Reliable tracking of facial features in semantic-based video coding

A new method of tracking the position of important facial features for semantic-based moving image coding is presented. Reliable and fast tracking of the facial features in head-and-shoulders scenes is of paramount importance for reconstruction of the speakers motion in videophone systems. The proposed method is based on eigenvalue decomposition of the sub-images extracted from subsequent frames of the video sequence. The motion of each facial feature (the left eye, the right eye, the nose and the lips) is tracked separately; this means that the algorithm can be easily adapted for a parallel machine. No restrictions, other than the presence of the speaker's face, were imposed on the actual contents of the scene. The algorithm was tested on numerous widely used head-and-shoulders video sequences containing moderate head pan, rotation and zoom, with remarkably good results. Tracking was maintained even when the facial features were occluded. The algorithm can also be used in other semantic-based systems     

Facial feature model fitting in semantic-based scene analysis

An accurate fit of a semantic model to the actual scene is of crucial importance for correct reconstruction of the motion in a videophone scene. A new, first and efficient algorithm for automatic wire-frame fitting of the important facial features is proposed     

Synthesis of 1-propenyl ethers and their using as modifiers of UV-cured coatings in radical and cationic polymerization

The 1-propenyl ethers of diols and polyols have recently attracted increasing attention as monomers and comonomers because these compounds undergo UV-photoinitiated polymerization. The synthesis of 1-propenyl ethers via the isomerization of corresponding, readily available allyl ethers catalysed by homogenized transition metal complexes with recycling of catalyst has been described. The properties of UV-cured coatings have been investigated for various compositions containing: the model ether (i.e. 1,4-di(1-propenyloxy)-butane), the unsaturated polyester resin [Estromal 103] or epoxy resin [Epidian 6] and radical (i.e. Irgacure 184) or cationic (i.e. triarylsulfonium salts with metal halide anions: PF₆⁻, SbF₆⁻) initiators. The purified or unrefined (i.e. including 0.05 mol% homogenized ruthenium(II) complex [RuClH(CO)(PPh₃)₃]) 1,4-di(1-propenyloxy)butane were applied as modifiers. The effect of presence of homogenized [RuClH(CO)(PPh₃)₃] in the composition has been discussed.