Showing papers in "IEEE MultiMedia in 2009"

SignTutor: An Interactive System for Sign Language Tutoring

Abstract: Language learning can only advance with practice and corrective feedback. The interactive system, SignTutor, evaluates users' signing and gives multimodal feedback to help improve signing.

The AlloSphere: Immersive Multimedia for Scientific Discovery and Artistic Exploration

Abstract: The AlloSphere is a spherical space in which immersive, virtual environments allow users to explore large-scale data sets through multimodal, interactive media.

A Framework for Haptic Broadcasting

Abstract: This article presents a comprehensive exploration of the issues underlying haptic multimedia broadcasting. It also describes the implementation of a prototype system as a proof of concept.

Interactive Multimedia for Adaptive Online Education

Abstract: Interactive multimedia content can help improve learning performance by enhancing user satisfaction and engagement. Multimedia content also can help improve concept representation, which is not possible in conventional multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank formats. In this article, we present a broader view of multimedia education, focusing on future applications. Our vision is to provide publicly accessible education anywhere, at anytime, and to anyone. To realize this vision, we propose the Computer Reinforced Online Multimedia Education (Crome) framework, which integrates the main components of education, including learning, teaching, and testing, as well as adaptive testing and student modeling.

Dynamic Pictorially Enriched Ontologies for Digital Video Libraries

Abstract: This article presents a framework for automatic semantic annotation of video streams with an ontology that includes concepts expressed using linguistic terms and visual data.

A Novel Approach to Steganography in High- Dynamic-Range Images

Abstract: A steganographic method for hiding messages uses high-dynamic-range images. The technique provides for authentication, a large embedding capacity, and limited distortion.

A Robust, Digital-Audio Watermarking Method

Abstract: Most of the previous audio-watermarking schemes are robust to common signal-processing attacks, but show severe problems when faced with desynchronization attacks. To solve the problems associated with these approaches, we propose an audio-watermarking scheme based on support-vector-machine (SVM) theory to protect against desynchronization attacks by using audio statistics characteristics and a synchronization code technique. Experimental results with SVM show that our proposed scheme is inaudible, robust against common signal processing, and robust against desynchronization attacks.

Interlinking Music-Related Data on the Web

Abstract: This article describes how semantic Web technologies can be used to interlink musical data sources that have traditionally been isolated and difficult to integrate.

Using Social Networking and Collections to Enable Video Semantics Acquisition

Abstract: This article focuses on Internet video content and social networking to present solutions to the problem of gathering metadata that describes user interaction, usage, and opinions of that media.

Digital Television for Mobile Devices

Abstract: A survey of mobile television technologies analyzes technical characteristics for each mobile TV solution, discusses specifications and standards, and presents possible future developments.

Analyzing Voice Quality in Popular VoIP Applications

Abstract: Voice over IP (VoIP), which provides real-time speech communication between two users in a way that closely resembles a face-to-face conversation, has had a significant impact on the multibillion-dollar telecommunication industry The promise of less expensive phone calls with comparable quality and better features than public switched telephone networks (PSTNs) has accelerated VoIP's adoption, both in businesses and homes Its better integration with various forms of collaborative communications, such as instant messaging, email, and voicemail, has made it suitable for future communication solutions, but there remain several issues that are unique to VoIP systems and require further analysis

Diversifying Image Retrieval with Affinity-Propagation Clustering on Visual Manifolds

Abstract: A postprocessing system based on affinity-propagation clustering on manifolds can improve the diversity of retrieval results without reducing their relevance.

A Media Value Chain Ontology for MPEG-21

Abstract: The authors' Media Value Chain Ontology is a semantic representation of the intellectual property along the value chain that it is being standardized as MPEG-21 Part 19.

Learning Video Preferences Using Visual Features and Closed Captions

Abstract: An approach to identifying a viewer's video preferences uses hidden Markov models by combining visual features and closed captions.

Media Impact: Games in the Classroom: Using Games as a Motivator for the Study of Computing: Part 2

Abstract: It's no secret that undergraduate computer science enrollment, which has suffered through one of its periodic downturns, seems to have bottomed out but is now on an upswing. This cyclic behavior has been occurring for many years now, producing many exciting ideas concerning how to revamp introductory computer science courses to make them more exciting and relevant, and to show beginning students that computer science entails more than just programming. Georgia Tech, one of the active participants in this revamp, has developed the concept of threads (a means to connect chunks of related knowledge across different courses) and is devising techniques to enrich beginning courses using minirobots and multimedia. The present article, the second of two parts, written by Andrew Phelps and his group at the Rochester Institute of Technology, describes a parallel effort to use gaming as a way to improve learning and to demonstrate to students that computer science is indeed exciting and cool.

Managing and Querying Distributed Multimedia Metadata

Abstract: The authors propose an automatically constructed metadata resume to facilitate the retrieval of desired media information about content distributed across several servers.

Hybrid Tagging and Browsing Approaches for Efficient Manual Image Annotation

Abstract: This article proposes formal models for two commonly used methods - tagging and browsing - and investigates new approaches to improve the efficiency of manual image annotation.

Kitsou Dubois and the Weightless Body

Abstract: Exploring dance in weightlessness echoes many of the issues raised today in other fields of contemporary art and theory. Weightlessness relates to cyberspace in the sense that there are no privileged directions or hierarchies. But, unlike cyberspace, weightlessness can be physically inhabited, and has the potential to build upon and expand new media art discourses. Weightlessness is inscribed in the limits of the self and the human body, in an inside and an outside that we can see in current technological trends in smart architecture and clothing. French dancer and choreographer Kitsou Dubois pioneered microgravity dance in the early 1990s. She started her career in the 1980s, when contemporary dance was blooming in France. Dubois quickly moved away from the cozy environments and clean horizontal floors of theaters to dance on building facades and in former factories, looking for unusual venues that would help reconsider the different spaces of dance - the architectural space around the dancers, the space created by them, the space between them - and allow for new inquiries about movement. Weightlessness emerged as a logical step in her artistic path.

A Folk Song Retrieval System with a Gesture-Based Interface

Abstract: This article describes how a folk song retrieval system uses a gesture-based interface to recognize Kodaly hand signs and formulate search queries

Deployment Issues in Scalable Island Multicast for Peer-to-Peer Streaming

Abstract: The scalable island multicast protocol integrates Internet protocol multicast and overlay delivery for media streaming.

Progressive Download for Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service

Abstract: The project outlined in this report focuses on using progressive-download technology to improve media delivery in wireless multimedia broadcast multicast services.

Intelligent and Pervasive Multimedia Systems

Abstract: Recent advances in pervasive computing and the proliferation of multimedia-capable devices have stimulated the development of intelligent and pervasive multimedia applications. This special issue provides excellent coverage of this area, including interactive multimedia education, quality control and personalization of multimedia services, peer-to-peer multimedia streaming, mobile TV, and VoIP systems.

Games in the Classroom: Using Games as a Motivator for Studying Computing: Part 1

Abstract: Editor's NoteIt's no secret that undergraduate computer science enrollment, which has suffered through one of its periodic downturns, seems to have bottomed out but is now on an upswing. This cyclic behavior has been occurring for many years now, producing many exciting ideas concerning how to revamp introductory computer science courses to make them more exciting and relevant, and to show beginning students that computer science entails more than just programming. Georgia Tech, one of the active participants in this revamp, has developed the concept of (a means to connect chunks of related knowledge across different courses) and is devising techniques to enrich beginning courses using minirobots and multimedia. The present article, the second of two parts, written by Andrew Phelps and his group at the Rochester Institute of Technology, describes a parallel effort to use gaming as a way to improve learning and to demonstrate to students that computer science is indeed exciting and cool.— It's no secret that undergraduate computer science enrollment, which has suffered through one of its periodic downturns, seems to have bottomed out but is now on an upswing. This cyclic behavior has been occurring for many years now, producing many exciting ideas concerning how to revamp introductory computer science courses to make them more exciting and relevant, and to show beginning students that computer science entails more than just programming. Georgia Tech, one of the active participants in this revamp, has developed the concept of (a means to connect chunks of related knowledge across different courses) and is devising techniques to enrich beginning courses using minirobots and multimedia. The present article, written by Andrew Phelps and his group at the Rochester Institute of Technology, describes a parallel effort to use gaming as a way to improve learning and to demonstrate to students that computer science is indeed exciting and cool.

A Framework for Using Web Services to Enhance QoS for Content Delivery

Abstract: An integrated approach to quality of service for content delivery using Web services includes quality definitions, user contracts, and fault monitoring.

Guest Editors' Introduction: Multimedia Metadata and Semantic Management

Abstract: This special issue assesses the current status and technologies and describes major challenges and proper solutions for effective multimedia production and management related to evolving Semantic Web strategies. The included articles, which cover different facets of the semantic management of multimedia and multimedia metadata from retrieval and processing to consumption and presentation, represent a step forward in research targeted at improving aspects of the semantic metadata life cycle.

Artful Media: Nuage Vert

Abstract: Nuage Vert [Green Cloud] is a major environmental artwork that engages light and public participation. A stunning and important work, Nuage Vert has won many accolades and several prestigious prizes, including the 2008 Golden Nica in Hybrid Art from Ars Electronica, the 2008 Green Prix from ZeroOne, and the 2009 Award from the Environmental Art Foundation. The implementation process is particularly interesting as the team found new and successful ways to work with lasers that will benefit future artists.

An Ecosystem for Semantics

Abstract: The article presents a theoretical approach to semantics that embraces the complex and challenging problems associated with authoring multimedia albums.

Artful Media: The Sonic Nomadic: Exploring Mobile Surround-Sound Interactions

Abstract: AudioNomad consists of a series of cross-disciplinary art and science projects working with the concept of GPS-driven, location-based audio applications. The project's outcomes generally take the form of artworks (interactive installations and exhibits) that let a user or audience experience a virtual audio world. We intend such a world to be perceived as thoug0h it were situated within the real world, so that the user experiences the synthetic sounds as seeming to originate from real objects. The construction and the experience of AudioNomad soundscapes occur simultaneously in temporal and spatial domains. While the experience of audio is by nature temporal and generally perceived as both continuous and linear, the experience of a spatially constructed soundscape is far less predictable. This situation is complicated by the nature of the content, which references a range of historical and contemporary material.

Semantic MPEG Query Format Validation and Processing

Abstract: This article presents a validation and processing architecture for the MPEG Query Format, which provides a standardized interface to multimedia document repositories.

Multimedia at Work: Games in the Classroom at the Rochester Institute of Technology: A Case Study

Abstract: This article explores curricular approaches designed to motivate students in computing through the use of games as an application domain. The authors examine three approaches: a games-centric introductory programming sequence, the incorporation of game-based projects into core courses, and the creation of virtual environments that mimic multiplayer online games.