Methods and Systems for Analyzing Parts of an Electronic File

• US 20110216087A1
• Filed: 10/08/2009
• Published: 09/08/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 10/09/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CEVA Technologies, Inc. (CEVA Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Hillcrest Laboratories Incorporated (CEVA Incorporated)
• Inventors: Gritton, Charles, Morgan, Tom, Simpkins, Daniel
• Granted Patent: US 9,007,396 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/629
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/54 Browsing; Visualisation therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/5838 using colour
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0346 with detection of the device orientation or free movement in a 3D space, e.g. 3D mice, 6-DOF [six degrees of freedom] pointers using gyroscopes, accelerometers or tilt-sensors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/20104 Interactive definition of region of interest [ROI]
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/12 Edge-based segmentation
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/472 End-user interface for requesting content, additional data or services; End-user interface for interacting with content, e.g. for content reservation or setting reminders, for requesting event notification, for manipulating displayed content end-user interfaces for retrieving video data from a database G06F16/739; network services for supporting unicast streaming H04L65/612
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/478 Supplemental services, e.g. displaying phone caller identification, shopping application

Abstract

Devices, computer readable medium, and methods for selecting an object displayed on a screen and providing information about that object.

Claims

1. A method for tagging a part of an image, the method comprising:

providing information for displaying the image on a screen;

receiving information related to pointing a pointing device to the part of the image;

generating a border around the part of the image, the border corresponding to a movement of the pointing device around the part of the image;

generating a predefined enclosure, electronically linked to the border, which is configured to accept text input from a user; and

storing border information and predefined enclosure information together with the part of the image such that the part of the image may be analyzed independently of the image.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating plural borders and predefined enclosures in response to selections of plural parts of the image.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the predefined enclosure information does not include pixels corresponding to the selected part of the image.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving step comprises:

receiving a position of at least one pixel of the part of the image that was pointed by the pointing device.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving step comprises:

receiving information about a complete circling of the part of the image.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating a border comprises:

generating the border completely around the part of the image.

7. A device for tagging a part of an image, the device comprising:

an output configured to provide information for displaying the image on a screen;

an input configured to receive information related to pointing a pointing device to the part of the image;

a processor connected to the input and the output and configured to,

generate a border around the part of the image, the border corresponding to a movement of the pointing device around the part of the image, and

generate a predefined enclosure, electronically linked to the border, which is configured to accept text input from a user; and

a memory connected to the processor and configured to store border information and predefined enclosure information together with the part of the image such that the part of the image may be analyzed independently of the image.

8. The device of claim 7, wherein the processor is further configured to generate plural borders and predefined enclosures in response to selections of plural parts of the image.

9. The device of claim 7, wherein the predefined enclosure information does not include pixels corresponding to the selected part of the image.

10. The device of claim 7, wherein the processor is further configured to receive a position of at least one pixel of the part of the image that was pointed by the pointing device.

11. The device of claim 7, wherein the processor is further configured to receive information about a complete circling of the part of the image.

12. The device of claim 7, wherein the processor is further configured to generate the border completely around the part of the image.

13. The device of claim 7, wherein the input receives information from a pointing device and the output sends information to the screen.

14-79. -79. (canceled)

80. A device for providing information about an object, displayed on a screen as part of an image of a media file, and inquired about by a user by pointing a pointing device to the object and drawing a border around the object, the device comprising:

an input configured to receive border information and location information, the border information identifying a location of the border relative to the object and the location information identifying a location of the image in the media file displayed on the screen and including the object;

a processor connected to the input and configured to,

search a database for identifying the object based on the border information and the location information,

populate the database with object information if the object is not found in the database, and

retrieve the object information from the database; and

an output connected to the processor and configured to provide the object information to the user.

81. The device of claim 80, wherein the processor is further configured to provide a discount price to the user if the database does not include the object information.

82. The device of claim 80, wherein the object information includes at least one of object price information, object specification information, a name of the manufacturer of the object, a name of an outlet where to buy from the object, a web address of a site that sells the object, and a one click button for buying the object by using the pointing device.

83. The device of claim 80, wherein the processor is further configured to search a web site or a folder for the object information, or call a provider to retrieve the object information.

84. The device of claim 80, wherein the processor is further configured to save the object information in the database.

85. The device of claim 80, wherein the processor is further configured to receive at least one of a frame indicator, program indicator, or time indicator for localizing the object in the media file.

86. The device of claim 80, wherein the processor is further configured to query the user, if two objects are identified based on the received border information and location information, to indicate which one of the two objects is desired.

87-93. -93. (canceled)