Intelligent video tours

• US 8,356,249 B2
• Filed: 05/22/2008
• Issued: 01/15/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 05/22/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ascvid IP Holdings LLC
• Original Assignee: VidSys Incorporated
• Inventors: Morris, Stephen Jeffrey, Bartolini, David Emmanuel, Staubly, Victoria Diane
• Primary Examiner(s): Abdul-Ali, Omar
• Assistant Examiner(s): Jiang, Haimei
• Application Number:
  US12/125,124
• Publication Number:
  US 20080294990A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,699 Days
• Field of Search: 715/719, 715/756
• US Class Current: 715/719
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/52 Surveillance or monitoring of activities, e.g. for recognising suspicious objects recognising microscopic objects G06V20/69
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/173 face re-identification, e.g. recognising unknown faces across different face tracks
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/181 for receiving images from a plurality of remote sources

Abstract

Intelligently crafting a dynamic video tour using a plurality of video devices selected in real time is provided. A list of attributes is received, the list of attributes describing at least one characteristic of a video device. A list of factors is continuously received, the list of factors describing one or more events, an event occurring at a point in time. A subset of the plurality of video devices is selected, based upon the received list of attributes and the received list of factors. The subset changes over time due to one or more changes in the list of factors. Video is displayed from the selected subset of the plurality of video devices as a tour, the displayed video changing over time as the selected subset changes over time.

Claims

1. A method of creating a dynamic video tour using video devices, the method comprising:

receiving a list of attributes, the list of attributes describing attributes of the video devices;

continuously receiving a list of factors, the list of factors including historical data specifying areas in which events have occurred in the past;

utilizing the historical data in the list of factors as a basis to predict locations of future events that have not yet occurred;

based on the predicted locations of the future events and the list of attributes describing attributes of the video devices, selecting a subset of the video devices from which to receive video capturing occurrence of the future events, the subset changes over time due to changes in the list of factors;

displaying the video from the selected subset of the video devices as a tour, the displayed video changing over time as the selected subset changes over time;

wherein displaying video comprises;

dividing the selected subset of the video devices into a plurality of groups;

assigning, to each group in the plurality of groups, a display priority, the display priority indicating how often video from video devices in that group should be displayed in the tour; and

displaying loops of video in the tour, the video in a respective loop taken from video devices in groups associated with the respective loop, the groups associated with the respective loop determined according to the display priority assigned to those groups;

the method further comprising;

receiving a first list of factors including first historical data specifying geographical areas in which at least one event has occurred in the past;

predicting occurrence of a first possible future event based on the received first list of factors;

selecting a first subset of the video devices based upon the received list of attributes and the first list of factors, the received list of attributes indicating respective locations of the video devices;

in the tour, initiating display of images captured by video devices in the first subset to display occurrence of the first possible future event;

receiving a second list of factors including second historical data specifying geographical areas in which at least one event has occurred in the past;

predicting occurrence of a second possible future event based on the received second list of factors;

selecting a second subset of the video devices based upon the received list of attributes and the second list of factors;

in the tour, initiating display of images captured by video devices in the second subset to display occurrence of the second possible future event.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein continuously receiving the list of factors comprises:

receiving a first list of factors, the first list of factors describing a first set of events, an event in the first set of events occurring at a point in time;

and wherein selecting comprises;

selecting a subset of the video devices based upon the received list of attributes and the received first list of factors;

and wherein the method comprises;

receiving event data, the event data describing an occurrence of at least one event;

creating a second list of factors based on the first list of factors and the received event data, the second list of factors describing a second set of events, the second set of events includes at least one event described by the received event data; and

selecting a subset of the video devices based upon the received list of attributes and the created second list of factors.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein receiving event data comprises:

receiving event data, the received event data describing an occurrence of one or more events; and

assigning a weight to one or more items of received event data, an assigned weight corresponding to the event described by that item of received event data;

and wherein selecting comprises;

selecting a subset of the video devices based upon the received list of attributes and the created second list of factors, wherein weights assigned to events described by the second list of factors influence the selection of video devices included in the subset of the video devices.

4. The method of claim 1 comprising:

prior to selecting, assigning a weight to at least one factor in the list of factors, an assigned weight corresponding to the event described by that factor;

wherein selecting comprises;

selecting a subset of the video devices based upon the received list of attributes and the received list of factors, wherein the subset changes over time due to changes in the list of factors, and wherein weights assigned to factors in the list of factors influence the selection of video devices included in the subset of the video devices.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein receiving a list of attributes comprises:

receiving a list of attributes, the list of attributes including one or more locations of a video device, a location describing an area of interest to be included in a tour;

and wherein selecting comprises;

selecting a subset of the video devices based upon the locations included in the received list of attributes and the received list of factors, wherein the subset changes over time due to one or more changes in the locations included in the list of attributes.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein receiving a list of attributes comprises:

receiving a list of attributes, the list of attributes describing video devices associated with recorded video;

and wherein continuously receiving a list of factors comprises;

receiving event data, the event data describing occurrences of one or more events that occurred in the past and were captured on recorded video;

and wherein selecting comprises;

selecting a subset of the video devices based upon the received list of attributes and the received event data, wherein the subset changes over time due to one or more changes in the list of attributes or in the received event data;

and wherein displaying comprises;

displaying recorded video from the selected subset of the video devices as a tour, each item of recorded video in the tour beginning at a first point in time prior to the occurrence of an event captured on that recorded video and ending at a second point in time after the occurrence of the captured event.

14. The method as in claim 1 further comprising:

selecting the first subset of the video devices and the second subset of devices based upon dynamic weights assigned to the events.

15. The method as in claim 14, wherein displaying video comprises:

displaying the loops of video in the tour such that a group with a higher priority is always included in each of the loops, and a group with a lower priority is included in fewer loops than every one of the loops.

16. The method as in claim 14, wherein the list of factors indicates when and how long a respective event is to occur in the future.

17. The method as in claim 1 further comprising:

wherein selecting the subset of video devices includes dynamically selecting, over time and due to changes in the list of factors, different subsets of the video devices based upon the received list of attributes and the changes in the received list of factors; and

wherein displaying video includes displaying video from the different subsets of the video devices in the tour.

18. The method as in claim 17, wherein the list of attributes indicates locations of the video devices;

and

wherein the list of factors indicates different events to be captured by the video devices.

19. The method as in claim 1, wherein the list of attributes indicates locations of the video devices in a geographical region;

and

wherein the list of factors further indicates at least one future event that is scheduled to occur at a specified time.

20. The method as in claim 1, wherein the list of factors includes time-based data indicating scheduled events and when the scheduled events will occur;

assigning weight values to the scheduled events as specified by the list of factors; and

selecting the subset based at least in part on the assigned weight values of the scheduled events.

21. The method as in claim 1, wherein the list of factors changes based on a time of day.

22. The method as in claim 1 further comprising:

adjusting weight values assigned to the video devices based on a history of events that previously occurred in a vicinity of the video devices; and

selecting the subset based at least in part on the weight values assigned to the video devices.

23. The method as in claim 1, wherein the future events are possible future events that are predicted to occur based on the historical data;

wherein the video captures occurrence of the possible future events; and

wherein displaying the video as a tour includes displaying the video of the possible future events after the possible future events occur.

24. The method as in claim 1 further comprising:

displaying the tour as a predictive tour, the video produced by the selected subset of the video devices capturing images of geographical areas where the future events are predicted to occur.

25. The method as in claim 24, wherein the future events are possible future events that are predicted to occur based on the historical data, the method further comprising:

displaying the tour to include images of the geographical areas where the future events are predicted to occur.

7. Computer-readable storage hardware having instructions stored thereon, the instructions, when carried out by a processor, causes the processor to perform operations of:

receiving a list of attributes, the list of attributes describing attributes of video devices;

continuously receiving a list of factors, the list of factors including historical data specifying areas in which events have occurred in the past;

utilizing the historical data in the list of factors as a basis to predict locations of future events that have not yet occurred;

based on the predicted locations of the future events and the list of attributes describing attributes of the video devices, selecting a subset of the video devices from which to receive video, the subset changes over time due to changes in the list of factors; and

displaying the video from the selected subset of the video devices as a tour, the displayed video changing over time as the selected subset changes over time;

wherein displaying the video comprises;

dividing the selected subset of the video devices into a plurality of groups, assigning, to each group in the plurality of groups, a display priority, the display priority indicating how often video from video devices in that group should be displayed in the tour, and displaying loops of video in the tour, the video in a respective loop taken from video devices in groups associated with the respective loop, the groups associated with the respective loop determined according to the display priority assigned to those groups;

receiving a first list of factors including first historical data specifying geographical areas in which at least one event has occurred in the past;

predicting occurrence of a first possible future event based on the received first list of factors;

selecting a first subset of the video devices based upon the received list of attributes and the first list of factors, the received list of attributes indicating respective locations of the video devices;

in the tour, initiating display of images captured by video devices in the first subset to display occurrence of the first possible future event;

receiving a second list of factors including second historical data specifying geographical areas in which at least one event has occurred in the past;

predicting occurrence of a second possible future event based on the received second list of factors;

selecting a second subset of the video devices based upon the received list of attributes and the second list of factors;

in the tour, initiating display of images captured by video devices in the second subset to display occurrence of the second possible future event.

8. A computer system comprising:

a memory;

a processor;

a network interface;

a display; and

an interconnection mechanism coupling the memory, the processor, the display, and the network interface, allowing communication there between;

wherein the memory of the computer system is encoded with a dynamic touring application, that when executed in the processor, provides a dynamic touring process that intelligently crafts a dynamic video tour using a plurality of video devices selected in real time, by causing the computer system to perform operations of;

receiving a list of attributes, the list of attributes describing attributes of the video devices;

continuously receiving a list of factors, the list of factors including historical data specifying areas in which events have occurred in the past;

utilizing the historical data in the list of factors as a basis to predict locations of future events that have not yet occurred;

based on the predicted locations of the future events and the list of attributes describing attributes of the video devices, selecting a subset of the video devices from which to receive video, the subset changing over time due to changes in the list of factors; and

displaying the video from the selected subset of the video devices as a tour, the displayed video changing over time as the selected subset changes over time;

wherein displaying the video comprises;

dividing the selected subset of the video devices into a plurality of groups, assigning, to each group in the plurality of groups, a display priority, the display priority indicating how often video from video devices in that group should be displayed in the tour, and displaying loops of video in the tour, the video in a respective loop taken from video devices in groups associated with the respective loop, the groups associated with the respective loop determined according to the display priority assigned to those groups;

receiving a first list of factors including first historical data specifying geographical areas in which at least one event has occurred in the past;

predicting occurrence of a first possible future event based on the received first list of factors;

selecting a first subset of the video devices based upon the received list of attributes and the first list of factors, the received list of attributes indicating respective locations of the video devices;

in the tour, initiating display of images captured by video devices in the first subset to display occurrence of the first possible future event;

receiving a second list of factors including second historical data specifying geographical areas in which at least one event has occurred in the past;

predicting occurrence of a second possible future event based on the received second list of factors;

selecting a second subset of the video devices based upon the received list of attributes and the second list of factors;

in the tour, initiating display of images captured by video devices in the second subset to display occurrence of the second possible future event.

9. The computer system of claim 8 wherein continuously receiving a list of factors comprises:

receiving a first list of factors, the first list of factors describing a first set of events, an event in the first set of events occurring at a point in time;

and wherein selecting comprises;

selecting a subset of the plurality of video devices based upon the received list of attributes and the received first list of factors;

and wherein the computer system comprises;

receiving event data, the event data describing an occurrence of one or more events;

creating a second list of factors based on the first list of factors and the received event data, the second list of factors describing a second set of events, the second set of events includes one or more events described by the received event data; and

selecting a subset of the plurality of video devices based upon the received list of attributes and the created second list of factors.

10. The computer system of claim 9 wherein receiving event data comprises:

receiving event data, the event data describing an occurrence of one or more events; and

assigning a weight to one or more items of received event data, an assigned weight corresponding to the event described by that item of received event data;

and wherein selecting comprises;

selecting a subset of the plurality of video devices based upon the received list of attributes and the created second list of factors, wherein weights assigned to events described by the second list of factors influence the selection of video devices included in the subset of the plurality of video devices.

11. The computer system of claim 8 comprising:

prior to selecting, assigning a weight to one or more factors in the list of factors, an assigned weight corresponding to the event described by that factor;

wherein selecting comprises;

selecting a subset of the plurality of video devices based upon the received list of attributes and the received list of factors, wherein the subset changes over time due to one or more changes in the list of factors, and wherein weights assigned to factors in the list of factors influence the selection of video devices included in the subset of the plurality of video devices.

12. The computer system of claim 8 wherein receiving a list of attributes comprises:

receiving a list of attributes, the list of attributes including one or more locations of a video device, a location describing an area of interest to be included in a tour;

and wherein selecting comprises;

selecting a subset of the plurality of video devices based upon the locations included in the received list of attributes and the received list of factors, wherein the subset changes over time due to one or more changes in the locations included in the list of attributes.

13. The computer system of claim 8 wherein receiving a list of attributes comprises:

receiving a list of attributes, the list of attributes describing video devices associated with recorded video;

and wherein continuously receiving a list of factors comprises;

receiving event data, the event data describing occurrences of one or more events that occurred in the past and were captured on recorded video;

and wherein selecting comprises;

selecting a subset of the plurality of video devices based upon the received list of attributes and the received event data, wherein the subset changes over time due to one or more changes in the list of attributes or in the received event data;

and wherein displaying comprises;

displaying recorded video from the selected subset of the plurality of video devices as a tour, each item of recorded video in the tour beginning at a first point in time prior to the occurrence of an event captured on that recorded video and ending at a second point in time after the occurrence of the captured event.

26. The computer system as in claim 8, wherein the computer system further performs operations of:

displaying the tour as a predictive tour, the video produced by the selected subset of the video devices capturing images of geographical areas where the future events are predicted to occur.

27. The computer system as in claim 26, wherein the future events are possible future events that are predicted to occur based on the historical data, the computer system further supporting operations of:

displaying the predictive tour to include images of the geographical areas where the future events are predicted to occur.