Small Video Research Articles

VideoPuzzle: Descriptive One-Shot Video Composition

A large amount of short, single-shot videos are created by personal camcorder every day, such as the small video clips in family albums, and thus a solution for presenting and managing these video clips is highly desired. From the perspective of professionalism and artistry, long-take/shot video, also termed one-shot video, is able to present events, persons or scenic spots in an informative manner. This paper presents a novel video composition system “Video Puzzle” which generates aesthetically enhanced long-shot videos from short video clips. Our task here is to automatically composite several related single shots into a virtual long-take video with spatial and temporal consistency. We propose a novel framework to compose descriptive long-take video with content-consistent shots retrieved from a video pool. For each video, frame-by-frame search is performed over the entire pool to find start-end content correspondences through a coarse-to-fine partial matching process. The content correspondence here is general and can refer to the matched regions or objects, such as human body and face. The content consistency of these correspondences enables us to design several shot transition schemes to seamlessly stitch one shot to another in a spatially and temporally consistent manner. The entire long-take video thus comprises several single shots with consistent contents and ίuent transitions. Meanwhile, with the generated matching graph of videos, the proposed system can also provide an efficient video browsing mode. Experiments are conducted on multiple video albums and the results demonstrate the effectiveness and the usefulness of the proposed scheme.

Human limb tracking using simulated annealing for a low-cost rehabilitation system

In this work, an algorithm for human limb movement tracking is presented. This proposal considers the problem as an optimisation problem and attempts to solve it using an implementation of simulated annealing aided by detected skin features. The parameters of the presented algorithm are set using a general-purpose framework for automatic parameter selection. Application on small video sequences shows good results with selected parameters. Also, some drawbacks of the methods to be considered in practical use are discussed. This technique has been designed for use in the development of a real-time interaction interface in video games for rehabilitation of patients with motor disabilities, and as an offline pose analysis framework to evaluate individual progress in the therapy of those patients.

Discovering Video Shot Categories by Unsupervised Stochastic Graph Partition

Video shots are often treated as the basic elements for retrieving information from videos. In recent years, video shot categorization has received increasing attention, but most of the methods involve a procedure of supervised learning, i.e., training a multi-class predictor (classifier) on the labeled data. In this paper, we study a general framework to unsupervisedly discover video shot categories. The contributions are three-fold in feature, representation, and inference: (1) A new feature is proposed to capture local information in videos, defined with small video patches (e.g., 11 × 11 × 5 pixels). A dictionary of video words can be thus clustered off-line, characterizing both appearance and motion dynamics. (2) We pose the problem of categorization as an automated graph partition task, in that each graph vertex represents a video shot, and a partitioned sub-graph consisting of connected graph vertices represents a clustered category. The model of each video shot category can be analytically calculated by a projection pursuit type of learning process. (3) An MCMC-based cluster sampling algorithm, namely Swendsen-Wang cuts, is adopted to efficiently solve the graph partition. Unlike traditional graph partition techniques, this algorithm is able to explore the nearly global optimal solution and eliminate the need for good initialization. We apply our method on a wide variety of 1600 video shots collected from Internet as well as a subset of TRECVID 2010 data, and two benchmark metrics, i.e., Purity and Conditional Entropy, are adopted for evaluating performance. The experimental results demonstrate superior performance of our method over other popular state-of-the-art methods.

OA01.05. Effectiveness of simple and logical treatment in complete disc prolapse

Purpose:To explain the effectiveness of 21 days inpatient treatment on a 46 year old male patient with complete disc proplapse who was suggested an emergency discectomy in a leading hospital.Method:To explain the case history with complete details of medicines used and treatments given with the responses observed before, during & after treatment with substantiating 3 MRI digital films & reports that were taken before, immediately after treatment and 3 months later. Also to have a small video of the patient sharing his experience. Treatments given were Abyangam, Elakkizhi, Navarakizhi, Matravasthi, Vaitarana vasthi, Madhu thailika vasthi & Pichu with 8 internal medications during the treatment course.Result:The patient who was unable to stand, sit & walk properly with the threat to lose his bladder & bowel control without discectomy had a dramatic recovery during discharge and 100 percent recovery in 3 months with ayurveda treatments alone, with out any supportive allopathic care.Conclusion:Though it is a well known fact that Ayuvreda work wonders with such conditions, this is an attempt to explain that these are not only because of specialized & sophisticated treatments but a simple and logical treatment can also be miraculous and also to emphasize that documentations like MRI reports before and after treatments helps is proper evaluation of the treatment results in addition to patients feedback.

Electronic magnification and perceived contrast of video

Electronic magnification of an image results in a decrease in its perceived contrast. The decrease in perceived contrast could be due to a perceived blur or to limited sampling of the range of contrasts in the original image. We measured the effect on perceived contrast of magnification in two contexts: either a small video was enlarged to fill a larger area, or a portion of a larger video was enlarged to fill the same area as the original. Subjects attenuated the source video contrast to match the perceived contrast of the magnified videos, with the effect increasing with magnification and decreasing with viewing distance. These effects are consistent with expectations based on both the contrast statistics of natural images and the contrast sensitivity of the human visual system. We demonstrate that local regions within videos usually have lower physical contrast than the whole, and that this difference accounts for a minor part of the perceived differences. Instead, visibility of 'missing content' (blur) in a video is misinterpreted as a decrease in contrast. We detail how the effects of magnification on perceived contrast can be measured while avoiding confounding factors.

Promises and limitations of telepsychiatry in rural adult mental health care

Pioneers in telemedicine demonstrated as early as in the 1960s the effectiveness and acceptance of mental health administration, education and clinical treatment through the electronic medium. Two-way television was conducted in black and white, with limited audio fidelity and often on fairly small video screens. Furthermore, it was expensive. None the less, these early pioneers designed experiments to address the main problem of the time, access to quality health care.

Action Search by Example Using Randomized Visual Vocabularies

Because actions can be small video objects, it is a challenging problem to search for similar actions in crowded and dynamic scenes when a single query example is provided. We propose a fast action search method that can efficiently locate similar actions spatiotemporally. Both the query action and the video datasets are characterized by spatio-temporal interest points. Instead of using a unified visual vocabulary to index all interest points in the database, we propose randomized visual vocabularies to enable fast and robust interest point matching. To accelerate action localization, we have developed a coarse-to-fine video subvolume search scheme, which is several orders of magnitude faster than the existing spatio-temporal branch and bound search. Our experiments on cross-dataset action search show promising results when compared with the state of the arts. Additional experiments on a 5-h versatile video dataset validate the efficiency of our method, where an action search can be finished in just 37.6 s on a regular desktop machine.

Implementation of UM Hexagons Motion Estimation Algorithm for Video Coding Standard

Motion estimation (ME) is the most important an d time consuming part of video encoding, it takes about 60%-80% of encoding time. To improve the encoding speed of the UMHexagonS algorithm in x264, an optimized algorithm is proposed in this paper on three aspects via the modified scheme of the threshold selection. The simulation experimentation shows that the proposed algorithms can save about 30% of search points with small video quality decline as that of UMHexagonS algorithm .modified method of the COST MV() function, reduce the numbers of unnecessary MAD calculations and save about 20% to 40% of the estimated time.

A naturalistic study of commuter cyclists in the greater Stockholm area

Few naturalistic studies have been carried out with commuter cyclists to discover the types of problems they encounter on a daily basis. The study presented here has been commissioned by the City of Stockholm municipality and focuses specifically on commuter cyclists in the Greater Stockholm area. The aim of the study was to describe and pinpoint accessibility and safety problems, but also to generate an accessible geographical interface that could serve as a traffic planning tool for cycle network improvement. Statistical surveys in the Stockholm area have shown a rapid growth in the number of cyclists as well as an increase in problems associated with an overburdened cycle infrastructure. Given the heightened emphasis on transport system sustainability, the City of Stockholm is faced with the challenging task of trying to maintain and encourage the upward trend in commuter cycling through a process that involves problem identification, classification, prioritisation and resolution. An innovative methodology involving the use of GPS logging devices and small video cameras was developed and supported with analysis software designed specifically for the purposes of this study. Experienced commuter cyclists were recruited to cycle 17 different major cycle routes to and from the suburbs and inner city area during morning and afternoon peak traffic hours during the main cycle season. Over 500 safety and accessibility/mobility problems were identified and recorded from the data collected from 16 commuter cyclists. The method and representation of data proved successful for strategic traffic planning work at City of Stockholm and has since provided invaluable input for and the development of a new cycle plan for Greater Stockholm. Indirectly, the results of this work have also contributed to longer term safety and environmental targets.

The Physics of a Simple Camera Stabilizer

Approximately 50,000 people ran and walked down the street past my home in the 33rd annual running of the 10-km Bolder Boulder footrace on the morning of Memorial Day, May 30, 2011.1,2 In addition to the serious runners, there were many individuals dressed in all manner of amusing festival costumes; some were jogging and some were walking. Early in the race I noticed a man who was jogging while using his right hand to hold a vertical wooden pole that was about three meters long and perhaps three centimeters in diameter. On the upper end of the pole, above the heads of the other runners, was a small video camera that was pointed forward to photograph the runners who were ahead of the jogger. At the lower end of the vertical pole were fastened several blocks of wood.

From birds to bees: applying video observation techniques to invertebrate pollinators

Observation is a critical element of behavioural ecology and ethology. Here, we propose a similar set of techniques to enhance the study of the diversity patterns of invertebrate pollinators and associated plant species. In a body of avian research, cameras are set up on nests in blinds to examine chick and parent interactions. This avoids observer bias, minimizes interference, and provides numerous other benefits including timestamps, the capacity to record frequency and duration of activities, and provides a permanent archive of activity for later analyses. Hence, we propose that small video cameras in blinds can also be used to continuously monitor pollinator activity on plants thereby capitalizing on those same benefits. This method was proofed in 2010 in the alpine in BC, Canada on target focal plant species and on open mixed assemblages of plant species. Apple ipod nanos successfully recorded activity for an entire day at a time totalling 450 hours and provided sufficient resolution and field of view to both identify pollinators to recognizable taxonomic units and monitor movement and visitation rates at a scale of view of approximately 50 cm2. This method is not a replacement for pan traps or sweep nets but an opportunity to enhance these datasets with more detailed, finer-resolution data. Importantly, the test of this specific method also indicates that far more hours of observation - using any method - are likely required than most current ecological studies published to accurately estimate pollinator diversity.

Comparative study of ultrasound-guided continuous femoral nerve blockade with continuous epidural analgesia for pain relief following total knee replacement

Background:Regional analgesia is widely used for total knee replacement surgeries (TKR) as it has lesser side-effects and better analgesic efficacy when compared with traditional oral analgesics. Peripheral nerve blockade has also been utilized, including continuous infusion techniques. With the use of ultrasound, the needle and catheter placement can be done accurately under real-time guidance. This may prove a more suitable approach compared with the epidural technique.Aims:Post-operative analgesia in TKR patients was compared between continuous epidural analgesia (CEA) and continuous femoral block (CFB) techniques. VAS scores and use of rescue analgesic were used as parameters. Secondary aims included comparison of rehabilitation scores and side-effects in the form hypotension, vomiting, itching and urinary retention.Settings and Design:Randomised, controlled, non-blinded study done in a tertiary care private hospital.Methods:Forty-two patients fulfilling the study criteria were randomised into the CEA and CFB groups. In total, four patients: three in the CFB group and one in the CEA group, were excluded because of catheter migration.Statistical Analysis:Mean VAS score at 6, 6–24, 24–48 and 48–72 h were considered. Significance was assessed at the 5% level.Results and Conclusion:VAS scores were significantly high (P=0.001) in the femoral group at 6 h, after which there was a declining trend, and scores were essentially similar from 24 h. Common side-effects were more common in the CEA group. Our study shows that CFB gives equivalent analgesia compared with CEA in TKR patients with clinically meaningful decrease in side-effects.

Suspicious Images: Iconophobia and the Ethical Gaze

Suspicious Images: Iconophobia and the Ethical Gaze

The Effect of Smoking Status on Gastric and Small Intestinal Motility in Patients Undergoing Small Intestinal Video Capsule Endoscopy

The Effect of Smoking Status on Gastric and Small Intestinal Motility in Patients Undergoing Small Intestinal Video Capsule Endoscopy

The use of a vodcast to support eating and reduce anxiety in people with eating disorder: A case series

Individuals with eating disorders have difficulty controlling obsessive intrusions and ritualistic behaviours relating to food and exercise. An imagery-based intervention using a vodcast (small video file played on a mobile phone or portable media device), with visual and aural components, was designed to target eating related psychopathology in a consecutive series of four patients. The vodcast was used to support consumption of a smoothie, both as a behavioural experiment and at home, in naturalistic circumstances. More of the smoothie was drunk in a shorter time when the smoothie was offered with the vodcast (mean of 218 g, SD = 64) than in the comparison condition (mean of 160 g, SD = 71). The vodcast condition was associated with reduced anxiety in three out of four patients. Three out of four patients used the vodcasts at home and found they provided them with support and motivation. All patients' weight increased after 3 months. Using a vodcast to support patients during meal times may be a useful addition to treatment for anorexia nervosa.

Ubiquitous System for Events Promotion

The potential of mobile devices has been steadily increasing with time. Accordingly, Smartphones are nowadays an almost ubiquitous platform, with great hardware and software capabilities regarding location-based applications, from which only navigation-aid systems are being thoroughly explored. However, despite such growth, e-commerce platforms are not yet totally prepared to cope with mobile devices singularities, namely screen size and input devices, which is delaying the use of mobile devices as commerce and advertising gateways to users. On the other hand, dedicated and customizable software solutions, ready to cope and even to take advantage of mobile devices characteristics, may turn out to be a simple way of placing M-commerce on the road to full user adoption and global success. As a result, this paper proposes a new e-business system architecture meant for events promotion, allowing users to search for cultural events, based on their geographic location and only by using a mobile device. In view of that, if an interesting event is found, users are therefore given further detailed information, such as text, image, sound or even small video trailers, as well as reserve or even buy tickets.

Small videos, Hu Ge impact: Parody videos in post-socialist China

ABSTRACTThis article focuses on the video works by Hu Ge, a young man who became famous overnight for his Yige mantou yinfa de xue'an/Murders Brought about By a Wheat Bun, a parody video of Chen Kaige's film Wuji/The Promise (2005). Starting as a text poacher who appropriated others' works, to a figure whose name became a brand, the trajectory of Hu Ge crystallizes the tension over the issue of authorship in today's cultural production and circulation. I argue that the building-up, as well as the dispersion of the ‘Hu Ge’ brand, is concomitant with the circulation of capital. As Hu's works often juxtapose revolutionary relics with Hollywood blockbusters, this ideological ambiguity captures the flexible subjectivities of an unsettled historical moment in post-socialist China, which also resonates with the aesthetics of small screens in an age of mobility.

Virtual environments for real treatments

Abstract Introduction In the era of evidence-based practice, more evidence of the beneficial impact of physical therapy and rehabilitation interventions have emerged. Kwakkel and Wagenaar's meta-analysis, Carr and Shepherd's work relating to the motor learning concept, and Fiatarone's research of strength training, emphasize the influence of rehabilitation in outcome gains by demonstrating that in conjunction with the therapist's expertise, the most influencing factors are therapy frequency and intensity. Aim To show the problem which is the gap between this knowledge and reality. Discusion Recently published observational studies revealed that patients in rehabilitation facilities receive a very small amount of therapy time during rehabilitation. Virtual reality (VR) technology offers assistance, as it enables patients who have difficulties coping in the “real world” to gradually deal with their problems via the “virtual world”. It provides the user with a real time interactive experience, through visual, audible, tactile or any other kind of feedback. Individuals find themselves in a pleasant, challenging, motivating and “inviting” functional environment, thus tending to forget their limitations or disability. In addition, VR encourages them to reach their goals which are difficult to achieve in any other treatment setting. Conclusions VR is a new, innovative technology utilizing virtual and adaptable worlds, created by sophisticated computer systems with improved graphic capability (hardware) and interactive software allowing one to interact “naturally” with the virtual environment, without the risk and cost of moving the patient into the “real world”. The interactive experience is perceived by both, therapist and patient, as very positive, enabling treatment to continue over time without feelings fatigue or boredom. VR can be created through a variety of tools, simple to complex, cheap to expensive. Basic computer systems with different input and output devices, such as different types of monitors or expensive and sophisticated systems using helmets with small video screens head mounted display have been used. Recently, cheap “on the shelf” video game consoles were adopted by clinicians as valuable tools in treating patients suffering from various pathologies and disabilities. Therefore, therapists are required to manoeuvre and plan treatments in systems where the delineation between therapy and fun is not always clear or controlled. The common practice has to be, as always, somewhere in between the most expensive and sophisticated systems and the “non adaptable” video game consoles. We estimate that in the near future, VR technology will be widely used. Meanwhile, today's technology allows us to take more of the VR advantages to the clinical world.

City as Screen / Body as Movie

Let's start with a photograph taken by Hiroko Masuke--of a billboard featuring an ad for the television miniseries The Andromeda Strain that was printed in the New York Times a year ago. (1) The billboard includes a large, horizontal poster for the series, along with a video display showing clips embedded within the poster. What's not visible, however, is a small video camera (made by the company Quividi) that records passersby as they look at the billboard. The company has developed what it calls the automated audience measurement solution, which documents visitors who look at the billboard, channeling the information into a database, from which it decodes the data. It examines factors such as the overall height of viewers, as well as facial features, including cheekbone height and the measurement of between the nose and chin. The goal is to determine gender and age, and although the company says it does not yet factor for race, it plans to soon. This essay takes as its topic urban video and screens, umbrella terms that include the multiple cameras and projection surfaces that characterize the topology of contemporary urban space. At any given time in an urban setting we are participants within an information space--as subjects surveilled and captured by video cameras; as users of cell phones and PDAs that allow for multiple and layered interactions with data, from telephone usage to web-based activities, photography, and video capture; as users of ATM screens; as viewers of the media displays on terminals at train stations and airports; as readers of assorted screen-based texts; as viewers of video ads; and as subjects interacting with a broad range of specific media streams. In these capacities, we exist as both networked subject and object, viewer and viewed. We are imbricated within networks, often without our knowledge, while interacting with others. In short, we continually negotiate innumerable interfaces, are hailed as subjects and enact our subjectivities in the midst of continual media flux. Urban screens are just one aspect of a larger set of screens that build a network around us. As such, screens are no longer simply dedicated to display; instead, they become components of what has been described as augmented space and mixed reality, (2) namely physical spaces overlaid with data through various devices and technologies. Academic interest in the urban networked sphere stems from the specific, yet convergent, media from which its iterations derive, namely the traditions of cinema, video, public art, and an emerging participatory culture, some of whose participants borrow from and extend the tactical and politicized activist media practices of earlier decades. However, urban screens also intersect with other categories and disciplines: * as integral extensions of the built environment, they are discussed in the field of architectural theory and debates about the intersection of the digital and material as articulated by architects designing and constructing actual buildings; * because screens often display advertising, they are also included in discussions about corporate branding and the interface between markets and individuals; * because they dot the urban landscape, sometimes hovering between private and public space, these screens serve as the focal point for discussions about political power and public as a necessary component of democracy. However, in the context of this particular issue of Afterimage, I want to address what kinds of literacies are being shaped by pervasive video in public space. In spaces rife with advertising, what rhetorical strategies are deployed by users of this space, whether corporations, governments, artists, and others, to speak to viewers? And how are everyday viewers responding with their own images in public? As cities become screens, and bodies become movies, where do we situate empowerment and literacy? …

Internal video analysis for product usability evaluation at early stage of design

We propose a new type of mock-up consisting of a transparent solid object, fabricated by stereolithography, with a small video camera embedded inside. By processing the video image of the object surface taken from the inside in real time, operation data of the mock-up (e.g., when interfaces such as buttons and dials are operated by the users) and usage data (e.g., which hand and fingers are used to operate the buttons and dials of the mock-up) can be obtained. Consequently, a simple stereolithography model without sensors or circuits can function as a functional mock-up. By analysing these automatically obtained usage data, operation data and the results of functional simulation, some usability data will be obtained or extracted. Designers can use such data to improve the usability of the product that the mock-up imitates. The feasibility and validity of the concept is confirmed and reported on the basis of the experiment results.