VideoQ: An automated content based video search system using visual cues

The rapidity with which digital information, particularly video, is being generated, has necessitated the development of tools for efficient search of these media. Content based visual queries have been primarily focussed on still image retrieval. In this paper we propose a novel, real-time, interactive system on the Web, based on the visual paradigm, with spatio-temporal attributes playing a key role in video retrieval. We have developed algorithms for automated video object segmentation and tracking and use real-time video editing techniques while responding to user queries. The resulting system performs well, with the user being able to retrieve complex video clips such as those of skiers, baseball players, with ease.