System and method for classifying media items

• US 6,446,083 B1
• Filed: 05/12/2000
• Issued: 09/03/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 05/12/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Vast LLC (Ifer Do Brasil Ltda.)
• Original Assignee: Vastvideo, Inc.
• Inventors: Plotkin, Robert C., Katz, Jonathan D., Leight, Nathan D., Epstein, David A.
• Primary Examiner(s): HOMERE, JEAN RAYMOND
• Application Number:
  US09/570,569
• Time in Patent Office: 844 Days
• Field of Search: 707/3, 707/5, 707/6, 707/102, 707/104, 707/104.1
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/93 Document management systems
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99935 Query augmenting and refining, e.g. inexact access
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99943 Generating database or data structure, e.g. via user interface
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99948 Application of database or data structure, e.g. distributed, multimedia, or image

Abstract

A method and apparatus aids consistent, high-quality input of meta-information associated with items inserted into a database by coupling a hierarchical subject taxonomy, used to definitively assign an element, with sets of attributes appropriate for each category. Each attribute in turn is itself associated with a set of legal values drawn from a universe of appropriately typed values. The method and apparatus can be used to enable a user of a database management system to input or augment a set of semantically relevant and consistent meta-information associated with content in or being placed into the database management system. The content in the database system is placed into one or more of a set of hierarchical taxonomic categories. Zero or more semantically relevant attributes are associated with each taxonomic category. Relevant sets of values for each attribute, drawn from a universe of appropriate values, are associated with each attribute at each level in the taxonomic hierarchy. The placement of an element into a category adds the hierarchical set of attributes associated with that category to those relevant to the element. The value sets associated with those attributes may then be used to select consistent and appropriate meta-information to be associated with the element.

Claims

1. A method for classifying media information in a database system, said method comprising:

(a) developing a taxonomy which includes;

(i) a hierarchy of nodes each of which corresponds to a category relevant to a topic of interest,

(ii) one or more attributes related to each of said nodes, and

(iii) one or more values relate to each of said attributes;

(b) obtaining a video clip;

(c) selecting a node in the taxonomy which relates to content of the video clip;

(d) identifying at least one attribute related to the node selected in step (c);

(e) presenting for selection a predetermined cluster of values relating to the at least one attribute identified in step (d), said cluster of values derived from a controlled vocabulary of values;

(f) selecting at least one value from said predetermined cluster of values; and

(g) classifying the media item within the taxonomy based on the node selected in step (c), the at least one attribute identified in step (d), and the at least one value selected in step (f),

wherein said method further comprises;

displaying at least a portion of the taxonomy on a computer screen, said portion of the taxonomy including the node selected in step (c), and

wherein step (c) includes selecting the node from the displayed portion of the taxonomy with a cursor controlled by a user input device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein step (b) includes accessing said video clip from said database system or from a source external to said database system.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein step (c) includes:

selecting a higher-level node in the displayed portion of the taxonomy; and

selecting a displayed lower-level node related to the higher-level node, said lower-level node being the node in the taxonomy which is classified with the video clip in step (g).

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying the at least one attribute identified in step (d).

5. The method of claim 4, wherein step (e) includes displaying said predetermined cluster of values relating to the at least one attribute identified in step (d), and

wherein step (f) includes selecting the at least one value from said predetermined cluster of values with said cursor controlled by the user input device.

7. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

displaying a plurality of attributes related to the node selected in step (c);

displaying a predetermined cluster of values for each of the plurality of attributes related to the node selected in step (c); and

selecting at least one value from the predetermined cluster of values displayed for each of the plurality of attributes related to the selected node.

8. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

displaying a media player on the computer screen, and

wherein step (c) is performed after a user views the content of the video clip on the media player.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein words in said controlled vocabulary are derived from at least one of a memory device of said database system and a memory device stored external to said database system.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

modifying said controlled vocabulary by adding or deleting a value from said controlled vocabulary, said modifying step being performed by a user identifying the value to be added or deleted using a graphical user interface.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

adding or deleting the value from said predetermined cluster of values.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

associating commerce/advertising information with at least one of the node selected in step (c), the at least one attribute identified in step (d), and the at least one value selected in step (f).

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the following steps are performed when the video clip is selected for viewing:

detecting meta-information indicative of the classification in step (g); and

outputting the video clip with said commerce/advertising information for viewing.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the video clip is selected for viewing on an internet website, and where the video clip and said commerce/advertising information are output to the website for viewing.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

outputting the video clip with commerce/advertising information, said commerce/advertising information being selected based on one of a time of day, a contextual location from which the media item was requested by a user, and a physical location of said user.

6. The method of 5, wherein step (f) includes selecting a plurality of values from said predetermined cluster of values with said cursor.

12. A system for classifying media information in a database system, said database system including a taxonomy which includes (i) a hierarchy of nodes each of which corresponds to a category relevant to a topic of interest, (ii) one or more attributes related to each of said nodes, and (iii) one or more values related to each of said attributes, said system comprising:

means for obtaining a video clip;

a graphical user interface for displaying at least a portion of the taxonomy on a computer screen, said graphical user interface including;

(a) first selecting means for selecting a node in the displayed portion of the taxonomy which relates to content of the video clip,

(b) means for identifying at least one attribute related to the node selected by the selecting means,

(c) means for presenting for selection a predetermined cluster of values relating to the at least one attribute identified by the identifying means, said cluster of values derived from a controlled vocabulary of values, and

(d) second selecting means for selecting at least one value from said predetermined cluster of values; and

means for storing as a classification for the video clip the node selected by the first selecting means, the at least one attribute identified by the identifying means, and the at least one value selected by the second selecting means.