From the Inside Flap
Among the new challenges of multimedia computing and distributed technologies, mechanisms for content-based information retrieval in multimedia databases seems to be the most difficult issue. Unlike traditional database systems, which allow query specification based on keywords and numerical comparisons, image database system requires a sophisticated retrieval mechanism. Current approaches of image retrieval rely on color, texture, shape, and object spatial relations. However, the most difficult issue of image content-based retrieval is the investigation of friendly visual specification techniques. How to visually describe the need of a user is a very difficult problem. On the other hand, content-based retrieval of video records not only involves the objects in a video, the timing of object movement is also considered. Scene identification and object tracing are basic techniques, which only solve part of the problem. Yet, tools for semantic analysis of video conten! ts are still underdevelopment. Content-based video retrieval may rely on speech detection and recognition, which are also used in the automatic retrieval of audio information. Part I is an introduction. Part II and III of this book will discuss current research status and solutions to image and video databases.
Part IV of this book discusses watermark technologies. This part of discussion is relatively new in the area of multimedia computing. With the growing of Internet users, it is likely that entertainment data, such as MP3 audio records and MPEG video, as well as still images are transmitted on the Internet. It is important for vendors to have their copyright protection signatures embedded into these multimedia records. Watermark of multimedia can be embedded into MP3 audio, video, and image records, without seriously affect the presentation quality of the records. Techniques include embedding signature, logo, text, as well as audio information into these entertainment records. A strong watermark technique should defense itself from various types of attacks, as well as prevent the destruction of signatures from data compression. With the watermark embedded, multimedia records are delivered to the end user.
On the other hand, the delivery of multimedia information is time-sensitive. Synchronization solutions to multimedia streams can be divided into two parts: intra-stream synchronization and inter-stream synchronization. For instance, an intra-stream synchronization solution involves the encoding of time stamps or the realization of other techniques to ensure audio and animation are synchronized in a video clip. The synchronization technique can be extended to include multiple streams (e.g., a video clip is synchronized with a slide show). Moreover, quality of services (QoS) of multimedia data may involve real-time constraints, especially when the service is distributed among workstations linked by networks. Solutions to QoS involve different levels of network protocols, as well as the construction of efficient network infrastructure. These problems will be discussed in part V.
The discussions in previous chapters contain technical issues, such as specification, design, and algorithms to the research topics of multimedia databases. Part VI includes real applications in image and video databases, VR technique, and media synchronization solution. The last part (Part VII) of this book will further point out other possible solutions in the future.
The audiences of this book are senior or graduate students major in computer science, computer engineering, or management information system (MIS), as well as professional instructors, and multimedia product developers. Readers can benefit from this book in searching for state-of-the-art research topics for their research, as well as in the understanding of techniques and applications in content-based information retrieval, watermarking, and distributed multimedia database systems. This book can be used as a textbook in senior research seminar, as well as graduate courses.
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Hardcover
edition.
About the Author
Timothy K. Shih is a Professor and the Chairman of Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering at Tamkang University, Taiwan, R.O.C. His research interests include Multimedia Computing and Networking, Distance Learning, Software Engineering, and Formal Specification and Verification. He was a faculty of the Computer Engineering Department at Tamkang University in 1986. In 1993 and 1994, he was a part time faculty of the Computer Engineering Department at Santa Clara University. He was also a visiting professor at the University of Aizu, Japan in summer 1999. Dr. Shih received his BS and MS degrees in Computer Engineering from Tamkang University and California State University, Chico, in 1983 and 1985, respectively. He also received his Ph.D. in Computer Engineering from Santa Clara University in 1993. Dr. Shih has published over 240 papers and participated in many international academic activities, including the organization of DMS’98, SEMA’99, IMMCN’! 2000, IEEE ICPADS’2000, ICCLC’2000, IEEE MNS’2000, SEMA’2000, CAIIC’2000, IEEE MNS’2001, DMS’2001, Human.Society@Internet’2001, IEEE PCM’2001, IEEE ICDCS-22, and IMMCN’2002. Dr. Shih has received many research awards, including Tamkang University research awards, NSC research awards (National Science Council of Taiwan), and IIAS research award of Germany. He also received many funded research grants from NSC, from the Institute of Information Industry, Taiwan, from the University of Aizu, Japan, and from the University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong. Dr. Shih has been invited frequently to give keynote speeches, tutorials, panels, and talks at international conferences and overseas research organizations, including ICCIMADE’01, CAIIC’2000, PDCAT’2001, IEEE PCM’2001, DMS’99, ICCLC’2000, IEEE COMPSAC’2000, MSE’2000, and DDMA’2001, Santa Clara University (USA), Hiroshima City University (Japan), Iwate Prefecture University (Japan), University of Aizu (Japan), City University of Hong Kon! g (Hong Kong), Hosei University (Japan), and the University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong).
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
