OVIDIUS: An On-line VIDeo Indexing Universal System

This paper introduces a novel on-line video browsing and retrieval platform, so-called OVIDIUS (On-line VIDeo Indexing Universal System). In contrast with traditional and commercial video retrieval platforms, where video content is treated in a more or less monolithic manner (i.e. with global descriptions associated with the whole document), the proposed approach makes it possible to browse and access video content in a finer, per-segment basis. The hierarchical metadata structure exploits the ISO/MPEG-7 approach for structural description of video content, which provides a multi-granular, hierarchical framework for heterogeneous metadata fusion. The issues of content interaction and visualization, which are of highest relevance in both annotation and metadata exploitation stages are also addressed. Our innovative approach makes it possible to quickly provide a comprehensive overview of complex video documents with a minimal time and interaction effort. The developed approach shows all its pertinence within a multi-terminal context and in particular for video access from mobile devices.