This is choreographed - I don't think the comments on reactions vs lifeguard reactions mean much.
They don't look very choreographed…
They do.
Spot the Drowning Child (2015)
71–80 of 424 posts
Re: Spot the Drowning Child (2015)
#72One of the important lessons I learnt from a lifeguard is that movies depict a very inaccurate representation of drowning. The movies would have you believe that drowning is a violent and noisy event when in reality it is an inconspicuous and silent event. The victim cannot shout or call for help when they are struggling to keep their nose above the water level. Another important lesson I learnt that sometimes when s…
Most depictions of things in movies are like that.
Films must show you something interesting, and watching somebody do trial and error painfully on a bash script for 6 hours is not as fun as a fast pace keyboard murder while screaming "i just passed 3 firewalls" with beautiful animations rendering on the screen.
If there is a camera, what you see is a lie. The difference between a national geographic documentary and cinema is just how big the lie is.
It's a bit insiduous actually, because some parts of the lie are subtil: rythm, speed, dialogs, personalities, agenda, resources... But they look real enough to make our natural social mechanisms trigger, and the lie then creeps into real life.
Like people now expect the police, the justice system, school or the hospital to behave in a certain way, and the reality is way less glamourous.
The chances we actually find, or even search for somebody that killed you (if it's not very obvious) are very low, not to mention a simple theft or ass kicking.
Most things are mondain and boring looking. That's why we are so fond of art.
And drowning is like most things.
Re: Spot the Drowning Child (2015)
#73Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's easier in real life because nobody just jumps in the deep end and starts drowning. When you're doing nothing but watching the pool you notice who is and isn't a strong swimmer and focus your attention on the kids who look like they're a higher risk. Also when you do it all day you get good. Most people who are struggling will know it and make it to the side of the pool with no issues so you get a lot of experien…
you can drown even if youre a strong swimmer. a cramp in your feet/abdomen can cause you to drown.
I've had severe cramps in my legs/feet many times in deep ocean water with no-one around. If you drown from a foot cramp you are not a strong swimmer.
Re: Spot the Drowning Child (2015)
#74Earlier quoted context omitted.
The guards actually have a lot more context. They have been watching the people in the pool and have mentally sorted them by how much attention they need. They have also been staring at the same pool for hours and their brain is ignoring all the visual noise that is distracting you. They also have the benefit of stereo vision and sound.
I agree with your general point but I think some of the assumptions you've made aren't quite accurate: > They have also been staring at the same pool for hours and their brain is ignoring all the visual noise that is distracting you. I'd suspect mental fatigue would counteract any benefits you'd get from increased filtering. Which, I assume, is why life guards are generally rotated regularly. > They also have the ben…
I meant "hours" cumulatively, so their brain is ignoring all the background stuff that is competing for our attention in these short clips because it's all novel stimulation to us.
Drownings in progress are often quiet, but that doesn't mean there aren't useful audio cues (splashing that stops, a kid who is no longer laughing or shouting, etc)
Re: Spot the Drowning Child (2015)
#75To all parents out there, it takes 10 seconds for a toddler to drown. Once in the water, if they go under, they tend to get disoriented and don't know where is up or down. When you are with your kids near a swimming pool or the sea, keep your eyes glued on them. My rule is "never break line of sight" (I borrowed the term from Assassin's Creed where if you break line of sights from the guards chasing you for a few sec…
Line of Sight (LoS / LOS) is indeed an aspect in some video games [1], including World of Warcraft.
I'm going to swim with my 2 year old daughter for the first time this Saturday, so this being linked on HN was a chilling reminder. What I'm mostly scared about is that she gets some kind of temper tantrum whilst being in the water.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line_of_sight_(video_games)
Re: Spot the Drowning Child (2015)
#76Earlier quoted context omitted.
I agree with your general point but I think some of the assumptions you've made aren't quite accurate: > They have also been staring at the same pool for hours and their brain is ignoring all the visual noise that is distracting you. I'd suspect mental fatigue would counteract any benefits you'd get from increased filtering. Which, I assume, is why life guards are generally rotated regularly. > They also have the ben…
I meant "hours" cumulatively, so their brain is ignoring all the background stuff that is competing for our attention in these short clips because it's all novel stimulation to us. Drownings in progress are often quiet, but that doesn't mean there aren't useful audio cues (splashing that stops, a kid who is no longer laughing or shouting, etc)
Two very fair points :)
Re: Spot the Drowning Child (2015)
#77Why is there no progress bar? Do you really expect me to sit through several minutes of video of nothing happening just to prove a point?
Finally I saw the child go down, so I wanted to rewind a few seconds to see what happened there. Nope, not allowed!
Re: Spot the Drowning Child (2015)
#78Can we please update the title with "2015" ? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9962185
Why? Typically you age an article to contextualize it (sometimes REALLY important). In this case it is an interactive educational tool, the age hasn't changed its purpose, value, or usage.
Re: Spot the Drowning Child (2015)
#79It seems like spotting drowning children could be a good use case for computer vision, at least as a backup. The heuristics for a drowning child are pretty marked, but they're hard to spot for humans distracted by lots of other stimuli.
Looks like this has already been done: https://swimeye.com/
But apparently only on the pool bottom.
Re: Spot the Drowning Child (2015)
#80What's the point of this? Should I be surprised that I do a poor job at watching a camera footage compared to a person being present there with all sensory inputs, context, trained to spot drowning people?