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Intelligent Promo Generation

Promo and trailer production are expensive and labor-intensive tasks in media industry. Recently, content-based video summarization has found its way to the field of computer vision and deep learning that can greatly reduce the human effort for this task. Most effective methods in this regard are relying on deep learning approaches, i.e., learning effective video representations directly from raw video frames, without hand crafting them for the summarization task. Deep learning frameworks are known to be data hungry, which require an immersive annotated data for the training procedure. Collecting annotated video for training deep networks is yet another labor-intensive task that should be limited for cheap automatic promo production. The common solution to avoid the annotation costs is to use the pretrained network on existing labeled datasets. Nevertheless, the performance of the pre-trained networks deteriorates gracefully when the properties of the test videos drifts away from that of the training videos. In this project, we aim at quantifying/modeling the visual domain disparity for the video summarization task by means of real data that is provided by our private partner (RTL). This can be effectively done by evaluating the existing deep learning approaches, that are trained and tested on public video datasets, directly on RTL video collections. Moreover, the evaluation of video summarization task is hardly objective due to its complex nature (human reasoning is required). We benefit from the expertise of our industrial partner to develop a framework for instrumental measure of the quality of summarized video content. Facts Funder: NWO & RTL news Programme: KIEM Overall budget: € Grant amount: 1 year (0.3 FTE) employment Role TU Delft: Host Institute Project duration: January 2020 - January 2021 TU Delft researchers: Dr. Seyran Khademi Visit the project website Contact Dr. Seyran Khademi +31 15 2788433 s.khademi@tudelft.nl 0

Triple-A

The Triple-A project accelerates the Adoption of low-carbon technologies by transnational cooperation between local authority partners, who face the common challenge to stimulate home-owners to adopt low-carbon technologies. Jointly they develop and implement a (Triple-A) method that increases Awareness of low-carbon technologies among home-owners and simultaneously secures easy Access to technologies that fit their needs and resources. One of the mobile consultancy centers developed in the framework of Triple-A (copyright: City of Mechelen) Within the Triple A-project local and regional authorities from Belgium (Antwerpen, Mechelen, Ostend), France (PSEE Picardie), the Netherlands (Breda, Rotterdam) and the United Kingdom (Kent County Council) join forces to encourage home-owners in making their existing single-family homes more sustainable and thus reduce their energy consumption. They are supported by 2 universities (TU Delft and Ghent University), and by a Belgian utility (Eandis/ Fluvius). Main research outputs of the project are ICT solutions, home energy monitoring system testing, concepts for collaborative actions, and for the use of demonstration exemplars to increase the adoption of low-carbon technologies. Facts Funder: EU Programme: Interreg 2 Seas Mers Zeeën, Priority Low carbon technologies Overall budget: € 5.297.095 Grant amount: € 3.178.257 Contribution to TU Delft: ERDF: € 425.065; Province of South-Holland: € 106.266 Grant number: 2S02-029 Role TU Delft: Project partner Project duration: January 2017 - January 2021 TU Delft researchers: Dr.ir. Erwin Mlecnik Dr.ir. Ad Straub Dr.ir. Frits Meijer Project partners City of Antwerp, City of Breda, Kent County Council, City of Mechelen, Public Service for Energy Efficiency (PSEE), City of Rotterdam, AG EOS, Ghent University, Eandis, Fluvius Visit the project website Contact Dr. ir. Erwin Mlecnik +31 15 27 89869 E.Mlecnik@tudelft.nl 0

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NWO grants funding for innovative research on physical experimental environments

How to move from experiment to mainstream? A consortium led by professor Tamara Metze, has been awarded a prestigious grant from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO). In search for pathways toward more sustainable futures, Metze and her team will explore how various innovations in field labs such as The Green Village, in urban living labs such as Engy Lab South-East in Amsterdam, and in all sorts of citizens’ initiatives, can be mainstreamed and make more impact on sustainability transitions. Pilot paradox The project ‘From EXperiment to sustainable change: TRAnsformative methodologies for Innovation and learning’ (EXTRA) seeks to overcome a persistent “pilot paradox”. In this paradox, much experimentation takes place but long-term systemic impact remains difficult. Researchers together with all sorts of change makers will synthesise existing knowledge on how to mainstream, upscale, spread, broaden and deepen developed innovations. Tamara Metze: ‘I am excited to unravel what are effective ways of cocreation that lead to mainstreaming the positive changes made in experimental environments. We will figure out how learning and innovation can lead to lasting changes in regulations, policies, and financial systems and the biophysical environment.’ Tamara Metze Read the NWO press release Actionable tools The project is crucial for accelerating sustainability transitions. By refining methodologies for mission-driven experimentation and develop hands on tools for all sorts of change-makers, it will be easier to mainstream the sustainable lessons and innovations. ‘These tools will not only aid grassroots innovators but also influence institutional and organisational structures, ensuring that lessons learned from experiments are better anchored in policies, regulations, and organisations’, explains Metze. The project will employ a transdisciplinary action research approach, bringing together knowledge from various disciplines and policy domains. By co-creating solutions with public and private partners, the research will have an immediate impact. In the long term, the project aims to build a more efficient innovation ecosystem, contributing to more impactful and sustainable outcomes for both society and the environment. Projectpartners TU Delft, VU Amsterdam, Wageningen University & Research, Hogeschool van Amsterdam, Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam, Hogeschool Rotterdam, The Green Village, AMS Institute; PBL Planbureau voor de Leefomgeving, WoonFriesland, Dijkstra Draisma, Provincie Noord-Holland, Ministerie van Binnenlandse Zaken, PRICE / Almere, BouwLab, Alliantie Samen Nieuw-West, Innovation Quarter.

Unusual waves grow way beyond known limits

Waves that come from multiple directions are extremer than extreme. These remarkable deep-sea waves can be four times steeper than what was previously imagined, as is shown in research by TU Delft and other universities that was published in Nature today. A long time ago, stories were told of mysterious rogue waves that materialised out of nowhere and could topple even the largest ships. These waves lost their mythical character when the first rogue wave was recorded at the Draupner platform in the North Sea. In 2018, Ton van den Bremer and his colleagues at the Universities of Edinburgh and Oxford managed to recreate the Draupner wave in the lab for the first time ever, and this opportunity to study freak waves closely produced unexpected insights. Multiple waves push up water New research by the research consortium now shows that these remarkable waves do not break when traditional theories hold they should, the secret behind which lies in how they arise. Ton van den Bremer, expert on fluid mechanics at TU Delft and led the study, explains: “When most people think of waves, they think of the rolling waves you’d find on a beach. The type of wave we studied occurs in open water and arises when waves coming from multiple directions come together. When these waves with a high directional spread converge, the water is pushed upwards, forming a partially standing wave. An example of this is known as a crossing wave. How crossing waves arise Under certain conditions at sea, waves from multiple directions occur. This can happen in a place where two seas meet, or where winds suddenly change direction, as in a hurricane. When waves from two directions meet, a cross wave occurs, provided their directions are far enough apart. The study also shows that the further apart the directions are, the higher the resulting cross-wave. Travelling waves break when they reach a certain limit, this is when they reach their maximum steepness. The study shows that waves with a multidirectional spreading can get as much as 80% steeper than this limit before they start breaking, which means they can get almost twice as high as ‘normal waves’ before they start to break. Travelling wave (l) and a wave with high directional spreading (r) Breaking waves that grow Next, the researchers found another highly unusual phenomenon that defies existing theories, a phenomenon that is unprecedented according to Van den Bremer: “Once a conventional wave breaks, it forms a white cap, and there is no way back. But when a wave with a high directional spreading breaks, it can keep growing.” The study shows that these enormous waves can grow to twice their original steepness while breaking, which is already twice bigger than the conventional limit. Together, the waves can grow four times steeper than previously thought possible. Damage to offshore structures The knowledge that multidirectional waves can become as much as four times larger than was deemed possible can help design safer marine structures. "The three-dimensionality of waves is often overlooked in the design of offshore wind turbines and other structures in general; our findings suggest this leads to designs that are less reliable", says Mark McAllister of the University of Oxford, who led the experiments and is now a senior scientist at Wood Thilsted. Innovative vertical sensors made it possible to take accurate 3D measurements of waves. Innovative 3D measurement method A 3D measurement method developed in the FloWave lab paved the way for these new insights. “Conventional 2D wave measurement methods weren’t up to the task”, Van den Bremer explains, which is why the research group designed a new way to create 3D wave measurements. Ross Calvert of the University of Edinburgh: “This is the first time we've been able to measure wave heights at such high spatial resolution over such a big area, giving us a much more detailed understanding of complex wave breaking behaviour." FloWave Ocean Energy Research Facility in Edinburgh. The circular basin has a diameter of 25 metres and can be used to generate waves from multiple directions. Header image by: Fabien Duboc