My technical background is in active perception,
which combines real-time computer vision and other
sensor modalities with machine learning
and
behavioral control. I am interested in all aspects
of active vision, including algorithms for signal
processing and control, sensor VLSI,
and
multiprocessing architectures. I am also
interested in offsetting the limitations of each
of these components through the purposive
i
ntegration into operational systems.
My experience in active perception comes largely
from my work in foveal vision, which exploits in
the machine setting the multiacuity properties
prevalent in vertebrate vision. Foveal vision is
intended for autonomous platforms with diverse
behaviors competing for limited perception
resources, such as navigation, search,
recognition, and manipulation. It supports a more
refined allocation of perceptual resources, but
also requires a tighter coordination of all the
aspects of active vision.
While at AT&T Labs, which coincided with the peak
of broadband multimedia investments by the
telecommunications industry, I became involved
with rich media. Since then, I have been active in
the field of pervasive rich media. This field
endeavors to provide spatiotemporally coordinated
multimodal streams to an audience with diverse
demographics, player platforms and channel access
(e.g., broadband-connected PCs, wireless PDAs,
set-top boxes).
Pervasive rich media builds upon object oriented
multimodal architectures such as MPEG-4 (the
complex profiles, not just a video codec or vector
graphics animation) to automate the on-demand
tailoring of content and to cost-effectively
support audience diversity. I am also involved in
extending ratified standards so as to support the
many de-facto standards in use today.
1.
'Reinforcement Learning Gaze Control,' Kit
Shan Choy, University of Buffalo Department of
Computer Science and Engineering, 2000.
2.
'Issues in the Design of Pipelined VLSI
Circuits for DSP Applications,' Dipankar Talukdar,
University of Buffalo Department of Electrical and
Computer Engineering, 1997.
3.
'Multiresolution Object Recognition
usingNeural Networks,' Susan Shiqiong Young,
University of Buffalo Department of Electrical and
Computer Engineering, 1995
4.
'Representing and Learning Routine
Activities,' Henry Hexmoor, University of Buffalo
Department of Computer Science, 1995.
5.
'A Computational Model of Color Perception
and Color Naming,' Johan M. Lammens, University of
Buffalo Department of Computer Science, 1994.
In 1990, I formed a research department at Amherst
Systems dedicated to the development and
application of active vision. This work yielded
operational platforms with algorithms for video
understanding and automaton behavior control,
matching multiprocessor architectures, and smart
VLSI imaging sensors (imagers with monolithic
signal processing). I had profit/loss
responsibility, and was able to secure external
funding for all R&D (over twenty customer grants
and contracts) while exceeding growth and profit
estimates.
The technology is now in use in several government
programs including NASA's Extravehicular Activity
Helper/Retreiver robot, and target tracking
systems at the Naval Air Warfare Center. The
department is affiliated with NASA's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory, SUNY Buffalo, and the
University of Malaga.
To date, this active vision research has yielded
six Ph.D. and four M.S. degrees, several patents,
highest distinction in the Air Force Small
Business Innovative Research Accomplishments
Report to the U.S. Congress, a Small Business of
the Year nomination from Rome Lab, and the 1999
NASA Space Act award from Johnson Space Center.
In 2001, I formed a research department at
Manhattan-based Sorceron (now BanDeMar) dedicated
to the synthesis and delivery of object-oriented
rich media. As CTO, I am responsible for the
company’s offerings in its target government
markets: e-learning, scientific outreach, and
surveillance/security. Through the National
Science Foundation’s SBIR/STTR program, I have
been able to bootstrap Creneaux’s e-learning
operations without equity investment.
Dr.
William T. Hart, M.D. FCCP
Expertise and Research Interests
Dr. Hart is a board
certified Pulmonary/Critical Care/Sleep
Medicine physician. In addition to diagnosing
and treating patients in the intensive care
setting and in the sleep laboratory he is an
inventor having several US patents and
international patents in the area of breathing
and treatment of sleep disorders.
Dr. Hart’s research
interests include bioelectrical and
biomagnetic signal capture and monitoring
devices, and the development of medical
devices for the treatment of cardiovascular
disorders, immunotherapy, sleep disorders,
cancer therapy and metabolic conditions are
areas of expertise and interest. He is
interested in cellular biology and targeted
therapies, as exemplified by his participation
in the study of the immune system by use of
immunotherapy by interferon gamma in pulmonary
fibrosis and research with transdermal
medications vs. oral medications for
behavioral modifications with tobacco
cessation. Dr. Harts maintains active
oncology and cardiovascular research
affiliations with researchers at Stanford, USC,
Palo Alto VA Medical Center, and other
universities that comprise a network of
resources for grant cooperation and medical
research execution.
Dr. Hart has a
broad-based education receiving a Bachelor of
Science in Biology at USC and subsequent
medical training in General Surgery (Baylor
University) and Pulmonary and Critical Care
Subspecialty training at Stanford University
Hospital. He is certified by the American
Board of Internal Medicine in Internal
Medicine and Pulmonary Diseases. He has
received certification in interventional
therapy of the Schneider Wall Stent for lower
airway obstructions.
Dr. Hart is the Founder
of the OPAP Health Care Company which is
medical device manufacturer and develops
commercialization of medical devices for the
treatment of sleep disordered breathing and
cardiovascular dysfunction. Dr. Hart serves as
a distinguished medical faculty member and
consultant for Sanofi-Aventis pharmaceutical
company and MEDACorp Corporate Consulting.
Selected Invited Lectures and
Presentations
§ Asthma
Review, Palo Alto VAMC Pulmonary Division,
March 1993
§ Faculty
Lecturer for Novartis, invited speaker for ARB
drug therapy for hypertension control, 1993-94
§ Acute
Inhalational Lung Injury, Stanford University
Feb 1994
§ Controlled
clinical trial comparing Welbutrin vs
transdermal nicotine for smoking cessation
1993 work done with Dr. David Sachs
§ Estimation
of the Work of Breathing in Obstructive Sleep
Apnea, Research Seminar Pulmonary and Critical
Care, Stanford University, June 1994
§ Review
of the Use of Dental Appliances in the
treatment of Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Research
Seminar, Stanford Sleep Disorders Clinic, May,
1996
§ Presentation
of the OPAP oral appliance, Sutter Sleep
Disorders Clinic Sacramento, July, 1997
§ Sleep
Disorders Dental Society National Meeting,
Invited lecturer on OPAP appliance, June, 1998
New Orleans
§ Oral
Appliance therapy, Expert Panel. Presentation:
Efficacy of OPAP with CPAP and Bilevel
Ventilation, Orlando Florida, 6/17- 6/20 1999
§ American
Association for Functional Orthodontics,
National Conference March 31,2000 Irvine
California
§ Mini
Clinic Presentation - OPAP
§ Invited
speaker 2000 APSS Oral appliance therapy
workshop Las Vegas NV June 2000
§ Invited
Faculty Speaker CHEST 2000, American College
of Chest Physicians. Treatment Options for
Obstructive Sleep Apnea. “ Interfaces for
Noninvasive Positive Airway Pressure” Section
Director Nancy Collop MD San Francisco October
22 –26, 2000
§ Actimmune
( Interferon gamma -1b) paid research
participant (ASAP program) study of the
effectiveness and safety of Actimmune in
idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, conducted by
InterMune, Inc. 2002-2003
Professional Society Memberships
Member American Academy of Sleep Medicine
Fellow American College of Chest Physicians
Member American College of Physicians
Santa Cruz County Medical Society
Awards
Inventor, OPAP® oral appliance for use with
CPAP and BiLevel for treatment of sleep apnea
and snoring.
US Patents # 5884625, 5950624, 5957133;
Australian Patent issued
Selected Publications and Abstracts
§ Gonzales-Lima,
Hart, W. Metabolite Involvement in the
Behavioral Effects in Cats. European Journal
of Pharmacology, 1987, 141:109-115
§ Hart,
W., Hallenborg, C., Massive Pulmonary Embolus
Presenting as DIC. Hawaii Medical Journal,
1992, 51:121-134
§ Hasagawa,
N., Husari, A., Hart, W., Raffin, T.A., Role
of the Coagulation System in ARDS. CHEST,
1994, vol 105:268-277
§ Hasagawa,
N., Kandra, T.G., Husari, A., Veiss, S., Hart,
W., Raffin, T.A., The effects of Recombinant
Human Thrombomodulin on Endotoxin-Induced
Multiple-System Organ Failure in Rats.
§ American
Journal Respiratory Critical Care Medicine.
1996, Vol 153:1831-1837
§ Husari,
N., Kandra, T., Hart, W., Raffin T.A.,
Protective Effect of Recombinant Human
Thrombomodulin on Endotoxin-Induced Lung
Injury in Rats. Presented ALA/ATS
International Conference, San Francisco May,
1993
§ Valentine,
V.G., Hart, W., Theodore, J., Disseminated
Mycobacteria Abscesses in Lung Allograft
Recipients. CHEST Vol. 106/2, August, 1994,
Supplement 98 S
§ Hart,
W., Duhamel, J.,Guilleminault C., Oral
Positive Airway Pressure by the OPAP TM Dental
Appliance reduces mild to severe Obstructive
Sleep Apnea, Sleep Research, 1997, 26:371
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Edmond A DeFrank,
Esq.
Expertise and Research Interests
Mr. DeFrank has over 12 years
experience as both an engineer and attorney in the
high technology sector. Mr. DeFrank not only
invents, designs and develops computer hardware,
software and IT related products, he also
practices law and has been a registered Patent
Attorney and intellectual property specialist
since 1992. Mr. DeFrank has written and prosecuted
several hundreds of patents for large high
technology companies and educational institutions
and was one of the first patent attorneys in US
history to successfully write and prosecute
software, e-commerce and IT business model patents
for the World Wide Web in the early 1990s. Some of
Mr. DeFrank’s present and previous clients include
Hewlett-Packard Company, IBM, Microsoft, Motorola,
AT&T, Applied Materials Semiconductor, NASA, Jet
Propulsion Laboratory, Caltech, UCLA, and Northrop
Grumman Aerospace.
In addition, Mr. DeFrank has
extensive experience in strategic patent
counseling, including exploiting patent portfolios
through audit and analysis, sale, acquisition,
licensing, prosecution and litigation. Mr. DeFrank
also has considerable experience in structuring
and negotiating relationships between high
technology companies, which includes forming
licensing opportunities to generate revenue from
technology and intellectual property. He has
negotiated numerous complex licensing,
development, manufacturing, marketing,
distribution and outsourcing relationships.
Further, Mr. DeFrank has
broad experience in information technology (IT)
and computer engineering, including networks,
software and peripherals. Mr. DeFrank was a Chief
Engineer for Pioneer Electronics and managed five
engineers and over 100 employees. During his time
at Pioneer Electronics, Mr. DeFrank raised
productively in his department by approximately
500% over a one year period by implementing a
comprehensive engineering management and
productivity plan that included updating and
revising existing engineering plans and developing
a comprehensive educational program that included
regular workforce training, evaluations and
assessment sessions. Mr. DeFrank was also a
Control and Standards Engineer for GE, a New
Product Development Engineer for IBM and Bausch &
Lomb and the CTO for eRayVision, LLC., a computer
software development company.
Prior to joining BanDeMar
Networks, Mr. DeFrank founded, managed and
successfully ran several high-technology
companies. These companies designed, developed and
produced software, services and e-commerce
applications, including a unique search engine
that integrated different, disparate and
distributed sources, educational software
plug-ins, an advanced abstract data-sharing
metadata document retrieval system, and many other
programs to assist with day to day business
operations and e-commerce transactions. To date,
these companies have exceeded five million dollars
in sales. The successes of these companies are
greatly attributed to his vast engineering and
technical expertise, intellectual property
knowledge and experience, and his excellent
business development skills that include
immeasurable affiliations and connections with
high level executives in small businesses, Fortune
500 companies and educational institutions
worldwide, which he used to economically and
technically develop his companies with strong
technical partnerships and expert marketing
campaigns. Some of Mr. DeFrank’s top technology
and marketing partnerships currently include
CalTech, UCLA, Cerritos College, University of
Nebraska, Film Crest Entertainment, San Diego
Chargers, Seattle Seahawks, HP, IBM, Yahoo,
Google, Double Click, Ask Jeeves, Orbitz and
Microsoft.
Mr. DeFrank’s research,
design, development and commercialization
interests lie in educational products
incorporating multimedia. Mr. DeFrank is also a
dedicated non-paid director of a local non-profit
organization that he founded several years ago. He
spends a considerable amount of his time raising
money from local corporate sponsors, celebrities,
professional athletes and business people for
helping needy children all over the world. Mr.
DeFrank has over three hundred technical
publications.
Selected Prosecuted Patents
Computer Networks and IT
§ Multicasting
System And Method For Providing Personalized
Content, U.S. Patent Publication No., 20030163528,
2003
§ Configurable
Graphical Element For Monitoring Dynamic
Properties Of A Resource Coupled To A Computing
Environment, U.S. Patent Publication No.
20030112269, 2003
§ Unified
Diagnostics Platform System And Method For
Evaluating Computer Products, U.S. Patent
Publication No. 20030014618, 2003
§ Method
And System For Dynamically Managing Data
Structures To Optimize Computer Network
Performance, U.S. Patent Publication No.
20030009482, 2003
§ Animation
On-Object User Interface, U.S. Patent Publication
No. 20020147740, 2002
§ System
And Method For Performing Sparse Transformed
Template Matching Using 3D Rasterization, U.S.
Patent Publication No. 20020131640, 2002
§ System
And Process For Broadcast And Communication With
Very Low Bit-Rate Bi-Level Or Sketch Video, U.S.
Patent Publication No. 20020126755, 2002
§ Progressive
Streaming Media Rendering, U.S. Patent Publication
No. 20020116473, 2002
§ Image-Based
Walkthrough System And Process Employing Spatial
Video Streaming, U.S. Patent Publication No.
20020113805, 2002
§ Image-Based
Virtual Reality Player With Integrated 3D Graphics
Objects, U.S. Patent Publication No. 20020113791,
2002
§ System
And Method For Providing A Universal And Automatic
Communication Access Point, U.S. Patent
Publication No. 20020111813, 2002
§ System
And Method For Using Dynamic Web Components To
Remotely Control The Security State Of Web Pages,
U.S. Patent Publication No. 20020104023, 2002
§ System
And Method For Optimizing Graphics Intensive
Software Program For The User's Graphics Hardware,
U.S. Patent Publication No. 20020093505, 2002
§ Apparatus
And Method For Controlling A Picture Within A
Picture Display Device, U.S. Patent Publication
No. 20020089488, 2002
§ Computer
Network Testing System And Method Using Client
Playback Of Edited Network Information, U.S.
Patent Publication No. 20020087282, 2002
§ Graphically
Represented Dynamic Time Strip For Displaying
User-Accessible Time-Dependent Data Objects, U.S.
Patent Publication No. 20020085034, 2002
§ Method
And System For Creating And Managing Common And
Custom Storage Devices In A Computer Network, U.S.
Patent Publication No. 20020065840, 2002
§ Interactive
Construction Of 3D Models From Panoramic Images
Employing Hard And Soft Constraint
Characterization And Decomposing Techniques, U.S.
Patent No. 6,271,855
§ Interactive
Construction And Refinement Of 3D Models From
Multiple Panoramic Images, U.S. Patent No.
6,246,412
§ Building
Block Approach For Fatigue Spectra Generation,
U.S. Patent No. 6,125,333, 2000
Computer Hardware and Software
§ Method
and apparatus for enhanced power consumption
handling of bus-controlled components, U.S. Patent
Publication No. 20040210777, 2004
§ System
and method for automatically de-installing
previously installed software based on user
defined preferences, U.S. Patent Publication No.
20040015956, 2004
§ System
and method for issuing user configurable
identification numbers with collision free
mapping, U.S. Patent Publication No. 20030188185,
2004
§ System
and method for providing connection orientation
based access authentication, U.S. Patent
Publication No. 20030101338, 2003
§ System
and method for indicating whether a document is
cached, U.S. Patent Publication No. 20030101234,
2003
§ Network
addressing method and system for localizing access
to network resources in a computer network, U.S.
Patent Publication No. 20030012225, 2003
§ Method
and system for managing parallel data transfer
through multiple sockets to provide scalability to
a computer network, U.S. Patent Publication No.
20020199000, 2002
§ Pre-boot
multicast address management protocol for a
computer network, U.S. Patent Publication No.
20020198972, 2002
§ Adaptive
encoding and decoding of bi-level images, U.S.
Patent Publication No. 20020172427, 2002
§ System
and method for configuring managed computers using
an electronic mobile handheld device, U.S. Patent
Publication No. 20020147027, 2002
§ System
and method for creating markers on scroll bars of
a graphical user interface, U.S. Patent
Publication No. 20020145631, 2002
§ System
and method for viewing and controlling a
presentation, U.S. Patent Publication No.
20020140724, 2002
§ System
and method for providing positional authentication
for client-server systems, 20020138632, 2002
§ System
and method for automatically and dynamically
modifying functions of mobile devices based on
positional data, U.S. Patent Publication No.
20020138598, 2002
§ System
and method for providing access to mobile devices
based on positional data, U.S. Patent Publication
No. 20020137524, 2002
§ Method
and system for managing lock contention in a
computer system, U.S. Patent Publication No.
20020107854, 2002
§ System
and method for face recognition using synthesized
training images, U.S. Patent Publication No.
20020106114, 2002
§ System
and method for using dynamic web components to
automatically customize web pages, U.S. Patent
Publication No. 20020103856, 2002
§ System
and method for high-density interactive voting
using a computer network, U.S. Patent Publication
No. 20020103696, 2002
§ Method
for testing a computer bus using a bridge chip
having a freeze-on-error option, U.S. Patent
Publication No. 20020095624, 2002
§ System
and method for applying quality of service
policies to internet protocol security to avoid
bandwidth limitations on a computer network, U.S.
Patent Publication No. 20020078341, 2002
§ System
and method for prefetching portions of a web page
based on learned preferences, U.S. Patent
Publication No. 20020078165, 2002
§ System
and method for identifying lost electronic
devices, U.S. Patent Publication No. 20020073314,
2002
§ Service
alert agent for a computer system, U.S. Patent
Publication No. 20020069112, 2002
§ Tapered
air apertures for thermally robust vertical cavity
laser structures, U.S. Patent Publication No.
20020067748, 2002
§ System
and method for enlarging a liquid crystal display
screen of a personal data assistant, U.S. Patent
Publication No. 20020067471, 2002
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