Video Information Retrieval:
Retrieval of information from video collections is an active research theme. One of the challenging problem is detecting shot and scene cuts in a video sequence. Currently, we are working towards detecting shots using macroblock information in compressed domain. In addition, we are investigating use of sound information for keyframe selection, scene analysis and video abstraction.
Image Information Retrieval:
We are investigating techniques for organising images semantically based on the pixel information.
Evidence Combination:
It has been identified that combining
evidence from multiple sources will improve the effectiveness of
retrieval. I am interested in studying the application of the
Dempster-Shafer theory for this purpose. After having simplified the
computational complexity of the Dempster-Shafer evidence combination
in the context of information retrieval, we are exploring its
application in the context of retrieval from large collections such as
those produced by the TREC.
Evaluation of IR systems:
The classical IR evaluation methodology based on measures like
'recall' and 'precision' fails in measuring various aspects in the
context of multimedia and other interactive IR systems. As part of my
Ph.D. investigation, I have developed a novel methodology for the
evaluation of multimedia IR systems. It involves the use of real users
in a simulated work task situation. As a continuation, we are
iunvestigating issues related to the evaluation of various information
retrieval systems.
Object-Oriented Software Development for
IR:
During the last three decades research in the
field of information retrieval has yielded a range of techniques for
efficiently and effectively storing and retrieving information items
based on their text content. However, many of such research techniques
failed to reach practical deployment due to the difficulty and
complexity involved in implementation. By employing the
object-oriented software development paradigm we can build reusable
software frameworks for IR and hence deliver advanced techniques to
real users. We have developed a software framework called FLAIR. We
are continuing this research by building reusable software frameworks
and employing them for various applications.
Databases and Information Retrieval:
Modern IR applications demand management of complex
documents which can range from being highly structured to highly
unstructured. Researchers in IR and databases investigated the
integration of the database and IR techniques. The hindrance in
achieving this integration is the computational complexity of IR
matching scheme. We approached this problem as an evidence combination
problem and developed a retrieval model based on the Dempster-Shafer
theory. We currently investigate the application of this technique for
various semi-structured collections like world wide web and XML
collections.
In addition to the above mentioned areas I have substantial interest
in areas of digital libraries (3D image retrieval), and information
management on the world wide web and retrieval of information using
WAP enabled devices.