Automated event content processing method and system

• US 20040064207A1
• Filed: 09/30/2002
• Published: 04/01/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intellectual Ventures Assets 20 LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Eastman Kodak Company
• Inventors: Telek, Michael J., Beaudet, Douglas B., Marino, Frank, Zacks, Carolyn A., Harel, Dan
• Granted Patent: US 8,087,054 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/91
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/735 Filtering based on additional data, e.g. user or group profiles
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/739 in form of a video summary, e.g. the video summary being a video sequence, a composite still image or having synthesized frames
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/7834 using audio features
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/786 using motion, e.g. object motion or camera motion
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/034 on discs G11B27/036, G11B27/038 take precedence

Abstract

A method for organizing event content in the form of electronic signals is provided. In accordance with this method an event profile is determined. The event content is obtained and the event content is organized based upon the event profile.

Claims

1. A method for organizing event content in the form of digital data, the method comprising the steps of:

determining an event profile;

obtaining the event content; and

organizing the content based upon the event profile.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the event profile defines an event agenda comprised of a set of event items and the step of organizing the content comprises determining which portions of the event content are associated with each event item.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising the step of segmenting the content based upon content analysis rules associated with the event.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the step of organizing the content further comprises the steps of obtaining rules for analyzing the content associated with each event item and using the rules for analyzing to determine the relative value of each segment of content.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of assembling an output product based upon the organized content.

6. A method for forming an output product based upon captured event content:

determining an event profile;

determining a personal profile;

obtaining content from event;

organizing the content based upon the event profile and personal profile; and

assembling an output product having content selected based upon the organized content.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the personal profile defines the output product.

8. The method of claim 6 wherein the personal profile defines the output product and content that is of higher relative value.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein the step of organizing the content based upon the event profile and personal profile comprises the steps of determining rules for analyzing the value of content based upon the event profile and personal profile and using the rules for analyzing to determine the relative value of the content.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein content is incorporated into the output product based on the relative value of the content.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the output product contains only content having a relative value that is above a threshold.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising the step of automatically transmitting content having a relative value above the threshold to a remote viewer.

13. The method of claim 6 wherein the step of determining a personal profile comprises the steps of receiving information from a remote user to determine the value of particular content to the remote user.

14. The method of claim 6, wherein the step of determining a personal profile comprises receiving a personal profile from a user who is remote from the event.

15. The method of claim 6, further comprising the step of providing the output product to a remote user.

16. The method of claim 6, further comprising the step of providing the output product to a database.

17. The method of claim 6, further comprising the step of providing organized content to a database.

18. The method of claim 6, further comprising the step of providing metadata characterizing the event content to a database.

19. A method for processing a plurality of channels of event content, the method comprising the steps of:

defining a set of event rules;

analyzing each channel of content based upon the set of event rules; and

,

assembling at least one channel of primary content from the channels of event content based upon the rules for the event.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the step of analyzing each channel comprises determining the relative value of the content on each channel based upon the event rules and the step of assembling at least one channel of primary content comprises determining which of the plurality of channels has the highest relative value at any time and assembling content from the channel having the highest relative value into the portion of the primary channel that is associated with that time.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising the step of:

determining personal content rules;

wherein the step of analyzing each channel of event content comprises determining the relative value of each channel of content according to the event rules and personal content rules;

wherein the step of assembling at least one channel of primary content comprises assembling content from the channels of event content based upon the relative value of the content.

22. A method for processing primary and secondary channels of event coverage comprising:

selecting an output product comprising a template of content elements;

defining a primary channel of content for incorporation in the template;

defining a set of rules for incorporating content from at least one secondary channel of content into the template; and

,

generating an output product based upon the template, the rules and the content of the primary and secondary channels.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the output product comprises a video stream.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein the content of the primary and secondary channels is assigned with relative values and content is selected for inclusion in the output template based at least in part on the relative value assigned.

25. The method of claim 22, wherein the event rules define an agenda and content from the primary and secondary channels is incorporated into the output product at least in part on the basis of the event agenda.

26. The method of claim 22, wherein the secondary channels comprise at least one of experiential and individual content.

27. The method of claim 22 further comprising the step of receiving a signal from a user indicating that the value of a particular segment of content is to be increased.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the indicated segment is automatically incorporated into any output product formed from the supply of content.

29. A computer program product for organizing event content, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon for performing the steps of:

determining an event profile;

obtaining the event content; and

organizing the event content based upon the event profile.

30. The computer program product of claim 29 wherein the event profile defines an event agenda comprised of a set of event items and the step of organizing the content comprises determining which portions of the event content are associated with each event item.

31. The computer program product of claim 30, further comprising the step of segmenting the content based upon content analysis rules associated with the event.

32. The computer program product of claim 31, wherein the step of organizing the content further comprises the steps of obtaining rules for analyzing the content associated with each event item and using the rules for analyzing to determine the relative value of each segment of content.

33. The computer program product of claim 29 further comprising the step of assembling an output product based upon the organized content.

34. A computer program product forming an output product based upon captured event content, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon for performing the steps of:

determining an event profile;

determining a personal profile;

obtaining content from event;

organizing the content based upon the event profile and personal profile; and

assembling an output product having content selected based upon the organized content.

35. The computer program product of claim 34, wherein the personal profile defines the output product.

36. The computer program product of claim 34 wherein the personal profile defines the output product and content that is of higher relative value.

37. The computer program product of claim 34, wherein the step of organizing the content based upon the event profile and personal profile comprises the steps of determining rules for analyzing the value of content based upon the event profile and personal profile and using the rules for analyzing to determine the relative value of the content.

38. The computer program product of claim 37 wherein content is incorporated into the output product based on the relative value of the content.

39. The computer program product of claim 37, wherein the output product contains only content having a relative value that is above a threshold.

40. The computer program product of claim 39, further comprising the step of automatically transmitting content having a relative value above the threshold to a remote viewer.

41. The computer program product of claim 34 wherein the step of determining a personal profile comprises the steps of receiving information from a remote user to determine the value of particular content to the remote user.

42. The computer program product of claim 34, wherein the step of determining a personal profile comprises receiving a personal profile from a user who is remote from the event.

43. The computer program product of claim 34, further comprising the step of providing the output product to a remote user.

44. The computer program product of claim 34, further comprising the step of providing the output product to a database.

45. The computer program product of claim 34, further comprising the step of providing organized content to a database.

46. The computer program product of claim 34, further comprising the step of providing metadata characterizing the event content to a database.

47. A computer program product for processing a plurality of channels of event content, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon for performing the steps of:

defining a set of event rules;

analyzing each channel of content based upon the set of event rules; and

,

assembling at least one channel of primary content from the channels of event content based upon the rules for the event.

48. The computer program product of claim 47, wherein the step of analyzing each channel comprises determining the relative value of the content on each channel based upon the event rules and the step of assembling at least one channel of primary content comprises determining which of the plurality of channels has the highest relative value at any time and assembling content from the channel having the highest relative value into the portion of the primary channel that is associated with that time.

49. The computer program product of claim 48, further comprising the step of:

determining personal content rules;

wherein the step of analyzing the each channel of event content comprises determining the relative value of each channel of event content according to the event rules and personal content rules; and

,

wherein the step of assembling at least one channel of primary content comprises assembling content from the channels of event content based upon the relative value of the content.

50. A computer program product for processing primary and secondary channels of event coverage to form an output product, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, for performing the steps of:

selecting an output product comprising a template of content elements;

defining a primary channel of content for incorporation in the template;

defining a set of rules for incorporating content from at least one secondary channel of content into the template; and

,

generating an output product based upon the template, the rules and the content of the primary and secondary channels.

51. The computer program product of claim 50, wherein the output product comprises a video stream.

52. The computer program product of claim 50, wherein the content of the primary and secondary channels is assigned with relative values and content is selected for inclusion in the output template based at least in part on the relative value assigned.

53. The computer program product of claim 50, wherein the event rules define an agenda and content from the primary and secondary channels is incorporated into the output product at least in part on the basis of the event agenda.

54. The computer program product of claim 50, wherein the secondary channels comprise at least one of experiential and individual content.

55. The computer program product of claim 50 further comprising the step of receiving a signal from a user indicating that the value of a particular segment of content is to be increased.

56. The computer program product of claim 50 further comprising the step of receiving a signal from a user indicating that the value of a particular segment of content is to be decreased.

57. The computer program product of claim 55, wherein the indicated segment is automatically incorporated into any output product formed from the supply of content.

58. A system for processing a supply of content comprising:

an input adapted to receive the supply of content and to provide this content to a processor; and

wherein the processor is adapted to determine an event profile with the processor further being adapted to organize the content based upon the event profile.

59. The system of claim 58 wherein the event profile defines an event agenda comprised of a set of event items and the processor is adapted to organize by determining which portions of the event content are associated with each event item.

60. The system of claim 58 wherein the processor is adapted to segment the content based upon content analysis rules associated with the event.

61. The system of claim 58, wherein the processor is further adapted to obtain rules for analyzing the content associated with each event item and to use the rules to determine the relative value of each segment of content.

62. The system of claim 58 further comprising an input station, with said input station adapted to receive event profile information and with the processor adapted to determine the event profile based upon the event profile information.

63. The system of claim 58, further comprising a memory containing rules for analyzing the supply of content to determine an event profile and the processor determines the event profile by analyzing the supply of content using the rules.

64. A system for processing a supply of content comprising:

an input adapted to receive the supply of content and to provide this content to a processor;

an interface adapted to receive an event profile and a personal profile and,

a processor adapted to determine rules for organizing the content based upon the event and personal profiles and to organize the content in accordance with the determined rules.

65. The system of claim 64, wherein the personal profile defines an output product and the processor is adapted to assemble the organized content into the output product.

66. The system of claim 64, wherein the processor is further adapted to use the event profile and personal profile to determine rules for analyzing the value of content and to segment the content in accordance with the rules.

67. The system of claim 64 wherein the processor is further adapted to determine rules for assigning a value to each segment of content and to use the rules to assign a value to each segment of content.

68. The system of claim 67 wherein content is incorporated into the output product based at least in part on the value assigned to the content.

69. The system of claim 67, further comprising a controllable camera, wherein the personal profile defines rules for capturing content and wherein the processor causes the camera to operate to capture content having high value.

70. The system of claim 64 wherein the processor is adapted to receive a post event summary of the event and to organize the content based at least in part on the post event summary.