Information-processing apparatus, information-processing methods, and programs

• US 7,697,731 B2
• Filed: 06/29/2005
• Issued: 04/13/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 07/01/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Yamaguchi, Yoshihiro, Gotoh, Tomohiko, Takematsu, Katsuhiro, Kojima, Tamaki
• Primary Examiner(s): Mehta; Bhavesh M
• Assistant Examiner(s): Newman; Michael A
• Application Number:
  US11/170,327
• Publication Number:
  US 20060039586A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,749 Days
• Field of Search: 382/100, 382/115, 382/118, 382/190, 382/206, 382/229, 382/305, 707/4, 707/5, 707/6
• US Class Current: 382/115
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/48 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually

Abstract

The present invention provides an information-processing apparatus including detection means, recognition means, and meta-information generation means. The detection means detects conditions surrounding the user and generates sensing data revealing the conditions surrounding the user. The recognition means recognizes the conditions surrounding the user on the basis of the sensing data. The meta-information generation means generates meta information in the form of structured information to be used for detecting a change in the conditions surrounding the user on the basis of one or more pieces of the sensing data and recognition information showing a recognition result produced by the condition recognition means.

Claims

1. An information-processing apparatus, comprising:

means for detecting current conditions surrounding the information-processing apparatus and for generating sensing data revealing said current conditions;

means for recognizing said current conditions based on said sensing data and for producing recognition information showing a recognition result;

means for generating meta information based on said sensing data and said recognition information, the meta information including certainty-factor information showing a degree of certainty of said recognition information;

means for storing temporarily content data as data corresponding to said sensing data and as data representing said current conditions;

means for producing a result of determination indicating whether said current conditions have changed, based on said certainty-factor information;

means for recording a content file for displaying or reproducing at least one of a still image, a moving image, and an audio signal, each of which records said current conditions, based on said content data when said result of said determination indicates a change in said current conditions; and

search means for searching for a content file based on said recognition information, upon the result of determination indicating that said current conditions have changed.

2. The information-processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

means for associating the recorded content file with the meta information.

3. The information-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said means for generating generates the meta information as structured information.

4. The information-processing apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising:

means for computing a weight of said recognition information, the weight of said recognition information representing a priority level of said recognition information based on said certainty-factor information, wherein

the search means carries out a weighted search for searching for the searched content file, which records past conditions surrounding the information-processing apparatus as conditions similar to said current conditions, the weighted search being based on said recognition information and the weight of said recognition information, and

said means for generating generates the meta information, which includes said recognition information.

5. The information-processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein

said means for producing produces said result of said determination by comparing a first recognition information included in a first meta information with a second recognition information included in a second meta information generated right before said first meta information and using a change of said first recognition information included in said first meta information as a basis of said determination;

and

said means for computing computes the weight, based on said certainty-factor information and a magnitude of said change of said first recognition information.

6. The information-processing apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising:

means for displaying a still image or a moving image based on the searched content file, wherein said search means searches for another content file having meta information similar to meta information of the searched content file, when the displayed still or moving image is selected.

7. The information-processing apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising:

means for displaying a still image or a moving image based on the searched content file in an order predetermined based on a weight of the recorded content file, wherein

said search means computes said weight of the searched content file, said weight of the searched content file representing a priority level of the searched content file based on a search result.

10. The information-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said means for producing produces said result of said determination by comparing a first recognition information included in a first meta information with a second recognition information included in a second meta information generated right before said first meta information.

12. The information-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the means for recording records the content file, a content of the content file being locally generated from the content data.

13. The information-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the means for recording records the content file only when said result of said determination indicates the change in said current conditions.

14. The information-processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

means for computing a weight of said recognition information, the weight of said recognition information representing a priority level of said recognition information based on said certainty-factor information and a magnitude of a change in said recognition information.

17. The information-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the means for producing indicates that said current conditions have changed when said certainty-factor information exceeds a predetermined value.

18. The information-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recognition result indicates one of a person, a location, a spoken word, and a time.

8. An information-processing method, comprising:

detecting conditions surrounding an apparatus and controlling generation of sensing data revealing the detected conditions;

recognizing the detected conditions based on said sensing data, and producing recognition information showing a recognition result;

generating meta information based on said sensing data and said recognition information, the meta information including certainty-factor information showing a degree of certainty of said recognition information;

storing content data temporarily, as data corresponding to said sensing data and as data representing the detected conditions;

producing a result of determination indicating whether the detected conditions have changed based on said certainty-factor information;

recording a content file for displaying or reproducing at least one of a still image, a moving image, and an audio signal, each of which records the detected conditions, based on said content data when said result of said determination indicates a change in the detected conditions; and

searching for a content file based on said recognition information upon the result of determination indicating that said current conditions have changed.

15. The information-processing method according to claim 8, further comprising:

computing a weight of said recognition information, the weight of said recognition information representing a priority level of said recognition information based on said certainty-factor information and a magnitude of a change in said recognition information.

9. A computer-readable medium storing computer executable instructions, wherein the instructions, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method, comprising:

detecting conditions surrounding an apparatus and controlling generation of sensing data revealing the detected conditions;

recognizing the detected conditions based on said sensing data, and producing recognition information showing a recognition result;

generating meta information based on said sensing data and said recognition information, the meta information including certainty-factor information showing a degree of certainty of said recognition information;

storing content data temporarily, as data corresponding to said sensing data and as data representing the detected conditions;

producing a result of determination indicating whether the detected conditions have changed based on said certainty-factor information;

recording a content file for displaying or reproducing at least one of a still image, a moving image, and an audio signal, each of which records the detected conditions, based on said content data when said result of said determination indicates a change in the detected conditions; and

searching for a content file based on said recognition information upon the result of determination indicating that said current conditions have changed.

16. The computer-readable medium according to claim 9, wherein the method further comprises:

computing a weight of said recognition information, the weight of said recognition information representing a priority level of said recognition information based on said certainty-factor information and a magnitude of a change in said recognition information.

11. An information-processing apparatus, comprising:

a detection unit configured to detect conditions surrounding a user and to generate sensing data revealing said conditions surrounding said user;

a recognition unit configured to recognize said conditions surrounding said user based on said sensing data and to produce recognition information showing a recognition result;

a meta-information generation unit configured to generate meta information for detecting a change in said conditions surrounding said user, the meta information being based on said sensing data and said recognition information; and

a weight computation unit configured to compute a weight representing a priority level of said recognition information, based on certainty-factor information and a magnitude of a change in said recognition information.