Patent Application
20230135808
In the modern Internet era, many news sources have fragmented, but core aspects of news gathering and presentation often remain associated with professional journalists gathering and sharing information in a way that is tied to an individual identity. While such practices have been able to support some news structures with valuable analysis, the process for generating stories where select professionals filter information and generate stories is time consuming and introduces significant delay between an event occurring and presentation of information to a news consumer.
Various ones of the appended drawings merely illustrate example embodiments of the present disclosure and should not be considered as limiting its scope.
Systems and methods described herein relate to computer assisted story generation, curation, and presentation from received content. Curators or operators may gather together content, such as, photos, video, audio, text, metadata, and other media content from content messages to put together one or more media collections or stories. These media collections may be based on a certain geolocation, event, topic, common user interest, product, etc. The content messages may be sent by users (e.g., users in a particular geolocation, users attending a particular event, users sharing a particular interest, etc.) using client devices. A server system may receive tens of thousands of content messages (if not more) for each media collection that need to be reviewed by the system or a curator to choose what content to include in one or more media collections. These media collections may be referred to as “stories.” Moreover, many media collections may be time sensitive or “live” stories (e.g., only available for a certain window of time such as a 24 hour period, during a particular event, etc.). Accordingly, methods and systems are described that provide tools to assist a system and curator to be able to quickly curate such a high volume of content messages into media collections for immediate, ongoing, or periodic posting.
In one example embodiment, systems and methods are provided for receiving, at a server computer, content messages from various content sources (e.g. smartphone users), each content message comprising media content and associated with a predetermined media collection. For each of the content messages received, the media content is associated with the predetermined media collection, and the content message is stored in a database. In some embodiments, the plurality of content messages are displayed on an operator device with other content messages associated with the media collection. In some embodiments, a predetermined trigger related to the media collection may be activated, and in response, an identifier of the media collection is updated from a first indicator to a second indicator. This update notifies a user of the change (e.g. with a display alert or update) and indicates that an action needs to be taken on the media collection.
For example, one media collection may be directed to recent basketball games, and may include content related to a basketball game that is in progress. When particular events of interest occur during the basketball game, a server may receive content messages that include new information not currently in the media collection. This may include content for particularly interesting play, or an ending play with a final score. These content messages are stored in a database, and a trigger (e.g. a spike in content messages or a time since the last review of related content messages) may create an alert indicating that the media collection should be reviewed for an update based on the content messages received. Such an alert may be placed on the display of a curator that is associated with the media collection.
Some embodiments use automated media filtering to limit the media content reviewed by a curator. For example, in some embodiments, blurry, dark, or otherwise low quality images and video clips may be sent to a system for inclusion in a media collection. A system may automatically filter out these low quality images, and present only the higher quality images to a curator. In some such embodiments, systems and methods include receiving, at a server computer, content messages from various content sources, each content message comprising media content and associated with a predetermined media collection. For each of the plurality of content messages or individual pieces of media content (e.g. a single image or video clip) received, a system may determine a quality score and store the content messages in a database along with the quality score. Various systems and methods also include receiving, from an operator device, a threshold percentage for the media collection. This threshold is used to filter out lower quality pieces of content to reduce the amount of content to be reviewed by a curator. The server computer uses the threshold in determining a subset of the plurality of content messages associated with the media collection to be made available to the operator device based on the threshold percentage received from the operator device and the quality score for each of the plurality of content messages. The subset of the plurality of content messages associated with media collection are then be displayed on the operator device for the media collection.
Some embodiments include computer implemented tools for activating new stories (e.g. media collection), selecting media content for the new stories, and making these stories available to the public as part of a communication system. In some such embodiments, systems and methods include receiving, at a device, a request from a user to activate a new media collection. The computer then sends the request to a server computer for activation of the new media collection. When the new media collection is activated, the device receives a confirmation message. The device may then receive content messages associated with the new media collection. A user operating the device can then select some of the content messages to be included in the new media collection, and communicate this curated selection to the server computer. The server computer causes the selection of content messages to be included in the new media collection. When the media collection is requested by other devices in the communication system, the curated selection is sent to the devices.
The client device(s) 110 may comprise, but is not limited to, a mobile phone, desktop computer, laptop computer, portable digital assistants (PDAs), smart phones, tablet, phablet ultra-books, network-enabled camera, netbooks, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, game consoles, set-top boxes, computers in vehicles, or any other communication device that a user may utilize to access the networked system 100.
The client device 110 may include a camera device for capturing content, or may be coupled to a separate camera device that is used to capture the content (e.g., video, photographs, audio, etc.) prior to sending to server system 120 or other client devices 110. Some embodiments may include wearable devices such as a pendant with an integrated camera that is coupled to a client device 110. Other embodiments may include other associated devices with an integrated camera that may be wearable, such as a watch, eyeglasses, clothing, such as a hat or jacket with integrated electronics, a clip-on electronic device, or any other such devices that may communicate or be integrated with a client device 110.
The client device 110 may access the various data and applications provided by other entities in the system 100 via web client 112 (e.g., a browser, such as the Internet Explorer® browser developed by Microsoft® Corporation of Redmond, Washington State) or one or more client applications 114. The client device 110 may include one or more applications 114 (also referred to as “apps”) such as, but not limited to, a web browser, messaging application, electronic mail (email) application, an e-commerce site application, a mapping or location application, a news or media application, and the like. In some embodiments, one or more applications 114 may be included in a given one of the client device 110, and configured to locally provide the user interface and at least some of the functionalities with the application 114 configured to communicate with other entities in the system 100 (e.g., operator device(s) 130, server system 120, etc.), on an as needed basis, for data and/or processing capabilities not locally available (e.g., access to various information, to authenticate a user 106, to verify a method of payment, to retrieve/synchronize footprints, etc.). Conversely, one or more applications 114 may not be included in the client device 110, and then the client device 110 may use its web browser to access the one or more applications hosted on other entities in the system 100 (e.g., operator device(s) 130, server system 120, etc.).
One or more users 106 may be a person, a machine, or other means of interacting with the client device 110. In example embodiments, the user 106 may not be part of the system 100, but may interact with the system 100 via the client device 110 or other means. For instance, the user 106 may provide input (e.g., touch screen input or alphanumeric input) to the client device 110 and the input may be communicated to other entities in the system 100 (e.g., operator device(s) 130, server system 120, other client device(s) 110, etc.) via the network 104. In this instance, the other entities in the system 100, in response to receiving the input from the user 106, may communicate information to the client device 110 via the network 104 to be presented to the user 106. In this way, the user 106 may interact with the various entities in the system 100 using the client device 110.
An operator device(s) 130 may include, but is not limited to, a mobile phone, desktop computer, laptop computer, portable digital assistants (PDAs), smart phones, tablet, phablet ultra-books, network-enabled camera, netbooks, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, game consoles, set-top boxes, computers in vehicles, or any other communication device that a user or operator 108 may utilize to access the networked system 100.
The operator device(s) 130 may access the various data and applications provided by other entities in the system 100 via a web client 132 (e.g., a browser, such as the Internet Explorer® browser developed by Microsoft® Corporation of Redmond, Washington State) or one or more operator applications 134. The operator device(s) 130 may include one or more operator application(s) 134 (also referred to as “apps”) such as, but not limited to, a web browser, messaging application, media curation tool, electronic mail (email) application, an e-commerce site application, a mapping or location application, a news or media application, and the like. In some embodiments, one or more applications 134 may be included in a given one of the operator device(s) 130, and configured to locally provide the user interface and at least some of the functionalities with the application 134 configured to communicate with other entities in the system 100 (e.g., client devices 110, server system 120, etc.), on an as needed basis, for data and/or processing capabilities not locally available (e.g., access to various information, to authenticate a user 106 or operator 108, to verify a method of payment, to retrieve/synchronize footprints, etc.). Conversely, one or more applications 134 may not be included in the operator device(s) 130, and then the operator device 134 may use its web browser to access the one or more applications hosted on other entities in the system 100 (e.g., server system 120, etc.).
One or more operators 108 may be a person, a machine, or other means of interacting with the operator device 130 (e.g., a user such as a curator or operator). In example embodiments, the operator 108 may not be part of the system 100, but may interact with the system 100 via the operator device 130 or other means. For instance, the operator 108 may provide input (e.g., touch screen input or alphanumeric input) to the operator device 130 and the input may be communicated to other entities in the system 100 (e.g., client device(s) 110, server system 120, etc.) via the network 104. In this instance, the other entities in the system 100, in response to receiving the input from the operator 108, may communicate information to the operator device 130 via the network 104 to be presented to the operator 108. In this way, the operator 108 may interact with the various entities in the system 100 using the operator device 130.
The client device(s) 110 and the operator device(s) 130 are connected to the server system 120 via a network 104. The network 104 may include any combination of wired and wireless connections. This may include cellular access networks, access point interfaces to the internet, or any other such networks 104 or network elements. For example, a client device 110 may interface with network 104 using a Long Term Evolution (LTE) cellular network to communicate with server system 120. Or a client device 110 may use a Wi-Fi access point to interface with network 104 and communicate with server system 120.
Server system 120 may be one or more computing devices as part of a service or network computing system. In certain embodiments, particularly embodiments with large numbers of client devices 110 interfacing with a server system 120 from widely different locations all over the globe, server system 120 may be a distributed network of server computers that are similarly widely distributed, and which communicate with each other via network 104. The server system 120 may include a web server 122, and a content processing server 124, that may be communicatively coupled with one or more databases 126. Databases 126 may be storage devices that store information such as data related to content messages, media collections, etc.
The content processing server 124 may provide functionality to perform various computer assisted media collection generation, curation, and presentation from received content (as examples). The content processing server 124 may access one or more databases 126 to retrieve stored data to use in computer assisted media collection generation, curation, and presentation from received content.
In some embodiments, client devices 110, operator device(s) 130, and any elements of server system 120 and network 104, may be implemented using elements of software architecture 902 or machine 1000 described in
Networked system 100 may be used in communication of content messages from client devices 110 to a server system 120, and communication of media collections from the server system 120 to the client devices 110. A client device 110 may communicate content messages to server system 120, and a client device 110 may receive media collections from server system 120. In addition to this functionality of the embodiments described herein, client device 110 may additionally receive private pieces of content and communications from other users 106, and may convey a personal story or media collection to server system 120, with the personal story or media collection including images and or video from content messages generated by client device 110, another device coupled to client device 110, or other users 106. Similarly, client device 110 sends content messages and receives stories or media collections, and may additionally perform other actions.
In one example embodiment, an operator application 134 may include a media curation tool. The media curation tool may allow an operator 108 to create new media collections, view a list of media collections, view a plurality of content items or content messages associated with a predetermined media collection, curate content into media collections for immediate, ongoing, or periodic posting, etc. The plurality of media content may be received by server system 120 in a plurality of content messages from a plurality of users 106 (e.g., via client devices 110).
Using the curation tool, an operator 108 may be able to view a list of all of the media collections that are active, planned, or archived. For example, using the curation tool, the operator 108 may provide an indication to view a list of media collections (e.g., press a button, select an option, click on an icon, etc.). An example user interface 200 is shown in
The list of media collections may include a list of all active media collections 212 and a list of upcoming media collections 214. Each list may include an indication of what operators or curators 216 are assigned to each media collection. There may be one or more operators 108 assigned to each media collection. The user interface 200 also allows the operator 108 to add or remove operators 108 for each media collection. Each media collection may have a title 201, a number of content items or content messages 203 that are in the queue for that media collection, a number of content items that have been cleared 205 (viewed, reviewed, etc.), and the last time the media collection was updated 207. Upcoming media collections 214 may also include information about when they are scheduled to go “live.”
The media collections may also indicate a status by an indicator such as color or other method. For example, media collections that do not need immediate attention may have a first indicator (e.g., a green color), media collections that need attention may have a second indicator (e.g., a red color), and media collections that are incomplete (e.g., do not have a geofence, need approval, do not have a thumbnail, etc.) may have a third indicator (e.g., a yellow color). The server system 120 may set or update a status indicator based on a predetermined trigger, as explained below. An operator 108 may select any of the media collections to go to a detailed view for a particular media collection.
The user interface 200 may also provide a mechanism 210 for the operator 108 to view metrics associated with one or more media collections, one or more operators 108, etc. And the user interface 200 may also provide a mechanism 211 for accessing a calendar view of the media collections. A calendar view of the media collections is shown in
An operator 108 may also view a list of just the media collections assigned to the operator 108, as shown displayed in example interface 250 in
Each media collection list item (e.g., media collection list item 258) may include information about the media collection. For example, the media collection list item may include a name of the media collection (e.g., Stanford, Purdue, etc.), a number of content items or content messages in the queue for that media collection (e.g., 1253, 253, 104, etc.), a time since the last update was pushed live or content items or content messages were added to the queue (e.g., 00:05:53), the amount of content items or content messages cleared or reviewed/curated (e.g., an amount for the operator 108 (e.g., 255, 245, 2135 etc.), and a total amount (e.g., 12.5k, 172.5k, etc.), and a last updated time stamp and by whom it was updated (e.g., 01/12/16 (D. Boone)). The operator 108 may also be able to add an operator 108 to a media collection, for example, using a drop down box 259 as shown in example interface 250.
The operator 108 may be further provided with a mechanism to view all operators 108 currently working on media collections, as shown in interface 265 of
The operator 108 may further be provided with a mechanism to create a new media collection (e.g., via a selectable “create story” icon 208 as shown in
The operator 108 may also be able to upload a thumbnail 234 that may be associated with the media collection and displayed in various media output displays (e.g., apps, websites, etc.). The operator 108 may be able to choose from a selection of predetermined thumbnails or create a new thumbnail. The operator 108 may also select or add filters 236 and/or intro animations to be associated with the media collection. The operator 108 may also include whitelisted users 238 and search for keywords 241 to be associated with the media collection. There may be additional information 242 that may be selected by the operator 108. For example, if the operator 108 has selected public local or private local for the media collection type, a check box may appear that can be selected to indicate that a collection fence is different from a broadcast fence. If the operator 108 selects this option (e.g., checks this box) then the operator 108 may be prompted to draw more than one geofence. Other additional information 242 may include an option to show the media collection on a website, show the media collection in a search or media forum (e.g., Google Now, Google search, etc.), and show media collections in a browser. If the operator 108 selects to show the media collection in one of these options, the operator 108 may be prompted to input additional information such as a description of the media collection (e.g., text box to input a description of the media collection), color for the media collection, etc.
The operator 108 may also be able to draw a geofence (e.g., a virtual fence over a geographic area) on a map to associate a particular location with the media collection. For example, the operator 108 may select a geofence drawing button 244 and then create a polygon 245 to indicate the location to associate with the media collection, as shown in
After the operator 108 finishes entering information to create the new media collection, the operator 108 may submit the information. For example, the operator 108 may select a submit option 243 and the operator device 130 may send a request to create a new media collection with the information to server system 120. Server system 120 may receive and evaluate the request and information and create a new media collection and store the associated information in one or more databases 126. The server system 120 may generate a message indicating a new media collection has been created and send it to one or more operator devices 130.
At operation 302, a server system 120 (e.g., at content processing server 124) may receive a plurality of content messages from a plurality of content sources. The content messages may comprise media content (e.g., photos, video, audio, text, etc.) and may be associated with one or more media collections.
For example, a plurality of users 106 may send a plurality of content messages related to a particular event (e.g., music concert, sports event, street fair, expo, etc.), a geolocation (e.g., concert venue, sports arena, city, neighborhood, state, etc.), a subject or topic (e.g., popular song, product, weather, etc.), a common user interest (e.g., shared interest in sports, music, clothing, celebrities, products, activities, etc.), etc. The content messages may be created and sent by a plurality of client devices 110. For example, a user 106 may take a picture, record a video, incorporate text or a media overlay (e.g., filter) with a picture, video, etc., and send the content message to another user 106 or to server system 120 to be associated with one or more predetermined media collections (or to create a new media collection). Content messages may include additional information such as a timestamp indicating the time the content was created or sent, a username, etc. The timestamp may be used to sort the content chronologically or determine any expiration day/time of a content message. The username may be used to identify the users 106, identify users 106 contributing good content to be flagged as a good contributor, identify users 106 who may be spammers so they can be muted, etc.
For each of the plurality of content messages received by the server system 120 (e.g., by content processing server 124), the content processing server 124 may associate the content in the content message with one or more predetermined media collections, as shown in operation 304. For example, an indication of one or more media collections may be included in the content message, and the content processing server 124 may utilize the indication to associate the content with the one or more media collections. In another example, the content processing server 124 may determine an associated media collection based on the content in the content message (e.g., via text recognition, object recognition, audio foot print, etc.). The content processing server 124 may store the content message associated with the one or more media collections, as shown in operation 306.
In operation 308, the server system 120 may cause the content or content messages to be displayed on an operator device 130. For example, an operator 108 may use an interface in a web browser or in an application 134, such as the user interface 400 shown in
Each media collection may have an identifier associated with the media collection. The identifier (e.g., identifier 404) may include the name of the media collection, a number of content items or content messages in the queue (e.g., to be reviewed/curated), a local time of the specific story, a time which may indicate a time since the media collection was last updated by an operator 108 or a time of the most recent approved content item or content message, and a status indicator. Media collections may be removed or added to the interface 400 by the operator 108 or server system 120.
A status indicator in the identifier of the media collection may include a color, a flashing tab, etc. For example, the identifier of the media collection (e.g., tab 404) may appear green (e.g., a first indicator) when the media collection does not require immediate attention, red (e.g., a second indicator) when the media collection does require immediate attention, or yellow (e.g., a third indicator) when a media collection is incomplete.
The server system 120 may set or update an identifier of a media collection based on a trigger. For example, returning to
For example, the content processing server 124 may determine that a predetermined amount of time (e.g., 5 minutes, 15 minutes, 1 hour, 1 day) has passed since the content items or content messages associated with the media collection have been viewed on the operator device 130. The content processing server 124 may change the indicator from green (e.g., a first indicator) to red (e.g., a second indicator) to alert the operator 108 to the fact that the media collection needs immediate attention. This may be particularly important when an operator 108 is curating multiple media collections and for live media collections (e.g., events in progress) where timeliness may be important. For example, a concert may be only two hours long and so an operator 108 may not want to let more than a few minutes pass before updating content in a media collection related to the concert.
The operator 108 may select the identifier to view content to be reviewed and curated for a particular media collection. For example, the currently selected media collection in example interface 400 is “Purdue” 404. Once a media collection is selected, information specific to the selected media collection may be displayed. For example, for the selected “Purdue” media collection, information displayed may include the name of the media collection 408, the current length 410 of the media collection (e.g., the number of content messages or content items in the live or published version of the media collection), the location within the media collection (e.g., a particular geofence within the media collection, or all locations within the media collection), etc. There may be other mechanisms for performing additional functionality, such as a button 401 to turn the media collection on or off (e.g., turning a media collection on may push the selected media collection or story live). Other functionality may include a button 403 to open or close a geofence, a button 405 to preview the media collection in a video player, a button 407 to send the current media collection to a user 106 or list of users, and advanced settings 409 with additional options.
Example advanced settings may include filters to filter out content items or content messages of certain types by selecting various filters. For example, types that can be filtered out may include videos, photos, approved content items or content messages, flagged content items or content messages, whitelisted content items or content messages, unselected content items or content messages (e.g., not approved, flagged, or whitelisted), etc. Filtering may only effect the current queue.
The operator 108 may also filter a media collection by location, if there is more than one location within the media collection, default content item or content message length, how many content items or content messages that will be displayed on a page, how often the number of content items or content messages in the queue are updated, how may content items or content messages the operator 108 can go back when selecting an undo button, all submissions, current media collection only, current plus flagged, unselected, unselected plus whitelisted, etc.
The interface 400 may further include a mechanism for loading the next content items or content messages in the queue. For example, there may be a button 411 that may be selected by the operator 108 to get the next 100 content items or content messages.
The operator 108 may be able to view a timeline, such as the example timeline 416 shown in
An operator 108 may also have the option of adding an advertisement to the media collection. For example, an operator 108 may be able to select to add an ad via a button 415 as shown in
While viewing the content items or content messages for a media collection, the operator 108 may select individual content items or content messages to show that the individual content items or content messages have been approved for pushing live (e.g., “published” to be viewed by users 106 as part of the media collection), as shown in
An operator 108 may view and edit individual content items or content messages. For example, a tool may be provided to stabilize shaky video, strip a media overlay or filter off of a content item or content message (e.g., a media overlay that has inappropriate content, covers a key feature or object in the content item or message, etc.), block a particular user 106, report a content item or content message, trip a photograph or video length, etc.
As mentioned above, server system 120 may receive tens of thousands (or more) of content messages from a plurality of client devices 110 containing media content from a plurality of users 106. It may be very difficult, if not impossible, for an operator 108 to review and curate so many messages for one or more media collections. Moreover, may media collections may relate to a live event where reviewing, curating, and pushing content items or content messages live for a media collection may need to be done in a very timely manner. Accordingly, the curation tool described above provides a number of mechanisms and filters to allow an operator 108 to quickly and easily view and curate content items or content messages related to one or more media collections.
The curation tool may further provide a mechanism for an operator 108 to filter out a certain percentage of content items or content messages to automate some of the review and curation process so that an operator 108 may be able to efficiently review and curate content items or content messages in a timely manner.
At operation 502, the server system 120 (e.g., at content processing server 124) may receive a plurality of content messages from a plurality of content sources. The content messages may comprise media content (e.g., photos, video, audio, text, etc.) and may be associated with one or more media collections.
For example, a plurality of users 106 may send a plurality of content messages related to a particular event (e.g., music concert, sports event, street fair, expo, etc.), a geolocation (e.g., concert venue, sports arena, city, neighborhood, state, etc.), a subject or topic (e.g., popular song, product, weather, etc.), a common user interest (e.g., shared interest in sports, music, clothing, celebrities, products, activities, etc.), etc. The content messages may be created and sent by a plurality of client devices 110. For example, a user 106 may take a picture, record a video, incorporate text or a media overlay (e.g., filter) with a picture, video, etc., and send the content message to another user 106 or to server system 120 to be associated with one or more predetermined media collections (or to create a new media collection). Content messages may include additional information such as a timestamp indicating the time the content was created or sent, a username, etc. The timestamp may be used to sort the content chronologically or determine any expiration day/time of a content message. The username may be used to identify the users 106, identify users 106 contributing good content to be flagged as a good contributor, identify users 106 who may be spammers so they can be muted, etc.
For each of the plurality of content messages received by the server system 120 (e.g., by content processing server 124), the content processing server 124 may analyze each of the plurality of content messages to determine a quality score for each of the plurality of content messages, as shown in operation 504. The quality score may be determined based on a number of different factors. For example, the content processing server 124 can analyze the media content in the content message to determine the quality of the audio, photographs, videos, text, or other content. If the quality of the media content is low (e.g., lower resolution, shaky video, blurry text, unclear audio, etc.), the content message is given a lower score than for media content with a higher quality.
Some example factors that may be used to determine a quality score include an explicit content likelihood (e.g., probability that images or videos contain explicit content such as nudity, drug use, profanity, etc.), underexposure (e.g., very dark or completely black images or videos), overexposure (e.g., too bright images or videos), noise level (e.g., images or videos that look to grainy as a result of being taken in low light conditions with a low-end camera), shaky camera (e.g., when camera is too shaky when taking a video), blurry media content (e.g., images and video that look too blurry), low quality compression (e.g., removes content messages with excessive compression artifacts), audio quality, areas within an event (e.g., if too many content messages showing a particular area in an sports arena or a particular play in a game, may be scored lower), content messages that are all black and white, etc.
A combination of different factors may result into a single quality score. For example, quality score may range from 0 to 1, with 0 being the lowest quality and 1 being the highest quality. A content message of lower quality may be scored with a 0 or 0.1. A content message of higher quality may be scored a 0.9 or 1. The factors may be combined into a single quality score using heuristics and/or using machine language based on operator 108 behavior. The content processing server 124 may optionally sort all of the content messages for a media collection by quality score.
A quality score, in some embodiments, is based on a detailed exposure analysis of an image or a sample of frames in a video clip. For example, a histogram of luminance may be calculated, and a quality may be assigned to the image or video based on a correlation of the histogram with a quality score. Such a correlation may be based on a table or function associating certain histogram patterns with selected quality scores, or may be generated in any other such manner. For video where multiple sample frames are analyzed, an average of scores for each frame may be used to select a score, a worst score for an individual frame of all the analyzed frames may be used, or any such combination or function of multiple scores or selections of scores may be used.
In some embodiments, a motion-blur estimation of an image or of selected video clips is used as a part of the quality score. Such motion blur estimation may, for example, be based on a calculation of energy gradients on detected edges, or other such motion estimations. For video clips, identifying video frames with motion blur above a threshold amount may trigger analysis of additional sample frames to determine how much of the video is impacted by motion blur, or to identify when a shakiness of a camera sensor impacts an entire video. In certain embodiments, a system may use a threshold for video motion or “shakiness” to filter out videos with camera motion or shake above the threshold. In other embodiments, a shakiness or motion score may simply modify an overall quality score. In other embodiments, both a hard threshold as well as an input to an overall quality score may be used.
In some embodiments, images or sample video frames may be analyzed for compression artifacts or other image processing artifacts that indicate a lower image quality or errors introduced into an image due to various compression or communication problems. Such artifacts may include image ringing, image contouring, staircase noise along curving edges, posterizing artifacts, or block boundary artifacts. Videos may be analyzed for additional video based compression artifacts such as block boundary artifacts associated with motion compensation or mosquito noise that may be identified by analysis of selected frames of a video. The presence of such compression artifacts and the intensity of any identified compression artifacts may be used to modify or select a quality score for an image or video clip. In addition to such information loss associated with compression or lossy transmission, images and video frames may also be analyzed for other types of noise. For example, variance in smooth or uniform regions of an image may be analyzed for noise artifacts, such as noise associated with a low quality or malfunctioning camera sensor, low quality or dirty optics of a camera, or any other such source of noise that may lower, corrupt, or modify the data in the image.
Audio data is also used for quality scoring of video clips in some embodiments. In such embodiments, various audio metrics such as dynamic range, noise levels, language clarity or language recognition data, or any other such audio based information may be used to select an audio quality score or to impact an overall quality score. Different audio data metrics, in some embodiments, are used based on a determined audio environment. For example, a video clip with speech may be assessed differently than a clip with music, or video clips with different types of music may be assessed differently. Additionally, audio spotting to identify objectionable audio content (e.g. taboo spoken language or explicit music lyrics) can be used for a quality score or a quality threshold flag in some embodiments.
In addition to quality scores based on image quality, some scores may be based on image content. For example, as mentioned above, image processing may be used to identify objectionable content such as nudity or taboo language within an image or video clip. In some embodiments, a preferred orientation (e.g. landscape or portrait) may be used for quality scoring. Some systems may additionally use image recognition to identify desirable content. For example, in some systems, images of animals or images of objects associated with a party environment are identified as desirable. The presence of such images within video frames or pictures may be used to increase an overall quality score, or to generate a content score.
Feedback or machine learning is used in certain embodiments to select or set a quality score. Such systems may use neural networks to extract features identified as preferred or interesting to system users. For example, in some embodiments, images selected by system users for inclusion in one or more stories may be selected for a learning set. Some or all images and video frames from the learning set may have features extracted and analyzed using a feed-forward artificial neural network such as a convolutional neural network to identify desirable elements of the images, and to automatically assign an interestingness score to future images received based on the neural network generated with the learning set. Feature maps used within such neural networks may be based on any analysis metric described herein, including image quality features and image content features. In some embodiments, learnable filters may be selected and automatically updated based in a database of images from image processing services used for content analysis of images or video frames. In other embodiments, any other such sources may be used for learnable filters. Such analysis may be applied to both image elements of content as well as to audio elements of videos.
Other feedback mechanisms may be used in various embodiments. For example, in some embodiments, a content source, user, or account associated with generating an image or video clip may have associated history data. In some embodiments, association of a content source with a history of content selected by system users or associated with high quality ratings may be used as an input to a quality score, or may be used as a quality flag. Various content source metrics such as the quality history, number of images sent, number of system followers or interconnections, or other such metrics may be used.
In some embodiments, multiple different quality scores may be associated with each individual piece of media content, so that an image may have an exposure quality score, a noise quality score, a motion quality score, a compression quality score, a resolution quality scores, an audio quality score, a content score, or any other such separate quality scores. In such embodiments, an overall quality score based on any combination of such individual quality scores may also be provided. Further, as mentioned above, some or all of such quality scores may individually be used to reject certain pieces of media content automatically, with only the images or videos that exceed all thresholds being presented to a system user. Such a system may have any number of thresholds based on separate quality scores or multiple different combinations of different quality scores. In some embodiments, such thresholds may be variable to present a target number of images and/or videos to a system user. Similarly, different types of images or video clips may be assessed differently, such that weights may be applied to different images differently based on content, location, time, proximity in location or time to a holiday or news event, overall environment, or other such information. The metrics and weights for any of the above, in some embodiments, are applied differently to a selfie taken inside than to concert footage taken outdoors at night.
In operation 506, the content processing server 124 may store the plurality of content messages, along with the quality score for each of the plurality of content messages, in one or more databases 126. The quality score may be stored as metadata associated with the content message. The content processing server 124 may optionally sort all of the content messages by quality score.
In operation 508, the content processing server 124 may receive, from an operator device 130, a threshold percentage for a media collection. For example, the operator 108 may be provided with an interface, such as the interface 600 shown in
In operation 510, the content processing server 124 may determine a subset of the plurality of content messages associated with the media collection to be made available to the operator 108 (e.g., via an operator device 130) based on the threshold percent received by the operator device 130 and the quality score for each of the plurality of messages. For example, the content processing server 124 may determine the top 50% of the content messages in the media collection based on the quality score for each of the plurality of messages (e.g., the top 50% of highest scoring content messages).
In operation 512, the content processing server 124 may cause only the subset of the plurality of content messages associated with the media collection to be displayed on the operator device 130 for the media collection. For example, if the content processing system 124 has received 10,000 content messages, and the threshold was set to 30%, the content processing system 124 may only cause 3000 content messages to be displayed on the operator device 130.
Since the content processing server 124 may be continuously receiving a plurality of content messages, the content processing server 124 may re-compute the subset of plurality of content messages for a media collection periodically. For example, after causing the initial subset of content messages to be displayed on the operator device 130, the content processing server 124 may determine a subset of newly received content processing messages (e.g., since the last subset was determined) after a predetermined number of content messages have been received (e.g., 100, 1000, etc.) or after a predetermined amount of time (e.g., 30 seconds, 10 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, etc.). Moreover, the operator 108 may change the threshold value from first value (e.g., 50%) to a second value (e.g., 30%). The content processing server 124 may receive the new threshold value and use the new threshold value to determine the subset of the plurality of content messages received going forward. In addition, or in the alternative, the content processing server 124 may also adjust the value of a subset that was already made available to the operator device 130 (e.g., may cause more content messages to be displayed on the operator device 130 if the operator 108 increased the threshold percentage value).
Input from an operator 108 may be used to improve the quality score algorithm. For example, an operator 108 may be able to mark or otherwise indicate when a content message is low-quality. The server system 120 may also track each time an operator 108 flags or accepts a content message, or indicates a content message is related to a particular breaking news story, etc. For example, the content processing server 124 may analyze content messages that were accepted by operators 108 and content messages that were not accepted by operators 108, and use this data to create a model to determine a probability that an operator 108 would accept a particular content message. This factor (e.g., probability of operator acceptance) may be used as a factor in computing the quality score for the content message.
In another example embodiment, a client application 114 may be provided that includes a media collection creation and curation tool for an end user 106. The tool may allow the user 106 to create new media collections, view a list of media collections, view a plurality of content items or content messages associated with a predetermined media collection, select and/or curate content into media collections for immediate, ongoing, or periodic posting, etc. The plurality of media content may have been received by server system 120 in a plurality of content messages from a plurality of users 106 (e.g., via client devices 110). For example, a user 106 may wish to create a new media collection associated with a personal event, such as a wedding reception, child’s birthday party, family vacation, etc. The user 106 may use a client device 110 to establish an account, create new media collections (e.g., one for his wedding reception, one for his niece’s birthday party, one for an upcoming family vacation, etc.), view existing media collections, to view content messages (e.g., from friends and family) associated with media collections, and to select and/or curate content messages to be included in one or more media collections.
A user 106 may first provide identifying information to establish an account to create new media collections, view existing media collections, to view content messages associated with media collections, and to select and/or curate content messages to be included in one or more media collections. For example, the client device 110 may cause an interface to be displayed on the client device 110, such as the interface 700 shown in in
The user 106 may then submit the identifying information 702 (and any other information) to establish his account. The client device 110 may receive the identifying information 702 from the user 106 and send the identifying information 702 to server system 120 to establish an account. The server system 120 may receive the identifying information 702 and authenticate the identifying information 702 (e.g., confirm that there are no existing accounts with the same information, make sure the information is legitimate, etc.). Once the server system 120 has confirmed that the account may be established, the server system 120 may create a new account and store the identifying information 702 associated with the account in one or more databases 126. The server system 120 may send a notification to the client device 110 that the account has been established. The client device 110 may display a message to the user 106 that the account was established.
The application 114 on the client device 110 may provide a mechanism for the user 106 to manage various aspects of his account. For example, the client device 110 may display an interface 715 as shown in
The interface 715 may further allow the user 106 to create a new personal media collection 727. The user 106 may select an option to create a new personal media collection (e.g., press or swipe menu item 727). The client device 110 may detect that the user 106 has selected to create a new personal media collection and request or allow a user 106 to enter various parameters associated with the media collection.
One parameter may be a name for the personal media collection. For example, the client device 110 may display an interface such as interface 730 as shown in
The user 106 may be able to enter additional parameters for the media collection, as shown in
Another parameter may include setting a boundary or geofence to indicate the area in which users must be located to submit content messages for a media collection or where users must be located to view a media collection. The application 114 may include a predetermined maximum geofence or boundary size. If the user 106 would like to increase the maximum boundary size, the user 106 may need to pay an additional fee to do so, as shown in interface 750 in
Returning to
The user 106 may also be able to specify one or more audience members for the media collection. An audience member may be a user 106 who has permission to view the media collection. The user 106 may also be able to specify a max audience size 749 for which to share the media collection. In one example embodiment, there may be a predetermined maximum size, and the user 106 may need to pay an additional fee to increase the audience size to greater than the predetermined maximum size. The audience may be either a user 106 located in a geofence associated with the media collection, or a user 106 in the public who follows the media collection. For example, the user 106 may specify whether the media collection is public or private. If the user 106 specifies that the media collection is public, then anyone may view the media collection. If the user 106 specified that the media collection is private, then the audience is limited to a group or to users 106 within a specific geofence.
The user 106 may also be able to specify one or more contributors. A contributor may be a user 106 who has permission to post or submit content items or content messages to be included in the media collection. In one example embodiment, a contributor may need to be within the geofence associate with the media collection to post or submit content items or content messages to be included in the media collection. For example, a user 106 may only be given an option to send content messages to be included in the media collection if the user 106 is within the geofence for the media collection.
Once the user 106 enters the parameters of the media collection, he may submit the information to activate the media collection (e.g., via “Activate Media Collection” button 741) or may save the information (e.g., via “Save” button 743).
In operation 802 the client device 110 (e.g., a first computing device) may receive a request from a user 106 to activate a new media collection. The request may include one or more parameters, as described above. For example, the request may include a name for the media collection, a geofence associated with the media collection, one or more contributors, one or more audience members, a max audience size, a thumbnail, a length of the life of the media collection, etc.
In operation 804 the client device 110 may send the request to a server computer (e.g., at server system 120) for activation of the new media collection. The server computer may receive and evaluate the request and information and create a new media collection and store the associated information in one or more databases 126. The server computer may generate a message (e.g., confirmation) indicating that a new media collection has been created and send it to the client device 110. The client device 110 may receive, from the server computer, the confirmation that the new media collection was activated, as shown in operation 806.
The server computer may receive a plurality of content messages from a plurality of content sources (e.g., users 106 via client devices 110). The content messages may comprise media content (e.g., images, video, audio, etc.) and may be associated with one or more media collections, as explained above. For each of the plurality of content messages received by the server system 120 (e.g., by content processing server 124), the content processing server 124 may associate the content in the content message with one or more predetermined media collections, as also explained above. The content processing server 124 may store the content message associated with the one or more media collections, and/or may forward the content message associated to the appropriate client device 110.
The client device 110 may receive a plurality of content messages associated with the new media collection, as shown in operation 808. The plurality of content messages may be received from a plurality of users 106, as explained above. The client device 110 may display the plurality of content messages to the user 106 and the user 106 may be able to select one or more of the content messages to be included in the media collection. For example, the user 106 may select a subset or all of the content messages. In operation 810, the client device 110 may receive, from the user 106, a selection of the plurality of content messages to be included in the new media collection.
In operation 812, the client device 110 may send, to the server computer, and indication of the selection of the content messages to be included in the new media collection. The server computer may store the selection for the media collection and cause the selection of content messages to be included in the new media collection and displayed in response to a request from at least a second client device 110 (e.g., a second computing device) to view the media collection. For example, an audience member (e.g., the user 106 or another user 106) may view the media collection (e.g., the selection of plurality of content messages) on his client device 110. For example, the audience member may be within the geofence for the media collection or may enter a unique identifier (e.g., a username) or scan a code (e.g., QR code, barcode, etc.) to follow/view the media collection. In another example, the server computer may cause the new media collection to be displayed in response to the request from at least a second computing device after the server determines that a second user associated with the second computing device is part of a predefined audience.
In various implementations, the operating system 904 manages hardware resources and provides common services. The operating system 904 includes, for example, a kernel 920, services 922, and drivers 924. The kernel 920 acts as an abstraction layer between the hardware and the other software layers, consistent with some embodiments. For example, the kernel 920 provides memory management, processor management (e.g., scheduling), component management, networking, and security settings, among other functionality. The services 922 can provide other common services for the other software layers. The drivers 924 are responsible for controlling or interfacing with the underlying hardware, according to some embodiments. For instance, the drivers 924 can include display drivers, camera drivers, BLUETOOTH® or BLUETOOTH® Low Energy drivers, flash memory drivers, serial communication drivers (e.g., Universal Serial Bus (USB) drivers), WI-FI® drivers, audio drivers, power management drivers, and so forth.
In some embodiments, the libraries 906 provide a low-level common infrastructure utilized by the applications 910. The libraries 906 can include system libraries 930 (e.g., C standard library) that can provide functions such as memory allocation functions, string manipulation functions, mathematic functions, and the like. In addition, the libraries 906 can include API libraries 932 such as media libraries (e.g., libraries to support presentation and manipulation of various media formats such as Moving Picture Experts Group-4 (MPEG4), Advanced Video Coding (H.264 or AVC), Moving Picture Experts Group Layer-3 (MP3), Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), Adaptive Multi-Rate (AMR) audio codec, Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG or JPG), or Portable Network Graphics (PNG)), graphics libraries (e.g., an OpenGL framework used to render in two dimensions (2D) and three dimensions (3D) in a graphic content on a display), database libraries (e.g., SQLite to provide various relational database functions), web libraries (e.g., WebKit to provide web browsing functionality), and the like. The libraries 906 can also include a wide variety of other libraries 934 to provide many other APIs to the applications 910.
The frameworks 908 provide a high-level common infrastructure that can be utilized by the applications 910, according to some embodiments. For example, the frameworks 908 provide various graphic user interface (GUI) functions, high-level resource management, high-level location services, and so forth. The frameworks 908 can provide a broad spectrum of other APIs that can be utilized by the applications 910, some of which may be specific to a particular operating system 904 or platform.
In an example embodiment, the applications 910 include a home application 950, a contacts application 952, a browser application 954, a book reader application 956, a location application 958, a media application 960, a messaging application 962, a game application 964, and a broad assortment of other applications such as a third party application 966. According to some embodiments, the applications 910 are programs that execute functions defined in the programs. Various programming languages can be employed to create one or more of the applications 910, structured in a variety of manners, such as object-oriented programming languages (e.g., Objective-C, Java, or C++) or procedural programming languages (e.g., C or assembly language). In a specific example, the third party application 966 (e.g., an application 910 developed using the ANDROID™ or IOS™ software development kit (SDK) by an entity other than the vendor of the particular platform) may be mobile software running on a mobile operating system such as IOS™, ANDROID™, WINDOWS® Phone, or another mobile operating system. In this example, the third party application 966 can invoke the API calls 912 provided by the operating system 904 to facilitate functionality described herein.
Some embodiments may particularly include a curation application 967. In certain embodiments, this may be a stand-alone application that operates to manage communications with a server system such as server system 120. In other embodiments, this functionality may be integrated with another application such as a media application 960 or another such application. Curation application 967 may manage collection of content using a camera device of machine 1000, communication with a server system via I/O components 1050, and receipt and storage of received media collections in memory 1030. Presentation of content and user inputs associated with content may be managed by curation application 967 using different frameworks 908, library 906 elements, or operating system 904 elements operating on a machine 1000.
In various embodiments, the machine 1000 comprises processors 1010, memory 1030, and I/O components 1050, which can be configured to communicate with each other via a bus 1002. In an example embodiment, the processors 1010 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processor, a complex instruction set computing (CISC) processor, a graphics processing unit (GPU), a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a radio-frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), another processor, or any suitable combination thereof) include, for example, a processor 1012 and a processor 1014 that may execute the instructions 1016. The term “processor” is intended to include multi-core processors 1010 that may comprise two or more independent processors 1012, 1014 (also referred to as “cores”) that can execute instructions 1016 contemporaneously. Although
The memory 1030 comprises a main memory 1032, a static memory 1034, and a storage unit 1036 accessible to the processors 1010 via the bus 1002, according to some embodiments. The storage unit 1036 can include a machine-readable medium 1038 on which are stored the instructions 1016 embodying any one or more of the methodologies or functions described herein. The instructions 1016 can also reside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory 1032, within the static memory 1034, within at least one of the processors 1010 (e.g., within the processor’s cache memory), or any suitable combination thereof, during execution thereof by the machine 1000. Accordingly, in various embodiments, the main memory 1032, the static memory 1034, and the processors 1010 are considered machine-readable media 1038.
As used herein, the term “memory” refers to a machine-readable medium 1038 able to store data temporarily or permanently and may be taken to include, but not be limited to, random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), buffer memory, flash memory, and cache memory. While the machine-readable medium 1038 is shown, in an example embodiment, to be a single medium, the term “machine-readable medium” should be taken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, or associated caches and servers) able to store the instructions 1016. The term “machine-readable medium” shall also be taken to include any medium, or combination of multiple media, that is capable of storing instructions (e.g., instructions 1016) for execution by a machine (e.g., machine 1000), such that the instructions 1016, when executed by one or more processors of the machine 1000 (e.g., processors 1010), cause the machine 1000 to perform any one or more of the methodologies described herein. Accordingly, a “machine-readable medium” refers to a single storage apparatus or device, as well as “cloud-based” storage systems or storage networks that include multiple storage apparatus or devices. The term “machine-readable medium” shall accordingly be taken to include, but not be limited to, one or more data repositories in the form of a solid-state memory (e.g., flash memory), an optical medium, a magnetic medium, other non-volatile memory (e.g., erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM)), or any suitable combination thereof. The term “machine-readable medium” specifically excludes non-statutory signals per se.
The I/O components 1050 include a wide variety of components to receive input, provide output, produce output, transmit information, exchange information, capture measurements, and so on. In general, it will be appreciated that the I/O components 1050 can include many other components that are not shown in
In some further example embodiments, the I/O components 1050 include biometric components 1056, motion components 1058, environmental components 1060, or position components 1062, among a wide array of other components. For example, the biometric components 1056 include components to detect expressions (e.g., hand expressions, facial expressions, vocal expressions, body gestures, or eye tracking), measure biosignals (e.g., blood pressure, heart rate, body temperature, perspiration, or brain waves), identify a person (e.g., voice identification, retinal identification, facial identification, fingerprint identification, or electroencephalogram based identification), and the like. The motion components 1058 include acceleration sensor components (e.g., accelerometer), gravitation sensor components, rotation sensor components (e.g., gyroscope), and so forth. The environmental components 1060 include, for example, illumination sensor components (e.g., photometer), temperature sensor components (e.g., one or more thermometers that detect ambient temperature), humidity sensor components, pressure sensor components (e.g., barometer), acoustic sensor components (e.g., one or more microphones that detect background noise), proximity sensor components (e.g., infrared sensors that detect nearby objects), gas sensor components (e.g., machine olfaction detection sensors, gas detection sensors to detect concentrations of hazardous gases for safety or to measure pollutants in the atmosphere), or other components that may provide indications, measurements, or signals corresponding to a surrounding physical environment. The position components 1062 include location sensor components (e.g., a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver component), altitude sensor components (e.g., altimeters or barometers that detect air pressure from which altitude may be derived), orientation sensor components (e.g., magnetometers), and the like.
Communication can be implemented using a wide variety of technologies. The I/O components 1050 may include communication components 1064 operable to couple the machine 1000 to a network 1080 or devices 1070 via a coupling 1082 and a coupling 1072, respectively. For example, the communication components 1064 include a network interface component or another suitable device to interface with the network 1080. In further examples, communication components 1064 include wired communication components, wireless communication components, cellular communication components, near field communication (NFC) components, BLUETOOTH® components (e.g., BLUETOOTH® Low Energy), WI-FI® components, and other communication components to provide communication via other modalities. The devices 1070 may be another machine 1000 or any of a wide variety of peripheral devices (e.g., a peripheral device coupled via a Universal Serial Bus (USB)).
Moreover, in some embodiments, the communication components 1064 detect identifiers or include components operable to detect identifiers. For example, the communication components 1064 include radio frequency identification (RFID) tag reader components, NFC smart tag detection components, optical reader components (e.g., an optical sensor to detect a one-dimensional bar codes such as a Universal Product Code (UPC) bar code, multi-dimensional bar codes such as a Quick Response (QR) code, Aztec Code, Data Matrix, Dataglyph, MaxiCode, PDF417, Ultra Code, Uniform Commercial Code Reduced Space Symbology (UCC RSS)-2D bar codes, and other optical codes), acoustic detection components (e.g., microphones to identify tagged audio signals), or any suitable combination thereof. In addition, a variety of information can be derived via the communication components 1064, such as location via Internet Protocol (IP) geolocation, location via WI-FI® signal triangulation, location via detecting a BLUETOOTH® or NFC beacon signal that may indicate a particular location, and so forth.
In various example embodiments, one or more portions of the network 1080 can be an ad hoc network, an intranet, an extranet, a virtual private network (VPN), a local area network (LAN), a wireless LAN (WLAN), a wide area network (WAN), a wireless WAN (WWAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), the Internet, a portion of the Internet, a portion of the public switched telephone network (PSTN), a plain old telephone service (POTS) network, a cellular telephone network, a wireless network, a WI-FI® network, another type of network, or a combination of two or more such networks. For example, the network 1080 or a portion of the network 1080 may include a wireless or cellular network, and the coupling 1080 may be a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) connection, a Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) connection, or another type of cellular or wireless coupling. In this example, the coupling 1082 can implement any of a variety of types of data transfer technology, such as Single Carrier Radio Transmission Technology (1xRTT), Evolution-Data Optimized (EVDO) technology, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) technology, Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) technology, third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) including 3G, fourth generation wireless (4G) networks, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard, others defined by various standard-setting organizations, other long range protocols, or other data transfer technology.
In example embodiments, the instructions 1016 are transmitted or received over the network 1080 using a transmission medium via a network interface device (e.g., a network interface component included in the communication components 1064) and utilizing any one of a number of well-known transfer protocols (e.g., Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP)). Similarly, in other example embodiments, the instructions 1016 are transmitted or received using a transmission medium via the coupling 1072 (e.g., a peer-to-peer coupling) to the devices 1070. The term “transmission medium” shall be taken to include any intangible medium that is capable of storing, encoding, or carrying the instructions 1016 for execution by the machine 1000, and includes digital or analog communications signals or other intangible media to facilitate communication of such software.
Furthermore, the machine-readable medium 1038 is non-transitory (in other words, not having any transitory signals) in that it does not embody a propagating signal. However, labeling the machine-readable medium 1038 “non-transitory” should not be construed to mean that the medium is incapable of movement; the medium 1038 should be considered as being transportable from one physical location to another. Additionally, since the machine-readable medium 1038 is tangible, the medium 1038 may be considered to be a machine-readable device.
Throughout this specification, plural instances may implement components, operations, or structures described as a single instance. Although individual operations of one or more methods are illustrated and described as separate operations, one or more of the individual operations may be performed concurrently, and nothing requires that the operations be performed in the order illustrated. Structures and functionality presented as separate components in example configurations may be implemented as a combined structure or component. Similarly, structures and functionality presented as a single component may be implemented as separate components. These and other variations, modifications, additions, and improvements fall within the scope of the subject matter herein.
Although an overview of the inventive subject matter has been described with reference to specific example embodiments, various modifications and changes may be made to these embodiments without departing from the broader scope of embodiments of the present disclosure. Such embodiments of the inventive subject matter may be referred to herein, individually or collectively, by the term “invention” merely for convenience and without intending to voluntarily limit the scope of this application to any single disclosure or inventive concept if more than one is, in fact, disclosed.
The embodiments illustrated herein are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the teachings disclosed. Other embodiments may be used and derived therefrom, such that structural and logical substitutions and changes may be made without departing from the scope of this disclosure. The Detailed Description, therefore, is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of various embodiments is defined only by the appended claims, along with the full range of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.
As used herein, the term “or” may be construed in either an inclusive or exclusive sense. Moreover, plural instances may be provided for resources, operations, or structures described herein as a single instance. Additionally, boundaries between various resources, operations, modules, engines, and data stores are somewhat arbitrary, and particular operations are illustrated in a context of specific illustrative configurations. Other allocations of functionality are envisioned and may fall within a scope of various embodiments of the present disclosure. In general, structures and functionality presented as separate resources in the example configurations may be implemented as a combined structure or resource. Similarly, structures and functionality presented as a single resource may be implemented as separate resources. These and other variations, modifications, additions, and improvements fall within a scope of embodiments of the present disclosure as represented by the appended claims. The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.
This application is a continuation of and claims the benefit of priority of U.S. Pat. Application Serial No. 17/517,888, filed Nov. 3, 2021, which application is a continuation of and claims the benefit of priority of U.S. Pat. Application Serial No. 17/034,663, filed on Sep. 28, 2020, issued on Dec. 7, 2021 as U.S. Pat. No. 11,197,123, which application is a continuation of and claims the benefit of priority of U.S. Pat. Application Serial No. 16/293,300, filed on Mar. 5, 2019, issued Nov. 10, 2020 as U.S. Pat. No. 10,834,525, which application is a continuation of and claims the benefit of priority of U.S. Pat. Application Serial No. 15/054,869, filed on Feb. 26, 2016, issued on May 7, 2019 as U.S. Pat. No. 10,285,001, all of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 17517888 | Nov 2021 | US |
| Child | 18090654 | US | |
| Parent | 17034663 | Sep 2020 | US |
| Child | 17517888 | US | |
| Parent | 16293300 | Mar 2019 | US |
| Child | 17034663 | US | |
| Parent | 15054869 | Feb 2016 | US |
| Child | 16293300 | US |
