Information processing apparatus, information processing method and program therefor

• US 8,620,920 B2
• Filed: 09/12/2012
• Issued: 12/31/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/04/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Sorakado, Hideki
• Primary Examiner(s): Cao, Phuong Thao
• Application Number:
  US13/612,500
• Publication Number:
  US 20130038720A1
• Time in Patent Office: 475 Days
• Field of Search: 707/737, 707/956, 707/E17.002, 707/754
• US Class Current: 707/737
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/51 Indexing; Data structures therefor; Storage structures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/58 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/587 using geographical or spatial information, e.g. location
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32117 in a separate transmission or protocol signal prior to or subsequent to the image data transmission, e.g. in digital identification signal [DIS], in non standard setup [NSS] or in non standard field [NSF] for mode signalling H04N1/333
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3253 Position information, e.g. geographical position at time of capture, GPS data

Abstract

An information processing apparatus includes first and second position acquiring units which respectively acquire a position metadata piece from a target data piece and position metadata pieces from plural data pieces different from the target data piece. A target acquiring unit acquires target metadata pieces other than the position metadata pieces from the other data pieces, and an analysis unit analyzes a distribution of the target metadata pieces based on positions indicated by the position metadata pieces acquired from the other data pieces. An assignment unit assigns to the target data piece a target metadata piece that has a value related to the target data piece, the target metadata piece being selected from among the analyzed target metadata pieces, based on the distribution and the position indicated by the position metadata piece acquired from the target data piece.

Claims

1. An information processing apparatus comprising:

a processor and a memory;

a first position acquiring unit constructed to acquire a position metadata piece from a target data piece, the position metadata piece indicating a position;

a second position acquiring unit constructed to acquire position metadata pieces from a plurality of other data pieces different from the target data piece;

a target acquiring unit constructed to acquire target metadata pieces other than the position metadata pieces from the plurality of other data pieces, wherein the target metadata pieces are to be assigned to the target data piece;

an analysis unit constructed to analyze a distribution of the target metadata pieces based on positions indicated by the position metadata pieces acquired from the plurality of other data pieces;

a selection unit constructed to select a rule indicating an assignment method of a target metadata piece, based on the distribution and the position indicated by the position metadata piece acquired from the target data piece; and

an assignment unit constructed to assign to the target data piece a target metadata piece that has a value related to the target data piece and is selected from among the analyzed target metadata pieces, according to the selected rule,

wherein said assignment unit assigns to the target data piece the target metadata piece that has a value related to the target data piece and is selected from among the analyzed target metadata pieces using a distribution of additional metadata pieces of the plurality of other data pieces, if a subset, of the target metadata pieces, being related to the position indicated by the position metadata piece acquired from the target data piece does not have substantially the same value, wherein the additional metadata pieces are different from the target metadata pieces.

2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a clustering unit constructed to, for each value of the analyzed target metadata pieces, organize the position metadata pieces acquired from the plurality of other data pieces into a plurality of clusters; and

a region creating unit constructed to, for each of the plurality of clusters, create a region in correspondence with the cluster, in which a position indicated by each position metadata piece included in the cluster can exist,

wherein, when the position indicated by the position metadata piece acquired from the target data piece exists in any region created by the region creating unit, the assignment unit assigns to the target data piece a target metadata piece assigned to another data piece having a position metadata piece included in the cluster corresponding to the region.

3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising:

an inclusion determination unit constructed to, when the position indicated by the position metadata piece acquired from the target data piece exists in a first region as one of the regions and in a second region different from the first region, determine whether or not the first region is included in the second region,

wherein, if the first region is determined to be included in the second region, the assignment unit assigns to the target data piece a target metadata piece assigned to another data piece having a position metadata piece included in the cluster corresponding to the first region.

4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising:

a hierarchical information holding unit constructed to hold hierarchical information indicating a combination of values that have a higher-level and lower-level hierarchical relationship from among the values of the target metadata pieces assigned to the plurality of other data pieces; and

a hierarchy confirmation unit constructed to, when the position indicated by the position metadata piece acquired from the target data piece exists in a first region as one of the regions and in a second region different from the first region, confirm whether or not hierarchical information is held, in which a target metadata piece assigned to another data piece having a position metadata piece included in the cluster corresponding to the first region is at a lower level in the hierarchy, and a target metadata piece assigned to another data piece having a position metadata piece included in the cluster corresponding to the second region is at a higher level in the hierarchy,

wherein, if the holding of the hierarchical information is confirmed, the assignment unit assigns to the target data piece a target metadata piece assigned to another data piece having a position metadata piece included in the cluster corresponding to the first region.

5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising:

a hierarchical information holding unit constructed to hold hierarchical information indicating a combination of values that have a higher-level and lower-level hierarchical relationship from among the values of the target metadata pieces assigned to the plurality of other data pieces; and

a hierarchy confirmation unit constructed to, when the position indicated by the position metadata piece acquired from the target data piece is included in a first region as one of the regions and in a second region different from the first region, confirm whether or not hierarchical information is held, in which a target metadata piece assigned to another data piece having a position metadata piece included in the cluster corresponding to the first region is at a lower level in the hierarchy, and a target metadata piece assigned to another data piece having a position metadata piece included in the cluster corresponding to the second region is at a higher level in the hierarchy,

wherein, if the holding of the hierarchical information is confirmed, the assignment unit assigns to the target data piece a target metadata piece assigned to another data piece having a position metadata piece included in the cluster corresponding to the first region, and

if the inclusion determination unit determines that the first region is included in the second region, the hierarchical information holding unit further holds hierarchical information indicating that a target metadata piece assigned to another data piece having a position metadata piece included in the cluster corresponding to the first region is at a lower level in the hierarchy, and a target metadata piece assigned to another data piece having a position metadata piece included in the cluster corresponding to the second region is at a higher level in the hierarchy.

6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising:

an excluding unit constructed to exclude from a cluster a position metadata piece that indicates a position located more than a predetermined distance away from a representative position that is obtained from positions indicated by a plurality of position metadata pieces included in the cluster,

wherein the region creation unit creates a region from the cluster obtained after the exclusion.

7. The information processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the representative position is an average position or a median position obtained from the positions.

8. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a first time acquiring unit constructed to acquire a time metadata piece from the target data piece, the time metadata piece indicating a time; and

a second time acquiring unit constructed to acquire time metadata pieces from the plurality of other data pieces,

wherein, when the values of the analyzed target metadata pieces contain a plurality of different values, the assignment unit assigns to the target data piece a target metadata piece that has a value related to the target data piece, the target metadata piece being among the target metadata pieces assigned to the other data pieces having time metadata pieces that indicate times close to the time indicated by the time metadata piece acquired from the target data piece.

9. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a first person acquiring unit constructed to acquire a person metadata piece from the target data piece, the person metadata piece indicating a person;

a second person acquiring unit constructed to acquire person metadata pieces from the plurality of other data pieces; and

an association acquiring unit constructed to acquire information about a person who is considered to be associated with the person indicated by the person metadata piece acquired from the target data piece,

wherein, when the values of the analyzed target metadata pieces contain a plurality of different values, the assignment unit assigns to the target data piece a target metadata piece that has a value related to the target data piece, the target metadata piece being among the target metadata pieces assigned to the other data pieces having person metadata pieces that indicate a person who is considered to be associated with.

10. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the rule is used where the distribution has a hierarchy.

11. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the rule is used where distributions are mixed.

12. An information processing method executed by a processor of an information processing apparatus, comprising:

a first position acquiring step of acquiring a position metadata piece from a target data piece, the position metadata piece indicating a position;

a second position acquiring step of acquiring position metadata pieces from a plurality of other data pieces different from the target data piece;

a target acquiring step of acquiring target metadata pieces other than the position metadata pieces from the plurality of other data pieces, wherein the target metadata pieces are to be assigned to the target data piece;

an analyzing step of analyzing a distribution of the target metadata pieces based on positions indicated by the position metadata pieces acquired from the plurality of other data pieces;

a selecting step of selecting a rule indicating an assignment method of a target metadata piece, based on the distribution and the position indicated by the position metadata piece acquired from the target data piece; and

an assigning step of assigning to the target data piece a target metadata piece that has a value related to the target data piece and is selected from among the analyzed target metadata pieces, according to the selected rule,

wherein said assignment step of assigning to the target data piece the target metadata piece that has a value related to the target data piece and is selected from among the analyzed target metadata pieces using a distribution of additional metadata pieces of the plurality of other data pieces, if a subset, of the target metadata pieces, being related to the position indicated by the position metadata piece acquired from the target data piece does not have substantially the same value, wherein the additional metadata pieces are different from the target metadata pieces.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores computer-executable code of a program that, when executed by a processor, causes a computer to execute the steps of:

a first position acquiring step of acquiring a position metadata piece from a target data piece, the position metadata piece indicating a position;

a second position acquiring step of acquiring position metadata pieces from a plurality of other data pieces different from the target data piece;

a target acquiring step of acquiring target metadata pieces other than the position metadata pieces from the plurality of other data pieces, wherein the target metadata pieces are to be assigned to the target data piece;

an analyzing step of analyzing a distribution of the target metadata pieces based on positions indicated by the position metadata pieces acquired from the plurality of other data pieces;

a selecting step of selecting a rule indicating an assignment method of a target metadata piece, based on the distribution and the position indicated by the position metadata piece acquired from the target data piece; and

an assigning step of assigning to the target data piece a target metadata piece that has a value related to the target data piece and is selected from among the analyzed target metadata pieces, according to the selected rule,

wherein said assignment step of assigning to the target data piece the target metadata piece that has a value related to the target data piece and is selected from among the analyzed target metadata pieces using a distribution of additional metadata pieces of the plurality of other data pieces, if a subset, of the target metadata pieces, being related to the position indicated by the position metadata piece acquired from the target data piece does not have substantially the same value, wherein the additional metadata pieces are different from the target metadata pieces.