METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR IMPLEMENTING DIGITAL VIDEO MODELING TO IDENTIFY UNEXPECTED BEHAVIOR

• US 20090006286A1
• Filed: 06/29/2007
• Published: 01/01/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/29/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Kraemer, James R., Angell, Robert Lee
• Granted Patent: US 7,908,237 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 706/12
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0238 at point-of-sale [POS]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0242 Determining effectiveness of advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0255 based on user history
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0261 based on user location
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0271 Personalized advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/52 Surveillance or monitoring of activities, e.g. for recognising suspicious objects recognising microscopic objects G06V20/69

Abstract

A computer implemented method, apparatus, and computer usable program product for identifying unexpected behavioral patterns. The process parses event data derived from video data to identify behavioral patterns, wherein the event data comprises metadata describing events occurring in a selected environment. The process analyzes the behavioral patterns to identify a set of expected behavioral patterns occurring in the selected environment, and generates an expected behavioral model using the expected behavioral patterns. Thereafter, the process forms a set of unexpected behavioral patterns from the behavioral patterns inconsistent with the expected behavioral model.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method for identifying unexpected behavioral patterns, the computer implemented method comprising:

parsing event data derived from video data to identify behavioral patterns, wherein the event data comprises metadata describing events occurring in a selected environment;

analyzing the behavioral patterns to identify a set of expected behavioral patterns occurring in the selected environment;

generating an expected behavioral model using the expected behavioral patterns; and

forming a set of unexpected behavioral patterns from the behavioral patterns inconsistent with the expected behavioral model.

2. The computer implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating a behavior control strategy for manipulating the set of unexpected behavioral patterns.

3. The computer implemented method of claim 2, wherein the behavior control strategy specifies an action to be performed in response to identifying the set of unexpected behavioral patterns.

4. The computer implemented method of claim 3, wherein the action comprises generating a notification.

5. The computer implemented method of claim 2, further comprising:

responsive to detecting a threshold occurrence of the set of unexpected behavioral patterns, classifying the set of unexpected behavioral patterns as one of the set of expected behavioral patterns.

6. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the environment is a retail facility.

7. The computer implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving the video data from a set of sensors associated with the selected environment; and

analyzing the video data to identify event data, wherein analyzing the video data comprises generating the metadata describing the events associated with the environment.

8. The computer implemented method of claim 6, wherein the set of sensors comprises a set of digital video cameras.

9. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein parsing the event data further comprises:

processing the event data using at least one of a statistical method, a data mining method, a causal model, a mathematical model, a marketing model, a behavioral model, a psychological model, a sociological model, or a simulation model.

10. A computer program product comprising:

computer usable program code for identifying unexpected behavioral patterns, the computer program product comprising;

computer usable program code for parsing event data derived from video data to identify behavioral patterns, wherein the event data comprises metadata describing events occurring in a selected environment;

computer usable program code for analyzing the behavioral patterns to identify a set of expected behavioral patterns occurring in the selected environment;

computer usable program code for generating an expected behavioral model using the expected behavioral patterns; and

forming a set of unexpected behavioral patterns from the behavioral patterns inconsistent with the expected behavioral model.

11. The computer program product of claim 10, further comprising:

computer usable program code for generating a behavior control strategy for manipulating the set of unexpected behavioral patterns.

12. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the behavior control strategy specifies an action to be performed in response to identifying the set of unexpected behavioral patterns.

13. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the action comprises generating a notification.

14. The computer program product of claim 11, further comprising:

computer usable program code for classifying the set of unexpected behavioral patterns as one of the set of expected behavioral patterns in response to detecting a threshold occurrence of the set of unexpected behavioral patterns.

15. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the environment is a retail facility.

16. The computer program product of claim 10, further comprising:

computer usable program code for receiving the video data from a set of sensors associated with the selected environment; and

computer usable program code for analyzing the video data to identify event data, wherein analyzing the video data comprises generating the metadata describing the events associated with the environment.

17. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the set of sensors comprises a set of digital video cameras.

18. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the computer usable program code for parsing the event data further comprises:

computer program code for processing the event data using at least one of a statistical method, a data mining method, a causal model, a mathematical model, a marketing model, a behavioral model, a psychological model, a sociological model, or a simulation model.

19. A system for identifying unexpected behavioral patterns, the system comprising:

a database, wherein the database stores event data collected by a set of sensors; and

an analysis server, wherein the analysis server parses event data derived from video data to identify behavioral patterns, wherein the event data comprises metadata describing events occurring in a selected environment;

analyzes the behavioral patterns to identify a set of expected behavioral patterns occurring at the selected environment;

generates the expected behavioral model using the expected behavioral patterns; and

forms a set of unexpected behavioral patterns from the behavioral patterns inconsistent with the expected behavioral model.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the set of sensors comprises a set of digital video cameras.