Associating objects with corresponding behaviors

• US 8,230,337 B2
• Filed: 10/17/2007
• Issued: 07/24/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 10/17/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Digimarc Corporation
• Original Assignee: Digimarc Corporation
• Inventors: Rhoads, Geoffrey B., Rodriguez, Tony F., McKinley, Tyler J., Miller, Marc D., Hierholzer, Kirstin
• Primary Examiner(s): Bashore, William
• Assistant Examiner(s): TANK, ANDREW L
• Application Number:
  US11/874,054
• Publication Number:
  US 20080133555A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,742 Days
• Field of Search: 715730-732, 715/764, 715/201, 715/234, 715/704, 715/716, 715744-747, 382/100, 709/231, 725/43, 707/805, 358/3.28, 283/113
• US Class Current: 715/704
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/41 Indexing; Data structures therefor; Storage structures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/955 using information identifiers, e.g. uniform resource locators [URL]
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 1/0021 Image watermarking
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00962 Input arrangements for operating instructions or parameters, e.g. updating internal software program loading in general G06F9/445; network-specific protocols involving the movement of software or configuration parameters H04L67/34
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32144 embedded in the image data, i.e. enclosed or integrated in the image, e.g. watermark, super-imposed logo or stamp
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3249 data relating to a linked page or object, e.g. hyperlink

Abstract

Methods and systems for associating objects with corresponding machine behaviors. Machine behaviors refer to responsive actions that are triggered when an object (which may be physical or electronic) is encountered. Examples of these behaviors include fetching a web page, executing software instructions, etc. A registration system enables machine behaviors to be associated with objects through use of object identifiers. For an electronic object such as an audio or video signal, the identifier can comprise a steganographic in-band watermark, a numeric ID or song/artist name field in a in a file header; a 128-bit hash value obtained by applying a hashing algorithm to the content data, the file header data, a portion thereof, etc. The disclosure particularly focuses on an embodiment utilizing stickers as objects, and watermarks as identifiers, but the technology can be implemented in many other, different, forms.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a registration system configured to;

receive a registration identifier;

determine a plurality of watermark identifiers associated with the registration identifier, wherein each watermark identifier is associated with an audio or video object, and wherein the registration identifier is extracted from audible portions of the audio object or visible portions of the video object; and

receive one of the plurality of watermark identifiers and behavior information; and

a database, in communication with the registration system, configured to;

receive the one of the plurality of watermark identifiers and the behavior information from the registration system;

associate the behavior information with the one of the plurality of watermark identifiers;

receive a watermark identifier from a remote computer;

identify behavior information associated with the received watermark identifier, wherein the received watermark identifier corresponds to the audio or video object, and wherein the received watermark identifier is extracted from audible portions of the audio object or from visible portions of the video object; and

trigger the identified behavior.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising a processing system configured to extract the watermark identifier from audible portions of an audio object or from visible portions of a video object.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the processing system is further configured to submit the watermark identifier to the registration system.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein extracting the watermark identifier comprises using a watermark decoding algorithm.

5. The system of claim 2, wherein extracting the watermark identifier comprises using a hashing algorithm.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the registration system comprises a registration loader configured to scan the received information for errors, and reports back to a submitter of the information about errors that were detected.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the registration system comprises a registration loader configured to transfer the received information to the database, and communicate registration of the information to a submitter thereof.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the registration system is configured to receive the behavioral information in XML form.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the registration system comprises a network interface by which it receives the behavioral information.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the behavioral information comprises software instructions to execute when the audio or video object is encountered.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the behavioral information comprises instructions to present a web page to a user when the audio or video object is encountered.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein an address of the registration system is encoded in audible portions of the audio object or visible portions of the video object.

13. A method comprising:

receiving a registration identifier;

determining a plurality of watermark identifiers associated with the registration identifier, wherein each watermark identifier is associated with an audio or video object, and wherein the registration identifier is extracted from audible portions of the audio object or visible portions of the video object; and

receiving one of the plurality of watermark identifiers and behavior information, wherein the one of the plurality of watermark identifiers is extracted from audible portions of the audio object or visible portions of the video object; and

storing the one of the plurality of watermark identifiers in association with behavior information in a database.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein extracting the one of the plurality of watermark identifiers comprises applying a watermark decoding algorithm to the audio or video object.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein extracting the one of the plurality of watermark identifiers comprises applying a hashing algorithm to the audio or video object.

16. The method of claim 13, further comprising receiving one or more items of pertinent information related to the behavioral information.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising machine-formulating a description of the behavior for entry into the database, based on the behavioral information and the provided items of pertinent information, and storing the machine-formulated description in the database.

18. A method comprising:

providing a collection of audio or video objects based upon a registration identifier, wherein each of the audio or video objects comprises a watermark identifier, wherein the registration identifier is associated with each watermark identifier, wherein the registration identifier is extracted from audible portions of the audio object or visible portions of the video object, and wherein the watermark identifier is encoded in audible portions of the audio object or visible portions of the video object;

controlling the presentation of a graphical user interface that provides a representation of one of the objects, together with a selection of behaviors with which the represented object can be associated;

receiving a user selection of a behavior to be associated with the represented object;

receiving a signal indicating satisfaction with the user selection;

outputting data corresponding to the object and the selected behavior to a data structure, wherein the data comprises the watermark identifier associated with the represented object; and

submitting the data structure to a database that can be consulted to trigger object-specific actions when particular audio or video objects are encountered.

19. A tangible computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructions comprising:

instructions to receive a registration identifier;

instructions to determine a plurality of watermark identifiers associated with the registration identifier, wherein each watermark identifier is associated with an audio or video object, and wherein the registration identifier is extracted from audible portions of the audio object or visible portions of the video object; and

instructions to process a received one of the plurality of watermark identifiers and received behavior information, wherein the one of the plurality of watermark identifiers is extracted from audible portions of the audio object or visible portions of the video object; and

instructions to store the one of the plurality of watermark identifiers in association with behavior information in a database.