Patent Application
20060052118
The present invention is in the field of imaging. The present invention relates more particularly to an automatic layout process for a composite multimedia niessage, intended to be displayed on a terminal screen, and intended to be printed using a printer capable of communicating with the terminal. The displayed composite multimedia message can comprise entities of image, text and sound (audio). These entities are usually formed from the contents of several initial multimedia messages. The automatic layout is performed from an analysis of the various initial multimedia messages. Such an analysis especially includes characteristics of time, contents, or even context of the images and texts forming the initial messages.
Methods and systems implementing communication means enabling multimedia messages to be transmitted and received by adapting their presentation have been disclosed in the prior art. International Patent Application WO-01,97504 describes a method and system of the MMS type (Multimedia Messaging System) comprising one or more terminals capable of communicating one with another, and linked to one or more printers, via a control means, for example an MMS server. Communication means enable the exchange of a multimedia message containing for example a digital image and text between a first terminal and a second terminal. A request to print the multimedia message, made from the second terminal, is controlled (authorized or not, maximum number of copies, etc.) by the first terminal transmitting the multimedia message.
European Patent Application EP-1,085,464 describes means, and particularly a method to include additional elements of text or additional figurative elements in a digital image capable of being displayed on a terminal, in order to produce a resulting image including these elements. The disclosed means enable the entire multimedia message comprising the resulting image, enriched with the additional elements, to be easy and fun to read and to be interpreted once displayed on a screen. For example, the covering of certain zones or parts of the image with text, should not remove certain entities of the image contents, and thus compromise the overall interpretation or understanding of the displayed message. The method described in European Patent Application EP-1,085,464 enables analysis of the digital image, to recognize and identify an “optimal” zone in said digital image. This optimal zone, also called candidate region, represents the part of the image where an additional element (text, figurative element) is placed. The candidate regions of the image intended to receive these additional elements are regions where the variations of color or gray levels are low, either regions not containing entities or main subjects of interest forming the contents of said image. The method also enables the additional element's placing or color to be modified, so as to optimize the overall presentation of the resulting image for an observer.
European Patent Application EP-1,117,230 describes a method and a system to present, on a terminal display screen, information coming from multimedia components, such as still or animated (video) images, text, or sound (audio). A presentation model (SMIL: synchronized multimedia integration language) is programmed to display a multimedia message according to a configuration preset by compilation files, and corresponding to a programmed format, so as to synchronize the presentation of the various components forming a page of the multimedia message between a terminal transmitting the message and a terminal receiving said message. This programmed format defines zones where an image and a text are displayed respectively, the group forming the multimedia message. If the receiving terminal does not have characteristics suited to present certain components of the message, these are blanked.
The means of the prior art do not enable a display of several multimedia messages to be obtained, for example on a single page.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a process for the automatic layout on at least one page and the automatic display on a terminal screen of a composite multimedia message formed from several initial multimedia messages.
The process according to the present invention comprises the following steps:
The layout is performed on one or more pages, the number of said pages being less than or equal to the number of initial multimedia messages. This layout is performed especially from an automatic analysis of characteristics specific to the initial multimedia messages, each comprising an image, text or sound entity. TIis analysis then enables an optimized layout to be determined on one page, or several pages, of a composite multimedia message. The composite multimedia message is determined according to the key characteristics of the contents of each of the initial multimedia messages. This enables not only a display with a single view or a reduced number of views to be obtained, but also the printing cost to be reduced, if printing the resulting composite message is selected. A single page or even just a few pages are produced and contain all the important image and text characteristics of each initial multimedia message.
The composite multimedia message is formed from a selection, made by a user from the terminal keyboard, of at least one initial multimedia message, and then from an automatic analysis of the contents of the initial multimedia message. The number of pages forming the composite multimedia message is less than or equal to the number of initial multimedia messages.
The present invention also enables, after the automatic display of the composite multimedia message, the display of the proposed composite multimedia message to be invalidated manually from the terminal keyboard. In this case the invention method re-enables the automatic layout of the composite multimedia message on at least one page having a second format, and then enables the automatic display of this composite multimedia message on the terminal screen. And so on, iteratively, so long as the composite multimedia message displayed in a given format by the invention method does not suit the user.
The process of the present invention also enables a printing request of the composite multimedia message, validated to a printer that communicates with the terminal, to be transmitted from the terminal keyboard.
Other characteristics and advantages will appear on reading the following description, with reference to the drawings of the various figures.
The following description is a detailed description of the main embodiments of the invention, with reference to the drawing of each of the various figures.
The present invention relates to a process enabling, from one terminal 12, the automatic layout, on a single page, or even several pages, of one, or more usually, several multimedia messages. Advantageously the number of pages is between one and five. The multimedia message is for example, advantageously, an MMS message (Multimedia Message Service) comprising a digital image, the text associated with said image and a sound or audio message (music or melody). These multimedia messages can thus be exchanged among terminal users functioning in a network. Each of said users being able for example to modify the passing message by adding text to it for example.
In a particular embodiment, if the terminal 12 is for example of the “phone cam” type, the shots are taken directly from the terminal 12, and saved or stored in a memory of said terminal 12. In this case, the images have for example a VGA type resolution (Video Graphics Array) of 640 by 480 pixels.
According to
In a first embodiment, the method of displaying the initial multimedia messages can be reduced to the display of successive lines, giving simply: “message 1”, “message 2”, etc. By clicking on “message 1”, the corresponding multimedia message then appears on the screen in the form for example of an image (image zone 25, 26, 27, 28) under which one or more texts appear (text zone 29, 30, 31, 32). The text zone 29, 30, 31, 32 can also appear above or beside the image zone. The text zone 29, 30, 31, 32 explicitly gives one or more texts inherent to the image; this is case when the texts are relatively short, that is are only composed of a few words or expressions. Or the text zone 29, 30, 31, 32 gives lines of the type “text 1”, “text 2”, etc., and the user explicitly makes the corresponding text appear by clicking “text 1”, “text 2”, etc.
In a second embodiment, and according to
According to
A second step of the analysis consists in automatically performing a semantic analysis 4 of the initial multimedia message. This semantic analysis is an analysis of the entire contents of the initial multimedia message: Image, text, sound or voice inherent to the message contents. The algorithm of the invention method enables for example only part of an initially rather long text to be kept for later layout, while keeping the meaning of the text, using keywords of said text. According to this embodiment, the analyzed semantic data are saved either to a memory of the terminal 12, or to a memory of the server 14.
In another embodiment of the invention, the step of automatic analysis and recording of semantic data is performed before the step of automatic analysis and recording of sequential data.
A third step of the analysis consists in automatically performing a relational analysis 3 between the selected initial multimedia messages. The algorithm of the invention process enables links or correspondences to be established between images, texts and sounds forming each of the various selected initial multimedia messages 21, 23, 24 respectively. The relational analysis is performed using all the previously saved sequential and semantic data. This relational analysis enables relational data to be established that correspond to links or correspondences that exist between the respective contents of each of the selected initial multimedia messages, and are linked to the respective meaning of each of said messages; this enables the automatic determination, by using the sequential and semantic data, of the relational data that weigh the existing relationship level between each of the selected initial messages. The relational data are saved either to a memory of the terminal 12, or to a memory of the server 14.
The algorithm of the invention process uses all the saved sequential, semantic and relational data to automatically determine at least one transformed multimedia message 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43. According for example to the existing relationship level between two initial multimedia messages, the algorithm of the invention process enables resizing, zooming, only keeping one region or zone of interest (e.g. a face) of the respective images of each of said initial messages, and/or only keeping one part of the text or text parts forming said initial messages. In an embodiment where the multimedia message comprises an image that is a video clip, the invention process enables the determination for example of a key image of said video clip; this key image is then processed by the invention process to be included in a composite multimedia message.
The invention process thus enables the determination of a multimedia message that is a transformation of the initial multimedia message, because only the key parts of the initial messages are kept. This transformation 6 has a predictive objective, aiming especially to optimize later layout. Naturally, not all the selected initial multimedia messages 21, 23, 24 are necessarily transformed. The transformed multimedia message 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43 can be identical, in overall contents (image, text and sound), to the selected initial multimedia message 21, 23, 24. After this transformation step, the number of transformed multimedia messages is equal to the number of initial multimedia messages. All said transformed messages constitute the composite multimedia message.
According to
In a particular embodiment, the invention process also enables the transformed multimedia message to determined by using analysis rules 5 that depend on a context linked to the multimedia message. These analysis rules 5 are included in the algorithm, and enable instructions to be executed that add to the semantic analysis of the message, and that influence the presentation of the transformed multimedia message, and thus the layout, according to the nature of said message: professional context (property, insurance, police, etc.), holidays, family, night-environment, etc. The analysis rules are worked out according to the most likely events occurring in each context. These most likely events enable for example the characterization of the image entities to be kept in order to determine the transformed multimedia message, or for example the keywords to be kept in order to form the texts of the transformed multimedia message.
The object of the algorithm of the invention process is. to optimize the layout of the group of selected initial multimedia messages, in order to form a composite multimedia message, according to the available programmed formats. However, if the user decides to invalidate the layout, the invention process enables another layout 9 to be performed automatically, by using a second format, different than the first format corresponding to the invalidated layout. The user has the choice of validating 10 this second layout, or continuing to invalidate it. The invention process enables a third layout to be performed automatically, according to a third format different than the first and second formats. Invalidation can be so repeated, iteratively, so long as different programmed formats are available that have not been used to perform an automatic layout. In other words, if the number of programmed formats in the invention process is “n”, “n” being an integer, the invention process enables the layouts automatically determined by the invention process to be invalidated “n” times. Once all the available programmed formats have been invalidated, the invention process proposes the first invalidated format to the user again, then the second, etc. In this case, the user only has the option of validating the format, from the “n”, that suits them best. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the number of programmed formats is between one and ten. However, there is no upper limit of “n” to implement the invention process.
While the invention has been described with reference to its preferred embodiments, it is clear that variants and modifications can be produced within the scope of the claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0210072 | Aug 2002 | FR | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/EP03/08241 | 7/25/2003 | WO | 2/4/2005 |
