Audiovisual information management system

• US 20010010523A1
• Filed: 03/12/2001
• Published: 08/02/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 02/01/1999
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Sharp Laboratories of America Incorporated (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Sharp Laboratories of America Incorporated (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Beek, Peter J. L. Van, Qian, Richard, Sezan, M. Ibrahim
• Application Number:
  US09/804,612
• Publication Number:
  US 20010010523A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/716
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/437 Administration of user profiles, e.g. generation, initialisation, adaptation, distribution
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/44 Browsing; Visualisation therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23412 for generating or manipulating the scene composition of objects, e.g. MPEG-4 objects
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/258 Client or end-user data management, e.g. managing client capabilities, user preferences or demographics, processing of multiple end-users preferences to derive collaborative data arrangements for services using the result on the distributing side of broadcast systems H04H60/66; profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/30
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/41265 having a remote control device for bidirectional communication between the remote control device and client device unidirectional remote control device H04N21/42204
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4147 PVR [Personal Video Recorder] H04N5/76 takes precedence ; arrangements for broadcast with accumulation-type receivers H04H20/40
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4182 for identification purposes, e.g. storing user identification data, preferences, personal settings or data restricting access to computer systems by authenticating users using a predetermined code in combination with an additional device, e.g. dongle or smart card G06F21/123
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4223 Cameras H04N23/00 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4312 involving specific graphical features, e.g. screen layout, special fonts or colors, blinking icons, highlights or animations
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/43615 Interfacing a Home Network, e.g. for connecting the client to a plurality of peripherals home Audio Video Interoperability [HAVI] data switching networks H04L12/2805
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4394 involving operations for analysing the audio stream, e.g. detecting features or characteristics in audio streams arrangements characterised by components specially adapted for monitoring, identification or recognition of audio in broadcast systems H04H60/58
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44008 involving operations for analysing video streams, e.g. detecting features or characteristics in the video stream arrangements characterised by components specially adapted for monitoring, identification or recognition of video in broadcast systems H04H60/59
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44012 involving rendering scenes according to scene graphs, e.g. MPEG-4 scene graphs
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4532 involving end-user characteristics, e.g. viewer profile, preferences monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/454 Content or additional data filtering, e.g. blocking advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4622 Retrieving content or additional data from different sources, e.g. from a broadcast channel and the Internet web site content organization and management for information retrieval from the Internet G06F16/958; transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82; stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services including data channel over packet-switching network H04L12/1859
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47 End-user applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4728 for selecting a Region Of Interest [ROI], e.g. for requesting a higher resolution version of a selected region
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/482 End-user interface for program selection broadcast systems using EPGs H04H60/72
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6582 Data stored in the client, e.g. viewing habits, hardware capabilities, credit card number arrangements where receivers interact with the broadcast H04H20/38
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8106 : involving special audio data, e.g. different tracks for different languages
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8133 : specifically related to the content, e.g. biography of the actors in a movie, detailed information about an article seen in a video program
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/84 : Generation or processing of descriptive data, e.g. content descriptors systems specially adapted for using meta-information in broadcast systems H04H60/73
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8456 : by decomposing the content in the time domain, e.g. in time segments
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8543 : using a description language, e.g. Multimedia and Hypermedia information coding Expert Group [MHEG], eXtensible Markup Language [XML] information retrieval of semistructured data, the underlying structure being taken into account, e.g. mark-up language structure data G06F16/80
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8549 : Creating video summaries, e.g. movie trailer retrieval in video databases by using presentations in form of a video summary G06F16/739

Abstract

Providing at least one description scheme. For audio and/or video programs a program description scheme provides information regarding the associated program. For the user a user description scheme provides information regarding the user'"'"'s preferences. For the system a system description scheme provides information regarding the system. The description schemes are independent of one another. Preferably, the program description scheme, user description scheme, and system description scheme are independent of one another.

Claims

1. A method of using a system with at least one of audio, image, and a video comprising a plurality of frames comprising the steps of:

(a) providing at least two of the following;

(i) a program description scheme containing information related to at least one of information regarding interrelationships between a plurality of said frames, characteristics of the content of a plurality of said frames, characteristics of the content of said audio, characteristics of the content of said image, characteristics of the content of said video;

(ii) a user description scheme containing information related to at least one of a user'"'"'s personal preferences, information related to said user, a user'"'"'s viewing history, and a user'"'"'s listening history;

(iii) a system description scheme containing information regarding at least one of available videos, available categories, available channels, available users, available images, capabilities of a device for providing said at least one of said audio, said image, and said video to a user, relationship between at least two of said video, said program description scheme, and said user description scheme, relationship between at least two of said audio, said program description scheme, and said user description scheme, relationship between at least two of said image, said program description scheme, and said user description scheme; and

(b) selecting at least one of a video, an image, and audio based upon said at least two of said program description scheme, said user description scheme, and said system description scheme.

2. The method of

claim 1

wherein said program description scheme contains information related to said interrelationships of said plurality of said frames.

3. The method of

claim 2

wherein said interrelationships include the identification of key frames of said video.

4. The method of

claim 2

wherein said interrelationships include the identification of a plurality of said frames representative of the highlights of at least a portion of said video.

5. The method of

claim 2

wherein said interrelationships include the identification of a set of frames, each of which is representative of a different portion of said video.

6. The method of

claim 5

wherein said different portion of said video is non-overlapping.

7. The method of

claim 2

wherein said interrelationships include the identification of a plurality of sequential frames of said video that represent at least one of a shot and a scene.

8. The method of

claim 7

wherein said identification further includes a plurality of said at least one of said shot and said scene.

9. The method of

claim 4

wherein said interrelationships includes a plurality of highlights of the same portion of said video having different durations.

10. The method of

claim 3

wherein said interrelationships includes a plurality of key frames of the same portion of said video having a different number of frames of said portion of said video.

11. The method of

claim 1

wherein said program description scheme contains characteristics of said content of said plurality of said frames.

12. The method of

claim 11

wherein said characteristics include at least one of an actor within said video, and a classification of the genre of said video.

13. The method of

claim 11

wherein said characteristics include at least one of a color profile of at least a portion of said video, a texture profile of at least a portion of said video, a shape profile of at least a portion of said video, and a motion profile of at least a portion of said video.

14. The method of

claim 1

wherein said program description scheme identifies a portion of each of a plurality of said frames of said video that is to be presented to a user at a size larger than it would have been presented within said video.

15. The method of

claim 1

wherein said program description scheme identifies a second video segment separate from said video that includes a close up view of a portion of said video.

16. The method of

claim 1

wherein said program description scheme identifies a second audio track separate from the normal audio track of said video.

17. The method of

claim 1

wherein said program description scheme includes textual annotation related to said video.

18. The method of

claim 17

wherein said textual annotation is related to an object within said video.

19. The method of

claim 18

wherein said object is an actor within said video.

20. The method of

claim 1

wherein said program description scheme identifies Internet based information related to said video.