SeSaMe to bridge cyber & real world

SINGAPORE: You might soon be able to make "friends" with a closed circuit TV camera, and get its help to find a missing person.

Such social media applications that bridge the cyber world with the physical world could soon be a reality at a new international research centre launched on Monday by the National University of Singapore (NUS).

Professor Mohan S Kankanhalli, Associate Provost for Graduate Education in NUS, said: "The whole idea is just like we make friends with people on social networks, we can actually ’friend’ sensors.

"So therefore (in) a small community, if there’s a missing person, the family and friends of that missing person can actually upload photos of this missing person to the cameras, so the cameras can keep a lookout for this missing person.

"They can in fact even upload a description to say, ’when I last saw the missing person (for example) he was wearing a red shirt’."

The centre is called the Sensor—enhanced Social Media Centre (SeSaMe).

It will receive S$24 million in funding from the Media Development Authority of Singapore over the next five years.

SeSaMe has already established its first research collaboration with partner NetEase, a leading China—based internet company popular for its online multi—player games.

The collaboration between SeSaMe and NetEase is just one of four research collaborations with industry partners announced by NUS, garnering more than S$5 million in industry funding.

The NUS Tourism Accelerator Workshop Series was also unveiled. It is an initiative that aims to accelerate the adoption of Interactive Digital Media technologies within the tourism/hospitality sector.

— CNA/ck