Exploring the Urban Life

15 years EXPLORING THE URBAN LIFE History of the MediaTeam Oulu Research Group

15 years EXPLORING THE URBAN LIFE History of the MediaTeam Oulu Research Group

2

Publisher MediaTeam Oulu Research Group + University of Oulu + Computer Science and Engineering Editors Joonas R책man + Mika Rautiainen + Marika Leskel채 Photographers Jukka Kontinen + Kati Leinonen + Kai Nurmi (cover) Graphic designer Teijo R채ty Printing house Erweko Oy

ISBN 978-951-42-9969-8

3

4

table of

contents

10-17

1

[ MediaTeam Today ]

2

18-23

24-25

26-27

[ Open and Ubiquitous ]

3

[ Future Internet ]

4

[ Digital Watermarking ]

5

28-29

[ Language and Speech Technologies ]

5

6

[ Content-based Information Retrieval ]

7

[ The Early Years ]

8

[ Selected Publications ]

9

[ Acknowledgements ]

10

[ MediaTeam timeline of projects and milestones ]

30-31

32-37

38-39

40-41

42-43

6

// Preface

W

elcome

to

computing in real life urban

in an authentic setting we are

network began as a research tool

history

setting using unique research

able to generate more reliable

of the MediaTeam.

of discipline-

infrastructure.

Media Team’s

data on what actually works

needed access to a wireless

defining

research topics have evolved

and what does not. Media Team

local area network in order

MediaTeam Oulu Research Group.

from the research on multimedia

has ten years of experience

to study novel context-aware

MediaTeam is an international

processing

on

mobile multimedia services in

and multidisciplinary research

networking to social networking

group based in the Department

in

the

an

and

urban

intelligent

research

in

the

real-life

environment.

The group

an authentic environment in the

environment.

Oulu city center. City of Oulu

and

MediaTeam is celebrating the

When measuring societal impact,

Engineering at the University

15th Anniversary by publishing

the public access network OULU

development of the panOULU

the History of the Group.

(panOULU) is our most important

network,

achievement by far. On a global

network has well over a thousand

of

Computer

Science

of Oulu, Finland. The group has gained international recognition

and other partners joined in the and

currently

the

due to ground-breaking research

Internationally, there is growing

scale, open networks like this are

base stations and roughly 35-40

on

interest on so-called ‘in the wild’

still very uncommon. Originally,

thousand users every month.

research. By testing the theories

the

urban

and

ubiquitous

panOULU

open

wireless

7

The network is free-to-use and

urban

and

Oulu. No one else in the world

of our selected publications in

accessible without separate user

technology. What really sets the

has a similar infrastructure for

these pages as well.

identification.

program apart is that we are

research purposes – not to forget

systematically building a rich

that it has a societal function as

I would like to thank researchers

Some of the most visible aspects

urban laboratory upon a versatile

well.

who worked in the MediaTeam

of Media Team work are the

teleinformatic

numerous

interactive

UBI

hotspots stationed around the

spaces,

humans

over

infrastructure

the

years

for

the

which includes, for example:

The UBI Program has brought

achievements reached by the

the panOULU network, the UBI

Media Team a lot of international

group. Also, I would like to thank

city of Oulu. The UBI hotspots

hotspots, sensor and Bluetooth

recognition and the group has

our research partners around the

were built as a research tool

networks

remodeled the way research

globe. I am very grateful to our

welcoming

financiers and industrial partners

and

many

others

for the UBI (UrBan Interactions)

aspects. Researchers of the UBI

is

Research

Program also strive to create a

professionals from across the

and last but not least the City of

3D virtual model of downtown

world to experiment with the

Oulu.

studies

Program urban

which

computing

and the interaction between

conducted

by

infrastructure. You’ll find the list

Professor Timo Ojala Co-founder and Director of MediaTeam

8

// Prof. Tapio Sepp채nen

// Adj. Prof. Mika Ylianttila

9

// Prof. Vassilis Kostakos

// Prof. Timo Ojala

10

// 1. MediaTeam Today

M

ediaTeam is an international and multidisciplinary research team based in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Oulu. The research conducted by MediaTeam focuses on the different aspects and applications

of ubiquitous computing and digital multimedia. The team was founded in 1997 and currently has roughly 40 personnel, from many different scientific fields.

MediaTeam has gained a great deal of international recognition due to groundbreaking research on urban

Oulu, Finland

and ubiquitous computing.

The ongoing UBI Program, alongside with many other topical research projects, serves as a testament to the three aspects that distinguish MediaTeam research, it is multidisciplinary, increasingly international, and it remains relevant in an authentic environment.

11

It is becoming increasingly important to be able to transfer research results from the laboratory to the actual environment

“

// Prof. Timo Ojala

Multidisciplinarity broadens the perspectives of researchers from all scientific fields, and it is a very prolific approach

“

12

// Dr. Tiina Suopajärvi

Multidisciplinary

T

he UBI Anthropos research project is part of the UBI research program, and an interesting example of the multidisciplinary nature

of MediaTeam research. In this project engineers and anthropologists join forces to find out how new ubiquitous technologies are designed and used in the everyday urban setting.

Doctor Tiina Suopajärvi has witnessed first-hand this unique marriage of social and computer sciences, and the resulting benefits: “I am a cultural anthropologist and I study how people perceive and interact with ubiquitous technologies, both in private and public spaces. Multidisciplinarity broadens the perspectives of researchers from all scientific fields, and it is a very prolific approach.”

According to Suopajärvi, expertise in social sciences can benefit computer sciences specifically in the methodical level: “We were asked to join the UBI program because we focus on the user’s point of view, we have the appropriate tools for data collection and the relevant expertise for qualitative analysis. After all, technology is designed to be used by humans.”

13

fascinated and also excited about

International

this environment. Joining full-time

R

ecent years have seen an

was a very easy choice for me.

increase

international

Having worked in very international

interest on MediaTeam, largely due

environments before, like the UK

to the unique UBI research program

and the US, I can say that the Finnish

and

of

Researchers

society and culture as a backdrop is

from all over the world are coming

an interesting element to have, and

to Oulu to experiment with the

adding to that an international team

UBI hotspots in a real life setting,

of researchers makes sparks come

something which they could not do

out,” Professor Kostakos says.

infrastructure.

“

to similar extent anywhere else.

In the future Professor Kostakos

Professor Vassilis Kostakos joined

sees a global increase of interest

MediaTeam in November 2011 and

on MediaTeam’s work: “We need

works as the associate director

to make sure we continue, and

for the research group. Professor

intensify, our internationalization

Kostakos first visited MediaTeam in

efforts. Already, there has been a lot

2010 as a FiDiPro fellow working

of interest in our Summer School

on the Urban Flows and Networks

program, and researchers across the

project. “I had an opportunity to

world are coming here to play with

see the university, the research,

our technology.”

and the people here. I was very

We need to make sure we continue, and intensify, our internationalization efforts // Prof. Vassilis Kostakos

14

years of experience on influencing the

Relevant

society. “From the very beginning we

C

urrently, the focus has shifted

were intent on making a bigger impact

from

to

on the society then what is normally

more basic level, discipline-defining

expected from a university research

projects. Nonetheless, understanding

group. A great majority of research will

the real-life environment is crucial,

never be visible to the average citizen.

especially

researching

Despite being published in the most

ubiquitous technologies in a genuine

prestigious journals, the actual results

urban setting.

may never have any kind of impact

applied

research

when

on everyday life. That is not the case Professor Timo Ojala is the co-

with MediaTeam. For example, the

founder and Director of MediaTeam.

original purpose of the UBI Program

According to Ojala it is becoming

was to make visible and permanent

increasingly important to be able

changes to the Oulu cityscape, and

to transfer research results from the

that is something we have definitely

laboratory to the actual environment.

achieved,” Professor Ojala relates.

“Internationally,

there

is

growing

interest on so-called ‘in the wild’ research.

It has become apparent

that theories and patterns developed in laboratories do not directly transfer to the real-life environment. By testing the theories in an authentic setting we are able to generate more reliable data on what actually works and what does not,” Professor Ojala says.

Whereas others are only recently starting

to

emerge

from

the

laboratories, MediaTeam already has 15

15

UBI hotspot in use at the Oulu market square

16

//

MediaTeam Research Group 28.8.2012

17

Top row from left to right

Tommi Heikkinen, Arto Heikkinen, Mika Rautiainen, Eero Väyrynen, Vassilis Kostakos, Jani Ylioja, Tomi Juntunen, Tapio Seppänen, Fabio Kruger

Middle row from left to right

Ville Valkama, Mika Ylianttila, Timo Mäkinen, Pauli Paaso, Timo Ojala, Jorge Conçalves, Hannu Kukka, Erkki Harjula, Teijo Räty, Timo Koskela, Denzil Ferreira, Paavo Pokkinen

Bottom row from left to right

Tomas Lindén, Jouni Sarvanko, Toni Hakanen, Archana Ramalingam, Anja Keskinarkaus, Johanna Ylipulli, Tiina Suopajärvi, Daniele Zanni, Meirong Liu, Hannakaisa Aikio, Anu Pramila, Marika Leskelä

Missing from the photo

Toni Alatalo, Oleg Davidyuk, Simo Hosio, Marko Jurmu, Ilkka Juuso, Aki Mikkonen, Mikko Mäkelä, Pauli Närhi, Joonas Råman, Ossi Salmi, Jiehan Zhou

18

// 2. Open and Ubiquitous The phrase ”Ubiquitous Computing” was coined by Mark Weiser in 1988. In essence, ubiquitous computing, or pervasive computing, is a model of human-computer interaction where information processing is integrated into everyday objects and actions.

The fundamental goal is to create an environment in which information processing is unobtrusive and easily accessible. Ideally, the environment understands the user’s social surroundings and reacts accordingly. It is not a virtual reality, but a hybrid reality where the physical world is augmented by effortless and open access to information.

19

The ambitious goal of MediaTeam research for the past ten years has been to realize Mark Weiser’s vision. In fact, MediaTeam has been doing this in a living lab environment, with actual users, to such an extent that anyone living in, or visiting, the city of Oulu will be hard-pressed to miss the impact the group has had in the cityscape.

20

panOULU

O

riginally, the panOULU open wireless network began as a research tool for the Rotuaari project, started in 2003.

In this project MediaTeam studied novel context-aware mobile

panOULU WLAN AP panOULU WSN ER

multimedia services. In order to test and develop these services the group needed access to a wireless local area network.

However, a sufficiently capable WLAN connection could not be found from the Oulu city center, which prompted the researchers to construct their own network – a very open minded and daring solution.

The network has been extremely well-received in Oulu

Over

the

years,

the

city of Oulu and other partners joined in the network, and currently the network has well over a thousand base stations and roughly 3540 thousand users every month. The network is

free-to-use and accessible without separate user identification.

Naturally, the network has been extremely well-received in Oulu. Professor Timo Ojala has closely followed the growth and popularity of the panOULU network: “When measuring societal impact, the panOULU network is our most important achievement by far. On a global scale, open networks like this are still very uncommon. There have been several interest group surveys regarding panOULU and 99.9 % of the feedback has been positive.”

panOULU BT AP

21

UBI Program

S

ome of the most visible aspects of Media Team work are the numerous UBI hotspots

stationed around the city of Oulu. These hotspots were first introduced in 2009 as part of the UbiCity project and serve both as one-way and interactive broadcasting platforms. These hotspots provide a vast variety of services including maps, news, bus schedules, event calendars and games.

The UBI hotspots were built as a research tool for the UBI (UrBan Interactions) Research Program which studies urban computing and the interaction between urban spaces, humans and technology. Professor Timo Ojala is in charge of the UBI Program. “The purpose of the UBI Program is to conduct research on ubiquitous computing in an authentic environment and in that sense the program is a thematic successor to our Rotuaari project. What really sets the program apart is that we are systematically building a rich urban laboratory upon a versatile teleinformatic infrastructure which includes, for example: the panOULU network, the UBI hotspots, sensor and Bluetooth networks and many others aspects. No one else in the world has a similar infrastructure for research purposes – not to forget that it has a societal function as well,” Professor Ojala explains.

22

The UBI Program has brought Media Team a lot of international recognition and the group has remodeled is

the

way

conducted

by

professionals

from

research inviting across

to

world to experiment with the infrastructure. “The UBI Program has been noticed in the world, and we have a solid reputation as an authority on ubiquitous computing.

We

have

also

introduced certain unprecedented functions to the international field of research that are definitely noteworthy. We have hosted three one-week UBI Summer Schools that

of downtown Oulu.

In this project

international, and to achieve this we

systems. The next challenge was

have been very popular. In addition,

the UBI hotspots and the panOULU

have several different activities to

context-awareness, and now that

the international UBI Challenge 2011

network will be utilized to transgress

attract researchers from across the

this has been tackled, we are moving

was also an important contribution,”

the boundaries between physical and

globe.”

from one person systems to large

Ojala relates.

virtual worlds.

user group computing, to so-called Media Team is attuned to future

complex socio technical systems.

According to Professor Ojala, Media

developments

of

We are becoming more and more

Team has several ideas to develop the

ubiquitous computing and the UBI

interested in the behavior of the

he future of the UBI Program

UBI Program even further: “Currently,

Program is certain to evolve alongside

masses. One example of this is our

seems bright. Many new and

we are planning, together with the

them. Professor Ojala has followed

Urban Flows and Networks project

interesting projects have become

city of Oulu and the neighboring

the developments in this field closely:

which studies vehicle and pedestrian

part of the program. One such

municipalities, the regional expansion

“The first challenges in the field were

flows, as well as social networking in

project is NIMO, in which researchers

of the UBI infrastructure. Furthermore,

related to very basic communication

an urban environment.”

strive to create a 3D virtual model

we need to become even more

between

Future Developments

T

in

different

the

field

hardware

and

23

The UBI Program has been noticed in the world, and we have a solid reputation as an authority on ubiquitous computing // Prof. Timo Ojala

24

// 3. Future Internet

A

s more and more devices and users become connected, the stress on the online network architecture also increases.

Despite this, communication has to remain swift and reliable.

MediaTeam researchers have approached this challenge of international relevance by studying the varied aspects of the Future Internet. peer (P2P) technologies as well as the

The challenges of mobility were

growing machine-to-machine (M2M)

answered

ediaTeam has several topical

technologies. MediaTeam researchers

and

projects aimed at enhancing

have conducted valuable research on

mobile

both topics.

middleware development has been

Removing the Obstacles

M online

communication

and

infrastructure. The Future Internet project focuses on removing the obstacles that limit the construction of online infrastructure and services.

This

is

achieved

by

improving

the router system health, internet security,

information

storage

and

delivery methods, and end-to-end connectivity.

The network has to be constructed in a way which can handle both peer-to-

and

developing

appropriate

novel

middleware

for

“Research

on

platforms.

very productive by nature, and we

Peer-to-Peer

P

by

have been able to combine wireless technologies, different protocols and

rofessor

Mika

Ylianttila

has

focused his research on online multimedia

communications.

related applications – all in all, it is a very innovative platform,” Professor Ylianttila says.

He relates the early challenges of the field: “We had seen the growth of

MediaTeam was also eager to study

mobile technologies, and there was

the

talk of all communication becoming

The DECICOM project focused on

IP-based. That was the spirit of the

optimizing the usage of P2P networks

times.”

for application-level communication.

emerging

P2P

technologies.

We had a top-notch research consortium, including researchers and representatives from Nokia and Ericsson.

During the project we truly witnessed the growth of P2P technologies and were able to develop many interesting realizations. // Prof. Mika Ylianttila

25

The Internet of Things

T

he expansion of the industry and partner network

brought

about

the

broader

challenge of scalability. “Around 2006-2007 our thematic started to concern the next stages of internet technology. During the past ten years the amount of online communication has exploded, which brought about the need for more efficient and reliable solutions, scalable up to hundreds of millions of users,” Professor Ylianttila says.

The next stage of network evolution is the socalled “Internet of Things” where more and more machines and objects become connected. “During the past couple of years, a trend can be seen where different devices and sensors become part of the network. These Machine-to-Machine networks do not have a traditional end-user,” Professor Ylianttila relates.

MediaTeam

is

involved

in

the

Mammoth

project, which focuses on M2M networks; more specifically, on the millions of sensor nodes that can be connected in them, and on the organizing of the information these nodes provide. In the future, such M2M metering systems will have more and more control over many everyday aspects of human life, such as water and electricity utilities and industry automation, which will stress the importance of reliability and efficiency.

26

// 4. Digital Watermarking

D

igital watermarking is a research area where MediaTeam truly has an internationally unique position. MediaTeam is currently one of the leading research groups on digital watermarking in its subfield.

27

P

rofessor

Tapio

Seppänen

leads MediaTeam research on

Information

Hiding: “In

essence,

Digital Watermarking is the act of hiding additional information, within digital media content. We can, for example, insert hidden information to a digital image by manipulating the values of the individual pixels.

This information is not visible to the human eye, but can be extracted with specific algorithms. Similarly, we can hide information in an

audio file, or in fact, almost any type

domain digital rights management,

that, even though making scientific

of digital format.”

the main research focus is on value

publications

adding services: “The watermark

we also want to create something

could, for example, include a link

directly applicable. One example is

to a webpage where one could find

our work on digital watermarking

additional information related to the

of printed media. An image with

artist, or purchase similar products,”

digitally

Professor Seppänen says.

printed out. We proceed to pick out

Imperceptible, Robust and Capacious

W

hen

asked

about

the

current challenges in Digital

Watermarking, Professor Seppänen

is

hidden

important

work,

information

is

the watermark with a mobile phone

names three: “The hidden content

Latest developments in this field have

camera, and in fact, we are one of

has to stay hidden, which means that

ensured MediaTeam’s expert status

the few groups in the world that

we strive to make it as imperceptible

on Information Hiding technologies.

can successfully demonstrate this,”

as possible, so as to not distort the

Digital Watermarking of Speech and

Professor Seppänen says.

actual product. The watermark has

Holograms project concerned topics

to be robust against attacks from

that

hackers, especially when dealing

in

with copyright information. Finally, there is always call for more capacity,

holographic image processing and

can vary, and we may not even

the more information we can hide

solidified the research on area of

know the exact location of the

the better.”

speech watermarking.

watermark, and yet our technology

Value Adding Information

Watermarking of Printed Media

W

hile

certain

applications

practical for

Digital

Watermarking were found from the

untouched

The challenges related to this project

scientific

are substantial: “The camera can

community. MediaTeam researched

be held freehand, the lightning

were the

“T

practically international

can acquire the hidden content. The same applies to audio files; we can discern the watermark with a mobile phone microphone, despite a noisy

he

fundamental

behind

our

idea

research

is

background,” elaborates.

Professor

Seppänen

28

// 5. Language and Speech Technologies

R

esearch in the field of Language and Speech Technologies is another fine example of the multidisciplinary nature of MediaTeam’s work. Through the years, MediaTeam has worked with experts from a wide range of disciplines to answer the challenges of human-computer interaction.

Professor Tapio Seppänen is leading

conducting research on emotion

the research in this field: “By its very

recognition of the speech signal,”

nature, this type of research has to

Professor Seppänen explains.

be multidisciplinary and multimodal.

It is a challenge that engineers alone

“We

are ill-equipped to answer.”

technologies

and

try

to

conclusions

on

the

speaker’s

Emotion Recognition

“C

use

different

observational draw

emotional status. By measuring and analyzing data gathered in this way,

urrently

we

are

focused

on the calculation of the

we can influence the way the machine operates.

Plausible

The Real Environment

features,

and,

should

the

need

arise, offer different related services

M

ediaTeam is advocating the

proactively,”

current tendency to move

relates.

Professor

Seppänen

the research to more natural settings, away from the laboratories. “This creates a whole new level of difficulty, as the content and prosody of naturally occurring speech is always contextual,” Seppänen describes.

The next natural step for Artificial Intelligence

technologies

is

the

ability to automatically understand and process the emotional behavior of human beings. In the words of Professor Seppänen: “The topic is

applications

acoustic-phonetic features of spoken

could be found, for example, from

However, the authentic environment

extremely challenging, and no doubt

language, and on the applications

the

game

also provides many new potential

there is work to be done for tens, if

that can be derived from it. The

industry, or from more general work

research topics, such as the intelligent

not hundreds of years. We are getting

actual content of the speech does not

done towards enhancing human-

environment: “Such an environment

there, step by step.”

interest us as much as the prosody

computer

could

of it. For a while now, we have been

Seppänen explains.

medical

domain,

interactions,”

the

Professor

monitor

interpersonal

communications and their prosodic

29

“

The topic is extremely challenging, and no doubt there is work to be done for tens, if not hundreds of years. We are getting there, step by step // Prof. Tapio Seppänen

30

// 6. Content-based Information Retrieval

O

rganizing and searching multimedia databases through manual metadata, such as tag-words, quickly becomes challenging as the amount of content grows. To counter this effect information can be searched and indexed with the actual semantic content of the media.

31

Content-based information retrieval allows the

applications which rely on semantic knowledge

user to search multimedia data based on the

processing. This technology is used in content

content objects with the help of computational

recommendation applications, where users are

interpretation and pattern recognition.

assisted to discover new and relevant content effortlessly with computational methods.

Online Solutions

M

Scoping Future Topics ediaTeam has researched ways to close the so-called ‘semantic gap’ which exists

between low-level computable features such as

D

Mika

Rautiainen

describes

the

advantages of content-based information “Content-based

includes

the

but

the web, which scans Finnish television channels

objects, actions and feelings, which are difficult to

and allows the user to search for programs based on

compute. Closing this gap allows for more effective

their content. The user can search for any programs

searching, and has been the focus in projects such

that mention the word ‘theatre’ and the results will

as Semantic Gap, Vikings and CBIR. These projects

show all the programs which contain this word, and

helped to accumulate knowledge on multimedia

if these programs are viewable on the web.

Being able to create something as directly

retrieval:

rich,

novel television program search engine on

color histograms, and high-level features, such as

information retrieval systems.

Content is King octor

O

ne tangible application is the Kuukkeli-TV, a

information

computational

unstructured

retrieval

management

information.

of

Through

the computational management we can make this unstructured data better suited for different applications.” Rautiainen illustrates this with an example: “–In Youtube we can find videos based

Currently, the research focus is on scalability and

applicable and scalable as Kuukkeli-TV requires an

online

solutions

understanding of future trends, as well as a sound

is central since computational resources have

theoretical foundation of multimedia information

become a commodity on the Internet. Scalability

retrieval. Dr. Rautiainen is confident that in the

allows automatic content interpretation to become

future MediaTeam will remain open to new

available for broad spectrum of applications. The

challenges and topics: “The goal of the research

greatest challenges are establishing solutions

is to probe five or ten years in to the future. It is

that work with growing multimedia collections

satisfying to see results and discoveries made years

and creation of value adding features for online

back become part of everyday human life. Certainly

applications,” Rautiainen explains.

MediaTeam will be able to position itself around

solutions. “Creating

scalable

on the title and description, but not based on the

evolving research challenges and establish global

actual objects that appear in them. We have enough

The latest project on the subject, Adaptive Content

content already, we need to improve relevance

Delivery Cluster, focuses on creating an online

next.”

content delivery cluster with a focus on user-aware

status as an expert on information technology.”

32

// 7. The Early Years

T

he year is 1997.

Two young researchers, Timo Ojala and Jaakko Sauvola, have just defended their doctoral theses and gained valuable experience working in a research group called Machine Vision and Media Processing, led by Professor Matti Pietikäinen in the University of Oulu. The two men discovered a void of research on multimedia processing and intelligent networking in Finland, and it quickly became apparent to them that to answer the needs of this emerging academic field, as well as those of the growing industry, a separate group would need to be established — one which would gather experts of multimedia, mobility, and intelligent networks under one roof.

28

a way which would

The

promote team work

Telephony Integration

watermarking.

A

Ojala and Sauvola were joined by Tapio

and openness. “The

(CTI) team studied

notable

of

Seppänen who now leads MediaTeam

traditional

the

of

the team’s work is the

research on Digital Watermarking and, in

organization

is

distributed processing

Duchess wireless 4G

1997, a separate Media Processing Team

structured around a

and ubiquitous service

office concept.

was born within the Machine Vision and

guru-professor

who

access, with a specific

Media Processing research group. In its

has a collection of

focus on added-value

The

Mobile

present form, MediaTeam came in to

subordinates

elements in a network

Information

Systems

environment.

(MIS) team studied

Natural Evolution

academic

ranging

existence in 1999 when the MVMP group

from post-docs and

was split into two independent units:

doctoral thesis students

Machine Vision Group and MediaTeam.

Professor Ojala sees the founding of MediaTeam as a natural part of the evolution of the academic environment: “The short-term goal of many young doctors is to set up their own research group. This also serves to rejuvenate the academia, as it is neither feasible nor

research

Multimedia

We

assistants. decided

to

and

example

Content-based Retrieval

(CMR)

IP-based services

multimedia and

system

team

architectures. The team

among

developed the Princess

consciously challenge

developed,

this model through a

other

low hierarchy and our

Vikings content-based

which

so-called

multimedia

retrieval

unique ability to adapt

competence

projects,

for

mobile service platform included

the

movie

to the user’s terminal device and network

databases.

type.

five competence teams

The Media Telephony

The Multimedia Signal

which

represented

(MET) team studied

Processing (MSP) team

different focus areas of

IPT protocols, media

focused

the overall theme of

conferencing,

watermarking,

networked multimedia.

streaming

was organized around

system

the

and sound recording

teams,” Ojala says.

Originally, MediaTeam

structure of the group was designed in

management

multimodal and mobile

all the way down to

docs in already established groups.”

From the very start, the organization

challenges

The

practical for them all to remain as post-

Competence Teams

Computer

and media

conducted

on

digital and

important

33

34

35

36

37

One of the strengths of the research group is the ability to see beyond purely academic achievements

research

both

on

Digital

Rights

the research group is the ability to see

finalized realizations ended up in the

It is safe to say that this change of

Management and digitally hidden value-

beyond purely academic achievements.

Nokia portfolio. This kind of work can

priorities has paid off. The research

adding information.

Practical applications, new business

be very rewarding and enlightening for a

has reached the theoretical core of

or job opportunities, and technology

young researcher.”

the discipline, and the personnel, are

Changing Interests

academically more distinguished than

enablers are some of the benefits gained from embracing applied research.

New Themes

were replaced with a structure based on

The

Commissioned research is now a thing

separate research projects. According to

conducting

research

of the past for MediaTeam, and the

Professor Ojala, this was done to better

projects for the industry, and although

focus is firmly on basic level research,

reflect the changed priorities of the field:

currently MediaTeam has moved on

which has brought with it recognition

A lot has changed in the industry and

“It was a natural reaction we needed

from this type of work, Professor Ojala

from

scientific

academia in fifteen years, but many of

in order to make everyday operations

does not downplay the importance of

community. This success can largely be

the MediaTeam ideals have persisted. As

more fluent. In addition, some of the

industry-funded research for the young

contributed to the new research themes

before, experts from all over the world

research themes these competence teams

group: “Long-term resource allocation is

MediaTeam chose to pursue in the mid

and from a wide variety of disciplines

were organized around did not prove to

a challenge for many young groups, and

2000s. MediaTeam’s research topics have

are still working under one roof, the

commissioned research did give us more

noticeably shifted from multimedia

research is applicable in the society, and

leeway. Some of the realizations we made

communication and signal processing to

the spirit of team work is more respected

for Nokia and Sonera, for example,

ubiquitous computing. This shift can be

than ever before.

were huge. Some of these polished and

seen in all the focus areas and projects.

In 2001, the five competence teams

remain entirely relevant over the years.”

This change of priorities reflected in the nature of research conducted in MediaTeam. One of the strengths of

{

early

years

saw

MediaTeam

commissioned

the

ever before. The same can be said of

international

the publication forums. MediaTeam is intent on continuing this development in the future as well.

The research has reached the theoretical core of the discipline, and the personnel, are academically more distinguished than ever before

{

38

// 8. Selected Publications 2013:

Liu M, Koskela T, Ou Z, Zhou J, Riekki J & Ylianttila M (2011). Super-Peer-based Coordinated Service Provision. Journal of Network and Computer Applications

Koskela T, Kassinen O, Harjula E & Ylianttila M (2013). P2P Group Management

34(4): 1210-1224

Systems: A Conceptual Analysis. ACM Computing Surveys, to appear.

Ojala T, Kukka H, Heikkinen T, Lindén T, Jurmu M, Hosio S & Kruger F (2011).

2012:

Engaging citizens and community with the UBI-hotspots. Foth M, Forlano L, Gibbs M & Satchell C (eds.) From Social Butterfly to Engaged Citizen – Urban

Ojala T, Kostakos V, Kukka H, Heikkinen T, Lindén T, Jurmu M, Hosio S, Kruger F

Informatics, Social Media, Ubiquitous Computing and Mobile Technology to

& Zanni D (2012). Multipurpose interactive public displays in the wild: Three years

Support Citizen Engagement, MIT Press, 335-352.

later. Computer 45(5):42-49.

2010: Kukka H, Kostakos V, Ojala T, Ylipulli J, Suopajärvi T, Jurmu M & Hosio S (2012).

This is not classified: everyday information seeking and encountering in smart

Hosio S, Jurmu M, Kukka H, Riekki J & Ojala T (2010). Supporting distributed

urban spaces. Personal and Ubiquitous Computing, online first.

private and public user interfaces in urban environments. Proc. 11th Workshop on Mobile Computing Systems and Applications (HotMobile 2010), Annapolis, MD,

Hosio S, Kostakos V, Kukka H, Jurmu M, Riekki J & Ojala T (2012). From school food

USA, 25-30. (Best Presentation Award)

to skate parks in a few clicks: Using public displays to bootstrap civic engagement of the young. Proc. 10th International Conference on Pervasive Computing

Hosio S, Kukka H, Riekki J (2010). Social Surroundings: Bridging the Virtual and

(Pervasive 2012), Newcastle, UK, 425-442.

Physical Divide. IEEE MultiMedia 17 (2), 26 - 33.

2011:

Linden T, Heikkinen T, Ojala T, Kukka H & Jurmu M (2010). Web-based framework for spatiotemporal screen real estate management of interactive public displays.

Dey A, Wac K, Ferreira D, Tassini K, Hong J-H, Ramos J (2011). Getting closer:

Proc. 19th International World Wide Web Conference (WWW 2010), Raleigh, NC,

an empirical investigation of the proximity of user to their smart phones. Proc

USA, 1277-1280.

UbiComp ‘11 Proceedings of the 13th international conference on Ubiquitous computing, September 17-21, Beijing, China, 163-172

Ojala T (2010). Case studies on context-aware mobile multimedia services. Journal on Digital Information Management 8(1):3-14.

39

Z. Ou, E. Harjula, O. Kassinen, M. Ylianttila (2010). “Performance Evaluation of

2005:

a Kademlia-based Communication-oriented P2P System under Churn”, Elsevier Journal of Computer Networks, The International Journal of Computer and

Scheible J & Ojala T (2005). MobiLenin - Combining a multi-track music

Telecommunications Networking, ISSN: 1389-1286, Vol 54 (5): 689-705, 2010.

video, personal mobile phones and a public display into multi-user interactive

2009: Scheible J and Ojala (2009). MobiSpray: Mobile phone as a virtual spray can for

entertainment. Proc. ACM Multimedia 2005, Singapore, 199-208. Best Arts Paper Award.

2004:

painting BIG anytime anywhere on anything. ACM SIGGRAPH 2009 E. Harjula, M. Ylianttila, J. Ala-Kurikka, J. Riekki, J. Sauvola (2004). “Plug-andJ. Zhou, Z. Ou, M. Rautiainen, T. Koskela, M. Ylianttila (2009). “Digital Television

Play Application Platform: Towards Mobile Peer-to-Peer”, in the Proceedings of the

for Mobile Devices”, IEEE Multimedia, ISSN: 1070-986X, Vol.16., No.1 (2009), pp.60-

3rd International conference on Mobile and Ubiquitous multimedia (MUM2004),

71.

College Park, Maryland, USA, October 2004, pp. 63-69.

2008:

Aalto L, Göthlin N, Korhonen J & Ojala T (2004). Bluetooth and WAP Push based

Scheible J, Ojala T & Coulton P (2008). MobiToss: A novel gesture based interface for creating and sharing mobile multimedia art on large public displays. Proc.

ACM International Conference on Multimedia 2008, October 27-31, Vancouver,

location-aware mobile advertising system. Proc. Second International Conference on Mobile Systems, Applications and Services, Boston, MA, 49 - 58.

2002:

Canada, 957-960.

2007: Hosio S, Kawsar F, Riekki J & Nakajima T (2007). Utilizing Everyday Artefacts for Content Sharing. Proc. 9th International Conference on Ubiquitous Computing (UbiComp 2007), 16-19 September, Innsbruck, Austria, 204-207

Ojala T, Pietikäinen M & Mäenpää T (2002). Multiresolution gray-scale and rotation invariant texture classification with Local Binary Patterns. IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence 24(7):971 - 987.

40

// 9. Acknowledgments Public Funding Bodies Academy of Finland European Regional Development Fund

Capricode

Koillismaan Yrityspalvelukeskus

CCC

Kutalab

Center for Economic Development, Transport and

Leiki

the Environment of Northern Ostrobothnia Information Society Technologies (IST) Programme City of Oulu Infotech Oulu Digia Regional Council of Lapland Elektrobit Group State Provincial Office of Oulu Embuzz Tekes Ericsson

Industrial Partners Futurice AGM Lab Galaxo Basari Mobile Hantro BCE HPC Project Bluegiga Technologies IBM BMG Finland Icecom Brieftec Joulupukki-TV BULL Jutel Business Oulu KEWEGO

Liidea Ltd Movial NetHawk Neusoft Mobile Solutions Nokia Nokia Internet Communications Nokia Mobile Phones Nokia Networks OBP Research OPOY/Finnet Group Oulu Business Coalition Oulu Innovation Palko Interactive Pohjolan Mylly

41

Pro Display

Vaasan Läänin Puhelin

Interactive Institute (Sweden)

Renesas Mobile

Viestimaa

LAMP Laboratory (University of Maryland, USA)

RESONATE Mp4

Yomi

Ludvig-Maximilians Universität (LMU) Munich

Sanoma Entertainment

Yritys-Sampo

Luleå University of Technology

Scandinavian A1 Music

Research cooperation

National Science Foundation of China

Sensinode

Aalto University

Shanghai Jiao Tong University

Serv-IT

Beijing University of Posts and

University of Art and Design Helsinki (TAIK)

Sesca Innovations Sofia Digital

Telecommunications Centre for Wireless Communication, University of

University of Bergen University of Central Lancashire

Oulu University of Lapland

Starcke Centre Henri Tudor

University of Linköping

Sun Microsystems Columbia University

University of Manchester

Swelcome Department of Information Studies, University of Symbicon

Oulu

University of Technology (Aalto)

Targetor

Helsinki Insitute for Information Technology

University of Turku

TeliaSonera Finland

(HIIT)

VTT Electronics

There Corporation

Information Technology Laboratory (NIST, USA)

VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland

Thomson Video Networks

Institut Telecom

Waseda University

Intelligent Systems Group, University of Oulu

42

MediaTeam timeline of projects and milestones Media processing team founded 1/97 Idir project started

-97

1/2000 Content-based Mobile Multimedia Retrieval project started 6/2000 Vikings project started 6/2000 Red Skins project started 12/2000 CTI project concluded 12/2000 Distributed Media Processing in Hybrid Networks project concluded 12/2000 Countess project concluded

-00

The structure of the research group is re-organized into six competence groups 2/2001 The MFO Showroom organized in Tietomaa 2/2001 Princess project concluded 8/2001 Semantic Gap project started

-01

2/2004 Application SuperNetworking (All-IP) project started 2/2004 Stego project concluded 3/2004 mGain project concluded 7/2004 Semantic Gap project concluded 11/2004 participation in the Oulu Expo exhibition with the future video browser 12/2004 CAPNET Spearhead & Techonology Enablers projects concluded

-04

Cti project started 1/98 Princess project started 3/98 Distributed media processing in hybrid networks project started 6/98

-98

Machine vision and media processing unit is divided into two groups.

Media team and machine vision group are founded.

Duchess project started 1/99 Countess project started 1/99 1/99 Cooperative research on computer vision project started and concluded (12/99) IDIR project concluded 12/99

-99

Stardust project started 1/2002 CAPNET Spearhead & Technology Enablers projects started 1/2002 Stego project started 3/2002 Duchess project concluded 3/2002 mGain project started 9/2002 MUM 2002 conference organized 12/2002 Content-based Mobile Multimedia Retrieval project concluded 12/2002

-02

Prosody of Emotions project started 1/2002 CBIR project started 1/2003 The MFO Showroom dismantled 3/2003 Vikings project concluded 5/2003 Red Skins project concluded 5/2003 Rotuaari project started 6/2003

-03

43

1/2005 CAPNET Challenger & Experiments projects started 3/2005 Stardust project concluded 6/2005 Zirion project started 7/2005 Mobile Fair Diary service offered during the national housing fair in Oulu 10/2005 PanOulu project started

-05

5/2008 UbiCity project started 8/2008 Zirion project concluded

-08

1/2009 PSC project started 6/2009 ExpeShare project concluded 6/2009 1st Open Ubiquitous Oulu Seminar in Oulu, Finland 9/2009 UbiLife project concluded 10/2009 RealUbi project started

-09

1/2011 UBI Metrics project started 4/2011 Future Internet project started 5/2011 3rd Open Ubiquitous City Seminar in Oulu 5/2011 2nd International UBI Summer School 2011 6/2011 NIMO project started 7/2011 Mammoth project started 9/2011 RealUbi project concluded 12/2011 PSC project concluded

-11

Rotuaari project concluded 5/2006 CBIR project concluded 12/2006 Prosody of Emotions project concluded 12/2006

-06

Digital Watermarking of Speech and Holograms project started 1/2007 Application SuperNetworking (All-IP) project concluded 2/2007 CAPNET Challenger & Experiments projects concluded 2/2007 ExpeShare project started 4/2007 DECICOM project started 5/2007 UbiLife project started 6/2007 CAM4Home project started 8/2007 MUM 2007 conference organized to celebrate 10 years of multimedia research 12/2007 12/2007 PanOulu project concluded Ubi-program started

-07

UBI Anthropos project started 1/2010 UFN project started 1/2010 Next Media project started 2/2010 The national UBI Challenge 2010 (UBI-haaste 2010) was opened 2/2010 CAM4Home project concluded 4/2010 The 2nd Open Ubiquitous City Seminar 5/2010 The 1st International UBI Summer School 5/2010 ACDC project started 6/2010 Organized the inaugural UBI Oulu Forum in Oulu 6/2010 DECICOM project concluded 7/2010 Organized the UBI Challenge Workshop 2010 9/2010 Contributed to the organization of the Oulu Open Hack 11/2010 Digital Watermarking of Speech and Holograms project concluded 12/2010 Next Media project concluded 12/2010 Installation of the PanOulu WSN network Kuukkeli-tv released The 1st International Open Ubiquitous City Challenge 2010-2011

-10 Future Internet project concluded 3/2012 UbiCity project concluded 3/2012 4th International Open Ubiquitous City Seminar 2012 in Oulu 5/2012 3rd International UBI Summer School 2012 in Oulu 5-6/2012

-12

ISBN 978-951-42-9969-8