Abstract: A method and system for navigating a robot 100 in a designated environment are provided herein. In an embodiment, the method comprises: selectively identifying reference features from a scale plan of the designated environment; generating a topometric map 178 of the designated environment, the topometric map 178 being associated with the identified reference features; generating an initial navigation path 176 of a local region 174 from the topometric map 178; as the robot 100 navigates along the initial navigation path 176 of the local region 174, detecting onsite reference features of the local region 174 that correspond to the identified reference features of the scale plan; and updating the topometric map 178 based on the correspondence to generate a regional path plan 188 to guide the robot's direction in the local region 174.

Abstract: A method and system for navigating a robot 100 are provided herein. In an embodiment, the method comprises: detecting on-site reference features of the robot's location when the robot is traversing in an environment; identifying objects of interest 180 from the detected on-site reference features; deriving a semantic data for each object of interest 180 from the on-site reference features; generating a semantic cost map 166 based on the semantic data of the objects of interest 180, the semantic cost map 166 representing cost of traversing in the environment; and navigating the robot 100 based on the semantic cost map 166.

Abstract: Method and system for detecting a lane are provided herein.

Abstract: A camera-based localization system is provided. The camera-based localization system may assist an unmanned vehicle to continue its operation in a GPS-denied environment with minimal increase in vehicular cost and payload. In one aspect, a method, a computer-readable medium, and an apparatus for localization via visual inertial odometry are provided. The apparatus may construct an optical flow based on feature points across a first video frame and a second video frame captured by a camera of the apparatus. The apparatus may refine the angular velocity and the linear velocity corresponding to the second video frame via solving a quadratic optimization problem constructed based on the optical flow, the initial values of the angular velocity and the linear velocity corresponding to the second video frame. The apparatus may estimate the pose of the apparatus based on the refined angular velocity and the refined linear velocity.

Abstract: A camera-based localization system is provided. The camera-based localization system may assist an unmanned vehicle to continue its operation in a GPS-denied environment with minimal increase in vehicular cost and payload. In one aspect, a method, a computer-readable medium, and an apparatus for localization via visual inertial odometry are provided. The apparatus may construct an optical flow based on feature points across a first video frame and a second video frame captured by a camera of the apparatus. The apparatus may refine the angular velocity and the linear velocity corresponding to the second video frame via solving a quadratic optimization problem constructed based on the optical flow, the initial values of the angular velocity and the linear velocity corresponding to the second video frame. The apparatus may estimate the pose of the apparatus based on the refined angular velocity and the refined linear velocity.

Abstract: Systems and methods for transforming a similarity matrix used to generate content item recommendation lists are described. The system may determine a weight (used to transform the similarity matrix) sufficient to place one or more content items on the content item recommendation list or at a particular position on the recommendation list. The transformed similarity matrix may further be reduced in size, and content recommendations may be generated using the transformed or reduced similarity matrix.

Abstract: A content adaptation method includes: obtaining a primary metadata profile associated with a particular time point of primary content; obtaining secondary metadata profiles each associated with corresponding secondary content of a plurality of secondary content; identifying one of the plurality of secondary content associated with a secondary metadata profile having a desired similarity value with the primary metadata profile associated with the primary content; and matching the identified secondary content with the particular time point of the primary content.

Abstract: Systems and methods for transforming a similarity matrix used to generate content item recommendation lists are described. The system may determine a weight (used to transform the similarity matrix) sufficient to place one or more content items on the content item recommendation list or at a particular position on the recommendation list. The transformed similarity matrix may further be reduced in size, and content recommendations may be generated using the transformed or reduced similarity matrix.

Abstract: A content adaptation method includes: obtaining a primary metadata profile associated with a particular time point of primary content; obtaining secondary metadata profiles each associated with corresponding secondary content of a plurality of secondary content; identifying one of the plurality of secondary content associated with a secondary metadata profile having a desired similarity value with the primary metadata profile associated with the primary content; and matching the identified secondary content with the particular time point of the primary content.

Abstract: A method for use in indexing video footage, the video footage comprising an image signal and a corresponding audio signal relating to the image signals, the method comprising extracting audio features from the audio signal of the video footage and visual features from the image signal of the video footage; comparing the extracted audio and visual features with predetermined audio and visual keywords; identifying the audio and visual keywords associated with the video footage based on the comparison of the extracted video and visual features with the predetermine audio and visual keywords; and determining the presence of events in the video footage based on the audio and visual keywords associated with the video footage.

Abstract: A method and system for generating replays of an event for broadcast video. The method comprises the steps of receiving a video feed, automatically detecting said event from said camera video feed, generating a replay video of said event, and generating broadcast video incorporating said replay. Optionally, the replay video is automatically generated. Optionally, the replay is automatically incorporated into said broadcast video.

Abstract: A method and apparatus inserts virtual advertisements or other virtual contents into a sequence of frames of a video presentation by performing real-time content-based video frame processing to identify suitable locations in the video for implantation. Such locations correspond to both the temporal segments within the video presentation and the regions within an image frame that are commonly considered to be of lesser relevance to the viewers of the video presentation. This invention presents a method and apparatus that allows a non-intrusive means to incorporate additional virtual content into a video presentation, facilitating an additional channel of communications to enhance greater video interactivity.

Abstract: A method and system for recognizing the characters on surfaces where alphanumeric identification code (“ID” for short) may be present such as a license plate. The present system is particularly adapted for situations where visual distortions can occur, and utilizes a highly robust method for recognizing the characters of an ID. Multiple character recovery schemes are applied to account for a variety of conditions to ensure high accuracy in identifying the ID. Accuracy is greatly enhanced by taking a comprehensive approach where multiple criteria are taken into consideration before any conclusions are drawn. Special considerations are given to recognizing the ID as a whole and not just the individual characters.