Amitash Ojha | IIIT Hyderabad (original) (raw)

Papers by Amitash Ojha

Abstract: In this paper I have tried to look at the theory of Karma from a different percpetctive... more Abstract: In this paper I have tried to look at the theory of Karma from a different percpetctive. I argue that it is possible to look at Karma as a cause and effect of cognition. Nyaya mentions cognition as interaction between subject and object through senses. In this paper I am trying to read intteracton as intention and claim that if we do not have intention to perform an action with the object of cogntion we do not cognise the object. I also claim in this paper that intention to perform an action with the cognised object and cogniton of objects are two different sides of the same coin. Therefore It is possible to decide the our own fate. The information acquired in the process passes through our genes.

Visual metaphors are one of the non-verbal manifestations of conceptual metaphors in which concep... more Visual metaphors are one of the non-verbal manifestations of conceptual metaphors in which concepts are presented as images. In the present study we did an eye movement analysis of participants who were asked to find a suitable source for a target. Results showed that perceptual similarity between source and target plays an important role in anchoring the generation of conceptual association between them.

We present our ongoing work on a creativity assistance tool iget. The tool is based on the hypoth... more We present our ongoing work on a creativity assistance tool iget.
The tool is based on the hypothesis that perceptual similarity at a subconscious
level plays a key role in creating conceptual associations and metaphorical
interpretations. The tool iget
is designed to assist users to create new ideas and
metaphors on the basis of algorithmic perceptual similarity between two images
and alternative conceptual associations given by users.

Our work aims to apply the research over semantic interference effects between words (text) and i... more Our work aims to apply the research over semantic interference effects between words (text)
and images in the field of web presentation. There is a lot of effort put into constructing web pages for
articles such as stories and news pages. The way they are presented has a tremendous impact on how
the user perceives and comprehends the content. A major issue that occupies most of the designers’
attention in building such pages is choosing appropriate images for the content. The focus of our work
is to formulate few general guidelines to help a designer to handle this task efficiently. We have conducted
an experiment to study how images effect the presentation. In particular, as this pertains to
presentation of data on web, our experiment aims to elucidate the effect of images in articles on perception
of content in the text and vice versa. For example, the presence of image in an article influences
the subject in a way he/she selects the parts of text to be or not to be read, which in a way influences
the overall time spent by the subject on the article. Images also affect the way subjects memorize items
from an article. The domination of source, whether it is image or text content, is also discussed when
they convey contradicting information.

In two eye movement studies we try 1) to shed some light on the issue of identification of target... more In two eye movement studies we try 1) to shed some light on
the issue of identification of target and source in a visual
metaphor and 2) try to explore the role of perceptual
similarity in metaphor interpretation. In first experiment we
found that viewer must notice the incongruity in order to
come up with a metaphorical interpretation when he is
presented with a visual metaphor (where only one object is
depicted). We also show, using eye movement data, that when
viewers fixate on the incongruous object they identify the
target of metaphor correctly and if they do not focus on
incongruous object, the target is identified erroneously. In
second experiment we hypothesize that perceptual similarity
plays a key role in forming a metaphorical interpretation. we
found that as far as pictorial similes are concerned, attention
must be focused on the perceptual similarities between the
two images in order for a viewer to come up with a
metaphorical interpretation. Moreover, the attention is shared
between the perceptually similar regions of the two images in
a symmetric way, suggesting that they are being compared
during metaphorical interpretation.

Metaphors based on perceptual similarity are considered to be one of the hallmarks of creativity.... more Metaphors based on perceptual similarity are considered to be one of the hallmarks of creativity. We propose here an image-based retrieval system for generating pairs of perceptually similar images. A number of examples of images paired by the system are presented and discussed. Often, these images are conceptually very different, and hence can serve as anchors
for perceptual metaphors that create new conceptual similarities.

Coming up with new and creative advertisements is a sophisticated task for humans, because creati... more Coming up with new and creative advertisements is a sophisticated task for humans, because creativity
requires breaking conventional associations to create new juxtaposition of familiar objects. Using objects in
an uncommon context attracts the viewer’s attention and is an effective way to communicate a message in
advertisements. Perceptual similarity seems to be a major source for creativity in the domain of visual
metaphors, e.g. replacing objects by perceptually similar, but conceptually different objects is a technique to
create new and unconventional interpretations. In this paper, we analyze the role of perceptual similarity in
advertisements and propose an extension of Heuristic-Driven Theory Projection, a computational theory for
analogy making that can be used to automatically compute interpretations of visual metaphors.

A number of empirical studies have demonstrated that certain metaphors can create new conceptual ... more A number of empirical studies have demonstrated
that certain metaphors can create new
conceptual similarities between the source and the
target. However, the mechanism of similarity
creation has not been explained or modelled satisfactorily.
In this paper, we present some empirical
evidence in support of this hypothesis for visual
metaphors and show how similarity judgements
are different from metaphor process. We focus on
visual metaphors because here the images corresponding
to the source and the target are objectively
present. Moreover, we use an algorithmic
approach to establish perceptual similarity by
using an image-based search system that determines
similarity based on low-level perceptual
features like colour, shape, texture, etc. Results of
this study shows a difference in similarity process
and metaphor process, the number of newly created
conceptual features also correlated strongly
with the perceptual similarity between the pairs of
images. Finally, an analysis of the eye-movement
data shows that the perceptually similar regions of
the images get increased attention during metaphorical
interpretation.