17395966
Scene segmentation based on video structure and spectral methods
Scene is an important semantic unit for video analysis, retrieval and browsing. However, due to the lack of a generic algorithm, many studies focus on specific methods for certain video genes, e.g., news, sports, etc. In this paper, we propose a general framework for scene segmentation. First, we construct a graph, in which the elements encode the shot-to-shot coherent characteristics of a video clip based on visual similarity and temporal relation between shots. In this step, we only exploit the inherent property of video itself and it is independent of video genres. Second, spectral method is applied on the graph to group shots into scenes. The proposed method is not only simple but also effective to deal with organized features. Experimental results validate the robustness of our method on different kinds of videos.
672476
Can Movies and Books Collaborate? Cross-Domain Collaborative Filtering for Sparsity Reduction
The sparsity problem in collaborative filtering (CF) is a major bottleneck for most CF methods. In this paper, we consider a novel approach for alleviating the sparsity problem in CF by transferring useritem rating patterns from a dense auxiliary rating matrix in other domains (e.g., a popular movie rating website) to a sparse rating matrix in a target domain (e.g., a new book rating website). We do not require that the users and items in the two domains be identical or even overlap. Based on the limited ratings in the target matrix, we establish a bridge between the two rating matrices at a cluster-level of user-item rating patterns in order to transfer more useful knowledge from the auxiliary task domain. We first compress the ratings in the auxiliary rating matrix into an informative and yet compact cluster-level rating pattern representation referred to as a codebook. Then, we propose an efficient algorithm for reconstructing the target rating matrix by expanding the codebook. We perform extensive empirical tests to show that our method is effective in addressing the data sparsity problem by transferring the useful knowledge from the auxiliary tasks, as compared to many state-of-the-art CF methods.
6506776
A set theoretical method for video synopsis
A synopsis video presents a condensed video activities occurring during different periods, based on moving objects extracted in the spatial-temporal domain. How to place different object tubes with least collision in limited video length is crucial to synopsis performance but has not been thoroughly studied in previous work.
 In this paper, we address an important problem in video synopsis, that of object start-time programming. We formulate the problem in terms of set theory. An objective is derived to maximize visual information in video synopsis. After relaxing the problem to obtain a continuous one, the problem can be efficiently solved via mean-shift. The resulting algorithm can converge to the local optimum within a few iterations.
483866
3D Locomotion of a Snake-like Robot Controlled by Cyclic Inhibitory CPG Model
With 3D (3-dimensional) movement's ability and rhythmic locomotion mode, a nature snake makes itself survive in rugged terrains. The rhythmic activities of most creatures are generated by the CPG (central pattern generator). Based on this fact, the sustained-type neuron has been adopted to construct a cyclic inhibitory CPG model for a snake-like robot whose joints are perpendicularly connected in series. Having compared with the sustained-type neuron and the mutual inhibitory CPG, the cyclic inhibitory CPG was proven to generate capably rhythmic output with the least number of differential equations. In this paper, we introduce the neuron network organized by the cyclic inhibitory CPGs connected in line with unilateral excitation to control the 3D locomotion of a snake-like robot, and present the necessary condition for the CPG neuron network to sustain a rhythmic output. By implementing this control architecture to a simulator with consideration of mechanical dynamics of a real snake-like robot "Perambulator", preliminary parameter setting of the CPG neuron network for its 3D locomotion is obtained. Moreover, it is shown that "Perambulator" can successfully exhibit 3D locomotion by using the output of the proposed CPG network. The obtained results have also provided a bran new approach to understand the unknown neuron network of nature snakes
26519336
Iris Recognition Algorithm Using Modified Log-Gabor Filters
In this paper, we presented an iris recognition algorithm based on modified Log-Gabor filters. The algorithm is similar as the method proposed by Daugman in general procedure while modified Log-Gabor filters are adopted to extract the iris phase information instead of complex Gabor filters used in Daugman's method. The advantage of Log-Gabor filters over complex Gabor filters is the former are strictly bandpass filters and the latter are not. The property of strictly bandpass makes the Log-Gabor filters more suitable to extract the iris phase features regardless of the background brightness. The comparison experiments between complex Gabor filters based methods and the proposed method are also presented in this paper
14553676
Design and Basic Experiments of a Shape-shifting Mobile Robot for Urban Search and Rescue
The recent natural and man-made devastations have urged the research on the urban search and rescue (USAR) robot systems. This paper presents a novel shape-shifting mobile robot system named as Amoeba II (A-II) for the urban search and rescue application. It has been designed with three degrees of freedom (DOFs) and two tracked drive systems. This robot consists of two modular mobile units and a joint unit. The mobile unit is a tracked mechanism to enforce the propulsion of robot. The joint unit can transform the robot shape for getting high mobility. A-II robot not only can adapt to the environment but also can change its body corresponding to locus space. It behaves two states including the parallel state (named as II state) and the linear state (named as I state). The parallel state enables the robot with high mobility on rough ground. With the linear state the robot can climb upstairs and go through narrow space such as the pipe, cave etc. Also, the joint unit can propel the robot to roll in sidewise direction. Especially, two modular A-II robots can be connected through jointing common interfaces on the joint unit to compose a stronger shape-shifting robot, which can transform the body into four wheels-driven vehicle. Finally, the elementary experimental results validate the adaptation and its mobility
39681871
Automated Cellular Modeling and Prediction on a Large Scale
We describe CHAMP (CHurn Analysis, Modeling, andPrediction), an automated system for modeling cellularsubscriber churn that is predicting which customerswill discontinue cellular phone service. We describevarious issues related to developing and deployingthis system including automating data access from aremote data warehouse, preprocessing, featureselection, model validation, and optimization toreflect business tradeoffs. Using data from GTE'sdata warehouse for cellular phone customers, CHAMP iscapable of developing churn models customized byregion for over one hundred GTE cellular phone marketstotaling over 5 million customers. Every month churnfactors are identified for each geographic region andmodels are updated to generate churn scores predictingwho is likely to churn in the short term. Learningmethods such as decision trees and genetic algorithmsare used for feature selection and a cascade neuralnetwork is used for predicting churn scores. Inaddition to producing churn scores, CHAMP alsoproduces qualitative results in the form of rules andcomparison of market trends that are disseminatedthrough a web based interface.