Method and system for verifying geographical descriptiveness of media file

• US 9,348,845 B2
• Filed: 10/31/2008
• Issued: 05/24/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 10/31/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Original Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Inventors: Minde, Tor Bjorn, Carlsson, Richard, Feng, Xin, Fristrom, Visa, Hertz, David, Xu, Rita Ziyi
• Primary Examiner(s): Gorney, Boris
• Assistant Examiner(s): TRAN, BAO G
• Application Number:
  US13/126,774
• Publication Number:
  US 20110208702A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,762 Days
• Field of Search: 707/687
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/58 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually

Abstract

The invention relates to a system for verifying geographical descriptiveness of a media file, such as a picture. The system comprises storage means adapted to store a media file, communication means adapted to send said media file to a plurality of user terminals, and to receive, from the user terminals, data indicating a guessed geographical position with which the user of each user terminal associates the media file. The system also comprises calculation means adapted to determine whether the media file is indicative of a geographical position based on the guessed geographical positions received from the plurality of user terminal.

Claims

1. A method for verifying geographical descriptiveness of a media file, the method comprising:

storing, in a first storage medium, a media file and data indicating an assigned geographical position for the media file;

sending said media file to a plurality of user terminals;

receiving, from each of the plurality of user terminals, data indicating a guessed geographical position with which the user of that user terminal associates said media file;

updating the assigned geographical position for the media file based on the guessed geographical positions received from each of the plurality of user terminals; and

determining whether said media file is indicative of a geographical position by;

either comparing the assigned geographical position with each guessed geographical position, or comparing the guessed geographical positions with one another; and

calculating a verification rating for the media file based on said comparison, the determination as to whether or not the media file is indicative of a geographical position being based on said verification rating, wherein the verification rating value is recalculated each time data indicating a guessed geographical position is received, the verification rating being recalculated as follows;

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein said determining comprises determining that said media file is indicative of a geographical position if said verification rating exceeds a predetermined threshold value.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein said comparing comprises comparing the guessed geographical positions with one another, and wherein said calculating comprises calculating the verification rating based on the correspondence of said guessed geographical positions.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the media file is received from a user terminal together with data indicating a claimed geographical position of which the media file allegedly is indicative, said claimed geographical position being used as at least an initial value for said assigned geographical position.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first guessed geographical position received from said user terminals is used as at least an initial value for said assigned geographical position.

6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising updating the assigned geographical position by recalculating the assigned geographical position each time data indicating a guessed geographical position is received.

7. The method according to claim 6, further comprising storing the data indicating guessed positions received from the user terminals, and recalculating the assigned geographical position for each received guess as the position P minimizing the sum:

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method is implemented in a game in which the users of the user terminals participate, and wherein the users are given scores based on the difference between their guessed geographical position and the assigned geographical position of the media file.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the media file is uploaded from a user terminal, the score of the user of said user terminal also being based on the verification rating of said uploaded media file.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of media files are stored in said first storage medium, and wherein the method further comprises selecting which of said plurality of media files should be sent to a user terminal, the selection being based on the assigned geographical positions of the media files.

11. The method according to claim 10, further comprising receiving, from a user terminal, data indicating a geographical area which the user of said user terminal has selected, selecting, from said plurality of media files, at least one media file having an assigned geographical position within said geographical area, and sending said at least one media file to said user terminal.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of media files are stored in said first storage medium, the method further comprises selecting which of said plurality of media files should be sent to a user terminal, the selection being based on a factor that is indicative of at least one of the geographical descriptiveness of each media file and a factor that is indicative of the number of times each media file has been guessed upon and for how long time the media file has been stored in the first storage medium.

13. The method according to claim 1, further comprising removing the media file from said first storage medium if said media file is determined not to be indicative of a geographical position.

14. The method according to claim 1, further comprising moving the media file to a second storage medium intended to store only media files that are descriptive of geographical positions if said media file is determined to be indicative of a geographical position.

15. A system for verifying geographical descriptiveness of a media file, wherein the system comprises:

a storage medium configured to store a media file and data indicating an assigned geographical position of the media file;

a communication circuit configured to send said media file to a plurality of user terminals, and to receive, from each of the plurality of user terminals, data indicating a guessed geographical position with which the user of that user terminal associates said media file; and

a calculation circuit configured to update the assigned geographical position for the media file based on the guessed geographical positions received from each of the plurality of user terminals, determine whether said media file is indicative of a geographical position by either comparing the assigned geographical position with each guessed geographical position, or comparing the guessed geographical positions with one another, and by calculating a verification rating for the media file based on said comparison, the determination as to whether or not the media file is indicative of a geographical position being based on said verification rating, wherein the calculation circuit is configured to recalculate the verification rating value each time data indicating a guessed geographical position is received, and wherein the calculation circuit is configured to recalculate the verification rating as follows;

16. The system according to claim 15, wherein said calculation circuit is configured to determine that said media file is indicative of a geographical position if said verification rating exceeds a predetermined threshold value.

17. The system according to claim 15, wherein said calculation circuit is configured to compare the guessed geographical positions with one another, and to calculate the verification rating based on the correspondence of said guessed geographical positions.

18. The system according to claim 17, wherein the communication circuit is configured to receive the media file from a user terminal together with data indicating a claimed geographical position of which the media file allegedly is indicative, and wherein the calculation circuit is configured to use said claimed geographical position as at least an initial value for said assigned geographical position.

19. The system according to claim 18, wherein the calculation circuit is configured to use the first guessed geographical position received from said user terminals as at least an initial value for said assigned geographical position.

20. The system according to claim 15, wherein the calculation circuit is configured to update the assigned geographical position by recalculating the assigned position each time data indicating a guessed geographical position is received.

21. The system according to claim 20, wherein the storage medium is configured to store the data indicating guessed positions received from the user terminals, and wherein the calculation circuit is configured to recalculate, for each received guessed geographical position, the assigned position as the position P minimizing the sum

22. The system according to claim 15, wherein the calculation circuit is configured to calculate a score for the users of the user terminals based on the difference between their guessed geographical position and the assigned geographical position of the media file, the system thus being used as a game server to which users connect their user terminal to participate in a game in which they are given scores based on the accuracy of their guesses.

23. The system according to claim 22, wherein the calculation circuit is configured, when the media file is uploaded from a user terminal, to calculate a score for the user of said user terminal that is based also on the verification rating of said uploaded media file.

24. The system according to claim 15, wherein the system is configured to select one or more media files from a plurality of media files stored in the storage medium for sending to a user terminal, selecting the one or more media files based on the one or more assigned geographical positions of those media files.

25. The system according to claim 24, wherein the communication circuit is configured to receive, from a user terminal, data indicating a geographical area which the user of said user terminal has selected, wherein the system is configured to select, from said plurality of media files stored in the storage medium, at least one media file having an assigned geographical position within said geographical area, and wherein the communication circuit is configured to send said at least one selected media file to said user terminal.

26. The system according to claim 15, wherein the system is configured to select one or more media files from a plurality of media files stored in the storage medium for sending to a user terminal, the selecting being based on at least one of:

a factor that is indicative of the geographical descriptiveness of each media file; and

a factor that is indicative of the number of times each media file has been guessed upon and for how long time the media file has been stored in the storage medium.

27. The system according to claim 15, wherein the system is configured to remove the media file from said storage medium if said media file is determined not to be indicative of a geographical position by the calculation circuit.

28. The system according to claim 15, wherein the system is configured to move the media file to a different storage medium configured to store only media files that are descriptive of geographical positions, if said media file is determined to be indicative of a geographical position by the calculation circuit.

29. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium storing computer readable code that, when executed by a processor in a system comprising a storage medium storing at least one media file and data indicating an assigned geographical position of the media file and a communication circuit through which said system can communicate with user terminals connected thereto, causes the system to verify geographical descriptiveness of the media file, the computer readable code causing the system to:

send said media file to a plurality of user terminals;

receive, from each of the plurality of user terminals, data indicating a guessed geographical position with which the user of that user terminal associates said media file;

update the assigned geographical position for the media file based on the guessed geographical positions received from each of the plurality of user terminals; and

determine whether said media file is indicative of a geographical position by;

either comparing the assigned geographical position with each guessed geographical position, or comparing the guessed geographical positions with one another, and

calculating a verification rating for the media file based on said comparison, the determination as to whether or not the media file is indicative of a geographical position being based on said verification rating, wherein the verification rating value is recalculated each time data indicating a guessed geographical position is received, the verification rating being recalculated as follows;