Month: February 2016

Please join us for the next NLP Seminar on Thursday February 25 at 4pm in 205 South Hall. All are welcome!

Speaker: David Mimno (Cornell)

Title: Topic models without the randomness: new perspectives on deterministic algorithms

Abstract:

Topic models provide a useful way to identify and measure constructs in large text collections, such as themes, genres, discourses, and topics. But running popular algorithms multiple times on the same documents can produce different results, raising questions about the reliability of any resulting conclusions. I will summarize an exciting new line of research in deterministic algorithms for topic inference that trade stronger model assumptions for provably optimal performance. This new approach not only leads to better models but better computational scalability and a richer understanding of connections between topic models and related methods like LSI and word embeddings.

Please join us for the next NLP Seminar on Thursday Feb 11 at 4pm in 205 South Hall. All are welcome!

Speaker: Angel Chang (Stanford)
Title: Interactive text to 3D scene generation

Abstract:
Designing 3D scenes is currently a creative task that requires significant expertise and effort in using complex 3D design interfaces. This design process starts in contrast to the easiness with which people can use language to describe real and imaginary environments. We present an interactive text to 3D scene generation system that allows a user to design 3D scenes using natural language. A user provides input text from which we extract explicit constraints on the objects that should appear in the scene. Given these explicit constraints, the system then uses a spatial knowledge base learned from an existing database of 3D scenes and 3D object models to infer an arrangement of the objects forming a natural scene matching the input description. Using textual commands the user can then iteratively refine the created scene by adding, removing, replacing, and manipulating objects.