Dr. Setiawan Hadi, MSc.CS., “The Potentials of Digital Image Technology are Considerable”
[Unpad.ac.id, 12/29/2011] “Present, Ma’am!” is the most common answer that a student gives when a teacher calls her/his name to check his/her attendance. Thanks to digital imaging technology, students’ attendance can now be directly done simply by placing their finger on the fingerprint reader machine before the class starts. Accordingly, teachers would not have to call out the students’ name prior to the lesson.
Dr. Setiawan Hadi, MSc.CS (Photo: Tedi Yusup)*
Fingerprint reader machine is one of the many applications of digital imaging technology in biometrics for the society. Further applications are on e-KTP (electronic identification), remote perceptive device, and many more. However, this very technology has yet to be thoroughly developed although it has been available in Indonesia for some time.
Luckily, Unpad has the researchers who have great interests in and are active in developing the digital imaging and computer graphics since 1994, one of whom is Dr. Setiawan Hadi, M.Sc., CS., a lecturer at the Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences.
When intervied in Building I Lobby, Jln, Dipati Ukur No. 34, Bandung, on Thursday (12/8), Setiawan Hadi gave a brief description on the technology. He explained that digital imaging is a technology that develops the computer to be able to render images or pictures that it sees.
“This may be simple for human, but not for computers. With this technology, computers are equipped with the ability to recognize, remember, and conclude the object of picture or image it sees,” said he who is a postgraduate alumnus of University of New Brunswick Faculty of Computer Science Canada and doctoral degree holder from Institut Teknologi Bandung.
There are at least six object classifications of the picture that the computer analyzes. The first one is textual object, i.e. where computer recognizes writings. The second one is figural object, where computer detects the position of an object. The third one is facial object, which means that computer is able to recognize the face of an object. The fourth one is expressional object, which is the expressions of a person when he/she is angry, sleepy, or happy. The fifth one is actional object, where computer recognizes movements, such as walking and sign language. This can be developed to help people with disabilities. The last one is conditional objects, in this case, one of the purposes is to monitor traffic, for instance.
“To monitor traffic, CCTV (closed circuit television) is put into use. Nevertheless, when equipped with digital imaging technology, CCTV will be able not only to monitor, but also respond to an incident and directly trigger the alarm to get us to take necessary measure. So we somehow equip the CCTV with a little intelligence,” said he.
Setiawan is currently conducting research on “Prototype Development of Open Source Motion Computating Intelligent Application to Extract Digital Image Meaning 2011”. The research has been awarded Competence Grants by Dikti for 2011-2012. Of the six classifications mentioned in the above, Setiawan has started working on three.
The research is a frame work that can be developed to invent various digital imaging application devices. In doing his research, Setiawan is assisted by his graduate and undergraduate students, one of whom, Asep Solahudin, has successfully developed the frame work into face recognizer robot. The robot was exhibited in Scientific Week Expo during the commemoration of Unpad’s Dies Natalis, last September.
According to Setiawan, the technology can be widely developed to list students’ attendance, counting people in a crowd, detecting currency for the sight impaired, and so on. One application that is being developed is tsunami detector using digital imaging concept.
“Tsunami is indeed a natural disaster that is difficult to detect. We can install a camera that monitors the sea. Simply put, if there is a little anomaly, camera can trigger the alarm,” said one of the pioneers in the field of Industrial Technology in Unpad.
Furthermore, he also has initiated a number of digital technology developments incorporated with other disciplines, such as in agricultural field to detect the grade, size, and shape of strawberry, tomato, and corn for good quality product selection. “There were at least 12 foodstuffs checked, and we can work together with Unpad FTIP,” explained he.
In his opinion, the development of digital imaging technology offers considerable potentials, uses advanced technology, and faces great challenges. This is what motivates Setiawan to keep researching on the technology. “We only add an element of intelligence to computer so that it can produce more intelligent results. This technology can support and help human activities and improve people’s welfare,” said he.
Report by: Marlia | | | eh*
