METHOD FOR EXTRACTING ATTRIBUTE DATA FROM A MEDIA FILE

• US 20090240653A1
• Filed: 03/21/2008
• Published: 09/24/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 03/21/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Trimble Navigation Limited (Trimble Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Trimble Navigation Limited (Trimble Inc.)
• Inventors: KISTLER, Peter Cornelius
• Granted Patent: US 8,898,179 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 15/00 Surveying instruments or accessories not provided for in groups G01C1/00 - G01C13/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/169 Annotation, e.g. comment data or footnotes

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention recite a method for extracting attribute data from a media file. In one embodiment, an attribute of a geographic feature, which is described in at least one media file, is automatically identified. A configuration file is then accessed which defines how the attribute is to be displayed by an office application. The attribute is then displayed in a manner consistent with the configuration file.

Claims

1. A method for extracting attribute data from a media file, said method comprising:

automatically identifying an attribute of a geographic feature which is described in a media file;

accessing a configuration file which defines how said attribute is to be displayed by an office application; and

displaying said attribute in a manner consistent with said configuration file.

2. The method as recited in claim 1 further comprising:

accessing a digital image of said geographic feature; and

automatically determining at least one attribute of said geographic feature based upon an analysis of said digital image.

3. The method as recited in claim 2 further comprising:

receiving an indication of a feature type of said geographic feature; and

accessing a library in response to said indication, said library comprising at least one geographic feature file and comprising an identification of at least one attribute of said geographic feature which is to be evaluated.

4. The method as recited in claim 3 wherein said accessing said library further comprises:

accessing an optical characteristic of said geographic feature which is stored in said geographic feature file; and

using an optical recognition component configured to automatically determine said at least one attribute based upon a comparison of said digital image with said optical characteristic.

5. The method as recited in claim 4 further comprising:

configuring said at least one geographic feature file to be compliant with the Feature XML-based Languages (FXL) format.

6. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein said media file comprises an audio file selected from the group consisting of a verbal description of a geographic feature and a verbal description of an attribute of the geographic feature, said method further comprising:

using a voice recognition component configured to automatically access said verbal description and extract a description from said audio file comprising at least one of a description of said geographic feature and a description of said attribute.

7. The method as recited in claim 6 further comprising:

identifying said configuration file based upon said description.

8. The method as recited in claim 1 further comprising:

identifying a first attribute of said geographic feature from a first media file; and

identifying a second attribute of said geographic feature from a second media file.

9. A system for extracting attribute data from a media file, said system comprising:

a bus;

a memory communicatively coupled with said bus; and

a processor communicatively coupled with said bus, said processor configured for executing a method for extracting attribute data from a media file, said method comprising;

automatically identifying an attribute of a geographic feature which is described in a media file;

accessing a configuration file which defines how said attribute is to be displayed by an office application; and

displaying said attribute in a manner consistent with said configuration file.

10. The system as recited in claim 9 wherein said method further comprises:

accessing a digital image of said geographic feature; and

automatically determining at least one attribute of said geographic feature based upon an analysis of said digital image.

11. The system as recited in claim 10 wherein said method further comprises:

receiving an indication of a feature type of said geographic feature; and

accessing a library in response to said indication, said library comprising at least one geographic feature file and comprising an identification of at least one attribute of said geographic feature which is to be evaluated.

12. The system as recited in claim 11 wherein said accessing said library further comprises:

accessing an optical characteristic of said geographic feature which is stored in said geographic feature file; and

using an optical recognition component configured to automatically determine said at least one attribute based upon a comparison of said digital image with said optical characteristic.

13. The system as recited in claim 12 wherein said method further comprises:

configuring said at least one geographic feature file to be compliant with the Feature XML-based Languages (FXL) format.

14. The system as recited in claim 9 wherein said media file comprises an audio file selected from the group consisting of a verbal description of a geographic feature and a verbal description of an attribute of the geographic feature, and wherein said method further comprises:

using a voice recognition component configured to automatically access said verbal description and extract a description from said audio file comprising at least one of a description of said geographic feature and a description of said attribute.

15. The system as recited in claim 14 wherein said method further comprises:

identifying said configuration file based upon said description.

16. The system as recited in claim 9 wherein said method further comprises:

identifying a first attribute of said geographic feature from a first media file; and

identifying a second attribute of said geographic feature from a second media file.

17. Instructions on a computer-usable medium wherein the instructions when executed cause a computer system to perform a method extracting attribute data from a media file, said method comprising;

automatically identifying an attribute of a geographic feature which is described in a media file;

accessing a configuration file which defines how said attribute is to be displayed by an office application; and

displaying said attribute in a manner consistent with said configuration file.

18. The computer-usable medium as recited in claim 17 wherein said method further comprises:

accessing a digital image of said geographic feature; and

automatically determining at least one attribute of said geographic feature based upon an analysis of said digital image.

19. The computer-usable medium as recited in claim 18 wherein said method further comprises:

receiving an indication of a feature type of said geographic feature; and

accessing a library in response to said indication, said library comprising at least one geographic feature file and comprising an identification of at least one attribute of said geographic feature which is to be evaluated.

20. The computer-usable medium as recited in claim 19 wherein said accessing said library further comprises:

accessing an optical characteristic of said geographic feature which is stored in said geographic feature file; and

using an optical recognition component configured to automatically determine said at least one attribute based upon a comparison of said digital image with said optical characteristic.

21. The computer-usable medium as recited in claim 20 wherein said method further comprises:

configuring said at least one geographic feature file to be compliant with the Feature XML-based Languages (FXL) format.

22. The computer-usable medium as recited in claim 17 wherein said media file comprises an audio file selected from the group consisting of a verbal description of a geographic feature and a verbal description of an attribute of the geographic feature, and wherein said method further comprises:

using a voice recognition component configured to automatically access said verbal description and extract a description from said audio file comprising at least one of a description of said geographic feature and a description of said attribute.

23. The computer-usable medium as recited in claim 22 wherein said method further comprises:

identifying said configuration file based upon said description.

24. The computer-usable medium as recited in claim 17 wherein said method further comprises:

identifying a first attribute of said geographic feature from a first media file; and

identifying a second attribute of said geographic feature from a second media file.