Search engine and method for image searching
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
- gridding a digital image by dividing the digital image into a plurality of regions;
calculating a plurality of image metrics for each region of the gridded digital image;
generating an image index file for each region, each image index file comprising the plurality of image metrics for the region of the gridded digital image that the image index file is generated for;
storing the image index files in a database;
determining similarity between a first gridded digital image and a second gridded digital image by comparing image index files associated with corresponding regions of the first gridded digital and second gridded digital images;
assigning the image index files to a cluster; and
comparing the image index files to a cluster identifier, wherein the comparing the image index files to a cluster identifier comprises;
calculating similarity values by calculating a difference between each image metric of the image index and the cluster identifier;
multiplying the respective similarity values by a weighting factor for each image metric of the image index; and
summing the weighted similarity values.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Registration and classification of non-textual information, such as digital images and video is described. Image searching and comparison of the images is also described. The digital images are indexed (i.e., each image is assigned a unique numerical parameter and/or a plurality of numerical parameters). The resulting index files are stored in a database that can be quickly searched because the index files are universal numerical files that are significantly smaller in size than their source images. Image search queries are also indexed to generate an index file, which is then compared with the stored index files. A similarity score is also calculated to rank the similar images based on the index file-to-index file comparison.
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
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gridding a digital image by dividing the digital image into a plurality of regions; calculating a plurality of image metrics for each region of the gridded digital image; generating an image index file for each region, each image index file comprising the plurality of image metrics for the region of the gridded digital image that the image index file is generated for; storing the image index files in a database; determining similarity between a first gridded digital image and a second gridded digital image by comparing image index files associated with corresponding regions of the first gridded digital and second gridded digital images; assigning the image index files to a cluster; and comparing the image index files to a cluster identifier, wherein the comparing the image index files to a cluster identifier comprises; calculating similarity values by calculating a difference between each image metric of the image index and the cluster identifier; multiplying the respective similarity values by a weighting factor for each image metric of the image index; and summing the weighted similarity values. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A computer-implemented method comprising:
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locating a plurality of digital images at a plurality of websites; storing the plurality of digital images in a first database with a link to the corresponding website of the plurality of websites from which each digital image of the plurality of digital images was located; calculating an image index file for each of the stored digital images, each image index file comprising a plurality of image metrics representative of two or more regions of the corresponding stored digital image and comprising the link to the corresponding website from which the digital image was located; storing the image index files in a second database; deleting the plurality of stored digital images from the first database when the corresponding image index file of each of the plurality of digital images is stored in the second database; and clustering the stored digital images, wherein clustering the stored digital images comprises; dividing each stored digital image into a plurality of cells; calculating a plurality of image metrics for each of the plurality of cells; aligning the plurality of image metrics with the plurality of the cells to generate a plurality of numerical descriptors for the plurality of image metrics; and grouping the digital image with other similar stored digital images based on a comparison of the numerical descriptors. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A computer system comprising:
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a hardware processor; a crawler configured to locate a plurality of digital images on a plurality of websites; a crawling data store configured to temporarily store the plurality of the digital images with a link to the corresponding website of the plurality of websites from which each digital image of the plurality of digital images was located; an index data store configured to store a plurality of image index files, each image index file comprising a plurality of image metrics representative of two or more regions of the corresponding stored digital image and comprising the link to the corresponding website from which the digital image was located; and an indexing engine configured to; calculate the image index file for each of the stored digital images, delete the plurality of the stored digital images from the crawling data store after the corresponding image index file for each of the plurality of digital images is calculated and stored in the index data store, divide each stored digital image into a plurality of cells, calculate a plurality of image metrics for each of the plurality of cells, align the plurality of image metrics with the plurality of cells to generate a plurality of numerical descriptors for the plurality of image metrics, and group the digital image with other similar digital images based on a comparison of the numerical descriptors. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25)
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Specification