A few weeks ago I wrote a post which introduced the BOLD Project. Well, a lot has happened since then and this post gives an overview of the translation system which I am building.
BOLD Translator Overview
The translator is split into three parts:
- The preprocessor
- The user input
- The matcher
The Preprocessor
The preprocessor is called as soon as an image is inserted into the repository. The preprocessor works by first segmenting the Bushman words in the dictionary. It does this by exploiting the known fact that every Bushman word on a page is underlined by a solid black line. Once the Bushman words have been segmented, specific features are extracted from them and these features are stored in inverted files. Once the features have been extracted then the orifinal image, the segmented words and the inverted files are all stored in the repository.
The User Input
The user who is accessing the Bleek & Lloyd notebooks uses a tool to select a specific word on a page which then becomes known as the key. The same features which were extracted from each word in the preprocessor are extracted from the key. These features along with the key image will be used later for matching.
The Matcher
The matcher starts by taking the features belonging to the key and finding images with the same features in the inverted files. For each feature match, the score of the image which matched increases. At the end of all the feature comparisons, the images with the highest scores are returned. At this stage there may be some images with the same or similar scores, so to resolve this clash the matcher performs a more intensive comparison between the key and the images with the highest score. Based on the result of this comparison, the most likely match is returned.
So that’s how the BOLD Translator works. Ultimately it is a framework which means that it will be designed such that anyone can adapt it and make use of it by plugging their own algorithms into each of the specific parts. In the next day or two I will blog about the actual work that has been done on the system up to now as well as show some of the results that the translator returns at this point.
The BOLD (Bushman On-Line Dictionary) Project is an honours project being worked on by myself and two colleagues, Sanvir Manilal and Lebogang Molwantoa and is supervised by Dr. Suleman. Together we are creating an online visual dictionary based on about 40 000 scanned images of dictionary pages which form part of the Bleek & LLoyd Collection. The dictionary pages contain an English word and the bushman translation(s) of the word. The goal of the project is to create a useable on-line visual dictionary which researchers around the world can make use of to find out more about bushman culture and bushman language.
The project has been split into three separate parts:
Part 1: Archive Management – Lebogang Molwantoa
This part involves the setting up and building of the archive, including developing administrative tools for managing the repository.
Part 2: Searching and Browsing – Sanvir Manilal
This part involves the way in which end users interact with and make use of the dictionary.
Part 3: Image Based Translation – Kyle Williams
This part involves using the Bushman dictionary to translate Bushman words in the existing Bleek & Lloyd Collection on the fly.
I’ll make use of this blog to provide updates on how development is going, as well as to document techniques I develop – with the idea being that:
- I document them for my own use
- They’re out there for use by other people who may be working on similar projects.
Wish us luck!
A page from the bushman dictionary*
* This image is not available under the same CC license as the rest of this blog. For more information about this image please visit http://lloydbleekcollection.cs.uct.ac.za
The title of this post is obviously a play on the cliche, “the road to success.” The point I’m trying to make with the title is simple – the road to success is anything but straight.
To have a successful business strategy you need to start with the end in mind. The end should be big – don’t think “opening a restaurant,” think “create a successful brand which becomes internationally synonymous with great food and a great time.” My understanding of a business strategy is that it is a series of processes and systems to get to the bigger picture.
The notion of a detour to success is about the fact that it’s never a straight and simple road to achieving success, and following the processes and systems as set out in a business strategy is never a linear task. A lecturer used the metaphor of an air flight: ultimately every flight has a destination and there is a direct route which can be taken to get to that destination. However, because of external factors such as wind speed and bad weather the plane never ever flies a straight line directly to its destination. Instead the plane goes off and flies in the wrong direction for parts of the flight. However, as long as the pilot keeps adjusting and correcting the flight direction, the plane will eventually arrive at its destination, even though it went slightly off course at times.
A business is like a flight and a business strategy gives you your direct flight path. External factors, such as legal and economic ones, cause you to go off course at times. However, you ultimately know where you want to end up at the end.
A business strategy is going to go off course, and it takes leadership and critical thinking to bring your business journey back on course. However, it can be done, and I believe that the ability to do this is what differentiates a great business leader from an average one.
I’ve just started an honours course on business strategy, and one of the requirements of the course is that at the end we write a reflective essay on our initial views on business strategy, and how they’ve changed over the duration of the course. I’ll use this blog to reflect and think about business strategy, and track my changes in mindset over time.So far we’ve only had an introductory lecture, so up till now, most of my thoughts and views are mostly my own and largely uninfluenced.
So what do I think of business strategy?
Well firstly I think that many separate business processes come together to form a business strategy. Some of these business processes are tried, tested, proven to work and can be implemented in a systematic way. However, I think that in many cases, these tried and tested processes need to be adapted to suit a specific business environment. At this stage, a level of understanding of the business is needed, and a critical and logical leader needs to take charge and move forward.
Sometimes however, some of the business processes which form part of the business strategy are not tried and tested. At this stage I think that the business leadership needs to draw on past experiences, case studies and a bit of a “gut feeling” to determine the way forward.
I guess the type of thinking required to form a business strategy can be learned and that’s the motivation for a business strategy class.
I’m sitting in my second lecture and writing this from my phone, so now it’s time to listen and come to understand how business works and how to think critically in developing a business strategy.
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