System for and method of generating image annotation information

• US 7,234,106 B2
• Filed: 09/10/2002
• Issued: 06/19/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 09/10/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ASML Netherlands BV (ASML Holding NV), Carl Zeiss AG (Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung), Tarsium B.V.
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Simske, Steven J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hong; Stephen
• Assistant Examiner(s): Stork; Kyle R.
• Application Number:
  US10/238,126
• Publication Number:
  US 20040049734A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,743 Days
• Field of Search: 715/500, 715/512, 715/513, 715/517, 715/523, 715/530, 345/634
• US Class Current: 715/230
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/58 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 19/00 Manipulating 3D models or images for computer graphics
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2219/004 Annotating, labelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/00 Image analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/413 Classification of content, e.g. text, photographs or tables

Abstract

The present invention is directed to a system for and method of generating image annotation information comprising selecting images to be annotated, analyzing said selected images to identify associated information, generating annotation information from at least one of said selected images using said associated information, and annotating said selected images with the annotation information.

Claims

1. A method of generating image annotation information comprising:

selecting images to be annotated;

analyzing said selected images to identify associated information;

generating annotation information from at least one of said selected images using said associated information; and

annotating said selected images with the annotation information.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said analyzing said selected images further comprises

identifying associated information that is text.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein said analyzing said selected images further comprises:

identifying associated information that is metadata.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein said generating annotation information further comprises

generating waypoint information using associated location information.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein said generating annotation information further comprises:

locating textual information and analyzing textual information; and

analyzing textual information.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein said locating textual information further comprises:

performing zoning analysis on said selected images.

7. The method of claim 5 wherein said analyzing textual information further comprises:

performing parts-of-speech analysis on said textual information.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein said analyzing textual information further comprises:

matching textual information to a database.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein said analyzing textual information further comprises:

matching textual information to a database containing relevant text, terms, or expressions.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

generating waypoint annotation information.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein said selecting images further comprises:

converting images.

12. A system for generating annotated images comprising:

means for selecting images to be annotated;

means for analyzing said selected images to identify associated information;

means for generating annotation information for at least one selected image using said associated information;

means for matching generated annotation information with selected images; and

means for annotating images with generated annotation information.

13. The system of claim 12 wherein said means for generating annotation information comprises:

means for generating region information.

14. The system of claim 12 wherein said means for analyzing said selected images further comprises:

means for recognizing text information; and

means for analyzing text information.

15. The system of claim 14 wherein said means for analyzing text information comprises:

means for parts-of-speech analysis.

16. The system of claim 12 wherein said means for selecting images to be annotated further comprises:

means for converting images.

17. Computer-executable software code stored on a computer-readable medium, said computer-executable software code comprising:

code for selecting images to be annotated;

code for identifying associated information in at least one selected image;

code for generating annotation information using said associated information;

code for matching annotation information with images to be annotated from the selected images; and

code for annotating the matched images.

18. The computer-executable software code of claim 17 further comprising:

code for generating images.

19. The computer-executable software code of claim 17 further comprising:

code for sending and receiving images and annotated images over a network.

20. The computer-executable software code of claim 17 wherein said code for generating annotation information uses parts-of-speech analysis.