CGVIP Lab

• Lab Home Page

Research Areas

• Animation
• Family History Technology
• Image Processing and Recognition
• Interactive Segmentation and Editing Tools
• Natural Phenomena
• Rendering
• UAV-Enabled WiSAR

People

• Dr. Bill Barrett
• Dr. Parris Egbert
• Dr. Mike Jones
• Dr. Bryan Morse
• Dr. Tom Sederberg
• Current Students

Publications

• Published Papers
• Technical Reports

Family History Technology

We have been involved for many years in exploring ways to make family history and genealogy easier and more accessible. Previous work has included processing of digitized microfilm and scanned document images to enhance, crop, register, zone, compress, and efficiently distribute images. The digital microfilm scanning and processing pipeline currently used by FamilySearch was built largely using techniques learned by former students in our lab who later went to work at the Family History Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to build the pipeline.

	Image processing and Recognition - We continue to explore additional image processing and recognition methods that will aid in family history. Currently, we are working on handwriting recognition, OCR of headstones, microfilm image compression, processing, waypointing, and other related research.
	Relative Finder (relativefinder.org) - For several years, the relative finder has shown people how they are related to famous people and to groups of their friends or acquaintances using the Ancestral File as a backend. The new Relative Finder uses the new FamilySearch databases as a backend and will be easier to use. Both a web interface and a Facebook app are nearly complete.
	BYU Historic Journals Website (journals.byu.edu) - Prototype website for collaborative linking of personal histories to a genealogical database, creating historical social networks, and making information about ancestors (or other historical people) easy to find.
	Family History Technology Workshop (fht.byu.edu) - Since we started the workshop in 2001, it has been bringing together technologists from academia, the Church, and family history companies to exchange research and ideas for making family history better and easier.