Abstract: A method for determining similarity between a non-planar probe surface and a non-planar model surface is disclosed. The method comprises calculating an extremal value of an objective function describing embedding of the probe surface into an embedding space having a non-constant sectional curvature; and determining similarity between the probe surface and the model surface based on the extremal value.

Abstract: A method for resource allocation for video encoder to achieve the minimum sequence cost within given resource budgets. Optimal video encoder design by deriving the optimal sequence order and frame type selection is invented. In order to achieve computationally practical resource allocation, the current invention utilizes various encoder model and buffer model. The models allow the optimization procedure to assess the best encoding design without actually performing the computationally expensive encoding. Efficient optimization algorithm is also derived to substantially reduce the computations required to search for the optimal action sequence.

Abstract: An imaging device is disclosed which may include at least one single pixel imaging sensor configured to sense image data for a single pixel along a line of sight. The imaging device may also include at least one reorientable mirror, of which each reorientable mirror is exclusively optically coupled to one or more of said at least one single pixel imaging sensor for deflecting the line of sight of that single pixel imaging sensor. The imaging device may further include a controller for synchronously reorienting each of said at least one reorientable mirror to scan the line of sight across at least a sector of a scene. The imaging device may also include a readout circuit for reading out acquired image data from each of said at least one single pixel imaging sensor. The imaging device may be configured to sample at least two independent dimensions of a four dimensional light field. A plenoptic imaging device and a plenoptic projector device are also disclosed.

Abstract: Proposed is a model for generation and use of metadata for interactive video navigation and video content identification.

Abstract: A method for resource allocation for video encoder to achieve optimal picture quality within a given resource budget. Making a video encoder utilize the computational complexity, bitrate and other resources in an optimal way while maintaining optimal quality is a complicated optimization problem. A subset of this resource allocation problem, optimizing the tradeoff between bitrate versus quality is called rate-distortion optimization and is performed in most modern encoders. In order to achieve a computationally practical solution of the resource allocation problem, the current invention partitions the video content into a number of regions based on their characteristics and assesses resource allocation among regions to achieve the optimal quality within the resource budget limit. To maintain the computation tractable, the invention relies on bit production model and distortion model for the underlying video content to assess the quality and resource usage instead of actually conducting video compression.

Abstract: A method of cropping a representation of a face for electronic processing, said method comprising: selecting a first geodesic contour about an invariant reference point on said face, setting a region within said first geodesic contour as a first mask, selecting a second geodesic contour about a boundary of said identified first region, setting a region within said second geodesic contour as a second mask, and forming a final mask from a union of said first mask and said second mask.

Abstract: A method for planning a current medical procedure to be performed on a body part of a current patient includes obtaining a current first representation of a surface of the body part of the current patient, and either obtaining a representation of a desired result surface for the current medical procedure or selecting parameters for the current medical procedure. The method further includes retrieving at least one best matching record from a database of records of previously performed medical procedures of previous patients, based on a similarity criterion. Each record includes: parameters of a previously performed procedure of the previously performed medical procedures, a first representation of the body part of the previous patient prior to performance of the previously performed procedure, and a second representation of a body part of the previous patient after the performance of the previously performed procedure.

Abstract: A method determines similarity of objects depicted in images when the images pertain to different modalities. The method includes obtaining images that depict the objects and that pertain to the different modalities. An embedding function is applied to each of the images. The embedding function is selected from a set of two or more embedding functions, each of the embedding functions corresponding to a modality of the different modalities, the selected embedding function corresponding to the modality of the image to which it is applied. Application of the embedding function maps that image to a representation in a representation space such that when the images are mapped to the representation space, a distance between the representations of the images is indicative of a similarity of their depicted objects. The similarity of the depicted objects is determined based on the location of the corresponding representations in the representation space.

Abstract: Method for parallel approximation of distance maps on a discrete representation of a manifold, the method comprising: for at least one Euclidean grid applied on the discrete representation of a manifold, iterating over rows of the Euclidean grid in a first direction, and for each row currently visited during the iterating in the first direction, calculating a distance value for each single cell of the currently visited row in parallel, wherein the calculating is carried out according to a predefined approximation rule, using a distance value calculated for each one of respective cells of a row visited immediately before the currently visited row, wherein the cells of the row visited before the currently visited row are adjacent to the single cell in the Euclidean grid.

Abstract: The described methods and systems provide for the representation and matching of video content, including spatio-temporal matching of different video sequences. A particular method of determining temporal correspondence between different sets of video data inputs the sets of video data and represents the video data as ordered sequences of visual nucleotides. Temporally corresponding subsets of video data are determined by aligning the sequences of visual nucleotides.

Abstract: A method for resource allocation for video encoder to achieve the minimum sequence cost within given resource budgets. Optimal video encoder design by deriving the optimal sequence order and frame type selection is invented. In order to achieve computationally practical resource allocation, the current invention utilizes various encoder model and buffer model. The models allow the optimization procedure to assess the best encoding design without actually performing the computationally expensive encoding. Efficient optimization algorithm is also derived to substantially reduce the computations required to search for the optimal action sequence.

Abstract: The described systems and methods control the display of media content on a media player with player preferences. The media content is analyzed and multiple signatures are computed that are representative of temporal portions of the media content. The multiple signatures are matched to a database of signatures, and a closest corresponding signature is found. Metadata associated with the closest corresponding signatures is retrieved as matching metadata. Display of the media content is controlled based on the player preferences and the matching metadata.

Abstract: The present invention describes a system and method for controlling interactive video, including a remote control device allowing the user to interact with the video. The method allows bringing the “lean-forward” hypervideo experience to a “lay-back” environment such as the TV screen. The method also allows for the creation of a single system that combines both the social aspects of the “lay-back” and the “lean-forward experience” into a new type of rich media viewing experience.

Abstract: An encoder to adaptively alter video deblocking complexity is disclosed in one embodiment of the invention as including a video encoding engine to generate a stream of encoded video data. The encoded video data is characterized by a level of blocking distortion generated during the encoding process. A deblocking filter is coupled to the video encoding engine and reduces the effects of blocking distortion on the encoded video data. The deblocking filter is characterized by a level of deblocking complexity which may depend on the strength and granularity of the deblocking filter applied to the encoded video data. A resource manager is coupled to the deblocking filter and is configured to adaptively alter the deblocking complexity in order to alter the overall computational complexity of the encoder.

Abstract: Apparatus for obtaining 3-Dimensional data of a geometric body for matching, and particularly for use in facial matching, comprises a three dimensional scanner for obtaining three-dimensional topographical data of the body, a triangulator for receiving or forming said data into a triangulated manifold, a geodesic converter, for converting the triangulated manifold into a series of geodesic distances between pairs of points of the manifold, and a multi-dimensional scaler, for forming a low dimensional Euclidean representation of the series of geodesic distances, to give a bending invariant representation of the geometric body. In one variant, matching is carried out by taking the principle eigenvalues from the representation and plotting as co-ordinates in a feature space. Tilted or different expression versions of the same face tend to form clusters in the feature space allowing for matching. The apparatus preferably uses the fast marching method for the triangulated domain to obtain the geodesic distances.

Abstract: The invention is directed to a system and method for determining position and orientation with respect to a display device. In particular, the invention is directed to acquiring an observed image from a display device using a pointing device, and calculating pointing device position and orientation using the acquired observed image and a displayed image on the display device.

Abstract: A universal video-related lookup system and method receives a request for information associated with specific video content from a requesting device. The system and method identify a first video content identifier associated with the specific video content and retrieves first metadata associated with the specific video content based on the first video content identifier. Next, the system and method translate the first video content identifier into a second video content identifier associated with the specific video content and retrieves second metadata based on the second video content identifier. The first metadata and the second metadata are then provided to the requesting device.

Abstract: A method for resource allocation for video encoder to achieve optimal picture quality within a given resource budget. Making a video encoder utilize the computational complexity, bitrate and other resources in an optimal way while maintaining optimal quality is a complicated optimization problem. A subset of this resource allocation problem, optimizing the tradeoff between bitrate versus quality is called rate-distortion optimization and is performed in most modern encoders. In order to achieve a computationally practical solution of the resource allocation problem, the current invention partitions the video content into a number of regions based on their characteristics and assesses resource allocation among regions to achieve the optimal quality within the resource budget limit. To maintain the computation tractable, the invention relies on bit production model and distortion model for the underlying video content to assess the quality and resource usage instead of actually conducting video compression.

Abstract: The described methods and systems provide for the representation and matching of video content, including spatio-temporal matching of different video sequences. A particular method of determining temporal correspondence between different sets of video data inputs the sets of video data and represents the video data as ordered sequences of visual nucleotides. Temporally corresponding subsets of video data are determined by aligning the sequences of visual nucleotides.

Abstract: A system and method for processing of video content containing redundant pixels using the picture recombination technique, with one of the main application in video transcoding process. The picture recombination process employs a quality ranking criterion to adaptively select the best region from the co-located regions of redundant pictures as the region for output. An approximation for quality ranking between a decoded picture region and an original picture region has been developed to guide the selection for recombination because the original picture is not available to the transcoder. The quality ranking formula is further modified as a simple linear function depending on the quantization scale, the bit count, and complexity measure of the region.