Summarization of media object collections

• US 20070271297A1
• Filed: 05/19/2006
• Published: 11/22/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 05/19/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Yahoo! Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Davis, Marc E., Naaman, Mor, Jaffe, Alexander B.
• Granted Patent: US 9,507,778 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/29 Geographical information databases
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/438 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/447 Temporal browsing, e.g. timeline
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/487 using geographical or spatial information, e.g. location
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 18/231 Hierarchical techniques, i.e. dividing or merging pattern sets so as to obtain a dendrogram
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/7625 Hierarchical techniques, i.e. dividing or merging patterns to obtain a tree-like representation; Dendograms
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/10 Terrestrial scenes scenes under surveillance with static cameras G06V20/52; scenes perceived from the exterior of a vehicle G06V20/56; scenes perceived from the interior of a vehicle G06V20/59
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/105 of operating discs

Abstract

In one example, an apparatus and method are provided for summarizing (or selecting a representative subset from) a collection of media objects. A method includes selecting a subset of media objects from a collection of geographically-referenced (e.g., via GPS coordinates) media objects based on a pattern of the media objects within a spatial region. The media objects may further be selected based on (or be biased by) various social aspects, temporal aspects, spatial aspects, or combinations thereof relating to the media objects and/or a user. Another method includes clustering a collection of media objects in a cluster structure having a plurality of subclusters, ranking the media objects of the plurality of subclusters, and selection logic for selecting a subset of the media objects based on the ranking of the media objects.

Claims

1. An apparatus for selecting a representative subset from a collection of geographically referenced media objects, the apparatus comprising:

selection logic for selecting a subset of media objects from a collection of geographically referenced media objects based on a pattern of the media objects within a spatial region.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the pattern relates to a density of the media objects within the spatial region.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, the selection logic further for selecting the subset based upon an identity of a user and a characteristic associated with the user.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the characteristic comprises a social aspect related to the user.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, the selection logic further for selecting the subset based upon a temporal aspect of the media objects,

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the temporal aspect relates to recency of the media objects.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, the selection logic further for selecting the subset based on a visual feature of the media objects.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, the selection logic further for selecting the subset based on text associated with the media objects.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, the selection logic further for selecting the subset based on data associated with the media objects.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the data comprises a user generated tag.

11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the selection logic selects the subset in response to a search query, the search query on an object having a spatial aspect.

12. An apparatus for summarizing a collection of media objects, the apparatus comprising:

clustering logic for clustering a collection of media objects in a cluster structure having a plurality of subclusters;

ranking logic for ranking the media objects of the plurality of subclusters; and

selection logic for selecting a subset of the media objects based on the ranking of the media objects.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the media objects are clustered based on geographical data associated with each of the media objects.

14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the selected media objects each have a geographical reference associated therewith, the apparatus further comprising logic for displaying the media objects with a map according to the geographical references.

15. The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising logic for scoring each subcluster according to at least one metadata attribute of the media objects.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the at least one metadata attribute comprises at least one of the group consisting of:

bias, tag-distinguishability, photographer-distinguishability, density, and the sum of image qualities of the cluster.

17. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the at least one metadata attribute comprises at least one bias factor, the apparatus further comprising logic for receiving input from a user, the input determining the at least one bias factor.

18. The apparatus of claim 12, the selection logic further selecting the subset of the media objects based on a zoom level.

19. The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising display logic for displaying tags with a map, wherein the tags are displayed according to associated geographically references.

20. A method for summarizing a collection of geographically referenced media objects associated with a spatial region, the method comprising:

selecting a subset of media objects from the collection of geographically referenced media objects based on a pattern of the media objects within the spatial region.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the pattern relates to a density of the media objects within the spatial region.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein selecting the subset is further based upon a user identity and a characteristic associated with the user.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the characteristic comprises a social aspect related to the user.

24. The method of claim 20, wherein selecting the subset is further based upon a temporal aspect of the media objects.

25. The method of claim 20, wherein selecting the subset is further based on a visual feature of the media objects.

26. The method of claim 20, wherein selecting the subset is further based on text associated with the media objects.

27. The method of claim 20, wherein selecting the subset is further based on data associated with the media objects.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the data comprises a user generated tag.

29. The method of claim 20, wherein the subset is selected in response to a search query, the search query on an object having a spatial aspect.

30. A method for summarizing a collection of media objects, the method comprising:

clustering a plurality of media objects according to a cluster structure, the cluster structure having a plurality of subclusters;

ranking the media objects of the plurality of subclusters; and

selecting a subset of the media objects based on the ranking of the media objects.

31. The method of claim 30, further comprising clustering the media objects based on geographical data associated with the media objects.

32. The method of claim 30, wherein the displayed media objects have a geographical reference associated therewith, the method further comprising displaying the subset of the media objects with a map according to the geographical references.

33. The method of claim 30, further comprising scoring each subcluster according to at least one metadata attribute of the subclusters.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein the at least one metadata attribute comprises at least one of the group consisting of:

bias, tag-distinguishability, photographer-distinguishability, density, and the sum of image qualities of the cluster.

35. The method of claim 30, wherein selecting the subset of the media objects is based on a zoom level.

36. The method of claim 30, further comprising displaying tags with a map based, wherein the tags are displayed according to associated geographical references.

37. A computer program product comprising computer-executable program code for summarizing a collection of media objects, the product comprising program code for:

selecting a subset of media objects from a collection of geographically referenced media objects based on a pattern of the media objects within a spatial region.

38. The computer program product of claim 37, wherein the pattern relates to a density of the media objects within the spatial region.

39. The computer program product of claim 37, wherein selecting the subset is further based upon a social aspect relating to the user.

40. The computer program product of claim 37, wherein selecting the subset is further based upon a temporal aspect of the media objects.

41. The computer program product of claim 37, wherein selecting the subset is further based on a visual feature of the media objects.

42. The computer program product of claim 37, wherein selecting the subset is further based on data associated with the media objects.

43. The computer program product of claim 42, wherein the data comprises a user generated tag.

44. The computer program product of claim 37, wherein the subset is selected in response to a search query, the search query on an object having a spatial aspect.

45. A computer program product comprising computer-executable program code for summarizing a collection of media objects, the product comprising program code for:

clustering a plurality of media objects according to a cluster structure, the cluster structure having a plurality of subclusters;

ranking the media objects of the plurality of subclusters; and

selecting a subset of the media objects based on the ranking of the media objects.

46. The computer program product of claim 45, further comprising program code for clustering the media objects based on geographical locations associated with the media objects.

47. The computer program product of claim 45, wherein the displayed media objects have a geographical reference associated therewith, the program code further for displaying the subset of the media objects with a map according to the geographic references.

48. The computer program product of claim 45, further comprising program code for scoring each subcluster according to at least one metadata attribute of the subclusters.

49. The computer program product of claim 48, wherein the at least one metadata attribute comprises at least one of the group consisting of:

bias, tag-distinguishability, photographer-distinguishability, density, and the sum of image qualities of the cluster.

50. The computer program product of claim 45, wherein selecting the subset of the media objects is based on a zoom level.

51. The computer program product of claim 45, further comprising program code for displaying tags with a map based on the selected subset.