Abstract: A method of authentication in ride hailing situations may include directing, by a first computing device of a passenger, the passenger to point a camera of the first computing device toward a location of a second computing device of a driver located in a vehicle, receiving data from the camera, wherein the data comprises streaming image frames including vehicle information pertaining to a vehicle included in the streaming image frames, analyzing the data to obtain the vehicle information, and determining whether the vehicle in the streaming image frames corresponds to an expected vehicle for the driver, the determination based on the vehicle information and expected vehicle information.

Abstract: Reducing the spread of contagions. At least one example embodiment is a computer-implemented method including: creating, by a server system, an indication of suspended micro-droplets of spittle in an area of a building; receiving, by the server system, an indication that a mobile device is moving toward the area of the building; and sending, by the server system, an alert to the mobile device, the alert indicating that entry into the area of the building is not safe based on the indication of suspended micro-droplets of spittle.

Abstract: A method of authentication in ride hailing situations may include transmitting, to a server by a first device of a passenger, a request for a ride to a destination, receiving an indication that a second device of a driver accepted the ride, and communicating first location data of each respective device to the other respective device. The method may also include determining a first distance between the first and second device based on the first location data of the first and second device. Responsive to determining that the first distance satisfies a threshold condition, the method may also include communicating, via a first point-to-point communication between the first and second device, second location data of each respective device to the other respective device. Further, the method may include presenting, based on the second location data, directions for the first and second device to reach each other.

Abstract: A method of authentication in ride hailing situations may include transmitting, to a server by a first device of a passenger, a request for a ride to a destination, receiving an indication that a second device of a driver accepted the ride, and communicating first location data of each respective device to the other respective device. The method may also include determining a first distance between the first and second device based on the first location data of the first and second device. Responsive to determining that the first distance satisfies a threshold condition, the method may also include communicating, via a first point-to-point communication between the first and second device, second location data of each respective device to the other respective device. Further, the method may include presenting, based on the second location data, directions for the first and second device to reach each other.

Abstract: A method of authentication in ride hailing situations may include transmitting, to a server by a first device of a passenger, a request for a ride to a destination, receiving an indication that a second device of a driver accepted the ride, and communicating first location data of each respective device to the other respective device. The method may also include determining a first distance between the first and second device based on the first location data of the first and second device. Responsive to determining that the first distance satisfies a threshold condition, the method may also include communicating, via a first point-to-point communication between the first and second device, second location data of each respective device to the other respective device. Further, the method may include presenting, based on the second location data, directions for the first and second device to reach each other.

Abstract: A method of authentication in ride hailing situations may include transmitting, to a server by a first device of a passenger, a request for a ride to a destination, receiving an indication that a second device of a driver accepted the ride, and communicating first location data of each respective device to the other respective device. The method may also include determining a first distance between the first and second device based on the first location data of the first and second device. Responsive to determining that the first distance satisfies a threshold condition, the method may also include communicating, via a first point-to-point communication between the first and second device, second location data of each respective device to the other respective device. Further, the method may include presenting, based on the second location data, directions for the first and second device to reach each other.

Abstract: A method of authentication in ride hailing situations may include transmitting, to a server by a first device of a passenger, a request for a ride to a destination, receiving an indication that a second device of a driver accepted the ride, and communicating first location data of each respective device to the other respective device. The method may also include determining a first distance between the first and second device based on the first location data of the first and second device. Responsive to determining that the first distance satisfies a threshold condition, the method may also include communicating, via a first point-to-point communication between the first and second device, second location data of each respective device to the other respective device. Further, the method may include presenting, based on the second location data, directions for the first and second device to reach each other.

Abstract: A method of authentication in ride hailing situations may include directing, by a first computing device of a passenger, the passenger to point a camera of the first computing device toward a location of a second computing device of a driver located in a vehicle, receiving data from the camera, wherein the data comprises streaming image frames including vehicle information pertaining to a vehicle included in the streaming image frames, analyzing the data to obtain the vehicle information, and determining whether the vehicle in the streaming image frames corresponds to an expected vehicle for the driver, the determination based on the vehicle information and expected vehicle information.

Abstract: A method of authentication in ride hailing situations may include transmitting, to a server by a first device of a passenger, a request for a ride to a destination, receiving an indication that a second device of a driver accepted the ride, and communicating first location data of each respective device to the other respective device. The method may also include determining a first distance between the first and second device based on the first location data of the first and second device. Responsive to determining that the first distance satisfies a threshold condition, the method may also include communicating, via a first point-to-point communication between the first and second device, second location data of each respective device to the other respective device. Further, the method may include presenting, based on the second location data, directions for the first and second device to reach each other.

Abstract: System and method for recording environmental accident data in vehicles. In one aspect, environmental data is received at inputs to a recorder device from a plurality of data sources in the vehicle. The environmental data is processed and indexed for recording onto a plurality of storage media. The environmental data is recorded onto the plurality of storage media such that each one of the storage media stores a same copy of at least a portion of the environmental data, wherein the environmental data is recorded before and after the accident of the vehicle.

Abstract: The invention of the present application provides data compression and archival features for data that has previously been transformed and compressed. In a first aspect of the present invention, compressed data that has previously been transformed and compressed is received, and coefficients in the compressed data are selected and discarded to reduce the amount of storage space required by the compressed data. In another aspect, the compressed data has previously been sub-sampled by a wavelet transform, and wavelet coefficients in the compressed data are selected and discarded. In another aspect, wavelet coefficients in the compressed data are dequantized, wavelet coefficients in the compressed data having less value for the data are selected, and the wavelet coefficients are requantized so as to cause more loss of data for the selected coefficients to reduce the amount of storage space required by the compressed data.

Abstract: Methods and systems for image and video enhancement and data-loss recovery using wavelet transforms are disclosed. A wavelet transformed image is defined as multiple sections, where one section is the original image, and coefficients are estimated for each other section using information obtained from that section. An inverse wavelet transform on the wavelet transformed image obtains an enlarged image. For obtaining a high resolution video frame, one section is the original video frame, and coefficients are estimated for each other section using information from a lower level wavelet transform of a corresponding section of a past or future frame of the video sequence. For recovery of data lost from transmitted original data, the locality of the lost data is determined in lower and higher levels of a wavelet transform tree, and information at the locality in the lower and higher levels is used to estimate the lost data.

Abstract: A system and a method for wavelet-based low bitrate video coding is provided. The system and method of this invention processes each frame of a video sequence based on its content. The discrete wavelet transform of each frame is taken separately. If the difference between the contents of a first frame and a second frame is above a threshold, then the wavelet transformed second frame is quantized and lossless encoded. If the difference is less than a threshold, then motion estimation is employed in wavelet domain. Then the difference between the wavelet transformed second frame and the motion compensated wavelet transformed second frame is quantized and lossless encoded. The quantization is applied by using dynamic adjustment. The quantization tables are optimized based on the coded frame characteristics. In addition to the coded frames, the lossless coded motion vectors are also transmitted to the decoder unit.

Abstract: A method and system for characterizing the motion of moving objects in video is disclosed. The video can be either compressed or uncompressed form. A typical video scene contains foreground and background objects. Foreground objects temporarily stay in the video. However, a left object or stopped object becomes part of the background scene and remains in the video forever. A plurality of images is inputted to the system in time series. A method and system determines left objects or stopped objects by comparing the background image estimated from the current image of the video with the background estimated from previous images of the video. Difference between the current and previous background images indicates a left or stopped object. Other objects, which do not modify the background image are determined as transitory objects. Background scene of a video can be estimated using the compressed video data as well.

Abstract: A method and system for allocating network bandwidth under alarm conditions. In one aspect, a method of the present invention for allocating network bandwidth to nodes on a network under alarm conditions includes determining that an alarm condition exists for at least one node on the network, and causing an increase in the network bandwidth allocation of the at least one node having the alarm condition. In other aspects, bandwidth requirements of the alarmed node are determined and used in allocating the increased bandwidth.

Abstract: The invention of the present application provides data compression and archival features for data that has previously been transformed and compressed. In a first aspect of the present invention, compressed data that has previously been transformed and compressed is received, and coefficients in the compressed data are selected and discarded to reduce the amount of storage space required by the compressed data. In another aspect, the compressed data has previously been sub-sampled by a wavelet transform, and wavelet coefficients in the compressed data are selected and discarded. In another aspect, wavelet coefficients in the compressed data are dequantized, wavelet coefficients in the compressed data having less value for the data are selected, and the wavelet coefficients are requantized so as to cause more loss of data for the selected coefficients to reduce the amount of storage space required by the compressed data.

Abstract: Methods and systems for image and video enhancement and data-loss recovery using wavelet transforms are disclosed. A wavelet transformed image is defined as multiple sections, where one section is the original image, and coefficients are estimated for each other section using information obtained from that section. An inverse wavelet transform on the wavelet transformed image obtains an enlarged image. For obtaining a high resolution video frame, one section is the original video frame, and coefficients are estimated for each other section using information from a lower level wavelet transform of a corresponding section of a past or future frame of the video sequence. For recovery of data lost from transmitted original data, the locality of the lost data is determined in lower and higher levels of a wavelet transform tree, and information at the locality in the lower and higher levels is used to estimate the lost data.

Abstract: A system and a method for wavelet-based low bitrate video coding is provided. The system and method of this invention processes each frame of a video sequence based on its content. The discrete wavelet transform of each frame is taken separately. If the difference between the contents of a first frame and a second frame is above a threshold, then the wavelet transformed second frame is quantized and lossless encoded. If the difference is less than a threshold, then motion estimation is employed in wavelet domain. Then the difference between the wavelet transformed second frame and the motion compensated wavelet transformed second frame is quantized and lossless encoded. The quantization is applied by using dynamic adjustment. The quantization tables are optimized based on the coded frame characteristics. In addition to the coded frames, the lossless coded motion vectors are also transmitted to the decoder unit.