Project description
A new take on the decades-old facial recognition technology
Facial recognition technology can match a human face from a digital image or a video frame. More than 50 years old, this technology is used everywhere – from airport checking and securing smartphones to organising photos. In fact, face identity categorisation is considered the pinnacle of categorisation in human adults. In this context, the ERC-funded HUMANFACE project will investigate whether semantic representations of personal identity precede and guide the development of visual face identity representations over time. So, contrary to standard theoretical models, there is no border between visual perception and semantic memory. The findings will shed light on the large corpus of data and original methodologies to make decisive progress in understanding one of the most complex functions of the human brain.
Objective
HUMANFACE is based on a proposed global theory of human face identity recognition, conceptualized as a categorization function (i.e. Face Identity Categorization, FIC). FIC is considered as the pinnacle of categorization in human adults, who perform this function rapidly and automatically, despite a large, undetermined, and flexible number of categories of identities experienced throughout life. The core theoretical hypothesis of HUMANFACE is that semantic representations of person identity precede and guide the development of visual face identity representations throughout lifetime. Hence, contrary to standard theoretical models, there is no border between “visual perception” and “semantic memory”, but a postero-anterior gradient of sensitivity to physical and semantic features of identity in the human ventral occipito-temporal cortex (vOTC). The theory integrates a number of observations from single neurons to behavior, making predictions tested in five work packages. In WP1, valid measures of rapid, automatic FIC in human adults are optimized, to be used in WP2, testing the modulation of FIC by, and integration with, social semantics. To map the neural basis of FIC as constrained by social semantics, including its temporal dynamics and critical relation to behavior, WP3 consists of intracerebral recordings and stimulation across the vOTC. To show the emergence and strengthening of representations of facial identity by multimodal person knowledge, studies in infants and children will be conducted in WP4. Finally, to test hypotheses about the coding of facial identities across degenerate minicolumns of neurons, recordings will be made at the level of single neurons in the vOTC in WP5. The project will generate a large corpus of data and original methodologies to make decisive progress in understanding one of the most complex functions of the human mind/brain, shedding new light on how humans give meaning to their physical and social environment.
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2021-ADG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
75794 PARIS
France
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