consumer and surveillance video. 2006. Elsevier/Academic Press. Amsterdam. 978-0-12-369387-7.
  22. Huang. T.S.. Netravali. A.N.. Motion and structure from feature correspondences: a review. Proceedings of the IEEE. 2002. 82. 2. 252–268. 10.1109/5.265351.
  23. Book: Wen. Zhen. Huang. Thomas S.. 3D face processing : modeling, analysis, and synthesis. 2004. Kluwer Academic Publishers. Boston. 978-1402080470.
  24. Book: Lee. B.. Hasegawa-Johnson. M.. Goudeseune. C.. Kamdar. S.. Borys. S.. Liu. M.. Huang. T. S.. AVICAR: audio-visual speech corpus in a car environment. 2004. ISCA. INTERSPEECH.
  25. News: Dickinson. Meg. Studies determine what sounds draw attention, how to pinpoint them. 27 July 2015. ECE Illinois. February 17, 2014.
  26. Sharma. R.. Pavlovic. V.I.. Huang. T.S.. Toward multimodal human-computer interface. Proceedings of the IEEE. May 1998. 86. 5. 853–869. 10.1109/5.664275.
  27. Book: Huang. Thomas S.. Chen. Lawrence S.. Tao. Hai. Bimodal emotion recognition by man and machine. Proceedings of ATR Workshop on Virtual Communication Environments. April 1998.
  28. News: Kelly. Megan. ECE faculty receive a $1.5 million Department of Defense grant to study opportunistic sensing. 27 July 2015. ECE Illinois. December 14, 2009.
  29. News: Dahlquist. April. Math vs. wild: Researchers use computer vision to identify wildlife. 27 July 2015. ECE Illinois. August 8, 2011.
  30. Pavlovic. V.I.. Sharma. R.. Huang. T.S.. Visual interpretation of hand gestures for human-computer interaction: a review. IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence. July 1997. 19. 7. 677–695. 10.1109/34.598226. 7185733 . 10.1.1.353.4090.
  31. News: Kline. Greg. Software shows Mona Lisa to be neither man, nor da Vinci. 27 July 2015. The News-Gazette. March 6, 2006.
  32. Book: Research Profile: Thomas Huang. Annual Report 2005-06. 2005. Beckman Institute at the University of Illinois. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 18–19. http://beckman.illinois.edu/content/uploads/files/annual-reports/annual-report-2005-2006.pdf.
  33. Web site: Jump ARCHES funds Huang's 3-D avatar project. 23 July 2015. CSL: Coordinated Science Lab, ECE Illinois. February 24, 2015.
  34. Web site: Koon. Mike. Supercomputing Speeds Advances in Deep Neural Networks. Engineering Communications Office, Illinois. November 11, 2014. 27 July 2015.
  35. Web site: Huang Wins Most Cited Paper of the Decade Award. Beckman Institute. June 30, 2010.
  36. https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/05/14/magazine/i-lost-both-my-parents-covid-19-era-how-do-i-reopen-my-own-life/ "I lost both my parents in the COVID-19 era. How do I reopen my own life?"
  37. Web site: Communications. Grainger Engineering Office of Marketing and. Remembering Thomas Huang, Maybelle Leland Swanlund Endowed Chair Emeritus in Electrical and Computer Engineering. 2021-06-14. ece.illinois.edu. en.
  38. Web site: Thomas S. Huang . ECE Illinois, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering . May 28, 2010 . October 6, 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20111006051020/http://www.ece.illinois.edu/directory/profile.asp?t-huang1 . dead .
  39. News: Thomas S. Huang . 16 September 2023 . Academia Sinica.
  40. Web site: Directory of CAS Foreign Members in 2009 (by surname). Chinese Academy of Sciences. 23 July 2015.
  41. News: National Academy of Engineering Elects 74 Members and Eight Foreign Associates. 23 July 2015. National Academy of Engineering News. February 16, 2001.
  42. Web site: Dr. Thomas S. Huang. National Academy of Engineering. 23 July 2015.
  43. Web site: IEEE Fellows 1979 | IEEE Communications Society.
  44. Web site: Gudeman. Kim. Three CSL researchers win HP Labs Innovation Research Awards. 23 July 2015. CSL: Coordinated Science Laboratory. June 16, 2009.
  45. News: Huang Named EI Scientist of the Year. 23 July 2015. Beckman Institute. February 3, 2006.
  46. Web site: The Okawa Prize. The Okawa Foundation for Information and Telecommunications. 23 July 2015.
  47. Web site: IAPR Awards: The King-Sun Fu Prize. International Association for Pattern Recognition (IAPR). 23 July 2015.
  48. Web site: IEEE Jack S. Kilby Signal Processing Medal Recipients . https://web.archive.org/web/20100619214057/http://ieee.org/documents/kilby_rl.pdf . dead . June 19, 2010 . . February 27, 2011.
  49. Web site: IEEE Jack S. Kilby Signal Processing Medal Recipients – 2001 – Thomas S. Huang and Arun N. Netravali . https://web.archive.org/web/20100408000008/http://www.ieee.org/about/awards/bios/kilby_recipients.html . dead . April 8, 2010 . . February 27, 2011.
  50. Web site: McGaughey. Steve. Huang Fund and Challenge are Tributes to a Beckman Original. Beckman Institute. January 8, 2012.
  51. Web site: Thomas and Margaret Huang Fund for Graduate Research. Beckman Institute. 23 July 2015.

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