Finding lost children

Objectives: Reuniting children with their families after a disaster poses unique challenges. The objective was to pilot test the ability of a novel image-based tool to assist a parent in identifying a picture of his or her children.Methods: A previously developed image-based indexing and retrieval tool that employs two advanced vision search algorithms was used. One algorithm, Feature-Attribute-Matching, extracts facial features (skin color, eye color, and age) of a photograph and then matches according to parental input. The other algorithm, User-Feedback, allows parents to choose children on the screen that appear similar to theirs and then reprioritizes the images in the database. This was piloted in a convenience sample of parentchild pairs in a pediatric tertiary care hospital. A photograph of each participating child was added to a preexisting image database. A double-blind randomized crossover trial was performed to measure the percentage of database reviewed and time using the Feature-Attribute-Matching-plus-User-Feedback strategy or User-Feedback strategy only. Search results were compared to a theoretical random search. Afterward, parents completed a survey evaluating satisfaction.Results: Fifty-one parent-child pairs completed the study. The Feature-Attribute-Matching-plus-UserFeedback strategy was superior to the User-Feedback strategy in decreasing the percentage of database reviewed (mean ± SD = 24.1 ± 20.1% vs. 35.6 ± 27.2%; mean difference = À11.5%; 95% confidence interval [CI] = À21.5% to À1.4%; p = 0.03). Both were superior to the random search (p < 0.001). Time for both searches was similar despite fewer images reviewed in the Feature-Attribute-Matching-plus-UserFeedback strategy. Sixty-eight percent of parents were satisfied with the search and 87% felt that this tool would be very or extremely helpful in a disaster.Conclusions: This novel image-based reunification system reduced the number of images reviewed before parents identified their children. This technology could be further developed to assist future family reunifications in a disaster.

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“…11 Two advanced vision search algorithms (Facial-Attribute-Matching and UserFeedback) and a database of pediatric images were created.…”

Section: Development Of An Image-based Reunification Toolmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For those images that did not fit the criteria of agreement, the study investigators hand-labeled the respective attributes. 11 The team also downloaded age groups from parenting.com.…”

Section: Development Of An Image-based Reunification Toolmentioning

confidence: 99%