Released on: July 24, 2008, 8:26 pm

Press Release Author: Institute for Infocomm Research

Industry: Internet & Online

Press Release Summary: Seven teams from five countries survived the second knock-out round in Singapore\'s global race to develop the world\'s next-generation multimedia search technology, the Singapore Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) announced today.

Press Release Body: Seven teams from five countries survived the second knock-out round in Singapore\'s global race to develop the world\'s next-generation multimedia search technology, the Singapore Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) announced today.

The seven teams that are still in the running for the top prize of US$100,000 are (in alphabetical order):
. adMIRer from National University of Singapore
. COMET from Tsinghua University, China
. LIG from Laboratoire d\'Informatique de Grenoble, France
. LMS CTS from National University of Singapore
. NII-KAORI from National Institute of Informatics, Japan
. SHRC from China (includes members from Peking University)
. UIUC-YX from University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign (UIUC)

They will move to the qualifying race that will begin on 1 September 2008.

A first-of-its-kind competition, the Star Challenge@Fusionopolis, challenges teams to create the fastest and most accurate algorithms for searching audio and video content, without text-based tagging. It is held as a lead up to the grand opening of Singapore\'s science and technology hub, Fusionopolis, which is the headquarters of A*STAR\'s science and engineering research institutes.

During the second knock-out round held on 15 July, the teams searched 30 hours of video content for specific video images within the shortest time possible. For instance, they were given video images of close-up face shots and told to find similar video images.

The tasks set under the qualifying race will be even more challenging, as the seven teams will have to use both their audio and video search technologies to find specific video clips. The top teams will be flown in from any part of the world to Fusionopolis to compete in the grand finals held on 23 October 2008.

More than 56 teams from 17 countries signed up for The Star Challenge@Fusionopolis, when the competition was first launched in January 2008.


For media enquiries, please contact:-
In Singapore: Mr Andrew Yap
Acting Manager, Corporate Communications
A*STAR Institute for Infocomm Research (I2R)
DID: (65) 6419 1143 Fax: (65) 6466 7716
Email: jtyap@i2r.a-star.edu.sg


In the US: Ms Cathy Yarbrough
for A*STAR
DID: 858-243-1814 Email: sciencematter@yahoo.com


Web Site: http://www.a-star.edu.sg/a_star/189-Press-Release?iid=544

Contact Details: In Singapore: Mr Andrew Yap
Acting Manager, Corporate Communications
A*STAR Institute for Infocomm Research (I2R)
DID: (65) 6419 1143 Fax: (65) 6466 7716
Email: jtyap@i2r.a-star.edu.sg


In the US: Ms Cathy Yarbrough
for A*STAR
DID: 858-243-1814 Email: sciencematter@yahoo.com