Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
  • G06F16/00—Information retrieval; Database structures therefor; File system structures therefor
  • G06F16/20—Information retrieval; Database structures therefor; File system structures therefor of structured data, e.g. relational data
  • G06F16/24—Querying
  • G06F16/245—Query processing
  • G06F16/2457—Query processing with adaptation to user needs
  • G06F16/24578—Query processing with adaptation to user needs using ranking
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
  • G06F16/00—Information retrieval; Database structures therefor; File system structures therefor
  • G06F16/50—Information retrieval; Database structures therefor; File system structures therefor of still image data
  • G06F16/54—Browsing; Visualisation therefor
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
  • G06F16/00—Information retrieval; Database structures therefor; File system structures therefor
  • G06F16/50—Information retrieval; Database structures therefor; File system structures therefor of still image data
  • G06F16/58—Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
  • G06F16/583—Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually using metadata automatically derived from the content
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
  • G06F16/00—Information retrieval; Database structures therefor; File system structures therefor
  • G06F16/50—Information retrieval; Database structures therefor; File system structures therefor of still image data
  • G06F16/58—Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
  • G06F16/5866—Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually using information manually generated, e.g. tags, keywords, comments, manually generated location and time information

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a method for refining the results of a search in a database containing a set of objects each linked to at least one descriptor.
• a particularly significant example is the development of digital photography, particularly because of the development of websites for uploading and sharing photos.
• one of the leaders of this type of site has since September 2010 exceeded the five billion photos posted online and continues to put online several thousand per day.
• These digital objects are generally listed in databases in association with keywords and / or other technical descriptors (size, resolution, etc.). These keywords and descriptors make it possible to search the database and return the objects whose keywords match the search criteria entered by a user in a search field.
• search engines are primarily designed to search for text within Internet pages or files, and in particular in associated description texts.
• a keyword search has intrinsic limits, for example because of the existence in human language of synonyms, homonyms, hierarchy in terms, degree of precision. Within these limits, the precise search intent of the user beyond the original meaning of the keywords used remains unknown to the search engine.
• search engines allow users to perform an advanced search, including using multiple keywords combined with each other by logical operators.
• Such a search mode is however not particularly easy for the user and can, on some engines, go as far as requiring quasi-programming skills to write a request, while not knowing if this request can be correctly interpreted. by the motor and will lead to the desired result.
• the present invention relates to a method for refining the results of an object search in at least one database containing at least one set of objects each associated with at least one descriptor, said method comprising the steps to:
• object any digital object that can be stored in a database. As stated above, it may include photos, but also audio files, video, documents, etc.
• the referenced objects are not necessarily contained directly in a database record and can be referenced by the database. intermediary of their storage address or URL, for example, or any other indirect means.
• descriptor used is not limited.
• descriptor obviously includes key word descriptors, but it can also be technical descriptors referencing textures, materials, color profiles, definition, etc. They can also be semantic descriptors established from a thesaurus.
• the nature of the descriptors is generally not limited and they can be adapted according to the objects referenced in the database or databases, and searched for.
• weightings can be assigned to different descriptors, in particular according to their origin, context, situation with respect to all the other descriptors.
• descriptors from a thesaurus and therefore presenting a standardized, uniform and structured character, may have more weight than key-word descriptors that would have been attributed by the users themselves of a website. Photo.
• the set of objects initially presented to the user corresponds to all or part of the objects resulting from a first search, in particular by keyword, in the database or databases.
• a first search in particular by keyword
• all initial search modes for generating a first set of objects are possible.
• search in the database or databases can be performed in an internal database, but also on external databases hosted on specialized remote sites for example.
• the objects of the set of objects initially presented to the user are presented in a defined order when obtaining said set of objects, in particular an order of relevance by report to the initial search, this relevance being able to be defined by a search algorithm.
• traditional search engines often associate a relevance index with the results of their research.
• the order of relevance and initial presentation can be defined in an ad hoc way in order, for example, to maximize the number of different objects presented initially in order to leave as much choice as possible the user for his first refining, and possibly for the following ones.
• the weights assigned to the descriptors of the objects considered irrelevant is of opposite sign to the weights assigned to the descriptors of the objects considered to be relevant, and more particularly to signs respectively negative and positive.
• the absolute values of the weights assigned to the descriptors of the objects considered as relevant and / or irrelevant are equal.
• the weight assigned to the descriptors of the objects considered to be relevant has a different absolute value, and notably higher, than the weight assigned to the descriptors of the objects considered irrelevant.
• the values of the weights assigned to the descriptors of the objects considered as relevant and / or irrelevant may be different for each object reported.
• the value given to the descriptors of the objects considered relevant and / or irrelevant depends on their initial order of priority.
• a coefficient can be applied to a standard weight value. For example, an object considered 90% relevant by the search engine that performed the initial search may be assigned 90% of the reference weight value if that object is considered relevant by the user. In However, if the user considers it irrelevant, unlike the search engine, we can choose to allocate only 10% of the reference value of the irrelevant weight.
• the means for signaling the relevance and / or the irrelevance of an object presented comprise means capable of indicating different degrees of relevance and / or irrelevance making it possible, in particular, to assign a different weight to depending on the degree of relevance and / or irrelevance reported.
• it may include a web page including buttons to indicate that an object is, for example, "very relevant” (first degree), “relevant” (second degree), “irrelevant” (third degree), “Irrelevant” (fourth degree) and “off topic” (fifth degree).
• the result objects are presented in the form of previews, miniatures and / or extracts.
• the objects contained in the database include photos and / or videos and / or audio objects. It may also be other types of documents, text files, etc.
• the relevance index is initialized to an identical value for each result object, in particular zero.
• the relevance index is initialized to different values for all or part of the result objects, in particular according to the initial order of presentation and, if appropriate, a relevance value returned by the search. initial.
• all or some of the descriptors of the most relevant objects returned feed a new search in the database.
• FIG. 1 is a screenshot of an Internet site implementing the method according to the invention at the level of the first step presenting to a user the results of an initial search by keyword,
• FIG. 2 is a screenshot of the site of FIG. 1 on which a user has reported a photo that he considers relevant to his search
• FIG. 3 is a screenshot of the site of FIG. 1 on which a user has reported a photo that he considers irrelevant to his search
• FIG. 4 is a screen shot after initiation of the search refinement step by the user
• FIG. 5 is a screenshot of the site of FIG. 1 showing the result of the refining step carried out as a function of the relevance and irrelevance reports by the user,
• FIG. 6 is a logic diagram showing schematically the flow of the process illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 5.
• Figures 1 to 5 show screenshots of an Internet site implementing the method according to the invention on a search for car headlight photos.
• FIG. 1 shows a first step 110 in which a set of photo thumbnails P1 to P14 is presented to the user.
• This set of photos P1 to P14 was obtained through an initial keyword search in one or more photo databases.
• the key word "lighthouse” was used by the user to define his search and typed in a search field R of the page.
• the search field R serves as an interface with the user and feeds a search engine, internal or external to the site, into photo databases.
• a search engine internal or external to the site
• Such databases list a large number of photos and associate descriptors for subsequent searches.
• descriptors include keyword lists, but can also be specific to the photo (camera used, technical data, color profile, etc.).
• the search engine thus returns the results of its search algorithm and presents them to the user in the form of the fourteen thumbnails of photos P1 to P14.
• the fourteen photos presented to the user do not necessarily correspond to the totality of the initial search results and it is quite possible to choose not to present to the user only part of the results, for example the first thousand photos returned.
• the photos P1, P2, P4, P5, P1, P8, P9, P1 1, P12 relate to photos of coastal lights for navigation.
• Each photo is associated, in its database or in another database, with one or more descriptors.
• the photos P1 to P14 are each presented to the user in association with a clickable image 11 representing a validation check mark and a clickable image 12 representing a prohibition cross.
• clickable images are associated with computer functions recording the user's choices and constitute means for said user to indicate the relevance (tick) and / or non-relevance (cross) of each photo in relation to his actual search.
• the user then proceeds during a step 102 to report the photos that he considers relevant and / or irrelevant.
• Figure 2 is a screenshot showing that the user has reported that picture P14 was relevant to his actual search. An M1 message informs him of the proper consideration of his report by the site or software.
• Figure 3 is a screenshot showing that the user has reported that the P4 photo was not relevant to his actual search since it represents a coastal lighthouse. An M2 message informs him of the proper consideration of his report by the site or software.
• the messages M1 and M2 are displayed in the form of "pop-up" (display of a window in superposition). It is it is obvious that these messages can be signaled to the user in other forms, notably by grouping the selected images, displaying in a sidebar, setting up virtual baskets of the images selected as relevant and irrelevant, etc.
• the refining process can also take place in real time depending on the interactions of the user, but this will require more processing and load resources of a remote server in particular.
• the processing steps are transparent to the user.
• a weight P is associated with each descriptor associated with each image signaled by the user.
• the weight P is negatively affected if the image has been reported as irrelevant and a positive sign if the image has been reported as relevant.
• photo P4 which has an associated "flagship” descriptor
• photo P14 which has two associated "flagship” and "car” descriptors
• the "flagship" descriptor is assigned a weight -P because of the irrelevance reported for photo P4 and is weighted + P because of the relevance reported for photo P14.
• the "car” descriptor is weighted + P due to the relevance reported for photo P14.
• a resultant of the weights assigned to each descriptor of the set of images P1 to P14 is computed during a step 104.
• the "flagship" descriptor thus obtains a global weight of zero, while the "car” descriptor obtains an overall weight equal to + P.
• the resultant is the set of descriptors of photos P1 to P4 assigned their respective weights previously calculated.
• a relevance index is associated with each photo P1 to P14 and initialized to zero during a step 105.
• a step 1 06 makes it possible to compare each photo P1 to P14 with the resultant of the weights of the descriptors.
• each descriptor of the picture P1 to P14 is compared to the resultant, and the priority index is increased or decreased by the weight of this descriptor in said resultant.
• the photo P1 showing a coastal lighthouse, and possessing only the "flagship” descriptor, sees its priority index increased by the weight of the "flagship” descriptor in the resultant, namely zero. Its priority index remains at zero.
• the photo P3 shows car headlights. As mentioned before, it is associated with two "flagship" and "car” descriptors. For the "flagship” descriptor, its index does not change, since the weight of this descriptor is zero. On the other hand, for its descriptor "car”, its priority index is increased by the weight of the descriptor "car” in the resultant, namely + P. Its priority index becomes + P.
• Figure 5 shows a screenshot showing the final rearrangement where only pictures of car headlights are well presented.
• FIG. 5 also shows photos that were not present on the initial presentation screen. Indeed, it is quite possible to select a larger batch of photos than the fourteen pictures presented, some of which were taken by the user. However, they are present in the initial selection and taken into account for the implementation of the process. They therefore also receive a relevance index that changes their order in the selection. In the end, they can be found among the first fourteen photos, and thus be presented to the user.
• the initial photos of lighthouses are, for their part, relegated beyond the fourteenth and therefore no longer appear.
• the user can then further refine his search, especially if new photos are presented to him (step 108) or stop his search (109).

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
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• Data Mining & Analysis (AREA)
• Databases & Information Systems (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Library & Information Science (AREA)
• Computational Linguistics (AREA)
• Information Retrieval, Db Structures And Fs Structures Therefor (AREA)
• User Interface Of Digital Computer (AREA)

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• 2011
  • 2011-03-23 FR FR1152383A patent/FR2973134B1/fr not_active Expired - Fee Related
• 2012
  • 2012-03-19 EP EP19208152.9A patent/EP3627353A1/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 2012-03-19 CN CN201280014577.7A patent/CN103518198B/zh not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2012-03-19 EP EP12714812.0A patent/EP2689351A1/de not_active Ceased
  • 2012-03-19 WO PCT/FR2012/050576 patent/WO2012127168A1/fr active Application Filing
  • 2012-03-19 KR KR1020137027893A patent/KR101980219B1/ko active IP Right Grant
  • 2012-03-19 RU RU2013146871A patent/RU2613039C2/ru not_active IP Right Cessation
• 2013
  • 2013-09-23 US US13/987,997 patent/US20140032544A1/en not_active Abandoned

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