Methods and apparatus for interactive network sharing of digital video content

• US 8,307,273 B2
• Filed: 12/30/2002
• Issued: 11/06/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/30/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University (Stanford University)
• Original Assignee: Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University (Stanford University)
• Inventors: Pea, Roy D., Mills, Michael I., Hoffert, Eric, Rosen, Joseph H., Dauber, Kenneth
• Primary Examiner(s): Hong, Stephen
• Assistant Examiner(s): Vaughn, Gregory J
• Application Number:
  US10/331,775
• Publication Number:
  US 20040125133A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,599 Days
• Field of Search: 715/500, 715/500.1, 715/501.1, 715/512, 715/515, 715/526, 715/530, 715/200, 715/201, 715/205, 715/208, 715/209, 715/230, 715/255, 715/273
• US Class Current: 715/201
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/40 of multimedia data, e.g. slideshows comprising image and additional audio data retrieval of still image data G06F16/50; retrieval of audio data G06F16/60; retrieval of video data G06F16/70
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/748 Hypervideo linking data to content, e.g. by linking an URL to a video object in the context of video distribution systems H04N21/858
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/94 Hypermedia Hyperlinking G06F40/134
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9558 Details of hyperlinks; Management of linked annotations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 5/06 with both visual and audible presentation of the material to be studied
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/034 on discs G11B27/036, G11B27/038 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/34 Indicating arrangements indicating means incorporated in magazine or cassette G11B23/046 and G11B23/0875; indicating measured values in general G01D
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47205 for manipulating displayed content, e.g. interacting with MPEG-4 objects, editing locally
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4788 communicating with other users, e.g. chatting arrangements for providing for computer conferences, e.g. chat rooms, to substation in data switching networks H04L12/1813; distributed application using peer-to-peer [P2P] networks H04L67/104
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8133 specifically related to the content, e.g. biography of the actors in a movie, detailed information about an article seen in a video program
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8456 by decomposing the content in the time domain, e.g. in time segments

Abstract

The present invention provides electronic methods and apparatus for interactively authoring, sharing and analyzing digital video content. Methods for authoring include displaying visual data, defining each traversal as a time-based sequence of frames and annotating and storing a record of the traversal and its associated audio records. Defining the traversal includes interactively panning the visual data by positioning an overlay window relative to the visual data and zooming in or out by resizing the overlay window. In alternative embodiments, the visual data may be displayed in a rectangular layout or a cylindrical layout. The methods are practiced using an integrated graphical interface, including an overview region displaying the visual data, a detail region displaying current data within the overlay window, and a worksheet region displaying a list of previously stored annotated traversal records. In a further aspect, the worksheet region list of annotated traversal records is published in a web document accessible via network using a standard HTML browser, and further annotations may be added by a community of network users. Analytical methods are also provided in which data markers corresponding to traversal records are plotted against an interactive abstract map enabling users to shift between levels of abstraction in exploring the video record.

Claims

1. An interactive, electronic method of sharing user perspectives on visual data comprising a plurality of image frames, the method comprising:

publishing a web page comprising a listing of one or more traversal records, each of the one or more traversal records comprising a time-based perspective of an authoring user on the visual data, each perspective being a spatial subset of the visual data such that each of the one or more traversal records comprises a set of cropped space and time selections from said visual data, wherein said cropped space comprises, for at least one of said plurality of image frames, a portion of said visual data residing within less than an entirety of said at least one of said plurality of image frames, wherein said one or more traversal records are available for viewing by a viewing user different from said authoring user via said web page, and wherein said web page includes an interactive abstract map in which said one or more traversal records are plotted using one or more data markers; and

playing back, for said viewing user, a selected one of the one or more traversal records in response to the viewing user browsing the interactive abstract map and interactively selecting one of said one or more data markers corresponding to said selected one of the one or more traversal records.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the web page includes a region for displaying a currently selected one of the one or more traversal records.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein each of one or more annotations associated with said one or more traversal records is visually coded to indicate an author.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more traversal records includes at least one compound traversal record specifying a combination of a corresponding plurality of the one or more traversal records, and wherein playing back further comprises adjacently playing back the contents of the corresponding plurality of the one or more traversal records.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein adjacently playing back comprises playing back the corresponding plurality of the one or more traversal records side-by-side.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein adjacently playing back comprises playing back the corresponding plurality of the one or more traversal records in window-within-window format.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising publishing an index of one or more annotations associated with said one or more traversal records.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein said index is searchable using a web browser, and wherein said index enables access, for each of said one or more annotations, to a web page listing those of the one or more traversal records associated with the one or more annotations.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein playing back comprises streaming video for the selected one of the one or more traversal records via a network to the viewing user.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein streaming comprises adapting a resolution of said video based upon one or more adaptation factors selected from:

network bandwidth, CPU capabilities, repealed user interaction, or foveal point.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein playing back comprises delivering video data for the selected one of said one or more traversal records to the user from one or more caching devices deployed on a network connecting the viewing user and the web page.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the one or more traversal records includes spatial audio data, the spatial audio data reflecting one or more sounds that are audible within a discrete sound zone associated with the cropped space.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein said interactive abstract map represents an outline of a scene of the visual data, and each of said one or more data markers is plotted within said outline based upon a spatial location in said scene that is captured in a corresponding one of the one or more traversal records.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising, subsequent to said publishing but prior to said playing back:

receiving from said viewing user a selection of a spatial area within said outline; and

displaying, in response to said selection, a list of said one or more traversal records that correspond to those of said one or more data markers that are located within said spatial area.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein each of said one or more data markers comprises a traversal thumbnail image.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein said interactive abstract map comprises a graph having axes that measure one or more annotation data values specified for the one or more traversal records, and each of said one or more data markers is plotted on said graph based on those of the one or more annotation data values that are specified for a corresponding one of the one or more traversal records.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein each of said one or more data markers comprises a classification code dot.

18. An interactive, electronic apparatus of sharing user perspectives on visual data, the apparatus comprising:

means for publishing a web page comprising a listing of one or more traversal records, each of the one or more traversal records comprising a time-based perspective of an authoring user on the visual data, each perspective being a spatial subset of the visual data such that each of the one or more traversal records comprises a set of cropped space and time selections from said visual data, wherein said cropped space comprises, for at least one of said plurality of image frames, a portion of said visual data residing within less than an entirety of said at least one of said plurality of image frames, wherein said one or more traversal records are available for viewing by a viewing user different from said authoring user via said web page, and wherein said web page includes an interactive abstract map in which said one or more traversal records are plotted using one or more data markers; and

means for playing back, for said viewing user, a selected one of the one or more traversal records in response to the viewing user browsing the interactive abstract map and interactively selecting one of said one or more data markers corresponding to said selected one of the one or more traversal records.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the web page includes a region for displaying a currently selected one of the one or more traversal records.

20. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein each of one or more annotations associated with said one or more traversal records is visually coded to indicate an author.

21. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the one or more traversal records includes at least one compound traversal record specifying a combination of a corresponding plurality of the one or more traversal records, and wherein playing back further comprises adjacently playing back the contents of the corresponding plurality of the one or more traversal records.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein said means for adjacently playing back comprises means for playing back the corresponding plurality of the one or more traversal records side-by-side.

23. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein said means for adjacently playing back comprises means for playing back the corresponding plurality of the one or more traversal records in window-within-window format.

24. The apparatus of claim 18, further comprising means for publishing an index of said one or more annotations associated with said one or more traversal records.

25. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein said index is searchable using a web browser, and wherein said index enables access, for each of said one or more annotations, to a web page listing those of the one or more traversal records associated with the one or more annotations.

26. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein said means for playing back comprises means for streaming video for the selected one of the one or more traversal records via a network to the viewing user.

27. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein said means for streaming comprises means for adapting a resolution of said video based upon one or more adaptation factors selected from:

network bandwidth, CPU capabilities, repealed user interaction, or foveal point.

28. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein said means for playing back comprises means for delivering video data for the selected one of said one or more traversal records to the viewing user from one or more caching devices deployed on a network connecting the user and the web page.