7. Innova

Scientific, technological and cultural challenges creative solutions

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Vipercon: Image Processing for Enhanced Cinematograph

Funded by the European Commission through an H2020 programme Proof of Concept grant, this project aims to develop and exploit technology that enhances video and photographic images to enable viewers to perceive them with the same detail and contrast they have in real life. The model has been validated through psychophysical tests that confirm that it outperforms other state-of-the-art algorithms in terms of user preference.

Led by Marcelo Bertalmío, head of the Image Processing for Enhanced Cinematography Research Group (IP4EC), Vipercon will develop products that highlight its capabilities in three different scenarios: photo and video capture, professional post-production in photography and filmmaking, and graphical representation. Specifically, this project will develop a free web application and commercial mobile apps for iOS and Android aimed at the general public, as well as commercial software for professionals from three media industries: film, photography and video games.

beAWARE: Enhancing emergency management services

In an emergency caused by a natural disaster or crisis situation, response time is the main enemy. It is thus essential to have good information about the scope, magnitude and impact of the disaster to organize an effective response.

The main objective of beAWARE is to provide support in all stages of an emergency situation. It proposes an integrated solution to support forecasting, early warnings, the transmission and routing of emergency data, aggregated analysis of multimodal data and management of the coordination between first responders and the relevant authorities.

It is an innovative action being conducted under the European Union’s H2020 Programme with the participation of the Natural Language Processing Research Group (TALN), led by Leo Wanner, and nine other partners under the coordination of the Centre for Research and Technology-Hellas (CERTH) in Greece.

Nanotarg: Encapsulating chemotherapy to fight pancreatic cancer

This project aims to develop a new tool for the diagnosis and treatment of ductal carcinoma of the pancreas, one of the most frequent forms of pancreatic cancer. Led by researchers Rubén Vicente, from the Laboratory of Molecular Physiology, and Pilar Rivera, from the Integrative Biomedical Materials and Nanomedicine Lab, it consists of the preclinical validation of a technology platform based on biodegradable nanocapsules capable of accumulating in the tumour both a contrast agent for early diagnosis and anti-tumour drugs to treat the disease.

The initiative has been awarded funding under the ‘Product’ category of the Catalan Secretariat of Universities and Research’s Knowledge Industry programme, aimed at developing prototypes and exploiting and transferring research results.