Indexing, browsing and searching of digital video

Video is a communications medium that normally brings together moving pictures with a synchronised audio track into a discrete piece or pieces of information. The size of a “piece ” of video can variously be referred to as a frame, a shot, a scene, a clip, a programme or an episode, and these are distinguished by their lengths and by their composition. We shall return to the definition of each of these in section 4 this chapter. In modern society, video is ver

Emerging spaces for language learning: AI bots, ambient intelligence, and the metaverse

Looking at human communication from the perspective of semiotics extends our view beyond verbal language to consider other sign systems and meaning-making resources. Those include gestures, body language, images, and sounds. From this perspective, the communicative process expands from individual mental processes of verbalizing to include features of the environment, the place and space in which the communication occurs. It may be—and it is increasingly the case today—that language is mediated through digital networks. Online communication has become multimodal in virtually all platforms. At the same time, mobile devices have become indispensable digital companions, extending our perceptive and cognitive abilities. Advances in artificial intelligence are enabling tools that have considerable potential for language learning, as well as creating more complexity in the relationship between humans and the material world. In this column, we will be looking at changing perspectives on the role of place and space in language learning, as mobile, embedded, virtual, and reality-augmenting technologies play an ever-increasing role in our lives. Understanding that dynamic is aided by theories and frameworks such as 4E cognition and sociomaterialism, which posit closer connections between human cognition/language and the world around us

CHORUS Deliverable 2.1: State of the Art on Multimedia Search Engines

Based on the information provided by European projects and national initiatives related to multimedia search as well as domains experts that participated in the CHORUS Think-thanks and workshops, this document reports on the state of the art related to multimedia content search from, a technical, and socio-economic perspective. The technical perspective includes an up to date view on content based indexing and retrieval technologies, multimedia search in the context of mobile devices and peer-to-peer networks, and an overview of current evaluation and benchmark inititiatives to measure the performance of multimedia search engines. From a socio-economic perspective we inventorize the impact and legal consequences of these technical advances and point out future directions of research

CHORUS Deliverable 2.2: Second report - identification of multi-disciplinary key issues for gap analysis toward EU multimedia search engines roadmap

After addressing the state-of-the-art during the first year of Chorus and establishing the existing landscape in multimedia search engines, we have identified and analyzed gaps within European research effort during our second year. In this period we focused on three directions, notably technological issues, user-centred issues and use-cases and socio- economic and legal aspects. These were assessed by two central studies: firstly, a concerted vision of functional breakdown of generic multimedia search engine, and secondly, a representative use-cases descriptions with the related discussion on requirement for technological challenges. Both studies have been carried out in cooperation and consultation with the community at large through EC concertation meetings (multimedia search engines cluster), several meetings with our Think-Tank, presentations in international conferences, and surveys addressed to EU projects coordinators as well as National initiatives coordinators. Based on the obtained feedback we identified two types of gaps, namely core technological gaps that involve research challenges, and “enablers”, which are not necessarily technical research challenges, but have impact on innovation progress. New socio-economic trends are presented as well as emerging legal challenges

Global Mobility Chatbot: Chatbot model to improve mobile employee experience

Dissertation presented as the partial requirement for obtaining a Master's degree in Information Management, specialization in Marketing IntelligenceThe Global Mobility Industry is the area that comprehends the emerging internationalization and growth of companies outside borders. Its overall core essence is to support businesses all over the world in setting up operations, by assigning employees in other cities or countries outside the company's headquarters. These operations have intrinsically a set of challenges and opportunities that both companies and employees need to face while on move. To face these challenges and accomplish international move tasks and goals, software houses have been developing over the past years platforms and solutions to face each of the international moves phases. However, it's hard to keep every task, request, event, and everything on track and both accomplishing and managing it can become a struggle when the number of employees on assignment multiplies and grows year after year. The usage of Chatbots is not new in the tech world, but the technology, features, and capabilities of those have been growing and growing, and those are gaining a significant space and importance in a variety of different businesses and social fields, such as sales, real state, eCommerce, customer support, and even marketing and enterprise bots. Its capacity to work as a true virtual assistant, able to respond and support users 24/7, it’s becoming something more and more desirable for every company and employee. This dissertation has the goal to, first, make a deeper research and study on the Global Mobility Industry and the Chatbot usage and development. Defining and stating how helpful and valuable a chatbot could be when integrated with a Global Mobility software solution. By concluding this study, 2 built artifacts will result from it, specifically a backlog full of business requirements to accomplish, and a prototype of the chatbot using one of the top Chatbot enablers platforms in the market. To work and develop the artifacts, this dissertation will follow the design science research methodology, whose evaluation phase will be supported by a user testing session and a structured interview with carefully selected participants, with pre-defined closed and open-ended questions. Everything resulting from this dissertation will leave open space for future enhancements, by incrementing the value and functionalities of the chatbot, and potential real-world application and integration of it in Global Mobility softwares and platforms

FAITH NEWS IN THE DIGITAL AGE: NEW MUSLIM AND NON-MUSLIM RESIDENTS SEEKING ISLAMIC INFORMATION IN DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

When non-Muslims become immersed in an Islamic way of life—a common occurrence in the UAE, a Muslim country where the overwhelming majority of the resident population is foreign-born—some become interested in learning more about the Islamic faith. This interest is also evident among new converts to Islam from other countries when they reside in the UAE. Little is known about how information about Islam is disseminated to non-Muslims and new Muslims in the UAE, how these expatriates search for the religious information they desire, and the challenges they encounter in their enquiries. This study applies the theory of the diffusion of innovations as a guiding framework to understand the target audience, explore the informational gaps in their knowledge, and propose an innovative media model. Survey responses were collected from 541 adult expatriates residing in the UAE and personal interviews were conducted with 19 expatriate residents and seven staff members of Islamic (Da’wah) centres within Dubai. The survey results indicate that almost half of these residents rely on word-of-mouth as a key source of Islamic information, with new Muslims making greater use of the Da-wah centres than non-Muslims for religious information. The demographic profile of survey participants is discussed and analyzed, especially in relation to media use. The researcher identifies a lack of organization in the methods of dissemination of Islamic information and limited access among foreign-born residents to reliable and accurate information. The dissertation considers a proposal for use of radio with digital media to disseminate information about Islam among specific expatriates in the UAE. Keywords: Islami