Smartphone picture organization: a hierarchical approach

We live in a society where the large majority of the population has a camera-equipped smartphone. In addition, hard drives and cloud storage are getting cheaper and cheaper, leading to a tremendous growth in stored personal photos. Unlike photo collections captured by a digital camera, which typically are pre-processed by the user who organizes them into event-related folders, smartphone pictures are automatically stored in the cloud. As a consequence, photo collections captured by a smartphone are highly unstructured and because smartphones are ubiquitous, they present a larger variability compared to pictures captured by a digital camera. To solve the need of organizing large smartphone photo collections automatically, we propose here a new methodology for hierarchical photo organization into topics and topic-related categories. Our approach successfully estimates latent topics in the pictures by applying probabilistic Latent Semantic Analysis, and automatically assigns a name to each topic by relying on a lexical database. Topic-related categories are then estimated by using a set of topic-specific Convolutional Neuronal Networks. To validate our approach, we ensemble and make public a large dataset of more than 8,000 smartphone pictures from 40 persons. Experimental results demonstrate major user satisfaction with respect to state of the art solutions in terms of organization.Peer ReviewedPreprin

The polaroid image as photo-object

This article is part of a larger project on the cultural history of Polaroid photography and draws on research done at the Polaroid Corporate archive at Harvard and at the Polaroid company itself. It identifies two cultural practices engendered by Polaroid photography, which, at the point of its extinction, has briefly flared into visibility again. It argues that these practices are mistaken as novel but are in fact rediscoveries of practices that stretch back as many as five decades. The first section identifies Polaroid image-making as a photographic equivalent of what Tom Gunning calls the ‘cinema of attractions’. That is, the emphasis in its use is on the display of photographic technologies rather than the resultant image. Equally, the common practice, in both fine art and vernacular circles, of making composite pictures with Polaroid prints, draws attention from image content and redirects it to the photo as object

A Comprehensive Branding Strategy for the Vignelli Center for Design Studies

This project presents solutions for Vignelli Center for Design Studies that address the question about the ineffective use of digital resources and lack of communications with users though the website. The results provide design solutions for both web and mobile users, aiming to improve the user experience and creatre an lasting impression on the audience. This project creates a comprehensive branding strategy that enables the Vignelli Center to expand its reach and build a powerful connection to both existing and future audience. It also builds a consistent brand system across different platforms. Furthermore, this project demonstrates the importance of utilizing new information techniques and user-centered methodology for Vignelli Center to improve resources and allow for better access for the users. The final outcomes include designing a responsive website and mobile application for the Vignelli Center for Design Studies

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

Hospitality healthscapes: a conjoint analysis approach to understanding patient responses to hotel-like hospital rooms

In an increasingly competitive market, healthcare providers are incorporating best practices from the hospitality industry to improve the patient experience. The present study offers a model of hospitality healthscapes to provide a patient-based perspective of the infusion of hospitality into healthcare. A study of 406 respondents examined the hotel-like attributes that patients prefer in hospital rooms and the effect of their provision on patients’ well-being and willingness to pay higher out-of-pocket expenses. Using conjoint analysis and 3D visual representations of hospital rooms, the study found that high-end material finishes and hospitality-certified healthcare staff were the two greatest influences on patient choice. The study also found some differences between the preferences of “less healthy” and “more healthy” patients, with the less healthy patients willing to pay, on average, 13% higher out-of-pocket expenses for hotel-like hospital rooms than the more healthy patients. This study represents the first attempt in the evidence-based design literature to holistically and empirically examine the infusion of hospitality into healthcare by emphasizing the “patient as customer.” The findings have important marketing implications for healthcare providers who wish to enhance the patient experience

Extending sustainability from food to fashion consumption:the lived experience of working mothers

This report isa collection of the memos written in work package 1 of the LambdaRoad project, where the overall project objectives is to study the need and requirements for electronic communication (ecom) in the future transport system in Norway and develop a planning tool for ecom for the transport sector. lntroductory studies were performed in work package 1 and documented in this report. In particular we 1) have established va lue networks for ecom in Norway, 2) described the crucial terms in C-ITS ecom, including motivation for the planning tool, 3) established a comprehensive state of the art study for path loss models, a crucial part of the planning tool to be developed, 4) studied the literature to summarize the ecom requirements in the future transport system, and 5) conducted in-depth semi -structured interviews to reveal the requirements and needs of the planning tool in LambdaRoad for the project partners. Please note that some of the memos included might change during the rest of the project period, and that updates may occur

Family memories in the home: contrasting physical and digital mementos

We carried out fieldwork to characterise and compare physical and digital mementos in the home. Physical mementos are highly valued, heterogeneous and support different types of recollection. Contrary to expectations, we found physical mementos are not purely representational, and can involve appropriating common objects and more idiosyncratic forms. In contrast, digital mementos were initially perceived as less valuable, although participants later reconsidered this. Digital mementos were somewhat limited in function and expression, largely involving representational photos and videos, and infrequently accessed. We explain these digital limitations and conclude with design guidelines for digital mementos, including better techniques for accessing and integrating these into everyday life, allowing them to acquire the symbolic associations and lasting value that characterise their physical counterparts

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