The Perceptual Components API

1
The Perceptual Components API Applications

• Gerhard Sutschet
• Fraunhofer IITB
• http//www.iitb.fraunhofer.de/servlet/is/9237/

Nikolaos Dimakis Athens Information
Technology http//www.ait.gr/research/RG1/overview
.asp
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Towards Standardization

• Problem definition
• Numerous Perceptual Components
• Different Vendors, Technologies, Platforms, etc.
• Should work together (CHIL Vision)
• Proposed Solution
• Introduce a compliant prototype (define APIs)
• Answer all basic needs of the PCs
• Flexibility, adaptability, expansion

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Perceptual Components APIs

• initialize()
• Initializes the Perceptual Component
• register()
• Register to the IPD Knowledge Base
• query()
• Query KB for room specific parameters
• start()
• Start Perceptual Component
• stop()
• Stop Perceptual Component
• set/getParameter()
• Send/Get parameters by the consumer component

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Building The CHIL Compliant Perceptual Component
Scattered Parts (Ontology, Sensors, Processing,
Service)
Connective Interfaces
Bundled Components
The CHIL Compliant Perceptual Component
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CHIL Compliance. Does it work?

• Evaluation during EC Review, May 2006
• 3 PCs (INRIA, UKA, AIT)
• CHIL Ontology (IPD)
• SitCom (IBM)
• SmartFlow (NIST)
• Components collaborated as expected

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Applications using the architecture

• Main applications (demonstration follows)
• SitCom
• Memory Jog
• Additional applications
• The Travel Service
• The Connector Service
• The Recording Service

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Videos

• Application Videos

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More on the APIs

• PCs boot-up sequence
• Load XML file with PC configuration (initialize)
• Name, Vendor, Technology, type of required
  sensor, etc
• Query the Ontology for the environment and
  sensors (query)
• Request the ID of the required sensor (as a flow)

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APIs continued

• PC remains in an idle state
• until awakened by the application (start)
• Connect to SmartFlow
• Distributes context at a given rate
• Configurable by XML file
• Fine-tunes performance (set/getParameter)
• Frame rate, etc.
• until stopped by the application (stop)

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Context XML

• Following a simple XML DTD Schema
• lt!ELEMENT ChilixMessage (BodyTracker)gt
• lt!ELEMENT BodyTracker (Target)gt
• lt!ATTLIST BodyTracker
• tsImage CDATA REQUIREDgt
• lt!ELEMENT Target EMPTYgt
• lt!ATTLIST Target
• id CDATA REQUIRED
• unit CDATA FIXED "mm"
• x CDATA REQUIRED
• y CDATA REQUIRED
• z CDATA REQUIREDgt

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DTD explained

• The tsImage is the timestamp at which the frame
  was captured.
• The parameters x,y,z are in millimetres and are
  related to the specific room configuration.
• For those who wish to send additional parameters
  for SitCom (kind, cause, explanations, volume,
  confidence level), separate XML messages have to
  be sent.
• It has been decided that only one composite
  message will be transmitted instead of more the
  one for each individual person tracked.
• Finally the timestamps will be UNIX timestamps,
  which are commonly used and have already been
  used in the evaluation data.