Innovative Projects Realized

Towards Automating Video Inpainting for Use in a 2D to 3D Video Conversion Pipeline

The goal of the project is to reduce the workload involved in the occlusion filling step of a 2D to 3D video conversion pipeline. To do so, the intern will develop and implement a video inpainting algorithm suitable for use in Hollywood Films. The algorithm will be integrated into the organization’s 2D to 3D video conversion pipeline. The algorithm will provide controls which allow the user to manipulate the results of the inpainting process. The intern will experiment with the use of additional data available within the pipeline as a means to overcome issues with current video inpainting methods. In particular, changing illumination and handling of fixed light sources will be addressed.

Waterways and Resource Use: A Study of the Effects of Heavy Industry on First Nations Fisheries Use by West Moberly First Nations

This project will focus on First Nations fisheries use and management within the community of West Moberly First Nations, Moberly Lake, BC. This research will be looking at whether the development from heavy industry has impacted the health of freshwater fisheries in the area, and if and how the health of freshwater fisheries affects First Nations use of fish. The objectives of this study are: to understand the nature and extent of First Nations fisheries used by West Moberly First Nations; to explore the social and economic connections among West Moberly First Nations and their fishery use; to examine how and why fishery use has changed over time from pre-Treaty 8 use through post-Treaty 8 and preindustrialization use and ultimately to the post-industrialization use of today; and, finally, to develop potential solutions or enhancements to the current management and use of waterways in the Peace River Sub-basin based on the suggestions and concerns broached by West Moberly First Nations. Through the use of in-depth interviews with the community, light will be shed on these topics from the perspectives of the people who deal with these issues first-hand. This study will demonstrate the extent to which heavy industry affects inland fisheries and the resulting social and economic consequences of development on the First Nations users of these fisheries. The degree to which First Nations peoples rely on local resources and how policies such as Treaty 8, aimed at increasing regional industrial development, have influenced resource reliance by First Nations peoples may have far reaching implications for future industrial development and waterway management in the Peace River Sub-basin and, perhaps, across the province.

Moment resisting self-tapping screw assembly under monotonic and reverse cyclic load

One of the most significant screws emerged to connect timber members is the self-tapping wood screw (STS). This screw has primarily been developed to reinforce some of the weakest strength properties of wood. To further extent the application possibility of STS in timber construction, future research needs to address the potential of such screws not just as reinforcement but as connector between timber members. If self-tapping screws can be applied as a connector in timber construction at desirable cost and safety, this fastener will further help the timber industry penetrate into building sectors where performance is of prime importance. This would include the low-rise commercial, industrial and also residential building market all over North America and Europe. The proposed experimental research will establish a much needed database for STS connections under simulated earthquake loads. The proposed literature summary will highlight and clarify European design methods for STS to North American Engineers. The combination of both parts will allow practicing engineers in North America to apply this screw not just as reinforcement but as connector between timber members in large timber structures.

Effectiveness of a Toilet Training Workshop for Parents of Children with Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities

Although researchers have identified a number of successful toilet training interventions, parents of children with autism and other developmental disabilities continue to have difficulty toilet training their children. The resulting lack of toileting competence can have negative effects on the lives of these children and their families. This study will evaluate the effectiveness of an innovative workshop designed to teach parents to toilet train their children with disabilities in a short period of time. The primary goal of the study is to provide parents with an efficient, effective, and low cost alternative to expensive toilet training interventions that are typically implemented by professionals, thus making toilet training more accessible to families. The partner organization, w hich regularly provides toilet training supports to families of children w ith autism and other disabilities, will incorporate the toilet training w orkshop protocol into its service and offer it to families, if it proves effective.

JFSA Resettlement and Employment Resource

Statistical analysis of RNA electropherograms to understand the degree and nature of RNA disruption induced by anti-cancer drugs

In this project a molecular diagnostic test, named RNA Disruption Assay (RDA) will be developed. RDA measures an individual patient’s tumor response to chemotherapy and accurately predicts whether the drug regimen will lead to the elimination of the disease after the completion of the treatment. RDA is a measure of RNA structural integrity and is derived from RNA electropherograms. This project includes the assessment and a preliminary mathematical analysis of patterns within the RNA electropherograms to generate RDA values of responders and non-responders as well as to distinguish drug effects from other extraneous effects including sample concentration and degradation. In order to commercialize the intellectual property related to RDA, Rna Diagnostics Inc. requires mathematical and statistical expertise to develop and validate an algorithm derived from RNA electropherograms. 

Commercial Mortgage Backed Security Sensitivity Analysis

This work can serve as the foundation of relative value strategies and portfolio sensitivity analysis. This project research on building a strategy for analyzing the sensitivity of mortgage backed securities (MBS) pool pricing to changes in financial market and underlying security characteristics, such as the property value of the underlying real estate. There is a large database including real estate property location, real estate price indices by region and property type, as well as mortgage security pool information. The intern will help to build the mathematical and econometric models for MBS pricing and develop fast computer algorithm to analyze the database, such as estimate the joint probability of default of pool mortgages, the implied parameters and sensitivities for each MBS pool, and their correlations for all securitized properties.

Interactive Sentiment Analysis of Social Media for Policy Decision Making

Foreign Affairs analysts monitor news media for evidence of shift in public sentiment on key political questions in countries with unstable regimes. Health Canada analysts monitor social media for public reactions to the outbreak of H1N1 flu and the government’s response. The analysts make recommendations to the government regarding public and defense policy decisions. Given the massive amounts of news and social media data, the analysts’ job is extremely labour intensive without any automated tools to help focus their attention to the documents that matter most. This project will focus on automating sentiment analysis with emphasis on its application to social media for the purpose of social policy related decision making. In contrast to a fully automated approach, the project will aim for a semi-automated approach to allow the analyst interaction with the sentiment analysis tools and tailor the output to his interests. The automatic sentiment analysis tools in the literature will be investigated for “hooks” that provide opportunities for user interaction. Finally, text visualization and human-computer interaction techniques will be investigated, to generate a complete prototype suitable for analyst use. The expected benefit for the partner organization, Mediabadger, is a dramatic improvement in the efficiency of social media monitoring, the main source of its revenue. Extension of the proposed system to consumer sentiment analysis will lead to a product addressing a very sizable commercial market.

Novel 3D Sensor based Gesture Controlling System for Video Games

This project will develop a novel sensor based gesture controlling system aiming at significantly improving game player's satisfaction via realistic playing engagement/experience. With such interface technology, the player can control the game directly via his/her natural gestures and body movements which are translated into game interface parameters in real time. The objectives of this project include the followings. 1) Help the partner convert an existing proof-of-concept sensor-based Dart game (developed in a previous MITACS project) into a full featured prototype which includes enhancing the system’s performance, in particular with respect to robustness and accuracy; and conducting a user validation. 2) Evaluate and compare various recently released hardware sensor systems. 3) Develop advanced predication functions for full body gesture recognition and tracking. 4) Adopt machine learning technology for model construction. 5) Apply the above results to build new gesture controlling modules for other games. This MITACS project will bring substantial R&D results to the partners, and as well benefit the intern Gary Hu to complete his PhD thesis.

Real-time Special Effects Visualization (RTFX)

Computer hardware and software have revolutionized the film production process and brought about a world of visually rich, immersive videogames. These days, computers are used both in the process of developing preliminary visualizations of cinematic sequences (known as previsualization) and on-set to preview computer-generated environments and visual effects (known as virtual production). These techniques allow the creative and technical teams involved with a production to build a shared vision of its style and aesthetic, while also ironing out logistical and mechanical issues that would otherwise be discovered on-set. Our research will explore how to make previsualization and virtual production more efficient, more flexible and more expressive by tying the 3D animation software Houdini with game engines like Unreal. It also provides a testbed for exploring larger problems in computer-assisted film production, notably the ability to automate some of the decisions made by cinematographers in placing and moving cameras. 

Project #2 – Optimization of Novel Coatings for Orthopedic Implants

This project seeks to improve the performance of polymer-based spinal implants through the development of a multi-layered coating technology to overcome identified problems. The coating must allow for: a) strong adhesion to the underlying polymer to ensure structural stability; b) radio-opaque properties to allow visualization of the implant during x-ray procedures; c) a bone bonding interface to support biological integration. 

Understanding UV Dose Distribution and Reactor Performance Using Bioassay Data

Ultraviolet (UV) disinfection has been widely applied for drinking water and wastewater treatments because of its effective inactivation of many waterborne pathogens and its minimal formation of disinfection by-products. All UV disinfection systems for public water services need validation to ensure their inactivation performances meet the regulation requirements. The most implemented method for validation is biodosimetry, which involves bioassay to yield a simplified UV dose value. This dose value is called reduction equivalent dose (RED). However, RED depends on not only the performance of the reactor but also the UV sensitivity of the type of microorganisms used in the test. Therefore, the RED for representing the performance of the reactor is actually the measured RED multiplied by a safety factor, which makes the reactor to be operated with higher energy. This research proposes a method using multiple types of testing microorganisms to reduce the safety factor and also develop a strategy about how to properly and efficiently select different types of testing microorganisms to better understand performances of UV disinfection systems.