Abstract: Disclosed is a method for providing rental property network members and tenants real-time response alerts to rental property database inquiries, status, and updates. A secured website having a rental property database is operable to send signals to a programmable key fob having a color-coded alert board, a plurality of depressable color signals, audio output capabilities, and vibration capabilities. The signals are coordinated with changes to a tenant's or network member's status on the secured website.

Abstract: Methods and systems for managing real estate titles and permissions include using a key to identify titles and/or permissions. The key is preferably operable to control operations of electronic devices within geographic boundaries, with the geographic boundaries preferably being defined by a geofence and/or IP-based addressing. In certain embodiments, a system is linked to real property records to assign the key to the owner of record. Like other property rights, this virtual right-to-control electronic devices while located in a certain space may be sold outright, leased, rented, partitioned or otherwise conveyed to others.

Abstract: A system and method for automating licensing, distribution, and sales for goods and/or services. A management platform receives a lead identifier, such as a potential asset license opportunity, and determines whether such lead identifier satisfies predetermined lead requirements. If the lead requirements are satisfied, the management platform sends to the licensor an electronic approval request to for the lead identifier. The management platform receives an answer from the licensor approving or disapproving the request. In response to receiving an approval, the management platform automatically forwards an electronic license and distribution request to an entity associated with the lead identifier. Upon formation of the license contract with such entity, the management platform automates the sales and distribution of the goods and services, while managing and tracking sales data.

Abstract: An intellectual property supporting apparatus includes a recording unit configured to record intellectual property information and character information; an output unit configured to output a character to a user terminal operable by a user based on the character information recorded in the recording unit; a reception unit configured to receive information regarding intellectual property associated with the user as an inventor or an applicant transmitted from the user terminal; a calculation unit configured to calculate right acquisition possibility of the intellectual property based on the intellectual property information and the information regarding the intellectual property; and a controller configured to control output of a form of the character based on information on the right acquisition possibility calculated by the calculation unit.

Abstract: A student data aggregation system is a single point for collection, aggregation, visualization and selective distribution of quantitative and qualitative student related data. The system includes facilitating the plurality of students and a plurality of stake-holders to enter qualitative and quantitative student related information on a web-based platform, collecting the qualitative and quantitative student related information, analyzing the qualitative and quantitative student related information, aggregating and visualizing the qualitative and quantitative student related information, and selectively distributing the qualitative and quantitative student related information to the plurality of students and the plurality of stake-holders. The system also provides development tools for students, assessment tools for students and keeps the students engaged not only with each other but also with various stake-holders.

Abstract: A secure education system including a secure education application, an education content database and a student profile database having a plurality of student profiles that include identification data that identifies a person associated with the student profile and evaluation data that valuates an academic proficiency of the person. The application both providing and dynamically adjusting the educational content based on an associated student profile of a user as well as securely determining the identity of the user in order to validate interactions of the user with the educational content. The verified identity and academic proficiency of a person can be compiled into an academic profile and submitted to academic institutions to support the user as a candidate for admissions.

Abstract: An automated system for making quality measure submissions. In one embodiment, the system includes: a data input system; a data output system; a database of descriptive data items; a processor in communication with the data input system, the data output system and the database, and comprising a rules engine to traverse a hierarchical tree of denominator and numerator questions, using patient input and data items from the database of descriptive data items. In one embodiment, the invention relates to an automated review system for providing a multiple measure review of care including: a provider input device for inputting patient data; a patient database; a rules engine in communication with the patient database and traversing a plurality of denominator and numerator rules, using provider input patient data and patient data from the database to generate, from multiple encounters and multiple measures, the review of care subsequent to each visit.

Abstract: A computer system and method is provided to filter clearance sensor data output by a sensor system during a load/offload procedure of a first object relative to a second object. A processing device of the computer system is configured to access hard threshold data, unique threshold data, and sensor data output by the sensor system sensing aspects of the load/offload procedure. The processing device is further configured to determine whether the sensor data exceeds the unique threshold, determine whether the sensor data that is determined to exceed the unique threshold is voidable data related to a non-critical event, and generate filtered sensor data that includes modifications to the voidable data.

Abstract: Embodiments of the disclosure provide methods and systems for predicting wait time of a transportation service request. The method includes receiving, from a terminal device, the transportation service request. The method further includes determining, by a processor, a first queue position of the transportation service request at a first time point. The method also includes determining, by the processor, a second queue position of the transportation service request at a second time point. The method also includes determining, by the processor, a request processing speed based on the first and second queue positions and the first and second time points. The method also includes determining, based on the request processing speed and the second queue position of the transportation service request, the predicted wait time. The method also includes providing, to the terminal device, the predicted wait time of the transportation service request.

Abstract: Embodiments of the disclosure provide methods and systems for providing transportation service. The method may include receiving a first transportation service request from a remote passenger terminal and determining a first estimated waiting time of the first transportation service request by a processor. The method may further include determining that the first estimated waiting time is greater than a first predetermined time period by the processor, and generating a second transportation service request comprising a transportation parameter different from that of the first transportation service request by the processor.

Abstract: Methods and systems for providing transportation service are provided. The method can include detecting, by at least one processor, a request queue associated with an area. The method can further include receiving transportation service requests, from remote terminal devices, to be placed in the request queue. The method can also include determining, by the at least one processor, a number of the transportation service requests for the request queue. The method can further include activating, by the at least one processor, the request queue in response to the determined number being greater than an activation threshold; and providing transportation service according to respective positions of the transportation service requests in the activated request queue.

Abstract: Systems and methods for providing transportation service information are disclosed. An exemplary method for providing transportation service information may include obtaining a location of a terminal device and obtaining supply and demand data for a region surrounding the location of the terminal device. The method may also include identifying, via a processor, at least one high demand area within the region and identifying, via the processor, at least one supply shortage area based on supply available in the at least one high demand area. The method may further include providing, utilizing the terminal device, at least one indication indicating the at least one supply shortage area on a map.

Abstract: Embodiments of the disclosure provide methods and systems for dispatching vehicles. The method may include determining, for a geographic region, supply and demand information for a transportation service during a predetermined time interval. The method may also include determining at least one over-supplied zone and at least one under-supplied zone within the geographic region, based on the supply and demand information. The method may further include notifying a vehicle in the at least one over-supplied zone information of the at least one under-supplied zone, the vehicle being available for providing the transportation service.

Abstract: Embodiments of the disclosure relate to methods and apparatuses for providing transportation service information for displaying on a terminal device. The method may include receiving a transportation service request from a terminal device. The method may also include determining a search area for locating a vehicle to provide the requested transportation service. The method may also include determining historical transportation service request data associated with the search area. The method may also include determining demand-supply information associated with the search area based on the historical transportation service request data. The method may further include providing the demand-supply information for displaying on the terminal device.

Abstract: A computer-implemented method for providing transportation service is described. The method can include receiving a first transportation service request from a user terminal device. The method can further include determining, by a processor, an estimated time for the first transportation service request to be fulfilled. The method can also include determining, by the processor, a hypothetical time for the first transportation service request to be fulfilled if switching to a carpool request. The method can also include providing, to the user terminal device, a recommendation to switch to the carpool request when the hypothetical time is less than the estimated time. The method can also include providing a carpool service to fulfill the first transportation service request when an acceptance of the recommendation is received from the user terminal device.

Abstract: Embodiments of the disclosure provide methods and systems for providing transportation service. The method can include receiving, from a remote passenger terminal, a transportation service request in a district. The method can further include detecting that the transportation service request is within a first queuing zone, the first queuing zone associated with at least one first queuing condition. The method can also include placing the transportation service request in a first request queue associated with the first queuing zone based on a determination that the transportation service request meets the first queuing condition.

Abstract: Embodiments of the disclosure provide methods and systems for processing transportation requests. The method can include receiving, from a terminal device, a transportation request in a district. The method can also include determining a first queue associated with a queuing zone for placing the transportation request, the transportation request having a first estimated waiting time before being processed in the first queue. The method can further include determining a second queue associated with the queuing zone, the transportation request having a second estimated waiting time before being processed in the second queue, wherein the second estimated waiting time is shorter than the first estimated waiting time. The method can also include providing to the terminal device information related to the second queue.

Abstract: Systems, methods, and computer readable media to improve task switching operations in a graphics processing unit (GPU) are described. As disclosed herein, the clock rate (and voltages) of a GPU's operating environment may be altered so that a low priority task may be rapidly run to a task switch boundary (or completion) so that a higher priority task may begin execution. In some embodiments, only the GPU's operating clock (and voltage) is increased during the task switch operation. In other embodiments, the clock rate (voltages) of supporting components may also be increased. For example, the operating clock for the GPU's supporting memory, memory controller or memory fabric may also be increased. Once the lower priority task has been swapped out, one or more of the clocks (and voltages) increased during the switch operation could be subsequently decreased, though not necessarily to their pre-switch rates.

Abstract: Developers receive automatically designated property change events which caused invalidation of a rendered frame. Some embodiments control display invalidation in part by identifying higher-level frame bounding events in an execution trace, and applying at least one display invalidation constituency filter to lower-level thread events within a frame creation period, thereby obtaining a display invalidation constituency sequence of one or more display invalidation events. The sequence may include a layout property change event and/or a render property change event which invalidated the frame. An initial part of the sequence is designated as a display frame creation cause. Displayed frame invalidation is controlled by altering the display invalidation constituency, e.g., by manual or automated layout/render property change event elimination or event sequence location change, by a reduction in computational resource usage (e.g.

Abstract: A system for an airborne platform includes a display device, an input device, and an image processing circuit. The display device is configured to display a visualization provided as a pixel matrix capable of being virtually rotated along a horizontal axis or along a vertical axis based on a user input. The input device is configured to receive user input providing an indication to virtually rotate the visualization along at least one of the horizontal axis and the vertical axis. The image processing circuit is configured to receive pixel data corresponding to the pixel matrix, receive the user input from the input device, determine an offset angle to virtually rotate the visualization along the horizontal axis or the vertical axis, configure the visualization in response to the determined offset angle, and output the configured visualization for display on the display device.

Abstract: A method and an apparatus for generating 3D panoramic video are provided. In the method, plural frames are captured from a panoramic video. Each frame is transformed into a polyhedral mapping projection comprising side planes, a top plane and a bottom plane. Displacements of pixels in the side planes are calculated by using the side planes of each frame, and displacements of pixels in the top plane and the bottom plane are calculated by using the displacements of the side planes. Then, the pixels in the side planes, the top plane and the bottom plane of each frame are shifted according the displacements of the polyhedral mapping projection to generate a shifted polyhedral mapping projection. The shifted polyhedral mapping projection is transformed into a shifted frame with 2D space format. The shifted frames and corresponding frames construct 3D images and the 3D images are encoded into a 3D panoramic video.

Abstract: An image processing device and an image processing method are disclosed. The image processing method comprises: acquiring an image; segmenting the acquired image by using a deep learning-based segmentation process to obtain a binarized image labeled with a region of interest; processing a pixel matrix of the acquired image by using a pixel matrix of the binarized image to obtain a segmented image; and performing super-resolution reconstruction on the segmented image by using a deep learning-based super-resolution neural network to obtain a reconstructed image.

Abstract: A method for healing a target region on an input image is described. A preview image is received; the preview image may reflect a down-sampled image of an original image. The method determines a target region for the preview image. The target region indicates a segment of the preview image designated for healing. The method may then heal the target region associated with the preview image using a transformation. The method may store one or more parameters associated with the healed preview image. The method may then provide for display the healed preview image to a user on a mobile device.

Abstract: An electronic device comprising a processing unit and a memory that stores a plurality of program instructions. The processing unit executes the program instructions to perform the following steps: (a) storing pixel data of multiple pixels of a picture in the memory, the number of the pixels being greater than the number of pixels in one horizontal line of the picture; (b) performing an integral image operation on the pixel data to obtain integral image data; (c) storing the integral image data in the memory; (d) using the integral image data to calculate a low-frequency component of a target pixel of the picture; and (e) based on the low-frequency component, selectively performing a temporal noise reduction operation on the target pixel.

Abstract: Skin smoothing is applied to images using a bilateral filter and aided by a skin map. In one example a method includes receiving an image having pixels at an original resolution. The image is buffered. The image is downscaled from the original resolution to a lower resolution. A bilateral filter is applied to pixels of the downscaled image. The filtered pixels of the downscaled image are blended with pixels of the image having the original resolution, and the blended image is produced.

Abstract: A method and an image processing device for detecting a portion of an image that is dominated by infrared (IR) light of at least one predetermined IR wavelength are disclosed. A set of phase pixel values for setting focus in the image is obtained. Each of the phase pixel values is compared to a first threshold related to phase shift occurring due to difference between at least a wavelength of the first colour component and said at least one predetermined IR wavelength. Moreover, in case a phase pixel value satisfies the first threshold, it is determined that the respective location associated with said phase pixel value is included in the portion of the image that is dominated by the IR light. A computer program and a computer program carrier are also disclosed.

Abstract: A display apparatus is provided. The display apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment includes a display, and a processor configured to generate a second image and a third image where a dynamic range is expanded by respectively applying a first gain and a second gain to an input first image, generate a degraded image of the second image by applying a predetermined degradation model to the second image, based on a difference value between a pixel of the degraded second image and a pixel of the third image satisfying a predetermined condition, modify a pixel value of the second image based on the difference value, and output the second image where the pixel value is modified through the display.

Abstract: An image processing method includes acquiring a captured image that has been generated by imaging through an imaging optical system inclined relative to an imaging plane, acquiring inclination information of the imaging optical system, acquiring aberration information of the imaging optical system, and performing image restoration processing on the captured image based on the aberration information. The image restoration processing includes a setting of a correction amount of the captured image according to the inclination information.

Abstract: An image capturing device includes: an image capturing element having a first image capturing region that captures an image of a photographic subject and outputs a first signal, and a second image capturing region that captures an image of the photographic subject and outputs a second signal; a setting unit that sets an image capture condition for the first image capturing region to an image capture condition that is different from an image capture condition for the second image capturing region; a correction unit that performs correction upon the second signal, for employment in interpolation of the first signal; and a generation unit that generates an image of the photographic subject that has been captured by the first image capturing region by employing a signal generated by interpolating the first signal according to the second signal as corrected by the correction unit.

Abstract: Captured images acquired by a plurality of imaging units are output to a captured image combining unit, which generates a composite image by joining the captured images in accordance with composite setting information generated by a composite setting information generation unit. A specific region information generation unit generates specific region information indicating the specific region corresponding to a specific imaging region in the composite image. In accordance with the specific region information, the captured image combining unit can easily perform an invalidation or emphasizing process, for example, on the image corresponding to the specific imaging region. The specific region information is also associated with the composite image generated by the captured image combining unit, so that reproduction control on the specific region corresponding to the specific imaging region in the composite image can be performed at the time of reproduction or the like of the composite image.

Abstract: A method (200) for providing feedback regarding facial expressions in an original image is provided. The method (200) comprising the steps of receiving a 2-dimensional image of one or more users from an image capturing device (102), converting the 2-dimensional image to 3-dimensional image, identifying respective one or more faces of the one or more users from the 3-dimensional image, determining values of a set of plurality of parameters associated with a plurality of sections of each face of the one or more faces, comparing the determined values of the set of plurality of parameters with pre-determined optimum values of set of plurality of parameter pre-stored in a data repository (108) and providing feedback to the one or more users on the basis of the comparison. Further, a system (700) for providing feedback regarding facial expressions in an original image is provided.

Abstract: Method and system for detecting line defects on surface of object are presented. An imaging device captures images of surface of object under ambient and dark field illumination conditions. The images are processed with a plurality of image operations to detect areas of potential defects based on predictable pattern consisting of bright and shadow regions. Areas of potential defect are cut from processed images to sub images. Sub images are stitched together to generate hypotheses of potential defects at locations on surface of object. The hypotheses are classified to determine whether the potential defects are true defects at the locations. Line defect is detected by refining line segments detected on the processed image based on criteria. The criteria include distance from the true defects to the line segments and slops between the true defects and the line segments are less than threshold values.

Abstract: Method for generating a test-set for inspection of a design being printed by a printing-press, each color-unit in the printing-press prints a respective color. The design is composed of original-layers. Inspection includes determining the origin of at least one defect in the printed-design. The method includes the procedures of generating defective-layer or layers of the design, by introducing at least one selected defect to at least one selected original-layer, in a selected location or locations and combining layers using a trained-synthesis-neural-network. The layers include the defective-layer or layers and remaining ones of the original-layers. The trained-synthesis-neural-network provides a plurality of features respective of each pixel. The method also includes the procedure of generating the test-set from the output of the synthesis-neural-network. The test-set includes at least one synthesized-test-image. The synthesized-test-image includes at least one synthesized-defect at the selected location.

Abstract: A hybrid detection model may be used for breast cancer detection. A system can identify a region of interest on a received mammogram. The region of interest may have a particular level of grey at each pixel of the image. A morphological and entropy filter may then each be applied to the region of interest. Based on the filters, the system may generate a hybrid result that is the average of a combination of the two filters. The system may then segment the region of interest using a selected clustering algorithm.

Abstract: A computer-implemented method for automatically generating metadata tags for a medical image includes receiving a medical image and automatically identifying a set of body landmarks in the medical image using one or more machine learning models. A set of rules are applied to the set of body landmarks to identify anatomical objects present in the image. As an alternative to using the set of rules, in some embodiments, one or more machine learning models to the set of body landmarks to identify anatomical objects present in the image. Once the anatomical objects are identified, metadata tags corresponding to the anatomical objects are generated and stored in the medical image. Then, the medical image with the metadata tags is transferred to a data repository.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a device, system and method for skin detection. To enable a reliable, accurate and fast detection the proposed device comprises an input interface (30) for obtaining image data of a scene, said image data comprising a time sequence of image frames, an extraction unit (31) for extracting a photoplethysmography (PPG) signal from a region of interest of said image data, a transformation unit (32) for transforming said PPG signal into a spectral signal, a sorting unit (33) for sorting said spectral signal to obtain a sorted spectral signal representing a descriptor, and a classifier (34) for classifying said region of interest as skin region of a living being or as non-skin region based on the descriptor.

Abstract: Retrieval means analyzes character strings of a plurality of interpretation reports to retrieve an interpretation report in which a retrieval keyword is included. Registration means performs image processing with respect to a medical image corresponding to the retrieved interpretation report, extracts an anatomic region related to the retrieval keyword, and registers information indicating the anatomic region and the medical image as correct answer data in a case where the size of the extracted anatomic region is different from a standard size of the anatomic region or in a case where the shape of the extracted anatomic region is different from a standard shape of the anatomic region.

Abstract: An image processor diagnosing a medical image of a diagnostic target region of a subject imaged by a medical image capturer, includes: an image acquirer acquiring the medical image; and a diagnoser analyzing the medical image using a classifier that has already finished learning and calculating an index indicating a probability of the medical image corresponding to any of categories of lesion patterns, wherein in the classifier, to perform the learning process, in a learning process using the medical image that has been diagnosed not to correspond to any of the categories of lesion patterns, a first value indicating a normal state is set as a correct value of the index, and in a learning process using the medical image that has been diagnosed to correspond to any of the categories of lesion patterns, a second value indicating an abnormal state is set as a correct value of the index.

Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for identifying pathological changes in follow up medical images. Reference image data is acquired. Follow up image data is acquired. A deformation field is generated for the reference image data and the follow up data using a machine-learned network trained to generate deformation fields describing healthy, anatomical deformation between input reference image data and input follow up image data. The reference image data and the follow up image data are aligned using the deformation field. The co-aligned reference image data and follow up image data are analyzed for changes due to pathological phenomena.

Abstract: The present disclosure may provide a method for perfusion analysis. The method may include: obtaining a plurality of scan images corresponding to a plurality of time points; obtaining a plurality of time-density discrete points based on the plurality of scan images; determining an initial time-density curve based on the plurality of time-density discrete points, the initial time-density curve indicating a density variation of a contrast agent in an organ or tissue over time, the organ or tissue corresponding to a pixel or voxel in the plurality of scan images; obtaining a first perfusion model; determining a first perfusion parameter based on the first perfusion model and the initial time-density curve; obtaining a second perfusion model; and determining a second perfusion parameter based on the second perfusion model and the first perfusion parameter.

Abstract: Detecting objects in an image includes: extracting core instance features from the image; calculating feature maps at multiscale resolutions from the core instance features; calculating detection boxes from the core instance features; calculating segmentation masks for each detection box of the detection boxes at the multiscale resolutions of the feature maps; merging the segmentation masks at the multiscale resolutions to generate an instance mask for each object detected in the image; refining the confidence scores of the merged segmentation masks by auxiliary networks calculating pixel level metrics; and outputting the instance masks as the detected objects.

Abstract: A system that analyzes data from multiple sensors, potentially of different types, that track motions of players, equipment, and projectiles such as balls. Data from different sensors is combined to generate integrated metrics for events and activities. Illustrative sensors may include inertial sensors, cameras, radars, and light gates. As an illustrative example, a video camera may track motion of a pitched baseball, and an inertial sensor may track motion of a bat; the system may use the combined data to analyze the effectiveness of the swing in hitting the pitch. The system may also use sensor data to automatically select or generate tags for an event; tags may represent for example activity types, players, performance levels, or scoring results. The system may analyze social media postings to confirm or augment event tags. Users may filter and analyze saved events based on the assigned tags.

Abstract: A neural network model receives color data for a sequence of images corresponding to a dynamic scene in three-dimensional (3D) space. Motion of objects in the image sequence results from a combination of a dynamic camera orientation and motion or a change in the shape of an object in the 3D space. The neural network model generates two components that are used to produce a 3D motion field representing the dynamic (non-rigid) part of the scene. The two components are information identifying dynamic and static portions of each image and the camera orientation. The dynamic portions of each image contain motion in the 3D space that is independent of the camera orientation. In other words, the motion in the 3D space (estimated 3D scene flow data) is separated from the motion of the camera.

Abstract: A method for determining or updating a registration between a 3D image of a region of interest and a set of at least two 2D images of the same region of interest includes selecting at least one respective contour point in the 3D image for each 2D image. A 2D position of a respective depiction of each contour point is determined in the respective 2D image. At least one condition for the registration parameters that needs to be fulfilled is determined, for each contour point, to map the respective contour point to the respective 2D position in the respective 2D image. An updated set of registration parameters is determined by solving a set of equations or an optimization problem that depends on the conditions.

Abstract: Disclosed is a method for registering at least two different 3D models, whereby the models image the same object at least in places, including: detecting and describing features in the 3D models; assigning features of the first 3D model to the features of the second based on descriptions that are as similar, for each feature of the first 3D model, a feature of the second is determined, and notating the first assignments as vectors, then performing the opposite assignment; comparing the vectors of the first and second assignments and determining common, bijective vectors of both, and randomly selecting at least three bijective vectors; applying the selected vectors to the first 3D model and checking whether the vectors essentially image common points of the 3D models; if successful, using the selected vectors to generate a transformation, and if not, discarding all vectors and rerunning of the method with other data.

Abstract: A meta projector is provided, including an edge emitting device configured to emit light through a side surface thereof, a meta-structure layer spaced apart from the upper surface of the edge emitting device that includes a plurality of nanostructures having a sub-wavelength dimension smaller than a wavelength of the light emitted from the edge emitting device, and a path changing member configured to change a path of the light emitted from the edge emitting device so as to direct the path toward the meta-structure layer. The meta projector may thus be configured to emit a light pattern of structured light, based on directing the light emitted from the edge emitting device through the meta-structure layer.

Abstract: Systems and methods for hybrid depth regularization in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are disclosed. In one embodiment of the invention, a depth sensing system comprises a plurality of cameras; a processor; and a memory containing an image processing application. The image processing application may direct the processor to obtain image data for a plurality of images from multiple viewpoints, the image data comprising a reference image and at least one alternate view image; generate a raw depth map using a first depth estimation process, and a confidence map; and generate a regularized depth map. The regularized depth map may be generated by computing a secondary depth map using a second different depth estimation process; and computing a composite depth map by selecting depth estimates from the raw depth map and the secondary depth map based on the confidence map.

Abstract: A method and system that facilitates the size selection for garments such as hosiery or pantyhose with the aim to improve comfort and fit for the wearer is provided.

Abstract: Machine learning is used to train a network to predict the location of an internal body marker from surface data. A depth image or other image of the surface of the patient is used to determine the locations of anatomical landmarks. The training may use a loss function that includes a term to limit failure to predict a landmark and/or off-centering of the landmark. The landmarks may then be used to configure medical scanning and/or for diagnosis.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for optical imaging and assessment of tong cassette positioning devices, including identifying a focus area on a tong cassette; optically imaging the focus area with an optical imaging device on a positioning device; and analyzing information from the optical imaging to determine an assessment of the focus area. A system includes: a tong cassette having a focus area; a positioning device having an optical imaging device to image the focus area; and an analyzing device functionally connected to the optical imaging device to receive information therefrom.