INESC TEC concluded the largest R&D project in the Portuguese media sector

The CHIC project – Cooperative Holistic View on Internet and Content, the largest national R&D project in the media sector, ended on December 31, 2020. The project comprehended 10 pilots, with INESC TEC involved, among others, in the subproject Ecosystem for television production and distribution, focused on the consumers, through a cloud environment and using decentralised contributions.

This pilot-project aimed to create a platform to support the provision, production, management and distribution of content, enabling the production of shows for different distribution platforms, including TV channels and online media.

More specifically, a team from the Centre for Telecommunications and Multimedia (CTM), composed of Paula Viana (head of science), Luís Vilaça and Pedro Carvalho, developed tools tested by Porto Canal i.e., content annotation solutions, integrated in the production workflow and content management of the television station. This solution resorts to computer vision and artificial intelligence techniques that allow identifying certain people in videos, as well as the direct access to the moment (timecode) their appear, thus improving the capability of searching the archives.

This technology ensures the efficient reuse of stored content, and the reduction in terms of operators’ costs, with the professionals of the sector being able to access and reuse content for the production of new pieces. In addition, this solution makes the search performed by ordinary users on the online platforms of a given television station more efficient.

“The results of this project could have a solid impact on the management and operation of a television station, or any other content holder in which the identification of people is relevant. In addition to the application in the area of audio-visual archives, we have identified several other fields where the solution could bring clear benefits. For instance, the analysis of the potential impact that a person can have (in politics, in society, etc.), through the automatic analysis of his/her airtime in television broadcasts. By providing a low-cost computing solution, the project ensures an easy-to-install solution, adjustable to the equipment available in most institutions and companies”, said Paula Viana.

The CHIC project, whose main objective was the development of a set of products, services and systems, based on open and interoperable platforms, in order to create a true national line in this area, had 28 partners, distributed among the different subprojects.

The researchers mentioned in this news piece are associated with IPP-ISEP, UP-FEUP and INESC TEC.