Links
A new PHAROS LinkedIn group has been created. You can apply for participation at: http://www.linkedin.com/e/gis/1382607
PHAROS YouTube Channel
Several videos about Pharos are available on YouTube too.
CHORUS is a European Coordination Action which aims at creating the conditions of mutual information and cross fertilisation between the European projects dealing with Multimedia Content Search Engines.
Se.Co. - Search Computing
Who are the strongest European competitors on software ideas? Who is the best doctor to cure insomnia in a nearby hospital? Where can I attend an interesting conference in my field close to a sunny beach? This information is available on the Web, but no software system can accept such queries nor compute the answer. We hereby propose search computing as the new multi-disciplinary science which will provide the abstractions, foundations, methods, and tools required to answer these and many similar questions. The emerging paradigm of service computing has so far been neutral to the presence of search services, which are equal "inter pares". This proposal brings about a simple yet revolutionary idea: service computing evolves into search computing, a new paradigm where ranking is the dominant factor for composing services. While state-of-art search systems answer generic or domain-specific queries, search computing enables answering questions via a constellation of dynamically selected, cooperating search services. The idea is simple, yet pervasive. New foundational theories are needed, rooted into formal disciplines such as mathematics, statistics, and optimization theory. New language and description paradigms are required for expressing queries and for discovering services. New interfaces and protocols help capturing ranking preferences and enabling their refinement. Semantic domain knowledge helps enriching terminological knowledge about objects being searched. Ranking is always relative to individuals and context, thus the study of personal and social behaviour is also essential. Economical and legal implications of search computing must be understood and mastered. In summary, search computing is a multi-disciplinary effort which requires adding to sound software principles contributions from other sciences such as mathematics, operations research, psychology, sociology, knowledge representation, human-computer interfaces, economical and legal sciences.
DIVAS - Direct Video and Audio Content Search Engine
DIVAS is an IST project of the EU that targets the design, implementation and demonstration of a multimedia search engine based on advanced direct video and audio search algorithms applied on encoded, compact and standards adhering representation formats of the content inside search databases.
SAPIR - Search on Audio-visual content using Peer-to-Peer Information Retrieval
SAPIR aims at extending the power of web searches beyond centralized text and metadata searches to include distributed audio-visual content by developing a large-scale, distributed P2P architecture that will make it possible to search audio-visual content using the query-by-example paradigm and combine these search hints with optional metadata annotations and user and social networking contexts.
The NEM Technology Platform (Networked and Electronic Media)
The Networked and Electronic Media (NEM) Initiative is focused on an innovative mix of various media forms, delivered seamlessly over technologically transparent networks, to improve the quality, enjoyment and value of life. NEM represents the convergence of existing and new technologies, including broadband, mobile and new media across all ICT sectors, to create a new and exciting era of advanced personalised services. The NEM is an industry-led Initiative to promote and direct the large-scale initiative needed to accelerate the pace of innovation and rate of technology evolution to the level that will place European Industry at the forefront of the technology and give users an incredible choice of services. All these efforts will bear in mind the evolutionary framework from home and office environments towards broadband extended home and office environments.
VICTORY - Audio-visual Content Search and Retrieval in a Distributed P2P Repository
VICTORY is a EC co-funded research project which will develop a distributed search engine, introducing MultiPedia search and retrieval capabilities to a standard (PC-based) and a mobile P2P network. A MultiPedia object is defined as a 3D object along with its accompanied information i.e. 2D views, text, audio, video.
