The next generation internet initiative

Digital transformation is pushing all market sectors to level up their digital capabilities to better serve customers and improve the user experience. The European Commission launched in 2016 the Next Generation Internet (NGI) initiative as part of the DSM strategy. NGI includes a number of different – but always interrelated – emerging technologies in the following focus areas: artificial intelligence and autonomous machines, blockchains and distributed ledgers, big data, Internet of Things, 5G, cybersecurity and privacy technologies, cloud and edge computing, and open data. As for cooperation in the field of Information and Communications Technology, Europe and the United States should seek a joint framework to expand efforts in new emerging technologies, while preserving common principles around a comprehensive EU–US digital economy dialogue. The NGI Initiative is an important opportunity to radically rethink the way the Internet works today, and more human-focused narratives are needed more than ever

Revealing the ancient city of Sikyon through the application of integrated geophysical approaches and 3D modelling

The ancient city of Sikyon is located in the northern Peloponnese covering an area of 250 ha on a plateau that rises about 4 km southwest of the Corinthian gulf.  Previous archaeological excavations revealed a limited number of monuments within the surroundings of the ancient agora. Since 2004, a consortium led by the University of Thessaly, the Institute for Mediterranean Studies/FORTH, the University of York and the 37th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities initiated the Sikyon..

Tumuli exploration using surface 3D Electrical Resistivity Tomography

Introduction The direct current resistivity method is nowadays a well established geophysical technique, used routinely and successfully in the detection and mapping of concealed subsurface structures, like walls, ditches and anthropogenic or natural cavities (Dahlin and Zhou, 2004). In archaeological geophysics, tombs constitute the most common subterranean manmade cavities of the greatest archaeological and historical importance. Several successful case studies in the detection of tombs hav..

A regional approach to ancient urban studies in Greece through multi-settlement geophysical survey

The systematic exploration of large archaeological sites in the Mediterranean has evolved considerably since the “big dig” excavations. Pedestrian field surveying and remote sensing applications, including satellite and airborne image analysis, are now practical and relatively cost-efficient methods of characterizing large and diachronically diverse landscapes on regional scales. However, the use of geophysical techniques as a means for exploring manifold archaeological contexts is still in its infancy. In this paper, we highlight the advantages of archaeological geophysics to conduct regional surveys in the Mediterranean. Through a multi-site geophysical fieldwork campaign to investigate the patterns and dynamics of ancient cities in Greece, we show how geophysics offer new opportunities for characterizing the spatial attributes and regional dynamics of urban landscapes, and, in doing so, we make an argument for its wider adoption on regional survey projects

Generation of Personalized MPEG-4 compliant Talking Heads

Abstract:- This paper studies a new method for three-dimensional (3D) facial model adaptation and its integration into a Text-to-Speech (TTS) system. The TTS System pronounces, in real time, English or Greek speech and simultaneously animates the adapted face model, thus simulating a natural talking face. The 3D facial adaptation requires a set of two orthogonal views of the user’s face with a number of feature points located on both views. Based on the correspondences of the feature points ’ positions a generic face model is deformed non-rigidly treating every facial part (i.e. nose, mouth, etc) as a separate entity. A cylindrical texture map is then built from the two image views covering the whole area of the head by exploiting the inherent face symmetry. The result is a complete, textured model of a specific person’s head. The generated 3-D models are then integrated into a talking head system, which consists of two distinct parts: a multi-lingual Text To Speech sub-system and a Facial Animation sub-system based on MPEG-4 Facial Animation Parameters (FAPs). Support for the Greek language has been added to both the TTS and the facial animation sub-system while preserving lip and speech synchronization. Key-Words:-MPEG-4, 3D model based coding, Text to Speech, facial adaptation, talking face

Three-Dimensional Facial Adaptation for MPEG-4 Talking Heads

This paper studies a new method for three-dimensional (3D) facial model adaptation and its integration into a text-to-speech (TTS) system. The 3D facial adaptation requires a set of two orthogonal views of the user′s face with a number of feature points located on both views. Based on the correspondences of the feature points′ positions, a generic face model is deformed nonrigidly treating every facial part as a separate entity. A cylindrical texture map is then built from the two image views. The generated head models are compared to corresponding models obtained by the commonly used adaptation method that utilizes 3D radial bases functions. The generated 3D models are integrated into a talking head system, which consists of two distinct parts: a multilingual text to speech sub-system and an MPEG-4 compliant facial animation sub-system. Support for the Greek language has been added, while preserving lip and speech synchronization

Detection of olive oil mill waste (OOMW) disposal areas using high resolution GeoEye’s OrbView-3 and Google Earth images

The olive oil industry is considered to be as one of the driving sectors of the agricultural economy of the Mediterranean basin. The extraction of olive oil generates huge quantities of wastes that may have a great impact on land and water environments due to high concentrations in phenolic compounds that could cause ophytotoxicity. This paper aims to examine the potential use of freely distributed satellite images for the detection of olive oil mil waste (OOMW) areas in the island of Crete through the use of two cases studies. In the first case study an archive GeoEye OrbView-3 image was used to detect OOMW areas using the Spectral Angle Mapper detection algorithm and other geometric and topographic parameters. In the second case study, Google Earth images were examined through different classification algorithms at different scales. The overall results demonstrate that remote sensing techniques can be used as an alternative to field observations so as to detect and monitor OOMW areas Furthermore, freely distributed RGB images from digital globes (such as Google Earth) can be sufficiently and effectively used for this purpose

Discriminant analysis of olive oil mill wastes using spectroradiometers in the visible and near infrared part of the spectrum

This paper aims to introduce an index which is able to assist the recognition of Olive Oil Mill Wastes (OOMW) disposal areas using multispectral satellite images. For this purpose several ground spectroradiometric measurements in the range of 450 - 900 nm have been collected at a variety of targets. The samples were initially resampled to the GeoEye-1 sensor using the appropriate Relative Spectral Response Filter (RSR) and then scatter plots and spectral signatures were projected. Then an evaluation of nine widely used vegetation indices was performed. This analysis indicated that, Perpendicular Vegetation Index (PVI), Transformed Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index (TSAVI) and Soil and Atmospherically Resistant Vegetation Index (SARVI) are the most efficient indices to enhance the detection of Olive Mill Waste disposal areas. Moreover, correlation as well as separability analysis have shown than blue and near infrared (NIR) spectral bands are the most suitable for interpretation purposes. The Olive Mill Waste index was applied also to GeoEye-1 in different cases studies in the island of Crete