Lauren Barghout Joins Last Studio Standing as Chief Vision Scientist

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Last Studio Standing, the largest hand-drawn animation studio in the Western Hemisphere announces the addition of a key team member, Dr. Lauren Barghout, and the use of convolutional neural networking also known as Deep Dream in some of its upcoming productions. Barghout is currently a visiting scholar at the Berkeley Initiative for Soft Computing in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science department at the University of California-Berkeley, where she has published several reports including  "Essential Computer Vision: Fuzzy and Bayesian Techniques." She is an avid participant of Ephemerisle and long-time martial arts enthusiasts.

Barghout invented a Gestalt-based fuzzy inference system and labeling technique used commercially in image/video background removal, object recognition and image labeling systems. Her research has contributed to the understanding of context-dependent spatial vision, spatial masking, theoretical and computational psychophysics, and the application of fuzzy set theory to human and machine vision. "The sum is greater than the sum of the parts. We infer it looks whole and we can fill in what is missing and match what the human eye expects to see and we don't get the jitter during the process," explained Barghout.

Given her extensive experience in vision science and her passion for computer technology, Lauren brings a unique perspective to the animation studio. "Most animation relies solely on a direction and what's being created," continued Barghout. "This invention allows for a softer, more human-like understanding. It captures the flavor and nuance of a subject naturally -- and, again, it's softer. As such, it requires less manual clean up."

"I'm excited to join Last Studio Standing at a time when they are entering the English-language market. The studio is a place of innovation and is unafraid of pushing the envelope in terms of subject matter. It's a place where creative and analytical minds can interact, inspire and motivate each other."

On Barghout's appointment, Last Studio Standing's managing partner and executive producer Jonathan Kitzen said, "Lauren is a tremendous addition to the team. We are focused on creating memorable immersive experiences that transport the viewer to unimaginable worlds through software development and technology platforms that are the first of their kind. Lauren's expertise will bring our team a fresh perspective that will help us to become a leading international animation studio.

Last Studio Standing was founded in 2017 by Jonathan Kitzen and Hernan Zajec. ConVRter is a Canadian-based corporation founded in 2013 and the recipient of National Research Council funding for experimental vision systems. Conexion Creativa is an award-winning Colombian animation studio with the largest output of any Latin American company. To learn more about Last Studio Standing, visit www.laststudiostanding.com

About Last Studio Standing
Last Studio Standing is a merger between ConVRter Technologies, a leading edge hub of vision and hardware technologists, and Conexion Creativa, an award-winning Colombian animation studio. It is currently the largest hand drawn animation studio in the Western Hemisphere.

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SOURCE Last Studio Standing