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A depth map module, working with structured light, produces real‐time depth map pictures of three‐dimensional objects.

Recognition of plane objects can be achieved by calculating the area and first and second moments of the object. In the work described a hardwired videoprocessor linked to a 16‐bit microprocessor enables the recognition to be achieved within 30 milliseconds.

The aim of the research project which resulted in this work is to achieve a cost‐effective approach for instantaneous hyperspectral imaging.

This paper presents a simulation study and an experimental evaluation of a novel imaging spectroscopy technique, where multi‐channel image data are acquired instantaneously and transformed into spectra by using a statistical modelling approach. A digital colour camera equipped with an additional colour filter array was used to acquire an instantaneous single image that was demosaicked to generate a multi‐channel image. A statistical transformation approach was employed to convert this image into a hyperspectral one.

The feasibility of this method was investigated through extensive simulation and experimental tasks where promising results were obtained.

The small size of the initially acquired single instantaneous image makes this approach useful for applications where video‐rate hyperspectral imaging is required.

For the first time, a simplified prototype of this novel imaging spectroscopy technique was built and evaluated experimentally. And the results were compared with those of a more ideal simulation study. Recommendations for how to improve the prototype were also suggested as a result of the comparison between the simulation and the prototype evaluation results.

Fire is a common disaster. Even though simple sensors such as those detecting smoke or heat are popularly employed, they require close proximity to fire. In order to obtain more reliable and more complete information, fire detection by vision sensing has recently acquired increasing attention. In the vision-based fire sensing, colour is usually used as an important cue for flame detection. However, considering there are still a large number of black-and-white (B/W) CCTV cameras installed for security purposes, a technique that can detect flame reliably in grey-scale images will be useful to protect human lives and property from the fire disaster. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

This article describes the automatic detection of fire flames in the grey-scale image sequences by a two-level image processing scheme: pixel-level and frame-level. In pixel-level processing, an evaluation function is devised to extract pixels that possibly belong to the flame region, particularly to its boundaries. Extracted fire pixel candidates are verified in frame-level processing by monitoring their distribution variations in sequential images. A circle is fitted to the candidate pixels in each image for efficient monitoring, and the presence of flame is reasoned when the position and size of the circle increase with high fluctuations.

Experimental results show that the proposed method can detect flame quite reliably using the intensity information and its temporal variations in grey-scale image sequences.

This paper presents a novel technique of vision-based flame detection. Unlike most existing techniques, the proposed technique is based on the grey-scale images of a B/W camera. To the best of the author's knowledge, it may be the first of its kind developed for general application to indoor and outdoor scenes.

A new digital image processing system for slow scan devices such as scanning electron microscopes has overcome current difficulties in inspecting components such as photoresist masks which, because of their insulating properties, affect the electron microscope picture.

This is the eighth article on social science, humanities, news and general databases in a continuing series of articles summarising and commenting on new database products. There are two companion articles: one covering science, technology, and, medicine (STM) appeared in Online & CDROM Review, vol. 20, no. 4 and the other covering business and law (BSL) will appear in Online & CDROM Review, vol. 20, no. 6. The articles are based on the newly appearing database products in the Gale Directory of Databases. The Gale Directory of Databases (GDD) was created in January 1993 by merging Computer‐Readable Databases: A Directory and Data Sourcebook (CRD) together with the Directory of Online Databases (DOD) and the Directory of Portable Databases (DPD).

The purpose of this paper is to review recent developments in the sensing of electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than those of visible light.

Following a short introduction, this paper discusses recent research into the sensing of infra‐red (IR), terahertz (THz) and microwave radiation.

It is shown that novel sensors are being developed for all of these classes of EMR. Improved IR sensors are attracting strong interest from the military, novel THz sensor developments reflect the growing uses of this radiation and research into cosmology and astronomy are driving the development of highly sensitive microwave sensors.

The paper provides a technical review of recent research into sensing IR, THz and microwave radiations.

The convergence of multimedia, virtual reality and the Internet is promoting low‐cost multimedia virtual environments which are easily accessible to large network communities. These environments, which facilitate usability and enhance user experience, are very suitable for supporting user‐oriented application domains such as e‐learning and entertainment. This paper presents a multimedia virtual environment, namely the Virtual Video Gallery, an advanced, distributed media on‐demand system which is browsable through a virtual world. By taking a virtual walk inside the gallery, the user can interactively select, preview, watch and control multimedia sessions. While the user‐centred design of the system relies on UML‐based modelling techniques, system implementation is obtained by the integration of Java, VRML and Web‐based technologies. In order to evaluate the user‐oriented effectiveness of the Virtual Video Gallery and compare it to currently available Internet‐based MoD systems, the usability testing of the system was established for deriving both summative and formative usability data.

This study aims to empirically test how sponsored video customization (i.e. the degree to which a sponsored video is customized for a sponsoring brand) affects video shares differently depending on influencer characteristics (i.e. mega influencer and expert influencer) and brand characteristics (i.e. brand establishment and product involvement).

This study uses a unique real-world data set that combines coded variables (e.g. customization) and objective video performance (e.g. sharing) of 365 sponsored videos to test the hypotheses. A negative binomial model is used to analyze the data set.

This study finds that the effect of video customization on video shares varies across contexts. Video customization positively affects shares if they are made for well-established brands and high-involvement products but negatively influences shares if they are produced by mega and expert influencers.

This study extends the influencer marketing literature by focusing on a new media modality – sponsored video. Drawing on the multiple inference model and the persuasion knowledge theory, this study teases out different conditions under which video customization is more or less likely to foster audience engagement, which both influencers and brands care about. The chosen research setting may limit the generalizability of the findings of this study.

The findings suggest that mega and expert influencers need to consider if their endorsement would backfire on a highly customized video. Brands that aim to engage customers with highly-customized videos should gauge their decision by taking into consideration their years of establishment and product involvement. For video-sharing platforms, especially those that are planning to expand their businesses to include “matching-making services” for brands and influencers, the findings provide theory-based guidance on optimizing such matches.

This paper fulfills an urgent research need to study how brands and influencers should produce sponsored videos to achieve optimal outcomes.