System and method for providing supplemental information relevant to selected content in media

• US 8,799,401 B1
• Filed: 07/08/2004
• Issued: 08/05/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 07/08/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Bryar, Colin M., Siegel, Hilliard B.
• Primary Examiner(s): Fan, Hua
• Application Number:
  US10/886,922
• Time in Patent Office: 3,680 Days
• Field of Search: 709/217, 709/219, 709/228
• US Class Current: 709/217
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/5846 using extracted text

Abstract

A computer-implemented method and system provides supplemental information to a user of media in which the supplemental information is relevant to selected content in the media. An embodiment of the method comprises obtaining an image of selected content, identifying a meaningful characteristic of the selected content in the image, obtaining supplemental information that is relevant to the selected content based on the meaningful characteristic, and providing the supplemental information to the user of the media. A meaningful characteristic may be a source or subject of the selected content. Identifying the source of selected content may include matching text from the content with content of known source or matching a digital signature obtained from the selected content with digital signatures obtained from known content. The method may further comprise ranking the supplemental information based on one or more criteria and providing the supplemental information to the user in accordance with the ranking.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for providing supplemental information to a user of media, in which the supplemental information is relevant to selected content in the media, the method comprising:

obtaining an image of the selected content in the media;

generating a new data type representation of the selected content from the image;

identifying an author of the selected content, wherein the author is identified using the new data type representation;

obtaining supplemental information that is relevant to the author of the selected content; and

providing the supplemental information to the user of the media,

wherein identifying the author of the selected content comprises;

recognizing some or all of the selected content in the new data type representation;

searching content of known source for matching content; and

when matching content is found, identifying the author of the selected content based on the known source of the matching content.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the media is print media and the image of the selected content includes text or graphics.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the print media is a physical print and the image of the selected content is captured from the physical print using a digital imaging device.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the media is a digital file having one or more visually-perceptible images of text or graphics and the image of the selected content is obtained from the digital file.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the media is audio and the image of the selected content is a segment of the audio.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the media is video and the image of the selected content is a segment of the video.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the new data type representation of the selected content further includes generating a digital signature from the image of the selected content, and wherein identifying the author further includes searching digital signatures of content of known source for a matching digital signature.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the digital signature is generated from one or more features of the image of the selected content.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the digital signature is generated from one or more recognized portions of the content in the image.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the supplemental information is obtained from items of information having one or more associated key terms that match the identified author.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising translating the identified author to a key code, wherein the supplemental information is obtained from items of information having one or more associated key codes that match the key code of the identified author.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising ranking the supplemental information based on one or more criteria and providing the supplemental information to the user in accordance with the ranking.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the criteria include one of keyword matching criteria, subject matter classification, and popularity of the supplemental information.

14. A computer system for providing supplemental information to a user of media, comprising:

a digital media database;

a supplemental information database; and

a digital media server in communication with the digital media database and supplemental information database, wherein the digital media server is configured to;

receive an image of selected content in the media;

generate a new data type representation of the selected content from the image;

identify a source of the selected content from which the selected content derives, wherein the source of the selected content is identified using the new data type representation;

retrieve supplemental information from the supplemental information database that is relevant to the source of the selected content; and

provide the supplemental information to the user of the media,

wherein the digital media database contains content of known source, and the digital media server is configured to identify the source of the selected content by recognizing some or all of the selected content in the new data type representation and searching the digital media database for matching content, and when matching content is found, identifying the source of the selected content based on the known source of the matching content.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the digital media database contains digital signatures representing content of known source, and the digital media server is further configured to generate the new data type representation of the selected content by generating a digital signature from the image of the selected content and to determine the source of the selected content by searching the digital media database for a matching digital signature.

16. The system of claim 14, wherein the supplemental information provided by the digital media server includes a link that, when activated by a user, causes the digital media server to retrieve and provide additional supplemental information to the user.

17. The system of claim 14, wherein the digital media server is further configured to rank the supplemental information based on one or more criteria and provide the supplemental information to the user in accordance with the ranking.

18. A non-transitory computer-readable medium whose contents stored thereon cause a computing system to:

obtain an image of selected content in media being used by a user without requiring affirmative input from the user;

generate a new data type representation of the selected content from the image;

automatically identify an author of the selected content, wherein the author of the selected content is identified using the new data type representation;

obtain supplemental information that is relevant to the author of the selected content; and

provide the supplemental information in a form accessible to the user of the media,

wherein the new data type representation is a digital signature generated from the image of the selected content, and

wherein the author of the selected content is identified by;

generating the digital signature from the image of the selected content;

searching digital signatures of content of known source for a matching digital signature; and

when a matching digital signature is found, identifying the author of the selected content based on the known source of the image having the matching digital signature.

19. A computer-implemented method for providing supplemental information to a user of media in which the supplemental information is relevant to selected content in the media, the method comprising:

obtaining an image of the selected content in the media;

generating a new data type representation of the selected content from the image;

identifying a source of the selected content using the new data type representation;

obtaining supplemental information that is relevant to the source of the selected content; and

providing the supplemental information to the user of the media,

wherein the new data type representation is a digital signature generated from the image of the selected content, and

wherein the source of the selected content is identified by;

generating the digital signature from the image of the selected content;

searching digital signatures of content of known source for a matching digital signature; and

when a matching digital signature is found, identifying the source of the selected content based on the known source of the image having the matching digital signature.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising identifying a subject of the selected content from text or graphics in the selected content.

21. The method of claim 19, further comprising identifying a subject of the selected content from metadata associated with the selected content.

22. The method of claim 19, further comprising identifying a subject of the selected content from the identified source of the selected content.

23. The method of claim 19, wherein the media is print media and the image of the selected content includes text or graphics.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the print media is a physical print and the image of the selected content is captured from the physical print using a digital imaging device.

25. The method of claim 22, wherein the subject of the selected content comprises the name of a person, place, object, process, or concept of the selected content.