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Projects
Wireless Networks 3D Modeling Animation Databases 3D Watermarking MoCap DB

NSF CAREER: ANIMATION DATABASE PROJECT

(Funded by National Science Foundation (NSF: http://www.nsf.gov)
through NSF under Grant No. 0237954)
http://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward.do?AwardNumber=0237954

Principal Investigator: Balakrishnan Prabhakaran

Department of Computer Science
University of Texas at Dallas
MS EC 31, PO Box 830688
Richardson TX 75083

Phone: 972 883 4680
Fax : 972 883 2349 (Attn: B. Prabhakaran)
praba@utdallas.edu
http://www.utdallas.edu/~praba



OVERVIEW


Animation databases are repositories of animation models and motion sequences. This research project's goal is to develop content-based retrieval and related techniques for animation databases. These techniques include partial fuzzy query resolution, animation model/motion comparison, animation sequence segmentation, prediction/resolution of collisions, and handling multiple animation formats. An animation authoring toolkit is being developed with the help of these techniques. The functionality of this toolkit is to aid in generating new animation sequences by reusing existing models and motion sequences. The broader impacts of this project on are in the fields of sign language, medical care (animated instructions for patients, say, in physical therapy), education material preparation, and scientific visualization. For instance , a speech-to-text system is being integrated with this toolkit. The purpose of this integration is to aid in generating sign language animations (based on spoken sentences) for persons challenged with hearing disabilities. Also, some of the techniques being developed (e.g., prediction/resolution of collision) are useful in areas such as robotics.

The educational goals of this project are to: a. Train graduate and under-graduate students from different disciplines (especially Arts & Humanities) in the research and development of animation databases. b. Involve K-12 teachers and students in using the animation authoring toolkit for preparation and understanding of educational materials. The results of this project are being disseminated through courses on animation/multimedia databases, publishing of research papers, and by making the animation toolkit available to public.




ANIMATION DATABASES


 

Multimedia means "numerous mediums" by which information can be stored, transmitted, retrieved and presented. Multimedia databases can support diverse variety of applications in database technology. Some applications are 3D Motion Capture data, data from sensors of gesture sensing devices such as CYBERGLOVE i.e. sensor data, GIS data, stock price quotes etc. The common aspect of such applications is that they involve storage of multiple streams in a unit time and each stream can be considered as an attribute to give multi-attribute characteristics to the database. As the technology is advancing, more and more sophisticated means are developed to generate the repositories which stores multi-dimensional data in huge volumes. In recent years, emerging research in the field of multimedia data is to analyze motion data and retrieve motions efficiently from huge motion database. The important task that lies ahead of researchers is ``Given an query motion, how to search a similar motion in these huge motion databases?''. For instance, 3D motion capture data contains information on the position and orientation of the human body segments by recording the movements of small reflective markers fixed on a human actor while he performs variety of motions (Figure 2). Another interesting application is the ``CyberGlove'', manufactured by Immersion Co-op (Figure 1). As one wears it and performs signs/gestures, each sensor records the movements of fingers and joints of the hand giving multi-attribute characteristic data.


Figure 1. "CyberGlove" manufactured by Immersion Co-op. Figure 2. Human motions captured by MoCap.

In these motion multimedia applications, more than one value is generated at one instance, unlike time series data sequences where we get only one value at each time. As a result, motion data with many attributes forms a matrix, with rows corresponding to a time axes or frames per second and columns representing each attribute the data.

The main focus of this research is on searching a repository equipped with such multi-attribute motion sequences, for a given motion query by-example using indexing techniques. The main purpose of the indexing is to represent the complex data matrices into representative vectors by preserving the characteristics of the multi-attribute motion sequences and then to prune the majority of the irrelevant motions quickly for a query using index tree. So far no indexing technique can index multi-attribute motion data directly or efficiently.

The matrices of the motion data can be of variable lengths, due to the facts that motions can be carried out with different local speeds and durations and motion sampling rate may also be different. For similar motions, corresponding attributes may have more samples and even difference in values may also be large. Hence, there are no continuous row-to-row correspondences between data of similar motions. These properties of make it difficult to index the multi-dimensional motion data efficiently. Under these difficult circumstances where multi-stream data includes unexpectedly frequent or infrequent co-occurrences, to find a similar match for a given query in such kind of pattern database we need to construct a multi-dimensional indexing structure. On other hand, for handling queries in classical databases there are already many index structures such as R-Trees, SR-Trees, R*- Trees, etc.. These structures are useful for classical databases which have low dimensions but performance of these approaches degrades when applies to the motion data from gesture sensing device or 3D motion data which is high dimensional with multi-attributes features. Hence, our multi-dimensional data in literature is commonly known as data with a ``dimensionality curse''.


Toolkits

Animation Toolkit

  • Development environment:
      IDE Tool : MS Visual Studio 2005
      Language : C#
      Machine : Pantium 4 (2.8GHz)
      Operating System : MS Windows XP pro sp2
  • Download
  • Multi-Factor Analysis Tool(Jumping)
      Tool to analyze Multi-Factors of Human Motion with EMG signals

  • Development environment:
      IDE Tool : Matlab 2007b or above
      Machine : Pantium 4 (2.8GHz)
      Operating System : Any matlab installed machine

  • Download

  • "Sample data(sample_data.zip)" must be in the same directory with this tool

  • Raise-Arm Motion analysis Tool
      Analyzing Human Raise-Arm motion with 3D Mocap data and EMG signals

  • Development environment:
      IDE Tool : Matlab 2007b or above
      Machine : Pantium 4 (2.8GHz)
      Operating System : Any matlab installed machine

  • Download

  • "Sample data(sample_data.zip)" must be in the same directory with this tool

  • Gait Visualization Tool
      Help to visualize the 3D capture data of walking time serise

  • Development environment:
      IDE Tool : Matlab 2007b or above
      Machine : Pantium 4 (2.8GHz)
      Operating System : Any matlab installed machine

  • Download

  • Sample Data(sample_data.zip) Download

  • Manual

  • 3D Deformable Mesh Network Stream Kit

  • Development environment:
      IDE Tool : MS Visual Studeo 2005
      Machine : Core2 Duo (2.66GHz)
      Operating System : MS Windows XP SP3

  • Reports

  • Annual Report
  • Principal Investigator: Dr. Prabhakaran, Balakrishnan

  • Participating Graduate Students:
      09/2008 - 08/2009
      • Pradan, Gaurav
      • Chin, Yohan
      • Tang, Ziying
      • Panchanathan, Magesh
      • Suk, Myunghoon
      • Kim, Duk-Jin


      09/2007 - 08/2008
      • Agarwal, Parag
      • Pradan, Gaurav
      • Chin, Yohan
      • Tang, Ziying
      • Panchanathan, Magesh
      • Suk, Myunghoon
      • Adi, Ketaki
      • Naik, Sagar
      • Pawar, Manoj


      09/2006 - 08/2007
      • Li, Chuanjun
      • Li, Hui
      • Agarwal, Parag
      • Pradan, Gaurav
      • Arun, Prakash
      • Li, Ming
      • Adi, Ketaki
      • Naik, Sagar
      • Tang, Ziying
      • Zhou, Junqiang
      • Pawar, Manoj
      • Ramaswamy, Vivekshankar
      • Agrawal, Sameer


      09/2005 - 08/2006
      • Li, Chuanjun
      • Li, Hui
      • Zhai, Peng
      • Agarwal, Parag
      • Rajagopal, Srinivas
      • Pradan, Gaurav
      • Kulkarni, Punit
      • Arun, Prakash
      • Shah, Parin
      • Li, Ming
      • Adi, Ketaki
      • Naik, Sagar


      09/2004 - 08/2005
      • Li, Chuanjun
      • Li, Hui
      • Zhai, Peng
      • Agarwal, Parag
      • Rajagopal, Srinivas
      • Pradan, Gaurav
      • Kulkarni, Punit
      • Arun, Prakash
      • Shah, Parin


      09/2003 - 08/2004
      • Li, Chuanjun
      • Li, Hui
      • Zhai, Peng
      • Devalapalle, Gayatri
      • Agarwal, Parag
      • Rajagopal, Srinivas
      • Pradan, Gaurav
      • Kulkarni, Punit

  • Publications

    Journal Articles
    2009
    [ 1 ] Gaurav N. Pradhan and Balakrishnan Prabhakaran, " Indexing 3D Human Motion Repositories For Content-based Retrieval," IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN BIOMEDICINE , VOL. 13, NO. 5, , SEPTEMBER 2009 pdf
    [ 2 ] Ming Li and B. Prabhakaran, " On Supporting Reliable QoS in Multi-hop Multi-rate Mobile Ad Hoc Networks," ACM/Springer/URSI Wireless Networks(WINET) , March 2009 pdf
    [ 3 ] Hui Li, Ming Li, and B. Prabhakaran, " On Supporting High-Quality 3D Geometry Multicasting over IEEE 802.11 Wireless Networks," IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON COMPUTERS , VOL. 58, NO. 5, pp1-14 , April 2009 pdf
    2008
    [ 4 ] Gaurav N. Pradhan, Chuanjun Li and B. Prabhakaran, " Hand Gesture-based Computing for Hearing and Speech Impaired," IEEE Multimedia Magazine , Vol. 15, No. 2, pp. 20-27 , April-June 2008 pdf
    [ 5 ] Phani S Kotharu and B. Prabhakaran, " Partial Fuzzy Query Resolution for Animation Authoring," ACM Transactions on Multimedia Computing, Communications, and Applications(TOMCCAP) , Vol.4, Issue 2, Article 4 , January 2008 pdf
    [ 6 ] Parag Agarwal, Srinivas Rajagopalan and B. Prabhakaran, " Minimizing Probable Collision Pairs Searched in Interactive Animation Authoring," The Visual Computing , Vol.24 Issue 5, pp. 347-359 , May 2008 pdf
    2007
    [ 7 ] Chuanjun Li, P. R. Kulkarni and B. Prabhakaran, " Segmentation and Recognition of Motion Capture Data Stream by Classification," International Journal of Multimedia Tools and Applications (MTAP) , Vol 35, Issue 1, pp. 55-70 , October 2007 pdf
    [ 8 ] Akanksha, Z. huang, B. Prabhakaran and C. R. Ruiz, " Animation Toolkit Based on a Database Approach for Reusing Motions and Models," Multimedia Tools and Applications, Springer , Vol.32(3), pp. 293-327 , March 2007 pdf
    2006
    [ 9 ] Chuanjun Li and B. Prabhakaran, " Indexing of Motion Capture Data for Efficient and Fast Similarity Search," Journal of Computers (JCP) by Academy Publisher , Vol. 1(3), pp. 35-42 , June 2006 pdf
    [ 10 ] Ming Li, Hua Zhu, Imrich Chlamtac and B. Prabhakaran, " End-to-end QoS framework for heterogeneous wired-cum-wireless networks," ACM/Springer Wireless Networks(WINET) , Vol.12(4), pp. 439-450 , August 2006 pdf
    [ 11 ] Hui Li, M.Li and B. Prabhakaran, " Middleware for streaming 3D Progressive Meshes over Lossy Network," The ACM Transactions on Multimedia Computing, Communications and Applications (ACM TOMCCAP) , Vol. 2(4):282-317 , November 2006 pdf
    [ 12 ] Chuanjun Li, Latifur Khan and B. Prabhakaran, " Real-time Classification of Variable length Multi-attribute Motions," International Journal of Knowledge and Information Systems (KAIS) by Springer-Verlag , Vol.10(2), pp. 163-183 , August 2006 pdf
    2005
    [ 13 ] Ming Li and B. Prabhakaran, " MAC Layer Admission Control and Priority Re-allocation for Handling QoS Guarantees in Non-cooperative Wireless LANs," ACM/Springer Mobile Networks and Applications (MONET), Special issue on Non-cooperative Computing in Wireless Networks , Vol. 10, No. 6, pp.947-959 , December 2005 pdf
    [ 14 ] S. Emilda, L. Jacob, O. Daescu, and B. Prabhakaran, " Flexible Strategies for Disk Scheduling in Multimedia Presentation Servers," Multimedia Tools and Applications, Kluwer Academic Publishers , Vol 26, Issue 1, pp. 81-99 , February 2005 pdf
    2004
    [ 15 ] Hua Zhu, Ming Li, Imrich Chlamtac, and B. Prabhakaran, " A Survey of Quality of Service in IEEE 802.11 Networks," IEEE Wireless Communications, Special issue on Mobility and Resource Management , Vol 11, Issue 4, pp. 6-14 , August 2004 pdf
    2003
    [ 16 ] E. Hwang and B. Prabhakaran, " Application-layer Protocol for Collaborative Multimedia Presentations," Multimedia Tools and Applications, Kluwer Academic Publishers , Vol 21, Issue 2, pp. 103-123 , November 2003 pdf

    Books and Chapters
    2007
    [ 1 ] Chuanjun Li, Latifur Khan and B. Prabhakaran, " Feature Selection for Classification of Variable length Multi-attribute Motions," Chapter 7, Multimedia Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery, V. A. Petrushin and L. Khan, eds., Springer-Verlag , pp. 129-152 , 2007 , ISBN:978-1-84628-436-6 pdf
    2005
    [ 2 ] H. Li and B. Prabhakaran, " Middleware for Streaming 3D Progressive Meshes Over Lossy Networks," Chapter 33, Encyclopedia of Multimedia, Borko Furht, Springer , pp. 409-416 , 2005
    2003
    [ 3 ] N. Chokka Reddy, B. Prabhakaran, and H. Zhiyong, " Animation Databases," Handbook of Video Databases, CRC Press, Florida , pp. 417-440 , 2003
    Conference and Workshop Papers
    2008
    [ 1 ] Manoj Pawar, Gaurav Pradhan, Kang Zhang, and B. Prabhakaran, " Content Based Querying and Searching for 3D Human Motions," in Proceedings of internaltional ACM Multimedia Modeling Conference (MMM) , Kyoto , Japan , January 9-11 2008 , pp. 446-455 pdf
    [ 2 ] Yohan Jin and B. Prabhakaran, " Semantic Quantization of 3D Human Motion Capture Data Through Spatial-Temporal Feature Extraction," in Proceedings of 14th International Multimedia Modeling Conference (MMM'08) , Kyoto , Japan , Jan. 9-11 2008 , pp. 318-328 pdf
    2007
    [ 3 ] Gaurav Pradhan, Chuan-Jun Li, and B. Prabhakaran, " Hierarchical Indexing Structure for 3D Human Motions," in Proceedings of International ACM Multimedia Modeling Conference (MMM) , Singapore , January 9-12 2007 , pp. 386-396 pdf
    [ 4 ] P. Agarwal, B. Prabhakaran, " Robust blind watermarking mechanism for point sampled geometry," in Proceedings of ACM Multimedia and Security Workshop 2007 (MM&Sec 2007) , Dallas , TX , USA , September 2007 , pp. 175-186 pdf
    [ 5 ] Parag Agarwal and B. Prabhakaran, " Tamper proofing of 3D motion data streams," in Proceedings of 13th International Multimedia Modeling Conference 2007 (MMM 2007) , Singapore , January 2007 , LNCS 4351 (Part 1) pp. 731-740 pdf
    [ 6 ] Sagar Naik and B. Prabhakaran, " Shear Invariant 3D Model Retrieval," in Proceedings of International Workshop on Vision Geometry XV 2006, edited by Longin Jan Latecki, David Mount, and Angela Wu, Proceedings of SPIE-IS&T Electronic Imaging, SPIE Vol. 6499, 64990A , San Jose , CA , USA , January 2007 pdf
    [ 7 ] H. Li, P. Agarwal and B. Prabhakaran, " Data hiding based compression mechanism for 3D models," in Proceedings of IEEE Data Compression Conference 2007 (DCC2007) , Snowbird , UT , USA , March 2007 , pp. 391 pdf
    [ 8 ] Gaurav Pradhan, Navzer Engineer, Mihai Nadin, and B. Prabhakaran, " Integration of Motion Capture and EMG data for Classifying the Human Motions," in Proceedings of IEEE 23rd International Conference of Data Engineering (ICDE) Workshop on "Ambient Intelligence, Media, and Sensing (AIMS) 2007" , Istanbul , Turkey , April 20 2007 , pp. 56-63 pdf
    [ 9 ] Hui Li, Ming Li, and B. Prabhakaran, " On Supporting High quality 3D Geometry Multicasting over IEEE 802.11 Wireless LANs," in Proceedings of IEEE Broadnets , September 2007
    [ 10 ] Puneet Maheshwari, Parag Agarwal, and B. Prabhakaran, " Progressive Compression Invariant Semi-fragile Watermarks for 3D Meshes," in Proceedings of ACM Multimedia and Security Workshop 2007 (MM&Sec 2007) , Dallas , TX , USA , September 2007 , pp. 245-250 pdf
    [ 11 ] Gaurav Pradhan, N. Engineer, M. Nadin, and B. Prabhakaran, " An Integrated Mobile Wireless System for Capturing Physiological Data Streams during a Cognitive-motor Task: Applications for Aging," in Proceedings of IEEE Dallas Engineering in Medicine and Biology Workshop 2007 , Dallas , Texas , USA , November 2007 , pp. 67-70 pdf
    2006
    [ 12 ] Chuanjun Li and B. Prabhakaran, " A Novel Indexing Approach for Efficient and Fast Similarity Search of Captured Motions," in Proceedings of the 10th Pacific-Asia Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining (PAKDD) , Singapore , April 2006 , pp. 689-698 pdf
    [ 13 ] Parag Agarwal, Ketaki Adi, and Balakrishnan Prabhakaran, " SVD-Based Tamper Proofing Of Multi-Attribute Motion Data," in Proceedings of The 12 th International conference on Distributed Multimedia Systems (DMS) '06 , Grand Canyon , Arizona , USA , August 2006 , pp. 46-52 pdf
    [ 14 ] Parag Agarwal, Balakrishnan Prabhakaran, and Bhavani Thuraisingham, " Uncertainty: An extra layer of security for Unauthorized traffic based Web Services," in Proceedings of The 12 th International conference on Distributed Multimedia Systems (DMS) '06 , Grand Canyon , Arizona , USA , August 2006 , pp. 52-58 pdf
    [ 15 ] P. Agarwal, K. Adi, and B. Prabhakaran, " Robust Blind Watermarking Mechanism for Motion Data Streams," in Proceedings of ACM Multimedia and Security Workshop , Geneva , Switzerland , September 2006 , pp. 230 - 235 pdf
    [ 16 ] Chuanjun Li, P. R. Kulkarni and B. Prabhakaran, " Motion Stream Segmentation and Recognition by Classification," in Proceedings of the 31st IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing (ICASSP) , Toulouse , France , May 2006 , pp. V-537- V-540 pdf
    2004
    [ 17 ] H. Li and B. Probhakaran, " Smart Decision Module for Streaming 3D Meshes over Lossy Networks," in Proceedings of the Tenth International Conference on Distributed Multimedia Systems (DMS 2004) , San Jose , CA , September 2004 , pp. 275-278 pdf
    [ 18 ] Ming Li and B. Prabhakaran, " Dynamic Priority Re-allocation Scheme for Providing Quality of Service in IEEE 802.11e WLANs," in Proceedings of SPIE/ACM Conference on Multimedia Computing and Networking (MMCN'04) , Santa Clara , CA , January 2004 , pp. 83-94 pdf