Patent · US Expired

Method and system for searching graphic images and videos

US5802361A · kind A · utility

411Cited by
9References
36Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateSep 30, 1994
Grant dateSep 1, 1998
Priority date
Expiry dateSep 30, 2014

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
  • CPC primaryY10S707/99936
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A system and method for searching images includes a low level analyzer for processing image data in a plurality of images into side information files, the image data of each side information file pertaining to a particular statistical or perceptual abstraction of the images, such as motion, color, texture, segments, and the like. A user interface allows a user to graphically construct a search inquiry with icons representing image attributes corresponding to the image data in the side information files. A search inquiry may include complex boolean expressions, and custom image attributes may be created to represent useful search inquiries. The image attributes of a search inquiry may also be ranked. A high level analyzer parses a search inquiry to determine the image attributes contained therein, and analyzes the image data of the side information files to determine a similarity measure for each image with respect to the search inquiry. The high level analyzer orders retrieved images according to their similarity measures, and provides them to a image display controller for display. The user may designate selected images that are acceptable matches for the search inquiry. The high …

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.