The birds and the bees — or more specifically, how they group together — are inspiring research aimed at enhancing surveillance photos, quickly sorting through military reports and even enabling individual robots to navigate within an army of fellow automatons.
— Bryn Nelson"; Tech_Frontiers_FlockSwarm_080414[i++] = new Array("","Birds of a feather","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photo_StoryLevel/080408/080408-tech-brill-birds-2p.hmedium.jpg","","Image: Flock of birds", "", "", "", "", "", "Laurent Gillieron", "AP file", "273", "410", "#000000", "", "", "", ""); Tech_Frontiers_FlockSwarm_080414[i-1].body = "Birds of a feather
A central concept known as swarm intelligence, based on how birds flock, bees and other social insects swarm and dust particles swirl in the air has been increasingly applied when scientists need to produce very fast, though often approximate, solutions. One application could be for quickly identifying a viable evacuation route after an emergency."; Tech_Frontiers_FlockSwarm_080414[i++] = new Array("","Enhancing photos","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photo_StoryLevel/080409/080414-Frontiers-Swarm-1B.vmedium.jpg","","Image: Photograph of man with camera", "", "", "", "", "", "", "Courtesy of Aladdin Ayesh/ De Montfort University", "198", "198", "#000000", "", "", "", ""); Tech_Frontiers_FlockSwarm_080414[i-1].body = "Enhancing photos
Can the seemingly random movement of dust particles lead to enhanced photos? A research group led by scientists in the United Kingdom and Jordan is using simple swarm intelligence that treats every pixel of a digital photo like a member of swirling mass of particles, with a specific speed and direction. Here's a sample photo, before the enhancement process. Note especially the man's coat."; Tech_Frontiers_FlockSwarm_080414[i++] = new Array("","Hard-to-see details","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photo_StoryLevel/080409/080414-Frontiers-Swarm-1C.vmedium.jpg","","Image: Photograph of man with camera", "", "", "", "", "", "", "Courtesy of Aladdin Ayesh/ De Montfort University", "149", "198", "#000000", "", "", "", ""); Tech_Frontiers_FlockSwarm_080414[i-1].body = "Hard-to-see details
On its own, swarm intelligence may not appear to have improved this photo's quality, but note how the boundary lines in the image have become significantly more defined, making it much easier to spot the lower pocket on the man's coat. Such definition, among its other uses, could help officials make out otherwise hard-to-see details in surveillance photos. "; Tech_Frontiers_FlockSwarm_080414[i++] = new Array("","Organization","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photo_StoryLevel/080409/Swarm-2.hmedium.jpg","","Image: visual representation of documents", "", "", "", "", "", "", "Courtesy of Jesse St. Charles/Xiaohui Cui", "246", "423", "#000000", "", "", "", ""); Tech_Frontiers_FlockSwarm_080414[i-1].body = "Organization
A visual representation of documents in a database shows them scattered randomly. Yikes! How to organize them, especially when they can run well into the thousands? The relatively simple solution, scientists say, relies on basic rules governing how birds flock together."; Tech_Frontiers_FlockSwarm_080414[i++] = new Array("","Flocking rules","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photo_StoryLevel/080409/080414-Frontiers-Swarm-3.hmedium.jpg","","Image: Visual representation of cluster of documents", "", "", "", "", "", "", "Courtesy of Jesse St. Charles/Xiaohui Cui", "255", "423", "#000000", "", "", "", ""); Tech_Frontiers_FlockSwarm_080414[i-1].body = "Flocking rules
By treating the documents like individual birds, researchers were able to use simple flocking rules (don't get too close or far from your neighbor, for example, and only fly with the same species), to rapidly group documents into related \"flocks,\" a solution that could aid analysts needing to find those relevant Congressional reports ASAP."; Tech_Frontiers_FlockSwarm_080414[i++] = new Array("","Fighting fires","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "273", "353", "", "", "", "", ""); Tech_Frontiers_FlockSwarm_080414[i-1].body = "Fighting fires
United Kingdom scientist Aladdin Ayesh and a graduate student used bird-flocking rules to assemble a virtual group of about 50 firefighting robots and send them off in the direction of a blaze (on a computer screen, anyway). Tweaking the group’s relative cohesion changed whether a lost or stuck robot effectively delayed the entire team. The exercise could prove useful for real-world emergencies, whether firefighting or search and rescue. Next up: continuing the process in actual robots — a project the researchers have already begun."; // END editorial data