Alexander Sinitsyn

A synchronization framework for personal mobile servers

The recent growth in the mobile device market has proven the feasibility of mobile storage based consumer electronics products. One of the key features of personal mobile storage devices is the ability to synchronize content and metadata with other mobile and stationary devices. The main problem addressed is automatic data exchange and synchronization in the domain of personal mobile storage devices or personal servers. We present a synchronization framework for personal servers delivered in the form of user scenarios, derived system requirements, design decisions and a software components structure. The synchronization framework was validated through a working prototype which shows added functionality, such as: connectivity with various types of devices from different vendors, synchronization based on user preferences, content-aware synchronization filtering. In order to abstract from implementation specifics of different network protocols, a high-level object-based storage API has been defined.

Aurama: caregiver awareness for living independently with an augmented picture frame display

Aurama is a system designed to provide peace of mind and a sense of connectedness to adults who care for elderly parents living alone. Aurama monitors the elders at home using unobtrusive sensor technology and collects data about sleeping patterns, weight trends, cognitive abilities and presence at home. The system provides an unobtrusive ambient information display that presents the status of the elder and lets its users inspect long-term data about the well-being of the elder interactively. Aurama was designed iteratively with substantial user involvement through interviews, prototype evaluation, focus groups and lab tests. The final prototype was evaluated in two field trials each involving an elder and their adult children. The input of users throughout the design process and during these tests demonstrates clearly the potential of awareness systems to support the target user group to obtain peace of mind and feel connected. Furthermore, the users indicate a clear need for information on long-term trends relating to the well-being of aging parents, in contrast to the current emphasis in this field of research on providing instantaneous status information about daily activities and context.

Duplicate Song Detection using Audio Fingerprinting for Consumer Electronics Devices

In the fast-growing field of digital asset distribution, asset identification is very important. Audio fingerprinting is a proven method of identifying audio assets. In this paper a new feature for consumer electronics devices, called duplicate song elimination or duplicate song detection, is presented. By example of a typical user scenario we show how this feature can be used in practice. We also show how this feature can be integrated in data management middleware to perform background self-cleaning from duplicates. The audio fingerprinting technology enables this feature and creates opportunities for other sophisticated features in the future

Real-Time and Distributed AV Content Analysis System for Consumer Electronics Networks

The ever-increasing complexity of generic multimedia-content-analysis-based (MCA) solutions, their processing power demanding nature and the need to prototype and assess solutions in a fast and cost-saving manner motivated the development of the Cassandra framework. The combination of state-of-the-art network and grid-computing solutions and recently standardized interfaces facilitated the set-up of this framework, forming the basis for multiple cross-domain and cross-organizational collaborations. It enables distributed computing scenario simulations for e.g. distributed content analysis (DCA) across consumer electronics (CE) in-home networks, but also the rapid development and assessment of complex multi-MCA-algorithm-based applications and system solutions. Furthermore, the frameworks modular nature-logical MCA units are wrapped into so-called service units (SU)-ease the split between system-architecture- and algorithmic-related work and additionally facilitate reusability, extensibility and upgrade ability of those SUs

Supporting peace of mind and independent living with the Aurama awareness system

An awareness system was designed to provide peace of mind and a sense of connectedness to adults who care for an elderly parent living alone. The iterative design of the Aurama awareness system showed and our empirical research, including field trials ranging from four to six months, confirm the potential of awareness systems to support both generations suggesting that research should examine, firstly, how to convey long-term trends regarding the wellbeing of the elderly and, secondly, how to intertwine the communication of awareness information with expressive forms of communication. We further explore the role that formal care providers can play when caring for the elderly using the awareness system. We discuss implications of our studies for the design of ambient intelligent systems supporting awareness between elderly, their adult children and care providers, and derive several lessons learned in conducting long-term field trials.

CANDELA – storage, analysis and retrieval of video content in distributed systems

Although many different types of technologies for information systems have evolved over the last decades (such as databases, video systems, the Internet and mobile telecommunication), the integration of these technologies is just in its infancy and has the potential to introduce ”intelligent” systems. The CANDELA project, which is part of the European ITEA program, focuses on the integration of video content analysis in combination with networked delivery and storage technologies. To unleash the full potential of such integration, adaptive video-content analysis and retrieval techniques are being explored by developing several pilot applications.

Media distribution in a pervasive computing environment

Distribution of media in the fast growing world of digital stored content and multimedia supporting devices with connectivity, calls for a new media distribution architecture. The user should be provided with the experience of having an overview of his full media collection, regardless of the time, the place, and the connectivity. The architecture presented in this paper, fulfils these needs and can cooperate furthermore with non-compliant devices.

Distributed and adaptive multimedia content analysis prototyping framework for consumer electronics

The ever-increasing complexity of generic multimedia-content-analysis-based (MCA) solutions, their processing power demanding nature and the need to prototype and assess solutions in a fast and cost-saving manner motivated the development of the Cassandra framework. The combination of state-of-the-art network and grid-computing solutions and recently standardized interfaces facilitated the set-up of this framework, forming the basis for multiple cross-domain and cross-organizational collaborations. It enables distributed computing scenario simulations for, for example, distributed content analysis (DCA) across consumer electronics (CE) in-home networks, but also the rapid development and assessment of complex multi-MCA-algorithm-based applications and system solutions. Furthermore, the frameworks modular nature - logical MCA units are wrapped into so-called service units (SU) - ease the split between system-architecture - and algorithmic-related work and additionally facilitate reusability, extensibility and upgradeability of those SUs