The MoCA Workbench: Support for Creativity in Movie Content Analysis

Semantic access to the content of a video is highly desirable for multimedia content retrieval. Automatic extraction of semantics requires content analysis algorithms. Our MoCA (Movie Content Analysis) project provides an interactive workbench supporting the researcher in the development of new movie content analysis algorithms. The workbench offers data management facilities for large amounts of video/audio data and derived parameters. It also provides an easy-to-use interface for a free combination of basic operators into more sophisticated operators. We can combine results from video track and audio track analysis. The MoCA Workbench shields the researcher from technical details and provides advanced visualization capabilities, allowing attention to focus on the development of new algorithms. The paper presents the design and implementation of the MoCA Workbench and reports practical experience

Scene Determination based on Video and Audio Features

Determination of scenes from a video is a challenging task. When asking humans for it, results will be inconsistent since the term scene is not precisely defined. It leaves it up to each human to set shared attributes which integrate shots to scenes. However, consistent results can be found for certain basic attributes like dialogs, same settings and continuing sounds. We have therefore developed a scene determination scheme which clusters shots based on detected dialogs, same settings and similar audio. Our experimental results show that automatic deter mination of these types of scenes can be performed reliably

Automatic Audio Content Analysis

This paper describes the theoretic framework and applications of automatic audio content analysis. Research in multimedia content analysis has so far concentrated on the video domain. We demonstrate the strength of automatic audio content analysis. We explain the algorithms we use, including analysis of amplitude, frequency and pitch, and simulations of human audio perception. These algorithms serve us as tools for further audio content analysis. We use these tools in applications like the segmentation of audio data streams into logical units for further processing, the analysis of music, as well as the recognition of sounds indicative of violence like shots, explosions and cries

Eine neue objektorientierte Analysetechnik für die Entwicklung von Audio-Inhaltsanalyse-Algorithmen

Die Entwicklung von Audioanalysealgorithmen ist eine klassische, funktionsorientierte Aufgabe. Trotzdem ist es sinnvoll, solche Algorithmen mit einer objektorientierten Programmiersprache wie C++ zu implementieren, insbesondere um die Wiederverwendung von Routinen durch andere Projektteilnehmer zu erleichtern. Eine klassische objektorientierte Analyse z.B. nach UMT nähert sich dem Problem jedoch aus der falschen Sicht: nämlich aus Datensicht, obwohl die Aufgabe in einer Modellierung von Funktionen besteht. Wir stellen hier eine geeignetere Modellierungstechnik vor, mit der wir sehr gute Resultate erzielt haben

Automatic Movie Abstracting

Presented is an algorithm for automatic production of a video abstract of a feature film, similar to a movietrailer. It selects clips from the original movie based on detection of special events like dialogs, shots, explosions and text occurrences, and on general action indicators applied to scenes. These clips are then assembled to form a video trailer using a model of editing. Additional clips, audio pieces, images and text, which are also retrieved from the original video for their content, are added to produce a multimedia abstract. The collection of multime dia objects is presented on an HTML-page

The Importance of Perceptive Adaptation of Sound Features in Audio Content Processing

In analyzing audio material for features useful for extracting content, we must consider the value gained by adapting our analysis algorithms to the analysis processes of the human ear. This aspect with regard to loudness features is thoroughly examined in this paper. The increase in correlation to be gained by such cognitive processing is about 10%

Abstracting Digital Movies Automatically

Large video on demand databases consisting of thousands of digital movies are not easy to handle: the user must have an attractive means to retrieve his movie of choice. For analog video, movie trailers are produced to allow a quick preview and perhaps stimulate possible buyers. This paper presents techniques to automatically produce such movie abstracts of digtial videos. We define a video abstract to be a sequence of still or moving images presenting the content of a video in such a way that the resprective target groupis rapidly provided with concise information about the content while the essential message of the original is preserved. We therefore mainly distinguish video abstracts consisting of a collection of salient still images and video abstracts consisting of a collection of scenes (sequences of images) which are therefore a video themselves. Still-images abstracting systems have been reported often in the literature. We propose a moving-images abstracting system, called VAbstract, and explain its concept, algorithmic realization and advantages. The paper also describes a series of abstracting experiments in which we compared our automatically produced abstracts to manually produced trailers of TV series

The role of kinetic inductance on the performance of YBCO SQUID magnetometers

Inductance is a key parameter when optimizing the performance of superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) magnetometers made from the high temperature superconductor YBa2Cu3O7-x (YBCO) because lower SQUID inductance L leads to lower flux noise, but also weaker coupling to the pickup loop. In order to optimize the SQUID design, we combine inductance simulations and measurements to extract the different inductance contributions, and measure the dependence of the transfer function V Φ and flux noise on L. A comparison between two samples shows that the kinetic inductance contribution varies strongly with film quality, hence making inductance measurements a crucial part of the SQUID characterization. Thanks to the improved estimation of the kinetic inductance contribution, previously found discrepancies between theoretical estimates and measured values of V Φ and could to a large extent be avoided. We then use the measurements and improved theoretical estimations to optimize the SQUID geometry and reach a noise level of = 44 fT/√SRC="sustab6014ieqn4.gi for the best SQUID magnetometer with a 8.6 mm 7 9.2 mm directly coupled pickup loop. Lastly, we demonstrate a method for reliable one-time sensor calibration that is constant in a temperature range of several kelvin despite the presence of temperature dependent coupling contributions, such as the kinetic inductance. The found variability of the kinetic inductance contribution has implications not only for the design of YBCO SQUID magnetometers, but for all narrow linewidth SQUID-based devices operated close to their critical temperature

On-scalp MEG sensor localization using magnetic dipole-like coils: A method for highly accurate co-registration

Source modelling in magnetoencephalography (MEG) requires precise co-registration of the sensor array and the anatomical structure of the measured individual\u27s head. In conventional MEG, the positions and orientations of the sensors relative to each other are fixed and known beforehand, requiring only localization of the head relative to the sensor array. Since the sensors in on-scalp MEG are positioned on the scalp, locations of the individual sensors depend on the subject\u27s head shape and size. The positions and orientations of on-scalp sensors must therefore be measured a every recording. This can be achieved by inverting conventional head localization, localizing the sensors relative to the head - rather than the other way around. In this study we present a practical method for localizing sensors using magnetic dipole-like coils attached to the subject\u27s head. We implement and evaluate the method in a set of on-scalp MEG recordings using a 7-channel on-scalp MEG system based on high critical temperature superconducting quantum interference devices (high-T-c SQUIDs). The method allows individually localizing the sensor positions, orientations, and responsivities with high accuracy using only a short averaging time (<= 2 mm, < 3 degrees and < 3%, respectively, with 1-s averaging), enabling continuous sensor localization. Calibrating and jointly localizing the sensor array can further improve the accuracy of position and orientation (< 1 mm and < 1 degrees, respectively, with 1-s coil recordings). We demonstrate source localization of on-scalp recorded somatosensory evoked activity based on coregistration with our method. Equivalent current dipole fits of the evoked responses corresponded well (within 4.2 mm) with those based on a commercial, whole-head MEG system

Analysis of BH3-only proteins upregulated in response to oxygen/glucose deprivation in cortical neurons identifies Bmf but not Noxa as potential mediator of neuronal injury

Stress signaling in response to oxygen/glucose deprivation (OGD) and ischemic injury activates a group of pro-apoptotic genes, the Bcl-2 homology domain 3 (BH3)-only proteins, which are capable of activating the mitochondrial apoptosis pathway. Targeted studies previously identified the BH3-only proteins Puma, Bim and Bid to have a role in ischemic/hypoxic neuronal injury. We here investigated the transcriptional activation of pro-apoptotic BH3-only proteins after OGD-induced injury in murine neocortical neurons. We observed a potent and early upregulation of noxa at mRNA and protein level, and a significant increase in Bmf protein levels during OGD in neocortical neurons and in the ipsilateral cortex of mice subjected to transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (tMCAO). Surprisingly, gene deficiency in noxa reduced neither OGD- nor glutamate-induced neuronal injury in cortical neurons and failed to influence infarct size or neurological deficits after tMCAO. In contrast, bmf deficiency induced significant protection against OGD- or glutamate-induced injury in cultured neurons, and bmf-deficient mice showed reduced neurological deficits after tMCAO in vivo. Collectively, our data not only point to a role of Bmf as a BH3-only protein contributing to excitotoxic and ischemic neuronal injury but also demonstrate that the early and potent induction of noxa does not influence ischemic neuronal injury