System and method for applying a database to video multimedia

• US 8,171,509 B1
• Filed: 06/18/2004
• Issued: 05/01/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 04/07/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: VL Collective IP, LLC (VideoLabs, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Virage, Inc. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Girouard, David, Horowitz, Bradley, Humphrey, Richard, Fuller, Charles
• Primary Examiner(s): Kincaid, Kristine
• Assistant Examiner(s): Parra, Omar S
• Application Number:
  US10/872,191
• Time in Patent Office: 2,874 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 725/32
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0241 Advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0251 Targeted advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0255 based on user history
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0269 based on user profile or attribute
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4532 involving end-user characteristics, e.g. viewer profile, preferences monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/466 Learning process for intelligent management, e.g. learning user preferences for recommending movies services using the results of monitoring in broadcast systems H04H60/61
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47815 Electronic shopping payment schemes, payment architectures or payment protocols for electronic shopping systems G06Q20/12
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/84 Generation or processing of descriptive data, e.g. content descriptors systems specially adapted for using meta-information in broadcast systems H04H60/73

Abstract

A system and method for applying a database to video multimedia is disclosed. One embodiment provides media content owners the capability to exploit video processing capabilities using rich, interactive and compelling visual content on a network. Mechanisms of associating video with commerce offerings are provided. Video server and search server technologies are integrated with ad serving personalization agents to make the final presentations of content and advertising. Algorithms utilized by the system use a variety of techniques for making the final presentation decisions of which ads, with which content, served to which user.

Claims

1. A method of applying a database to video multimedia, comprising:

indexing video content;

storing the indexed data in an index database, wherein at least a portion of the indexed data is associated with a plurality of feature types and wherein the data of one of the feature types has a time span that is different than the data of another feature type;

encoding the video content concurrent with the indexing of the video content, wherein the index database does not contain the encoded video content;

associating a plurality of tags with the video content on a time-code basis via the database, wherein at least one of the tags is valid for a certain span of time within the video; and

algorithmically selecting an advertisement or ecommerce opportunity based on a feature of the video content.

2. The method of claim 1, additionally comprising making associations between the video content and at least one of ad banners, product offerings, and service offerings so that such items are synchronized via the tags.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the method is directed to an interactive buyers'"'"' guide where a consumer can selectively preview actual segments and editorial reviews of popular video games online before purchase.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the method is integrated with television broadcasts.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising collecting, with a personalization agent, a user profile describing the content that is most of interest to the user.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the personalization agent has the ability to learn the user profile by monitoring the usage patterns of the user.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the user profile is combined with the content-based tags so as to make highly-targeted associations between at least one of ads, products, services, and the person viewing the video content.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein the collecting comprises user selected weighting of user profile items.

9. The method of claim 5, additionally comprising algorithmically selecting a single index feature from a plurality of features in the user profile.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the algorithmic selecting of the single index feature utilizes one of cyclic, least-recently used, or random selection.

11. The method of claim 9, additionally comprising algorithmically selecting an advertisement or ecommerce opportunity based on the selection of the single index feature.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the algorithmic selecting of the advertisement or ecommerce opportunity utilizes at least one of heuristics, fuzzy logic or hidden Markov models.

13. The method of claim 1, additionally comprising performing an ecommerce transaction based on a user selection.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the encoding of the video content is performed in parallel with the indexing of the video content.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the video content comprises analog video content.

16. A method of applying a database to video multimedia, comprising:

indexing video content;

storing a plurality of indices, that result from the indexing, in an index database;

encoding the video content concurrent with the indexing of the video content, wherein the index database does not contain the encoded video content;

associating a plurality of tags with the video content on a time-code basis via the database;

collecting, with a personalization agent, a user profile describing the content that is most of interest to the user;

algorithmically selecting a single index feature from a plurality of features in the user profile; and

algorithmically selecting an advertisement or ecommerce opportunity associated with the selected single index feature.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the personalization agent has the ability to learn the user profile by monitoring the usage patterns of the user.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the user profile is combined with the content-based tags so as to make highly-targeted associations between at least one of ads, products, services, and the person viewing the video content.

19. The method of claim 16, additionally comprising making associations between the video content and at least one of ad banners, product offerings, and service offerings so that such items are synchronized via the tags.

20. The method of claim 16, wherein at least one of the tags is valid for a certain span of time within the video.

21. The method of claim 16, wherein the method is directed to an interactive buyers'"'"' guide where a consumer can selectively preview actual segments and editorial reviews of popular video games online before purchase.

22. The method of claim 16, wherein the method is integrated with television broadcasts.

23. The method of claim 16, wherein the algorithmic selecting of the advertisement or ecommerce opportunity utilizes at least one of heuristics, fuzzy logic or hidden Markov models.

24. The method of claim 16, wherein the collecting comprises user selected weighting of user profile items.

25. The method of claim 16, additionally comprising performing an ecommerce transaction based on a user selection.

26. The method of claim 16, wherein each stored index is associated with one of a plurality of different feature types and at least a portion of the stored indices are associated with different ones of the feature types.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein index data associated with one of the feature types has a time span that is different than index data associated with another feature type.

28. The method of claim 16, wherein the encoding of the video content is performed in parallel with the indexing of the video content.

29. The method of claim 16, wherein the selected advertisement or ecommerce opportunity is configured for display concurrently with the viewing of the playing video content.

30. The method of claim 16, wherein the video content comprises analog video content.

31. A method of applying a database to video multimedia, comprising:

indexing video content;

storing a plurality of indices, that result from the indexing, in an index database, wherein each stored index is associated with one of a plurality of different feature types and at least a portion of the stored indices are associated with different ones of the feature types;

encoding the video content concurrent with the indexing of the video content, wherein the index database does not contain the encoded video content;

associating a plurality of tags with the video content on a time-code basis via the database;

making associations between the video content and at least one of ad banners, product offerings, and service offerings so that such items are synchronized via the tags; and

algorithmically selecting an advertisement or ecommerce opportunity based on a feature of the video content.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein at least one of the tags is valid for a certain span of time within the video.

33. The method of claim 31, further comprising collecting, with a personalization agent, a user profile describing the content that is most of interest to the user.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein the personalization agent has the ability to learn the user profile by monitoring the usage patterns of the user.

35. The method of claim 33, wherein the user profile is combined with the content-based tags so as to make highly-targeted associations between at least one of ads, products, services, and the person viewing the video content.

36. The method of claim 33, wherein the collecting comprises user selected weighting of user profile items.

37. The method of claim 33, additionally comprising algorithmically selecting an advertisement or ecommerce opportunity based on a selection of a single index feature from a plurality of features in the user profile.

38. The method of claim 31, wherein the method is directed to an interactive buyers'"'"' guide where a consumer can selectively preview actual segments and editorial reviews of popular video games online before purchase.

39. The method of claim 31, wherein the method is integrated with television broadcasts.

40. The method of claim 31, wherein index data associated with one of the feature types has a time span that is different than index data associated with another feature type.

41. The method of claim 31, wherein the different feature types include keyframes, categories, and keywords.

42. The method of claim 31, additionally comprising performing an ecommerce transaction based on a user selection.

43. The method of claim 31, wherein the encoding of the video content is performed in parallel with the indexing of the video content.

44. The method of claim 31, wherein the video content comprises analog video content.